Chapter 108: Travel Plans

“And what? I should just believe that?”

Itto let a slight smile slip through to his face before letting it die on the vine, like he felt he was too busy for smiles right now. On such a little guy, it should have funny or cute. Somehow, Sean felt, nothing like that was ever going to actually look that way on Itto. He put off a vibe that being small had never, ever been something that had slowed him down in a fight.

I think this guy could kick my ass, Sean thought. At least right now. I’ll get stronger fast, as soon as anything interesting starts happening.

“Well, that’s complex,” Itto said. “Only about a dozen people in the universe know Jeff’s name. So on one hand, it’s pretty, pretty unlikely anyone would show up saying it unless Jeff sent them. But can you guess what’s on the other hand, here?”

“Most of those dozen people want me dead?”

The little man nodded. “Or would if they knew about the connection between you two. Or that you had resources of some kind Jeff asked me not to talk about.”

“Yeah. That feels normal, at least.”

“Most people don’t act like having a cabal of murderers after them is normal, you know.”

“Most people haven’t had the year I’ve had,” Sean said. “The weirder part is that you are here. Jeff knew they were after me when he plopped me down here and told me to hide. What’s changed?”

“Nothing, really. I asked the same thing to make sure I wasn’t going to run up into anything I couldn’t handle. He said any problems that would happen here would happen far in the future.”

Which, Sean reflected, was something Jeff would know about if anybody would.

“Okay, so assuming I buy this. What’s the plan? You protect me?” Sean asked. “Also, why get involved at all? Jeff is sort of a short-term-visit guy lately, from what I understand. What does he have on you?”

“That first question is easy. Hell no, kid, I’m not protecting you. Do I look like I have that kind of time? I have a job.” Itto picked up a mug Eshla had left on the desk, took an exploratory sip of its contents, grimaced, and set it back down. “A good job too. I’m not guarding some random immigrant worker. Second question, I owe him. Jeff doesn’t spend a lot of time in any one place, but he tends to land in interesting places, and he got me out of trouble. The letter he gave me asking me to do this didn’t even have my name on it. I think he was just giving them out to anyone he saved that looked useful.”

“Okay, fair enough. So what, then?”

“I get you off-planet. Quietly. In a way that’s hard to track.”

“To where?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it? Do you have any friendlies from your old world, at all? Anyone you can find who you trust enough not to tell anyone you are around?”

Sean thought on that for a moment. Brett, who he trusted the most of any non-Jeff Earthling he knew, was dead. Estesia was out there somewhere, but he had no idea how to contact her. The same was true for the few locals he had met in the competition, but he’d just as soon they went on thinking that he was probably dead than not. Putting two and two together on why he was alive meant that they would know he came away with something special.

That didn’t mean he didn’t have ideas about where to go. It just meant he had to ask some questions this guy might not know the answer to.

“So weird question. Are there a lot of planets out there completely run by dragons?”

“More than a few. Not every kind of dragon is the same, but a lot of them like to set up as overlords of a sort on worlds they can dominate. Not a great place for you to go, though. Those types tend to be pretty greedy. If they noticed you, and they would, they’d sell you out in a second.”

“Yeah, agreed. Let me narrow down what I’m talking about a bit. Are there many planets filled with trees, guarded by dragons who tend them? Like dragon arborists.”

Itto cocked up his eyebrows.

“I swear, I’m not fucking with you.”

“I know. It’s just that everyone knows the planet you are talking about. Do you know how much high-grade wood is worth, kid? The trees those dragons guard tend to be pretty damn high grade. I’m a… call it an ethical smuggler of sorts. I’m pretty good at it, too. And the planet you are talking about isn’t one I’d mess with. Those dragons aren’t exactly friendly to invaders.”

“I’m not looking to invade. Or hurt the trees, which I’m guessing most people who go there are trying to do. I know somebody there.”

“Bullshit.”

“I do. Just trust me. I’ll be fine there.”

Sean really thought he would. Whatever Cedarhelm’s planet did or didn’t have, it had to be better than doing day labor in this place. He’d take some food along just in case, but he guessed Cedarhelm could provide apples or something. And a place to sleep. He really didn’t need a whole lot more than that.

Itto shrugged.

“It’s no skin off my back. I made a promise, this fulfills it.” He stood up. “You can go now. Nobody here will bother you now. But stay out of the mines.”

“Thanks,” Sean said. He meant it. He hadn’t wanted to tussle with the cops, let alone one that looked to be about twice his height. “What about besides that?”

“Stay out of trouble. Lie low if you can. For the love of god, don’t get arrested again, and wait a week. I have to put some things together if this is gonna work right. Contact these guys when it gets close. They know how to reach me.”

—

Out of the police station and fully unpaid for his day’s labor, Sean headed straight home. He had some money to buy food with, and convenience store food around the city was pretty damn good. But he had a trip to save up for, and it made him reluctant to spend on anything unnecessary for a bit. Which meant he was eating apples, again, from his apple tree.

The apples would fill him up, but it was far from the first time this month they’d make up the entirety of his dinner. He had long since started hating apples, at least the fake-tasting kind the tree made.

Sean walked a bit from the more industrial area of the city to a bus station. The city he was in wasn’t much, given that it focused almost entirely on commerce at the expense of most other things. But part of that focus was a good municipal bus system, one that Sean was glad was there. Otherwise, he’d spend the better part of an hour jogging back.

Sean hit the call button for the bus, which passed overhead only a few moments later, catching him in a sort of towing beam and pulling him up into the air over the traffic and any obstacles he might otherwise hit. Although busses here were weird platforms dragging energy-based baskets filled with people too poor to afford cars, at least they didn’t have to stop for pickup.

Sean relaxed in the energy beam, watching the lights of the city flicker on as the bus sped towards the city center. Soon enough, he was surrounded by dozens of generic shopfronts, what he had been told were chain restaurants, and a ton of people returning from their day’s labor to spend what they had made before heading home.

He usually didn’t approach home from this direction, but soon enough he saw a familiar tall building that was close enough to his base that he didn’t feel like rolling the dice on whether the bus would take him closer before it turned. He reached out his arm, breaking the border of the energy field, which sensed the disturbance and reacted by immediately stretching towards the ground, popping like a soap bubble, and dumping him towards the pavement.

In the process of stretching, the energy net hung back a bit, slowing the overall speed of a disembarking passenger a bit. Still, it was a bit like landing during a parachute jump, and there was a certain coordination to hitting the ground running smoothly enough to keep from falling down. The first time Sean had ridden the bus, he hadn’t been ready for any of that shit, biffed it, and face-planted into the pavement in the middle of a small crowd of sarcastic pedestrians.

Now, though, he was a veteran. He hit the ground running, then slowed to a walk as he maneuvered through the streets towards a familiar coat shop. When he first arrived in town, the alley to the side of the shop had been the only secluded place he could find to sleep. It was only just before he laid down on the bad-smelling ground that the system had informed him that the shanktuary was ready to go whenever he needed it, so long as he could find an open patch of ground to install it in. Lacking lake-front property, Sean had decided the alley was as good a place as any.

He waited near the alley for a bit, making sure he couldn’t see any significant movement near his base before he walked over. As much as he suspected the store couldn’t do anything to keep him from having a weird, interdimensional basement in their alley, he didn’t want to test how much power they had to make trouble for him about it.

Dodging around a few people in his way, he ducked into the alley. Close up, it still seemed empty. He walked deep into the alley, ducked behind a dumpster, and pulled up on a piece of iron that jutted out conspicuously from the ground. The door to the shanktuary slid open, revealing the familiar hallway that led into the relative safety and security of his home.

God, I need a shower. Sean thought. Still the best credits I ever spent.

Sean reached down to grab the edge of the door as he began to duck down the stairs, a move that ended up saving him from losing blood as a projectile of some kind whistled through the air above him and ricocheted off the wall of the shop.

Behind him, he heard the hiss of an alien respirator and didn’t have to turn to know who was standing behind him. He had no idea how the man had tracked him to his home, or if he had just scouted it out beforehand. The man’s reasons for trying to kill him were also an unknown, but it hardly mattered considering that the attempt was very real regardless of motive.

Sean started to turn too late. A heavy weight crashed into his back and arms encircled him as he and the pale man crashed down into the shanktuary, the door slamming shut behind them.