Alien Alliance Box Set by Chris Turner

Author:Chris Turner [Turner, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Innersky Books
Published: 2019-10-23T22:00:00+00:00

V

With quick steps, they made their way out of the alley and down the hardtop. The woman of the night was not to be found. But Miko saw a group of her nocturnal friends farther down the way, sharing a pipe. Purple fumes coiled about their slinky numbers, veiled under the light of one of Demen’s moons shining through the rough cloud overhead. All had frizzy blue hair and wore black lace. Miko pulled the others in the opposite direction, fearing somehow that Fenli would get the crazy idea of hooking up with their lot, juiced up as he was on snow.

It was riskier to head back toward centretown, but without funds they would get nowhere. If he could keep Fenli on top of his game...

The main boardwalk bristled with life. Couples roamed hand in hand and businessmen in elegant suits talked and laughed. It was strange to see all this humanity after being so long cocooned, Miko thought. If this situation wasn’t so dire, he might even have enjoyed it. The glass tower, shaped like a human skull, glowed like a pariah, dwarfing those around it, pale green, ghoulishly festive.

The skull palace. What fortune would it bring?

Low-lying clouds pushed down on them, creating a sense of claustrophobia while sonic booms rattled in their eardrums as twin air guard Venu-cruisers buzzed overhead. Bullet-shaped surface cars, black and electric-powered, coursed three-wheeled down the slick streets and dropped passengers off and picked up others. The twin moons now shone crescents through the tattered cloud. A salty, sulphurous air still drifted from the silver sheen of the lake. Miko smelled cheap fried food, meats and fruit he could not name. Lucifer’s hell but his belly ached with hunger!

Seeing his famished look, Fenli motioned. “You can have all the Skullrox tamales you can eat, once we secure this deal.”

“Sounds like something to look forward to,” Miko grunted.

“Well, you saw what a good negotiator I was,” said Fenli glibly. “We gleaned information and a deal, without dropping a coin.”

Miko firmed his lip. “Nothing’s ever free.”

“Everything’s free, if you know how to deal.”

The Overons sign blazed ahead, a testament to garish red neon. The symbol was a man and woman dancing, half-naked, and coins fluttering around them on golden wings. Fenli gave an amused chortle at the lewd signage, affording it no more than a passing glance.

Miko frowned. “Why don’t we hit that Overons joint first? Seems like a safer bet than what ‘greasy curls’ back there was priming us up for?”

“And have our pockets picked clean, you mean?” Fenli sneered. “These lesser underground sheds are notorious for touts gulling off-worlders into scams—Let me do the choosing.”

Miko threw up his hands. He hated leaving Fenli in charge of operations, but the cargo master did know the city—supposedly. Yet it was no secret he had already gotten them into this jam by insisting on dragging the Jakru along with them.

The glass skull, grinning down on them like a cosmic joke, did nothing to ease Miko’s spirits. He shivered and tugged at his chin.

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