Reason For Vengeance (Dark Vengeance Book 1)

by Adrian D. Roberts

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Scuffing noises from close by woke Hanna and she groggily opened her eyes. She saw the familiar damp ceiling of Deni’s and her apartment. It was a welcome sight and it meant she was safe. Sitting up without thinking she let out a low groan of pain. Her whole body letting her know the abuse it had been through. She fell back onto her pillow and took a deep breath.

  “You’re awake!” Deni said.

  Turning to look at her, Hanna couldn’t help herself. “What was your first clue? The open eyes or me sitting up?”

  “Alright, smart arse.” Deni said smiling as she bent to pick up some blankets and a pillow from the floor next to the bed. “You’ve been out of it for over a week. I was worried.”

  “Thanks, Deni. I owe you one.”

  “Well just take it off the many I owe you.”

  “Hah, at least it brings it down into double figures.” Hanna frowned at the blankets in Deni’s hands. “Have you been sleeping on the floor?” The apartment was really a single room, with only enough space for a single bed and not a wide one. The girls always shared the bed, it could be a bit uncomfortable, but they were used to it and they couldn’t afford anywhere bigger.

  “I didn’t want to disturb you,” Deni said. “How are you feeling?”

  “Like, I’ve been run over several times,” Hanna groaned. “That wall did quite a number on me.”

  “I know, I couldn’t believe you were still walking when you climbed into the lorry. Are you hungry? Doc Seeberg said you would be when you woke up.”

  “Yeah.” Hanna said a bit surprised. At the mention of food, her stomach came to life and told her it was completely empty. “Now that you mention it, I’m famished.”

  “I’ve managed to stock up on plenty of pasta and bread. I also made some tomato sauce.” Deni pushed her bedding under the bed and stepped over to their small stove. “I’ll just heat it up for you.”

  “What would I do without you, Deni?” The other girl just shrugged in response. They had both been in this position many times. Sometimes it was Hanna who was injured and other times it was Deni. Fortunately they managed to keep from both getting hurt at the same time. It was one of the reasons they never took on joint Jobs. They would help each other, but one of them would always be fully responsible. If it went wrong, the other could keep them alive. They didn’t make a big thing of it. It was just what they did to survive.

  Pulling the covers off, Hanna got up carefully. “I think I smell.”

  “No worse than normal,” Deni joked as she heated the sauce and pasta in a pan. “The good news is the heater is working today, you get a lukewarm wash.”

  Her knee was fitted with a brace. Hanna was glad to feel it would accept her weight as she got up. “Well at least one thing can go right on occasion.” Hanna grouched as she poured some water into their small sink, washing herself with a sponge, careful of her wounds and of getting any water on the floor. As she washed she inspected the skin. It had the dull red hue denoting it was regrown. Not the full replacement the rich could afford, this was a much cheaper version encouraging the body to regrow where it normally wouldn’t. It took days and was limited to simple parts like skin or muscle. It didn’t work on the more complex organs like the liver, lungs, heart or kidneys.

  After Hanna finished washing and the food was ready, the two of them sat down on the bed to eat. Deni dished out two thirds for Hanna and the rest for herself. The food seemed to disappear from Hanna’s plate as she wolfed it down, until she was mopping up the last of the sauce with what was left of her bread. Despite the food Hanna was still hungry and she knew Deni would be the same, with her much smaller portion. That was life though and Hanna took the plates to the sink to wash them.

  “Have you heard from Tern?” Hanna tried to keep her voice even, but she knew Deni wouldn’t be fooled, they had known each other far too long.

  “He came round the morning after. I told him what the Doc said. You wouldn’t wake up for days.” Deni paused slightly before continuing. “Tern said to tell you that you had better see him as soon as you are on your feet. He wasn’t happy.”

  Knowing that to be an understatement Hanna asked. “Does he know about the keys?”

  “He knows the Job went bad and asked to see your datapad. I told him you had it password protected and encrypted. Even I don’t know how to access it. I got the impression Sneaker was out of town and I checked after he left. Sneaker has not been seen for days. Not until this morning anyway. I saw him going into the Dawning Sun.” That was one of the bars he was known to hang out at. Hanna met him there a couple of times. She knew Deni had never been inside.

  “Thanks,” Hanna said nodding to herself. “I’ve got a chance then. If I can get to Sneaker before Tern does and before he knows I’m up, maybe, just maybe, Sneaker can help.”

  “Do you want me to come with you? Can you get down to the Sun OK?” Deni asked with concern.

  “No, you best stay out of it and I think I can manage. If I can do the washing up, walking a couple of blocks shouldn’t be a problem and the knee seems OK.” Hanna finished up, got dressed into her street clothes, grabbed her Quartz and headed out the door.

  Their tiny apartment was in a block of hundreds of others, all the same. Thin passageways, only a metre wide, branched off the main corridors, giving access to the apartments. You had to be careful you didn’t get caught in them with the wrong person. Hanna and Deni made it a point of getting to know everyone on their passageway and doing favours for them, particularly those that could be a threat. Because of that, the friends were worth more unmolested than having a short bit of fun with. Though fun is not how the girls would have described it.

  As long as she wasn’t caught with one of them if they were drunk, Hanna was safe enough. Today there was no one around and she moved quickly to the main corridor. The lifts hadn’t worked in the five years they had been there and Hanna took the stairs. She was well used to the five flights and it was one of the reasons both Deni and herself were as fit as they were.

  Outside it was mid-afternoon, the sun was shining and the heat was rising as usual. Tucking her hands in her pockets, with her head up and eyes watchful, Hanna walked down the street. She took it easy so as not to over strain her knee and still weak body. Wheelies passed her on the road and an occasional aircar flew over the buildings high above her. People were out and about as they always were during the day. Though there was little danger, Hanna never let her guard down. Anything could happen in the Ghetto and it often did.

  It was a quiet walk in the end and she soon reached the Dawning Sun. Its sign glowed brightly in the shade from its own building, showing a rising sun coming over an idyllic horizon of green fields and trees. Hanna had never seen anything like it and didn’t think she ever would.

  The bar was on the ground floor of an apartment block similar to Hanna’s own. The owner of the bar also controlled the two floors above and an extensive basement underneath. Both were underused at the moment, a leftover from a Boss setting up shop there some years ago. That Boss, like many others, was long gone, along with her operation.

  Taking a deep breath, Hanna composed what she was going to say to either Sneaker or if he was there, Tern, before opening the door. It was a simple hinged door like her own apartments and most of the doors in the Ghetto. Unlike hers, there was a much heavy door above it, ready to slide into place if it was needed.

  Coming from the bright light outside into the dim interior, it took her eyes a few moments to adjust and she looked around. There was the normal collection of heavy drinkers sitting alone at their tables. The big bearded man who cried everyday sometime after midnight, the old woman who told endless stories to whoever got close enough for her to see with her failing eye sight, the dark haired woman who always drank whisky and sat in the deepest darkest recess, as far away from the door as possible and the bald man who absolutely reeked, he would sidle up to your table and not leave until you bought him a drink. They were all ther
e, along with the half dozen other drunks. No doubt they all had stories to tell. A VI screen behind the bar showed a special report covering the one year anniversary of the Furioso attack.

  Fortunately she spied the person she was looking for. Sneaker sat with his back to a wall, next to a tall attractive red head who, for some reason Hanna had never been able to find out, went by the name Troll and opposite was, unsurprisingly, Barney. The big man was never far from Troll, they were Enforcers who aligned themselves with Sneaker, and a deadly double act.

  Heading straight for their table, Hanna was surprised as Sneaker got up. His bright blonde hair shined in the dim light against his dark skin as he scooped her up in a hug.

  “Kiddo. Am I glad you’re OK. I heard what happened.” He released her and guided her to the table. “Here, sit down next to Barney.”

  The big man nodded to her as she sat down and Troll smiled. “Hey girl. I heard you got into all sorts of trouble,” the woman said. “Got caught on an Electro Wall and everything.”

  “Damn right and I think we need to celebrate her being up and walking again so soon.” Sneaker said, sitting down opposite Hanna and waving to the barman.

  “Yeah, well, you know,” Hanna said shrugging a little uncomfortably. She looked to Sneaker. “I need your help. Tern sent me to copy some aircar keys and I only managed to get eighty percent. He’s pissed at me already and I don’t know what he will do when he finds out.”

  “Show me,” Sneaker said, with a serious expression. Hanna pulled out her Quartz, brought up the relevant programs and slid the datapad across the table to him. “Hmm, I see what you mean. Is this a Currus and what’s that, an Essedum?” He asked referring to the makes of aircar.

  “Yep,” Hanna said nodding. “You know Tern. He likes to think big.”

  “Too big.” Sneaker said with a frown. “You shouldn’t have been ready for this. I’m amazed you did as well as you did. Cutting through their security to copy them, is a grade A Hack.”

  “Oh,” Hanna was taken aback. “Finding the code key was difficult, after that it just seemed to work well. The programs came to me quite smoothly.”

  “I think I’ll have to watch my back. Someday they are going to call you the best Hacker and not me.” Sneaker said with a smile.

  They stopped talking as the barman came over and deposited four cold glasses of beer on the table in front of them. He cleared the empties in front of Troll, Barney and Sneaker and headed back to his bar.

  Sneaker didn’t lift his head from the datapad. “Hmm, OK I think I can do something with this. It’ll take a few days though.”

  “Heads up,” Troll said, interrupting them. “It’s Tern.”

  Sneaker looked up, his eyes widened and jaw clenched in anger. “Do you want us to..?” Troll asked with a raised eyebrow and Sneaker gave a short, sharp shake of his head.

  Hanna kept her head down, hoping Tern wouldn’t see her. Sneaker wouldn’t be able to protect her and without his say so, neither would Troll and Barney. Troll leaned back in her seat and Hanna knew the woman had drawn her pistol under the table. A movement to her right told her Barney had done the same.

  “So, there’s my little Gutter Snipe,” Tern said nastily. “I want a word with you.”

  Licking her lips Hanna could feel herself shaking and it wasn’t from the wounds. Tern always did this too her.

  “Hello, Tern,” Sneaker said in a cold voice. “I heard you’ve been going outside your area again.”

  “And what the fuck are you going to do about it?” Tern snarled back. Troll started to stand up, her face angry but was stopped by Sneaker’s hand on her arm. “Keep your dogs under control Sneaker.” Tern sneered and grabbed Hanna’s hair.

  With her back to him, she hadn’t seen him move and it caught her completely by surprise. Normally he went for an arm or her clothes. Despite this, she only gave out the slightest sound from the pain as she was wrenched to her feet. Tern was a big man, taller than Barney and a lot wider, though it was fat rather than muscle.

  Hanna shuffled on the tips of her toes or Tern would rip her hair out by its roots. She caught a last glance at their table as she was dragged out. Troll and Barney were both on their feet, faces full of anger and frustration, their weapons held uselessly at their sides. Sneaker was still sitting, his face a stone hard mask, wanting to do something, but knowing he couldn’t.

  Tern made no attempt to conceal what he was doing, dragging Hanna out, all the way across the bar and into the street. Now he showed a little circumspection, hauling Hanna into the alleyway next to the building. Once he was far enough in, he threw her to the dirty, rubbish strewn floor.

  This was not the first time this had happened to Hanna. She attempted to roll with the throw and minimise the damage. The hair was new and she didn’t manage it very well, her face scraping across the ground.

  “Where are my keys, Hanna?” Tern asked sweetly and she knew then that he was at his most dangerous, when his anger was in full control.

  “They’re on my datapad,” she said, her voice quivering in fear.

  “Really. So why did you go to Sneaker and not me?”

  To lie now would only make matters a lot worse. “They weren’t complete. I got most of them and Sneaker will complete the programs.” Hanna gushed out.

  She saw the kick coming and this time her experience worked. She managed to move with it but it still blasted the breath out of her lungs and left her coughing.

  “That’s no good.” His voice was still sweet and calm. “There was an order in for those items and they should have been delivered two days ago.” Hanna’s stomach sank. This was going to be bad.

  “I took you in. I trained you.” Really bad. “I ask this one thing of you, even after that simple grab Job.” Really, really bad. The foot came in again and this time it was her head that was the target. It left her groaning, vision darkening and her thoughts groggy.

  She felt him grab her by her upper right arm. His strong, podgy fingers gripping tightly as he lifted her to her feet. With all of her will power, Hanna managed to get her feet under her and although they wobbled, her legs supported her. Tern respected strength, as long as it didn’t threaten him anyway. She had to stand on her own.

  Looking up into his wide face, she saw the rage there and something told her, there was no way out this time. He was going to beat her to death. Time seemed to slow as his right arm went up and back, hand clenched tightly in a fist.

  Here was the end Hanna had seen so many others experience. Beaten in a small alleyway, a life snuffed out for no real reason other than it embarrassed someone else, just like her mother. This is what Hanna spent her entire short life striving to avoid and now it had come.

  The fist didn’t move. It stayed where it was, just out of her sight behind his shoulder. She looked at his face and saw his eyes widen in shock, followed quickly by pain and he let go of her arm. It was a good thing too, he suddenly went bodily sideways to Hanna’s left and his face crunched into the wall.

  This revealed a dark haired woman in a long dark coat. She held Tern’s wrist in her right hand with her left under his shoulder. The woman did not even look at Hanna as she relaxed her grip for a moment. Tern’s head slumped away from the wall, his mouth and nose broken and bloody.

  Hanna watched dumbfounded as the woman stepped in slightly and twisted Tern’s arm. The snap and crack of his bones was swiftly followed by an almighty scream. While still holding on to his arm, the woman let Tern get his feet under him before she drove her left boot heel into his knee. Now Tern shrieked, his voice rising higher than Hanna thought was possible. As he wailed he was thrown onto his back in front of her.

  Looking up at the woman’s face, Hanna saw the coldest expression she had ever seen. It was like her face was made of a battleship’s carbon steel in that deepest and darkest recess of space between solar systems. The woman was not looking at Hanna, only at Tern as he shrieked in his pain. She seemed to be waiting for something, Hanna didn’t have a
clue what is was.

  Not daring to move, Hanna stood there like a rabbit in headlights. Every part of her, every instinct she had developed in her harsh life, were calling on her to run, but something held her in place. Finally Tern quietened and started blubbering.

  “Please don’t. I can pay you. Just don’t, please don’t…” On it continued, Hanna could barely believe that this man, who terrified her for years, was doing this. He, who scorned anyone who did not have the strength to stand, was begging and pleading for his life.

  The woman let it go on and on. “I won’t do it again, I won’t, I- ARGHK.” Tern was cut off suddenly as the woman stepped forward, raised her foot and slammed her heel right into his throat, crushing it so completely blood spurted out. She must have broken his neck as well, his body became the still of the dead, instantly.

  The woman looked at Hanna for the first time. When their eyes met, the cold mask slipped for the barest moment. It was no more than a flicker and then she was the instant freeze of deep space again.

  “Tell no one.” The woman said before turning and walking out of the alley.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Hanna stood there shaking for a long time. She had seen many deaths, but none were as cold and as casual as that. Tern was a rag doll in that woman’s hands. She flung him about as though he was nothing. Shaking her head, she let her instincts finally kick in and staggered out of the alley as fast as her knee would let her. For a moment she considered running back to her apartment and hiding for the rest of her life. That wasn’t in her nature. She composed herself and walked into the bar.

  The woman was right where Hanna saw her the last time she walked in, sat in the furthest corner, wearing her dark coat, with her bottle of whisky and her eyes on the table, looking at nothing. Hanna swallowed hard and diverted her gaze, not wanting to meet those eyes again.

  Sneaker, Troll and Barney were still at their table and looked surprised to see her. Hanna walked over as casually as she could and slid back into her seat. Her beer still sat on the table in front of her untouched. She hadn’t actually been going to drink much of it beyond a few sips. Small, young and under nourished as she was, alcohol tended to affect her quickly and badly. Mainly she avoided it as she did not want to end up like her mother. She really needed it this time and began to gulp it down as fast as she could.