by J D Astra
I swallowed hard and allowed my shoulders to pull away from my ears when something crashed down on top of Tuko. The boat went under and my vision spun around and around. The masked man had controlled a wave in front of me that far away?
The meter in the corner of my vision read ten percent, and I slowed my movement to conserve energy. The boat drifted up to the top—upside down. It took a moment, but with enough paddle wiggling, I got us upright again. I used only the front two paddles as I moved us through the water at minimum speed. I couldn’t get it all the way back to the rendezvous, and I couldn’t leave Tuko floating out here to get swallowed up by any of the big fish in the bay or picked up by some fisherman.
“Docks in two hundred meters northwest,” Mae said calmly, and her tenor helped ease my nerves. “That was the most intense thing to have ever happened to me.”
I chuckled. ‘More intense than almost exploding?’
“Yes, well, maybe the second most intense thing,” she corrected, then sighed. “I can’t believe we made it. Honestly, our chances were about two hundred to one when you dropped off the edge.”
‘We’re not out of this yet,’ I noted as the ma meter dropped to five percent. I could see the docks, but given our speed and the distance, I wasn’t sure we’d make it. I let us drift, the gentle waves pushing us closer and closer with every lap.
For the second problem, how was I going to fasten Tuko to the docks? I couldn’t leave him in plain sight, and I had cut the grappling hook to get us free. We drifted within range of the docks, and the solution revealed itself. There was a heap of frozen refuse pinned under the nearest overhang up against the stone wall it came from.
With painful slowness, I lifted bits of trash and nestled myself under them. I was grateful I couldn’t smell through Tuko as I snuggled in for the night, just as the ma meter hit zero. Now, to get him back home.
It was still two days before rest day, and I wasn’t certain if the whole garbage heap was frozen enough to withstand the warming of the water at the height of the day. If not, the heap could fall apart, sinking Tuko to the bottom of the bay. There wouldn’t be enough time to get there and back over the lunch break, and dinner might be too late.
“We could always skip meditation...” Mae offered, and I grimaced. Meditation had been instrumental in expanding my control over my munje, my body, and my mind. But skipping one wouldn’t undo all of that.
“How did it go?” Hana shout-whispered from below, and I leaned over to see her through the branches of the pine. There were dark circles under her eyes, and I wondered if she’d slept at all.
“Data collected, Tuko secure, though not home.” I untied myself from the tree and shimmied down. It was warmer on the ground away from the breeze, and I shivered away the last of the adrenaline from our encounter.
Hana rubbed her hands together, and black zo twisted into her fingers. She rubbed my shoulders and neck, sending warmth through my body that relaxed my muscles. I leaned into the touch, lowering myself for her to reach better.
“Though I may have just kicked the zapets’ nest,” I remembered aloud with a frown.
I explained the situation as Hana massaged my sore and tense muscles. While describing the man in the fox mask, something tickled the back of my mind. “There was something familiar about the way he moved,” I trailed off thoughtfully as Hana finished her work.
“I’m not detecting a strong connection in your memory. It must be something very old, or a fake impression,” Mae remarked.
Hana shrugged. “Maybe they’re someone we know. They were masked, so you’re going off his stature and a few gestures, which is not much.”
I nodded. “I’ll worry about that later. Now, we need to go get Tuko.”
I looked to the pink horizon. The gates would open soon enough, and we could leave for an hour or so if we skipped breakfast. Hana was adamant about coming with me, and I wasn’t in any state to decline her help.
We returned to our lodges to change into our uniforms for the day, and I asked Cho to save a portion of breakfast for us in my bento. He sleepily agreed, then shot upright with a start.
“We’re not meditating?” he asked, alert as ever.
I patted his shoulder reassuringly. “You can lead them this time. I’ll fill you in at lunch, but we have an errand to run.”
Cho gave a thumbs up, then flopped back in bed, asleep in a second. I grabbed my coat and met Hana at the gate. The guards scrutinized us. Donuts was the excuse again—which was getting worn out by now—but they allowed us to pass.
We took off at a steady jog as the sun broke over the bay, and chilling “what if’s” ran circles in my head. What if I was putting Hana in danger? What if the fox-man was waiting for us? What if we did know him? What if...
Chapter 32
HANA STOPPED AT THE last corner before the docks and pulled me through a dark, fish-rank alley for a ry glimmer. We were running out of time, but due to my rampant “if terrors” I was grateful for the protection. She adjusted our age, facial features, and hair color before we strode out toward the docks.
Activity was in full swing. Fishermen yelled commands to one another as they prepared to cast off, and deck hands scrambled about to load all the necessary tools for a day’s work. We looked horribly out of place in our nice jackets. There was no reason for two people like us to be at the docks, but we wouldn’t be long.
Mae’s directions navigated us right to the spot, but I stopped in gut-twisting horror as I noticed two men leaned over the edge, inspecting something. The men sat up and exchanged frustrated glances. The red-trimmed black doboks were a dead giveaway; they were Wong’s goons.
The first man waved the second off, saying something I couldn’t hear over the din of fishermen preparing to depart. The second man got up and ran toward an alley, then returned with a long, spear-like stick.
“Pretend I’m robbing you, then call out for their help,” I said as I turned to Hana, who looked about thirty years older than she was.
She scowled. “What if it doesn’t work?”
“Plan B.”
“Which is?” she asked, flustered.
“Punch them?” I offered.
She groaned and rolled her eyes, then smirked. “That should be plan A.”
We moved into position at the edge of the alley as the men poked and prodded at the garbage pile, trying to uncover Tuko. I wasn’t certain how to start a fake mugging, but Hana was, apparently.
“Stop, let me go!” she screamed with a burst of ry persuasion and pulled away.
I jumped at the terror in her voice, but held tight to her arms. She wriggled, trying weakly to escape my grasp, and called out again. I pulled at her coat, then pretended to stuff something away in mine. I shoved Hana gently, which she greatly overacted and flew backwards to the ground with a shrill scream.
By this point, most of the fishermen were looking our way—as were the men poking at Tuko—but no one made a move to chase. My eyes bulged as if I hadn’t realized I was going to get caught in the act. I turned tail and ran, hoping Hana’s acting could inspire the goons to try to recover her missing whatever-I-had-stolen.
“Won’t someone help me?” Hana cried with an infusion of ry, and I felt the nearly insurmountable urge to turn and run back to her side. She was really laying it on thick.
I focused my mind solely on escaping as I heard a cacophony of voices rise behind me and booted feet hitting the ground. A single glance over my shoulder revealed the stampede of fishermen who’d taken up the call to help Hana—including one of the Wong goons.
When I reached the end of the alley, Mae cast a ry double out in front of me as we’d done with Tae-do, and I pinned myself to the wall. I wiped away Hana’s glimmer and yanked off my coat. The first fisherman rounded the corner, but he didn’t look twice. They brandished harpoons and nets, screaming, “Thief!” as they chased the fake image of my former self.
I calmed my breathing, feigning surprise as I stepped back from the cu
rb like I had been preparing to cross the road. The trail of men tapered off, and I jogged back down the alley. The ry double would evaporate in seconds, so there wasn’t much time before they realized someone had pulled a fast one.
Hana yelped in struggle, followed by the sound of a heavy hit to human flesh. Damn goon was hitting a young woman. Did he have no decency?
I pushed my muscles, cycling zo for the coming fight. I skidded around the end of the alley to the docks and saw Hana squirming in the thick man’s chokehold.
I dashed forward as she landed two powerful elbows to the man’s gut, followed by a fist to the groin on the second strike. His hand relaxed at her throat and he howled. Hana twisted, landing six punches to his face and chest before I could get to her.
I grabbed the man at the neck and kicked the hollow of his knee, keeping my forward momentum. He dropped to the street with a back-cracking thud. He exhaled gently as his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and I checked for a pulse. When his heartrate seemed steady, I moved on toward the dock.
“Hurry,” Hana urged with a grunt as she pulled the unconscious goon toward a stack of boxes near the building’s edge.
I shallowed my breathing and created several bursts of ma, then leaned over the ledge and released it towards the garbage heap.
“Just leave him,” I shouted as she dragged the man away. We wouldn’t be here long.
I felt Tuko when my munje soaked into his systems. After another two breaths, he was moving with ease. I jammed his clawed feet into the wood of the docks and climbed just enough to reach, then grabbed him.
“Watch out!” Hana screamed, and I fell back on instinct as a foot swiped where my head had once been.
I turned Tuko and loaded the second electric shot into his neck. The goon kicked again, and I stumbled onto my ass as I fired the needle. It went wide and missed the goon by a few centimeters. I cursed, scooting backwards on my elbows with the heavy Tuko body weighing me down.
The goon leered as he said, “Hand it—AH!” The man’s back arched, and he dropped to his knees. Hana landed a heavy kick to his head, and the man tumbled into the bay with a surprised yelp. She reached for me, and I took her arm.
“They’re stealin’ our boats!” cried a fisherman, and the mob rushed from the alley.
They were irrationally angry, and I didn’t think I could talk them down. Using ry to enhance my persuasion wouldn’t work either, since they’d be on their guard from Hana’s deception. We were too far down the pier to make it before the mob cut us off. The water was frigid, and stealing a boat could get us expelled from Bastion. There weren’t many options left to us.
“What’s plan C?” Hana asked, her voice trembling.
“He’s still got a few shots left,” I mumbled, and Mae popped a map up into my vision with two blinking lights for where Hana and I stood. “There’s a connecting pier five meters behind us. I’ll drop a smoke bomb when they’re close and flash it to blind them. Then we’ll run for it.”
The mob charged onto the dock, but only directly in front of us, leaving the connecting pier open for escape. Tuko was heavy in my hands. I had to give Hana and me a chance to get out, and the only option I saw with what little time I had to think was leaving Tuko behind to pull their attention.
I dug my fingers into the spare compartment and ripped Mae’s device free. I ferried it into my inner pocket and gave one last look at Tuko before setting him on the dock. I cycled ry as the angry fishermen approached, brandishing weapons, and screaming for retribution of my thieving.
I used the last of the ma in Tuko to leap straight up. I launched the smoke bomb a meter out from the advancing mob, then twirled a bright glimmer in my palm. When the bomb burst in a cloud of gray, I launched the ry and turned for the next pier with shaking hands and a pounding heart.
Hana bolted, using zo enhanced strides to cross the gaps in the planks. I wobbled as I did the same. The bridge was unstable, but we made it to the other side. The fisherman crowd coughed and groaned under my attack, but were recovering quickly.
I tried to make Tuko follow, but I knew there wasn’t enough ma left in his system to clear all the jumps. Instead, I turned him back to the crowd and loaded the last electric needle. I’d be damned before I let him go down without all the fight he had.
The double vision made me sick as I watch from my human body, following Hana, and Tuko’s perspective from the dock. The mob advanced on him in a rage. The first fisherman broke through the smoke and charged forward, swinging his weapon wildly. I launched the needle at his leg, and the man dropped to the pier, convulsing. I heard his howl from the alley and winced.
The cloud blew away on an unnatural wind, and three men stood at the center twisting their arms with light-blue en. Half the crowd had turned around, chasing us, but the other half descended on Tuko.
Someone swung a harpoon down at Tuko. I crossed my arms overhead to catch it and Tuko mimicked my motion. I twisted my arms and brought them together, and the fisherman fumbled the weapon. The ma bar in my vision flashed at two percent, and I cut the connection.
My pounding heart ached as I thought of what Tuko was going through. My mind’s eye showed me an imagined horrible vision of the mob crushing him, stomping him as the last of my ma spilled out into the sea. They kicked his body into the bay with vicious cries of revenge.
Tears blurred my vision, but I blinked them back. It was only my imagination. I focused on cycling zo and Hana led us through side streets. We slowed as we reached the train station, then walked our way into the morning crowd headed to their jobs.
“I’m sorry,” Hana whispered. She linked her arm in mine, then leaned her head on my shoulder.
The tears threatened to return, but I banished them with a sigh. “He had a good run.”
Chapter 33
WE MADE IT BACK TO Bastion with minutes to spare before the first class, Zo Strengthening II. Cho had packed a portion of breakfast that we hurriedly scarfed down before making it out to the training field.
My stomach turned uneasily as we ran our laps. The muscles in my legs burned and I struggled to cultivate zo on my uncomfortably full gut. My breathing became shallow but I couldn’t fight the sickness growing in me. The horrible vision of Tuko’s destruction played on repeat. I battled the pain and nausea, which only served to intensify my discomfort.
I could’ve jumped him into the bay—but they would’ve fished him off the bottom. If I’d put more ma in him from the start, maybe he could’ve made it out with us. I could’ve carried him, at least a little ways before he started dragging me down. But then he wouldn’t have served as the distraction we needed to escape.
It felt like there were a million things I could’ve done to save him, but I chose to run and leave him behind.
“Stop with the hindsight!” Mae chided with frustration, then her voice softened. “You chose the option that ensured Hana’s and your safety.”
I looked to Hana while we moved through the morning routine. She wasn’t glowing how she usually did with physical activity. Her punches were effortless and sloppy. Her eyes met mine, and she smiled in sympathy.
I looked away. ‘You’re right. I know you are.’
“I don’t get to hear that one too often anymore. Thank you,” Mae said with her sarcastic levity, but it passed straight through me like I was a ghost.
I finished the morning routine on the verge of vomiting, which elicited several angry scoldings from the instructor for my less than stellar performance. It didn’t matter. I did good enough for today.
Hana sat with me during Ry Glimmers, casting butterflies and flowers that danced around me. I did my best to smile, but we both knew I was faking it. I was never a very good liar. The class dragged on painfully as the instructor called Hana out for her disruptions.
The class laughed at some comment I didn’t hear, and Hana’s cheeks reddened. Her embarrassed expression was the tipping point, and I jumped to my feet, fists clenched. The instructor’s eyes went
wide with fear. The class quieted to hushed accusations and my vision blurred.
“I don’t feel well. I need to go to the infirmary.” I walked to the door without waiting.
Sen, the instructor, said something behind me, but I kept walking, and she didn’t give chase. My eyes burned with unshed tears as I marched to who knew where. My head pounded and my face was hot. Tightness in my chest kept me from breathing as I realized another terrible what if.
What if I had to choose between Hana’s safety or my mother’s survival? I had unconsciously known the right sacrifice to make between Hana and Tuko, but how could I choose between two people I loved?
“Jiyong?” Min-hwan’s voice cut through my blurred trance, and I looked up to see I was standing at his door.
Hot tears burned my eyes, and my jaw ached from clenching my teeth. Min-hwan pulled me into his office and closed the door as I collapsed to the floor. It was as if the band around my chest snapped, and my emotion was free. I sucked down a deep breath for the first time and fell onto my hands. Feeling drained away like I’d been splashed with cold water and washed the emotion off.
After a few breaths, I was calm. My pulse returned to normal, and the pounding in my skull ended. I sat back and looked up. Min-hwan’s brow was furrowed, and there was a faint purple glow around his body that seemed to create a tunnel to mine. I lifted my hands and inspected the ry bubble only a centimeter away from my skin.
“What’s this?” I asked, emotionless.
He turned for his desk, and the bubble pulled like canvas over a wood frame. “It’s a siphon. I’m holding your feelings for you, so you can calmly explain what has caused you this much pain.”
He gestured for me to sit in the chair at his desk, and I complied.
“Woong-ji hasn’t told you yet because I asked her to wait. Don’t punish her,” I said, not feeling worry, but understanding the consequences of what I was about to say.
Min-hwan raised an eyebrow. “I trust my instructors to keep me informed of the things I need to know, when I need to know them. If she withheld anything, it was because she believed it was within her control to mitigate. Though I’m now concerned that she has not succeeded.”
