WyvernGold: Chapter 8
~~~~~*~~~~~
Jeremy followed quickly into the building and leaned against the wall for a second. "How could you possibly know where we are? This colony is only few years old and this building looks brand new..."
"Shut up, Or. My family helped build this colony, and this was my home until I got dragged to Earth for this stupid assignment." Kai took a second to rest also before running down the hallway.
"It makes sense. Station you on the farthest colony so you won't be a serious threat." His thoughts were written on his face and he didn't care. "So where are we?"
"The first floor of the police station."
This made Jeremy almost drop Dei. "We're where?!"
"I said shut up. I'm looking for the stairwell so we can get to the second layer. We'll be long gone before we could be caught."
~*~
Most space stations, colonies, and space fortresses are built in layers. The outermost layer is layer one. This is where the inhabitants reside. Layer two is where the utilities lie. Air Replication, Electricity Generators, Water Plants, and underground pathways that make it easier for large repair machines to maneuver without disturbing the cities above.
~*~
The door that they had come in opened and slammed with several footsteps and shouting afterward. But by the time the Military Police got to the end of the hallway, the police from upstairs met them there and neither had found Tyson or Or.
"You cut that entirely too close, you maniac..." Jeremy's whispers managed to echo into the darkness.
"How in the world did you make it into the military without making a couple of close calls?" Kai hacked the lock to make sure the cops wouldn't be able to get at them right away.
"Uuugghhh... Craaaaap...." Dei breathed and went back to sleep.
"She can't be waking up this quick!" Kai hissed.
"Especially since you shot her twice and unplugged her life support."
"The second one seems to have done her a lot of good. Now come on. Three miles west and there should be an intersecting path and another stairwell back to level one. I think it's an emergency shelter for the residential section." Kai finished the lock and took off running again.
"Maybe you should carry the girl since you have so much energy."
Kai laughed and turned around. "I'd just try to kill her again. Besides, she doesn't look like she weighs more than a hundred pounds."
"The girl feels like she weighs a ton. It's like she- OWW!"
Jeremy stopped short and dropped Dei to the ground. Kai grumbled something and came back to investigate. She found Jeremy hunched over the girl with 4 tiny trails of blood leading down his back.
"I think she heard you. She raked you good, Or. It's like she used claws or something back here. Think you'll live?"
"Ha ha. She surprised me. And since you can hear me, girl; GET UP."
Dei made no movement or even indicated she was conscious.
"Dammit, we don't have time for this. Get up, girlie. Or there's another bullet in it for ya." Kai produced the revolver from earlier and pointed it at her head.
"Like hell you'll shoot her after getting her this far! Jeez." He winced and picked Dei back up.
"Rats." Kai didn't bother to help Jeremy back up and continued making her way through the dark tunnel.
About an hour of walking got them to their destination, and the stairwell was right where Kai said it would be.
"They have to know we're down here. How many of these stairwells are there?" Jeremy switched Dei to his other shoulder, but even this position was starting to wear him down.
"No clue. But since there are hundreds of these paths, and how long we've been down here, they'll figure out where we are soon. It'll be the most fun trying to get off the colony with her."
"And take her where?"
"I don't know yet." Kai started tampering with the lock.
"And why is that your only response for everything you've gotten us into?" He thought about how so far they were riding on her quick thinking and abundance of luck.
Kai made the kill gesture and listened to the other side of the hatch. When she thought it was safe, she cracked it open enough to get a quick view in case there was anyone waiting for them.
"Coast is clear." She pulled herself up through the hatch and kept watch while Jeremy hoisted Dei up the steps. "Only a little further, Or. A couple more flights of stairs and we'll be safe for a while."
Jeremy just decided to keep his mouth shut and concentrate on the dead weight on his shoulders instead of wasting energy on an insult and possibly getting shot. Kai led them over to a black marble building and in the back door.
"A friend's house." She crossed her fingers and grinned absently.
9 more flights of stairs and a lot of huffing and puffing later, they arrived at 915 and a door that looked exactly the same as the building's exterior.
"Kooo-neeekooo.... (Kiiiittyyyy....) " Kai sang sweetly.
Jeremy's eyebrow went up.
"Is that my little koibito (sweetheart)?" A deep bellowing voice carried through the door. Jeremy's eyebrow couldn't go any higher so the other one went up too.
A young Asian man appeared at the door and peered down at the trio through wire-thin glasses. "And you brought friends. No trashing the joint this time, huh? Wait, why are you two in fatigues... and she's out cold in a bed sheet... Kai, are you in trouble again? I told you not to come directly here when you're in tro-"
"STUFF IT! GET INSIDE!" Kai hissed and pushed Jeremy and Dei past 'Kitty'. Once they were all in, she put up every lock on the door and ran to close the blinds.
"Okay. SPILL IT. If I'm going to be arrested again because of you, you'd better have everything laid out nice and neat. The last thing with the sneaking weapons out was bad enough."
Or had set Dei on the couch and settled down in a chair in the living room. It looked like an artist's studio combined with an bachelor's pad. Beautiful furniture everywhere, but a lot of it had a modern look and different little personal touches added on. It was a spacious apartment, but was cluttered with art supplies. The couch Dei slept on was an antique with black leather, but had pulsing blue veins on it as if it were alive. Or shuddered at it. 'Kitty' and Kai were talking back and forth in the next room, with the volume escalating rapidly. It took him a few seconds before he decided to go and straighten out whatever pack of lies Kai told that man. Some of his artwork looked heavy and would do a lot of damage if thrown.
"So you kidnapped her and took her halfway across the city?! And now you're trying to get her off the station. Your best one yet, Kai!"
"Hey, you let us in. News is probably aaaalllllllll over every single station that we're armed and dangerous." She razzed him. "You are in soooo much trouble for aiding and abetting..."
"Is she always this maniacal?" Jeremy appeared in the doorway.
"It's hard to say. Yeah, she is a maniac, but she's got a special something today. I can't put my finger on it."
"She was struck by a high-voltage charge from a mobile suit and attacked by the Gaean on your sofa..."
Kitty clapped his hands together and pointed at her. "That's it! That's tough to guess. Koibito, you really should stop starting fights."
Kai's eye twitched. "I DIDN'T START IT. WE WERE SENT ON A MISSION AND SHE ATTACKED ME. THEN THE SUIT ATTACKED ME."
"Yes, koibito. How long has it been since you left the hospital?"
"Two hours and 15 minutes." Jeremy's watch beeped as he tapped a few buttons.
"You have about three minutes before they come and break my door down. All I've got is some walk-in closets and my work. And I think they'll check the statues first this time since that's where you put the rocket launcher the last time." He pointed to a giant statue of an onyx monster. "That one cost me a couple hundred thousand to make. DON'T BREAK IT." Kitty growled in Kai's face.
"Yeah yeah yeah, where's the glass sarcophagus? The girl can go in there. That'll be fun to discover. Letsee... Jeremy..." She sized him up by walking around him. "You can go hide in the bedroom closet."
"THAT'S THE FIRST PLACE THEY'LL LOOK!" Jeremy was descending back into panic.
"You haven't seen his closet. Try not to scream when you first open the door. I'm gonna go change, and I'll go...." Kai tapped her head.
"Try the main studio. I haven't finished too much since the last incident and I'm way behind schedule."
"Ugh. I hate it in there. And the stench of chemicals is enough to kill a person. Come on, we've got to move the girl. And that sarcophagus weighs a couple tons."
"What kind of art do you do in here?" Jeremy grabbed Dei off the couch and followed Kai.
"Museum neo-exhibits. Right now, I'm working on the Egyptian Age of Mythology. Very cool stuff. Help me get the lid off the coffin. And in case you're wondering, my name isn't Kitty. It's Raion (lion). Raion Suun." Raion said as he unlocked the display room.
The display room wasn't very big, but there wasn't much in it anyway. In the center lay a yellow crystal box with Egyptian hieroglyphs laser-carved into it. It looked like Raion didn't need too much help getting the top off as it slowly glided halfway open. "And dump her in."
Jeremy obliged to do so and rubbed his shoulders. Raion stared at the girl for a few seconds and quickly walked around the sarcophagus. He produced a gold and black death mask and laid it over the sheet where Dei's face was. Jeremy gritted his teeth. They could all hear a loud bang and voices coming from up front.
"What the hell was that about?" he forced himself not to yell.
"Hey, it might work." Raion grinned madly and slid the coffin lid back on. "And now to hide you."
Raion led Jeremy up the hall and around the corner into a sparsely decorated room. Without thinking, Raion shoved Or into the closet and locked it behind him. He got two steps away before he remembered and mumbled "DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING.", and then returned to the main room to get the door.
"W-wwilll… do…." Jeremy's eyes were as big as dinner plates and fixed on the axe that was about half a centimeter from between his eyes. Turning around wasn't an option since the entire room had blades and carving tools of every kind hanging from the walls and ceiling. 'I can see why Kai likes him…'
~*~
Kai leaned on a human-sized statue of a red mobile suit and clapped her hand over her mouth.
"Damn, it's worse than before… I'm gonna be sick…" The smell of solvents and paints assaulted her nose and burned the inside of it.
She looked around quickly and since there were no other alternatives, she ran to the window and looked out. There was a balcony and a tiny ledge beside it. Kai climbed out of the window and down on the ledge. She'd rather take her chances out here than suffocate and die in that room. Kai grabbed on to the edge of the balcony and slid down where she wedged her self uncomfortably between the underside of the balcony and the ledge. Why the hell couldn't he air it out once in a while?!
~*~
"Raion Suun! Military Police!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming…" He grumbled and put on his best false smile. "What can I do for you today?"
"Can it, Suun. Your girlfriend's AWOL again, and we know she's here."
"Ugh. What'd she do now? And she can't be here because I already promised you boys that I wouldn't let her come over here and hide her stuff anymore. Especially after you destroyed everything and set me back 2 years."
"Right." The heavily armed officers pushed past him and proceeded to raid the apartment anyway. Raion tried to keep up with them and caught or righted anything that they turned over. He followed on officer into his bedroom and stopped him when he tried to open the door.
"OPEN IT OR I WILL." He held up his gun and prepared to shoot the lock.
"It's my supply closet. Unless you want a beam cutter, there's nothing in there. I keep it locked because it'd take forever to clean up if everything fell out." He unlocked it and opened it just a crack to pull out a long metal hook with a hollow point. Jeremy stood perfectly still, and prayed for more of Kai's stupid luck.
A voice called down the hall. "Sir! Come look at this!"
'This is too much…' Or closed his eyes and relaxed just a bit as Raion and the officer walked away.
Raion grumbled and grabbed the officer that called them to the sarcophagus with Dei in it. "You touch this, you pay for it. It took me a year and a half to carve this thing.
"What's inside?" An officer behind him pointed to the sheet and mask.
"That would be a dummy. This is a museum exhibit I'm creating. One, it would take a small crane to get the lid off, since it's a crystal/gold hybrid. Two, since I finished last month, I don't have a crane. The museum will pick it up next week. And three, it can't hold anyone because it doesn't have any air holes." Raion just realized his mistake and bit his lip. 'Lets hope Kai doesn't mind that the girl is dead…'"
The other MP gathered around them with nothing to report. The leading officer stared at Raion and narrowed his eyes. "You WILL report to us if you see Kai Tyson. Understand, Mr. Suun?"
"Perfectly. But you do understand that Kai isn't dumb enough to try the same trick twice…?" Raion stared back with equal hostility.
"Even so, we'll probably be checking up on you periodically. Good day, Mr. Suun."
'Damn it, Kai! This is even worse than last time!' Raion showed them to the door and almost slammed it after them. As soon as he heard retreating footsteps, he ran back to his studio and pushed the lid off of the large coffin. Dei was still unconscious, and didn't notice at all that she'd nearly been killed. Raion breathed a sigh of relief and looked around for the woman who was quickly losing her 'girlfriend' status. None of the statues or closets had been disturbed and then he saw that the window was slightly open. He leaned out of the window and saw her fingers locked around the edge of the balcony. He climbed out and closed the window behind him.
"You know I can see you, right?" he whispered over the side.
"As long as they didn't see me, who cares?" She hissed and tried to climb back out on the ledge. She slipped, but Raion caught her and pulled her back over the balcony.
"You are going to take your colleague, your hostage, and you are going to get the hell out as quietly as possible. They've bugged my apartment, and they'll be back later. After that, we're going to talk, that is if I ever see you again."
"You're threatening to dump me again? You know you love the excitement."
"There's a difference, Kai, between stashing some loot in a closet, and kidnapping an otherworlder and causing an interplanetary incident." He opened the window and pulled her inside; clamping his hand over her mouth.
He led her back to his bedroom and got Jeremy out of the supply closet. As soon as he was out, Raion put his finger to his mouth and took them back to the main studio. Raion had to struggle this time to get the lid perpendicular to the sarcophagus and helped Jeremy pull Dei out. He led them back out to the balcony.
"This CANNOT happen anymore, Kai. Got it? This is serious stuff now. I don't wanna see you until this is over and you're not going to prison because of all this."
"You better kiss her goodbye, then." Or grumbled. Kai kicked him in the leg.
"…Urgghh…. Neuill, you bastard, you'll pay… for thissss…."
Everyone looked down at the figure still tangled up in the bedsheet. Dei yawned and curled up tighter in Jeremy's arms.
Raion's eyebrow went up. "They speak English?"
Or hefted her up. "Yes. Evidently they understand any language."
"Maybe she'll understand this. WAKE UP." Kai moved the sheet and got ready to grab Dei's face, but recoiled and almost fell over the balcony. Raion had to grab her again to keep her from falling.