Entryua watched Kyte’s scandalous behavior with speechless bafflement. The man had transformed before his very eyes. His timid personality had all but evaporated like a puddle under a blazing sun, and a sadistic smile turned his formerly handsome visage into an ugly perversion.
“And how do you propose to make me ‘pay,’ you Abh scum?” Kyte scoffed. “If you really care so much for your little pet, then why don’t you get on with it and do as I say? It’s not like you sub-humans have any scruples or shame. You’re just a loathsome homunculus, you depraved scum Abh.”
The Abh lass embraced the youth in her arms and stabbed at Kyte with a glare not unlike a laser . She didn’t avert her baleful stare as she laid the lad down.
“N-No...” the young man could be heard mumbling.
Entryua was struck with admiration. I don’t believe it... The Abh girl means to scrap with Kyte bare-handed!
The boy cottoned onto her intentions, and desperately attempted to keep her from going. He tottered over to cover her. The Abh girl’s shield.
At that instant, Entryua had decided whose side to take. And it just so happened to be consistent with the mandates of Clasbulian law.
Entryua pushed a needlegun to Kyte’s temple. “Enough!”
“What are you doing?” Kyte panicked. “Are you afraid the Empire will retaliate? Then you needn’t worry. Our fleet may have suffered a temporary defeat, but our invincible land war unit is unscathed. We shall continue to defend and maintain this surface world until, by the favor of the powers that be, we secure all of space once again. So stick by the side of justice without fear—”
“Oh, that’s exactly what I’m doing,” Entryua interrupted. “I don’t give a rat’s ass who rules space. But on this planet, it’s Clasbule’s law and justice system that ought to prevail, and your actions right now fly against them. It’s a shame, too; I was starting to feel for you.”
“I’m just dealing with a fraught situation with the proper rigor!”
“Now I know why the police on your world were so hated.” Entryua then addressed his subordinates: “Hey, take this pinhead’s gun, would you!?”
His order was executed by the closest officer.
“You’ve made a terrible mistake, Inspector! Our proud army will surely punish you!”
“Abh girl,” said Entryua, ignoring Kyte’s forewarning. “It’s as you can see. I apologize for my mismanagement as the boss here, but I’m still going to ask you to come with me. That young man needs first aid.”
Her shadow-black eyes regarded him.
Such a pretty young thing... Entryua marveled. She was covered in dirt, but that only highlighted her shining beauty all the more. The pride and dignity that kept her from taking a single step back even amidst a sea of strangers and hostiles were clear to see in the glint of her eyes. He’d previously pictured the Abh as lofty beings perched beyond the clouds, but at least with her, the stateliness with which she carried herself had kissed the surface as well.
Can’t blame him at all for being so loyal , he mused, glancing at the boy who had been shot. For better or worse, he was the typical city boy that didn’t exist among first-generation settlers. Which was to say, he had a weakling, vaguely unreliable air about him, which wasn’t dispelled by the fact that he’d come to this point by surviving a firefight that had even the police too frightened to act.
Kyte’s mad laughter rang through the scene. “You can cover for the Abh all you like, Inspector! I’ll just have her dragged out of your detention center. Don’t forget, the Abh is MINE. I’ll be taking a whole host of soldiers straight to your doorstep, so don’t think for a second you’ll get away with this, Inspector!!”
Dammit, that rotter’s right, he admitted to himself. Aizan’ll hand her over to the occupiers quicker than breathing. But wait — that might not necessarily be the case. After all, if he’s got one good point, it’s how quick he is to adapt, and now that the Abh’ve returned, he won’t be quite so keen to butter up to this upstart army anymore. That said, by now the “liberation army” must’ve noticed they’re not particularly welcome here, and so their manners’ve turned rougher as of late. They might just be willing to blow up a police force or two. But us guardians of the law could hardly sit idly by as these rabid mutts have their merry way.
“Inspector Entryac ,” said the Abh. “I am choosing to believe you.”
“Good. In that case...”
“However—”
Entryua was never to hear the rest of that sentence. Three streaks of white smoke traced arcs in the air and exploded at Entryua’s feet. Entryua leapt back. “Who the!?”
“Mist shells!” shouted an officer, frantic.
Just before getting engulfed in the mist, Entryua spied a hovercar ride rushing over the embankment.
Jinto had no idea what just happened; before he knew it, his surroundings were suffused by a thick fog.
Looks just like the scenery of the river in the realm of the dead, like Grandma used to say, Jinto recalled. Guess it’s true after all, huh? Which means I’ve gone and snuffed it. Or have I? I can’t even tell. I mean, I can still feel Lafier’s warmth on my back... Is she dead, too? Or might I still be one for this world?
“Abh! Laimh !” A voice from beyond the mist addressed him by the word for imperial citizen .
Jinto started. It was Min’s voice.
“Don’t dawdle. Come! There’s no time to waste!”
Jinto slid an arm around Lafier’s shoulders and pressed forward.
“Don’t fire! We might shoot each other by accident!” Entryua yelled.
The hovercar began levitating within the fog. Jinto stuck his head through its open door. In this situation, Lafier of course pushed Jinto in and tried turning back.
“Where are you going!?” He grabbed her wrist in the nick of time.
“Let go of me.” Lafier was on a tear.
“There’s NO TIME.” Marca, who was beside Jinto, helped him pull her up into the car. “We’re set, Bill!”
“Time to cheese it!” Bill exclaimed.
The hovercar got rolling. In the space of mere moments, it wove through the officers and sprinted down the road.
“Let go of me, Jinto!” Lafier writhed in his right arm. “I have something I’ve yet to do!”
“Ow ow OW! Hey, I’m wounded here! A bit softer with me, please,” he said, scowling from the pain in his shoulder. “Besides, what’ve you gotta do, anyway?”
“What do you think?” she said, her ire more than plain. “I’m going to take the man who harmed you, and turn him into fuel for the plasma winds of space! A poetic end for him, I should think!”
It wasn’t a bad feeling, seeing her blow her top over him and him alone. But he couldn’t exactly let her slake her thirst for revenge. “But we’re not in the vacuum of space ,” said Jinto, to calm her down. “He’d at most turn into a charred corpse smearing a decent length of the ground, which isn’t the most poetic thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Good. That would be the most fitting death for him.”
“How would you even manage it unarmed?”
“I’d snatch a weapon!” she asserted categorically.