by Simon E Bond
The children’s mother was attractive and of a slim build, she had long flowing black hair. Her hair blew gently against the artificial wind generated within the Dome. The mother looked down at the boy and girl giving each of them a comforting smile, as they walked further along the grass they reached a bed of flowers. The flowers color's made up a perfect scene which was one of beauty. Beyond the flower bed at the edge of the field a man was working hard, he was crouched against a piece of huge machinery. It was an energy generator tower, as he worked he checked out the various readings everything was proceeding as it should. Suddenly both of the children broke free from their mothers hand and ran towards the man, both of them became ecstatic as he embraced them into his arms.
****
Lei leaned back into his chair he knew the little girl more than likely would have been Lorna, he seemed to be bearing witness to happier times. Something he once had lost himself, many things had changed since that time. Looking closer towards the vision he was unaware that the sequence unfolding before him would not last long, and that he would soon be dragged into Lorna’s never ending personal nightmare. The young boy appeared to drop the teddy bear that he was holding, it fell softly onto the ground. Picking it up the boy’s father passed it back to him, and once again embraced his son, his father started to smile but it quickly disappeared. Something or someone in the distance had caught his eye, he started to sense that something was wrong. The children’s mother looked around, she grew tense and started to panic as she grabbed her husband and children they all held each other tightly.
Lei had grown more concerned as the vision progressed, although this was a recording he was looking at, it still did not make it any easier to watch. The vision suddenly shifted, three men appeared from an opening at the corner of the dome. They started to walk towards the family, their pace became faster with each step. Reaching the edge of the flower bed they moved in closer, crushing the heads of the flowers as each boot met the ground.
“Zoom in on the family,” demanded Lei, the computer did as instructed.
The image grew closer and stopped, Lei watched as the father appeared to be reaching for his back pocket as if he was desperate to find something. But he had come up empty handed, the three man had arrived and stood still in front of him and his family. One of the men looked at him and looked away, the man’s eyes quickly scanned the nearby area and noticed a weapon sat on the back of a field transporter truck. Looking back at the father the man started to shake his head, laughing in the process
Lei felt more uneasy as he watched on, he felt like Lorna wanted him to know something about her past, something that may explain the pain she had shown. The mother suddenly grabbed both of her children, crouched down and appeared to be giving them both some kind of instructions. Time was not on her side as she hugged them tightly and gave them kisses, almost as if saying goodbye.
The father stood watching on, tears rolled down his face he felt defeated. The children did not look back as they both ran into a nearby plantation field, once there their bodies disappeared into the tall crops as they hid. If they waited hopefully those men would disappear, but that is all they had right now, just hope.
Within a split second a fist landed on the mother’s cheek, sending her crashing to the ground, a trickle of blood started to flow down her face. Before her husband could respond to the brutish attack both men grabbed his arms, pulling his head back by the hair. The other thug grabbed the mother from off the ground, he held her hair tightly as her husband watched on helpless. A gag was placed into his mouth, he struggled to speak but it was no use.
The children lay hidden back in the plantation almost still time past which felt like an age, they both trembled as they awaited their parents to return. Right now the thugs where taking care of unfinished business, a debt had to be repaid they had instructions from their boss to carry out the job anyway they seemed fit.
The holographic image shifted once again, it’s focus was on the father as a blanket of fear rolled over his face. One of the thugs pulled out some kind of weapon from his jacket, and aimed it straight at the father’s head. Desperate the woman made an attempt to help her husband, but it was feeble.
She fell back onto the ground once again after another vicious blow to her midsection, with her hands she clutched the pit of her stomach crying out in immense pain. Holding the weapon the thug pushed the barrel of the gun against the father, a blinding flash lit up the area blowing the father’s torso into splinter’s. The blood and tissue quickly became ash, tiny specs one by one fell onto the flower bed below. What was left of the body fell against the ground as the thugs released their grip. Laying on the ground the woman had managed to lift herself up slowly, hatred filled her eyes as she looked up at her husband’s killers.
She started to scream in a fit of rage and became hysterical, fear had left her as she took her revenge. That would be short lived, the growing rage inside her body was interrupted. One of the thug’s from behind wrapped his hand around her throat, he started to squeeze hard. A desperate scuffle broke out between the two of them, she tried in vain to break free of his grasp. Now the other thug had surrounded her, she knew it was too late. A hand missing two fingers grabbed the scruff of her dress, the thug in front of her forced her to the ground, both men stood over her and scowled, she closed her eyes.
The holographic image suddenly cut out then disappeared, Lei sat in silence and looked on motionless. Lei could not bear to witness what had happened to the woman.
He needed to speak to Lorna the images he had just witnessed haunted him, but his pain would be different compared to Lorna’s. Lei walked towards a bedroom door which he noticed had been left ajar, the light inside dimmed, maybe Lorna was just resting. Lei slowly opened the door, on the bed he noticed that she was awake. Sheets covered most of her body as she lay still, watching the ceiling in deep thought.
“I am sorry if I disturbed you, the image from the locket…, I am so sorry” said Lei in a empathetic tone.
“What have you to be sorry about?, you did not murder my family.”
She quickly sat up and pulled the sheets up towards her chin, scared, she was sweating. Lei walked towards the end of the bed and sat down, he needed to know what happened to her.
“The recording stopped at a certain point which you may probably have already noticed.”
“Watching those killers do that to my mother, the very first time I witnessed it I threw up, never again.” she said sobbing, Lei did his best to comfort her.
“Stay away!”
Lei did not question the rejection and instead stayed at the end of the bed, watching every kind of emotion flow through Lorna. It was hard to listen, as she described what the thugs did after they finished with her mother. Lorna could see everything from her view point back in the plantation, as she cuddled her baby brother close to her, both of them scared.
“My brother…he did not make it…I should have protected him.” sobbed Lorna.
Lorna described in agony how her brother became scared and broke free from her arms, the thugs spotted him and murdered him too.
“I should have done more to save him, I should have.”
Lorna then went on to describe the locket in more detail, it was found next to her Mother’s body she had kept it with her ever since. Lei placed his hand gently on her arm, suddenly she started to hit him with both hand’s but then gave up. Her sobbing continued but Lei held her tight and she gave into his comfort.
“I will help you make this pain disappear” he said.
CHAPTER THREE
Sitting at a table one of the men had started to grow impatient, inside the bar the meeting between the two men had gone on for far too long. A regular in this establishment, people knew who he was and who he worked for. The person sat waiting impatiently was called Thrummer, him and his crew had been here for a while. Credit chips lay scattered across the table, holographic score charts hanging in mid air. Thrummer was tired of the situation it
had reached a dead end. It was time to get down to business, as usual any meeting that dragged on longer then it should was more then certain to end up messy. The protection payment was overdue a final offer had been agreed many weeks back, but as usual various people chose to test Thrummer and withhold credit chips.
Most people would eventually be tracked down and summoned to explain their actions, some came out worse off then other’s. Resting his leg on the table, Thrummer rolled the dice in-between his fingers. Underneath the table by the side of his feet a fierce looking dog sat awaiting it’s next feed, it stared up with obedience at it’s master. Opposite sat a man who was smartly dressed, he knew this was a business meeting Thrummer was surprised of the effort made. The man looked nervous and constantly moved in his chair looking uncomfortable, he knew better then to try and get one over on Thrummer.
“Come on now, no need to be afraid.” said Thrummer, leaning forward.
Opposite him the man nodded in agreement trying his best to look calm it was not working.
“Only one thing for it then.” Thrummer thought.
Looking over towards the bar he made a quick gesture at a barmaid serving tables nearby, the woman was attractive and scantly dressed. This establishment did not cater for your average wealthy client, but instead served as a drinking den for the worst kind, criminals, panhandler’s, leeches, and anyone that decided to wonder in. The barmaid quickly arrived and served two drinks at the table, Thrummer was a regular and needed no introduction.
Leaning forward into him the woman whispered into his ear, “You staying later tonight?”
He did not reply instead laughed and slapped her backside in the process, she replied with a smile leaving his company and disappeared into the smoky gloom. Thrummer drew his attention back to his client sat opposite him, business needed to be wrapped up.
“She is a real cutie don’t you think?, sure is a good fuck and she gives.”
“Yes..erm very attractive.” replied the client nervously.
“Now the money give it to me, you have had enough time”
“I only have half, the flooding out there has been bad, damage costs have gone up.”
“Which zone is that?, lower district.” replied Thrummer.
The client slowly looked away he knew he was running out of excuses, no matter what reason my be believed. Below the table the dog started to brush against Thrummer’s leg it’s tail wagging, reaching into his pocket Thrummer knew it was reward time for his little friend.
“Well what would you know, typical daddy I go out to conduct business and forget your lunch.” He quickly moved his disfigured hand away from his coat pocket.
“You see my friend, my dog here he is very hungry.”
The dog snarled and bore it’s sharp teeth, wet saliva dripped off it’s tongue. The client stood up but he was quickly forced back down into the chair, Thrummer instructed one of his thugs to grab both his arms tightly.
“Don’t try a fucking thing.” said the thug forcefully.
With the client unable to move, the remaining thug to Thrummers right pulled out a laser cutter from inside his jacket. He aimed it over the client’s hand and stopped directly at one of his fingers.
“What is this bullshit?, listen I can’t pay you in full.” the client was panicking, sweat became visible on his brow.
The thug held his finger tight, and with his other hand he activated the laser. A red light started to pulsate from the end of the device, a timer had been programmed prior and when the time ran out the laser would do it’s damage. The device could cut through diamonds! something simple like human flesh wouldn't pose no threat.
“Time is not on your side, I suggest you pay up quickly.” said Thrummer.
The client shook his head, something that could turn out to be fatal, he was taking a big risk.
“Very well then,” Thrummer gave a nod the timer had run down. Suddenly a blinding beam of light shot out hitting the client’s skin. Before he could scream out with pain one of the thug’s behind him placed his hand over his mouth, any screams of pain where muffled. As it was slowly being guided the beam cut the finger to the bone, and within a split second it became severed. The laser had made a perfect cut, the finger slowly rolled off the table and landed on the floor near the dog.
Sweat continued to pour from the clients brow, his eyes grew wider with the pain. It was no use trying to break free, the thug’s hand was still clasped tightly over his mouth. With the ongoing act of violence being conducted, the other regulars within the establishment hardly gave it any notice. The owner behind the bar mealy glanced over then looked away, to continue serving drinks to his customers.
“No one will help you I am afraid,” laughed Thrummer.
“Nearly everyone in here is paid off mainly by my boss, these people carry on living their sad pathetic lives they don’t care.”
The dog lurched forward as dinner was served, Thrummer watched and smiled as he let go of the dog’s collar. The animal began to eat the discarded body part. Within a few seconds the finger had been devoured, and the dog began to lick the small remaining amount of blood from around it’s lips.
“Now, let’s try again which finger will it be this time?” said Thrummer as he gestured to the clients other hand.
“The animal you see is very impatient, it would be a big mistake to let him grow hungry for too long.”
Holding the client from behind the thug rolled up his sleeves, the clients arms became visible bar codes where etched into his skin. A lot of people on Old Earth carried this identity mostly Thrummer’s clients, it paid for protection from various harm that lurked in the inner city zones.
Thrummer had been in business for many years, collecting overdue payments on behalf of his boss Khan. Khan was the leader of this seedy underworld, and a person which no one ever crossed. Reaching into his jacket Thrummer pulled out one small piece of equipment, it was a scanner. He activated it and placed it against the bar code on the mans skin, his client was still winching with pain.
“Great idea that Khan had imprinting your kind with this, easier way to get money.” said Thrummer. Conversation sometimes seemed like a waste of time, he could easily use the piece of equipment. But he knew better after all it was business, not just idle chat.
A small beep could be heard as an image appeared in the middle of the table, the man’s ID flashed up with his name and financial records.
“A book keeper that is your profession?, well screw me.” said Thrummer.
“There we are, yes the rest of the payment tucked away in a holding account, I knew you had the goods.”
Thrummer accessed the account he needed and tapped in the details of payment, transfer of the funds would be instant to Khan. Letting go of the client the thug backed off, sat in the chair the client was shaking looking at his missing finger from his hand. Thrummer’s dog growled and looked up at him, it started to grow hungry again. Thrummer quickly pulled the animal away by it’s collar.
“Lucky for you we found the rest of the funds.”
“Please…I need those credits..my family I cannot let them starve.” A look of desperation was evident on the client’s face.
Thrummer got out of his chair and placed the dog on it’s chain, he stood up looking at the client’s pleas in front of him.
“Don’t beg, I hate begging just means you will need to work a bit harder now.”
Standing up Thrummer and his thugs made there way to the door at the front of the bar, their business here was over.
Outside the rain was falling hard from the sky above, just another day in a shit hole.
“This rain never let’s up.” said Thrummer pulling his hood over his head.
“No boss, it never does.”
Turning around Thrummer looked back at the bar, neon lit signs started to shine onto the soaked pavement beneath their feet.
“Get rid of him, dump the body into the river, the current will take care of things.” said Thrummer.
> “Yes boss.” replied one of the thugs.
Thrummer had received a phone call from Khan, his boss had changed his mind about the client and preferred a different outcome instead.
CHAPTER FOUR
The huge city skyline stretched out for as far as the eye could see. Thrummer sat in the front seat of the vehicle with his gang in the back. The vehicle was being driven by the on board computer, and quickly started to pick up speed.
Outside the greyness of the day time had all but disappeared, night time was about to take control of things. As the skyline grew closer the brightly lit towering buildings stood over their vehicle like giants, behind them the city zone slumbs started to fade away.
As they started to travel deeper into the city, super highways could be seen all around them. A few ship’s started to make their approach from the air, and descended onto the city spaceport.
“Ready guys? it won’t be too long before we meet Khan,” said Thrummer as he reached in his coat pocket to light up a cigarette. He took a deep drag, the smoke settled at the back of his throat, he felt relaxed.
“One of the many perks we get from working for Khan, cigarettes and loose women” scoffed one of the thug’s in the back seat.
The vehicle then took a right turn down one of the highway tunnels, as they entered lights beamed down from above.
Various advertisement boards came to life on the tunnel walls, promotions trying to sell the latest flood defense technology along with a high price tag. Others offering various business deals, some even showing contract killings. Thrummer and his crew paid no interest to what was on offer, the business opportunities they where given by Khan was more than ample. They made a good living, most involved violence sometimes to the extreme, it made no difference to them.
