“What are you going to do?” he asked Ballis. There was nothing at the end of the ramp. Where a hoverbus or some other form of floating public transportation might be docked, there was only open space. When they reached the end, they would have nowhere to go but off and down through Abri Mor’s skies.
“I don’t know yet,” Ballis replied.
“Why am I not surprised?” Aiben said, but kept pace until they reached the end of the causeway.
“Hold it!” a hoarse voice screamed. The restaurant had disgorged the two men who had accosted them. Four additional armed men had rushed out onto the platform from either side of the docking tower.
A burst of scarlet energy flew over Lev-9’s shoulder and thundered past Aiben’s ear. Ballis twisted, dropped to one knee, and returned fire. Aiben and Lev-9 dove behind some automatic ticketing kiosks. Two of the six men went down. The other four scrambled to the side and hunkered down just around the corners of the entrance to the docking ramp. Ballis joined his comrades behind the machinery.
“Does anyone have any ideas?” he asked. In an incredible stroke of luck, a hoverbus screamed up alongside the causeway. “Thanks, that works!”
Ballis leaned out just far enough to fire several more shots at some heads that had popped around the corner. Aiben and Lev-9 tried to get past the safety gate to reach the hoverbus, but it wouldn’t open. After docking the vehicle, the bus driver usually activated the gate before loading and unloading passengers. The driver could see there was a firefight going on in the causeway, though. Instead of activating the gate, she kicked her hoverjets back up and started to pull away.
Not wanting to miss their opportunity, Lev-9 grabbed Aiben’s arm, put full force behind his hydraulic legs, and rocketed up and over the gate. They landed on top of the hoverbus where Aiben fell to his knees and grabbed at a hunk of gaudy, stylized molding to keep from plummeting into the sky. Nanomechs flowed into his joints to help absorb the shock, but enough pain hit him that he winced. The bus had already moved a good ten feet from the causeway when he saw Ballis sprint towards the gate, step up and over it, and throw his body towards them.
Several fingers of red fire followed him over to drum against the bus. Lev-9 shot out a hand and grabbed Ballis’s large muscular forearm as he just missed the roof. Despite his size, Lev-9 had no trouble pulling Ballis all the way up onto the top of their get-away vehicle. The hoverbus veered off, making a U-turn back the way it had come, just as the remaining four Zenzani raced down the causeway and let loose several more bolts of energy. They pattered against the top of the bus just behind the three stowaways as it raced away.
“Thanks, Lev,” Ballis grunted. “I owe you my life more than once now.”
***
Gormy shot up from his prone position and flung the energy rifle that had been resting on the ledge in front of him over his back. He had been waiting for the Moolag’s men to flush his quarry out of the Spacer’s Grotto as ordered. Although he had no official rank or title, he had no qualms about ordering around the Moolag’s men. No one questioned that he used them to do his dirty work because of his frequent association with the Moolag. They were all mindless thugs anyway, the kind of men on the periphery of military law who could be used to do the unofficial business of a corrupt government executive. Without his direction, he didn’t think any of them could execute the kinds of devious plans he nurtured anyway.
He had positioned himself on a small observation deck about twenty feet above the platform that wrapped around the Spacer’s Grotto. It was the perfect place from which to launch his surprise attack. Gormy engaged his hoverpack and dove off the deck. He aligned the jets so they would take him on an intercept course with a racing hoverbus.
***
Aiben shook from his fingertips to his shoulders as he gripped for life on the bright yellow and red molding attached to the top of the public transport, which sped through a howling wind. He fought to ignore the pins and needles of numbness that assaulted him until his nanomechs could make the sensations subside.
It took more effort than usual this time because a single scene unfolding high above him in Abri Mor’s congested sky hijacked his attention. He tried to focus his vision and zoom in on the action, but the sting of the cold wind watered his eyes and made everything blurry. He had to blink several times to clear them, and by the time he did, it was all over. It had lasted only a matter of seconds. What he thought he had seen in the haze were two figures. One had been wearing a hoverpack and clenched the other one in its arms. Both had been caught in a tractor net thrown out by a flying mech and had been drawn through a portal etched in the side of the docking tower.
Aiben didn’t know what had happened, but for some reason, seeing the capture unnerved him. Lightheadedness washed over him and his face felt red-hot, despite the wind, as he thought about it. He reached his mind towards the portal where they had disappeared, using both his nanomechs and shalal hiliz to probe for some explanation. He recognized the same faint echo that he had felt back in the restaurant. It wasn’t through the hypernet, but through his natural Haman faculties that he sensed it. Again, he knew it wasn’t anyone from the ilud’hi. This mind felt different somehow, but before he could ponder further what it meant, all hell broke loose.
The Chibbi was upon them before anyone could react. He blew Lev-9 over the side of the bus with an energy blast to the chest. Aiben saw amber lightning discharge across the metallic skin of the falling mechanoid as it froze his servomotors. Ballis whirled around to respond to the attack, but it was already too late. The sudden ambush, coupled with the concentration needed to stay alive atop the flying transport, gave Gormy all the advantage he needed.
Ballis immediately lost his footing, his stance not sufficiently firm enough to face the mercenary in a fight. The Chibbi drove a booted foot, for the second time, presently backed by the power of hoverjets, directly into Ballis’s stomach. The blow carried enough kinetic energy behind it to drive Ballis over the side like a rag doll. Aiben watched in horror as not one, but both of his friends fell into the sky!
“Not so fast! I still have some business with you!” Gormy yelled at Ballis. The Chibbi jabbed a hairy finger at a control on a wristband and a robotic enforcer swished down from above to snatch up Ballis in a tractor net.
The Chibbi cut the power to his hoverpack and clamped his magnetic boots down on the top of the moving vehicle. He already had his energy rifle hefted from the glancing blow to Lev-9, and now he swung it around and re-oriented it on Aiben. Although the entire incident had lasted just a few seconds, it gave Aiben enough time. If he were any ordinary man he might have wasted that time positioning himself for combat, but he was no ordinary man. He was a cybermancer, and the Chibbi was in range to learn of his abilities. Pain coursed through Gormy, doubling him over as nanomech-induced energy squeezed his internal organs. Aiben had been correct about the origin of the creature’s pain in the woods.
Gormy’s rifle slipped from his grasp and bounced against the roof. The wind swept it over the side before Aiben could grab it. As Gormy crunched up in agony, Aiben saw the knife sheathed at his thigh. The cybermancer seized the opportunity and threw himself at the Chibbi, clawing at his leg. Surprisingly, he was able to extract the blade. He tried to dislodge his assailant from the bus at the same time, but Gormy’s magnetic boots still held firm. Gormy grabbed Aiben by the front of the shirt and forced himself upright despite the crushing pain. His eyes were brimming with tears as he fought the urge to pass out. The intention in those beady, wet eyes was unmistakable. He meant to stop the cybermantic torture by throttling Aiben.
For a moment, Aiben thought he would have to drive the knife into the Chibbi’s gut, but a thought flashed through his head that stayed his hand. Oand-ib had always taught him to avoid taking life, and Tulan was in his mind agreeing with him. It seemed ironic under the circumstances of his mission, but to the young cybermancer’s credit, and to the ratty’s good fortune, Aiben decided to honor the memories of his te
acher and predecessor. Instead, Aiben saw they were coming up fast below another docking causeway. He made a quick decision and slid the knife behind his assailant’s back in order to slice the straps that held the miniature rockets of his jetpack in place.
Unavoidably, the point of the knife scratched a bloody tear between Gormy’s shoulder blades. The nip was enough to cause him to loosen his grip on Aiben. The timing was precise. Aiben took a firm hold of the jetpack’s cut straps and palmed the manual ignition switch. The force of the jets ripped the pack from Aiben’s grip, but not before it had pulled him up a good twenty feet, where he was able to lock his hands around a section of latticework on the side rail of the docking ramp. Aiben ordered his nanomechs to strengthen his arms. He pulled himself hand-and-over-hand, up and over the railing. Once over, he hit the ground on his knees panting. A big grin stretched across his face. He would have never believed that he could do such a thing.
An energy bolt unexpectedly screamed towards him. It would have drilled right into the side of his head if something heavy hadn’t flattened him to the ground at that very moment. The smell of ozone and scorched concrete hung in the air from the bolt’s impact against the ground just inches from his head. Aiben pushed off the weight that pinned him down and rolled over on top of it. His eyes locked with two steel grey points that stabbed him in the heart.
“Hello, Aiben. Don’t you know you should never turn your back on a Chibbi? It was a good thing I caught up with you when I did.”
CHAPTER 29
Ballis woke up on his back. The metal floor sent a chill through his entire body. He pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes and blinked several times to clear away the fuzz. There were two faces staring down at him. His eyes jumped from one to the other. One was a woman, a golden-haired beauty, somewhat exotic looking, but a bit rumpled, smiling from ear to ear at him. The other was a foul-smelling, shorthaired Oobellian with beady eyes.
The stench was enough to force him into a sitting position. The two sprang back out of his way, allowing him the room his large frame required. A head rush, mixed with a sharp stab of pain in his stomach, doubled him over. He had to take a deep breath to keep from passing out. At least the ripe odor from the black, furry being helped anchor him into consciousness.
“Stay still,” the young woman told him. Her light hair was loose, unkempt. She had cut her bangs straight above sharp eyebrows. A smudge ran across a soft cheek but didn’t detract from her beauty. “We don’t want you to black out again.”
“Who are you?” Ballis slurred. His mouth was dry. It felt like someone had jammed it full of cotton.
“Come on, quit kidding around.” She searched his face with quizzical eyes. Her eyebrows drew together in confusion. “You really don’t know who I am?”
“No,” he said. It was all he could manage before a dry cough racked through him.
“It’s me, Achanei.” She cocked her head, waiting as if she expected him to admit he was joking with her. When he didn’t, she said, “And this is Neikkia Noonak.”
Ballis nodded, but the gesture just contributed to his already spinning head. “I’m...” but then he stumbled over his words. He knew his name well enough, but he couldn’t recall anything with much clarity before he had woken up. There was just one tenuous memory etched into his head, probably his last. It was all very confusing.
“Ballis Ceimor,” Achanei finished for him. She grinned again at the look that crawled across his face. Her sparkling eyes infected him and he couldn’t help but smile back at her.
“I guess we do know each other then. At least you know me. I’m afraid I don’t remember you, or much of anything else for that matter.” Ballis grunted as he pulled himself to his feet, ignoring the protests of his companions and his stomach.
“You really don’t remember anything?” Achanei probed. Ballis shook his head. “Nothing?”
“Just something hazy about a ratty and a man in a wind storm.”
Achanei looked at Neikkia but they both simply shrugged.
“Maybe you’re here to find me too? Could Aiben have sent you? Is he still alive?”
“Hold on, that’s too many questions that I don’t have the answers for.” Ballis rubbed the bruised muscles of his abdomen where the pain was centered. “I’m sorry, but it’s really all one giant blank.”
Achanei looked lost in her own thoughts for a moment. Finally, she settled on biting her lip. “What’s going here, I wonder?”
“So you have no real idea why I’m here either?” Ballis asked. When Achanei shook her head, he continued, “Can you at least tell me where we are?”
“We’re somewhere in Protectorate space. A planet called Mora Bentia.” She looked at Neikkia who nodded. “I didn’t come here exactly by choice. I was kidnapped. Neikkia tried to rescue me but we got caught. They brought you in not too long after they dumped us here. Seems we are all prisoners of the Zenzani.”
“Alright, how do you know me then? Maybe if you tell me, I can start to remember something.”
Achanei recounted the story of how she knew him, but her words were lost on Ballis as she spoke. His spinning head caught just snippets of names and places, but none of them sounded familiar, leaving his attention to wander. Ballis looked around the room where they were being held. It was nothing more than an intermediate holding area, maybe an interrogation room. How he knew this, he couldn’t say, but there was nothing in it save four bare walls, a splintering bench, and a door.
A locking mechanism blinking next to the door controlled who entered and who left. It was a standard security lock with an optical reader for an ident-disc; nothing fancy like fingerprint, voice, or retinal recognition. They needed to act fast before guards came and transferred them into a real cellblock. Unfortunately, the only escape was straight out the door. When Achanei finished, his next question was already there, waiting to spring from the tip of his tongue.
“Well?” she asked. Ballis shook his head. “Then nothing is coming back to you yet?”
“I’m sorry,” he said for good measure. “Do either of you have a plan for how we are going to get out of here?”
Achanei frowned, but then her face lit right back up again. She took a half step away from Neikkia and made a sweeping gesture with her arms. “Show him Neikkia.”
The Oobellian issued forth a soft purr that rumbled in crescendo as she lifted up her shirt to expose a pelted belly. Though it was quite thin, Ballis could see where she had puckered it in at the waistline. She unwrinkled her skin and an ident-disc that she had concealed there slid out.
“I love it when they do that,” Achanei winked. “You would think that patrolmechs were smart enough to check what an Oobellian might have folded up in her stomach. We were just about to use that when you were dumped in here with us.”
“Does that thing have the right access to get a door open from the inside?” Ballis eyed the Oobellian skeptically.
“It should do the trick just nicely. I watched the man who lent it to me get in and out of a lot of places.” Neikkia held the ident-disc between her thumb and forefinger and wagged it with appreciation.
“There’ll be guards waiting for us in the hall when we go through that door,” Ballis said.
“That’s why we decided to wait for you to wake up first.” Achanei was still smiling, but Ballis heard well enough that she hadn’t been joking.
“The odds might not be in our favor, even if you’ve got me on your side.”
“You were a soldier in the Expeditionary Guild, right? Don’t you remember the story you told me and Aiben about how you broke out of prison once? You told us you almost died, but you still got out.”
Ballis was shaking his head. “Straight through that door and into the hallway might be when death catches up to me then, because I don’t see a lot of other choices here.”
“So are we agreed that a direct approach is the only way?” Achanei looked nervously from Ballis to Neikkia and back again. No one
disagreed and no one ventured a better plan.
When the door to the holding room slid up, it caught the two armed men off guard. They swung their rifles around, but Ballis and Neikkia, planted on either side of the doorway, grasped hold and swung the two men headlong into each other. The result was two unconscious guards who had lost their guns. Ballis swung the barrel of his new rifle out the door and tracked up and down the hall, but it was empty. The corridor itself was about fifty feet long, terminating at one end in double lift doors, the other in what appeared to be an irised docking port.
Achanei stepped out from behind Neikkia. “Just two of them? It looks like we were lucky.”
“Lucky, but too easy,” Ballis opined. He gestured for his cellmates to follow him out into the corridor. “Security seems a little lax around here.”
“I noticed that too,” Achanei reflected. “This is the second cell I’ve been in. Never once was there any sign I was under any kind of surveillance except for an occasional patrolmech outside my window.”
“Yeah, looks like they’re pretty sloppy,” Ballis said. “Almost seems like they’re expecting us to escape.”
“We tried that once already and they threw us back in here,” Neikkia reminded him.
Ballis grabbed Neikkia’s elbow and positioned the Oobellian’s energy rifle so it pointed at the lift doors. “Keep your gun pointed that way in case they decide to get their act together.”
Neikkia nodded, her beady eyes opened as wide as they would go. Achanei was already at the end of the corridor inspecting the controls to the docking port. Ballis joined her, but kept his rifle up and ready in case it opened on them. When the irised door did actually grind open, a streak of black fur jumped in front of Achanei faster than Ballis would have thought possible.
Ballis tightened his finger on the trigger of his rifle, a hair’s breadth from letting loose the bolt of energy that was charging around the coils inside the barrel. A younger man stood in the doorway; cloud-enshrouded, hovering vehicles painted a living mural on the cityscape behind him.