“Where are my people?” Kane asked.
“That is the question: Where are your people?”
Again, he watched Kane’s face. Kane took a little too long to prepare a response. Even milliseconds were significant to Atticus.
“Leevee must have got them,” Kane said.
“Leevee? Who’s Leevee?”
“The leviathan, the sea serpent. The backup team obviously didn’t get past her. I can only guess that she knocked them off their boat and it washed ashore.”
Atticus paused to consider this. A backup team was logical based on the poor odds of success facing the original rescue team. It was something that he had not considered, and he now added it to his Tactics file. But the leviathan would have destroyed the boat. He decided Kane was lying; it was a ploy, a diversion. A thought flitted through his mind, and it pleased him. He was in control here.
“Yes, of course. Leevee must have splashed them off the boat, eaten them, and then pushed the boat to shore. After all, she thought you might need it for an escape.”
Kane’s brief facial expression was subtle but clear: he had been caught lying. Atticus felt confirmed in his suspicion; Kane was trying to manipulate him.
“Rakaan!” Atticus called out.
“Yes, Atticus,” came the reply from the amphitheater stage.
“Now is a good time.”
Rakaan walked across the stage and stood directly in front of Thorin. At the top of the amphitheater, Kane tried to break away from the hostage group. Expecting this, Atticus grabbed his arm in a crushing grip. Several Breakers rushed in to assist, and Atticus motioned for additional guards to encircle the hostages. Kane fought vigorously until Thorin called out.
“Kane. Stop.”
He stopped struggling and looked at Thorin, intense concern on his face. Atticus watched, once again enjoying the chain of reactions he had set in motion.
“Yes, Kane, stop,” Rakaan said. “This is Thorin’s special time. Please don’t rob him of the attention; your time will come soon enough.” Rakaan turned to address the crowd of Breakers assembled in the ampitheater.
“While Atticus is a student of human psychology, I am a student of human physiology. I am curious to know things . . . like how hard a metallic hand can strike a human face without killing them.” Rakaan backhanded Thorin with a vicious blow to his cheek.
The hostages gasped and Mhara turned her face away. Kane groaned. Thorin’s head dropped forward, and fresh blood drooled from his mouth.
“Mr. Kane,” Atticus said, “perhaps you now have another recollection of the second boat?”
“I had no idea there was a second boat. And I have no idea what their plan is or where they could be. Please stop this.”
“Rakaan, you may continue,” Atticus called out.
Rakaan scooped up a cup of water from a basin nearby, lifted Thorin’s chin, and splashed his face to rouse him. “Still with me?” he asked. Thorin opened his eyes. “I see,” Rakaan said overly loud, “that the soft tissue and the socket structure of the facial bones allow him to absorb a fairly heavy blow from the side of the face. How about somewhere with no bones, say, the stomach.”
Rakaan stepped back and spun, landing the heel of his foot in Thorin’s stomach, but pulling the kick just enough to keep from killing him. Chained as he was, Thorin could not double over and fall to the ground, but his body slumped forward as far as the chains would allow. Mhara started weeping. Kane’s face creased with pain.
Atticus spoke again. “Humans are clever—you in particular, Mr. Kane. There is a second boat, so there has to be a second plan. Now would be a good time to share it with me. You could save your friend.”
“I told you, I really don’t know anything about the second boat. It’s something the command center has done without our knowledge. Our plan was to escape on the boat we came on. I would save Thorin if I could. Please, stop this,” he pleaded.
Atticus was beginning to believe that Kane was telling the truth. Now he was perplexed. A new empathic program launched in the recesses of his system, urging him to acknowledge that the humans knew they were helpless . . . and that was enough stress to apply. He considered his options and shut down the empathic program, deciding it did not matter if Kane was telling the truth or not. This was not a time to show mercy; it was a time to emphasize his control. And, he admitted to himself, there was a part of him that was enjoying Rakaan’s little show.
“Too bad,” he said, to no one in particular. “I would have liked to get to know Thorin.” Then he waved to Rakaan.
Rakaan addressed the crowd. “My fellow free Mekens! You see how weak these humans are. Why did we ever think that we needed to serve them? They should serve us! And that is how it will be in the new Meken order—if we allow them to exist at all.”
Thorin mumbled something and Rakaan turned.
“What? Do you have something to say?”
Thorin mumbled again, spitting blood.
“Speak up!”
“This is not your destiny,” Thorin said, loud enough for the assembly to hear.
Rakaan growled and then roared, “I choose my own destiny. And you will not be in it!”
Rakaan raised his clenched fist into the air, and a stiletto blade sprang from between his knuckles. With another roar, Rakaan brought the blade down in a sweeping trajectory aimed at Thorin’s heart.
In that same instant, a visible pulse reverberated through the plaza. Instantly, everything froze in place. Atticus couldn’t move, but he could still see, and he saw Rakaan and the stiletto blade frozen in mid-thrust. Then, a second pulse washed through the plaza just before everything went black.
26
Day 5
1300 hours
Tower plaza, Alto Mair
“Kane, wake up.” Someone was shaking his shoulder. “Kane.”
He cracked his eyelids and found Mhara leaning over him. The back of his head throbbed where it had struck the plaza floor.
“Kane, we’ve got to get to the boat. I need your help.”
Then it came back to him—a picture that would be forever etched in his mind—a knife blade frozen in midair, just inches from Thorin’s chest. He sat up quickly, and his head spun. “What—”
“It was a suspension wave, and it knocked us all out. The Breakers are still down, but they won’t be for long. We have to get to the boat while there’s time.”
“Thorin?”
“He is badly injured.
Kane rolled to his knees and pushed himself up. Robots lay on the ground, strewn all over the plaza; none were moving. On the amphitheater stage, Thorin had been freed from his chains. Rhogan was kneeling next to him.
“How much time do we have before the Breakers wake?”
“Thirty minutes, maybe forty, depending on the depth of the suspension. This one felt deep, probably intended to give us as much time as possible. Someone back home is definitely looking out for us.”
“Gather everyone up here. I’ll go help with Thorin.”
Rhogan met Kane at the edge of the stage. “He’s pretty bad. I’m certain he has internal injuries. And there’s a discolored swelling on the side of his neck with multiple puncture wounds; it looks like a bite.”
Kane knelt beside Thorin; he was pale. “You’re one tough fella.”
“More lucky. I can’t believe I’m still alive.”
“Yeah, that was way too close. Can you stand?”
Thorin tried to push himself up, grimaced, and fell back. Kane motioned to Rhogan, and they each took a side, lifting from under his arms. Thorin couldn’t straighten up, fighting severe pain in his midsection. He took a few steps and then collapsed.
“This isn’t going to work. We need something to carry him.”
“No, go without me. You don’t have much time. I’m putting everyone at risk.”
“Not gonna happen, buddy. You’re comin’ out with us.” Kane looked around. “Rhogan. See that bench over there? See if you can pry off one of those slats.”
&nb
sp; Rhogan found a metal bar in a transport cart and used it to pry off a two-by-four-sized slat about four feet long. Sitting on the slat, Thorin draped his arms over Kane and Rhogan’s shoulders as they lifted the slat and carried him to Mhara and the others at the top of the amphitheater.
“We’ve got a problem,” Tygert said when they reached him. “Super 3’s out cold, and there’s no way we can carry him to the boat. If we leave him, he’s as good as dead.”
“We can hide him downstairs,” Mhara said. “If we get out in time, they’ll think we took him with us. When he wakes, he will at least have a chance.”
It took all four men to carry Super 3, but they carried him out of the plaza and down the same stairwell that Mhara had taken to the laundry area. They left him in a dark room behind some equipment and regathered at the top of the stairwell. Mhara led them out of the plaza and across the floor of the central mall, stepping around fallen Breakers. Carrying Thorin was heavy work, so Tygert and Javier swapped with Kane and Rhogan at regular intervals. When they entered the main tunnel that would take them directly to the wharf, Mhara pulled Kane aside. “At this pace, it will be close.”
Kane sent her and the other girls ahead to find the boat. Fifteen minutes later they all met up at the end of the tunnel, their eyes adjusting to the bright sunlight.
“The boat’s tied off a hundred yards to the right,” Mhara said. “Captain, I’d like for you to come with me. The rest of you go to the water’s edge, and we’ll come to pick you up.”
Kane scanned the wharf; Breakers were scattered all about. A quarter mile to his left were several forklifts, probably used to move the rhaji from the day before. He checked the tunnel behind them; it was clear. The boat engine roared to life. At the helm, Mhara pulled away from the wharf as Tygert rolled a Breaker off the boat’s deck and into the water.
Laura yelled from behind him, “They’re waking up.” She pointed to the tunnel entrance, where a Breaker was tottering, trying to stand. Then it stumbled forward, looking drunk and disoriented. When it reached them, Rhogan and Charly simply stepped aside, letting it pass. On the edge of the wharf, it paused, just within Rhogan’s reach, as if uncertain what to do next. Rhogan gave it a shove. But then, unexpectedly, the Breaker twisted and caught Charly’s wrist in its hand, and they fell together. Her scream was cut off as she disappeared into the water.
Rhogan instantly dove after them. A second later, Kane followed. The water was murky and, even in the bright sunlight, Kane found it difficult to see. Knowing the Breaker would sink like a rock, taking Charly to the bottom, he stroked his way straight down. As the water pressure built in his ears, he started swimming in a circular search pattern. But he hadn’t taken a good breath before diving, and he quickly ran out of oxygen. With his lungs screaming, he thrust his way back to the surface and gulped for air. He heard splashing nearby.
“I got her.” It was Rhogan, with Charly next to him, their heads bobbing in the water. Mhara pulled the boat alongside, and Tygert helped them board. Kane swam to the wharf. As soon as he was out of the water, he grabbed the two-by-four slat they had used to carry Thorin.
“Everyone, on the boat now!” he yelled. Then he strode toward the tunnel entrance where half a dozen Breakers were coming his way. They were unsteady, but deliberate. Kane set his feet like a batter at home plate and met the lead Breaker with a blow to the side of its head. He struck two more with savage swings; then he twisted and sidestepped just out of the reach of a fourth, who tried to grab him.
“Mhara, go!” he yelled back toward the boat. Two Breakers converged on him. Swinging the two-by-four low, he swiped the legs out from under one. As the other reached for his throat, it was suddenly jerked away. Gripping the Breaker from behind, Tygert flung it into another incoming Breaker, and the two tumbled to the ground.
“Time to go, hero,” he said, helping Kane up.
A fresh group of Breakers were now gathering themselves for a coordinated attack. With running leaps, Kane and Tygert dove off the wharf, then swam to the boat waiting twenty yards out. As soon as they were on board, Mhara accelerated away from the city. Lying on the deck, Kane watched as a stream of Breakers poured out of the main tunnel and gathered at the water’s edge. Knowing there was no quick way for them to follow, he allowed himself a moment to relax.
“Kane,” Mhara said, kneeling beside him, “are you OK?”
He sat up, dripping water. “Yeah, I’m good. Tygert?”
“I’m here,” Tygert called from the other side of the boat.
Kane waved a hand to him. “Thanks.”
He nodded back. “We may be out of the fryin’ pan, but we’ve jumped into the fire.” Mhara gave him a questioning look. “It’s a saying we have on Earth. It’s about going from one bad situation directly into another.”
“What do you mean?”
“Leevee.”
Kane looked around the boat for weapons; there were none. The command center had sent it without armament. “How do you think they got the boat to us?”
Mhara pointed to a metal box attached underneath the boat’s control panel. “I think it’s a remote control device. There was never anyone on this boat.”
“But they got it here,” Tygert said. “Which means they figured out a way to get past Leevee.”
The engine stopped abruptly and the boat coasted.
“What’s going on?” Charly asked.
At the helm, Rhogan tried to restart the engine; there was no response. He tried several more times while working various switches and levers. It was dead.
“There’s no power,” he said.
“Is it out of gas?” Charly asked.
“Gas? Oh, you mean fuel. It runs on energy cells. We have full sunlight; there is plenty of energy available. It’s just not drawing from its power supply.”
“These boats have been out of commission a long time,” Tygert said. “Maybe it’s a system problem.”
“No,” Mhara said. “The builders are master technicians. They would not have sent us a boat prone to mechanical failure.”
“They didn’t have much time, Mhara.”
“Maybe it’s this device,” she said in frustration. “Maybe we should disconnect it?”
Kane looked back at the wharf. They were about a mile out, which meant they were near the outer edge of the underwater shelf. It wouldn’t be long before the Breakers organized their subs and came out to get them.
“There’s a breeze,” Tygert said, looking around the boat. “Maybe we could rig a sail.”
“Look,” Laura said suddenly, pointing directly overhead.
Hovering several hundred feet above them was a silver Meken aircraft. As they gazed upward, the boat suddenly jolted forward, and several of them almost fell down. Soundlessly, their boat moved into the deeper ocean waters and the aircraft followed from above. Kane went to the bow of the boat.
“We’re being towed. It’s gotta be a submersible.”
Rhogan whooped, “Yes!” and waved at the plane above. “Take us home!”
When it dawned on the others that they were being rescued, they erupted with cheers. Kane felt two arms wrap around him from behind and give him a squeeze. He twisted around to find Mhara smiling up at him.
“Thank you,” she said.
“For what? I didn’t do anything.”
“You are a believer; you give us all courage to believe.”
In his peripheral vision, Kane saw Charly give Rhogan an exuberant hug. Rhogan didn’t return the gesture but stood awkwardly. He looked around until he caught Kane’s eyes.
“He just saved her life,” Mhara said. “Rhogan will take great care with her. But he will maintain his reserve until you give him your consent.”
“My consent?” Kane looked back to Rhogan, who was clearly uncomfortable not knowing how to respond to Charly’s joy. Kane sighed, then nodded back to him. Rhogan’s eyes widened, and he sent a second questioning look, double-checking the message. Kane answered by scooping up Mhara and l
ifting her off her feet.
Rhogan’s face lit up and he followed suit. Lifting Charly at the waist, he spun her around playfully while she laughed.
“We’re going home,” Mhara said, also laughing.
Home. Kane wondered what the word meant anymore.
27
Day 5
1330 hours
Underneath the central mall, Alto Mair
Supervisor 3 awoke confused—both entirely new experiences for a Meken who never slept and had never known confusion. Lying in complete darkness on a hard, damp floor, his processors were lethargic. He lay still, letting his system recover. A few minutes later he recalled his last memory: a suspension wave reverberating through the Tower Plaza. As his logic processor came online, he deduced that his human companions had deliberately hidden him here and then likely attempted to escape from the city without him. He felt no resentment at this thought—just the opposite, in fact: he was grateful they had taken precious time to hide him away and give him a chance to survive.
On his feet now, he discovered he was in an underground level, probably not far from the Tower Plaza. With the exception of dripping water, it was silent, even from above, which meant that the Breakers were probably still unconscious.
He reviewed his options. For an escape, he should exit the city immediately, hide in the jungle, and try to find a way back to Alto Raun. Far riskier, he could attempt to hide inside the city. Unexpectedly, his empathic program activated and deliberately interfaced with the logic program he was running. Recalling the daring rescues recently executed by Tygert and Kane, it struck him that their plans were not dictated solely based on risk, but by an overarching purpose. Suddenly, for Super 3, his stranding among the Breakers turned from a liability into an opportunity.
He proceeded to use whatever dirt, grease, and grime he could find to disguise himself as a Breaker. Then he ran up the stairwells, through a hallway at the base of the tower, and into the central mall. He was relieved to find that only a few Breakers were starting to stir. Hugging the tower wall, he made his way to the far side of the mall, scanning the floor, looking for an opportunity to blend in. As he went, he snatched several ornamental accessories from unconscious Breakers and attached them to his body. A line of fallen Breakers caught his attention; each lay beside a transport cart carrying assorted metals and mechanical parts; they were obviously a hard labor crew. He dropped to the floor and crawled to the Breaker at the end of the crew line. He connected his fingertip to a receptacle in the Breaker’s chest, but its system was still offline and he was unable to download any memories. He made a quick decision and terminated the Breaker with a system overload. As others around him started to wake, he made one final preparation: he turned his eye color from white to blue. Then he lay still and waited.
The Last City (The Ahlemon Saga Book 1) Page 22
