Stormblood, стр. 4
I locked down my instincts and focused on how the genome I was carrying would stop my friend’s deportation, letting that push strength into my legs as I ran further into the labyrinthine passageways of the asteroid. The halls blurring and smudging under sweat-logged vision. Puddles of muddy wastewater showering up my legs as I burst around a hairpin corner. They were so close behind me I could hear their ragged breathing. I cut the connection to Grim, even as he told me not to. Couldn’t risk him being traced if I was caught.
One of the Sniffers closed in on me, heavy footfalls echoing. Guys like this are all meat and muscle and zero balance. I waited until a flare of chainship lights had flickered down, stabbing light into our eyes, before I jerked to a stop, tilting my body backwards and letting the man crunch nose-first into my armoured back. He tottered backwards, dazed and cursing. I slammed him sideways, into the incoming path of the second Sniffer. While he was off-balance, I hooked his leg out from under him. My fist sank into his gut, right below the ribs, my elbow slamming into his throat and sending them both crashing to the floor in a graceless tangle of limbs. I dived through a stone corridor, the stormtech really riled up now, stamping down on my weariness.
They knew the terrain, knew all the exits. But if I gained enough distance, I could double back and out-manoeuvre them in a wide flank. The Sniffers might be able to smell the path I’d taken, but they couldn’t tell when I’d taken it. My legs burned as I ran on, spotting a burst of light in a narrow gap ahead. I grinned as I curved around a corner … and my heart plummeted to my guts.
Dead end.
Two metres away, through a tall slab of hard, unforgiving, solid asteroid rock, was the spaceport. Might as well have been two kilometres.
Soaked with sweat inside my suit, I stepped back to scout for a new route as the three men stuttered to a halt behind me. They’d swapped out slingshivs for nasty-looking handguns. The Jackal’s relaxed smile was replaced with a deathly-quiet expression, his cold, granite eyes dissecting me. Watching me search for an escape route. Trying to think the way I’d think. This man was a hunter, and he’d cornered his prey.
Eyes still fastened on me like restraining bolts, he spoke to his men. ‘Cage him.’
Screw it. You’ve got to make a last stand somewhere.
I thrust forward and smashed into the first bodyguard, going straight for his broken nose. He screamed. The handgun went off as I thrust it up, the helmet saving my eardrums. I punched him in the crook of his arm, wrenching the weapon away to train on the Jackal. But I was centuries too late. A sun-bright muzzle flash in the darkness and an electranet seized up around me. Thick, chainmetal cables wrapped around my body, pinning my arms and legs, my helmet cracking against hard rock as I toppled. Rough hands rolled me onto my back. The cables crackled with voltage, getting tighter and tighter as I strained against them, my chest heaving. The Jackal’s boots kicked up asteroid dust as he walked over, towering high above. He glowered down at me before delivering a series of vicious kicks to the side of my helmeted head. One, two, three, four, sending flashing lights scattering across my vision and blood flooding my mouth.
The safety of the spaceport whirled away two metres behind me as the Jackal straddled me. No one would hear me calling for help over the noise. ‘Don’t flatter yourself into thinking my dog-boys sniffed you out in the dark.’ The Jackal pressed his sly, angular face close to mine. ‘Truth is, I don’t need augs to hunt a man down.’
He held the white-hot blade of his slingshiv over me, daring me to jerk away. ‘What shall we do with him, boys?’ His lips twitched, as if wrestling with indecision, but I know what a man who’s made up his mind looks like. ‘Let’s crack him out of that metal shell to get to the gooey bits inside. Then flay his skin off. There’s a good word. Flay.’
The stormtech pounded under my breastbone in mimicry of my thudding heart. Survival instincts kicking in for real now. I struggled in the net, but the Jackal was waiting for it. He kicked me in the head again until I slumped back down. I was vaguely aware of being dragged across the rock by one ankle.
‘Business before pleasure, boys,’ the Jackal said. ‘First we take him home, tie him up properly and get to work. No interruptions there.’
‘On it, boss,’ the one with the broken nose gurgled.
A voice cut through the passageway, halting him. ‘What’s this? You guys picking on someone bigger for a change?’
Three figures stood silhouetted behind the Jackal. I recognised their sleek, black-barrelled marksman rifles; I’d spent too many years holding one myself. ‘Harmony to the rescue, huh?’ I let my head sag back against the rock.
‘Harmony?’ The Jackal’s sly confidence cracked. ‘How—’
‘Clear off, Akira.’ The trio were led by a woman, her voice sharp enough to slice bone. Her small service thin-gun remained holstered, her arms casually folded. There’s power in carrying a weapon and showing you’ve got no use of it. ‘You’re lucky I don’t have time for a chat about this today.’
‘We were just leaving,’ said the Jackal.
‘Yes, you were,’ she said. ‘And if I ever see you harassing folks around here again, I’ll find a nice airlock for you to play in. Plenty to choose from around here. You read me?’
‘Of course.’ The Jackal was all charm and charisma again. His sly, dangerous smile twitched at his lips, his gaze hooking mine before he and his men vanished into