Elei's Chronicles (Books 1-3) (15 page)

He preferred to think she’d liked him from the start, like a mother who would recognize her child in a crowd.

Yeah, right
. What a moronic notion. Just like the happy endings in Albi’s bedtime stories.

The main door of the apartment creaked and cold washed down Elei’s spine. He jumped to his feet and stepped out of the room and into the hallway, gun trained on whoever walked through.

“I’m back, guys!” Maera entered like a bright morning, smiling and carrying two bags in her arms.

Elei sagged against the wall and lowered his gun.
Just Maera
. She brushed past him and he trailed after her. She dropped the bags on the table and took out smoked herring and blue bread. He helped her unpack the rest and they sat down to eat. With each bite, he tried not to stare at the two of them, at the way their thighs touched and their hands brushed against each other all the time, at their secret smiles and giggles.

Instead, he gazed at the packages of food without really seeing them.

Yeah, well, he wasn’t going to stay with Kalaes and Maera forever. At some point he’d have to leave and leave for good. Leave them in peace. He owed them that much. Let them rebuild their lives, free of suspicion and pursuers.

“Hey! Where’s your mind wandering off to again, fe?”

He dredged up a smile for Kalaes and stuffed his mouth with sugary K-blooms to avoid answering. He sighed in relief at the sweet taste and something unclenched in his gut.

“What are we going to do now?” Maera asked.

Her question hung like a cleaver over their heads.

“Wait.” Kalaes bit into an algae biscuit and chewed noisily. “We wait. Hera said she’ll come.”

“And you trust her? I don’t.” Maera pulled one cloth-clad leg up and rested her elbow on her knee.

“Because she makes fun of you.” Kalaes poked her side and she giggled. “Hey, little girl.” His grin reached his ears, and Elei looked away, wincing.

Stop it
, he told himself.
Be happy. Smile.

He tried to, but it felt like a grimace.

“Whatever, Kal.” Maera rolled her eyes. “You know that’s not the reason.”

“I know. I don’t trust her either, Mae. But she’s helping us. I can’t think of anyone else who would right now.”

“And when
Hera
comes,” Maera drew out the name, “what then? Can we go back to Aerica? We have no jobs, and you’ve got no apartment, and I’m sure if I’m gone any longer my landlady will throw my things into the street, or, better still, sell them.”

They sat in stale silence.

All this supposing we survive
, Elei thought.
Supposing at some point they let us go and live in peace.
He pressed his thumb against his forehead.
Or at least them
.

Kalaes pulled Maera closer, his arms circling her waist, and Elei shot to his feet. He grabbed a piece of bread and went to ruminate by the window.

Morning had rolled into high noon. Daylight glinted on the mountain slopes, reflecting on buildings and aircars. Blinded, he half-closed his eyes. They hurt, and lights danced before him. It was as if the sky swarmed with aircraft.

He blinked and rubbed his eyes.

The sky swarmed with aircraft.

He dropped to the floor, the bread falling from his hand. “Shit!” Fear rolled inside him in great, towering waves.

“Elei?” Kalaes scrambled out of his seat. His whole body blazed a deep crimson. “What is—”

“Get down!” Elei shouted. “We’ve been found.”

Maera rose, her face a white oval, red sparks jumping from her chest. “No. They can’t. Kal?”

“I can see them,” Kalaes’ voice grated, rough like sandpaper. “Get on the floor, Mae. How did they find us?”

“Damn Hera!” Maera’s voice shook as she dropped to her knees. “She betrayed us! She left us here with no means of transport—”

“She’s been helping us!” Kalaes said.

Maera stabbed a finger at him. “You just like her pretty face!”

“What? No!” Kalaes cursed. “I don’t like her any more than you do.”

“We’ve got to get out of here.” Elei moved toward the door, keeping low. Hopefully their pursuers didn’t know which apartment to target.

The boom of cannons blasted through the apartment. The windows exploded and glass rained inside. Maera squealed.

The Fleet didn’t need to know which apartment to target. They could take down the building. Or the whole town of Akmon. In his experience, the Gultur didn’t hold the human life to much value.

Kalaes grabbed his t-shirt from a chair. Elei inched out the door and down the hallway, pulling Maera by the hand. The passage flashed red, then blue, and it seemed to be breathing, expanding and contracting like a hallucination born of high fever.

An explosion rocked the building. Fire burst through the front door and they ducked as debris flew, hitting the walls.

“Back away. Find the fire escape!” Kalaes shouted.

Maera jerked on their hands. “There.”

They raced toward the narrow metal door at the other end of the dark passage. Kalaes kicked it open with a booted foot, and they stepped out into the daylight. Shading their eyes they looked up at the Fleet, then they hurtled into the narrow streets. The hum of the
seleukids
filled the air and shells exploded in the air-truck station. Fragments flew, slamming into everything, and they cowered, covering their heads.

Kalaes sprinted down a side street, his naked torso pale in the faint light, dragging them along by their hands. They turned the corner and Maera grunted and slowed down. Elei pulled at her hand, fear clawing at his insides. They ran behind the buildings, in narrow streets, but the rain of fire followed them. A house to their left exploded. Maera gasped and fell to her knees. Elei pulled her to her feet and hesitated, not knowing which way to go.

There were only so many places to hide in the small town, and the
seleukids
were methodically destroying them one by one. Rectangular drones burst from the
seleukids
and flew through the narrow alleys, the rat-a-tat of their machine guns echoing. People ran down the main street, screaming. Thick smoke curled over the rubble of bombed buildings. Dust hung thick in the air.

Kalaes coughed as he pulled them away from a crumbling block of apartments. An aircar rumbled down the street, packed with miners dressed in their dark uniforms and yellow helmets.

“Hey!” Kalaes let go of Maera’s hand and ran after them, waving his t-shirt in the air. “Take us with you!”

They were too far and didn’t notice him. The vehicle accelerated and vanished behind a corner. Another large aircar was already traveling full speed down the mountain slope from the mines.

They had to find a way to leave Akmon on their own. Beside the landing pad, the previous night he’d seen a small aircar under a camo cover. Elei took the lead.

“Where are you going?” Kalaes shouted, pulling on his t-shirt as he ran to join them.

Elei tugged on Maera’s hand. “Follow me.”

Burning debris rained down on them. Sirens wailed. A woman passed them by, sobbing into her hands.

“Hey!” Kalaes called after her, but she squealed and ran away. “Wait.”

Smoke blotted out the world. Drones flew overhead, their whine ringing in Elei’s ears. He stopped and rubbed his smarting eyes, trying to see. “Kalaes!”

Maera disengaged from his hold, leaving him alone in the cloud of dust. He groped about, coughing. An explosion boomed to his left. The ground shook. “Dammit, Kalaes!”

Then a hand caught his arm. “I found him,” Maera said and dragged Kalaes next to Elei. The older boy was limping.

Shit. 

Elei wiped his watering eyes again. He had to get them out of here if it was the last thing he did. He had to find that aircar. As the smoke cleared somewhat, he made out the slope. “Come on.”

He placed Kalaes between him and Maera, to make sure he wouldn’t lag behind, and headed for the steep mountain slope where Hera had deposited them. The
seleukid
guns boomed again, shells slamming into the slope, exploding into a rain of sharp stones.

Elei halted. The landing pad was empty. The aircar was gone.

They weren’t going to make it. The certainty of the fact landed like a punch in his stomach. He’d get Kalaes and Maera killed.

His pulse roared, blotting out the explosions. There was no way they could scale this steep slope up or down, unless Hera came. They needed to find a protected place and wait for her. He licked dry lips. She’d come, wouldn’t she? He didn’t know why he believed it. Maybe it was that softness he’d seen in her gaze.

A narrow ledge led up to a mine. The path was deserted. If they were fast enough, maybe they could hide in the tunnels.

Hera, where are you?

Elei raced along the ledge, and the two others followed, slipping in mineral dust and loose earth. Huge chunks of rock jutted out of the slope further down. Good hiding places, if only they were in time. If only the enemy didn’t shoot them down before that.

The
seleukids
rose higher and more drones spilled out of their bellies. His heart sank.
No chance
.

But then he smelled the bitter fumes of
dakron
and
silla
coming from below their feet. A vehicle was there, hidden behind a rocky outcrop. He hesitated.

It could be Hera, or it could be the enemy. The
seleukids
boomed as they passed overhead, and explosions rocked the ground. He staggered and made up his mind. He changed direction, leaving the ledge, and climbed off the path. “This way. It’s an aircar.”

“Are you nuts? Maybe it’s theirs. We have to keep going up, we need to—”

“Come on.” He turned, grabbed Kalaes’ hand and dragged him down a few feet. Bullets flew around them, hitting the rocks and sending chips of stone flying. Fragments stung Elei’s face and shoulders.

Kalaes dug his heels in and squinted down. “What’re you talking about, fe? I don’t see or hear a pissing thing.”

 “But I do.” Elei pulled Kalaes behind him. The smell was stronger now, and his gut twanged like a chord.
Odd
. It was as if something called him, hooked him and invited him over. “The vehicle’s hidden by the outcrop.”

The hum of the aircar finally reached his ears. The craft rose right before them, motionless and shimmering like a dragonfly. The door gaped open.

Through the exhaust fumes that filled the air, he smelled Hera’s scent of ripe fruit.
Really odd
. “Get ready to jump.”

“Come!” Hera’s voice sounded tinny, as if from a deep cave.

“Go!” Elei pushed Maera before him and toward the door. She jumped the small distance and grabbed the doorframe. Kalaes sprang after her, listing for a dreadful second, then going in. Elei sprinted just as the aircar wavered in position and Kalaes grabbed his arms and hauled him inside. They cowered as bullets rattled. Then they were out of there, rising above the mountain slope and diving toward the plain.

“I was coming to recover you,” she said while her long fingers danced on the console. “They got here first. I thought I was too late.”

Elei risked a look behind. The Fleet was a black cloud descending upon Akmon. In contrast to their old aircar, the
seleukids
slipped through space fast as thoughts. “Hera, please tell me you have a plan.”

“Oh, you can speak!” She arched an eyebrow at him, but kept her gaze ahead. Her face glowed like a mask of gold. “That is a change. And you are not vomiting all over the place. I’m positively impressed. Have you remembered Pelia’s words?”

His ears burned. “I asked if you have a plan.”

“Yes, I do. My plan is to move up this slope undetected and hide you close by. We cannot move down to the plain while the Fleet is here.”

“That’s hardly a plan,” Elei muttered, disheartened.

“Listen, boy. Your usefulness is limited to Pelia’s words. As for my plans, they have been overturned too many times already. It’s getting increasingly difficult to think ahead, to think of places to hide you.” She shifted in her seat, shoulders tensing. “Actually, things are getting difficult in general.”

The roar of the Fleet drowned all sound now.

Maera screamed to be heard. “So what? We all die?”

The aircar rose and dipped among boulders, dove down into valleys where trucks moved, loaded with
dakron
and other minerals, seemingly oblivious to the destruction taking place on the mountain slope.

“I never said that, little girl, so stop your whining. I no more have access to their codes of passage, true. The plain highways are forbidden to us until the Resistance finds a way to contact me again. But I do have one last hiding place, a place nobody knows about, not even my team. If I manage to take you there in time, you’ll be safe for a while.”

Safe. The magical word
. “What got us into trouble this time?”

Hera laughed, a harsh sound. “You’re always in trouble.”

“That’s not an answer,” Kalaes said quietly.