He missed by inches.
Niall and Colin were already heading out to deflect the govies who’d managed to find undamaged speeders. They probably hadn’t seen the exchange. There wasn’t time for Uri to circle around to try again. It was up to her to get Mariah.
Arden aimed her speeder for the edge where Mariah stood. She leaned into her driving, aiming for the angle she’d need while avoiding incoming phaser shots that were hitting hard and heavy. She trusted that someone else would take out the govies, so that her whole focus could be on Mariah. Changing direction on a dime to avoid incoming phase-fire, she zoomed by Mariah, catching her around the waist and hauling her on board.
Thankfully, Mariah came to life then. She wiggled and adjusted herself so that she could straddle the seat behind Arden.
“Are you okay?” Arden yelled over the wind as they changed direction away from the platform. She saw Mariah nod but couldn’t hear a response.
The others pulled away from the platform, falling into line behind them. Unfortunately, there were more than a few govies able to get on workable speeders. The chase was locked within two Levels. Dropping below Level Three would be certain death, since the Lower Levels were far too populated to drive safely.
Retreating to Level Four was a possibility, but with a high likelihood of failure. Public transport was a problem there, since the skytram moved at too high a speed for the speeders to avoid if they found themselves on an intersecting path.
Anything above Level Four was out altogether. There was a plasma barrier to keep out any flight traffic. It would fry the speeders within seconds.
So the only way to shake the govies was to outrun, evade, and hide. Easier said than done. But there was no way Arden was about to be caught. Not after having Mariah back. She would see everyone safe or die trying.
A speeder came too close. The govie shot a blast of phase-fire, the blast missing them by inches. Arden turned between two buildings, hitting the brakes while skidding sideways. Correcting at the last second, millimeters from hitting the wall. She took off again, shooting out of the bottleneck like a rocket.
“Get me loose,” Mariah screamed from behind her.
Arden nodded.
Uri had the magnet clips. He’d taken a left two buildings back. Arden corrected her route to intercept his speeder, running hers right beside his.
Mariah waved her cuffed hands, trying to get his attention.
Uri withdrew the clips, tossing them into the air, before he hit the brakes so that he could pull their tail off, allowing them time to get situated.
Arden caught the magnet clips, handing them back to Mariah. She pulled up to a higher Level, separating from Uri. Two govies followed her. They flew higher. Arden’s ears hurt with the change in pressure. She could feel the hum of the plasma net in the air, a silent warning to steer clear.
She dodged another speeder, correcting in time. The other speeder continued past her, hitting the side of a building and exploding. Using her phaser on another, she shot it out from beneath the driver. The debris exploded and rained down on the Levels below.
Uri flew back into her sight, tailed by three govies. She lowered her trajectory, heading down fast to intercept them. Colin and Niall were nowhere to be seen, probably taking the rest of the govies with them. Which meant that between her and Uri, they had only the three govies left.
She saw the shimmer of the catch-net directly in front of Uri, a film draped across the sky to stop runners. Catch-nets were near invisible, only giving off a slight reflection, like water on glass, and they would knock drivers out, stunning them.
Uri headed straight for the net. Oblivious to the danger.
How the govies managed to put one out so quickly was anyone’s guess.
There was no way she could scream loud enough or otherwise get his attention to veer out of the way. She pushed her speeder to the max, lowering herself over it. The machine whined beneath her.
She wasn’t going to make it.
Uri hit the catch-net with a spark of colors. The speeder passed through the film, as it was designed, the netting disintegrating and falling away. Then Uri’s speeder began to circle in wide arcs, like a top finishing its spins, while he slumped over the handlebars.
Two govies had followed him through, their speeders also chaotically spinning out.
Mariah threw off her electro-cuffs with a scream. “Get me close.”
Arden handed back her phaser, so that Mariah could shoot the final govie behind them while Arden focused on getting them close enough to Uri without his erratic speeder taking them out for their trouble.
Mariah stood up in her stirrups, using her thigh muscles to keep her on board, while both hands held the phaser steady. She roared as she shot, taking out both the govie and his speeder in a volley of phase-fire.
“This is as close as I can get,” Arden screamed over the loud whooshing of air.
“Get me another foot closer.”
Arden did as she was told, swerving at the last second to avoid the back end of Uri’s speeder as it came around, almost hitting them.
But Mariah was already jumping across the space, thousands of feet in the air, landing across Uri’s slumped body. She crouched over him, her hands on the controls and her feet on the pedals.
“Go,” she screamed, and sped off. Looking crazy with her hair tangled, face splotched with bruises, and wild eyes.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Dade couldn’t look away from the footage.
News of the prisoner escape was all over the visicast, the coverage simultaneously projected in every room of the apartment, so that he couldn’t go anywhere in the house without hearing the repeated drama of what had taken place that afternoon. Speeders had crashed into buildings, several city blocks were without power, and multiple families were now without homes because of the destruction. Yet he watched it all with his heart in his throat, hoping for Arden’s escape.
Dade studied the footage again. He was sure the rider who’d grabbed the rescued girl and hoisted her onto the speeder was Arden. Watching it on replay to make him positive of it. He’d seen that speeder disappear from view, so she wasn’t dead. At least he hoped.
“The group is still at large,” the visicaster said, staring intently into the camera. The feed then cut away, flashing a picture of the girl’s face, the one who’d been detained. “If anyone has seen this girl, they’re asked to contact authorities immediately.
“While it has not been confirmed, we have received information that this crime may have been linked to the infamous Lasair gang.”