Condemned (Death Planet Book 1) (32 page)

He was dead, either way. He twisted his head until his mouth was just out of the water. He let air slowly bubble from his lips, and sucked in more until his lungs wanted to burst.

Someone whistled. Daniel's wounded eye was above the water, and he opened it a few millimetres. A Guard stood by the wall, whistling to himself as he pissed into the stream, and ignoring the naked body that floated out under the bridge. That was probably a common sight around Kingston, like the one he'd seen in the river the day before.

A drone buzzed down, and its cameras twisted toward Daniel's face. The Guard turned toward the noise, and Daniel closed his eye. He resisted the urge to grunt as his side smacked into a rock, and pain stabbed him from his injured ribs.

His body stuck fast for a second, his arm around the rock. He could easily pull the arm down, but that would give himself away. He twisted left and right as the waves beat against him.

“That one looks fresh,” a high-pitched voice said.

“Probably from the Brawl.”

“Can’t be.”

“Why not?”

“They’d have tossed it on the barbie.”

“Nah, they always have a few leftovers only a mad-man would want to eat.”

Daniel opened his eye just far enough to watch the two Guards arguing beside the bridge. They were looking at each other, not him. He slid his arm carefully, until the current caught him again, and he floated away from the rock.

“We should fish it out,” the high-pitched Guard said.

“What for?”

“Might still be fresh enough for a bit of fun.”

The Guard glanced toward Daniel, who closed his eye again. “I tried it once. It'll be all cold and slimy by now.”

“I don't mind.”

“You will, when bits of his guts come out stuck to your dick. That's something you don't try twice, trust me.”

Daniel floated past them. The sunlight beat down on his ass, until he could almost smell roasting meat. He was going to have a crazy sunburn if he couldn't get out of the water soon.

He twisted his head toward the riverbank. A tall, muscular woman strolled toward Kingston, a sword slapping against her thigh, and metal armour on her body. She held two thin, busty girls on long chains, with their faces made up and long dresses covering their bodies. A cart rattled the other way, drawn by haulers. A Guard leaned against a tree, hand on his sword and a roll-up in his mouth. Daniel was moving faster now he was out in the river proper, but he’d be playing possum until night fell, if he didn’t want to be seen.

Would this disaster never end?

T
he King’s face turned pale as he stared at Short-Ass. The man was mad, or making a joke. It must be the stress of such a shitty fucking day. The Brain was safely locked up in the dungeon, with Guards watching him every second of every hour. There was no way out of his cell.

“What do you mean, escaped?”

“I mean... he’s... he’s not in his cell.”

The King’s face grew red, and steam hissed from his back as he raised a hand. The watching drones backed away, to avoid his swing. “How the fuck can he not be in his cell? He never leaves it.”

“He’s gone. There’s a dead body in his bed.”

“Whose body?”

“I don’t know. Some Guard I’ve never seen before.”

“How the fuck did you let him get in there, and the Brain get out?”

“I was there all the time. He couldn’t have got past me.”

Suddenly, it all made sense. The whole fucking stupid mess of the last two days. That dumb boy, the girl, the bear-thing. They were all in this together. Somehow, while the boy and girl distracted him, they’d kidnapped the Brain. Then the bear-thing rescued them, and got them out of Kingston. They’d planned this perfectly. Real pros, just acting like idiots.

But where were they planning to go?

They had to be from Over The Sea. Nothing else made sense. If they didn’t leave the Borderlands, he would find them sooner or later, then he’d torture them, and–eventually–he’d kill them. They must know that. But Over The Sea’s top agents would take that risk, particularly if they knew about his plans. Attack first, before your enemy has a chance to attack you.

What if the Brain had told them what he was doing? This plan must have needed brains. He might have worked it out himself, somehow contacted them, and arranged for them to get into the castle.

But, if he’d done that, what else could he have done?

The steam engine boiler grew hot on his back as it brewed up steam in response to his adrenaline rush. If the Brain was in touch with Over The Sea, he might already have helped them build new weapons. They could be over there now, preparing to invade Kingston, while he was confused and unprepared. Their invasion fleet could be sailing for him while he spoke. Hundreds of ships, with steam cannon and fighting machines, blasting flame, burning down the walls, and killing everyone who resisted. The King’s metal-clad body shook.

He pointed at Short-Ass, Kevin, and another random passing Guard. “You, you and you. You're going on the barbie for letting the Brain escape.”

“Sir,” Kevin said. “I wasn't even there.”

“I don't fucking care. If you'd done your job, the Brain would be where he's meant to be, and those shits wouldn't have kidnapped him.”

Pig-Face coughed. “Sir... I hate to interrupt your vengeance, but we're a bit low on Guards right now.”

Shit. He had a point. A dozen or more Guards were lying wounded, or dead around him, or splattered in bloody chunks across the courtyard. How many had he lost this one fucking Newbie Week?

Far too many.

“Bring me one of the assholes, and you keep your head.”

“What about our balls, sir?” Short-Ass said.

“And your balls. And anything else I was looking forward to hacking off. Fail, and... you know the rest.”

“Do we get a reward, too?” Kevin said.

The King leaned toward him, so the crowd wouldn't hear his words. “Whoever brings me the Brain can have that fucking bitch daughter of mine.”

Kevin saluted. “Consider it done.”

The other Guards frowned, and glanced at each other.

“All right. Whoever brings me the Brain can have their pick of my fucking daughters.” That raised some nods and smiles. “But anyone who even hints the Brain is missing to anyone outside the Guard... will be feeding the bitches tonight.”

Screams came from the arena. He’d been so engrossed in the news that he hadn’t even noticed the yells and clangs from the fight. He glanced that way, just as a fountain of blood sprayed over the crowd. Looked like it was over, then.

Well, the show must go on. For now, at least.

The winner strode from the arena, his shirt red where a sword had slashed his chest from shoulder to hip. But he was smiling, and holding his arms high. Obviously that bad back had gone away once he had another man trying to hack his guts out. It usually concentrated the mind.

The King's exoskeleton whirred and groaned as he tried to raise his own hands. They stopped just above his shoulders, and he'd have to make do with that.

“The winner,” he yelled, then nodded to Pig-Face. “Get the man his prize.”

Pig-Face reached into a metal-clad chest in the debris, and pulled out a handful of shinies. He counted them quickly, dropped them into the man's blood-stained hands, and counted out some more. A smile crossed the man's face. Blood dripped onto Pig-Face's boot, and he wiped it clean on a rock.

The man glanced at the King. “And the
Cat House
?”

“Take whoever you want, however you want, as often as you want.”

Pig-Face dropped more shinies into the man’s hands. He tossed them from one hand to the other.

“Even the cat woman?”

Kitty wasn’t supposed to be on the menu, but she’d been bitching for months about the new girls he’d sent her. A good ride might shut her up for a while.

“You can have any of the bitches who takes your fancy. Just try not to fuck yourself to death.”

The crowd laughed.

“I'll send a Guard to check on you in a week, just in case.”

The crowd laughed louder. The King turned toward them, and lowered his arms. This war more like it.

“Now, for all you worthless bastards, I have something even better to offer.”

“
W
here the fuck is he, then?” Slaphead said as he stared out to sea. The setting suns cast long shadows over the towering waves that smashed against the cliffs below them. The wind rattled the spiky branches above their heads. Drones twisted side to side as they tried to steady themselves, and flying things dove past to catch swimming things in the sea.

“I never sssaid he’d be here,” Red said. The whole point of rushing through the woods was to get there before Moses did. He’d led the group along the fastest route he could find, and got them there without losing anyone. So much for the fucking bears. “But we sssure as fuck beat him to it.”

“So we just wait?”

Red looked to the left, his gaze following the cliffs as they descended to a rocky beach far below. The beach led along the edge of the wood until it reached the mouth of the river a few klicks closer to Kingston. “Fuck, no. We get down to the ssshore, then we head upriver until we run into the bassstard. If he’sss heading thisss way, we have to find him sssooner or later.”

Snake slumped down on a tree trunk that the coastal winds had bent almost sideways. He pulled off one of his boots, and moaned as he rubbed his foot. “My feet are buggered. I’m not used to all this fucking walking. I’ll wait here and see you when you get back.”

The hounds patrolled around them, hissing, sniffing the air, and staring into the twilight. If anyone, or anything, was sneaking around in the woods, they’d try to eat it before it ate them. Red sniffed, himself. Just the usual rotten smell of the forest, the salt smell of the sea, and the stink of his men. The gang, the hounds, and a couple of drones recording from the treeline. Not a hint of a fire, or any other human presence.

Slaphead leaned back against another tree. “And I’m tired. I had to run all the way from Kingston, and now I’ve hiked the best part of twenty klicks through the woods. It’s too much for one day.”

“Besides,” Stubby said. “It’s getting dark. I don’t want to be creeping around this place at night for hours, when I can’t see where the fuck I’m going.” He stared into the woods. “Who knows what might be waiting to eat us?”

Snake pulled off his other boot. “Let’s make camp for the night. The fire will keep them away.”

Fuck that shit. “Yeah,” Red said. “Why don’t we sssit up here and roassst rabbitsss, while we watch Mosssesss sssail passst down below?”

“Sounds good to me,” Stubby said. He nodded toward the hounds. “The boys look hungry, too.”

“How about we roassst you, and feed you to them?”

“Better than getting my head bit off by a bear.”

Red’s hoof smacked into Stubby’s butt. “I can make your death a whole fuckload more painful than that. You’ve got two minutesss, then we move out.”

Even five minutes, and they’d be bitching about moving on. He had to get them going soon, or they really wouldn’t leave this spot until morning.

“We should never have got rid of Sparky,” Snake said. “He wouldn’t have dragged us through the woods all day and all night long.”

“If you like Sssparky ssso much, you should be itching for sssome revenge for what the ssshit did to him.”

“I was, until my feet started to feel like a bear ate them and shat them back out into my boots. Now, I need a break.”

Red ran his gaze over the weary faces around him. It had been a long day. And a stressful one. His hooves didn’t want to walk much further, either. In the morning, he could psyche them up ready for a good fight, but it would almost certainly be too late. Moses would have passed them by then, and escaped. He had to keep them moving.

He stared out to sea. The crashing waves, the white foam where they broke in the wind. And...

“I may have the anssswer to all our problemsss.”

P
rincess grabbed her skirt and hauled it up around her waist with her left hand as she clambered over the rocks, steadying herself with the right. After Brunhilde jumped from the castle, she’d raced into the woods, and followed a stream until they reached a waterfall crashing down a wall of rocks. The setting sun glistened from the wet rocks as Brunhilde climbed them two at a time. Creatures hissed and howled in the woods. The trees creaked as they bent in the wind, or was it something else?

Princess climbed as fast as she could. The closer she stayed to Brunhilde, the less likely she was to get eaten.

“You just wanted me as a human shield,” she yelled.

Brunhilde glanced down as she grabbed for the next rock. The water roared as it rushed past them over the cliff to the stream below, but Brunhilde’s yell was louder. “I didn’t want to leave you with that asshole.” Her claws scraped on the rock as she gripped it, then she pulled herself higher. “But, actually, the thought had crossed my mind.”

Princess squealed as her shoe slipped on the rocks, and her foot slid out from beneath her. Her wet fingers scrabbled for grip as she tried to pull herself up. The shoe slid from her foot, and tumbled down the waterfall. It bounced from rock to rock, and splashed into the pool below. Then floated off downriver like a tiny red boat.

Brunhilde held onto the cliff with one paw as she reached out and grabbed Princess with the other. “You know, that’s not a very practical outfit.”

Princess panted as she glanced down at the rocks. They must be at least ten metres up by now. Falling would hurt.

A lot.

“I like it.”

Brunhilde pulled on Princess’ arm until she was safely back on the cliff. “You won’t like it when the motherfucking King’s cocksucking Guards catch us, because you can’t move fast enough in that thing.”

Princess looked over her shoulder. Faint lights flickered in the woods behind them. Was that the glow of Kingston? Maybe she could see the castle from the top of the cliff. The castle was warm, and had nice clothes. Why was she running?

“I just want to go back, that’s all.” To the King. Or maybe the panther... Oh fuck. Couldn’t she have both? How could she choose between them? It just wasn’t fair.