Razov

RAZOV

I tugged the collar of my coat as the air car glided across the Metro. Suggs and his partner were somewhere among the lighted cars, following a different path, though I had lost track of them by that point.

"Do you remember your lines?"

I turned to Amelia, so stunning in her little black dress. I felt like a roughneck someone had thrown finery on, but to me, she looked every bit a pampered, privileged Metro lady. I tried to force a smile to my face but mostly failed.

"I do."

She pursed her lips and looked behind us, as if searching for Suggs and his cohort among the multitude of hover cars.

"What are we going to do? We can't just hand the bomb over to Kalak once we procure it."

"I have no intention of doing so."

Her blue eyes swam with relief. "Oh, thank goodness."

"Alkard would have my hide if I let the Fallen Star come in any danger…not to mention Pulsar. Besides…it doesn't sit right with me, killing people who haven't done anything to deserve it."

She smiled, her eyes shining, and for a moment, my heartbeat felt thin and reedy.

"I'm glad to hear you say that."

I grunted in response, turning my face away from her. The things she stirred in my heart and soul scared me.

I never admitted it, but I felt overwhelmed by my desires. I could deal with physical lust, but my drives went much deeper, far more complex, when it came to Amelia.

I still couldn't quite figure out how she had bewitched me.

Yes, she was brave, smart, and resourceful. I admired her as much, or maybe even more, than I desired her, if such a thing could be possible.

Most women in her situation…no, most sentient beings no matter the race or sex, would have screamed bloody murder to go home from the moment I freed them.

Instead, she abandoned her own desires to help me protect the Vinduthi's interests, and now to work against this new threat.

The most remarkable thing about her was the fact she was a mere human. They were smaller, weaker, and technologically less advanced than any other race on the station, even the lowly Ewani.

Unlike me, Amelia did not possess incredible strength, swiftness, or razor sharp fangs and claws. The risks she took were double or even triple my own, and I knew it.

Respect. I felt respect for very few beings. Most of them were in the inner circle of the Fangs, and maybe a Mondian or two.

But now I felt respect for her blossom in my chest. It didn't make falling for her any less hard to resist, though.

In fact, it probably made things worse.

The air car dipped, following the pre-programmed route Kalak had put into it. I noticed we were headed for the aft edge of the Metro. If there was a ‘bad part of town' in this glitzy sector, it would be found here, although compared to the Under or even the Promenade it was still pretty tame.

The lights were dimmer, and more vacant windows stared out at us as the air car dropped down to the lowest level of the artificial canyon.

"Look."

I followed Amy's pointing finger and spotted our destination—a thin triangle of light coming from an oddly shaped doorway. The air car settled onto the ground and I leaped out, then offered my hand to her. She took it, offering a small smile. My heart raced at that smile, and my blood at the carnal memories it conjured.

We made our way towards the light until we could see inside. A handful of Ewani and a Nazok messenger milled about inside. As we entered, all eyes turned to us, narrowed in suspicion.

"I'm Kwayd," I said, to allay their fears. "Kalak should have informed you I came here in disguise."

"You picked a particularly ugly one," said the Nazok. "Vinduthi aren't good for much, but that face would scare anyone. No wonder your little toy is so obedient."

They all laughed as Amy stood fearfully in my shadow.

"Yeah, tell me about it." I shrugged, looking around the room feigning boredom. "You got the goods? Otherwise, I've got other things to do."

One of the Ewani looked to one of his fellows with dirty blonde fur, who typed on a percomm, then nodded.

"Credit transfer is underway."

"All right," said the leader without breaking eye contact with me. "Give the man his goods and send him on his way?—"

"Freeze, you trash!"

We all turned as one to see Suggs and his partner standing in the doorway, guns drawn, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

The lead Ewani reached for a blaster holstered at his side, his wild shot ricocheting from the wall, heading straight toward Amy.

Not a chance.

Spinning, I swept her behind me, the blast grazing the side of the coat close enough for me to feel the heat.

"Are you all right?" I asked her, her ashen face more deadly than any weapon.

She nodded once and squeezed my hand. "Back to work." The whisper was almost too quiet to hear, but she was right. We still had a job to do here.

Suggs had fired faster than I would have predicted and the Ewani went down amid a smell of burning hair and flesh.

Everyone else put their hands in the air.

Including me and Amy.

Suggs looked at the Ewani and the Nazok, then motioned towards me with his gun.

"It's your lucky day, boys. We don't feel like filling out all the arrest reports. We just want this one."

Suggs' partner grabbed my arm and held on tight while I did my best to look angry. Considering that Amy had very nearly been injured, it didn't take much.

The Ewani moved slowly, as if they feared a trick before they scattered, fleeing from the room. When the Nazok left, though, he offered a small nod to Suggs.

So, the Nazok was in on the whole thing.

Not a surprise.

I didn't have to ask to know that Kalak's credit transfer had mysteriously stopped the second Suggs walked in the door.

"All right," Suggs said, holstering his gun. "Get the bomb, Kwayd."

"With pleasure."

Suggs made a soft grunt as my fist collided with his temple. He spun around in a circle before collapsing on the ground. His partner had stared intently at Amelia's bust, which meant he turned around just in time to meet my blow head on.

"One shot," Amelia said, disbelief in her tone. "I can't believe you knocked them both out with one freaking shot."

"I may have killed this one," I said, toeing the unmoving body of Suggs' partner. "No matter. I doubt Kalak would be friendly with us after this, anyway."

I hefted the nondescript metal case, which could have held any number of mundane items…but did not.

Grabbing my percomm from my coat pocket, I tried to call back to Alkard. Except the unit was shattered, the beam from the Ewani's blaster having found at least one victim.

"Dammit," I muttered. "No way to contact the others now."

Amy bit her lip nervously then placed her hand on my forearm. "Then what are we going to do with the bomb?"

Worry gnawed at my spine. "Unless I can come up with a better plan, I'm taking it to the aft airlock and getting it off the station. Once we go missing, I can see Kalak just detonating it out of spite."

"Isn't there any way to prevent him from doing a remote detonation?"

"Probably," I replied. "But the aft airlock is closer than the Fallen Star. And this case is locked, keyed to a Nazok's palm print. Havek, our tech guy, could get past it in ten seconds flat, I bet, but I can't get a hold of him. Unfortunately, my skill set is more basic. You can see what I'm good at right here."

I gestured to the bodies. She cocked an eyebrow at me.

"You sell yourself too short, Razov. You're more than just a muscle head. You've got…layers."

"Layers?" I bristled. I didn't understand what Amelia meant by that, and I was in the habit of being angry at things I didn't understand.

"Oh, don't get all grumpy," she said, coming up to me and running her fingers through my hair. "It was a compliment."

It felt good to have her smoothing my hair. It felt good to have her touch me, period. Despite the situation, I couldn't keep the grin off my face.

"We'd better get going," she said as I undressed her with my eyes.

Shaking my head, I regained my senses. "Indeed."

For a moment, I paused. Should she stay here? Could I get far enough away from her that she'd avoid the blast if I didn't make it to the airlock in time?

I weighed the briefcase again, trying to estimate the amount of explosives in it, guessing what type they'd used.

From what Kalak said, it was high grade.

There was no way I'd be able to put enough distance between us.

And if something was going to happen, I wanted her near me. I couldn't stop a bomb blast for her, but maybe I could find someplace safe for her to hide along the way.

We slipped from the meeting place, traveling by foot through the labyrinthian twists and turns of the Metro floor. Since most people lived up higher on the walls of the virtual canyon, the floor was primarily used for utilities and emergency egress.

I found a hatch that led back down to the Under, towards the aft airlock, using a path that few knew about and fewer dared to use. Once the heavy metal door sealed behind us, there was nothing for us to do but keep moving.

My mind turned to the next problem on my list—namely, what was going to happen between myself and Amelia once I turned her over to Alkard.

I wanted to see more of her, be with her when we weren't on the run.

No, I needed to be with her.

I didn't want Amelia gone after a few minutes of sweaty grappling. I wanted her to stay. In fact, I didn't even want to imagine what life might be like without her. It was as if my previous life had been but a half-remembered dream, and now I was fully awake.

Thoughts still whirling, we came to a section of the station where only the Uune were meant to tread. It was a two hundred foot long trough, roughly twenty feet wide, with intermittent plasma surges crackling through marked areas.

If you were careful and moved quickly out of the dangerous areas, you could survive.

Like I said. It wasn't a particularly popular route. Perfect for us.

A red wall of crackling energy sprang up about a dozen feet from us, then faded away. Amelia shook her head and stepped back.

"No way, I'm not going through that."

"We must. It will be safe. See the lights on the wall? They flash three times before the surges happen. All we must do is clear the five foot radius in three seconds. I'll carry you, and we'll be through easily enough."

She swallowed hard, and then nodded. "All right."

"Not so fast."

I spun on my heel, mouth flying open in shock. While lost in my worries about the bomb and Amy, Kalak had snuck up on us.

And he was not alone. More than a score of Nazoks accompanied him.

"How did you even find us?"

Kalak held a pistol in his hand, pointed straight at Amy. "I like to know what my toys get up to. A microdot tracker in their clothing is such an easy way to find out."

For a second, my shoulders slumped. This was my fault. And Amy would pay the price.

I couldn't let that happen.

"Go ahead," I said. "Fire your weapon. The fire suppression system will think a plasma short has started a blaze, and you will be doused with oxygen depleting minerals. I hear suffocation is a rather pleasant way to go, though."

Kalak smiled, and put his gun away.

"Thanks for the warning, Vinduthi."

At Amy's startled gasp, he smiled, cruelly. "You showed too much of your real skills back at the meeting house. Only a Vinduthi could have moved so quickly with such force to take down two station security officers in a moment."

I snarled. "Then you know you should be careful getting in my way."

Kalak's lips twisted into a sneer. "We Nazoks have fended for ourselves for some time without firearms. I dare say we've forgotten more about melee combat than most races will ever learn."

"Try me," I growled.

Kalak turned to the Nazoks and grinned.

"Okay, boys," he said. "Get my property back, and don't be polite about it."

The Nazoks started forward. Smaller than me, weaker, but I was outnumbered twenty to one.

Escape seemed a better course of action to me.

At least for one of us.

"Run, Amelia," I said, handing her the bomb case. "I will hold them off."

"I can't just leave you!"

The plaintive note in her voice warmed me, making me smile despite the situation.

"Yes, you can," I said, shoving her down the trough while I turned to face the horde of ‘Zoks. "You can, and you will. Go!"