Mistrunner 3 - Chapter 10 - Pressure Points (Patreon)

The day we hit that Rift, we had no idea that it was going to change everything. At the time, we’d been riding high off of a few victories, and Mira was still running away from what happened in Nova City. Maybe that’s why we failed so horribly. For months, that’s what I told myself. But in the end, I had to admit that if I’d been able to pull my own weight, things might have turned out differently.

Patrick Ward

The moment we arrived back at the Leviathan, I knew I had some explaining to do. I’d expected as much, but I definitely didn’t enjoy having a rifle trained on me. I pulled to a stop only a few feet from Askar and glanced at Isaac, who was perched atop a nearby dune, his rifle pointed in my direction. Then, I locked my eyes on the alien’s, saying, “We have a problem?”

“You tell me,” he said smoothly, pushing his fine, yellow hair back with one hand. “You didn’t follow the plan.”

As he spoke, Avery hurriedly dismounted, but before she could get too far away, my hand found her slender wrist. Without breaking eye contact with Askar, I said, “You really shouldn’t be communicating without a secure connection of some sort.”

“Who says we don’t have one?” he asked as Avery tried to pull herself free. I tightened my grip – not enough to break her wrist, but plenty to tell her I meant business.

“I do,” I said. “You could’ve jeopardized the whole mission.”

“I could say the same thing to you,” he stated. “After all, you’re the one who went off script. I’ve already got one cowboy in the crew.” He nodded toward Rex, who was leaning against one of the trucks, his fingers drumming against his pistol’s grip. “I don’t need another.”

“Good.”

“So, you’re not a cowboy?”

“Well, I’m a girl, so…no?”

For a moment, he just stared at me. I didn’t make a move for Ferdinand II, but I kept my R-14 on the edge of summoning. With only a moment, I could have it in hand and laying waste to the entire group. I didn’t want that, but I wouldn’t shy away, either. In some company, showing weakness was tantamount to offering yourself up for slaughter. And I had no intention of being anyone’s prey.

Finally, he shook his head in resignation. “My point is, we had a plan,” the alien stated. “A good one, too. Avery is one of the best at what she does, and you sidelining her could have blown everything up.”

“If I’d let her tag along, she’d have probably died,” I pointed out. “And even if she didn’t, I’d have had to go loud. Then, your precious plan would’ve been useless. Who provided the intel on that facility by the way? Because the defenses were a lot stouter than the information you gave me indicated.”

“How so?”

“Stealth patrols, advanced combat bots, and concealed drone swarms,” I said. “That’s in addition to the other stuff we already knew about. The place was a fortress.”

“And yet, you got in there just fine, huh?” drawled Rex. “Convenient.”

“You want to say something?” I asked. “Or do you want to just have it out, right here and now?”

“I’m game.”

“Me, too,” I said, releasing Avery. She staggered away, gripping her wrist. I hadn’t exerted enough pressure to break those delicate bones, but it would definitely bruise.

Before I could distance myself from the Cutter, Askar dropped his rifle to hang from the strap over his shoulder and stepped between us. With his arms stretched toward either of us, he said, “Calm down! Nobody’s…having it out, okay? This doesn’t have to go bad.”

“Then put a muzzle on your dog,” I said, nodding toward Rex. The comment only drew a grin from the man.

“Rex…”

“Aw, come the fuck on!” he growled, pointing his finger at me. “That little cunt’s gonna get us all killed, and you know it! She ain’t a team player, and that’s a goddamn fact.”

“Neither are you,” Askar said. “And if you don’t keep your mouth shut, I’ll shut it for you.”

“But –”

“I said shut up!” Askar bellowed, for once losing his composure. Rex shrank away, looking somehow smaller. “This doesn’t have to be like this, and you’re just making everything worse.” He regained some of his calm, adding, “So please, Rex. Just keep your mouth shut. For once in your life…”

“Whatever,” the man spat. Then, he once again resumed his position leaning against one of the trucks. With Observation, I could tell that he was mumbling something under his breath, but it was low enough to evade even my enhanced senses.

“Now,” said the alien. “Did you at least get the information packet?”

“I did.”

“And will you share it?” he asked.

“Sure,” I said. Then, I initiated a data transfer. Fortunately, his interface was advanced enough to receive the packet intact. Otherwise, I’d have had to upload it to some sort of physical media. He accepted the transfer, and by his glassy expression, I could tell that he was looking it over. Slowly, a smile spread across his face, and I asked, “We happy?”

“Oh, yes. Very. Good work.”

“She blew stuff up!” interjected Avery. I noticed that she was just out of reach. If she thought that would protect her, she was sorely mistaken. “Like, it sounded like a full-blown battle. There’s no way they don’t know that someone –”

“I was undetected,” I stated.

“Oh?”

“One of their combat bots had a malfunction,” I said. “Glitches happen every day, I’m told. They won’t look any deeper than that. And if they do, they won’t find anything. I guarantee it.”

“Well, then…”

“You don’t believe that, do you?” said Avery. “She was –”

It was Askar’s turn to interrupt her, and he did so by saying, “I believe her. Already, the facility is back to normal.”

That’s when I realized that there was one person missing. Well – other than Paulo, who probably spent as little time outdoors as possible. “You had us followed,” I said. “Huascar, huh?”

“Like a guardian angel,” Askar said. “Another layer of surveillance.”

“That you told me nothing about.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know all your secrets, do I?” he said. “I can’t show you my entire hand. Besides, he had orders to help if things went wrong. That little distraction almost had him running in, guns blazing, but then he saw that you’d left Avery behind.”

I shook my head, guessing, “And he wasn’t so worried about my safety, huh?”

“Well, you did shoot him.”

“Just a little,” I said with a small smile. “Barely a flesh wound. So, are we good?”

“We are,” Askar answered.

“Good,” I said. Then, I sent a message to Patrick, who’d been inside the Leviathan the whole time. The main cannon noisily retracted into its turret atop the fuselage. “Probably for the best, all said.”

Askar glanced at the cannon, then back at me. “Would he have shot?” the alien asked.

“Who knows? He’s very protective of me,” I answered. “And he’s seen me survive worse than a little cannon fire.”

He swallowed hard. “How powerful are you?” he asked.

“Oh, you’re just going to come out and ask, huh?”

“I did.”

“I’m strong enough to survive a point-blank shot from a cannon that could, with only a couple of shots, take out a mega-building,” I said. “It wouldn’t be pretty, though. I’d probably have to spend a few weeks in recovery. You would fare much worse.”

Indeed, I felt confident that I could survive such an attack – mostly because I’d done it before, albeit in a Rift. It had nearly killed me, and Patrick had come out of it even worse. But in the end, I hadn’t even picked up any new scars. So, as much as I didn’t want to go through that kind of thing again, I appreciated Patrick’s willingness to bathe the entire region in fiery devastation.

In his own way, he really was protective of me.

“You’re way worse than I am,” Patrick said via our Secure Connection. “Just in case we’re keeping score.”

“Noted,” I replied in a virtual mumble.

“Get some rest. I want you to help Rex set up the killing field,” Askar said. “You can keep one another in line.”

Rex clearly didn’t like that idea, but he’d already been put in his place, so he didn’t argue. Instead, he just ambled off toward one of the tents, disappearing inside a moment later.

“I don’t think he likes me,” I remarked.

“He doesn’t really like anyone,” was Askar’s response. “But he’s one of the best demolitions experts I could find. Unless your expertise extends to blowing things up as well.”

“Well…”

“Really?” said Avery, whose presence had been wholly forgotten. She just didn’t rate as a threat. “Is there anything you can’t do?”

I tapped my chin as if lost in thought, then answered, “I can’t really dance.”

“What?” Avery and Askar said at the same time. It was only then that I noticed just how similar the two looked. And were Avery’s ears a bit pointed? Were her teeth slightly sharper than normal? Or was my mind playing tricks on me.

“Dancing. Never really got the hang of it,” I said. “I think it’s because I’m shy by nature.”

Both of them looked at me like I’d gone insane. And in a way, I understood their confusion. After all, I took great pains to put forth a confident, self-assured foot. And standing there in my skintight Infiltration Suit that left almost nothing to the imagination, I could see how my statement would be a bit incongruous with the image I’d established. Still, that didn’t make my words any less true.

I’d never liked attention, and I didn’t think I would ever grow fond of it. And as I’d said, that made dancing – especially in public – an exercise in torture for me. I could manage, but I’d been told that, even with the body control that came with [Acrobatics], my movements were far from graceful.

It was annoying, really – I could do gymnastics across a thread-thin tightrope, but the moment I tried to move with any sort of rhythm, I felt like a clumsy oaf that everyone was – and should be – laughing at.

“But everything else…yeah, I’m pretty good at most other things,” I finished. “Except cooking.”

Neither of them knew what to say to that, but I did notice that Isaac had finally lowered his rifle. I didn’t recognize the type, but I suspected that it wasn’t advanced enough to do much damage – unless I just stood there and took it, which wasn’t likely to happen. It was yet another piece of evidence that, while they weren’t amateurs, none of the others were blessed with very much power.

Still, there was Askar who, as an alien, was a bit of an unknown. I had no idea how long he’d been on Earth, and even a modest talent could accomplish a lot if he came with a certain degree of knowledge. Even if he was only Tier-3 or -4, he was probably strong enough to threaten me.

I had no intention of giving him that chance, though.

After a little more conversation, during which I learned that Rex and I were intended to set out at dawn, I returned to the Leviathan. The moment I stepped inside, I felt an enormous weight slip from my shoulders. I sagged and let out a long, deep breath as I leaned against one of the bulkheads, my head tilted toward the ceiling. I remained in that position, just letting my mind unwind, until I heard Patrick approach.

“You alright?” he asked. I opened my eyes to see that he was offering me a steaming cup of something that smelled delicious. I took it with both hands and breathed in the aroma. Patrick grinned. “I’ve been saving this one. I got it back in South America. I can’t remember the town.”

I took a sip of the beverage, and the let out a moan of appreciation as the coffee splashed across my tongue. He’d prepared it precisely how I liked it. A little sugar. Some cream. And a lot of real coffee taste. It was perfect.

I swallowed and said, “I’m fine. It was just tense out there. Really tense.”

He took my hand and led me to the ship’s common area, where he sat on a couch. I laid down next to him, putting my head in his lap as his fingers twined through my hair. I’d kept it short lately, with one side shaved while the other side and the top were arranged in thick curls. I liked it, but at times, I missed letting it grow out.

Lying there, I recounted my experiences in the gnomes’ facility, going over everything from my ingress to the sabotage of the combat bot. I told him about my trek through the main building as well as my experiences crawling through the air ducts. He found that improbable, remarking that air ducts weren’t supposed to be that big, but I had no response, save my first-hand experience.

When I’d finished, I said, “You wouldn’t have really fired the cannon on us, would you?”

“What? No. I wouldn’t waste the ammunition. You know how expensive those Mist-infused artillery shells are,” he answered with a grin. “But seriously – I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t need my help. They’re not exactly the cream of the crop.”

“Except Askar. He’s a question mark.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Patrick agreed. “Do you have any idea what his skills are?”

“Not really. But he doesn’t know what I can do, either. They’d have to be stupid not to suspect, and I let Avery know a few details,” I said. “I don’t think she’s experienced enough to put any of it together, though. But maybe Askar could figure it out if given the chance.”

“Why tell her?”

I sighed. “I guess I felt sorry for her,” I admitted. “She’s so clueless. Like a baby, you know?”

“She’s probably older than me,” he said. “Maybe older than you, too.”

“Not where it counts,” I stated. And I believed it. Patrick and I had packed more into our years than most people twice our age. By comparison, someone like Avery was a child. “Speaking of her, have you noticed a slight resemblance between her and our fearless leader?”

Patrick was silent for a moment, then asked, “You don’t think…”

“I think they might be related,” I said. “Maybe a daughter.”

“Is that even possible? Can aliens…you know…”

“No clue,” I admitted. “But probably? So long as the equipment’s the same, I mean. Last time I went into the Bazaar, I visited Anaseteramanimix and –”

“Ugh. That’s a mouthful,” he interrupted. “Just use the shortened version like everybody else.”

“She only uses Ana because she feels bad making us pronounce her real name. But she does prefer her full name, even if she would never say as much,” I said, referring to the skillsmith who’d created my [Demolition] and [Acrobatics]skills. Each time I visited the Bazaar – which was less often than I would have liked – I made a point to stop by. She appreciated the company, and I wanted to keep an open line of communication with someone who could be a very valuable commodity sometime in the future. After all, I’d learned that classes were not static, and that, so long as certain prerequisites had been met, they could evolve. If that happened, I suspected that some of my skills would merge, and I would need to fill any open slots.

“Probably safer if I just use the shortened version,” he said. “I don’t want to offend her by mispronouncing it.”

“Sure. That’s your reason,” I said. “And it’s totally not that you just don’t want to make the effort.”

“See? I knew you’d see it my way.”

“Anyway,” I said, dragging out the word. “What I was going to say was that Anaseteramanimix told me that a lot of the aliens are human variants. Like, they’ve taken a different evolutionary path, but a lot of the important stuff stays the same. So, if that’s the case – and given that Askar looks pretty human – he might be able to mate with somebody from Earth. God knows he’s handsome enough to have them lined up.”

Patrick let out a dramatic gasp. “My pride! My vanity!” he exclaimed, clapping a hand over his heart. “My woman is looking elsewhere for male companionship!”

“Your woman? Ugh. That sounds so…just…ugh.”

“Well, you are my woman,” he said, his smile widening. “And I’m your big, strong, and incredibly muscular man.”

“Oh, yes. That’s you, alright.”

Patrick was fairly muscular, but he was only a couple of inches taller than me. Not that it mattered. I didn’t care how tall he was. Or how powerful, really. I had enough strength for the both of us. All I really needed from Patrick was for him to do precisely what he was doing. Anything else was just icing on the cake.

He said, “We can still get out of this. I could fire up the Leviathan, and we could be gone in a flash.”

I gave him a slight shake of my head and said, “No. Nothing’s really changed. In fact, if Askar steps out of line, we now have a pressure point to exploit.” He narrowed his eyes, and I added, “Not that that’s our primary plan or anything. I’m not a monster, Pick.”

“You know I hate when you call me that.”

“No, you don’t,” I said.

He didn’t respond, but when he leaned down and kissed me, I took it as confirmation.