Born to Run

by Stephen Kenson

  "It would have saved a lot of trouble if you had just told me the truth."

  Lothan smiled tightly. "If you're looking for the truth, you had best get used to disappointment, my dear. In my experience, few people ever tell the truth, unless it-suits their purposes, and even then it's rarely the whole truth."

  "You could have just trusted me." Kellan replied, and Lothan's face became very serious.

  "Kellan." he said gravely. "If you never pay attention to any other lesson I give you, heed this one: trust yourself and your own instincts, but if you want to survive and prosper in the shadows, then trust no one else. Ever." Then the troll smiled, showing his tusks and yellowed teeth. "Except for me, of course. Trust your honored teacher and mentor in all things." Kellan returned the smile, but felt no warmth from it in the chill of the dark and empty room.

  "So," she said, "next lesson on Friday?"

  Lothan nodded. "I'm looking forward to it. I now believe your potential far surpasses my initial assessment. I suspect instructing you will prove a very interesting experience."

  Lothan glanced over to see Orion approaching. He gave Kellan a parting nod, then turned and lumbered off toward the other shadowrunners. Orion watched Lothan go with a cool glance before turning his attention to Kellan.

  "G-Dogg and the others want to grab a drink and something to eat before they head home." he said. "I'm going to take off, but I wanted to say goodbye."

  "You're part of this team." Kellan said. "You should come with us."

  "I don't know . . Orion hesitated. "I hadn't really thought about it until now, but I don't really have anywhere else to go."

  "I'm sorry."

  "For what?"

  "For everything that happened." Kellan apologized, somewhat lamely. She hugged her arms to her chest, unwilling to look at Orion. "I didn't mean for things to turn out this way."

  "I made my own choices." the elf replied. "I could have easily ignored you, gone along with what Green Lucifer wanted."

  "Why didn't you?" she asked.

  "I guess . . . because you cared enough to do what you thought was right." Orion replied. "You took a real chance coming to me with what you found out.

  Most shadowrunners just assume the Johnson is double-dealing then and accept it as the price of doing business. They don't think about what happens to people they don't know. You did, and that's pretty damn rare in this world, Kellan."

  "Fat lot of good it did." Kellan said. "In the end, I just got a lot of people killed."

  "I think that's why most people don't bother trying to do what's right." Orion frowned. "There are no guarantees it will turn out the way you expect. You can only do your best."

  "I guess so." Kellan said. "G-Dogg and Lothan and the others make it sound like the right thing is whatever lets you survive and get ahead."

  "Is that what you think?"

  Kellan shook her head. "I don't know. Back in Kansas City, it seemed so simple. Seattle is . .. different. Nothing's easy here."

  Orion shrugged. "My mom used to say, 'If it's easy, it's probably not worth doing.' You have to make your own choices."

  Kellan looked at him and smiled. "Well, I'm sure of this." she said. "Right now, we're alive, we've got a hell of a lot of nuyen, the night's not over yet, and there's a whole metroplex I'd like to explore. It would be great if you came along."

  Orion grinned. "You make me an offer I can't refuse."

  Together they walked back to where G-Dogg, Liada and Silver Max waited.

  "I made a call, and we can get into Reno's downtown if we move out now." G-Dogg said. "The doorman's a chummer of mine, and he owes me one."

  "That's wiz." Kellan agreed. "Let's buzz."

  She climbed onto the back of Orion's bike and hugged her arms around the elf's waist. G-Dogg took the others in the Argent. With a roar of engines, they disappeared into the shadows.

  Epilogue

  When the other runners were gone, Jackie Ozone went back into the abandoned building, where several men in nondescript street clothes had joined Ms. Johnson. They were in the process of transferring the crates from the back of the truck onto a flatbed, covering the barcodes and other markings with new labels, and even stripping the Ares cargo hauler. In a matter of hours, the truck would be broken down for parts. It was an efficient operation, but then Jackie expected nothing less.

  "Your information was accurate." Ms. Johnson said to Jackie. "These Ares weapons will be quite useful, once we've arranged to put them into the right hands."

  "I knew you would think so." the decker replied, and her corporate contact nodded.

  "More importantly." Ms. Johnson said, "Ares will end up with a great deal of explaining to do when the source of the weapons leaks to the media. I doubt they will 'lose' any more shipments of weapons in the immediate future."

  "So much for making Knight Errant look good." Jackie said.

  "Exactly."

  "Lone Star's police services contract should be safe enough."

  Ms. Johnson shrugged. "I couldn't care less about Lone Star," she said, "so long as Knight Errant doesn't acquire the police services contract for Seattle. Having an Ares subsidiary in charge of law enforcement here could potentially complicate matters for us. It's been trouble in Boston, and that's a good deal closer to our headquarters."

  "So, then." Jackie said. "I can assume that everything is satisfactory?"

  "Indeed." Ms. Johnson replied. She reached into her shoulder bag and withdrew a credstick, which she handed to Jackie. "Here's our agreed-upon finder's fee for setting things up." Jackie slotted the stick into a reader she produced from her own bag and confirmed the amount on it was correct.

  "Excellent." she said with a smile. "A pleasure doing business with you, Eve, as always."

  "Likewise, Jackie." the other woman replied. "I assume our arrangement remains just between us?"

  "Of course. All the others know is that I found us a buyer for the merchandise in record time. They don't know anything about Cross Technologies' involvement or that I contacted you about acquiring the goods in advance of the run."

  "Good." Eve said. "I would like to maintain our arrangement, if you're still interested. Having you on retainer has proven very useful to us."

  "And to me." Jackie said.

  "Good. Keep me informed of anything you come across that might be of interest to us, and I'll ensure you are well compensated."

  "Absolutely." the decker said, patting the credstick stowed in her bag.

  As she walked out of the building, Jackie saw a group of ragged gangers pull up outside, astride heavy motorcycles. The bikes were tricked out in red and orange flames, and each ganger wore a jacket painted with a snarling hound's head wreathed in flames.

  Things are about to change along Route I-405, Jackie thought as she headed to her car. The Ares weapons would make the Hellhounds a force to be reckoned with in the area. The fact that the Hellhounds hated metahumans—especially gangs like the Ancients and the Spikes—would keep things interesting in the balance of power. She was sure that the fact that their turf ran near Knight Errant's training academy was no coincidence. She only wished that she could see the look on Brickman's face when he found out exactly where his missing weapons had gone.

  * * *

  Simon Brickman was clearly unhappy. He sat in his office, glowering at the two figures seated on the opposite side of his broad desk, his expression growing increasingly stormy as he listened to their recitals of everything that had happened the previous night, listened as the operation he'd planned came apart.

  "Dammit, Lothan." he said finally, slamming a hand down on his desk. "What the frag am I paying you for?"

  "You paid me to ensure the Ancients were dealt with," the troll mage replied calmly, "which I did. You didn't pay me to deal with unexpected trouble, or to throw myself in the way of danger."

  "You certainly didn't have any trouble getting yourself out of danger." Brickman countered.

  "I rarely do. Really, Simon, what di
d you expect me to do? Information leaked and we were caught off guard. I don't see how blame for that can be assigned to me."

  "Oh, really? Strange coincidence then, that the shadowrunners involved in hijacking the weapons were the same ones you worked with on the first job, Lothan."

  The troll mage turned with a look of disdain toward the other man seated in front of Brickman's desk.

  "Do you have something to say, Lucifer?" he asked.

  "I think the implication is obvious." the Ancients' leader sneered.

  "What? That I arranged to hijack the weapons away from your little band and sold them on the side for a tidy profit?" Lothan asked.

  Brickman remained silent, but it was dear he had the same thought.

  "Do you take me for a fool?" Lothan asked both men. "You know my reputation in this business. Why would I sacrifice it for the paltry profit of a shipment of guns?"

  "Greed does strange things to people." Green Lucifer mused aloud.

  "So does ambition." Lothan replied.

  "Even if you were unaware of their plans, you should keep better control of your people." the elf said.

  "I could say the same to you, since Orion was working right alongside the others."

  "He's not part of the Ancients any more." Lucifer said flatly.

  "Strange. I thought the intention was for him to be sacrificed along with the other troublemakers you were sending to their deaths." Lothan replied.

  "Enough!" Brickman said, pressing his fingertips to his temples. "If the two of you want to fight over who's to blame, you can do it elsewhere. I don't have time for this drek."

  "Fine with me." Lothan replied haughtily. "I only came to conclude our business."

  Brickman slowly raised his head and turned to give the troll an icy stare. "Lothan, if you think I intend to pay you a single nuyen after the way this operation was botched, then you're more delusional about your own value than I guessed."

  The troll returned Brickman's glare measure for measure. "I think I know my worth very well." he said evenly. "I know our agreement did not accommodate nonpayment for unforeseen circumstances."

  Green Lucifer snorted derisively, but Lothan continued unabated.

  "I will not accept breach of contract for circumstances beyond my control." he said. "I expect you to live up to your end of our agreement."

  The two men glared at each other for a long moment before Brickman took a credstick out of the drawer of his desk and laid it on the polished glass top. He flicked it toward Lothan with one finger.

  "That's as much as you're getting." the company man said. "Take it and be grateful you're getting anything at all."

  Lothan stood, pocketing the credstick. "Always a pleasure." he said with considerable sarcasm. "I hope your losses weren't too considerable." he said to Green Lucifer in the same tone. Then he turned imperiously on his heel and walked out of the room, the door closing behind him.

  "Arrogant troglodyte." Green Lucifer stared at Brickman. "I can't believe you paid him anything for that debacle."

  "Unfortunately, he's right." Brickman said. "With his reputation and visibility in Seattle, it's worth staying on his good side—for now. Just how bad were the losses?"

  The gang leader dismissed the question with a wave of his hand. "Insignificant." he said. "They were expendable or else I wouldn't have sent them in the first place. I'd intended Orion to lead them. I hadn't expected his betrayal so soon, and especially not over some human girl." He leaned back in his chair as if it was his office and he was the one giving Brickman an audience, rather than the other way around.

  "And what about our arrangement?" he asked the company man.

  "It will take time to acquire additional weapons." Brickman mused, and the gang leader waved him off once more.

  "The weapons are unimportant." he said. "I have other resources for acquiring what we need to deal with the Spikes, if they actually become a threat. I'm talking about our long-term goals.”

  "Those plans continue to move forward. I'll see to it you have the opportunity to expand your power base here in Seattle." Brickman said. "You'll get your chance at Tir Tairngire when the time comes."

  "Good." Green Lucifer said, steepling his fingers. "Then this is just a minor setback. Orion is no longer a part of the Ancients, and I've gotten rid of a few other potential troublemakers, as planned, but there's still a great deal to be done. Ah, well," he said, dropping his hands to his knees, "patience is also a virtue." Then he gave Brickman a tight-lipped smile. "There will be other opportunities, after all."

  Brickman nodded. "I'm glad we understand one another. I'll be in touch."

  The gang leader stood and gave Brickman a slight nod of his head before turning and leaving the room. Once the door closed, Brickman leaned back in his chair and sighed.

  "Well, that went well." came a voice from the shadows.

  Brickman didn't react or even turn around at first, his fingers tracing idle patterns on the smooth desktop.

  "Spare me the sarcasm, Midnight." he said to the empty air. "I've had about all I can take for one day."

  A slim form in skintight synthleather stepped from the shadows near the windows of Brickman's office, sliding the window closed behind her. She was tall, like most elves, her outfit hugging the curves and tight muscles of her lithe body. Her dark hair was pulled back, braided and coiled at the nape of her neck to keep it out of the way, emphasizing her pointed ears, her gracefully upswept brows and her large eyes. She had the cheekbones and lips of a classical statue, and her expression was just as hard and cold.

  "How long were you listening?" Brickman asked.

  "Long enough." she said. "What a waste. Having those weapons 'stolen' by the Ancients, then having Knight Errant move in to foil the theft would have been a nice double play. You escalate gang violence in the metroplex and make Lone Star look incompetent in the bargain. Then Knight Errant can step in to 'investigate' the other losses Ares has suffered and come down hard on the gangs, looking like the heroes."

  "It's not a total loss." Brickman replied. "The theft will still create some negative PR for Lone Star. It'll need to be managed carefully, or else shadowrunners will start to think Ares is an easy target, and we can't have that. I suspect a few object lessons will need to be handed out to make it clear we're not to be trifled with. There's a fair amount of cleaning up I need done."

  "I don't do windows, Brickman," she said, shaking her head, "or loose ends."

  "I didn't call you here for that." he said. "I have something else in mind. Lothan is working with someone new, a girl he had with him at our meet. Green Lucifer said she was the one who convinced Orion to challenge him, and I'm certain she was involved in grabbing the weapons." He opened a drawer, pulled out a printout and tossed it on the desk.

  "I want to know whatever there is to know about her. When I play a game, I like to know all the pieces on the board."

  Midnight looked down at the picture, obviously taken covertly at the meeting between Brickman and the shadowrunners. She glanced over the features of the human girl looking into the camera. The youthful face framed in blond hair, the expression of bravado and inexperience combined were familiar, but her eyes were drawn immediately to the amulet the girl wore at her throat. Midnight picked up the photo and looked at it carefully, not daring to believe her eyes. But there it was, right there in front of her.

  Swallowing her excitement, Midnight lowered the photo and gave Brickman a sly smile.

  "I'll get you everything there is to know about her." she said. "It will be my pleasure."

 

 

 
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