Tally Road Original Story- Chapter 15

It was dripping, as Rai, Boodins, Dene and Siertes made their way up towards civilization. Somewhere, it might be raining, but under all the buildings and metal structures and overhead roadways there was nothing left but a sullen dripping of unclean water that made everything slick and darkly reflective.

Rairate appreciated this for a practical reason- it also made the world reverberant, so every little sound was magnified, and he had very good ears to start with.

He had an Estrai on his mind, but it wasn't Kend. Astonishingly, after having stirred up enough trouble to get his companions thrown out of Hals' hideout, Kend had promptly started to weasel and ingratiate himself with Hals again. No dripping midnight in the bowels of Verss for him! It had worked- but then, he wasn't a stranger to the Ungovernment wolf, and he exploited that as hard as he could.

Rairate had Voustrets Talanstre Laimontre on his mind, and he wondered if the feeling was mutual. It certainly seemed like things had not gone according to plan. He needed to report back, and hopefully to establish through the contacts of the cop Runge Anzende Ndeschwin a modicum of safety with the police of Verss. At the moment they were still fugitives. Shelter was needed, both physical and metaphorical.

Most of the phones had been smashed, something that distressed Boodins. Dangerous people didn't register with him, but vandalism seemed to contradict very basic assumptions about how his world worked, and he was uneasy, his tail between his legs, his ears drooping.

As Rairate approached a phone that looked possibly functional, he reflected that there were pluses and minuses to having Boodins jumpy. For a plus, the young Resten might react quicker to a dangerous situation. For a minus, he might react by panicking and doing something incredibly stupid...

"Do you remember his number?" asked Boodins.

"We never had his number, we spoke only to his policeman friend. Chos! This thing wants actual coins! Do you have any?"

Dene offered actual coins. Rai used them. The battered screen came to flickering life, and he called up Voustrets Laimontre Talanstre- first as a general term, then as a specific individual, and finally working his way through the screening provided by Voustrets' bots. It was suspiciously easy to get through that last part, as if Voustrets attached great importance to their task.

The Estrai seemed flustered and busy. "What are you doing in Verss? You're supposed to be with, with the people I sent you to. Don't say too much over the public lines, please."

"We're not. They were raided and we came here. We've got nothing and Dene might still have a warrant against her. What do you expect us to do? Can we come back?"

"No!" The tiny image of Voustrets straightened up determinedly. "You remember the company I asked you to learn about. They're actually in Verss. Find out who they're doing business with, and how- I have my suspicions but I don't want to tell more, you tell me. I'll take care of Dene's warrant right away, that's no use to you any longer. One day you must tell me how Siertes ended up going around with you..."

Siertes looked startled. "How does he know who I am?"

The tiny image of Voustrets scoffed. "Please, you insult me! You became interesting for acting out of character, and for your unusual employer. No matter. Oh- what is your financial situation?"

"What do you mean, my unusual employer?"

"Not you. I meant Rairate and company. And it's unusual for Resten to be conspiratorial. If it's any consolation I haven't worked out exactly who hired you, yet..."

"What?" said Boodins. "She's from my homeworld?"

"Hired by someone from there. And I ask again, what is your financial situation?"

Rai was trying to sort out the implications of what Voustrets had said, or he'd have been quicker on the uptake. "We're stuck here without resources or vehicles, we need money."

"Done." said Voustrets grandly. "But don't call again if you can help it, at least not over public lines. Find a more secure connection, please. Good luck!"

The tiny image of the Estrai was seen punching in something on a keyboard, and signing off with a flourish. Rai stiffened. "Oh, no, please not..."

The machine's screen went dark, and it kicked into activity, noisy and very characteristic activity that explained everything about the fate of the other machines. They were armored for a reason. This one was now dispensing bills, with an instantly recognizable whirring. It echoed down the street in the rain-dripping silence. Rai's whiskers drooped further and further in dismay, as the sound continued, and would not shut up. He was certain he heard whispering, somewhere out of sight.

This wasn't lost on Siertes, either. "Nice one, kitty. We'll stick to the road, more space to move. There's a ramp to higher levels past those abandoned storage units. You take puppy and I'll protect crazy wolfess, okay? Is that cursed thing ever going to stop doing that?"

Rairate beckoned Boodins and Dene over, and they took stacks of bills from him, while the machine still dispensed more. He observed, "We could leave it doing this, as a distraction."

"Wouldn't work, they'll come after us too. Oh, it stopped. Is! Your friend has no sense. But then, he probably didn't notice where we are."

"Do you still have the weapon you used in the Ungovernment raid?"

Siertes shook her head. "Threw it away when it was empty, curse it. The important thing is that we hide that money by the time we hit higher levels, and get rid of anyone stalking us."

"What's your appraisal of the situation now, vraonse?"

Siertes glanced at him, one professional to another. "Down here, they're going to be about hand-to-hand combat, because anyone with a serious weapon will be going uplevel- nobody here has anything worth wanting."

"Are you sure?" said Boodins nervously.

Siertes gave a wry smile. "My people have a saying. 'You don't rob Abas of dirt'. 'Rob Abas' for short. Look around you, nobody here has anything. If they had guns we would be dead already. Don't you hear them muttering?"

There was, indeed, muttering. Skulking shapes, dimly seen, gathering.

Rairate's tail lashed. "Start moving now, vraonse. Even if we're good, I hear a lot of them."

Siertes nodded. "I see a lot of them. Let's go."

The ramp wasn't very far- only a few minutes' walk- but it wasn't possible to walk very fast. Rai and Siertes were trying to keep the spooked Boodins and Dene between them. The gathering continued, with now dozens of Runge derelicts following the little group.

There wasn't real trouble until they spotted the ramp and figured out where Rai was leading his group. Then, things got more difficult very quickly.

Howls broke out, and Dene jumped. Siertes looked around to check that Dene was okay, and the Runge charged- but not directly at the group. They flanked the group on both sides, in a disturbingly coordinated way that spoke more of mob instinct than the direction of a leader, and blocked the path to the ramp.

"Dibs on the babe." said one in a cracked, unhealthy voice.

Siertes glared at him and hissed, "You die first."

"Oh, we're scared." said another, mockingly.

"You should be." said Rairate, politely.

"The ones in the middle can't fight." said still another. "Go after them if they're open. They might be holding the money."

"Can I give it back to you?" said Boodins to Rai in a small voice. The Nerre was reminded unavoidably of how young Boodins Earncy really was, hearing him. Unfortunately, it was not the best time to show this.

"That one's a kid! Get him and it might demoralize the others."

"What the hell are they? Looks Resten, and that's a Nerre, and a Tompar..."

Rairate's tail was flicking edgily, and he addressed the last Runge to speak. "Hse-Nerre, and Tompar Mued. Last chance not to die. Get out of the way now. ...well? ...Vrironste."

A few of the derelicts skulked away, spooked, but not nearly enough. Most were too desperate for all that money, and there were still dozens of them- they felt the pack mood, knew that it wasn't a matter of just any one Runge against their deadly adversaries, and they began to circle, and close in.

Boodins' eyes were wild as he tried to keep all the Runge in sight at once. They would make little lunges, from one direction and then another, keeping their prey jittery and off balance.

Behind him, there was a flurry of motion and a sharp yelp. He whirled to see Siertes scurrying backwards, a hand extended to locate Dene behind her without looking around, and a dead Runge in front of her. The stalking circle widened a bit. From Siertes' air of satisfaction, she'd gone after the Runge who'd said 'dibs', and she had indeed killed him first.

The others continued to circle, undaunted.

Rairate looked grim. "That won't work," he hissed to Siertes. "Give me four seconds and cover Boodins also."

Siertes glanced at him, nodded, and then said "Yeah." since he wasn't looking at her, and wondered what he had in mind. She wasn't left wondering long. The little Nerre darted to the side, and a Runge went for the open space immediately. Siertes had no time to think or watch what Rai was doing, as she was forced to strike at the first Runge, killing him instantly, and then whirl and strike a Runge behind her, and then whirl again to see if Rai was back. Her victims dropped silently- but something had a lot of Runge yiping or screaming. Rai was back, and the circle of Runge had backed off even farther, giving her a moment to breathe.

Rai was bloody-pawed, and breathing hard. Siertes looked where he'd been, and saw a still, dead Runge that she herself had killed- and quite a few badly injured and frightened Runge. Rairate had slashed across the front of the mob, dodging bites and blows, and lashed out again and again to injure and demoralize, rather than kill. It had worked- the sounds of pain and fear did what the death of an individual did not.

Now he hissed to her, "Change positions! Now you must clear a path, 'aons! Make them run!"

Siertes was impressed. Unhesitatingly, she dashed past Dene and Boodins, trusting Rai to cover the rear, and charged the weak area. With snake-like speed, she struck again and again, targeting Runge who were directly in the path toward the ramp, and they fell before her, often without even a yelp. Those were reserved for the living- because finally, thankfully, the mob was beginning to break up, and faced with a Tompar Mued going through them like a reptilian threshing machine, the pack's nerve was broken. All those around Siertes turned in a single panic reaction, and fled for their lives...

There was a yelp from behind her, and she whirled. Rairate was attacking three Runge at once on the right, and on the left, Boodins was down, and someone had him by the leg, dragging him.

Siertes dashed back, glancing over her shoulder as she did, seeing that the way to the ramp was still clear, but before she could reach Boodins, something dove through a gap in the attackers, and there was a sharp yelp. It wasn't Rai, either- to Siertes' astonishment, it was Dene. She'd seen Boodins being dragged off, and she had gone straight for the arm of the Runge doing it, and bit him until he let go.

This was impressively gutsy but horribly brainless, as both Dene and Boodins were now lying on the ground with several hostile Runge looming over them. One kicked Dene in the side, hard, and she yelped, and the other went in to bite Boodins' throat- and then they were hit by the simultaneous, frenzied attack of Rairate and Siertes, and died poisoned and in several pieces.

Rai was dragging Boodins up onto his feet, and Dene bounced up clutching her side. "Run, now!" cried the Nerre, and the group first stumbled and then ran towards the ramp that led to higher levels. Nobody blocked their path this time- the air reeked of terror and blood, and Siertes led the way, eyes flashing, a reptilian angel of death to anyone fool enough to stand in the way.

Breathing hard, managing a staggering, awkward run, the four companions fled up the ramp, leaving the silence of the dead and the whines of the injured.

After a while, one of the derelicts who'd survived ventured his opinion on the events.

"Well, fuck." he said, with terrible bitterness.