Red
Anna hopped off the wagon once it reached the city, blending easily into the crowd once she was on foot. She ignored the smells of livestock and other, less savory, things, concentrating on the local situation. The people seemed pretty happy, well-fed for the most part. Some of the clothing looked a little worn, but it was hard to tell on these backwater planets - she'd heard that in some places people only had a single outfit! Hard to believe if she hadn't lived it herself. Despite the wear, the local garments were colorful, many of them festooned with hand embroidery and applique.
Smiling to herself, she thought, Hm, I'll have to go shopping when I get a chance.
She stopped at a little stand, where a rotund man flashed her a friendly smile. Selecting three of the silvery-looking coins, Anna pressed them into his hand, taking in exchange one of the delectable-looking buns he had sitting out.
"I'm looking for someone," she began as he peered at the contents of his hand. "Young man, looks to be about seventeen, maybe eighteen years old. Dark hair, gray eyes. Good-looking."
The proprietor caught up the coins in his fist and beamed at her. "Don't know anyone like that," he told her, "but for this price, you can call me good-looking!"
"Mm," Anna grunted. She'd overpaid. Oh well, better to learn now. "Thanks anyway," she told him, turning to go.
The bun was warm, and as savory as its aroma had promised. The sweetness of it surprised her a little, made her pause in her tracks. A young man accosted her then, said to her, "I know him. The guy you're looking for."
Anna appraised the youngster before her, waiting to answer as she allowed the sweet fluffiness of the morsel to melt away. "Do you now?" she asked him.
He looked a little reckless, reminding her of some of the boys she'd dated years ago. Before. He flashed a holo-star smile at her, assuring her, "Sure! The guy's a friend of mine!"
"Really." Anna made no move towards him, simply taking another bite of the sweet roll in her hand.
He blinked at her in irritation. "Hey, don't you wanna find him?"
"When I'm good and ready," she said. "I'm eating right now." And she punctuated her words with another bite.
"Hey, no rush, no hurry," the young man smiled. "It's not a problem."
"No, it isn't," Anna agreed, polishing off the bun. It had been delicious.
"You ready?"
"No."
He looked at her in surprise. She smiled at him, perky and cute. The scar pulling on her face warped the smile. "My mother told me never to go anywhere with strangers," she said.
"Ah!" He chuckled, smiling at her warmly. "Is that all? Well, the name's Goro, and you are . . . ?"
"Your friend," Anna said, "what's his name?"
Goro didn't miss a beat. "My buddy? His name's Urashima."
"Urashima." Anna tried the name out. Her green eyes flashed back to the young man before her. "I don't think so." Her hand whipped out, grasping the lad's neck in a claw-like grip. "Goro, I don't like liars, I don't like indigs, and I don't like fuckin' indig liars," she hissed. She released him, not wanting to take a chance on offing him in front of so many witnesses, and her with no place to go to ground. Goro backed away from her, eyes wide, his hand touching his neck. Her fingermarks were visible on his skin.
She watched him melt away into the crowd. Did he honestly think she was so na�ve? Shaking her head, Anna wandered on, pausing several times to examine the flow of the crowd, watching people haggle, or buy things. She learned quickly which coins were worth what, marked several possible inns that could be used as a base of operations. And she kept an eye out for that odd young man.
Why in the world would she give a damn about the whereabouts of a near-perfect stranger, chance-met on the road?
The sun was sinking from its zenith when she found herself wandering in what looked like the slum area of the city. As she decided whether she should continue on or backtrack, four figures appeared from the shadows of an alley.
"Goro!" Anna smiled, recognizing one of the young men. "How nice! And you brought friends!"
One of the young men piped up, said, "Wow, she looks real cute, Goro. What say we have ourselves a little fun first?"
Goro glared at her, not taking his eyes off of Anna for a moment. "You saw what she did to me," he growled. "We take her out." He was still touching his neck, only now the fingermarks were purpley bruises.
"I'm flattered," Anna smiled. Then the smile fell away. "Well, not really."
She let them surround her, could hear their footfalls, their breathing, but she looked only at Goro. "Goro, Goro, Goro," Anna tsked. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill you now. And I was trying so hard to be good."
Before she could move into action, a voice from above called out, "Four men to take on one woman? What kind of odds are that?"
It was him - the boy from the road. He was off the roof and had two of the toughs down and out before they realized what hit them, then flowed into a stance before their erstwhile ringleader.
Anna heard a foot crunching in the gravel behind her, felt the blow across the back of her skull. She obligingly dropped to her hands and knees, and finding herself so conveniently placed, shot a foot out at her opponent, feeling the satisfying crunch of a knee bending in a direction that nature never intended. She smiled over her shoulder at her fallen attacker before swarming towards him, grabbing him by the collar with one hand. It was the tubby one. She tapped a finger on her skull, informed him, "Steel plate. They had to replace my arm too."
Anna drew back her free arm, the cybernetic one sheathed in synthetic skin, curling the fingers into a deadly fist. She drove it forward with all the strength in the servos, watching as her knuckles swiftly closed the distance towards the hoodlum's skull.
The fist was stopped, a mere inch away from pulping its target. There was a hand on her arm. A hand. A human hand. She could feel its warmth penetrate the synthetic flesh. A human hand - stop her? Surprised, she dropped the tubby ruffian and looked at the owner of the hand.
It was the young man she'd met earlier today. He had a glowing red symbol on his forehead. "Stop," he told her sternly. "I won't let you do it. They're beaten."
"It would be better to let me kill them," she informed him frankly. "They'll come back for me. That one fellow, Goro, wanted to kill me."
"There will be no more killing today," he stated. "I won't allow it."
Anna raised a humorous eyebrow, then looked at his hand. Suddenly it wasn't so funny anymore. "I don't think they'll bother you after this," said the young stranger.
"I suppose," Anna pouted. Her eye fell on the fellow she'd been about to slug. "Go on, get out of here," she ordered him, and she watched him scuttle away from her, tears streaming down his face. Looking back at the interloper, she asked him, "Your name wouldn't happen to be Urashima, would it?"
He seemed genuinely surprised, letting go of her hand. "Uh, no. My name's Sou Kishuku, though people usually call me Tamahome."
"Which do you prefer?" Anna asked as she stood. He was pretty tall, nearly a head taller than she.
"Tamahome," he informed her.
"It's very nice to meet you, Tamahome," she smiled. Tamahome shuddered. "My name is Anna. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to be going."
"Wait," he called as she strode away from him. "Where do you think you're going?"
"That's none of your business," Anna said. "Now, go away, you're cramping my style."
"If you're wanting to get to the market place, you're going the wrong way," Tamahome informed her.
Stopping in her steps, Anna smiled as she turned. "Are you offering to be my guide?"
"N-no," Tamahome stammered, stepping back away from her.
Her face serious, Anna stepped forward, asked softly, "Do I scare you, Tamahome?"
She watched him open his mouth, close it, swallow, and open his mouth again. "Yes," he finally whispered.
"Good," Anna crooned. "I scare me too."
Before the young man could bolt Anna linked an arm through his arm and rested her head upon his shoulder. "I don't know why, but I like you, Tamahome," she smiled. He actually did seem like a genuine innocent, but more importantly, he'd managed to stop her cybernetic arm. Granted, it wasn't the souped up version she'd seen on some mercs, but it was certainly strong and powerful enough that stopping it dead was a neat trick.
"I, er, uh - " Tamahome stammered, staring at the woman who'd just managed to graft herself to his side.
Anna tilted her face towards him and smiled, said, "I'm pretty new around here, and I could use a local guide. You're it."
"I can't afford to work for free," Tamahome protested, attempting to extract his arm from her grasp.
"Oh, I'll pay you," Anna promised lightly. "I'm actually a very rich woman. Which way to the marketplace?"
"This way," Tamahome directed, and as they walked, linked together, he attempted once more to flee. "Really, Anna-san, I've got business in the city. Pressing business. I don't have time to show you around."
"That's all right," Anna purred. "I'm not busy."
As the two turned down one of the dirt streets, entering the marketplace, there came a fanfare, and the crowd parted, clearing the lane for a procession. Anna turned her head, curious, watching as guards marched, two abreast, before a palanquin. The palanquin was adorned with carvings and sculpture, swathed in rich fabrics the likes of which she'd never seen, even in the most jaded cities of the Imperium. Her mouth fell open at the display. They sure as hell didn't have processionals like this back home.
"Wow," she breathed. "What's that?"
"That's the Imperial Procession," came Tamahome's reply. He seemed just as enraptured as she by the display. "The Emperor is the one on that fancy palanquin." She heard him sigh, and softly murmur to himself, "Gosh, what I wouldn't give for just one of the jeweled ornaments on his crown."
Anna smiled.
"One jeweled ornament, coming up," she grinned at Tamahome as she whirled past him and caught up with the palanquin.
"No, wait!" Tamahome cried. She ignored it.
Flashing a perky smile at odds with the scar, Anna fell into step next to the palanquin. "Your Imperial Majesty?" she called to the shadowed behind the translucent draperies.
"What? Who are you?" came the startled reply of a silken baritone.
"My name's Anna Di'Amato," Anna began, "and I was wondering if you would give me one of the jeweled ornaments on your crown. I can give you a voucher - all you have to do is take it to your local starport to have it redeemed, and they'll send an X-boat out . . . " she started to pat at her torso, wondering if she did have any vouchers or even something to write with, when a blur tackled her from behind. Tamahome, ignorant of Anna's cybernetic attachments, had misjudged the young woman's weight. Instead of tackling her to the ground, he had only succeeded in knocking her off-balance, causing her to fall forward. The flailing cybernetic hand managed to grab hold of one of the embroidered hangings, tearing the silk to shreds and reducing the gold embroidery to a mass of crumpled metal. Despite her efforts, Anna lost her balance, falling into the palanquin, causing its bearers to actually stagger backwards nearly a full meter.
"She's attacking the emperor!" one of the guards cried in alarm, unsheathing his sword, as Anna regained her feet.
"Sorry," she blinked apologetically -
-- then smoke filled the air.
A hand grabbed her arm, the human one, pulling at her. She planted her feet, resisting, but was swept up into a pair of strong arms and carried away. Shouts boiled up around her, there seemed to be an almost muffled quality to the cries of, "Protect the Emperor!" and, "Get her!"
"Anna-san!" she heard Tamahome's voice directly over her. He was the one who'd picked her up.
Anna? came another voice, a more familiar voice.
"Megan?" Anna cried as the world disappeared into a red haze. "Megan!"
That's funny - I could have sworn she was here.
She was back in the commons area of the I.M.C. Mjollnir - but it seemed so dim somehow, as if she couldn't see properly . . . She wondered if she'd sustained a head injury somewhere along the way. "Megan?"
The dark-haired woman looked up as if she heard something. Did you hear that, Doctor Knobell?
Anna looked at Doctor Knobell - he'd been parent, confidant, and mentor to her as well as employer. She reached for him, but she couldn't see her arms. "Doctor Kno!" Anna cried, willing herself to be heard.
The blond man jerked his head up as if he'd heard something. Anna?
That's right, Megan affirmed. I heard Anna - Anna, where are you?
"Doctor Kno! Megan! You didn't leave me! You didn't leave me on this festering hole of a rock!" Anna cried joyously, but as she did her vision started to darken as if she were swiftly losing consciousness.
What are you talking about? Anna? came Megan's voice, but her next words were lost as Anna regained awareness. She was still on the dirtball.
"No," she whimpered. "They wouldn't leave me. Not again."
"Anna," Tamahome began softly. "What was that red light?"
"Huh?" was all the time Anna had when they found themselves surrounded by the Kounan Imperial Guards, the emperor's silken baritone calling out the order to arrest them.
"Are we still here?" Anna muttered rhetorically as Tamahome set her down onto the ground. She glanced at the young man reproachfully. "Some comrade in arms you make. Next time, run."
"You shouldn't attack the emperor," Tamahome growled as the soldiers grabbed them.
"Quiet!" one of the guards shouted, cuffing Tamahome across the face.
A growl welled up from Anna's throat. Tamahome was hers, there was no way she'd let some jumped-up indig yard-ape treat him like that. "You -" she began, but Tamahome interrupted her.
"NO! Anna, it'll be all right. The emperor is a good man. I'm sure he'll listen to reason."
"That's right," the guard snarled. "You'd better pray for a quick death."
"Oh, honey," Anna drawled. "I've been praying that for years."
And before she could free herself from the indig guards, she felt a hard blow across her skull. Bastard, she thought as she lost consciousness, that hur . . .
|