Wasteland
by Becca Abbott
Part 18
The sound of distant engines broke the silence of the morning. Guy and Raoul had just finished rolling the bike into the street and stopped, exchanging startled, apprehensive looks. Without a word, Raoul pushed the bike back inside. Guy stayed where he was, drawing his gun. The noise came from the south. Raoul re-emerged. He had his gun in one hand, the locator in the other.
"Whoever it is," the Blondie said grimly, "he's coming this way."
"And making a lot of noise doing it," Guy observed.
"Indeed." Raoul cast a swift look around. "Come on."
Guy followed the Blondie, running across the road and into an alley. Raoul kept an eye on the locator signal. They ran, weaving through streets and alleys, scrambling over fallen walls and twisted steel beams.
"Look out," cried Raoul suddenly, spinning around and slamming his body into Guy's, sending them both tumbling through a doorway. A moment later, a ship blasted by overhead. Guy scrambled to look and saw it just before it vanished over some buildings. It didn't sound like the thing that had passed over them in the night; it wasn't nearly as powerful. One thing he did know, however. It was like no Tanaguran ship he'd ever seen.
"What the hell is going on?" Raoul growled. He, too, had watched the ship disappear. "Who are they?"
"Whoever they are," Guy said, "They're looking for someone."
Warily, they left their concealment and kept going. After several minutes, they heard more engines, this time on their right. Trucks, maybe. Guy spun in that direction, gun up, even as Raoul zigzagged away, heading for a nearby alley. A figure appeared in the street before him. Iason!
The tall, fair-haired man came at a dead run, face twisted into a terrifying snarl. Guy hurled himself to the ground as laser fire sang over his head.
"IASON!" shouted Raoul. "DON'T SHOOT!"
Looking up from the pavement, Guy saw Iason, now only a few feet away, skid to a halt. "Raoul?"
And there was Riki, right behind his golden lover, also armed, watching Iason's back.
Iason laughed aloud. Raoul, grinning widely, left the alley, running across the broken pavement. In spite of himself, Guy felt a twinge in the vicinity of his heart. Still, it seemed that Iason was not going to shoot him just yet. Reckoning he was safe for the moment, Guy got to his feet.
Riki had seen him. The other mongrel's handsome face was pale, his jaw sagged. Guy stood, rooted to the ground, uncertain, but Riki gave a glad cry and raced past Iason to throw his arms around his former pairing partner. "You're alive! Oh, Guy you're alive!"
The familiar embrace brought tears to Guy's eyes and left him speechless.
"Run!" shouted Raoul. "They're coming!"
They ran again, hearing the rumble of pursuit. Down an alley, up another ruined street. The strange ship was back, flying low. The pavement in front of Guy suddenly exploded, sending bits of concrete through the air like shrapnel. Iason swore, turning around, grabbing Riki and pulling him out of the way. Guy dived, covering his head with his arms, wincing as the sharp bits of gravel rained down on him. Then there were hands on his shirt, pulling him up. Raoul!
On they ran. Ahead, a truck suddenly pulled out in front of them. Raoul shoved Guy aside and fired at it. From the corner of his eye, Guy saw Iason do the same. Guy whirled in time to see another behind them and he fired.
Shit! They were surrounded! A shadow darkened the street as the ship reappeared, hovering over them. Iason swore and started toward one of the buildings, but there was another blinding flash and the building exploded with a roar.
Men were pouring out of the truck. The street was deadly with laser fire. Guy gasped as something hit his shoulder, the force of it knocking him back.
"GUY!" Raoul spun around, horror in his face, and started toward him.
"Raoul! You fool! Leave him! This way!" shouted Iason, but Raoul kept running.
Dizzy with pain, Guy fought to keep his feet. "Get out of here!" he shouted to Raoul. "Damn it! RUN!"
The soldiers were coming fast. Blood poured down Guy's arm and his surroundings wavered. He clung desperately to consciousness. Raoul was in danger! The young mongrel lifted his gun with his good arm and fired at the men coming after the Blondie.
Then, suddenly, there was a mighty roar and the ground shook. The ship overhead became a ball of incandescence. Raoul threw himself on Guy, both of them hitting the pavement as a wave of heat blasted into the street. He could feel Raoul's heart pounding, the other man's breath hot on cheek.
When the roar died away, thunder remained. Raoul rolled away and Guy, blinking tears of pain from his eyes, struggled to his knees. Looking up, he saw why.
It was massive. Like a storm front, another ship came – and came and came until the sky was black with it. Lights ran along its underside. The air hummed and throbbed with power. Slim jagged threads of static electricity bound it to the earth. A straight beam of brilliance streaked down from it and a truck exploded. Raoul's lips moved, but his words were drowned in its roar.
Suddenly, their assailants were in a panic. Guy saw the surviving truck back away with all possible speed, but to no avail. Another ray lanced earthward. Raoul caught Guy up again and held him close as all hell broke loose once more.
When silence returned, Guy's head was ringing. Raoul was a reassuring presence surrounding him. He smelled burning flesh and plastic. There was a slight shift in Raoul's posture and Guy lifted his head. Iason was walking toward them, casting frequent looks overhead. Riki walked with him.
The Blondie dropped to a crouch beside Raoul. His blue eyes rested a moment on Guy, who straightened and met that cool gaze squarely.
"Are you all right?" Iason asked, but it was only to Raoul that he spoke.
"We're fine," came the even response. Raoul stood, helping Guy to stand, looking apprehensively toward the behemoth that drifted overhead, quiescent for the moment. The four of them moved closer together, instinctively seeking support in face of what might be a greater threat than before.
"Look!" Riki cried, pointing up.
Another beam came from the ship, this one different from the others, much wider and not quite as bright. It bathed the pavement a few yards away in a shimmering glow that vanished almost at once. When it was gone, it left behind several men in strange uniforms and at their backs, three of Jupiter's androids! One of the men, tall and bearded, with a clear, grey gaze, came forward, hands up and open of threat. "Iason Mink?" he greeted them, looking straight at the Blondie.
Iason, with a warning look at the others, stepped forward.
"I'm Captain Jason Marks of the Terran Star Guard. I understand from your computer, Jupiter, that you've been the unwilling guest of some renegades we've been chasing. Can we talk?"
Riki sat with Guy on the low, broken wall and watched the two Blondies as they stood several yards away, talking with the Terrans. Two of the three androids stood stolidly on either side of the two mongrels. Although the machines had made no threatening moves, the implication of their presence was obvious and neither man attempted to leave the spot where Iason had left them.
Guy was wounded. Pale, silent, he sat beside Riki, watching the little group across the street. Riki had told him what he knew about the Olympus project and Earth. Guy had listened without comment. Indeed, he seemed almost indifferent to what Riki knew was an amazing event.
"Riki?"
Riki turned to his friend. Guy had dropped his eyes to the ground. He held his injured arm tight against him.
"Guy..."
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what I did and the way I acted. I had no right to come between you and Iason. I – I didn't understand." He hesitated a moment. "I don't expect you to forgive me, but I wanted – I wanted you to know."
"It's all right." Riki lay a hand on the other man's knee and saw Guy's mouth twist in pain that had nothing to do with his arm.
Across the road, the Terrans moved away. The beam of light came back. Riki blinked and Guy swore as the men from Earth vanished. There was a subtle change in the rumble overhead and the gargantuan ship began to move away. Riki watched it go, awed.
The Blondies walked toward them, the third android at their heels. Raoul's face was somber, but Iason smiled at Riki and held out his hand. Riki leapt to his feet and ran to him, going gladly into Iason's embrace. "We're going home?"
"Yes," said Iason.
Riki looked at Raoul, but Raoul was looking at Guy who remained on the wall, head bowed.
"Iason..." began Raoul.
"No," said Iason harshly. "You know what she will say. None of this, not the abduction, not the communication with the Star Guard – none of it – can get out."
"But..."
"Raoul!" Iason's voice took on a dangerous edge. Startled, Riki looked at the two friends. Raoul set his jaw and turned away, hands shoved into his pockets.
"What's wrong?" asked Riki, uneasiness creeping up through his relief.
"Nothing," said Iason.
Guy got off the wall and started toward them, only to have one of the androids reach out a bulky metallic arm and block his way. So he stood where he was, staring at Raoul who turned his back.
"Iason. What's going on."
"That is Jupiter's decision," said Iason and the look in his eye warned Riki that he was treading upon dangerous ground.
Riki looked again at Guy who stood behind the android, bewildered and lost. Anger swept through him then. He turned on Iason, fists clenched. "She's going to have him killed, isn't she? Just to keep this damned secret!"
"Riki!" Iason set his hands on Riki's stiff shoulders. "Stop it!"
"Maybe Minton and the others were right," Riki raced on bitterly, recklessly. "Maybe we should destroy..."
"Shhhh." Iason grabbed Riki, pulling him close. Riki shoved away. Iason stared at him helplessly, then looked across at Raoul. To Riki, it looked as if the other Blondie was as emotionless as ever, but Iason's mouth tightened and something akin to pain flared in his eyes. "I'll do what I can," he said finally.
Guy was back on the wall, huddled into himself, looking at none of them. In the distance, Riki heard a new sound, this one the familiar hum of a small air transport.
"Our ride," said Iason. "Time to go home."