Soldiers of Fame and Fortune Full Series Omnibus: Nobody’s Fool, Nobody Lives Forever, Nobody Drinks That Much, Nobody Remembers But Us, Ghost Walking, 12 Book series...

by Michael Todd

  She found Marcus in the technology room, working on one of his projects. “Morning. I see the glamour and the glitz have washed away.”

  “I suppose the big ego and rich guy attitude during our seven-course meal has washed away as well?” She grinned at him as she took a seat at his desk.

  Marcus smiled. “All gone, for now.”

  Billie nodded and sipped her coffee. “Me too. All gone. Not to return for many a year, unless you’re offering me another date.”

  He didn’t even look at her. “It’s all right. I like you this way anyways. All I could think of last night was where you would put your guns.”

  She smirked. “I was wearing them. It would have been kind of a hide and seek thing if you had actually taken me to your place for the night.”

  Marcus shook his head but obviously tried not to laugh. “So, I have a job near the Zoo again. It will get you down there, and with all the equipment again. Plus, I’d have a reason to help if you found something pertinent to test the armor against.”

  Billie looked up from her paper with her brow furrowed. “I don’t get it. I thought we had finished testing the armor months ago. I mean, sure, it needed some tweaks, but we spent a ton of time and injury figuring all that shit out.”

  Marcus looked at her with mischief in his eyes. “The new armor.”

  “We have new armor?” She slapped her hand on the desk.

  He chuckled and joined her at the desk, then plopped his 3D disk down. He pressed the button and the screen rose in front of Billie. “The armor is made to fully resist impact by the strongest animal known of in the Zoo. It’s wild.”

  Billie’s eyes were wide and sparkled as she looked at it. “It is incredible. I’ve never seen something that beautiful.”

  Marcus laughed and swiped his hand to bring up a map of the Zoo and the towns around it. “So, the problem now is getting you back into the Zoo without being seen. You did whatever you did in the US and I know they are looking for you.”

  Her mouth opened but he shook his head. “I made sure to bury the report so deep in admin no one will ever see it. Nonetheless, people are looking for your face, so I can’t simply send you rolling through a military airport—or a commercial one either.”

  Hickok sighed. “I can do disguise. My old lady one worked well—oh, and the blonde one. That got some serious attention.”

  Marcus nodded with a far-off smile. “I like the blonde one. I designed it after a bot I met at a technology fair once.”

  Billie rolled her eyes. “You take me on one date in all these years, but you name one of my disguises after a computer with legs you met at a geek convention? This shit always gets fucking weirder and weirder. I feel like a doll you get to dress up.”

  “Essentially.” He shrugged. “It’s like playing GI Joe, only my Joe is a hot, no-quarter-given woman I get to put in amazing outfits.”

  “What about the old woman then?” she snarked. “Don’t tell me you have some weird fetish.”

  Marcus groaned and flipped the screen again. “So, we’ll drop you straight into the Zoo and you can make your way in the opposite direction and come through the side gate. It’s a very thinly populated area, even for workers, so you should be able to move in and out with minimal notice.”

  Billie stretched her back. “That’s fucking wonderful. I sure as hell hope nothing swings my ass further into the Zoo. Then, I gotta trudge back through on my own with minimal support and a test suit.”

  He paused and fixed her with a challenging look. “Are you calling me minimal support?”

  She grinned and looked at the map. “So, in here and walk out there and hope the wind doesn’t blow too hard or nothing grabs me on the way through.”

  Marcus smirked and rubbed his hands. “The suit would stop that. It’s much more advanced then you know.”

  Hickok raised an eyebrow. “This is R&D, right?”

  Holly gripped her weapon tightly as her gaze roved the trees. The vegetation was so thick that she struggled to see through it. Her heart now thudded furiously in her chest. Well, if I’ll come in here down the line, I might as well get one big bitch under my wing now while I still have these guys for backup. She only wished she could actually agree with her own thoughts.

  The sound of grinding gears and the winding down of a machine echoed through the forest. Immediately, Holly straightened, now even more confused. She’d heard about rock men, but now there were killer Zoo robots or machines?

  She glanced to the side and saw the others chuckle and put their guns up. “What? Why are you giving up?”

  Trigger smiled and leaned toward her to point to the top of an old, large tree. “Keep looking up there. You’ll understand in a second.”

  Holly fixed her gaze on where he had showed her and tilted her head to the side in expectation. The canopy swayed back and forth and the old tree made a loud snapping sound. It cracked at the base and a large mechanical robot hand shoved it over to the side. Her eyes widened and she stepped back to examine the thing from one end to the other. This was how she’d always imagined it would feel to stand in front of a Transformer.

  Trigger chuckled. “It’s a Mech powered by a human up there in the cockpit. They are fully protected inside that monster. These are our walking security for the areas.”

  She laughed with excitement. “That is amazing. I mean, seriously? Is that a rocket launcher?”

  He nodded. “Mm-hmm. And on its back, a sword. Just in case. Usually, they simply scare the beasts away, though.”

  “How does something like that even get hurt in the Zoo? I know about the dinos but this thing is massive and made of metal.” Holly shook her head and continued to stare.

  Aki sniffed and peered at it like he had seen it a hundred times. “It’s difficult. The thing is solid metal.”

  Alvin now held his helmet in his hands and spat on the ground. “It’s not impossible, though. The Zoo is a nasty bitch. I’ve seen Mechs with scratches in the metal that are eight inches wide. But this far out on the edge of the trees? Ain’t nothing out here that can touch it—or would want to touch it, for that matter.”

  “It’s an amazing piece of machinery.” Trigger grinned like a kid. “I hope to pilot one of those bitches one day. The animals out here look so small compared to it. I’ve watched the cam video from one of them. The big mean jags, the duo bears, and even the mantis all run like scared villagers when this thing comes through the area. It’s an amazing thing to watch.”

  “I can imagine it would be,” Holly murmured, unable to tear her eyes away from the Mech. “We only see the animals rough and ready.”

  The ground shook slightly as it lifted one of its large metal feet and began to turn. It raised its arm and waved at them. Holly could see the pilot high in the cockpit, but they seemed like a tiny little spec up there. She waved and glanced at Alvin. “What is it doing out here?”

  He shrugged. “Probably doing a simple containment. That’s a cleanup pass. It frightens the wildlife and basically corrals them to the outer edges of the forest where they aren’t a threat to us. After they came into action, we saw a serious decrease in the number of animal attacks. This area actually used to teem with the beasts. They came here to hide from the droves of mercs who went in and out of the jungle on the active side. Then, if a pheromone was caught in the air, they would move out with speed to wherever it came from.”

  Holly shook her head. “Oh. Well, that’s good. I definitely wouldn’t be sorry to have one of those near when I was in the Zoo, that’s for sure.”

  Alvin pulled his helmet on and looked over their leader. Trigger flipped through the map in his HUD. “Okay, team. Let’s move out. I want to do one more pass to find some Pita for income.”

  The team was all for it, including Holly, who knew she could use the extra cash for everything she worked on and needed. They scoured the jungle floor, careful not to move too far away from the exit point. Along the way, she found two other species of flower not attached to the v
ines.

  Trigger bent down next to her. “The one on the right is a Luminate. They glow at night. The other, I’ve never seen before.”

  She bit the inside of her lip before she finally ventured to ask, “Can I take them?”

  He shrugged. “It shouldn’t be a problem. Nothing else seems to have released a signal when pulled.”

  Holly retrieved her cases from her pouch and snipped both plants carefully. She paused to make sure they didn’t send out any warnings but everything seemed to be fine. Thankful that she hadn’t created a problem with her request, she sealed them into the containers and stowed them in her bag before she moved on to the Pita patch with the others. She collected petals with them, kept some as per the agreement, and handed the rest to the team for their turn-in.

  When they were done, they headed out once again, moving quietly and quickly through the forest since the sun had begun to set. Her mind was all over the place but mostly focused on what she would require in order to test the species and the petals while she was actively in the jungle herself. Not to mention what she would need outside the Zoo. She couldn’t simply start testing on the desk in her apartment. Ideally, she needed to set up some sort of mini-lab there. There was simply no way around it. She would need the fundamentals in order to continue her research. Otherwise, all of it was for nothing.

  Chapter Six

  The JLTV bounced along the sandy path toward the town. Holly put her hand out to the side and felt the cool air wash over her sweaty body. The Zoo was incredibly hot and sticky, something she had known but that had still surprised her with the instant temperature change. Now that she was out, it almost seemed like a dream. The damage to her suit sleeve and the pain in her shoulder from being tackled reminded her quickly that she had been, and still was, wide awake.

  They pulled up to the government building where turn-ins were taken. She didn’t have an account with them, so she followed the initiate line and filled out the required paperwork. It was relatively simple and only asked for minor information and her bank account. She was glad for this since she really didn’t want to have to provide all her personal info merely to go into the Zoo. Well, she reminded herself, to get paid to go into the Zoo.

  While she talked to them about the plants she found, Trigger turned in the petals and distributed them evenly between the team members. They had managed to collect a fair load since the area they were in was relatively quiet. While she talked to the official about the plant, a notification popped up on her phone. They had already deposited the money for the goop into her account. Her eye twitched when she looked at the amount. For a couple of fights and a day inside, she’d received nearly thirty grand.

  Holly looked at the woman with wide eyes. “They paid already? My lead left the counter only a few minutes ago.”

  “We don’t like to dilly dally, and the mercs don’t either. We know they could go to a private company but that is one of the perks of coming here. We don’t always pay the high rates companies offer, but they get their money almost instantly.”

  She nodded with a chuckle. “I’m starting to understand why these people do this as a full-time job now.”

  The woman smiled and handed her the flowers. “The unknown one is, in fact, unknown to the system as well. If you do your own testing and write a report, you can be paid a pretty penny for the information. Or you can turn in the whole plant and we will handle the research, but the pay is way less.”

  Holly looked at the specimen. “I definitely want to do the research myself. Thank you. I’ll write a report soon.”

  She concluded the conversation and joined the team. Her mind wavered between the chunk of money in her account, the unknown flower she had in her possession, and the chemical toolset she would need to purchase. She had a feeling her sudden riches wouldn’t go very far with the costs of lab sets and hoped there was a decent opportunity out there for her to get what she needed.

  Trigger motioned toward the main part of town. “Are you coming to FUBAR with us?”

  Holly nodded. “Yeah, but I’ll swing home first and get changed. I’ll be over in a bit.”

  He saluted her. “Good job out there, kid. You just might be okay.”

  She chuckled and waved as she walked toward the armory and made her way inside. Amanda was already closed for the day. Upstairs, it surprised her that her apartment somehow felt a little off, then she remembered that Billie was still away on her super-secret work mission. She hadn’t realized until then how comfortable she had gotten having them in her life. But no fear, she had JB and Paula to keep her company at the bar, and that was where she was headed next. She showered, changed her clothes, and hung her rented suit carefully in the closet with the helmet alongside in the space she’d made for it.

  Quickly, she tossed on a hoodie and a pair of shorts with her boots and headed out of the apartment. There seemed to be more people than normal out and about after dark, and she could smell the food from one of the home cooking restaurants down the street. Holly wasn’t the least bit hungry, though. Food made her thoughts return to the gaping hole in the giant rat’s neck. That was definitely enough to curb her appetite.

  When she arrived at FUBAR, she followed several mercs into the darkened room. She looked at the bar and saw JB back there, a smile on his face as he conversed with some of the patrons. His skin tone seemed to have evened out and when he walked, his limp was barely noticeable. The last time she had seen him, he was almost deathly pale with dark circles under his eyes and could barely walk on his leg. In fact, he had ordered some crutches to get around upstairs so he wouldn’t have to wear the fake leg.

  Holly’s eyes caught movement to the right and she smiled at Dan who sat there and waved at her with his normal glass of whiskey in front of him. She grinned and hurried over to take the seat beside him. “Hey there!”

  Dan chuckled. “Hey. How are you?”

  “Good. Tired, ready for a drink, but good.”

  He looked at a small scratch on her arm. “What happened?”

  She wasn’t sure she was ready for people to know she was going into the Zoo, mainly because she wouldn’t be able to explain why. “Oh, I tripped and scraped my arm on the railing heading up to my apartment. It’s nothing. I’m clumsy as hell.”

  Dan looked thoughtfully at her. “I am clumsy too. I could trip over my feet even if I was sitting down.”

  Holly laughed and pulled a twenty from her bag. JB walked up to them and she slapped the money on the bar. “How about a drink and a story?”

  He smirked and pushed the twenty back across to her. “How about this one is on the house? I’m feeling really good tonight and I want to take advantage of it.”

  Holly winked at him as she put the money away. He walked slightly slower than before to the wall of liquor and made what had become her usual. She thanked him when he placed it in front of her. “Now, you want to hear a story, huh? I have one. Not super long or as exciting as the others who made the Zoo Wall of Fame, but in my opinion, the guy was as much deserving of the title. His name was Martin Conwell, a young scientist on the American side. He wasn’t one of the ones dragged in, though. He volunteered as soon as the opportunity was available. What he would ultimately find would change the course of his life.”

  Marty picked up one of his slides and set it in the box. “Yeah, I’m going back in. I think I have like four days until we go. It’s been a while. After I made that discovery with the venomous plants, they’ve had me out of the field.”

  Another scientist, Chris, looked into his microscope. “I know, man. I could see the misery all over your face. But shit, you have been given credit for finding and researching the species. That’s some sweet-ass shit for real.”

  He looked at the bright yellow plant on Chris’s station. “You are doing the same thing right now, my man. You found and are researching a new plant type as we speak. You’ll probably get pulled from the field until you can finish all the research too. It’s not so bad, but you tend to get laz
y on this side.”

  Chris stood and cracked his back. “I know, but I like it in there. I guess if this is lucrative enough, I could always retire the hell out of here.”

  Marty shook his head and leaned back in his chair. “Not me. Man, this is life for me. I love it.”

  “Lookie what we have here!” a voice shouted from the back of the room. “My two idiots who got wasted last night and almost ended up sleeping in the back of the bar. Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

  Marty looked at Mark, the mailroom guy, who was also one of their good buddies. Mark tossed him his stack of mail. “Here you go, loser. Obviously, no love letters because girls find you repugnant.”

  He faked a laugh. “Until they find out my bank balance. Cha-chinnng.”

  The three of them laughed as Marty turned to look at a thick manila envelope in his hands. There was no return address and no postage. He held it up to Mark. “Do you know where this came from? There’s no address or anything on it.”

  Mark shrugged. “I don’t ask, I simply deliver it. Maybe one of your boyfriends sent you a bunch of nudes.”

  Marty flipped him off and turned to open the envelope. It held a really thick file which apparently contained some research on goop. It was nothing that he had seen before and the papers bore the letterhead of the American side of Shou Industries. Confused, he turned the envelope and a drive fell out. He grabbed his headphones and stuck the drive into the computer.

  A recorded voice message was addressed to him. “Martin Conwell. You don’t know me, but I know you. There is not a lot of time for me to explain. In front of you are two major files. One is the research that has been completed by Americans at Shou Industries. They have somehow been able to create a weapon of mass destruction from the goop inside the Zoo. It is a chemical compound that attacks the nervous system and quickly disintegrates the entire body.”