Driven Read online

  Lush, verdant, luxurious. She'd never imagined a plant could be so amazingly green...or so big. Linna rested for a moment on the transport, then set her feet on the thick branch in front of her. Now she could see the pod had become wedged into a fork in the tree's branches. The leaves and smaller sticks had been smashed all around it. It rocked a little under her as she moved to grab the tree's massive center trunk, and she cried out, "Del, hurry!"

  His head appeared in the window and he pulled himself hand over hand to stand next to her. He looked down at the broken pod, then touched it with the toe of his boot.

  "This won't last long here."

  Standing on the tree branch felt as solid as standing on the ground, it was so broad and flat. Linna peered over the edge, but could see nothing but more leaves and branches.

  "How high up are we?"

  Del looked upward. "We can still see the sky. That means we're close to the top."

  "How tall are these trees?"

  He gave her a grin, teeth glowing in the light she realized came from the silver disk of a moon shining overhead. "You know the tallest building in Newcity?"

  "Yes."

  "This tree is probably eight times higher than that."

  "God-of-Choice."

  He laughed. "We've got a long way to climb down. We'd better get started."

  A wave of dizziness made her grab hold of the tree's trunk for a minute. "I think I need to sit down."

  He gave her a concerned look. "You all right?"

  She nodded, even though waves of hazy gray were covering her vision. "Yes. I just need to sit."

  Her legs gave out beneath her and she sank onto the thick wood. Her cheek rested against the tree. It smelled...it smelled alive. Fresh. She took in deep gulps of it and it revived her.

  Beside her, Del grabbed hold of the tree trunk with both hands and set his foot against the transport's side. He pushed. The transport rocked. He pushed again, straining. His cheek muscles flexed in concentration. His thighs bulged.

  Linna knew Del was strong, but this amazed her. He was actually pushing the ship. Del set his back to the tree trunk and put both feet on the ship. It rocked again, but remained wedged in the branches.

  "What are you doing?"

  He gave her a quick glance. "I'd rather have this fall the rest of the way now, with us up here, than come down on top of our heads. Besides, it'll clear a path for us."

  "But...what about what's below us?"

  He pushed again, his entire body tense with the effort. "Nothing below us," he said between panting breaths. "Nothing worth worrying about."

  Since Linna figured Del knew his own homeworld better than she did, she didn't bother asking him if he was sure. She just got up, pressed her back to the trunk, and put her feet next to his on the pod.

  He didn't try to refuse her help, something many Newcitizen men would have done. Together, they pushed. The vehicle rocked more. They pushed harder. Something popped in her hip and she let out a cry, but kept pushing.

  In another moment, the ship let go with a groan of metal. It teetered briefly, then fell with a spectacular crashing that rocked the entire tree. It seemed to go on forever, the pounding and crashing, and when it finally stopped, Linna realized she'd been clutching the tree trunk so tightly her fingers ached.

  Her hip hurt, too, but she pressed it gently and didn't think she'd caused any permanent damage. "Wow."

  Del took a seat on the thick branch, his back against the trunk, and swiped at his forehead. "It's a long way down. Two days from now, all that cleared space will be almost overgrown again. We'd better get started."

  Sitting beside him, she looked down into the empty darkness below. Just beyond their branch, the moonlight could no longer reach. The branches of this tree were regularly spaced, but the distance between each one was greater than her height. Even if she hung from her hands, it didn't seem likely her feet would reach.

  "I lived in the city my entire life," she said self-consciously. "You're going to have to lead me."

  He rolled his head on his neck to look at her. "You can do this."

  She leaned over to kiss him, but the flicker in his eyes stopped her. She pulled back, stung, but trying not to let him see. "I know I can. But you're going to have to tell me what to do."

  "I can't tell you what to do." Del stood, his long fingers splayed on the tree trunk. She noticed a bloody scratch on the back of his hand and wanted to kiss it, make it feel better, but she didn't move toward him.

  Standing over her like that, Del seemed even larger than he normally did. She was discovering he could make her feel very small, and not just physically. She recalled his statement just before the ship crashed and anger flashed through her again.

  "I don't own you," Del continued. "You can do whatever you want."

  Linna got up, careful to keep close to the tree trunk. "That's not what I meant and you know it."

  "I don't know anything."

  Linna put her hands on her hips. "Don't be an asshole, Del."

  That got a reaction from him. Maybe not the one she wanted, but it was marginally better than not getting one at all. He sneered at her, then reached up and pulled on one of the thinner, springy branches sprouting off the bough above their heads. He yanked it hard, broke it free from its attachment, then tied it with swift, hand-over-hand movements to a similar branch growing from the limb on which they stood.

  He wrapped the vine around his waist and tied it tight. Then, before she could prepare herself, he pulled her against him, put one hand on the vine around his waist, and stepped off the branch.

  Linna couldn't find the breath to scream as they dropped. The vine caught them at the last minute, and in another, she felt the next branch under her boots. Del didn't let go of her. He calmly reached up, grabbed for another of the thin boughs, pulled it down and began to repeat the process.

  This time, when he tried to pull he toward him, Linna broke his grip. "No, thanks."

  His jaw set, Del glared. "You said--"

  "I said you'd have to tell me what I needed to do. I didn't tell you to do it for me."

  His hands finished tying the two vines together. "Whatever."

  She reached up, pulled down her own vine, and did the same thing he'd done. Without waiting for him, she took a deep breath and jumped. She'd estimated well. Her feet touched the branch just as the vine at her waist pulled her tight. Del landed next to her.

  Faster this time, he tore another of the vine-branches. Linna followed, matching his pace. Del's fingers moved more quickly. So did hers.

  If he wants a challenge, the jerk, he'll get one. She focused on jumping harder, moving faster, landing straighter. Even with her enhancements, matching him was a struggle. He was in his element, and she was way, way out of hers.

  Still, they'd both been through the same recent trauma. Linna didn't like to admit Del's exhaustion and wounds gave her an edge she was willing to use against him. Then she remembered his smug comments about her sleeping with Erystus to get her way, and her anger flared anew.

  For hours, they descended the tree, branch to branch. Most of the time they swung down on their makeshift ropes, but the closer they got to the ground, the narrower the distance between branches. Some they leaped, some they climbed.

  The path left behind by the transport's fall had left enough clear space for them to move downward. Linna couldn't imagine what they'd have done if they'd had to push their way through the dense foliage like what was still left on the rest of the tree. She was tired enough just doing what they were.

  She knew he was pushing himself the same as she was pushing herself, but if they kept on this way, they'd both get hurt.

  "I need to rest," she said, the first words she'd spoken in hours.

  Del stopped. "All right."

  His answer pissed her off. "You need to rest, too."

  He shrugged in casual dismissal that made her even angrier. She put her hand on her hips, then forced herself to relax. It wouldn't do any g