The Street Survivors (The Guild Wars Book 12) by Ian Malone (great books of all time TXT) 📕

when the powers that be had me cleaning bathroom huts. You?”

“I see the Eagles every day, actually,” Haju said. “My cage resides in the same confinement zone as theirs.”

“And?” Taylor asked.

“And they are alive,” Haju said. “Some of your comrades are faring worse than others, specifically the one called Newhouse. However, they are all breathing, nonetheless.”

Taylor furrowed his eyebrows. “What happened to House?”

Haju took a pull of his drink, then explained that the corporal had apparently gotten into an altercation with another worker. The result had been a forced separation by the KzSha via a near-lethal dose of stinger venom.

“Your man spent most of last evening immobilized on the floor of his cell before regaining the use of his extremities shortly before midnight,” Haju said. “Again, though, he is alive, as are the others.”

Taylor nodded, grateful for the update. “You mentioned earlier that the KzSha frigate delivers this product of theirs offworld to Akoya’s benefactors. Do you know who that is, or what the product is?”

“I know nothing of the buyers,” Haju said. “Master Vello has gone to great lengths to keep their identity a secret. As for the product, I’ve heard rumors that it’s referred to among the KzSha as kambersite.”

“Kambersite, huh.” Taylor swigged at his drink. “Never heard of it.”

“Nor have I,” Haju said. “Allegedly it’s an ore of some kind that resides deep within the Droxis crust. As for its use or why Vello’s superiors covet it so, I could only speculate.”

“So you’ve never actually seen it, then,” Taylor surmised.

Haju shook his head. “To my knowledge, the only ones who have are the Caroon. Their species alone comprises the ripper teams tasked with excavating the kambersite from below ground. From there, the ore is lowered into a passage tunnel at the base of the fissure, where it is packaged into these bins and hauled topside for us to shift onto trucks bound for the refinery.”

“And who runs the refinery?” Taylor asked.

“Also the Caroon.”

Taylor wrinkled his nose.

“You!” A visibly agitated KzSha stormed over and stabbed a finger at Haju. “You come! You come now!”

Before the Sumatozou could even speak, much less move, the wasp laid into him using the backside of its tail like a scourge weapon.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Haju tried to rise, but collapsed to one knee, his broad expression fraught with pure agony.

“You come now!” the guard screamed. “Now!”

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Taylor started to intervene, but by the time he’d left his seat, the beating had ended.

Gingerly and with immense effort, Haju stumbled upright and staggered out of sight with the guard.

Taylor was still sitting on his crate, horrified and stunned, when Haju returned a few minutes later, having completed whatever task he’d been summoned to accomplish.

“What the actual hell was that about?” Taylor asked.

“The guard needed a belt changed on one of the other conveyors,” Haju said. “It was nearing failure, which would’ve interrupted its service.”

Taylor blinked then blinked again. “That’s it? One KzSha guard saw fit to beat you within an inch of your life over a conveyor belt? He could’ve just ordered you to fix it, ya know.”

Haju frowned and dabbed at the fresh gashes on his face, wincing. “It has been my experience that Master Vello takes special pride in seeing others of his species suffer, especially those of us who serve the Cartography Guild as gate masters.”

A flurry of dots connected in Taylor’s mind, from the atrocity he’d just witnessed, to the litany of injuries he’d seen on the other Sumatozou. “Akoya thinks his own species betrayed him after Sakall, so he’s taking it out on you guys.”

Haju gave a slow, heavy nod and swallowed. “We need to get free of this place, Van Zant…I need to be free.”

“Look out!” someone shouted.

An audible metal kapow sent Taylor and Haju spinning on their seats.

“I’m sorry!” a mortified Sumatozou rushed out, the overturned bin laying sideways at his feet, its rocky contents strewn out like jigsaw pieces in the dirt. “Please, I’m so sorry!”

The frightened alien dropped to his knees and frantically began shoving the ore pieces back into the bin, but it wasn’t enough. Four KzSha guards converged on the elephant in a blur, lashing and whipping him with their tails.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

The elephant toppled over under the beating and rolled himself into a ball for protection. Still, the guards kept at it.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

“Enough!” Haju lunged to his feet and charged toward the melee.

Ah, hell. Seeing no other option, Taylor charged in with his partner and plowed a shoulder into one KzSha. After that, he threw a punch at the jaw of another alien, landing most of it.

Both KzSha reeled to regroup, but that still left the others, plus the three extras who surged onto the scene in defense of their comrades.

A deluge of pain ripped through Taylor’s system as the first dose of KzSha venom poured into his veins. Another strike followed, then another and another, and another after that. Soon Taylor’s whole body felt like it was on fire. Everything in him wanted to fight back—to make the wasp bastards pay for what they’d done to Stan. Part of Taylor wondered if maybe now it was his turn to be torn to shreds. Instead, the KzSha stung him and stung him and stung him again until Taylor’s consciousness gave up the ghost, and the world around him faded to black.

* * * * *

Chapter 19: The Forgotten Digger

Taylor awoke to the sounds of clamoring voices and dripping water as the icy sensation of cold rock registered against his skin. He jolted upright, suddenly alert. Where am I? He was lying on the floor of a cave, ostensibly somewhere else in the mining complex. It wasn’t a big cave, either. The