Page 46

They’d discussed this already, hadn’t they?

Elliott had pleaded for Niko’s trust, and when he’d given it, the other man had come through.

Maybe he could afford them the break they needed to all make it home again.

Maybe Niko could let go, and trust him in his darkest hour once more. Fully, and without reservation.

Niko was at a crossroads now, and both options were full of pain.

“Yeah, babe.” He swallowed, nearly knocked off his feet by a poorly aimed grenade which went off to their left. “I trust you.”

“I’m on my way. Where are you?”

“We’re stalled at Frieseba Street. We’re surrounded and can’t make it to Deleera anymore.”

“On it.”

Niko flinched as another grenade exploded nearby, the sound making his ears ring with a tinny, high-pitched whine. More reinforcements were arriving now—Galapol vehicles and ships, even an armored Imperial tank. The sheer number of them made Niko’s heart leap into his throat.

The ground beneath them began to lightly shake.

Niko spun, trying to see if another tank was approaching from behind, but only a wall of Imperial Guards stood behind them.

Confusion briefly pricked at his brow; it wasn’t an earthquake.

He could see some of the guards breaking their stoic formation as they began to glance upward in bewilderment.

Seconds later, something large and swift-moving tore low through the air above their heads, causing the ground beneath them to rumble in its wake. Niko glanced up instinctively, but only caught a glint of distorted air before it was gone.

The Sonadora Despierta .

“Now what the fuck is goin’ on?” the Legend bemoaned, head tilted toward the sky as well.

Before Niko could answer, shots began raining down from seemingly nowhere, the ship’s artillery laying down double trails of rapid-fire assault.

Niko watched, breathless, as they ran a wide circle around himself and the Legend.

Each shot’s impact let out a deep, shuddering wump, wump, wump that vibrated through Niko’s chest cavity as dirt, concrete, and other debris were launched into the air.

Elliott knew what he was doing, though—his shots looked sloppy, but Niko knew they were intentionally so.

He wasn’t aiming directly at any Galapol agents, nor the Imperial military.

Niko could see the trail of tiny craters always kept just in front of their forces, pushing alarmingly closer to those blocking access through Frieseba Street.

He was creating an impenetrable no man’s land with the gunfire, forcing the guards to give way. He was clearing a path for them.

And it was working.

“Elliott…” Niko murmured under his breath, his heart skipping a beat.

Beside him, the Legend let out a sharp whistle as the Sonadora made small craters in the streets of Zaaka Narai. “Whoo-wee! Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about! It’s finally gettin’ good.”

Some of the Gheroun and Galapol forces switched focus to the Sonadora, one of the tanks raising its gun and firing into the air, but in the chaos and confusion of trying to hit a heavily armored, fast-moving, and invisible target, none of their shots connected.

Seconds later, the ship circled around and roared by overhead again, the wind stirred up in its low passage sending abandoned and scattered trash flying. Elliott laid down another series of ground-shaking shots.

“Niko?” he called over their line.

“Uh— Yeah, babe?”

“Run.”

Niko grabbed the old man by his heavily armored bicep. “Come on! We have to go.”

“Ain’t gotta tell me twice, kid.”

Together, they ducked their heads and continued booking it for Hannua Park, Elliott aggressively forging a brief path for them straight through the heart of enemy offense, as fresh chunks of stone and concrete were sent airborne by his calculated shots.

The old bounty hunter finally began lagging behind, the demands of the day clearly wearing on his aged body. Niko was grateful that, despite his age, the guy could run as hard as he had been.

“Niko, we’re being overwhelmed,” Death spat. “We have to get out. We’re done for, if we don’t go now. I’m sorry.”

Niko swore under his breath and winced. They’d almost made it home free. He drew in a breath to reply, his lungs burning from constant running, but Elliott cut him off before he could speak.

“That’s fine. Get your people out of here. I’ve got them now.”

“You’re sure?” Death asked.

“Yes. Go.”

Niko wracked his brain for what to do, when a dangerously unhinged idea came to mind.

But it just might work—and when pursued through the heart of an alien empire’s capital city as its number one enemy, beggars couldn’t afford to be choosers.

He fumbled for the grappling gun at his toolbelt. “Elliott, think you can circle past us low and slow? Let the wheels down, too. I’m going to try and hook onto one with the grapple.”

“I’ll do my best.”

He was going to have to do this literally blind. But it was the only way they were making it out of this mess and back to the ship now.

“Okay,” he told the Legend. “I need you to hold the fuck on.” He quickly sheathed his rifle and turned, pulling the old man tightly against himself, chest to chest.

“What is this, Free Hug Day at the Galaxy Peace Parade?”

“You want me to leave you here? Let you deal with Galapol and their friends yourself?”

It seemed that idea wasn’t particularly appealing to the grizzled old bounty hunter, even if it meant he had to hug his way out of Zaaka Narai. He wrapped his arms around Niko tightly, clinging to him.

“On your mark, Elliott.”

“Coming over you in five… four… three… two… now.”

Niko fired the grappling hook. It sailed into the air and knocked against what must have been the smooth underside of the ship, ricocheting off and falling back to the ground.

Fuck. Fuck, fuck.

“Niko?”

He scrambled to reel in the cable for another try. “Didn’t work! I hit the underside. Can you come back around?”

“Coming.”

The Sonadora let out another series of shots, the windows of nearby buildings shattering from their intensity.

Elliott targeted one of the tanks that had begun launching heavy artillery fire into the sky, his shots connecting.

It wasn’t enough to outright destroy the armored vehicle, but damaged it enough to stop its impending assault and decommission it.

The years Niko had spent pouring income into modding the ship instead of upgrading his tiny apartment were finally paying off.

“Heading your way again.”

“We’re ready.” Niko held his breath and tried to steady his mind and body the way he’d seen Elliott do countless times. Focus. Fucking focus. He does it. So can you.

His heart hammered in his chest as he willed away all distractions.

Nothing else existed now but his target and focus.

He envisioned the ship he loved and knew so well in his mind’s eye, picturing where its wheels and landing gear lay.

He imagined its swift approach, and his previous error suddenly occurred to him.

Elliott began the countdown. “Five… four… three—”

Niko released the grapple early this time, just before Elliott was due to be over them.

“Now!”

The shot connected, the hook vanishing as it passed the cloaking boundary of the ship. Then Niko and the Legend were yanked violently off their feet. It was all he could do to hold on to the grapple and the old man at the same time.

Esteban and his full armor suit were heavier than Elliott had been.

“Did it work?” Elliott asked.

“We’re on! Pull up now. Now, Elliott!”

Elliott guided the ship sharply upward, and Niko’s legs barely missed crashing into the tip of a pointed building.

Soon, they were soaring above Zaaka Narai, the entire city and all its oddly curling and curving streets growing smaller and smaller beneath them.

Flashing red, blue, purple, and gold lights spread in every direction.

For a moment, Niko was dumbfounded at just how many Gheroun military and Galapol agents were flooding the city now.

Along the far eastern horizon, the last of Lady Death’s ships departed, pursued by more flashes of red and blue.

Good. Get the hell out of this nightmare city.

He struggled to keep hold against his own weight and the other man’s, his arm burning from the strain. To his credit, the Legend managed to hold on tight to him as well. Niko could only pray he had half the old man’s strength and endurance if he made it to his age.

“Elliott, I need you to find an open space and get low. We need to get inside the ship.”

“I’ve got you.”

They soared above the city, the strength in Niko’s arm rapidly waning as his muscles shook and shuddered now from the strain.

His grip on the grapple gun slipped, both men getting a violent jerk that sent Niko’s vision turning black at the edges.

He clung on tighter, his entire body drowning in a cold sweat.

He refused to let go, holding on out of sheer stubborn willpower.

After everything he’d just gone through to get the Legend out, he wouldn’t deign to let them both pointlessly fall to their deaths now.

He was grateful they were both armored, despite the added weight of their suits. The raw, biting wind against bare skin at this speed would have undoubtedly lacerated them.

Need to thank Zann for—

“Here. There’s a vacant outcropping west of the city that I’m going to stop at. Be ready,” Elliott warned.

“We’re ready.”

Soon, the city and its sharp buildings fell away and they entered the foothills of mountainous terrain, which Elliott carefully navigated. Then Niko felt the ship slow—to his great relief—and begin to descend.

“Now, Niko.”

He saw the uneven, rocky ground of the outcropping approaching fast from below and tried to meet it foot first, but without feeling or a sense of when to push himself into standing, his legs instead buckled beneath him.

The grapple gun finally slipped free of his grip, sending the older bounty hunter and himself both tumbling. He pulled himself back up quickly.

“Rough landing there,” the Legend grunted as Niko helped pull him up off the ground. “But coulda been rougher.”

The Sonadora ’s stealth deactivated, Niko’s beloved ship appearing once more in his sights now. He reeled in the grappling cable and hastily ascended the ramp, following the Legend.

Esteban whistled. “Nice little ship you got here. It’s cute.”

“It’s more than cute,” Niko muttered. He was exhausted.

“It just saved our asses.” Once they were both inside, Elliott brought the ship back into flight.

Niko watched the outcropping begin to grow smaller through the still-open door, the ramp not even fully retracted yet.

He slammed the side of his fist against the door control.

It slid closed with an agonizing sluggishness.

“Niko…”

Niko looked over to see two faces that panged at his heart.

His father was back in their protection, as was Loolae.

They were here. They were real. They were alive.

They’d both managed to survive this nightmare.

He wanted to pull them into an embrace, but needed to talk to the one who’d gotten them out of this mess first.

He made his way to the front of the ship, where the sight of beloved, familiar gold cowlicks greeted him. Elliott turned to glance over his shoulder back at Niko, casting him a brief but sincere, exhausted smile.

He was covered in teal, alien blood.

Niko frowned, his heart skipping a nervous beat. He opened his mouth to ask about it, when Death’s voice cut him off through the comm line.

“I’m sorry, Niko. Esteban.”

“Don’t worry about it, D. I’m grateful for everything today.”

“Eh, yer good,” the Legend added. “Though, maybe you owe me a drink.”

“I’ll take you up on that. I’ll owe you the whole damn bar stock,” Death said.

“Nah, no need. Buy these two kids a couple of drinks and we’ll call it even. Actually,” he eyed Niko. “Next time yer on Dainna, I’ll take you out for drinks myself, after you risked your ass for me. Least I can do.”

“Sure,” Niko said.

Deleera continued. “Police channels are reporting that Khaathra’s dead.” She sounded as bewildered as Niko now felt. “Was that you?”

“What?” He blinked. “No.”

Niko turned to stare at Elliott. Silence fell over both the ship and their comm line while the other man guided the Sonadora up through thick cloud cover, then finally broke through the atmosphere of Haneen, the dark of space surrounding them as the planet slowly began to fall away. He switched on the artificial gravity.

Then he spoke, his voice quiet, though Niko could see the satisfied smirk as it crept across his lips.

“It was me.”