Cleon Moon (18 page)

“I get to haul your cargo?” he asked.

“You’re the only one with flex-cords,” Alisa said. “Besides, I believe you’re delighted to accede to your captain’s wishes, right?”

“I said I was glad to accede, not that I was delighted.”

“Details, details.”

The rumbling grew loud enough that the ceiling shook again, dropping debris on them.

“Let’s get going,” Abelardus said. “We’re already too far behind.”

Too far? Alisa did not want to ask for clarification, but she could guess. She slung her leg over her bike, and their group trundled off again.

They had not gone far before misty gray light filtered into the tunnel ahead. Soon, the passage ended in a gradual slope upward, the cloudy sky visible above. The roaring sound increased, and Alisa hesitated to charge out, but Abelardus rode straight up the slope toward the opening without slowing down.

As Alisa drew even with him, something zipped past in front of the exit.

“Was that—”

“One of those cameras,” Abelardus finished for her. “It should have been following the race, but I’m not sure. It was hovering here in the tunnel. I hope it wasn’t recording our dinosaur battle.”

“The race?” Alisa nudged her bike out of the opening.

Bare lumpy ground spread out on all sides, none of the mushrooms or marshes visible, but with mist gathering in valleys between the raised bumps. A figure in sleek blue snagor-hide trousers and jacket came into view, riding a thrust bike. The dull roar increased as the helmeted man zoomed down a hill at a reckless speed. He skidded around a turn, taking it so fast that all the rules of gravity proclaimed he should have toppled over, but somehow he straightened the bike and charged up the next hill. A couple of seconds later, six more figures on thrust bikes charged into view, chasing the leader at breakneck speed. Hover cameras zipped all over the course, following the race.

“
That’s
what we’ve been hearing?” Alisa asked. She could barely hear her own voice as the noise of the thrusters and wheels tearing up dirt increased. The leader and the pack were heading their way.

Abelardus waved to Alisa and reversed his hover bike, backing them under the protection of the overhang.

She did not try to hide the disappointed slump to her shoulders. She’d thought they might come upon some underground hiding spot that held Jelena and the others. This… The children could have been taken anywhere from here.

The lead rider disappeared as he took a turn that would bring him closer to the tunnel. The walls shook, and dirt tumbled free again as he roared overhead. The downfall increased when the rest of the pack zoomed over the hill. Alisa covered her head with her arm. It was a miracle that the tunnel had not collapsed long ago.

“No wonder those dinosaurs were hiding,” Mica yelled as the pack raced down the back side of the hill and toward a series of ramps and jumps in the center of the course. Their tunnel appeared to be on the outside edge of it.

“Were they hiding?” Alisa wondered. “Or did someone lure them here, hoping they would jump out and munch on some of the riders?” Had they been here when Jelena and the others left the tunnel? Had they been forced to fight too?

“That’s a grisly thought,” Mica said. “You’re getting to be as pessimistic as I am.”

“That’s not being pessimistic. It’s called having little faith in the morality of the woman who runs that dome.”

Abelardus hovered out of the tunnel again, not responding to the conversation and instead watching the lead rider zip through the course. The man stayed a couple of seconds ahead of the rest of the pack, and though the others were taking great risks to catch up with him, none of them quite managed the feat.

“That man is a Starseer,” Abelardus said.

“Oh? Is he using his powers to stay ahead?” Alisa asked.

She nudged her bike back out into the open. Not because she cared about the race contestants, Starseer or not, but because she wanted to figure out which way Jelena and the others had gone. Unfortunately, there weren’t any footprints in front of the tunnel. A building and spectator stands rose at the far side of the racecourse. It hardly looked like the kind of place a group of robed Starseers trying to avoid notice would have gone. All she could imagine was that they had headed back to Terra Jhero. Which meant this diversion had been for nothing. But even if that was true, might she not still catch up with Jelena and the other children? They could be back in the very city where the
Nomad
was parked.

With that hopeful thought, Alisa tried to see a way back to Terra Jhero, one that would not take them through the middle of the course. The sooner they returned, the sooner they could check on the ship—and hunt for clues as to where Jelena had been taken.

“Yes,” Abelardus said after watching for another minute. “He’s being subtle. Using Starseer talents is probably illegal here. It usually is.” Abelardus sniffed derisively. “As if it’s a crime to use the skills the suns delivered unto a man.”

“I thought it was a mad scientist tinkering with your genes a few centuries ago that delivered those skills.”

“
Our
genes,” Abelardus said, giving her a significant look.

Alisa managed to keep from curling her lip, but only because her focus was on finding a way out. She could make out the opaque curving wall of the dome in the distance, rising up behind a forest of fungal stalks.

“Let’s head that way,” she said, nodding toward a route that would take them in that direction. The riders were on the other side of the course, as were the pack of cameras chasing them. “Before they come around again.”

Mica and Yumi followed her without argument. Abelardus did, also, but not before pausing to watch the Starseer rider cross the finish line ahead of the pack. That had to be a half-mile away, but Alisa thought she saw the figure’s helmet turn to face in their direction.

She hoped it was her imagination. They had enough trouble with Starseers already.

Chapter 11

Alisa’s group was allowed through the city gate without trouble—nobody ran out to deliver a bill of charges for the cameras Leonidas had destroyed—but they drew more attention than she would have liked when people spotted the severed dinosaur heads.

“Hunters,” someone yelled and several others turned it into a chant. A few cameras zoomed out of nowhere to follow their procession.

Alisa ground her teeth and refused to slow down or answer questions when people asked how they had slain so many dinosaurs. Had Leonidas had to deal with this? She assumed he had made it back before her group.

An older lady ran out and pretended to fall in the street in front of Abelardus while two boys tried to take advantage of the distraction to tug the heads off the back of his bike. He glared at them while pointing his staff at the woman. She floated back to the side of the street, where he set her down amid the startled watchers, most of whom skittered back. Several made superstitious gestures as they gaped at Abelardus. He ignored them and continued down the street with his chin up.

“I hope we’re not trying to blend in and avoid notice,” Mica said.

She and Yumi rode side by side next to Alisa. Alisa only shook her head. She had given up on that since Solstice had marched Leonidas to her compound. Maybe if the crowd was intimidated by Abelardus, they would be less likely to follow after her group. She was tempted to tell him to take a circuitous route back to the docks in the hope of losing the cameras, but she did not want to delay any longer than necessary. It had already been two hours since Alejandro had commed her. She had tried contacting him again on the way back to the city, but he had not responded, and Beck still wasn’t answering either.

She breathed a sigh of relief when the blocky form of the
Star Nomad
came into view, visible over an elegant yacht docked in the slot next to them. At least the ship hadn’t been impounded or blown up or any of the myriad images that had popped into her head after hearing Alejandro’s alarmed words. Maybe she
was
developing a pessimistic streak.

“Everyone’s going to be fine,” she said. “The doctor is probably in there with the hatch locked, hiding in the cubby. And there’s no reception in that cubby, so he can’t answer my comms.”

“Are you talking to one of us or to yourself?” Mica asked as they navigated the crowd thronging the main walkway.

“I’m using positive thinking to reassure myself.”

“Sounds like delusional thinking to me. Do you do that while you’re flying too?” Mica looked at Yumi. “I’m not there to witness her antics when I’m down in engineering.”

“No,” Alisa said, frowning as the
Nomad’s
cargo hatch came into view. It was open, with the ramp down, as if Alejandro had invited his visitors up. “I’m confident when I’m flying that things will turn out all right.”

“In other words, you’re more delusional in NavCom than you are elsewhere.”

“I’m not delusional. I’m optimistic.”

“There’s a difference?”

Optimism or not, Alisa couldn’t keep snakes from slithering around in her belly as they drew closer. Heedless of the passersby now, she gunned the hover bike. People cursed her as she veered between them, nearly knocking over a few. She banked hard, almost falling off as she drove the craft up the ramp and into the cargo hold.

She braked abruptly as Leonidas’s armored form came into view. He was flat on his back near the stairs, legs and arms sprawled out. The hidden cubby lay open behind him, the door missing. Alejandro crouched next to Leonidas, fiddling with his helmet. Trying to unfasten it? Leonidas wasn’t helping him. He wasn’t moving at all.

A man in a black robe lay crumpled a few feet away from them. He wasn’t moving either.

“What happened?” Alisa asked as Alejandro looked toward her. She leaped off the bike, barely remembering to park it as she charged toward Leonidas. The chickens huddled in the corner of their coop, not making a peep.

“Help me get him up to sickbay,” Alejandro barked at them as Yumi, Mica, and Abelardus also rode into the hold.

His worried tone did nothing to alleviate Alisa’s fears.

“Close the hatch,” she told Yumi, falling to her knees beside Leonidas. “Mica, get the hand tractor.”

As a group, they could carry Leonidas, but getting him up the stairs and through the tight passageways would be difficult.

Alisa touched his shoulder, peering through his faceplate. His eyes were closed, as if he were simply napping.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Get him to sickbay,” Alejandro said again, rising to his feet. “I’ve got to find his armor case and get the remote out. He and the Starseers were locked in combat, but I won’t know anything until we can get him out of his gear.”

“
Starseers
?” Alisa asked. “More than one?”

Alejandro charged up the stairs without answering. His terseness worried her far more than Leonidas’s closed eyes. She realized Alejandro couldn’t read Leonidas’s vital signs while he was encased in that armor. Three suns, what if he was already dead? No, no. He couldn’t be. He was too tough to die. But she couldn’t help but think of the ways the Starseers had attacked him in the past, hurting him internally without leaving a mark on his flesh. Then she remembered the people in the outpost, dead with no sign of wounds, and sheer terror rampaged through her. Could the same assailants have been responsible for this?

“You’ll be fine,” Alisa said, patting his shoulder. “I’m confident that you’ll recover.”

“Back up,” Mica said, running out of engineering with the hand tractor. Fortunately, she did not say anything about delusions.

The light level in the cargo hold dropped as the ramp folded up and the hatch shut. Yumi and Abelardus pushed the bikes to the side as Mica aimed her tool at Leonidas. A beam enveloped and lifted him. Alisa bounced from foot to foot, feeling useless as Mica directed his still form up the stairs. Alisa squeezed past him on the walkway and ran ahead to open the hatch to sickbay. Mica deposited Leonidas on the exam table, which creaked under the weight of cyborg and armor.

Alejandro raced in, pointing a remote control at Leonidas. Soft snaps sounded as the armor fasteners loosened. Alisa noticed her fingers trembled as she worked the ones for his helmet the rest of the way free and removed it. His eyelids did not so much as flicker. Was he breathing? She couldn’t tell. She dropped the helmet and rested her fingers on his throat as Alejandro dug into his medical kit for more sophisticated equipment.

“He has a pulse,” she blurted, relief nearly dropping her to her knees.

“Good,” Alejandro said, bringing a monitor over and attaching it to Leonidas’s temple. “Get the rest of his armor off him.”

Alisa usually bristled at being ordered around, but she did not object now. She needed something to do, a way to help. As she worked on the rest of the fasteners, Yumi peered through the hatchway, concern in her dark eyes as she gazed at Leonidas’s still form. Mica stood in the corner, fiddling with her tool. She probably needed something to do too.

“Where’s Abelardus?” Alisa asked as she removed Leonidas’s boots.

“Still in the cargo hold,” Yumi said. “I think he was seeing if he recognized the Starseer.”

It was selfish of her to think of her own mission right now, but Alisa hoped that the man might be roused for questioning. If he was one of the people who had attacked the outpost, maybe he knew where Jelena had been taken. And he could explain
why
his group, whoever they were, had attacked a bunch of children.

Alisa growled as she dropped the second boot to the floor.

“Can I do anything?” Mica asked quietly, none of her usual sarcasm or flippancy in her voice.

“Yes, two things, please,” Alisa said. “First, take my netdisc.” She dug into her pocket and tossed it to Mica. “Download the ship’s footage onto it and bring it back. I want to see what in the hells happened.” She looked at Alejandro, knowing he would have answers, but he was busy preparing an auto injector while frowning at the readout on the monitor.

“Got it,” Mica said. “Second?”

“Will you pay the fee and see if you can tie into the city sys-net? If we can get satellite access, we should be able to track Beck down by his comm unit inside of his helmet.” After the
last
time he had gone missing, Alisa had made sure to tie him into the ship’s computers. The
Nomad
did not have the fanciest tracking capabilities, hence the need for a sys-net tie-in, but if he was still in the city, they should be able to locate him. Or at least locate the position of his armor.