Beneath the Fallen City, Jamie A. Waters [ebook reader .TXT] 📗

Kayla woke up in a bad mood. Her commlink had somehow been turned off during the night, and she was running late. She’d stayed up too late last night trying to get the defunct computer terminal back up and running. Her brand of creative engineering wouldn’t keep that piece of shit working for long. They would have to replace it soon. It was just one more thing that was going wrong. She’d planned to be down in the ruins first thing in the morning, and it was already approaching noon. On top of that, Veridian wasn’t in camp. She didn’t have a clue where he could be.

I have to go chase his ass down now too.

She hurriedly pulled on her jacket and yanked on her boots before throwing the backpack containing her tools over her shoulder. If she found him soon, they might still get some scavenging done before calling it a day. As she neared the exit, Leo came around the corner and stopped her.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

Kayla frowned, wondering what could have agitated Leo this early. He usually saved his tirades for the end of the day. Part of her wondered if he spent the whole day thinking up new colorful insults to try to best her in their verbal sparring matches. One of these days, she was going to retaliate by giving him a hug or maybe a kiss just to throw him off balance.

Glancing around, she half hoped someone else would show up so he could yell at them instead. When no one else magically appeared, she resigned herself to her fate.

Better to get it over with and get on with my day.

“I’m going back to Sector Twelve if I can find my damn spotter. My piece-of-shit commlink got shut off and I’m running late. I doubt Carl will expect us back there so soon after they caught us.” She leaned closer to him and lowered her voice. “I’ve got a feeling about that sector, Leo. I’m never wrong about this. Something big is down there. I’m going back.”

His eyes lit up greedily, but then he shook his head.

“No. You’re above ground for the next several days until you fully heal from that fall. You’re not to go into the ruins until I give the word.”

Kayla stared at him blankly and laughed at his outrageous demand. That’s a new one. With one of his scavengers injured and another ruin rat camp near their territory, there was no way he would keep her out of the ruins. They could barely make ends meet and keep the camp functioning.

She pulled her helmet off the rack. “Right, Leo. That’s cute. Now leave me alone and let me do my damn job.”

Leo grabbed the helmet out of her hands and said more forcefully, “Dammit, girl, I said no. Veridian’s been temporarily assigned to another scavenger. You’re above ground until I say so.”

Kayla’s eyes widened and then narrowed, her heart pounding in her chest. V was hers. How dare he reassign him and threaten to take away the one constant in her life? When everything seemed to crumble around her, Veridian had been the person to help keep everything together. She couldn’t lose him.

Her nails dug into her palms, the pain a reminder that fear was a weakness, an exploitable emotion. She forced herself to push aside her panic and focus on her anger, unwilling to show Leo how much the thought of losing Veridian scared her. Instead, she reached for an emotion she could wield and lashed out, going on the offensive.

“Where the hell do you get off breaking up my team? Veridian is my damn partner. I’m perfectly fine to go underground. I’ve taken worse falls before and you’ve never given me shit about it. I’m not some precious artifact that can’t handle a few scrapes and bumps.”

“It’s your own damn fault,” Leo snapped. “You had to get involved in Carl’s business, and now he’s paying me to keep you above ground. He says you were hurt the other day and if I don’t keep you off schedule until he says so, he’s threatened to increase his cut in future trades. You stay up here for a week and I collect a thousand credits. You go below ground, I lose much more than that.”

Kayla froze as his words registered. She’d kill that manipulative bastard. The idea of a trader trying to control her was anathema to her. Fury made her reckless, and she slammed her hand against the wall in frustration.

“If brains were explosive, yours couldn’t make a ripple in a teaspoon full of piss,” Kayla spat. “He’s playing you, you idiot. He’s trying to control your operation and push me into accepting his offer. That’s what these traders do. Tell him you kept me above ground and collect your damn credits, but I’m going down.”

Leo’s face turned red at her words. Kayla knew she had overstepped herself, but she was too angry to care about the consequences.

“If you go, you’re out!” he shouted. “Don’t you dare drag Veridian down with you either. Just two days ago, Carl had our comm system bugged. He’s got the resources to find out if you drop below. I cross him and we’re out of the game, Kayla. You’ve already screwed up two trade relationships for me. As good as you are, even you aren’t worth this. I’ve got a dozen other people who need to eat.”

Kayla snatched her helmet from him. She couldn’t stay, not like this. Her emotions were clambering inside her, and she was close to her breaking point. “Fine. If you don’t have the balls to handle this, I will. I’ll deal with Carl myself.”

She yanked on her helmet and headed to her bike, ignoring Leo’s shouting behind her. Flipping on the engine, she backed up quickly, spraying dirt against the wall. He’d be pissed, but she didn’t care. She was furious and needed to let off some steam.

Throwing the bike into full gear, Kayla sped toward Carl’s camp. The landscape flew past her as she pushed the bike forward.

There’s no way in hell I’m going to let that insufferable, pompous ass coerce me into doing anything.

Kayla made the trip in record time and shut down the bike’s engine before climbing off. The ride had done little to cool her temper. When she recognized Carl’s speeder leaning against the wall, she kicked at it. Keep her above ground, will he?

Cruncher cut her off at the entrance, curtailing any attempt at storming the fortress. He scratched his head, looking puzzled by her appearance. “Hey, Kayla, I thought it was you. I don’t think Carl’s expecting you today. Did you decide to sign up after all?”

Kayla yanked off her helmet and tossed it on the ground. Fury lit her eyes. “Get your worthless, slimy, piece-of-shit boss out here so I can see how far my boot’ll go up his ass.”

Cruncher stared at Kayla, taken aback by her temper. “Uh, I guess that’s a no. I sent him a message when I saw you on the radar, but he’s on a commlink call right now.”

“Do I look like I give a shit? Get him out here by the count of ten, or I’ll find him myself and it won’t be pretty.”

Cruncher held up his hand and began, “Kayla, I’m sure he’ll—”

“One…” Kayla narrowed her eyes. “Two…”

“Uh, I’ll go check and see if he’s done.” Cruncher turned to go find Carl.

“That’s not necessary,” Carl spoke from behind him. “I finished my call.”

Carl walked toward the entrance, his brown eyes warming when he saw Kayla. He wore a loose, green shirt and a dark pair of UV pants. He looked as though he had just returned from being in the field, which pissed Kayla off even more. If he was determined to keep her above ground, he had no business going into the ruins himself.

She strode over to him, clenched her fist, and took a swing. Her fist connected squarely with his jaw. Shock flashed across his