by Ben Wolf
All the while, Justin wondered why he wasn’t in there as well. He’d come to investigate the ship, too, but somehow he’d been left behind.
Then again, Captain Marlowe and Arlie seemed to know what they were doing, and had Justin gone with them, no one would’ve been able to tell them that someone was coming.
Still, Justin couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d been here before—that already, within a day of arriving aboard the Nidus, he’d ventured where he didn’t belong more than once. He’d done that back at ACM-1134, and then everything had quickly unraveled.
Unraveled wasn’t the right word. It had deteriorated into the worst kind of shit show—the kind where people died. Lots of them.
Lightning wouldn’t strike the same place twice, though. Or in his case, the same person. Captain Marlowe and Arlie would gather the intel they needed, and they’d be on their way, aboard the repaired rig, heading for more juicy asteroids.
A few minutes later, Captain Marlowe and Arlie exited the science vessel.
“We still clear?” Captain Marlowe asked.
“Yeah. No one else is in here.”
It took them another few minutes to make it back to the office, and before they got inside, Justin placed his hand on the console so Keontae could jump back into his arm.
“Good work, team,” Justin said as Captain Marlowe and Arlie entered the office. He gave them both a thumbs-up, but neither of them offered one in return.
Instead, Captain Marlowe eyed the screen behind Justin, which was now blank. “Thought you said you had the cameras going?”
“I did. Shut ’em off before you got here,” Justin said.
[That might’ve been the smoothest lie you ever told, JB.]
Technically, it was only a partial lie. That’s what had happened, but Keontae had been in control the whole time, not Justin.
“Nothing there worth stealing, anyway,” Captain Marlowe said. “So why would anyone attack a ship like that?”
“You saw the suspension crate, same as I did,” Arlie said. “Whatever was in there is probably what they were after.”
“Even if that were so, it’s not there now. Might never have been anything in there.”
“Then why put a suspension crate in there in the first place?” Arlie pressed.
“Maybe it was left over from a previous trip. Or from previous owners.”
“You don’t really believe that, do you?” Arlie put her hands on her hips.
“No.” Captain Marlowe sighed. He returned to staring at Arlie, who stared at him.
Silence followed until Justin broke in. “So we’re done, then?”
“Not remotely.” Captain Marlowe turned and held up a small silver box about the size of his palm. “Gotta analyze this first. It should give us some answers.”
“I assume that’s some sort of hacking device?”
“Practically magic, because I can’t explain how it works—nor would I want to, and nor do I even care how it works. But it does.” Captain Marlowe looked at Justin. “Though you probably know, don’t you?”
[Careful, JB.]
“I might.” Justin gave Captain Marlowe a smirk and a wink.
Captain Marlowe studied him for several long seconds, then he continued, “Have to decrypt the intel. It’ll take some time, but then we’ll know what’s coming.”
“As long as it’s not already too late,” Arlie muttered.
“Anyway, we’re done here. You covered your tracks in the system, right?” Captain Marlowe asked.
“Yep,” Justin said. “All clear.”
“Good. Then let’s get out of here before morning dawns and work crews start filing in.” Captain Marlowe added, “Last thing I need is to get caught by a bunch of wrench-heads.”
They rode the hovercraft back to the city, and when they got there, Justin tried to give them back the earpiece. But Captain Marlowe insisted he hold onto it, just in case he needed to reach them more securely. It felt a bit cloak-and-laser to Justin, but he went along with it.
“Two taps to shut it down or turn it back on,” Captain Marlowe said. “Press and hold to send a ping to us, even when we have ours turned off. We’ll come to you if you get into trouble.”
Justin gave him a thumbs-up and then gave his earpiece two taps. Then they headed their separate ways.
The artificial sun had begun to rise from the edge of the dome to Justin’s right, creating a mosaic of beautiful hues along the horizon. Even though it wasn’t real, it gave Justin a sense of peace and helped him to relax.
Sunshine or otherwise, fatigue from Justin’s lack of sleep the night before had caught up with him, and he found himself dragging as he continued to walk downtown. But the rumbling in his stomach also demanded his attention. Running and fighting and running some more had left him hungry, so he decided to gratify his gut first.
As he walked deeper into downtown, a flash of blonde caught his eye. He turned toward it and noticed the woman from the science vessel staring at a clothing storefront with its main lights off, although neon signage advertised the latest fashions at the lowest prices.
She still wore the same blue heathered sweater and brown pants, and she still carried the satchel she’d retrieved from the science vessel as well. The sight of it made Justin wonder if she’d taken something from the suspension crate Captain Marlowe and Arlie said they’d seen, but he doubted it.
Who would carry something of value in a shoddy old satchel like that? It wasn’t safe. Wasn’t reinforced or protected. One good bump, and whatever was inside there might never be the same again. Or what if she got robbed? So much for keeping it safe.
No, it was probably just clothes and a toothbrush and some specialized shampoo or whatever chicks used on their hair these days.
[Another blonde, huh?] Keontae teased. [You definitely do have a type.]
“She’s from the science vessel,” Justin said. “Maybe I could get close to her, try to get some intel for us.”
[Yeah. That’s why you wanna get close to her,] Keontae quipped. [Intel.]
“Shut up, Key.”
Keontae just laughed.
The woman turned and walked away from the store, apparently satisfied for the time being. Justin followed her about ten paces back.
The early morning streets were mostly empty save for a few dedicated joggers and workaholics in business attire rushing to their offices. She led him on a zigzagging path through the downtown area, occasionally stopping to peer into windows of restaurants and other storefronts.
Justin kept up with her, careful not to get too close, careful not to make it seem like he was following her.
[What, exactly, is your plan here, JB?] Keontae asked.
“Follow her until she stops, then casually approach and introduce myself.”
[That ain’t gonna work.]
“What? Why not?”
[How’d that work out with Shannon?]
Keontae’s jab hurt. Justin gritted his teeth and replied, “That was different.”
[Which time was it different? ’Cause you approached her like eight separate times, and each time she shot you down.]
“It was four times, not eight.” Justin fumed. “And she didn’t ‘shoot me down’ all four times. We had a really good conversation in the club back on Ketarus-4 before Dirk and his idiot friends showed up.”
[Yeah, and how’d it all work out in the end?]
“Well, it might’ve worked out differently if you hadn’t used my arm to rip Carl Andridge’s throat out.”
[We’ve been through this, JB,] Keontae’s voice took on a sullen tone. [You know why I did that.]
“Yeah, but the end result with Shannon was still what it was.”
[And I already apologized for that, too,] Keontae said, [even though we both know you had no chance with her anyway. So maybe we should drop this conversation.]
“You brought it up.”
[Bro, I’m just tryin’ to keep things light and fun.] Keontae’s tone brightened. [I�
��m basically dead, right? Watchin’ you squirm whenever I bring up your track record with the ladies is one of my few joys in this digital afterlife.]
“Well, find a new hobby.”
[I would, but this is the gift that keeps on givin’.]
As Justin rounded a corner with a cunning reply on the tip of his tongue, he froze.
The blonde woman stood before him, facing him with a sour expression on her face.
She held some sort of small device in her hand. It flashed purple.
Justin’s teeth rattled with a burst of electricity, and he blacked out.
9
Oh, God… what have I done?
Hallie stared down at the man whom she’d just shot with a stun pulse. She quickly tucked the stun gun back in her pocket and glanced around. No one seemed to have seen it—but no one was around, either.
He’d been following her along her absolutely random pattern throughout Nidus City for the last ten minutes. Every turn she’d made, he’d made as well. Every long stretch of street she’d walked, he’d followed.
And since she didn’t have a definite destination, that meant he didn’t, either. It meant she was his destination.
I wish I had let Bryant stick around with me after all. He would’ve been able to handle this much better.
Why, then, did she feel guilty about having stunned him? The guy was being a creep and following her. He deserved it. At this point in mankind’s history, men across the galaxy had to know what did and didn’t constitute stalkerish behavior. There was no excuse anymore.
So, yeah, he’d gotten what he deserved.
Then why weren’t her feet moving her away from the scene?
Something about his face… he looked handsome, despite the obvious strain on his face as he lay there, convulsing. Well, jittering, more like. But tens of thousands of volts of electricity ratcheting through a man’s body tended to have that effect. And aside from his grubby worker-style clothes, he looked like a decent enough guy.
Then again, white males between the ages of eighteen and their mid-fifties still produced the highest percentage of serial killers than any other demographic. That had been true for hundreds, if not thousands of years at this point.
Hallie, what are you doing? Make a decision. And that decision needs to be to get the hell out of here.
The man lying there stopped convulsing, stirred, and his eyes blinked open. As he began to move, Hallie yanked out her stun gun and pointed it at him again. Only as he sat up did she notice his prosthetic arm.
She’d invested a lot of her early years in academia studying prosthetics. Years later, she’d worked to develop newer, more efficient technical components in some of the most advanced prosthetics on the market. They had improved the lives of so many people over the years, and their ever-advancing technology had informed her own innovations and research in considerable ways.
Hallie recognized the model that had replaced his right arm. The sight of it made her want to stick around even more.
So she did. She stood there, waiting for him to wake up and notice her.
Justin awoke to the sound of raucous laughter. He immediately recognized the voice as Keontae, but he couldn’t figure out what was so funny.
Then he realized he was on the ground. On asphalt, or some other paved surface. Glass buildings towered overhead, clawing at the morning sky like shining fingers glinting with orange sunlight, but something about it just didn’t seem… right. The sunlight wasn’t quite the right color, and neither was the morning sky.
Yet it was all somehow so familiar.
Where the hell am I?
Keontae’s laughter persisted.
Justin sat up and blinked, trying to get his bearings. When he looked up at the person standing before him and saw the device in her hand, his memories all clicked back into place.
The Nidus. The city. The blonde woman. The flash of purple.
He’d been following her, and she’d turned around and stunned him.
And that was why Keontae couldn’t stop laughing.
“Real funny, Key,” Justin muttered.
[Damn right, bro!] Keontae managed between laughs. [You got no game at all with these women! This will never not be hilarious to me!]
The blonde woman stared down at him, tense, but not running away. Why she’d stuck around after zapping him, Justin had no idea.
She had blue eyes—light-blue eyes with maybe a hint of green around the irises. Justin would have to get a lot closer to confirm, but he doubted that would happen any time soon… if ever.
“Hi,” he said to her. “Is it okay if I stand?”
“Not yet,” she replied. “Not until you tell me why you were following me. What do you want?”
Keontae’s laughter renewed. [I told you, bro! I told you!]
Justin ignored it as best he could. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to freak you out.”
“You didn’t ‘freak me out,’” she said.
“I mean, I’m sitting on the sidewalk because you stunned—” Justin stopped. “Look, I don’t blame you. I was an idiot, for sure.”
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
“Sorry,” Justin repeated. “I was following you because… well… you’re pretty. You’re blonde. And I wanted to see if I could talk to you. Maybe invite you to breakfast.”
She still hadn’t lowered the stun gun. “You could’ve just asked.”
Keontae laughed some more. [Oh, man. I need to write a book about this shit.]
Justin scoffed, both at Keontae and at her. “And what would you have said?”
“Probably ‘yes.’ It’s morning, and I’m hungry.”
Justin stared at her, bewildered. He hadn’t expected an approach that simple could’ve worked.
“You can stand now, but don’t come any closer.”
As Justin stood, the aches and pains from dealing with the Ikari the night before reawakened, but he gritted his teeth and endured them.
“If you were freaked out, why’d you stick around?” Justin asked.
“I said I wasn’t ‘freaked out.’ I was… unnerved that you were following me.” She sighed. “As a woman, you get used to it, but also… you never really get used to it.”
In his head, that actually made sense to Justin, but he kept his mouth shut instead of voicing his opinion. Instead, he said again, “I’m sorry.”
Her light-blue eyes narrowed as she searched his gaze. “I’m inclined to forgive you.”
Keontae’s laughter had slowed considerably by that point. Now all Justin heard were a few sporadic chortles here and there.
“That would be great, especially if you’re interested in that breakfast,” Justin said. “I’m Justin, by the way.”
“I’m Hallie.”
Justin nodded at the stun gun in her hand. “That thing kicks like a Grostonian racehorse.”
“Good,” Hallie said. “I’ve never used it on anyone before, so I’m glad it works.”
“Oh, it works alright. Laid me out flat in no time.”
A smirk curled Hallie’s lips. “Yes, it did.”
“I actually have one, too.” Justin held up his robot arm. “It’s embedded in the palm of my prosthetic arm, here. Seems like it’s at least as strong as yours. Recharges in three seconds.”
Hallie waved her stun gun. “One second.”
Justin nodded. “That’s… impressive. Didn’t know they could recharge that fast.”
“When you’re a woman in a bad situation, you may not have three seconds to spare between pulses,” Hallie said. “You may not even have one second, but anything portable with decent range and enough kick will have some sort of recharge time.”
Justin could relate to all of that, too, thanks to ACM-1134, but again, he kept quiet. Instead, he said, “Look, I won’t stick around. I made it weird, so I should go. Have a nice day.”
As Justin turned to leave, Hallie said, “Wait.”
He turned back.
�
�I’ve decided you don’t seem like a creep or a weirdo. Misguided in your approach, sure, but not threatening.” Hallie gave him a small grin and lowered her stun gun. “If you want to get a bite, you can continue to prove me right… or I guess you can prove me wrong. Know any good breakfast spots around here?”
Justin grinned in return. “Not a single one. But I’m up for looking around if you are. And I’ll walk next to you instead of ten paces behind you. Good?”
“Mmmm… You can walk ten paces in front of me so I can see you at all times,” Hallie said. “And then, when you find somewhere to eat, somewhere nice and public, you can hold the door open for me. You can prove that chivalry isn’t dead—just that sometimes it needs to get stunned onto its ass every now and then.”
Justin’s grin widened into a smile. “Deal.”
“Lead the way.” Hallie motioned toward the street with a wave of her hand.
[Huh. Color me impressed,] Keontae said. [But hey, Stockholm syndrome is a thing, so…]
“Fuck you,” Justin murmured as he started walking, and Keontae laughed again.
On a day-to-day basis, breakfast was the meal Justin tended to eat the least, but if he could figure out how to replicate what he’d been served at the downtown restaurant, he’d totally reconsider his life choices on that front.
The restaurant, an upscale place called LaBorn’s, located on the street level on the exterior of a tall skyscraper, had menus printed on old-fashioned sheets of paper rather than displayed on handscreens. They served semi-cold water out of a carafe with a plug-type lid on the top.
Justin selected a meal that looked hearty by its description, but when it came, it was a fraction of the size of meal he would’ve normally eaten. However, the taste had more than made up for it.
His fluffy two-egg omelet had bacon and cheese and green peppers in it, and he’d never tasted a better one. Likewise, they’d provided him with only a meager side of hash browns, but they’d been perfectly seasoned and cooked to an ideal crispiness that left Justin wanting more.
Altogether, breakfast had impressed him… or perhaps it was that he’d enjoyed the company more so than the food.
