by R S Penney
She crept into the room with a hand pressed to her stomach, turning her head to get a good look at every corner. Why she bothered was beyond her. As a Justice Keeper, she could sense her surroundings without having to use her eyes.
The desks were separated to form an aisle that ran through the middle of the room. Blinds over the windows filtered the sunlight into thin streams. Anna made her way to the back of the room, looking for a closet or a cupboard or any place where Kevin might be hiding. She found nothing. Something about all this felt odd…Why would a teacher leave this one door open when all the others had…
The revelation hit her like a smack to the face.
She had walked into a trap.
Chapter 8
A brief moment of fear faded into anger and then calm resolve. Anna focused. She stretched out with her senses and used her connection with Seth to watch every corner of the classroom. Sure enough, her instincts were confirmed within seconds.
Someone came through the door behind her.
Anna spun around to find a tall woman in black pants and a matching t-shirt pacing through the space between the front row of desks and the blackboard. “You know…I had hoped to avoid this.”
Just as the fallen cop had said, this woman was wearing a ski-mask with holes that revealed a hint of pale skin around the eyes. Her face was hidden, but that voice…Anna had never heard an accent like that, but somehow the voice was still familiar.
Crossing her arms, Anna stood in the middle of the aisle with her head held high. “Bad guys and ski masks,” she said, eyebrows rising. “I'd suggest you try something a little more original, but honestly, your lack of creativity is probably the reason you guys keep losing.”
The woman stopped short, heaving out a soft sigh. “I don't want to kill you, my dear,” she said, spinning around to face Anna. “Wasted life is always a tragedy, but you have made yourself a nuisance.”
“Is that so?”
“I'll be taking the boy.”
Anna clasped hands together behind her back, striding through the aisle between the desks with her head down. “So this is the script we'll be following?” she asked with a shrug. “You do a little posturing, I proclaim that scum like you will never win?”
“Your jokes do not amuse.”
Tapping her lips with one finger, Anna narrowed her eyes. “I suppose they don't,” she said. “So do you have a name? Because if we're gonna fight, I'll have to file a report, and those things have so many blanks to fill in.”
The woman drew herself up, looming over Anna, and for just a brief moment, she inspired real fear. “I am called Isara,” she said. “Not long ago, Slade offered you a place among us. I do the same in the hope that I will not have to kill you.”
Isara…an odd name. It seemed almost Leyrian, but outdated. The kind of name that would have gone out of fashion maybe one hundred fifty years ago. “Well, you can just suck on the Bleakness itself,” Anna growled. “Because there's no power in the universe that can make that possible.”
Closing her eyes, the woman drew in a deep, calming breath. “That is as I feared,” she muttered, pacing through the aisle to meet Anna halfway. “Such a shame. You would have been of great use to us.”
Isara kicked high.
Leaning back, Anna reached up to catch the woman's foot with both hands. She gave a hard shove and threw her opponent off balance. Isara fell over backward, slapping her hands down on the floor.
She flipped upright, then jumped and kicked out. A steel-toed boot to the chest sent Anna stumbling backward. Pain flared up in her body as she watched the woman close in for the kill. Isara threw a mean right hook.
Anna crouched down, raising one hand to strike the woman's wrist and knock it aside. She used the other to deliver a palm-strike to the nose. Isara stumbled, very nearly losing her balance.
Anna moved in for a back-hand strike.
The other woman caught her wrist in two hands, tugging on her arm and forcing her to double over. A swift kick to the belly drove the wind from Anna's lungs. The next thing she saw was a gloved hand strike her across the eyes, filling her vision with sliver flecks that swirled about.
Two fists seized Anna's shirt, and then she was flying backward, propelled by Bent Gravity. She collided with the bulletin board at the back of the classroom, then landed on shaky legs.
As her vision cleared, she saw the masked woman stride forward with fists balled at her sides, her teeth bared in a snarl. Something in those dark eyes. In mere seconds, Isara had closed the distance.
She threw a punch.
Anna ducked, a gloved fist passing right over her head. She came up a few steps to the left, then flung her arm out to the side to strike the back of Isara's skull with her fist. The other woman went face-first into the wall.
Backing away with hands raised in a fighting stance, Anna felt blood leaking from her nose. “I don't suppose you want to tell me who you are?” she asked in a rasping voice. “Why you want to kill me?”
Isara rounded on her.
Lifting her chin, the woman studied her through the holes in that ski-mask. “You're on the wrong side, girl,” she hissed. “It's been over two minutes and you're still standing. That is remarkably rare in an opponent.”
Anna winced, hanging her head in frustration. She rubbed her nose with the back of her hand. “Yeah, well…You know me,” she muttered. “I'm not the kind of girl who lets her partners go unsatisfied.”
“You could join with us.”
“To what end?”
The ski-mask's mouth hole allowed her to see a small smile on the other woman's face. “You will have to come see for yourself,” Isara murmured. “I understand why Slade finds you so fascinating.”
Keep the bitch talking, a small voice whispered in her mind. Combat was as much about the terrain as it was about the moves and counter-moves. If she could keep Isara focused on her words, the woman might fail to notice her slowly inching away from the back wall, making her way toward one of the desks.
“You know, I just don't get you,” Anna mocked. “You guys in your secret societies, hatching dastardly plans for galactic domination. Okay, you want something called the Key. For what purpose? Do the Overseers just point in any random direction and you go? Are we really in full brain-trust land?”
Anna positioned herself behind a desk in the back row, watching as her opponent stood by the wall with arms folded. “We follow the will of God,” Isara said. “It is enough that the Inzari speak and we obey.”
Hissing softly, Anna shut her eyes tight. She brushed a strand of damp hair off her cheek. “Yeah, I'll bet you do…” she muttered. “In fact, I'll wager my favourite teddy bear that you guys sit around in your underwear paddling each other's bums just to see who's the most dedicated of all. Admit it; I've got you pegged.”
“You should show respect.”
“Try earning it.”
Isara came at her.
Anna kicked the desk, applying a light Bending that sent it flying across the room. It collided with Isara, who raised her hands just in time to avoid getting knocked on her ass. Still, the woman was off balance.
Anna charged forward.
As the desk fell to the floor, she found herself staring down one very pissed off Isara. One very pissed off Isara who moved in for the kill like a shark that could smell blood in the water. Time to finish this bitch.
Anna punched her in the face. She spun at full-force, one arm lashing out for a hard back-hand strike. Her fist hit nothing but air.
When she came out of her spin, Isara popped up right in front of her. The next thing she saw was a fist colliding with her face. Blackness filled her vision, but she could still sense her opponent.
Isara tried to kick her stomach.
Anna doubled over, catching the woman's foot before it made contact. She growled and flung her opponent sideways, right into the back wall. The bitch let out a grunt as her shoulder hit the cinder-blocks.
Anna rounded on her.
Anna jumped, pulling free of the woman's grip. She curled her legs up against her chest and back-flipped through the air. Pain made it hard to think, but her body moved on instinct. Pure instinct. She landed in the middle of the aisle between the desks.
Isara was in front of the wall, hunched over with a hand pressed to her chest. “By the depths of the Abyss, girl,” she muttered under her breath. “It's been some time since anyone has caused me this much pain.”
She leaped forward.
The woman landed hard on one desk, then lithely jumped to the next and the next, making her way to the front of the classroom. She hopped off and stood right in front of the blackboard. “There is no escape for you, girl.”
Anna spun around.
Any attempt to go for the door would result in Isara descending on her like a wolf lunging for a rabbit, and the windows were probably off limits as well. The woman was too good for Anna to have any hope of defeating her – the best she could hope for was a stalemate – but that left her with few options. She had to find a way out of here before-
Two police officers stepped through the door and stopped short, freezing in place when they found themselves staring at a woman in a mask. In a heartbeat, both men drew their pistols.
“No! Don't!” Anna shouted.
Isara raised a hand, and the air before her rippled, light refracting until she was only a smear of dark colours. Gunshots filled the air, and bullets slowed to a crawl mere inches away from the woman's outstretched palm.
Each slug followed a looping path that turned it back on its master. They sped up, and both cops doubled over as bullets hit their armoured vests.
Isara turned and ran.
She charged right for the window, then jumped and crashed right through it with no remorse, pulling the blinds free in the process. A moment later, the woman landed outside and took off at a dead sprint.
Damn it! Anna felt the urge to chase her – there was no telling what the bitch might do next – but tending to the wounded cops was her first priority. Cops who – once again – had decided to lead with their pistols. There was probably a phallic reference in there somewhere, but she was too tired to be witty.
Anna went to them.
Clenching her teeth, she wiped sweat off her brow with the back of her hand. “Are you two all right?” she asked, surprised by the hoarseness of her voice. “Do I need to get you to a hospital?”
One cop was bent over with a hand pressed to his stomach, his face twisted into the kind of expression you might expect to find on a man who'd been kicked by a horse “Vest took the brunt of it,” he said. “Just a few bruises.”
His companion nodded.
Anna heaved out a sigh of relief. So…after all that hard work, what did she have to show for it? Kevin had been spooked, and in all likelihood he would go even deeper into hiding now. Three cops had been injured along with two civilians. There was a woman with a symbiont loose in this town, and she would be looking for Kevin as well. Worst of all, Anna was going to have to explain all this in her next report. I should have let Isara kill me, she lamented. It would have been easier.
Chapter 9
The large quarter-dome shaped window on the Observation Deck looked out on an endless void with only a single point of light in the distance. From what Jack had read, that was a strange quirk of warp travel. He'd always imagined stars that streaked past as the ship flew, but apparently that wasn't how it worked.
The point of light broke apart into a million tiny stars, surrounding the ship on all sides, and then a planet seemed to expand from a single point, growing larger and larger until it almost filled the window.
Leyria.
It looked so very much like Earth with vibrant blue oceans surrounding lush green continents. White clouds swirled playfully in the upper atmosphere, cutting off his view of the land below.
Off to his left, he saw a moon with a bright purple atmosphere. Summer perked up the instant his eyes fell upon it. The Nassai's emotions reminded him of what it felt like to go home for Christmas. Or rather, what it should have felt like to go home for Christmas. He cringed at the thought of the argument he had sat through last December.
Jack stood by the window with his hands on his hips, smiling down at his own feet. “So this is it,” he muttered, taking a few steps forward. “You weren't lying; it really is a beautiful world.”
Gabi was at his side in beige pants and a navy-blue t-shirt with a round neckline, her long black hair left to hang loose over her shoulders. “It's been almost two years,” she murmured. “I've seen a dozen worlds in a dozen windows.”
“But?”
“Nothing feels as good as coming home.”
Jack touched his hand to the window pane and was surprised to find that it wasn't cold. Not that it should have surprised him; he knew perfectly well that the idea of space being frigid was a myth. Space was nothing. It had no temperature.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” a voice came over the loud speaker. “This is your captain speaking. We've arrived in orbit of Leyria, and you will be allowed to disembark shortly. We ask that you gather your belongings and proceed to one of the two SlipGate chambers with appropriate customs documents.”
“Come on,” Gabi said. “We still have a ways to go.”
Through the train's side window, Jack saw a clear blue sky with many skyscrapers glittering in the afternoon sunlight. A shuttle flew past overhead, descending toward some far off spot on the eastern horizon.
The train car was empty except for a few commuters who sat reading or listening to music. Enjoying their brief ride out to the suburbs. Leyrian cities were designed around public transit. In fact, if he looked out the window, he could sometimes catch glimpses of another monorail line in the distance, expanding out from the downtown core like a spoke on a wheel.
Jack leaned back in his seat with his arms crossed, turning his face up to the ceiling. “You're sure your mother won't mind me staying with you?” he asked. “I could just find a nice hotel.”
Gabi sat across from him with hands on her knees, smiling into her own lap. “It should be fine,” she replied with a shrug of her shoulders. “My mother has a guest room, and she likes company.”
Pressing a fist to his mouth, Jack closed his eyes. He cleared his throat with some force. “Yeah well, where I come from, the random house guest is very seldom greeted with a great big smile.”
Ben came shuffling through the aisle between seats, grabbing one of the metal bars that ran from floor to ceiling. “Oh it's good to be back home,” he said. “Dude, you've got to come out with me tonight. I know this great little bar in Menara.”
Jack grinned, a touch of heat in his cheeks. He scrubbed a hand through his thick brown hair. “That's all you ever do, man. You know, there's more to life than just hanging out in bars.”
“Says the guy with no social life.”
“Oh, I don't know about that,” Gabi cut in.
She was leaning back in her chair with her head turned to stare out the window, a vacant expression on her face. As if this topic was of little interest to her. “His social life has been pretty active lately.”
One perk of having a girlfriend? Someone was always there to defend your honour. At least in the presence of other guys. Then again, he still wasn't entirely sure if the term 'girlfriend' applied; Gabi wasn't clear on that point, but she seemed to be showing a little more enthusiasm. The plan for him to stay with her at her mother's house was something she had come up with just two days ago.
She lifted her chin and squinted when her eyes fell upon Ben. “Besides,” she said with a quick bob of her head. “He's got a date tonight. No time for cheering you on while you hit on drunk Zero-G fans.”
Ben sat down in the seat across the aisle
, raising both hands as if he was facing a cop with a gun. “Hey, I'm a one-man guy,” he replied. “And not all of us get the pleasure of multiple detours to smoochyville on our interstellar voyage.”
“Smoochyville?” Jack asked.
“No good?”
“Your slanguage is a little off.”
A date, he thought to himself. That was a new development. Either she had come up with the idea just a few seconds ago, or she had been planning to surprise him. Either one suited him just fine. Summer approved. Amazing how the Nassai had taken on the role of his older sister in matters related to his love life. The emotions he felt from her were enough to let him puzzle out her thoughts on the matter. Well someone has to.
“Tyree Station,” a voice said over the loud speaker. “Approaching Tyree Station.”
Gabi's mother lived in a small house just a few blocks from the monorail station, a dome-like structure with an arch-shaped overhang above the front entrance. There were round windows in the walls and something that looked like a skylight.
Large palm trees shielded the house from anyone who might come walking by on the street, and when you got past them, beds of flowers lined the perimeter of the front yard. It was truly a sight to see.
Jack puckered his lips and whistled. “Wow!” he said, shaking his head with some gusto. “I've seen a few pictures of Leyrian architecture, but they really don't do justice to the live show.”
At his side, Gabi was smiling down at the ground, her cheeks strained by a touch of crimson. “I keep forgetting how new this is for you,” she said. “Come on.”
Biting his lower lip, Jack tilted his head back. “Well then,” he said, his eyebrows climbing upward. “You think Charles Strouse will want royalties? Because I'm this close to busting out my own rendition of 'I Think I'm Gonna Like it Here.' ”
She glanced back at him.
“Never mind.”
At the porch, Gabi stepped underneath the overhang and rang the bell. Jack still felt a little off about this whole thing. There was no doubt in his mind that Gabi's mother was a delightful woman, but no one liked surprise house guests. He thought about looking up the number of a good hotel, and then it hit him. How exactly did one do that on Leyria? Was there some kind of Leyrian Google? The computers back on Station Twelve received regular updates from the home world, but a live connection to the Link – what Leyrians called their Internet - simply wasn't possible given the stellar distances involved. Even SlipGates couldn't remain in active use all the time.
