SLAM by Tash McAdam Page A

can give
us some pointers.” Then she nods, jerking her head at the map.
“We’d better get to it. Like you said, we don’t have much
time.”
    They settle in at the workstation, anchoring
the holo map to the wall so they can refer to it as they start
pulling information from the city archives and nets, working
together seamlessly to formulate a plan that will get them to the
right place, and then get them out of the City. Preferably with
their lives intact.

 
     
     
    WHEN LEAF COMES back, he slips down the stairs at the side of the
room without making any sound whatsoever, scaring the nuke out of
them. Some slight change in the room alerts the girls, and they
whirl simultaneously, thrusting power at him. Serena herself – and
she expects Abial as well – intended to slam the intruder into the
wall, but he just slides sideways untouched and snickers, raking
his now-messy hair off his forehead again.
    Serena’s heart is in her throat, hands
outstretched from the failed attack. Blanks are notoriously
difficult to affect with telekinesis. Without the implicit
understanding of their body position that comes with the reading of
minds, it’s impossible to wrap mental ‘muscles’ around them. Which
means that half of her martial training is useless against him.
That pisses her off, as well as the fact that he caught them by
surprise when they’re supposed to be on high alert.
    “Blank or no, you’d be a splat on the wall if
we had zaps, idiot,” she snarls at him, dropping her hands and
turning back to the datapad she’s been using to familiarize herself
with all possible routes to the sites they’ve designated as likely
targets.
    He doesn’t wilt under the hard stare he’s
receiving from Abial, Serena notes, watching from the corner of her
eye as she pretends her muscles aren’t juddering from the rush of
adrenaline. Instead, he just chuckles again.
    “Nah if ya had zaps, I’d have taken the back
door and disarmed ya before ya got a shot off at me.”
    “Or you could have knocked, like a
normal human being.” Abial’s tone is scathing, but a smile lurks
around the corners of her mouth. Serena scowls at her; her own
hackles are still up, leaving her totally on edge, but Abial seems
to be over it already, which only serves to irritate her
more. Don’t you think we should be taking
this a little more seriously?
    Leaf hops up onto a handy set of plastic
crates and grins broadly at them both, clearly pleased by their
reactions. “Well, that’d only work if we had a secret knock,
wouldn’t it? Else ya’d never have answered. 'Cuz yer not supposed
to be ‘ere.”
    His matter-of-fact ridiculousness
breaks through Serena’s frustration, and she sighs, throwing her
hands up in defeat in the face of his unshakable smugness. “Fine,
sneak in, make us, trained
soldiers, jump, but don’t come complaining
if we accidentally hurt you. Deal?” She looks across at him, deadly
serious. It wouldn’t do any of them any good if they accidentally
crippled or killed their only ally in this City, but they’ll need
at least some cooperation from him to keep from doing
that.
    “If ya got extremely lucky!” He looks so
unbearably cocky that she clenches her fist and uses her powers to
yank the crate he’s sitting on forward. He lurches, teetering
dangerously before regaining his balance, and purses his mouth in
wry acknowledgement. Her point made, she shoves the crate back into
its place telekinetically, and raises an eyebrow at him in
challenge.
    “Yeah, alright. I’ll knock. Don’t want ya
throwin’ a table at me pretty face! What’s the plan?”
Satisfied that he understands that they’re not here for fun and
games, she leans on a table, waving her hand at Abial, who spins in
her seat and gestures, bringing the map around so it’s in front of
her where Leaf can see it better. It’s still vertical, though, and
his face is lit up with an eerie blue as he leans in, emphasizing
his rather feminine jawline and