Rift Breaker (16 page)

He barged into the door. ‘You think you can protect him from me?' he screamed, kicking and punching, expecting the seal to give way.

After a while, he grew tired, sat, and slumped against the door. His thoughts started to gather. Alone, he thought. Maybe he was going crazy like Milton said.

Frustrated, he wandered the hallways aimlessly, kicking the rock wall and yelling obscenities. He had to leave. He found the
boarding terminal where they had arrived and wandered down the tube. He sat in front of the sealed opening, yawned and stretched his legs, staring past the wall and into the green space. What was the big deal with Milton anyway? He was just another Human. Tazman didn't care anymore. They obviously didn't need a Freegu around.

He lay back on the floor. After silently wishing for escape, he dozed off.

Luylla had been waiting anxiously for the startling bleep. The infinite purplish blue transformed before her tense gaze into the green nebula. The gold disc lay on the co-pilot's seat. She reached over and snatched it up. The disc slipped and fell to the floor in her haste. The groaning came though the receiver. Her heart seemed to have a hyperdrive of its own.

Luylla scooped up the disc and set it on the console. Like before, the boarding tube came out to meet her. She turned her ship with the sub-thrusters and locked onto the complex. She pictured her goal. The mental images focused her mind. She tightened her holster belt, readying herself for combat. She checked the drowse inducer and moved its sliding switch to the appropriate setting. The hand-held, tri-pronged device activated and she clipped it to the back of her belt. She hurried to the terminal door and pulled the creaky hatch open.

The Freegu was right there, lying on the floor. Luylla
advanced. Her hand wandered to the butt of her gun as she recalled Adel's last words. His pointed ear twitched at the sound of her footsteps. His body writhed and stirred. He lifted and sat with eyes half open, yawning and stretching. When he glanced up and saw her, a smile lit his face. Before she could react, his arms were already wrapped around her neck.

‘Get off me, you disgusting creature,' she yelled, squirming from his grip. She shoved him back, unclipped the drowse inducer from her belt and whipped it to his forehead.

‘Back to sleep,' she said, holding the button.

It buzzed violently and the energy waves propelled into his head. He stood with his body shaking. His eyelids fluttered. His mouth dropped open with a slack tongue and a strand of saliva drooled out. She pulled the device away. The Freegu's belly slapped the floor.

She glanced towards the complex. Nothing. She dragged him by the arm into the
Inhibitan
. Surprisingly, she had met with no resistance. Then again, she thought, who wouldn't want to be rid of him.

Fifteen

Tazman rolled his heavy head. A distant sound vibrated through the floor and woke him. The sound was mechanical with a hydraulic squeal. He didn't want to bother struggling against the weight of his eyelids; opening them was too much work at this point. His body heat made a warm spot where he lay. Stiff muscles couldn't find the motivation to move, lest they touched the cold.

Tazman's ear twitched. Footsteps, a double click of the heel and toe. He peeled open his eyes and found a dark and blurry dimension. Scuffed black boots came before his head. With his headache, they might as well have been walking on his skull.

A lady's voice boomed from above. ‘Get up!'

A crushing grip enwrapped Tazman's upper arm. He reluctantly followed its lead and started to push up off the cold floor. His hands, however, had been cuffed behind his back. He lost his balance and dropped, onto a much colder spot.

‘Move it,' the voice commanded. He recognised the tone.
The captain — Luylla. She violently plucked him up. Fighting a familiar level of gravity, his feet slid upright in contact with the floor and he stood.

Was this a dream? Had Tazman's wish to escape the safe haven come true? He got his answer … A hand grabbed the scruff of his neck, keeled him over and pulled him along. Luylla marched on. He tried to stay upright but blood flow was lagging and sharp tingles swelled through his legs with every step. Even tail was out of it, dragging uselessly behind him, playing dead of course.

The floor passed by and was replaced with a descending metal ramp. The next surface was cold concrete. It was night. Why did everything have to be cold and dark? Tazman wondered. His shadow swooped in front of him as they passed under a light. A gust of frosted wind picked up; somewhere loose rubbish rattled along the ground. After a few more steps Luylla released him.

He stood. He blinked. His resolution became clear. A cityscape stretched before him. A stabbing fear skewered his spirits. Towards the main district he recognised the pyramidal spires. He was back on Greatek. His demons had found him and hijacked his wish.

‘It's come down to this has it?' Tazman said haughtily.

He saw a bench nearby and headed to it.

‘Hey!' said Luylla.

‘Relax lady, I'm not going anywhere.'

Tazman eased onto the seat and threw his head back, letting
out the contents of his lungs, which turned frosty. He closed his eyes. The pounding in his head was beginning to subside. The poking pricks flared in his legs again. He wiggled his toes and tightened his thighs to make his blood flow faster. Once that felt comfortable he tapped his feet, letting out a gasp as he fought his body for some mobility.

He opened his eyes and allowed them to defocus. One of the moons hung in the sky — the white one, half cast in shadow. Tazman had forgotten what it was called but he identified the dark blemish of its city, which had the cheapest accommodation around these parts.

Something buzzed across his sight. He looked to the side. The lamp above swarmed with flying insects. With noisy vibrating wings, they flew into the bulb, and bounced off, before trying again. The lamp was one of several evenly spaced around the area.

Luylla had taken him to a skyway platform. The glaring yellow spherical nodes of the gravi-track hovered off the drop side, dictating where the magtrain would fly. The nodes kept the skyway magtrains suspended so they could master rocket speeds without the need of navigation equipment. The dotted line trailed through and between the highrises of the city.

He looked over at Luylla's shapely body, admiring the way she stood, with her arms folded and her long legs at an angle, staring down the track. She sighed, momentarily boosting her feminine features. She flitted her gaze down and adjusted her footing. The
edge of her boots barely touched the marked safety line. Tazman couldn't help but giggle.

‘Luylla, what are you doing?' he asked.

‘Cashing in on your bounty,' she replied swiftly.

‘You're not sadistic enough to be a hunter. On Lubric you didn't even remember to take the safety off your gun. So come on now, tell me the real story.'

‘Be quiet,' she snapped. The moment lingered. ‘I don't ask you questions. I don't ask about your affiliation with the Tyde.'

‘I can tell you if you want,' he replied.

‘I don't care,' she screamed. ‘You're a criminal and that's good enough for me.'

Tazman went silent and nodded at the ground. Her logic made sense. ‘You're right,' he muttered. ‘I deserve everything I get.'

He eased to the edge of the seat and in a quick movement tucked in his legs and brought his handcuffed arms out from under him. Tazman looked over and grinned, wondering if Luylla was impressed by his little manoeuvre.

She turned back to the magtrain path.

Tazman felt the stiffness subsiding. He lifted his arms over his head and blissfully stretched. Tail flopped over the front of the seat and wagged.

He looked up and noticed the insects above were more erratic. There were two kinds. One group had a red stripe across its abdomen and the other had smaller bodies. Both parties seemed to be territorial, swooping and fighting for the precious
glow. Tazman's brain instantly thought of taking bets, but none of his crewmates were around.

‘I hope it's worth it then,' he said. ‘Going around on your little ship, all alone. No mummy or daddy?'

‘Shut up!' she said, raising her voice.

‘Whoa, hit a pressure point did I? Where are your folks anyway? Were they the ones that sent you packing? Or were you actually stupid enough to choose this profession?'

Luylla drew her pistol and stormed over. ‘Keep mouthing off, monkey, I dare you.' The barrel levelled between Tazman's eyes.

Given where he was headed, he might have thought a shot to the head would be a positive thing. He didn't know what he wanted. His whole life consisted of making things up as he went along.

She flicked her thumb against a switch and the gun sounded its threatening charge pitch. ‘Do it,' he shrugged indifferently, disguising the effects of his raging heartbeat. ‘You might not get paid, though. The Composite will shell out for a dead body but the Tyde won't. Just make sure the safety's off.'

Luylla lowered the gun and uncocked it, cutting off the high frequency electronic buzz.

Tazman smirked, ‘You shouldn't pull it out if you don't intend using it.'

She whipped around and belted her gun across the side of his face. His head snapped to the side and he keeled over the seat, groaning. He rubbed his jaw, only half believing she'd actually
hurt him. What was it with people and their parents? He looked up to see Luylla striding back to the platform edge. He laughed dryly and called after her, ‘See, if you were a real hunter, you would've shot me.'

Tazman heard the magtrain approaching. Luylla twitched her gun at him. He reluctantly stood and trudged in her direction. She made a clicking noise with her mouth and sighed in disapproval, grabbing his cuffs and rushing him to the safety line.

Beaming floodlights made Tazman wince. A gust of air slammed his face. The magtrain entered from the right and passed along the platform. Its sleek glistening form was a blur of black panelled surfaces. Not a regular skyway.

The whine of the hover pitch dropped and the magtrain gradually slowed. The back half crawled in front of them, coming to a complete stop and placing the pair in line with the last carriage. The door inched outwards and shifted to the side. Luylla grabbed Tazman by the back of his neck again and pushed into the carriage.

Tazman stepped over the gap to find two Tyde sentinels inside. Luylla stopped short. They circled around the pair. Mechanical parts slid and sheathed, foot pads clicked on the floor. The door hissed and closed with a seal. The magtrain started moving. Tazman shifted his weight to maintain balance.

Although lit too bright for comfort, the interior wasn't much warmer than outside. The grimy floor, dusty with loose rust particles, had empty grooves for cargo. Two waist-high crates
lined against the opposite wall in the back corner. One of the sentinels looked down at Luylla's weapon, holding out its hand and prompting her to disarm. She quickly holstered her pulse pistol and surrendered her gun belt. The machine dumped it on the crates.

The door at the front of the carriage emitted a humming noise. It slid to the side to reveal Adel. Tazman was reminded again why he had a thing for Krusians. Her heeled boots reached high to her thighs, just below the hem of her short skirt. She was draped in a long leathery coat and held a precision rifle in one hand. She smiled and stepped in with green eyes beaming.

‘Tazman,' she chimed in her phoney tone. One of the sentinels behind grabbed him by the upper arms. She stepped in close and darted her gaze to his eyes.

‘Where were you? I've been worried sick,' she whispered. She ran a perfectly manicured hand softly across his cheek. ‘How is my little strategist?' she asked warmly.

‘Get off.' He squirmed and turned his face away. ‘Don't think I'm coming back anytime soon.'

Adel smiled and turned to Luylla. ‘He used to work for us, you see,' she explained. ‘Gathering and trafficking information — secret agent stuff.' Adel pinched Tazman hard on the cheek. ‘And he was so good at it too, until he didn't want to do it anymore.'

‘The health plan wasn't the greatest,' said Tazman.

Luylla's head inched back, recoiling from the creepy display of affection and/or torture.

‘Modesty was never your strongest virtue, Tazman,' said Adel. ‘Tell the rest of the story.'

‘Well,' said Tazman, ‘when I resigned, I may have …' he smiled and shook his head with wandering pupils, ‘led authorities to one of the Tyde's higher ranking crime lords.'

‘Not just one of them,' Adel pressed. ‘You cost the Tyde the control of an entire system.'

‘Details,' he replied nonchalantly.

Adel turned away and reverted to her business-like demeanour. ‘Well done, hunter. I am pleased.'

‘Do you have what I need?' asked Luylla.

The crime lordess gave a dirty smile and stepped back, lifting her rifle into both hands. With that, the other sentinel moved in and pulled Luylla into an arm lock.