Free Lacuna: The Spectre of Oblivion by David Adams Page B

her purse.
    “Hey, Melissa, ya’ forgot yer’—”
    Their assailant, now behind her, shouted something incomprehensible and fired, the loud gunshot echoing against the walls of the building. Liao saw Anthony jerk, startled Then he turned and ran. James’s strong hands pushed her out of the way, and she saw that Tai’s hand now held a small, compact handgun. Tai aimed it quickly, depressing the trigger. Another loud roar and the handgun almost drowned out the cry of their attacker, the round catching the surprised man in his upper arm.
    Wounded, he howled, waving his pistol around like a lunatic. Tai fired again, the round knocking a chunk out of the brick wall. The mugger regained some semblance of wit. His pistol barked twice, a loud crack like a firework exploding near Liao’s head, and she felt James’s hands around her shoulders, pulling her down to the ground. Two more shots were fired, Liao recognising the loud retort of the man’s revolver as she raised her head in time to see the man, wounded and panicked, as he turned and ran down the alley, stumbling occasionally, his footsteps beating a rapid retreat away from where James and Liao lay sprawled.
    “You okay?” asked James.
    Liao closed her eyes a moment, hands trembling slightly before she stilled them. “I’m fine,” she said, inhaling and opening her eyes, her ears ringing from the loud gunshots. She had fought alien warships. She had repelled Toralii boarders. She was a decorated war hero. But despite the year she’d spent in space staring down death at every turn, a normal man with a gun had managed to rattle her. It was the striking normality of it all, something aside from aliens and space battles, something real and common. “Thanks for that.”
    James gave a laugh, leaning in and kissing her cheek from behind. “Don’t worry; I’ve got your back. You okay, Tai?”
    There was no answer. Liao twisted her body, looking over her shoulder. “Tai?”
    Tai lay on his back, his skin ghostly white, his body as limp as a doll. Two blooming red flowers crept over his chest, blood seeping onto the concrete below.
    It took her a second to process what had happened, but the moment the reality of the situation hit her, she was moving. She broke away from James’s grasp, crawling over to Tai’s prone form. She fumbled inside Tai’s pocket, pulling out his phone with one hand and tossing it to James. “Call an ambulance!”
    Liao lifted Tai’s head, cradling it as the Chinese man’s blood poured into her lap. She watched as James, ashen faced, flipped open Tai’s phone, tapped in 911, then held the device to his ear. Liao looked back down at her bodyguard and friend.
    “Kang, Kang, can you hear me?”
    He didn’t move. She propped up his head, pulling it into her lap, while her other hand searched for his injuries. “Don’t worry, okay? James is getting help. We’re getting help.” She gave a quiet, nervous laugh as she adjusted Tai’s head, eliciting a soft groan from the barely conscious man. “What kind of a bodyguard dies from a couple of little boo-boos like that, hey? Suck it up, you’ll be fine. You’re going to be fine.” She brushed a clump of Tai’s hair away from his face with a bloodied hand, her gaze turning up to James. “How long...?”
    James asked the operator, then nodded to Liao. “Four minutes. They’re coming as fast as they can.” He spoke into the phone. “Yes, I’ll cover the cost.”
    “Fuck!” Liao pressed her hands to Tai’s ghastly wounds, pushing her fingers to his blood-soaked shirt, trying to stem the blood loss. “Kang, you hear that, yeah? Four minutes. You’ve gotta take care of my apartment when I’m out, you know, so you’ve got a lot more work to do. And after that… after that, I’m going to get my ship back and I’m going to need... I’m going to need people I can trust. You can work with Cheung. We’ll get you a nice cushy position on that boat, okay?”
    Tai’s blood continued