The Space Between (34 page)

Meledrin joined the conversation then,
clearing her throat as she looked between the two humans. "This is
all extremely interesting, I am sure, but should we not discuss it
at some later time, in some other location?"

Kim agreed. "Let's get out of here."

Dongoske grunted and nodded.

Kim looked around. "So, where are we
going?"

That worried Meledrin, Kim not even knowing
where they were going. The surrounding stone was weighing on her
mind, and she wanted someone she trusted to know what was
happening. The soldier did not answer. He merely beckoned for them
to follow and moved down the next passage.

As far as Meledrin could tell, there was no
pattern to the route Airman Dongoske followed, but they traversed
the hallways silently for a long time before coming into contact
with anyone else. Rounding a corner, they discovered two men
standing guard on either side of a closed door. Meledrin felt
herself shoved aside as Kim charged at the two men. With a curse,
Dongoske attacked as well. The guards stood still for a moment,
shocked. By the time they thought to reach for the weapons at their
belts, it was too late.

Slightly bemused, Meledrin watched as Kim
kicked one man in the groin and struck the other in the throat.
Airman Dongoske didn't even take part in the action.

"Jesus! Are they all right?" Dongoske asked
when Kim had finished.

"Are
they
all right? I thought you wanted
us to get out of here?" Kim wrung her hand and grimaced in pain.
"Shit, that hurt."

Meledrin felt like pointing out that she
could quite easily let the men handle the sweaty hand-to-hand
violence and save herself the embarrassment. But the two humans
were talking, so she remained silent.

"Well, yes." Dongoske looked guiltily at the
two fallen men. "You know, I'd rather not kill anyone."

"They aren't dead, Airman. I know what I'm
doing."

"I find that hard to believe."

"And I find it hard to believe we're still
standing here. Either lead the way or piss off."

"Come on then."

Meledrin sniffed her displeasure, but
everyone ignored her so she was forced to follow the man again.

She weaved an
Action
.

Dongoske watched the two downed men as he
went past. Kim watched Dongoske.

From that point, the journey became more
difficult. The sounds of humans became louder and more frequent.
Before, everything had been softly lit, now bright lights cut
through the dimness from under doors or through windows.

Near one side passage Airman Dongoske
grabbed Meledrin by the arm. She squealed slightly, unable to
control her shock, but the man pulled her through an open doorway
before Meledrin could shake loose his strong grip.

"How dare you touch me."

"What? Shut up, there's someone there."

"I will not shut up. If you lay hands on me
again, I will have no choice but to —"

Another hand grabbed her
arm. Meledrin spun about to see Kim standing with a finger pressed
to her lips. "If you don't shut up," Kim whispered,
"
none
of us will
have any choices."

The sound of the footsteps slowed, then
paused. The voices of two men trailed away. Meledrin held her
breath. A moment later the two humans in the passageway moved on
again.

"If you touch me again," Meledrin said
quietly, "I will kill you."

Airman Dongoske flapped his
jaw wordlessly, then shook his head and went back out into the
hall. Kim said nothing, but as Meledrin straightened her clothes
and muttered a
Changing
to calm her nerves, she could feel the woman's
stare. She brushed the memory of the man's touch from her arm and
followed him through the door.

They continued on, darting across brightly
lit or open spaces like thieves. For all their caution, pausing at
each corner to listen, waiting in shadows, they didn't go far
before finding trouble once more.

Meledrin walked quickly
around a corner and found herself staring at the hairless chest of
a heavily muscled, shirtless man. He was not much taller than she
was, but he
seemed
much larger. They both stood staring for a moment before
Keeble blundered around the corner and almost knocked Meledrin into
the stranger's arms. The human broke eye contact as Keeble
swore.

"Whistler's wart, woman, what's the
holdup?"

Kim rounded the corner and did not hesitate
at all. Her cocked shoulder struck the stranger in the solar plexus
as she charged forward. They both grunted with the impact, but the
man was driven back into the wall. A moment later he lay on the
ground groaning, and Kim finished the fight with a short sharp
blow. Before she had even straightened, trying to shake the pain
from her fist, she was speaking.

"Come on, let's keep moving. Come on Tuki
and Keeble, we have to move."

They continued down the hall, running now,
still in single file. Dongoske glanced up at the ceiling at one
point, as they crouched in the shadows and waited for a human to
pass. Meledrin wondered if he was seeking the help of his gods or
if it was some human trait that she had not yet experienced. She
thought to ask Kim what the action meant, but did not have the
chance. They were moving forwards again.

They dashed across the passage then stopped
outside a door, and Dongoske held a cautionary finger to his
lips.

"Through here," he whispered, "is a
guardroom. Two men. Armed, but not expecting anything. We'll have
to take them quickly, but we should be safe. You sure you want to
do this? They'll kill you, they'll kill us, if they get the
chance."

Kim nodded. "Do it."

"Me first. You in seven, six, five..."
Dongoske opened the door and strolled in like he was supposed to be
there. He left the door open behind him.

Meledrin counted down slowly in her head, as
seemed to be expected, but did not follow Kim into the conflict
when the time counted down. She followed slowly and saw the woman
kick a man in the stomach twice in quick succession. Dongoske had
the other man against a wall with a weapon pointed at his face.

"Kim, stop. Roger, step back with your hands
on top of your head or I shoot."

"You won't shoot." The man, hunching over
slightly, stepped away from Kim with his hands up.

"Try me."

Meledrin sat down in a cold
metal chair, straightening her dress.
Changing
. It was a small room with
lockers around the walls and a pair of metal doors almost
completely filled the far wall of the room. There were two buttons
nearby.

Meledrin watched Tuki standing in the
corner, clutching the skyglass protectively. Keeble started talking
to himself again. He was examining the wall. His fingers touched at
the stone delicately.

"I could Sing a Song and walk out of here,"
he said softly in his own language. "A moment, and I would be away
from here, on my own. I could tunnel as far as I wanted in a
moment, and just walk away."

Meledrin listened as Keeble started to hum
tunelessly. He slowly built a wall of sounds, clicking and tapping
and making other strange noises. As the sound grew, Meledrin
thought she could feel a pressure in her head, a tingle down her
spine.

Meledrin watched, spellbound, as Keeble
raised his left arm. But when the metal of his mechanical hand
touched the stone, he shuddered, convulsed, and took a step back.
The wall of sound he had been building collapsed. He looked at the
stump of his hand. "No," he said eventually, shaking his head.
"There is nothing I can do."

Meledrin shuddered as well, shaking off the
feeling of power. "I know I have been in bad company too long when
I start to imagine dwarfish magic."

Kim and Airman Dongoske had been talking,
but when Meledrin spoke, Kim turned to face her.

"What was that?"

"Pardon?"

"What did you say?"

"I merely stated that I need to rest,
because I am suddenly imagining strange things."

"You noticed it too?"

"What?"

"I'm not sure. I didn't really notice it
until it was gone. It was like a cool breeze on my
consciousness."

"We both need to rest, it would seem."

"Or maybe we both really felt something.
What was it, do you think?"

Meledrin was reluctant to voice her opinion
on the matter. It was ridiculous. But Kim seemed to like ridiculous
ideas. "I was under the impression that whatever was happening was
caused by Keeble."

"Keeble?"

"That is correct."

Meledrin watched as Kim called to the dwarf.
He did not reply. He seemed to take no notice at all, continuing to
talk to himself in his own language.

"Mel, what's he saying?"

"In the first instance, he said that he
could construct a tunnel in but a moment and be away from here. But
most recently he stated that there is no action that he is able to
take. Since then, it seems that he has been arguing with
himself."

"Ask him?"

"You are capable of asking. He speaks the
language of the moai."

"But he doesn't appear to be listening. Ask
him in his own language."

"Question him of what?"

"About how the hell he was going to dig a
tunnel in a couple of seconds."

When she turned, Meledrin discovered that
Keeble had sat on another metal chair. He was examining his
mechanical hand, winding the gears. He adjusted the leather straps
that held the contraption to his arm.

"Keeble cannot be trusted," Meledrin told
Kim. "It would be a more sensible course of action if we followed
Airman Dongoske."

"Ask him."

Meledrin sniffed. She did
not appreciate being spoken to like a saveigni.
"
Keeble, are you able to get us out of
this place?
"

He looked up for a moment.
"
Maybe.
" He wound
the gears on his hand. "
But...
"

"
Our world is being attacked, Keeble, and these Americans
worry only about themselves.
"

"
And why shouldn't they worry about themselves? Dwarves have
never been too worried about helping other people, either. Nor
elves, from what I know of them.
"

"
You can facilitate our escape if you wish, and yet you refuse
to do so?
"

"
Well, maybe I was just going to do it later when you weren't
around.
"

Kim interrupted. "Well?"

"The breeze on your consciousness was not
Keeble. Merely coincidence. He can do nothing."

Kim turned to glare at the dwarf. "Keeble,
can you get us out of here?"

"No."

Kim sighed. "Well then, we'll just have to
follow the good Airman here. He says that when we get off the lift,
we'll be about fifty meters from the surface, but there's another
guard station in the way."

"Will we be able to make our way past?"

"Without being seen?" Kim said. "No.
Wouldn't be a very helpful guard post otherwise. But we have guns,
so we are just going to run out there and threaten to kill
somebody."

"Will that prove to be successful?"

"In most circumstances it wouldn't, but in
this one it will."

Dongoske had finished tying the two guards
with sticking tape and turned to join the conversation. "Why is
that? Why will it work?"

It was a moment before Kim
answered. "Because we're coming at them from behind. They won't be
expecting an attack from
inside
the complex."

Meledrin could tell she was lying, but
Dongoske nodded grudgingly. "Of course," he said. He picked up a
weapon and handed it to Kim, who did something to it, releasing a
small section and snapping it back into place. The American
continued. "Let's go then. When the lift doors open at the top, you
all stay out of sight. Well, just stay by the door and watch
silently. All right?"

"Wait," Kim said. "I have a better
idea."

"What?" Dongoske asked.

Kim stepped smoothly forward and pointed her
weapon at the American's head. "For a start, you put down the
gun."

"What? What the hell are you doing?"

"I want to thank you and General Hilliard
for your help, but I'll be able to take it from here."

Meledrin tried to work out what was going
on. Was Kim suggesting that General Hilliard knew of the escape and
approved?

"I have no idea what you’re talking about,"
Airman Dongoske said.

"Don't bother." Kim motioned with her chin.
"Mel, get the tape for his hands."

"You won't shoot me."

Kim did something and the weapon made a loud
click.

"Is that supposed to scare me?"

Meledrin didn't think he looked scared at
all, but he was slowly crouching down to discard his weapon. Except
that was not what he was going to do. Meledrin saw the movement a
moment before Dongoske lashed out with the handle of his weapon.
She called out, softly, but Kim was already moving. The woman
twisted away from the blow aimed at the top edge of her hipbone.
She grunted with pain, but struck back, attacking Airman's
Dongoske's jaw with the heel of her hand. Neither of them was
willing to use their weapons in the intended method. Kim used the
handle, as her opponent had, and he fell limply to the floor.

Meledrin smoothed out her dress as if she'd
been the one involved in the combat. "The escape was a ruse?"
Meledrin said.

Kim nodded. She was breathing heavily and
sweating.