She Bleeds for Us: The Galactic Consortium 3

Chapter 22

Issa clutched the fallen form of his nephew as the two lay in the alley. Anger burned through him. They had shot him! A boy of ten! What sort of monsters were they?

And he'd failed. He'd promised he'd look after the boy, see him grown. Instead, he saw him shot down in the alley like a dog. It wasn't fair.

And then, unbelievably, Gabriel was squirming in his arms, breaking free and standing.

Unhurt, the boy stood in the middle of the alley and glared defiantly at the SWAT officer. "Stop shooting me!" he yelled. "That's the third time!"

The man called out, calling Gabriel a "ghetto rat."

"You know I have a shield, you, stupid head!" Gabriel shouted. He tossed his head and marched around the corner, Issa scrambling after him.

"You are okay?" Ishmael asked.

There was a thunk and a curse from down the alley. "That's for shooting my boy," a voice cried out from above them.

Issa looked up to watch a slender woman walking along the rooftops. The SWAT officer was rubbing a spot on his forehead where the woman had hit him with a rock. She turned back and gave the police a rude gesture before leaping down.

Gabriel wriggled, trying to look at his back. "That one left a mark, I'm sure," he complained.

"And I don't know what is worse," the woman said. "The first time when they thought they would hurt a small boy or the next two times when they knew better and did it out of spite."

Issa knew which was worse. "If they hurt my nephew, I'll kill them," he snarled.

The woman's face sobered. "Indeed."

"Uncle," Gabriel said, "this is Devaki. Zie's from the Consortium. Zie's here to help."

"Zie?"

"I am kurgara," Devaki said with a bow. "I've come to meet the Blind Witch that Gabriel has told me about, and to see what aid I can give your cause."

"Whatever you did to Gabriel would be huge," Daniel said. Gabriel had his shirt up and was craning his head to inspect his back. "That assault rifle left no more than a tiny bruise."

"Kinetic shield," Devaki said. "I have a couple more. And some medical supplies and... as much as I could carry. Let us adjourn and gather as many of your people as can be spared and we will talk."

"Of course," Issa replied. "At once. Gabriel, Grandma is at home." Gabriel held out his hand and led Devaki deeper into the ghetto. Issa turned to his men, giddy after the rush of seeing his nephew again. "Ishmael, hold this position. Abraham, gather the others, at my mother's yard, yes? Daniel, spread the word at the guard posts. Leave one trusted man, the rest should fall back as well. Let's us see what this person has brought us."