by Simon E Bond
The dashboard displayed a countdown, they would reach their destination within five minutes. Quickly they approached the tunnel exit, and the vehicle slowed down and made a left turn. They were now out in the open once again, just ahead huge floodgates stood tall as they passed alongside. This was the difference between living within a richer society and the slums back in the city zones, the harsh environment was almost a zero threat here. Society lay protected behind the floodgate walls. The road began to level out and the vehicle slowed down, they had almost reached their destination, the dashboard displayed two minutes.
“He should be happy this time.” said one of the thugs.
“Maybe, but remember as always let me do the talking.” replied Thrummer.
The two thugs just gave a quick glance towards each other, they knew the drill. The vehicle was now traveling on a main road in the city, either side small buildings where lit up along with holograms. High end vehicles where parked against the sidewalks, rich folk walked on by going about their business. Slowing down the car entered a parking bay and came to stop outside a huge skyscraper, two corporate robotic guards approached from the entrance. They where taller then a human and robust in character, fully plated body amour covered their slick structures.
“Here we go again,” said one of the thugs.
“Quiet,” replied Thrummer. He was not amused they had been on the road for a good few hours.
All of them knew the drill, Khan was very careful he never used the same guards twice when having a meeting regarding a business deal. One of the guards started to input a series of digits along a control panel attached to his amour. The guard held out his arm and aimed for the rear of the vehicle, a thin line of blue light emitted from the control panel. Slowly the light started to scan the outside of the vehicle to ensure no threat was apparent. After a long wait the security check on the car was complete, the guards gave the all clear.
“Step out of the vehicle, Sirs.”
All three men complied they got outside and closed the vehicle doors behind them, the two guards walked on in front and asked them to follow. Thrummer took the lead and the two thugs followed on behind, just ahead of them a pair of giant steel doors opened up to the skyscraper. The hussle of the nightlife from the city outside fell silent, one by one they stepped inside.
Once inside they where greeted by a huge reception hall, a woman was sat behind a desk minding her own business busy working away at a computer. The floor of the hall was covered in white stone, above them huge marble pillars stood at various points within in the hall. Thrummer quickly turned his attention towards a painting on a nearby wall, it was antique looking and had stood the test of time well. A horse was in the painting along with a man standing next to it, the man looked to be of a military type, he stood proud in the midst of a battlefield. Thrummer stood still and admired the picture not only for it’s beauty, but the authority the man held. Thrummer had always aspired to be that man and deep down he thought he was, at least that was the impression he gave his crew.
Thrummer carried on walking behind the two guards, they had reached the elevator at the end of the hall, stopping they turned around facing Thrummer and his crew.
“Gentleman, you know the drill arms up by your heads.”
They all complied and were searched one by one, a scanner stick was being used by each guard. Slowly they took their time scanning each of the men for any hidden weapons.
“Don’t worry, we did not bring anything with us this is just wasting time.” said one of the thugs.
“Please do not interrupt, you must comply.”
Thrummer frowned, he knew it was the same every time they came here, very repetitive but he knew the rules. The meeting’s where normally quick with Khan, and more than likely they would be out of the building as quick as they arrived. The scanning process was over nothing sinister had been found, the guards placed their scanners back into their armour and sealed them away.
The elevator doors opened and a beeping noise sounded, everyone stepped inside the big open space the doors then closed behind them. Making their way passed each floor everyone stood in silence Thrummer just wanted this over and done with. Beneath their feet they felt the elevator slow down and come to a halt, the display above them flashed floor sixty seven the doors quickly opened up. They stepped outside onto the floor, a solid oak door was ajar and they walked inside the room.
“The gentlemen are here to see you Sir.” said one of the guards.
A tall man was stood by the side of a desk, a leather chair accompanied it the room was a large office with a lot of open space. Three huge bookshelves stood at the end of the room, the rest was the height of luxury. The man walked across to greet them, he was handsome with slick black hair. He wore an expensive suit, three gold rings shone from his fingers on his left hand.
“Welcome back again Thrummer, I trust everything went according to plan?”
“Yes it did Khan.”
Both of them exchanged a handshake the meet did not last long, business was calling and Khan hated small talk. All three men grabbed a chair nearby and sat down, Khan sat behind his desk and leaned forward. He ran his fingers through his hair and leaned back into his chair, and quickly tapped some buttons on his desk. An image came to life before him, it appeared to be the man who owed him credits back in the city zone slums.
“So I take it you took care of this little problem?” asked Khan as he tapped his finger on his desk.
“There was no problem.” replied Thrummer.
Producing a small object from his jacket he slid it across the table towards Khan, grasping it, Khan activated the data. An image opened up in-front of him showing a transaction log, payment had indeed been made.
“No baggage left behind?” asked Khan.
“None, the son of a bitch is dead my crew took care of him back in the slums, threw his body into the flood plains he will be fish food now.”
“Good I hate baggage.”
He had seen enough and with a sly grin Khan turned the data feed off from view.
“You need to try something new, all of you are in need of a change.” said Khan.
“What do you mean?” asked one of the thugs.
“Let’s say the street fighting business, people have all been brought in line now apart from the dead ones but we can’t have everything now can we?.”
“Street fighting?, that would make us peanuts.” snapped one of the thugs as he stood up from his chair.
“Sit down!” shouted Khan.
They all needed to keep their cool, they could handle themselves easily enough but had to respect Khan.
“Well now,” he said pausing “Now that we have that little blast of fury out of the way I can finish.”
“There will be no actual street fighting for you gentleman, your next business assignment is to take control of one of the venues back in that shit hole.”
“It could be good credit opportunity ” said Thrummer.
“Of course.” replied Khan.
Khan went on to explain that there was one venue that made the most profit, with what he could gather from his intel sources.
The fighting venue he had his eyes on was situated in the west of the city zone, basically a maze of alleyways and back streets like a rabbits warren. Khan already had visions in his mind, mainly how that particular area of business would be turned into a corporate credit generating sweet spot. Already he was planning the fine details of how to make this work for him, but for now Thrummer had to work on the task at hand….
****
Behind them the skyscrapers disappeared into the background, heavy rainfall began hitting the road’s surface. Thrummer was back in the driving seat, he started to slow down as they approached the checkpoint border. He stopped the vehicle and leaned his head out of the window, a guard stood holding a scanner. Thrummer placed his hand onto it, the blue light scanned from left to right. Everything was now clear as Thrummer and his crew where granted access. The
border was quickly opened and the vehicle made it’s way through, inside each of the thugs studied their assignment’s that Khan had handed out.
“Looks easy enough,” said one of the thugs scratching his head. “So a quick walk in and we take over the business?”
“Something like that.” replied Thrummer.
The vehicle turned off the main road and followed the signs to Zone three, they would arrive at their destination within ten minutes. As they approached the traffic moved slow, along the pavement groups of homeless people could be seen huddled together in makeshift tents. One of the thugs wiped the dirty passenger window to get a better view, he noticed an old woman pushing a shopping trolley. The trolley was full of junk and other various bits of rubbish, the woman paid no attention as the vehicle passed by.
“Damn, this place is the worst.” said the thug..
“Yeh, I would sooner spend a day in Khan’s office any day then this.” replied Thrummer.
“You can say that again.”
“Well we are here, check your weapons.”
Each of the men in the back of the vehicle checked their fire arms, they each carried a laser blaster, a weapon that could inflict extreme damage. Making a sudden stop the vehicle pulled up against the kirb, Thrummer and his men got out. All around them the area resembled that of a shanty town, small houses made up of different kinds of material covered the landscape. The smell in the air was awful, mixed with the heavy pollution in the atmosphere it stank. All the men covered their noses with their hands, with each step they passed groups of desperate people but paid them no attention.
“Well, this must be it.” said Thrummer looking down at the electronic map in his hand.
“All of you stick close to me, the owner could have some paid protection with him.”
They quickly approached a large building, high fences stretched all around. Behind the fences themselves there appeared to be numerous alleyways and places to hide, Khan was right it did resemble a rabbit warren.
Beyond the fences in the distance a huge street fighting area could be seen, the fences had been designed to be make shift crowd enclosures. A door was open to the entrance of the building nearby, and a crowd of people could be heard from within. Thrummer and his men entered, inside people appeared to be placing bets. Screens were spread all along the walls, the room was jammed packed. Each person one by one stood at a screen and placed their bets. Thrummer and his crew made their way to the front where a counter stood. Behind the counter employees rushed around, each serving drinks and handing out smokes to their customers, trade was busy today a fight was being held this evening.
“Can I help you gentlemen?” said a voice over Thrummers shoulder.
He turned around and noticed an old man standing before him, Thrummer assumed he was the owner of the business.
“Yes you can help, Khan sent us.”
The man quickly tried to walk away, but one of the thugs climbed over the counter and pointed the laser blaster straight at him and dragged him through a nearby door into a backroom. The rest of the crew made their way inside, Thrummer slammed the door shut he was in no mood for games.
“Now let’s get down to business, Khan is making you a generous offer.”
He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a bag of credits, the amount could make someone very comfortable for a lifetime. Thrummer opened up the bag and the credits fell on the floor.
“I cannot sell this business it will be handed down to my family when I am gone.” The man was adamant.
“Really, you want this place that bad huh.” replied Thrummer.
The man nodded, no business would be conducted today as far as he was concerned.
“Well I guess it is time for us to leave.”
The man looked into Thrummer’s eyes with fear, but it was too late. Squeezing the trigger the weapon was fired, the laser blast hit the man’s skull sending a spray of blood and splinters of bone fragments onto the wall behind. He was dead, his body lay in a heap on the floor, it was a pity the situation could not have ended better. But business was business and that was all that mattered.
“Listen you two get rid of the body outside, I don’t want any traces left behind.”
The thugs grabbed the body by the arms and legs and opened the exit which led out to a yard. In the betting area people were confused and scared, panic was setting in. Khan had claimed a new patch, but now it was time to expand and get ready for a new enterprise…
CHAPTER FIVE
“Hit harder…you can do this!.” shouted Lei as he blocked the steady stream of punches from Lorna fist's. The two of them started to move around each other, Lei held his sparring mitts steady to block each incoming jab. The sweat was pouring from her body soaking into her vest, she was controlling her breathing well. Lei could see a fighter in Lorna no doubt about it. Six months of training had made her body tough, and in the process it had also hardened her mindset.
Lei backed off slightly as Lorna started to grow tired, he was pushing her towards the edge of exhaustion. Lorna trained regular inside the makeshift gym that was located within Lei’s storage area. In the middle of the gym there was a ring, also various pieces of body gear and amour where attached to the walls. All of which Lorna had practiced on in one form or another in the months she had been here.
“Okay, that is enough exercise for today.” said Lei, as he watched Lorna catch her breath.
Lei was a known legend as a street fighter back in the past, at that time he could not be beaten and was in his prime back then. Like with almost everything on Old Earth there involved a business deal, unfortunately sometime in the past that deal went wrong and it was something he would never talk about again. In the short time they had had spent together he had explained many things to Lorna, Lei had lived the life of a recluse before they met.
He had been alone here inside the cave, and over the years had adapted to the new surroundings the best that he could. The only time he would ever venture out into the zones slums was when he needed to purchase energy modules for the generator, and other various supplies in general. But things had changed the night he met Lorna, in the months that had passed they both had grown custom to each others ways. Lei now felt like the father figure that she had lost once as a child, that gave her some comfort.
“We need to eat,” said Lei.
“Your right, I am starving.”
The two of them left the makeshift ring and proceeded towards the living area, Lorna decided to get cleaned up as Lei prepared the meal.
“How long till I am ready?” echoed Lorna within the bathroom.
“You will know soon enough, but you said you wanted to discuss the plan first.”
“Yes,” she replied.
“I know the gang who killed my family are here, and more likely from the city.”
“Go on I am listening.” replied Lei.
“When I was growing up in with my adopted parents I started to look into my fathers past, record’s showed he had setup some deals with a guy named Khan.”
“Khan…” Lei paused.
“I know that name, he runs the protection rackets on this planet among over things, lives in the high end society part of the city.” said Lei.
Lorna had finished washing herself, she then got dressed into her night gown and left the bathroom.
“But I have another plan Khan employed the gang to do his dirty work, my father records also showed someone named Thrummer who worked for him.” she said.
“That name I can never forget, the images in the locket showed me it was Thrummer and his gang who murdered my mother.”
His physical appearance was something that had been edged in her mind, what stood out was that Thrummer had missing fingers on one of his hands. Growing up when she was a child the dark nights would arrive, nightmare visions of Thrummer reaching at her throat became hellish for her. Once each nightmare had come to an end she would lay in bed, her eyes staring at the ceiling with her body soaked in a pool
of sweat.
“I have to find him and his gang, they will be out there somewhere.” she said, grabbing a chair at the table Lorna sat down.
“Okay..but I will need to check things out first.” replied Lei as he served the meal.
After a while Lorna’s appetite slowly returned after the conversation, she started to tuck into her food and gave a thumbs up of approval. He returned the gesture with a smile then started to sip some fresh water from a glass, he had an idea on how to help Lorna. In the first couple of months both of them had reached an agreement, and there would be an endgame to ensure justice was served.
“Lorna, I will need to leave for a couple of hours tonight and go into the slums.”
“But we have enough supplies to last up a couple more months.”
“No it’s not that.” Lei replied.
“I have heard there is a big street fighting venue in Zone three of the city, business is doing good and I need to check out who is running that venue.”
Lorna looked up and suddenly took an interest.
“It could be a small chance but what if Thrummer was there?” said Lei.
“It is worth a try, you have to do what you feel is right but be careful.
“I will, no fighting from me I promise.” said Lei.
“Deal then.” replied Lorna.
They shook hands, outside the night was approaching fast as the murky daylight skyline started to disappear. Lei had work to do, Lorna played the waiting game.
****
The journey was almost over as the vehicle made it’s way through the slum checkpoint gates, Lei had been lucky a fight was scheduled to commence tonight. Before back in the cave he had given Lorna the information about the upcoming fight, she would be able to pick it up on a live broadcast. Hopefully Lorna would spot Thrummer but it was highly doubtful, she needed to be aware of what she was up against with the fighters Thrummer had on his books.
