feel the water welling up behind my eyes, but I wouldn't let her see. It would only scare her.
"Maybe we could give her to a neighbor to look after?" I suggested, but the nearest of them shook his head. "Could I just leave her in the corridor then?"
Again the hood shook his head. Lola barked a few more times as the door closed, and I vomited on the floor.
Someone might find her. She would bark when she was hungry and someone would come. I wiped the gobbets of drool from my mouth and spat out the last of the acid. Perhaps when someone came to clean it up they would hear Lola's distress. Not even the residents of Elvedeer tolerated piles of vomit in the corridor for long.
The motion of the elevator made me feel dizzy. One of the hoods put his hand on my shoulder as I began to sway too much to one side, a fresh nausea rising in me with every floor we descended. The puddle of vomit that trickled down the doors as they reopened could have been avoided only by choking myself on my own stomach acid.
I sat in the back of a slider-van with four of the six SP. There was only one window, partially obscured by a hood. When they stood, I was short enough to see their faces, but sitting down all I could see was the occasional chin.
I knew exactly what would happen next. Firstly, the buildings would be replaced by trees. Then the trees would get shorter and fatter and be replaced by swamps. Then we would stop. I would be taken out, knelt down, and shot once in the back of the head. My corpse would then be shot one more time in the head to ensure I was dead, and I would be thrown in the swamp. They didn't have to be discrete. No one was going to do anything about it.
It wouldn't take long to reach the nearest swamp. Even Abaconsaye and the Ring of Six couldn't escape the smell of dank rot. Someone told me that kaerosh actually meant swamp in old Rathjarin. The last vestiges of the language used by the race that once ruled Cos before the advent of humanity.
I was past fear, or possibly too drunk. It was regret that tugged at me. The thought of what I could have been. The things I could have done. I never even went to see Sariah in prison.
We started to slow. My heart began to race. I wasn't ready to die.
I should have been thinking of an escape plan. It was only ever too late when you gave up. Maybe I could dive into a pool, find a reed, and stay under until they got bored of waiting. Maybe I could steal one of their guns. They wouldn't be expecting it, not from me. I wasn't even sure I knew how to fire it. Pull the trigger. I would have to kill all six of them quickly.
I looked down as slyly as I could to see if the one next to me had a holstered gun. He did, but my best chance was still to run and hide. Kaeroshi swamps weren't safe even if you were an armed SP agent. Even the smaller ones contained dangers. If I could stay alive for long enough, they might be forced to retreat.
The slider stopped gently in a place still obscured from view by a hood.
I wasn't ready.
I needed more time to think. My legs were shaking uncontrollably with adrenaline. I was about to go for the gun when the one with the darkest stubble moved his head forward so I could see where we were. This wasn't a swamp. We hadn't even left Las Hek. We were at window security with lines of sliders either side. The van moved forward slightly as someone was let through.
It didn't make any sense. There were plenty of swamps near the city large enough for them to bury my corpse. There was no need to take the risk of transporting me through a security checkpoint.
The van moved forward another few mets. No one spoke. They all just sat there facing forwards as if the doors were about to open on the front lines of a battle.
"Where are we going?"
"Classified," said the bald chin.
"Can you tell me anything?"
"We're moving you to a safe location."
I shook my head. It was all lies anyway.
The window we were heading for was a huge square frame of thick metal reinforced
"Maybe we could give her to a neighbor to look after?" I suggested, but the nearest of them shook his head. "Could I just leave her in the corridor then?"
Again the hood shook his head. Lola barked a few more times as the door closed, and I vomited on the floor.
Someone might find her. She would bark when she was hungry and someone would come. I wiped the gobbets of drool from my mouth and spat out the last of the acid. Perhaps when someone came to clean it up they would hear Lola's distress. Not even the residents of Elvedeer tolerated piles of vomit in the corridor for long.
The motion of the elevator made me feel dizzy. One of the hoods put his hand on my shoulder as I began to sway too much to one side, a fresh nausea rising in me with every floor we descended. The puddle of vomit that trickled down the doors as they reopened could have been avoided only by choking myself on my own stomach acid.
I sat in the back of a slider-van with four of the six SP. There was only one window, partially obscured by a hood. When they stood, I was short enough to see their faces, but sitting down all I could see was the occasional chin.
I knew exactly what would happen next. Firstly, the buildings would be replaced by trees. Then the trees would get shorter and fatter and be replaced by swamps. Then we would stop. I would be taken out, knelt down, and shot once in the back of the head. My corpse would then be shot one more time in the head to ensure I was dead, and I would be thrown in the swamp. They didn't have to be discrete. No one was going to do anything about it.
It wouldn't take long to reach the nearest swamp. Even Abaconsaye and the Ring of Six couldn't escape the smell of dank rot. Someone told me that kaerosh actually meant swamp in old Rathjarin. The last vestiges of the language used by the race that once ruled Cos before the advent of humanity.
I was past fear, or possibly too drunk. It was regret that tugged at me. The thought of what I could have been. The things I could have done. I never even went to see Sariah in prison.
We started to slow. My heart began to race. I wasn't ready to die.
I should have been thinking of an escape plan. It was only ever too late when you gave up. Maybe I could dive into a pool, find a reed, and stay under until they got bored of waiting. Maybe I could steal one of their guns. They wouldn't be expecting it, not from me. I wasn't even sure I knew how to fire it. Pull the trigger. I would have to kill all six of them quickly.
I looked down as slyly as I could to see if the one next to me had a holstered gun. He did, but my best chance was still to run and hide. Kaeroshi swamps weren't safe even if you were an armed SP agent. Even the smaller ones contained dangers. If I could stay alive for long enough, they might be forced to retreat.
The slider stopped gently in a place still obscured from view by a hood.
I wasn't ready.
I needed more time to think. My legs were shaking uncontrollably with adrenaline. I was about to go for the gun when the one with the darkest stubble moved his head forward so I could see where we were. This wasn't a swamp. We hadn't even left Las Hek. We were at window security with lines of sliders either side. The van moved forward slightly as someone was let through.
It didn't make any sense. There were plenty of swamps near the city large enough for them to bury my corpse. There was no need to take the risk of transporting me through a security checkpoint.
The van moved forward another few mets. No one spoke. They all just sat there facing forwards as if the doors were about to open on the front lines of a battle.
"Where are we going?"
"Classified," said the bald chin.
"Can you tell me anything?"
"We're moving you to a safe location."
I shook my head. It was all lies anyway.
The window we were heading for was a huge square frame of thick metal reinforced
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