“The bear came at me,” Tee said as he closed the door behind him and walked to the mini fridge in the corner of the room. He opened it and pulled out two of the last beers he had. “And I didn’t poke it. I obliterated it.”
“We had a deal, Tee,” Belfore said as Tee handed him a beer. “Low profile, and you can stay in Oregon until that ticker of yours finally bites it. Murdering four bounty hunters is not low profile. I can’t keep you hidden from the authorities if you kill everyone that comes sniffing around your land.”
“Part of our deal was you’d keep the Peacemakers off my ass,” Tee said as he took a swig of beer and grimaced. The mini fridge needed a new coil, the beer was warm. “I count bounty hunters as part of that deal since the Peacemakers hired them to find me.”
“Life is all about the fine print,” Belfore said and downed half his beer before letting loose with a harsh belch.
The man looked three decades younger than Tee, but in reality it was a lot more years than that due to Tee’s galactic travel. Belfore was a great grandnephew or some stupid relation. Tee never truly cared about the blood tie; he only cared about how it could benefit him and keep him alive. Belfore was connected. He knew the right people.
Tee needed the right people to know.
“Peacemakers hire bounty hunters,” Tee pressed. “Bounty hunters find me and take me to the Peacemakers. Fuck your fine print. If I end up in the Peacemakers’ hands or tentacles or fins or whatever, then I consider our deal null and void. Null and void on my end too.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, so you take back some implants,” Belfore said. “No, wait, you’ll be in custody, so you can’t take back shit.”
“Morgana?”
“Yes, Tee?”
“Directive Omega Six Five Six.”
“Yes, Tee.”
“Talking to your computer?” Belfore asked.
“Yes.”
“You think rattling out some…” Belfore paused and tilted his head. “Hold on. Getting a call.”
He pinched the lobe of his left ear and waited as the comms connection was made. His eyes went wide in less than two seconds, and he leapt from the chair.
“What have you done?” Belfore roared, brandishing the beer bottle like a blackjack. Beer poured from the neck and splashed down on the man’s shoes. “What the hell have you done?”
“Your twins will be dead within…Morgana?”
“Two minutes and twenty seconds.”
“Two minutes and nineteen seconds,” Tee relayed. “So, the question is whether or not you want to hold up your end of the deal and make sure when they come for me in force, which they will, I can end things right then and there. No follow up. No more bounty hunters or Peacemakers or anyone else that wants to drag up my past. I did what I did at Bah’thaim because I watched every single one of my friends and comrades die horribly. I took those CASPers, and I laid waste to every living creature in that goddamn city because it was me or them. And I’d do it again, if I had to. I’d do it a million times over.”
“Fix them!” Belfore shouted.
“Are we clear on what you have to do?”
“Yes, goddammit! We’re clear!”
“Morgana? Cancel directive Omega Six Five Six.”
“Directive canceled. Full power restored to the Belfore siblings’ renal implants.”
“Thank you, Morgana.”
“You son of a bitch,” Belfore whispered.
“Do you really think they’re coming to take me because I killed ten thousand beings in some back woods settlement on some backwoods planet in some backwoods system? There are mercs out there right now killing ten times that number. All for a profit. They are coming for me because once they have me in custody they’ll pry my mind open like a can and extract the tether algorithm. That’s what they want.”
“Then give it to them and be done,” Belfore said. “Why torture yourself and everyone in this area? Give them the algorithm and call it a day, Tee.”
“The algorithm isn’t theirs to have,” Tee countered. “I was born here. About ten miles west.”
“I know.”
“Despite what’s happened to this land, it’s still a part of me. I won’t let the town die, and I won’t let the people of this area die with it. That algorithm is all that stands between them and extinction.”
“You’re mad,” Belfore said.
The angered man tossed the dripping bottle into the corner of the room where it shattered. One of the bots that had been out of the way came scurrying out to clean up the mess. Belfore watched the bot work then stalked to the front door.
“You’ll have your open channel when the time comes,” Belfore said. “I’ll make sure every eye that matters sees what your algorithm is capable of.” Belfore laughed. It was an empty sound filled with bitterness. “How is exposing the algorithm to everyone that wants to steal it from you going to help this town? They’ll want you even more then.”
“They will,” Tee said. “I’m counting on it.”
* * *
The heat of the spring day beat down on Tee as he rode the 16 miles into town on the rusty old bicycle he’d refused to throw out. He could have driven his ATV, but he wanted the exercise. It would hurt like hell the next day, but Tee had a feeling the next day didn’t matter so much anymore.
“Have they deployed?” Tee asked Morgana.
“Not yet, Tee.”
“What are they waiting for?” Tee mused.
“I cannot extrapolate an answer from the limited data at my disposal.”
“No, of course not,” Tee said. “I was thinking out loud.”
Mercury was a small town, only about 15 square blocks, but residents had spread from the hubs in haphazard ways as, humans do when left without a clear plan or structure to follow. Tee passed the first ramshackle huts cobbled together from shipping containers and scrap metal. Folks eyed him as he walked by, all very aware of who he was.
“Today the day, Mr. Tinkerman?” a young man about twenty-four called from his front door, a toddler held in the crook of one arm. “You gonna call in the markers?”
“I’m afraid today may be the day, Daniel,” Tee called back as he passed. “Maybe tomorrow, but not sure why they’d wait.”
“Well, some of us is happy to help,” Daniel replied. “We made deals, and we aim to keep those deals. You saved us and ours, only right we honor that.”
“I appreciate that, Daniel,” Tee replied. “I truly do.”
He continued on towards town.
He had similar conversations with some, harsher conversations with others, and was flat out ignored by a rare few. Tee had no intention of penalizing the ones who turned their backs as he rode by. If the numbers were correct, he’d have more than enough on his side when the time came.
He hit the first official block of Mercury and kept riding, hopping his bike up onto the sidewalk to avoid the menagerie of poorly-patched potholes and cracks the town’s streets were mostly comprised of.
The mayor stood by the cracked steps of what passed as the town hall. Tee pulled up short in a cloud of dust and squealing brakes.
“Olivia.”
“Mr. Tinkerman,” the mayor replied. “Today.”
“I would guess so,” Tee replied as he set the bike to the side of the steps. “They didn’t show up to have a cookout and drink beers.”
“Numbers? What are we looking at?” the mayor asked as she shielded her eyes to the afternoon sun beating down upon the town. “Did they bring more than you can handle?”
“Morgana?” Tee asked.
“You and your computer,” the mayor sighed. “You could use some human friends, Mr. Tinkerman.”
“Maybe after this is over,” Tee replied.
“Exactly one dozen CASPers,” Morgana stated.
“Infantry?” Tee asked.
“No. Sensors show one dozen CASPers with one heavy rumbler.”
“That would be the Peacemaker,” Tee said. “What merc company are the CASPer
s part of?”
“Insignia shows them to be the Black Coils. They are a newer company incorporated two years ago. Their main body has deployed twice. This is their domestic contingent.”
“A Peacemaker and bounty hunters working with a merc company all for you,” the mayor said. “What makes you so goddamn special?”
“The same thing that will make this town so special once the day is over,” Tee said. “You will have to trust me.”
Tee stared down the street as people began to step out of buildings and look towards the town hall. He nodded then faced the mayor.
“Is it waiting?” he asked.
“Just like you asked,” the mayor said. “It is positioned by the loading doors in the maintenance building. Nowhere else to put it.”
“Good.” Tee continued to stare down the street. “Morgana? What models?”
“MK 8s.”
“The newest model? All 12?”
“Yes, Tee. All 12. They are formidable.”
“That they are. But not as tested as the earlier models.”
“The algorithm—”
“I know, Morgana. It’ll work.”
The mayor looked at Tee, exasperated.
“It’s rude to hold one-sided conversations,” she muttered.
“My apologies, Olivia. How about we walk to the maintenance building?”
“Might as well get this over with.”
“Might as well.”
* * *
Seeing the MK 6 CASPer standing there in the town’s maintenance building gave Tee a hard pang in the gut. The last time he’d stood next to a CASPer was the day he’d become infamous. He swore he’d never use one again, but reality had a way of smacking ultimatums upside his head.
“They have 12?” the mayor asked as she circled the mecha. “And you have one? An older one? How do you propose to live through this?”
“I may not,” Tee admitted. It was the first time he’d said the words out loud. Again, reality smacking him upside the head. “But this has never been about me.”
“It hasn’t?” The mayor barked a harsh laugh. “I could argue against that.”
“Argue all you want. By the end of today, you’ll see.”
Tee stepped forward and picked up the haptic suit lying across a battered card table next to the mecha’s right leg. He grimaced, but nodded, knowing he didn’t have a choice.
He was stripped down to nothing by the time the mayor came back around the CASPer.
“So much for modesty,” the mayor said, turning away as Tee struggled to slip into the skin tight suit that would allow his movements to be mimicked in real time by the mecha.
“No time for modesty,” Tee said as he finished putting the suit on. “Morgana?”
The CASPer’s cockpit hatch popped open and Tee climbed up inside the huge machine. Eight feet tall and nearly a ton in weight, it was impressive. Once inside, his pinplants connected to the mecha’s control systems.
The cockpit closed and the display came up. Tee activated the external loudspeakers.
“You’ll want to step back,” he said as he went through the modified startup procedures.
The mayor hurried all the way outside the maintenance building. Tee grinned at her skittishness.
He walked out of the building, memories flooding his mind. He stuffed them down since they contained mostly blood and carnage. His hope for the day was a bloodless one. It would have to be or neither side would trust him when all was said and done.
Once outside the building, Tee turned towards Main Street. He was to the corner when he heard the explosion. More like felt the explosion through the huge metal feet of the combat armor.
“Morgana?”
The display showed a burning crater about 20 yards across. Standing far back from that were 10 CASPers. Two CASPers were on the ground, mechanics hustling about them as the pilots rested close to the rumbler the mercs had brought. A medic was treating the pilots, but they appeared to have only minor injuries.
“That brings the numbers down,” Tee said.
One of the CASPers swiveled and brought up its right arm. Two projectiles shot from the arm and in less than a second Tee’s view of the crater that used to be his home and workshop was lost.
“They’ll be coming to town now,” Tee said.
He moved out into the street and stood there.
“Send the call, please.”
“Comms open and message being sent.”
* * *
The ten MK 8 CASPers decided on the direct route. They marched up the center of Main Street, the pilots’ confidence evident by their loose formation and weapons aimed toward the ground.
Tee wasn’t fooled. He knew with the MK 8s the pilots already had full locks on every target in view. They’d have their arms up and firing before he could blink. He assumed each pilot was auto-pinplanted into their controls. Basically, if they could think it, the mechas would respond in real time as if the machines were the pilots’ actual bodies. No delays.
That made Tee smile.
“Close enough,” he called out over his loudspeakers.
The merc mechas slowed then stopped.
“Lieutenant—” the lead CASPer replied via its own loudspeakers, but Tee cut him off.
“Tee. Or Tinkerman. But I prefer Tee, if you don’t mind.”
“Very well. Mr. Tinkerman. We are under contract to bring you in per GU laws and regulations. A warrant has been issued by the Peacemakers, and you will comply willingly or be forced to comply. We cannot guarantee your safety if you fight us. Nor can we guarantee the safety of this town.”
“Your name?” Tee asked.
“Sergeant Kevin McCallister.”
“Well, Sergeant, I do not plan on complying with the warrant. May I speak with the Peacemaker assigned to this arrest?”
“The Peacemaker is waiting for a resolution and does not intend to engage in pointless negotiations. I am sorry, but there is no wiggle room with this. We need an answer now regarding whether you plan to surrender or not.”
“Morgana. Issue the order,” Tee said, switching the loudspeaker off. “Send in the first wave, please.”
“Order given.”
Four of the CASPers, two on each side of the squad, swiveled as movement was detected. Tee tensed when the children emerged from the shadows of the town’s buildings. The true test of his plan hinged on the mercs seeing the children as children, not as threats.
Tee wasn’t so naive that he thought the mercs would be completely fooled. Many a guerrilla campaign on many a planet came down to the young being used as combatants. If the mercs were worth their weight, they’d have targets locked and guns hot.
The children lifted their hands in the air to show they were unarmed. They came at the machines with wide eyes and open mouths, children in awe of what they’d only seen on Tri-V or heard from legend.
“Please step back,” one of the CASPers ordered.
Tee tensed further. It could all fall apart within the next seconds if the mercs opened fire.
“They haven’t seen the new models,” Tee announced. “They’ve only seen my bucket of bolts. Kids get bored out here in the desert. Let them take a look, Sergeant.”
There was no response, but the kids were allowed to get closer without being ripped apart by laser fire or flechette flurries.
Tee struggled to get his breathing under control. He knew it was going to be hard, but he didn’t know how hard. His old body felt ready to rebel. Couldn’t have that. Slow breath in, slow breath out. Slow breath in, slow breath out.
“The MK 8s are lighter, yeah?” Tee asked. “How much?”
It took a second, but the sergeant replied, “Almost half as much as that old rig you’re in.”
“That must improve the speed and agility considerably,” Tee said. “Especially with the suits being, what? Under eight feet tall?”
“Yes,” the sergeant replied. “Mr. Tinkerman, I am sorry, but time to talk is over. Please tell the child
ren to return to the buildings so we may accompany you to the Peacemaker.”
“Children? Time to go back. Give the big machines a hug then please retreat.”
Tee watched as the kids moved forward and tried to wrap their little arms around the legs of the CASPers. If the government ever wanted a propaganda photo, that would be it. Kids embracing the violence of a merc company with hugs to CASPer legs. It was so damned cute.
“Mr. Tinkerman!” the sergeant exclaimed. “Please, sir. Hiding behind children is not an honorable way to go.”
“Children, you are done. Thank you,” Tee said. The kids hurried off except one. Lucas. He stood by the lead CASPer, tears welling in his eyes. “Lucas. You did good, son.”
“My hand didn’t work,” the young boy said.
Tee froze inside. What the hell was the kid thinking to say something like that?
“I’ll do a full workup on you later, son,” Tee said. “We’ll get it working properly.”
“But you said to touch—”
“Lucas!” Tee snapped. “Go back inside. Now. You did fine.”
The kid wiped tears from his eyes, nodded, then sprinted after the others. All the children were swallowed up by an open door where a terrified-looking older woman stood. She ushered them inside then slammed the door closed, leaving Tee and the mercs as the only ones outside.
“What was that about?” the sergeant asked. “Mr. Tinkerman? Please explain what the child was talking about?”
Tee didn’t respond. He was busy working through the coordinated connections that began to appear in his displays. Ten CASPers standing before him, but only nine POVs. Lucas was right. His hand hadn’t worked when he touched the sergeant’s CASPer. That was a problem.
“Dammit,” he muttered. “Morgana? Take them down, please.”
“And the untethered CASPer?” she asked. “I recommend an immediate strike, Tee. Surprise is the only way to survive against the new model.”
“If I fire first then we lose all leverage,” Tee said. “Please handle the other nine. I will handle the sergeant.”
“Yes, Tee.”
* * *
Almost simultaneously, nine of the ten CASPers dropped to their knees. Tee was dialed into their comms so he heard the surprise and panic in the pilots’ voices firsthand.
For a Few Credits More: More Stories from the Four Horsemen Universe (The Revelations Cycle Book 7) Page 47
