Bactine (44 page)

Daniel was tempted to move down the ladder, but the laughter could stop any moment... Then he heard more footsteps move away. Agonising seconds later he heard the sound of feet on the gangway. He bolted down the stairs, blindly searched his way through the corridor and found the door to the first cargo bay. The open hatch made it easy for him to find the way out.

He peeked around the ship's side. Drat... the three would see him if he would run now, and they were coming down faster than going up. No way he could get away before them.

It felt like hours to Daniel until he finally could get off the Pricosine 2 and start towards the exit. In the cover of the shadows he could get quite close to the three men. He heard how Clelem locked the gate. The three men walked off, talking and apparently joking, as Birkle laughed again.

Daniel looked at the gate. It was high. The top had nasty-looking pointy parts. He was for certain not going to leave the shipyard through or over the regular exit. Taking more chances, he started to run towards the spot where he knew the fence to be low. The one he had climbed over before, to get to this shipyard. Darkness did not make that easy, so he did not go fast. Nothing much had changed, so he climbed over the fence and found his way to the exit of that yard. There, the powers were with him. The gate was as open as the first time. Even in the night.

As he walked towards the road, careful still as he had no idea how fast the three others had gone, he debated with himself if he should take a carriage or go walking. With the carriage, he was afraid he would fall asleep. And walking was at least as fast. That took care of that.

In the streets everything was quiet. No carriages, no people. Daniel fell into a jogging pace he usually could hold for hours. His long legs took him to the corner of what used to be 'his' street. The police now had put up a fence and a few warning signs. From where he stood, he did not see any guards, but that did not mean there weren't any.

"No chances," he mumbled to himself. He walked past the Street of Barges and found the parallel street again. This time there were no people guarding the fence. Slowly, moving from tree to tree, Daniel reached the fence. It took him only a few seconds to get over it.

On the other side, he crouched down for a while, scanning for police that might still be around. The area was quiet. Very quiet. The street lights showed the devastation that was the result of the bomb Gaguran had arranged. The lower half of the building was still standing, that much was clear. For some reason Daniel did not know, the top part had collapsed to the front, not straight down. The way things looked was as if some giant hand had knocked the upper floors off the building, slapping it from behind.

After minutes, Daniel decided that it was safe to move closer. He kept to the shades, to make as sure as possible nobody would notice him. After all, there had been enough commotion around this explosion. As he circled the remains of the building to get to the back side, he saw two lamps burning. He came closer and found a table in front of the back-door. The two lamps were on it, and next to one of the lamps was a handwritten sign that read 'Keep Out: Danger'. Especially the capitals made it look quite deterring.

Carefully he moved the table far enough to the side to give him access to the back-door. That was still in place. Daniel tried the doorknob and pulled. The door resisted for a moment, then opened. A creaking noise startled him and he ducked behind the table. Again he waited for several minutes, but nothing stirred. He dared to breathe again and picked one of the lamps from the table before he entered the collapsed building. Daniel was fully aware that he was taking chances. The sign was not terrifying, but it did tell the truth. This place was dangerous now.

His feet bumped into strange blocks of stone. Lowering the light, he saw there were many and they seemed to have come from the ceiling. "Okay, Daniel, easy does it," he told himself as he slowly, foot for foot, moving forward to the door that led to the staircase of the cellar.

There was no need to open the door. The building had sagged somewhat, breaking the door and making it fall out. The large cracks in the wall were worrying, but Daniel had to go on. If there was any chance that the girl was down there, he had to take it.

The staircase that led downwards had not sustained any damage. Daniel was still very careful, testing each step a few times before putting his full weight on it. The only sounds he heard were his feet on the wooden steps, his breath as he went on, and the pounding of his heart that seemed to grow louder with every move he made.

Finally he was in the cellar. Daniel had only been there a few times, out of curiosity. He knew there were four doors in a short corridor. Two of them, he knew, were always open. These doors had no locks. He found these two open still, and empty also, except for a lot of dust and some fallen down bits of ceiling.

He tried the third door. Locked. He knocked on it. "Is someone in there?" Daniel strained his ears, attempting to catch even the faintest sound. There was nothing though.

"I am going to kick in the door," Daniel said, hoping that his words were not in vain. He took a few deep breaths. The cellar seemed to be intact, but he did not know what was wrong in the parts he could not see. And there were far too many of those.

Daniel stepped back as far as he could. He did not dare to lean into the wall behind him, so he gave it his best shot and kicked at the door. It complained and cracked, but it did not open. He kicked again. That was too much for the door. It gave up and flew open, showings the darkness that lay behind it.

Daniel waited, to make sure the building was not taking revenge by coming down. It seemed safe. The lamp in front of him, Daniel stepped into the storage room. He saw a bunch of sacks in a corner. A table, all dusted over. A broken chair. But no Rayko. "Damn..."

He stepped into the corridor and treated the last door to a few kicks until that gave in also. As the door crashed open, the wooden beam over it crashed down to the floor, taking lots of stone and mortar with it. The whole thing created a dust cloud that made Daniel cough. He needed time to recover and wipe the dust from his eyes. Then he got into the room. "Hello?"

No sound. The floor looked empty except for a few open boxes that contained clothes, and a discarded suitcase. Why on earth would someone keep that behind a locked door, he wondered despite the situation.

"Damn it again," he muttered. Gaguran had said the girl would be in the cellar. He had seen all of them and there was no girl. Had the mouse meant another cellar then? Daniel could not believe it. Then he heard a soft moaning sound. Or was it his imagination?

"Hello? Are you here?" Daniel called out as loudly as he dared. His voice echoed through the room. Again there was the sound. He returned to the previous room and looked.

"By the winds," he muttered as he saw a foot sticking out from under the stack of sacks in the corner. Quickly he crossed the room, put the lamp down and started tossing the sacks to the side. There was the kidnapped girl.

Rayko was tied up in a horrible way. There were ropes everywhere around her body except her neck and her face. She also had a gag and a blindfold. Those were the first things Daniel took off her. Fear was in her eyes. Rayko tried to scream, but her throat was too dry for that; it just gave her a painful coughing fit.

"Stay calm, please," said Daniel. "Please. I'll untie you." Quickly he got to work, finding the knots and taking the ropes away. That was not easy as he had no knife with him. He had to lift Rayko up and keep hold of her as he unwound the long ends of rope from her. He sensed how weak she was, as she could not bring up the strength to stand on her own. He wondered how she had been lying here, without food or water.

Finally she was free. Daniel held her in his arms, with some trouble picked up the lamp from the floor. The he made his way out of the room and up the stairs. As he moved, he sensed that the woman in his arms had fainted. Anger washed through him as he went up the last steps. Anger against Clelem Dandra ko Galem and Gaguran Slindris, and also the pirate captain, and whoever had their dirty fingers in this. They had a lot to answer for.

Daniel paced through the corridor and with a foot pushed open the door to the outside. He kept walking, past the short bit of pavement. Behind him, as if the building had been waiting for them to get out, a wall gave in and a large part of the construction shifted, collapsing. Daniel closed his eyes for a moment and shuddered. Just in time.

He reached the corner of the street. A sudden wave of dizziness hit him, and he had to stop going. Slowly he sank down to his knees, behind a hedge, carefully laying Rayko down for a moment. She did not move, did not make a sound. He checked her pulse. It was faint but it was there. The nauseating feeling left him and he thought what he should do next. He reached for his hydger and looked at the names.

Sygra Dirrit ko Asac. The senator. Yes. Daniel flipped the switch and waited. When Rayko started coughing, he almost dropped the device. "Are you okay?" he asked. "We're safe now."

The young woman tried to move. Failing that, she looked up at him, clearly not understanding what was going on. She tried to say something, but all it got her was another fit of coughing.

"Daniel?" The voice of the senator came from the hydger.

"Senator, I am sorry to trouble you. I have found Rayko. Can I come to you for a place to hide?"

Rayko grabbed for Daniel's shirt and coughed again.

"You found her? Where? Oh, I mean, come here, as fast as you can! Time to explain later. I will have rooms prepared." The display went grey, Daniel quickly called for a carriage and hoped it would get there fast. He stuck the hydger in his pocket and supported Rayko again.

"Calm down, girl, calm down. You're safe. No one is going to hurt you, okay?" Daniel said, trying to comfort her.

"Thirst... water..." were the first words the young woman managed. She looked awful and probably felt far worse.

"I wish I had some for you, Rayko," he said. He hoped that saying her name would help.

With both hands the woman grabbed his shirt and she pulled him close. Daniel put his arms around her and mumbled soft words. In his arms, Rayko was sobbing in her misery.

After what felt like an age, a carriage came into the street. It stopped next to them by the time Daniel was on his feet again, Rayko in his arms. The door opened, and he gently put her inside, laying her down on the seat as well as he could. Carriages were not made for this, clearly. He told the thing where to go. As it started to move, in its tediously slow night setting, Daniel saw he had to change Rayko's position; she was bound to fall this way. He took her in his arms as he sat down, holding her in his lap, her legs curled up so she would still fit on the seat.

He was not sure if she was awake, but at times she moaned and winced. His own fatigue was attacking him again now. He nodded off, and each time either a sound from Rayko or a bump in the road shook him up, forcing him into what awareness was left to him.

Suddenly, after fading in and out for a while, the carriage was no longer moving. Daniel had not noticed it stopping. The fact that someone opened the door was however a sign.

"Mr. Zacharias, please let go of the young lady. We will take care of her," a voice said. The person had to wrench Daniel's hands free and he noticed the weight being lifted from his lap. "Mr. Zacharias, you can step out now. We are here to help you." Helpful arms pulled at him, and he moved, as in a daze.

"Where is Rayko?" he asked, not sure if he should know the answer.

"The young lady is right here, sir, do not worry about her. We are going to take care of you."

Daniel was halfway aware that he was taken to a room and that there was a bed beneath him and then there was nothing.

Strange sounds and a soft bed. Those were the first things Daniel became aware of as he was reaching some preliminary state of being awake. He chanced opening his eyes. White ceiling. A small chandelier hanging from it. Slowly he recalled the previous night and where he should be now, because of that.

He hoisted himself upright and groaned. He could not recall having done something that would make his body hurt, but it did. Slowly he got up. In a corner of the room he located a pitcher with, to his surprise, warm water. He poured some in the bowl that was next to it and washed his face and body as well as he could.

His clothes were gone, but there was something like a bath robe he put on. It was not his size, but it was better than nothing. The hydger was on a small table next to the bed, something he had no use for at the moment.

Daniel was glad for the thick carpet as he was barefoot. He opened the door and stepped into the corridor. Nobody there, but there was a smell of food coming from somewhere. As he was making his mind up to actually go into that direction, another door opened and a female servant came into view.

"Oh, Mr. Zacharias, you are awake. How do you feel, sir?" she asked.

"I'm okay. How's the girl? Where is she?"