Shadowrun 43 - Fallen Angels

by Stephen Kenson

  "Lothan?" she said. "I've changed my mind and decided to pass on the lesson today. I've got some stuff I need to take care of."

  There was a pause as he regarded her, his face unreadable.

  "Very well," he said, turning back to his work. "Will this be another extended sojourn?"

  "I don't know. I'll stay in touch." She turned to leave, but Lothan's voice stopped her just outside the door.

  "Kellan? Don't do anything foolish, and be careful."

  "Yeah," she replied, shifting the strap on her shoulder. "I will."

  As she was heading out the door, Kellan hit a button on her phone and held it to her ear.

  "Jackie?" she said after a moment. "It's Kellan. Are you busy? I need some information about somebody____"

  Anyone who didn't know her might mistake Jackie Ozone for a corporate businesswoman, with her casually stylish clothes, carryall for the essentials of twenty-first-century electronica, and the sleek chrome datajack at her right temple. She looked like just another of Seattle's many corporate execs and employees taking advantage of a pleasant afternoon to get away from the fluorescent lights and recycled air of their offices for a few minutes. When Kellan approached the bench where Jackie sat, she looked up from her pocket secretary, stowing it away in her bag and favoring Kellan with a welcoming smile as she moved over to allow her to sit down.

  "Long time no see," she told Kellan. "What've you been up to?"

  With a shrug Kellan said, "I've been busy."

  "Mmm-hmmm," Jackie said, taking a sip of whatever was in the paper cup sitting next to her on the bench. "Making friends all over the place." Kellan looked at her and saw a sly smile.

  "You heard."

  "Let's just say word is starting to get around."

  "Then you know why I'm looking for more intel."

  "About a gang?" Jackie asked innocently.

  "About whoever is behind them."

  "Then it wasn't just random."

  Kellan shook her head. "No, it was personal."

  "Personal? Or business?"

  "That's what I need to find out."

  Jackie nodded. "Done any digging yourself?"

  Kellan shook her head again. "Not yet. First I want to find out more about what I might be digging up."

  "How serious is this?"

  "I don't know."

  "Okay," Jackie said. "Why don't you tell me about it from the beginning."

  So she did. Leaving out the details of the run and Midnight's involvement, Kellan related the incident outside Dante's Inferno—in particular what the Molotov-throwing Halloweener had to say.

  "And you're sure that's what he said?" Jackie asked. When Kellan nodded, Jackie mused out loud. "Toshiro Akimura."

  "Who is this guy, Jackie? G-Dogg said he was some big-time fixer or something."

  "He is—or at least he was."

  "Was?"

  "Well, last I heard he had dropped out of sight for a while. There were rumors, but . . ."

  "What kind of rumors?"

  Jackie shrugged. "The usual—that he made a bad deal or crossed the wrong person—nothing definite."

  Something that might have put him in a hospital? Kellan wondered.

  "Why would Akimura want to sic a gang on you?" Jackie asked, and Kellan shrugged.

  "I don't know."

  "Kellan . . ."

  "Jackie, it's business," Kellan said stubbornly. "I'm just trying to figure out where all this is going."

  "Sounds to me like the question is what have you gotten into," Jackie replied wryly. "But okay. Akimura started making a name for himself maybe eight, nine years ago. He operated out of New Orleans, managed a pretty big operation there."

  "Shadow biz?"

  Jackie nodded. "But his real business was information."

  "Decking?"

  "Dealing. He had a huge intel-gathering network,

  but he also seems to be one of those guys who has a knack for learning things and understanding their importance or potential value at the time he gains the knowledge—even when it's not obvious to anyone else. He earned a lot of favors and cred by passing information on to the right people at the right time. And, he worked for a dragon."

  "What?" Kellan said, a bit loud in her surprise, and Jackie looked around to see if anyone noticed, giving Kellan a look that told her to keep her voice down.

  "A dragon?" she whispered, and Jackie nodded.

  "Yeah, and not just any dragon, the great dragon Dunkelzahn. After the Big D bought it, word got out that Akimura had been working for him, and people naturally assumed that the dragon had known everything Akimura had known—and that earned Akimura a lot of trouble. No matter how philanthropic Dunkelzahn turned out to be, people didn't like the idea of someone spying for a wizworm.

  "But Akimura still had his greatest asset— information—so he stayed in business. But things happen."

  "That's it?"

  "Kellan, fixers know better than anyone that information is valuable. They keep a low profile. When they don't—well, anyway, that's all I know." At Kellan's crestfallen look, she added, "I'm guessing you want more."

  Kellan smiled. "Thanks, Jackie. You're the best."

  "I'm not promising anything," the decker replied. "There might not be anything else to find. You sure there's nothing else you can give me to go on?"

  "I can't," the younger woman said. "I'm sorry, Jackie, but . . ."

  "It's not just you involved in this, is it?"

  Kellan bit her lower lip for a moment, then shook her head.

  "Got it. I'll be in touch." They got up to leave, and Jackie let Kellan go first, as she got her things together. As the other woman slipped past her, the decker spoke quietly over her shoulder.

  "Watch your back, okay?" she said.

  "I will, and thanks."

  Kellan had nearly reached her bike when her phone trilled.

  "Yeah?" she said into it.

  "Kellan," Midnight's voice replied. "I need you to meet me right away. We've got trouble."

  7

  They agreed to meet in the U-District, and Midnight They agreed to meet in the U-District, and Midnight

  refused to elaborate any further over the phone, so Kellan kept glancing over her shoulder all the way there, fighting the uncomfortable feeling that there was a target painted on her back. She fidgeted in the parking lot near the Chinese restaurant Midnight had named, waiting for her to arrive, and feeling increasingly exposed every minute she stood there. She took a little comfort in the fact that she looked very similar to the university students who apparently used the parking lot as a regular shortcut on their way to or from classes.

  When Midnight pulled up, she parked her bike next to Kellan's, pulled off her helmet and shook out her hair, setting the sleek helmet with its mirrored faceplate in front of her without dismounting.

  "What's going on?" Kellan asked. Midnight looked grim.

  "Akimura's on to us," the elf said flatly. "A couple of orks tried to introduce my head to the pavement not too long after we talked this morning. They found out it was a bad idea, but one of them mentioned Akimura's name."

  "How did he find out?"

  Midnight shook her head. "I don't know, but I think our client might have sold us out, or simply got careless. It wasn't anything we did."

  "And now he's coming after us?"

  "It looks that way."

  "But why? It was—"

  "Just business," Midnight concluded. "I know, but for some reason Akimura is taking it personally."

  "Because we erased some data?" Kellan asked.

  "Maybe, or maybe because he thinks we have the data. Do you still have a copy?"

  Kellan nodded. "Maybe we can make a deal with him for it," she began, but Midnight shook her head.

  "No way. If it's the data he's worried about, there's no way for him to know we're not double-dealing, that we won't sell the data to someone else after we take his money."

  "Frag," Kellan muttered. "What are we going to
do?"

  "I've got an idea," Midnight began, but Kellan's phone rang. When the elf nodded for her to take the call, Kellan pulled out her phone and checked the ID before answering. It was G-Dogg.

  "Kel," he said.

  "Hey, G-Dogg," she interjected, "I'm kinda busy ..."

  "Null sheen. I just wanted to tell you, Akimura reached out directly to me to say he's looking to set up a meeting with you."

  "What?" The look on Kellan's face made Midnight cock her head in curiosity.

  "He wants a meeting."

  "G-Dogg, he got the Halloweeners to try and burn me and now he wants to meet? Forget it!" Midnight's eyes narrowed a bit as she realized who and what Kellan was talking about.

  "Yeah, it has ambush written all over it," G-Dogg said, "but I figured you should know. Funny thing is, Akimura pretended not to know anything about that biz with the Halloweeners."

  "Did you believe him?"

  "Nah. But I don't know what his game is. You in over your head, kid?"

  Kellan thought about how to answer that, but realized she really wasn't sure. She looked at Midnight for a moment.

  "Thanks, G," she said. "It's frosty. Let me know if you hear anything else, 'kay?"

  "You bet," he said, and Kellan hung up.

  "Akimura wants a meeting," she told Midnight quietly. "He contacted G-Dogg."

  "And what does G-Dogg think?"

  "That it's a setup."

  Midnight's mouth quirked in a hint of a smile. "No kidding."

  "You said you had an idea?"

  Midnight nodded. "Yeah. Let's get the frag out of town for a while."

  "Run?"

  "Hell, yeah!" Midnight said. "Do you want to wait around while somebody lines up another shot?" When Kellan shook her head, Midnight continued, "While I was trying to find out more about Akimura, I ran across another job I think we'd be perfect for—one that gets us out of the metroplex for a while, maybe long enough for things to cool down and for Akimura to give up and head back to New Orleans."

  "Where and for how long?"

  "Tir Tairngire," the elf said with a smile, "for at least a few days, maybe longer. What do you think? Feel like a visit to elf-land?"

  Jackie Ozone settled comfortably into her reclining chair and pressed the connector cable into the jack at her temple. It slid easily into place with a faint click, and she rested her cyberdeck on her lap, within easy reach of her fingertips. Already she could feel an electric tingle of anticipation, as well as the initial synching of her nervous system with the simsense interface.

  She tapped the go key, and a wall of silver-gray static momentarily engulfed her senses. She felt weightless, formless in a mysterious void. Then, just as suddenly, the world came back into focus, even sharper and clearer than usual—more real than mere reality.

  In Jackie Ozone's place stood the cartoon image of a young girl of Japanese heritage with large, liquid eyes and dark flowing hair held back by a headband etched with circuit diagrams. Her flowing white dress fluttered and shimmered in a nonexistent wind.

  She stood under an ebony sky crisscrossed with neon lines, and spangled with lights like stars. High overhead orbited pyramids, pagodas and whirling satellites. The land to the horizon was like smooth black glass, etched with glowing lines and circuit patterns. Cubes and polygons of pure white and in a rainbow of colors hovered just above the ground. They represented the myriad host systems of the Seattle Matrix, familiar territory to Jackie. The virtual reality of the Matrix was the decker's playground, battleground and home. With the cyberdeck's systems interpreting computer inputs as sensory data, a decker could interact with the virtual world as if it were real, but without the limitations of the real world.

  Jackie stepped onto a dataline and, in a rush of movement, zoomed at the speed of pulses of light through endless kilometers of spun fiber-optic cable. In seconds, the vista of the Matrix shifted and she found herself elsewhere, standing beside a small, spinning white pyramid. There was nothing to distinguish it from any of the endless other systems, which was just as it was supposed to be. Jackie's virtual persona brushed a hand across the pyramid's smooth surface, her cyberdeck communicating a complex encrypted key to the host system. The pyramid opened, unfolding into a doorway, and she stepped through.

  The Shadowland system was one of several pirate and underground data havens catering to the needs of those specializing in information: finding it, acquiring it and, most importantly, selling it to those willing to meet their price.

  Beyond the doorway was a virtual representation of a bar, its surfaces all polished black marble highlighted by veins of white and silver, tables of gleaming chrome and smoked glass, and booths of dark, polished wood and soft black leather. It was filled with a menagerie of characters drawn from history and fiction, dream and nightmare. They chatted in an unintelligible buzz of conversation as ice clinked in thick glasses. Privacy protocols made it impossible to hear any conversation but your own.

  Jackie spotted her contact immediately. Even though some patrons of the bar sat alone, as if waiting to meet someone, every persona was unique, custom-crafted and coded by deckers who made their own rules. Except one. This individual's persona didn't prove a reckless disregard for programming protocols, or show off an individual flair and attitude. This persona was a standard, realistic representation of a woman hidden behind a nondescript dark suit and stylish sunglasses—the very image of corporate conformity. The perfect mask of her face didn't betray the annoyance in her tone as Jackie slid into the booth opposite her.

  "I hope this is important," she said tartly. "I don't like meeting here."

  "Only you can be the judge of that," Jackie replied, "but I think you'll find that it's worth your trouble."

  "If this information is so important, then we should meet someplace more secure."

  "Trust me, Eve, there is no place more secure than Shadowland."

  Jackie's contact considered that for a moment. Then she nodded curtly.

  "All right, what have you got?"

  "A name. Toshiro Akimura."

  Although the features of Eve's persona lacked the refinement necessary to make her thoughts visible on her face, Jackie was an expert at reading reactions during conversations in the Matrix. The pause before Eve replied, and the way she steadied her voice when she did, told Jackie a great deal.

  "What about him?"

  Jackie shook her head. "No free samples."

  "Just a name isn't worth much," Eve scoffed.

  "Well, I guess I could find out if anyone else in the company is interested . . ." Jackie replied.

  There was barely a pause before Eve responded. "What do you want?"

  Jackie's persona beamed an impossibly wide smile.

  "Twice the usual finder's fee, plus first shot at any follow-up work based on this."

  "The usual fee plus twenty-five percent, plus a bonus, if what you've got is worth it."

  "Done."

  Eve's persona reached into her suit jacket and withdrew a small card, which she slid across the table. When Jackie's persona picked it up, her cyberdeck accepted a download of data from Eve's system, which contained the requisite codes to access the funds she had just unlocked as part of their deal. Eve waited while Jackie checked to make sure the data was correct.

  "So?" she asked.

  "Akimura is in Seattle."

  "Why?"

  "I don't know that yet, but I know it has something to do with Kellan Colt. He's been trying to set up a meeting with her. He also apparently paid one of the downtown gangs to cause her trouble—either a genuine hit that failed or a successful attempt to scare her."

  "Colt? The girl from that cargo acquisition?" Eve asked. "What would Akimura want with some punk-kid shadowrunner? Did she do something to cross him?"

  "I don't know yet."

  "You don't know much, do you?"

  "I know you lost track of Akimura and that you didn't know he was in Seattle, and I know that I can find out more, if you're interest
ed."

  "I'm interested," Eve said, "but I need all the details next time we meet. I want proof Akimura is here. I want to know why he's here, what he's doing, and the name of everyone involved in his biz, and I want to know if it gives us a shot at him."

  Jackie nodded. "No worries. I'll come up with the data."

  "I'm glad you brought this one to me, Jackie. I won't forget this. If it pans out, I'll see to it you're properly rewarded."

  "Always a pleasure doing business with you," Jackie said, as their personas both slid out of the booth and stood. "I'll have more soon."

  "Good hunting," Eve said, then turned and walked out of the bar. Jackie did the same before logging off the system and the Matrix.

  She felt heavy as the sensation of her real body returned. She slowly opened her eyes, blinking against the perceived brightness of her room's subdued lighting as her pupils adjusted.

  She checked her cred balance again just to make sure everything was in order. It would be even fatter after she tracked down more information for Eve. The company woman played it cool, but Jackie could tell she was actually excited about this intel. It was a pretty rare event for one of Cross Applied Technologies' top agents to go rogue. It was even rarer that he lived to enjoy his freedom, and the company had to be very interested in finding out if the apparently untouchable Toshiro Akimura was potentially vulnerable. So would Akimura's other enemies, for that matter.

  Yes, this promised to be a profitable operation. She would pass on some of what she found out to Kellan, so that her friend could keep her head down and stay out of the line of fire. Kellan was a good kid, but she just hadn't developed the chops yet for facing off against a fixer of Akimura's caliber—not face him and hope to survive the encounter. Jackie didn't want to see her get hurt, and this way it seemed like she could protect her friend and rake in the nuyen at the same time.

  Settling the cyberdeck comfortably in her lap once more, Jackie called up the system's display mode, overlaying floating screens of data on her vision, and began figuring out sources to track down why a shadow fixer who operated mostly in New Orleans was in Seattle, and what his interest might be in a young shadowrunner like Kellan Colt.