High Flyer - Michelle Diener Page 0,25

into the driver's seat and reversed, speeding backward.

She twisted, looking behind her, and there, at the junction with the next road, she saw traffic, people walking, businesses that were open.

She spun the lander, and accelerated away.

Chapter 10

A door slammed, jerking Iver all the way awake.

“Shit. She's gone. And we can't chase her in the open.” Simon's voice sounded right next to him.

He'd risen to consciousness in quick, jerky steps, with the vague knowledge that something big was happening around him.

There had been shouting and running.

It had jumped his heart into a hard rhythm as he struggled to make sense of what was going on.

“I told you about her. Didn't I tell you?” Linnel was hissing at someone.

“All I saw was a woman who took us by surprise. Simon obviously didn't get enough sedative into her. She had to have been waiting to make her move for a while.”

The voice he heard was familiar, and Iver tried to place it, but the speaker stood behind him.

Wherever he'd heard it before, it seemed out of place here.

“I shot her directly in the throat.” Simon's voice was bitter.

“Then there was problem with the dart. And a bigger problem is we don't know how much she heard, and that she saw my face.”

“There wasn't a problem with the dart,” Linnel said. “She isn't normal. She obviously metabolizes the sedative faster.”

“Linnel.” Simon sounded like he'd reached the end of his patience.

“What? Oniba was going to show me how she's just as breakable as anyone else. He couldn't even get a kick in to her ribs.” The sneer was evident in Linnel's voice.

Oniba had tried to kick Hana to make a point to Linnel?

Iver had to breathe through the rage that rose up in him.

It had the benefit of clearing the last fuzziness from his head.

“Linnel, just get out there, see if we can get an idea of which direction she went in.” Oniba spoke for the first time, weary, by the sound of it.

Iver opened his eyes in time to see Linnel turn and stalk out of the room.

"Do you believe that guy?" Simon asked when the door had closed behind him.

"I see him as barely useful at this point. He's got to go." Oniba moved restlessly. “Lancaster called him a liability, and I have to agree.”

Vannie made a sound of exasperation, as if she was tired of the whole situation. She started to pace. "She'll run straight to the safety officers. We need to move."

“I'll make sure she doesn't get in touch with anyone in authority.” The familiar voice was still behind him, and Iver heard tapping, as if he was communicating on a screen. “I can't afford to have any fingers pointed my way. As it is, I've got to get back right now and deal with this bloody nose she's given me.”

“And if whoever you're sending after her doesn't succeed?” Simon shook his head. “We still have to move, just in case.”

"Fine, run and hide, but you'll have to deal with the logistics. I've got to leave now. I've cut it too close as it is.”

“Where will we go?” Oniba asked, aggrieved.

“I don't know. I don't have time to think about it. And now I have the added weight of worrying over being recognized. Because someone else didn't do their job properly.” Whoever they were, they were more than just annoyed. Iver thought he heard the shiver of fear in his voice.

Good. And if Hana had bloodied his nose, even better.

“I did my job properly.” Simon took an aggressive step forward.

The stranger walked away, and Iver heard a door opening. “Let me know if you do move, and I'll keep in touch when my people grab the pilot.”

“If they grab the pilot,” Vannie said.

“Now you're sounding like Linnel,” the man said. “She's alone and she's not from Touka City. I'll get her. I shouldn't have to, but I'll clean up your mess."

“She just escaped VSC restraints and managed to attack four people. How did she get out of those restraints, anyway?” Vannie's voice rose with every word.

“I don't know and I don't have time to work it out. Probably a magfield glitch. That shouldn't be a surprise, especially when you're using VSC tech here.” There was some serious anger in that voice. “Just get what information you can from Sugotti, dump his body, and clear out of here. As you say, it's burned now. There's no coming back.”

The door closed sharply behind him.

“There's no coming back?” Simon suddenly kicked a container hard.