Runner (43 page)

The loud
click
served to punctuate the end of the last sentence and echoed between steel bulkheads. There was silence at first, as dozens of passengers stared at each other in consternation and struggled to absorb what they had just heard.

Rebo, Norr, Lee, and Hoggles were just as stunned as everyone else, and were still trying to deal with what amounted to a death sentence when the people around them uttered a wail of mutual sorrow. The joint declaration of misery was soon punctuated by screams, the sounds of crying, and all manner of commentary, questions, and prayers.

The man who wore the black bandanna over his hair reacted somewhat differently however. Much to the amazement of the merchants seated all around him Kane began to laugh. And not just laugh, but howl as he remembered all the sacrifices he had made, the risks he had taken, all to end up aboard a doomed ship lost in the never land of hyperspace. The situation was funny, stupid, and sad all at once.

Strangely, or perhaps not so strangely, Lee was the first to try and comfort those around him. “Ah well,” the boy said
philosophically, “all of us have died many deaths. “What's one more? Not that I'm in a hurry to return to the spirit planes, mind you.”

“Nor am I,” the sensitive replied thoughtfully. “And I'm not ready to give up yet. Hand me that pack . . . Let's see what, if anything, our new friend has to say.”

The sensitive had worn Logos a great deal at first, but soon grew tired of the computer's self-centered personality and began to carry the device instead. That effectively silenced the AI, who resented the fact that Norr could turn him off. “Where the hell are we?” Logos demanded, as the variant slipped her arms into raggedy coat sleeves.

“We're aboard a spaceship bound for Thara,” the sensitive answered briskly. “But there's a problem.”

“Of course there is,” Logos replied sarcastically. “I assume that's why you put me on. Or is it about to rain?”

“No,”
the variant responded patiently, “it isn't going to rain. But you have as much of a stake in the present situation as we do—so you might want to pay attention.”

Logos listened as the sensitive outlined what the ship had said. Then, once she was finished, the AI spoke again. The voice originated from
behind
her—and Norr managed to resist the desire to turn and look. “I'm not sure that I understand the nature of your problem,” the computer said pompously. “You have one of my gate seeds . . . So use it.”

Norr frowned. “I never told you that.”

“No,” the AI agreed smugly, “you didn't.”

“Then how did you know?”

“I knew the same way that you know about your fingers and toes. I can
feel
the gate seeds. All of them.”

“Even in hyperspace?”

“Even then,” the computer confirmed.

“Excuse me,” Rebo interrupted caustically, “but so what?”

“But can you
activate
my gate seed?” the sensitive persisted, still addressing herself to the AI. “We don't know how.”

“Yes, of course,” the artificial voice replied. “Not only can I activate them, but coordinate them as well. Such is my purpose.”

“See?” Norr demanded, as she turned toward Rebo. “Logos can activate the gate seed—and we can use it reach Thara.”

“Why Thara?” Logos demanded. “I need to reach Socket.”

“Because that's where we're going,” Rebo said unsympathetically. “So get used to it.”

“What about the others?” Lee inquired, gesturing toward the rest of the hold. “It would be a crime to leave them here.”

“If you help them, the secret will be out,” Hoggles warned. “Everyone will know about the star gates.”

“So? Who cares?” Rebo replied lightly. “It beats the heck out of leaving them here.”

“The Techno Society cares,” Norr answered wearily, “and once we make use of the seed, they'll hear about it. But Lee is correct . . . Once the gate has been established we'll have to send all the passengers through.”

“So, what about power?” the heavy demanded pragmatically.

“It's all around us,” the AI responded. “A dedicated source would be best, but most of the ship's systems run off broadcast power, and the gate can feed on that.”

“But what if the ship objects?” Lee wanted to know.

“We'll deal with that when and if it comes up,” the computer responded irritably. “Go play with something. We'll call you when it's time to leave.”

“Let's get organized,” Rebo said briskly. “I'll provide security for Lanni and Logos while the two of you go out and
spread the word. I suspect that most of our fellow passengers will be rather skeptical to say the least.”

“If anyone can sweet-talk them it would be Lee,” Hoggles rumbled. “I'll go along to keep him out of trouble.”

“Good,” the runner agreed. “But let's pack our stuff first. We're going to need it once we reach Thara.”

The foursome was packed and ready to leave twenty minutes later. Norr removed the gate seed from her pack while the heavy and the red hat disappeared into the surrounding murk. “All right,” the sensitive said, as she held the sphere between the palms of her hands. “What now?”

“You will find that the seed has two dimples,” Logos answered. “One located on the top of the globe and one on the bottom. All you have to do is press them at the same time.”

“I did that once before,” Norr objected. “Nothing happened.”

“That's because you were impatient,” the AI replied critically. “Now do as you were told.”

The variant made a face, pressed an index finger into each dimple, and waited. Nothing happened. “All you have to do is maintain an even pressure,” Logos said reassuringly. “Humans tend to be extremely impatient. Once they push a button they expect instantaneous results. A long delay is sufficient to keep all but the most persistent of them at bay.”

And sure enough, once sixty seconds had passed, the sensitive felt something give. “Now,” the AI continued, “grab hold of both hemispheres and twist them in opposite directions.”

Norr obeyed and felt both halves of the globe give. Rebo, who had been watching the process, saw a crack appear as beams of light shot out into the murk. “It's moving!” the sensitive exclaimed, as her hands shook in sympathy with the oscillating gate seed.

“Let go of it,” Logos instructed sternly, “or it will hurt you.”

Such was the sensation that the variant was happy to release her grip on the object. But, rather than fall to the ship's deck the way she expected it to, the sphere floated in front of her!

“Good,” the computer said, as he continued to monitor the situation via dozens of sensors embedded in the front of Norr's coat. “This is where it gets tricky. I will need to relay some messages through Socket in order to establish the gate—and it will take some time to get all of the equipment aligned. Now stand back.”

Both Rebo and Norr were quick to back away as the globe began to spin faster and faster. Then, after thirty seconds or so, it disappeared!

Meanwhile, out in the surrounding murk, Kane listened as two of the people he was determined to kill invited both him and his companions to step through a star gate and thereby escape the dying ship! Given all he had gone through to catch up with them, and the artifacts they possessed, the invitation struck the technologist as both ridiculous and sublime.

Once Lee had finished his speech, a chubby merchant shook his head angrily. “Get out of here, kid . . . And take the freak with you. Oh, and put some chains on him. You'll be sorry if you don't.”

The response was similar to the one the pair had already received from more than a dozen other people. The whole notion of star gates was more than they could accept. Hoggles frowned, took a step forward, but stopped when Lee grabbed his arm. “Forget it, Bo . . . They made their choice.”

The variant nodded reluctantly and took a step
backward. Kane saw his opportunity and was quick to seize it. The operative stood and bent to retrieve his pack. “Wait for me! I not only believe you—I volunteer to go first. Anything is better than starving to death on this ship.”

Lee stared at the man. He looked familiar, but why?

“Good for you,” Hoggles rumbled sincerely. “You won't be sorry.”

Lee continued to feel doubts about the man in the black bandanna, but having been unable to place him, kept those concerns to himself as they left the merchants behind. “Let's go back,” Hoggles suggested. “It seems as if no one wants to listen, and the gate should be established by now.”

Kane managed to carry out a surreptitious check of his weapons and felt a keen sense of anticipation, as he followed the odd-looking pair over to their fire. The boy had yet to recognize him, nor had the heavy, but the sensitive would. That meant he would have to act quickly. The key was to kill the man with the guns, the heavy, and the female in that order. The boy would be easy. Then, with both the gate seed
and
Logos in his possession, he could return to Anafa.

Norr “felt” the technologist's presence before she actually saw him, turned, and opened her mouth to shout a warning. But Kane had already drawn his weapons by then. Lee saw the pistols appear and acted without thinking. The boy hit the operative from behind, heard one of the handguns go off, and felt a moment of nausea as they fell through the star gate together.

Rebo saw the air shimmer as the twosome disappeared and heard Norr shout “No!” as he followed them through.

Kane landed hard, felt the pistol fly out of his right hand, and heard a metallic clatter as it slid away. He scuttled forward, wrapped his fingers around the gun butt, and realized that something had gone awry. Either the gate had been
locked onto the wrong destination, or was badly out of phase, because everything about the environment was wrong. Thara had a reputation as a rather pleasant planet but this world had been ravaged by war.

As the operative rolled over onto his back what he saw were banks of darkly roiling clouds punctuated by occasional shafts of orange sunlight and the occasional bolt of lightning. Thunder rolled across the land as drops of blood-warm rain hit his face, and Kane's lungs struggled to process the painfully thin air. The technologist fought to rise, discovered that his body was at least 20 percent heavier than it had been on the ship, and barely made it to his feet. Farther out, in the jagged, bomb-ravaged ruins that surrounded him, a tornado could be seen. The twister wandered through what remained of the once-proud city as if searching for something to kill. The operative might have seen more, but that was the moment when the man with the guns appeared out of nowhere and landed a few feet away.

What happened next was more the result of impulse than planning. Kane grappled with the man, let go of a gun to free up a hand, and grabbed a fistful of jacket. Then, moving as if in slow motion, the operative brought the remaining pistol in from the side. It connected with his opponent's head and drew blood. Rebo staggered, started to black out, and fell.

Lee threw a rock at the blond man, saw it hit, and began to run. Or
tried
to run, since it felt as if his lungs were on fire, and his legs were made of lead. There was a loud
bang
as Kane fired but missed the boy. Lee staggered along a debris-strewn street, wound his way through a maze of passageways, and found himself within the embrace of a U-shaped wall. A hole beckoned, the boy fought his way over a pile of bricks, and went down onto his knees. Then, just as he
started to enter the heating duct Lee felt a set of viselike fingers wrap themselves around his ankle. The youth's fingernails clawed at duracrete as Kane dragged him out into the wan sunlight.

For the first time since giving them up Lee wished he had his knives. But they were in his pack back on the ship. The boy sought to turn, and had just managed to do so, when Kane pressed the gun barrel against the center of his forehead. The operative produced what was supposed to be a smile, but looked more like a grimace, and ordered the pistol to fire.

The message had left Kane's brain, and was halfway to his trigger finger, when Rebo beat him to it. The Hogger boomed, the .30-caliber slug blew half of Kane's head away, and sprayed Lee with gore. The youngster screamed, looked at his blood-drenched arms, and started to cry.

Kane felt the bullet nudge the side of his head and tried to object as the physical plane fell away. That was when the operative saw his most recent life pass before his eyes,
felt
the pain he had caused, and tried to scream. But, many years had passed since a
previous
him had given the order to nuke the planet Poxor, so no one was present to witness his anguish.

Meanwhile, Rebo discovered that his head hurt even more now that he had a moment to think about it, returned the weapon to its holster, and trudged over to where Lee lay. It took repeated attempts to help the youngster to his feet, but the third was successful, and the runner took the boy's hand. Hopefully, if they were lucky, the gate was open. If so, they could step through, and return to the ship.