New Dawn (Divine War Book 1) (8 page)

Lucia grinned, flashing white, even teeth, and bowed her head in recognition of the truth of what Kabi had said. Maicee shot Benho a confused look, but his friend shrugged, equally baffled.

“Come, sit,” said Lucia, turning towards a collection of couches. “I've had tea prepared, or would you prefer something stronger?”

Her voice really is hypnotic,
Maicee thought as he obeyed her order and sat. Kabi refused the offer of strong alcohol, and Lucia delicately began to pour tea into small crystal glasses. Maicee took the opportunity to look around the room, admiring the craftsmanship that had gone into building such an elegant house. Everywhere he looked, there was something stunningly beautiful: a vase, a picture, a statue. He shook his head in wonder. Lucia was either far more famous than he'd thought, or she had done more than her fair share of illegal dealings, such as what they were about to ask her to do, in order to afford a home like this.

“The house belonged to my great-grandfather,” said Lucia, noticing his interest. “One whom I was told was a rich merchant.” She gave a self-deprecating smile. “I was simply lucky enough to inherit it after his passing.”

Maicee felt the colour in his cheeks rise as she smiled at him, and had to shake himself to get rid of the feeling. She couldn't possibly know his secret, but if she had this effect on him, he wondered what sort of effect she must be having on the real men. Shooting a glance at Benho, who was uncomfortably crossing his legs, he guessed that his friend was suffering rather badly from this onslaught of seductiveness.

“So, to business, gentlemen,” Lucia said, settling back, her small glass of tea in her hand. “What exactly can I help you with?”

Kabi nodded, first introducing both Benho and Maicee, and then pausing to collect his thoughts before saying: “We need a ship that will get the three of us away from Carooine without being seen. Rumour has it that you may be able to help us with this.”

Lucia lifted a single, perfect eyebrow and took a sip of tea before replying. “You will understand, dear Kabi, that whilst this would generally be a very easy thing for me to do, just at the moment things are rather... difficult. The arrival of the Supreme Emperor's Navy in our little harbour does rather complicate matters.”

Lifting his own glass to drink, Kabi swallowed and nodded in satisfaction. “You have very good tea here. I suspect that your... services... are even better.” He softly emphasized the word ‘services’.

“That is incorrect,” Lucia said, smiling. “My services are not better. They are the best. And they do not come cheaply.”

She drank again, Benho's eyes following the sinuous movement of her pale throat as she did so.

“Five hundred thousand Imperial Credits,” she said finally. “And I will personally guarantee your safety, and that of your companions, until you reach your destination.”

Maicee gasped. It was a fortune.

“That's more than even the most esteemed surgeon makes in a year,” Benho choked, tea spraying out of the corners of his mouth.

Lucia turned her luminous green eyes on him. “Ah, yes,” she said quietly. “But a surgeon risks only the life of his patients, not his own life, does he not?”

Benho looked abashed and nodded. Lucia rewarded him with a small smile before turning back to Kabi, her eyebrows raised questioningly.

“I'll pay fifty percent in advance and fifty percent on arrival,” said Kabi, unfazed by the price. “And I have only three days, so the vessel must be a speedy one.”

“Seventy-five percent in advance,” Lucia said.

Kabi regarded her for a moment, then gave a sharp nod.

“Then we have a deal,” she said, her voice soft again.

She stood and waited for Kabi to haul himself out of his chair so that the two could shake hands to seal the deal.

“Meet me at the beach to the west of the city tonight at midnight with your payment,” she said, once the deal was officially done.

“Very well,” said Kabi. “And I thank you for your help.”

She nodded in acceptance of his thanks. “Now, gentlemen, it has been a pleasure, but if you'll excuse me, I must go and give Sansoe the bad news. He'll need to find himself another singer for the next few nights.”

The serenity of the lovely room was broken by a harsh beeping from the com set on Lucia's wrist.

“What is it?” she barked.

“There are three military men looking for you, ma'am,” said a voice from the com. “One of them a lieutenant of some sort.”

Lucia's perfect face creased into a frown for a flash of a moment, then cleared.

“It appears that we do not have time for pleasantries just at the moment, gentlemen,” she said, striding towards the door and pulling a rope that obviously rang a bell elsewhere in the house.

In less than a moment, the door opened, and Falorni entered. Both Benho and Maicee looked surprised to see the scrub nurse.

“What...?” began Maicee.

“There's no time for questions yet,” Lucia said, raising a hand to stall him. “Falorni, here, will show you gentlemen out of the house the more... discreet way.”

She nodded at all three men, then left the room, leaving behind her an invisible trail of flowery scent.

“This way, please,” said Falorni. “And quietly too, if you don't mind.”

The scrub nurse led them through a wide gallery with arched windows pierced by orange rays of setting sun, before turning into a narrower corridor and finally stopping in front of a small door. She tapped three times on different areas of the door, which then opened to reveal stone steps descending down into darkness.

“Very good,” said Kabi, looking down. “The basement, I assume?”

Falorni nodded.

“Excellent,” Kabi said. “Now, I am going back to check on the situation. The three of you go ahead, please.”

Falorni looked ready to protest, but Kabi gave her a cold, hard stare.

“I am more than able to care for myself,” he said. “I ask only that you lead these two miscreants to safety somewhere from which they'll be able to find their own way home.”

Falorni bowed her head in assent. “Very well.”

“You have my thanks,” said Kabi.

He turned and left, going back the way he'd come before either Maicee or Benho could think to stop him.

“What now?” Maicee asked.

“We follow Falorni and do as we're told for once,” replied Benho, certain that there was about to be trouble and not wanting to be a part of it.

Falorni beckoned, and the two men followed her down the cold stone stairway.

*

Kabi followed the sounds of voices, his footsteps silent on the cool marble of the floor. Once he reached the entrance hall of the house, he secreted himself into a dark corner from where he could observe exactly what was going on. In his experience, it was always a bad plan to jump in with both feet if you could avoid doing so. Far better to scope out the situation first.

Lucia was arguing with three men, all in uniform, one obviously the leader, the other two some form of guard. From the looks of the bulge on Lucia's right hip and the way her hand kept straying to it, she was armed.
Probably a knife,
he thought, watching carefully as Lucia moved until he saw the outline of a dagger beneath her skirt. He grinned to himself. He really was beginning to like this woman. Tearing his eyes away from her movements, he concentrated on what was being said.

“You can cut the act and stop wasting our time,” the officer said forcefully.

“What act? There is no act.” Lucia's voice was soothing and calming, but her hand once more reached down towards the dagger, just in case.

“We have more than enough proof that you're Captain Seagull. A ridiculous name to choose; has anyone ever told you that?” the officer jeered. “And we've got more than enough to put you and your merry little band of, what did you call them? Ah, yes, the Sunshine Raiders—yet another foolish name... To put the whole lot of you away for a very long time. If you're lucky enough not to have your pretty little head lopped off, that is.”

Lucia's hand was closer than ever to the dagger on her hip, and Kabi brought himself up onto the balls of his feet, ready to move.

“So, you can either come with me quietly,” the officer continued, “or...”

At this, the two guards un-holstered their bolt blasters in one synchronised movement. Kabi sighed and stepped out from the shadows.

“Come, come,” he said calmly. “Violence will not be necessary, Lieutenant. We are all law-abiding citizens here.”

The officer spat on the floor. “Law abiding, my eye. This one of your pirate crew?”

Lucia took a deep breath and, still soothing, said: “I have no idea of what you're speaking about. I'm a singer in a bar, as anyone around here will tell you. This captain that you're looking for...”

“Enough,” the officer interrupted her. “You can either come with me, or you can taste the bolt. And that goes for your little gigolo too. Take him.” He motioned for one of the guards to grab Kabi.

The guard trained his weapon on Kabi, taking a step towards him.

Kabi half-closed his eyes, searching his mind for the sharp place of intense focus that he knew was there. Finding it, he sank himself deep into it, feeling the power thrumming along his veins. Only once he was sure that he was in the place did he open his eyes and speak.

“I'm certainly not a gigolo,” he said placidly. “And I don't appreciate being insulted.”

Reaching out, he put a hand onto the guard's outstretched weapon, letting the power run through him as the bolt blaster morphed into sand, trickling down to form a small pile at the feet of the stunned guard. Without waiting to see what the effect of this on the guard would be, Kabi drew back his hand, forming it into a fist, pulling back and pushing both his hand and the power hard into the guard's stomach.

For a brief slice of a second, the guard still stood, spikes of crystal formed by the power protruding from his back and making him porcupine-like, before he shuddered and collapsed, dead. There was only the sound of blood dripping on marble for a moment, and then Kabi turned towards the other guard, who was breaking out of his shocked trance and raising his weapon.

Even as Kabi walked towards him, the guard fired. But the magical man simply lifted a hand, palm facing the oncoming bolt, and let it hit him, the power deflecting the shot to dissipate without even a sizzle. With a hint of irritation, Kabi flicked his finger up, releasing a sharp shard of crystal that flew directly at the guard. It hit him squarely between the eyes, killing him instantly.

This was too much for the lieutenant, who turned to flee, not understanding what the hell was happening, but not wanting to wait around to find out. But before his shaking, terrified legs could take more than a step, Lucia's hand moved casually and a dagger spun through the air, hitting the lieutenant at the base of the spine with a very satisfying thunk. He died before he even realised that he'd been hit.

Kabi nodded, impressed at the woman's skills.
Not bad at all,
he thought. He turned to see Lucia watching him speculatively.

“You know,” she drawled, “I do so like it when unbelievable rumours turn out to be true.”

Kabi bowed in acknowledgement. “All rumours must have some basis in truth,” he said. “Or they wouldn't start in the first place.”

Lucia thought about this for a moment and nodded. “Well, it appears that the rumours about you weren't even close to being unbelievable enough. You are far more powerful than I could have imagined.” Her eyes narrowed as they regarded him. “I can understand now why the Magi Lords might be hunting for you.”

She walked towards the corpse of the lieutenant and stooped to retrieve her knife.

“Did you know that there's a bounty of ten million Imperial Credits on your head?” she said, turning back to him. “Alive, or...” and here she tossed the dagger gently into the air and caught it again, “dead.”

Kabi grinned at the implicit threat in her words. “It's always a pleasure to help a damsel in distress,” he said. “Particularly when she is as lovely as you are.”

Lucia laughed, the tinkling sound of it echoing through the hallway. “After what I've just seen, I wouldn't dare,” she said, wiping the dagger clean and sliding it back into its sheath under her skirt. “And you are quite the charmer. But you are correct. You have helped me, and your aid should be rewarded.”

He raised a questioning eyebrow.

“I shall accept your proposal and charge you only three hundred and fifty thousand Credits, rather than the five hundred thousand we had agreed on,” she said. “Both as a show of gratitude for your help here and as a sincere offer of friendship.”

Kabi nodded. “I thank you.”

“However, the incident here must necessarily change our plans,” Lucia said, regarding the three bodies that lay strewn around her floor. Flies were already gathering, hovering over the corpses. “We leave with the tide. Meet me at the beach in two hours. No longer.”

Kabi turned to leave the house, but the sound of her voice stopped him.

“Any longer than that, KabiOnn, and I will leave you and your boys to your fate in Carooine,” she warned.

He understood and hurried out, his feet clattering on the gravel path.

L
aden with packs,
the three men hurried down the small side streets and alleyways of Carooine City. Kabi checked his chronos—they had time, he'd made sure of it. And the more convoluted their route, the more hidden passageways and secret paths they took, the less likely they were to be spotted by anyone who shouldn't see them. He looked over his shoulder and saw no one. The evening was getting darker, the second sun almost gone now, an orange sliver on the horizon. He nodded to himself. They'd be fine.

He allowed Benho and the chattering Niku to get a few steps ahead before coming into step with Maicee, walking companionably for a while in silence.

“Do you remember as a child when I would tell you bedtime stories?” Kabi asked eventually, his sandaled feet crunching in the dust as they walked.

Maicee looked at his guardian, no, uncle, out of the corner of his eye, wondering why he would want to discuss children's stories now. As far as he could tell, they were all in grave danger, though he didn't understand why. What he did understand was that he'd given up a chance to work at one of the best hospitals in the world in order to follow Kabi on a mysterious trip. And that someone, somewhere, was looking for him.