“Stop squirming, Sivvy!” she yelled.
One of Mitsuki’s arms was tucked between Siv and Bishop, who was still strapped to Siv’s back. Her other arm pinned him across the chest. Her long fingernails dug deep into the fabric of his bodysuit.
Jetpack roaring, wings outspread, Mitsuki whipped her way between buildings, zigging and zagging while climbing steadily higher. Siv had seen her do this before. She would climb high, then dive to pick up speed and escape her pursuers. At the last moment, she would dart into a second-floor apartment she owned, a garage she rented, or an abandoned warehouse in the slums. Mitsuki owned at least a dozen safe houses.
“Welcome back, sir.”
“What’s going on, Silkster?”
“A tac team’s after us.”
Bishop moaned as he came to his senses, then yelped as another plasma bolt zipped past them.
“So far Mitsuki hasn’t been able to shake them using her usual techniques, sir.”
“She’s still got her patented dive maneuver.”
“She does, sir, but the cops are rather determined. They’ve called in three more tac teams for support. They’ll try to corner her.”
“’Nevolence. Do they think we’re reapers?”
“Maybe, sir. Least ways, they seem to know Mitsuki by reputation. I’m sure they’d love to finally bag her.”
Mitsuki swooped around another corner, caught an updraft, and soared upward. That much Siv was comfortable with. What made him nervous was how her left wingtip nearly brushed the side of the building. They were so close that Siv spotted a man through a window pulling on red underpants.
I don’t remember her hugging buildings so tightly before.
The tac team’s skimmer has a plasma cannon, sir.
Ah, that made sense. They’d never risk firing the big gun if civilians were at risk. That limited them to carefully aimed plasma shots, or neural disruptor blasts if they got close enough. It was lucky the police didn’t have guided round ammunition. Only the military had access to those.
Siv shifted and winced. At least three of his ribs were cracked, maybe more. Every breath hurt like hell. He looked at Mitsuki. She met his eyes.
“You okay?” he asked.
“For now.”
“I owe you big time for this.”
“Yeah you do.” A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “And you know what I want in return…”
He winced again, but not because of his ribs. Mitsuki’s services were expensive, but sometimes money wasn’t enough. And she'd always had a bit of a crush on Siv.
Bishop moaned and rubbed his head. “Where are—ack!”
“It’s okay, Bishop.”
Mitsuki cut around another corner, and two plasma bolts blazed past them.
“Well, relatively okay,” Siv amended.
Bishop noted Mitsuki. “Hello, madam. Thank’s for rescuing us.”
“You’re welcome,” she replied calmly.
Chief among Mitsuki’s talents was her supreme unflappability. Zooming between buildings with the police firing at her just didn’t rattle her.
Bishop was enraptured. “You are stunning, madam. From far away you looked awesome, but up close…you’re a true beauty.”
“Aren’t you a sweet thing,” she said.
She had a deep, sultry voice, and Bishop smiled goofily in response. Then he frowned. “That’s the cops pursuing us?”
Siv nodded.
“And we can’t shake them?”
“That’s the gist of it,” Siv said.
“Give me your disruptor. I’ve an idea.”
Siv drew the pistol and reached it over his shoulder. The gizmet immediately set to work removing the power pack.
A plasma bolt crackled toward them then—blam! A burst of light flared behind them. Suddenly they dipped five meters, and Mitsuki struggled to stay level as her engine sputtered.
“A plasma shot struck Mitsuki’s jetpack, sir.”
“I figured that out for myself, thanks.”
Smoke belched out of the jetpack as they continued to lose speed and altitude.
“How bad is it?” Siv asked.
“Only one way out now,” Mitsuki lamented. “Buckle up, boys. I’m going to nova-blast!”
Bishop clutched himself tight to Siv’s back with one hand while the other fiddled with the antigrav belt. Siv took a deep, painful breath and closed his eyes.
The jetpack cut out, and they plummeted. Had Mitsuki’s gambit failed? Maybe the pack was too damaged…
Suddenly Mitsuki snapped her wings tight against her side, and a shimmering rad-shield, designed to deflect heat and radiation, deployed around them. With a blast of white-hot fire, the jetpack roared back to life and took off like an Ancient Earth space rocket. The pack shook until Siv worried his teeth might fall out. His HUD flickered as the heat intensified and the air around them turned hazy. His eardrums ached.
Then, with plasma bursts zipping past them, they zoomed into the sky with enough g-force to shove Siv’s eyeballs into the back of his head. Mitsuki grunted and cursed. Bishop whimpered before he passed out.
Jetpack burning bright, they rocketed above the city’s tallest buildings, leaving the police skimmer to eat their copious exhaust.
Siv nearly blacked out as well, but then his antigrav belt kicked in and reduced the g-force to something approaching acceptable. Bishop must have somehow managed to exchange the power pack in Siv’s disruptor with the one in his antigrav belt. He had to admit that the gizmet's skills were impressive. Now he could feel his stomach and his broken ribs crushing against his spine.
“Okay, sir?”
“You can read my vitals better than I can.”
“Just trying…to be empathic…sir.”
The shaking from the jetpack was causing Silky’s voice to break up.
“Sorry, Silkster. I’m just hurting.”
“I can release…painkiller into your…system, sir.”
“I think you’d better save it.” Siv gazed worriedly at the city far below them. “We’ve got to come back down at some point, and it might be a rough landing.”
Sweat poured off Siv’s brow. While his inside bits were being squished his outside bits were roasting.
“How long will your rad-shield last?” he shouted.
“Not much…longer!” Mitsuki replied.
“We’ll be cooked if that fails!” Siv yelled back.
“Pack won’t last…long enough for…that!”
“That's very comforting, isn't it, sir.”
Bishop came to as the city became a bright circle below them, with an array of freeway tentacles snaking out from it. They were over the city’s outskirts, and there wasn't a cop in sight.
The rocket engine sputtered once…twice…then went out. Mitsuki tapped several switches on her harness. The jetpack fell free and tumbled away. She snapped her wings out and dropped the heat shield.
“That engine could hit someone!” Bishop yelled.
Siv felt a stab of guilt, having not even considered the implication. The life of a procurement specialist too often compromised his ethics and empathy.
Mitsuki gave Bishop an icy stare. Then the jet pack exploded below them.
“I’m not…a monster,” she said testily.
“Sorry,” the gizmet responded.
Mitsuki moaned and nosedived, just as Siv’s blood had started to flow normally again.
“You okay?!” Bishop asked, echoing Siv’s concerns.
“Plasma shot…to the hip…” she grunted as they plummeted. “And you two are…heavier than you look!” With an obvious effort, she altered the angle of her wings so they leveled out of the dive. “I’ll last as long as…that antigrav you’re wearing…I think…maybe…”
“I’m already making adjustments based on our speed and angle of descent, and the energy remaining in the pack, sir. I think it’ll last, as long as she keeps her current course and speed.”
“Silky is regulating the antigrav. He
says keep true and maintain this speed.”
“I’ll...do what I can.”
“Use the highest scan necessary to monitor her health.”
“On it, sir.”
As they sped back toward the ground, Siv tried not to think about splatting. “Bishop, how’d you switch those power packs out so fast—and with one hand?”
The gizmet half-shrugged, more concerned with Mitsuki than anything else. “I switch power packs out a dozen times a day at work, then I come home and do the same. On all sorts of devices. I’m used to it.”
“Handy skill. Do we have any other devices that you could steal power packs from?”
Bishop thought for a moment and patted himself down before answering. "Sorry, no."
Moonlit lakes sparkled below them. Fields, orchards, and forests flashed swiftly by like indecipherable text scrolling across a broken screen.
Siv had never been this far east of the city before. His trips had always taken him south and west, especially west. He had always felt drawn toward the wasteland over the mountains. He had no idea why. There was nothing out there but miles of desert dotted with ruins of little interest.
“Sir, she’s fading.”
“Mitsuki?” Siv asked, looking into her face. “You okay?”
Her eyes rolled as she tried to speak, then they fluttered closed. Her wings sagged backward, and again she dived sharply. The antigrav wasn’t going to hold out long enough. They were going to crash—and hard.
Siv scanned the ground, looking for anything that might break their fall and save their necks. He spotted a glint of moonlight on water. “Can we make it to that lake?”
“We’ll smack into a field a few kilometers short, sir.”
“Hey! Is this a sensor array on your shoulder?” Bishop yelled into Siv’s ear.
“Yes, but the power pack’s built-in! You have to charge the device directly!”
“No matter!” Bishop responded. “Hold on!”
The gizmet fumbled into a pouch on his belt. He took out a thick, coiled wire with a coin-sized, magnetic disc on each end. “Fasten this to the outside of the power pack on your antigrav belt!”
After a few fumbling attempts, Siv managed to pop open the hatch on the side of his antigrav belt and stuck the magnetic disc to the power pack. “Got it!”
“I don’t have time to ground it!” Bishop shouted. “And since I can’t reach the actual power pack…we might feel a…bit…of a charge!”
“Just do it!”
Bishop tapped something. A thrumming pulse reverberated down the wire. Then Siv jerked as the current ran through him. His joints started aching, his extremities went numb, every hair on his body stood on end, and a coppery taste filled his mouth and nostrils. Bishop stiffened beside him.
But the antigrav’s power meter climbed, and their fall slowed dramatically.
“Making the proper adjustments, sir. This will…only take…a few…”
His HUD filled with static, flickered, then blinked out.
“Silkster?”
No response. Silky was out of commission, which meant there was no way to regulate the antigrav to compensate for their speed and angle of descent. They’d have to hope for the best.
Mitsuki’s wings remained mostly extended despite her unconsciousness. He could only guess it was a physical response to their falling, or perhaps an innate ability wakyrans had evolved, or been given, for situations just like this.
As they closed in on the lake, every inch of Siv’s body went numb. It occurred to him that if all this current running through them didn't fry them before they hit the ground, then at least maybe it meant he wouldn’t feel any pain when they crashed.
Zaaaap!
Siv and Bishop jerked hard as an intense, crackling charge pulsed down the wire. The converter discs on both ends gave a loud pop and released trails of acidic smoke.
Siv was left aching and gasping. A triple-note chime sounded as Silky began his reboot sequence. But Siv didn’t need Silky or his heads-up display to know that power was again rapidly draining out of the antigrav. They were dropping fast. The ground rushed toward them even as the lake drew closer and closer. He ran a quick mental calculation and came up woefully short. They’d plow into the earth at least ten meters short of the water. Even if his estimate was off and they did reach the edge of the lake, they wouldn’t survive hitting the shallows at their current speed.
Siv reached into his bodysuit, grasped the ceramic amulet his dad had given him, and closed his eyes, ready for death.
Chapter Fifteen
Siv Gendin
Siv didn’t smack into the earth.
At the last moment he was wrenched upward, as if his antigrav belt had kicked in with more than a full charge.
As he opened his eyes, Mitsuki unleashed an ear-piercing wail and, with a loud crack, fully extended her wings. They swooped over the shadowy lake, skipped once like a rock, then plunged into the cold water.
Siv struggled to stay conscious. The sudden jerk followed by the impact with the lake’s surface had rendered him dizzy and confused, knocking the breath out of his lungs and sending shockwaves of pain outward from his broken ribs. In the dark water, he couldn't even tell which way was up. And no matter which way he moved, his and Bishop's equipment tangled his limbs.
He had no idea where Mitsuki was either. The impact had ripped them from her grasp. But the gizmet was still holding on to him for dear life.
Finally, Siv caught a distorted glimpse of the moon in the water's surface. He was deeper than he'd hoped, and in this condition swimming back up wasn’t going to be easy. Grabbing a handful of Bishop's shirt, he tugged it in the direction of the surface. Instead of letting go and starting to swim, the gizmet simply clung to Siv's back. He tried again to signal Bishop what he should do, but the gizmet simply refused to let go. Lungs burning, Siv tried to pry Bishop off him.
“Sir…what the heck’s going on?”
“I’m drowning!”
Siv swam as hard as he could, but with every weakened stroke of his arms pain pierced his ribs. He was getting nowhere.
“This stupid gizmet’s weighing me down. He's going to drown us both. Why won’t he let go?!”
“Sir, you’re delirious.”
“I’ll be dead soon, if I can’t get Bishop to—”
“Bishop’s unconscious, sir. Probably drowning.”
“Then why hasn’t he let go?”
“Because he’s strapped to you with a restraining harness. The catch is on your chest. It’s been there the whole time. You can’t miss it.”
The restraining harness…of course. He wasn’t thinking clearly. The impact with the water had knocked him loopy. He tried to rally his thoughts. Focus. Don’t panic. You didn’t hit the earth and die. You won’t drown now. Everything will be okay.
Siv fumbled at the catch to the harness. You’ve just got to…focus…and then…and then…
“Sir! Are you with me? You need to…”
Despite being projected directly into his mind, Silky’s voice faded into the background.
The water was no longer cold, or threatening. A smile creased Siv’s face as he drifted down into the depths of the lake, content in the water’s embrace. He hadn’t felt this happy since he’d been a little child. Who knew dying would be such a relief?
Warmth spread out from his father’s amulet. Something green glimmered in the black water. As it grew larger, approaching them, the glow resolved into a ghostly figure. Siv easily recognized the apparition, despite its haziness. It was his father, Gav Gendin.
“Dad! Have you come to take me to…the beyond?”
“Siv, you need to wake up. You’re drowning.”
“But I feel happy…truly happy…for the first time since…since you died.”
“Death will not give you what you seek.”
“But I want to stay here with you!” Siv argued. “I want to go into the beyond, to be with you and Mom.”
“You will not find me
in death, Siv. Besides, you are needed in the realm of the living. Something extraordinary has happened. There’s been an awakening. Here on Ekaran IV.”
“An awakening?” Siv asked in confusion.
“Yes, my son. A hyperphasic messiah. And they will come for her. You must protect her. She needs your help.”
A hyperphasic messiah here? None of this made any sense. But maybe it wasn’t supposed to. Maybe death was just an endless parade of the sort of whimsical dreams one experienced during every night of sleep.
“Siv, my starship—”
“The Outworld Ranger?”
“Yes, take the hyperphasic messiah to the ship. High Priestess Lyoolee Syryss is there. She will know how to help her. Fly them both far away from here, as far and fast as you can.” His father reached a hand out and touched Siv’s forehead. “They need you.”
With a sudden jolt, Siv came to his senses. His limbs jerked as he panicked, realizing he had no air left to breathe.
Silky was screaming. “Wake up, sir! Wake up!”
Siv hit the release on the harness, and the gizmet fell from his back. Siv reached out to him, then withdrew. Save yourself first. Then try to help him. Otherwise, you’ll both die.
Siv twisted out of his coat as he swam upward. His head broke the surface. Lungs burning, ribs aching, he raked in deep gasps of air. As soon as he felt like he could handle it, he dived back down. He twisted one way then another, searching for Bishop.
“Sir, I’ve picked him up with my sensors. Follow the target path in your HUD.”
Siv swam to the gizmet. Though it had only taken a few moments to get this far, Siv was already struggling for air again. He grabbed the gizmet’s hand and pulled. He barely made any headway.
“What the hell’s wrong?”
“Perhaps the pack of tools and equipment strapped to his back, sir.”
Siv fumbled with the harness. The backpack released and dropped into the darkness. Siv cursed. What in the hell did Bishop have in there?
“We probably could’ve landed more softly if the antigrav hadn’t had to compensate for all that weight.”
“I’m not certain it would’ve made all that much difference, sir.”
Siv couldn’t help the gizmet anymore. He thrust himself back toward the surface. Again, he gasped for air. He did his best to get back down quickly. He knew Bishop's life was in danger, but it took several more painful breaths this time before he could return.
Rogue Starship: The Benevolency Universe (Outworld Ranger Book 1) Page 11
