by M. D. Cooper
As Reece ran, she thought about what it would have been like to do this job without Trey, which was what she’d initially wanted.
Schramm had been right. By forcing her to work with her new partner, she’d received expertise about places she didn’t know, been able to rely on him as backup in a street fight, and had help in casing the mystery building.
Plus, he knew all the best places to eat, and knew how to make her laugh.
Somehow, they were turning into a half-decent team.
She wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
When Reece returned to their room to shower, she missed Dex. The furry little lump would have been a welcome distraction and a buffer between her and Trey. She felt a little awkward about being with him in the small space after her philosophical advice about life and her recognition of his value of a teammate.
They passed the night in shifts, keeping watch on the building, looking for any signs that something out of the ordinary was going on.
As morning came Reece found herself counting each hour that passed, as they continued to futilely watch the building while waiting for Seven to reach into his network.
Three hours into their vigil, a loud banging on the door had her reaching for her Rikulf Specials.
“It’s Seven!” a voice called. “We gotta go.”
Not putting her Rikulfs away, Reece exchanged a look with Trey. He walked gingerly to the door to open it, and she stood ready.
Seven stepped in. “Whoa, hope those aren’t for me, but yeah, you might want to keep them out. I’ll explain on the way, but you need to clear out. Now.”
They spared a minute and a half to grab their suitcases and the camera from the window, then followed Seven out. He led them around the back of the building to the rear parking lot.
Seven pointed at what appeared to be an armored van. “There.”
Reece and Trey exchanged a look.
When they reached the van, Seven threw the door open and gestured for them to enter.
“Hold up,” Trey said. “That thing looks like a great way to abduct someone. Why should we trust you?”
“You don’t belong to a clan,” Seven explained. “There’s nobody to ransom you. Why would I want to kidnap you?”
Reece’s eyes swept over their surroundings. “Maybe for whoever’s running that building over there.”
Seven got into the van, then leaned out. “Short answer is no. I have no connection to them. If I was trying to grab you for them, I wouldn’t let you keep your guns. Now, I’m about to drive away. You decide if you’re going to be along for the ride or not.”
He threw himself into the driver’s seat and started the vehicle.
Reece looked at Trey. “He’s got a point about the guns.”
Trey hefted the suitcases in. “Then get your ass in and let’s go.”
Seven tore out of the parking lot like core devils were pursuing them. For all she knew, maybe they were. All attempts to get Seven to talk resulted in nothing as he was entirely focused on his driving.
She watched the city whizz by, and gradually the tall buildings gave way to residential areas. Seven drove down a side street where the houses were widely separated, and trees filled the lots. He passed a modest cabin and pushed a button on the dashboard.
The driveway lifted up, rising above them until there was room for Seven to drive the van into. Then they descended underground.
Reece really hoped he wasn’t abducting them. She brushed her hands over her guns, and they gave her some reassurance, but slowly descending into the ground gave her flashbacks of a lot of old movies where people never saw the light of day again.
It made her a little twitchy.
She stayed alert, watching as they arrived in a lighted garage.
Seven blew out a breath. “Okay. Let’s go talk about what I found.”
From his tone, she gathered that it wouldn’t be good news.
* * * * *
Surprisingly, the cabin was very basic. Reece had expected a lot more, maybe a modest outside that hid a luxurious inside. But no, the outside reflected the inside perfectly, other than the underground garage, which seemed to her a reasonable precaution on this planet.
“Is this your place?” Trey asked, prowling around space restlessly.
The cabin was small—the little kitchen, dining room, and living room were all joined together studio-style—and the big man hunched unconsciously as he moved about.
Reece peered through the one doorway to see a small bedroom, as sparsely furnished as the rest of the place.
Assured that they were alone, she joined Seven around the small dining table, gesturing for Trey to stop his pacing and join them.
“Yeah, it’s my country getaway.” Seven looked more relaxed now. The creases that had been around his mouth while he drove had smoothed out.
“Also known as a hideout,” Reece added.
“Call it what you will,” Seven said, unperturbed. “But this isn’t about me. It’s about you, and the buzzfly’s nest you’ve kicked.”
“Buzzfly?” She wasn’t familiar with the word.
“Local bug,” Trey said tersely. “They nest in small groups, with their offspring. They’re mean, and when they sting you, it burns like fire.”
“Okay,” she said. “Then tell me about this buzzfly’s nest.”
“It took some digging and connecting the pieces, but that building is owned by a subsidiary of a subsidiary of a shell corporation. Bottom line, it belongs to a massive commercial conglomerate that has its fingers in just about every industry in the Eashira System.”
Reece pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to piece things together. “Okay. So what makes you think they’d be after Trey and me?”
“I can’t give you my source, but when I started asking questions about that building, a friend of a friend who hears things called me up to tell me to stop asking those questions immediately. So I did what any reasonable person would do, and asked another friend to crack into their internal communications.”
“I think you and I have a different definition of reasonable,” Trey noted.
Seven made a dismissive gesture. “Different backgrounds maybe, or different lines of work. The point is, from what I heard and saw, they’re holding someone in there, and they are, shall we say, highly motivated to keep that person to themselves.”
“Was there some specific threat against us?” Reece asked.
“I’m not sure,” Seven said. “Possibly.”
“And why would you bother to help us?” Trey asked.
“I like you guys,” Seven said.
“You like us?” Trey repeated, incredulous.
“Well, mostly Reece. But I don’t hate you.” Seven returned Trey’s stare. Then he let out a tiny sigh. “Okay, and my clan has a long history with the family that runs that conglomerate, and if someone were to, figuratively speaking, hand their ass to them, that would be quite the coup for my clan.”
Reece smiled. That was a motivation she could believe. “Okay. Let’s circle back to what you heard at that building, and why there may or may not be a threat to Trey and me.”
“There was talk of increasing security after yesterday. Given your proximity to the building, I suspected that you may have made them aware of your presence somehow. I don’t know what you’re really about or what you’re after, but based on what I heard, I’m guessing someone is in there, you want that someone, and they will be exceedingly reluctant to let that happen. How’d I do?”
“Not too bad,” Reece admitted. “That’s actually good news…if the someone is alive.”
“I got that impression,” Seven said. “Also, they appear to be holding him against his will.”
Reece looked to Trey. What did it m
ean if the people Fitzmiller was working with had decided to imprison him? Had whatever deal they’d struck gone bad?
“Is there any reason to believe that they knew someone was poking around in their network?” Trey asked.
Seven immediately shook his head. “No. My way in was highly privileged.”
Trey narrowed his eyes at Seven. “In other words, you’re not going to tell us how you managed it.”
“Correct. Doing so would compromise my source, and, no offense, but you two aren’t important enough to me to do that.”
“Good,” Reece said.
“Why’s that good?” Seven asked.
“One, you have some version of loyalty, though it’s probably based in your own self-interest. Two, you’re not just telling me what I want to hear, so you’re probably being honest. I can work with that.”
“That brings us to the bottom line,” Seven said. “What’s in it for me to help you?”
“You already said it,” she answered. “You get the chance to hurt a clan rival. Plus, you get to count me as an ally. That’s not good for a whole lot here, but I can swing a lot of influence in the Machete System, if you ever decide to do business there.”
A slow smile spread over Seven’s face. “I like it. Let’s talk about objectives, and how to meet them. I get the feeling time is important, and the sooner we get your guy out of there, the better?”
“Yes,” Trey agreed.
Seven nodded. “Good. Let’s get to work.”
* * * * *
The benefit of working with a personal security dealer was access to a massive shitload of weapons.
Reece felt good about this.
Trey frowned at her. “Shouldn’t you look grim?”
“Why would I?” She wore a full-body suit that Seven assured her would keep almost anything short of armor-piercing rounds from breaking her skin. She could still get knocked back, and bruised from being shot, but assuming she survived that part, she’d be in good shape.
Plus, she was outfitted with gear she’d only drooled over while trying it out in sims.
Along with her Rikulf Specials and her pulse pistol, she carried a Korkan 77 tranq-rifle that fired darts loaded with both nano and bioweapons. No matter the type of internal mods or defenses, these darts would knock a target on their ass in five seconds tops. The rifle also had a pulse mode for general suppression. Seven had tried to offer her a plasma pistol, but there was no way Reece would carry around a charge canister of star-stuff on her person. Instead she opted for a half-dozen pulse grenades.
“It’s like a dream come true,” she murmured. The fact that they weren’t trying to kill, but to simply get in and out added a degree of difficulty, but also made it more exciting.
“What did you say?” Trey looked up from checking over his own—more common but highly effective—tranquilizer gun.
“Nothing.”
He looked rather good, decked out in the same black material she wore, and festooned with his own array of weapons.
There was something about a guy in combat gear that she found highly attractive.
Seven, in similar attire, also looked quite nice, though he lacked Trey’s imposing size. He’d put out a call in his clan, for anyone who could come help. Three women and four men had shown up, suited up, and looking ready for action.
In spite of Reece’s previous envy of Seven’s store, the reality of the Eashira System was that it was the sort of place where people would drop anything to go kick the ass of some rival clan.
No, thanks. She’d take Machete’s corporate structure any day over this insanity.
The insanity worked in her favor at the moment, though, so she was going to roll with it until she could get her ass off Wadish.
“Ready?” Seven asked.
Everyone nodded, and Reece wondered who was in charge of this effort. This was her circus, but Seven was providing the monkeys, making ownership complicated.
They piled into Seven’s van and he drove through the deepening night at a normal pace back to the building. For the most part, they remained quiet. Every now and then, one of Seven’s clan members would say something and send them into a chorus of “Yeah” and “This one’s going down in the clan’s history books” and such.
More and more, as they got closer to their destination, Reece got the feeling that her objective had become a mere detail—the method of delivering some massive comeuppance. She was grateful though, for the luck that had hooked her up with a family of security—and therefore anti-security—specialists, even if her goal of recovering Fitzmiller and his research were not at all a priority for these people.
It took a little of the glow off for her, but she decided to power through it. Maybe once they got underway she’d feel more festive.
Besides, even if they didn’t consider it a priority, she did. While they went in there and caused mayhem, maybe she could swoop in, retrieve her objectives, and flounce right out.
Seven parked the van in a neighboring lot, and the team piled out, checking their gear once more.
“The crack we had into their network has given us a narrow approach where their cameras aren’t looking,” the arms dealer said. “I’ve passed everyone the route over the Link. Stay in the green path, or this party will be over before its starts. You all have the schematics I pulled, but don’t expect them to be accurate. People like this don’t file their latest alterations with the city inspector.”
Everyone nodded in response, and then Seven led them toward their target building. His rout led them right to the side door that Reece had used the prior day and she wondered if they’d enjoyed the cake she’d delivered.
The shortest of Seven’s clan members tried the door first, predictably found it locked, and set about getting around that fact.
Three others removed what she’d taken to be unusually large billy clubs from their backs and deployed grappling hooks. Each made a hollow sort of sound as it pneumatically launched the hook up four stories.
Seven hadn’t told her that part of the plan.
She shot him a look, but the door opened and the seven of them remaining on the ground rushed in.
An alarm pierced the air, making it hard to hear anything else.
“This way!” One of Seven’s female clan members led them to the stairs and they began climbing.
At the first landing, as Reece had suspected, they were stopped by a thick security door.
“On it,” another one said, slapping a small, square device into the door and holding a handheld scanner in front of the access panel.
Reece had the Korkan 77 in her hands, covering the stairwell behind them, while Trey remained ready at the door.
“Got it!”
Reece kept an eye behind her, but followed the others up the next flight of stairs. Three of Seven’s people broke off to check out that floor, while Trey, Reece, and Seven continued up to the third floor. She hoped that above them, the ones who had gone up on grappling hooks had gotten access and were scouring the fourth floor.
Seven had set aside the third floor for Reece and Trey, though. Of the upper floors, he’d said the third had the least amount of electrical activity. To him, that indicated the likelihood of imprisoning a person and trying to keep it quiet.
Given that he grew up on a world where abductions were common practice, she and Trey had afforded him the benefit of the doubt.
“Remember,” Seven cautioned. “We had fifteen minutes, max from the alarm. You have less than thirteen before we have to be out of the building.”
He cracked the security and swung the door open.
They were in! Reece threw out a small drone and it showed the passage as clear on her overlays. She went left, Trey went to the right, and Seven remained to cover their backs.
She heard a muffled commotion, but it seemed far away. Probably from another floor, or maybe the stairwell.
Never mind. She had her job to do. Keeping her rifle tucked against her shoulder, she raced down the
hallway toward the series of rooms on either side.
It was almost too easy. There should be security—
As soon as she thought it, a man and a woman in security uniforms rounded the corner ahead.
Pop, pop.
She nailed them both center mass with the rifle, sending the tiny tranquilizing flechettes into them. The pair managed a few more steps before falling to the floor.
Nice. Such fast-acting tranquilizers were hard to come by, though she suspected the cocktail they carried was illegal in Machete—even for her.
She reached the first room and swung the drone past, getting a look before leaning into the doorway, rifle ready. Her eyes and weapon swept from right to left, before she checked behind the door.
Nothing. It was just a room of desks, cabinets, and work terminals.
As she left the room, two more guards rushed her. She felt something slam into her chest, knocking her off balance.
Shit!
It felt like a volley of riot slugs had hit her and she fell against the wall, struggling to regain her breath.
The guards approached slowly, likely under the misconception that they had incapacitated her. Reece waited ‘til her breathing was back in control, and fired her tranq rifle from the hip.
She hit one center mass, but only clipped the other in the bicep. Her third shot was true, striking the second guard in the heart.
Reece saw the remains of her small drone on the floor and sighed as she pushed off the wall and stepped around the guards, trying to avoid stomping any fingers, and arrived at the next door. Unlike the others, it was closed.
And locked.
She reached for the pouch on her chest which contained the mini EMP Seven had given her. It wasn’t there. She looked down to see the entire pouch gone, shreds of fabric the only remains.
Those guards were shooting to kill with a side of kill!
She’s need Trey or Seven’s help with the door.
She continued in the direction she’d been going. Trey was wearing a tracker, and she could see that he’d made it as far down his hallway as she had down hers. Crossing paths with him ahead would be quicker than backtracking the other way around.
