Abandoned, p.28
Abandoned, page 28
part #2 of Donovan Series
“Now, now, Art, back down. The last thing we want to do is take it up with Spiro. Not until some damn fool puts a gun to our heads. No, no.”
Dan stepped around, bottle in hand, and poured another splash into Tompzen’s glass. Meeting the panicked marine’s eyes, he kindly asked, “You can’t cover any seventeen thousand SDRs, am I right?”
“I’ll figure it out, Dan. I swear. I mean, damn. If Aguila ever finds out?” He winced. “Shit, they’d shoot me. I mean, I’ve been watching that woman. She’s already pissed about the mine being off schedule and the fucking trees taking over. And then she gets cut up by mobbers. Now’s not the time to get in her shit. And she was dead serious about The Jewel being off limits.”
“So, we work around it,” Dan told him, a reassuring tone in his voice.
“Boss, we can’t afford to be stiffed,” Art muttered. “Not for seventeen thousand! Hey, I like Kalen, too. But word gets out that you let him walk owing seventeen k, and we might as well close the fucking doors and call ourselves suckers.”
“Then what, Art? Take it out on poor Tompzen, here?” Dan asked.
The marine turned another shade of pale.
“People who short us have a habit of . . .” Art didn’t finish the sentence. Didn’t need to. Tompzen had gone spring-wire tense as the cold realization ran through him.
“No!” Dan barked. “Look, Art, Kalen’s not one of those shitty little pricks.” Dan fixed on the marine’s nervous eyes. “Kalen, you say you’re good for it. I say you’re good for it.”
“But, boss!” Art cried.
“There’s other things than money,” Dan insisted patiently. “I mean, okay. Kalen, you don’t have the seventeen k, right? How about we work this off in other ways?”
“What other ways?” The man swallowed hard.
“Easy stuff. Favors. I mean, you don’t really like that Supervisor of yours, do you? You’ve never really come out and said it—a point in your favor by the way—but you think Aguila’s a snappy, spoiled, Corporate cunt, right? She’s running that mine down there like she’s a tin god. And a couple of days back, didn’t I hear you say you wished the damn mobbers had finished the job?”
Tompzen, scared stiff, jerked the faintest of nods.
“Yeah,” Dan settled a haunch on his desk and gave the marine a knowing smile. “Hey, you’re among friends. We’re all on the same side here. Me, I’ve had more than my share of problems with Aguila. Given half a chance, the slit would cut my throat in a second. Good thing I got out from under her contract.”
Dan paused to let the words sink in, then added, “You could, too. There’s a way out of this for a really smart man. Let’s face facts: Aguila can’t make it. Not if what I hear is true. The forest is going to win. It’s overrunning her farm. And now the wildlife is whittling away the people down there. Even came within a pendejo’s width of killing Aguila, high and mighty Supervisor that she is. They’re going to have to move the smelter, or watch the trees take it. It’s just a matter of time, right?”
Tompzen frowned slightly, nodded. “She’s losing.”
Dan set the bottle on the desk and crossed his arms. “Of course she is. She might have been ‘God and Thunder’ back in Solar System, a Corporate Supervisor with all the delusions of invincibility. But Donovan doesn’t take Corporate orders. So, the question remains: What happens when she fails? What does a man like you—a man who plans ahead—look forward to after Aguila’s plans go to shit?”
“I’m still a marine. Have to take whatever orders Spiro gives.”
“Kalen, think larger. Me? I stepped off Turalon expecting to herd cattle. What kind of future is that? But, as in all things, Donovan had already attended to the damn cows. Yet here I am. Outside of Aguila, I’m the richest man on this planet. Master of my own empire. People live and die at my command. What could you do if you had the opportunity? What heights could you rise to if you were on the right team?”
Tompzen winced, smart enough to sense the trap. “What do you want me to do?”
“Well, I sure as hell don’t want you shot for breaking Aguila’s rules! And you do owe me seventeen grand. But, if you have the balls, if you’re smart enough, you could come out of this in a year or so with everything you’ve ever dreamed.” A beat. “Assuming you can dream large enough, and that you can use your head.”
Tompzen worked his lips. Shot a glance at Allison who sat with her finger on his column in the ledger book. The poor sap knew that Art was behind him for a reason, and it wasn’t good. Knew that Dan held his life cupped in the palm of a hand. Yeah, he was smart enough to know when his neck was fully in the noose.
“Okay, I guess I’m in.”
“That’s the ticket!” Dan clapped his hands. Reached for the bottle, and poured another splash into Tompzen’s glass. “Welcome to the winning team. Now, why don’t you go out and collect Angelina. We’re slow. Take her back to her room for a couple of hours. Drop a little mash, and let her turn you every which way but loose. I mean, the lady has some serious talent when she’s allowed the time to use it.”
Tompzen was smiling in anticipation as he stood and hurried for the door.
“Bingo!” Dan said softly as the man closed the door behind him.
45
“Trish! Trouble at the hospital!” Two Spots’ voice announced in Trish’s ear as she left the main gate checkpoint on her appointed rounds. Up until now the twilight evening had been quiet. All of the posts were manned, the gates secured, everyone on the security rotation in their places.
She immediately broke into a run, weaving a path around the warehouses, dodging old and broken equipment, vaulting over the occasional box or crate.
She hammered her way around the curve of Inga’s and onto the avenue. Ran full-out for the hospital where a crowd had gathered out front.
Even as she pulled up, Talina stepped out the double front doors, her slick-action automatic rifle held crossways before her.
“What the hell is going on here?” Talina demanded, bracing herself before the door, feet positioned for combat.
The crowd growled back at her. Maybe fifteen men, a handful of women, and a couple of male teens. The people shifted, all bearing rifles of various makes and calibers.
Bernie Monson stepped forward, his arm hanging in a sling. Beside him, Wye Vanveer, another of the miners from the clay pit, thrust a finger in Talina’s direction.
“It’s like this,” Vanveer began. “Bernie’s got a broken arm. Broke it yesterday, and he ain’t going in no building with a fucking quetzal in it.”
Vanveer glanced around at the crowd that was muttering in assent. “None of us are. So, we’ve been discussing it. It’s our damned hospital. Doesn’t belong to no Wild One. Let alone some abomination of a girl who’s mated up with a quetzal. You ask me, that’s just freaking unnatural. So, here’s the thing: You charge that aircar of theirs, load these damned Wild Ones up, and ship their asses back to where they came from.”
“Damn straight!” Bernie bellowed, wobbling slightly on his feet. He cradled his broken arm, adding, “What the hell, Tal? I been in agony for the last damn day ’cause I ain’t going in no place with a stinking quetzal lurking around.”
“And it’s not just them,” Sian Hmong cried as she stepped forward. The delicate-boned woman added a whole new level of complexity to the equation. Miners? Tal could just crack their heads. Mothers and teachers? That was a whole new ballgame.
Hmong knotted a dainty fist in emphasis. “At the school, we’re half-petrified. I’ve been talking to the other parents. Our kids aren’t sleeping. We’re spending nights up with the guns ready. It’s like having a predator constantly lurking in your shadow. The quetzal goes. That’s final.”
“Ever since these people came here, it’s gone to shit,” Bernie muttered, blinking his eyes hard. “Like a cascade of events. I mean, would Felicity have died if they hadn’t shown up with that beast? Heard you and Spiro got into it over the murdering little bastard. That’s why she tried to blow you up, right? Over the quetzal? So you actually put a gun in her back to stop her from doing what’s right?”
Trish slowly eased around to one side, figuring just where the best angle was going to be to make a difference when this all came apart.
Talina, however, smiled, shifting her rifle to brace it on her hip. “Listen, I’ve been keeping an eye on the quetzal. He hasn’t so much as flickered an angry color. If you’d just all relax and give Rocket a break—”
“Rocket? You’ve named it?” Bernie demanded, weaving more on his feet.
From Bernie’s flushed expression and glassy eyes, Trish figured he’d been down at Inga’s slugging down “painkiller” for most of the day.
“Yeah, it’s named.” Talina took another step forward, hot glare settling on Bernie’s. “What of it? You want two broken arms? Just push me.”
Sian Hmong, backed by Amal Oshanti and Friga Dushku—women who essentially ran the school—stepped forward, arms crossed defiantly. The teens followed along uncertainly behind them.
“You going to break our arms?” Sian asked. “We want our families safe. We demand that you, Shig, Yvette, and whoever else, get that thing out of Port Authority, or by God in heaven, I’m going in there and shooting it dead myself.”
“No one is going in to shoot the quetzal,” Talina said.
“Or what?” Sian demanded. “You going to shoot me down, Tal? To protect that thing?”
“Or me?” Amal Dushku almost spit out the question. “Because I’m coming right behind Sian.”
“And you’re going to have to kill me, too,” Friga added, her square jaw set, her green eyes slitted. “I lost two of my boys to quetzals. I’ve got two girls left. And as God is my witness, no filthy quetzal is going to get them. Not while I’m alive. So here’s how it goes: You either get that damn monster out of our hospital, or we’re doing it. Period. Decision’s made.”
Talina again shifted her rifle, dark eyes darting from person to person. Then she shot a look Trish’s way.
“We’re held hostage here,” Vanveer cried. “I’m with Bernie. I’d rather live with a broken arm than go in there with that thing.”
“And what if it’s one of the kids who gets hurt? You going to put a child in there next door to that thing?” Amal Oshanti asked.
“Not while I’m drawing a breath,” Sian followed up fervently.
“You’re on that thing’s side, aren’t you?” Bernie asked, slurring the words. “That’s the story, ain’t it? That you got a quetzal inside you? That what this is all about? You’re on that little girl’s side. You’re . . . you’re infected with that thing’s blood and stuff.”
Trish watched the others nod, shuffle their feet with new resolution.
Talina’s lips twitched, her eyes narrowed.
Uh-oh. Bad sign.
“Hey, people!” Trish bellowed, bulling her way forward before Talina came unglued. “That’s damned well enough! First point. Talina’s killed more quetzals than anyone in Port Authority. Second point. Most of you wouldn’t be here today if she hadn’t covered your mangy asses sometime in the past. So whichever one of you wants to pick at scabs? You come to me, and we’ll see how it ends.”
Trish turned. “Tal, you’ve been on the inside keeping Raya and everybody else safe. You don’t know what’s festering out here. Half the town’s stewing. Especially after what happened to Felicity. And yeah, it’s not the little girl’s fault, but facts are facts. If that if the quetzal hadn’t been here, you and Spiro wouldn’t have gotten into it.”
“The lieutenant was going to shoot Dya Simonov to get to the quetzal. Don’t fucking pin this on me, Trish.” Talina’s eyes had taken on that stone-dead quality.
A shiver ran down Trish’s spine. Shit. She’d never thought she’d see Talina look at her that way.
“Tal, all I’m saying is that there’s more to this than just that little girl. It’s no one’s damn fault, but one way or another it’s tearing this community apart. It’s time to fix it.”
Talina’s jaw muscles knotted.
Trish stepped forward, heart pounding. Stopping just short of Talina’s rifle, she added, “The hospital belongs to the community. You know I’m right.”
Talina took a deep breath. “Yeah.”
“Work with me?”
Talina sidestepped to face the crowd. “Quetzal’s gone tomorrow.” A pause. “But if that little girl develops complications? Dies out there in the bush? That’ll be on your shoulders, and I sure as hell won’t forget.”
She turned, started for the door, then called over her shoulder, “Bernie. I’m sending Raya out to fix that arm of yours.”
And Trish barely heard Talina’s muttered, “Piece of shit that you are.”
Then she was inside, the doors swinging shut behind her.
46
The fact that it was Trish, of all people, who’d sided with them. That burned deep down inside.
Talina strode angrily down the hallway; didn’t bother to knock on Raya’s door, but burst in, asking, “Tell me about Kylee. If she has to go home, what are her chances?”
Raya jumped, eyes gone wide. “Jesus.” She took a breath, collecting herself. “I mean, well, as long as there’s no post-operative infection, as long as she doesn’t reinjure the bones, she’d probably be fine. Why? What’s happened?”
“Bernie fucking Monson, clay miner extraordinaire, is standing outside the front door with an armed posse. He’s got a broken arm, he’s drunker than a lord, and he’s scared to set foot inside the hospital because he just knows Rocket is going to eat him.”
“An armed posse?”
“Hey, they’ve been waiting out there for days. People are getting tired of it.” Talina slapped a hand to the wall. “Damn it, if Rocket hasn’t caused trouble so far, why would they think he’s going to go berserk now?”
“Because Spiro is stirring things up. There were gunshots in the hospital. Someone blew up your house and murdered Felicity. Aguila’s operation is failing down south, and she’s in here, too. We’ve just learned what mobbers are, and what they can do. Folks are eventually wondering if they’re going to come here now that they’ve had a taste of human flesh. And, finally, there’s a quetzal in their hospital. It’s supposed to be a place of sanctuary. Work it out, Tal.”
Talina took a breath, feeling her own quetzal stirring. “And they’re blaming me. Say I’m infected with quetzal. That that’s why I’m protecting Rocket. The implication is that I can’t be trusted anymore.”
Raya’s knowing brown eyes softened. “Stressful times, huh? What do you want to do?”
“I said Rocket would be out of here tomorrow. I could deal with the hotheads like Monson and Vanveer. I can’t fight the families when it’s Sian, Amal, Friga and their like worrying about the safety of their kids and the rest of the children.”
Raya nodded. “My advice? Go tonight. Tomorrow would be like a circus show. Everyone’s going to want to watch Rocket the pet quetzal fly off in an aircar. No telling who might demonstrate an error in judgment that could turn catastrophic.”
“Yeah.” Talina accessed her com. “Two Spots? Patch me through to Trish.”
“Roger that.”
A second later. “Trish here. What’s up, Tal?”
“How’s the crowd out front?”
“Congratulating themselves. The women have left. My bet is that once Bernie’s arm’s set, most of them will go to Inga’s.”
“Okay, I’m sending Raya out to set that asshole’s arm.” Talina took a deep breath. “Look, it’s getting dark out there. I know it’s an imposition, but I need you to take an escort past the gate to the aircar field. My outfit, the one with the night vision gear, should be charged up. Drop it off at the hospital back door.”
“Tal, are you out of your mind? You’re flying that damn quetzal out tonight? Didn’t we decide night flying was a bad idea?”
“Hey, Trish. I just had my legs chopped out from under me. And you helped them do it. Remember? Since I’m on my own here, I’ll run it my way. Now, can you get my aircar to the back door, or should I go get it myself?” She regretted her tone of voice the moment she said it: bitter, pissed, and resentful.
“Go fuck yourself, Tal. I’ll have your damn aircar at the back door in fifteen minutes.”
47
Talbot sat on the edge of Kylee’s bed, arm around Dya’s shoulders. The monitors were glowing, the room feeling warm and snug. Rocket lay curled on the floor making curious purring sounds.
“So, if we can’t think of a way to escape this place, if Aguila’s going to make it us or Mundo Base, what does this mean for Rebecca and Su and the rest of us?” Kylee asked.
“It means we have a choice,” Dya told her. “We can try and escape. Get away from here before you’re well. It means we’ll have to find a way to get you out of the hospital, somehow sneak you to the airfield, and steal an aircar. Then we have to make sure we’re not followed on the way home.”
“But they’ll come looking for us,” Mark said wearily. “They know we exist. Your wonderful salves are curing Aguila. She’s practically quivering with curiosity about how you’ve managed to adapt to the forest. And, Dya, that woman is desperate. She’ll stop at nothing.”
“The base is falling apart, Mark,” Dya told him. “Are we just fooling ourselves? Especially if within a year we’re living on the ground?”
“Other people live on the ground. I’ve heard of the Briggs, the Philos, and Andanis. Can’t be that hard. We’ve got standing structures that can be defended. Locally there’s stone. Lots of timber. We can build something more suited for habitation and defense than the shops and sheds.”
