"Kayde and Alora's Tale" - Malaki Anthology #10 - Worldbuilding Excerpt

Kayde grimaced as the throbbing pain of the wound matched the pace of his frantically beating heart. Gritting his teeth, Kayde applied more pressure to his wound. He winced at the added pain, but knew that it was necessary to keep him from bleeding out.

“Alora...the LRF drive.”

“Right. Sorry.”

She reached over and activated the drive, concealing the hovercraft from view once again. Alora rapidly piloted the hovercraft up the shaft and back into the open night air. The rim of the well came into view a minute later. Alora muttered an “oh haka” and Kayde saw why. Surrounding the shaft were dozens of Enforcer craft, blocking their way out of the city. They surveyed the mouth of the shaft, but didn’t open fire. Kayde hoped that not-so-subtle-fact meant the LRF drive was doing its job. He coughed, exacerbating the pain in his side.

“Keep it low, Alora. Angle towards the Strand. Cut through the buildings.”

Her reaction was incredulous. “Are you barking mad?”

“They can’t see us for now, but we get any higher and they’ll be able to hear us over their own rotors. If the LRF drive fails, I’d rather not be in the open and we can use the threat of collateral damage as a deterrent. Just trust me.”

Alora brought the craft around at a dizzying speed, pointing the nose at the menagerie of gaudily-colored skyscrapers and high-rises that made up the Strand. She increased the thrust and made a line towards the district.

“I hope you know what you’re doing, Kayde. I needed to be treating you five minutes ago.”

“I’ll be all right a while longer.”

Flashes of bright colors and spotlights illuminated the night, a beacon for them to follow. They entered the maze of buildings and Alora pushed her piloting skills to the maximum, guiding the nimble craft through the narrow corridors with precision. The hovercraft tilted dangerously as Alora fought to make a particularly sharp turn and Kayde found himself nearly lying on his back against the bulkhead. He caught himself holding his breath out of a combination of pain and nerves. Forcing his tense muscles to relax, Kayde exhaled, sparking another agonizing lance from his wound.

“There. Dead ahead.”

“That’ll take us right by an Enforcer barracks!”

Kayde coughed again, the distinct sound of liquid in his lungs accompanying it.

“Just do it, Alora! I don’t care if we’re close enough to blow their windows out. Get us out of the city!”

A look of fear and tender concern flashed across the young woman’s face, replaced almost immediately by grim determination.

“Alright. Hold on to something.”

Kayde reached up and grabbed the armrest of her chair, sliding his fingers between her forearm and the matte metal. Alora pushed the engines to full thrust, angling above the wall towards a gap in the peaks beyond. The craft accelerated forward violently and Kayde strained to maintain his grip. Streaks of color whipped by the canopy as the skyscrapers outside became a blur.

Floodlights flashed on from the barracks as some unseen technician undoubtedly noticed on their scopes that an unidentified object was hurtling in their direction. Kayde and Alora were moving too quickly though. Before the outpost had a chance to react, they shot over the wall and into the darkness of the night, leaving behind the dangers of the city. Alora manually piloted the craft a little while longer, until they had passed through the range of mountains and reached a suitable cruising altitude. From there, she re-oriented in the direction of their camp and leveled off, engaging the auto-pilot.

“Move your legs.”

Kayde turned to his left to allow Alora to push back the pilot’s chair. She disappeared into the back of the cabin to retrieve the medical kit. He felt himself growing more and more lethargic as the adrenaline subsided. His head slouched involuntarily to his chest as the fatigue took over.

“Hey! Stay awake, Kayde. Do you hear me? Stay with me.”

Alora rushed to his side, already wearing gloves. Kayde watched through flickering eyelids as she unzipped the medkit, removing a saline IV, biofoam and bandaging. Time ceased to function in a predictable manner as he slipped into a drunken stupor. He tried to concentrate but his thoughts were muddled and incomplete. Alora was talking but her words weren’t making any sense. Through the haze, he was dimly aware of the IV being inserted into his arm. She rolled him on his side and Kayde felt relief as the pain in his side subsided before blacking out.

A bright light blinded him as he feebly opened his eyes. Hundreds of painful sensations crashed into his consciousness like a wave, forcing a groan to escape from his lips. They melded together into an all-encompassing ache and then subsided. He called Alora’s name, his voice croaking through dry lips. She was by his side in an instant.

“Water. Please.”

She nodded, disappearing for a moment before returning with a canteen. Kayde sat up with her assistance, taking stock of his surroundings. They were in the back of the hovercraft. Alora had created a makeshift bed out of one of the rows of troop seats. The saline IV had been replaced with a plasma drip. The hovercraft’s engines were silent, which meant that they weren’t flying anymore either. Kayde settled into a single seat and attempted to open the canteen with weak fingers.

“Alora...I can’t.”

She took the canteen from him gently, opening the flask and returning it. He took a short draught, relishing the feeling of the cold liquid rejuvenating his dry mouth and throat.

“Where are we?”

Alora visibly relaxed, her shoulders dropping as though she realized that there wasn’t any threat.

“I set us down about forty miles away from camp. You needed attention again and we need to talk first.”

Kayde lifted up his shirt to check his wound. Bandages covered it, but they were fresh and without blood. Alora’s eyes flicked back up as he lowered his shirt again.

“Bullet went clean through. It nicked your lung, so I had to use the entry point to insert a stem-patch to seal it. Biofoam is holding you together for the moment, though you’ll need to see a proper surgeon to close the exit wound.”

Her explanation felt obliged, nervous even. As confident and independent as Alora was, she had odd moments of insecurity. Kayde chuckled and then immediately regretted it as his abdominal muscles protested angrily.

“Mm. Good work. I suppose thanks is due for saving my life twice in one night.”

A smile lit up her sweat-stained features, bringing life back into her eyes. Her familiar attitude returned.

“All in a day’s work, boss. You should be more careful, you know. One of these days I’m not going to be around to save your ass.”

“I’m counting on you being wrong on that, because I still need you. We still have a problem.”

Kayde recounted the botched assassination and ensuing chase to Alora with urgency. Her eyes widened at the assertion of an Imperial informant embedded within the Exiled.

“It has to be an insider. The Empire wouldn’t go to such extremes for something they don’t see as an overt threat.”

Kayde scratched his chin.

“Unfortunately we’re of the same mind. It’s only going to make things worse. If it were an Imperial agent, the people would understand. They won’t be as sympathetic to a traitor.”

Alora was silent. Kayde could tell that she was thinking hard. After a few moments, she spoke.

“So then. How do we find our rat?”

Kayde’s response was grim. This traitor had cost him an informant and nearly gotten him killed twice now. Retribution was going to be swift and merciless.

“I have a few ideas. Tell me if you think this is insane...”