Shadowrun 43 - Fallen Angels

by Stephen Kenson

  "It certainly wasn't what Timothy thought I was going for, though I suppose the file could be embarrassing to the senior Telestrian if put into the right hands."

  "Except you never meant to turn it over to him. Did you even set up a meeting with him to deliver the chip?"

  Midnight's silence was all the answer Kellan needed.

  "You wanted us to get out of there because you sold out Orion to Telestrian and knew they were on their way."

  "I didn't particularly want him to come in the first place," Midnight said. "But it did prove useful to have some meat to throw to the dogs."

  "You . . ." Kellan spun back toward Midnight.

  She wasn't sure which stopped her faster, the sound of the gunshot or the swift kick that followed it, hitting Kellan in her midsection and doubling her over on the rocky ground. She heard the hammer draw back on Midnight's gun as she coughed and tried to catch her breath. Reflexively, she felt for blood, for any sign of a wound.

  "Don't worry," Midnight said with a tone of contempt. "That was a warning shot. But that's your only one, Kellan. I'm not some fragging little girl playing shadowrunner. If you do as you're told, you might get to walk away from this. If not . . ." she shrugged, keeping the gun leveled at Kellan. "Now get up and keep walking."

  Kellan struggled back to her feet, and they continued up the slope of the mountain.

  "How far are we from this cave?" Orion asked as they hiked up the mountain.

  "Not too far. We should be there pretty soon," Akimura replied, consulting a portable GPS. "Assuming the weather holds out," he added, glancing up at the dark clouds gathered overhead.

  "I think it will," Lothan replied, breathing heavily. "I suspect it has accomplished what it was supposed to do. It's more a question of whether or not I'll hold out." The old troll was physically powerful, but not exactly built for climbing. He leaned heavily on his staff as they clambered along. Orion had taken point, and had to resist the urge to rush ahead. Only Akimura knew exactly where they were going—plus, there was no telling what other surprises might be waiting for them on the way.

  "Do you know what Midnight is planning to do?" Lothan asked Akimura, and he shrugged.

  "Something involving the spirit Marc bound in the cave. You're the expert, but I would guess that with Marc's research notes and the amulet he used as part of the ritual, she should be able to accomplish something, even though she doesn't have the Talent."

  "Possibly," Lothan muttered. "It depends on a great many factors. I knew there was something nagging at me about that blasted amulet! I had never seen a focus quite like it before. Because it wasn't exactly a focus, merely invested with spiritual energy—and a considerable amount of it, at that. The ritual also is like nothing I've seen before. It's quite daring— shouldn't even be possible without the kind of interface between the astral and physical planes Dr. Thierault discusses. Under the right circumstances, it's just possible that Midnight might be able to use these components to some end. Assuming she hasn't also been concealing magical talents from me all this time."

  "I don't think so," Akimura said with a bitter smile. "Midnight has her secrets, but I don't think she includes magic among them."

  "Which suggests she'll leave Kellan unharmed for the moment."

  Orion's heart leapt at that conclusion, and he turned back to glance at Lothan.

  "Ya think?" G-Dogg asked, and Lothan nodded heavily.

  "Midnight may be many things, but she's not stupid. If she needs a magician for whatever she intends to accomplish, she'll have Kellan along, and she'll try to convince her to do it, one way or another."

  "And if she doesn't?" Orion asked. Lothan's look told him all he needed to know, and he turned and began heading up the incline again.

  "And what's our plan when we catch up with them?" G-Dogg asked.

  "We persuade Midnight to let Kellan go," Lothan replied.

  "Forcefully, if necessary," Akimura added.

  G-Dogg grinned. "Hey, fine by me."

  Orion scanned the mountain slope ahead. The trees were still heavy enough to make it difficult to see very far, though the darkness posed little problem for him. Elven eyes could see a considerable distance, even by the light of only the moon and stars.

  He paused and slowed his progress, allowing the others to catch up. As Akimura approached, Orion dropped his voice so no one could overhear them.

  "I think I saw someone watching us from higher ground, around two o'clock," he said, careful not to look in that direction.

  Akimura glanced down, as if consulting the GPS unit, then up ahead of them, eyes flicking in the direction Orion indicated.

  "You sure?" he asked quietly, and Orion nodded.

  "As sure as I can be."

  Akimura called a halt, making it look as if he was showing the others something on the GPS readout as he spoke quietly.

  "Orion says he thinks he saw somebody watching us from ahead near the tree line. I think we should head north-northwest to get out of sight, and try to circle back around."

  "What about Kellan?" Orion asked. "We can't waste time playing games."

  "We're not going to do her any good if we walk into an ambush," Lothan replied. "I may be able to do us one better once we get out of sight."

  "All right." Akimura pointed off in their new direction. Hopefully, whoever was watching would assume they were making a correction in their course, still following their map or positioning system.

  Orion fought the urge to look again at the place where he had spotted the watcher. He waited until they had moved off a ways before allowing his gaze to drift back in that direction, scanning slowly across. A few minutes later, he again spoke quietly to the rest of the team.

  "I don't see anyone," he said, "and we're out of sight of the place where I spotted our watcher."

  "A bit further, to be on the safe side," Lothan said. In a few minutes, they stopped near a large tree, the mage leaning on his staff.

  "Now then," he said, "let's see what sort of company we have." He held out a hand, palm up, closing his eyes and whispering magic words just under his breath. Orion saw the crystal on the Staff of Candor-Brie glow faintly, and a similar glow appeared cupped in Lothan's palm. It grew into a faint, misty ball of light, shimmering in the darkness, before Lothan opened his eyes.

  "Now we'll see what there is to be seen."

  "Won't whoever it is notice?" Orion asked, and Lothan shook his head.

  "Fear not," he replied. Then he gently blew the glowing light off his hand and it zipped off among the trees, fading as it moved until it vanished altogether. "It shall be unseen and unheard to mundane senses," Lothan pronounced. Orion watched it vanish from sight.

  "Now what?"

  "We wait," Lothan said.

  "We should keep moving . . ." Orion began, but Akimura shook his head.

  "Not until we have a better idea what we're dealing with. We could be walking right into trouble."

  "How long is this going to take?" G-Dogg asked.

  "Not long," Lothan said over his shoulder. "The watcher will do a quick recon and then report back to me."

  "In the meantime, we should keep a lookout," Akimura said.

  "An admirable idea," a voice said, "if a little late."

  Everyone reached for a weapon, but paused at the same instant as dark-clad figures emerged from the shadows, their weapons trained on the shadowrunners. The faint red traceries of laser sights glimmered in the darkness around them, and Orion slowly removed his hand from the grip of his pistol, keeping it out where they could see it. The others did likewise.

  "It's getting a little crowded around here," said the same voice. "So I agreed it was time to do something about it. Lay that staff down on the ground and step away from it, if you please," he said to Lothan.

  The troll mage glowered, but did as he was instructed, setting his staff down and taking a step back as he straightened up. A moment later, the faintly glowing ball of light zoomed back toward him from the trees, bobbing
excitedly near Lothan's horned head.

  "Do ya think it found them?" G-Dogg asked in an acid tone, and Lothan's frown deepened. He dismissed the tiny spirit with a flick of his hand, making the light vanish with a barely audible popping sound.

  "Who are you?" Orion asked.

  Akimura, standing near the elf warrior, silently regarded the black-clad figure apparently leading this team. His voice was familiar, and it was a moment before Akimura was sure the man didn't recognize him. After all, I've changed quite a bit since then. Considering the reconstructive surgery and facial alterations he'd undergone, he didn't think he would be recognized as long as he kept quiet. It was vital that Gabriel not recognize him. In this place, even after so long, being recognized by a fellow Seraphim operative could easily be fatal.

  "I think it's better for you not to ask too many questions," replied Gabriel, emphasizing his point by indicating his weapon. Orion ignored the man's advice.

  "Are you working with Midnight?" he asked.

  "I don't think so," Lothan answered thoughtfully, looking them over. "They're corporate shadow ops."

  Akimura's face didn't betray his thoughts, but his mind was racing. How had Cross found out about what was going on in Tir Tairngire tonight? He considered and discarded possibilities at a rapid-fire pace, and wondered what he might be able to do about the situation.

  "What are you going to do with us?" Orion asked. The elf was tense with barely pent-up energy, and Akimura wondered what the chances were that he would make a move. If he did, the whole team was dead.

  "That's not my decision," Gabriel said. "But if you cooperate, then you have a chance to survive this. If not . . ." He shrugged slightly, his weapon remaining steady on its target.

  "Surely it's not a coincidence that a corporate team is here in Tir Tairngire tonight," Lothan observed.

  "We have our sources and our reasons," Gabriel said. "I could say the same about you. In fact, why don't you tell me what you're doing here?" The shad-owrunners exchanged silent glances. "Remember what I said about being cooperative?" Gabriel added, emphasizing his words by inclining his head toward the other shadow ops.

  The dark-suited executive assistant squinted against the backwash of the turbofans as the company VTOL landed on the pad atop the Cross Applied Technologies headquarters in Montreal, in the independent nation of Quebec. The gold-circled cross logo gleamed from the craft's side in the reflected illumination of the same logo on the side of the building, shining out over the city skyline. He scampered toward the craft as the fans slowed, the wind started to die down, and the side hatch opened to allow the woman wearing fashionably conservative business attire to step out onto the landing pad.

  "Ms. Henshaw!" he called. "I'm Carter LaValle, assistant to Monsieur Cross. Welcome to Quebec." He spoke slightly accented English.

  "Thank you," she replied with a nod.

  "Arrangements for the meeting have been made," LaValle said. "If you'll come with me, I'll take you straight to the conference room."

  Eve allowed LaValle to lead the way inside the building and to the bank of executive elevators that would take them to the conference room, where she would make her presentation. She allowed herself to savor the experience of passing through the uppermost executive levels of the corporate headquarters, guided by one of the CEO's personal assistants. If all went well, she could look forward to this sort of treatment as her due. She still hadn't decided whether she should ask to take over all covert operations in western North America, or focus on the more active eastern half, where Cross' primary rival, Ares Macrotechnology, was headquartered. Seattle offered opportunities, but beyond the UCAS enclave, Cross interests tended to taper off.

  The elevator glided smoothly to the appointed floor, the doors opening with a faint pneumatic hiss and a musical chime. LaValle guided her along the carpeted hall to a private conference room, holding the door open for her to enter.

  The room was larger than most apartments in Seattle. The far wall appeared to be floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the vista of the city of Montreal, but Eve knew they were actually holographic crystal matrices layered over the walls, projecting an image of the view on the far side of the heavily reinforced exterior wall. Real windows, even bulletproof ones, were too much of a security risk in this part of the building.

  The conference table was oak, stained with a warm finish, surrounded by comfortable chairs covered in soft leather. A sideboard offered refreshments, while the opposite wall was dominated by a wide flatscreen display and wood-finish cabinets concealing sophisticated electronics: voice operated communications and multimedia equipment, all linked with the company's computer network and the building's internal systems.

  "Please make yourself comfortable, and prepare whatever materials you need," LaValle told her as she was taking in the room. "Monsieur Cross will join you shortly for the meeting. If you should need anything, please let me know."

  Eve thanked him, and the assistant withdrew, closing the door behind him. She allowed herself a moment to sink into one of the chairs at the table, enjoying the comfort of it after the long flight from Seattle to Montreal. She was tired, but felt elated, charged with excitement, and she quickly tucked her carryall under the table, withdrawing her pocket secretary and flipping open the cover.

  It took only a moment to access her secure node on the company's main server in preparation for retrieving the data files she had prepared for the meeting. The system asked for her passcode a second time, so Eve entered it again—she must have mis-keyed the first time in her eagerness to get ready. This time, the system accepted it and gave her access. She pulled up the files and opened the program she needed to connect to the conference-room display. While she waited for Mr. Cross to arrive, she reviewed her notes. A few minutes later, the conference room door opened and Eve stood, pushing back her chair.

  A woman wearing sunglasses and a dark suit entered the room. Her blond hair was short and slicked back, making her look almost plastic. She scanned the room with a quick but professional glance before stepping aside to allow LaValle and two other men to enter behind her. Eve didn't recognize one of them, but she instantly knew the other.

  Lucien Cross, the founder and CEO of Cross Applied Technologies, had the distinguished and mature look appropriate for a man in his position, but his age seemed to hover at an indeterminate point somewhere between late thirties and late forties, thanks to the wonders of modern medicine and magic. His dark hair was immaculately swept back from a high forehead. The traces of gray at his temples and in his neatly trimmed beard could have been affectations, and were certainly there by choice. The same was true of the lines around his eyes, the corners of his mouth, and across his brow. His whole persona spoke of a man in complete control of everything around him, including his image. Cross wore a hand-tailored suit, a crisp white shirt and a silk tie. His only other ornamentation consisted of the heavy ring he wore on his right hand and the polished chrome of the datajack discreetly located behind his right ear.

  "Ms. Henshaw," he said in a deep, unaccented voice. "You understand this meeting will be necessarily brief."

  "Of course, sir," she replied respectfully, as Cross' bodyguard closed the door behind them and took up a position beside it.

  "It wouldn't be happening at all," Cross continued, "if what you related in your proposal was not so promising."

  "Yes, sir," she answered. Cross and his companion took up seats at the conference table directly across from Eve, facing the display screen on the far wall. LaValle stood behind and slightly to the left of Cross, dataslate in one hand. Eve remained standing and, at a nod from Lucien Cross, she began.

  Akimura spoke up before any of the others could reply. He nodded his head toward the peak of the mountain. "There's a cave up there where a powerful spirit is trapped," he said in a voice that sounded far more like a native speaker of Japanese than his usual diction. None of his companions reacted to the change, as if they didn't notice it.

  "A
nd you're looking to free it?" Gabriel asked.

  He shook his head. "Just the opposite. We're looking to make sure it stays there."

  "On whose behalf?"

  "I'd say it's in everyone's best interests," Akimura replied.

  "I'd guess the two ladies ahead of you disagree."

  "You've seen them?" Orion asked, and Gabriel seemed to notice him again. There was a fractional pause, then he nodded.

  "We've been keeping the area under surveillance," he said, returning his gaze to Akimura. "So whom do they work for, and whom do you represent?"

  A howl of wind blasted through the trees, shaking branches and scattering dead leaves in front of it. Gabriel's team didn't waver in covering the shadowrun-ners, but everyone in the clearing looked up at the dark clouds rolling across the sky.

  "So you can see," Eve concluded, the screen on the far wall displaying a satellite map of the Pacific Northwest, with a slightly smaller inset focusing on the elven nation of Tir Tairngire, "we have a prime opportunity—" She paused when Mr. Cross held up a hand, indicating he had heard enough.

  "Michael?" he said to the man sitting at his right hand. This second man had remained silent since entering the room, and Eve had ignored him, assuming he was another assistant or junior executive. Now she looked past the studiously bland exterior and saw a penetrating intellect. She felt sure that this man had missed no detail, no implication of what she had presented. He took a pocket secretary from inside his jacket and manipulated the controls for a moment. The wall display responded to what he was doing, and Eve watched as the information she had acquired was run at optical processing speeds through comparative analysis.

  "The genetic map and physiological data is a match for our records, sir," Michael told Cross, poring over the palmtop, "but it has been altered to make it so. The signs of tampering are subtle, but they're there."

  Lucien Cross' eyes narrowed. "Ms. Henshaw?" he asked in a dangerous tone of voice. "Do you have an explanation for this?"

  "I ... I don't, sir, but—"

  "Did it not occur to you to confirm that your information was genuine before deciding to come all the way here to waste my time?"