Chapter 15: Back on the Street
The stink of the undercity flushed the smell of clean antiseptics from Paulie’s nose like a mudslide made of scent and he shook his head at the sudden shock of it. He scrunched his nose as his eyes started to water slightly and looked around the damp confines of the tunnel they had entered into. It was dark, he turned his flashlight back on.
“Well, I didn’t miss this.” He grumbled to the six-armed alien standing beside him.
Jakiikii’s eyes flashed orange in the light of his wrist device as she nodded her angular head. Her own breathing was unimpeded, her sense of scent being separate from her respiration. Though he could tell the humidity of the air was enough to cause even her to struggle slightly as she cleared her chest, lower breathing slits flaring as her gill-like membranes flexed.
“Yes. Well, it is the reason we remain alive, we should be grateful.” She admonished him lightly, but he could tell her heart wasn’t really in it. She gazed at him as a lion might at a safari jeep full of succulent tourists. A sort of shy longing that had his heart melting for her all over again.
He smiled and punched her shoulder lightly. “Oh come on, let’s find Fess and get the fu..”
He was interrupted from his remark by a sloshing, wet mucking sound from the darkness directly ahead. His hand flew to his weapon before he relaxed. From the dark shadows at the edge of his little pool of light strode the small and slightly lumpy shape of Fess. The duigong that had let them to safety, however inadvertently, before.
For their own part, the creature seemed almost abashed. Their head was held low and their three centrally mounted arms fidgeting with each other and their clothes like a man loathe to tell his superior he had discovered a critical malfunction in some important system.
Finally the duigong spoke, their voice a slightly higher pitched chittering than others of their kind Paulie had met. “This one is sorry. Fess was cowardly, Fess allowed your injuries to almost be the end of the great hunter. Please, no hurt Fess, Fess is sorry!” The younger alien practically wailed, kneeling and veritably debasing itself before him in the thick mud of the tunnel floor. Two arms out low and the third grasping for the singed hem of his greatcoat.
Paulie was a bit taken aback. Hurt them? He would not have dreamed of it. He reached out a hand, ignoring the stench of decay that emanated from the detritivore’s filthy robes. The alien looked at him with those unblinking black nubs that served for its eyes, expression as unreadable as a stone.
“I would never dream of hurting you Fess.” Paulie muttered, his voice soft but serious. “You saved my life. I am in your debt.” He stared at the creature intently, not trying to be imposing but failing as his large stature and intense gaze made the alien flinch back a little.
The smaller creature shifted on its stumpy legs, almost seeming to be at a loss. Jakiikii’s skin flashed white as she glanced at him and he placed his other hand on her shoulder.
“You saved us both.” She nodded.
Finally the duigong moved forward slightly and grasped his offered hand with one of its own. The chitin was cool to the touch, but not as hard as he might have suspected. A little grimy, but so was everything in those damp catacombs. He remembered meeting Alecc, the other duigong’s insectoid hand had been the same.
Fess spoke, “Fess is.. hero?” Paulie smiled wide and gripped their hand a little tighter.
“Yes Fess. You are a hero.” He released the other alien’s hand as he nodded again.
The duigong seemed to dance a little, arms raising as they shuffled around in a little circle. They made a sort of clattering sound as their plates rubbed together but didn’t seem to be bothered by their own body’s sudden racket.
Jakiikii chuckled at the display, her own joy making Paulie’s smile widen till he laughed aloud too. The stink of the darkness notwithstanding it was the first genuine mirth he could remember feeling in many days and he threw his head back as the young alien seemed to dance in happiness.
“Fess is hero! Fess is hero! Fess saved the great hunters from the dark ones of the void.” Finally, Fess stopped, their body making a strange, low whistling noise as if there was air escaping a brass vessel. They shook slightly from their excitement as they bowed to him and Jakiikii. “I am not your master, your debt to Fess is paid. Please, follow me, great hunters. Fess will lead you back to your own people!” And with that the energetic little fellow scampered off into the tunnels.
Paulie smiled and took a breath, trying to ignore the damp, fetid air of the undercity as he gestured to his termaxxi partner. “After you then?”
She nodded. “Alright, but stay close beside us. I can’t..” She left it at that as she just shook her head.
He nodded. “I will. I am not going anywhere without you.” And then they took off after the duigong youth. Their feet splashing through slimy puddles of unknown liquids and across piles of scattered refuse.
By the light of his wrist device they managed to maneuver their way through the tunnels with swiftness. At times he was forced to duck or even crawl on hands and knees through the sludge. But he just gritted his teeth and pushed on. His side ached, but not as it had before. His hand was wrapped and he had a brace on his elbow that made some movements stiff and ungainly. But the going was fast enough.
In several more minutes of scrambling through the dark he cocked his head slightly. Over the sound of their own splashing footfalls he thought he could hear other sounds. The shouting of distant voices, small popping noises and the sound of some manner of sirens or wailing alarms.
“We are close to arrival, Fess will go no farther.” Fess stated, two arms gesturing forward while the last tapped at their own cloaked self.
Jakiikii stopped by their side and offered one of her own hands. “Thank you Fess. We won’t forget you. You saved us a third time, truly you are an exemplary example of your kind. Carry our words back to your tribal leaders, they will know that Fess tells no lies as you will have the confidence of the Ministrator too.” The insectoid nearly vibrated in their excitement.
“Yes! Fess will tell this story often, it will not be forgotten for an age!” The alien’s expression did not change, it was not able to. But their voice was full of clattering clicks and whistles that conveyed their excitement.
Paulie nodded down the cramped tunnel, his shoulders hunched as he fought to stay standing in the narrow space. “Just down that way, right?”
Fess made a strange hand gesture, it could have meant anything out of context but in the moment Paulie understood it to mean agreement. “Yes.”
Paulie looked at Jakiikii and then patted his waist where Nemesis lay. “Ok, we have it from here. Travel safe.” Jakiikii copied his sentiment and the alien waddled off into the dark. Their chittering excitement fading quickly as Paulie and Jakiikii turned around and approached the growing sounds of chaos.
It didn’t take them long to get there, only about a hundred meters more and the din was perfectly audible, as well the subtle smell of fresher air. Paulie quickened his steps and splashed through one final stretch of murky water till he saw a smaller alcove in the side of the tunnel from which pale light emanated. He skidded to a stop and hunched farther as he squeezed his way into the gap.
He heard Jakiikii follow just behind him and together they made their way into a small room. Light filtered from a grated hole above their heads, the side of which was built into a ladder that scaled the wall.
He looked at Jakiikii and gestured to it, “Do you think you can lift it? I would have a hard time with one good hand.” He tapped the wrapped cast around his broken finger lightly.
She gave him a squinty look and moved for the ladder. Grasping it as she muttered at him, “Can I lift it? I can lift anything I want to.” But she climbed the ladder and grunted as she shifted the grate out of the way and poked two of her petal-shaped eye stalks up over the lip of the hole.
Immediately he saw her relax and one of her other eyes turned to focus on him as she waved to him. “Come on, it looks clear.” She climbed up and out without another gesture and he was forced to hurry to catch up.
As he climbed up he heard the sounds of sirens much louder and closer. He poked his head up and saw a hand held out towards him in the half-light of the darkened street. It was Jakiikii, arm extended. He gripped it gratefully as he hauled himself out of the stinking sewer main and into the roadway.
Down the street he saw a few vehicles with light flashing atop them. They looked like a mix of emergency vehicles and military transports. He leaned in to Jakiikii as they walked down the street, “You think they are all okay?”
She shook her head slightly. “Probably not. I saw Yuhn get shot and go down right at the beginning of the fight. Aril will probably be okay but as for the others I don’t know..” She trailed off.
He was about to ask her who Yuhn was when they heard shouts from down the street. Voices raised in anger and suspicion that rushed their way with lights and weapons drawn. A figure approached, a short sillo’an with bright orange eyes, almost the color of a ripe grapefruit. They were arrayed around his strange triangular head equidistant from each other, each oblong orb staring intently at them. He wore tactical gear, the drab clothing was fitted with overlapping plates of what looked like armour to Paulie and he carried a large weapon of a type he was unfamiliar with.
As the alien and their troops approached Paulie and Jakiikii stopped short and she prompted him to raise his hands up which he did. Jakiikii called out, "Friendlies!"
The incoming aliens slowed as a group and stopped at a barked order from the leading sillo’an. Its frill stood up partially as he did so, the involuntary emotional display showing the brightly colored and patterned membrane. It was green, strikingly green, like that of a neon safety vest with yellow and black highlights.
“Identify yourselves!” The man, for a man it must have been by the size and color of their frill, called to them authoritatively.
“Lady Jakiikii, of Korscam. And this is Lord Paulie, surely you must recognise us?” She called out, using their honorific titles as bestowed by the ruler of Gike.
Paulie just nodded his head, arms still upheld and his eyes locked on the multitude of weapons that were pointed at his chest.
The sillo’an lowered his own weapon, but none of the other soldiers did. They were well trained. No, they kept their weapons aimed at him and Jakiikii with unwavering determination as the other alien took a few steps forward on his three boneless legs.
His face split open as he gave what must surely have been his species’ version of a smile. “Well.. it is you! You gave us all one hell of a fright when you could not be found.” Now his face closed, wide petal-like lips lowering to cover his gaping mouth again. “Where the hell have you two been? And why do you stink like a trash-humper sleeping in its own filth?” He moved an arm, weapon going back to a low ready as he signaled to his troops to do the same.
Paulie frowned at the colorful language but answered the man’s question. “Well, funny story that. We were chased down an alley..” But Jakiikii stepped forward and cut him off loudly.
“Yes, well. Explanations can wait until later. I am tired, he is injured. We both need rest and a bath, to wash off the odor of..” She curled her lip as she uttered, “..trash humpers.”
Paulie got the impression that she didn’t like the phrase. But she made no bigger stink of it as the other man nodded his head. “Yes, okay. Well, it isn’t standard procedure.. but I suppose the circumstances are extenuating. Please come, follow me. I know a few people that will be happy to see you alive.” Together they started back toward the vehicles as the soldier closest to them spoke their position and status. The alien reached out toward Paulie and then stopped as he cocked his strangely shaped head, seeming to think better of touching his filthy and torn coat.
“Ah, well I am commander Slallm. I was called in on short notice due to the nature of your, um.. Situation. At the behest of the reagent herself I might add.” He stated proudly as he rubbed a hand under what might have been his chin. Though with his entire head being largely just a triangular mouth that opened like the jaws of a clamshell bucket it was hard to tell what was chin and what was cheek.
Paulie let out a heavy sigh. He wasn’t really in the mood to talk, just like Jakiikii all he wanted to do was take a scalding hot shower and go to bed. He waved a hand. “Yeah, it was pretty touch and go for a bit there. But we managed to slip away. Is Sergeant Aril okay? What about the others?” He pressed. He wanted to curl into a little ball in the middle of the road and sleep. But there were other more important things at stake first. They needed to determine the status of their friends, and then they could begin to look into what they were going to do about the problem.