by T. M. Catron
They hurried along, looking for any recognizable landmarks. Finally, they found a street they’d used a day ago. Rance could hardly believe it had taken that long to get back here. But her tired, bruised body reminded her at every step.
After they had turned down the street, they encountered crowds of wanderers fleeing other parts of the city. Although they couldn’t see the fires, smoke drifted around the buildings on the wind. More ships passed overhead, cruising slowly now. They followed the crowds, heading in the same general direction.
“Wonder where they’re all heading?” Rance asked.
“The Senate building, looks like,” Moira said.
They still hadn’t seen Abel, Tania, or Sonya. Rance kept her eyes on the crowds, in part to find Abel, and in part to spot trouble.
“At least the sirens aren’t blaring anymore.”
They passed a working screen taking up the whole side of a building. It displayed footage of the pirates landing, along with a message to go to the Senate.
“No reason, though,” Solaris said. “That doesn’t bode well.”
“Looks like people are doing it.”
“They don’t have much choice. Their homes were burned.”
Rance swallowed the fear building and concentrated on their goal—to get to the Star Streaker. She opened a private channel and tried hailing James again. Just as before—no answer, not even static. Her comm must have busted in the tunnel below. If only Rance could talk to him, she’d feel better. She sighed and walked as fast as her body would allow.
They saw the first group of pirates in the street, herding Prometheus’ citizens toward the Senate building. Rance, Solaris, and Moira stayed in the middle of the crowd, careful not to make eye contact with anyone. They weren’t likely to be recognized, but they didn’t want to be stopped, either.
Rance wondered what had happened to all the people below. Had water burst through everywhere? She doubted it. The river would have only flooded some of the most damaged sections. Would the pirates go down there and get people out? Probably. Eventually. When all that was left would be bodies.
Finally, the crowd bottlenecked in the street, and Rance peered over heads to see what was happening.
“We’ve got a problem,” she said a minute later. “Checkpoint. They’re making people identify themselves.”
“How?”
“Looks like retinal scan.”
“Fantastic,” Solaris said in a voice that indicated he thought it anything but.
“Oh no,” Moira said. She hadn’t spoken in over an hour.
“What?” Rance asked.
“They can’t figure out who I am.” She gripped Rance’s sleeve again. Rance winced. Her sore body needed to be handled gently, not pinched.
“They don’t need to figure out who any of us are,” Rance said, thinking of her father and the ten million credits he would pay anybody who found his daughter, pirate or no.
“You don’t understand, Dev—Rance. My husband was quite outspoken against the pirates. He supported torture and the death penalty for them. If they find out who I am—”
Rance glanced at Moira, who seemed about to hyperventilate again, and whispered to Solaris, “Will a retina scan reveal your true identity?”
Solaris took a deep breath. “I can disguise us. All of us. It won’t be easy though. And once I do that, I’ll be too drained to fight much. I still haven’t fully recovered from our landing.”
“Our magical landing. As soon as we get out of this, I want you to tell me how you did that.”
“If I told you exactly how your eyes would glaze over.”
“Try me, just once.”
“Okay, I will. When we get out of this mess.”
“Deal.”
Feeling calmer, Rance strode ahead through the crowd, keeping an eye out for Abel. Finally, she spotted him standing next to Tania at the edge of the crowd.
“About time,” she said, and elbowed her way through disgruntled noblemen and their assistants.
Abel’s weapons had disappeared. Like everyone else, his face was bloodied and bruised—how had that happened inside his helmet? His armor had huge dents in it. Likely they would have to pry him out of it later. Tania was pale and quietly held onto his arm.
“Abel!” Rance said, smiling.
Abel forced a smile when he saw her. “Hey, boss.”
Rance ducked her head to whisper, “Roote is going to disguise us to get through. Where’s Sonya?”
Abel’s face paled. Tania stifled a sob.
“She didn’t make it, boss.”
“Didn’t make it?” Rance repeated, not sure she’d heard him correctly. A cold feeling washed over her. Moira covered her mouth with her hand. Solaris’ mouth pressed into a thin, hard line.
“I found her, but I was too late.” Abel cleared his throat. “She drowned.”
Rance’s eyes stung. Solaris had said they’d all got out. He’d been sure. A flash of anger shot through her, but she had nowhere to direct it.
Except at the pirates who were shouting at people to get a move on.
Abel looked horrified at the expression on Rance’s face. “I’m sorry, boss.”
“Not your fault, Abel.”
“If only we’d been faster—” Solaris began.
“It’s not your fault, either!” Rance snarled. “It’s their fault!”
She pointed at the pirates while her vision blurred at the edges. She didn’t know if it was the tears or her anger.
Solaris pulled out his staff and flicked it out to its full length. “They are a menace to the empire, but we cannot fight them here and now. Rance,” he pleaded, “we have to get out of here.”
But Rance’s face only grew hotter. The pirates were responsible for all of it. For the destruction of a beautiful city, for the death of an innocent woman. Prometheus may have had its share of corruption, but plenty of good, peaceful people lived here. How many had died? How many more would die before the nightmare was over?
“Devri,” Solaris whispered.
That got her attention. “I told you, don’t—”
“Look at me, please.”
Rance glared at him.
Solaris put a hand on each shoulder. His hands were warm, heavy. “You won’t avenge Sonya’s death by getting yourself killed. I know a bit about this, remember? Breathe.”
As he whispered the last word, an intense calm washed over Rance, and she felt like she had no choice but to do as he said. She took a few deep, calming breaths, expelling the anger from her body.
“What did you do to me?”
“Just something you wanted to do for yourself but couldn’t.”
Solaris was doing the same thing he’d done to Turkey. But he couldn’t be. She still knew where she was, still recognized her surroundings. Rance stared at Solaris.
The crowd jostled past, and someone bumped Rance’s shoulder. She winced in pain, suddenly aware again of others around her. Solaris removed his hands, then grabbed his staff. In a moment’s work, all five of them looked like completely different people. Even Solaris looked shorter than usual. Rance remembered him telling her that he never disguised his height because it took a lot of energy.
He was already draining his power. She couldn’t let it go to waste.
So, she pushed through the crowd, toward the checkpoint. The first guard waved her over. He was a brutish, smelly young man who would have been good looking if he’d had a bath recently. He held a small scanner up to Rance’s eyes and waited.
The scanner beeped, and a light turned green. “Varea ar noll,” he said. “City cleaner. Cleared.”
Rance had no idea who Varea ar noll was, nor how Solaris had stolen her retinal signature, but she breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped through the checkpoint. The others followed behind. Solaris, the last to be cleared, looked drawn and haggard.
Once clear, they hurried down the street, turning aside from the rest of the crowd, toward the Star Streaker.
“He
y!” someone called.
Rance glanced back and grimaced. One of the pirates had noticed them split off from the main crowd. He waved at them to move back into line. She pretended like she hadn’t seen him and kept walking.
But Abel, who had a rear camera in his helmet, said, “They’re following.”
With her injuries, Rance didn’t think she had the energy left to run. But when she looked back at the pirates and saw them running after them, she burst into a run too. The others followed.
More shouts from behind. With the effort to breathe, Rance’s ribs felt like they were trying to burst out her skin. She stumbled, but Abel caught her and they kept going. Then, he turned. Rance saw him stop and plant himself in the middle of the street behind the crew, preparing to face the pirates alone so the others could get away.
“No!” she cried and stopped with him. Moira and Tania ran past.
Solaris caught Rance’s arm to stop her from going after Abel.
“Let go!”
“I got him,” Solaris said. And then without another word, he ran toward the pirates, wielding his staff above his head like a two-handed sword. When he passed Abel, he swung the staff. This time, no purple bubble appeared, no visible wall of energy.
But the pirates were thrust backward like they’d been hit with a wrecking ball. They flew down the street and landed in a heap near the crowd. None of them moved. And Rance knew that without armor, few people could survive a blow like that.
Without waiting to find out the pirates’ fates, Solaris and Abel joined the others. They turned down a side street. As soon as they rounded the corner, they assumed their normal appearances. Although Solaris’ usual face wasn’t his true one, he adopted the usual disguise. His left eye was still swollen although the cut above his eyebrow had finally stopped bleeding. He panted heavily, his face ghostly white.
After getting her bearings, Rance assumed the lead. The Streaker was close, next to a park. She wouldn’t be able to see it if it were still disguised, but she remembered the tall, dark-faced building they’d landed next to. She scanned the area for a sign.
Then, she saw the building. No ship. Even though her brain told her it was hidden, her heart stopped at the sight of an empty place in front of the building. She held her breath.
“Is it still there?” she asked.
Solaris waved his hand, and the Star Streaker appeared in front of the building, intact and ready to go.
CHAPTER TEN
THE BEAUTIFUL BRONZE ship was the most welcome sight Rance had ever seen. Lit by the glow of a fire two streets over, her home shone even in the darkness. She checked the vicinity for trouble, but the way was clear. As they hurried to the ship, Solaris stumbled. Rance caught his arm and hauled him up. If only they could get to the door without trouble.
“Okay?” she asked. Although she supported Solaris, she too was about to collapse.
“Yep.”
But Solaris didn’t look okay, and Rance realized he’d been draining his power the entire time the ship had been disguised. For a whole day. Rance vowed to find better ways to disguise the crew in the future. Then she decided that in the future, she wouldn’t take on any jobs where disguises were required.
If they got out of this alive, she was going to start transporting illegal cappatters. No one attacked you for delivering squealing, cuddly pets.
As they reached the ship, the ramp lowered. Rance’s heart was beating loudly. They were almost home. Almost safe.
With almost everybody. Her heart wrenched when she saw Tally peering at them with his large, glowing green eyes. They stumbled onto the Streaker, collapsing onto the floor of the cargo bay. Rance kissed the cold metal for good measure. Then she rolled onto her back and looked up at Tally.
“Tell James to get us out of here, Tally.”
But Tally didn’t move. He always acknowledged her. Always. But now he stood there looking at Rance like he was afraid to tell her something. She propped herself up on her elbows.
“Tally? Where’s James?”
“He went out after Harper. I’d be out there too, but someone needed to be here if you needed help.” He looked at Moira. “Good to see you, my Lady.”
“And you, Tally.”
Solaris stood wearily to his feet. Rance hadn’t thought he had enough strength left, but he leaned on his staff and asked, “Why did Harper leave?”
“She was trying to figure out a way to boost communications. We wanted to be able to fly to you once you found Lady Moira.”
Rance struggled to stand. Every muscle in her body protested. But the panic she felt now tripled as she realized they’d have to go back out.
Solaris and Abel seemed to be thinking the same thing. Abel moved to the weapons locker to replace the ones he’d lost.
“I told everyone to stay on board!” Rance yelled as she went to get a gun of her own. For good measure, she grabbed two daggers and attached them with a belt.
“Yes, but Harper said she could get through the pirates’ jammers if she found the right spot on that building.”
Rance mashed the button to lower the ramp again. When it landed, she stomped off the ship. Abel and Solaris followed.
Out on the street, they fanned out once again, this time heading for the dark tower nearby.
“What was she thinking?” Rance fumed.
“She was trying to help, boss,” Abel said.
“She disobeyed a direct order,” Solaris said.
“Oh stuff it, Roote. This isn’t Unity.” Rance immediately chastised herself for losing her patience with Solaris. He was right. Harper had defied her even though it was to help.
“What do you think?” she asked after a minute. “Inside, or around?”
“If she was trying to get around the jammers, she would have wanted to go to the top of the building,” Solaris said.
“Then that’s what we’ll do.”
They hurried for the front steps, Solaris raising his staff in preparation for unlocking the door. Just then, someone yelled from an alleyway to the left.
Rance halted mid stride, listening. Abel nearly collided with her. Then she heard it again—a defiant cry, joined now by catcalling voices. As one, Rance, Solaris, and Abel changed course for the alley. As soon as they rounded the corner, Rance thanked her lucky stars they’d arrived when they did.
Harper was backed against a wall, her eyes scanning the faces of five men in front of her. Already a petite woman, she looked tiny in the shadow of the pirate thugs who carried small arms and lead pipes.
Harper’s eyes flashed in defiance as they closed in. She crouched low, ready to sprint for any opening they might give her.
Rance was furious, her tunnel vision returning. This time, she doubted Solaris would try to stop her from murdering the pirate scumbags. With the return of the tunnel vision, all weariness left her body, and her head cleared, ready for a fight. She checked her daggers, then raised her gun.
Rance, Solaris, and Abel charged at once. Time slowed for Rance, who had been in a handful of conflicts where she’d had to fight for her life. This one was different. They were fighting for someone else. She’d already lost one person in her charge tonight. She wouldn’t lose another.
The pirates heard the oncoming storm and turned to face their attackers. Rance’s Academy training kicked in, and she fired on the first who raised his blaster. Her shot hit him squarely in the chest, and he flew backward into the brick wall, narrowly missing Harper. The other four fired together, but Solaris generated a quick shield and blocked their fire. He sent out a burst of energy that sent them reeling back, their guns flying out of their hands. The shield wasn’t as powerful as he’d used on the pirates half an hour ago, but it allowed them to get to Harper.
Solaris was too tired to do more. Rance wasn’t going to see him get hurt, either. He’d already done enough.
So Rance led the charge, yelling a battle cry as she met the first pirate head on. She didn’t want to risk shooting Harper, so she hit the bru
te with the butt end of her rifle, knocking out two teeth just as he swiped at her with a massive fist. She dodged him and spun around to knock him in the kidney. He grunted but turned and came after her.
The others joined in the fray, even Harper, who’d thrown herself onto a pirate’s back and was trying to choke him. Rance lost track of who was fighting whom and concentrated on hitting anything that wasn’t wearing a navy flight suit.
The first pirate rapped her hand with his fist, and Rance winced when her dislocated fingers popped back into place.
She smiled. “Thanks,” she said and brought her knee up to connect with his groin.
The man doubled over. Rance launched herself at him, refusing to give him breathing space. One blow with her rifle, two blows, and he fell back, unconscious. She hesitated, tempted to finish him off. After all, they had taken Sonya.
But the ongoing fight drew her attention. Two more pirates were still up. Harper had been thrown off to the side, but she was getting to her feet as well. Solaris, clearly fighting fatigue, still managed to avoid his pirate’s jabs. Then, he found an opening and whacked the man on the head with his staff.
The pirate went down, laying still on the pavement.
That left one more. The four advanced on him, backing him against the wall. Rance raised her blaster and aimed it at his forehead. The blood-lust that had come over her was still coursing through her body, and it was taking everything she had not to pull the trigger. For Sonya, for the city, for Prometheus. “Talk, pirate, like your life depends on it.”
The man blinked. Blood gushed from his lip and down his chin. “I’m not a pirate.”
Rance laughed.
“I’m not,” he insisted, raising his hands. “The pirate symbols are a disguise.”
“For who?” Solaris asked. His face had turned ashen.
“Nilurians.”
Rance’s mouth dropped open. They were Nilurian Rebels? How had they managed to organize this much force? Rance became even more incensed. Pirates polluting and pillaging was one thing, but a coordinated attack by an organization that claimed to devote itself to protecting the common man? An organization that led peaceful protests and fought for human rights?
