Flood City

by Daniel José Older

  Effie swung herself around to Dante’s back. The guy from the hallway was coming from one o’clock. The guy who’d taken the table stumbled around at eight thirty. The Quiet One was … nowhere. Dante gulped. They had to get out of there. “Effie, the window! Quick!”

  “But it’s closed!”

  “Doesn’t matter. What time?”

  “Twelve thirty!”

  A sharp pain erupted across Dante’s face as he lunged forward. It was the Quiet One, lashing out from wherever he was hovering, but Dante couldn’t be bothered with things like pain. He pushed as hard as he could on his accelerators, wrapping one arm around his face with the elbow pointed out, felt the rush of motion, and then the shattering glass around him as he and Effie burst through the window.

  Behind him, he heard the frenzied shouts of the tall one. “Tamin, Sut, jetboot up! After them! I’m heading to the ship with Sak, Tog, and Get. Destroy those two children and meet us there, or you’ll pay for it with slow, horrible deaths, believe me!”

  There was a smashing sound and the roar of the jetboots.

  “Swing right!” Effie yelled. “Two o’clock! And then it’s a clear run straight ahead.”

  Dante swerved hard, praying he didn’t hit anything, and blasted off through the streets.

  “You’re all dead!” Ridge Commander Briggus hollered from his platform above the training grounds. “You hear me?” The triphenglott’s hundred little appendages straightened and then erupted into a wave of squirming.

  Yala rolled her eyes. It was about the eighty millionth time Brig had declared them dead, and she was beyond over it. Plus, she was lying face-first in a man-made mud puddle while stun lasers whizzed over her head. And she’d been up since daybreak and as usual had barely slept the night before.

  “How can we be dead if we did everything right?” Delta whispered.

  “Silence in the field!” Briggus yelled. “Dead children of Earth don’t chitter-chatter.”

  “I wonder if dead triphenglotts do,” Yala muttered.

  Delta stifled laughter.

  “What is this you say, Earth scum?”

  Yala rolled over onto her front, careful not to get fried by a passing laser, and growled, “Shut off the stun cannons and I’ll explain better.”

  “Ridge Commander Briggus has had just about enough of these Flood City arrogants!” Ridge Commander Briggus yelled into the sky. “We challenge!”

  “I can never figure out who triphenglotts are talking about,” Delta whispered.

  Yala gritted her teeth. “I’ve had it with all of ’em.”

  Briggus clicked a button and the stun lasers stopped pulsing. “Let’s see what this puny brown four-appendages creature has to offer in the realm of battle, yes?”

  “Excuse me?” Yala said, springing to her feet. “You said what now?” She stepped through the mud toward the platform.

  Delta stood up behind her. “Girl, I got your back.”

  “Ridge Commander Briggus said,” he began, and then he screamed: “Braaagggghhh!!” A huge dark shape burst out of the sky, closed on the triphenglott in seconds, and, with a terrible caw, knocked him right off the platform.

  “Krestlefax!” Yala yelled.

  Briggus sprawled on the concrete, little appendages flicking frantically at the sky.

  The huge bird swung in a sharp circle over the training grounds, swooped low past the mud ditch, and landed on Yala’s outstretched arm. Yala still flinched a little—those claws never drew blood, but it was enough just to see the formidable creature flapping down toward her. Krestlefax had a rolled-up sheet of paper clenched in his beak. Yala took it, unrolled it, and stared blankly at it for a few seconds.

  “What is it?” Delta called from the mud pit.

  Everything suddenly seemed so clear. Biaque had said going to the academy was something she had to do for Flood City, not the Star Guard. That she’d be needed, and her position on the inside and training would be useful later. She just didn’t think later would come so soon. Vapors really could see the future; all those whispers and myths were true. She could feel the moment arrive around her like a thunder crash. “I gotta … I gotta go.”

  It was dinnertime—Yala and Delta had been made to stay late at training—so the Star Guard Academy grounds were empty. The two girls sprinted across the open training zone and then crept along the wall of the barracks. Yala peered around the corner at the landing strip, where the Star Guard’s massive transport unit stood. “It’s clear,” she whispered. They ran, the ocean breeze howling in their ears, reached the shadow of the transporter, and were about to lower the boarding ramp when someone yelled, “Hey!” from behind them.

  Yala spun around. Commander Joola zipped toward them in her little hovercraft at the edge of the barracks. Osen lumbered along beside her, his long, thick legs sticking out at all kinds of awkward angles. Yala braced herself to fight. She didn’t want to hurt Joola, but she wasn’t going to be held back either.

  “We just got word,” Commander Joola panted. “Commander Uk has been negotiating with the Barons!”

  Yala’s eyes went wide. “He’s what?”

  Delta gasped. “I knew that guy was up to no good!”

  “Apparently it was some top-secret back-channel thing with the survivors of the attack on the Music Hall. Even the some of higher-ups at the Star Guard Conglomerate didn’t know, but others did—it’s all very hazy. They’re holding an emergency session to figure out what to do.”

  “Well, we can’t wait for no emergency session,” Delta blurted out. “The Barons have a nuke and they’re about to use it on Flood City!”

  “They what?” Joola yelled. Osen reared back, his big eyes squinting in shock.

  “My brother just sent me a message,” Yala said. “We can’t … Commander, we can’t sit back and let this happen.”

  Joola glanced up at the transporter and then back at Yala and Delta. “Ah …” she said as understanding took hold.

  “Commander,” Yala said. “I don’t want to …”

  “Cadets Salazar and Brown,” Joola said, suddenly sharp and formal.

  Yala cringed, her whole body tensed to fight. “Yes?” they said together.

  “I cannot let you leave this base. There are proper channels to go through, and we must go through them.” The snell’s fingers hovered just above the stun-pistol holster on her waist, twitched once.

  Yala took a step back toward the ship. “The proper channels mean my whole family and everyone I love getting killed.”

  “We’ll put a rush on the orders to send an evacuation team.”

  NO. Everyone froze. The buzzing, nasally voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Slowly, all eyes landed on Osen. The tarashid leveled a withering stare at Commander Joola. Not … good … enough.

  “I … You have no authority to debate me!”

  Mm … we shall see, Osen said, and then he lumbered forward.

  Joola pulled her stun-pistol. “Stop!”

  Yala’s eyes went wide. Now beneath the enormous hull of the ship, she took a step onto the gangplank. Delta stood beside her.

  I am a medical officer, Osen muttered, clearly unimpressed with Joola’s threats. A nuclear attack on Star Guard territory means my services will be required.

  “But!” Joola yelled. “The Star Guard is evacuating Flood City!”

  Even more reason, then. The tarashid stepped directly in front of Yala and Delta, blocking them from Joola. Start the ship, cadets.

  Yala locked eyes with Joola. The snell growled, face twisted with anger. Then Yala turned and ran up the ramp to the cockpit.

  The engines rumbled to life. Delta gave the all clear from the gunner port, and Yala hit the propulsars, launching them into the air. Below, Joola looked up at them, still holding the stun-pistol.

  Let’s move, Osen’s voice warbled from somewhere nearby, and Yala blasted them out across the sky toward Flood City.

  “Alright,” Djinna said as she walked out o
f the holographer’s tower and sighed. “Dad’s cool with the whole thing, although he thinks it’s completely ridiculous. I think he’s impressed though; he got that glint in his eye and then got right down to it.”

  “Great,” Max said. “I think.”

  “So we ready?” Ato asked.

  They exchanged queasy glances. Tiny lights began popping on all around Flood City. The sky was dark blue with a splash of magenta at the far horizon. “You scared?” Djinna asked.

  “Kinda,” Max admitted.

  “Yeah,” Ato said.

  Djinna nodded. “Me too. We probably should be—this is ridiculous.”

  “But I’d rather be doing something,” Max said, “than just sitting around waiting for that Baron to obliterate us. Even if it’s a ridiculous something.”

  “Same,” Djinna and Ato said at the same time. Then they both glanced at each other in shock; it was the first time they’d ever agreed.

  “Let’s do it, then!” Max said, and they launched out down an alleyway. They stayed north of the Electric Ghost Yard, jetbooting along a winding succession of narrow passages. Around them, Flood City seemed to bristle with anticipation—something was about to happen and everyone could feel it. Folks skittered from doorway to doorway, watching the skies and cutting sharp glances around corners before scurrying into the shadows. A few times, Max, Djinna, and Ato stopped short as huge crowds swarmed past. Max scanned the faces for the long scowl of the Baron Ato called Mephim, but he was nowhere in sight.

  “Uh-oh,” Djinna said as they rounded a corner. The Music Hall loomed above them. Across from the entrance, the cloud cruiser still lay in a charred pile of rubble. It looked the same as it always had, except the top hatch hung wide open.

  “Looks like we’re too late,” Ato whispered.

  “How does it look?” Mephim snarled.

  Tog Apix poked his grease-stained face out from the escape pod. “Like a mess.”

  Mephim opened his mouth to unravel some unutterable curse.

  “However!” Tog said quickly. “I think I should be able to fix it up no problem.”

  “How quickly?”

  “Shouldn’t take long, probably just …” He stopped talking because Mephim’s fingers were wrapped around his neck, crushing his windpipe.

  “Say a number and then a say a unit of time.” Something flashed in Mephim’s eyes that Tog had never seen before. He wasn’t sure what it was, but it definitely wasn’t human. The ArchBaron was already renowned as a cold-blooded killer, but still—an even more sinister presence lurked in that furious squint now.

  The pressure eased just enough for Tog to whisper, “Twenty …”

  Mephim raised his eyebrows.

  “Minutes …” The pressure returned.

  “Don’t say maybe, or probably, or hopefully. Just do it in twenty. Understood?”

  Tog nodded. Mephim put him back in the pod and stormed off down the passageway to check on the others.

  “Status?”

  “Pretty much all set,” Get said. “We just need the other two Barons to show.”

  “Don’t worry about them. Prepare for liftoff in fifteen minutes.” Mephim turned, his cape flowing around him like some nefarious cloud.

  “Um, Baron?”

  “Yes, Get.”

  “What’s the plan?”

  “The plan is you do exactly what I tell you, when I tell you, in the way that I tell you, or I will kill you.”

  “Yes, sir.” Get went back to preparing his supplies and tried to ignore the growing fear inside him.

  “It’s so quiet all of a sudden,” Djinna said.

  It was kind of eerie, the sudden silence after all that chaos and running around all day.

  “But not the peaceful kinda quiet,” Ato muttered.

  “More like the way my mom gets quiet when she’s really, really pissed off,” Max said.

  They peered out of the narrow alleyway. The open square in front of the Music Hall was empty, not a soul about. “You really think they’re already in there?” Max said.

  Ato scowled. “Sure looks that way.”

  “Alright,” Djinna said. “Here’s what I think: We go in anyway. They’re not expecting anyone to roll up on ’em. We enter quiet. Ato disables the escape pods while Max and I go get the nuke.”

  “Me?” Max said.

  “Yes, you! Then if the Barons come we can give the heads up to Ato, or vice versa, then he comes up behind ’em while we’re all fighting and pow! It’s a trap!” Djinna had gotten pretty animated by this point and was boxing her fists against Max’s shoulder.

  “That’s a wild plan,” Max said, swatting her off. “But I’m in! You sure the holonet will work with the Star Guard evacuated and everything?”

  Djinna grinned. “It just so happens that my daddy is a brilliant genius and prepared for the Star Guard evac in advance by creating a ghost holonet that is officially up and running as of earlier today.”

  “Nice,” Ato said.

  “I know. Now … let’s move.” They headed out across the open square. Scaffoldings wrapped around the front entrance of the auditorium like skeletal casts over its broken façade. The rubble had all been cleaned up and the area looked pristine in the early evening stillness.

  Max watched Djinna sprint toward the cruiser. She moved like a ghost, so smooth and easy it seemed like she wasn’t even touching the ground. Max sighed and hurried after her. Ato reached them a few seconds later.

  “You coming?” Djinna whispered.

  Max grabbed a rung and hoisted himself up. “Yep,” he said, trying to keep the panting out of his voice. The top of the cruiser was dented and stained with smoke. Djinna poked her head out from one of the escape hatches and hissed at Max. Max crawled down the ladder and found himself in a cylinder-shaped tunnel. All kinds of pipes and wires snaked along the walls, forcing Max to stand a little closer to Djinna than he was quite ready for. “Which way?” he said, trying not to breathe all over her.

  Djinna didn’t seem to notice or mind. “Here comes Ato. Man, where the nuke at?”

  “Nuke is that way,” Ato said, climbing in and pointing down the corridor. “Escape pods the other way.”

  “Alright,” Max said. “We’re splitting up. You good, Ato?”

  Ato nodded, but his face was creased with worry.

  Djinna stepped between them. “Listen, both of you: We got this. You hear me?” She put her hand in the middle. Max put his over hers. Ato topped Max’s hand. “We got this,” Djinna said again.

  Ato looked brighter when they let go; he even smiled a little. “The engine room is around that bend on the left. The nuke is behind a panel at the far end of the room. Access code 7785B.”

  “Got it,” Max said, feeling a surge of wild confidence.

  Ato ran off down the corridor.

  Max looked at Djinna, took three clanky, echoing steps in the opposite direction, and then froze.

  “What is it?” Djinna hissed.

  “Someone’s coming!”

  “Left!” Effie yelled. “More left!”

  Dante felt her little fingers dig into his shoulders. “You’re gonna have to do better than that!”

  “Uh … ten o’clock. No! Ten thirty! Ten thirty!”

  The wind rushed against Dante’s face. He’d managed to stop scrunching it up like he was about to crash into something and had even picked up a little speed. So far, little Effie hadn’t gotten them caught or turned into paste against the side of some building.

  “Good, keep going like that. But, uh”—Dante felt her little body squirm on his back as she glanced behind them—“faster!”

  They’d gotten a good head start thanks to Dante’s inadvertent rampage in the kitchen, but they’d also lost a fair amount of time trying to adjust. Now Effie watched in horror as two of the bad men jetted around the corner behind them. “Go!” she yelled. “Straight ahead.”

  They careened down a narrow throughway, one of the relatively straighter ones in Flood City. So
mewhere up ahead things got a little more complicated, but at least they could make use of this clear shot while they had it. If they could get far enough ahead of the bad men then maybe, just maybe, they could duck down an unseen passage somehow and wait it out. “Just a little faster, Dante. Keep going. I know it’s scary.”

  But Dante was somewhere else. The wind wailing in his ears, through his hair, that dizzy joy that only extreme speed could bring—it was just like he remembered it. And he thought he’d never feel it again. He could almost hear the crowd roar as he looped another time around Flood City, as he pulled into the lead, as he …

  “WALL!” Effie yelled. “To the right, D, to the right!”

  Dante adjusted a second too late; the concrete side of a building scraped along the side of his face and down his arm, sent him spinning off. Effie tightened her grip around his neck just to hold on as they whirled out of control and nearly crashed into another building. “Down, down! Up! To the … Yes!”

  Dante shook his head against the stinging pain and found his center of gravity, easing into a low-burn hover. “I’m alright.”

  “You sure?”

  Dante nodded. “Which way?”

  “Turn. Turn. Turn. There. That way.”

  Dante pushed down hard on his accelerators just as the two men zoomed around the corner. “They’re here, Dante!” Effie squealed. “Go! Go!”

  They were closer this time. Effie could hear them panting and mumbling gruffly to each other just behind them. “A little to the left. Turn coming up ahead, right turn. One o’clock. One thirty. Two o’clock … turn!”

  Dante veered hard to his right, nearly scraping another wall, and then evened out. “Nice!” Effie yelled. “Oh no!”

  Dante flinched and slowed his burners but they didn’t hit any walls. He felt Effie jerk violently. “They’re alongside of us, D! They’re grabbing me!” Dante veered hard to his right, directly into the attacker, and felt the bulky man swing off-balance. He grunted as several blows landed on his head and back but kept pushing to the side. Eventually there had to be a wall. He would just keep pushing till he … with a sudden impact, the man groaned and went limp against Dante.