Entoryua couldn’t decide which was more disturbing — the Abh girl’s creepy smile or Kite’s inexplicable state of frenzy.
“So what if you don’t forgive me, you lousy excuse for a human,” spat Kite. “You people have no shame! If your little pet means anything to you, you will cooperate.”
Cradling Jinto, Lafiel’s gaze was more intense than any Klanraj. She attempted to set him down.
“No, Lafiel. Let it go,” muttered Jinto, standing between her and Kite like a very wobbly human shield.
Uh-oh, thought Entoryua, I wonder if the Abh girl intends to fight Kite empty-handed.
Entoryua knew whose side he had to take. He put his Kairia to Kite’s temple. “Cut it out.”
“What the hell are you doing? Don’t tell me you’re scared of Frybar retaliation. We will regain our footing in space, and until then, it’s our duty to maintain order and justice here.”
“Which is exactly what I’m doing,” the inspector broke in. “I don’t care who rules space; on Clasbul, our laws and justice are paramount. Your conduct has stepped beyond the realm of acceptability according to our standards, Captain.”
“I’m just using the appropriate strictness.”
Entoryua motioned for one of his men. “Someone take this clown’s gun already.”
“You’re making a huge mistake, Inspector. Our army will not treat this lightly!”
“Abh girl,” Entoryua began, ignoring Kite, “I apologize for this blockhead. He’s not part of our squad. Please, just come with us — that boy needs to see a doctor.”
Lafiel’s black eyes stared at the inspector for a moment.
Wow. What a pretty girl. Such dignity! Entoryua didn’t know what else to say or think. True, she was positively filthy, but somehow her natural beauty shone through the dirt, brighter than ever. We always think about the Abh living above us in space, but they kind of live above us on land, too.
Entoryua took another look at the wounded kid. Even though he just came through a gun battle that was too intense for us, he looks like a typical city boy.
Kite’s lunatic laughing continued. “Don’t bother protecting the Abh, Inspector. We’ll extract her from your prison, whether you like it or not.”
Knowing Superintendent Aizan, conceded Entoryua, this bastard’s got a point. We’ll hand her over in an instant. On the other hand, if there’s one thing Aizan’s good at, it’s pandering to higher-ups-if the Abh are coming back, I doubt he’ll continue to cooperate with the occupiers.
“I trust you, Inspector Entoryua,” said Lafiel.
“Good. Then-“
With a puff, three smoke bombs erupted thick, white smoke.
“Fog bombs!” shouted one of the policemen.
Right before he lost all visibility, Entoryua saw an Uusia roll over the embankment at high speed.
Why are we in this cloud? Jinto wondered, slightly delirious from pain. Am I dead? He felt Lafiel standing behind him. Is she dead, too?
“Abh! Lef!” a familiar voice cut through the fog.
Minh, recognized Jinto, instantly.
“Quickly! There’s no time!”
Guiding Lafiel by the shoulder, Jinto moved toward the voice.
“Hold your fire, everyone!” Entoryua ordered. “In this fog, we’d just shoot ourselves.”
The floating car appeared in front of Jinto. As soon as he neared the open door, Lafiel shoved him through it. “Where are you going?” Jinto managed to grab her wrist.
“Let go of me.”
“There’s no time for this!” Marca barked. She helped Jinto pull Lafiel into the car. “Go, Bill!”
“Already going!”
The floating car weaved through the confused mass of policemen and squad cars and exited onto a road.
“Let go, Jinto,” Lafiel demanded. “I have unfinished business out there.”
“Ow! Careful — I just got shot, remember?” Jinto winced. “What do you have left to do?”
“I can’t let him get away with that. I’m going to turn him into a gust of Gunau blowing around space, which is a better fate than he deserves.”
For whatever reason, Jinto was glad Lafiel was so upset on his behalf. “How are you going to do it, without a weapon?”
“I’ll steal one.”
“Save it for later, Lafiel, when we’ve got more time.”
“Wow, I didn’t take you for the kind of person to slowly torture someone,” teased Minh.
“You know what I mean.”
“This is all very interesting,” quipped Bill, “but could you two clam up and shut the freaking door, please?”
Groaning, Lafiel complied. Finally, she had a moment to examine Jinto’s shoulder. “Are you okay, Jinto?”
He downplayed the wound’s seriousness, calling it “just a scratch.”
“Hardly!” said Marca. “His collarbone’s shattered. The whole left arm has to be regenerated.”
“Please,” Jinto begged, “don’t tell me that stuff.”
“See what you can do, Doctor Daswani.”
Marca switched seats with the large man, who applied a local anesthetic and a blood coagulant to Jinto’s shoulder. He rubbed on a regenerating salve, wrapped Jinto’s arm in some bandages, and sprayed on a hardening agent, effectively stabilizing the limb.
“It’s okay to thank us now,” said Undertaker.
“Yeah, thanks,” said Jinto. “Are you legitimately taking us hostage now?”
“Of course!” answered Marca. “We’ve got to get a spaceship somehow.”
“It’s a bad idea,” Undertaker declared. “We’re in enough hot water as it is.”
“Then why would you come back for us?” Jinto asked. “Why not run away?”
“Right after Bill picked us up, electromagnetic wave interference began,” explained Marca, “and all the soldiers conducting inspections returned to the city.”
“Which means?”
“Look.” Marca pointed through the window.
In the sky, six points of light danced and dodged in complex circuits.
“Only the Abh would fly in such meaningless orbits.” “It’s not meaningless,” refuted Lafiel. “That’s the Wadroth Sathoth. It means we’ve gained control of the sky. It’s telling us the Labule’s back.”