Tally Road Original Story- Chapter 13

The city impended. It stretched up and out to either side as if it was trying to make newcomers feel terribly small. Off in the distance, the high-speed conduit was seen to meet it. Although the city went up like a small mountain, the road didn't seem to go up- it appeared to go in.

"When are you gonna break?" said Hals into the radio. "Yeah? Well, just don't cut it too close. Drift back so you can pick up some extra speed... well, all right, so that wouldn't make much of a difference. The rest of you guys clear on your moves? Make it look real..."

The city rushed forward, unfolding into structures, becoming three-dimensional, buildings coming into focus out of the mass of material and beginning to show features like tiny specks that proved to be windows. The road bore straight for the base of it all, straight and level.

"No, I don't care, you figure it out! Fend for yourselves! Look, it's very simple, when the road rises, grab one of the turnoffs that goes down, look for high numbers, okay? And keep moving, don't stop right away, take more turns. And split up!"

The city loomed. The convoy thundered along, with Kend's giant cargo plane looming directly overhead, and Hals began muttering.

"Okay, this might be a good time to... come on, you'll have to clear that hotel, you know you better... Hey! Kend! HEY! Goddammit, now, break now, go, go, for crying out LOUD WILL YOU..."

Overhead, there was a creaking of metal as Kend slammed into full elevators at the last possible instant. The huge plane bogged down, and then all hell broke loose as it ramped up to full throttle, clawing groggily at the air as it tried to develop enough vertical airspeed to clear the city, lighter cars skidding wildly in the vicious blast of wind the plane's engines produced.

Boodins gawked up at it, but Hals was too preoccupied. He'd just spotted the army of cops lurking at the base of the city- positioned and ready to charge onto the road once the convoy passed.

"Just like we planned it..." he breathed into the radio.

The front of the convoy hit the outskirts of the city, signs and overpasses everywhere, the high-speed conduit seeming to go underground from the sheer density of the city's construction, as if the road plunged into a thicket of buildings. A bewildering profusion of off-ramps appeared.

Hals edged left and slowed a bit. The other cars and trucks pressed in, as a left-lane off-ramp loomed. Then, tires squealing, screened from view by a wall of vehicles, Hals' truck hit the off-ramp, alone. The rest of the convoy hurtled on into the heart of the city, to scatter onto countless on-ramps, pursued by police.

Hals floored the accelerator, and the truck rocketed upwards as if taking flight, on Exit One, the high-speed shortcut to the upper levels. His luck was in- the usual police guarding the exit, ready to pull over anyone who wasn't cleared to head for the Verss upper levels, had been assigned to go after the convoy. They would chase the Ungovernment forces right into the city, holding their fire until the fleeing outlaws left the conduit for less important areas, like the lower levels where they'd try to go to ground.

Level after level blurred by, and then all at once they were at Level One, and Boodins gawked wildly in all directions, because it was like his home. Level One of Verss was a green cap on the unthinkably vast city- it looked like countryside, dotted with mansions in the styles of a dozen different planets. Restred styles were very popular. Rai saw an Ause-style dwelling, complete with manicured gardens and artistically positioned boulders (Runge tended to do everything big, it appeared). In the distance was an authentic Estrai stone castle.

"Where the hell is he? We have to time this perfectly..." snarled Hals.

"There!" cried Boodins.

Kend was coming in, flaps fully extended, gear down, wings shaking as the heavy plane clung to the air. He seemed to be moving in slow motion, until you realized how big the plane really was. It got larger and larger, revealed through wisps of cloud, and then it was at the edge of the green fields, and the gear touched ground and went right into it. First there was a spray of dirt, and then the gear snapped off and the plane slewed drunkenly onto its belly. In a few seconds, a faint crack could be heard through the howl of the engines, the delayed sound of the gear snapping. The engines shrieked and roared through their thrust reversers, and as the plane slid, one engine snapped off, bursting into flame.

With immense reluctance, Kend's plane came to a stop near the end of the field.

Hals floored the accelerator and drove straight onto the field, heedless of the wreckage and determined to get to the pilot, who could just be seen coming out of a hatch at the front of the crashed plane. He hesitated, and then made as if to drop from the hatch to the ground.

"Dammit, Kend, no!" cursed Hals, but it was too late. The tiny figure dropped away from the hatch- and landed in a heap. It tried to rise, and collapsed, as the truck raced closer. There was a faint sound of sirens in the distance, and Rai tensed.

"They're playing your song, my friend." said Hals. "Ready?"

Rai nodded, his tailtip flicking about edgily, and the truck came to a stop beside the fallen pilot. Even before it stopped moving, the Nerre was out the door and running.

Kend was small even for an Estrai, and his tail was nowhere near as fine as that of Voustrets Laimontre, but his attitude was somehow even more cocky. He took in Rairate at a glance, with very sharp eyes, and his first question was, "Are you gonna help me up, or put me down?"

"Come with me at once, 'aons! I am to get you away from here even if you are in the custody of police!"

The little Estrai looked around speculatively, gauging the distance of the sirens. "They ain't here yet."

"Good! Take my arm. Vraonse! Please!"

Kend snarled and gritted his teeth as he rose with the assistance of Rairate- something was wrong with his ankle, it seemed. However, he managed to hop along well enough to get in the truck, where he beamed at Dene. "That's nice! You my angel of mercy?"

"Save it, Kend, we're getting out of here..." said Hals, and without waiting for the Estrai to sit down, he gunned the engine and the truck flung itself across the neatly trimmed fields again. Kend cursed wildly until, with the help of Rai and Dene, he found a place to sit. Rai nodded in satisfaction, hearing the sirens in the distance. He'd been ready to get the pilot away from an armed guard, and getting him away with a busted ankle was much simpler.

The truck hit the down-ramp so fast it floated for a minute, engine roaring, and then began plummeting at full throttle towards the main conduits, and beyond them, the lower levels. The manicured green was lost to sight.

The distant siren was quickly lost in a blurring of steel and concrete as Hals took the steepest, fastest roads toward the depths of the city.

From the inside, Verss even more closely resembled a titanic structure. Daylight was broken up and lost as the truck plummeted down level after level. Down here, the only light came through solar concentrators and light pipes, to be rebroadcast through armored lenses tens of levels beneath the fresh air.

The lenses had to be armored, because of the sort of people who lived that far below daylight. They weren't armored especially well, because nobody cared very much about people like that...

By the time Hals found a likely spot to hide the truck, the air had an acrid tang, and there were few light pipes left in working order. Boodins whined- his head hurt. Dene didn't look happy either.

"Can you check the area for us, Rairate?" asked Hals. "There's nothing safe about this place."

The door opened. The little Nerre padded quietly out to reconnoiter. There was a brief pause, and then he padded back again.

"Nothing dangerous- but I think you'd better have a look at this, vraonse."

Everyone piled out of the truck, though Kend griped loudly and recruited Boodins as a walking crutch. Rairate led the way around to the back of the truck.

Under the bumper, the very tip of a snakelike tail could be seen.

Dene gasped. "Is she...?"

The tailtip twitched feebly.

"I have a skid-pad under there," said Hals. "Must have crawled into that, huh?"

"Have you a weapon?" asked Rairate. Hals tossed him a small gun- he'd dug it out of a compartment before leaving the truck's cabin. Rai crouched down and spoke. "Come out, without making any sudden moves."

He quirked an ear, then. "What? Speak more clearly."

Rai listened, and then looked up at his companions quizzically. "She says she can't come out because all her muscles are locked into cramps. She sounds pretty bad."

Hals grinned. "Never thought I'd see the day. All right- we'll pull her out, and carry her. Probably safer to drag her, or maybe we can just tape her mouth shut."

Rairate considered this, but Dene protested. "She said she wouldn't hurt me. I'll help carry her. Where are we going?"

"That building there." said Hals. "I need to pull the truck into that garage, too."

Rai nodded. "Then, let's get moving. I'd like to ask her some questions."

"I guess we've all got a lot of questions." said Dene.