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Darsey’s jaw set and she spun to duck close to their makeshift defenses. Her com built blast power in an instant and she looked to Wing for support. However, the kres was still engrossed in his efforts to transform the sword. He answered Darsey’s unspoken appeal without looking up.

  “Change in plan. Hold fire. Draw them in. Close-as. In a com fight, they have every advantage, but now we can try something new. We need to make this a sword fight, with these blocks for cover, so they have to come close. I don’t want our shelter shot to naught while the t’ssaa are still distant.”

  Wing glanced up, raising an eyebrow, and Darsey nodded. She must have looked as sick as she felt, because he spared her a quick grin before returning to his work. “Snug down while the reptiles try to think this through and keep full power in your shield.”

  “I’ll just relax then,” Darsey answered brightly, and made a successful effort to swallow her nausea. She fervently hoped that Wing had no idea how scared she was and checked her com in an effort to ignore the faint noise of shifting scree. Beyond the wall, the t’ssaa were clearly making a stealthy approach.

  Twenty-five t’ssaa, she clarified after checking the count displayed above her wrist. Her heart sank at the number. She and Wing were likely to be swamped. Darsey knew that she was only just as fast as a striking t’ssaa and Wing had never matched her speed in their practice bouts. They were horribly outclassed.

  She looked across at the kres, but he was still struggling to make her invention work. He seemed unaware of the crest appearing around the edge of the block beside him. Golden scales stretched tightly between sharp spines darted forward, but Darsey was already moving as the attack came.

  She launched herself and Wing ducked without looking up, so that she could hurdle him and slam into the t’ssaa. There was a satisfying crunch when she hit and her fear disappeared. She was fighting for her life and there was no more time for thought.

  The t’ssaa went down under Darsey and collapsed. She used its face as a launching pad and dove forward when another lizard appeared. This one reacted faster and ducked, so that Darsey slid over its back. It twisted and threw out an arm to fire after her, but the shot never landed. She kicked backwards as she flew past and hit her enemy hard in the chest. She felt the t’ssaa’s ribs give, but had no time to be horrified. She landed face first in the rubble and skidded to a halt, cushioned by her arms and her com’s defense field. Energy bolts exploded around her when she slid beyond the barricade and the t’ssaa scrambled to land at least two good shots.

  Darsey was on her feet and moving in an instant. Going back to the shelter was impossible. The air behind her was thick with fire. The edge of one protective block exploded and shrapnel screamed past Darsey and into the advancing t’ssaa.

  She charged forward to meet those still upright and their crests flared in renewed challenge. The nearest launched itself at her and she leapt to meet it. She ducked into her enemy’s embrace, pulling the t’ssaa close while a new salvo of fire raked the room. She twisted her fists in her opponent’s leather baldric and the trapped fighter shuddered against her when multiple shots hit and then its crest fell, collapsing limply around her head.

  Darsey continued to hold the dead t’ssaa as a shield and started a rapid retreat. However, its fellow warriors were too fast. She heard footfalls on all sides and then the corpse was roughly jerked away. Wide-eyed t’ssaa closed in with their coms ready, and she realized there was no escape. There were simply too many to avoid, but Darsey’s jaw set against such a fate and she stopped retreating.

  She threw herself into their massed ranks instead and the creatures writhed around her, trying to find room for a clear shot. A pulse of energy heated one half of her protective field and another hit the far side straight afterwards. It was only a matter of seconds before two shots arrived together and killed her.

  Darsey dropped to the ground and more bolts exploded over her head. She kicked out at the nearest scaled ankle and a t’ssaa fell to join her. She tried to roll under it, but three of its fellows converged on her, coms outstretched. She kicked out again, but this time her opponent was ready and jumped to safety. She tensed helplessly and gritted her teeth, waiting to be shot from all sides.

  Instead, a silver streak linked the t’ssaa surrounding her. A shining ribbon cut though the group, leaping from one lizard to the next. It slashed across at waist height, moving so fast that its after image briefly formed a single line. There was a second of stillness and Darsey gaped at the frozen reptiles. Then motion returned to the universe and they collapsed, their body parts tumbling randomly over her.

  “Yurk,” she choked, and curled into a ball, with her hands clenched. There was a long moment of confusion while Darsey lay hidden and helpless beneath falling t’ssaa. A moment filled by unseen thuds and glancing collisions, before silence belatedly returned.

  And it was silence, Darsey realized when she cautiously started to straighten. Everything was quiet, as peaceful as if there had never been a fight. She reached up awkwardly to push aside… something. It moved heavily and she struggled to rise, kicking a further weight off her legs as she pushed herself into a crouch. She looked around the chamber and froze.

  Darsey stopped trying to stand and instead sat down hard, tucking her knees up to her chin. Around her was a scene of carnage. The only remaining t’ssaa were dead, cut to pieces. Cauterised body parts were strewn across the rubble and Wing stood perfectly still in the midst of destruction. He was the only person still upright.

  “Oh, God,” Darsey whispered, and the kres jerked, then turned awkwardly to face her.

  “Your energy blade kills extremely well,” Wing husked. He started to shake and the sword trailing from his left hand reflected jerky flashes of light.

  His distress galvanised Darsey and she somehow found herself on her feet. She lurched downhill and into a stumbling run. She fell straight into her companion, while his free arm swept up to catch her so that they clung together. She could feel his heart thudding even faster than hers. They held each other, sharing wordless distress, but the instant Wing stopped shaking, he pulled away.

  “We needs must go,” he reminded Darsey, and she stepped back too, only to stand on something softer than rubble. She jumped forward again and he steadied her while they exchanged another shaken look. “You kay?”

  “I’m fine,” Darsey said tautly. “How many did you…? That is, did any get away?”

  “Ye.” Wing gulped. “Some. I’ve no true count. Not now. Let’s just go, quick-as.” He turned toward the energy vortex that they had jumped through a lifetime ago.

  Or several t’ssaa lifetimes, Darsey thought grimly. She picked her way after Wing, managing to find a reasonably stable path, despite her determination not to look down at what she was crossing. She completed an awkward scramble up to the vent with relief.

  Darsey's plait lifted in a crosswind and she was surprised to realize that the station had returned to normal operation. The steady breeze seemed eerily aloof from the destruction beneath. It was fresh and bracing, scrubbed of its foetid warmth by the vortex and still untouched by the death below. They both breathed deeply and Wing lost his pallor.

  “You good?” he asked Darsey, before bending to the exposed control panel at the base of the vent.

  “Good? Sure,” she managed wryly. “I’m fine. How about you?”

  Wing glanced up from reprogramming the vortex. “Sick to the gut,” he answered succinctly, and turned back to his work.

  “Wing, I’m sorry. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Should I take the sword?”

  He raised an eyebrow in surprise, but then his mouth twitched in the echo of a smile. “No, thank you. Our flight is hopeless unless we both fight, and I’m actually fast with a blade. Much faster than when I try your unnamed combat.”

  “That’s unarmed combat.” Darsey smiled, and Wing grunted as he turned back to the vortex control.

  “More suited,” he agreed, “and such is the same with me. A sword w
as placed in my hand as soon as I could form a fist. It’s court tradition, but now my body feels lost without a blade. No, we’ll fight together and if it feels like slaughter, I’ll think of what they had planned for us.”

  “Good idea. Are we almost ready?”

  “Nearly done.”

  Wing grunted when a pulse flashed from the control space. That lurid light briefly turned his complexion sickly green and Darsey felt her own stomach tighten in response.

  “We’re ready,” she realized, and he clambered up to join her, where she balanced on the lip of the whirlwind.

  “True,” Wing agreed and then he jumped. He leapt into the vortex without warning and passed straight through it. He disappeared while Darsey was left behind, gaping after him. She swore in furious response, but her single word was cut by the energy barrier when she threw herself through it. She left only half an echo behind to fade in the chilly space.

  She hoped Wing heard the second syllable arrive behind him and had some idea what it meant. He was way too busy to actually see her arrive. The airway had been guarded by five of the lizards, but only two were still alive.

  Darsey watched their backs recede as they fled with all of their species’ fluid grace. Wing flicked his sword from the torso of the t’ssaa at his feet and took off after the survivors. He powered uphill to the mouth of the passage and Darsey was left behind again.

  She didn’t waste her breath on curses this time, but took off after him. She flew from the tunnel and skidded to a halt behind the nearest cover. Where had the kres got to?

  Wing’s head appeared over the wall sheltering her and she slammed backwards into the building behind. The jerk actually had the cheek to laugh.

  “Don’t ever do that again,” she ordered in a clipped voice. “If we plan to fight together, then that’s what we do. Any more heroic, solo charges and you will be in deep crap. Understood?”

  “I truly hope not,” he said with some bemusement, while his smile faded. “Your speech is strange, but most vivid. I understand that you’re unpleased and I’ll not do such again.”

  “Good,” Darsey snapped, and they leaned out together to check for danger. There was no sign of movement and both com scans were negative. “Shall we?” She darted forward before Wing could answer and made him sprint to catch her as she ran for the closest alley. She stopped behind the shelter of a rusted pillar and he gripped her elbow before she could move on. Her head snapped round, but he seemed unmoved by her glare.

  “Lead if you must,” Wing whispered, “but not direct to the docks.”

  Darsey hesitated and her expression softened to a frown. “They’ll be expecting that.”

  “Ye, but I’ve an escape they’ll not think of. It takes us closer to the Hub, though. Look.”

  Wing raised his wrist and Darsey leaned forward to study the map scrolling above his com.

  The details flowed past, diving from Gratuity’s docks toward their present position. Tiny images of herself and the kres appeared, perched on a line of light representing the alley. Other lines branched around it, in a maze that grew increasingly complicated, until it was almost too thick to decipher, before merging to form fewer, thicker lines in the centre of the city.

  Wing flicked a finger and another image appeared, closer to the heart of the Hub. Slim figures in iridescent robes were moving quickly down a spiral ramp and deeper into the planet.

  “Gentik?” Darsey wondered, and Wing flicked off the map in response.

  “Ye,” he agreed tersely as he straightened and beckoned her to follow. “The same group who met with Payiss. I left a tag for such and now we can hunt them. I knew they’d gather DNA from our hide place if they could.” He moved on into the alley, increasing his pace when Darsey joined him. He winked at her when they started to run and she had to smile back.

  “Do all your cells have tracers?” she wondered, and he nodded a finger in response.

  “That’s usual for high-rank kres, but I made mine sneaky-as. Even the gentik missed them.” Wing’s grin was more savage this time and he broke into a full combat run.

  Darsey matched him easily enough, but their pace was too frantic for further talk. They hurtled deeper into the Hub, leaping down levels and hurdling railings as they raced to catch the gentik. The buildings around them grew taller and more stately, but the streets remained empty. Citizens of Gratuity knew how to hide when an alarm sounded, especially one followed by explosions. They moved deeper into the apparently deserted Hub without distraction. The safety of concealing alleys and angled buildings grew sparse, but it scarcely seemed to matter. There was no hint of pursuit at all. When Wing was forced to lead them out onto a wide boulevard, Darsey followed without hesitation.

  They raced along its open space, their footfalls ringing from the marbled stone pavers that bordered its travel zones. The road started to slope downwards and Wing slowed to a lope. Darsey matched his pace and lifted her gaze to see the brightly dressed group of gentik further down the hill.

  The geneticists seemed oblivious to the approaching couple and scurried on down the street without looking back. However, darker, more solid figures appeared between Darsey and the fleeing band. The newcomers fell back to form a line between the gentik and their pursuers.

  Wing slowed even more, until he and Darsey had dropped to a walk. “Guardians,” he murmured as the poised figures grew closer. “They keep the gentik safe, so they're bred with speed and strength. Their armour energy absorbs too. Take care.”

  She studied the approaching bodyguards with renewed interest. There were five in the protective line, two female and three male, but they all shared the same impassive expression. Their features were gentik and their close-cropped hair multi-hued, but they had kres fronds and their skin colors ranged from pale silver to dark gold.

  They all wore identical black clothing made from overlapping plates and spirals of something more rigid than fabric. Although their faces were bare, the strange armour had woven collars with open strands that rose high at the back to frame each wearer's head. That delicate web seemed too fine to offer much protection, but matched the rest of the design, which also favored mobility over defense. The torso was more fully covered, but the limbs had only a few metal curves that left the joints free to move. Darsey wondered whether the armour was worn largely for show or tradition, as it seemed unlikely to stop an energy blast, but her attention slipped away from such intriguing details when the largest of the guardians stepped forward.

  “Halt,” he ordered, and the approaching couple obediently stopped.

  Darsey flicked a glance past the confronting row of guardians to the still-retreating gentik, who were rapidly disappearing down the street.

  “Sah Guardian,” Wing called quickly, with no attempt to disguise his urgency, “we wish to barter. Biologics for a shuttle.” He too looked past their immediate adversaries, but the distant scientists showed no signs of stopping.

  “No trade,” the guardian answered succinctly. “My Makers have sufficient of kres trace. Also, you stink of death. Destruction hunts you. You must stay far from those in our care.”

  Wing started to protest, but Darsey raised a hand to stop him and sent an order to her com to drop her automatic disguise. Her human form reappeared and every frond in the guardian group writhed to target her. She smiled wryly at their surprise, even as her skin tingled with the return of the glamour field. “I doubt your boss has enough of my DNA,” she pointed out, but the lead soldier was unmoved.

  “The alien trace was abandoned. My Makers will not face further risk to gain it.”

  Darsey bit her lower lip and turned to Wing, but his gaze snapped left and, at the same time, every guardian looked left too. She turned in response, to face the same direction and focus on the closest side street, but it seemed to be empty. She made an effort to relax, despite the extended fronds of her companions, because any approaching danger was still too distant to see. She held her position facing the intersection, but directe
d her words at the guardian leader.

  “You may have an ‘alien trace’, but trust me, you want more than a trace of my DNA.”

  “Irrelevant,” the warrior stated crisply, and started to retreat, followed by his team. “You have no more time to deal.”

  Darsey would have loved to argue with that blunt summation, but unfortunately the guardian was right. Five t’ssaa sprinted into sight and raced from the side street at frightening speed. Their attack was so quick that she scarcely had time to run.

  Darsey fled after the retreating guardians and the t’ssaa ignored her. They headed straight for their target instead and in seconds they were on Wing. They circled him to prevent escape and then paused.

  Darsey stopped too, before softly drifting back toward the immanent fight. None of the reptiles even glanced her way. They were fixated on Wing and when a sword dropped into his hand a chorus of hisses bounced from the buildings lining the street. A crest curved forward and its owner’s body followed it when the t’ssaa leapt.

  The blade sliced once.

  The other t’ssaa piled into battle anyway, too committed to stop. The blade sliced again and the next wave went down. Those behind them had definitely forgotten Darsey. She punched straight through the force field of the warrior at the back and it fell to its knees. It twisted from one side to the other, while its eyes roamed the street as if trying to discover the source of its collapse. Her leg flicked out and a kick to its temple made it crumple and lie still.

  Darsey used the momentum from that blow to spin back to the fight, but it was already over. Wing pulled his blade from the chest of the only t’ssaa still standing and it toppled to join the bodies of its comrades. The couple exchanged a sober look and he stepped over his last victim to join her.

  She turned at the sound of footsteps and faced the returning guardians. Those warriors approached them more warily this time, stopping when they were still ten paces away and their armour looked different. It was now encased in a violet glow that also covered their faces and any bare skin.

  “Impressive,” the guardian leader stated, staring through the lavender haze surrounding him with open curiosity. “The weapon is ingenious, but even more impressive is the ability to hit past a protective field.” His brown and gold eyes shifted toward Darsey, along with his fronds, and those of his entire team. “That is truly unique, the skill to passage flesh through a field. We wish to offer a deal for a sample of your cells, Lady.”

  “I thought your Makers wouldn’t risk further contact with me.”

  “Such is sooth, but we are not so timid. We wish our own sample. We offer in exchange a guardian sliver ship, complete with a fully powered cloak. Do we deal?”

  “A moment,” Darsey answered gravely, before she turned and tipped her head to whisper in Wing’s ear. “Is that a good offer?”

  “Ye, it’s a hidden ship,” he murmured in response, “but-”

  “Deal,” Darsey agreed, turning away from Wing before he could finish objecting. He frowned and shook a finger at her hasty response, but she was ready for his protest. “You have another way off this rock?” she asked reasonably, and he could only scowl.

  “Darsey, you don’t know what you’re doing. These folk are masterly gene teks too. They can use your DNA in ways unthought-”

  “Wing,” she interrupted more gently. “Thanks for the concern and you’re probably right, but we are out of options. Okay?”

  The kres took a deep breath and then slowly nodded. “Kay,” he agreed glumly, “but I truly hope we never regret this.”

  Darsey silently agreed, but, despite her reservations, she raised her wrist to accept the guardians’ offer. However, when the two coms linked, there was more than a simple exchange of data. She flinched when heat circled her arm and then recoiled from sudden pain. The energy stream linking their wristbands was broken and Pertwing made a silent query. Do you wish to give tissue or no?

  “Yes,” Darsey answered aloud, when she realized that her part of the deal was about to be taken. She straightened her arm and stood quite still while the link was re-established. She stayed silent and unmoving when that contact suddenly intensified, to slash around her wrist. The energy link vanished and she looked down in time to see red beads circling her arm, before her com sealed the cut.

  “Come,” the guardian ordered, and turned to lead them deeper into Gratuity, but closer to escape.

  42

  Escape