Ki Book One (22 page)

“
Don’t worry, I mean for Max. We need to
get him in a secure facility as soon as we can—” Jackson
began.

She frowned, the move dramatic and
pronounced. “Jackson, won’t he just tell them about me?”

Max, despite being gagged, nodded. He even
tried to speak around the gag, his muffled words almost
recognizable.

“
We can’t take a bound, gagged man around
with us. Someone will call the police. Plus, we’ll be faster
without him.”

“
But the other scouts will come for him. As
soon as they find out where he is, they’re going to swoop down in
their ships. This town won’t stand a chance,” that frown tracked
deeper into her cheeks and chin. “The Zeneethians will be
monitoring all Ashkan communications, waiting for any mention of
him.”

“
What do you want me to do, Ki?” Jackson
clamped his hands on his hips, manipulating his shoulder back and
forth as he did. She could see how tensed it was. His whole body
looked tight and sore. His head was still held high
though.

“
I don’t know... it’s just... shouldn’t we
be very careful with what we do with him? As soon as someone
removes that gag, he’s going to tell them who I am and where we’re
going....”

“
I doubt that. Remember, he’s not going to
do anything to put you in danger,” Jackson didn’t look at her as he
spoke – he locked his hardened, aggressive glare on Max and didn’t
shift it once. “If he admits to the Guards that you’re Tarkan, he
could risk them over-reacting. He’s not going to do anything to
harm you.”

“
Maybe, but that doesn’t mean we’ll be
safe,” she scratched at her arms distractedly. She had more to say,
but she couldn’t sort her thoughts out.

Fear was returning to her.
Being out of the caves and
mineshafts was all very well, but as she stared past Jackson at the
cute town below them, she realized how much of a threat it could
be.

There was no easy move from here. Whatever
they did next would be risky, and if they didn’t think it through,
it would cost them.

“
We’ll make it to the town first. We need
to get you some food. And hell, I need a shower. Then we’ll make
our decision.” Jackson exhaled deeply, his chest punching forward,
his red-rimmed, shadowed eyes staring at her warily.

He was entirely worn out. Nothing but
adrenaline would be pushing him forward. Though he appeared to
stand easily, on closer inspection she could see how stiff and
locked his knees were as his body swayed slightly back and forth,
tension arching his back and spreading his cheeks thin.

He looked about ready to collapse. If he
did, she was sure Max would take advantage of it immediately. While
they’d all been subjected to the same laborious trek through the
tunnels, he was the only one whose face was not darkened with
bone-weary fatigue. He also stood taller than Jackson, his muscles
showing no visible strain despite the heavy pack still weighing
down his shoulders.

He would simply be waiting for his
opportunity. Ki could appreciate that. At the first chance, Max
would make his move.

“
Look, we need to get down there as quickly
as we can. We can decide what to do on the way. But we can’t just
stand here and keep on talking about this. We are exposed up here.
We should head down to the dip in that grass hill,” he pointed
below them, his arm shaking a little from the usually simple strain
of such a move, “the grass is taller there and there are some oaks
and birches dotted through the meadow. It’s not much, but it will
give us a little cover. If we were smart, we wouldn’t move until
night. But I don’t want to wait that long.”

She stepped forward and nearly reached a
hand out to him. He was taxed and fraught
. “Okay, let’s go.” She did not say another word.
Turning, she headed down the incline, aiming for the grass hill
below them.

Jackson was right; they could discuss this
en route. She could also appreciate that the longer they argued
outside that cave mouth, the riskier their situation became. They
may not have seen any scouts in the tunnels, but with the
sophisticated equipment the Zeneethians had, it would not be long
before they scanned the surrounding area and spotted the
group.

That realization brought a hot and biting
flush to her cheeks. The scanner may have healed her injuries, but
it had not touched on the fear still burning through her heart.
With every step her emotions surged as her mind ran through the
possibilities before them. It looked almost certain that she would
be re-captured. She simply couldn’t see a way around it. While she
could appreciate how important Max could be to finding intelligence
on the Zeneethians, perhaps he wouldn’t be worth the
risk.

The wind picked up the further they
walked, and soon it pulled at her hair and the hem of her robe,
blowing them around her with every step. She had to lock her hands
over her thighs to pin the fabric to her body, lest her hem blow up
with one of the gusts of wind. At least her feet were warm and
secure in Jackson’s boots though. He’d stuffed them with strips of
fabric to accommodate the size of her petite feet, and they’d been
a thankful cushion against the jolt of her every step.

Now she had to be very careful not to trip
on them though.

As they neared the town below, her anxiety
peaked. Her heart started to reverberate in her ears, her hands
cloying with sweat.

“
Jackson, are you—” before she could finish
her sentence, she watched Max snap his head to the side. His
muscles were rigid, his expression alert.

“
Sure? Yes, I’m sure,” Jackson finished off
her sentence and answered it in a single, stuttering breath. “I’ll
figure this out, trust me.” He was walking several steps ahead, and
he clearly hadn’t seen Max.

Alarm swelling, Ki stopped. Max’s nostrils
flared as he sniffed the air, his brow wrinkling like crumpled
paper.

“
J-Jackson, Max is—” she began.

She didn’t get to finish her sentence. Max
barreled into her with no warning. He changed direction, pivoted on
his foot, and ploughed her way with the speed of a car.

She screamed, her voice high-pitched and
wavering, her throat constricted.

“
Get off her—” Jackson roared, but his
voice cut out as a loud whine echoed overhead.

It sounded like the rotors of a plane.

Before fear crippled her at the prospect
of the Zeneethians returning, she heard something zip
overhead.

Max pushed her into the ground, his shoulder
and chest covering her head. Though he was heavy, she wasn’t being
crushed.

There was another zipping sound. This time
she recognized it.

Bullets.

Someone was shooting at them.

“
Stop, stop,” Jackson screamed. “I’m a
member of the Royal Academy, I have a prisoner.
Stop shooting.”

Ki screwed her eyes closed, drawing her body
in as Max still covered it with his own.

As every second passed she felt like it
could be her last. But as they ticked by into a minute, she started
to hear the sound of footfall.

“
My name is Jackson Walker, I work at the
Royal Academy,” Jackson called out. His words were desperate and
slurred, ringing with passion. “Stop shooting.”

Max still didn’t move. If anything,
h
e pressed his shoulder
down further.

“
Stand up, put your hands behind your head.
Move slowly,” a man said, his voice a low, baritone
growl.

It sent a shiver down her back and over
her arms. It did not sound like a Zeneethian Scout; their voices
were always distorted by their armor. Plus, the bullets that had
zoomed past them had sounded like the ordinary variety.

That all meant one thing; Ashkan Guards had
just assaulted them. Before Ki could truly come to terms with that
fact, she felt Max being yanked back. She had to twist her head
hard to the side as the sun suddenly shone into her eyes.
Squinting, she was grabbed and pulled to her feet.

Overhead an Ashkan warplane made a low pass.
She recognized the blue and red of their flag painted over the tail
and nose.

She’d only seen one of those plains once
before. Her monastery had always been so far from the battle fronts
that she’d been thankfully far from the fighting. Yet on a
pilgrimage to Pandaya Shrine, she’d come across the wreckage of
such a plane covered by moss and creepers in the woods. The memory
of its smooth, metallic body had stuck in her mind.

Flinching, she tried to duck down as the
sound of the plane roared overhead. She could not move far. A man
had her by the arm, his stiff and crooked fingers digging into her
flesh. He was wearing a uniform she had seen before. While Ki had
been all but protected from Ashkan warplanes, she knew the uniform
of their Guards well. All Tarkans did.

Black with red collars, cuffs, and strips up
the outside of the legs, it instilled instant and palpable fear in
her. Sickened by the sight of it, she tried not to quake.

“
My name is Jackson Walker,” Jackson stood
a little down the hill, face awash with surprise and fear. “That
man is my prisoner, you need to—” he began.

“
You need to shut up,” a man said. He was
standing close to Jackson, a handgun held easily and loosely in his
grip. He was older, maybe in his late 40’s, with a brush moustache
and pockmarked cheeks. One look at his steely gaze and you could
see he suffered no fools. You could also see the deadened, almost
pathological vacant edge to his smile. “I know who you are. You
called the Guards in Varka City to your farmhouse approximately 58
hours ago. None of them ever returned.”

Jackson’s face paled in a snap, his cheeks
practically slipping do
wn his neck.

“
You claimed to have captured a female
Tarkan spy,” the man turned briefly and nodded at the man who held
Ki. “Is she it?”

Without warning, Ki was pushed forward
roughly. Stumbling, she didn’t have a chance to right herself
before someone grabbed her and ripped the fabric from around her
hands. She watched in horror as her tattoos were revealed.

“
I see.” The man turned back to Jackson,
though briefly he stared up at Ki. The quality behind his gaze went
beyond frightening. It was horrific. It promised rage Ki had been
kept from all her life.

Without warning she began to cry. Once such
an emotional reaction would have irritated her, now she submitted
to it, the tears trailing their brief warm kiss down her cheeks. At
least she managed to stifle her sobs though as she half closed her
eyes and stared at the ground.

“
Look, you don’t understand what is going
on, I have captured—” Jackson began.

“
Hand over your gun,” the man snapped. “I
am Major Victor Bradshaw, and I demand your full
cooperation.”

Jackson didn’t immediately move. He looked
frozen on the spot, every trace of warmth gone from his pallid
cheeks and hands.

Things had happened quickly, and now they
were moving at a pace Ki could not keep up with. She found the time
to meet his gaze though. Sadness and just a hint of compassion
seemed to swell within him.

“
Hand it over,” the Major snapped
again.

“
You need to know what you’re dealing with,
Major. That man,” Jackson pointed at Max, “is from a previously
unknown—” he began.

“
I know exactly what I’m dealing with. A
traitor. Now hand over the gun before we’re forced to shoot.” The
Major brought up his own weapon slowly.

Jackson somehow paled further. If there
was any blood left in his cheeks, it now drained away completely as
shock seized him. “I’m not a traitor.”

“
You harbored a Tarkan spy. You led a group
of Guards into a trap. And you kidnapped a senior intelligence
official. How else do you define traitor?” the Major’s cold, harsh
voice deepened further.

“
Kidnapped a senior intelligence official?
What the hell are you talking about?” Jackson backed
off.

As soon as he took a step, every Guard
snapped their guns up quickly, pointing them all his way.

You did not need to be skilled in emotion
to recognize Jackson’s full-bodied shock.

“
Put your gun down,” the Major growled once
more.

With one last flickering look her way,
Jackson complied. Instantly one of the Guards snapped forward and
plucked it up.

“
Handcuff him,” the Major flapped a hand
Jackson’s way and turned neatly to face Ki and Max.

Ki tried to jolt back, but she was grabbed
immediately.

“
Leave her alone. She’s not your enemy.
This man is—” Jackson began.

“
Archer Reed, a valued member of the
intelligence community, apparently,” the Major nodded quickly at
one of the Guards. The man snapped over to Max, pulling a flip
knife from his pocket and cutting him free with swift
moves.

With the remains of the rags that had once
bound him falling from his wrists, Max reached up and ungagged
himself. Through it all he kept an even, unreadable look on his
face and all of his attention centered on Ki.

“
We apologize it has taken us this long to
track you,” the Major cleared his throat, straightening up. “We
only received the message you had been kidnapped by this traitor
less than half an hour ago. We acted as quickly as we
could.”