Kheris Burning (Thieves' Guild Origins: LC Book One): A Fast Paced Scifi Action Adventure Novel

by C. G. Hatton

  The air was still, a tang of bitterness to it that caught at the back of my throat. I climbed up to the roof and sat there for a minute, working out my bearings and figuring out the watch positions.

  I didn’t want to go round to the front. I was dreading seeing Charlie and the little ones lying there on the ground outside but they were gone and the street looked like nothing had happened.

  The sun was setting. I found a place to sit and wait, beyond any prying eyes and nowhere near any of the AI sensors. There was a constant echo of gunfire dancing around the city blocks. I stared at the tags and read the inscription, ‘ANDERTON C.’, with a long number and blood group etched below it. I took the knife out of my pocket and carefully scratched an ‘L’ before the ‘C’ then hooked the chain over my neck.

  I sat back and watched the shadows lengthen, the sky darken, checking out the stuff on the boards. I couldn’t see from there but I could still hear the UM bombardment of the crashed ship, as relentless as it had been. Gas doesn’t affect combat soldiers in full powered armour. They’d know nothing of the dramas going on in our little colony. They probably didn’t give a hoot about the KRM and the Empire’s claim on the place. They just wanted whatever it was that had crashed out there. If it did belong to Aries, they’d probably show up soon and join the fight for it. I half hoped they would. Aries was supposed to have kick-ass gunships.

  I waited until it was dark then I slid down, crept into the street, retrieved the crutches that were still lying where I’d dropped them, and I slipped away into the back alleys.

  I had no idea where Dayton was holding Latia and I can’t even remember what I was thinking. That I could bargain maybe? That if I gave myself up, they’d let her go. Or that I could go down there and confront them, find out why the hell they thought I’d betrayed them. I do know that I considered going to the garrison and telling them everything. If I was being accused of being a traitor, I might as well be. Screw them.

  Except they had Latia and I’d never let her down.

  I needed to get changed and I had clothes at Latia’s place so I made my way there, avoiding Dayton’s guys. They were openly out in the street, guns out, scarves drawn up over their faces, blazing braziers at every street corner. They were laughing, joking around, as if they had such a high hand that the Earth forces weren’t even a threat any more.

  It wasn’t hard to slip past them, weird to feel like I was entering enemy territory when I was heading into what used to be home. I didn’t know where I belonged any more. And what was worse, I didn’t know where I wanted to belong.

  They had people posted on watch all along Latia’s street as well as up on the roof opposite the back alley.

  I stayed low, snuck into a building three doors down and limped down into the cellars. I knew the rat runs down there with my eyes closed. There were some places I was too big to squeeze through any more but enough that I could still get through to make my way round and into Latia’s.

  It was dark and quiet inside her house. I could feel that there wasn’t anyone in there, just that empty stillness you can sense when you walk into an unoccupied building. It was eerie. I felt like I was intruding, as if it had been years since I’d been there with her, not just a few days. My stomach felt cold.

  I abandoned the crutches and crawled through to retrieve my box, rummaging with shaking hands through all my stuff until I found the small pot I was looking for. I had to force myself to close the box back up and put it away as carefully as I always had when all I wanted to do was abandon it as if none of it mattered any more. It was almost as if I knew I was never going back.

  I dragged myself upstairs and limped into my old room. It felt alien, like I was intruding on someone else’s life.

  I emptied the pockets of the shorts onto the bed and stripped off, pausing for a second when I was half undressed to prod at the dressing taped to my stomach. It was still tender but nowhere near as bad as it had been. I was tempted to pull it off and have a look but there was a noise outside that spooked me into hurrying up.

  I changed into my things, the darkest stuff I had, and wrapped Charlie’s band around my forearm, feeling it constrict with a sting. Faint numbers started to scroll across its matt surface. There was the time, something that looked like a temperature reading and other stuff that meant nothing to me but it all looked cool. I pulled the sleeves down, put his knife into my pocket and grabbed the pot of camouflage paint.

  I stood there, looking at it, heart pounding. I opened the lid, scooped out some of the black and rubbed it into my hair as if I could scrub out who I was.

  I stared at my reflection in the dirty window and drew a thick horizontal line of black paint across each cheekbone.

  The data boards were all I had that could make a difference with Dayton. I stuffed them into a backpack, pulled up the hood of my shirt, grabbed the crutches and left.

  I kept to the back alleys and the shadows. It sounded like the entire southern side of the city belonged to the resistance, pretty much the whole way up to Main. I didn’t see any Imperial patrols, no tanks, no gunships. I took care but I was almost daring Dayton’s men to confront me. I stood at street corners and watched them, breathing in the smoke, the heightened emotions and bravado they were emanating. They were being so cocky, it would have been easy to think they had made a deal with UM.

  I worked my way round, heading for one of the safe houses. I reckoned I needed to get into the tunnels. Get to Dayton himself to get him to free Latia. Something was screwy and I just needed to sort it out, make sure I didn’t run into Calum or any of his cronies and just make it to the tunnels.

  Even with the crutches and a busted knee, I made my way past their blockades easily. And the longer I got away with it, the more reckless I got. It was funny.

  Until someone grabbed my shirt and dragged me backwards into a doorway.

  Chapter 19

  My knee twisted and I almost screamed, biting it back and fighting them off, squirming free and backing away, turning to run, except they caught me again and spun me around, pulling me close and hissing into my ear, “Quit it, squirt. What the hell are you doing?”

  I stopped struggling and stood there, chest heaving, trying to balance on the crutches to get the weight off my knee.

  Benjie. Probably the only one who had a chance of predicting what I’d do and where I’d go.

  He straightened me up and I thought he was going to shove me away but he grabbed me in a bear hug.

  “We heard some of the kids got caught in the gas,” he said quietly, his voice catching.

  “Maisie and Space are alive. They’re at the outpost. The others…” I couldn’t say it.

  He pushed me away gently, holding me by each arm. “What are you doing, Luka? It’s not safe for you to be out here.”

  He had a rifle on his back, a gash across one eyebrow and a dirty bandage wrapped around his hand. He didn’t look grown up and cool any more, he looked like a tired kid.

  “I have a way out,” I said. “I can get us away from here, all of us.”

  He stared at me, glanced away behind me out into the street, and pulled me further in to the doorway. “There is no way out. And if you get caught, Dayton is going to shoot you. Do you understand that?”

  I pushed him away and scowled. “I don’t understand why.”

  He frowned at me.

  I shrugged the backpack off and pulled out one of the boards. “I’ve got the latest codes for him, stats on troops and everything. There’s even some stuff about UM.”

  Benjie was looking at me like I was crazy.

  “I want to trade,” I said. “I want him to let Latia go. We’re going to get away.”

  He shook his head slowly. “Won’t work. Whatever you’ve got on there. Dayton wants you dead, Luka. You don’t know why?”

  I shrugged, frowning, half of me feeling ticked off and the other half planning another way in.

  He didn’t look impressed. “I talked to Peanut. He said you do know
why. C’mon, be straight with me. If you’ve got something on Dayton, tell me.”

  “I don’t have anything. Why does Peanut think I do?”

  Benjie shook his head. “Think about it, kid. You’ve done nothing but help Dayton and help our cause. Why does he suddenly think you’ve betrayed him?” He paused then added, pointedly, “If you haven’t.”

  “I haven’t.” Even as I said it, I felt cold. I’ve learned a lot about the playing of games since I’ve been with the guild. That’s what we do. It’s all a game. Back then, I don’t even think it’s that I was naïve. I just wanted to fix everything.

  But Dayton was playing a game. This whole thing was just because he thought I knew something about him. Something damning.

  I almost laughed. “What the hell does Peanut think I have? Where is he?”

  Benjie pulled the rifle round off his back. “I don’t know. He split. I don’t even know if he’s alive.”

  My stomach knotted. “What?”

  “Luka, I don’t know.”

  I think I just gawped at him, heart thumping a steady numb rhythm.

  He squeezed my shoulder, holding tight, looking at me the way he’d always used to whenever I’d screwed up and freaked out, and he’d had to talk me back to that steady, ever so fine line of being able to function.

  “Listen to me.” He squeezed tighter. “Luka, listen to me. Peanut wouldn’t tell me what it was, but he said you knew and he said not to trust Dayton.”

  “Why would he say that?” My voice sounded hollow, stomach twisting.

  Benjie screwed up his face like he was done being patient with me. “I don’t know. He said you’ve been set up. Come on, Dayton was fine with you before you went into the comms centre. Did you get something from there? Have you told anyone?”

  I shrugged, wanting to scream, run away, hit the wall, anything but stand there so numb.

  “Did you take something? Come on, Luka, think.”

  “I took a load of crap. I didn’t even look at it…” I stared at Benjie. My chest felt heavy. “I gave it all to Peanut.”

  His stance changed. He straightened and looked at me. “You really don’t know what it is, do you?”

  If it was possible, I felt even more cold. I trusted him. If I’d lost Benjie, I was done. If Benjie was digging to find out what I knew, if I knew Dayton’s secret, then I could have just signed my own death warrant, right there. I almost backpedalled, but I bit my tongue and stared back at him.

  He punched me in the arm. “Jesus, Luka, don’t look at me like I’m the bad guy here. Where is it?”

  “I gave it to Peanut,” I said quietly, feeling bad that I could have doubted him.

  “He didn’t have it. He said you’d know where it was, somewhere safe. Where would that be?”

  I didn’t know what to say. My heart was racing. I was trying to think, trying to work out what I should and shouldn’t have done, who I could and couldn’t trust, what might lead to what and why. Latia had taught me how to play chess when I was six and it was like trying to figure out ten moves ahead.

  If Benjie had dared tell me to trust him right then, I think I would have kicked him in the shin and made a run for it.

  As it was, he leaned in close and took hold of my shoulder again. “Luka, listen to me. I don’t like what Dayton is doing. I don’t like that he’s using Calum and I don’t like that he’s holding Latia. If he’s screwing us over, I want to take him down.”

  There was gunfire echoing from the far end of the street.

  Latia had also taught me to always use my instincts. The knots in my stomach were tightening but I nodded.

  I’d given the stuff from the comms centre to Peanut in Calum’s dingy basement. There was no way Peanut would call that safe.

  “Our old block,” I said. “That’s where he’d have left it if he wanted it safe. Why didn’t he just tell you what it was?”

  “You know what Peanut is like. And he didn’t have much of a chance to. C’mon, we need to go and find this thing before Dayton does.”

  “Wait, Benjie, I need to get Latia. They’ve offered us a way out.”

  He grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me close, leaning down and speaking quietly and intently. “Luka, listen to me. Dayton’s got people searching everywhere for you. Didn’t you hear what I said – he wants you dead. We need to find out what the hell he’s hiding.” He let me go then did a double take. “They’ve offered you a way out? They? The Empire? Bloody hell, Luka, don’t even…” He cursed, shoved me to turn me around and I felt the weight of the rifle drop over my shoulders followed by an oversized combat helmet planted on my head. “Whatever you do, don’t say that to anyone else. Can you walk without the crutches?”

  I didn’t think I could.

  He swore. “Just follow my lead, okay?”

  We made our way back to our old block, stopping a couple of times when he told me to stay back and keep out of the way so he could clear it with people, and a couple of other times at corners to warm ourselves at braziers and swap small talk.

  I kept quiet and let Benjie do the talking. He sideswiped me a couple of times in front of Dayton’s guys, let them see who was in charge, kept up the act of being the big guy resistance fighter. He didn’t give them a chance to look too closely at me, saying stuff like, “These damned kids, who woulda thought they’d be so useful?”

  They let us through, his mind games worked. On me more than them, I realised afterwards. It’s weird what you can make people think and feel if you know what you want more confidently than they do. Benjie taught me something that night. I wish I’d got the chance to thank him properly.

  Our old building was dark and quiet. I struggled up the stairs, half hoping Benjie would give me a hand but I guess he had problems of his own to deal with. He took the rifle and helmet back at least. Even without the weight of those, I was bent over double by the time we reached the top and he just looked at me and muttered, “Shit,” under his breath, like that summarised everything we’d gone through just to get there.

  I felt cold. It was the first time I really stood there and thought and I just felt cold. More than numb. That had been and gone. I felt cold. Like I didn’t care but it was a burning cold, like I could spark and ignite at any minute given the right catalyst. It felt powerful. Ominous.

  I knew Benjie was feeling it too.

  We stood there, staring at each other, and laughed.

  “You’re insane,” Benjie said.

  I threw back the hood and stood there, my face covered with war paint, regarding him with defiance even though I could barely stand up straight. “I haven’t betrayed anyone.”

  He regarded me with all seriousness and said, “I know.”

  I had no idea where Peanut could have hidden the stuff. Knowing him, he’d have left a sign. Benjie knew the system of chalk marks and sigils we used as well as I did and we both searched but there was nothing.

  “Peanut knows you,” Benjie said finally. “Where would he have put it so you could find it?”

  The last time I’d been with Peanut, we were on the roof. He’d banged twice on the vent up there and I’d thought he was just being dramatic like Peanut always was.

  I looked at Benjie. He was looking at me like he knew I knew and he didn’t know what else to say to make me trust him. I didn’t know if I could or not but I didn’t have much choice. “The roof,” I said. “It’s on the roof.”

  We climbed up there and stopped, staring. I hadn’t had such a good view of the crash site since the last time we were up there.

  “Holy shit,” Benjie said. “They’ve got in.”

  UM had the whole crashed ship lit up in floodlights, gunships buzzing overhead, troops in powered armour clambering over it. We could hear a faint clanging clamour and buzz of heavy lifting, winching and cutting gear.

  I sagged. I didn’t know how much more stuffing could get knocked out of me. “Do you think they’ll turn on the colony when they’re done with the ship?” I sai
d.

  We both looked sideways, along the walls, to where the Imperial troops were stationed, watching, looking so much smaller, uncertain which way to even point their guns.

  “I don’t know,” Benjie said. “Shit, Luka, is that what you’re thinking? That the Wintrans are going to…?” He cut off what he was going to say, shaking his head.

  I couldn’t tell if he felt sorry for me or was pissed at me.

  I shrugged. I had a lump in my throat. “Is Dayton working with them?”

  He shook his head again and looked around. “Where do you reckon this stuff is?” He sounded tired.

  I limped towards the vent and reached my hand into it, feeling around. There was something stuck in there with tape. I peeled it off and pulled it out. I knew from the shape and the weight of it that it was the tiny slick little access key I’d lifted from the IDC guy in black fatigues.

  “We need to find out what’s on this,” I said, looking up.

  Benjie had his rifle in his hands, casual but his finger on the trigger. “Shit,” he said as if he’d been thinking that I’d been fooling around and now he could see it, he knew this was real. “Come on. I know someone who can help us.”

  We went back through the streets towards the fighting. I had the key stuffed deep inside my pocket, limping along but as hyped as I’ve ever been. Like I said, it’s awesome what adrenaline can do for you. I could hardly feel the stabbing pain in my knee any more.

  I kept my head down, hood up, but I was watching every angle ahead, listening to every sound from behind. No one came near us.

  They had stockpiles of crates at every corner, vehicles offloading weapons, rocket launchers, heavy machine guns. I gawped at it all. There was no way they’d take down the garrison but they were going to have a damn good try. It should have been exciting, exhilarating, but it felt wrong. It all felt wrong and I had no idea why.

  I limped after Benjie, becoming slowly aware of a deep rumbling behind us, the ground trembling. I turned. He grabbed my shoulder and steered me towards an alleyway. I resisted, twisting around, looking behind us. I wanted to see what it was.