Tannis turned to see Skylar and Alex loitering in the open doorway.
“The three of us will go,” Tannis said. “Alex, you stay here, get yourself a blaster, point it at His Majesty, and make sure he doesn’t even breathe without permission.”
“Will do.”
“You two, come with me.”
They took the speeder into Pleasure City. She wasn’t too concerned. Rico hadn’t lasted this long without being able to look after himself, but something or someone must have stopped him from returning to the ship. He had an unfortunate habit of pissing people off—especially if he didn’t like them.
Tannis drove, Jon giving her directions, and soon they were into the clamor of the city. Her hands gripped the controls as she willed the vehicles in front to shift faster. After five minutes stuck unmoving in the traffic, she pulled the speeder into a parking space. The atmosphere hit her as soon as she climbed down. Music spilled out from the bars that edged the street, clashing with the sound of speeders and the raucous cries of the street vendors. The stench of fumes hung heavy on the air, mixed with the nauseating scent of every sort of food available to man.
“Look at that,” Skylar said.
Tannis was looking. The whole side of a building was taken up by an enormous picture of Callum. It must have been taken as he did his flying stunt on Trakis Five because it showed him with black wings outspread. Then his picture vanished and was replaced by a collage of the crew of El Cazador. Rico, Tannis, Jon, Skylar, Alex. Why did she suddenly have the overwhelming feeling that everyone was staring at her? Maybe because they were.
“Hey, I always wanted to be famous,” she muttered.
“Come on,” Jon said. “Let’s keep moving.” His hand rested lightly on the laser pistol strapped to his thigh. Skylar also looked ready to draw, and it occurred to Tannis that coming into the city might not have been a good move, but then she hadn’t realized there were pictures of them as well as Callum.
“Shit. So how do we find Rico?”
“I was thinking of going to the spot we last saw him and following the trail of bodies. This way.”
“Sounds like a plan.” It sounded like a shit plan actually, but there wasn’t a lot of choice. Rico still hadn’t answered his comm unit.
Jon led them down the main thoroughfare of the city. Bright, flashing lights and loud music bombarded them from every side. “Down there,” he said, waving at one of the many side streets.
A knot of people had formed at the end of the alley, milling around what looked to be two dead bodies. When they got closer, she saw one of them had been decapitated, his head sliced cleanly from his body. It lay about a foot away, the eyes open and distinctly surprised.
“Looks like Rico’s been here.”
Rico had a sword, and he liked to use it.
The group were looking their way now and muttering among themselves. Tannis glanced over her shoulder and realized more people had entered the alley behind them, effectively cutting them off. “Shit. Anyone got any ideas.”
“Shoot our way out before any more of them get here.”
“Too late.”
A whole speeder full of them had arrived dressed in the uniform of Pleasure City’s militia. They’d parked their vehicle across the entrance to the alley and jumped out. Their attention was on the dead bodies right now, but who knew how long that would last.
Not long at all.
One man separated from the crowd and took a step toward them. He looked from her to Skylar to Jon, recognition dawning on his heavy features.
“Hey, it’s them,” he shouted. “The ones that kidnapped Callum Meridian.”
Chapter Five
“Great, just great,” Tannis growled. Everyone had turned their way now, including the local militia. Their pistols were still holstered, but it looked as if that was about to change. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
“Good idea,” Skylar said.
They all drew their weapons and Tannis searched for the best target. The militia looked a good bet, as they blocked the entrance to the alley, but they also appeared the best armed.
“Let’s do this.”
She flicked her laser to stun—no point annoying the local force more than necessary—and aimed at the leader of the small group. Then she spun around and shot the fat man still pointing a pudgy finger at them. He went down with a squeal of pain and chaos erupted. The militia returned fire. Tannis deflected the shots with ease, but they weren’t making any headway, and things could only get worse if reinforcements arrived. Why hadn’t she thought to bring a blaster or a few stun grenades?