Skyblaze Read Free Page B

order, a robbery?''
    The handgun . . . she'd fired it twice, the
day she'd bought it, wondered if it would still work after all
these years.
    She drove on, knowing the cab's protection
was meant for urban dangers, civilians . . .
    ''No, ma'am,'' Danil said. ''Just that
things may be out of hand towards the end of the trip . . .''
    She barely spared him a glance as yet
another route blinked out as impassable.
    ''I drive to Low Port, sir; a riot there is
nothing new.''
    No sooner the words were said than she
regretted them, for Tommee, who by now held a firearm in his
undamaged hand, began singing something in loud Trade about Low
Port Tramps . . .
    They were now just two
blocks from the exit point, she and her fares, with Fereda behind,
and several more cabs still continuing on in train. The city around
them was darker than it should have been, the streets becoming
crowded with what might well be a riot, with people of mixed station standing on
the walks, and cars left idling on the side of the street, with . .
.
    The road in front of them erupted,
scattering rock and road against the windshield.
    ''Grenades,'' said one, in the back, but by
then she'd stopped the cab and unlocked all the doors.
    ''We're out!
    That was to her, no doubt,
and the two able soldiers were out, dragging Tommee with them, and the cabs
behind were disgorging their passengers as well.
    Vertu saw her daughter's car begin to move
-- she'd not had a casualty disembark, after all. On the sidewalks
the soldiers were forming up.
    ''Anti-armor, get out of there!''
    Vertu looked up, and there before her,
perhaps three cab-lengths away, stood a man, an ordinary Liaden,
well dressed and calm. He met her eyes, his face perfectly
composed, as he brought a tube to his shoulder, pointing it toward
her, no -- toward Fereda's cab! There were sounds she knew were
guns, sounds she knew was small arms fire --
    Her cab lept forward under her command,
Tommee and his comrades scattering as she aimed it for this calm,
ordinary man. It was satisfaction she felt, in the instant that he
changed his stance, and moved the tube, acquiring her cab as his
target.
    Vertu slammed the controls forward; the cab
roared --
    All around was brilliance and sound. The cab
was lofted, tumbling backwards, restraints flashed into being,
holding her tight and safe.
    The odors were incredible, immediate. Dust
covered her. The cab was wedged at an unfortunate angle, but around
her the sounds continued. The windscreen was a spidernest of crazed
glass, the whole car shaking with the force of Fereda's pounding
against the door. With her were Vertu's last fares, the soldiers,
with Tommee, who had not fallen down.
    The door was jammed. Trussed tight in safety
tape, there was little Vertu could do to aid in her own rescue. One
of the soldiers took Fereda's place, another pulling her back with
a gloved hand on her shoulder. There was a scream of tearing metal,
and the door -- was gone.
    Vertu had time to blink the dust out of her
eyes, before the crash-tape retracted and she fell into her
daughter's arms.
    ''Mother!''
    ''Daughter, I am well.''
    ''You could have been killed!''
    ''So I could, and you! A moment!''
    Amid the chatter of gunfire and larger
sounds, Vertu snatched her gun from its holder and returned to
Fereda's side. Around them, the riot was a war zone; the soldiers
gathering in positions against whatever enemy there was. The man
with the tube, there he was, leveling it again, this time at her
--
    There was time to shove Fereda behind her;
to raise the gun, to see his face, his anger and his intent --
    ''Whoa, now! Civlins!''
    Something struck her in the ribs with enough
force to knock her from her feet to the ground, and Fereda atop
her.
    A very tall man stood above them, gun
leveled.
    The explosion deafened her, disoriented her.
Fereda went limp, and she feared -- but no, it was only the shock.
They shoved against each other, untangling and grasping at arms and
shoulders, climbing to their