“Now what?” They asked each other the question in unison.
Marcus laughed. “Angel, you fly by the seat of your pants, don’t you? You had no plan once we got here?”
She shook her head. “This isn’t my planet, it’s yours. I assumed you’d know who to call for help if I got you out of there. Friends? Distant family members maybe? I expected I’d go my way and you’d go yours.” Moving to the kitchen to make tea to calm her nerves, she realized how inadequate her thinking had been. “Are you hungry?”
“I could eat. My stomach probably isn’t going to react well at first to real food, just to warn you.”
She grabbed a box of crackers and a jar of cingella nut paste and brought both to him. “This usually digests nicely when my stomach is upset, I’ve found, but the bathroom is through there, if you need to hurl. I’m making tea.”
“Got anything stronger?”
“Even if I did, you shouldn’t risk it, on top of the meds.” She returned to the kitchen area, setting her mug and another equally battered one on the counter for the tea. “A nice hot drink with plenty of sugar will help, trust me.”
“Why didn’t you call the cops to help me?” he asked. “Instead of doing this risky, hands on rescue mission?”
She gave him a sharp glance, fearing he was being justifiably critical of her efforts but his face was set in an innocent expression and he was busy unscrewing the lid on the jar of paste. How honest should I be? Pouring the hot water into the two mugs, she added the tea capsules and said, “I don’t have many reasons to trust the cops on any world. And I figured Mrs. Trang probably has friends in a lot of places. I considered making an anonymous complaint but I was afraid she’d kill you before anyone came to check. She has a whole racket going on with disabled veterans at her clinic so even if the police did check on you in response to a tip, she probably could have convinced them you were there under her care legally.” She held up her hand to forestall his next comment. “And you wouldn’t have been conscious to tell your side.”
“I appreciate your taking an interest in my case, believe me. Do they have your home address on file at the clinic?”
“Several people know I live here, in this complex. Why?” She considered his size and added extra sugar to his mug before carrying it to him.
“Sweetheart, when the next staff person walks in and finds those two bastards passed out, me gone and you missing, it won’t take the management long to put together the pieces. We can’t stay here. We should be on the run now.” Despite his declaration of the need to flee, he calmly ate the crackers he’d covered generously with the expensive paste, interspersed with swallows of tea. “I need to eat first, need the energy.”
“You don’t know anyone to call? No one to come pick you up?” She tried again. One person on the run could escape notice a lot more easily than a couple. He was going to complicate her life even further. “No family?”
“I haven’t set foot on this planet since the day I enlisted over twenty years ago. My parents died when I was young and I had no brothers or sisters. I guess the authorities sent me here since it’s my home of record, but as far as knowing anyone I’d trust enough to help me right now—” He shook his head.
There was a knock on the door.
Marcus moved faster than she would have thought possible in his debilitated state, grabbing the knife, stepping into her tiny bathroom and sliding the door closed. “See who it is.”
She went to the front door and cracked it open. Wrapped in a blue plush robe, fuzzy slippers on her feet, her landlady stood outside. “I need to talk to you.” She pushed past Carialle and stood looking into every corner of the room. “Where is he?”
“Who?”
“The boyfriend you snuck in a few moments ago.”
“Busted.” Phony grin plastered on his face, Marcus emerged from the bathroom. There was no sign of the knife. “Hey, no harm in two consenting adults spending time together. Alone.”
“Save it for someone who cares,” Mrs. Galaganos said with a frown. “Listen, two sketchy characters were hanging out in the square earlier this evening, asking the vendors about you,” she told Carialle. “People I wouldn’t want on my trail. I don’t know what you’re mixed up in but you’re going to have to run, tonight.” Checking Marcus over from head to toe, tsking as she took in his abused, bare feet, she shook her head. “I don’t know if he’s part of the problem but I want you both gone by dawn, for your own good. And mine.”
“Did they come here, to the building?” Carialle’s throat was dry and she could barely get the words out.
Mrs. Galaganos shook her head. “The locals know I took you under my wing and they won’t betray me, not right away anyhow. I got more than one warning from people I trust. I have friends—everyone knows me and I’ve done favors for easily fifty percent of the district residents. But money talks and these guys were flashing a lot of credits for any information on finding you. Someone will rat you out, just a matter of time. I’m guessing since you’re not at work like you’re supposed to be, and we have the company of this unknown, brawny barefoot man, you’re in more than one mess. I’ve heard rumors about the racket Trang runs—enough to know I don’t want anything to do with it. I’m guessing he’s an escapee. He has the military attitude.” She held up a hand. “Don’t tell me—the less I know, the better.”
Carialle sank onto the bed. She’d known she was going to need to flee, especially after freeing Marcus but suddenly the situation was overwhelming. She was crashing from all the power she’d expended earlier, immersing the two men in deep sleep, which didn’t help. And when was the adrenaphix going to wear off in Marcus’s body, leaving him to collapse? Would he have withdrawal from the toranquidol? More things to worry about, which pushed her stress level to the maximum.
Marcus continued to make his meal of crackers and tea. “Messes can be gotten out of.”
“Well you two are a fine pair, no brains between the two of you.” Tapping her foot, the landlady appeared to come to a decision. “Pack whatever you’re taking and plan to travel light. I’ll only be a minute.” She shook her finger at Carialle. “Do not leave until I get back.”
“We won’t.” Carialle rose to go to the closet and get out her new pack. Her old pack lay underneath it. She grabbed both.
“Swear.” The landlady stared at Marcus. “I want you both off my property but I want the exit to be done right, leaving me in the clear.”
“Word of an officer,” he said, dusting cracker crumbs off his shirt. “But make it fast.”
“Don’t need to tell me that.” She wrenched the door open and disappeared into the night.
Carialle dumped the contents of the pack on the bed. “Here, you might be able to use this.” She handed Marcus the snub nosed blaster she’d taken from Dobkin. “I think it’s charged.”
He examined the weapon for a moment, clearly at home with blasters, his big hands making the gun appear even smaller and less significant as a deterrent. “An Amarotu Combine special. Accurate, good stopping power, fully charged. Where did you get your hands on an illegal blaster like this?”
She squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to cry. “Please, it’s a complicated story and I promise to tell you, but not now, all right? I have to focus on running.” Taking a deep breath, she straightened. “You must think I’m stupid, not to have made better plans, not to have thought more than one step ahead. I just—there wasn’t much time after I heard what Trang ordered done to you.”
He walked over to her, standing close, resting one hand on her shoulder and tipping her chin up with his other, so he could force her to meet his gaze. He was a good foot taller than she. “I think you’re gutsy and I admire that. I’ll never criticize your planning—I owe you my life and I’m beyond grateful. Any plan accomplishing the goal without casualties is a good plan and you rescued me. Now though, we need new plans. Luckily I’m considered passably proficient at strategy and tactics.” He grinned and she felt herself relax i
nto a smile in response. “So tell me, we have the Combine after us?”
“After me,” she said, stepping away from his intense regard. “It’s not your problem.”
“I’m not leaving you alone to deal with the likes of them.” His voice was hard.
Carialle shook her head. “You don’t need to risk yourself—”
“Besides, Trang is going to want me dead, for fear I’ll expose her shady operation,” he said persuasively. “So we plot a course together. Where are we exactly, by the way? I didn’t recognize the area while we were hiking here.”
“South Neridda, in the River Wind district.”
Rubbing his chin, he said. “Going to be hard to reach a good place to hide out, on foot.”
“There’s a mass transit station about a mile from here.” She stared at him. “How’s your endurance?”
He shrugged as if his condition was of no consequence. “I have a couple of the adrenaphix left.”
Mrs. Galaganos knocked and entered without waiting for permission. She dumped a pile of male clothing on the bed and dropped a pair of well-worn but sturdy boots on the floor, throwing a pair of thick gray socks on top of them. “These are my late husband’s—he was a pretty tall, husky man with big feet, like you, so hopefully they’ll fit. Better than the janitor’s uniform you squeezed into.”
“The boots are worth their weight in gold to me—I can’t thank you enough,” Marcus said, comparing one to his foot and nodding. “Barefoot is no good for a soldier.”
“I figured as much.” She moved closer to Carialle, while digging in the pocket of her blue robe. She brought out a groundcar initiator, brushing a piece of lint off the gleaming surface. “Here, you can’t get far enough, fast enough to be safe, on foot or using mass transit. This was my husband’s car. I’ve kept it maintained and fully charged since he died. Even kept the registration current. You’ll find it out in the rear parking lot, the blue one with the cherry trim, by the far fence, under a tarp. My advice is to ditch it when you get far enough away. I won’t report it stolen for a day or so but one of the neighbors may remember I own it. Lot of nosy people in this district.” Impatiently, she extended her hand again. “Well, take the initiator.”
“I can’t drive.”
“I can.” Marcus plucked the simple device from the old woman’s fingers. “Once I get my situation squared away, I’ll have access to my back pay and I’ll reimburse you.”
Mrs. Galaganos snorted and tossed her head in derision. “I’m keeping her security deposit and I’m sure as seven hells not refunding the unused rent for the balance of the month. I’ll also be selling your stuff, so take whatever means most to you.”
Carialle gave her landlady a hug. “Thank you for everything. You gave me the first kindness I ever encountered in the Sectors.”
Mrs. Galaganos patted her shoulder awkwardly. “I enjoyed having you as a tenant, you made my garden come alive like no one I’ve ever seen before, you saved my husband’s tree…but you have to go, girl. Every minute you delay means either the men hunting you or whatever other trouble you blundered into with him is going to catch up.”
“She’s right.” Marcus grabbed the second hand clothes and headed for the bathroom. “As soon as I’ve changed, we’re leaving, so be ready.”
“I don’t want to know where you’re going. Best not to get in touch with me later either.” Mrs. Galaganos disentangled herself from Carialle and walked out the door without a single backward glance.
Galvanized into action, she changed hastily into her most practical utility pants and a shirt. She was already wearing her only pair of sensible shoes. Then she hurried into the kitchen and took her favorite mug and one small birdlike figurine from the collection she’d been amassing so happily since her arrival in the area, adding one new animal done in the cheerful comical local style each week after getting paid. Wrapping the mug and statue in a clean shirt for protection, she tossed a few more clothes in the pack, dodging around Marcus as he exited the bathroom so she could grab a few personal items. A sense of urgency was driving her now, a dread whether the Combine thugs would come bursting through the door, or that her two victims at the clinic would be found prematurely.
“What are you doing?” Marcus came to stand in the door after a few moments. “We need to move.”
“I have to get my stash of credits—we’re going to need every bit,” she said from her perch atop the closed toilet.
“Tell me where it is and I’ll do it.”
“I can handle it.” She pushed aside the ceiling tile and fumbled in the crawlspace above, grabbing onto the pouch where she’d been caching her savings as she accumulated them. No bank for the likes of her. Credits in her hand only. She replaced the tile and gasped as he lifted her down, carrying her into the main room before setting her on the floor.
“We ready?” He tucked the blaster into the back of his waistband, pulling his borrowed shirt out to hide the weapon. “I took a few things, food mostly.” He snagged the old pack from the bed. “Let me go first but stay right behind me.”
If she hadn’t already known he was an elite soldier, she’d have figured it out now, from the way he moved and constantly scanned in all directions for trouble, and the way he consistently shielded her, so any attacker would have to go through him first. They left the apartment complex and paused at the entrance to the gated parking area.
“I see the groundcar, over there,” she said, pointing at a vehicle covered with a tarp.
Marcus took her by the elbow and placed her in the darkest shadow, behind a column supporting the roof above. “Stay here until I’ve got the car running. I’ll drive over and pick you up. If anything happens, promise me you’ll run and keep running.”
His intensity was scary but she couldn’t disagree with his order. “I promise.”
He left the second pack with her and, blaster in hand, moved fast and low into the parking lot, taking maximum advantage of available cover. Carialle gave up trying to follow his progress and concentrated on getting her breathing and racing pulse under control. She hummed a relaxation chant, dismayed to find the music unhelpful. She was too scared their enemies would suddenly appear in the complex. How long could she hope for, before Peters and Matikian were found? They’d continue to slumber for a few more hours but how long until Mrs. Trang was summoned and a search mounted?
The sound of a revving engine drew her attention back to the parking lot and she hefted the two packs as the groundcar left its spot and came in her direction. The door was opening even before Marcus pulled to a halt and she ran for the car, throwing the packs in the rear seat before she slid into her own place in front with him. He accelerated smoothly and almost ran into the gates as they ponderously slid open. He cleared them with an inch to spare and was driving at high speed away from the apartments.
CHAPTER FOUR
“Should you go so fast?” she asked.
“Probably not but I want to get out of this densely populated area. Too easy to get trapped.” He did slow the car’s headlong rush a fraction. “Unless things have changed drastically since I left, not many cops in the River Wind district, especially at night.” Eyes narrowed, he gave her a sideways glance. “Is lack of police presence why you picked the area to hide in?”
She pondered how best to answer. How much was she going to tell him? “I grew up in such an area on my home world of Tulavarra. I’m familiar with how life runs in a poor district, a slum I think you call it here in the Sectors. So after I esc—once I could look for a safe place, I got on the mass transit and rode until I eventually found River Wind.”
“I never heard of Tulavarra before nor have I seen anyone from your planet. Why is the Combine after you?” He made a smooth transition to a wider, busier thoroughfare and sped up again to match the rest of the traffic. Marcus handled the groundcar effortlessly.
“You’re an officer in the Special Forces, yes?”
“Well, yeah, retired now, I guess, but what does my rank ha
ve to do with anything?” Brow furrowed, he maneuvered in and out of a string of heavy cargo haulers.
“I saw on the trideo you took oaths to defend the Sectors, to uphold the laws—doesn’t that make you like a cop?”
“Not exactly. And if you’re pulling your information from entertainment trideos, I should warn you a lot of that stuff is crap.” He laughed. “I’m just a normal guy with years of specialized military training. And a few classified implants and whatnot I can’t discuss.” Now he did study her face for a moment before the traffic reclaimed his full attention. “I’m not your enemy, Carialle. I could never be, no matter what’s going on. I want to help, if I can. How long have you been in the Sectors?”
“A little over four standard years.” She kept her eyes focused on the view out the window, biting her lip. Did she dare trust him? He did owe her a life debt after all, but how much weight did such a thing carry in the Sectors? Marcus kept saying he wanted to help her but she didn’t know if she could believe him. The blue flames at his heart said yes but after so much time in the hands of the Combine she was afraid to have hope.
As if sensing her internal debate, he reached out with one hand and captured hers, folding his strong, warm fingers around her fist, giving her a gentle squeeze. “Angel, I think you need a friend and I’m right here, offering to be that person. But if you won’t or can’t confide in me, I’ve still got your back.”
With a sigh, she turned to meet his eyes and unclenched her hand, twining her fingers with his. “A number of my people were kidnapped from our world by the Shemdylann slavers. We—we had no idea of the realities of the universe until that day, that we lived on a rock orbiting the sun, that there were others—so many others—living in the stars, in the midst of so much evil. Our best weapons were as broken toys against the Shemdylann.”
Two Against the Stars Page 6
