Torchworld: Outsiders Collection Read online

  “I take it you don’t have much freedom. Not what you’d like?”

  “You could say that.”

  “Does the boss have something to do with it?”

  Lilith paused in the empty tunnel. Leaning against the wall she looked right into my eyes. “You’re quite perceptive, you know that?”

  “Hah. I have my brilliant moments.”

  “Right. The thing is, and don’t tell Markin this, although I suspect he doesn’t like you much anyway is that the Outsider contingent is really more like twenty people. It fucking sucks out here, and I’ve been moved from one cage to another. The rest are just drifters and criminals”

  Stroking my chin, I leaned back against the wall, opposite Lilith. “He doesn’t like me? I’m crushed. I get a bizarre vibe from him anyway.”

  “He is bizarre. Downright fucked up actually. And he treats me like a precious little moron.” Lilith slammed her hand against the wall. “I could do better than this. He refuses to use any tech we can salvage and turns away anyone that can’t be used as a soldier. Anyone not willing to die for the cause gets dumped in the desert like rotten fruit. Left to wander and die. There are settlements but without some direction you’d be lucky to find them.”

  “Like where?”

  “There’s another settlement, a smaller one but it could get us started. I can take supplies from here.”

  Cocking my head, I snorted. “And daddy will just let you run off?”

  “He’s not my daddy and he won’t do shit. If the others are allowed to leave so am I.”

  Tapping the exo frame, I raised my brows at her. “What about this?”

  “It’s fine, I have a craft. Didn’t intend on walking the desert like a sap. This can’t wait and I want to leave tonight. I’m sick of his fucking cold as ice bullshit.”

  Lilith continued down the hall to a small spartan room. “You can hang out here, there’s food in the cupboard. Be ready to go by midnight.” She hovered at the door. “You’re coming too right? I’m cool with being alone but I know you won’t like it here. We’re very much alike you know. Looked up your history in Opalesk. Very entertaining.”

  My eyes widened and after a shocked moment I laughed. Lilith was beginning to grow on me. “I dunno, you guys have some nice apples here.”

  “Again with the smart ass. We got some rotten ones too. Midnight. Be dressed and ready.”

  Nodding, I set the pack down on the bed. “I’ll be ready.”

  There was a certain freedom in knowing my escape was close at hand. In knowing what I wanted to do. Markin, there was the main problem. With no idea of how he’d react, I’d raised the dose on his insomnia auto-injections. Further back than I can remember, he’d never been able to sleep without booze, or auto-injectors. Even then, he would toss and turn, crying out in his sleep. Curled up next to him, I wrapped my small arms around his body in an attempt to calm him down. Markin would hold me tight, and sometimes I heard him cry a stranger’s name, Serena. I’m sure it was Serena. Once he settled down, I crept back to my own bed. Never did find out who she was. The one time I asked, Markin flew into such an intense, frightening rage that I ran away for three days. Hidden away in the warehouse, I slept in storage barrels.

  Back then, it was just us out here. In the early days he took care of me, but when I got old enough to look after myself Markin started to treat me like any other recruit. Despite this, the other residents never really accepted me. My formative years were spent with a frozen man, and I turned out cold. Not the best example of human emotion, Markin gave enough to satisfy the bare minimum I needed. Brief hugs, a pat on the back. Distant and cold, my childhood felt like an inconvenience, a sunken cost until I was made profitable. When the town grew, it was an excuse to ignore me. Except in front of the recruits of course, I was his prize calf. The young tech prodigy who would build magnificent weapons of war to take down the corrupt system.

  Stalling on the drones was easy, given the lack of materials. Dealing with that wasn’t the issue though, it was the mixed signals he gave me. Markin was never a father figure, more likened to a friend. Showing me just how to survive, I was never babied. If he disagreed with my behaviour, Markin only had himself to blame. But between the cold facade, cracks opened up and light struggled through. Stolen glances, watching me while I worked. Little favours, here and there. In spite of myself, I started seeing him as more than a friend. First, I blamed teenage hormones. But what it came down to was that Markin had my trust, unlike anyone else. Not any more, though. Not after that night.

  Moving off the bed, I grabbed my pack out of the wardrobe. One great thing about being a pariah is that I didn’t have to hide things that well. Nobody ever looked, they were too terrified. The warehouse kids didn’t question me when I grabbed stuff, they just stared at me as usual. Over a few weeks, I’d built a small store of weapons and travel supplies. My modified lazen included, of course. Fitted out with powerful guided sights, it could be used close range or with great accuracy at long distance. Not that I was expecting to use it, but I’d rather be paranoid. Paranoia kept me safe. Slinging the worn grey pack over my shoulder, I peeked out the door. Everyone was asleep but it pays to be careful. No need for night guards, being outside drone range. They were nothing if not predictable.

  Slinking through the courtyard, I felt like a predator in the night. Kharl was in the warehouse across from my bunker, empty apart from him. The other residents lived a fair distance away in the village. Many felt it was best to keep the residential and work areas separate. En masse, they had decided this after I killed those two boys. Face tightening, I grimaced. Never given the chance to explain myself or apologize. Not when they could just use it as leverage. It was a psychotic break. None of them knew the real circumstance of how I was orphaned. Markin refused to tell them, and nobody asked me of course.

  Approaching the sliding doors, I tapped in the admin code. Nobody would know I was here, admin codes weren’t logged. Slipping inside the dank hallway, I walked down to Kharl’s room. Hearing a yell, I ran down to the open door, just in time to see Markin collapse on the floor. Kharl turned to me, grinning.

  “I don’t envy how he’ll feel in the morning. Dad-er, boss is fine though.”

  Pressing my lips together, I poked Markin with my boot. Nothing but a quiet groan in response. “What happened?”

  Kharl laughed. “He came waltzing in while I was getting my pants on and started to rant about some woman running away. Thought he’d found you out, but he kept yellin’ ‘Serena’ over and over. Not sure he’s all there, if you catch my drift.”

  “Ugh, he’s sleepwalking. How’d he end up on the floor?”

  “Took a swing at me screechin’ at someone called Alere. I didn’t punch him so much as lowered him to the floor. Poor fella swung so wide he toppled over.”

  “I should have checked the dose. He’s passed out anyway, good enough. I got a pack for you in the workshop.”

  Kharl nodded. “I’ll follow.”

  In the workshop I pointed to a storage rack on the wall. “Pull that rack forward, there’s a hatch behind it. Your stuff is in there. I’ll be back in a second, I have to do something.”

  Kharl began to hobble to the shelf, while I darted back out the door to his room. Even though we didn’t leave on good terms, I wanted to leave a note for Markin in hope that he wouldn’t try to come after me. Entering the room, I found that he’d pulled himself onto the bed. Dazed and uncoordinated, he slurred at the sight of me.

  “Serr-Serenaaa.”

  “Nope,” I replied, staying out of reach as he outstretched his arms.

  “Liar!” he said, falling unconscious again.

  Shaking my head, I pulled a scratch-pad tablet from the shelf and began to type.

  Markin,

  Will you remember any of this in the morning? I doubt it. Doubled your sleeper dose, but obviously you were too stubborn to stay in your room, and staggered into Kharl’s. You’re lucky he didn’t just slam your face into th
e wall.

  Who is Serena? I’m sick of being her replacement. You also mentioned someone called Alere, I don’t know who that is either.

  Regardless, you may have noticed I left. I don’t plan on returning, so don’t follow me. I will shoot you. Kharl has accompanied me of his own volition. True freedom is what I seek, and you’ve kept me leashed like a dog. -Lilith

  Markin had slumped against the wall, passed out. Maybe the medication had finally kicked in. Looking around the room, I decided to leave the tablet on the bedside table, so he’d see it first when he woke. Placing it down I turned to walk out, but Markin’s hand reached out, crushing my wrist. Groaning, he pulled at me like a child, mouthing incoherent words. Wrenching my wrist free, I slapped him on the face. Markin reeled backward, falling on his back with a loud yelp.

  “You don’t even know who I am,” I said. Staring up at me, the pained look on his face was clear. “Even if you do, you obviously want me to be her. I can’t be Serena, whomever she was.” Leaving the room, I marched down the hall to meet Kharl, leaning on the door frame, pack hiked over one muscular shoulder. He looked at me with brows raised, eyeing the red marks on my wrist.

  “You ok?”

  “I’m fine, let’s go.”

  At the back of a warehouse, where no one had a reason to go, I’d moved one of the few jet-craft we had. Mercury, pulled for repairs a couple days back, resprayed it with anti-detection patterns. The entire thing was designed to be fast and undetectable. Boosting Kharl into the Mercury, he grunted in protest. With a strong shove, I got him into the copilot seat and shouldered past him into the cockpit. Flicking a few switches got it purring, and I smiled at how quiet she was. We lifted off the ground, flattening grass beneath us. There was some rustling outside, nocturnal animals frightened into movement.

  Kharl peered through the smoked shield-glass. From the outside, you would just see blackness. Pointing toward the warehouse he stayed in, I spotted light from the open door. Fuck.

  “I closed that.”

  Kharl nodded. “Yup.”

  “Markin must have found a stim needle. How hard is it to just stay asleep, honestly? I can’t see him. Can you?”

  Kharl shook his head. “We better get going.”

  Slipping my arms into the control braces, the straps snaked around me. Click, click, click. Ready. Jamming my foot down, we blasted forward, taking us across the yard. Gates in 100 metres. Harsh flashes of light broke through the glass, flaring like exploding stars. 50 metres. Heavy slabs of steel began to slide open, sensing our approach. Switching full control to Kharl, I watched as he immediately picked up the interface. So he was military after all. Smiling, I sighed in relief.

  “Keep driving. Once we pass the gate, go north. Away from Opalesk.”

  Kharl grunted, his gaze set on the gates rushing to meet us. Climbing out of my seat, I moved to the gunner’s chair at the back, and pulled down the screens. Scanning the area for several seconds, I finally found Markin a short distance away, stumbling through the grass, his old lazen hefted over a shoulder.

  “I found him. I don’t think he could hit us in the dar-” Bang! An energy shot glanced the Mercury’s side, and the shields rippled.

  “Just let me go, asshole!” Arming the craft’s mounted lazen on the lowest setting, I fired a warning shot a few feet in front of him. Markin reeled and staggered back from the bright flash but fired back, spraying the shots behind us. Roaring in anger, he started to run after us. More shots swayed the Mercury’s side wings as he peppered us.

  “Fuck. Keep going.”

  “Just kill him!”

  Turning around, I slapped the back of his head. “I’m not killing him. He may be an ass but I owe him that much.”

  Eyes back to the screen, I saw that he was running behind us despite the growing gap. 10, 5, then zero metres and we passed through the gates. Groaning and creaking, the heavy gates began to close. Markin reached them just in time to squeeze through. Watching him scream at us, I was glad for the Mercury’s quiet background noise. Spotting him raise the gun, I fired another stun shot into his legs. Markin fell to his knees, dropping his gun. Slumping against the gate, he was defeated for now.

  “You should have just killed him, it’d be easier.”

  “Why? For our convenience?”

  “I meant easier for him.”

  Moving to my pilot seat in silence, I took back the lead controls.

  “I don’t care.”

  “Only met the man twice, so I won’t pretend to know what’s going on. But you need to be upfront about shit or it’s going to be hard starting a damn army.”

  Glaring out at the early morning darkness, I stayed silent.

  “I don’t see a man like that taking this lyin’ down. At least, when he manages to stand up again. He’ll come after you.”

  Looking at Kharl’s grim face, I shook my head. “I disabled every vehicle in there, and we’re going much further than just walking distance. I know this land better than anyone. Even the drones.”

  “Boss looked pretty pissed off. I doubt that’d stop him for long.”

  “Maybe. He doesn’t know as much about the vehicles. I did every repair around. Markin used to handle the drones but stopped, soon as I learnt to fix them faster.”

  Kharl grunted. “I’m gonna keep an eye out, regardless.”

  “Fine.”

  A quick check of the Mercury’s systems showed the shields at 80 percent and regenerating. We’d be back up to full power within an hour. An orange and purple glow appeared on the horizon as the sun started to rise.

  “Any idea of where we’re going then, Blue?”

  “North.”

  “North it is then.”

  “You could just let it grow out Kharl. It’d be easier than watching you scratch your chin every five seconds!”

  “Hmph. I guess I could.”

  The stubble on my chin did itch like poison ivy. My curly black hair had started to spring forth, since I hadn’t been able to get a proper shave. In absence of a mirror I wasn’t going to be able to shave anytime soon. Tried using the Mercury’s camera but it wasn’t real convenient. Guess I’m growing a beard.

  Sunlight streamed through the front shields as we surfed across the wide, sparsely decorated expanse. Nothing but rocky shards with the occasional patch of brush grass, far as the eye could see. Lilith gave me the distinct impression she knew where we were headed but didn’t want to mention specifics. Fair enough. I’d come to know her as a mysterious sort. Whatever was going on with her and Markin was something I’d have to pry out of her eventually. It was plain that the subject proved ineffable for now.

  We’d been travelling for a week and I’d lost sight of Opalesk maybe three days past. Most of that was spent in an impressive amount of silence. Girl wasn’t a talker although I didn’t mind it much. When I did hit on a subject she liked Lilith would talk my ear off. So perhaps not such a socialite but intelligent nonetheless.

  “So Blue, care to play a round of twenty questions? I ask, you answer. In return, you ask, I answer.”

  After a moment she nodded. “Ok. I can’t guarantee twenty though.”

  “Just the name of the game. I only have a few.”

  “I can probably guess what those ones are.”

  “Smart girl.’

  Lilith smirked. “Age before beauty.”

  Feigning a hurt look, I pouted and stroked my chin. Better start with something light.

  “Favourite colour?”

  She paused for a moment and narrowed her eyes at me. Lilith sighed. “Blue,” she said. “My turn. What was your real job in the Mil-Sec?”

  “Hah. You’re more perceptive than your friend back at camp. I worked with the Akhataree as part of their security force. Did some piloting obviously.”

  Well. That escalated quickly. I’ll keep pace.

  “Ok Blue. What’s the deal with you and the big boss back there?” I said, pausing to gauge her reaction. “It’s clear he’s means more t
han you let on.”

  Leaning forward, Lilith flicked her fingers around the screens, setting the Mercury to autopilot. She sat back in her seat, gazing outside at the landscape.

  “You really want to know the gory details?”

  “It’s better if you tell me so it doesn’t come out later at a time less private.”

  “I don’t know if that’s true.” Lilith scanned the darkening skyline. “I don’t trust you Kharl. We just met a few days ago.”

  “Makes sense. ”

  “And I haven’t had the best experiences with relationships. With anyone. You could not have picked a worse person to travel with.”

  “We’ll shake on it later,” I replied with a grin. “Answer the question.”

  “I’m not sure I can answer it the way you want me to.”

  “Tell me what you feel is necessary, then.” I held my hands out, palm up, trying to appear more amiable. “I know i’m not the most trustworthy looking fella. But I am honest when it’s prudent.”

  “Fine.” Lilth stayed silent for awhile. “Tragic life story time. So you know I’m an orphan.”

  This was hard for her, I could tell by her tensed shoulders. Long fingers wrapped around the chair arms, squeezing hard.

  “Markin rescued me from some barrel in an Opalesk warehouse. Took me with him when he left town. Wasn’t the paternal type despite the initial kindness. We were alone out here. He fed and sheltered me. In return I handled the technology. He mentioned once that he thought my parents must have been engineers because I seemed to pick up the tech real quick.”

  “Hmm. So what about now? Something specific happened.”

  Lilith’s face twitched. “Yes.”

  “Something bad?”

  “Bad for them, I would think.”

  “Are you going to elaborate or do I have to blackmail it out of you?”

  Lilith scowled. “What on earth could you have on me?”

  “You’d be surprised how observant I can be.” I kept my face impassive. ”You owe me an explanation for this wild ride.”