“I see age hasn’t dulled your thinking, Petra,” Antonio joked dryly.
“Now, now, Admiral. Let us walk before we run. I don’t think we are quite at the point where you can make fun of my advanced years. Besides, I only have a dozen more years than you, though you do carry them better. You’re also avoiding my question.”
“My apologises, Madam Secretary.” Antonio replied contritely, but not too much. Soetemeyer’s reprimand had none of its customary bite to it. “We agree. This has none of the Rebellions MO to it. It’s far too high profile for one thing. Also Carter has unearthed a Hacker of extraordinary talent. He or she got into the security system of the hotel the Pomykala’s were kidnapped from and removed any trace of Carter and her accomplices.”
“They deleted the footage?”
“No. Even better than that; as the system has multiple redundancies to prevent any deletion, the Hacker merely prevented the system from seeing certain people. Say we were being recorded right now. Someone watching the live footage would not see anything wrong, but when you went back to look at the record, all you would see of me, for example, would be a solid black shape. It doesn’t even match up with a person’s limbs. We can’t use body language or dimensions to identify them. All you see is a black blob.”
“Can we do that?”
“No, Madam Secretary,” Wioletta answered. “When the Captain in charge of the Devil team told me this, I checked with our top tech people as I’d never come across it before. They confirmed, with all the in-depth security on any system, it should be impossible. I ordered them to scramble a team to Blaze as soon as possible. They should be leaving on board the Wasp tonight. Unfortunately it will have been almost a hundred days since the kidnapping. It’s very unlikely they’ll find anything.”
“And where did she find this Hacker?”
“We don’t know.” Antonio said, shaking his head. “She is very good at pulling the right people together. She handpicked every member of Shadow Company since day one. They never failed a single mission under her leadership. Neither have they under her successor Major Forlani.”
“Now we are sure, we need to initiate a nationwide hunt,” Soetemeyer said. “She is undoubtedly returning here and could well already be on planet, but there is no point in narrowing our focus merely to this system. All the Pantheon’s forces must be used to find and eliminate her.”
“It’s not quite that simple, Petra,” Antonio told her.
“What do you mean? I know we need to keep Prometheus under wraps and she can’t be linked with Furioso, but we now have enough distance from it to create a new cover story.”
“We can’t let the Legion know she’s still alive.” Antonio could see the aged politician reacting to the hesitancy in his voice and kept going, not letting her interrupt. “While she was dead, it wasn’t a problem and it is why I didn’t bring this up. Carter has something of a reputation within the Legion. Almost every recruit knows of her.”
“I thought she was some secret super soldier. That’s what you told us and that’s what you told the President.”
The grimace of Antonio’s face was entirely involuntary. He couldn’t stop it at the mention of the President. It was the equivalent of Family members threatening to bring the Family Head in over a minor indiscretion.
“As a Commando Devil, she was kept very secret, but stories got out, as they do. Rumours became myths and myths became legends until the legend had a name. Battleborn.”
“Battleborn! Carter’s fucking Battleborn?!” Soetemeyer was well known for her vindictiveness and spiteful chastisements, but in over eighty years, he had never seen her as angry and red in the face as now. “That’s some nonsense made up by soldiers telling war stories, like men lying about the size of their dicks!”
Out of the corner of his eye, Antonio saw Wioletta sit back. She was trying to stay as far out of this as she could and he didn’t blame her. He could handle Soetemeyer if he had to, but it would be bloody, both in the political and literal sense. Keeping his voice as calm and even as he could, he tried to explain.
“With her abilities, stories were always going to be told. I knew it needed to be managed, so she was always placed in units where discretion was a given. They never named names or anything of any sensitive nature. The stories were just that, stories, and, as these things do, they grew with each retelling. The Legion took pride in Battleborn, it was something for them to aspire to and it’s a good thing.”
“Until that inspiration gets murdered along with her entire family by the Zeus Police!”
“Exactly. It was the Legion’s response to that act, I initially feared when Wioletta told me about the attack on Carter’s home. There are enough people in the Legion who know Valerie Carter is Battleborn. It could have ignited the entire Legion against us, making Furioso look like a children’s argument in comparison. When we thought she had blown herself up along with the station, I was relieved!”
“It’s even more imperative we stop her. I have no idea why she hasn’t gone to the Legion before now but if, no, when she realises, it will be a disaster.”
“I think she has been so wrapped up in her need for personal satisfaction, she has not thought of a more large scale response and you’re right. She has to be eliminated, but quietly, and to do it, Wioletta and I have put together a plan. Wioletta?”
The junior Admiral leaned forward, back into the conversation. “Yes, Madam Secretary. We have put together a profile for one of Bacc’s terrorists, with the cover of only having DNA trace evidence of their identity. It will of course be Carter’s DNA from her file and, without a name or any other identifying flag, we can send this nationwide as you suggested. Without anyone realising who we are really hunting.”
“And you want me to put this through the civilian security agencies, I take it?”
Antonio nodded. “Yes, Madam Secretary. That way it doesn’t look like the Legion is hunting one of its own.”
“Very well. I’ll make sure it gets done.” The anger had clearly cooled as her mind took back control and she sighed. “In all honesty, Antonio. What do you think are our chances of catching her before she strikes again?”
“Normally?” Antonio shook his head. “Slim to none. She is simply that good. Fortunately we know what she wants and ultimately who her target is. What we need to do, is intercept her before she gets to Julian September, but if it comes to it, we’ll surround him with a Heavy Mech division and dare her to try and get to him. One way or the other, we will stop her.”
CHAPTER NINE
“It all looks the same,” Hanna said, looking out the window.
Valerie smiled as she drove the wheelie van through the Zeus Ghetto.
“Unfortunately, that’s true throughout the Pantheon. I thought you two looked this up on the datanet back on Blaze?”
“We did,” Deni answered. “But it’s a different planet! Surely it should at least feel like it?”
“It certainly feels colder,” Hanna said with a visible shiver. “That’s for sure and when does it stop raining?” The skies opened not long after they got off the cargo shuttle. All three were drenched finding the vehicle Valerie bought outside the spaceport. The rain was still falling two hours later.
Valerie managed to get a look up between the drab forty storey buildings at the dark clouds hanging overhead.
“There’s not much wind. Probably not for a couple more hours I would guess. Olympus has a more temperate atmosphere than Blaze and much larger oceans. You tend to get rain in Zeus at least once or twice a week, sometimes more. I know you girls are used to the annual wet season, rather than the more regular rain storms, but trust me, it won’t hurt you, it’s only water.”
The van had three seats in the front and they all sat in a line. Valerie on the right, driving, Hanna in the middle and Deni on the left. Valerie saw Hanna slump down into her jacket with a very audible “Humph.” Deni grinned over her friend at Valerie and it reminded her distinctly they were both teenagers.
She tried not to laugh.
Clearing her throat in an attempt to stifle the chuckle, Valerie asked. “How are we doing, Deni?”
“A few more klicks,” Deni consulted her wristcomp’s map. “If we continue up this street for one point two kilometres, then take a left turn down Franklyn Gardens. It should be down there.” They were heading to a safe house Sneaker gave them. He purchased it through his contact on the freighter’s crew, when they made sure the route was safe to use. The details were sketchy, none of them knew what they were going to find.
Out on the streets people moved about and cars passed in the opposite direction. Valerie agreed with the girls. If it wasn’t for the weather, they really could be back in Inferno. Even the clothes the Manuals wore were the same. In all probability, they were made in identical factories, to identical specifications, to save money. With no real competition and with built in biodegrading shelf lives, there was no need for the Privileged owners to spend time and money on different designs.
“Here we are,” Deni said pointing. “Next left.”
Without Deni navigating or using a wristcomp’s route finder, it would have been almost impossible for Valerie to find the right road. There were no street signs and they all looked identical. She turned where Deni indicated. The traffic was lighter on this street and they made good progress.
“It’s up on the right by the look of it, fifty metres, and after these two buildings. It’s set back from the road a bit I think.”
Peering through the rain, Valerie thanked her superior eyesight. There were no visual enhancers on the van. Exactly as Deni said, the buildings came to an end and there was an open permacrete yard. Valerie pulled into it.
“That’s just perfect,” Hanna groaned and Valerie agreed with her. It seemed Sneaker’s contact had purchased an old, rundown vehicle workshop and it looked like it hadn’t been used in years.
“Well it’s permacrete at least. We can be sure the roof won’t leak.” Valerie said as she tried to sound upbeat.
“Oh, brilliant. We left our nice comfy flat for this, Deni.”
“Come on, Hanna. We’ve lived in worse. Remember the place we used to crash in on Ketelmeer row? That didn’t have a roof.”
“Alright, alright. Stop trying to cheer me up. Can we at least drive in?”
“We need to open the doors first,” Valerie said shaking her head. “I want to check it’s clear and no one is crashing there before we do that. Pistols out, girls.” Valerie’s Tea Chest was in the back of the van in its smugglers crate, along with the rest of their gear. They armed themselves before leaving the spaceport. “I’ll go in and check it out. You stay here and keep an eye out.”
They both nodded. Valerie swung the vans door open and stepped out in the rain. She kept her speed to a normal persons sprint and ran to the door. It was a mechanical lock and the key she had been given actually worked. The door was stiff and unused, groaning as she pulled it open.
Ignoring the rain, Valerie stood with the door ajar listening. Not hearing any response to the noise from the door, she stepped in. It was dark inside and she entered at the side of the main workshop. Several old, degrading wheelies sat up on the ramps, with more at the back in the dark. A thick layer of dust covered everything, including the floor. Valerie could easily tell from the lack of footprints, no one had been in this part of the building in a long time.
The workshop went to the top of the two storey building and took up half the floor space. The back and left hand portions of the building had a ground and second floor. Unusually, all the internal walls were made of permacrete and not the much cheaper and flimsier polycarb. Not wanting to alert anyone by using the building’s lights, Valerie trusted her own senses and made a quick sweep of the ground floor rooms. They were also empty of any signs of use, but the place had obviously been left in a hurry at one point. There were a lot of old engines, spare parts and tools left lying around. Valerie even found a fully equipped machine shop in the back, the machinery presumably too big to remove easily.
Happy no one had been in the ground floor seemingly since the last owners abandoned it, Valerie headed up the only stairs, on the left hand side of the shop floor, by the door she entered through. She found more of the same on the second floor, but also there were signs of human habitation. A couple of old mattresses, discarded clothes were scatted about and a corner used for a toilet by someone.
None of it looked recent and Valerie couldn’t help smile. Hanna would moan bitterly when she told her to clear it up. What worried her, was how they got in. With no sign of them downstairs, they must have found another entrance. Right at the back, in the far left corner, Valerie saw a window boarded up with a polycarb sheet. It looked secure from a distance, but as she gave it a closer inspection, she could see it was loose.
Pulling it aside, she looked out. Under the window were piles of crates. They weren’t close enough to allow someone access, but she guessed they might have been in the past. The crates must have fallen down at some point. Whoever squatted here hadn’t been able to get back in.
Satisfied it was safe for the girls to come in, Valerie went back to the shop floor and tried one of the bay doors. The switches didn’t do anything and after trying the building’s lights, she realised the power was off. Not knowing if it just needed switching back on or something more serious, she opened up the side panel of one of the doors.
The design was older than the hyperspace drive by centuries. A chain ran down each side and attached to the roll up door. All she needed to do was unhook the motor and haul on the chain herself. It resisted at first, years of grime and lack of maintenance held it in place, but it was no match for her powerful muscles.
With a high pitched screech reverberating around the workshop and making Valerie wince, as it hurt her enhanced ears, the door rolled up. Holding it in place with one hand, Valerie waved to the van. Whoever took the driver’s seat flashed the lights and it rolled silently inside.
The girls got out and Valerie closed the bay behind them. She saw Hanna take a long look around with raised eyebrows before turning to Valerie.
“What’s the plan, Guv?” Now she was here, the girl was all business. They may well be teenagers, but they learnt a long time ago when it was time to make a fuss and when to get down to work.
“I’m in no rush, we need to establish ourselves first. That means power, water and living quarters. Deni, get to work on the electrics. Find out why there isn’t any and fix it if you can. Hanna, get us unpacked and set up our stuff in one of the back rooms upstairs. It’s the most defensible and with a little work, has a ready-made back door. I’ll inventory what we need.”
“No problem,” Hanna said. “How long are we planning on staying?”
“We could be here some time. Without the Crew and the network we had on Blaze, you don’t break into a Privileged building overnight. We’ll have to build ourselves up a bit first, and gain intel on our local neighbourhood, before branching out.”
“Surely the longer we stay,” Deni said. “The more chance we have of being caught?”
“If they were going to get us, it would have been at the spaceport. That’s where they checked our DNA ID’s and Scribe’s passports worked. If they didn’t, the Zeus police, if not a company of Devil’s, would have already hit us. As long as we lie low and stay out of the Privileged areas, we’ll be safe enough.”
“Makes sense,” Deni said with a shrug. “Power it is.” She opened the back of the van and pulled out her tool belt and Hanna grabbed their bags.
CHAPTER TEN
People moved in all directions down the wide boulevard causeway deep inside Solopaca Tower. Expensive boutique shops lined both sides, people sauntering back and forth wherever the whim took them. On average, each of them would spend enough this day to feed a Manual family of five for a year. It mattered little to those who considered themselves to be the Privileged. They had the sovereigns to spare. Why shouldn’t they indulge themselves?
Throug
h this crowd of decadence walked a man at ease. His clothes could have easily come from these very same stores. In fact they were purchased in a similar shopping boulevard within a tower in a completely different system. He always made a point of not buying his clothes locally. In a world of seemingly infinite wealth, you needed to find uniqueness elsewhere if you wanted to stand out from the crowd.
Patrick Dorme moved with confidence in his immaculately tailored light cream suit. A number of the women around gave him more than a passing glance, along with a few of the men. Patrick smiled back at them all. It was a well-practised smile saying ‘I would love to stop and talk but unfortunately I can’t right now. If only we met another time.’
He knew, at one hundred and ninety centimetres tall, with his wavy blond hair, blue eyes and handsome rugged features, he was entitled to those looks. Broad shoulders and a well-toned physique, coupled with the tasteful clothes, gave him the image of the well-to-do man about town.
Some way ahead of him, a woman walked alone. The bag, from the shop he saw her leave ten minutes before, in her hand at her side. Slowly he reeled in the distance between them. Attractive, long brown hair and with superb legs, she obviously relished showing off, the woman was certainly his type. Her early thirties looks showed she was of a similar age to himself, passing her bi-centenary sometime in the last fifty years.
She also received several admiring looks. Unlike him she ignored them and continued on her way. The ring on her finger declaring her devotion to her life partner. The package would be for them no doubt. A trinket or something more substantial to celebrate their relationship.
The woman began to angle her walk to the right, so she was heading towards the aircar park. From there she would fly to her own tower and surprise her partner with the gift. Dorme stayed with her and he was now only metres behind. A welcoming smile lit up his face as he said her name.
Crusade For Vengeance (Dark Vengeance Book 2) Page 8
