Scifi Motherlode Page 13

  "Don’t provoke them," said Candle. "Not yet. We’re so outnumbered, let’s put off a fight as long as we can." With that, he turned his attention to Luma. "So," he said, shifting his voice to a less serious tone. "What’s your friend’s name?"

  Luma looked up at him, a puzzled expression on her glittering, deep blue face. She looked down at her doll then, and understood. "Her name is Gala," she said.

  "How long’ve you and Gala been together?" said Candle.

  Luma raised the doll to her ear. "Gala says we’ve been together since I was a little girl."

  Candle smiled. "Cool." He still held on to Luma with his left hand and continually scanned his warflower back and forth with his right. "And how did the two of you meet?"

  "Mommy and Daddy gave her to me," said Luma.

  "The last time you saw your mommy and daddy, what were they doing?" said Candle.

  "They were sleeping," said Luma.

  "For a long time?" said Stiletto.

  "I think so," said Luma. "I woke up and went for a walk. I wanted to go home to get my dreambook, but then I couldn’t find home."

  "So your family was somewhere other than home," said Candle. "What did this place look like?"

  "Big," said Luma. "And dark." She raised the doll to her ear and listened for a moment. "Gala says Mommy and Daddy will be mad at me."

  "Why is that?" said Stiletto.

  "I wasn’t supposed to open the door," said Luma. "I wasn’t supposed to go outside."

  "Because of the Skilla?" said Candle.

  "Uh-huh," said Luma. "They’re holy, but they can hurt you." Again, she listened to the doll. "Gala says they’re going to hurt all of us, and it’ll be my fault because I opened the door."

  "Try to help Gala not worry so much," said Candle. "Tell her we’re going to take good care of you."

  "Okay," said Luma.

  Just then, something heavy and hard hit the ground near Stiletto.

  Everyone stopped in their tracks. Luma gasped and threw herself against Candle.

  Spinning, Stiletto threw light in the direction of the noise. A block of stone, big as a human head, lay in the street barely three meters away.

  Suddenly, Stiletto heard a clatter of approaching claws and caught the smell of vinegar in the air. A quick glance at her flash-brain screen confirmed the evidence of her ears, and she whirled around.

  Two blips had disengaged from the unseen crowd of Skilla and were charging directly at Candle and Luma.

  Without a word, Stiletto fired her warflower, shooting a crackling bolt of energy into the fog. Immediately, she heard a wailing screech, erupting loud and close enough to hurt her ears. Through a tunnel burned in the fog by the warflower’s beam, she glimpsed shining silver eyes like a pair of coins suspended in midair.

  Stiletto lashed the warflower around, seeking the second oncoming Skilla. She was rewarded with another raging screech. Then, with a flurry of clattering claws, the creatures hurtled away, their cries receding in the distance.

  "So much for putting off a fight," said Candle.

  "These creatures’re pretty smart," said Stiletto. "They staged a diversion by throwing that stone, then came at us from the other direction."

  Luma tugged on Candle’s uniform then, and he and Stiletto looked down. The little girl’s face was pinched in an expression of pure anguish. Her glittering skin was so fiery red that it looked like it would be hot to the touch.

  "Gala says you lied!" Inky, black tears streamed down her face. "She says the Skilla are going to get us!"

  "Tell Gala it’s okay to be scared," said Candle, "but things can turn out fine no matter how scary they seem."

  Luma shuddered with sobs. "Gala doesn’t believe you!"Stiletto searched her mind for a plan to calm the child, then crouched down beside her. "That’s because Gala hasn’t heard the story of the girl with the invisible friend," said Stiletto. "Have you?"

  Still sobbing, Luma shook her head. The inky tears rolled off her jaw and fell onto her white shift, staining it with spatters of black.

  "You think Gala might like to hear the story?" said Stiletto, ignoring a whooping scream-laugh in the distance.

  Luma shrugged.

  Stiletto got to her feet and scooped up the child in one smooth motion. "Once upon a time," she said, "there was a lonely little girl. She didn’t have any friends, because her parents kept moving from planet to planet all the time."

  Luma’s tears stopped flowing. "No friends at all?" she said, her skin shifting from bright red to maroon.

  "None," said Stiletto. "Then, one day, she heard a voice. It seemed to be coming from thin air. ‘I’ll be your friend,’ said the voice."

  Luma’s face relaxed from a frown to an expression of wide-eyed interest. Her skin went from maroon to violet.

  "The girl couldn’t see who was talking," said Stiletto. "She was scared, but she was so lonely that she said, ‘Sure, you can be my friend.’

  "So from that day on, the girl had an invisible friend. There was just one problem."

  "What?" said Luma. "What problem?"

  "The invisible friend was mean," said Stiletto, "but the girl didn’t find out right away."

  "When did she find out?" said Luma.

  Stiletto raised an eyebrow. "To be continued," she said. "If you’re good, I’ll tell you the rest of the story later."

  "But I want to know now!" said Luma, scowling.

  "I’ll tell you after we’ve gone a little further," said Stiletto. She lowered the child to the pavement and held her hand.

  "But I can’t wait!" said Luma.

  "Later," Stiletto said sternly.

  "All right," said Luma. Though she sounded unhappy, the dark green color of her skin revealed her true feelings. Her terrified panic was gone, replaced by a calmer composure.

  Candle leaned close to Stiletto and whispered in her ear. "Way to handle the kid," he said. "I didn’t know you had it in you."

  Stiletto nodded without smiling, but she felt a rush of warmth at what he’d said.

  *****

  Candle thought it was a good thing that Luma became obsessed with pestering Stiletto to continue her story. The Skilla were growing bolder, and he was glad the little girl’s mind was on something else.

  Again and again, the creatures raced close and bolted away. They dropped stones and bones and shingles from above, littering the route with debris.

  And their numbers, according to the flash-brain, continued to grow. Candle wondered how many more of the creatures would join the pack over the kilometer and a half that he, Stiletto, and Luma had yet to walk. He wondered what other surprises the Skilla would spring.

  Unfortunately, he didn’t have to wait long for the next one. It happened just as Stiletto was about to continue her story.

  "All right," she said, finally giving in to Luma’s repeated requests to know what happened next. "I’ll tell you a little more."

  Luma’s skin was pale green, which Candle knew by now meant the child felt at ease. "Tell me!" she said.

  Before Stiletto could get out a word, the rocks started flying.

  Candle felt something strike his arm with a stinging impact. As he whipped around, he felt another solid object collide with his kneecap.

  A shower of rocks followed, hurtling straight toward him from out of the fog.

  Candle opened fire with the warflower, punching the searing beam through the murk. "Get down!"

  Behind him, he heard the whine of Stiletto’s warflower firing at the same time as his, lashing out at the other side of the street.

  Another volley of rocks leaped out of the fog from a different spot. Candle spun and fired there, too, then combed the beam along the street to pick off any additional ambushers lying in wait.

  The bombardment ended, giving way to a deafening chorus of shrieks and screams from all directions.

  "Everybody all right?" said Candle.

  Even as he said it, he could see the answer to his question.

  Luma was sp
rawled on the pavement, eyes closed. Her skin was white as a bedsheet except for a blazing red welt above her left eye.

  *****

  "How is she?" said Candle, standing guard while Stiletto scanned Luma’s head with her fingertip sensor pads.

  "Lots of swelling in there," said Stiletto. "She might have a concussion."

  "Can we treat her?"

  Stiletto removed the first aid kit from a hip pocket of her black flowsuit. "Just the surface wound," she said, yanking a tubular spray applicator from the kit. "The deep swelling’s another matter." Stiletto ran the tip of the applicator over the welt on Luma’s forehead, administering a spray of antiseptic, anesthetic, and anti-inflammatory agents. "Her body’s different from anything I’ve worked on before. Trying to treat the internal injury could do more harm than good."

  "Should we keep her awake in case there’s a concussion?" said Candle.

  "Damned if I know. If she was human, I’d say definitely."

  "Let’s risk it, then," said Candle. "If we can wake her up."

  "Roger that," said Stiletto, brushing a strand of blond hair out of her face.

  The Skilla continued to howl and scream-laugh as Candle bent down by Luma’s right ear. "Luma," he said. "Wake up. It’s time to wake up."

  Luma didn’t twitch.

  "Please, Luma," said Candle, raising his voice. "We need you to wake up."

  Still nothing.

  Stiletto leaned close to Luma’s left ear. "Do you want to know what happened next?" she said.

  Finally, Luma stirred. Her snow-white skin fluxed pink, then shifted to pale orange.

  And her red, faceted eyes flickered open.

  "Yes," she said softly. "Please tell me."

  *****

  As the Skilla kept circling and raising a ruckus, Candle and Stiletto continued toward the source of the mechanical vibrations.

  Stiletto carried Luma in her arms and told her more about the little girl with the invisible friend...in other words, the story of Stiletto herself and the Squatter who had made her a Wipeout. Luma’s skin shifted from pale orange to deep green, a change that Stiletto took as a good sign.

  Stiletto told Luma how the little girl’s invisible friend had played tricks on her and gotten her to play tricks on other people. (She didn’t mention the fact that the "tricks" consisted of bloody killing sprees that claimed the lives of her own family and countless strangers.) Though the tricks the girl played were mean, Stiletto said, the invisible friend fooled her into thinking they were fun.

  When Stiletto got to the part where the policeman showed up, Candle interrupted.

  "What’s our status?" he said.

  Stiletto scanned their surroundings with her left-fingertip sensor pads. "Same as before."

  Candle sighed. "How long till dawn?"

  "About an hour," said Stiletto. "You thinking they’re anti-daylight?"

  "Hoping," said Candle. He looked at Luma. "What’s the word on you-know-who?"

  "Swelling’s worse," said Stiletto.

  "Let’s hope those vibrations lead us to a doctor," said Candle.

  Stiletto smirked. "What a day, huh?"

  "Easy-peasy." Right after Candle said it, he winked one dark brown eye and gave Stiletto’s shoulder a squeeze.

  As his fingers pressed and released, Stiletto felt her face warm with a blush.

  *****

  Candle was surprised, a little later, when Luma asked him to tell her a story.

  She probably just wanted him to kill time while Stiletto took a break...but he figured he’d give it a shot. Anything to keep Luma awake, especially since she’d been yawning more and more often lately.

  "Okay," said Candle. "Let’s see." He thought for a moment, scrubbing his fingers through his wavy, salt-and-pepper hair. "I know," he said at last. "Have you heard the story of the lonely policeman?"

  "No," said Luma, shaking her head. "Please tell me."

  Candle cleared his throat. He’d decided to pick up Stiletto’s story where she’d left off, but from his point of view.

  "Once upon a time," he said, pacing the floor, "there was a lonely policeman. He was always busy, because these mean invisible friends kept making people play tricks on each other."

  Luma yawned and rubbed her eyes. "You mean like the lonely little girl?"

  "Yeah," said Candle. "As a matter of fact, he went to see that little girl one time. He said, ‘Don’t listen to your invisible friend, little girl. He’s not nice.’"

  "What did the girl say?"

  Candle thought he’d skip over the part about Stiletto trying to kill him while under the Squatter’s control. "To be continued," he said. "I’ll tell you later."

  *****

  "This is dawn?" said Candle, looking around at what was really just a brighter version of the same old fog.

  "I guess it’s better than dark fog, at least," said Stiletto.

  "Not much of a silver lining if you ask me," said Candle.

  As they walked, Stiletto and Candle combed their warflowers from side to side, ready to open fire at the first hint of aggression from the Skilla.

  Stiletto knew the creatures were out there, lurking all around in great numbers...but they didn’t make a sound. She heard neither the clack of a nearby claw nor a distant, screaming cry.

  The hairs on the back of her neck wouldn’t stay down. She thought the silence was a lot harder to take than the cacophony of the night before.

  Fortunately, Luma perked up enough to interrupt it. Her glittering skin switched from pale gray to turquoise, and her yawns became less frequent.

  As she walked along between Stiletto and Candle, Luma tugged Stiletto’s hand. "What happened next?" she said. "When the policeman told the little girl her friend wasn’t nice?"

  "Well," said Stiletto. "The invisible friend told the little girl the policeman was the mean one, so the girl tried to make the policeman go away."

  "Did he?" said Luma.

  "No," said Stiletto.

  "But then what?"

  Stiletto heard something crack nearby."To be continued," she said, staring intently in the direction from which she’d heard the sound.

  Instead of pleading with her, as usual, to keep telling the story, Luma turned right around to Candle.

  "Did the policeman go away?" she said.

  Candle smirked. He kept his eyes and warflower trained on the fog as he picked up the story.

  "No," he said. "He made the invisible friend go away instead." With forbidden drugs and hardcore psychic acupuncture, he could’ve added, but he left that out.

  "Did the policeman and the little girl make friends then?" said Luma.

  "The opposite. She hated him." Candle couldn’t resist taking his eyes off the fog long enough to glance Stiletto’s way. She looked aloof as always, but he was sure he spotted a trace of a smile on her face.

  "She hated him?" said Luma.

  "Not forever," said Candle. "As time went on, they got to be friends."

  "Better friends than the invisible friend was," said Stiletto.

  Candle grinned. "Even though they didn’t always get along."

  "You can say that again," said Stiletto.

  "The next thing you know, they were partners," said Candle.

  "And no matter what happened," said Stiletto, "the little girl was glad the policeman had found her."

  Candle was surprised. He’d caught a flash of emotion in her voice that he hadn’t noticed before.

  He looked in Stiletto’s direction. She was looking down at the flash-brain screen on her left forearm, but he had the distinct feeling that she had been looking right at him just an instant before.

  Suddenly then, she stopped in her tracks. "The Skilla are gone," she said.

  Candle stopped. "What do you mean, gone?"

  "I mean gone," said Stiletto. "No sign of them on flash sensors."

  Candle looked around at the murk. "Maybe they hate daylight after all."

  "It’s possible." Stiletto didn’t sound
convinced.

  "Well," said Candle, "let’s not look a gift Skilla in the mouth. How far are we from the source of the mechanical vibrations?"

  "Less than a kilometer," said Stiletto.

  "Then let’s get moving." Candle hoisted Luma off her feet and set out at a brisk jog to cover the remaining ground. Stiletto fell in beside him, watching the flash-brain screen for signs of renewed danger.

  Luma wrapped her arms around Candle’s neck and held on tight. "Guess what?" she said in his ear.

  "What?" said Candle.

  "I know what the names are," said Luma. "The names of the little girl and the policeman."

  "Okay," said Candle. "What are they?"

  "Nona and Pass," said Luma, and she giggled.

  Candle smiled. "Cool," he said.

  "Cool," said Luma, and then she squeezed her arms more tightly around his neck.

  *****

  "Stop," said Stiletto. "This is it."

  Squinting into the fog, she saw a gray metal door set into a low stone bunker at the end of the street.

  "Ventilation system," said Stiletto. "That’s what’s been making those vibrations. It’s pumping stale air out of an underground chamber and pumping in fresh."

  "Sagran bio signs?" said Candle, gently bouncing Luma until her eyes opened. In spite of the run through the streets, Luma’s sleepiness was coming back in force.

  "Lots, but faint," said Stiletto, watching the flash-brain screen on her arm. "We didn’t pick them up earlier because there’s some kind of interference signal."

  "Invisible fence, maybe?" said Candle. "A signal tuned to a frequency that keeps the Skilla out?"

  "Beats me," said Stiletto, "but I think I found a way in." She pointed her fingertip sensors at the windowless stone bunker. "There’s a shaft on the other side of the door, leading underground."

  As Candle started for the bunker, he bounced Luma on his arm. "Look familiar?"

  Luma grinned sleepily. "Yes!" she said, pointing an index finger at the bunker. "This is where Mommy and Daddy take me every year. This is the place I couldn’t find when I got lost."

  "Cool," Candle said with a smile. "Guess you’re not lost anymore."