I must have nodded off during the rest of the news, because the clatter of the door startled me awake.
“Hey, baby,” Lola called out with a grin, “it’s good to see you awake. I was beginnin’ to think you were out for the count.”
“Nah, you know me. It takes more than two goons and a few million volts to the ‘nads to stop me.” I smiled and winced when my lip split again.
“Sure, Sunrise, you keep tellin’ yourself that.” She chuckled.
“So, how did you do, locating some blood?”
“You shoulda been there, baby. The ‘hood ain’t seen a spectacle like that in years.”
“Spectacle? What did you do?” I had visions of an armed raid on a blood bank, concluding in a shootout on national television.
“Was anyone hurt?”
“Hurt? What are you talking about? We held a combination blood drive and block party. I’m surprised you didn't hear the music, even in your sleep. People came from miles around and brought barbecue, burgers, and beer. Doc Hazelwood and several helpers were pumpin’ blood like it was goin’ outa style. He owed me a few favors and didn’t ask too many questions. We just delivered over a hundred and twenty units of blood to your little friend. Karsh said that would prolly hold them for several weeks.”
“That’s amazing. How did you get so many people to give blood?”
“Easy. You heard about that school bus crash over in Jordan County yesterday?”
I shook my head, no. “I’m a bit behind on my news watching.”
“Doesn’t matter. We just told everyone the blood drive was for those kids. They were happy to volunteer.”
I frowned. I wasn’t crazy about the idea of cheating a bunch of sick kids. “Do the kids really need blood?”
“Nah. I checked. The local hospitals had enough. But the folks around these parts didn’t know that. Besides, it was for a good cause, anyway.”
I slumped back into my pillows. “Damn, girl, you’re good!”
“Baby, that’s why my clients keep comin’ back for more.”
That was the final straw. Even though it made my ribs hurt like hell, all the tension, pain, and frustration of the past few days came bursting out of me all at once in the form of a good long belly laugh.
Man, I needed that.
* * * *
Despite the fact that he had no means of transportation on land besides his size-two feet, Karsh risked the five-plus mile hike to Lola’s place several times while I was laid up. He could only come under cover of early-morning darkness, of course. I tried to tell him I’d be fine and that he didn’t need to take the chance of being seen, but he insisted that he was in my debt. If it wasn’t bad enough that he risked himself, he brought Allara along with him on a couple of occasions—said she wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Keldor, the Azarti’s healer, came alone once to see how I was doing. He placed his hands on my forehead and my chest for a few moments and closed his eyes. I can’t swear that he had any effect on my physical condition, but I did feel better when he left, and the nightmares ended. Maybe it was nothing more than the knowledge that these people genuinely cared about what happened to me. Other than Lola, I couldn’t think of anyone else on this planet who really cared about my well-being. (Not counting Scar and Weasel, who cared about it in the wrong way.)
That eased my pain more than the pills Doc Hazelwood prescribed.
* * * *
Nine days later, I felt much better. My broken ribs and nose hadn’t healed yet, of course, and I still walked with a limp. But at least a trip to a dentist Lola trusted not to turn me in took care of the gaps in my smile. My reaction to Lola’s tender ministrations showed me that Weasel’s Baron von Frankenstein impersonation hadn’t left me as limp as month-old celery. I seemed to be fully functional, to my intense relief.
I was lying low at Lola’s place. I couldn’t risk returning to mine until I figured out how to get the cops—and Scar—off my ass. As far as I could tell, the cops didn’t know about my relationship with Lola.
I probably should have let Lola’s boys ice Scar when I’d had the chance, but I’m not the cold-blooded killer he is. At least Lola had some of her friends keeping an eye on me for the time being. Scar probably wasn’t crazy enough to try anything while I was under their protection.
My staying at Lola’s was killing her business, however. I offered more than once to move out, but she wouldn’t have any of it.
When I offered to pay for my room and board she looked hurt and stormed out in tears, slamming the door behind her. She acted more like a girlfriend than an off-and-on sex partner and occasional snitch. I have to admit, though, I was starting to feel differently about her myself. Maybe I had more of a reason to hang around town after this was all over than I thought.
I’d visited Karsh’s ship once while recuperating to see how he and his people were faring. Now, hearing that the ship was nearly repaired, I wanted to say goodbye before they left.
Lola drove me down to the bay shortly before sunset. I concentrated on Karsh’s name, hoping he could hear me through the water. I knew he wouldn’t appear until after dark.
Lola and I leaned back against a sandy bank. She snuggled into my shoulder and we watched the sun go down. The gentle breeze was welcome in the late afternoon heat. It was the kind of moment you wish you could capture and keep forever in your wallet to take with you wherever you go. The scene with Scar and his goons in the warehouse was one I desperately wanted to excise from my mind. A few hundred more tranquil moments like this one and I might be able to do it someday.
A deep red glow beneath the rippling waves signaled that Karsh’s ship was near. Moments later, Karsh rose from the bay. His skin was dark enough that he could have passed for a shadow, if not for the moonlight reflecting off the water sheeting from his body.
Lola and I stood to greet him. “Thank you for coming, Karsh. I’m sorry to pull you away from your ship. I just wondered how everyone was doing and how your repairs are coming.”
[Thank you for your consideration. We are doing well, thanks to your help and that of the resourceful Lola.]
He knee-bowed in her direction. Lola smiled and curtsied in return.
[We have enough blood left to last us for more than a week, which should give us sufficient time to reach another world that has people sympathetic to our cause.]
“That’s good to hear. I take it, then, that you’re almost ready to leave?”
[Yes. I am told we should be fully operational before dawn.]
“Excellent! I hope everything goes well on the rest of your journey.”
[Thank you, my friend. If the ships chasing us have departed this system, we should be safe the rest of the way.]
“Good. Say goodbye to Keldor and Allara for me.”
[Why not tell them in person? They and the others would like to thank you both for saving their lives. We could not have continued along our path for much longer. Either we would have died ourselves, or we would have inadvertently killed one of the donors. Either outcome would have been unacceptable.]
Lola’s eyes popped open wide. “You want me to put one of those threl-things on my face and let it puncture my eyeballs? And then breathe underwater? No way, José! My momma didn’t raise no mermaids. I’m just fine here on dry land.”
“I’ll stay here with you, then,” I said. “I don’t want to leave you alone in case some of Scar’s men show up.”
“Oh, pshaw. You go on ahead, Sunrise. I got men watching my back fifty yards from here. Besides, the Azarti owe you much more than they owe me. I just supplied the blood. You did all the rest.”
[If that is your wish, Lola, then I will thank you humbly on my people’s behalf. They cannot all come ashore to do so in person.] He stepped forward, stood on his tiptoes, pulled Lola’s shoulders downward and touched his forehead to hers.
She looked flustered, uncertain how to react. After a moment, Karsh stepped back. Lola stammered and blinked rapidly. “That-that wa
s nice. It made me weak in the knees. You’re quite welcome, Karsh. Any time you’re in the area, drop on by.”
[Thank you, Lola. I will.]
He made another knee-bow and turned back to me. [Let us go.]
We borrowed the same small boat as last time and pushed it into the water. Soon we stood atop Karsh’s ship and he extruded a tube. I looked back at Lola and she waved. I waved back, donned my threl, and entered the ship.
Karsh had apparently messaged ahead that we were coming, because most of the crew was there in the main passageway, waiting for us. Allara immediately wrapped herself around me in a way that I took to be the Azarti equivalent of a hug. At least, I hoped it was a hug and not some weird Azarti mating ritual.
[Thank you, Sunrise. We will write songs about you, when we reach our new home.]
Now I was getting uncomfortable. All I wanted to do was say goodbye, not be knighted.
[It was nothing you wouldn’t have done in my place,] I replied.
[Perhaps, but we all owe you our lives.]
She gave me another of those hugs. Then the rest of the crew proceeded to do the same, each saying something nice about Lola and me. It’s a good thing I was wearing the threl or they’d all have seen me blush. Had Lola been there, she’d have ribbed me about it for a week.
I might have tried to break away with some lame excuse about having to leave, but they were so genuinely grateful it seemed unfair to deny them the chance to express themselves. I imagine they must have been terrified when they discovered that they’d all been irradiated, and people started to die. The ship had to feel like a tomb, with each Azarti waiting for his or her turn to die. I couldn’t imagine what that was like, but it must have been horrible.
Still, the display of all that emotion made me squirm. I’m not really the touchy-feely type.
Then, out of nowhere, a raucous squeal sounded, over and over. I don’t know whether it hurt the Azarti’s ears as much as it did mine, but they immediately scattered like a herd of mice when a cat drops into their midst.
I called out to Karsh. [What happened? What’s going on?]
[That is the alarm. We have been found.]
[Found? By who? The Coast Guard?]
[No. Not your people. Our people. The ship that shot at us and nearly destroyed us before.]
[Then I guess I’d better get off the ship and let you get going.]
[You do not understand, Sunrise. They will be here in seconds. There is no time to let you off. You will have to come with us.]
[But...I don’t want to go with you. I like Earth.]
I must have sounded like a whiny, spoiled child.
[Of course, and I am sorry, but we must leave now. Or we shall all die.]
I paused for a second to collect my thoughts. There was no point in crying over spilled milk. It wasn’t Karsh’s fault, after all.
Just roll with the punches, I told myself, and counterpunch later when the other guy lets his guard down.
I took a deep breath. [Okay. Fine. If I can’t leave, can I do anything to help?]
[Perhaps. Follow me.]
We swam to one side of the passageway and Karsh commanded a slit to appear in the wall. He slipped inside and disappeared from sight. I stuck my head and shoulders into the claustrophobically narrow parallel passageway. The water jet sucked me in and shoved me down the pipe at a high rate of speed. It felt like I was in an aquatic version of a pneumatic tube. I had no idea where we were headed, but we were going to get there fast.
Assuming the ship didn’t get blown out of the water first.
Chapter Seven
We reached our destination in seconds. Karsh’s head and shoulders disappeared through another slit in the wall and I followed a moment later. We emerged into a room containing four other Azarti. Even with no faces for me to read, I could tell they were worried. Changes in their body language told me that there must be mental orders and status reports flying back and forth. I even sensed some emotions—spillover, I guess. Thoughts that weren’t as tightly focused as they could have been.
Clearly this was the command center of the ship, but I wasn’t sure how they could tell what was going on. There were no viewscreens that I could spot, no radio headsets, not even a steering wheel. But with the Azarti’s ability to see with every square inch of their bodies, it seemed likely they were monitoring things invisible to me.
Two Azarti floated forehead-to-forehead along the left side of the cabin and two others down the right. Each pair interlocked fingers with one hand and gripped the cabin wall with the other. I wasn’t sure which Azarti these were. Although I’d met everyone on the ship, I generally couldn’t tell the crew apart unless they actually spoke to me. Still, I sensed that one of the four was Allara.
It didn’t take a detective to figure out that each pair was working on something in tandem. But what? And why did they need to be here to do it? If they were telepathic, why couldn’t they do whatever they were doing anywhere on the ship?
Karsh floated between the pairs, holding onto the shoulder of one of each pair. The five formed a shape vaguely like a giant letter H. Did the physical presence somehow enhance the telepathic link? Was the touch merely to reassure them that he was there and in control, or did he complete the mental circuit?
Questions. Always more questions than answers.
Meanwhile, I hovered near the back of the room feeling like a fifth wheel.
Without warning, the ship heeled over to the right and down. In a panic, I tried to locate something to grab onto and found nothing. When I wasn’t immediately dashed against the walls, I calmed down. One advantage of a liquid environment is that there’s less tossing around of people and objects. It was more of a gentle sloshing.
Somehow it seemed less dangerous that way. I might still get vaporized, or irradiated to the point of being my own nightlight, but at least my brains wouldn’t be dashed all over the spongy cabin walls.
We continued to dodge periodically. I assumed that meant someone was shooting at us. If so, they seemed to be missing. For now.
Once my initial moment of panic had passed, I noticed something amazing: the ship seemed to be…wiggling. It wasn’t rigid, like a steel submarine would be. It flexed and flowed as we changed directions and depths. It was more like riding in the belly of a whale. That thought gave me pause. I knew the ship was organic. Did it have a digestive track, a heart, a brain? If so, how did it feel about being used this way? Did it look upon the Azarti as companions, masters, or parasites?
All interesting questions, but irrelevant at the moment.
A low rumble accompanied a lurch of the ship, and a major sloshing in the cabin. That told me the bad guys hadn’t missed by much. Somehow Karsh and the other four managed to maintain their positions.
My brain itched. I assumed it was mental overflow from the others. What if it was a new sort of attack? At the least, I sensed an increase in tension from those around me. Things couldn’t be going well.
The waiting was the worst part. We could be smeared across the sea bottom at any moment and there wasn’t a thing I could do about it. Except for the abrupt direction changes and the occasional sharp jolt, I had no way to tell what was going on. I must have been absolutely radiating nervous energy, but I was hesitant to interrupt Karsh. I had no idea what he was coordinating. For all I knew, a moment’s distraction could get everyone killed.
Still, having something useful to do would give me less time to think about making out my will. That was a subject I wasn’t particularly in the mood to dwell on.
[Sunrise!]
Karsh’s mental command jerked me out of my reverie. [Yes, Karsh.]
[The two couplets are occupied with monitoring and evading the attacking ships. In a moment I will need you to release the decoys.]
Ships? Plural? Shit! I confess, I panicked again. The walls seemed to close in on me. How the hell did I get in the middle of a civil war? How was I going to get out of it? I took a deep breath to clear my head. It didn�
��t help.
[Decoys? What decoys? Release them how? I don’t know what you want me to do!]
The fear threatened to overwhelm me. I’m not a coward. I’ve faced down armed criminals, I’ve even been shot at—more than once. But talk about being out of your element. This was all new to me and I didn’t know how to handle it.
[Be calm, Sunrise. I will explain. First, you will need to grip the wall of the ship. Anywhere will do. Get a firm grip, with both hands.]
I did as he instructed. It seemed silly, but anything was better than hovering and panicking. [Okay. Now what?]
[Wait.]
[Wait? For what?] The ship went into a steep dive, then spiraled to the right. A sharp shove from the left rocked the ship. [Oh.]
[Sunrise, you must open your mind to the ship. Focus on seeing the whole. Let the ship guide you. You will know what to do.]
[Focus on— Let the ship— What are you talking about? I’m not telepathic; I can’t do all that. I’m barely able to carry on a conversation with you, and only because you’re doing most of the work.]
[Trust me. Close your eyes. Concentrate on the ship. See the whole. Focus on the center.]
[I don’t—] A large jolt almost broke my grip on the ship. It was the closest blast yet. I squeezed harder. [Okay, fine.]
It was clear that if we didn’t do something, we’d be rummaging through Davy Jones’ locker at any moment.
I felt like an idiot, but I closed my eyes. How do you “see the whole”? What “center” was I supposed to focus on? It all seemed like new-age mumbo-jumbo to me. Was he going to mention “pyramid power” next? Feng shui? Under other circumstances, I might have suspected Karsh of being some sort of flim-flam artist, trying to con me out of my pension. How was I supposed to “concentrate on the ship”?
I began by noticing the texture of the spongy, almost fleshy, material gripped in my fingers, feeling the warmth. An instant later I became aware of a sensation of pent up energy pulsating beneath my fingers. I narrowed my attention further and sensed the energy extending throughout the walls of the chamber. It was like a giant spider web, radiating outward from my hands. It extended further, from this chamber to the adjoining ones, and then beyond, to the rest of the ship.
Sunrise Destiny Page 10
