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"Do you require medical aid?" Mathet asked coldly.
"Give her a min—"
"Be silent, Human!" he snapped.
Ally or not, I shut up.
"Do you require—?"
"No," Saura cut him short. Her voice sounded raspy and weak from her time in suspension. She looked around blearily, then put shaking hands on the side of the SAC and tried to sit up. "I do not require medical aid, ser."
From my own time spent in the damn things, I knew she really did require another few minutes for her body to adjust to the physical changes it was going through. I twitched with the need to reach over and help her, but Mathet's glare held me silent and immobile.
"On your feet, First Astrogator."
She did not move.
Any other time she would be marshaling her strength in preparation for a lunge at her tormentor, but right now, I knew her heart was racing and she was nauseous.
"On your feet—"
"Let me help her," I said.
Mathet ignored me. "Meeroush, get her up. Shoff, take her out of the arm—"
I did not have to hear the rest. They planned to strip me out of the armor, put Saura in it, stuff me in the SAC and walk away.
It was the smart solution to their Human problem.
Their plan didn't account for Anthy—the kid—I corrected. Their plan didn't account for a Human kid wandering around on this world.
The low mechanical rumble and thud of a heavy door sliding open somewhere in the distance froze us all. Getting caught in this warehouse probably wasn't a good thing for them. Getting caught in here with a Human was a potential disaster.
Shoff looked down to extinguish the lumi-stick and I snatched the moment of distraction. I ran, straight-arming her into Mathet as I dove past.
Bad move—left arm.
"Get her!" Mathet hissed.
Biting back a cry of pain, I skidded past the end of the rack into the next row, into darkness, and fumbled along the crates on the far side until I found a gap wide enough to fit inside. I scurried in and crawled. The opening angled off to one side and I followed it, squirming between cartons until I came out in the next aisle over.
The Tabisee helmet had night vision, but I didn't know how to activate it. I scurried down the next aisle, half running, half limping in my ill-fitting armor while chills rolled down my back with the expectation of a clawed hand on my shoulder at any moment.
If the Tabisee wanted to avoid detection by whoever had entered the warehouse, they would have to be cautious in their pursuit. I, however, had to avoid both encounters and dodging down random aisles in the dark was not a good strategy. I needed to find a place to hide.
Life in space had taught me, when in doubt, move to high ground. Turning to the storage rack closest to me, I began to climb.
That spacer logic would have worked out great if I hadn't been coping with both gravity and the armor. The suit did not bend in the places I needed it to bend and the gloves were too short for my fingers to fully flex. Plus, the heavy dust that covered everything caused my hands to slip precariously every time I put my weight on them.
I had worked my way two meters up the face of the rack when the overhead lights blazed on.
At that moment I was glad I didn't have enhanced night vision. I looked over to see a Tabi standing at the mouth of the aisle fifteen meters away. Shoff. She stood, frozen, possibly trying to adjust to the sudden illumination.
The light also revealed a cross support right above me. I grabbed for it, got a tentative hold, and tried to pull myself out of her reach.
It took her a single jump. She snagged one of my feet and hung on, adding her weigh to mine.
The tender new muscles of my left arm shrieked in protest.
I kicked, trying to dislodge her, throwing more weight onto my left side. My new hand slid off the support beam. Desperately, I flailed to reestablish my hold.
The twisting and tugging on the armor took its inevitable toll. I gasped in pain, my right hand lost its grip, and I crashed down on the Tabisee below. We sprawled on the floor.
"You stupid—!" Clambering on top of me, Shoff grabbed me by the shoulders and slammed my head against the floor until I stopped squirming. The helmet protected me from the worst damage, but my head, rattling inside the loose shell, left me too stunned to resist as she hauled me to my feet.
She gave me another hard shake then dragged me back to rejoin the others.
Mathet and Meeroush had moved out into the center aisle and several rows farther down than we'd previously been. It seemed a confusing tactic for a stealth operation until Shoff pulled me to a stop and I realized there were a lot more black-clad figures standing around in the warehouse light. I blinked, trying to clear my vision and my heart froze.
Five tall, thin figures dressed in varying lengths of black leather coats stood blocking the aisle in front of us. The four with the shortest coats held long, ugly, sticks with glowing purple tips.
Tanglers: given the name because of the way your feet tangled up if you tried to run after one zapped you. They were a nasty weapon that messed with their target's nervous system. They did serious damage if their controls were set for a species different than the one their blast struck. The EA had banned them, declaring the risk of harm in mixed species confrontations too high. They did not want a diplomatic incident.
It figured they would be the weapon of choice for the Endar.
My attention shifted to the leather-plumped outline of the fifth figure, who stood facing Mathet and Meeroush. The Tabi captain had removed his helmet. Meeroush, with the limp form of Saurubi draped over his arms, had not. Shoff and I followed his lead as we came up beside him.
"...fled into the warehouse through the side entrance. It was open and did not show signs of forced entry, so we followed in pursuit. We saw one individual, High Jerak, but I suspect there are more," Mathet said
High Jerak! My blurry eyesight finally picked out the thin strip of crimson rimming the collar and a shot of ice ran down my spine.
Shoff readjusted her grip from my shoulder to my arm. Her hand tightened as Mathet continued to spin an elaborate tale. "Someone attacked one of my rookies and stole her armor. The two officers in pursuit also fell under attack. Then the lights came on. I fear we've lost the offender in the distraction." He made the last bit sound slightly reproachful.
Looking at us, his story seemed entirely plausible. Saura, in her skins, was unconscious, while dust coated Shoff and me from head to toe. Meanwhile, her grip on my arm served to hold me upright after she'd rattled my brain. If I had entered this place with Tabisee pursuit, I might have struck at them in exactly the manner Mathet described.
Except I was not on the loose. I was standing in the middle of a cluster of hostile aliens, praying one side liked Humans a little more than they liked the other side.
The High Jerak's red eyes swept over us. "Describe the intruder."
"Bipedal. Two arms. Not too tall." Mathet gestured lower than my height. "It ran when it saw us. It carried this." He kicked my awaypack forward into the space between the Endar and us. "We found it wedged between some crates near my rookie's unconscious body. Maybe they thought to come back for it later. It appears to be some sort of tool bag..."
"We will investigate it." The High Jerak motioned one of his men forward to pick up my awaysuit. "This raid you are running outside, Captain Silvec—were we made aware of the initial problem?"
"A security monitor noted a tripped sensor in a section of our local warehouse. We had to move swiftly to catch the perpetrators in the act."
The edges of the Endar leader's face darkened. "Captain, we've been over this before. You are required to file a report of unlawful or suspicious activity to the Sat Quar, so we can determine the appropriate action to take. As appointed security for the Whooex Union Trade Consortium, we strive to implement a cohesive overall response for its members. We cannot tolerate individual security details running around, taking arbitrary, independent actions. It undermines our role in the minds of these," he rotated his long hand in an encompassing gesture, "people. Some of them already resent our presence. There are elements out on the streets stirring up protests against the approaching assembly. They do not want Humans added to the population. Some beings do not harbor warm feelings for anyone who supports their admission. The Tabi Empire's position places your people in a dangerous situation. There may be a time we are unable to come to your assistance."
I didn't know enough about the politics of this world to be sure, but it sounded as if he had just threatened the Tabisee.
Mathet nodded, his ears in the most rigidly fixed, neutral position I had ever seen.
The High Jerak's eyes slid to Saura and I felt a twist of panic. Her shipskins covered most of her tattoos, but the dim light picked up glints of copper pattern on her face and hands. Not to mention her being around half the height of her planet dwelling brethren and dusky blue instead of gray.
"Is that one of your much-lauded astrogators?" He sounded far too interested for my comfort.
Shoff's grip tightened the armor pads down on my arm until my fingers felt numb.
"A request from an admiral, to let one of his favorites experience planetside operations. I do not think he will request again."
"You should be more careful with your treasures," the High Jerak said. His attention shifted over to me and Shoff and his intrigue slid to distaste. "Your injured—do they require medical attention?"
"We have a med-evac inbound. With your permission, we will relinquish this scene to you and rejoin our taskforce. Our operation is wrapping up."
The Endar's red eyes regarded Mathet. "It is surprising to find you taking an active role in a simple street operation, Captain. You seem to have sunken into the shadows of late."
"As you say." Mathet nodded stiffly. "One welcomes an opportunity to get out into the open air."
The two eyed each other. I held my breath as each seemed to dare the other to take a step further in their word exchange.
"Your stolen armor has a tracker?" The Endar returned his attention to the current situation.
"If it has not been disabled. This being, whatever it is, appears quite adept at moving about..." Mathet let the sentence hang, as if inviting him to share any additional intelligence he had.
The High Jerak ignored him. "You will file a report on this incident through your embassy office. We will keep you apprised of our progress in recovering your stolen property. Our people will have additional questions for you. My officers will escort you back to your operation." A slight gesture of his thin hand brought two of his force forward, one from each side, to bracket us. "It will allow them to investigate this curiously unlocked door. And, Captain," he added, "the next time you conduct a raid on a suspected theft ring, you will notify us in advance and we will assist you. The Primacy bears responsibility for crimes committed against Trade Members on this world."
"Of course." Mathet nodded.
We made our way back down the main aisle accompanied by a pair of Endar security officers. With a lighted warehouse and no need for stealth, we moved briskly to the back wall, where we turned smoothly in the direction opposite our original point of entry, toward a heavy security door.
Leaving the Endar to inspect the lock, we stepped out into the open air of the Moneyworld.