Z 2134

as he stood, hands out, to show they hadn’t meant to hurt him and wanted to sooth the situation before it escalated further.
    The man with the light red beard said, “Here, let me help,” as he extended a hand to Michael to help him off the floor.
    Liam took a step toward Ana, his eyes dancing and cheeks twitching. “You really think he did it, don’t you?”
    In that moment, for the first time since Ana had seen her father standing over her mother’s dead body, a seed of doubt was sprouting.
    It made no sense, but hell if it wasn’t germinating anyway. Maybe it was the conviction in Liam’s eyes. How can he be so certain of his innocence? She wasn’t sure how he knew her dad, though she had her suspicions, since her father was a rumored member of The Underground.
    What does Liam know that I don’t?
    Michael yelled something at Liam’s friends, shaking off their assistance. He took a few steps toward the bar, grabbed a bottle from the counter, then raced toward Liam, bottle raised, ready to attack from behind.
    Ana’s eyes widened before her mouth could warn Liam or stop Michael.
    Liam was fluent in her look and spun around just as Michael swung the bottle and connected with Liam’s forehead. Glass shattered. Liam screamed as they both stumbled forward and fell to the ground.
    Ana jumped back, trying to figure the best way to break up the fight.
    Two seconds later, City Watch guards burst into the bar — a pack of six, dressed in black, heavily armed, faces concealed by impenetrable black enclosed helmets.
    “Break it up,” one of the men ordered through his helmet’s muffled speakers, masking The Watcher’s voice while adding several layers of menace.
    Michael and Liam both looked up, surprised, then quickly untangled their fight.
    The Watchers responded as if both were still a threat, though.
    A pair of Watchers thrust out their safety sticks, connecting with Michael and Liam, sending them both into writhing spasms, screaming on the floor from the electric current the sticks sent through their bodies.
    The Watchers then began swinging the sticks as clubs, bashing both fallen men repeatedly.
    Ana started toward them, as if she might somehow talk some sense into The Watchers, but someone grabbed her by the elbow. She turned, surprised. A black man in his mid-fifties with greying hair and a scruffy salt-and-pepper beard was wearing the same serious look her father often wore — a look that begged her to listen rather than run.
    “Don’t,” was all he said, pulling her toward the back of the bar, away from the cluster of Watchers surrounding Michael and Liam.
    “But — ”
    “If you get involved, it’ll be way worse. Just let The Watchers get their steam out, do what they’re gonna do, and leave.”
    “They’re hurting them,” Ana said, defending not just Michael — who didn’t deserve to be beaten for helping her — but also, to her surprise, Liam, even though he had started the fight.
    “Yes, but they’ll kill you, Anastasia.”
    How does he know my name?
    She looked closer at the man. He was dressed just like anyone else in the bar, a working man’s unofficial uniform: plain blue jeans and a button-down, long-sleeve gray shirt. Nothing fancy or which stood out enough to impress the few women mingling in the bar.
    Yet he seemed strangely familiar.
    “Trust me,” he said.
    A shout of, “Let go of me!” — though Ana couldn’t tell if it was Liam or Michael since it was slightly higher pitched than either guy’s normal tone — pulled her attention back to The Watchers as they slapped black cuffs on Michael and Liam, roughly lifted both men to their feet, and marched them out the door.
    Ana turned back to the man.
    “Don’t worry,” he said. “They’ll book them as drunks then let ’em out in the morning.” He shook his head. “Unless one of them does something stupid. I’m sure Liam won’t do anything stupid. He’s been through the system a few times and knows how, and who, to charm when he needs to. How about your guy?”
    So he knows Liam. He’s one of The Underground, I’ll bet.
    Figures.
    Ana screamed, this man now the new target of her anger. “I dunno, but he didn’t deserve this! He was standing up for me against that drunk!”
    The man opened both hands, waving them downward. “Keep it down, will ya?” His eyes flitted to the bar. Ana followed his gaze. Two Watchers were still in the bar, questioning patrons. One of the officers stood by the door,