by Neil Hunter
‘So’s your old man,’ Janek warbled.
‘One thing, Milt. Run some checks, because you’ve got a leak in your department. Boon’s got someone on his payroll.’
Cade switched off the handset and turned to Janek. ‘Let’s go, hotshot,’ he said, nursing his skinned elbow. ‘Damn, it hurts,’ he grumbled. ‘How come this never happens to TV cops when they do it?’
‘They have the brains to use cybo stand-ins to do their stunts for them,’ Janek said. ‘It’s also why they earn a lot more money than you do.’
‘Janek.’
‘Yes, T.J.?’
‘Just drive the damn car.’
Chapter Twelve
‘Before we go in, T.J., can I ask you a question?’
Cade was stuffing extra shells for the SPAS into his jacket pocket. He didn’t reply directly. There was a distant, angry gleam in his unmarked eye. It was a look Janek had seen before and which he found unsettling.
He recognized his partner’s mood.
Cade himself would have described it as being really pissed off. Janek couldn’t entirely condemn Cade’s attitude. The cybo’s partner looked decidedly the worse for wear. His face was showing the full effects of Connor’s beating. His right eye was almost completely closed, and heavy, swollen bruises distorted his features.
The gash over his right cheek was still bloody, with ragged edges to the split flesh. Cade’s clothing, like Janek’s, was crumpled from the episode in the wrecker’s yard.
‘If you expect me to tell you I’m going to read them their rights, don’t hold your breath,’ Cade said. His words were carefully chosen, and delivered evenly and calmly.
Janek leaned back in his seat, gazing out through the cruiser’s windshield. He felt sure he’d been through all this before with Cade - in fact, on more than one occasion. His own logic told him that Cade’s attitude was a negative one, and in the cyborg’s book that had to be wrong.
Yet he was finding himself - and it was here that Janek’s precise lines of logic became blurred around the edges - understanding and sympathizing with his partner’s emotional decision.
‘Can we at least give them the opportunity to surrender peacefully?’ Janek asked patiently.
Cade took a deep breath, held it, then released it with a heavy sigh. ‘Just what do you think I’m going to do in there? Shoot everybody in sight?’
‘You do have this tendency for the old gung-ho way of handling situations,’ Janek said in his most calming tone. ‘Probably because of your association with the Marines.’
‘That’s just natural enthusiasm.’
‘My ass!’ Janek snapped. ‘T.J., stop treating me like a rookie. I know what you’re up to.’
‘Yeah?’
‘Yeah,’ Janek mimicked. ‘To put it on your terms, you’re all steamed up because of Kate, and Boon is going to get his butt caved in.’
‘Smart thinking.’
Janek thumped his fist on the cruiser’s dashboard. ‘Patronize me again, Thomas, and I’ll... ‘
‘You’ll what? Haul off and slug me?’ Cade snapped.
‘Maybe I will.’
‘Try it for size, partner,’ Cade said, twisting around in his seat to glare at Janek.
There was a slight strained pause, and then Janek shrugged. ‘I wouldn’t feel right about it,’ he admitted. ‘Shouldn’t we be, err, working out our plan of action, T.J.?’
Cade relaxed and shrugged nonchalantly. ‘I guess so.’
He fired up the cruiser and drove to the end of the elevated highway. It terminated in a covered parking area that allowed access to the elevator banks serving the luxury apartment complex where Randolph Boon lived.
Cade and Janek were on Park Avenue Elevated-2, high above the city. They were in the heart of the Heights. The habitat of the ultra-rich, the section of New York society that kept itself apart from the rest of the city. Here was Manhattan’s wealth and power, the elite with the city’s money and also its fate in their hands. It was said that there was more wealth in one apartment block in the Heights than in the rest of the city put together.
Multiplied by all the residents of the area, it meant a total beyond imagination. It also meant it was forbidden territory. No one went into the Heights without invitation. Not unless they were looking for trouble.
The security protecting the Heights was not to be dismissed lightly. The guards who patrolled the walkways and plazas were known for their zeal and an uncompromising attitude toward any intruders. Trying to slip by security in the Heights was akin to suicide.
Cade climbed out of the cruiser and slammed the door shut. He walked across the open plaza, which was lush with sculptures and water fountains, heading for the access lobby.
Janek shook his head in resignation and fell into step behind Cade, scanning the area with both audio and visual modes.
A pair of uniformed security guards blocked Cade’s path at the entrance to the softly lit access lobby. They had watched him approach, lounging with easy arrogance. Both wore heavy sidearms on their hips.
‘Hold it right there,’ one of them said as Cade closed in.
‘Where do you think you’re going?’ the second man asked. He took a long look at Cade’s battered face. ‘And what the hell happened to your face?’
Cade paused and looked the guards over casually. ‘Not tonight, boys,’ he said. ‘I’ve had enough shit to last me the rest of my life. So don’t give me a hard time.’
The first guard gave an ugly chuckle.
‘You’ve no idea what having a hard time means. Now shift your ass out of here before I zap you.’
As he spoke he unhooked the electric prod on his belt. Grinning, he touched the button recessed in the handgrip, and blue sparks flashed between the electrodes at the business end of the stick.
‘Wanna light up your day?’
‘Go ahead if you figure you can reach me, lard-ass,’ Cade taunted.
His words drew the man out of the lobby entrance. The security man lunged at Cade, swinging the prod for a quick strike. Cade didn’t budge until the last moment, then twisted to one side, feeling the crackling probes swish by. Then he brought his SPAS into play, slamming the barrel down across the guard’s wrist. Bones snapped audibly, and the man yelled. Cade backhanded him with the SPAS, across the side of the head. The security man did an awkward belly flop. He bounced when he hit the concrete, then lay very still.
The moment he had hit the first guard, Cade had swung the SPAS, now held two-handed, to cover the second man.
That guard had already made a grab for his gun, but when he saw the black hole of the SPAS staring at him he quickly put his hands up.
Cade reached over and took away his gun and stick, tossing them across the plaza. He stared at the guard.
‘You son of a bitch,’ he said softly. ‘You were going to shoot me.’
‘I...I have a job to…' the guard stammered. He didn’t like the cold expression on Cade’s face.
Cade passed the SPAS from his right to his left hand. Without warning, he threw a hard right that caught the unsuspecting guard across the side of his jaw. The force of the blow turned him completely around and laid him out flat on the concrete.
Janek reached Cade after he had disarmed and cuffed the first guard. He looked down at the second man, then at Cade, who was flexing his right hand and examining the bleeding skin of his knuckles.
‘That hurt?’
Cade only nodded.
‘Tough,’ Janek said tautly. He bent over and cuffed the guard Cade had slugged.
‘What was the point of that?’
‘The mother was going to shoot me.’
‘I can understand how he felt,’ Janek said, and walked into the lobby.
The softly lit, expensively decorated lobby displayed a row of gleaming elevator doors. Randolph Boon had the rooftop complex. The elevator was operated by a coded access keypad, tied in to computer-controlled security.
‘Can you override the sec-code?’ Cade aske
d, stepping aside.
Janek stood by the keypad. He placed two of his fingertips against the com-link access pin and absorbed the code sequences, letting the information feed into his memory banks. He digested the electronic language, searched for and found the comparatively simple code and translated this into an override command.
The elevator doors slid open.
‘Sometimes, T.J., I amaze myself,’ Janek said smugly.
‘I think I’m gonna throw up,’ Cade replied, and stepped inside the elevator.
Janek punched the button, and the doors closed. The elevator began its rapid ascent. One wall was transparent, allowing the Justice cops an unrivaled view of the city.
It spread before them with undiminished brightness, the shining towers and interconnecting highways ablaze with light. By day the city’s grayness was laid bare, exposing its slow decline, but once the darkness shrouded the fading glory, New York took on a different look. The real city was lost in the shadows, replaced by the shimmering spectacle of the nighttime Babylon. It was a long-remembered image, no matter how false and self-deceiving.
‘We’re in the wrong business,’ Janek observed as he stared out across the glittering scene.
‘What?’
Janek gave a tight grin. ‘We should be selling light bulbs.’
Cade rolled his eyes but said nothing.
The elevator slowed, the indicator panel showing they had reached their destination. Before the car stopped completely and the doors opened, Cade and Janek moved to opposite sides, weapons up and ready.
The doors slid apart, revealing an opulent reception area and a trio of armed security men. The apparently empty car threw them off balance for a couple of seconds. One moved forward, peering into the car.
Janek struck from his side, and the barrel of his auto pistol clubbed the guard across the back of the neck. The man silently flopped face down on the elevator’s thick carpet.
Cade shoved the barrel of the SPAS into view.
‘Hold it,’ he said in a steely voice. ‘Don’t make any moves.’
One look at the ugly configuration of the combat shotgun convinced both men that it was not in their best interests to challenge Cade.
‘Facedown,’ Janek ordered, and he quickly disarmed and handcuffed the guards.
Cade had already secured the unconscious man.
‘I’m running out of cuffs,’ Janek stated.
Cade approached the double doors that would admit them to Boon’s apartment complex.
‘Boon and Connor are the ones we want,’ he said. ‘I don’t know who else they may have in there to back them, so keep your eyes open.’
Janek smirked. ‘One of us has to,’ he observed, ‘because you’re no help.’
Turning to the doors, Cade shoved them open and stepped inside the apartment’s narrow but long foyer.
A wave of sound reached out to wash over him. Beyond the foyer was a vast room, its designed upper and lower levels filled with a crowd of elegantly dressed people. They stood in small groups or flitted back and forth. The murmur of their conversation and laughter all but overwhelmed the small musical combo playing on a raised dais. Weaving in and out of the crowd were half a dozen android waiters clad in immaculate white uniforms. They balanced trays of drinks and food with practiced ease, their presence unobtrusive and servile.
Cade watched the crowd, recognizing a number of well-known celebrities and local political figures among the expensively dressed and groomed guests.
Almost a full minute elapsed before someone noticed Cade’s disheveled figure standing just inside the doorway. By then Janek had closed the doors and joined him, standing quietly with his back to the wall.
Cade’s presence was quickly picked up by the assembled guests. The general buzz of conversation ebbed away, leaving only the music playing on, and even this faltered and ceased. Then Cade’s shotgun was noticed.
‘What’s this all about?’ a man demanded. ‘Do you realize where you are?’
‘Where’s Randolph Boon?’ Cade asked.
‘Who wants to know?’
Cade brought out his badge and held it up.
‘Marshal Cade of the Justice Marshal Department. I’m only interested in Boon and Captain Connor of the UCS. The rest of you people stay out of my way, and I won’t give you any hassle.’
‘You can’t be serious,’ the man who had challenged Cade said. ‘This is Randolph Boon you’re talking about, one of the city’s most prestigious industrialist.’
‘I’m not interested in his pedigree,’ Cade stated flatly. ‘Right now he’s the major suspect in an investigation, and I’m here to take him in.’
‘Marshal Cade, I’m Senator Griswald. I take exception to your intrusion here tonight, and I can assure you this matter will be taken to the highest authority. You’ve made a foolish move in coming here, one you might well regret.’
Cade stepped in close to the senator.
‘Save your breath, Senator. I don’t melt into a greasy puddle when people make threats. If you want to join Boon, that’s fine by me. If you don’t, stand back and mind your own damn business.’
Griswald’s confusion showed in his eyes. He stared around him for support, but got none. There was almost relief in his expression when Randolph Boon’s voice called out. ‘Is something wrong? Who told the band to stop...?’
Boon was pushing his way through the immobile guests when he spotted Cade.
The industrialist froze.
‘Boon, it was worth it just to see that look on your face,’ Cade said, and he meant every word. ‘Now get over here and stop pretending you don’t know what’s going on.’
‘Cade, I swear I’ll see you walking a beat for this!’
Connor elbowed guests aside as he bulled his way through the crowd to stand next to Boon. ‘Get your ass out of here, Cade, or do you want me to call the mayor?’
‘You mean the mayor isn’t here?’ Janek asked, making his presence known. ‘T.J., you told me Boon was important. It’s not such a big bust after all.’
Janek calmly marched up to Boon and took his arm.
‘Let’s go.’
Connor swung around angrily, planting a thick hand against Janek’s shoulder and attempted to push him off balance with a mighty shove.
‘You had your chance earlier, Connor, and you lucked out,’ Janek said as he caught the captain by his collar and swung him effortlessly aside.
Connor stumbled across the floor, then reached for the gun he carried under his expensive jacket.
Cade took a long stride forward and rammed the SPAS’s muzzle into Connor’s stomach. Connor grunted, his weapon slipping from his hand. He lashed out at Cade and received a heavy backhander across his mouth in return, which sent him on a collision course with a table holding refreshments. Bottles and glasses crashed to the floor, and a gasp went up from the well-dressed crowd as they moved back to make room. Cade moved in for the kill, allowing himself a moment of satisfaction as he hit Connor a couple more times, driving the man back across the room. Gasping for breath, Connor went to his knees, his head down and blood dripping steadily from his split lips.
‘On your feet, Connor,’ Cade said. ‘Don’t give me another reason to pound the hell out of you. I don’t need much.’
Behind Cade a woman screamed, and he began to turn, sensing danger close by.
‘T.J.! To your right - Jak Regis!’
Boon’s hired killer.
Above the rising crescendo of screams and yells, Cade heard the savage rattle of an auto weapon.
Screams of fear turned to cries of pain as innocent guests were caught in the stream of fire, bullets ripping into vulnerable flesh.
Cade completed his turn, the SPAS already rising to firing level, his good eye searching desperately for the target.
He saw Regis on the far side of the room, standing in the doorway. The gunman was wielding a rapid-fire combat rifle, and even at a distance Cade could see the crazed gleam in Regis’s eyes.
/> Just a few feet away Janek was pushing Randolph Boon to the floor and drawing his auto pistol. Then he powered across the room, scattering guests before him, the powerful handgun seeking its target.
Regis loosed a final blast in Cade’s direction before swinging the rifle at the approaching marshal.
‘Janek! Watch yourself!’ Cade shouted at his partner.
He jammed the SPAS to his shoulder, finger easing back on the trigger.
Regis fired first, a short burst that caught Janek in the left chest and shoulder, spinning him off his stride and sending him down on his knees.
Then the SPAS exploded with sound, sending its deadly charge at Regis. The gunman twisted as the shot caught him in the left side just above the hip, and he staggered, falling against the door frame and bracing himself. He attempted to lift his rifle again, but Cade put two more shots into him.
The first ripped into his arm, almost at shoulder level, shredding flesh and bone alike. Regis pulled the rifle’s trigger, sending a sustained blast into the floor. He was lifted off feet by Cade’s final shot, the charge tearing his throat in a bloody haze. Regis fell over backward, and the heels of his boots drummed briefly on the floor before being stilled.
Cade reached Janek’s side as he got to his feet.
‘You okay?’ Cade asked.
Janek examined the ragged tears in his jacket and shirt.
‘Well, these are beyond repair,’ he muttered. ‘But I suppose I can claim compensation from the department, T.J.’
‘Get real, Janek. Here I’m asking if you’re okay, and all you can do is moan about your damn clothes.’
Janek pulled aside the torn shirt and exposed his chest. His synthetic skin was punctured, showing a number of shallow dents in his titanium shell.
‘I’ll survive,’ he said.
Cade glared at him. ‘Glad to hear it, partner,’ he quipped. ‘Now let’s get Boon and Connor dusted and ready for Milt when he arrives.’
‘Correction,’ Janek said, looking over Cade’s shoulder. ‘Make that Boon on his own. Connor isn’t going anywhere, here.’
Cade turned. The UCS captain was sprawled on his back, staring at the ceiling. There was a look of total surprise on Connor’s face. His chest was a glistening mass of blood and torn flesh. Regis’s final volley, intended for Cade, had instead taken out the crooked cop.
