Jude laughs. “In your dreams, Sparky.”
I do my best to convey all of my hate in my glare.
He’s not cowered one bit and sits on the couch. “Perri started hacking into theFireflytwo hours ago. Dumdumb is resisting, but not for long. Perri is the best hacker in the wastelands. So, how do you want to go?”
“What?” I ask. Even though I was ready to ignore him thoroughly. But something about him just always raises my hackles.
“I could throw you from theFireflyand watch you splatter on the ground. Or a bullet in the head, but that would be too quick. What’s the fun in that? I’m personally a big fan of knives. They do the trick nicely, but it tends to be messy. I don’t want to dirty theFirefly.” As he talks, his hateful smile grows. He’s taking so much pleasure in threatening me.
But I’m not easily frightened. The only person who really instilled fear in me was my father.
“Your lack of imagination is not surprising,” I say calmly, holding his stare.
Jude’s smile turns wicked. But right as he’s about to retort something, Stellan rushes into the room.
“You’ve been found,” the mechanic says, out of breath. “The King is coming.”
Jude jumps on his feet in a blink. “Shit.”
4
The King.
“The Traveling Market has been ruled for three years now by the King of Merchants. The story goes, he was traded as a toddler to a merchant in the wastelands. The fool brought the child back to the market, caged like an animal. He was eager to show his prize; he possessed a mutant child, after all. The four founders of the Traveling Market were not happy. They followed tight rules of honor and trade. They didn’t dabble in human trafficking. They punished the man and cared for the child. He was raised in the market, and years later became its ruler when the founders died one by one. Do not let his title fool you. He’s far from what you must imagine. He’s not a kind merchant sitting on a throne surrounded by wares. He’s a ruthless ruler who has ensured for years that the market survives against all threats, even before he was crowned. Alastair the First is to be respected and feared.”
Extract fromThe Traveling Market and its Kingby Nolan Sigmond, published in 2062.
Jude points at me. “Help me get him in theFirefly! We’re leaving.”
Stellan doesn’t hesitate to grab me under the arms while Jude gets my legs. The indignity of being carried like a sack of potatoes almost makes me forget my wounds for a moment. Almost. I grind my teeth as pain shoots through my entire body.
Once we get into the hangar, Perri looks up from his computer screen. They installed a desk for him to work while being plugged into theFirefly.
“What?” he asks, confused by our sudden arrival.
“Unplug everything!” explains Stellan. “The King is coming.”
To his credit, Perri doesn’t miss a beat.
“Dang it!” he says, pulling the wires out. “I didn’t even get into its core!”
The men throw me irreverently on the passenger’s seat.
Jude jumps on the pilot’s chair. “Dumdumb, start the engines!”
“Welcome back, Mr. President. Mr Jude,” says Fyfe, lighting up.
The engines come to life, and not a second too soon as men pour into the hangar, armed to the teeth.
“Fuck! Dumdumb, go! Go!” shouts Jude, just as the King of Merchants walks in.
My brother is too famous and recognizable. He’s Afro-American, with an under-shave and dense white locks. I can’t see them from here, but I know he has silver eyes. And those eyes must be stormy as he orders at his men to fire.
Bullets ricochet on theFirefly’s windshield and hull as it backs out of the hangar. Thankfully, it’s bulletproof.
“Aero engine number four damaged,” announces Fyfe as we take to the sky. “Low altitude advised in case of imminent failure.”
Jude swears as theFireflydives toward the ground. We leave a cloud of dust behind us.
