Ecopunk! by Liz Grzyb

Author:Liz Grzyb
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: global warming, climate change, australian, clifi, climate fiction, australian speculative fiction
Publisher: Ticonderoga Publications

An hour or so later, the door of Jo Jo’s prison closet was once again flung open. She looked up, fearful for her life, and saw a huge figure silhouetted against the light.

Brunelli had come.

Jo Jo stared in astonishment. Beyond the doorway, one of her kidnappers lay, unconscious, on the bare floorboards of what appeared to be a clothier’s storeroom. The other kidnapper, the man in the turtleneck sweater, was fighting for his life.

“Give it up,” Brunelli said. “You’ll only get hurt.”

For answer, the man lunged at her with a knife.

Brunelli reacted in a blur of movement. The knife went spinning across the floorboards. The kidnapper collapsed to his knees, nursing his newly broken arm.

Brunelli patted her dark curls into place. She hadn’t even raised a sweat. She stepped casually over her fallen assailant, and took off her gauntlet to help Jo Jo to her feet. “Hello, Princess,” she said. “Your mother was worried about you. Are you okay?”

Jo Jo just nodded.

“Sorry I took so long to get here,” Brunelli said. “I was in South America.”

“Oh,” said Jo Jo.

A look of appalled understanding crossed the face of the man with the broken arm. “I knew this would be a bad job,” he muttered.

“There’s another one,” Jo Jo said.

“I know. There always is,” said Brunelli. She whirled around, catching the third man off guard as he attempted to creep up behind her. She grabbed him and pinned him to the wall, holding one arm across his windpipe. “You’ll have to do better than that,” she said. “Like I told your friends, it’s not worth your while to fight me.”

“I’ll kill the girl,” the man grated. “Her pallet is wired with explosives.”

“Sure it is,” Brunelli said equably, checking her scanners. “I can see that. But there’s no need for anything so dramatic—I’ve brought your money. Just let the girl go. Then maybe we can all walk out of here alive.”

The man eyed Brunelli suspiciously. “Why would you do that?”

“The Duchess de Glorian is a reasonable woman,” Brunelli said. “My instructions are to offer you the ransom money in return for your immediate departure. Which means,” she added, “you take the cash and you don’t come back.”

“And if we don’t agree?”

“I’ll kill you.” Brunelli was matter-of-fact. “No need to worry about your employers,” she said. “They are being taken care of as we speak. They won’t be needing your services again.”

“How did you find us?”

“I have my sources,” Brunelli said. “You picked the wrong people to meddle with this time—the de Glorian family is powerful beyond anything you can imagine. I’m offering you a cash settlement. Do we have a deal?”

“Deal,” the assailant said. “What choice do I have?”

“None at all,” said Brunelli. She slowly lowered her arm, and pointed across the room. “The money’s in the bag. Count it, if you like.”

The man massaged his throat. “I’ll do that,” he said.

Brunelli reached out and took Jo Jo by the hand, pulling her into the room. “Cover your nose and mouth,” she whispered. “And when I say run, you sprint for the door.

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