by J P Carver
“How much?”
He closed the holo-screen and shrugged. “For you, Doll, let’s say five thousand.”
I sputtered. “You’re shitting me. Ain’t nothing you’re doing worth that much.”
“See, there’s where you’re wrong. Vera doesn’t like people snooping—that much is clear—so I’m doing this at great risk to myself and my contacts. She finds out I’m looking, and I’ll have troopers trampling through my daisies before sunset.”
“Two thousand, and I ain’t paying you a credit more.”
“Four, or you can wait until tomorrow.”
I thought for a long moment with my hand on my credit stick, my thumb stroking the slick black metal. Four thousand was most of my savings, which meant if I did live through this, I’d be broke. Almost as bad as dying, these days.
Still, if he could point me to Vera, then I could at least decide on an action. I sighed and held up my credit stick. “If your info proves useful, then you’ll get the four.”
“And what constitutes useful to you, Doll?”
“Something that helps me. If you come up empty, you get zero.” I programmed the stick to wait for a signal from me before transferring the funds. “So, make sure you got something within three hours.”
He took the stick and placed it in a drawer. “Very well. Ashlyn will see you out.”
“Ashlyn…” Nina said under her breath as we stood and followed the program out. Once outside the building, after Nina sent Ashlyn into the street with a punch, we logged out.
Once out of the CityNet, it took about a minute until all the feeling returned to your limbs. You could move if you had to, but it was damn uncomfortable, so we sat on the bed not talking until I reached up and removed the plug from Nina’s neural.
She turned to me, frowning. “So what now?”
“Now, we wait.”
Six
A Favor Used
It was almost exactly three hours later that Nina received a mail notice from Hayden and a dinner date request. She trashed the second.
When the message came through, we were watching the movie I picked up, but I hadn’t been paying much attention to it.
Nina turned around and sent the file my way with a flick of her fingers. “He got a location and a name,” she said with a small smile. “Guess you’re out four grand.”
“I may need to borrow from you sometime soon.” I flicked open the video message and sent it to the vid-screen.
Hayden’s face appeared with the same stupid grin. “Evening, Doll. So, I think I just earned my four thou—and perhaps my death certificate, but we’ll have to wait and see on that. Anyway, I was right. This lady is in deep among the high class, and she doesn’t like not getting what she wants—which isn’t a problem, since she owns the most shares in Rentena Industries. You know, that little ol’ place that is practically cornering the market on pharmaceuticals and medi implants.”
He waved a hand to the side, and a form appeared beside his face. “She’s worth a bit over two billion, at least under the name Vera. I got a possible name, but I can’t guarantee that it’s real, so we’ll leave it out of this discussion, but I’ve included it. She’s invested in sixty different companies, three of which—the ones doing the best—recently had their CEOs dying under mysterious circumstances and were absorbed into Rentena. Park is only the newest in a long line. Which brings me to a side point… Do you really believe you’ll live long enough to make use of this info, after scrubbing two troopers?” He smiled for a long moment.
I sighed, pausing the video. “Goddamn prick. I knew he’d figure it out.”
“Won’t be long now before it’s public knowledge, then,” Nina said.
“I doubt it. Hayden doesn’t like giving anything away for free. Until someone pays for the information, he’ll keep it to himself.”
“Or it’s beaten out of him.”
“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen, then, until this is cleared up.” I hit play again on the video.
“But that’s a discussion for another time. For now, I did find a picture.” The form shifted out of view, and a picture of an old woman appeared. She looked the type that would be playing around with corporations. She had an angular face, a pale complexion, and a smile that looked painted on. Blond hair stopped just before her jawline, pinned back to stay out of her face. She wore a nice white blouse with a black jacket, both expensive looking. Her eyes seemed to stare through me, as if she was watching me from the picture.
“Facial recognition came up null, which makes me ninety-nine percent positive that it’s her. Using that and cross-referencing information from a few contacts, I’ve found out that she’s actually in town, staying in Melton Hotel. From the sound of things, she’s making a big move on MicroManagement Systems. I don’t got a clue what you’re going to do with that information, but if I were you, I’d just get out of the country and find some rathole to crawl into.”
His face filled the video frame again, and he canted his head. “Look, Doll, I like you, so here’s a tidbit for free: The sale of MicroManagement is in limbo because they lost their key product, and it sounds like they think the person who was there the night Park died stole it. If CES has any information on you, then you can be sure that Vera’s people have it, too. Keep your head down, huh? I’m betting you got a lot more to worry about from her peeps than CES right now.
“With that, our transaction is complete, I’ll be waiting for my funds to appear in the next fifteen minutes. Any later and… Well, you know.”
The video faded to nothing as he winked at me. I sighed, entered the key for the credit chip, and watched my account drain.
I went over to the bridge on the desk and picked it up. “So, we got a place. She’ll kill me the moment she gets the chance. If I try to run, then her people will pick me up in an instant.”
The more I thought about my situation, the bleaker it looked. Yet, something crazy crossed my mind. It was the lesser of two evils, but to even hope to come out alive, I’d need to talk to a few people.
“That’s obvious,” Nina said, about Vera and her people being out to get me. “So why did you pay that asshole four thousand?”
“Because I have an idea, but I need to talk to Park and Ziller.”
“Mind sharing?”
“It’s best that I keep this to myself until I look into it.” I felt bad when she dropped her eyes. “I don’t really want you involved. That’s all. This is on me.”
“Sure.” She got up and picked up her bag. “Well, good luck.”
“Wait, I do need you to help me get out of here.”
She stopped a few feet from the door. “Why?”
“Because you’re the best person I know at floating under the radar, and I need to get close to her without getting picked out right away.”
“So I’m part of the plan?”
“The beginning part, yeah. Help me? Please?”
She sighed and shook her head. “Fine.”
“Great. First, though, I need you to get me a change of clothes while I check on a few things.”
She nodded and left without another word. I contacted Ziller, hoping he still had a certain favor owed to him.
Nina went before me, scouting ahead to make sure the area was clear. Dressed in dark clothes and a baseball cap, I blended into the crowds as much as I could. If someone was looking for me, they were going to have to work at it.
Nina’s hand found its way into mine, and she pulled me off the sidewalk and into an alley. She led me down about twenty feet before pushing me to the wall beside her. Sweat beaded on her forehead, and she wiped it away as her gaze darted from side to side.
Finally she let out a breath and turned to me. “I guess she’s in there, right?” She nodded down the alley, towards where a large tan building was framed by the brick walls. The front, a face of glass, reflected the red and yellow of the setting sun, like a beacon in the middle of the plaza. “This is really dumb. Will you tell me your plan now
, Raggy?”
“I’m gonna get her to talk to me.”
She snorted a laugh. “Why in hell would she talk to you?”
“Because I have something she wants.” I held out the bridge. “She’s looking for me because I have this, and until she has it, I don’t think she’ll harm me.”
“You don’t think… Jesus, Raggy, are you hearing yourself?”
I pocketed the bridge and pushed off the wall. “Only chance I got, hun. Either this, or I take off on a country-hopping escapade with zero money, which means I’m dead.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“Nope. You’ve done enough, and right now, I need you somewhere far away from me. I’ll contact you when it’s all finished.”
“You can’t stop me, Ragan.” She moved in front of me, blocking the alley.
“Sure I can, but you won’t make me, will you?” I patted her head as she continued to glare, and I stepped past her. “You know me. I’ll be back.”
“You’re an ass. Go ahead. Get yourself killed. See if I care.”
“You do, but no worries. If things look sour, I got a backup.” I started down the alley, my gaze locked on the tower, wondering which floor this ghost of a woman might be in.
The crowd was thick on the walk, the road cut in half by the tourists and worker drones who were traveling back to their rooms for the night. I slipped into the flow and, after a few minutes, worked my way across the street.
Things were thinner here, with guards standing on either side of the large glass doors. I reached into my bag and tapped the Omni’s power button. Ziller’s face appeared in the window the Omni projected over my vision, with noticeable lag.
“We set?” I asked.
“I don’t like this, girl. You’re asking for a lot of trouble for little gain.”
“I’m asking for a favor. I’ll deal with what comes— Fuck. They’re a little early, Ziller.” A glimpse of black had disappeared behind one of the pillars that made up the front of the hotel.
My breath stopped as I slowed my walk to a crawl. For a moment, I allowed myself to believe that there was nothing there. As I went up to the steps, that belief disappeared as four CES troopers came from behind the pillars, guns drawn.
Their shouts were lost in the thumping of my heartbeat in my ears, but I got the gist of what they were screaming. I dropped my bag and got down on my knees on one of the steps. A non-uniformed trooper came up from behind me and brutally pulled my arms behind my back. Another secured my bag, a man of about middle age with golden hair. I watched him run a scanner over the bag and then open it.
There were screams and shouts from the normal citizens as they scattered from the plaza. Ziller was still in the window, the worry on his face I would never forget. The image disappeared when the guy with my bag turned the Omni off.
“On your feet.” My arms were pulled up until my shoulders screamed, and I coughed out a cry of pain while standing. “Ragan Eisen, you are under arrest for the murder of two distinguished CES personnel, and Morgan Park—” The woman’s voice faded out as she pulled me down the two steps and across the cement plaza. I could only focus on the heat that the sun played across my neck and back.
The woman shoved me into a black, unmarked car. The door slammed shut, and the car started moving, the AI driver following its programmed directions.
I wasn’t alone in the car. A man who barely could fit in the retrofitted passenger seat glowered at me the whole way.
The hotel disappeared behind me. I craned my neck to see up to the top and wondered if Vera was watching me get picked up. I hoped she was—and that she’d come running to try to get her bridge back before CES techs got their hands on it.
I licked my lips and scrunched my face to keep from giving the bastard up front the satisfaction of seeing me cry. I wanted to, just to release some of the pent-up emotions, but doing so would have been like handing them a white flag.
There were two ways this could all end badly: either they’d find they didn’t have enough to bullshit their way into a conviction and they’d just kill me in some back room, or they’d get me through a conviction and I’d end up in an NN chair and live out my life as a veggie. I didn’t know which I would prefer. But weakness right now would just make this all the more enjoyable for them and keep them from listening to anything I said.
The CES fed off the fear they created in the populace. Lived off it. Their powers far overreached their original creation mandate of stopping cybercrime, but when lobbying groups for the big corporations saw a use for them as a private police force, the government suddenly had all sorts of places to take money from, by protecting ‘the most important parts of our society.’ They could haul you in for downloading a piece of music. Could make you disappear for selling 0-day pirated software.
They could do what they damn well pleased most of the time, and as I sat there, plastic cuffs chaffing my wrists raw, I realized how asleep I’d been through this entire ordeal. On one level, I knew the trouble I dabbled in, but it had been distant, a possibility that I would never see. I was too smart, too resourceful.
And this was where that had gotten me.
They put me in a cement room by myself. The only light came from a bare, twisted bulb above a table, its light silver white and painful to look at. I could feel blood now dribbling down from where the plastic had worn away the skin on my wrists. The cuts stung from sweat, but that was in the back of my mind. They hadn’t done anything more than put me in a room, which made me nervous. Normally they gave at least one quick beating, even for a small infraction.
There were no cameras in the room. No windows, either. A mirror—which I assumed was one way—was inset into the wall to my left. I stared at it, watched my reflection shift in the glass as the shadows played over my body.
I did this for maybe fifteen minutes before the metal door at the front of the room squeaked open, and in came the blond-haired man from the steps.
“I’m Detective Dougherty.” He snapped the door closed. “We already met once, so no need for the handshake and all that.”
He wore the same plain clothes, a leather jacket and worn jean pants, and held a Styrofoam cup filled with something that steamed. He took a gulp from the cup and wiped his lips with his thumb as he stared at the mirror. “One day, I’m gonna buy this place a new coffee machine,” he said as he turned his head down to the cup. “Too many coffee grounds left behind. You know how old our machine is, Ragan?”
I shook my head, the inane question catching me off guard.
He shrugged as he turned and placed the cup on the table. “Fifteen years. I’m pretty sure they found the thing in storage and decided to save a few bucks. Bitch to make coffee in. Can’t find most of the pieces you need for it.” He bent low, a small smile on his bow lips. “Do you like coffee, Ragan?”
I answered with another shake of my head. He didn’t move, his gaze holding mine.
“No…” I croaked out, and I swallowed hard. “Not a fan.”
He grinned, stood straight again, and removed a small Omni from his pocket. “It’s an acquired taste, I guess. When you work as many late nights as I do, you acquire it pretty fast.” He flicked through the Omni for a moment and then gave a heavy sigh. “I’m guessing you know why you’re here, Ragan.”
“Surprise birthday party?” I bit down on my tongue and glanced at the mirror. No matter how much I hated being there, I needed to stay cool.
He laughed as he sat down. “If only. That’s still four months away. Twenty-four.” He whistled softly. “My daughter just turned twenty. Time just seems to move so fast.”
“Twenty-two, and it’s a month away.” I lied, but I couldn’t be sure he was correct. It had been a long time since I’d thought about my birthday.
“Please, Ragan. Your files are right here in front of me. Your birth certificate, your medical records, everything. Of course, the gear you got wired in your head isn’t here, but we already did some scans on that, so that’s not
hing to think about. What there is to think about is what is going to happen to you in the next few hours.”
The calm way he spoke scared me far more than any beating could have.
“So, let’s see. You were taken away from home due to your mentally ill mother, who got you in the divorce. Put into foster care… No one could keep a handle on you for long, could they? Father petitioned for custody and got it, but he died six years ago. You’ve been on your own since then. All in all, a story I’ve seen a thousand times, but it never stops twisting you up inside.
“You’ve done what you had to do, I get that. Just trying to get by with the crap hand you were dealt. Anyone could relate to—”
“Is there a point to this?”
“Just trying to establish where we are, Ragan. I want to impress on you what kind of trouble you’ve landed yourself in.”
He slid the Omni across the table, and I looked down. A blue-tinted image was on the screen, one that I had seen on the Internet the day before. Me in my hoodie. He reached across and tapped the picture, and the hood digitally dissolved to show an approximation of my face.
I looked away and bit my lower lip to keep from mouthing off.
“Taken a block away. We never would have found it if not for our tip line. So many calls that amount to nothing, but it’s that one call that just makes all the time worth it. Like today.” He tapped the Omni again. “But then, we didn’t really need it, since you bled like a stuck pig all over the floor. I’m guessing you did some work to make it harder to pin down your DNA, but we still managed. You’re lucky my group found you first, Ragan.”
“Feel like I’d be more lucky if none of you found me.”
“Probably, but if one of the others found you…” He blew out a breath and stood again. “Man, you’d be in a ditch somewhere, breathing your last. Two troopers, Ragan? Just one would have gotten our attention. And then there’s Park, too. That’s a spree, there.”
“I didn’t kill Park.” I closed my mouth, wishing I could smack myself on the back of my head. I had basically just admitted to the ones I did kill.
