Victorious Dead (The Asarlaí Wars Book 2) Page 22

  She wondered what would happen to these people, workers in the cities around them, if what she thought was happening to this planet actually happened. If Marli was right, there had been something done to this planet eons ago by the Asarlaí before they were destroyed. Something that was coming to fruition now. It couldn’t be good for the people currently calling this place home.

  A small girl, half-human, half Syngerin, darted in front of Vas and then froze.

  The girl had been chasing a small marmat, tiny felines sometimes kept as pets. Deven bent down and scooped up the long-legged, short-tailed, skittish creature, but the girl’s huge eyes were focused on Vas.

  “It’s okay. We won’t hurt you.”

  The girl kept looking down at Vas’s blaster and shaking her head.

  “Here you go. I think she wants to be back with you.” Deven stepped in front of Vas and her scary gun and held the now very relaxed marmat out to the girl.

  “Glithy, I told you to stay in the house. It’s too scary out here.” The girl flashed a tiny smile, then turned with her pet and ran back behind the fence of her house.

  If there were riches in the ground—Asarlaí-created riches no less—this planet was going to become a war zone once word got out. Fast and very ugly.

  Vas tapped her comm. “Gosta, keep an eye on the situation for this world, even after we leave. We might need to have a few of those reclaimed generational ships stop by.” If things went south, and she was damn sure all indications said they would, the least she could do was try and get some of the innocents out of harm’s way.

  Deven nodded grimly as she closed out the comm.

  “That’s done. Since you’ve been gone we’ve gotten it down to a routine.” Saving people displaced by their planets coming under attack was definitely not what Vas wanted to be doing with her time. Nor something she would have thought she’d be doing a year ago. But it was part of her reality now.

  The storage facility was the best-built building around for blocks. It was also well guarded and had a very solid, ten-foot-high wall around it. It might be located in the poor area, but clearly it was the rich and infamous who stored things here.

  Vas led Deven over to the shortest side of the wall. There were heavy trees here, not close enough to use for scaling the wall, but enough to add some cover from casual watchers. She had debated breaking in versus using the copied key card. There was still a chance that the security guard had realized what she did and changed his code. Doubtful, as she’d been making him focus on too many things to have noticed the card mimic—but it was never a good idea to ignore possibilities.

  Of course, breaking into a place like this in broad daylight was also a recipe for problems. She had a small lock pick set with her, but there was still a chance someone would spot them.

  “Which do you think?” Vas hadn’t mentioned the options, but figured Deven had already run through them a few times before she did.

  He walked up to the wall and placed a hand on it and scowled.

  “Not that way?”

  “No, there’s something inside the walls.” He pulled back his hand and wiped it on his pant leg. “I can’t explain it, but there’s something evil inside.”

  Vas looked at the unassuming building and its unassuming cement wall. “Inside the storage units?”

  “No, the walls themselves. I can still go with you, but we need to go in the front and move quickly. They do not want espers near here. Anyone with even a low telepathic talent would cross to the other side of the street and not know why.”

  Well, that limited their options and raised a bunch more questions. Vas muttered to herself as she marched toward the entrance.

  “What are Dengolian slime worms and why aren’t they yours?” Deven picked up on her muttered words as they went around the corner.

  Vas waved him off.

  The guard gate was small and manned by a single woman. She was huge, an Elline breed if Vas had to guess. Not really sure what the breed part was. Maybe she was just a very small Elline.

  “I have a pickup.” Vas flashed some papers she’d had Flarik drum up. They looked official and gave Vas authority to move where she needed to. As long as no one looked too closely. Vas didn’t like sneaking in like this—her soul was more of a smash your way in and fight your way out. She hadn’t been able to do that for far too long.

  The guard looked them both over and shrugged. Then pressed the button to lift the gate.

  Vas took a step forward, paused and looked back at the guard. Why even have a guard, gate, and wall if they let in anyone waving papers around? But the guard had gone back to the vid she was watching.

  The storage facility within the massive wall was stark, but very well laid out. Beige walls with mud-colored numbers blocked out the areas. Vas knew she needed storage unit GH-12C. The guard’s key she mimicked was specially designed to open any of the units, something she wondered if their customers knew about.

  Maybe she’d anonymously get the information out there once they were far away.

  GH-12C was located toward the back, in a clump of larger units. Vas had been expecting something small and easy to carry—that was what Ramoth claimed even if he wouldn’t tell her what it was.

  GH-12C was taller than Deven and twice as wide as the Elline out front.

  “What are we getting?” Deven looked the unit up and down but his frown said it all.

  “That is a damn good question. Ramoth told me it was an heirloom, would be in a locked red wood box, and small enough to carry out. And that he had it on good authority it would be the only thing in the unit.” Vas kicked herself. She would never take an unknown grab job again no matter what the pay. Mercenary jobs were far more straightforward in her world.

  She held the card up to the scanner and held her breath while it processed.

  Only Deven’s unnaturally fast reflexes saved them both from the glistening darts that shot out from the storage unit’s open doorway.

  31

  The darts all embedded themselves in the cement wall across from the unit that was now full of small, sizzling holes. Whatever was on those darts disintegrated cement—Vas hated to think what it could do to flesh. She swore and dusted off her knees where she’d landed.

  “Are you hit?” Deven had shoved her one way as he’d dodged the other. He crawled over to her side but there didn’t seem to be any more action from the storage unit.

  “I’m fine, just swearing at myself for being so stupid. Obviously, there was no job and Ramoth was simply setting us up. Setting me up anyway.” She needed to go back to being a mercenary, and soon. Her mind was turning to mush. Although that was a hell of a lot of set-up, there were far easier ways to kill someone, even someone like her.

  She got to her feet, studiously ignoring the fact the darts were now sinking as the cement melted. She approached the open door from the side, peeking around carefully.

  The storage unit was dark, but a glistening along the back showed where the dart mechanisms were. She flicked on her cuff lamp, but it wasn’t that much help.

  “Give me your jacket.” Vas kept watch inside the unit as she shoved her hand back. Yes, she could use her duster, and no, she wasn’t going to.

  Deven said nothing, but dropped his jacket into her hand. Vas swung it over her head and down, right in front of the doorway.

  Nothing.

  Of course, had she done this job by herself, she would be a melting pile of goo up against the other wall, so maybe they only had a single fill. She was fast, but if she was being completely honest with herself she had no indication those darts were coming.

  She handed Deven back his jacket. Aside from the spent dart thrower, a nasty-looking piece with five rows and ten dart guns on each row, there was nothing in the unit.

  Except something small and dark in the corner.

  Vas looked over her shoulder. “Cover me. There’s something inside, a box.” Maybe Ramoth hadn’t set them up but the bastard who robbed him was even more par
anoid than Flarik.

  “Let me,” Deven said as he stepped past her. “I was the one who saved us both from the darts.”

  Vas opened her mouth to argue, then gave in with a shrug. He was right.

  “Go ahead, just be careful.”

  Deven looked down at her as he passed. “I might have forgotten some things, but basic training sticks with a man.” With a wink, he entered the unit.

  Vas kept her light aimed on the small box, until Deven flicked his on to it. Then she slid her beam around the unit. It wasn’t only dark, it was painted black. Whether it was some sort of shielding paint, or the people behind it wanted to make sure no one saw those darts until it was too late, Vas had no idea.

  “It’s a box, a red box,” Deven said as he hovered over it. He kicked it lightly with his foot, then danced back. Nothing happened, so he did a few more tests, then grabbed it.

  Alarms filled the area.

  Vas was beginning to hate those things. “Damn it, we need to get out of here.”

  Deven sprinted out of the unit with the box held tight under his arm. “There’s a back door.” He pulled Vas down a side path.

  There weren’t booted feet to go along with these alarms but Vas didn’t think that situation was likely to stay that way. How in the hell Deven knew there was a back door and she didn’t would be sorted out later.

  The door was old and partially boarded over. The wood shattered and paint flew off as Deven hit it. It clearly hadn’t been used in years, if not decades.

  Deven barely fit through. The wall outside had blocked part of the exit. And a huge bush blocked the rest. Considering how old and wild it looked, Vas doubted the current owners even knew there was a door under it. Vas came through in time to get slammed to the ground.

  She rolled with the attacker and twisted until she was on top. The Elline guard or her evil twin. The woman had a club, but no gun. Vas was faster than the club and blasted it out of her hand. The Elline screamed as part of her hand went with it but still managed to bash Vas with her other hand.

  Vas dodged to miss part of the hit, but caught enough of it to make her head spin. She also saw a tattoo. The Asarlaí markings were clear on the base of the Elline’s wrist. The same ones the Rillianian monks had all worn.

  Vas swore and shot the woman in the head. She’d hoped to not have to, but that tattoo told her how screwed they were.

  Deven was fighting two black-clad guards. Familiar black-clad guards. They wore black suits with helmets better adapted for space. Vas shot one, which only made it turn toward her as she’d not gotten in a fatal shot. Deven bashed it in the head, then turned back to the other.

  Vas shot the one Deven had bashed, a head shot this time, so it went down and stayed down. A moment later, Deven broke the neck of the one he fought.

  “That answers things, or rather, raises more questions. Those bastards are back.”

  Deven looked down at the body. In all the fighting, he hadn’t lost the box. “I remember these people. We fought with Carrix against them.”

  That was good. Most of the things he initially recalled were over a year ago, but the fight against these black-suited bastards with Carrix and his company of Silantians had been a month or so before Deven had died.

  Alarms could be heard outside of the storage facility now and Vas ran for the wall. “Can you climb this?” She had a small collapsible grappling hook in her pouch. But it would take time they didn’t have.

  Deven sized up the wall and flexed his fingers. “If you take the box, I can fling you up and meet you on the other side,” he said with a grin.

  Vas took the box, tucked it under one arm, and held her blaster ready with the other hand. No one else had come back here, but those alarms weren’t dying down either.

  Deven cupped his fingers and Vas put one foot in them and he flung her up. She landed on top of the wall and then jumped down to the other side. It was a bit of a jolt, but far better than whatever was coming for them. Deven landed a moment later.

  Vas looked around the corner. It was clear. She started off at a light jog, everything tight, ready to run, stop and fight, or all if needed. Deven loped alongside her.

  Boots hitting the ground in unison and fast came echoing from the side street they’d originally come down. Damn it. Vas started to turn back when a gate opened next to them. The little girl with the marmat peeked through. “They chasing you?”

  At Vas’s nod, the girl opened the door wider. “Hide. Maman says we hide the good people. She’s not here right now, but I know she’d say to hide you. Good people save marmats.” All those words tumbled out so fast Vas barely caught them. Main point, the little girl could hide them, her mom knew there was something bad going on, and she was fighting for the good side.

  Good enough for Vas. She went inside.

  Deven shut the gate behind them as the booted runners went by. He held up his hand, flashing as he counted them in fives. The other hand held his own blaster in case some of them stopped running.

  The little girl watched as both Vas and Deven waited after the final runner went by. Vas had no idea how they were going to get to the shuttle port with troops of black-clad soldiers running around looking for them. The fact they seemed to have no fear in being seen was worrying as well.

  “Honey? What’s your name?” Vas leaned down to the girl. Her black hair was tied up in tight pigtails that made her look continually surprised. Her face was thin, but she was clean and well taken care of. Her clothing was old and worn, but mended.

  “Kaena,” she said and stared into Vas’s eyes. “You’re pretty. You shouldn’t wear mud though.”

  Vas laughed. She’d forgotten about their muddy appearance. “Thank you. You’re pretty too. My name is Vas, and his is Deven. But you can’t tell anyone besides your mom and your marmat that you met us, okay?”

  Kaena nodded and reached over to touch the end of Vas’s ponytail. “Pretty hair rule the night; pretty hair fight the fight.” It was more of a chant than a statement. Vas looked over to Deven, but he shrugged.

  She bent down to the girl again. “That’s right, Kaena. I fight against the bad people.”

  Deven had moved away from the fence and was studying the small house and even smaller yard. Vas knew what he was thinking. They couldn’t hide here, and the streets weren’t going to be safe either.

  Vas wasn’t sure if the black-suited soldiers were looking for her specifically or simply whoever grabbed the box, but she didn’t think they were working with the empress. Her tactics were far different. Not to mention, Vas thought the empress was a newer player to the game, and the black suits had been in play for a while.

  “Kaena, do you know of another way out of here?” Deven bent down to her and the child swayed toward him in adoration. He might have been the one who brought back her beloved pet, but there was more to it than that.

  “Yes, sir. Maman has a way out in the back of the kitchen. I’m not supposed to know—but for you, I show.” She turned and scampered up the two small steps to the front door. The marmat, Glithy, was curled up on the only sofa sound asleep. The kitchen was smaller than her bathroom back on the ship, and Vas felt a twinge of sympathy. She didn’t know Kaena’s story, but she’d grown up in poverty and indifference herself, and she recognized the plight.

  Although it sounded like Kaena’s mother cared, unlike her own. Her parents’ indifference had been what had allowed her late, unlamented brother to sell her to a band of rogue telepaths.

  There was a narrow door at the back of the kitchen but instead of going there, Kaena turned behind the small icebox and tapped on a panel. A section of floor moved back revealing a steep and narrow stairway.

  “I can’t go down there. Maman said never go. But this will get you out of town.”

  Vas nodded to Deven. It would be a tight fit but if he couldn’t make it they’d have to find another way out.

  He stopped before the stairs and turned to Kaena. “Thank you. Make sure to tell your maman abou
t us, and how grateful we are.”

  Vas bent down to Kaena’s height. “I have a very important job for you, can you do it?” At Kaena’s nod, she continued. “I’ve got a way for your maman to call us, but only if it’s really bad. Can you make sure to tell her that we can help? Only if there is no other choice.” Vas held up a small tracker. If pressed, it would send a help beacon to the ship. She called them deadman trackers as if they were being used things were dire.

  Kaena took the small thing and slipped it into a pocket of her pants. “I will tell maman, only if very, very bad.”

  Vas smiled and gave the girl a brief hug. There was always the chance that someone could use it to try and lure Vas in again, but she had to take the risk.

  The tunnel beneath the house seemed to run parallel to the road out front and Vas wondered how many people in the houses above knew of the secret escape route. And who Kaena’s mother had been helping escape from what.

  After a few minutes the tunnel bent to the right. The ground was starting to get warm, which was more than a little disturbing considering what had been happening to this planet. But the trail ended before things got uncomfortable.

  The dead end was solid dirt, with a small set of stairs carved out of the dirt to the right. The planks of wood at the top were vertical instead of horizontal but looked a lot like the wood from Kaena’s kitchen.

  Deven turned off his wrist lamp and paused at the top of the stairs, his head cocked as if listening, but Vas knew even with his bands on he was also sensing for anything telepath related.

  He gave her a nod and opened the door.

  They were in a utility closet—one not used very often judging by the dust. Considering that there were no other directions to go with that underground tunnel, Vas wondered how long ago Kaena’s mother had been running people through here. Then she noticed the dust on the brooms and mops didn’t move when she brushed against it. A closer look showed her the dust was all painted on, manufactured to keep people from thinking anything else was going on with this closet.