by James Cox
"Slib. I won't," she smiled.
As soon as Robin heard the door lock she rose and examined the holovee and terminals She found no identifying marks on any of them and, per Nels' request, did not activate any of them. She sat in a chair, leaned back and closed her eyes in thought. Everett might well lash her for any perceived wrongdoing but at least she planted a seed of trust with Nels.
The opening door snapped Robin out of her reverie. She knew some time had passed but not how long. Everett, Nels, Donnel and Jack walked in along with eight men she didn't recognize. One was obviously the leader, another his assistant and the rest guards. Leader walked over to her.
"Stand up," he said. Then, not giving her a chance to comply he grabbed her hair and pulled her up.
Robin bit down on a yelp and fixed Leader with a cold glare. Or tried. He fixed her with a stare worse than one of Carl's. He released her hair, grabbed her under the jaw and turned her head as he examined her.
"I am told you're a burner. Well? Are you?"
"Yes."
Silence. Then, "Are you any good at it?"
"Ask Claud. I burned everything he asked me to."
Leader released her and dismissed her totally from existence.
"You say she is an asset," asked Leader, walking back to Everett.
"Quite so. My darling Robin has yet to meet a system she cannot own. She has on at least three occasions broken the CA itself! Name me another burner who can do that as well."
"Did she acquire the data you've been sending?"
"Recently, yes, and for a time on Echo Bend. I lost her for a while but managed to... reacquire her."
"Most fortunate, especially considering your... expenses. If she is indeed that good."
"You are clearing well above what little I am costing you," said Everett vehemently, "and my darling Robin is not for sale." He smiled at her.
Robin felt a sheet of ice slide down her back.
"Everything is for sale," said Leader, "There is only the matter of price."
"My price," said Everett, "is more favorable terms. Why, there is no limit to the profit my sweet Robin can earn if she is placed in the proper environment. Or," here his smile turned predatory, "we can terminate our contract and I shall seek richer pastures."
Leader didn't frown but his face twitched toward one.
"Perhaps terms can be arranged. I must consult with... others." He made 'stay here' gestures at four of the guards.
"We shall consult, then," said Everett. He walked over to Robin, smiled and spoke softly. "Don't worry, my heart. I will not sell you."
Everett, Leader, Assistant and the un-picked guards left. Robin barely made it to the fresher in time to vomit.
***
Micah checked his chrono, checked his trail and continued his circuit around the building. He and Ferrel had just started scouting it when Vinsley and several others neither of them recognized arrived. All but five left not long afterward. Ferrel followed them.
Engerstreet Mercantile occupied a medium-large building in Refuge Major's old warehouse district, a place that had seen better days. It shared its block with a pair of dilapidated office buildings, a handful of shipping companies and a lot of other warehouses both smaller and larger. Ostensibly Engerstreet dealt in commodities and provided storage space to other companies but unofficial word labeled it a tax shelter for a larger company. Ferrel traced that particular trail through a chain of front companies and paper-traders to a single eccentric and rich individual. He didn't bother tracing further, either that man belonged to the Consortium or all of his companies did. They wouldn't know for sure until Ferrel burned the Consortium embassy. That task was impossible, even for Ferrel, until they had a solid way in.
Micah made careful note of the visible security, fields of fire, access points and other tactical elements. Most businesses here shut down for the evening but a few kept skeleton shifts and a few of those, full ones. Engerstreet had neither.
Micah's chrono vibrated twice. He faded into a shadow and activated it.
'Corpse embassy,' messaged Ferrel, 'I'm coming back.'
'Ack. Head home.'
'Affirm.'
Micah dropped three of his remaining spiders and left.
"Convince me," said Micah.
"You want to do it."
"Want is irrelevant, Charles. We both want but want and will are two separate things."
"Consider the tactical situation. Five guards? For truth? I could take that many."
"At least six," said Micah, "Vinsley left with five less and he wouldn't leave her totally unguarded. That's six minimum and that building could hold a lot more."
"Make it fifty," said Ferrel, "Vinsley isn't there. We've had good luck with that in the past."
"Mpf. Put luck in one hand and pizzle in the other. Five credits on which one fills up and I'd trust it a lot more!"
"Slib," conceded Ferrel, "Consider this, then. Vinsley is incredibly adept at avoiding being where we are when we make hostile moves. Now we know the why but the fact remains. He left with the ones he brought, minus a few. The Consortium doesn't like leaving its assets uncovered so they will have a liaison there. Necessarily."
"Conceded."
"If we take the place we will necessarily take the contact!"
"Truth, but finding out who is problematic."
"'Who' is irrelevant," said Ferrel, "All I need is biometrics! I'll get those, six-sigma solid. If Robin is there we'll have her too. Finally, my brother, if we have Robin I'll wager twenty standing that we can make him come to us!"
Micah tried to find a flaw in Ferrel's logic, but not too hard. He really did want to rescue Robin.
"That leaves the how."
***
As the latest hours of the night ended and the earliest of the morning arrived the buildings around Engerstreet Mercantile went about their nightly business. None of the few denizens of the less-populated buildings noticed the shadows slipping into and out of their domains. Or, perhaps, some did but, finding nothing there on closer inspection, deemed them phantoms of too much work or simple boredom. The two flitting shadows finally settled atop a building across an alleyway from Engerstreet. The dark shapes writhed and worked a moment before melding down into the general darkness.
Micah checked his chrono and nodded to Ferrel. A few minutes later they heard fire alarms. Not long after that the fires themselves erupted. Micah felt a small twinge of guilt but they'd given ample time to vacate the buildings before the firebombs detonated.
Before any fire units could arrive Micah slowly slid the ladder across the gap between the buildings. Risky, true, but neither the first nor the last they would take this evening. The instant the pads touched Ferrel swarmed across. He ran a probe around the touch points and motioned Micah across. Now sirens sounded in the distance. They'd painted the ladder a light-absorbing black to escape notice. It would, but not with someone moving across it.
Micah cautiously located a skylight. Once he found it he quickly located the others. Second from the street and sideways three meters, mark. He spritzed a dot of glowpaint and planted an anchor in it. He then located his second reference point and did likewise. The sirens in the distance grew louder and the fires from the burning buildings began shedding light. Micah threaded cables between the anchors, hooked them to his harness, prepared Ferrel's rig and waited. Before long Ferrel crossed the roof and headed for Micah.
"They're swarming," he said, "Lots of lights on that side and two out the front door watching."
Micah helped Ferrel into his harness and the two of them went over the roof and down the wall. Less than a meter to Ferrel's right lay a dark, inviting window. Ferrel probed it, snorted contemptuously and had it open a few seconds later.
***
Robin sat on her cot with her back against the wall. By her calculation she'd spent at least a day here if not more. After Everett left and she finished heaving she tried sitting with the others. The four newcomers talked among themselves
, patently ignoring the rest of them. Jack played a game on one of the terminals and Nels left to check the security. Donnel stared at her smugly, making occasional comments on her price on the market. And how short the journey to several such markets. Finally she retreated to her room. The door had no lock but, closed, it gave a modicum of comfort.
Some noise roused her from a fitful doze. Her muscles ached but she didn't want to lay down. She didn't want to doze but her body had other ideas. Excited voices murmured in the other room. When she opened the door most of them looked at her. The four new guards had big, nasty-looking blasters out as did Jack and Donnel. Nels talked into his comm.
"Fire," said Jack, "Big one, too. Looks like at least four buildings."
Nels switched off his comm. "Go to bed, Robin. It's not close to us and you don't need to worry."
Robin had several questions but before she could voice them one of the terminals started beeping frantically. A blaster appeared in Nels' hand. Robin gasped; she didn't see the man move!
"Go to the bedroom now, Robin," said Nels with obvious command, "Stay there. Jack, Donnel, you two stay here."
Robin backed into the room, not daring to hope. It would be a false alarm. Or a fireman checking the building.
No sooner had Robin sat on the bed than the door opened. Donnel entered with both his blaster and the lash.
"Stay put, sluttie." He fastened the lash tightly around her neck. "Now get up and move slow."
He positioned her between himself and the door. He pulsed the lash once.
"That's so you don't get any ideas, sluttie. If I drop it hits max and locks there."
Through the doorway Robin saw that Jack had flipped the table on its side and now crouched behind it. He lifted his comm and mumbled something. Then again, and again, with increasing desperation each time. She felt a glimmer of hope.
Robin concentrated on her breathing. Breathe in, slowly. She tried to relax into a combat stance. Donnel's breath stank against her neck. Breathe out, slowly. Vague sounds of sirens, muffled through more than one wall. Breathe in. Jack nervously flipping his safety off, then on, then off. Breathe out. The lash rasping against her skin.
The door to the other room exploded inward! Jack began cursing and firing at the same time. Donnel's firing arm snaked under hers.
***
Images.
Two blaster bolts splashing against Jack's table. Puffs of smoke drifting upward.
Shadowy figures moving, firing, moving.
Donnel shifting and lining up his shot.
"Look out!"
Hot red waves of pain washing through her before the last word finished. Raspy animal screams. Hers.
Donnel's arm pulling back. What would come next. She knew.
Sidestep. Nerves raw with agony. Donnel shifting aim to her, his face set with anger and hatred.
Red spots and stripes clouding her eyes. Body trapped in thick syrup of pain.
Willing her fist to lock and move.
The pain!
***
"Avoid the throat, ladies," said Rita Jasworth, "If you're that close you can blind them, break their nose or give them the knee. Do not strike the throat, ever!"
"But isn't it effective," asked Janna, a lady with a perpetually haunted expression and Robin's partner for the evening.
"It is," said Jasworth, "It is too effective. Even a light blow can cause serious damage."
"But..."
"A moderate to heavy blow can kill. Then you'll be in GC instead of him. If you're lucky you'll get twenty-five to fifty for accidental death instead of being charged with murder."
***
Lightning! Lightning but no thunder. Heartbeat thundering in her ears. Soft, cooling, wet breeze promising a gentle rain.
Robin took a wonderfully pain-free breath and opened her eyes.
Several wires dangling from the lash handle sparked and spat as Carl dropped it.
"Bastard had it locked," he said.
Robin climbed slowly to her feet, the last vestiges of pain starting to diminish. She threw her arms around Carl and squeezed as hard as she could. She didn't know if the sound she made was a laugh, a sob or simply hysteria nor did she care. She just held on. Then amazement! He hugged back!
"Hey, luv," said another welcome voice, "What about me?"
Robin let go of Carl and hugged Robert just as hard.
"You got my message!"
"Long story," said Robert, "and one that will wait. I take it he wasn't a friend."
She looked. Donnel lay on the floor with a blaster shot through his torso. His hands, though, clenched his throat. His eyes bulged and his jaw hung slack.
"Did... Did I..."
"You killed him," said Carl, "I just made it official. Good punch, too."
Robin's stomach twisted and she tasted bile. She paled. Robert turned her away from the corpse.
"Come on, luv. You don't need to be here."
She nodded and Carl led her out.
"Tell me about these people," said Carl, "Robert's getting biometrics so hurry."
"Donnel - the one in the room - and this one are Everett's men. He has one more I know about somewhere else. I don't know about the other four but they just got here this afternoon." She concluded as quickly as she could. Carl stopped her at waking up.
"So the ones with Everett this afternoon were new."
"Yes. How..."
"Later. Help me pick them out."
The hallway outside the larger room was littered with bodies, some of them still smoking. Though it cost her her resolve Robin picked out Leader's four guards and Nels. She had no idea about the others.
"Guards," said Carl, "He usually keeps a lot of them around. Paid muscle."
"Got 'em," said Robert, "Who do I need here?"
Carl pointed and Robert began taking biometrics.
"Can... Can we leave now," asked Robin, again ashamed at her weak voice.
"Not yet," said Carl, "I'm thinking. Robert. Are you sure about the working monitors?"
"Absolutely! First floor and receiving dock only."
To Robin's horror Carl pulled off his shirt and donned one from Leader's guards.
"Get a few seconds of good image and trash the system," he said to Robert. Then, to Robin, "Come with me. You're going to be a prisoner."
They walked down to the first floor and stayed behind the doorway.
"Clasp your hands behind you and look scared," said Carl.
"What?"
"Do it!"
She did and she felt something poke her back.
"This is my blaster but the safety is on. Just walk where I prod you."
Robin did so and didn't even have to act scared. They walked past boxes, bundles and bales of things, finally ending up beside a hover inside the loading area.
"Got it," came Robert's voice.
"Good job," said Carl, blaster now sheathed, "Do you know how to override a hover?"
"No!"
"Slib. Go back upstairs and help Robert."
Back upstairs Robin relayed Carl's instructions to Robert.
"Clever," he said, "Grab one of those new guards and drag him downstairs. Oh. Take Carl his shirt, too."
Bringing herself to touch the corpse took more willpower than Robin knew she had. She managed it, even though she had to force down her revulsion with each step. She almost threw up when the body slipped from her grasp and bounced down the stairs. The second time it happened she apologized to the man.
"Good job," said Carl, "Help me put him in the boot."
By the time they finished Robert appeared with another body.
"Do we need the others," he asked, "and what about the ladder?"
"No and leave it," said Carl, "They'd need help and that help would have to arrive and depart unobserved."
Robert and Carl removed their black outer garments, rolled them and stuffed them into Robert's pack. Carl took the controls and motioned Robin into the back seat with Robert. From the back streets the f
ires looked very impressive. Fire units, hovers and air units converged on them spraying water and dropping chemicals and foam. Smoke billowed upward.
"Frost," said Robin, "I'm lucky those fires started." Then, after a glance at Robert, "Or maybe not."
"Trouble," hissed Carl.
Ahead of them Robin saw a pair of CA hovers blocking the street. An idea struck her and she snuggled into Robert, pulled his arm around her and undid her top buttons. By the time Carl stopped the hover Robert had his shirt unbuttoned too.
"This area is closed," said the officer gruffly.
"Y-yes sir," stammered Carl, "We're leaving now."
"Good." Bright light shone around the interior. "You polar, lady?"
"Y-yes sir," said Robin shakily, "Is there a problem?"
"I suppose not. You three go somewhere else."
Carl moved the hover past the roadblock. Robert smiled down at Robin, only to smile wider when she winked back.
"So," said Carl, "Why exactly did you decide to leave and what happened when you did?"
"Not now. It will take a long time to tell."
Unfortunately for Robin's nerves Carl didn't seem to be in any great hurry. He stopped at an open plaza, left her and Robert in the hover and returned a few minutes later with some packages. Then they drove through deserted areas until he found one to his liking. Then he and Robert did something to the bodies in the trunk.
"Leftover thermal charges," said Robert, "No sense letting them go to waste."
"What... Why?" Robin didn't want to imagine the result but couldn't help herself.
"We need those two guards to disappear completely," said Carl, "This hover doesn't matter but we can't have those two found at all. Between what's left of the surveillance data, this 'Leader' person's attempt to purchase you and what you told us about Everett we want him to think you've been kidnapped."
"What?"
"We didn't plan it," said Robert, "but you must admit it has the potential to succeed. Given what we know about Everett he'll be a bit upset when he finds his men dead and you gone. Who better to take the blame than the person in power who already expressed an interest in you?"
"Slib." Robin knew Everett wouldn't be mad, he would be furious past all sanity!
