The Last Coffee Shop

Chapter 33: Who Says I Can't Keep Running Away?

Mads had never been so glad to see the elegant, silver-clad, orderly ranks of Peace Keepers in her life. They leveled identical white guns in perfect unison, absurd in the dusty tunnel, like a fever dream or hallucination.

The lead Keeper stepped forward, surveying the startled Andherans from behind his heavy mask. "Step away now, and we'll spare your lives." He pointed his gun at the closest guard.

There were maybe a dozen Peacekeepers spilling into the small space, barely half the number of the Andherans. But spears and a handful of swords were no match for guns. The Andheran guards were fierce and tenacious, but not stupid. They backed down the tunnels, melting into the shadows with barely a sound.

Mads exhaled in a relieved gush. She was shaking all over, and her stomach was still threatening to upend itself.

The Peace Keepers ignored the Andherans' flight, continuing to form orderly ranks and fill the passage before approaching the bodies.

Mads pushed herself up onto her knees and held up the gun and her hands in a gesture of surrender.

Every gun pointed at her.

"State your name and position," barked the Head Keeper, reaching for his com. "We have a live one."

Mads blinked at him, exhausted. "I'm Madeleine Capot, stupid. The person you're looking for."

A single Keeper broke ranks, skidding to a stop just a few feet from Mads. His helmet came off, despite warning exclamations from the other Keepers, and Mads found herself looking at a tousled, tired-looking Alan.

"Mads!" Alan's voice cracked just a bit, as his eyes flicked over her, gradually growing wide with something like horror. He glanced back at the Head Keeper, whose face was obscured, but his posture was filled with disapproval. "It's okay. She's Mads. She's the one we're here to find."

The Head Keeper nodded and barked something into his com, and then he and the other Keepers began examining the prone bodies littered among the wall debris.

Mads lowered her arms and took a protective step closer to Luc's still form. They weren't going to take him from her now, not after everything she'd been through. Not until she knew he wouldn't disappear into some unmarked transport and leave her here without a single Galactic in sight. So she also kept a tight hold on Graynard's gun. Just in case.

Alan turned back to Mads and stretched out a gloved hand, but he didn't touch her. "You look awful." His expression was grim, his voice full of concern. "Are you okay?"

Mads blinked, processing the worry in his face and voice, and then she realized what she must look like to all of these stalwart symbols of peace and order in the galaxy. "I'm fine," she addressed Alan, but she spoke loud enough for the other Keepers to hear. "Really. I am. But we need to get out of here. The Andherans don't give up easily."

Alan glanced around the tunnel, his brow furrowing. "Those people we saw? I didn't know anyone lived here anymore. Especially not so far down. We had a terrible time even finding the tunnel you talked about. I was worried when you didn't move for so long, and then we heard shouting, so we made a pincer and came out in two places."

So that explained the shouting and fighting sounds down the tunnel, and the delay that probably saved us. Mads nodded, wanting to cry and laugh and scream at the Keepers to just get a move on and take her home, instead of following protocol and procedure.

"Mads," said Alan, and his voice shook. "I really didn't think we'd be able to find you in time. But how long were you alone?" He looked around, his eyes widening as he finally registered the scattered bodies, blanketed by stone dust but still obvious. "What happened to Luc?"