Read Online Dreamer by Steven Harper - Free Book Online

carried a blade that crackled and snapped. The other aimed a pistol.
    Operating on instinct, Kendi dove for the ground. Energy spat through the air above his head. He rolled to his feet and came face-to-face with the crackling knife. An arc flashed in the air and something slashed Kendi’s arm. It went numb from shoulder to elbow. Kendi’s foot smashed the man in the groin. The knife clattered to the ground, but Kendi could feel the other man’s pistol trained on his back. Everything moved in slow motion.
    Dodge dodge dodge, he thought. His legs pushed him sideways and warm, fetid air moved against his cheek. Kendi flattened himself against the alley wall, expecting pain to crash across his back. Nothing. He looked over his shoulder at the gunman. The man stood motionless, pistol in his outstretched hand. The heavyset man lay where Kendi had tackled him, and the man with the knife moaned on the ground. Kendi spared a glance for the boy. He was staring at the gunman. Puzzled, but deciding it would be best to take care of the immediate threat first, Kendi removed the pistol from the man’s unresisting hand. Kendi pistol-whipped him and he fell.
    “Are you all right?” Kendi said to the boy.
    The boy stared at Kendi. “Who the fuck are you?”
    “I was going to ask the same about them.” Kendi gestured at the attackers. “What was that all about?”
    The boy said nothing. Kendi stuck the pistol into his belt and tried to massage some feeling back into his arm. It was going to hurt like hell, he was sure. The man Kendi had kicked tried to get up. Kendi drew a dermospray from his pocket and pressed it against the man’s arm. There was a muffled thump. The man sighed and fell silent. Kendi turned back to the boy.
    “Did you stop that guy from shooting me?” he asked.
    Silence.
    “Look, I just saved your life, and I think you saved mine. Did you?”
    Still no answer. Exasperated, Kendi tried to grab the boy by the shoulder, but the boy backed away. “Bump off. Don’t touch me unless—”
    “Hands in the air!” barked a voice.
    Both of them spun. A man and a woman in the red and black uniforms of the Unity guard stood in the alleyway, pistols aimed and steady.  Behind them was a sleek patrol cruiser, the only type of ground car allowed in the market. Kendi raised his good arm. The boy raised both of his.
    “I said, hands up!” the woman snapped.
    “I can’t raise my other arm,” Kendi said. “One of those guys hit it with an energy blade.”
    “Take the pistol out of your belt with your fingertips,” the woman ordered. “Drop it on the ground.”
    Kendi obeyed. A pang shot through him as he remembered the dermosprays in his pocket. Even the most cursory search would turn them up. Tension made a cold knot in his stomach.
    “These men attacked us, officers,” he said. “The gun belongs to them.”
    The male guard snorted. His partner eased closer and kicked the gun away. Kendi saw sweat trickle down the boy’s face.
    “Both of you put your hands on the wall,” the male officer said. “Now!”
    Shakily, Kendi put his good arm on the wall. A dozen possibilities flickered through his mind and were just as quickly tossed aside. No fighting. Kendi had caught the boy’s attackers by surprise. The same approach wouldn’t work with alert Unity patrol guards. Running was out of the question. He’d be gunned down. He couldn’t even call Ara for help—wearing a communicator while making underworld contacts would have spelled his death.
    Hard hands landed on his shoulders, feeling his back and moving down his sides.
    And then there was a strange jumping sensation, as if the world had leaped to one side. A dizzy spell made Kendi glad he was leaning against the wall. The feeling was the same one he got after he’d been...been . . .
    Shit! he thought. I was possessed! The kid possessed me! Did he possess the guards too?
    A harsh grip spun him around and he looked into the face of the Unity patrol officer. The