The Iron Altar Series Box Set One: Books 1 to 3

by Casey Lea

Darsey was moving at full combat speed and her feet struck the sagging metal strips at increasingly distant intervals. Each stride became a leap and she reached the shelter of the city before any pursuers appeared. The dark, dank and very welcome embrace of the Hub closed around her.

  “Thank Gods,” Wing muttered, and signalled to Darsey that she should jump.

  She stepped from the travelator and dropped onto the compacted dust of Gratuity. She didn’t hesitate, but moved quickly on, ducking in and out through a maze of alleys and as they ran Nightwing’s com emitted a faint hiss.

  “What’s that?” Darsey wondered when the sound of a slow leak continued to follow her.

  “Molecule ionisation,” the kres breathed on her heels. “It destroys scent and stops the t’ssaa from tracking. Gives us a chance to get safely hid.”

  Darsey picked up her pace again, jumping down three levels and then darting toward a crooked tower. They approached a narrow passage that disappeared beneath that leaning building, but she slowed at the sight of it.

  Wing pulled ahead, but she stopped completely, to stand frozen, only her hair stirring in a growing breeze. Warm, moist air flowed past her, sucked into the forbidding tunnel ahead, and Darsey shivered in that rank wind. Goosebumps crawled over her skin and she suddenly knew that this was the time to leave. Wing seemed fully mobile and he’d lost his pursuers, so she could go without feeling guilty. Just run away from the crazy hunt and join Harrier in safety…

  Wing looked back over his shoulder and stopped at once. His expression was questioning, but then softened to a sympathetic smile. He moved to join Darsey where she stood caught by indecision and took her hand in a warm grip. “You’re right. It’s past time we split. Go join Harry. I’ll lose the lizards then join you on Free’s ship. And thankyou, Darse, for everything.”

  Darsey shook her head and shrugged off her paralysis to jerk her hand away from his. “Not so quick, kres. I was tempted to quit, but you still haven’t answered my questions.”

  “Which can wait ‘til we’re safe aboard the Grace.”

  “All the more reason to make sure you actually get there. C’mon.”

  Darsey jogged forward to push past Wing and hurried on, following the breeze that funnelled into the dark passage.

  Unfortunately, the t’ssaa were there first. Five lizards were packed into the tunnel’s mouth, blocking the path completely. They crouched, waiting in two lines of two abreast, with their leader in front, ducked lowest of all. Their quivering crests seemed to fill the tunnel, each silhouetted by an eerie light that flickered behind them, shining from under the foundations of the Hub.

  Wing hesitated, but this time Darsey charged on. She threw herself into an attack even as the t’ssaa raised their coms. The reptiles blinked, but their arms flicked to target her in instant response. She ducked and crouched with her final stride to push off as hard and low as she could. She hurtled at the kneeling leader and the blasts exploded above her.

  The t’ssaa aimed smoothly again, with no hint of panic. Their leader leaned forward, ready to absorb the faint impact when Darsey struck his active field.

  She cannoned into him instead, to hit hard and ram straight through his defense shield. Her shoulder drove into his chest, even though it should have been protected by his shield. He grunted when the heel of her hand slammed up under his chin and instantly went down. He fell back and Darsey dove forward over him, flipping into a hand spring and spinning head-over-heels to smash her boots into the heads of the two t’ssaa behind.

  One struck cleanly and her victim flew backwards, but the other t’ssaa was faster. Its head twisted and her heel scraped past its jaw. It staggered to its knees and she landed in the space left by its companion, facing the last two t’ssaa.

  Darsey crouched again, balanced and ready to press the attack, but her enemies had already moved past shock. They glided backwards with frightening speed, slipping beyond her reach. She rose smoothly and kicked out, but not at the retreating pair. She spun sideways and this time her boot connected with the temple of the previously grazed t’ssaa. It went down for good and she turned back to the final couple.

  They stared at her from slitted eyes turned fully black, and both had coms aimed steadily at her. There was a flash of fire and Darsey dropped to her stomach.

  However, the shot came from behind. Wing fired past her and a line of energy hit the roof above the t’ssaa. It exploded against the ceiling with controlled precision, cutting out a masonry slab. The concussion knocked both of the t’ssaa down and a foundation block from the tower above fell straight onto them. It thudded against hastily re-powered defense fields, momentarily trapping them both.

  Darsey was pressed flat to the floor of the tunnel, winded by the blast, but she struggled to get her feet under her. She was helped by Wing, who hooked a hand under her arm and hoisted her up, on the run. They took off together, hurdling the struggling t’ssaa.

  The tunnel closed tight around them, but, rather than getting darker it brightened. Darsey looked up and for the first time saw what was beyond the t’ssaa. The burrow ended in a blaze of color. A swirling vortex of energy filled the tunnel. It circled in neon streamers of violet, blue and green. There was air moving with it. Hot, stale air this close to the vent that lifted Darsey’s plait and Wing’s fronds. She could feel the suction from the whirlpool ahead, dragging her faster and tugging at her clothes.

  “What is it?” she gasped, the words sucked from her lungs along with her breath.

  “Station airways. This one scrubs staleness out using the Inner Hub. Let’s move.” Wing continued their headlong rush, but Darsey slowed and fell behind again. He looked back in surprise and then stopped, leaning into the wind, until she reached him. “We can jump through,” he shouted. “There’s a safety cut-out that will let us pass.” Darsey looked doubtfully at the brilliant energy pit and he reached for her hand. “Trust me.”

  She took a deep breath and almost choked on the humid air. All she could do was nod, but Wing squeezed her hand reassuringly before turning back to the vortex.

  There was sudden noise behind them, a crash loud enough to be heard over the wind. It sounded like a large, stone block being thrust aside. Wing took off at once and Darsey was right beside him. She leapt into the energy vent and flew straight through. There was a brief sensation of skin tingling contact and then she was safely past.

  Darsey dropped on the other side and fell, to land heavily, despite Wing’s quick support. Her ankle twisted awkwardly and she gasped, before her com field strengthened it and she regained her balance. She was standing knee deep in rubbish and rubble. Her foot had turned when she landed on a tilted chunk of rock. She straightened carefully and blinked in the patterned light of two vortices. Twin pools of energy were set above their heads in opposite walls. The one behind Darsey was the one they had escaped through and Wing was already scrambling back up to it.

  He called back to her over his shoulder. “You kay?”

  “Define kay.” She shivered, but then lifted her voice more reassuringly. “Sure, I’m great.”

  “Good. I’ve got to destroy the safety settings on those vents.”

  Wing finished scaling the piled rubble to reach the base of the vortex. He moved nimbly across its front and his forelock lifted in its current of air. He reached a metal plate just below the centre of the energy spiral and paused. “This is ancient-as,” he informed Darsey, who watched anxiously from below.

  “Can you override its safety protocol?”

  “Certain-sure,” Wing answered as he pried the rusted lid aside. “It’s an easy fry.”

  “Why no t’ssaa yet?” Darsey wondered, and he smiled grimly.

  “They know exactly what I’m doing. Their leader’s down and they won’t risk a jump without orders. Not when they might be caught by this…” Wing’s com surged and there was an answering flash from the vortex control. “No safe way through now,” he reported with satisfaction. “Any-all, not once I fry the other vent.”
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  He leapt down from his perch and jumped from block to block, across the high but narrow room. He clambered up to the far field and while he accessed its control, Darsey looked curiously around their sanctuary.

  It was hard to see far in the strobing light and the first thing that struck her was the cold. The air was bitterly cold and very still below the wind between the vents. Her breath spiralled upwards as an oddly colored mist before streaming into that current of warmer air. She shivered and peered past her breath at the surrounding walls. The two without vents were a hodgepodge honeycomb of tunnels and holes and foundation piles. Every misshapen passage she could see was carpeted by litter. The Inner Hub had clearly been abandoned and built over long ago. What remained was a forgotten place, fit only for trash and recycling.

  Wing landed beside Darsey with a slither of debris and she started when scree flowed over her feet. “Don’t get buried,” he offered with a grin, and she shivered again. “Use more of your com power for heat if needed,” he advised, but she shook her head.

  “I can cope. It’s just a bit spooky down here.”

  “It gives frighteners for sure, but that’s just imagination. Sadly, we’ve got more real cares to deal with. There’s access all around here.”

  Darsey’s attention returned to Wing’s worried face. “You think the t’ssaa will get in? Of course they will. So… we have to break past them and get to Freefall’s ship. But how do we get out of here?”

  “There’s only one way. We let them make a first attack. Payiss will order a full strike, including the vents, but he can't just destroy them. The station needs them and Gratuity’s boss will overpower any such attack. What Payiss can do is re-set the safeties.”

  He raised a hand before Darsey could comment on that grim possibility. “It’s kay. It won’t work. I’ve overset those controls, ready to show that the vents are now safe when they aren't. The t’ssaa will jump, but none will pass through. They won't dare to use the vents after such, so we’ll be able to pass back through this one all unexpected. I’ll place a charge further into the under-maze and explode it during their second attack. That’s when we’ll exit as we came, fight past any vent guards, sneak to my shuttle and we’ll soon be weightless with Free.”

  “Weightless and free?”

  “Also.”

  “Fine,” Darsey agreed, but her smile faded. “First, we just have to fight off fifty t’ssaa. How do we do that? And how come I can beat them up anyway?”

  “I think I know,” Wing offered, “but we need some defenses first. I’ll tell all as we work.” He gestured at the larger rubble and then to the junk-filled foundation piles. “We have to block all we can and build some cover, with no back attack.”

  “Sounds good,” Darsey agreed, and moved forward to help

  Wing began levering a block into place. There was silence while they strained together and then the rock fell. It tipped past its point of balance and crashed onto the debris below, to become the first step in a rough and ready wall.

  Darsey studied the remaining pile, before nodding at a broken pedestal poised above their initial block.

  “We’ll have to excavate its base to get it moving,” Wing pointed out, but she was already digging. He knelt to join her and they worked in comfortable silence, but only for a moment.

  “Your body is odd,” Wing grunted, digging maniacally through the gravel.

  “Thanks a lot. So’s your face.”

  “I meant at a cellular level. Your cells are porous and when you first used my com they absorbed from it.”

  “Absorbed what?” Darsey asked, sitting back on her heels. That sounded alarming. The kres had definitely been holding out on her.

  Wing cleared the last of the detritus to free the second block and the conversation stopped while they tipped it into place. The next chunk they chose was larger and had to be slid straight onto the others, but he talked over the screeching of scree as they pushed.

  “Exotic matter. Topline… coms carry panic-use… stores. Someway… the ExM got… into your body. Into… every cell.”

  The foundation block scraped into place and Darsey collapsed against it. She wasn’t that tired, but Wing’s crazy theory was enough to make anyone weak at the knees. “That makes no sense.”

  “Agreed. I don’t know how you survived that first time. It must have felt awful and made it near impossible to protect me from Jileea. I’d never risk trying such a thing again, but somehow you did it. You integrated exotic matter and now it’s become part of you. Your cells can passage. It’s true, Darse. You’ve seen it, felt it. There are tiny wormholes everywhere and you can open them. Even ships can’t do such. You act on a cellular level and I’ve not seen anything like it. Not ever-all. You’re… amazing.”

  Darsey gazed blankly at Wing and then started to shake her head. “No. That theory’s just… impossible. It must be-”

  “So is what you do, but you do it.” He took her hand, gripping it firmly, and she managed to stop shaking her head. “Easy-as, Darse. Easy. It’s huge, I know, but it’s all fine too. I promise.”

  “Is it dangerous? Jileea claimed it could be lethal.”

  “No,” he reassured her. “I wasn’t sure, about any of this, which is why I stayed quiet, but now I think not. The time of most risk is long past. You should have died when the ExM entered your cells, but incredibly you didn't. Everything I’ve seen and scanned since we met again says you’re safe.”

  Darsey studied Wing intently, but all she could see was honest conviction. His concern for her safety seemed as heartfelt as before. “Why?” she asked, and he simply stared at her, apparently unsure what she meant. “Why did you leave me? At the sale and then later with Jileea. We were friends, and I get the feeling we still are. You act like we are anyway. Like you want to help. I mean, we get on so well and have so much in common. We're both exiled and we were both orphaned so young... sometimes on the Bandit it felt like you were my best friend. So,” Darsey gulped, “why desert me? And please, just have a good reason.”

  “Ah.” Wing sighed and released her hand. “That’s simple enough, but somewhat of a tale too-”

  His explanation was interrupted by the distant sound of movement. The noise was faint, a mere murmur of litter brushed by feet, but Wing broke off and swung toward the burrows beyond their unfinished wall. “Drak.”

  “What?” Darsey wondered, checking her com to see whether it had identified the cause of the rustling, but it was blank.

  Wing steadied himself against their fortification and stretched his com arm along one end. She moved to the opposite side and did the same.

  The cold air carried the furtive sound of approaching steps clearly and Darsey expected a t’ssaa attack long before she actually saw movement in any of the openings. A shape finally appeared on the ledge of a crooked hollow, just below the height of their barrier. Darsey’s gut tightened and her com hummed at fever pitch.

  “Hold,” Wing hissed while his fronds flicked forward. “It’s the boy. Malik.”

  There was a slither of small stones and then the youngster shot onto the ledge. He teetered on its edge before surrendering his balance and jumping into the rubble below. Angry words rose from the pile and then Malik rose too. He scowled and scrubbed dust from his eyes before looking around.

  Wing glanced at Darsey and mouthed “stay back”, then edged into the open to confront their guide. “Are you alone and un-followed?” the kres demanded, and the urchin sneered in response.

  “Course. Where’s my credits?”

  Wing raised his wrist and a line of light linked it with the boy’s bulky com. “Full paid,” he noted tersely, and the boy smacked his dirty lips together.

  “Thanks and thanks,” he breathed, before sharp silver eyes darted back to Wing. “Where’s Darsey-ordinary-muck-lady?”

  “Here,” Darsey answered and slithered down from the barricade to land lightly beside them.

  “Good-as,” Malik said happily, even as Wing frowned at her.


  She was disguised by a com glamour again and winked at the nagging kres who grimaced, but then tipped his hand in a shrug.

  “We’re alive, Malik,” Darsey pointed out brusquely, “but we’re a long way from safe. Can you help?”

  “Certain-sure. I can fix it. I know which of these holes misses all the t’ssaa. For a low-as fee, I’ll lead you right around Payiss. Just a thousand credits to see you both safe. Aint that a grand offer?”

  “No. Too high,” Wing snapped, and turned back to the barricade. Darsey bit her tongue and the kres only managed a single stride before Malik hastily called him back.

  “Easy now, my lord. I’d not meant to offend, you know. I opened up this high-scale-most-successful-business-venture with a barter and now it’s your turn. I see that clear-as. We can to and fro all you wish, even though your lives are at risk. Oooor, we can be more brisk. Show some care for safety. So in your interest, I’ll drop down flat to five hundred, but no less. Five hundred is base for such danger as I’d face.”

  Wing gazed bleakly at his com and his tone was uncompromising. “No deal.”

  Malik was momentarily speechless and Darsey was equally astonished.

  “Aint your lives worth it, then?” Malik demanded, while Darsey gave Wing a hard look before smiling at the boy.

  “Of course they are,” she assured him, with another pointed look at her companion. “Right, Wing?”

  “Too expensive,” the kres said tersely, and this time Malik clearly believed him.

  The boy quickly backed away, scuttling over the tattered ground.

  “Stop,” Darsey ordered, placing her hands on her hips and, when the child froze, she turned her gaze back to Wing. “Pay him.”

  “I can’t,” he hissed in response.

  “Just do it,” Darsey whispered back with the same desperation, but he was unmoved.

  “Not possible. I’m broke.”

  Malik’s lip curled at the quiet admission and he turned away. He scrambled toward the shadows of the ledge, clearly in a hurry to abandon them.

  “Boy,” Wing called sharply, and the youngster stopped again, looking down over his shoulder. “How did you know that Payiss leads the t’ssaa? And how could they find this place so quick, even before us?”