Page 92 of Sky Song
He waved his hand. “And I tried so hard… tried…”
“Oh, Lyle…”
“…not to kill him.”
They sat there in stunned silence.
A silent shape dropped from the sky around the corner, in front of the club’s main entrance. Lights flashed.
Ren was on his feet in an instant. “Shit! The peacekeepers!”
They all pressed close to the wall to blend into the shadows.
“Lyle, can you walk?” Cricket whispered urgently.
Lyle opened one eye. “Let’s steal one of their clunkers and fly out.”
“Steal from the peacekeepers?”
“Yeah.” He was totally serious.
Ren scoffed. “They’re hardly clunkers. And who’s gonna fly? You?”
“No, not me. But Cricket knows how. I showed her.”
“Once! You showed me once,” she denied in a hissing whisper like they were seriously discussing this as an option.
Lyle’s other eyes opened. “None of you can fly?” He seemed genuinely puzzled by it.
“Buddy, we can’t even drive,” Paloma said.
A deep sigh of disappointment was her answer.
Meanwhile, patrons of the alien variety began vacating the club and silently dashing out of the side doors and scuttling into the night like disturbed roaches.
Another peacekeeper rider descended, disgorging a half-dozen militia types with flashlights and guns.
“Let’s go,” Ren pulled Lyle to his feet. He swayed precariously but remained upright. “We’ll wait it out at my place.”
Paloma slowly rose. “Are you sure?”
Ren shrugged. “What can happen?”
“Famous last words,” Paloma muttered unhappily but pitched in to half-push half-drag Lyle’s bulk that wobbled on rubber legs across the small clearing and around an artistically laid out park to a row of plain apartment buildings.
Ren’s was on the ground floor, making it a little easier for Lyle to enter. Which he did by way of falling across the threshold and rolling on the floor until he reached a wall to prop his back against.
He rested there, drawing one knee up. His hair came out of the ponytail and hung around his face in disarray, but still shiny, still pretty. His eyes were dull but wide open, the left one swollen from the blow he’d caught. “I’m getting better. Thanks, Ren. I owe you.”
“Don’t think I’ll forget.”
Now that they had reached safety and could breathe again, Cricket looked around with curiosity. This was where Ren lived. She’d never been to an alien’s abode before, and it stirred her interest.
The apartment was much larger than her own place. The spacious area that comprised the entrance and living room felt lived-in, messy even, although the mess didn’t reach Paloma’s gigantic proportions. Surprisingly, some thought had been given to the decor, and the simple furniture appeared well-matched.
There were two doors leading to other rooms.
“Ren, is that you?” a musical feminine voice floated from behind one of the doors. Cricket started. Paloma threw a worrying glance at Ren.
