The Bright Image: Clean Book 3 Read online

  Unregistered Memory, Ryan Carter, Light Ship Astra III

  Kamuek followed the Harper company light ship through the rain over the district, heading northeast to meet with Ryan's contacts at central command. Halfway across the refugee district the ship ahead of them dipped its nose. Seconds later the Kestrel IV angled toward the ground and began to descend rapidly.

  “They’re not sending ship-level distress signals. I can’t reach Vistenna,” said Kamuek.

  “Kamuek,” said Ryan. “Can we help them?”

  “I will use our manipulators to slow their descent.”

  “This day had to keep getting worse,” muttered Alesia.

  Kamuek pushed the ship’s engines to accelerate. Energized whips, typically used as weapons, raced out to tug at the tail of the Kestral IV. The ship caught hold, but Astra III was far smaller than Vistenna’s ship.

  “This will be close,” said Kamuek.

  “Everyone hold onto something,” said Alesia.

  The ships locked together by the energy whips and sped lower over the rooftops.

  Ryan gritted his teeth, anticipating the crash.

  Rebecca and I sensed Elizabeth's mental signal at the same time. The packet was projected unencrypted and spread far by a desperate dispersal of network information. We shot from our seats in the booth at the blood bar, exchanged glances, and then went for the exit.

  The waitress Rebecca had told me about, Natalie, set her tray of drinks on a table by the door and followed us a few paces with a warning yell.

  "It's not human!"

  I scowled as Elizabeth's distress call echoed in my mind. My partner, my friend, was out there and in trouble. I had to help her if I could.

  I don't consider myself a man of action, but following the events of the last six months, I felt more confident in that regard. I'd been through too much to consider myself helpless.

  Rebecca raced ahead of me. Breathing hard, I pushed myself to accelerate. The two of us booked it down the rainy street outside the blood bar. A brilliant light flared like a burning lasso in the sky.

  Kamuek, Ryan's team pilot, and his light ship fought to keep the ship carrying Elizabeth, Sarah, and Lena from falling. Even from a half-mile away, I could tell the smaller light ship was losing that battle.

  I swallowed a bitter-taste leftover from my abandoned drink back at the booth. Rebecca glanced at me from up ahead.

  "They're going to crash," she said.

  I gritted my teeth.

  "We can get close to help when they do."

  I had seen light ships destroyed before, but I hoped the slowing of the Harper light ship's crash would be enough to save the occupants.

  "Any idea what happened to them up there?" asked Rebecca as I caught up with her.

  "No idea," I said. "Doesn't look like violence, though."

  "Let's hope not. A fight here could only make things worse for everyone."

  "I know." I pulled in a harsh breath. "Let's go. Don't wait up for me."

  She nodded. We launched ourselves again, covering the intervening blocks. I was too focused on running to network effectively. As we got closer, the two ships sank lower over the rooftops. A block away, the energy tethers from Kamuek's ship stretched to their limit started to fray apart like glittering threads.

  "Ryan says they won't land hard," said Rebecca, eyes halfway cloudy.

  I panted in response, hands on my knees.

  The light ship carrying Elizabeth broke free from the other's tethers. In the midst of rain, the sound broke the air, louder than any thunder. Two multi-story tenement buildings caved in under the sideways-turned lightship. It's stern metal bow cleaved through roofing and tile and then embedded in pavement with a roar.

  I staggered to as top and stared at the chaos. People gathered around as Kamuek's ship circled lower. I tried to reach out to Elizabeth, but she did not reply. I could sense her cold mind, though she seemed distant.

  Rebecca's burning presence kept moving down the alleyway between the two crippled buildings. She raced straight toward the burnished, rain-slick side of the light ship. I followed with halting steps, halfway walking, halfway running.

  My fear for Elizabeth eclipsed any worry for Sarah or Lena, but I could still sense both of them. A fourth presence flickered in the ship with them. That didn't make sense. The fourth mind had to be the pilot, but only aeons could fly light ships. Unless...the aeon at the helm of the ship was so terrified she was now broadcasting a distress call too.

  Ahead of me, Rebecca reached the end of the alleyway. She stepped backward, gazing up at the building, one arm raised and hand waving to signal anyone watching.

  Rain sizzled on small flames from within the rubble. I flinched as another set of floor construction crashed down on my left. The rain pelted everything. I splashed through a deep puddle and then stopped at Rebecca's side.

  "Are you alright?" I asked.

  "Someone in there told me to get away. The pilot won't open the doors."

  A hiss of stifled fire, followed by a rush of steam came from one side of the light ship's domed bridge. I grabbed Rebecca's shoulder and pulled her down low. A cacophony of smashing plaster and tearing metal beat the air to my right. Debris scattered over us into the street.

  I raised my head and found a woman standing beside me. She wore a black cropped shirt, was built fit, and her long black hair gleamed with rainwater. Her palms ran thick with viscous black fluid.

  "Who are you?" I asked her, an aeon, she had to be because I was unable to track a mind to her.

  She smiled, gaze on the ship before us.

  "No need for names."

  The aeon advanced on the crashed light ship, hands raised, palms out. She pressed her palms to the hull. Metal sizzled, bled, then fell away at her touch. Black droplets from her palms ran down the side of the hull, burning through plating, carving a doorway in seconds.

  Rebecca and I watched the stranger peel back strips of hull. I gulped. My gut told me this was newcomer's intentions were not good. Shards of metal crashed to the pavement. Raindrops splashed on the cream-colored interior cushions of the light ship's bridge.

  The stranger stepped through her newly formed doorway. The torn edges of the hull continued to melt away in places. I stared after the stranger in apprehension. She appeared to be an aeon, but I didn't know any aeons that could do what she'd just done.

  Rebecca reacted before me, starting after the strange aeon who'd refused to give a name. I lurched after her, limbs aching and breaths short from the run. We stepped through the tear in the hull.

  Within, the ship was lit only by flaring veins here and there. Most provided only minimal illumination. I looked toward the control station in the center of the oblong chamber. A woman with pale yellow hair sat slumped at the controls. Droplets of ichor spattered the consoles in front of the pilot.

  "Elizabeth!" I called.

  Only silence answered me.

  The stranger walked to the center of the deck behind the controls, her path traced in the ceiling by two functional electric blue light veins. Where she stopped, she looked back and forth. A shadowed form pushed onto all fours on the opposite side of the ship's bridge.

  "Jeth," said Elizabeth. "We're over here."

  I took a step toward her, past Rebecca. The stranger held a black palm up facing me.

  "Stop," she said. "I have business to attend to here."

  "What are you talking about? We have to help!"

  "If you want to survive this, stay where you are," said the stranger.

  Someone groaned from the floor near Elizabeth. Lena Essen shifted onto her back, her features lit starkly by failing light veins, eyes closed. Sarah Harper got to her feet on the far side of the chamber.

  "I don't know who you are, but we have to get out of here. The ship's power supply could be compromised. Get Vistenna, and let's go."

  "In time," said the stranger. "Business first."

  My stomach sank. Her tone reminded me of Yashelia, a mad a
eon. The aeon before me turned to the control station. With a thrust of her arm, she drove her black-coated hand through the back of the pilot's seat and through Vistenna's chest.

  The aeon pilot, who had seemed unconscious before screamed. Her eyes rolled in her head. She slumped forward over the controls as the lunatic aeon pulled her hand away, slick with black fluid mingled with deep red and gold gore.

  I stared in horror. Sarah Harper stepped backward from the stranger, eyes flashing to look at the dead pilot. What mental senses I had felt of Vistenna's distress call cut off completely.

  Elizabeth dragged Lena backward with her from the base of the control station as the stranger turned toward them.

  "Now to finish this," said the insane aeon.

  A thump, audible over the rain, came from the alley behind me and Rebecca as we stared helplessly at the killer.

  Celsanoggi stepped past Rebecca. She wore the lone sentry mask. Thomas appeared at my side, a pistol in his hands. He trained the weapon on the mad aeon.

  "Ryan let us know what was going on. Got here as fast as we could."

  I should have been relieved, but as the woman in the middle of the ship's bridge looked over her shoulder at the four of us, I only dreaded the coming moments more.

  The mad aeon smirked, then turned once again toward Elizabeth, Sarah, and Lena.

  "No, you don't." Thomas squeezed the trigger in succession.

  Two bullets tore through the murderous aeon's back. She staggered forward a step.

  "Are those charged shots?" Rebecca asked.

  The murderer laughed, then whirled to face us. Her hands made claws. The bullets clicked against the metal floor.

  "What do you think?" she said.

  Celsanoggi stepped forward, taking a fighting stance between us and the murderer.

  "Take care, citizens," she said.

  "Take care yourself," Thomas said with a grimace.

  "Watch out for that black stuff on her hands," I said.

  The murderer launched herself at Celsanoggi. The first punch she threw went wide. Celsanoggi ducked a second in the furious barrage. She darted forward and took the aeon killer's legs out from under her.

  I ran past the two clashing aeons, closely followed by Rebecca. We joined Elizabeth and the other two women on the far side of the bridge.

  "Where's the way to get off this ship?" asked Rebecca.

  "The docking ramp is smashed," said Sarah. "Only one way left."

  I helped Elizabeth lift Lena and we held her between us, awkward given our height difference, but better than either of us trying to carry her alone.

  Thomas fired again, knocking the aeon killer off of Celsanoggi. Celsanoggi bounced to her feet. Traces of black fluid scored her mask like acid, and a series of cuts showed through tears in her shabby sweatshirt.

  I glanced at Rebecca.

  "Let's go. Now or never."

  She gave a curt nod.

  "Right. I'll help distract her."

  I fought the urge to protest, then nodded. Rebecca joined Celsanoggi facing the killer. Elizabeth and I half-carried, half-dragged Lena toward the breach in the hull. Sarah followed closely behind.

  A clatter rang above, followed by the sound of rending metal. The roof of the bridge buckled under some weight from the tenement collapsing over the ship. The killer drove Rebecca and Celsanoggi backward, then darted toward Thomas.

  He retreated, but black fluid flew onto his pistol. The blackness melted through the barrel in seconds. He threw the ruined firearm at the aeon killer.

  Elizabeth and I carried Lena into the rainy alleyway. Sarah emerged right after us. I turned to go back inside.

  "Jeth, what are you doing?" Elizabeth asked, hand on my arm.

  "I have to help them," I said.

  Sarah scowled.

  "How will you do that?"

  "I have to try."

  I pulled away from Elizabeth and rushed back into the ship.

  Celsanoggi bled from multiple cuts with black edges but held her ground despite breathing heavily. Thomas crouched beside a seat near me while Rebecca circled toward the controls to flank the killer.

  For her part, the killer did not seem interested in finishing my friends. She simply battered them back without striking a lethal blow. My lips twitched. She might be insane, but she had a plan.

  The killer turned toward the breach where I blocked her way.

  "Stand aside," she said. "You don't have to suffer this end."

  "This end?" I scowled at her. "Sorry, but I won't let you kill anyone else."

  "You won't let me? Cute."

  She charged toward me. I swung out with one fist. She shoulder checked me backward and we spilled into the alleyway, both falling into the puddles there. She poised with one black hand ready to strike, but the blow did not fall.

  Instead, the killer sprang off of me, looking this way and that. Her eyes fell upon Elizabeth who still supported Lena. Sarah interposed herself between them and the killer.

  She furrowed her brow and her eyes went glassy. The killer snarled. Rage stretched her features into a howling mask. Sarah's eyes flew wide and she collapsed, clutching at her ears.

  The aeon killer stepped past her and reached for Lena. Elizabeth let go so the girl would fall out of the killer's reach, but the rogue aeon's hand snaked out and caught Lena by the collar of her jacket.

  "This one is to be cleaned," said the killer. She made a slashing motion with one hand. All the black fluid flew from her palm and flecked the pavement of the alleyway.

  I scrambled to my feet but knew I'd be too late. The killer reached for Lena's forehead. Sarah lay spasming on the ground, still holding her head with both hands.

  Elizabeth stepped forward and grabbed the aeon's wrist. The killer twisted her hand and grimaced. She released Lena's collar and slapped Elizabeth across the jaw.

  The blow made Elizabeth stagger. Lena collapsed to the wet ground. The aeon grabbed Elizabeth by the throat. Her other hand palm moved down my partner's forehead. Then she let go. Elizabeth shuddered. Her eyes turned strange, empty.

  Ryan's message pinged me. I let him speak in my mind.

  "Jeth, get everyone down. Kamuek has a shot."

  I rushed past the aeon and dragged Elizabeth to the ground with me. She held onto my shoulders as we fell. A brilliant white light flashed through the air behind us, but I didn't look.

  "She's gone," said Ryan. "I think we missed."

  Elizabeth said, "You're hurting me."

  I was holding onto her too tightly. I released my grip and looked back. The aeon killer had left both Sarah and Lena on the ground. Celsanoggi, Rebecca, and Thomas picked their way out of the ship.

  Celsanoggi lifted Lena onto her shoulders. Thomas and Rebbecca helped Sarah to her feet. I raised Elizabeth with me as we stood.

  "What's going on?" asked the new clean. "It's cold."

  "I know." I patted her back, tears flowing from my eyes. "I know."

  Unregistered Memory, Ryan Carter, Light Ship Astra III

  Kamuek cursed as they descended over the crash site.

  "I should have hit her. After all that, I can't have missed completely." The aeon pilot's eyes were full of tears. "Not after she killed another of us."

  Alesia put a hand on the side of the console and faced Kamuek over the controls.

  "You know it's not that simple," she said.

  Ryan nodded. "Looks like our mystery is solved, though. That black stuff is definitely the same from the scene at Candlegrove."

  "Damn it," muttered Conner. "I can't trace her. All my sensor programs are having trouble. Not sure why, but it's not the rain."

  Ryan frowned.

  "We need to help the people on the ground."

  "We're there already," said Kamuek. "Lowering docking ramp."

  A servo whine followed by a clank of metal on asphalt at the rear of the ship. Seconds later, Jeth and his friends climbed inside.

  "Holy shit, you guys can't catch a break," Ryan said as
Jeth approached, leading Elizabeth.

  He did not add that he was starting to feel he couldn't either.

  "She's clean," said Sarah dully. "Just like that."

  I held Elizabeth's hand in one of mine, and Rebecca's in the other. We all sat on the bridge of Astra III as the light ship climbed over the rooftops to circle the tenements, looking to help anyone who might still be inside. Luckily, they appeared to have been mostly vacant.

  I couldn't bring myself to look at Elizabeth's placid face. She looked like Rebecca had when I had found her cleaned, completely divorced from the cares of just moments ago.

  Thomas worked to staunch the black-edged cuts the killer had dealt Celsanoggi. Alesia woke up Lena with a few taps on her cheek.

  "God, everything hurts," the girl said. "What happened?"

  "We crashed," said Sarah. "But that's not the worst of it."

  Lena looked at Elizabeth.

  "Are you alright?" she asked.

  I shook my head.

  "She's clean, Lena."

  "Clean? How?"

  "That woman who attacked the ship was an aeon. She did it." Sarah clenched her fists. "But why attack at all? Why kill Vistenna?"

  "We'll get to the bottom of things," said Ryan. "From what I can tell the woman who attacked you also killed the student in Candlegrove earlier today."

  "Damn it," said Thomas. "Nothing is sticking." He threw a strip of bandages to the floor. The fluid around Celsanoggi's wounds had turned them black.

  Celsanoggi widened her eyes behind her mask.

  "I'll live. None of these wounds are life-threatening. Try to relax."

  Thomas grunted then nodded. I could tell he didn’t like her advice.

  Sarah glanced at them.

  "You know the lone sentry, Fenstein?"

  He scratched the back of his head.

  "We help each other out sometimes."

  "Interesting. You two can help me make the aeon who did this pay."

  "Right after we find her," Ryan said.

  "Precisely," said Sarah. "I wish I had recognized her. It would make this so much easier. Lena, did you get a look?"