Perilous Hunt

by Lindsay Buroker

  “Candy?” Beck asked, walking beside her.

  Alisa grimaced at the bitter taste. “Absolutely not. It’s disgusting.” She held the bag open toward him. “Want some?”

  “Remind me not to make you my marketing director for food sales.”

  Despite the poor sales pitch, Beck accepted the bag, took off his helmet, and removed some of the powder. “Did she say how much we had to take to keep Starseers out of our heads?”

  “No.” Alisa glanced over her shoulder. “Abelardus, can you tell what I’m thinking?”

  “That I’m as handsome as I am witty?”

  “I think it worked,” Alisa told Beck.

  He snorted and licked his finger, then handed the bag back to Abelardus and Ostberg. “Qui-gorn?”

  “Not necessary,” Abelardus said. “I can keep other Starseers out of my head.”

  “I can too,” Ostberg said. “Most of the time. Unless they’re really powerful.” He eyed the bag uncertainly.

  “It tastes like candy,” Alisa said.

  “Oh?” He stuck his finger in and touched it to his tongue. His face scrunched up. “It’s disgusting.”

  “I didn’t say it tasted like good candy,” Alisa said.

  “I need to wash my mouth out with a cookie.” Ostberg looked hopefully at Beck, as if Beck might withdraw baked—or grilled—goods from within his combat armor.

  “Later,” Beck promised.

  Ostberg offered the bag to Abelardus, but he shook his head again. Alisa took back the drug, keeping it in hand, so she could convince Leonidas to take a dose when she got a chance.

  “I suppose this wouldn’t be a good time to bring up the pond,” Beck said, refastening his helmet as they turned down another corridor.

  “What pond?”

  “Yumi said she talked to you, and that you were in the process of agreeing to add a pond to the ship.”

  “I was in the process of figuring out how to reject her proposition.”

  “Why? Lots of ships have aquaponics systems. If I could grow some fresh fish right on the freighter—Captain, I make an amazing garlic and white wine sauce.”

  Grow fish? Was that the right term? Alisa imagined them popping up from pots similar to the hanging planters already spitting out baby tomatoes in Yumi’s cabin.

  “Or if you prefer a Perunese sauce, I can do that too. Or a ginger lime marinade. Captain, I can do wicked things with limes.”

  “I’m not sure you’re supposed to admit that to people.”

  He grinned at her. “You’d admit it, too, if you could slather them on dronk-fish and grill them in a way that would make a five-star chef wet himself in a jealous rage.”

  “I—uh, I’ll keep your request in mind,” Alisa said, while she decided that they were absolutely not installing a pond on the ship, especially since Yumi only wanted it so she could get ducks and geese. “But this probably isn’t the time to talk about people wetting themselves.”

  Another mysterious clang came from a distant corridor.

  “Are you sure?” Beck asked.

  Before she could reply, a thud came from up ahead, from much closer than the clangs. Something that sounded like a heavy piece of furniture scraped across the floor. Several flashlights had been turned on, and Alisa jumped when a couch flew through a beam, smashed into a soldier’s armored torso, and continued to the wall, pinning him there. The man growled and shoved the couch away, but threw his hands up as another soldier was hurled into the wall beside him, nearly striking him.

  “Abelardus,” Alisa murmured, easing out of the corridor and putting her back to the wall in case the soldiers fled the room.

  Right beside you, he said into her mind, though his voice sounded more distant than usual. She had to make a conscious effort to pick out the words. She had been joking with Beck earlier, but maybe the drug already was affecting her mind. This is a distraction, but it might get deadly, Abelardus added.

  “Are your people nearby?” Alisa asked aloud, not certain he would hear her silent reply now.

  She popped open the flashlight in her arm piece. The beam caught more furniture flying across the room. The pieces didn’t hurt the soldiers when they struck, not through their armor, but the chaos was definitely discombobulating them. Leonidas stood in the middle of the room, and he looked back to check on her. Unlike the rest of the soldiers, he did not have his rifle to his shoulder, searching for a target.

  “They’re somewhere around here,” the major growled, ducking as a table flew over his head. “Fan out and find them.”

  Men broke into groups and ran toward different passages—several opened into the big communal space. A giant invisible wrecking ball seemed to crash into one group, scattering five of them, hurling them in the same direction.

  Leonidas strode toward Alisa. She was still against the wall with Beck and Abelardus. Ostberg hadn’t come out of the corridor yet.

  “Abelardus?” Alisa prompted.

  A couple of people are close by, some of the stronger practitioners of telekinetics.

  “No kidding,” she said as three more soldiers were hurled across the room. One landed on a table, breaking it with a thunderous crack that sent pieces flying. Alisa was fairly certain that the composite material it had been made from was supposed to be unbreakable.

  The rest are circling around, trying to get back to the ship.

  “Our ship or their shuttle?”

  I’m not sure, Abelardus said. Nobody’s talking to me right now. They’re scared.

  Another armored soldier flew from his feet, this one smashing into the high ceiling, helmet first. He dropped back down, his rifle bouncing off the floor and joining a pile of weapons that had formed. The pile skidded around a table and out into the corridor.

  “They’re scared?” Alisa asked skeptically. “Of the soldiers?”

  No.

  “Adler,” Major Sinclair barked, pointing his flashlight at Leonidas, the light bouncing off his red armor. “Where are you going?” He thrust his arm toward a corridor that the other cyborg was charging through.

  “To check on my captain.”

  “Go help Sergeant Yakuri.”

  Leonidas ignored him.

  You know how I said I felt the staff again? Abelardus asked. It’s getting closer. That’s what has the others especially worried.

  “How close?”

  I think Tymoteusz knows we’re here and is coming.

  “Damn it.” Didn’t they have enough to worry about with the imperials? “Abelardus, can you lead me to—”

  A blast of power came out of nowhere and slammed into Alisa’s side. Even with her armor, it felt like an entire spaceship ramming into her, and she flew from her feet, spinning head over heels. As she tumbled through the air, she glimpsed Abelardus’s black robe, rucked up around his waist as he too was thrown.

  Her back crashed into a wall. Fortunately, the armor insulated her, absorbing the bone-crunching force. She slid down the wall and to the floor, grunting in surprise when Abelardus landed in her lap with a groan. He grabbed his nose, and blood streamed through his fingers. He must not have had the chance to shield himself.

  Leonidas appeared behind him, grabbing him and hoisting him to his feet. Somewhere down a nearby corridor, the faint squeals of blazer fire rang out. Alisa scrambled to her feet, Leonidas helping her up with a hand.

  “Back the way we came,” he whispered.

  “No,” Abelardus said. “I’ll lead. Follow— Ostberg, get over here.”

  Ostberg was leaning out of the corridor, his face scrunched up in concentration.

  He’s helping them, Abelardus spoke into Alisa’s mind.

  “The soldiers?”

  No, his teachers.

  A soldier flew across the room, and Ostberg clenched a triumphant fist.

  “Which way?” Leonidas said, his eyes boring into Abelardus.

  “This way. Ostberg, Beck— Beck?” Abelardus looked around.

  Alisa didn’t see Beck at first,
either, but then she spotted him rising from the middle of the kitchen area, broken appliances on the floor all around him. Her first thought was that he’d been shopping for utensils to take back to the ship, but judging by the dazed way he touched his helmet, he had been hurled way over there.

  “The Starseers aren’t doing a good job of separating friend from foe,” Alisa said, waving to grab his attention. “Beck!”

  That major was still in the middle of the room, shouting orders and trying to direct his people. He glared at her, but only for a second. More blazer fire came from a corridor.

  “This way, men,” he cried and raced in that direction. “Adler, you’ll help us if you want your ship to be allowed to leave.”

  “This way,” Abelardus said, heading in another direction. He chose a corridor between the one they’d entered through and the kitchen.

  Beck stumbled over, joining Alisa and Leonidas.

  “That was fun,” Ostberg blurted, catching up as the group jogged away from the chaotic communal area.

  “Beating up on soldiers?” Alisa asked.

  “Thorian asked me to.”

  “Thorian?” Leonidas asked.

  “You’re speaking to him?” Abelardus asked.

  “He spoke to me, said to help distract the soldiers. They’re trying to get out.”

  “To their shuttle?” Alisa asked. “Can you tell them to go to my ship? We have shields and weapons to improve the odds of getting away from the imperials.” And from Tymoteusz, she added silently.

  “I don’t know if those will increase any odds,” Leonidas said, striding along at her side, as Abelardus led them through dark labyrinthine passages.

  “We also have my crazy plans,” Alisa said.

  “That might do it.”

  “We have to get back down to the level with the airlocks,” Abelardus said, stopping in front of another bank of elevators.

  “Any chance those are working and we don’t have to climb?” Beck asked, shining a flashlight on the doors.

  “What do you think?” Abelardus waved at the sensor panel by one set of doors, and nothing happened. As with the lights, there was no power to it.

  “That I should have stayed aboard the ship,” Beck said.

  Leonidas stepped forward and gripped one of the doors. He ripped it open, revealing another dark elevator shaft.

  “Mica was complaining about the lack of munchies,” Alisa said.

  “See, if I’d stayed behind I could have been grilling jakloff kabobs and making brownies.”

  “Ostberg,” Alisa said. “Tell Thorian that if the Starseers come to our ship, there will be brownies.”

  Leonidas raised his eyebrows.

  “He’s ten,” she said. “That’s probably more of an enticement than shields, weapons, and crazy plans.”

  She thought Leonidas would point out that Thorian had been raised to be a future ruler of the system and would be thinking about tactics and strategies rather than his stomach. Instead, he said, “It would have worked on me.”

  “He won’t be in charge,” Abelardus said. He sneered at the dark drop-off, sighed, and dropped to all fours to swing his legs into the shaft and find one of the vertical rails to grab.

  Leonidas leaped over his head, making Abelardus duck and curse, and landed on the wall in the back of the shaft. “Bring up the rear, Beck,” he said, already skimming down a rail.

  Alisa wanted to follow right after him, eager to reunite with the children and hopefully get them out of here before the imperials recovered and Tymoteusz arrived, but she wasn’t as agile in her armor and feared she would kick Abelardus. She waited until he and Ostberg had slid over the side and started down before following.

  Going down was much easier than up had been, but the tiny handhold provided by the rail still made the descent precarious. Once Ostberg, perhaps worried about hurrying, slipped and skidded down several feet with a startled cry.

  “That was my head,” Abelardus said, waiting until Ostberg caught himself before speaking.

  “It caught my fall,” Ostberg said, a slight shake to his voice. “Thanks for stopping me, Lord Abelardus.”

  Alisa slid down carefully. With the extra weight from her armor, Abelardus’s head might not be enough to stop her if she fell.

  “Almost to the doors,” Leonidas said.

  Alisa did not know which floor they had started on and was glad he did. A squeal sounded, echoing up the shaft, and a slice of light cut in from several floors below. Alisa was calculating how far she had to go when the railing and the wall trembled.

  “Is that the elevator?” she cried, looking up and down, imagining a car careening out of the darkness, knocking all of them free, and then smashing down on top of them.

  “No,” Abelardus said, his voice grim.

  “Then what?” Alisa asked as the trembling increased.

  Ostberg squawked in alarm. “It’s going to shake me loose.” His words rattled in his chest in the same way as the shaft rattled around them. “Make it stop.”

  One of Alisa’s boots slipped free, and she tightened her grip on the rail with her fingers, glad for her armor’s strength. She ordered the magnetic soles to activate, but the wall was not made of anything that attracted magnets. Her other foot slipped as soon as she got the first one back on.

  “I can’t,” Abelardus said, strain entering his voice. “Hurry down. I—”

  His words cut off in a yell as he slipped, both hands losing their grip on the railing.

  “Abelardus,” Alisa cried as he tumbled downward in the shaft, his robe flapping about him.

  Leonidas had shoved the doors open and stood on the platform, framed by the light. He lunged out at the right moment and caught the tumbling Abelardus in his arms.

  “Thank you, Leonidas,” Alisa whispered as Abelardus’s yell ended in a disgruntled noise.

  The shaft shook harder as Leonidas deposited Abelardus on the floor beside him. Alisa’s teeth felt like they were rattling in her skull. She doggedly continued down, but paused when she caught up with Ostberg. He was clinging on, his fingers trembling from the effort.

  “Can you catch me too?” Ostberg asked, a panicky note in his voice.

  Alisa looked up, movement drawing her eye. Beck’s boots. He stopped right above her.

  A thunderous clang came from nearby, something falling. Was the entire base shaking? Not just the elevator shaft? She’d thought this might be another attack from the Starseers as they tried to delay the soldiers.

  Not the Starseers, Abelardus informed her. The staff is getting closer.

  “Tym is using it on the asteroid?” Alisa called down, hoping she didn’t confuse Leonidas by responding out loud to Abelardus.

  Yes.

  The shaking went up a level, and more distant crashes sounded. Alisa’s boots slipped again. Beck cursed, his own boot slipping.

  “Ostberg, go,” she said.

  Even with armor, it was getting hard to hold on.

  Ostberg tried to slide down the railing of his own accord, but his fingers gave way, and he fell, just as Abelardus had. Leonidas caught him mid-yell and deposited him next to Abelardus. More clangs sounded, and something cracked deep within the structure of the base. Something loud and ominous. A support beam?

  “Is he trying to collapse this place?” Alisa asked, skidding down the railing as quickly as possible. She wished Stanislav were with them.

  He might be, Abelardus said. Does he want Thorian? Do you know? Why is he here?

  “Stanislav said… his brother was afraid of Thorian.”

  So he wants him dead?

  “That’s what he said,” Alisa said. “I can barely hear you when you talk in my mind right now. You may want to use your lips.”

  “On you? Gladly.”

  A grunt sounded from the corridor. Alisa hoped that meant Leonidas had punched Abelardus.

  As she approached the floor where Leonidas still stood, waiting to catch her if she fell, the light in the corridor behind hi
m went out. It startled her into slipping again, her boots giving way beneath her. Afraid he wouldn’t see her plummeting down in the dark, she yelled and shoved out with her legs, trying to catch the wall. One heel struck it, and she thrust herself toward the doors. Her terror and her armor gave that weak, one-legged thrust a great deal of power, and she feared her head would crack against the far side of the shaft with enough power to knock her out. But she had fallen past the wall, and instead her head met air and her body met—

  “Oomph,” Leonidas grunted as she slammed into him.

  He reacted quickly, wrapping his arms around her. The lights came on for a second, then started flickering off and on. The floor quaked under Leonidas, but she felt safe in his grip and offered a quick, manic grin.

  “I do love when you cuddle me like this, Leonidas. If we had more time, and our faceplates wouldn’t clack together, I’d kiss you.”

  “I’d accept it.”

  “Very gracious of you.”

  “Yes.” He set her down beside Ostberg with a quick pat on the back. “Beck?” He leaned into the shaft, just as Beck swung out, landing on the platform beside him.

  “No need to catch me,” Beck said. “I’m not as in need of cuddling.”

  “His sauces keep him warm at night,” Alisa said.

  “Enough talking,” Abelardus said, already farther down the hall, the flickering lights showing him waving for them to follow. He wobbled as the floor continued to heave. “We have to get out of here before the entire place collapses.”

  A panel crashed down from the ceiling, nearly landing on Beck’s head.

  “I’ll agree with that.” He was the first to take off after Abelardus.

  Alisa propelled Ostberg ahead of her, and as she and Leonidas brought up the rear, she handed him Yumi’s bag. “You may want to take a sample of this, just in case it actually does something useful.”

  “I hear it’s not like candy,” he said, but accepted it. His superior hearing must have let him hear that conversation even when he had been walking ahead.

  “No, but Beck promised Ostberg cookies to wash away the taste later. I’m sure he will give you one too.”