Soulwalker (18 page)

“What do you think?” Asher asked.

“I think that kid will grow up to be on the Council one day. He certainly has the balls for it.” Tarris grinned as she watched the boy wander around. He touched merchandise and talked to people whom he obviously knew. “Yep,” she said, “he’ll go far. That is, if he ever gets out of this dump.”

It took a few more minutes for the kid to work his way slowly to the vendor of stall 27. Whatever he said got him the parcel. Tarris was tempted to recruit him to her cause, but she had dragged enough people into danger with their association to her. He retraced his steps to the alcove and handed over the parcel.

“Where’s my money?” he demanded.

Tarris opened the parcel, took out a ten-credit piece, and flipped it toward the waiting child “There you go.”

“Gee, thanks.” He stared at the coin in his hand.

“Now what,” Asher asked.

“Yeah, now what?” the boy mimicked.

“Now, we wait until the place empties.” Tarris stepped deeper into the alcove until her back touched the wall. She leaned against it and sought solace within herself.

“Oh, great,” Asher said.

“You don’t have to do that,” the boy called as he ran off.

“Strange kid,” Tarris said.

“I could have told you that before you gave him the credits.”

“But he got the parcel with no fuss.”

“True,” Asher said, “but what’s to stop him from turning us in?”

“Nothing.” Tarris looked for the kid, but he seemed to have disappeared. Out of the shadows, about fifty feet to the left of where they were hiding, emerged a large man in a black, knee-length coat. The kid was next to him and pointed in the direction of the bridge. As she watched, the dark figure swept the boy aside and walked briskly on the course he had been directed to.

The kid returned a minute later, an impish smile on his cherub-like face. “You won’t have long before he’s back.”

Tarris could barely conceal her curiosity. “What did you tell him?”

“He asked me if I’d seen anyone sus-piss-cus. I told him I saw a couple of new people heading off to The Battery.” He looked up at Tarris.

“And why didn’t you turn us in?” She had to know.

“You paid me. He didn’t.”

Tarris laughed. “Then you better not be here when he gets back.”

“I ain’t afraid of him.”

“You should be, little man.” Tarris looked around. “Where are your parents?”

“Ain’t got none. Lost ’em in the Sweeps.”

The Sweeps were covert operations where the streets of the poorer sections were “cleansed,” as the Council put it. People found on the streets at that time were never heard of again. When the operation was taking place, Tarris’s unit talked about it quite freely, even to the point of placing bets as to how the victims were disposed of. Now she cursed herself for allowing such a vulgar and callous ritual to take place.

“We’ve got to get out of here.” Tarris looked at the sky. “It’s getting dark and cold.”

“Follow me,” the kid said.

“What’s your name?” she asked the child standing there with a casual air of overconfidence.

“Jerad.”

“Well, Jerad, lead the way.” Tarris swept her hand to one side in an invitation to the boy.

Jerad ran off down the street and left Tarris and Asher to run as well or lose sight of him. Tarris could see why the boy had stayed alive for so long. He was quick, wiry, and slippery—a good combination for a street urchin. Not that they called kids like him that anymore. Troublemakers, that’s what the local authorities called them. They were considered a threat to the common decency of the population as a whole. That’s why there was never any outcry over the Sweeps. The Council manipulated the situation and presented the operation as a public service.

Tarris struggled to keep up. Her suit wasn’t designed with running in mind. She pushed it as hard as she could, but it took a lot of her energy to do so.

“Are you all right?” Asher asked as she jogged beside her.

Flashes of a forgotten dream came to mind, and Tarris chuckled.

“What’s so funny?”

“I’ll tell you later.” Tarris tried to keep track of Jerad as he led them through the maze of streets and buildings. What would Asher think of her revelation? No, Tarris felt it was something better left alone.

Asher started to fall behind, and Tarris slowed her pursuit of Jerad. This was not the place to leave Asher alone.

The light started to fade, and it grew dark quickly in the tall ruins of a civilization.

“Hold up,” Tarris said. She placed a hand on Asher’s chest and could feel the rapid heartbeat there. “We’ll take a rest.”

“But we’ve lost him.”

“It can’t be helped. I’m not leaving you alone.” Tarris reached into her sack, pulled out a bottle, and handed it to Asher. “Take a drink while I look around.” She took a few steps away and studied the surrounding area, looking one way and then the other. There was no way for her to establish their position. One street seemed very much like another. Any landmarks had been destroyed long ago. Tarris looked at her chronometer and decided they needed to find cover.

She moved back to Asher, who was breathing heavily. Tarris took a healthy swallow from the drink bottle handed to her and put it back into her pack. “Over there.” She started to walk toward one of the abandoned buildings, her decision made by the fact that the roof was still intact.

“Don’t go in there!”

Tarris looked around for the owner of the voice and found Jerad had returned.

“We lost you,” Asher said.

“You’re too slow. Come on.” He waved at them and pointed down the street. This time he moved at a slower pace.

Tarris could feel something building within her. It started as a sensation of rushing blood through her veins, which stimulated her nerves to the point of painful pins and needles. It took her a few moments to realize where the sensation was coming from. She stopped in her tracks.

“What’s wrong?” Asher was immediately at her side.

“I… I don’t know.” Tarris had no idea what was happening to her body, but the elation at feeling something… anything… in her legs was welcome news. She stumbled as her equilibrium faltered.

“Sit,” Asher said.

“If I do that, I won’t get up.” Tarris tried to ignore the painful rippling of constricting pain as she pushed herself to walk. Every footstep drew a wave of numbness followed by her nerves jumping about in pandemonium.

“Use the medipatch,” Asher said.

“No. This is too good to miss.” Tarris gritted her teeth.

“Too good? Are… are you…?” Asher looked at her. When Tarris nodded, she smiled broadly. “That’s great news. Right?”

“Yeah, great and painful,” Tarris said.

“Do you two yap all the time?” Jerad had returned and stood a few feet away from them.

“Not really,” Tarris said. “Come on, let’s get under cover.”

They continued the rest of the journey in silence. Just when Tarris thought the boy was running them around in circles, he stopped at the wall of a large building.

“This is it?” Asher looked around for some sort of entrance.

“There,” he said and pointed to a large grate set into the wall.

“In there? You’re joking, right?”

“Nope. In there.”

“I’m not going in there.” Asher shook her head.

“Stay out here. I don’t care,” Jerad said absently. His gaze swept the area.

“Just get in there,” Tarris hissed as another wave of pain overtook her.

“What about you?” Asher asked with concern. “You’ll never get yourself in there.”

“I will. Don’t argue.” Tarris grabbed Asher’s arm and pushed her toward the hole in the wall.

Asher had barely entered the drain when she announced, “Oh God! It stinks in here.”

Tarris entered, came up behind her, and pushed her onward. “It’s a drain. What did you expect?” But Tarris ignored the smell because all her senses were honed in on her legs. While she was in extreme pain, she was thankful it didn’t get any worse.

Jerad followed behind to put the grate back in place. “Keep going,” he yelled.

“Remind me again why we aren’t home in bed,” Asher said.

Despite the pain, Tarris smiled. Asher had said “home” and not “your apartment.” “Because I want to leave my profession.”

Asher stopped and Tarris head-butted her in the rear. “Is that what this is all about? You resigning?”

“You don’t resign from my job, Asher… ever,” Tarris said soberly. “Now get moving.” The pain increased as her muscles started to cramp. To her, it was pleasure and pain all rolled up into one. They were in complete darkness now and were crawling along a pipe that was barely high enough to house them comfortably.

“Go to the right,” Jerad called.

“Right?” Asher said. “I can’t see a damned thin—” Tarris heard the thunk when she ran straight into a wall with her head. “Owww!”

“I said right,” Jerad yelled.

Tarris followed behind Asher and felt the slight incline as they veered right. There was a sudden gust of wind, which was welcome in the confined space of the drain.

“Stop!” Jerad called out.

Tarris extended her hand to one side and felt the brick wall. On the other side, her hand touched air. There seemed to be a niche in the wall, and she suspected this was Jerad’s home. Without instruction, she fell forward onto the platform to allow her legs to extend. The cramping pain was still there, and she was unable to relieve it. Her muscles just wouldn’t do what she wanted them to. A moan escaped her lips.

“Hey!” Asher’s voice was close by. Tarris heard the rustle of Asher’s bag and a moment later something cold brushed the inside of her elbow. There was discomfort for a moment before the pain drifted into the background. “That should help,” Asher whispered in her ear.

Tarris couldn’t argue. She had been too stubborn to give herself the pain relief, but she didn’t begrudge Asher doing it for her. Besides, the injection had been done before she had the chance to argue. With her face squashed into the dirty rock floor, Tarris lay there until the pain slowly slid into the background of her consciousness. A few moments later, there was light. She moved her head to face the source and looked at the flickering flames.

“How did you do that?” Asher asked.

“With these.” Jerad held up two rocks. “Haven’t you seen fire before?”

“Never had the need to,” Tarris mumbled. “We use other energy sources less primitive than this.”

“Where are they?” he said with a smug expression.

“A lifetime away,” Tarris murmured. Her eyes closed, and she drifted off to sleep for a while.

She woke to the smell of something cooking. The sizzle and pop sounds made by the meat bounced around the enclosed space like a ball. “What’s that?” She had spoken the words, but it came out as garble.

“I think I’m going to be sick.”

Tarris heard Asher speak, and she slowly opened her eyes. Propped over the fire was something small that had once been alive. A few hairs hadn’t been consumed by the fire just yet, but they gave Tarris a fair idea of what was on the spit.

“All the more for me,” Jerad said.

“Now you’re awake,” Asher said, “I’ll take a look at your back.” She hunkered down next to Tarris and extracted her emergency medical kit from her bag. Tarris undid the top of her jumpsuit and pulled the material down to her waist to expose the metal waistband of her frame. She watched as Asher loaded the infuser with her “special mixture,” as she thought of it, which was designed to stimulate the nerves and fight any possible infection or rejection that might take place.

“Why do you wear that thing?” Jerad pointed to the metal frame.

“Because I can’t walk.”

“Yes, you can. I saw you.”

“This helps me to walk. My legs are useless.”

“Not for long,” Asher murmured as she tended to Tarris’s back.

“Yes. Not for long,” Tarris repeated.

“What’s this?” Asher’s voice held a hint of panic.

Tarris reached her hand around to her back and felt it. She had forgotten all about the tiny transmitter that had been taped there.

“Oh crap!” Tarris tried to sit up, but Asher held her in place to give her the drugs. Once the injection was done, she removed her hand.

“Now what?” Asher asked as she put away her kit.

“This. The transmitter. That’s how they found us at the market,” Tarris said, “and now they know we’re here.”

Jerad backed away until he was against the wall. “Who are you?”

“You don’t want to know, kid.” Tarris didn’t want to scare him.

“Yes, I do. And don’t call me kid.”

Tarris glanced at Asher, who nodded. She reached around to the tab at the base of her neck and tapped it. Jerad’s expression changed from uncertainty to fear.

“You don’t need to be afraid, Jerad.”

“You’re… you’re one of
them.”

“Yes, I’m one of them,” Tarris answered in a sad voice. “But I have no reason to harm you. You’re safe from me.”

Is this why you hide, sister?

Rya’s intonation was more of curiosity than anger or fear.

Yes. I don’t want to be one of them anymore. I’m human, despite what Corman says. I want my own life, Rya.

With her?

Tarris looked at Asher again. There was a strange expression on Asher’s face, as if she knew she was being talked about.

Yes. No. I don’t know. I’ve been alone so long, I don’t know how to interact with someone anymore.

You have me.

Yes, I have you, my sister.
Tarris smiled gently.
My one and only true friend
.

And now you have her.

Yes, and now I have her… too.

“You can tell Rya everything will be all right.” As Asher spoke, her hand brushed Tarris’s back.

“How did you…?”

Asher answered by placing her hand over her own chest. “It all comes from here.”

“Are you two getting all mushy or something?” Jerad spoke up from his position against the far wall.

Tarris lifted herself up onto her elbows and chuckled. “As if…” She reached behind her head and tapped the tab. Jerad’s stance relaxed as the dark hair replaced the white.