They all got up and Fredrak strode further into the tunnels without wasting words. They followed. Gaylen disliked relying on a stranger in this fashion, however much reason told him it was the most logical option. But he’d better deal with it.

“Do you have a plan?” Gaylen asked.

“There’s something of a leader down here,” Fredrak said. “He controls access to an old maintenance elevator that’ll bring us to the surface. He’ll charge us, but it’s the best option.”

Gaylen tried to keep track of their progress, but it was hard. Each tunnel, pipe and gate looked like the other, and the further in they went the more he doubted his own ability to escape in case something went wrong. And if those echoing footsteps were anything to go by their pursuers were onto them.

All this because of an emergency signal.

The two people outside one particular gate didn’t look any different from the other unfortunates down here, but Gaylen could still tell they were guards. It was the general demeanour.

“Hey, it’s me,” Fredrak said to them as he stepped into the light closest to the gate. “I need a quick use of the elevator.”

They turned their faces, invisible beneath hoods, towards the agent and examined him. Gaylen felt he’d done a poor job of getting their haste across; the echoes were getting louder. But one of them did nod before Gaylen’s temper gave out.

“Go on in,” one said, and Gaylen saw light glinting on a headset as they went by. Immediately past the gate they went up another set of maintenance stairs. A few prefab walls had been brought down here, making for a living area that had to seem like luxury to those down below. Portable lights had been set up and Fredrak walked along a line of them to a gloomy area.

Amidst several pillars stood an old metal cylinder, the elevator, and above the door shone the only light beyond the line of stands. A couple of men were already waiting for them and a third came from behind one of the pillars, carrying the air of a leader.

The man wore a wide coat over a slim frame, and a large beard. Contrary to the surroundings, both were quite well maintained.

“Ahh, I was told you were here,” the man said to Fredrak with a businessman’s smile.

“I know you were,” Fredrak replied. “But we need to get topside, and fast. What’s the current rate?”

Gaylen looked about. He didn’t like how strong the light above the elevator was, or how deep it made the darkness around them. He didn’t like that he couldn’t even be sure how many the pillars were, or how big the space was.

He put his hands in his coat pockets, gripping the pistol through the hole in the right-side one. The bearded man strode a bit closer to their group.

“Do you have cash?” he asked.

“Ill intent,” Kiris warned them harshly, her eyes boring into the leader.

“What?” the man said.

Gaylen pulled the gun out through the pocket, and the figures came charging out of the dark. Two came from Gaylen’s right and he turned and got a shot off. The man in the front fell with a hissing wound in his shoulder, smacking into Gaylen on his way down. Others rushed Kiris, Jaquan and the agent.

“There’s a price on your head, agent-man!” the boss shouted.

Someone grabbed Gaylen from behind, trying to control his gun-arm with little skill but considerable strength. The man in front threw a telegraphed punch straight towards Gaylen’s face. Gaylen ducked his head and put his forehead up front. Knuckles met solid bone with a crack, and a yelp from the man.

Jaquan threw a feint at an attacker, then kicked. His cybernetic leg wasn’t any stronger than a regular one, but it WAS made of metal and didn’t feel pain. The other man’s shin had neither of these qualities.

Gaylen wriggled mostly out of the rear grip, then seized the arm, locked it over his shoulder, and broke it.

Fredrak was fighting not to be brought to the ground by two men, hampered by fatigue. Kiris had never been much of a warrior, but she had her passion for collecting skills. It was one of Herdis’s military close combat moves that sent Kiris’s assailant over her shoulder and onto the floor. She then drew her pistol in a quick motion and shot him in the face.

The leader turned on his heels, but had only taken two steps before Gaylen sent a low-strength blast into his back. The man yelped and fell and Gaylen hurried over, waving his pistol around as he did so.

“HOLD IT!” he yelled, and Kiris joined him in the pointing.

He reached the boss, switched the pistol to full strength, then pressed the muzzle against his head.

“I SAID HOLD IT! BACK OFF!”

“Wait, wait!” the boss croaked in a pained voice, either at Gaylen or his own men.

The shadowy attackers were indeed backing off for the moment. But the shadows could be hiding more, and any one of them could be hiding a weapon. And running footsteps were now approaching the same way Gaylen and the others had come.

Jaquan, Kiris and Fredrak hurried over to join him, and a quick head-bob by Gaylen gave Jaquan the message to grab the fallen boss.

“We’re leaving by that damn elevator, or he’s the next one to go!” Gaylen said, and grabbed a fistful of the boss’s hair. He and Jaquan dragged him beneath that bright light above the door, completely costing them sight of their enemies.

The pursuers shouted something. Gaylen risked firing a single shot in the direction of the sound before turning the gun right back on the boss.

The man grunted and gasped, the smell of burnt skin and cloth thick in Gaylen’s nostrils. Fredrak took the man’s left hand and pressed it against a scanner. The door opened and the four of them hurried in. Then Fredrak hit a button and up they went.

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“You shouldn’t have done that,” the agent said calmly.

“You know how the game is!” the boss replied, strung out on pain and fear.

“Better than you do.”

“Is he more trouble alive or dead?” Kiris asked coldly.

“You can’t just kill me! I-”

She kicked him in the gut, silencing him. The man was still coughing when the elevator stopped and the door opened with a bit of a squeak. Fredrak helped drag him outside. Or rather inside a large, empty, poorly lit space.

“They would need his DNA to call it back,” the agent said in a neutral, businesslike fashion. “Monopoly, you see. It’s not too secure to just override, of course, but we’ll be long gone by the-”

The door closed with another squeak and the elevator headed back down.

“Oh damn, that was fast,” Fredrak said.

Then he started running.

“This way!”

They followed once more, leaving the injured man behind. Fredrak led them to one side of the room, then opened a door and out they went, into one of the city’s barely-lit backstreets. It was mashed between two long, tall buildings with few windows of which even fewer showed lights. It really was the perfect place for an underworld showdown, and so the four of them ran down the length of it, to the alley mouth that was slightly closer.

Foot traffic was light; this was a fairly minor street and the night had progressed. There was even less air traffic, which made the incoming car all the more conspicuous as it came towards them at an angle.

“Stay in public view,” Fredrak said as they slowed down to a less noticeable pace.

“We’re not green,” Kiris said.

“No. You’re gold.”

They did cut across into another street, and it wasn’t much of a surprise to see the car intercept them. It stayed up above, a plain but rather large thing; perfect for a modest hit team and a handful of targets.

It occurred to Gaylen that their pursuers must have known about the elevator and called in assistance the moment they’d gone into the tunnels. He promptly dismissed the thought in favour of focusing on the problem. The problem being air superiority. The car had clearly made them, and commercially available equipment would make them easy to track down on the streets.

Gaylen glanced back. He couldn’t see their pursuers, but they had surely exited the alley by now. Either they were taking things slow now that the car was in play, or they were heading down a side street for an ambush.

“This is untenable,” Kiris muttered so only the three men with her could hear.

“Yes,” Gaylen said. He looked around for an underground tunnel, a still-open business that cut through an entire building; anything that would let them get away from the gaze up above. His mind was painfully aware of the array of tools those in that car might put to use at any moment.

“How far to your ship?” Fredrak asked as Gaylen felt the bullseye on them grow larger.

“On foot? A little over an hour,” Jaquan said. “How far is the nearest train terminal? Do you know?”

“Too far. I have an alternative.”

“What is-”

“Two o’clock,” Kiris said.

“I see them,” Gaylen said, taking care to make it seem like he saw nothing at all.

A three-man group was moving to intercept them, moving at a casual pace and being no more outwardly suspicious than Gaylen himself.

“I’ll lead,” he said, and moved to the edge of their group so he’d be the first to encounter the men. “Support me, then we break.”

“Break and follow me,” Fredrak said.

Gaylen poked his fingers into a tiny pocket and took out a pill. As far as anyone viewing could tell he might as well be popping a candy in his mouth. But the taste was anything but sweet as it burst between his teeth. He hated using these things, and not just because of the health risks.

The seconds and the steps counted down and Gaylen analysed the surrounding traffic, streets and obstructions. Even through surreptitious glances it was clear that the three weren’t part of their original pursuers. So they were still in play somewhere nearby.

A woman in revealing clothing beneath a see-through poncho was the final thing between the two groups. Then they intersected.

The closest man acted at the same moment Gaylen did, spraying a dark steam out of a hand-held device. It hit Gaylen’s face, but the pill was doing its job, cranking his system up way too high to be sedated that easily. He caught the outstretched arm, then punched the man square in the chin.

Another man lunged with a shock baton in hand, forcing Gaylen to retreat. Fredrak went for the man’s flank while Jaquan caught the third man in a grapple. He wasn’t great at it, but bought Kiris an opening to swing her pistol into the man’s head.

Fredrak deflected the shock baton with a plain, extendable baton of his own, and Gaylen then kicked at the man’s knee. Fredrak smacked him in the head, and then ran.

Gaylen glanced back, now seeing the original group. And of course there was the damn car up above. It followed them as Fredrak led them in a sprint down a side street, beneath the shadow of a rail, and down a shoulder-width alley that opened out into a parking lot.

RANRIK HOTEL read the glowing letters on the tall building that towered up above. And the car definitely saw them as they rushed through the front door.

The interior looked respectable enough; clean, with probably fake dark wood panelling and lots of warm, red colours. More importantly, it had security cameras and visible security guards with nice suits and weapons.

It was a testament to the people he was with that no one needed to suggest looking inconspicuous. So they all simply took their turn before the fans that dried them off a bit, then strode further into the lobby. Gaylen took his new hat off, then popped another one of those damned pills. One wasn’t a guarantee against sedatives.

Fredrak led them to a small lounge and they all sat down.

“They’ll surround the place and wait,” he said. “Watch the exits and wait for our move. Call in more aid if they can, to keep all the exits covered. They’ll either try to ambush us along the way with relative discreetness, or be truly discreet and just try to follow us until we’re out of public view. It’s what I would do.”

“And can you call in aid from the outside?” Jaquan asked.

“Professionals?” Fredrak said. “No. Not as of recently. And with the way things are I don’t want to risk calling in any of the part-timers.”

“They want us alive,” Gaylen said thoughtfully, analysing the situation. “At least me, because I admitted that I know where the keeper is. They’ll need to get up close, and either bundle me into a car or into a building. Most likely the former. And ideally in the dark.”

“Personally, I don’t want to wager my life on hired goons showing restraint when shot at,” Kiris commented.

“No,” Gaylen admitted. “But this is how the agents will want to play this.”

“Does anyone know where your ship is?” Fredrak asked.

“No,” Gaylen said. “No one who knows anything about anything.”

“Well...”

The agent exhaled, visibly relaxing.

“Then we’ll simply need to make a straight line for it and get off the planet without any delays. I say we spend the rest of the night here, gathering our strength, then head on out into the morning rush. The light of day and the crowds at their thickest will make things harder for them.”

Gaylen nodded.

“It makes sense,” Jaquan said.

“Of course it does,” Fredrak said. “I’m a clever guy.”

“So, we have a plan then?” Kiris said.

“Looks like we do,” Gaylen said. “We can discuss the details once we have rooms. Rooms well away from emergency exits and elevators, just in case.”

“Right,” Fredrak said. “Allow me.”

He headed for the desk.