SORD COULDN’T TURN TO look behind him and was fearful any movement or noise on his behalf might mean instant death. He gasped for air as Matt tightened his grip, bringing Sord’s skull in painful, crushing contact with Matt’s shoulder.

“So get the fuck out of here! This is our business. Me and my son’s.”

Matt was walking faster as Sord’s toes continued dragging along the floor.

“Let the boy go. Now.” she stated flatly.

“Look, you little wretch,” he screamed, turning backward momentarily, “I told you that’s not our boot. I have a very naughty son here who just jeopardized Prosperity with his illegal antics, and I’m taking him home to receive his due punishment. Back off before you get hurt.”

The boot dropped to the floor with a loud pop, and Matt’s eyes turned forward to follow a shard of bioplas that skidded in front of him.

“Appears she got the message,” he boasted.

He listened for her footsteps, knowing he didn’t want to turn back again to provide a more complete view of his face. With his limited Search and Rescue training, he understood Sord’s disappearance would set off a chain of events. He feared any linkage to him would propel Prosperity’s law enforcement on a relentless and likely successful search for both of them in the mountains.

“Stupid, naive shits,” Matt thought. “All the tech at their avail, and they use virtually none of it. Not even cameras in these tunnels. Jackasses.”

Then he heard something snap.

“Fuck!” he screamed suddenly, sensing his right foot on fire. This was followed quickly by his right knee as searing pain shot down his calf. His head dropped downward to determine the cause.

“What the hell?” he yelled, loosening his grip on Sord.

After disabling his leg, Ms. Lam jumped atop Matt’s large frame. In a single movement, she clawed her left hand across his eyes while using her right hand to thrust his jaw in the other direction.

At the loud snap of his jawbone, Matt dropped to his left knee.

“Want to be sure you don’t move from here,” she affirmed, standing in front of him, “Break your shoulder.”

With a quick thrust of her leg, another bone cracked. His left clavicle broke in half, and blood spurted from the fractured bone as it protruded awkwardly outside his collar.

“You’re a lucky man,” she advised. “Could have nipped the jugular vein with that kick. But I think of another future for you, if you can still see in that future.”

Matt was screaming in pain but unable to move. His snapped clavicle was too painful, a far greater pain than the many injuries he had sustained before arriving at Prosperity.

Sord fell stunned to the ground, just managing to crawl out of harm’s way.

“My boy, don’t be afraid. It’s me, Ms. Lam. He’s not your father, I know.”

“No,” Sord stuttered, trying to regain his breath. “He’s my mother’s ex-boyfriend. I thought he was already kicked out of Prosperity.”

“Speak up,” she demanded. “Can’t hear you over his screams.”

“No, he’s not my dad,” he yelled. “I said he was my mom’s ex-boyfriend.”

“Saw him wrestle you at the shuttle stop. Thought you came for the flower. Surprised you went the other way. Looked like he treated you badly, so I followed and watched. Knew you wanted that boot. You kept holding to it. Then you dropped it. Name tag fell out. I know that name.”

Sord shook his head quizzically. Too much had just happened. “Am I in shock again?” he wondered. “This is getting ridiculous.”

“You think you have shock. Just disoriented and over it soon. Why did this man abuse you?”

“Long story,” Sord continued, still yelling. “He hit me a few weeks ago, then he hit my mom. Violent guy. Not original Prosperity, like only here a few years. Believe the local board had a hearing, and he said they would cast him back into the wilds. Said he was taking me there, too.”

“Kidnapping?”

“Yes. He wanted to teach me a lesson on how coddled we are here. Like, how we don’t know what we’re doing. So vulnerable. So naive.”

“Possible truth in that.”

Sord was perplexed. “What do you mean?”

“We’ll discuss soon. Back to kidnapping. That’s why he took you?”

He nodded. “Apparently he believes there’s an outside exit around here. As if he could get past our security measures, including evading drones and other entry-exit tech. I’m not sure he’s aware of all there is, but since he was with Durango’s Search and Rescue, maybe he knows more than I think.”

“Eeeding!” Matt screamed, unable to writhe in pain, as much as his nerves told him to.

“What’d he say?” Sord asked.

“He bleeds.” She smacked her lips. “Too bad for him. Kidnapper. Molester of children. Many times I’ve had broken bones outside my skin. Blood dries fast. He’ll live. Now, get to your feet and find a call box or phone. Police. Should be nearby. Or find other people who can help us. Get going.”

“What about you?” Sord questioned as he rose to his feet, shaking uncontrollably.

She smiled. “Oh, he knows not to mess with Ms. Lam. Not going anywhere, but I must stay with him. You go, then come back and we’ll keep talking until they arrive. Should be a few minutes.”

Sord was uncertain she could handle Matt if he arose, but he had to trust her. He certainly didn’t want to stay with him while she searched for help.

Within minutes, Sord returned, beaming. He grabbed the bioplas-boot and held it firmly in his arms.

“When?” she inquired.

“I found a call box just around the corner. Should be a minute or two.”

“Fine. You sit down, right there.” She knew he was still disoriented and didn’t want Sord to faint and injure himself further. “You damaged anywhere?”

“Really, really sore shoulders and neck. Something popped. But I just came out of similar injuries, I suppose, when I almost died from the racnines.”

“Racnines?”

“Another long story.”

Matt had quieted down somewhat and was whimpering in pain. She pointed at the boot, enmeshed in Sord’s arms, then reached inside her apron and pulled out the name tag that he and Daisy found in the boot.

“Did you find this?”

“That name tag?”

“Yes. Spilled onto the floor when you dropped the boot. You found it in the boot?”

“Uh huh,” he replied. “Everything around that place you sent us to was super-magnetized, at least the metal, anyway. We had some help from a guy, a mech, to dislodge the boot from most of the bioplas. There was that name tag inside.”

“You found the boot at the site? Why did you take the boot?”

Sord was tired of being in trouble, and he knew this event with Matt would somehow rain down on him even though it wasn’t his fault. If his mom didn’t chastise him for this latest near-death experience, she’d at least turn up her worry-meter and wonder about his whereabouts all the time. And this was just as he was getting greater degrees of freedom. To top it off, maybe he and Daisy should never have taken the boot in the first place, even though he was certain it was his father’s.

“It looked just like my dad’s. No, I mean it is definitely his.”

“Your dad? His name?”

“My dad? Antonin. Antonin Baez.”

Ms. Lam glared at him in a daze.

“Did you know him?”

She didn’t respond. Then they both heard footsteps. Three peace officers ran to them, restraints in hand.

“He escaped,” an officer mentioned breathlessly. “Durango was holding him in a detention cell for transport outside, some place far away from here. They hadn’t realized he was missing until we got your call.”

Ms. Lam was not happy. “You need surveillance cameras.”

“Have them. Tech’s still not perfect, apparently. Slipped past it all. He’s a tricky one.”

“Almost killed this boy. Tried to kidnap and take him outside to teach lessons. Thinks it’s too easy here. Maybe so. Everyone has it too easy, but no reason to teach someone a lesson they don’t want. Except him. I gave him a lesson on taking people against their will.”

“Whew!” an officer exclaimed, observing the damage to Matt’s shoulder. “Broken collar bone. Complex fracture. What else?”

“Sore right Achilles. Maybe snapped ankle. Sounded like. Also, probably right knee cartilage. Broken jaw. Yes. Eyes scratched. He’ll not be doing too good for a time.”

“You did this?” he questioned, frowning at Sord.

“No,” Sord replied. “He was squeezing me so hard that I was passing-out. She rescued me.”

“Martial arts?” the officer asked, looking at her.

Ms. Lam nodded. “Kung fu. Internal.”

“There will be a hearing on this, of course, to make sure excessive force was not used.”

“Not concerned. He was kidnapping. Boy will tell the truth. The big man was dragging the boy a long time, all the way from the shuttle stop to here. Refused to release when I asked him. Warned him. You know the rules. Refused to let the boy talk for himself. An ugly thing. This man has hurt others before, as you say. Hit this boy before. No more chances after this.”

The police then took brief, official statements from each of them while Matt was hoisted onto a stretcher, screaming in pain at the movement.

“We’ll be in touch,” the officer confirmed. “Need a police escort home, young man?”

Sord laughed uncomfortably. “No. Please. My mom went crazy enough when I almost died in a racnine attack.”

“Oh!” The officer shook his head. “You’re that kid. We heard about you. Guess it’s not been your lucky day or lucky couple months. After facing a pack of racnines, you’re lucky to be alive at all. Maybe the same holds true with this event today. What’s that bioplas-boot combination all about?”

“Long story,” Ms. Lam interjected, noticing Sord’s sensitivity. “He’s coming with me. I will bring him to my small stand, call his mother from there, and let her know he’s okay. Tough kid. Father died long ago. Racnines. Kidnapping. Not so easy being kids in Prosperity sometimes.”

The officer smiled oddly at her comment, then followed his buddies as they carted Matt off.

“You come with me,” she demanded. “This excitement gets you hungry. I’ll make a good meal before you go home. We’ll talk. Some things I can tell you about your father, Antonin Baez. Others also.”

Sord’s eyes grew wide. “You knew my father? Why didn’t you tell me earlier today?”

“You didn’t say your last name before. Come and pick up the rose. Eat my cooking. It’s very tasty.”

As much as he felt like going home after a day of such extreme joy and trauma, he was too exhausted to argue with her.