Betta handed the twin pulse pistols to Teena. “I checked their history. They’ve only been fired once.”
“What does that mean? He’s attacked someone on-station?”
“No, the date was nearly a decade ago. I’m guessing he keeps them around for show.”
“Concealed beneath a nanite mesh that keeps them hidden? What kind of show is that?”
Betta shrugged. Pulling forth the two knifes that ran the length of her hands, she ran her thumb over the inside grooves. Immediately, the tip extended and the pop of electricity startled both women.
“What the—” The words were barely out of her mouth when she caught a glimpse of a tall Antogin stepping onto the road, directly in their path.
Sera Rankor stumbled in front of her cart, causing it to veer and come to a sudden stop. He was at full height. His antennae vibrated so quickly that they moved in a blur that Betta couldn’t follow.
“Please remain in the cart. Emergency officials have been notified of an inebriated Antogin wandering the roadways. Please remain seated until it is dealt with.” The A.I. that drove the cart sounded more annoyed than previously.
Betta leaped from the cart. “Sera Rankor? Are you okay?”
The Antogin swayed, his black eyes boring into her. He moved in a drunken way, though his focus was Betta. He took a step, swayed, another step, swayed again, and then Sera Rankor stopped moving entirely. Not even his antennae moved and he stood like a statue. Only the shallow movement of his thorax gave any indication that his body functioned.
Without any warning, Sera Rankor’s mandibles moved, the clicking and humming coming in short succinct bursts that ended with the Antogin focusing his antennae on Betta. The translation came next, but by then Sera Rankor was charging at Betta.
All she heard was Teena’s “No!” and then only the beating of her heart in her ears. The instincts from years of playing federal agent when she was a kid kicked in, and Betta centered her stance. Instead of dodging the Antogin, she met him full on, the pop of electricity echoing down the roadway.
Betta was hardly any resistance to Sera Rankor, their two bodies skidding along the black tarmac. When they stopped moving, Betta realized she held one knife to his skull and another to his abdomen. Sera Rankor stared at her, but he didn’t move. She poked him with both the knives. He still didn’t move. She tried pushing his body off her own, and still he was like a statue. She could feel the rise and fall of his thorax, but this time against her chest.
Teena was there next and a host of other figures. It took three of them to get the Antogin off Betta.
“What did he say?” Betta gasped once she was free.
“He said ‘Our queen is in range, and she demands the body of the abomination, Jadis Ter,’” Teena said.
“Abomination?” Betta recalled the scan and the Antogin abdomen that attached to Jadis’s waist. “We need to get prepared. Most of the Antogin are on the lower level. Tell the feds to keep an eye on them. If they become aggressive, try to subdue, not kill. I need you to get his ship out of quarantine and ready to go. He’s probably got better protection on his own station. I’ll head back and get Jadis.”
“Get Jadis?” Teena asked. “How are you going to ‘get Jadis’?”
“I guess I’ll use my charming personality,” Betta grinned.
Teena handed her another wet wipe. “As you wish, Miss Reganta. I’ll alert the feds and get some security on the situation. Good luck. You two with her!”
Betta squeezed into the cart with two of the female guards. Both had their hair back in ponytails, and both had a light brown complexion that was common in this sector. Each woman held a pulse rifle, their eyes constantly on their surroundings as the cart hummed toward Gabriel’s.
They were just a few minutes away when the holographic image of Sera Rankor appeared where the windshield might have been on another vehicle. When Betta turned her head to the guards, she could see Sera Rankor displayed across every billboard, every ad space, and any and all holographic booths across the station.
Since Sera Rankor was unconscious on the road, Betta was certain this had to be a pre-recorded message.
“Guests of Betta’s Station, an emergency situation has arisen. Please remain calm and do not leave your current positions. The fugitive known as Jadis Ter is under arrest by order of the Queen of Five. We have Antogin workers currently securing him. Please do not interfere or you may be injured.”
The message repeated on a loop.
“Got it!” Jadis rolled and dove toward the bar. The hive mind had finally reached Betta’s Station.
A blast struck the sofa and lit it afire. Ducking his head at the end of the small bar, Jadis thought it must have been a very expensive sofa to catch fire so easily. Most sofas were made with fire retardant material. Of course, he’d never fired a force-rifle at a sofa before. Shaking the thought out of his head, Jadis tried to think of a way out of this. None came to mind. He was going to die, and he was going to die thinking about a damn sofa that didn’t mean anything to him. There had to be something else he could think about, someone else. The image of Betta’s face against his own, the feel of her fingers on the back of his skull, and his head pulled down to meet her lips entered his mind.
The sound of an electric pop echoed through the chamber. It was followed by the sudden smell of charred flesh. The high-pitched scream of the Antogin nearly blew out his ear drums. Jadis rose cautiously to look out. What he saw he would never forget.
Pulling up to Gabriel’s, Betta couldn’t help smiling at the tall woman that greeted her.
“Betta! He’s in the back with his best friend, ‘Big Dee.’”
“Jadis has a best friend?” Betta laughed.
“You don’t have time. Get him outta here!”
Betta turned to her two guards and said, “I’ll get Jadis, you keep Gabriel’s secure.”
The two nodded, taking up positions at opposite ends of the shop. Betta ran around the back and through the titanium door that sat ajar. She was just in time to see Jadis diving behind the bar. An Antogin was firing a force-rifle, which was illegal for federal citizens to carry. It had very bad aim.
Again, her heart beat in her ears, forcing out all other sound. She quickly assessed the situation. Jadis was trapped. The Antogin had the force-rifle at its highest setting, which would lead to an overload in at least three more shots based on the hum. She still had the stun batons and they were buzzing with a charge.
All the action slowed to a crawl, and Betta, knives in hand, ran toward the Antogin, leaping in the low gravity. It was better than what they had below, but it would never rival Arys-27. Betta tapped the grooves of the knives while thrusting them into the temples of the Antogin. The squeal it elicited made its way through her thundering heartbeats. Time sped up again, and she jumped from the back of the Antogin as it fell.
When she looked up, her eyes met Jadis’s chocolate gaze and she smiled. She said something about the knives awkwardly, suddenly feeling bad that she had stolen them. Here he was defenseless and it was all her fault.
The two guards were at the doorway, peaking in, but Betta waved them back, though they only pointed their pulse rifles in the direction of the unconscious Antogin. Betta could hear the buzz of the force-rifle that lay next to the creature. She needed to lower its discharge, but first she needed Jadis out from behind the bar. “Why are you hiding back there, Jadis? Shouldn’t you be protecting Big Dee? He’s like your best friend.”
Jadis closed his gaping jaw and said, “He’s not my best friend. I just met him tonight. What is wrong with you? You’re like some kind of crazy ninja-person.”
Betta sighed, kicking the still Antogin, the knives humming in her hands. “You think he’ll be ok?”