LINKS
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The Christa Affair
Chapter Thirty-Nine
(.... "Single presence, Jashi. Male. I can \feel\ him! ....")
(.... ???? .... "Yeah, I caught it. Careful ....") Jashi was afraid to say more. Could their captor sense \them\? He didn't dare probe to find out.
"Uzis first, then the pistols," intoned the voice from the darkness. "Nice and slow-like... This scatter-gun is real messy!"
They did as the unseen voice instructed. "Now Captain Abram, turn around -- real slow." he said. "And no funny business with the weapon strapped to your arm." Karli started to turn with him. "The rest of you stay put!" the voice snapped.
Jashi stepped away from Karli as he turned. (.... "Don't! ....") he ordered as she tensed to cause a diversion.
"Wise choice, Captain!" said the voice from the darkness. "I really don't want to kill you." He stepped forward into the entrance-way, and for a brief moment his silhouette was visible in a flicker of distant lightning. It was a child... Or a pygmy. "I was your escort at the \Decaying Orbit\, Captain."
"You knew I was telepathic then?"
"Yes. Pig-Mug will pay real well for you, dead or alive, and if that sack's got what I think it has, I'm gonna be \very\ rich!"
Jashi and Karli had severed their contact, now Jashi blanked out his mind to the invasions of the boy. "You wish to bargain." It was a statement, not a question.
There was a moment's hesitation, then in a voice not quite so certain, "I wish to leave this world; you have a starship. Your life for my freedom." There was a long pause. "I would not wish my worst enemy to be a prisoner of \Mijnheer\," he added in a tired voice that somehow sounded very old.
This was incredible. Here they were, held prisoner by a ten year old wielding gods-only-knew what kind of a weapon from within the darkness of the doorway -- it was too dark to tell... A thought formed in Jashi's mind. Where would a ragged street urchin get a weapon? \Was\ it a weapon? If he hadn't stepped away from Karli, if he were just close enough to touch her to get her attention... Jashi felt confident he could do it with her help -- alone he wasn't so sure.
Without warning he probed -- hard, intense -- the kind of assault one would never use on a telepartner. The boy gasped. Jashi knew -- and the boy knew that he knew. The length of heavy vine that masqueraded as a weapon clattered to the floor as their captor turned and fled into the darkness.
(.... "Karli! Now! ....") Together they reached out. Fleeing feet tripped over one another and ended up at the bottom of a twisted pile of flesh and coarse dirty cloth; Jashi was on top of him before he could move.
He flailed out once with his fist, then all resistance drained from his angular body as Jashi pinned his arms to the floor. He began to cry, softly cursing in a language they had never heard before.
(.... "Jashi?"....")
(....!! .... "\No\!! ....")
There was a noise up the street, to the north; lights could be seen bobbing in the distance. (.... "There's no time, Jashi! Come with me, if you think there's danger....")
(.... "I can't, Karli! There's only been you ....") He \would not\ let another into his mind. She felt his fear.
He held her hand, contact withdrawn, as she entered the mind of the distraught youth huddled on the floor. Jashi's needlegun pointed at the boy's heart; if it was a trick, and he had to kill him, he only hoped Karli would survive the shock.
The crying quieted, and in the dim light of Rang's shielded torch they could see the knotted form slowly relax. "Wake up, Tad... I want to speak to you," said Karli aloud. She smiled at Jashi and he realized he was squeezing her hand -- hard. He relaxed his grip and expelled a sigh of relief.
"It's scary, Jash... But I'm okay," she said. Then to the boy: "Tad, we'll deal."
(.... ??? .... "What the...?....") Jashi forgot himself.
(... "It's okay, Jashi. Like this....") There was a subtle shift in the link, indescribable, a bit like what they did to block out the weak but annoying mental presence of the other crew-members right after a session with the Teacher. It's okay now. He can't even tell we're here. He won't try a frontal assault. I have his confidence for the moment... He's twelve, not ten.
The sounds of approaching footsteps grew louder up the street, and with it, the sound of voices. They couldn't understand the words, but the tone of the sparse conversation was nasty.
Tad regarded Karli suspiciously. "For me, and for Marty?" His tone was no longer that of an adult -- he was a little boy, pleading.
Who's Marty? What kind of name is that?
"Yes Tad, for Marty," His bird. Uhh... mate. "and for the third, also, the one you are hiding from the police."
Female? Marty? At his age? ... ??? ... Hiding \who\ from the police?
"How...?" Tad was obviously unaware of how deeply Karli had probed.
...Laughter... Ease up, Darling! I'll explain in a minute.
"Jashi, they're in the next block!" hissed Roi from the door.
"Tad, we must hurry!" Karli urged. He seemed to make a decision -- to trust her. "Hide us till sunup, and we'll take the three of you with us... I promise!"
Tad led the way in total darkness; they formed a human chain behind him, each holding onto the person ahead. They started toward the back of the building, but soon Jashi was completely lost as the group moved from room to room, from building to building, twice descending rubble-strewn stairs without benefit of the torches.
Down a third flight of stairs -- much longer this time -- and Jashi could sense that they were deep underground. He wondered idly how the boy could navigate the maze without light; the fingers of his left hand involuntarily curled a little tighter around Karli's belt. The stairs ended in what felt and sounded like a long passageway; he bumped Karli lightly as she stopped short to keep from colliding with their guide.
Tad ushered them thru a door that opened silently on well-lubricated hinges; it closed softly behind them. "Welcome to my home," said the boy cheerfully. "Watch your eyes." The four of them gasped in unbelief as the lights came on. The room was elegant!
"Uuhhh..." It was collective. None of them could think of anything intelligent to say. The boy laughed.
"Nice digs, huh, Captain? As nice as your stateroom, maybe?" His tone took on a edge of belligerence. "Open the bags! I wanna see what ya got." The hostility was more obvious.
... ?? ... He's sure cocky all of a sudden. Are you \sure\ you have his confidence?
Don't panic, Darling. He's just regaining his dignity. Let him strut a little. She felt sure she could control him telepathically if it became necessary; she carefully kept the thought from Jashi.
"I \thought\ so!" Tad exclaimed triumphantly as Roi unzipped the duffelbag containing DeCarlo. Tad began to laugh uproariously. "That sure ain't what Pig-Mug \thought\ you were stealing! What have you done to him?"
"He's tranked," replied Jashi. "He was reluctant to come with us. Tried to suicide." He successfully resisted the temptation to ask what Pig-Mug had thought he was loosing.
Tad's laugh changed. The humor left it, and suddenly the sound was filled with intense bitterness. "I've waited for this for months, and you hand him to me. Drugged and helpless! It's too damned easy!"
Karli?
He wants to kill him, Jashi. Slowly.
The ragged boy composed himself, and seemed to grow a little before their eyes. "Sit if ya wanna. I'll be back in a minute." He disappeared thru a door in the corner of the room.
"What do you make of it, Jashi?" asked Rang, looking around the room in awe. It was spacious -- at least forty feet on a side -- and lavishly furnished. The carpet beneath their feet felt inches thick, and the lighting seemed to come from everywhere, much as that in the underground city of L'sa'ria.
Jashi had no answer. He was saved from the question by the arrival of another young Human. This one was female, pubescent. Clothed in a clean dress of light blue, her demeanor imparted an air of elegance to the simple garment; dark-brown eyes peered intelligently at them from a pretty, pouty-child face framed by curly brown hair that was almost blond. "I am Marty," she said in a quiet, cultured voice. "Please forgive Tad's inexcusable lack of manners. He is inexperienced in proper social behavior... I'm \trying\ to educate him." She sighed; it sounded a bit exaggerated. "Welcome to our home. May I offer you a drink?"
Karli probed, tested. Once she lightly brushed the boy, but from the female named Marty there was nothing; this one wasn't telepathic. "Something cool and effervescent, please," she said softly, "and thank you for your hospitality, Marty... I am Karli."
They made Suu as comfortable as possible on the soft floor while they waited. She was unconscious, and her skin felt clammy, but her vital signs were stable. Marty returned with the drinks, and the four of them huddled together on the plush couch; the girl sat across from them in an enormous chair. "He's going to kill him, you know," she said matter-of-factly. "I can't stop him, even if I wanted to."
"She's right, Captain." It was Tad, standing in the doorway. The coarse dirty wrap was gone; he wore clean, casual street clothes, suitable for all but the most elegant establishments of the city. In his right hand was an L'sa'rian super-optic particle-beam weapon. "And \you\ can't stop me either!"
CHAPTER FORTY
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