Never Submit

by Michael Anderle

  “Achronyx, book me a room at the hotel I stayed at with the Tontos. Give me the confirmation.”

  Understood, Ranger Tabitha his electronic voice came back in her ear.

  It took her just a minute to exit the alley and then cross the road. She was just arriving at the hotel when Achronyx replied.

  You are on the fourteenth floor. Go inside the hotel and turn right.

  “I’ve been here before,” she subvocalized.

  Understood, every place you have been before, I should not offer directions, her E.I. replied.

  “What?” Tabitha exclaimed as she nodded to the Hotel’s doorman when she passed through.

  Fortunately, her clothes shed water quickly. She stayed a moment over the rugs the hotel had placed down at the entry, to minimize extra water on their floors, before continuing.

  “No!” she hissed, “Fine, tell me unless I let you know that I don’t need them.”

  Understood, the E.I. replied.

  If she didn’t know better, she would say he sounded smug over their link.

  She made it up to the fourteenth floor and exited the elevator, dodging a married couple that was waiting to get in the elevator. She found her door, the third on the left and sat her case down.

  She put her tablet up next to the electronic keypad, and it turned green. Grabbing her case, she pushed the door open and stepped inside, closing the door behind her. Walking quickly over to the bed, she laid the case on top, causing the mattress to depress. Unlocking the case, she grabbed top rolled up armor pieces. She went into the bathroom and took off her coat. She unsnapped each of the two armor items and laid them out on the bathroom counter.

  They were both made of tiny pieces of scaled metal. One roll was two pieces of thin armor, the other just one.

  Putting her shirt, and then bra to the side, she grabbed one of the two pieces the first roll consisted of and placed it under her breasts. “Fucking armor!” She hissed, “damn shit is cold on the mother-loads.” She grabbed the top piece that covered the rest of her chest and laid it in place. “I can do this. I can do this!” She slammed the top piece in place, her nipples bitching at her for a couple of seconds.

  She reached over and grabbed the last piece. It would have been easier to have someone help her with this step, but she wasn’t trusting Ted with helping her suit up. If it came to seeing her naked, it wasn’t going to be in a situation of putting on armor.

  No, that would happen with some seduction planned.

  She took the last piece that was designed for her back and took it to the second bed in the room and laid it out on the comforter. Satisfied with where it was, she turned around and laid back, feeling the armor touch her lower back. She scooted down a little and slowly laid down again. This time, it felt right, so she laid down all the way.

  She bit her teeth, “Charge it, Achronyx.” The three pieces charged up, and she felt the sudden shortness of breath as the armor wrapped around her tightly while the edges joined together. Tabitha was then able to relax once the armor flexed and fitted itself to her, like a second skin. Now, there wasn’t any way to get this off of her without someone from the Empire doing it.

  She rolled off her bed and turned towards the other. She grabbed and moved the suitcase. Opening it back up she nodded. She grabbed a shirt and a second coat and laid them next to the bag. Walking back to the restroom, she grabbed her other stuff and brought it to the bed and dropped it in a pile. This time, she put on the new shirt, part of her armor, and then grabbed her holsters. She slid one around her waist, and one over her neck for it to rest under her left arm. She grabbed her coat, sliding it on and checked the inside pockets to confirm the basics were where they needed to be. Both of her Jean Dukes’ specials were in the suitcase. She palmed them both, turning them on. Both showed to be almost full with two thousand rounds, each.

  She doubted she would need four thousand rounds of ammunition, so she slid one under her left arm and set the other back in the case. She pulled a second pistol out, this was a new one that shot electrical charges. Often not that effective against anything armored, but damned useful against people if you didn’t want to kill them.

  They also showed exactly where you were, a significant downside for sure.

  Tabitha slid that pistol on her hip.

  She considered the multitude of goodies which were in her case, trying to figure out what she would need if they attacked a house outside the city. If they had cops there, then she needed to be able to take them down without killing them.

  Done.

  If they were part of the underworld, they might have killers on the grounds.

  She was prepared for that as well.

  She needed eyes in the sky. She lifted a box out of her case and pulled out four silver orbs. “Connect to these four, Achronyx.”

  Done. He replied.

  She reached into the suitcase and pulled out a yellow case. Opening it, she lifted out a pair of goggles that looked like something you might use to ski. Placing them over her face, she said aloud, “Lock them in.”

  The goggles adhered to her face, no strap holding them on her head.

  “Lift all four in the air, then give me their cameras.”

  All four orbs lifted into the air, taking positions equidistant from Tabitha and looked down at her from three feet away. “Lock them in standard locations.” Four little scenes showing her from the front, back, and both sides came up in her goggles. Two on the left side of her view, two on the right. If she looked straight ahead, they didn’t impede her view.

  “What the fuck?” She exclaimed, turning her head around to look behind her, “Why the hell didn’t anyone tell me these pants make my ass look fat?” She huffed, “Achronyx, pull back camera three and focus on my full body from behind.”

  Tabitha turned straight and looked at herself from the back. She reached down and adjusted her pants, “Dammit, I’ll need a tailor for this.” She exhaled, “Aww, fuck it.”

  She sat down on the bed behind her and took off her shoes. Then she started stripping out of her nice pants, tossed them aside, and stood back up to reach into her case to pull out her black leather pants.

  She flipped them open. “Seems like momma’s going in bad-ass leather tonight.” She slid her legs into the pants and then jumped up once to pull them up. “Cause leather,” she said as she pulled up the zipper and snapped the two snaps. Slapping her ass, she finished aloud, “Always makes this badonkadonk look like a million bucks.”

  “Well, crap.” she grabbed her working shoes. They weren’t as sexy as the nicer boots she had brought, but in for a penny with the leather, in for a pound.

  Who knows, maybe Ted would like the vigilante look?

  She folded the rest of the clothes, grabbed another two magazines for the electrical pistol and one extra magazine for her Dukes’ special. “Can never bring too much ammo,” she muttered as she packed all of the clothes and boots. She closed her suitcase and locked it. “At least, that’s what John always says.”

  She sent the request to unhook her goggles, took them off her face and slid them inside a pocket. Walking to the mirror, she examined herself carefully.

  “Trinity, suck it, ‘cause I look hotter than you!” Tabitha grinned and placed her hand up in the air. The four silver orbs dropped out of the air to land in her hand, and she slid them into her coat. As a former hacker, she knew what male computer geeks liked about the female Matrix character.

  She reached over and grabbed the suitcase.

  She looked into the mirror and blew herself a kiss. “I’m a damned computer geek’s wet dream,” she smiled as she took the suitcase and walked towards the door, “and those that don’t like me thinking that can kiss my fantastic ass.”

  She turned the doorknob and opened the door. “Where else can you get incredible hacking skills with this body?”

  “Nowhere,” she answered herself as she stepped into the hallway to leave the hotel.

  CHAPTER TEN

 
Harvey Podstawa nodded to the elderly couple as they entered the hotel. He held out his hand and took the older gentleman's umbrella. Turning to his right, he placed it in a special box which would allow it to drain for a few moments while the couple took off their coats.

  “I’ll be back in a few minutes, so I’ll grab it again,” the silver-haired gentleman told him.

  Harvey nodded and helped the two move along. At the moment, the hotel was quiet. It was late morning, and with the crappy weather, those that didn’t need to leave the hotel weren’t. He watched the older couple walk towards the elevator which dinged and opened before they could reach for the call button.

  —

  Charlotte Pavela had worked with the hotel for the last nine months and recently had been moved to the day shift. She preferred it, and she knew that this hotel only hired, and kept, the best. Inside this city, there were plenty of people who worked hard to get the best paying jobs.

  Therefore, it surprised her when she saw Harvey’s face display anything but professional decorum. Then she turned to see who he was looking at and she stopped in the middle of the floor herself.

  —

  Harvey happened to be watching when she exited. As one of the doormen at this hotel, Harvey was very professional in all ways.

  Therefore, it was a testament to the amazing view that his jaw dropped open.

  She walked out, long coat of some fabric he didn’t recognize, draped about her. In a city of wonders, it was one of the strangest things Harvey had seen. The coat seemed both soft and rigid at times, matte black and then reflective, he couldn’t remember ever seeing anything like it.

  Her suitcase matched it well. The older couple just stepped back and watched the woman walk past them towards the door. It appeared as if she was deep in thought as she didn’t seem to notice that most of the people in the hotel’s lobby had stopped to watch her walk out.

  Harvey realized in time, thank God, to close his mouth, smile and open the door for the young woman. He wasn’t sure who she was, and he couldn’t remember seeing her before. But she was, as his friend Ronald would say…

  One bad-ass mother-fucker who would accept no shit from no one and look fucking fine doing it.

  “Thank you,” her South American accent was in the wind and taken from his ears as she disappeared down the street.

  “Who was she?”

  Startled, Harvey turned to see Charlotte beside him, looking where the woman had just left. He shrugged, “A guest?”

  Charlotte nodded, then turned and started walking away, “Well, that was one woman ... if I were tempted that way, I’d try to chase down and get a phone number.”

  Harvey smiled at the next gentleman who came in, the memory of the woman slowly leaving his thoughts.

  —

  Ted took the last puff of his cigarette and smashed it into the ashtray. He hadn’t been much of a smoker, but everything was going down and he would either be dead or hated by the end of the night.

  Either way, there wasn’t a decent god-damned solution to his problem.

  The area of New York where Ted lived was on the Upper North Side. He lived off of Saint Nichols in a one bedroom apartment up on the top floor of a four-story building.

  He had received notice on his computer that his message had been received and he should expect a visitor. Ted reached for the pack of cigarettes he had purchased earlier that morning when he stepped out of his house to walk off his nervous energy.

  He swallowed hard when he noticed the package was empty. He looked down at the ashtray, full of twisted, half smoked and frenetically forgotten cadavers sacrificed to the god of stress.

  He was a nervous wreck.

  He considered grabbing the least wrecked cigarette when his buzzer sounded, and her voice came across his speakers.

  “Hey Ted,” she spoke this time in an almost normal voice, devoid of her occasional teasing, “Coming up!”

  He failed to notice that he hadn’t punched the button to allow her in the building.

  Purchase, NY

  Ecaterina and Nathan were let out of the taxi just a block down from the PepsiCo Anderson Hill Road main building. The weather was annoying, but the two lifted their coat collars up. Nathan grabbed Ecaterina’s hand and started their walk towards the building.

  “How are we going to get in?” Ecaterina asked.

  “Easy, they have a small center for customers to come and learn more about their product. That’s as far as we need to go.”

  “What, why?” she asked as the two waved at a security guard who nodded. Apparently, cars were a problem, but a couple walking in the light mist wasn’t a big issue to allow to pass.

  They walked up the long drive towards the main building.

  “I’ve got some new technology, we are testing, out of Jean’s group. Just need to get inside and let it go. Give it a few minutes to see if there is anything we want and then leave. Grab another taxi and go to Joe’s Pizza in the West Village.”

  “So, you do remember,” she leaned her head on his upper arm.

  He wasn’t about to admit that he’d taken almost all of his dates there at one time or another.

  One doesn’t tell one’s mate about previous girlfriends. Especially when her version of pissed off was a whole new level.

  Nathan had wanted a Were for a mate. Now, a few years into his relationship with Ecaterina, he was beginning to comprehend a few of the subtle downsides.

  Like making sure he kept his mouth shut until he had thought about what he was going to say and analyzed that son-of-a-bitch for any landmines that might explode in his face.

  “Of course, sweetheart, there was no way I’d forget you, and Joe’s.” he told her.

  Mission accomplished.

  New York City, New York - USA

  Ted stood up and walked to his door. He might as well open it so that Tabitha would see him right away. No time like the present to get this party started.

  Like he had enjoyed the invitation.

  He opened the door and was startled to see Tabitha right in front of him, with her hand raised to knock on his door. He turned to look behind himself.

  It was only five steps from where he was sitting to his door. He turned back around to see Tabitha peering around him.

  “Oh!” He stepped back, “Sorry, uh, the place is a mess.” Tabitha wrinkled her nose. He looked down, “Yeah, sorry, I smoke when I’m stressed too much.”

  Tabitha looked around the small one-bedroom. It looked like it had seen a better day, or two. The messes in the areas she could see suggested that this stress happened recently.

  Tabitha stepped in, “No worries, Ted.” She told him as he closed the door behind her.

  “Here, let me grab that for you, although I didn’t know you would need to pack. I’m sorry, I didn’t think about your sleeping arrangements.” She lifted the suitcase and handed it to him. Her mind was still on something else and didn’t notice Ted’s sudden strain to hold up her suitcase. He took it and set it down next to his brown leather couch.

  Just what the hell did she have in that thing? He wondered, quickly followed it up with, and how strong is she?

  She reached into her long coat and pulled out a box. He walked over to stand next to her and asked, “What are you…” he stopped when a finger was pushed against his lips. His eyes crossed as he tried to stare at the finger’s sudden appearance down at his mouth.

  However, he got the message. She took her hand back.

  She opened the box of what looked like a thousand tiny balls. She took a pinch out and flung them into the air. Before he could ask a second time, her fingers pinched his lips together.

  He nodded that he got the point.

  She closed the little box and put it in her coat pocket. Her hand returned with what looked like goggles, but they didn’t have anything to hold it to her face. She put them on and then mumbled something Ted couldn’t quite pick up. Finally, she reached back into her coat and pulled out four silver orbs. Sh
e flung one towards his bedroom door.

  It never hit anything that he could tell. She walked past him towards his little living area and stepped up to the window. She put a ball next to the window and lowered his blinds. The orb hadn’t dropped when she released it, but stayed right where she placed it.

  He heard her mumble this time, “Seven? Seriously?” Ted didn’t even bother asking. He noticed her nose twitch.