Suzy Spitfire Kills Everybody

by Joe Canzano

  Now Aiko was sliding underneath the dumpster. It was a tight space and Suzy didn’t like the look of it, but the area around the boardwalk was probably surrounded and locked down. When your options are zero, zero looks good. Suzy slid under the dumpster beside him.

  “We’re trapped under here,” she whispered.

  “Shhhh!” he said.

  It was a dank and dirty space filled with grit and sand and spider webs. But it looked like no one had seen them. She shifted her position a bit to try and see what was going on out there.

  The blanket of smoke was starting to clear. A couple of Strike Force vehicles had gone roaring after the car that had raced out of the parking lot. More SF team members were moving around. She heard the shriek of an approaching ambulance.

  Come to think of it, she’d shot most of the SF team—and Aiko had nailed a few more. There had probably only been a couple of people covering the back parking lot, and their attention was most likely now focused on the escaping vehicle that had roared out of the black void. So they were busy cleaning up the injured and chasing an empty car.

  “This is a stupid hiding spot,” Suzy whispered in a fierce tone.

  “No, it’s not,” Aiko said. “We got lucky. They’re chasing that car now. They’ll do a quick search inside the bar but they probably won’t look here.”

  “Where is that car going?”

  “Nowhere. It’s just programmed to avoid other vehicles.”

  “Oh, yeah? That’s pretty cool.”

  “You know I love my science.”

  She gave a snort. “Yeah, I remember.”

  “It’s what I do, Suzy. I understand it better than other things.”

  “Hey, it’s okay. I never understood a lot of ‘other things’ either.”

  She was about to make another comment when she saw a pair of silver boots coming near.

  Aiko gripped her hand, signaling her to not do anything. That’s when she realized his hand was slick with blood.

  She also heard the voice of the silver-booted guy. He was talking into an allcom. Was his voice vaguely familiar? Where had she heard it before?

  “Stay with them, you idiots!” he said. “But don’t kill them. Do you hear me? That means they should not end up dead! Not yet.”

  Another pair of boots appeared. These were black.

  “It looks like they had an escape plan ready, sir.”

  “Yeah, it looks that way. But something doesn’t seem quite right to me. Don’t any of your men know how to shoot, Captain Banks?”

  “They had grenades and cover smoke. Plus it’s dark out here.”

  “It’s dark in the bottom of a dungeon, too. Keep that in mind.”

  “Yes, sir... So that’s Suzy ‘Spitfire’ Castillo. She wasn’t an original target. How did you know she’d be here?”

  “I didn’t; it was a guess. But she’s known to our agents, and she’s known to me, and it’s not good that she escaped… All right, take care of your team. Throw them some raw meat and get them out of here.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The ambulance came screaming into the lot and the black boots stomped off. But the silver boots stayed.

  Suzy’s stomach felt like it was twisted tight. She started to slide her right hand into position—the hand with the pistol in it. But Aiko squeezed her left hand and shook his head.

  Thanks, Aiko, she thought. But if this fucker’s about to find us I’m going to blow off his feet. He’ll have a hard time chasing us with just a pair of ankles.

  She aimed the weapon and used her thumb to ramp up the power level. Aiko squeezed her hand like a vice and frantically shook his head. Then the guy moved his feet—and he stopped. He moved again—and he stopped. Did he know where they were? Maybe not. She heard Aiko breathe a long sigh of relief as the boots walked away.

  Suzy whispered, “Are you hurt? How bad?”

  “I’ll be okay.”

  “How bad?”

  “I got hit with a couple of fragments.”

  “You’re losing a lot of blood! We’ve got to get you to a doctor.”

  “Not really an option.”

  “We’ll make it an option.”

  “You can’t shoot your way out of every problem, Suzy.”

  “Yeah, I know, but sometimes my natural charm just won’t do the trick. Besides, we’ve got to get out of here. They’ll probably catch your car pretty quick and sound another alarm.”

  “We have to wait, Suzy. Can’t you be patient for once?”

  “Being patient is for people with nothing to do.”

  “Is getting killed ‘something to do’? Because that’s what’s going to happen if we try to move too soon.”

  Suzy cursed again and peered out at the moonlit parking lot. A bunch of paramedics were helping several SFs into an ambulance. A few people who’d been inside the place were trying to get into their hover-cars and leave, but the SFs weren’t letting anyone go just yet. A couple of additional SF cars were arriving on the scene.

  “Damn,” she said as she checked her accessories. “I lost my phone.”

  “That’s okay—at least you didn’t lose a leg or an eye. They’d never let you into charm school without an eye.”

  Suzy just grunted and watched a guy swagger across the parking lot with a crate in his hands. He was a good ways off, but she could tell it was Ricardo. He was opening the back of a hover-van and tossing the crate inside. The SF guys didn’t pay him any attention. And now he seemed to be making a phone call. And now she heard a vibrating sound.

  Right on cue, Aiko’s face twisted up. “Can you believe someone is calling me? Don’t they know I’m hiding under a dumpster?”

  He reached down and looked at his allcom. “Hey, isn’t that you calling? It must be a cop who found your phone!”

  She snatched the device from his hand.

  “Hello,” she said while Aiko stared with wide eyes.

  “Hello, Suzy Spitfire. So you’ve got one of these old-style phones instead of an allcom? I guess it’s another thing we have in common.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m just an old-fashioned girl.”

  “Does the old-fashioned girl need a ride?”

  “You know, I am kinda stuck under a bin full of garbage. The dumpster near the back door.”

  She kept her eyes on Ricardo as she spoke and liked the way he didn’t turn to stare at her hiding spot. He just kind of glanced sideways. Okay, maybe he’s not just a dumb hunk. Maybe he’s a hunk with half a brain and a getaway car.

  “I’ll swing by,” he said. “The back doors are open.”

  He disconnected the call. Aiko was furious.

  “Are you crazy?” he whispered in a fierce tone. “You just met this guy. Why would he want to help us?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe he likes me.”

  “I’m sure he does. But do you really trust him?”

  “Of course not—but I don’t think he’s with the SF, and if that gets us out of here I’ll take it. If he tries to pull something, I’ll be ready. Besides, you need a doctor.”

  Aiko turned away and was quiet. Suzy watched the van start coming through the parking lot, circling over from one side. Its anti-gravity thrusters made the space between the chassis and the ground seem blurry.

  “Come on,” she said. He frowned but joined her as they slid backwards underneath the dumpster and leaped up behind the dark green bin just as the hover-van swung past. It only paused for a second, but it was enough. Suzy grabbed the handle to the back door and then they were inside.

  They stayed down low. It was a cargo van, and they were now stashed in the back—along with a crate of whiskey.

  “Hi, Ricardo,” Suzy said to the guy in the front seat. “What’s this? Are you kidding me? You robbed the register in the middle of a gunfight, didn’t you? And then you swiped a case of whiskey on the way out.”

  “Yeah, all that shooting wiped out the surveillance cameras. I figure a man’s got to take advantage of his opportunities.”
/>   “Right,” she said. And so does a woman. Now get us the fuck out of here.

  Chapter 2

  Suzy noticed Ricardo had the van’s headlights turned off. He had the auto-drive switched off, too. Good for him. There were some things a machine just couldn’t do—like properly evade a police dragnet. That was the problem with machines; they couldn’t handle the important stuff.

  Aiko was sweating like a sponge so Suzy had him lie down in the back of the van. She gripped his hand while she spoke to Ricardo. “Do you know a doctor around here?”

  “Yeah, I know someone who can help. Your friend just has to hang on.” Ricardo glanced back at Aiko and grinned. “You hear me, guy? It’s just a scratch—okay, a couple of scratches. Hang on.”

  Aiko raised his head for a second and glanced at Ricardo. Then he lowered his voice and said, “Suzy, there are things you need to know... Did your dad tell you where he was working?”

  Suzy frowned. Her dad’s travel arrangements were a joke compared to other topics he’d never bothered to discuss.

  “Aiko, you’ve told me enough. Forget about that stuff and worry about yourself.”

  “Suzy, I stashed the brain in a safe place, but there are people looking for it—people worse than the government. This AI is valuable.”

  “That’s great but I have other things to—wait a second. How valuable?”

  “What?”

  “How valuable?”

  Up in the front seat, Ricardo laughed. “Hey, what’s going on back there? Do I hear some loose talk about money? It’s not nice to cut out the driver of the getaway car.” Then he cursed and said, “I think we’ve got a problem.”

  Suzy spun her head as the night burst open like an electric piñata; flashing lights and shrieking sirens filled the air.

  She reached for her gun while Ricardo stomped on the accelerator. She checked her output level and saw it was fully-maxed. She was playing for keeps now.

  In a flash, she was in the front seat with the side window down. She spun around and leaned outside. This was good—maybe she’d finally get to shoot someone with her left hand. She tried to take aim while Ricardo swung the van into a screeching turn. She heard the sound of shots bursting around her, and she gritted her teeth. They were low-powered bursts aimed at the hover-van’s anti-gravity thrusters. So someone had officially changed the plan and wanted them alive—at least for now.

  Aiko looked up and shouted, “Suzy, get back in here! You’ll get killed.”

  Suzy snarled and fired at the pursuing vehicle. “We can’t outrun them,” she said. “So we have to stop them.”

  The side mirror exploded in a shower of glass. The back window burst like crystal confetti. The van jolted upward as Ricardo drove it over a curb and onto a sidewalk and then into a collection of clanging garbage cans before crashing back down onto a side street.

  Suzy grimaced and told herself to focus—this was a gunfight, god dammit. And right now it was dark, the target was moving, and the target was shooting at her. But on the bright side, there was an ice cream store across the street. Nothing like a good snack after outshooting a bloodthirsty death squad. As the van skidded into a hard right turn, she saw her chance. It was a nice clear shot that only lasted for a second—but that’s all she needed.

  She put two blazing slugs into the windshield on the driver’s side, right where somebody’s face was bound to be. The windshield blew up. The Strike Force hover-car swerved and smashed into a fire hydrant.

  With a loud crunching sound the hydrant demolished the front of the vehicle before toppling over. A geyser of water shot into the air, and the car skidded into the front window of a shop filled with bongs and hookahs.

  Ricardo laughed. He’s a cool cucumber, Suzy thought. Not rattled about the gunfight—or all the various things he was now an accessory to. He was an interesting guy, no doubt about it. I wonder if he’d like some ice cream.

  I wonder why the fuck he’s helping us.

  “They’ll be all around here in a minute,” Ricardo said. “We need to ditch this van quick and hide out.”

  Suzy nodded her head—right. Obviously, Aiko’s empty car had been snagged, and Ricardo’s van had been identified, and that SF car they’d just trashed had probably sent a message to the whole Federal Strike Force. So now they had very little time to escape, but how the hell were they going to do it?

  “I know a way,” Ricardo said. “Follow me.” He slammed the van to a stop and leaped out.

  It was a desperate part of town, where drugs and street people mixed with gangs and graffiti. They stumbled down the alley, plowing through some scattered garbage and a few crunching hypodermic needles. Suzy helped Aiko along as he struggled to stay on his feet. Finally, they reached the end of the line, where there was a dumpster and a stretch of broken asphalt to the left that led to another side street.

  Ricardo whirled and looked around fast. “It’s party time,” he said with a grin. “We’re here.”

  He slid behind the dumpster, motioning for them to follow.

  There was nothing there but a beat-up brick wall—until Ricardo touched something. Then a piece of the wall slid away and they were staring at a dark staircase that led underground.

  Suzy caught her breath as everyone rushed into the opening. What was going on? If this was some kind of setup, it probably wasn’t by Aiko’s pursuers. She closed her eyes for a quick second and felt her heart pound. No, it didn’t feel like a setup—but her intuition could be wrong.

  In her head, she heard the words of her Grandma Jenny: “You like to follow your gut, Suzy, the same as me, and it’ll probably get you into a lot of trouble. It’ll annoy your dad, too.” That had certainly been true—her dad had never believed in anything but science and doctors. But what had the doctors done? If they’d been any good Trish would still be alive, and I might not have killed anyone.

  They stumbled down a long flight of stairs; they were going down about twice as far as a normal basement—maybe to a basement under a basement. Then finally the stairs ended and they were in a dim passageway.

  Suzy leaped forward and grabbed Ricardo by the shoulder. “You’re with Los Pocos, aren’t you?” she said.

  Los Pocos was a vast criminal organization based in the United Mexican Union, one of the nine nations of Earth—but they were found throughout the other nations as well. They also had their tentacles into the settled planets and the floating city-states scattered throughout the solar system. Translated into English, the name meant “the few.”

  Ricardo hesitated and then shrugged. “I know a few people; I’m a connected contractor, okay? I’m like a plumber with a couple of pipes in the pudding. Poetic, right?”

  “Right. So you’re a part-timer with access to a secret safe house? Sounds like bullshit.”

  “We’ve got someone here and she can help you. Do you want her help or not? Let’s go see her.”

  He was smiling, looking friendly.

  “Yeah, we want her help,” Suzy said. “It’s not like I’m some kind of saint.”

  “I’ve got a feeling you’re not so bad, Suzy. It’s this way.”

  “How does she know we’re coming?”

  “She doesn’t.”

  “So why is she here?”

  “You ask a lot of questions.”

  “It keeps me alive.”

  Ricardo laughed. “I talked to her before I went out tonight, and I knew she’d be here. Your visit is just a happy coincidence. Come on, let’s go.”

  They didn’t go far into the dark passage before they met a hulking guy with a rifle. Suzy guessed there was a surveillance system out in the street because the guy seemed to be expecting Ricardo. He had a wide grin on his pumpkin face that showed a mouth full of missing teeth. He obviously wasn’t expecting anyone hostile, like a dentist.

  “Ricardo,” he said, and then spoke a couple of sentences in Spanish. Ricardo smiled and replied in English. Suzy was fluent in Spanish—but she decided not to mention it and just liste
ned.

  Ricardo said, “I know she’s busy taking all your money, Carlos, but we’ve got a patient for her. This guy needs some help.”

  Carlos stared at Aiko. He scratched his ratty beard and grimaced. Then he puffed on a fat cigar and said, “Are you Chinese? That leg looks bad. I don’t think you’ll be doing kung fu any time soon.”

  “I'm Japanese,” Aiko said. “And I’m more of a chess player. At least nobody shot off my fingers.”

  They went down a short hallway and Carlos poked his face into a smoky room. Suzy strained her head to peek inside, keeping her pistol very close. Of course, it was always close, strapped to her thigh—but it was mentally close, too. Her brain was filled with exploding bullets.

  She saw two guys and a woman sitting around a scarred wooden table playing cards. The woman was small and pretty and had the biggest stack of chips.

  “Maria,” Carlos said, “Ricardo is here. But he’s not here to lose his money like usual. He’s here with a patient.”

  Maria studied Suzy and Aiko for a second. Her eyes were quick, like a bird’s. She tossed back her blanket of black hair and rose to her feet.

  “Hello,” she said to Suzy and Aiko. Her tone was businesslike but not unfriendly. “What’s going on, Ricardo? Can’t you ever have a quiet night? Let’s go into the other room.”

  Ricardo talked in a rush, explaining the gunfight as they helped Aiko into a glaring examination room where Aiko stretched out on a table. Maria was moving fast, like a whip. She waved a few chirping devices around but showed no expression.

  Suzy studied Maria and Ricardo. What was their relationship? There’s some warmth between these two, Suzy thought. Was she his girlfriend? Did it matter?

  Ricardo said, “I’ve been rude, Suzy. Maria is my sister.”

  Suzy felt a jolt—his sister, good. But as quick as it hit her, she shrugged it off.

  “That’s nice,” Suzy said. ”Are you a doctor, Maria?”

  “Maria is smarter than those doctors,” Ricardo said. “She’s been working at the local clinic since she was a little kid. She can fix your friend.”

  Maria didn’t respond to either Suzy or Ricardo. Instead, she looked at Aiko and said, “You’ve got fragments of metal and glass in your chest and leg. I’m guessing the energy bullets hit something that created shrapnel. A couple of them just missed your heart. You were lucky.”