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“Too late,” Darsey snapped, and moved to Wing’s head to grasp him under the arms. She backed up fast, dragging him with com-enhanced strength. She pulled the kres under a ramp leading to a higher level, and Harrier squeezed into its illusory shelter with them.

  “Stay,” Darsey ordered, and crawled over Wing back toward the open deck. However, before she could duck out from under the ramp, a hand gripped her wrist. The grasp was hard enough to stop her, hard enough to hurt, and she frowned back at Wing.

  “No,” his lips shaped, but she shook her head.

  “Have to.”

  “Can’t we surrender?” Harrier wondered. “Don’t they wish to catch us alive?”

  “Not Wing as a whole and not me,” Darsey pointed out, and tried to leave again, but Nightwing was holding her with desperate strength.

  There was noise now, the growing sound of pursuit as air rushed ahead of the massed t’ssaa. Darsey turned back and crawled into the shelter until her face was close to his.

  “I won’t go down without a fight. I can’t. Not ever again.”

  “I know,” he whispered, and nodded toward his com. “Malik.”

  “Who?” Darsey wondered, and jumped violently when a head appeared behind her.

  A boy leaned over the ramp above, hanging upside-down from its edge. Dirty blond curls fell away from a thin face that considered them thoughtfully. “You called?”

  “Hide us. Five hundred,” Wing yelled, and the youngster peered in at him.

  “A thousand.”

  “Done,” the kres agreed, and a com link connected to the boy’s arm, just as booted feet hit the walkway behind him.

  The whole level thrummed as t’ssaa warriors arrived in force. Fluid green bodies fell from the level above to land with easy grace. They dropped in waves of five and the first group to land instantly launched itself along the walkway. They closed on the ramp at eye-wrenching speed, in a stampede of raised crests and questing tongues.

  However, Malik ducked beneath it before the t’ssaa noticed him and slammed his forearm against the floor. An old and bulky com, half hidden by an outsized sleeve, responded at once.

  A camouflage field rose smoothly to coat the fugitives in more convincing shadows. Darsey peered at the spot where Wing was lying, but it looked grimy and empty. She looked down at her hands, but they were gone too. Whatever the kid had in that toaster round his wrist it worked.

  The hunters prowled the level in increasing numbers, clearly unable to find a further trail. Several t’ssaa stopped beside the ramp and one ducked down to peer beneath it. Its tongue flicked out to scent the darkness, but it shook its head in disgust before moving away.

  Darsey breathed a quiet sigh of relief and a hidden hand settled on her shoulder. “Good eh?” the boy whispered in her ear and she had to smile.

  “Very good,” Darsey agreed, before the world around her rippled like a tent in a gale. Her companions reappeared and she spared the boy hunched beside her an anxious look.

  He responded with a gap toothed grin. “All’s well, lady in distress. The hissers won’t duck under again, so I pushed out my disguise. I wanted to swap greetings proper like.”

  Darsey’s gaze strayed to Wing, but she dragged it back and offered her hand to their rescuer. “I’m Darsey.” She tried not to look too closely at the very dirty paw that enthusiastically clutched her forearm.

  “I’m Malik. Sorry,” the youngster added when his unclipped nails dug into her skin. He pulled away, looking embarrassed, and rubbed the back of his hand under his nose. “What’s wrong with him?”

  Darsey followed the boy’s gaze to Wing, who was wedged beneath the far end of the ramp. His eyes were closed and his features were still tight with pain, while Harrier rested her hands lightly on his torso.

  “Nothing. He just needs a nap.”

  Malik gave her a sardonic look, from a face that suddenly appeared much older. “Sure. So what’s your story, Darsey lady?”

  “I don’t know what you mean,” Darsey murmured, looking back to the t’ssaa. They were regrouping at the point of impact, where she and the others had first hit. More of the aliens arrived while she watched, leaping from the level above. Her eyes flicked over the expanding group and her com confirmed fifty potential targets. “Damn.” She was distracted by impatient fingers tugging at her tunic.

  “Darsey-lady. What’s on with you? I saw a metal rail play in and out with your skin. Saw it true, when you first came on.”

  Darsey gave him her best amused-and-unconcerned look. “You’ve got an active imagination. I guess my top must have folded past the rail when I leaned over it. Your eyes played tricks on you.”

  “Then so did my com,” Malik sneered, and Darsey hesitated at the sudden malice on his face. It vanished as fast as it had come when the boy smiled again. “Sure, you’re just a normal-as mermaridian and I’ll not ask more.”

  “Great,” Darsey breathed, and turned back to the walkway.

  The t’ssaa were starting to disperse, splitting back into strike teams to continue the hunt. Several groups leapt toward lower levels and one ran up the ramp, with an overhead rattle of iron. The others turned left and right, disappearing either up or down as they reached links and steps.

  “Yes, good.” Darsey turned to Harrier, but she was still engrossed in healing Wing.

  However, the patient had his eyes open now and winked at Darsey. She shuffled closer in response and knelt beside his legs. “It’s stopped raining lizards. What next?”

  Wing’s faint smile vanished and his expression hardened. “I need you to see Harry safe. You’ll have to risk an up-link to the hire ship. The ch’t’kar will cry off, because I only paid a single fee, so tell him it’s for two, but just a one-jump trip. You need to pass through the nearest passage, but that’s all. Meet with my cousin’s ship and transfer on. Free will see you safe home.”

  “Uh-huh,” Darsey answered noncommittally. “And what will you be doing?”

  “Diversion,” Wing answered, his face bleak, and he raised a warning finger. “I mean this, Darse. I can watch your tail feathers. It’s our best plan.”

  “Best for us,” she pointed out. “Not for you.”

  “Perhaps.” He shrugged a hand. “But at least I’ll not be slowed.”

  “I don’t slow you down,” Darsey pointed out indignantly. “It’s Dr. Legs-Still-Asleep who’s the problem.”

  “That’s true, but I want you both safe. And I’m unsure why you don’t want the same.”

  Darsey stopped and her mouth snapped shut while Wing glared at her. “I’m not sure either,” she admitted, but then managed to rally. “Curiosity. Huge curiosity. Curiosity that didn’t just kill the cat, it hung, drew and quartered it. You owe me answers and I’m with you ‘til I get them.” She stopped, breathing hard, but the kres looked just as stubborn.

  “I need you to see Harrier safe,” Wing said very slowly and clearly.

  Darsey tilted her head and placed her fists on her hips, but, before she could answer, a small shadow edged closer.

  “I’ll do’n,” Malik offered with bright-eyed conviction. “I’ll take the kres-lady. I’m sneaky quick and I can get to any dock. I know where to hide. All the hides. Drak, I even know where you and the Darsey-ordinary-muck-lady can be safe.”

  Wing studied the urchin intently. “How much?”

  “We-ell,” Malik drawled thoughtfully, “with t’ssaa on the hunt, you for sure need help. Say two thousand credits as escort, plus a thousand to send you safe hid.”

  Wing laughed and then grimaced against the sudden pain. “You’ve helped us, Malik, and have our full thanks, but I’ll not spend three thousand credits on an unproved promise. Five hundred now, to see Harrier safe, and then such again when she is. Plus five hundred for a hide and the same once we reach it.”

  “You might not live to reach such,” Malik protested, but Wing just grinned again.

  “You’d best hope we do.”

  “Deal,” the boy agreed, withou
t wasting further time on bartering. “C’mon, Lady-Doc,” he ordered, and plucked at Harrier’s sleeve.

  She spasmed at the interruption and her head flew up, wide-eyed.

  “What?” she demanded incoherently, and Wing sat up quickly to put an arm around her.

  “Easy, Harry,” he murmured, squeezing her shoulder gently. “Sorry for the interrupt, but it’s time to go.”

  “Go?” she asked vaguely, before her eyes snapped into focus again. “You’re not totally healed yet.”

  “Well enough,” he said firmly, “and the regen strip will finish the fix. You’ve got to go now while your guide’s still willing.”

  “Guide?” Harrier wondered, and looked doubtfully at Malik.

  The boy bridled at her expression, puffing his chest out in response, but Wing answered before the youngster could comment.

  “Certain-sure, Gratuity’s best guider. This is Malik and he’ll see you safe to a ship I’ve bought passage on.”

  “But what about you?” Harrier demanded, reaching for Wing’s hand and squeezing it tight.

  Darsey looked quickly away, which she belatedly realized was odd, but then someone had to watch the t’ssaa. In the background the doctor kept bleating on about her duty.

  “-makes you my responsibility. If I don’t heal you, how will you flee?”

  Wing’s answer was so low Darsey hardly caught it. “I’ll join you soon-as, on Freefall’s ship.”

  “Free,” Harrier interrupted with an annoying trill. “Free’s here?”

  “Just a passage away. Tell the ch’t’kar I hired to rendezvous one jump out. He might need to wait there, if Free’s busy fetching us.”

  “Free’s a leader now?” Harrier gasped and Darsey could imagine the wide eyed expression that went with such breathlessness.

  “Sector leader, the gat,” Wing confirmed. “You know Free. He’ll sleep with anyone to get to the middle.”

  Harrier laughed and Darsey glanced back to see the healer clutching Wing’s hand in both of hers. Did the woman have no shame? Darsey caught her one-time owner’s eye and he plucked his fingers away from Harrier’s.

  “Hey. Harry. It’s time to go. Past time.”

  “I know,” she quavered, and her frond darted forward to wrap its entire length around one of his. “Promise to re-meet soon.”

  “Frond oath,” he responded. “I’ll get to Free’s ship someway.”

  “Good.” Harrier smiled down at him and then glanced at Darsey and Malik. She hesitated before looking back to Wing again. “We need to talk. Special talk, but only once we’re private.” She looked at Darsey with a tight, apologetic smile, and the human’s annoyance kindled into full blown dislike.

  “Ah, sure,” Wing answered, but had to break off when Harrier leaned in to kiss him.

  She planted her mouth on his with a desperate enthusiasm for which he seemed completely unprepared. He collapsed backwards, but his attacker persisted and he made no effort to fend her off. It was one of the most gratuitous displays of public affection Darsey had ever had the misfortune to witness.

  “Get a camouflage field,” she suggested and Wing finally pushed Harrier away. The healer slowly rose to a crouch, before crawling backwards and out from under the ramp. Darsey was already in the street and busy watching the walkway for t’ssaa, but the kres healer offered her a warm smile.

  “Deep thanks for saving me. I owe you a future-favor.”

  “Don’t mention it. You don’t owe me a thing. It was Wing who thought of saving you.”

  Harrier ducked her head in awkward acknowledgement. “Still and all I’m grateful. Stay safe, Darsey.”

  “We’ll be fine,” Darsey emphasised, but then bit her lip in remorse. “That is… be safe too, Harrier. Good luck.”

  The healer turned away without another word, to shuffle along the walkway. Malik hurried to catch her and ducked a shoulder under her hand to offer support. The pair moved slowly to the nearest up-link, but Harrier stopped once more before entering.

  She turned to look back at Wing, who was still under the ramp. She stared at him for several seconds before abruptly wheeling and launching herself into the tube. Malik leapt after her and they flew upwards, vanishing almost at once.

  “I thought they’d never go,” Darsey muttered, before swinging to face Wing in sudden concern. “What about the hiding place Malik promised us?”

  “It’s good,” the kres answered calmly. “We made exchange when we sealed the deal. Here’s the route.” He tapped his wrist band, sending the information, and then slid out from under the ramp. He rose to his feet with an arm wrapped around his ribs, but stretched carefully and let the arm fall to his side. “I forgot how good Harry is. She adds top speed to the cellular healing.”

  “Good,” Darsey answered brusquely, keeping her eyes on her com while Malik’s route to safety scrolled over it. “What is that?” she wondered, pointing at their final destination.

  “Brilliant,” Wing replied, looking over her shoulder. “It’s the Inner Hub, an old part of the city, long time abandoned with no easy way in. It’s also at the heart of this icy world, with no power for heat.”

  “From what we overheard, the t’ssaa won’t like that. How much will it slow them down?”

  “None,” Wing said more bleakly, “but it will drain their coms some and they’ll need more shots to blast through our shields. When the shooting starts, stay behind me... please. I want to see you safe.”

  Darsey gave Wing a long, considering look. “You really do, don’t you?”

  “Certain-sure,” he answered with the same intensity.

  “Then why did you walk out and leave me?”

  Any answer Wing might have given was interrupted by an urgent whistle from his com. He glanced down and moved at once, sprinting down the walkway so that Darsey had to take off after him.

  “What?”

  “T’ssaa gather call. They’ve scented Harrier.”

  Wing launched himself into the nearest downlink and Darsey jumped too. They plummeted together, falling straight through a scaled tentacle that had been anchored to the wall. It shrieked in response and Wing let it wail for a second before twisting to aim his com back up the link. A single blast crisped the flailing ribbon, while the crowd below them scattered. In seconds, the link shaft was empty, apart from the diving couple.

  “We need to take the lowest level to follow Malik’s map,” Darsey yelled across at Wing, who ducked a shoulder to slip through the air toward her.

  “Ye, but fast,” he shouted back. “Stay with me.” He spread his arms, slowing slightly and stabilising his plunge.

  Darsey did the same and they both curved toward the side of the tunnel. She looked up in time to see the first t’ssaa appear, far above. The reptiles hurled themselves down the link, with com thrusts so strong they left jet trails behind. They hurtled after the fugitives and were soon joined by more t’ssaa. Lithe bodies leapt from multiple levels, while a group of five appeared below Darsey.

  “Drak,” Wing cursed, and she silently agreed.

  She automatically slowed to avoid the threat below, but he grabbed her hand at once.

  “No,” he ordered. “Fast-as and straight through.”

  Wing pulsed his com to drive them faster than ever, so they flashed toward the rising t’ssaa. He tucked and then tipped head first, dragging Darsey into the same position. She was suddenly diving straight at a pack of homicidal lizards, accelerating as she went. She wanted to protest, but the wind of that fall stole her breath. She looked over at Wing and he was her mirror image, still holding her hand and completely committed to their dive. She watched him and tried to ignore the bright crests growing fast in her peripheral vision.

  Wing ignored her to keep his attention on the t’ssaa, until he yelled another order into the gale of their fall. “Full power, shoot.”

  Darsey’s mind obeyed at once and her com fired at the same time as Wing’s. Twin blasts ripped into the approaching t’ssaa.
The reptiles were thrown aside and a gap opened in the middle of their formation. The two fugitives dropped through it while the t’ssaa grabbed desperately for them as they fell past.

  Claws dug into Darsey’s calf for an instant, before ripping free. The pain made her clutch Wing’s hand and he looked across in quick concern. “All power back to defense,” he shouted. “Every-all.”

  Her mind had scarcely obeyed, shutting off regen and pain relief, when the t’ssaa shots hit them. There was an explosion of heat and light and then she was tumbling through the link alone.

  “Wing!” Darsey screamed, even though the air seared her lungs.

  I’m here, his mind answered, and she struggled to control her head-over-heels fall. She belatedly realized that her com could help and, with a few quick pulses, managed to stop spinning. The world settled back to a blur of upward motion and she saw Wing outlined against the far wall.

  His expression was horrified and fixed on her. “Brake!” he screamed, even though he was still falling too.

  Darsey ordered a slowing pulse from her com and looked down. The ground was racing to meet them. The bottom of the link was scattered with rubbish, broken and rusted spikes of detritus that were closing at an alarming rate.

  Darsey’s throat went dry, but her mind gave orders without hesitation. All of her com’s power shifted from defense to propulsion. It thrust so hard that her arm flew up over her head, despite its bracing. She saw Wing braking too, but they were slowing too late. A spear of metal jutted from the floor below Darsey and she realized with utter certainty that she was going to be impaled on it.

  ‘Wing!’ she yelled, although she had no idea how the kres could save her.

  The rusted spike seemed to leap upwards and she closed her eyes just before she hit. The blow came, but from the side, not below.

  Wing cannoned into Darsey with full sideways thrust. He drove her into the last tunnel that opened from the base of the link and they rocketed sideways before colliding with the floor and skidding on. They slid along a tiny, half-hidden passage that was abruptly lit by the glare of com blasts hitting the link floor behind them. The spears of metal carpeting it were vaporised.

  Darsey skidded to a halt, breathless and disoriented, but Wing pulled her to her feet and on down the tunnel. The sound of landing t’ssaa carried clearly along its length. Her shoulders hunched in expectation of another blast, but they stumbled out of the corridor before their pursuers could fire. They ran on, down a wide flight of stairs, entering an area of dim light and over-arching space that seemed eerily empty. The Hub, Darsey realized at a glance, recognising that stepped city horizon, despite the strange silence.

  “We need to slip the pursuit now,” Wing gasped as he led them toward a suburb that resembled a road kill collection of mashed spikes and spines.

  They sprinted into the shadows of the cavern’s towers and onto a deserted travelator that was clanking along in oblivious, slow decay.

  Darsey was moving at full combat speed and her feet struck the sagging metal strips at increasingly distant intervals. Each stride became a leap and she reached the shelter of the city before any pursuers appeared. The dark, dank and very welcome embrace of the Hub closed around her.

  “Thank Gods,” Wing muttered, and signalled to Darsey that she should jump.

  She stepped from the travelator and dropped onto the compacted dust of Gratuity. She didn’t hesitate, but moved quickly on, ducking in and out through a maze of alleys and as they ran Nightwing’s com emitted a faint hiss.

  “What’s that?” Darsey wondered when the sound of a slow leak continued to follow her.

  “Molecule ionisation,” the kres breathed on her heels. “It destroys scent and stops the t’ssaa from tracking. Gives us a chance to get safely hid.”

  Darsey picked up her pace again, jumping down three levels and then darting toward a crooked tower. They approached a narrow passage that disappeared beneath that leaning building, but she slowed at the sight of it.

  Wing pulled ahead, but she stopped completely, to stand frozen, only her hair stirring in a growing breeze. Warm, moist air flowed past her, sucked into the forbidding tunnel ahead, and Darsey shivered in that rank wind. Goosebumps crawled over her skin and she suddenly knew that this was the time to leave. Wing seemed fully mobile and he’d lost his pursuers, so she could go without feeling guilty. Just run away from the crazy hunt and join Harrier in safety…

  Wing looked back over his shoulder and stopped at once. His expression was questioning, but then softened to a sympathetic smile. He moved to join Darsey where she stood caught by indecision and took her hand in a warm grip. “You’re right. It’s past time we split. Go join Harry. I’ll lose the lizards then join you on Free’s ship. And thankyou, Darse, for everything.”

  Darsey shook her head and shrugged off her paralysis to jerk her hand away from his. “Not so quick, kres. I was tempted to quit, but you still haven’t answered my questions.”

  “Which can wait ‘til we’re safe aboard the Grace.”

  “All the more reason to make sure you actually get there. C’mon.”

  Darsey jogged forward to push past Wing and hurried on, following the breeze that funnelled into the dark passage.

  Unfortunately, the t’ssaa were there first. Five lizards were packed into the tunnel’s mouth, blocking the path completely. They crouched, waiting in two lines of two abreast, with their leader in front, ducked lowest of all. Their quivering crests seemed to fill the tunnel, each silhouetted by an eerie light that flickered behind them, shining from under the foundations of the Hub.

  Wing hesitated, but this time Darsey charged on. She threw herself into an attack even as the t’ssaa raised their coms. The reptiles blinked, but their arms flicked to target her in instant response. She ducked and crouched with her final stride to push off as hard and low as she could. She hurtled at the kneeling leader and the blasts exploded above her.

  The t’ssaa aimed smoothly again, with no hint of panic. Their leader leaned forward, ready to absorb the faint impact when Darsey struck his active field.

  She cannoned into him instead, to hit hard and ram straight through his defense shield. Her shoulder drove into his chest, even though it should have been protected by his shield. He grunted when the heel of her hand slammed up under his chin and instantly went down. He fell back and Darsey dove forward over him, flipping into a hand spring and spinning head-over-heels to smash her boots into the heads of the two t’ssaa behind.

  One struck cleanly and her victim flew backwards, but the other t’ssaa was faster. Its head twisted and her heel scraped past its jaw. It staggered to its knees and she landed in the space left by its companion, facing the last two t’ssaa.

  Darsey crouched again, balanced and ready to press the attack, but her enemies had already moved past shock. They glided backwards with frightening speed, slipping beyond her reach. She rose smoothly and kicked out, but not at the retreating pair. She spun sideways and this time her boot connected with the temple of the previously grazed t’ssaa. It went down for good and she turned back to the final couple.

  They stared at her from slitted eyes turned fully black, and both had coms aimed steadily at her. There was a flash of fire and Darsey dropped to her stomach.

  However, the shot came from behind. Wing fired past her and a line of energy hit the roof above the t’ssaa. It exploded against the ceiling with controlled precision, cutting out a masonry slab. The concussion knocked both of the t’ssaa down and a foundation block from the tower above fell straight onto them. It thudded against hastily re-powered defense fields, momentarily trapping them both.

  Darsey was pressed flat to the floor of the tunnel, winded by the blast, but she struggled to get her feet under her. She was helped by Wing, who hooked a hand under her arm and hoisted her up, on the run. They took off together, hurdling the struggling t’ssaa.

  The tunnel closed tight around them, but, rather than getting darker it brightened. Darsey l
ooked up and for the first time saw what was beyond the t’ssaa. The burrow ended in a blaze of color. A swirling vortex of energy filled the tunnel. It circled in neon streamers of violet, blue and green. There was air moving with it. Hot, stale air this close to the vent that lifted Darsey’s plait and Wing’s fronds. She could feel the suction from the whirlpool ahead, dragging her faster and tugging at her clothes.

  “What is it?” she gasped, the words sucked from her lungs along with her breath.

  “Station airways. This one scrubs staleness out using the Inner Hub. Let’s move.” Wing continued their headlong rush, but Darsey slowed and fell behind again. He looked back in surprise and then stopped, leaning into the wind, until she reached him. “We can jump through,” he shouted. “There’s a safety cut-out that will let us pass.” Darsey looked doubtfully at the brilliant energy pit and he reached for her hand. “Trust me.”

  She took a deep breath and almost choked on the humid air. All she could do was nod, but Wing squeezed her hand reassuringly before turning back to the vortex.

  There was sudden noise behind them, a crash loud enough to be heard over the wind. It sounded like a large, stone block being thrust aside. Wing took off at once and Darsey was right beside him. She leapt into the energy vent and flew straight through. There was a brief sensation of skin tingling contact and then she was safely past.

  Darsey dropped on the other side and fell, to land heavily, despite Wing’s quick support. Her ankle twisted awkwardly and she gasped, before her com field strengthened it and she regained her balance. She was standing knee deep in rubbish and rubble. Her foot had turned when she landed on a tilted chunk of rock. She straightened carefully and blinked in the patterned light of two vortices. Twin pools of energy were set above their heads in opposite walls. The one behind Darsey was the one they had escaped through and Wing was already scrambling back up to it.

  He called back to her over his shoulder. “You kay?”

  “Define kay.” She shivered, but then lifted her voice more reassuringly. “Sure, I’m great.”

  “Good. I’ve got to destroy the safety settings on those vents.”

  Wing finished scaling the piled rubble to reach the base of the vortex. He moved nimbly across its front and his forelock lifted in its current of air. He reached a metal plate just below the centre of the energy spiral and paused. “This is ancient-as,” he informed Darsey, who watched anxiously from below.

  “Can you override its safety protocol?”

  “Certain-sure,” Wing answered as he pried the rusted lid aside. “It’s an easy fry.”

  “Why no t’ssaa yet?” Darsey wondered, and he smiled grimly.

  “They know exactly what I’m doing. Their leader’s down and they won’t risk a jump without orders. Not when they might be caught by this…” Wing’s com surged and there was an answering flash from the vortex control. “No safe way through now,” he reported with satisfaction. “Any-all, not once I fry the other vent.”

  He leapt down from his perch and jumped from block to block, across the high but narrow room. He clambered up to the far field and while he accessed its control, Darsey looked curiously around their sanctuary.

  It was hard to see far in the strobing light and the first thing that struck her was the cold. The air was bitterly cold and very still below the wind between the vents. Her breath spiralled upwards as an oddly colored mist before streaming into that current of warmer air. She shivered and peered past her breath at the surrounding walls. The two without vents were a hodgepodge honeycomb of tunnels and holes and foundation piles. Every misshapen passage she could see was carpeted by litter. The Inner Hub had clearly been abandoned and built over long ago. What remained was a forgotten place, fit only for trash and recycling.

  Wing landed beside Darsey with a slither of debris and she started when scree flowed over her feet. “Don’t get buried,” he offered with a grin, and she shivered again. “Use more of your com power for heat if needed,” he advised, but she shook her head.

  “I can cope. It’s just a bit spooky down here.”

  “It gives frighteners for sure, but that’s just imagination. Sadly, we’ve got more real cares to deal with. There’s access all around here.”

  Darsey’s attention returned to Wing’s worried face. “You think the t’ssaa will get in? Of course they will. So… we have to break past them and get to Freefall’s ship. But how do we get out of here?”

  “There’s only one way. We let them make a first attack. Payiss will order a full strike, including the vents, but he can't just destroy them. The station needs them and Gratuity’s boss will overpower any such attack. What Payiss can do is re-set the safeties.”

  He raised a hand before Darsey could comment on that grim possibility. “It’s kay. It won’t work. I’ve overset those controls, ready to show that the vents are now safe when they aren't. The t’ssaa will jump, but none will pass through. They won't dare to use the vents after such, so we’ll be able to pass back through this one all unexpected. I’ll place a charge further into the under-maze and explode it during their second attack. That’s when we’ll exit as we came, fight past any vent guards, sneak to my shuttle and we’ll soon be weightless with Free.”

  “Weightless and free?”

  “Also.”

  “Fine,” Darsey agreed, but her smile faded. “First, we just have to fight off fifty t’ssaa. How do we do that? And how come I can beat them up anyway?”

  “I think I know,” Wing offered, “but we need some defenses first. I’ll tell all as we work.” He gestured at the larger rubble and then to the junk-filled foundation piles. “We have to block all we can and build some cover, with no back attack.”

  “Sounds good,” Darsey agreed, and moved forward to help

  Wing began levering a block into place. There was silence while they strained together and then the rock fell. It tipped past its point of balance and crashed onto the debris below, to become the first step in a rough and ready wall.

  Darsey studied the remaining pile, before nodding at a broken pedestal poised above their initial block.

  “We’ll have to excavate its base to get it moving,” Wing pointed out, but she was already digging. He knelt to join her and they worked in comfortable silence, but only for a moment.

  “Your body is odd,” Wing grunted, digging maniacally through the gravel.

  “Thanks a lot. So’s your face.”

  “I meant at a cellular level. Your cells are porous and when you first used my com they absorbed from it.”

  “Absorbed what?” Darsey asked, sitting back on her heels. That sounded alarming. The kres had definitely been holding out on her.

  Wing cleared the last of the detritus to free the second block and the conversation stopped while they tipped it into place. The next chunk they chose was larger and had to be slid straight onto the others, but he talked over the screeching of scree as they pushed.

  “Exotic matter. Topline… coms carry panic-use… stores. Someway… the ExM got… into your body. Into… every cell.”

  The foundation block scraped into place and Darsey collapsed against it. She wasn’t that tired, but Wing’s crazy theory was enough to make anyone weak at the knees. “That makes no sense.”

  “Agreed. I don’t know how you survived that first time. It must have felt awful and made it near impossible to protect me from Jileea. I’d never risk trying such a thing again, but somehow you did it. You integrated exotic matter and now it’s become part of you. Your cells can passage. It’s true, Darse. You’ve seen it, felt it. There are tiny wormholes everywhere and you can open them. Even ships can’t do such. You act on a cellular level and I’ve not seen anything like it. Not ever-all. You’re… amazing.”

  Darsey gazed blankly at Wing and then started to shake her head. “No. That theory’s just… impossible. It must be-”

  “So is what you do, but you do it.” He took her hand, gripping it firmly, and she managed to stop shaking her head.
“Easy-as, Darse. Easy. It’s huge, I know, but it’s all fine too. I promise.”

  “Is it dangerous? Jileea claimed it could be lethal.”

  “No,” he reassured her. “I wasn’t sure, about any of this, which is why I stayed quiet, but now I think not. The time of most risk is long past. You should have died when the ExM entered your cells, but incredibly you didn't. Everything I’ve seen and scanned since we met again says you’re safe.”

  Darsey studied Wing intently, but all she could see was honest conviction. His concern for her safety seemed as heartfelt as before. “Why?” she asked, and he simply stared at her, apparently unsure what she meant. “Why did you leave me? At the sale and then later with Jileea. We were friends, and I get the feeling we still are. You act like we are anyway. Like you want to help. I mean, we get on so well and have so much in common. We're both exiled and we were both orphaned so young... sometimes on the Bandit it felt like you were my best friend. So,” Darsey gulped, “why desert me? And please, just have a good reason.”

  “Ah.” Wing sighed and released her hand. “That’s simple enough, but somewhat of a tale too-”

  His explanation was interrupted by the distant sound of movement. The noise was faint, a mere murmur of litter brushed by feet, but Wing broke off and swung toward the burrows beyond their unfinished wall. “Drak.”

  “What?” Darsey wondered, checking her com to see whether it had identified the cause of the rustling, but it was blank.

  Wing steadied himself against their fortification and stretched his com arm along one end. She moved to the opposite side and did the same.

  The cold air carried the furtive sound of approaching steps clearly and Darsey expected a t’ssaa attack long before she actually saw movement in any of the openings. A shape finally appeared on the ledge of a crooked hollow, just below the height of their barrier. Darsey’s gut tightened and her com hummed at fever pitch.

  “Hold,” Wing hissed while his fronds flicked forward. “It’s the boy. Malik.”

  There was a slither of small stones and then the youngster shot onto the ledge. He teetered on its edge before surrendering his balance and jumping into the rubble below. Angry words rose from the pile and then Malik rose too. He scowled and scrubbed dust from his eyes before looking around.

  Wing glanced at Darsey and mouthed “stay back”, then edged into the open to confront their guide. “Are you alone and un-followed?” the kres demanded, and the urchin sneered in response.

  “Course. Where’s my credits?”

  Wing raised his wrist and a line of light linked it with the boy’s bulky com. “Full paid,” he noted tersely, and the boy smacked his dirty lips together.

  “Thanks and thanks,” he breathed, before sharp silver eyes darted back to Wing. “Where’s Darsey-ordinary-muck-lady?”

  “Here,” Darsey answered and slithered down from the barricade to land lightly beside them.

  “Good-as,” Malik said happily, even as Wing frowned at her.

  She was disguised by a com glamour again and winked at the nagging kres who grimaced, but then tipped his hand in a shrug.

  “We’re alive, Malik,” Darsey pointed out brusquely, “but we’re a long way from safe. Can you help?”

  “Certain-sure. I can fix it. I know which of these holes misses all the t’ssaa. For a low-as fee, I’ll lead you right around Payiss. Just a thousand credits to see you both safe. Aint that a grand offer?”

  “No. Too high,” Wing snapped, and turned back to the barricade. Darsey bit her tongue and the kres only managed a single stride before Malik hastily called him back.

  “Easy now, my lord. I’d not meant to offend, you know. I opened up this high-scale-most-successful-business-venture with a barter and now it’s your turn. I see that clear-as. We can to and fro all you wish, even though your lives are at risk. Oooor, we can be more brisk. Show some care for safety. So in your interest, I’ll drop down flat to five hundred, but no less. Five hundred is base for such danger as I’d face.”

  Wing gazed bleakly at his com and his tone was uncompromising. “No deal.”

  Malik was momentarily speechless and Darsey was equally astonished.

  “Aint your lives worth it, then?” Malik demanded, while Darsey gave Wing a hard look before smiling at the boy.

  “Of course they are,” she assured him, with another pointed look at her companion. “Right, Wing?”

  “Too expensive,” the kres said tersely, and this time Malik clearly believed him.

  The boy quickly backed away, scuttling over the tattered ground.

  “Stop,” Darsey ordered, placing her hands on her hips and, when the child froze, she turned her gaze back to Wing. “Pay him.”

  “I can’t,” he hissed in response.

  “Just do it,” Darsey whispered back with the same desperation, but he was unmoved.

  “Not possible. I’m broke.”

  Malik’s lip curled at the quiet admission and he turned away. He scrambled toward the shadows of the ledge, clearly in a hurry to abandon them.

  “Boy,” Wing called sharply, and the youngster stopped again, looking down over his shoulder. “How did you know that Payiss leads the t’ssaa? And how could they find this place so quick, even before us?”

  Malik hesitated, before smiling mockingly, and then he was gone.

  Darsey let her arms fall in despair. She was such a trusting fool. “He was selling us. Selling his help to both sides.”

  “Ye,” Wing agreed bleakly. “And now we’re creditless.” He shrugged, then gestured to the rocks above their shelter before climbing toward them. He clambered higher, searching for the most useful, while Darsey stood below, struggling to come to terms with Malik’s double dealing.

  “But, you hadn’t paid him everything yet. If those t’ssaa in the vent tunnel had killed us, he would have missed out.”

  “Certain-sure,” Wing called down. “Which means that Payiss paid Malik more than I still owed him. He just got lucky with a double dip.”

  Darsey closed her eyes and cursed her own stupidity. “How could I be so naïve over a few blond curls?” A horrible thought occurred to her and her eyes flew open. “Wing, how do we know he delivered Harrier safely? What say he gave her up?”

  “It’s kay,” he grunted distractedly. “Harry knew to tag Malik once she was safe. She marked his cheek with an infrared strip that my fronds saw when he returned. We’re close friends and we served together. She used to be a Fleet medic, so she knew what to do. I also sent Malik to a dock three away from the ch't'kar, so he has no knowledge of her where-as to sell. Harry knew where to go, because I sent her true details through our coms. She’s safe now.’

  Darsey took a deep breath and then moved to join Wing. “Well done,” she said tightly when she reached him. “The two of you clearly had that all thought out. Thanks for telling me, but good for you. It looks like Harry is better off than us.”

  Wing looked at her strangely and she didn’t blame him. What on earth was wrong with her? She gulped a breath, but it didn’t help at all. “I realize we can’t trust Malik, but we could have used him some more. We could have told him we were onto him and made him lead the way out of here. Or something,” she snapped and Wing’s brow furrowed.

  Darsey was abruptly embarrassed, but her shame somehow combined with his confused expression to drive her deeper into anger. “We should have been able to keep Malik with us, outbid the t’ssaa and get away. What the hell happened? I thought you were rich,” she accused, and Wing’s frown deepened at her tone.

  “I was.”

  “Well, what did you spend it all on?”

  “You,” Wing said simply, and stopped Darsey in her indignant tracks.

  Her eyebrows shot up, but that was the only part of her to respond. His answer made no sense to her. None at all. “Me?”

  “Truly. Fifty million credits.”

  Darsey’s mouth dropped open, detached from its usual close association with the rest of her fac
e by sheer astonishment. Her opinion of Wing was in freefall while she struggled to digest such a sacrifice. Her brain belatedly understood the contradictions in his recent behaviour, but she had no idea what she was feeling in return. Her mouth snapped shut, only to open again and force out words.

  “You… you bought me. Twice?”

  “Ye. First time was a bargain, though. It’s the second that cut deep-”

  Darsey’s anger snapped back into focus and she was suddenly on safe ground again. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me?” she raged, but Wing’s response was calm.

  “Why the hail would you have believed me?” he asked reasonably. “I would have said before, truly, but it needed your trust. I felt I’d had my worth of trust from you.”

  Darsey’s mouth opened again, but she had no words ready and had to close it. She shook her head, still unsure if she could believe what she was hearing. Wing shifted his balance on the rubble, as if he was about to move closer and she lifted a warning hand. “Wait. Just wait. I was bought by a desiccated Tetrark, not you. Explain.”

  “Certain-sure,” Wing answered earnestly, and took a second to gather his thoughts. “I realized soon-as that we had no escape from the auction pit. There was no chance to reach the market as planned. So I left you. I’m sorry for that, Darse. I knew they’d be ungentle.” Nightwing paused as Darsey made a derisive noise at his understatement. He dipped his head in further apology and she gestured impatiently for him to continue. “Fortunately I thought to contact Crest.”

  “Tetrark Crest BackBeak.”

  “No,” he corrected at once. “Crest Pinion, my family’s lead retainer. I don’t know how long he’s been with us, forever I think, but he raised Free and me after our parents... Well, he’s most like a father to me. He would have seen you safe. Any-all, I told him to use all of my fortune, everything he’d saved from the Arck, to buy you.”

  “Oh,” Darsey breathed, and could hardly hear herself over the strange roaring in her ears. “He must have loved that order.”

  “He was shocked, but I surely looked desperate, because he agreed.”

  “Fifty million credits,” Darsey repeated through stiff lips, her face now as frozen as her hearing. “Exactly fifty?”

  “Not quite,” Wing admitted. “Somewhat past forty-nine million was my share. Crest lent me the plus and promised enough extra to pay Greon when he delivered you safe.”

  Darsey looked at Wing in bewilderment and tried to ignore the rubble that seemed to be tilting under her. “Why? Why fifty million? It was so much. The bidding wasn’t even close to that.”

  “I had to be sure,” he said, as though it was an obvious decision. “I couldn't let you be sold, but I was against bidders with many times more credit than me. So I told Crest to bid once, as high as possible. That jump shocked everyone and pushed the auctioneer to seal. He was scared the bidder might retract and so the sale ended full fast. Those who might have matched me were given little chance to recalculate. If it had built slow, they would have thought about your rarity and they would have built with it. My bid had to be high, sudden and a round figure. I needed fifty million, not forty-nine, to avoid looking like a desperate, only bid that could go no higher.”

  Wing finished his explanation and looked at Darsey expectantly, but she simply stared at him. Her brain was far too busy reprocessing all of their interactions to manage anything as distracting as speech. Wing’s behaviour finally made sense. Most of it anyway. She even understand his anger at seeing her on Gratuity.

  He spent his entire family fortune to make sure I’d be safe and instead of staying where he’d put me, I blew it, she realized. Just threw it away. Darsey cleared her throat, but, before she could speak, she was interrupted by something much more urgent.

  A single, high-pitched shriek echoed from the control panels of the energy fans. It was followed by sparks and then lightning arced across the room. Darsey and Wing slid down the debris slope, scrabbling for cover behind their incomplete wall.

  “What’s happening?” she demanded, and he grimaced in response.

  “Complete reprogramme. The t’ssaa are forcing a safety reset. In a minute, they’ll think it’s done. We’ve little time. Are you ready?”

  Darsey looked at him helplessly. “Do I have a choice?”

  “We need to twin target,” Wing answered with a distracted smile. “A single com blast can’t break through a defense field. The power levels of most coms are too close. But if we hit the same shield together, our shots will get through.”

  Darsey took a deep breath. “Okay. I can see that. A wrist com can only channel a finite amount of energy, so we need to combine our firepower to breach their shields. But how come that first t’ssaa attack against the three of us was so bad? They shot right though the dock.”

  “That was the ship’s gun and a sign of full commitment for the t’ssaa to use it against the station. They’ll not dare such again. We’re safe from all except a com attack, so we can use these blocks for cover. When they shatter, shift full power to your shield. Try to avoid getting multi-targeted when you hand fight the t’ssaa. Stay in their midst and move often.”

  “Hmmm,” Darsey murmured while her mind raced. “What will you do when you have to use all your power on a defense field?”

  “Run a lot. Squirm much. Try not to be taken or shot.”

  “Why can’t you strike though their fields the way you did with Greon?”

  “No Jileea,” Wing explained tersely. “She hooked me into the ship’s power, so I had a shield that was stable enough to hold exotic matter and keep it clear of my flesh. Just a touch of ExM ruins cells. Most cells,” he amended, with a quizzical glance at Darsey, but she was oblivious to his curiosity.

  Her expression was distant and her mental activity so frenzied that her vision darkened. “I’m having an idea,” Darsey murmured, and Wing grimaced in response, while his fronds tucked behind his ears.

  “I noted.” However, before he could ask, her eyes re-focused and she gripped his wrist in sudden excitement.

  “Your sword, Wing. Wouldn’t your sword tolerate ExM?”

  He blinked and then frowned as he considered the question. “My Honor Blade? Its molecule structure would stay stable, but it couldn't cut through an energy field. Matter alone can’t be forced past such. The ExM needs to inform an energy field to passage. Like the metabolic field in your cells or the support field now around them.” He looked at Darsey apologetically, but she never noticed. Her eyes blazed with excitement and she tapped at his com impatiently.

  “Decompress your sword and an energy charge. You can set up a field around your sword, right? The hilt can provide an energy anchor and the blade can give structure to the energy sleeve, and the metal won’t be damaged when you add ExM.” Darsey’s rapid explanation rose to a stop and she flicked Wing’s com expectantly. “Right? So get moving.”

  However, the kres was frozen and staring at Darsey as if he’d never seen her before.

  “Are you okay?” she wondered. LDo you get what I mean? Wing? Make the sword the core of an energy field, then add exotic matter. The two will interact, like they do in me, to cut straight though defense fields. You’ll be giving the ExM exactly the same combination of matter and energy that I do, right? And the direction, where to passage to, will come from momentum. Your muscles power the blade in one direction and that’ll be where it goes.”

  There was no response from Wing, but another shriek shattered the silence. White light filled their refuge and then strobed wildly, pulsing in time to a series of tortured screeches. The energy vents became maelstroms, releasing sparks and lightning, along with banshee wails.

  “What’s happening?” Darsey yelled, but Wing’s answer was so quiet she could hardly hear it.

  “T’ssaa are trying to pass the vents,” he said mildly, his eyes unfocused. “The attack is on.”

  “Wing!” Darsey screamed into Wing’s face, and he belatedly looked up.

  “They’ll be c
oming through the under maze soon,” he stated more clearly, even as he accessed his com. There was a flash of silver and his sword slipped into his hand. “Darsey…” He paused and shook his head. “Your idea is simple-as and utterly brilliant. I don’t know why it’s never been done before. I guess the best inventions always seem easy looking back.” His hands flew over his com and his sword while he talked, racing to turn Darsey’s vision into something real.

  There was a sudden slither of debris and then stones scattered when t’ssaa leapt from the maze of foundations. The lizards struck with frightening speed, flickering over open ground to find cover in the rubble. Dozens poured into the narrow space, vanishing behind chunks of rock, and more kept coming. They were impossibly outnumbered.

  41

  Quick Thinking