Wasteland
by Becca Abbott
Part 15
"Bastards!" said Jelly, sitting down next to Riki in the canteen. Riki looked up from his food, startled. Minton slid into the chair next to him.
"What's going on?"
They both looked angry.
"Your former master isn't being very cooperative," said Minton, pushing at his reconstituted potatoes.
"Yeah." Jelly scowled fiercely, but her eyes were anxious. Riki felt a nervous flutter start up in his stomach. "I overheard Juno telling Crane that they might have to hold you hostage to get the freak to do what they want."
"It's bullshit," said Minton, voice lowering. "It's total bullshit. Bad enough that poor kid had to die just to find the Blondie we needed, but this..."
Kid? Were they talking about the pet who had been killed? He stared from one to the other.
Jelly stabbed her meat. "I – we just wanted you to know, Riki, that – well, we totally believe in the Operation, you know, but this... It – it ain't right. It ain't your fault the freak's a freak."
Riki almost said, "Iason will never let them hurt me," but kept it between his teeth at the last minute. He thought about the razor blade under his mattress in the little room they'd given him to sleep. "Shit," he said instead. He only had to partly fake his fear. "What will they do to me?"
"It may not happen," Jelly said. "They were only talking about it."
"It doesn't matter. The freak doesn't care about me," Riki said. "Damn it! What I wouldn't give for a chance to show that bastard how much I hate his guts."
Minton and Jelly exchanged glances. Minton smiled unpleasantly. Jelly, with a quick look around, nodded.
"We'll see what we can do," said Minton.
Raoul woke to a steel-grey morning, a damp chill in the air. He'd fallen asleep with his back to the wall, his pet's head in his lap. The bruises on Guy's face were almost gone, thanks to the ointment, but the memory of the wild, berserker rage and storm of lust that had followed still ate at him. Tentatively, Raoul stroked back a strand of hair from Guy's cheek. The mongrel stirred and opened his eyes. He seemed surprised to find himself nestled beside Raoul and sat up quickly. Leaving him yawning, Raoul got up and retrieved the locator. Half-afraid to find the monitor blank again, the Blondie was relieved to see the blip still pulsing gently.
"Something went by overhead last night," Guy said. "Did you hear it?"
Startled, Raoul looked up and shook his head.
"It was far away and it sounded big. Maybe Jupiter's getting impatient."
"Jupiter doesn't get impatient." But she might have received new information. Raoul looked again at the monitor. Did she have other agents out here? he wondered suddenly.
"Why did she send us?" asked Guy suddenly.
"You had been here before. You know the Waste."
"You haven't."
Raoul stared at Guy, then looked away. "Her original plan was to send you with a second level security agent. I volunteered to go in his stead."
And argued with desperate eloquence for it when Jupiter had at first refused. Raoul had pointed out that he had full training and certification in forensics, was fully capable of self-defense, and had already established control – of sorts – over their barely manageable mongrel guide. He'd claimed that he was less likely to talk afterwards than some ordinary citizen, no matter what the outcome, and that his interests were more closely aligned with Jupiter's. They were all excellent reasons and every one of them was a lie. In the end, the computer had agreed, but the price it extracted – he was no longer certain he could pay it.
"Why the hell would you do that?" Guy demanded.
"Because you would have escaped within hours otherwise." Raoul replied and waited with interest for the explosion.
But Guy only shook his head and smiled faintly. "Bastard."
"Let's get going before it starts raining again," said Raoul.
"Do you want to drive?" asked Guy.
Raoul started. Then he shook his head. Guy grinned and they were off.
Would they find Iason soon, wondered Raoul? Almost immediately, a small, treacherous little voice whispered that he hoped not. For a second, Raoul was stunned by revelation. He was enjoying himself! In spite of the filth, the danger and the unsettling emotional responses that were becoming almost commonplace, he liked being out here on his own, liked not living under Jupiter's constant watch and, most disturbing of all, he liked the prickly, rebellious young man who wore his pet ring. Without thinking about it, Raoul reached up and touched his temple where Jupiter had installed the new ring controller – a neurological device that allowed him to activate it by thought alone. He'd asked for it specifically as a hedge against Guy's greater advantage in an unfamiliar environment.
If he took the ring off the mongrel, would Guy vanish into Ceres? Almost certainly. But what if Raoul could bind him with other ties? It was a tempting thought – to have Guy come to him, to have the mongrel seek pleasure in Raoul's arms of his own free will.
Are you a fool? he asked himself sharply. It had almost destroyed Iason! And even if it happened, he could never have what Riki and Iason did. Jupiter had been adamant about that. "One of my sons is enough," she'd said, "or do you think to kill yourself for his sake, too?"
He had not, of course. Did not. But... "Stop!" he ordered.
Guy did so, giving Raoul a puzzled, slightly apprehensive look. Raoul got off the bike and walked away. Insanity! That's what it was. With some desperation, Raoul reached for his calm and self-possession, both so easily attained before he'd walked into that damned brothel. He stared blindly at nothing, heart in turmoil.
"RAOUL!"
Startled, the Blondie turned in time to see Guy flying toward him. They collided, hitting the ground with bone-jarring force. There was an explosion of heat and light against the side of a building few inches from where he had been standing and the Blondie gasped, pinned under the mongrel's weight as a cascade of sharp-edged gravel fell all around them.
Then Guy's hand was around Raoul's arm, pulling the dazed Elite across the broken pavement and behind a bit of wall. Panting, the mongrel crouched, wiping blood from a cut over his eye, breathing heavily. He gave Raoul a wide-eyed look.
Raoul, heart pounding, drew his gun and, after a moment, peered cautiously around the edge of the wall. There was another flash from across the street and he just pulled his head back in time.
"Did you see anyone?" Raoul asked.
The mongrel shook his head. Shoving his hand into his pocket, Raoul handed over the old blaster Guy had confiscated on their first night in the Wasteland. It didn't have much charge left, but it was better than nothing. Guy's mouth dropped. They stared at each other, then the mongrel nodded. "I'll see if I can get around him," he said. "Cover me."
Raoul shifted position, estimated the probable location of the shooter, and fired. An answering blast sent more dust and gravel into the air.
The shots were coming from an alley across the street. Raoul could just make out a shadowy form lurking there. He jumped up, fired again, and ducked as a hail of energy bolts impacted on the wall in front of him. Another whine, this one at a slightly different pitch, joined the first. There was a shriek, cut off abruptly, then silence.
"Raoul!" It was Guy. Warily, Raoul peered over the wall. The mongrel stood in the mouth of the alley.
"Stay there!" shouted Raoul in alarm as Guy stepped into the open. The mongrel hesitated, then shrugged and kept going. Nothing happened. After a moment, Raoul risked standing, too. They met in the middle of the street.
"You need to have a look at this," Guy said shortly, jerking a thumb back toward the alley.
Raoul nodded. Leaving the mongrel watching the street, he went to investigate. Expecting to see some ragged, hairy denizen of the Wasteland, the Blondie was stunned to find instead a man in a military-type uniform, one he didn't recognize, clean-shaven, with close-cropped hair.
"Guess we're getting close," Guy said.
Raoul nodded, dropping to a crouch beside the body. He picked up the man's gun. It was of unfamiliar design. There was nothing he recognized as identification, but there was a device that might be for communication. He considered taking it, then decided otherwise on the chance it might act as a locator for the man's colleagues.
Standing up, he handed the gun to Guy, who gave him a sharp look. "Are you sure?" the mongrel asked.
Raoul's eyelids drooped. "I can think I can send a command to the ring faster than you can shoot me," he said, although having seen Guy's reflexes, it probably wasn't true.
Guy's gaze flew to Raoul's temple. His mouth tightened. "I had wondered," he admitted and stuck the strange gun into his jacket pocket without further comment.
They found the shooter's vehicle parked several blocks away.
"Look out!" Raoul snarled, giving Guy a shove as the air sparkled with laser fire.
Guy dropped and rolled, coming up gracefully several feet away, firing in short steady bursts at the man who ran out from behind the truck. Raoul, diving through an open doorway, turned and shouted, "Get under cover, you stupid mongrel!"
In response, he received the same wild grin he'd seen when Guy had jumped the bike on the overpass. Then the attacker sent fire Raoul's way, forcing the Blondie to dodge back into the doorway. He made his way along the inside wall, ducking under an open window. Warily, he poked his head over the sill. He saw a man firing into the street, but he couldn't see Guy. Raising his gun, Raoul took aim, but Guy, wherever he was, was faster. There was a streak of white light from the mongrel's gun and, an instant later, the truck exploded in a massive fireball, rocking the street.
Guy!
Jumping up, Raoul raced out into the open as debris rained down all around. Relief made him stop and lower his gun at the sight of Guy picking himself up off the ground. "You idiot!"
Guy wiped dirt and hair out of his eyes. Then, as Raoul started toward him, Guy whipped his gun up, aiming it straight at Raoul. The Blondie stared, shocked to immobility. His heart seemed gripped by a wrenching pain. He saw a white flash and smelled singed hair and flesh as he went sprawling. For a second, everything dimmed. Then: I'm not dead!
Heart pounding, pulse thundering in his ears, Raoul pushed himself up on his hands and knees. He was covered in cold sweat. Looking around, Raoul saw a third man, a corpse now, with a sluggishly bleeding hole in his forehead. When he looked back, Guy was walking toward him. The mongrel stopped and held out his hand. Without a word, Raoul took it and was pulled to his feet. Together, they went back to the bike.