The Burn Zone (36 page)

“
I didn
’
t...,
”
he rasped.

“
Wei, what happened?
”

He looked confused, like he wasn
’
t sure where he was. His eyes swam for second,
then
focused on me.

“
When they ... took you ...,
”
he wheezed.

“
Took me?
”

“
When they took ... you ... I...
”

I realized then that he was talking about the meat farmers, all those years ago.

“
I know, Wei,
”
I said.
“
I know. Just tell me what happened.
”

“
I looked ... for you ... for days ...
”

“
Never mind all that,
”
I said in his ear.
“
Who did this?
”

“
Soldier...
”

“
A soldier attacked you?
”

He managed a nod.

“
She
’
s gunning ... for you,
”
he whispered.

I glanced back through the open doorway and saw someone scoot past, headed for the front door. More voices shouted from somewhere down the hall, and then something crashed.

“
Get out,
”
Wei said.
“
Quick.
”

Damn it.
I couldn
’
t tell if any of the voices belonged to Vamp or Nix.

“
I can
’
t,
”
I told him.
“
Just don
’
t move. Stay still.
”

He pawed with one hand, and I saw that his fingers had been broken. With his swollen, knobby index finger he pointed at the safe under his desk. The door was open a crack.

I pulled it open. Inside were stacks of documents, some paper money, and on the top shelf, sitting on top of a couple of ration sheets, was a small, snub-nosed pistol. I grabbed it. It felt light in my hand, but solid. The surface was worn and dull, like it was old. When I squeezed the grip, the
holostamp
that nickered into the air next to it showed twenty-two rounds.

“
Go,
”
he said.
“
Get out of here.
”

“
I can
’
t, Wei.
”

“
She
’
ll kill you,
”
he said.
“
Don
’
t go back there.
”

He coughed,
spritzing
blood as he tried to say something else, but I stopped him.

“
Just lie still,
”
I told him.
“
Take it easy.
”

“
Wait,
”
he moaned.

Gun at the ready, I slipped back out through the door and sprinted down the hall. A guy sporting a bloody gash on his forehead ran past me headed the other way, and up ahead the body of a bald man lay
facedown
in a pool
of blood. His soaked left sleeve hung to the floor, and a long red spatter led across the tiles to a severed, tattooed arm that lay amid overlapping sneaker tracks. Just past that, the door to our room hung open.

“
She won
’
t come back,
”
I heard Vamp say from inside.
“
I told you, I already warned her. She
’
s long gone.
”

“
She isn
’
t,
”
a woman
’
s voice said. It was Sillith. I crept up and crouched next to the doorway, listening.

“
She doesn
’
t know anything,
”
Vamp said.
“
Why don
’
t you just leave her alone?
”

Don
’
t antagonize her,
I pleaded silently. Vamp didn
’
t know what he was dealing with.

“
She knows,
”
Sillith said.

I risked a quick peek and saw her standing with her back to the door. Vamp sat on the bed, the sheets still wadded up next to him, and Nix stood in the spot where he
’
d been sleeping when I left.

The combat armor would stop a handgun round. If I could put a shot into the dispersion mask, I should hit her in the face, which was probably unprotected, but that was a shot I wasn
’
t sure I could pull off.

“
I know you
’
re there,
”
Sillith purred.
“
If you don
’
t come out, I will kill your male.
”

I stood up and stepped into the doorway. Through the mite cluster, I felt satisfaction course just underneath her excitement over the promise of more violence.

“
You really get a charge out of this, huh?
”
I asked her.

“
Step into the room.
”

I took a step forward, and as I did I saw Vamp slink off the bed and move in behind her. I opened my mouth to stop him, but it was too late. She turned, and Vamp threw a punch directly into the face of the dispersion mask.

“
Vamp, don
’
t!
”

His fist disappeared into the field, but I heard the thud and Sillith stumbled back a step as he threw a follow-up that caught her right in the face again, and she reeled.

She didn
’
t go down. The armor hummed as she swung the back of her fist at him. Vamp ducked as it swooped over his head, and he nailed her in the face again with a solid, meaty thud.

Even a human would have been thrown for a loop by a hit like that, but it should have been devastating to a haan. The armor, maybe combined with something like Nix
’
s inertial dampening field, might protect her body, but his
fist connected hard. I felt the burst of signal, her surprise and pain, through the cluster. A strike like that should have shattered those delicate bones, but what I felt from her was more surprise than pain, fast turning to fury.

“
Vamp!
”

Nix moved toward her while her back was turned to him, and I saw something in his hand. It was the electronic wand he
’
d used to take his sample with the morning he showed up in my hotel room, only now he held it like a weapon. He swung it around, ready to stab her with it, but something, some invisible force, stopped his arm cold before he could land the blow. The needle
-
like prongs quivered an arm
’
s length away from her as the two struggled, and then Nix
’
s hand sprang open and the wand fell to the floor.

Without stepping away from Vamp, Sillith made a violent shrugging motion and something struck Nix. For just a second I swore I saw a hand, a haan hand whose long fingers were curled into claws as it thumped into the middle of his chest, but then it flickered and was gone.

What the...

Nix
’
s feet came up off the floor as he was hurled back toward me. His shoulder crashed into the lamp and sent pieces spinning across the floor after him. His body flew through the air and bashed into the wall next to the doorway so hard it broke the jamb. A slat of fake wood spun away as he caromed off and went down like a rag doll onto the floor.

Vamp was about to throw another punch when she turned back to him.

“
Vamp, no! Get away from her!
”
I screamed.

He looked, and ducked down low when he saw me raise the pistol. Sillith reached down to grab him, and I squeezed the trigger.

I expected a single shot that I hoped would hit Sillith square in the head. Instead the gun let out three loud, overlapping bangs as it bucked in my hand. The first shot punched through the wall in front of her, but the next two got her, one in the shoulder and the other in the side of the neck. The armor absorbed the rounds, but they hurt her, I could feel it, and she stepped back from Vamp to face me instead.

I raised the gun again, ready for the recoil this time, when a sudden, crippling pain jabbed into my gut like the blade of a long knife. I gasped and doubled over, the gun
’
s barrel drifting off target.

Not now....

My vision blurred as the pain came again, and the strength went out of my legs. I couldn
’
t breathe, and as I fell to my knees the gun slipped from my hand. It thumped onto the floor, and when I screwed my eyes up to look I saw Sillith
’
s armored boots clomping toward me.

Something boomed from behind and for a moment all I could hear was a low ring in my ears. A smoking plastic shell bounced off the toppled dresser next to me, and then a second, muted boom sounded.

Covering my head, I looked back to see Wei leaned against the doorway. He supported himself on one leg, holding up the broken one as he stared down the barrel of a shotgun.

Before he could fire again, the gun leapt out of his hands, torn away by something I didn
’
t see. He stared, confused, and then something grabbed him and jerked him forward off his feet.

One of his shoes clipped my ear as he flew past and came down hard in front of Sillith. Vamp tried to get to his feet and was slammed back down onto the floor, pinned there by something invisible, with his face turned away. She reached down and picked up Nix
’
s wand, aiming the needles down toward Wei
’
s neck. The door slammed behind me and I heard the bolt lock, but when I turned, no one was there.

“
Look!
”
Sillith snapped. I stared at the door, still trying to figure out what had happened.

“
Look!
”

I turned back toward her. She held Wei by the hair, craning his neck back so that his chin pointed up at the ceiling. The needles were an inch from the pit between his collarbones.

“
Tell me where that boy is.
”

“
I don
’
t know,
”
I said. I kept the gun pointed away from her, but didn
’
t drop it.

“
I don
’
t believe you.
”

“
It
’
s true,
”
I told her.
“
I don
’
t know. We
’
re looking for him, but we haven
’
t found him.
”

“
I
’
m a dead man anyway,
”
Wei wheezed.
“
Just run—
”
His voice choked off as she pulled back harder on his hair.

“
The man Shao stole a twistkey,
”
she said.
“
He used it to bring a boy and a girl back here with him, and while he was there he made a recording. I want the boy, the girl, the key, and his wet drive.
”