George Martin - Busted flush

The sun was low on the horizon when Drake went to go use one of the Porta-Potties. Niobe waited for him. Here, near the toilets and Dumpsters, Barbarian Days smelled overwhelmingly of outhouses and rancid grease.

The crowd was getting louder. Rowdier. Some of these people had been swilling beer all afternoon. Meaning they probably suffered from impaired judgment.

Which gave Niobe a sad, desperate idea.

Drake returned, wiping his hands on his pants. She asked him, "Can you wait here? I want to try something."

Drake wrinkled his nose, as he had done in Mandy's car. "It stinks here."

"Fine. How about you wait for me over by the Tilt-A-Whirl?" She pointed at the ride, farther down the midway. "I shouldn't be gone long."

"Why? Where are you going?"

"To get help. I hope."

Finding a willing partner was easier than Niobe had expected. There was no shortage of men half blitzed out of their minds who'd spent the day staring at bikini-clad women. Additionally, it was getting dark out, so by keeping to the shadows she could ensure they didn't see her face easily. It didn't reflect very well on the patrons of Barbarian Days, but Niobe stood in no position to judge.

She met a man calling himself Solomon. He led her behind the Dumpsters, to stand against the tall retaining fence that separated garbage from the rest of the festival.

It wasn't love, but it was a private degradation.

"Is there anything I can do to help you along?"

"Shh," he slurred. "Tryin' to concentrate."

"This never happen' before. I swear."

"Uh-huh."

"Really."

"Jesus Chris'," he said. "Thass a tail."

"Technically, it's an ovipositor."

"Ugh. That ain't helping."

"Just forget it," she said. "This isn't working."

"Wait. Wait, this is better."

In the end, Solomon gave her two boys and a girl: Benedict, Baxter, and Belit. Niobe named her new daughter after one of Conan's many girlfriends, in homage to Barbarian Days.

Benedict, scarecrow-thin with cobalt blue skin and white hair, was a one-man waste-disposal unit. He devoured half a dozen empty bottles while waiting for his siblings to hatch. An ability influenced by his birthplace.

Lithe but muscular Belit had the agility of an Olympic acrobat. Gold-medal material, without a doubt.

The lights on the midway went crazy when Niobe took the youngsters to meet Drake.

"Hope you like it, Mom!" said Baxter.

When they didn't find Drake in front of the Tilt-A-Whirl, Niobe panicked. They caught him, and it's my fault. I shouldn't have left him alone.

Belit somersaulted straight up one of the tall light poles. She scanned the crowd. He's over there, Mom. She pointed. Buying cotton candy.

Niobe sighed. "That figures," she muttered.

"Niobe!" A familiar voice came out of the crowd.

She spun around, looking for the owner of the voice. A woman darted through the throng toward Niobe. She waved.

"Michelle!" Relief coursed through Niobe so strongly that it threatened to wash away the last of her strength and leave her collapsed on the midway. "You found us."

Michelle winked. "Eventually. Sorry we couldn't get here sooner." She indicated her companion, whom Niobe had disregarded until Michelle introduced her: a stunning woman with long black hair and eyes like silver orbs.

"This is Lilith," said Michelle. "She gave me a ride."

"Thank you," Niobe said.

Lilith looked her up and down, studying her. Niobe shied away from an intense quicksilver gaze. The woman radiated sexiness in waves. Niobe felt like an insignificant bug next to her. "A pleasure to finally meet you," said Lilith. She even had a husky voice.

Michelle frowned. Niobe hugged her. "You found us," she repeated. Tears of joy tickled her face. "Thank you for coming. We wouldn't have lasted on our own much longer."

Drake returned, munching on a stick of cotton candy. In the corner of Niobe's eye, Lilith tensed, took a tiny step backward, then stopped herself.

When Drake saw Niobe talking to Michelle, his shoulders slumped in relief. Niobe grinned at him.

"It was worse than you realized," said Michelle. She took Niobe's arm, squeezing it. "But you're safe now."

"Worse? How could it have been worse?"

"Your friend isn't who you think he is."

"Oh, crap," said Drake.

Niobe, Michelle, and Lilith looked at him in unison. He was looking past them, up the street.

Niobe said, "Drake? What's wrong?"

He pointed. The crowd on the midway had thinned out. Probably, Niobe realized, because of all the cops at the edge of the throng. They cleared a path for the leather-clad woman they'd bumped into earlier in the afternoon. Her long braid swung back and forth like a pendulum as she strode toward them. Whoever she was, she wasn't a hooker. Assassins and kinky call girls had similar fashion sense.

"Wait," said Michelle, staring at Drake. She looked very pale, and not as pretty as she had a moment ago. "That's the friend you've been protecting? A kid?"

"Who'd you think I was with?"

"The most dangerous fugitive in America," said a man's voice. The words didn't frighten Niobe nearly as much as the cocksure tone of their delivery did. "Public enemy number one."

A man in a well-cut business suit swaggered through the crowd. He elbowed his way between two policemen to join the leather-clad woman.

Niobe turned back to Michelle. "What have you done?"

Michelle shook her head, looking dazed. "I-I didn't know."

It was all for nothing. Everything Niobe had done to protect Drake, everything she'd endured, everything-everyone-she'd sacrificed: meaningless. All flushed away thanks to the Amazing Bubbles. Amazing was right.

Niobe grabbed Michelle's arm. "What have you done?" Her face felt hot. So did the new tears trickling down her face. Whether they were tears of sorrow or rage, she couldn't say. "I trusted you! They're going to kill him!"

"They said…" Michelle turned to face the swaggering hick and his companion. "You didn't tell me he was just a kid! What else didn't you tell me?"

Niobe grabbed Drake's hand. "Run!"

They headed away from the man in the suit, toward where the crowd hadn't thinned out. Behind them, Michelle's voice rose above the hubbub: "I do not appreciate being USED!"

They hadn't run more than a few yards, Niobe pulling at Drake for him to keep up, when a paunchy, middle-aged woman stepped out of the crowd. She wore a silvery cape and a black bodysuit that covered every inch of her body except her face. The cape might have been natural at Barbarian Days, and she might have been just another festival goer, if not for the huge German shepherd at her side.

Niobe turned in a slow circle. Behind them, the Hound of the Baskervilles and the woman in the silvery cape. Before them, the swaggering man and his companion. And all along the edges of the crowd, half a dozen cops. They were surrounded and outnumbered.

For the first time in as long as he could remember, Drake had been happy. Now, looking at the people who were there to take them in, he felt almost sick. They'd walked halfway to hell across Texas, and for what? So the person Niobe had counted on to help them could turn them in.

The crowd was backing off, far enough to be safe from whatever was going to happen but close enough to see.

The big man in the suit spoke. "My name is Billy Ray. I'm a federal agent. Stand away from the kid, lady. If you cooperate, things will go better for you. Resist and we'll just drag your sorry ass away kicking and screaming." He smiled. Ass-kicking obviously was what this guy did.

Niobe put an arm around Drake. "Go away. He's just a little boy."

"Yes, go away." Bubbles walked up next to Drake and Niobe. Her large shadow enveloped them both.

Billy Ray made a fist. Drake turned his head to look behind them. The woman in the shiny cape and her dog stopped. "What do you think you're doing, Balloon Girl? It's four to one." Billy Ray pointed to his friends. "Not to mention the fact that we represent the government of the United States. Your government, in case your memory needs refreshing."