Rebel (21 page)

“Which you would know,” Kim muttered. “One of the girls has wings. She should go with you.”

“The Scorillian, you mean?” Rashe said. “She might be able to fly out one of the smaller girls—the Rutaran, perhaps.”

Kim gasped as an idea occurred to her. “What if you fired a wide stun beam from the roof?”

“Excellent strategy!” Shemlak said. “I doubt any of my crew could climb up there, but Val and Roncas could provide enough cover to give us time to escape.”

Roncas checked her comlink. “We’ll call you when we get there.” She nodded at Val. “Let’s go.” He and Roncas darted off. Jatki sent the Scorillian and Rutaran girls after them.

Rashe addressed the room at large. “The Zetithian Palace and the Pow Wow are in the southern section of the brothel district. Do any of you know where they are?”

Several of the girls raised their hands.

“Good,” he said. “You will be the group leaders. Everyone pick a leader and stay with your group if you possibly can.”

Another blast shook the building. Dust and smoke billowed in from the main corridor.

“Move out!” Shemlak shouted. “Rashe, you and Kim lead the girls to the exit. Take this.” He slapped the glowstone in Kim’s hand. “We’ll hold them off here.”

“What about Ganyn and Onca?”

“We’ll get them,” Draddut yelled. “Go now!”

The girls didn’t need a leader. As Shemlak and Draddut headed out the door and up the corridor toward the enemy, the newly freed slaves fled the room in the opposite direction like a herd of frightened beasts.

Passing Rashe in the hall, Kim handed off the glowstone. “Take it! I can see in the dark.”

This was one job she couldn’t trust to anyone else. She ran down the dark side hall, screaming for Ganyn.

Light from the doorway ahead proved that Ganyn had also brought along a glowstone—perhaps one of the many beads in the necklaces she wore. The blast had weakened that section of the building, buckling the doorways.

“I can’t fit through!” Ganyn yelled.

Kim stared at the crumbling lintel above the door with horror. “Lay Onca on a sheet and slide him out here. Then you can use the bed to smash through the wall.”

Moments later, the corner of a sheet and Onca’s feet appeared. Kim grabbed both and tugged with all her might. “Push him!”

Ganyn must have given it her all because Onca shot across the floor, knocking Kim flat on her back.

“Great mother of the desert!” Ganyn screamed as yet another blast shook the walls. “They’d better stop that shit or I’m gonna pound
somebody
into dust.”

“Hurry!” Kim yelled. “The walls are giving way!”

Using her entire body as a battering ram, after two attempts, Ganyn burst through the doorway in a shower of dust and plaster.

Ganyn snatched Onca from the floor. Kim took off down the corridor with Ganyn in close pursuit.

Kim didn’t even slow down when they reached the exit. The door was already open wide, and she ran through it, firing pulse blasts to clear the path ahead. Once outside, she leaped over the stunned bodies of their opponents. Apparently Roncas and Val had succeeded. There wasn’t a slave girl in sight.

Shemlak and Draddut came pounding up behind them. “Didn’t trust us to get him, huh?”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Kim growled.

Dashing off in the direction of Onca’s speeder, she motioned for the others to follow just as several Rackenspries and two hulking Terrans in police uniforms came around the corner of the building. Shemlak fired first and dropped the Terrans. The Racks scattered.

Kim leaped into the pilot’s seat while Ganyn settled Onca in the passenger side.

“Good luck!” Ganyn called as she and the other Darconians took off running in different directions. Kim found the canopy button just as more Racks converged on the vehicle.

“Captain,” Kim yelled. “How the hell do I fly this thing?”

“I shall engage the autopilot,” Captain said with unperturbed calm. “Where do you wish to go?”

“Anywhere!”

“And make it fast,” Kim told the computer. “Engage that cloaking device while you’re at it.”

“May I remind you that the cloaking feature and the autopilot will not function simultaneously?” Captain sounded almost apologetic.

“What? Oh, yeah. Right. Forgot about that.” For Kim to fly the speeder manually was almost as dangerous as being shot at by a gang of Racks. “Can you add in some evasive maneuvers?”

“I shall attempt to do so.”

The first move slammed them sideways into one of the Racks, who was hammering at the canopy with a steel pipe. “Ooh, I like that. Keep it up.”

Captain replied with a grunt that could’ve meant almost anything. The speeder shot forward, pinning Kim against the seat back. Not having to fly the speeder herself meant she could tend to Onca. However, aside from tucking the sheet in around him, there wasn’t much else she could do. The speeder’s restraints held him in the seat, but his head lolled sideways in the banking turns. They might escape their pursuers only to have Onca wind up with a broken neck.

“Is there anything to hold his head?” she asked after another evasive move slung her against the door.

A padded loop slid out of the seat and curved over Onca’s forehead. “Better?”

“Much.” She glanced at the rearview screen. “Shit. They’ve got speeders.”

“Did you really think they wouldn’t?”

“Well, no—but then, we didn’t reckon on the police being involved to begin with.”

“Bad planning.” Captain sniffed. “In order to keep from leading them to wherever you intend to go, you will have to fly manually and engage the cloak.”

How
hard
could
it
be?
“Tell me how.”

“The speed bar on the dashboard responds to the touch of a fingertip. Slide up the bar to increase the speed. I believe the steering apparatus is self-explanatory.”

“Got it.” She took a deep breath. “Turn off the autopilot and give me the controls.”

The speeder lurched sideways, narrowly missing the police speeder drawing up alongside them.

“Can I ram them?”

“You may if you like,” Captain replied. “However, this speeder is equipped with a cloaking mechanism, not armor.”

“Seems like a cloak would give us
some
protection,” Kim grumbled.

“No more so than any standard type of outer covering. The police speeders, however, probably
do
have armor. Ramming them is inadvisable.”

As if to prove the computer’s assessment, the police speeder veered sideways. Kim’s peripheral vision caught the movement, enabling her to dodge the blow. “I think I’m getting the hang of this.”

“I am pleased to hear it.”

Kim would’ve been more pleased if Onca were to suddenly awaken and take over the controls. However, that was an event she couldn’t count on anytime soon. Considering his injuries, he would be out at least until morning.

“Shall I engage the cloak?”

“Not yet,” Kim said. “I want to lead them in the wrong direction first.”

“If you live long enough,” Captain murmured.

“Give me a little credit,” Kim snapped. “I’m a fast learner.”

Captain sighed. “You are, indeed. I shall refrain from any further detrimental comments.”

“Thanks.” Kim had never moved so quickly through the streets in the dark. As a result, she was a tiny bit disoriented. “Which way to the commerce district?”

“Take a right at the next corner and proceed east.”

Traffic was crossing in front of them. The police sirens wailed from behind, and Kim had no idea where she was going.

Think.

She would have to turn and engage the cloak where it was safe or someone would ram into them—which was the main reason such devices were illegal, especially for use by those with nefarious intentions. In fact, she was surprised the people chasing them didn’t have that capability.

Flying on, she dodged through the traffic, doing her best to avoid the pedestrians while keeping her attention focused on the road ahead. Could a speeder be affected by a pulse weapon? Somehow, she thought not. Especially this one. She didn’t have to be a rich girl to know it was a higher-priced model—and the cloaking device only added to its value. A man like Onca wouldn’t own a crappy speeder. She hoped it was better than what the police were flying.

A narrow miss of an oncoming vehicle brought her brain back where it belonged. She got into a rhythm after a bit, pleased to see that she was actually putting some distance between them and the police.

At last, she saw her chance. Ignoring the traffic signals, she sped through an intersection just as the cross-traffic began to move. As they crossed behind her, cutting off her pursuers, she took a sharp right at the next block.

“Cloak us…
now
!”

Recalling how dangerous it was to fly while cloaked, she opted to do what she and Onca had done when they left the Darconian restaurant. Pulling in behind another parked speeder, she waited.

One by one, the police speeders whipped by.

Four
of
them.

“Seems a bit much, doesn’t it?” Now that she had time to think, the whole thing seemed like overkill. Cutting the power to the building, setting off explosives, armed men storming in like they were going to war… She glanced at Onca. He was only one man—and he had gone in unarmed.

Perhaps it
was
a war.

Kim mulled over the chain of events. The police in the crowd could have stopped all of them—including Onca—from getting inside if they’d really wanted to. Jatki’s comment about being trapped like rats seemed truer than ever. Having seen other Kitnock girls in the brothel made Jatki’s capture and subsequent release even more peculiar. She hadn’t been rejected because she wasn’t attractive enough—unless purple hair was considered a serious fault in a female Kitnock. She had been bait for a trap and she knew it.

“We’re in deep shit, aren’t we, Captain?”

“I’m sure I couldn’t say,” the computer replied.

Kim snorted. “I
know
you have an opinion. Why are you being so diplomatic now? Afraid Onca will hear you?”

“I believe him to be in the restorative sleep common to injured Zetithians. So no, I do not expect he can hear me. I am hesitant to speak because I am uncertain of the truth of what I suspect.”

“Faulty data?”

“Conjecture. My programming isn’t terribly good at it.”

“Try me.”

“You’re in deep shit.”

“Yeah.” She stroked Onca’s arm, drawing comfort from his warmth. “We can’t say we weren’t warned. Rashe told Onca what he suspected. We went ahead with it anyway.”

“A noble undertaking, to be sure.”

“Risky, though. Then again, I haven’t been safe since I was ten years old. You’d think I’d be used to it by now.” She stared out at the lights, the people walking the streets, other speeders as they cruised past—all completely oblivious of the dangers lurking nearby. “For once in my life, I had a chance to truly be safe. Onca would’ve protected me—would’ve protected all of us. Too bad there isn’t anyone to protect
him
.”

“I disagree,” Captain said. “He has you.”

Kim smiled. “Thanks, Captain. I needed that.”

A police speeder passed by in no particular hurry—merely out on patrol. She waited until it disappeared from view.

Time passed and traffic thinned to a trickle.

“I think we’ve waited long enough,” she said. “We should head on before someone else tries to park here.” Easing away from the curb, she flew the cloaked speeder slowly along the street, dodging pedestrians and other vehicles.

“No wonder this cloaking device is illegal! It’s downright suicidal. I don’t think we’re being followed now. Uncloak us and set the autopilot for the Palace—no, wait. Rashe’s brothel would be better. Someone might recognize this as being Onca’s speeder.”

“Agreed,” Captain said. “Engaging autopilot.”

Kim took the opportunity to keep an eye out for other police vehicles, but didn’t see anything suspicious. Still, after all they had been through that evening, she had no desire to take unnecessary risks. “Plot an indirect route and bring us in the back way—if there is one.”

“Understood.”

Even Captain seemed subdued during the journey. What he was thinking about was anyone’s guess. He had claimed to be sentient, but did computers actually
think
when they weren’t interacting with others? She had no clue about that, but her own thoughts were so disturbing she wished she could turn them off.

Onca was safe for the moment, but Kim shuddered to think what could have happened if they hadn’t been able to get him and Ganyn out. Would they have been captured or crushed under the rubble? As a captive, she couldn’t begin to guess what Ganyn’s fate might have been, but she suspected Onca would’ve been subjected to even harsher treatment than the girls had endured.

If only Dalmet had been among the slaves they’d freed! Then Kim could have gone on to Terra Minor with a reasonably clear conscience. As things stood, however, their task was incomplete, their adventure only beginning.

If adventure was even the right word. Crusade might be more appropriate—and crusaders didn’t always live to tell tales of their daring deeds. She couldn’t imagine the reaction of the general public if the details of their quest were to become widely known. Hookers and homeless street people working to free kidnapped sex slaves? If the news media were also being manipulated, their story might never be told.

“That’s what we need now,” she murmured aloud. “Publicity—and lots of it. I don’t suppose Onca knows any famous people, does he?”

“Jerden, his former partner, was reasonably famous,” Captain said. “He was named the hottest hunk in the galaxy, and was voted the best—if you’ll pardon the expression—fuck on Rhylos for three years in a row. Perhaps if he were to be contacted…”

“That’s a thought.” She wondered where Onca had ranked in that poll—probably a close second or third, considering he was one of the three Zetithians who had worked in the Palace. “Anyone else?”

“Not that I’m aware of. There may have been some famous ladies among his clients, but I don’t have access to that information.”

“Hmm… Maybe if we checked into the Palace computer we could find someone.”

“Possibly. But may I remind you that any famous ladies might have used a false name to avoid any unpleasant repercussions?”

Kim sighed. “Yeah. It’s not like he was an artist or a hotshot dress designer. He was selling sex. Right now the only people who would vouch for him are hookers, homeless kids, and sex slaves. Not much of a recommendation, is it?”

“You are forgetting Roncas, Valkyrie, and the Darconians.”

“True, but Roncas worked for Onca, and Val’s not only a clone, he’s a computer hacker. Last I heard that wasn’t considered a respectable occupation. The Darconians are legitimate businesspeople, but who knows what kind of connections they have, if any.” She hitched in her seat. “Bad idea, I guess. Are we getting close yet?”

“We will be arriving in two point six minutes,” Captain replied. “See anything suspicious?”

Kim shook her head. “Seems pretty quiet—which doesn’t mean a thing.” Sighing, she glanced at Onca. “Sure hope someone’s there to help me. I don’t think I can carry him.”

“They have had sufficient time to arrive here on foot. Shall I call them?”

Kim chuckled. “Funny thing about living most of your life without any communication devices whatsoever. You tend to forget to use them.”

“Quite understandable.”

“Makes me wonder why no one has tried to call us, though.”

“Perhaps they are concerned that this speeder might have fallen into the hands of your pursuers. In which case, communication would be inadvisable.”

“Yeah. Call Rashe.”

Seconds later, Rashe’s image popped onto the viewscreen. “You know, for a bunch of cooks and hookers, we didn’t do too badly. If you’ve got Onca, that’s almost everyone accounted for.”

“Yeah. I’ve got him,” Kim said. “Who’s missing?”

“Shemlak and Draddut haven’t checked in and neither has Jatki. The rest of the girls are in the Palace with Roncas and Val. Ganyn and I are here at my place. You haven’t heard from anybody, have you?”

Kim’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing of their missing friends. The Darconians were armed and could undoubtedly take care of themselves, and Jatki did have a pistol…

Now
I’ve lost her too.
She fought down the rise of bile in her throat at the thought of what might have happened to the Kitnock girl. “No. You’re the first we’ve tried to call. I, um, kinda forgot I could do that. We’re almost there. I’ll need help with Onca.”

“We’ll be waiting.”

***

Since Rashe worked alone, his brothel was small compared to the others on the street. Built in a conical shape, it gave the outward appearance of having been constructed from leather and long poles. The decor was quite rustic, seeming to match his buckskin breeches and primitive weapons.

“You really believe in roughing it, don’t you?” Kim asked as Ganyn carried Onca inside.

Rashe shrugged. “The ladies seem to like it. I went for as much authenticity as possible without going overboard on the price.” He nodded at one of the pictures hanging on the leather interior. “That’s a replica of an actual museum piece by a Native American painter from the twenty-first century.”

Done in black ink, it reminded Kim of Peska’s drawings, although the subject was an unfamiliar four-legged creature. “What is that?”

“An Earth animal called a horse. Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Kim nodded as she studied the animal’s high arched neck and plumed tail. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Jerden and his wife raise them on Terra Minor. You can ride them if they’re trained. They run very fast.”

“Something else to look forward to when I get there.”

If
I
get
there.
Then she remembered she
had
seen those creatures before. In a dream—or was it a vision? Perhaps it was.