Crusade For Vengeance (Dark Vengeance Book 2)

by Adrian D. Roberts

  Cracker accepted the mug and took a sip. “Why didn’t you say when you commed?”

  She shrugged in reply. “I asked if everything was alright and she said it was fine. I didn’t think it was my place.”

  “Fair enough. Was Milicevic there?”

  “No, she and Deni went out on some kind of Job I guess. They didn’t say anything to me about it. Hours later, Hanna bursts out of their back area and Deni turns up on her own.”

  “That’s when you saw them rattled.”

  “Yep. Have you heard from Milicevic?”

  “No,” he paused in thought for a moment before nodding. “OK. You mind if we get on with it? It sounds like I really do have a long day ahead of me and I’m sure you want to get some sleep.” He turned away from Anja, heading to one of her sofas. She followed him, her hand sliding open a drawer as casually as she could manage. The Mag pistol’s grip felt warm in her hand as she swung the barrel towards Cracker.

  While the gun was still in motion, Cracker turned towards her. Whatever had kept him alive for so long on the streets, served him well. There was no hesitation. He dived to the side. Anja squeezed the trigger. A burst of three rounds shot in his direction. If he hadn’t moved and still had his back to her, all three would have ripped through his heart. By his quick move, two missed and only one caught him in the shoulder, spraying blood behind him.

  Her second burst all rebounded off the kitchen table in between them. Anja moved to the side, trying to get round4 and finish the kill. With a bellow, the table surged at her, knocking her to the ground and sending the pistol flying across the room. Her head hit the kitchen counter on the way down and lights flashed in her eyes. The heavy table landed on top of her, its weight holding her down.

  Shaking her head, she tried to clear it and shove the table away. She didn’t have the time and Cracker was there. With a single heave, he tossed the table aside and a strong hand grabbed her by the throat. Blood was running freely down his arm, but it didn’t seem to be slowing him down in the slightest.

  Over a head taller and easily double her weight, she was trapped. His thick fingers tightened and she struggled to breathe.

  “Who?” he growled. “Who paid you?” She slammed her fist against his arm with no effect. “I want a name, Anja.” She had somehow forgotten this man had more than a dozen hits under his belt. The proof was clear in front of her face, each kill etched in colourful ink across his arm.

  Gripping that arm desperately with her left, she reached for the blade at the small of her back with her right. His eyes were locked to her own and she might have a chance. Her fingers curled around its hilt. Her heart beat faster when it cleared her back and hummed with white hot fury. Activating it was a mistake, it was all the warning Cracker needed and he easily caught her wrist. He slammed it down on the ground and the knife tumbled from her numb fingers.

  Cracker tossed the blade away, before she could have a chance to go for it again and lifted her from the ground. Darkness was now edging her vision. In only seconds she would black out from lack of oxygen. With his face red in anger, he threw her across the room.

  Anja’s back hit the far wall with a crack, the thin polycarb barely holding together. She bounced off and slumped to the ground. Her breath was ragged as her body sucked in as much oxygen as it could. Anja heard the heavy steps of Cracker approaching. She had made her play and lost. All she could do now was to give up Rapaport and hope it would be enough to spare her.

  Blinking the dust and darkness from her eyes, Anja’s gaze came to rest on the sofa next to her. There underneath it was one of her hidden pistols, right within reach. She moved faster than she ever had in her life, snatching the pistol up and rolling onto her back. She had only a single glimpse of Cracker’s surprised face, before she pulled the trigger and held it down.

  The continuous stream of jagged metal shards hit him squarely in the face. The back of his head exploded. Blood, bone and brains splattered across her ceiling. His headless corpse swayed above her and fell limply to the floor at her side. Collapsing back, Anja dropped the empty Mag pistol to the floor and stared up at the mess above her. Dark red blood dripped down. A large glob of brain matter separated from the rest and hit her on the chest with a wet splat.

  Anja stayed there for a long time, she didn’t think and only listened to the breath rasping in and out of her lungs. A second globule hit, this time across the face and it roused her. Wiping it away with her sleeve, Anja grabbed the side of the sofa and pulled herself to her feet. On unsteady legs, she staggered back to the kitchen and, with shaking hands, she set the coffee maker to full strength.

  A cupboard overhead contained a half empty bottle of whisky. A large dram went into the mug with the coffee. One chair was amazingly still upright and Anja slumped down into it with the coffee in hand.

  It took her quite a while to calm down enough, before she felt she was ready for the next stage. Draining the last of the coffee, she pulled out a burner comp from her pocket. The small cheap computer nestled in the palm of her hand. She’d bought it a couple of weeks ago and never linked it to the datanet. Activating the virtual keyboard, she opened an encryption program and typed in a short message.

  Cracker’s dead. He didn’t know where Milicevic was. We go in two hours.

  She sent the note to a black site mailbox. The encryption wouldn’t stand a chance against Hanna if it caught her attention. With a completely different system like this though, the chance, was they would have the time to attack before Hanna noticed.

  Message sent and everything in motion, Anja looked at the blood on her hands. A shower would be necessary before she went back to the Workshop.

  ***

  “So what do you think, Boss?”

  “Eh?” Deni looked at Cortez with blurry, sleep deprived eyes.

  “The rebuild? Shall I com the owner and tell him to pick it up?”

  “Yeah, yeah. Good job last night and thanks for getting it done. You’ll get double time for the hours.”

  “Thanks.”

  “You earned it, you and Utona. Go home and get some sleep.”

  “Well do, Boss, and if you don’t me saying so, you could do with going back to bed yourself.”

  “Yeah, I didn’t sleep well, but I don’t have the choice. I need to be here.” Deni smiled at the two mechanics and both looked back with concern. It was the normal look the girls got from most of the gang. They all treated them with respect, but it was one purely derived from Valerie. Most acted as though the girls needed their hands held.

  Utona left the office and Deni followed her out, leaving Cortez to com the customer. Leaning on the railing overlooking the shop floor, Deni tried to get her thoughts together. It wasn’t easy. When she got back, Hanna and her went over the events on Ison Island again and again. After two hours of frustrated conversation, arguments and going round and round in circles without any answers, they called it a night. Deni did go to bed, but ended up just lying there, staring at the ceiling, so she got up and came to work.

  The Workshop was running smoothly and at least that was going right. The mechanics were all getting on with their jobs below her. Gregor and Jysella were the Enforcers on duty. Jysella would be in the security office below. Gregor was leaning against one of the Bay doors talking to Anja.

  “Any sign of Cracker?” Hanna asked.

  Deni jerked up in surprise. She was so tired, she hadn’t heard her friend come out of the secure section.

  “No, nothing yet,” she answered with a shake of her head.

  Hanna leant on the railings next to her. “That’s strange, he normally answers pretty quickly and we really need him right now.”

  “I know,” Deni was about to say more, but it would just start them going round in circles again. “Maybe he got held up with something.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Can you track his com? At least we’ll know where he is.”

  “Huh,” Hanna grunted. “Blazes, I’m tired. I should have though
t of that. Let me check.” While her friend was occupied on her wristcomp, Deni’s eyes floated around the Workshop. When they got to the Bay doors she found herself looking right into Anja’s. The other woman looked quickly away. Wasn’t Anja on the night shift last night? Why was she here now?

  “Found him,” Hanna said interrupting Deni’s thoughts. “Hmm, I don’t know that address. Cross referencing with the database and... Oh, it’s Anja’s place. He must have stopped in to see her.”

  Deni’s head snapped back to the pink haired Enforcer. She was staring directly at the girls. For half a heartbeat, Deni and Anja locked eyes. The other woman moved first. Her left elbow struck hard into Gregor’s throat. Her right put a burst of Mag rounds through his chest. Spinning, Anja brought the gun up towards the girls.

  Leaping sideways, Deni shoulder charged her unsuspecting friend. They both went down in a tangle of bodies. Out of the corner of her eye, Deni caught the sight of Cortez taking the shots meant for them. His bloody body dropped back through the door. Rolling off her friend, Deni grabbed Hanna’s jacket and pulled her to her feet. A glance down showed Anja shooting into the security room.

  They had mere moments to get out of the line of fire. Fortunately Hanna had left the door to the back rooms open. Deni hauled her friend through it, slamming the door shut behind them.

  “What the fuck was that!” Hanna shouted.

  “I don’t fucking know, come on.” Deni ran through the second door and Hanna was right behind her. With the second door secure, the girls collapsed onto the floor.

  “Anja just shot at us.” Hanna said in shock. Deni nodded back, she couldn’t find any words. “Why would she do that?” Deni only shook her head. It was as much a surprise to her as to Hanna.

  “Can you access the cameras from in here?”

  “Of course I bloody can.” Hanna lurched to her feet. They ran to Hanna’s work station. In an instant they were watching what was happening outside on a dozen screens. Anja’s surprise was complete. Gregor and Jysella were both lying dead on the floor, along with almost half of the mechanics. The rest were in a group kneeling on the floor.

  “Shit, the kids,” Hanna pointed to the bunk room. Most were out, but two were peeking round the door. Anja must have had the same thought and they saw her turn towards the doorway.

  “You two! Get out here. If I have to come in there, I’ll knee cap the both of you.” The kids took her seriously and slunk out. Their eyes were wary and looking for a way out. It was a look Deni knew very well. She had worn it herself often enough.

  “Get out,” Anja said pointing to the bay door. “Don’t come back and tell your friends that none of you are welcome here again.” The children didn’t waste any time and ran for it. Deni’s heart beat faster, terror for them gripped her, but Anja kept her word.

  “What do we do?” Hanna asked, her fingers flashing over the keys. Codes and information scrolled past on the screen in front of her, too fast for Deni to follow.

  “Get back out there and kill her.” The shock was fading and Deni was angry. First Valerie disappearing and now they were betrayed. Those were her people the traitor had killed and she wanted some payback. “Valerie got us that light armour and trained us to shoot. I say we get out there and show that bitch what we’re capable of.”

  “Hold that thought. I’m into her com and she sent a single short burst signal two seconds after she shot Gregor. It went to, oh shit. Rapaport. It went to Rapaport’s com.”

  “She’s the one behind this? Shit, we need to attack before she makes her move.”

  “Too late,” Hanna pointed to one of the screens. Deni watched several cars pull into the Workshop’s front yard. Men and women piled out, all of them heavily armed. “That’s Orrick, Rapaport’s guy, in the lead and I count twenty others.”

  “Shit, Valerie could take ten to one odds, but we wouldn’t stand a chance.”

  “We need Cracker.”

  “He’s dead,” Deni said shaking her head. “If Anja’s here and he’s not answering, she must have killed him before coming back to the Workshop.”

  “What do we do?”

  “Valerie’s armour?”

  “The FPBA?”

  “Yeah, with that we could take them.”

  “It’s keyed to her DNA.”

  “Can’t you hack it?”

  “Possibly, but do you know how to use it? Because I sure as hades don’t. Besides, I don’t think they’re going to give us the time.” Hanna shifted a view of Anja and Orrick to a central screen.

  “Where are the girls?” Orrick asked.

  “Locked in their bunker up there,” Anja answered.

  “We’ll blow the door then.”

  Anja shook her head violently. “Don’t waste your time. It would take too long and we don’t have it to spare. Besides I’m ready for this.” She pointed to two of the men Orrick brought with him. “You two. Grab one of the mechanics. Have them shut down the datanet connection and power to this entire building. Without Hanna’s computers, they’re no threat. They can starve up there for all I care. We can crack it open in our own time.”

  “What if they warn Milicevic?”

  Anja shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. Word of this will already be spreading. By this time tomorrow, it will be all over the city. She’ll hear about it no matter what we do. We just need to be ready for her when she arrives. Did you bring the signal jammers?”

  “Of course I did.”

  “Then get them set up. That’ll keep them from comming anyone, including Milicevic.”

  “Can they do that?” Deni asked. “Cut us off.”

  “The datanet? No. I’ve got three redundancies for that. Com’s certainly, it wouldn’t take much to jam any signals, I’m not worried about that, we’ll still be able to use the datanet. It’s the power that’s going to be a problem. I couldn’t hide that as easily.”

  “You’ve got the Electron cell for a backup.” Deni pointed to the blue cylinder in the corner.

  “Yeah, but this Rig will drain it in a little over two hours. It then needs time to recharge. It was the best one I could find on short notice.”

  “Shit. We go with Valerie’s withdrawal plan then.”

  “I don’t think we have much choice. We better get out quickly before they secure the area. We’ve got to warn the others.”

  “What if they’re in on it with Anja?”

  “Then they’ll know anyway,” Hanna said with a shrug. “But we owe it to anyone who isn’t, to tell them to get clear.

  “OK, I’ll grab the weapons and any spare food I can find. You make the call and get the go bags.” Deni didn’t wait for Hanna’s reply and rushed round the corner to the armoury. This was one of the first things Valerie planned for when they arrived. Three Pulse rifles and three Mag rifles were on a rack by the door. Deni selected one of each and wrapped a rough blanket around each one. Three guns belts hung on the wall and Deni belted one on. It had a Mag pistol on the right and a Pulse pistol on the left with four clips for each across the back. She grabbed a second for Hanna and stuffed spare clips for the rifles into a small bag, along with some random grenades.

  With a last longing look at Valerie’s black, imposing armour, sitting quietly, humming away to itself in the corner, Deni sealed the armoury’s door. It was even heavier than the two coming into their home. Jogging down the corridor into the living area, Deni snatched a bag from a hook on the wall and threw all the food she could find into it.

  Hanna ran through the door, two bags over her shoulder and almost skidded into the sofa against the wall. Kneeling, she took hold of its base and pulled at it. Deni could see it was too heavy for her and ran over. Between the two of them, they managed to haul it out. Hanna pushed at a part of the Permacrete floor looking identical to the rest. A thin oblong popped up slightly and she prised it out with her fingers, revealing a small scanner. Hanna swiped her finger across it. With a click part of the floor fell away.

  Deni switched on the light from
her wristcomp and pointed it into the hole. A ladder ran down the side to the dusty floor underneath. She handed Hanna the gun belt, food bag and the wrapped Mag rifle. She took one of the go bags in return and strapped it to her back with the Pulse rifle. The small weapon bag, she attached to her front. As ready as she could be, Deni took a quick look at what had become their home over the last few months and climbed into the hole.

  Hanna was right behind her, similarly equipped and shut the floor hatch. In the small narrow space they listened carefully. When Valerie installed the permacrete plugs in the windows upstairs to seal that area, she also added a new wall to the rear of what became the street kids bunkroom. The space between it and the outer wall was where Deni and Hanna now stood quietly.

  Hanna shook her head and Deni nodded in agreement. Crouching, Deni brushed the dust from the walls installation out of the way, to reveal a second hatch. This one was much tougher and made to the same specification as the armoury. It needed both a code and a thumb scan to open. The hatch revealed another ladder down to a tunnel leading towards the building next door. It was too small even to walk in a crouch. They would need to crawl the ten metres to the exit.

  Deni went first again, making sure her Mag pistol was in her hand before she climbed in. She wouldn’t have room to draw it once inside, not with the bags and rifle strapped to her. Having only been bored a relatively short time ago, the floor was smooth under her hands and knees. Hanna grunted quietly behind her as she got down onto all fours, after closing the hatch.

  With their backs secure, Deni crawled forwards into the dark. She had only been down here once before, after helping Valerie dig it out. That was the most difficult part of setting up the Workshop. Getting a tunnel boring machine into a neighbouring building, even a small one, without being noticed wasn’t easy. Somehow they managed it, at least Deni thought they had. If Anja was aware of their escape route, she and Hanna would find out all too soon.

  Despite the smooth sides, it was still a slow and tortuous crawl. Deni’s knees, thighs, arms and back, ached bitterly when she reached the end. Twisting round, she checked Hanna was still with her. The other girl gave her a brave smile when Deni’s light flashed across her face. With her friend close by, Deni took a deep breath and grasped the heavy handle. The last door didn’t have any complex security system. It couldn’t be opened from the other side and there were no electronics to give it away to any scans of the building.