Araroon

By sheer luck, Duncan ducked his head atthe last second and the red energy bolt drilled a hole in the brick instead of his brain. Shards of orange stone exploded outwards from the wall and hecried out as bits of rock lacerated his skin. Touching his cheek, his hand came away smeared with blood.

"Sh**," he said softly as he crouched on the dusty asphalt, blinking back tears of pain while he wondered which way to jump next.

He'd known from the start of this venture if things went sour he was on his own. Max had made it clear the job wouldn't be easy. He'd told him if he wanted to be part of the Araroon's crew, he was going to have to pull his ownweight.

Which meant taking care of himself in a jam. But damn it, this was Max's doing, not his. As grateful as Duncan was to Max for letting him work out his passage, he couldn't help resenting the awkward position the debt put him in sometimes. For example, no one had told him a number of people wanted Maximilian Lancaster dead, and to be in the man's employ was like having a bull's-eye painted on your back.

Another laser bolt whined past and Duncan scrambled for an open doorway he spotted halfway down the street. He needed to get out of these Martian back alleys. If he could make it to the underground spaceport, or even the surrounding domed marketplace, he could disappear into the crowd. Earlier, when he'd been enthusiastically exploring the market's many intriguing shops with Elana, he'd pretty well memorized the layout. He knew there were places to hide.

Pulling down the knit cap disguising his long hair, Duncan ducked through the opening and found himself inside one of the large hotels that catered to space travelers. Behind him in the street he heard shouting, but the voices were going in the opposite direction. Walking fast through the crowded corridors, keeping his head down and his eyes on the floor, he left through the front entrance and picked his pace up to a jog, heading back to the ship. The low gravity was one nice thing about Mars, he thought tiredly. His stamina and strength were increased almost two fold. The three-mile run wouldn't be a problem.