Daren made his way back home, winding his way through the various makeshift buildings of wood and discarded metal sheets. Most everything that made up the lower class came from stealing from Aero factories. They had stockpiles of sheet metal and wood beams lining the banks of Lake Michigan. Every few days, skirmishes would take place where ten to twenty dark-hooded figures would rush the shipyards in the dead of night.

Gangs were a major part of the lower class. To survive, many lived within a community of thieves, surviving off scraps left over by the higher class above or stealing from the many guard stations that lined the spiral staircases and walkways.

With pillar stairs leading down to factories using man made water channels, the old city was a maze of walls, enormous anchor chains linked from underneath sky islands, and large spiral staircases. Guard stations dotted the landscape of shadowed alleys. Above, colored, blinking lights glowed with the ever hum of engine fans.

Tourists from everywhere flocked to New Muskegon as one of the wealthier sky cities east of the Mississippi river.

On the outskirts of the abandoned old city, a massive fence ran the length of the perimeter with no way in or out except the train station. The station was a massive building built around the turn of the century when the era of steam engines returned as the viable solution for most things.

Around the same time, particularly in the dense wooded lands, strange sightings were reported. Rumors circulated about creatures that hadn’t been seen before. Their rough exteriors were frightening and tales were told of evil, demons roaming the forest regions.

Nobody took the sightings seriously until hunting parties foraging for food began disappearing.

In Muskegon, whole parties of thirty hunters had vanished at one time. When investigating, the bones of the hunters were found laying in heaps deep in the woods, their flesh torn off with deep jagged claw marks.

Soon after, the fence went up and strict laws were put into place.

As the years passed and sinvin inventions reshaped the world, fences were kept in place for the factory workers on the lake. Everything else was given over to nature and the lower class who lived and died unnoticed.

Following alleys between cracked brick walls and long winding vines, an odd clunking sound made Daren look up.

Thousands of gears turned in their mechanical timed rhythm. Between a few of the larger gears, sunlight spilled down in rays of light past the many bridges that made up New Muskegon with its tall angular buildings and bubble-shaped windows.

Somewhere in the maze of turning wheels, a gear was skipping out of time.

He shook his head with a chuckle. He gathered it would take a week for an engineer to find the problem and fix it. But the fix would be temporary. It’s how things were done these days.

Passing a well-walked road, the blinking lights of a tavern lit the grey fog of afternoon in the midst of old stone walls of forgotten buildings. Nearer, two women stood half-naked with plastered smiles on their faces. Their eyes had long since abandoned hope. Their sickly thin frames walked seductively toward him.

He walked on quicker than usual. He was no fool. They would as easily cut him with a concealed blade before they'd pleasure. Most girls on the streets were owned by one of the gangs ruling the under city.

Most of the old city was a ghost-like scene. With only sunlight half the day, one learned quickly how to survive. Where stairs lined the streets closer to the lake, guard stations stood watching for anyone fool enough to trespass and try to ascend to the city above or to the factories nearby.

He paused in his walking and stretched near an abandoned park. He wondered what it would be like on the other side of the wall, to be a farmer underneath the orange sun. A statue in the middle of the park had long since cracked. Black decayed leaves matted the ground with a pungent smell.

Across the park, three guards patrolled a staircase with shields and high-powered pulse guns. The sanctions and curfews here were a law not to be broken on pain of imprisonment or death.

When the guards passed on, he made his way across the park and past a rickety building made of boards with a tin roof.

Through large cracks between the boards, blinking lights of a stolen sinvin condenser illuminated alongside the hum of gears and pistons. A small crowd of mismatched and haggard-looking people stood in the doorway, waiting for the tavern keeper. Even here, in the lowest parts of human civilization, one found the use of sinvin and technology to drown sorrows away in drink.

Hurrying to another alley, he turned and entered a building held together with little more than metal beams and half errected brick walls.

Walking through a large opening where brick and mortar had fallen, he made his way to a large rusted barrel near a standing beam. Reaching in, he pulled out a cloth bag and tucked it underneath his coat before walking on.

On the vacant road again, he pulled out the cloth bag and let his fingers close around the item inside before pulling it out. He smiled, looking on the modded gun he had bought several years ago. He would stash it out of eyesight on his way to work each morning and then afterward, pick it up again and head home. He knew the strict laws about such things. Any weapon was forbidden to everyone but the police who were no more than hired mercenaries who did the upper class’s dirty work. Laws didn’t apply to them or those who hired them. Daren and those like him were nobodies.

Rounding a corner of another old stone building, he stepped onto one of the ancient roads and headed southeast. On these rugged and abandoned paths, it was easier to spot if trouble was coming. The ground was firm and spread out with little to conceal if someone were nearby. Metal posts dotted the road side with rusted signs that long since lost their words and colors. He hardly bothered to glance at them or wonder what had once been on them.

He paused near the edge of a long fallen bridge crossing the newly minted train track that made its way through Muskegon. The trains entering and exiting the city carried workers or more tourists to the sky city.

Spanning the large ravine, large iron beams crossed the length of the gap with partial slabs still holding up with long flat boards extending over the gaps.

He crossed the rickety structure like he did a thousand times before.

A soft hum in the distance broke the silence.

He paused and narrowed his eyes. His fingers closed in around the gun and listened intently.

But nothing more came as if it were his imagination playing tricks on him.

Sighing with relief, he crossed the rest of the bridge and turned a corner of a nearby building. It held carved-out holes where window panes use to dot a four-story tall structure.

Suddenly, a gust of wind came out of nowhere, giving a high whistling sound. Within seconds, it died out again.

Startled, Daren paused dead in his tracks and listened intently. He never took anything light around these parts. The slightest of sounds could easily be the sign of your last breath.

The sound faded and again, silence enveloped everything.

He frowned. Something wasn’t right. He felt it in his bones.

Making his way slowly alongside the brick wall of the building, he crouched near the second corner and peered around the edge.

Directly ahead, the first of many old stone founders buildings came into view. This was the oldest part of the city with buildings built with an artistic architecture. Hackley was the name of one of the wealthy lumber giants who had built the city.

But there was no wind. There was nothing to indicate anything had occurred.

With a sigh of relief, he straightened.

A high pitched feminine shout shattered the silence. She sounded angry but with it a tinge of fear laced with desperation.

Daren instinctively ducked back around the corner, pulling out the modded gun. Hitting a button near the barrel, he waited for the red lit indicator on the side of the barrel to stop flashing.

The darkness was a constant problem with only a few rays of light beaming down. It was enough however to illuminate directly ahead.

For a long second, he heard and saw nothing. His heart thumped in his chest. He knew when he heard screams, a gang was nearby. That or one of the girls primary objective was found out with an owner's blade killing them.

A blinding flash of light exploded all around and Daren was thrown backwards hard, landing mercilessly on his back.

Groaning, he shook his head, dislodging the buzzing noise from the impact.

Part of the building's corner was gone. A streak of blood dribbled down his cheek where a fragment of brick hit him.

Brushing at the cut, he squinted through a cloud of white dust.

A woman, dressed in leathers as though from one of New Muskegon’s hunting parties, ran in his direction. Behind her, three men, dressed in uniform style red and blacks, pursued her with angry scowls on their faces.

The lead man, muscular in appearance with a chiseled face and crew cut hair, lifted a hand.

Daren blinked and did a double take at what he was seeing.

A ball of white fire ignited from out of nowhere, hovering and growing in circumference. It gave off a disturbing crackling sound as it held between the lead man’s two hands. He gave a shout and flung his hand out.

The white ball of energy crackled and shot forward with blazing speed.

The woman was so close now but never saw him huddling around the corner.

She ducked at the last minute, hearing the crackling of the white ball. Bringing her hands to her head, she clasped them together and spun about. She looked as though she were trying to counter whatever was thrown at her.

Before she had even turned halfway though, the blinding energy swept around her. It’s crackling echoed everywhere.

With a high-pitched scream, she was thrown from her feet, the electrical-charged ball flinging her through the air in a powerful force. It slammed her against the brick building with such force, the bricks cracked and exploded. Bricks and mortar flew everywhere with the ground shaking from the violent force.

She slumped to the ground in a heap, not moving.

Daren immediately backed away. She landed way too close to his hiding spot! His heart pounded hard in his chest and he blinked dumbly. He fought the urge to draw his gun. His weapon was no match to whatever these men possessed.

All around, dust completely blinded any movement.

And then, without thinking, he grabbed hold of the girl and pulled her towards him.

No! Don't get involved! What are you doing! His mind was wheeling at the stupidity of his actions. But another part of him, the part that still held some human decency, reacted on instinct.

With a firm grip on her clothes, he pulled hard to the side, hoping the dust wouldn’t settle too quickly. All he needed was a few seconds.

Pulling again, he slid the girl with him over the edge of the embankment.

Scurrying away, Daren was careful with his cargo, fighting to keep his balance on a seventy degree angle. Keeping his head low and the girl in his arms, he slid down the steep slope of tall grass and thin trees where he knew an opening was. He glanced upwards every few seconds but saw nobody. His heart kept pounding at the stupidity. Why was he doing this? Wasn’t losing his job bad enough today? Now he had to go and rescue a complete stranger who might as well be a prisoner who deserved what was coming to her?

The thoughts kept on coming but he ignored them all.

From above, shouts and curses were heard.

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Daren swore under his breath and crouched even lower in the tall grass. A glance about him and he nodded quickly. He sweated in the quickly heating air before finding what he was looking for.

"Almost there," he grunted and kept to where the darkest shadows were at. It was the first time he was thankful for the sky city above as its massive structure cast enormous shadows all about.

A few more struggling steps and he stopped.

An old tunnel stood half erect going deep into the side of the ravine.

Lowering onto all fours, he turned, all the while keeping hold of the girl so she wouldn’t slide away. He pushed himself into the tunnel entrance before pulling her in with him. Gripping the girl by the shoulders, he pulled hard, past several limbs and tree brush till they were far enough into the opening to be covered in the dark.

His heart hadn’t let up, his body filled with adrenaline. He let himself fall back and closed his eyes.

Out loud, he whispered, “What are you doing! What in all nine hells are you doing!” He leaned against the tunnel wall and took several deep breaths. Panic was slowly creeping to the surface.

From his pocket, he grabbed the pulse gun and flipped a side switch. It glowed red with a hum and the thin slit of a window illuminate with the red gage line filling. In seconds, it reached the end indicating readiness to fire.

Lifting the gun over his head, he used it like a light to shine down.

The tunnel walls were lined with roots going everywhere and blocked any further entry. In front of him, the features of the girl was illuminated.

A pulse emanated from her neck and her chest lifted and fell steadily.

“Well, you’re not dead. I guess that’s a good thing.” He let the light linger a little longer on her form. There were a few cuts across her face like his own but for the most part, she was unharmed physically. Most of the damage had been taken in the head.

Feature wise, he had a hard time placing her. The few times he had managed to gain access to the sky city, they all looked similar with their cultural influences of hair styles and dress. This girl didn’t fit any style he recognized. The clothes were all wrong. The stitching pattern was different as well as material used.

He couldn’t help but notice the obvious fact as well.

She was beautiful.

For being roughed up and on the run, there was a shine to her that made Daren’s heart skip a few times. He tentatively pushed aside long strands of auburn hair that had drifted in front of her face.

Her face, smeared in splotches of blood and dirt, still held a delicate, natural look of a high class person.

He breathed in, suddenly caught by her appearance. For a time, he just stared, transfixed in awe.

Shaking his head, he gave a soft chuckle, dislodging silly notions that flooded in. Who was he kidding?

Leaning back against the wall again, he listened to the slow hum of the pulse gun’s charge. One thing he had learned over the years was patience. Survival required a lot of it.

He replayed what he could of the three suited men.

Their weapons were ten times as powerful as his pulse gun. It fired a good number of blasts but that was it. They came at this girl with heavy explosives. Their uniforms suggested they came from a powerful employer. This suggested the girl was no mere city dweller. She was much more, probably one of the high council families that ruled over New Muskegon. That begged the question to be asked. What had she done that angered them so bad they wanted her dead?

The silent minutes dragged on till finally, he lowered the gun.

Turning, he looked down at the girl.

Her clothing was a mixture of what a normal top person wore and that of those strange gunmen. The stitching of the cloth was tight with hardened leather to withstand outside conditions. These gunmen wore a more uniform style cloth, one found in military-style apparel.

Maybe she was a runaway?

He absently shook his head. These gunmen weren't paid to hunt runaways. She had to have done something truly bad to get these types involved.

He gently pulled another strand of hair from her face.

She had a soft complexion with hair extending halfway down her back. However, it seemed she had chizzled out a deep ingrained frown that wouldn't leave, even when dead asleep. Still, she stirred some long-ago feeling.

He stared mesmerized in the illuminating red light. "Who are you?" he whispered.

The girl's eyelids suddenly flickered.

Daren scooted away a little to give the girl some space.

A second later, her eyes flashed open.

In a sweeping motion with hands and feet, she kicked out and leaped into a crouching fighting stance. Her eyes fixed on his with a menacing glare. Like a cat, she took in her surroundings with one quick motion of her head before focusing on him again. She wore a slightly confused look now.

In a harsh whisper, she said, "Who are you! Where am I?"

Daren put a finger to his lips, glaring. "We're hiding, unless you want to go out there and let them finish you off! You got hit by debri and I was nearby." He motioned to their surroundings. “We’re in an old drain tunnel of a ravine near where you got hit.”

The girl turned towards the opening of the tunnel then back at him.

With more puzzlement, she looked at him funny. "You saved me?"

He shrugged with a slight laugh. "That isn't decided yet. We're in a tunnel that most likely leads nowhere. I didn't see a gun on you so that isn't promising either."

The girl glanced at the entrance again. "We're in Michigan though, right?"

Daren rose an eyebrow. "Uh...yeah. Where else would we be?"

The girl waved a dismissive hand. "How far is it to the northern edge?"

"Huh?" he asked confused. Maybe she got knocked on the head a bit too hard. "Look, I don't even know who you are or even if you're safe to be around." He laughed bitterly at this. "Lately, nobody is safe so how about we first introduce ourselves?"

The girl looked from him to the entrance then back again. "Alicia," she said stiffly. "Alicia Alcorin."

Daren tried on a smile he wasn’t use to. A second later, he gave up with a huff. "Daren Cole,” he said and looked back at the entrance. “I work a little ways from here." He paused and added, "I help build airships. You?"

Alicia looked back at the tunnel entrance but Daren caught the worried expression that formed. "I... I don't have a profession."

"A runaway? Thief?" He raised a hand dismissively. "Hey, I don't care. Around these parts, everybody fends for themselves or dies."

Alicia hesitated. "I guess you'd call me a runaway." She turned at this and wouldn't look at him again.

"Ok, look." he stretched his legs in front of him. "You don't have to tell me anything about yourself. You're obviously in some sort of trouble. By the looks of things, somebody of importance hired them to find you. That's your business."

Alicia didn't respond and silence followed for several seconds.

With a heavy sigh, she turned and looked at him again.

He caught the glimmer of fear and something more, maybe terror she hid behind a tough outer layer? It wasn't obvious at first glance but he spent his life watching people.

Closing her eyes a second, she took in a breath and let it out. "I come from a powerful family name." She looked towards the entrance as she spoke. "My family is not like most. Their need for power-" A soft shaking of breath escaped before in a cold, detached voice, she continued, "You will never have heard of me or my family. Nobody except a very few know we exist. But power is what my family lives for, to control and dominate." She glared. "And I-" she tapped herself on the chest hard, "am the biggest disappointment to them all." She gave a chilling, broken laugh.

Again, silence hung over the two of them.

Daren found himself having trouble reading Alicia. She wasn't like most people he came across. There were layers on top of layers with this girl. He felt that if he were to learn one thing about her, there would be a million more things that were waiting behind locked doors. For some reason, it intrigued him.

He took one of Alicia's hands in his own. "If you are being hunted for not being part of that life," he stared at her intently, "then you have my deepest respect."

Alicia looked at him with cold, detached eyes.

His heart skipped a beat and pounded hard. He felt a connection. Insane as it was, he knew he had to help her more.

Getting to his feet, he grabbed his gun and made his way to the entrance. Behind him, Alicia followed close behind.

He waved a hand quickly. "You're unarmed! Get in the shadows!"

Alicia’s voice suddenly turned cold. "You're more defenseless than me." She pushed her way to his side and without waiting, poked her head out of the tunnel opening.

He narrowed his eyes at the stupidity. She was going to get them killed!

The sloping bank was covered in disjointed shadows and the slow squeaking of gears high above. Tall, lengthy grass flowed all about on the steep hillside. Above, nothing was seen which was odd. These men didn’t seem the type to give up so easily.

Leaning back in, he flicked a button on the gun and heard the soft hum of the charge building again.

Without warning, Alicia slid the rest of the way out of the tunnel and glanced at him briefly. "I can take it from here." She stood to her feet on the outside and scanned her surroundings.

Daren glared, feeling a burning irritation swarm up. Swearing, he shoved the gun in his pants and made his way to the outside. He quickly scanned his surroundings, feeling immediately exposed. He grated his teeth, biting back a harsh remark.

Alicia eyed him narrowly and all the past few minutes of wanting to help was fast eroding in irritation.

"I said I can take it from here!" Her whisper held a spiked edge to it. Everything about her screamed she didn’t want him near her. His saving her from certain death meant nothing now.

He glared at Alicia in turn. "Are you trying to get yourself killed? Is that it?" he grated angrily. "I saved your butt just so you can walk into someone's sights?"

She spun on him with fire in her eyes. "I'm not helpless! I have no damn need of you!" She turned about and began walking up the hill.

Daren blinked, taking in Alicia’s furious words. What had he done? He mentally checked everything he had just said but nothing about Alicia made sense now. Taking in several deep breaths, he whispered under his breath, “What are you doing, stupid?" To Alicia, he said, "Where are you going to go with them looking for you?"

Alicia paused but didn't turn. Her posture was stiff as a statue's.

"Have you ever been here before?"

Her shoulders slumped slightly but she remained rigid.

Shaking his head, he climbed the hill to stand beside her.

"I don't know what the hell I did to offend you," he said coldly, "but if you want to survive, you might want to stay near somebody who knows the layout of the land. It's filled with cutthroats. And you smell like new flesh. They'll be on you within seconds here."

Alicia was silent for another few moments. Everything about her posture screamed she hated him. "Where to?" she grated through clenched teeth.

Daren felt his muscles tense at each passing minute with the girl. Calming himself, he waited for his impulse to lash out subside. In a controlled voice, he said, "Whoever is after you, they don't know where they are either. You can come with me, get your bearings, and draw up a plan."

Her eyes narrowed. "Come with you where?"

"My home."

Alicia's eyes turned down in narrowed slits and her mouth curled into a strange sneer. She took a step towards him till she was near enough he could feel her heat. "And what would we do there?"

Daren's hands clenched and he backed up, his own eyes narrowing. "If you think I'm desperate to poke a porcupine, you're mistaken." He gave her a cold smile of his own, eyebrows knit together. "We will draw a plan of escape as this entire city is surrounded by walls." He looked at her with heated anger. "Is that satisfactory, princess?"

Alicia’s eyes flashed something unrecognizable for a split second. Fear? She closed them and breathed in slow and deep. She let it out again in a meditative fashion.

“I seem to have no real choice in the matter.”

He grumbled. “You do have a choice. Leave.”

Her hands clenched involuntarily, something inside waring.

At last, she whispered, “OK."

Ok, then," Daren replied with a grim expression. "Let's go."

Before he got a few steps in, Alicia's hand was on him, spinning him around hard to look at her. In a voice hardened by pain, she said, "If you try anything at all, I will kill you." She held a chilling smile.

Daren felt himself go cold inside. Something wasn't right with her. He nodded slowly and made his way up the hill.

What in the world did he get himself mixed up in?