by R S Penney
“Ordinarily, I can't,” Keli answered. “Not without considerable effort, at least. But it seems your symbiont is willing to let me have a peek.”
“Grand.”
Throwing his hands up, Ben shook his head and let out a grunt. “Okay, so Melissa thinks she can take on Isara,” he cut in. “But even if that were true, why would you think we could find her.”
“You have a telepath,” Melissa said.
Keli's throaty laughter shot down that idea. The telepath was hunched over with a hand pressed to her stomach. “If I could find Isara on my own,” she began, “the woman would be dead already.”
“You sensed Anna when she was in orbit of Ganymede.”
“Yes, but there were less than two hundred people on that base,” Keli replied. “My talents are refined enough to pick out a new voice in that din. But Denabria is a city of two and a half million people. Imagine yourself in a crowded stadium where everyone is talking at once. You might be able to make out the words of the person next to you, but everything else is just a hum, a buzz.”
“Even if we could find her,” Ben added. “You're just a half-trained kid, and Isara has smacked around some of the best Keepers in the business with little difficulty. She's as good as Jena was, and I can't back you up.”
Melissa blinked.
“I'm sorry; I thought you knew,” Ben muttered. “They took away my weapons, Melissa. All of that illegal tech I spent years accumulating? It's gone.”
He marched forward to stand in front of the young woman and looked up to gaze into her eyes. “I fought Isara on Palissa,” he went on. “I had all my best gadgets with me then, and I still barely got out with my skin on.”
“What about Vetrid Col's suit of armour?”
“What, you think they let me keep it in my bedroom closet?” Ben snapped. Really, it was a stupid question. “It's buried in some vault beneath the Keeper building, and my access codes aren't working right now.”
Not that they would have granted him access to that particular vault anyway. Larani had been quite clear that letting him use that tech during the Battle of Queens was a one-time deal. “I'm licensed to carry a single pistol,” Ben said. “And right now it's locked up in a cabinet upstairs. Not exactly the kind of high-powered ordinance you want to bring against a Keeper.”
He really hoped the girl would let this drop. On top of everything else, he really didn't need a reputation for being the man who took a kid with him on a suicide mission. Granted, Melissa was above the age of majority, but only just.
“Fine,” she said. “You're right; I'll go home.”
“Melissa…Your father…”
She spun around, turning her back on him, and raised one hand to silence him. “It was a stupid idea,” she said. “Experienced Keepers can handle Isara much better than I can. Let's leave them to it.”
She slammed the door shut on her way out.
As she leaned against the side of the house with her arms folded, Melissa closed her eyes and tried to calm down. “So, what now?” she growled, hoping that her Nassai might have an answer. “If Keli can't find her, we've got no chance of-”
Melissa…
It wasn't a voice that intruded upon her thoughts so much as it was an idea forced into her mind. An urge to pay attention, the feeling of being summoned. Ilia quivered at the sudden emotional pressure.
Biting her lip, Melissa felt her eyes widen. “Keli?” she asked in a soft whisper. “Is that you?”
You want to find Isara?
Melissa stiffened, sweat prickling on her brow as she inhaled through her nose. “Of course I do,” she answered. “But if you can't locate her, then I'm at a loss for what to do. It's a big city, and she might not even be here.”
There might be a way.
“I'm listening.”
Not here. Meet me at Letasarin Station in half an hour. We'll find Isara, and then we will end her together.
Chapter 27
Letasarin Avenue was a street that curved slightly as it made a circuit around the downtown core, a street lined with glittering buildings that stood six or eight stories high and trees on each sidewalk. Tall maples and elm trees with bright green leaves drank in the light of a clear afternoon.
The air was warm with a sweetness in the breeze, and despite the fact that summer was just a few weeks away, the temperature was still quite comfortable. The juxtaposition was not lost on Keli; every time she imagined a setting in which she might take another human being's life, she always came up with a dark, musty warehouse or an empty space station. She never pictured the bedroom or a mansion or…wherever it was Isara had gone this afternoon.
Melissa Carlson was hugging herself and rubbing her arms as she came up the steps that led to the subway platform. Odd…The girl had seemed so intent on this less than an hour ago. Why would she be squeamish now?
Keli stood on the sidewalk in white shorts and matching tank-top with thin straps, her hair up in a bun. “You came,” she said with a nod. “Good. I believe I just might have a fix on our…friend.”
Melissa's face crumpled, and she gave her head a shake. “I thought you said you couldn't track her,” she muttered. “Something about too much noise to pick out any one individual voice.”
Images floated around Melissa's body like steam rising from a pot of boiling water – the girl's thoughts made manifest to Keli's eyes – but they were nothing but wispy bits of fog. Unreadable. Melissa's Nassai was shielding her thoughts again. Keli disliked the creatures, but now was not the time to say as much.
Tilting her head back, Keli studied the girl with her lips pursed. She blinked a few times. “That was for Tanaben's benefit,” she said. “It's true, I can't pick out an individual human in a city of two and a half million.”
“But…”
“But there are far fewer Nassai.”
Keli fell in beside Melissa, marching up the sidewalk with her head down, passing under the shade of a maple tree. “Only a few dozen of the creatures in this city,” she said. “Most of them concentrated in Justice Keeper Headquarters.”
A moment later, Melissa fell in step beside her, staring straight ahead with a blank expression. “You can find them?” the girl asked in a voice so soft no one who stood more than five feet away would hear.
“I can try.”
The street was curving slightly to her right, lined on both sides with sidewalk cafes, fabrication centres and the odd church, public pool or apartment complex. They were in a residential neighbourhood near the downtown core.
Up ahead, a group of four young women in colourful dresses stood on the sidewalk, gossiping with one another. Images fluttered around their bodies only to disintegrate like smoke blown away by a strong wind. Most thoughts lasted only seconds, not nearly long enough for Keli to get much from them. Not unless she pushed.
Some were easy to make out, however. The lady in the middle kept picturing a man with stubble on his olive-skinned face and flecks of gray in his black hair. There was no need to guess at her desires. Keli couldn't understand why people were so eager to have sex with each other. The thought of anyone touching her in that way made her shiver.
“Do you have anything?” Melissa asked.
Closing her eyes, Keli turned her face up to the afternoon sun. The warmth on her skin was pleasant. “It's difficult to say,” she whispered. “The mind of a Nassai is nothing like the mind of a human; there is a different flavour.”
“How so?”
Keli grimaced, tossing her head about as she tried to forget her frustration. “It's not something I can describe in words,” she said. “And I doubt your symbiont would wish me to show you.”
“I see.”
“These…corrupted symbionts were even more distinct.” She felt their presence as a throbbing pressure against her mind, like waves crashing over her body, only they were waves of emotion. Somewhere to the south…It was hard to be specific; all those human minds tended to drown out awareness of everything else.
It wasn't very long before they were standing on the corner of Letasarin Avenue and Third Street. There were very few cars on the road – most people used public transit – but a few drifted through the intersection.
Melissa stepped up to the curb with fists on her hips, shaking her head slowly. “It still amazes me,” she murmured as if speaking to herself. “No traffic lights.”
“Traffic lights?”
The girl put herself in front of Keli with arms crossed, frowning down at herself. “Back home, we use coloured lights to direct traffic,” she said. “Green means go through the intersection, red means stop.”
Keli felt a smile blossom. “Such technology is obsolete in a world where the cars drive themselves,” she said. “I should think it wouldn't be that strange to you.”
She pointed up Third Street, in the direction that led away from the downtown core. There were more small buildings on this road and more trees with bright green leaves that had come into full bloom. “The corrupted Nassai are in that direction,” she said. “And I'd suggest that we hurry. I'm feeling…tension.”
Before they could activate the crosswalk, a blue car with tinted windows rolled up to the curb and came to a stop. Keli felt a rush of emotions – irritation with minute traces of concern – and she knew that they were caught.
The car's front door swung open, and Tanaben emerged, shaking his head as he let out a growl. “What in Bleakness do you two think you're doing?” he asked. “I thought we agreed that this was a foolish plan.”
The car drove off once he shut the door.
Keli folded her arms with a sigh, lifting her chin to stare down her nose at him. “So, how did you find us?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “I wasn't aware that you possessed the ability to track people, Tanaben.”
“You think I haven't kept tabs on you?” He stepped forward to stand in front of her, and despite the fact that she was an inch taller, Keli still felt the force of his stare. “Every time we meet, I sprinkle your clothes with nanobots.”
“Why?”
“Because you're unpredictable, that's why.”
Melissa shoved herself between them, pushing the both of them apart, and directed a fiery glare at Ben. “Enough,” she said. “If you don't want to help us, you don't have to, but we're doing this.”
“And if I call your father?”
Melissa went beet-red, but to her credit, the girl composed herself quickly enough. The images that radiated from her body seemed to be just a little more solid. “If you want to disturb a wounded man's bed rest, be my guest,” she said. “But Harry is in no position to stop me, and neither are you.”
Ben stepped away from them, arms hanging limp at his sides. He let his head sink. and forced out a deep breath. “You're both insane, you know that?” he muttered. “You're gonna get me killed.”
“You don't-”
He drew aside his light spring jacket to reveal a pistol holstered on his hip. “Good thing I brought this,” he grumbled. “Were the two of you at least smart enough to bring weapons of your own.”
Melissa opened the purse she carried, allowing them a glimpse of a pistol that was almost identical to Ben's in every way. “It's all I could get,” she whispered. “Cadets are allowed access to weapons, but if I sign out half the armory, it will raise suspicion. I was thinking Keli could use it.”
Keli had to admit that she liked that idea; she had no weapons of her own and no way to acquire them. Also, the thought of being the one who put a bullet through Isara's head had a certain appeal.
“Well, then let's go,” Ben said. “Before I come to my senses and remember that this is suicide.”
As the car pulled up to the curb, Isara ventured a glance out the window to her right. Her own face was reflected in the tinted glass – and it was her face, no matter what those idiots who had loved her daughter insisted – but beyond that, she saw a small park where a concrete path led to a round fountain that sprayed water into the air, a fountain that was surrounded by a ring of lampposts.
There were trees as well, tall ash trees with leaves that had blossomed bright and green. Children played in the grass near the fountain, kicking a ball while their parents watched and made small-talk.
In beige pants and a red tank-top, Isara sat with a briefcase in her lap, impatiently drumming her fingers on it. “It's time,” she said, peering over her shoulder at the two who sat behind her.
Calissa Narim wore gray pants and a simple blue t-shirt, her long black hair a sharp contrast to a face of milky-white skin. Eyes like emeralds fixed themselves on Isara. “I'm ready,” she said.
Next to her, Tarell Sakarai sat with his knees apart and his jacket open. A tall man with olive skin and brown hair that he wore combed back and gelled, her stared somberly into the distance. “For the glory of the Inzari.”
Squeezing her eyes shut, Isara slapped one hand over her face. “Yes, Tarell,” she muttered into her palm. “Your devotion is duly noted.”
She opened the briefcase to reveal three pistols inside, each one powered down for the moment. It was the most that she could manage to bring without attracting too much attention. As it was, she had already received a few raised eyebrows. Briefcases were all but unheard of in a society that did not conduct correspondence by paper. But then most Leyrians were fools who had grown so used to their comfortable lifestyle that they couldn't fathom why someone would commit a violent crime.
“Take one,” she said, offering the weapons to her companions.
When they did so, she claimed the last pistol for herself, shut the case and opened the door. The air was warm as she stepped out onto the sidewalk, the sun shining high in the sky. It was a beautiful afternoon in the Leyrian capitol.
Not the sort of place where you would expect a massacre.
Pressing her lips into a thin line, Isara turned her head to survey her surroundings. “Lovely,” she said, eyebrows rising. “Have you spoken with the others? Venez, Taliok? Do they have transportation ready?”
Without waiting for a reply, she put the briefcase down on the sidewalk – it was useless to her now – and started up the path toward the bubbling fountain. Once you were committed, there was no point in stalling.
Calissa fell in beside her, walking stiffly with her shoulders hunched up and her head down. “We're ready,” she whispered. “Venez has commandeered a shuttle, and he's waiting in orbit. He can be here in just under ten minutes.”
“No sooner?”
“If he comes in hot, it will trigger every sensor on the network, and they may shoot him down before he gets here.”
Closing her eyes, Isara let out a sigh. “Order him to begin his approach,” she said, nodding to the other woman. “We'll be finished in less than ten minutes.”
The other woman looked tense, but she did as she was ordered, tapping a button on her multi-tool that had been programmed to send a signal to Venez. Six months in a cell had rattled Calissa. The woman had become far too timid for Isara's liking. “If we time it appropriately, we should be able to avoid drawing too much attention until just before Venez arrives, and then we can-”
“Where's the fun in that?” Isara said.
She jumped, Bending gravity to propel herself upward. Tucking her legs into her chest, she somersaulted through the air and then landed gracefully on the small concrete circle that surrounded the fountain.
Tarell landed on her left and Calissa on her right, the three of them pausing for a moment to allow nearby spectators to get a good look at them. Parents and their small children stood in awe of the display. A heavyset man in shorts and a t-shirt stared at her with a gaping mouth; a tiny woman in a green sundress smiled and giggled. Some of the younger children squealed with delight.
One man on the other side of the fountain started clapping, and pretty soon they all were doing it, a round of applause that echoed through the whole park. Idiots! It did not even occur to them that they were staring death in the eye.
A great big smile stretched acr
oss Isara's face, and she ran her gaze over the crowd. “Yes…You people do love your Justice Keepers, don't you?” she shouted. “The stalwart defenders of the common good!”
Isara thrust her hand out, pointing her gun.
She fired.
The woman in the green sundress staggered as a bullet ripped through her chest, blood spraying into the air. She took a few shaky steps backward and then fell hard into the grass.
Isara adjusted her aim, pointing her weapon at the heavyset man who stood there like a cow that didn't realize it was about to enter the slaughterhouse. Bleakness take her, everyone in this park looked as if they were wondering if they had really just witnessed a Justice Keeper killing in cold blood.
Isara fired.
The man spasmed as a bullet pierced his chest, his arms flailing about before he fell to the ground. That was when the screaming started! People finally realized that this was really happening.
Everyone turned and ran from the fountain like a herd of buffalo in stampede, fathers scooping up young children and carrying them in their arms, teenagers shrieking as they scrambled through the field. Some took refuge behind trees.
A young woman in shorts and a halter top fell to one of Calissa's bullets. A middle-aged man in a high-collared shirt fell flat on his face, a pool of blood spreading from his broken body.
Throwing her head back, her mouth a gaping hole, Isara roared with cruel laughter. “Do your worst, Larani!” she bellowed. “Send your little minions! But we both know that the only Keeper who could defeat me is dead!”
Chapter 28
Finding Isara wasn't difficult when Melissa spotted the flood of people flowing out of a park on Third Street. Maybe two dozen of them in total, all in summer clothing, all bolting in different directions. Some ran into the road, and she cringed at the sight of that. Luckily, traffic was sparse. No one was hit.
Doubling over with her hands on her knees, Melissa shook her head. “Oh god,” she panted. “What has she done?”
