The Vastalimi Gambit

by Steve Perry

  It was a hundred meters ahead and formidable-looking, especially for a private residence.

  “Let’s go and—hold up,” Wink said. “How many guards do you see?”

  “Four.”

  “Does that seem like a lot?”

  “Three-meter-tall electric fence, a fortified kiosk, a heavy gate. Two guards are twice what is needed.”

  “Turn around. I think we might be in trouble.”

  Kay nodded. He was right. She put the cart into reverse, wheeled it to the side, made the beginning of a three-point turn.

  “Hello,” Wink said.

  The gate opened. There were two four-person vehicles that appeared behind the guards and headed toward the portal, gaining speed.

  “Shit! Go!”

  Kay finished the turn and accelerated, but the cart was not exactly built for speed.

  “Hurry up.”

  The two carts cleared the gate.

  “The accelerator is fully engaged.”

  “Then better weave and find cover, because—”

  As if on cue, the carts behind them sprouted Vastalimi from the side widows, and they started shooting. A couple of the rounds from carbines blew past, and a few more smacked into the cart, punching holes through the back window, thumping into the body, and sending shards of plastic every which way.

  “Dammit!”

  Kay slewed the cart to the left, made a skidding turn into a narrow walkway not designed for such vehicles. The ride got bumpier, but there was nobody visible behind them at the moment.

  “Guess our guy Okloo knew we were coming, too, and he doesn’t want to talk to us. Good thing they can’t shoot that well.”

  An alley loomed ahead. Kay applied the brake, slowed, turned into the alley to the right, banged the rear of the cart into something.

  “Hey!”

  “Would you like to pilot?”

  “I would, but I don’t think we have time to switch seats.”

  Wink had his pistol out, but it was designed for soft targets and wouldn’t do much to the carts behind them.

  “We need a Plan B,” he said.

  “Offer one.”

  “I’m working on it.”

  He tapped the cart’s computer and pulled up a map.

  _ _ _ _ _ _

  “Hmm,” Formentara said.

  “What does that mean?” Jo asked. There was nothing to be seen past the polarized windows to the sides save waist-high, bluish green grass, waving in a gentle breeze, stretching to the horizon. Or at least as far as Jo’s opticals could scan, which was pretty much to the horizon . . .

  “Well, if you narrow the PPS view and zoom in, you can see that Wink’s implant is moving along at a good speed, much faster than it has been. And changing direction frequently.”

  “He’s chasing somebody,” Gramps offered.

  “Or somebody is chasing him,” Gunny said. “Pick it up, old man. Something is going on, and we don’t want to miss it.”

  “Out of the mouths of babes.”

  _ _ _ _ _ _

  “There’s a turn ahead, two streets, take it to the left.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it crosses a narrow bridge five hundred meters past. If we park the cart there and disable it, it stops them from following in their carts.”

  “They will continue pursuit on foot.”

  “Yeah, and my pistol becomes useful. Once we get a couple, we can take their weapons and level the playing field some.”

  “A simple plan. I don’t see great odds in our favor.”

  “It’s what I have.”

  “Very well.”

  She made the turn. The bridge was visible. The river wasn’t that wide, and the bridge was old, a single-lane, stressed-plast arch, gone pale gray with age, probably there for a couple of hundred years. Not a lot of vehicular traffic using it, she’d guess.

  “Okay, so we go to the other end, turn the cart sideways to block the road, and find a spot to hide. They get out, I plink a couple of them, then we haul ass.”

  “That won’t get us new weapons.”

  “Don’t be picky; we’ll get those later.”

  _ _ _ _ _ _

  “Fifteen minutes,” Gramps said.

  “They appear to have stopped moving at the moment,” Formentara said. “That could be good or bad.”

  “Best we hurry and go see.”

  “Wait—he’s moving again.”

  _ _ _ _ _ _

  “I will draw their attention,” Kay said. “Shoot while they are distracted.”

  They were off the bridge and behind a plastcrete abutment. “You can hit them at this distance?”

  “Twenty meters? All day long and twice on Seventh Day.”

  “Pardon?”

  “An old expression. I’ll hit them.”

  The first of the pursuing vehicles skidded to a halt on the bridge, where it was blocked by the abandoned vehicle. Three Vastalimi males piled out and ran for the obstruction.

  Kay yelled. Wink didn’t recognize all the terms, but he was pretty sure one of them was “Fatherfuckers!”

  She stepped out into the clear.

  The trio of chasers brought their weapons up—

  The second vehicle slewed to a stop behind them—

  Wink edged around the corner of the abutment, lined up on the first one.

  One dart each, he decided.

  He fired, shifted his aim, fired again, and the third one realized he was in trouble and danced to the side, but too late.

  Three seconds, three shots, Three hits for three. Gunny would be proud.

  The remaining Vastalimi ducked for cover.

  “Let’s go,” Wink said.

  _ _ _ _ _ _

  Kay ran slow, to allow Wink to keep up. They were in a residential area, cubes and multiunits, good terrain in which to hide.

  “There are five of them left,” she said. “We can’t outrun them. We need to circle behind them. They won’t expect that.”

  “Really?”

  “They are in hunt lust. Fleeing prey runs or goes to ground, sometimes climbs, but it seldom comes around behind to attack.”

  “Okay.”

  “To the left, that alley.”

  They ran.

  _ _ _ _ _ _

  “Not far now,” Gramps said. “Ten minutes.”

  “They are moving again,” Formentara said. “But slowly, and in an area that looks to be housing. Out of the cart, on foot. Changing direction a lot.”

  “Chasing somebody or being chased,” Gunny said. “Broken-field running.”

  _ _ _ _ _ _

  “Stay low,” Kay said.

  Wink nodded, crouched behind a refuse can full of something that smelled rotten.

  The pursuing Vastalimi ran past their hiding place and never glanced in their direction.

  Kay bolted so fast, Wink felt as if he were mired in the mud as he ran to follow her.

  He cleared the edge of the alley in time to see Kay spring and land on the straggler bringing up the rear, taking him to the street. They hit hard, made some impact noise, and her claws were almost a blur they moved so fast. She ripped out his throat—

  Wink stopped, took a deep breath, let half of it out, and raised his pistol.

  The nearest of the four still on foot was twenty-five meters away, slowing and trying to turn at the sound of his fallen comrade. The farthest was five meters past that. Getting to be a long shot for this weapon.

  Wink aimed. Fired. Retargeted and fired again.

  Two of them went down.

  The third shot missed. Fuck!

  His fourth shot connected, but there was still one left, and that one had spun all the way around to face
them.

  He brought his carbine to bear on Wink . . .

  Wink realized he wasn’t going to be able to get lined up in time—

  Shit—

  The last of their chasers curled in a sudden spasm, as if hit in the belly, and fell facedown.

  What . . . ?

  Wink saw Kay, lying prone next to the one she’d clawed down. She had collected his carbine and fired it, taking out the fifth Vastalimi.

  He sometimes forgot she knew how to shoot pretty well.

  Just like that, they were done.

  Eight up. Eight down. Missed one shot, but damn. That’s a big win.

  He changed magazines in his pistol and walked over to where Kay was coming to her feet.

  “Well, that wasn’t as hard as I expected,” he said. “They weren’t very good, were they?”

  “Obviously not,” she said. “Good would have killed us at the gate.”

  There weren’t any locals sticking their heads out to see what was going on, but Wink expected there would be soon. He hurried up to the first one he had shot, collected the dead Vastalimi’s carbine and spare ammo magazines. Kay already had one. “We better move,” he said.

  Kay nodded.

  “Back to the rich man’s house, I take it?”

  “We haven’t gotten what we came for yet,” she said. “Nothing has changed.”

  “You mean other than a bunch of bodies littering the local streets?”

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  If Jo thought she was going to catch Wink flatfooted, she was wrong. He didn’t bat an eyelash.

  “Hey, Jo, how you doing?”

  She wasn’t going to let him get away with it. “So-so. Yourself?”

  “Can’t complain.”

  “We happened to be in the neighborhood,” Jo said. “Thought maybe you and Kay could use a hand.”

  “I appreciate that, but I think we got it.”

  Jo shook her head. “Christus, Wink.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, yeah, okay, maybe we might could use a little help. When did you get to Vast?”

  “Yesterday.”

  “And it took you this long to come visit us?”

  He didn’t ask how—he had a tracker implant, and Formentara could locate that easily enough—even if he were dead.

  “We wanted to do some sightseeing first. Actually, we got a late start, and you were way out here in the country, then rolling away from us. We had to chase you.”

  “The mission on Far Bundaloh done that fast? You been in the Void for what? Three weeks?”

  “Seventy-two hours, give or take.”

  “You took the shortcut?”

  “We were in a hurry.”

  That got him. “Damn. How, uh . . . why . . . ?”

  “Kay’s brother called us. When you two turned up missing, he became concerned. When the last place you were known to be got blown up? He was more worried. We had pretty much cleared our opposition out, so Rags decided to take a ride.”

  “You volunteered to risk that trip.”

  “Of course. We didn’t know you’d gotten loose on your own.” She paused a moment. “I’m the point—the others are holding a klick back: Rags, Gramps, Gunny, and Formentara. And Singh, remember him? He found us on FB and joined; he’s here, too. Plus a newbie, Mishfem, goes by Em.”

  “We got a new Vastalimi? When did that happen?”

  “It’s a funny story, but how about I save it for after we get this done? Whatever it is.”

  “That’ll work for me.”

  “So, what’s the deal?”

  Wink laid it out: “The guy in charge is rich enough to have a bunch of guards, and they are gunners. The compound is pretty stout for a civilian’s house, and they don’t like uninvited company. We never got through the front gate. We, uh, had to take several of them out.”

  “Several?”

  “Eight.”

  “Where are the bodies?”

  “Mostly piled up in an alley. Couple–three are in a cart by the river.”

  “Great. You think those will stay hidden long?”

  “We think the guy we are after owns the town, and the locals will keep their heads down.”

  “You think.”

  “Hey, what can I say? It’s what we have to work with.”

  “And Kay is . . . ?”

  “She’s doing a circuit, looking for a hole. We’re observing radio silence because we think they might have sharp hearing.”

  “Why didn’t you call in the local cops?”

  He said, “Well, Kay thinks maybe this is a better idea.”

  “Because . . . ?”

  “She thinks there might be a leak. We don’t know where.”

  She nodded. Just good tactics. Fewer people who knew something, the fewer who might spread it around. “This is the guy you believe is good for the disease?”

  “Either him, or he knows who is. He made money on it, somehow. His guys killed our ride. Glad you showed up, it was gonna be a long walk home.”

  “Go on.”

  “Last few people we went to talk to knew we were coming, and in theory, nobody but us should have known that. Somebody must have told them. This guy was waiting with guns.”

  “Interesting. We met Kay’s sister. One of the reasons we are just getting here—we had to sneak off.”

  “Yeah, well, we could use some help, and—here comes Kay now.”

  Jo looked up and saw her friend strolling along as if she owned everything as far as she could see.

  Like Wink, Kay expressed no surprise at seeing her.

  “Jo Captain. Good to behold you.”

  Jo shook her head. “Butter wouldn’t melt in your mouths.”

  “Pardon?”

  “Never mind. What’s the sitrep?”

  “There are, in addition to our quarry, an unknown number of guards. The security on the compound is tight. Fence, gate, armed people at the entrance. I take it you did not come alone?”

  “Six more of us,” Jo said, “including a Vastalimi named Mishfem.”

  “A mercenary? How did you acquire her services?”

  “It’s a funny story; I’ll tell you later. I’m going to go back and fetch the others. Wait here, would you?”

  After she left, Kay turned to Wink. “This is an unexpected turn of events.”

  “Ain’t it, though. They came to help us out when they heard from Droc we were in trouble.”

  “That was but a few days’ past,” Kay allowed. “They could not have made a transit in such a period.”

  He nodded. “Not ordinarily.”

  “Ah.”

  “Yeah. They risked the Chomolungma.”

  “They have done us a great honor.”

  “They risked dying to get here in a hurry. Foolish.”

  “Would you have done any less in their place?”

  “Well . . . no. But I’m an adrenaline and testosterone junkie, remember?” He smiled.

  “And held in high esteem by your colleagues.”

  “I’m sure they did it for you more than me,” he said. “Hard to give up a good Vastalimi.”

  She whickered. “Our task is thus made easier.”

  “There’s that.”

  _ _ _ _ _ _

  “Both alive and well,” Jo said. “Radio silence because their quarry is probably listening. They killed several guards.”

  “Good they are alive,” Cutter said. “Situation?”

  Jo repeated what she had learned.

  “Okay, then, we’ll mosey on up there and see how best to achieve their goal. Formentara, you okay with manning the hopper here and keeping track of telemetry and coms and all?”

  “Why not? Nothing else to do around here. There are fewer augmentation facilities on this wo
rld than there were on Far Bundaloh if you can believe that. When are we going to a planet with, you know, running water and power and inside freshers?”

  “Maybe next time. Jo?”

  “This way. Uh, Rags, maybe you should—”

  “No. I’m going. I didn’t space all the way here to sit back and do nothing.”

  “You could help Formentara—”

  “Who doesn’t need my help in the slightest. Who signs the checks?”

  “Mostly me, these days,” Jo said. “But I take your point. If you let anybody kill you, I am going to be really pissed off.”

  _ _ _ _ _ _

  Kay was aware her comrades had drawn nearer. “Here they come,” she said. “Take care.”

  “I wasn’t going to shoot any of them,” Wink said.

  “So you say.”

  “Was that a joke?”

  She smiled.

  There were six of them: Jo Captain, Cutter Colonel, Gunny, Demonde Gramps, the Anandan Singh, and one of The People.

  Formentara would be with the vehicle.

  The unmet fem said, “Ah, Kluthfem, I have heard much good about you from these humans. I am Mishfem. I can recite my ancestors if you like.” She spoke Govor, not the most common dialect, which was interesting. Govor was the first tongue Kay had herself learned.

  “I ken you, Mish. Let us dispense with the relatives. How do you like our team?”

  “Best humans I’ve been around so far, but of course . . .”

  “. . . that’s not saying much,” Kay said, finishing the old joke.

  Both of them smiled.

  “The one called Jo defeated me in bare-hand Challenge. You have taught her well.”

  Kay said, “No shame, she has beaten me in practice many times. She is the most adept human that way I have ever been around, but of course . . .”

  They both whickered.

  “Kay,” Cutter said. “What do we need to do here?”

  “The person who owns that house would seem to have information we want. His people tried to kill us, and I suspect there is a good reason why.”

  “You and Wink haven’t been inside?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Have you come up with a strategy and tactics?”

  “Yes. Your arrival has made it much more likely to succeed.”

  “Let’s hear it, then.”

  “Those hunting us had vehicles. We take those, approach the gate to the compound, we can get close enough to take out the guards there and get inside. We overcome opposition, capture the owner, and ask him some pointed questions.”