Reason For Vengeance (Dark Vengeance Book 1)

by Adrian D. Roberts

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Valerie walked into the Dawning Sun six hours later and the time was now two in the morning. It had taken that long to unload everything and ship it all out. She made a mental note to ask Sneaker about recruiting more people. She liked the small well-knit team and didn’t want to change the Crew for the Heists. Hanna, Deni, Rush, Troll, Barney, Hobbs, Judge and Sneaker, when he could spare the time, were a tight Crew.

  After the raid, Valerie did have some reservations about Hobbs. He came round though and worked with them several more times. Sneaker, after checking with her, asked him to join officially a couple of months back and since then, Hobbs proved his worth many times.

  He was more relaxed with Valerie now and even started to try and flirt with her. She resisted slapping him down as everything inside her screamed at her to do. It seemed a betrayal to Tom to even tolerate it, but she didn’t want to push Hobbs yet, in case he turned resentful of her. After she ignored him for a few weeks, he should get the message. If not, she would have a quiet word with him.

  Judge had been a complete unknown for her. He was out of town for the first heist and the attack on Tumbler’s tower. She found she liked him though. The slight man was cool, calm and collected. He reminded Valerie a lot of Chao Button, but not as flippant. She could see why they called him Judge. He never let his emotions take over, he was always in control.

  The Crew was all she required for the front line aspects of the Heists. What she needed were more people in a support role. Today, after she landed the cargo flyer, it had taken all of them to off-load and drive the trucks. The four extra bodies Sneaker gave her wasn’t enough. Both Hanna and Deni needed to drive, with an Enforcer along to ride shotgun. Valerie knew none of them minded doing it, but it wasn’t the best use of their skills. As they were light on Enforcers, it also meant Hobbs and Judge had to stay and guard the Dawning Sun.

  Following the power vacuum caused by her killing Tumbler, the Tops gave Sneaker permission to take over her territory. He started by buying the Dawning Sun with the proceeds from the first Heist. The bar itself hadn’t changed much, it was still the dim and dark hole Valerie lost herself in for so long. The only real difference being the number and type of clientele after the drunks moved on. Those who came here now, had money to spend and wanted to hitch themselves to Sneaker’s rising star.

  The bar wasn’t where the real action was, that was upstairs. Sneaker turned it into a very sophisticated casino it was now the place to be, if you had money to burn or wanted to make your fortune on the turn of a card or roll of the dice.

  With Sneaker’s extensive contacts and Valerie keeping the peace, it also became neutral ground for the Bosses to parley. They would come here and iron out any differences and problems they had with rival gangs. Not even the most vicious Boss dared to cause trouble in the Sun. They knew they would have Valerie to deal with and no one wanted that.

  The basement was Valerie’s. She turned it into her base of operations for the Heists and Enforcers. A powerful fully equipped armoury, including a workshop with every tool she would need, had been installed. There was a gun range, where she could train their people how to shoot properly, rather than on the Job, the way most around here learned. She also converted one of the derelict floors above the casino into a training ground, with holo targets and variable lighting. It was a good place for their people to put her training into action, in the tight confined corridors that was the most likely place many of them would fight. Another floor was also in the process of being renovated. When finished it would represent a fight outside in the streets.

  Also in the basement was a full briefing and planning room, with simulators that could train people in every type of vehicle and Hanna’s work space. That one room contained more computer power than the girl really knew what to do with. If the authorities ever found out about the Rig in that room, in the hands of a Hacker with Hanna’s abilities, they would come down on this building with everything they had. Valerie knew Hanna was more skilled than the best in the Legion and she was still learning. Sneaker might not be able to help directly with the Heists anymore, but he always made time to continue Hanna’s training.

  Along with needing the support for the Heist’s, they also needed to keep control of their territory. Hanna had some very strong views on prostitution and the drug trade. The girl knew they were too profitable to not be part of the business, but they needed to be regulated. They had always been the areas in the Ghetto that were the most open to abuse, and Tumbler let the Dealers and Pimps do whatever they wanted. Sneaker and Valerie fully agreed with Hanna, but they just did not have the numbers to enforce their will yet.

  Valerie personally stepped on a half dozen men and woman they heard about going too far. It wasn’t enough and until they employed more Enforcers, the Pimps and Dealers would continue to abuse those they had power over. Hanna was being patient at the moment, but that wouldn’t last for long. As the number three in the gang, behind Sneaker and Valerie, her opinion mattered.

  Walking over to the bar Valerie, took her seat on a stool at the end. The barman came over and placed a double whisky in a large wide glass in front of her. “Thanks, Frank.” He nodded and turned to serve those he skipped to give Valerie her drink. She turned her stool slightly into its normal position, with her back to the wall and elbow propped against the bar. From here, she had a clear line of sight to the front door on her left and the Casino and Basement entrances at the back of the room to her right.

  This was her stool and it was always kept clear for her, just as she was always served before anyone else when she came in. The on duty Enforcer was in a similar position on the opposite side of the room. Valerie nodded to her. Jackal nodded back, her eyes continuing to sweep the room while she sipped her ice water. Judge would have finished for the day and Hobbs would be upstairs, keeping an eye on the casino until late. Jackal joined a couple of months ago and was a good solid presence in the bar. People noticed she was there, knew not to cause trouble and weren’t so afraid they didn’t feel relaxed.

  Jackal had been a good hire, though she may not have been the fastest or the best shot. What she did do is get the job done with just the right amount of force, not too much and not too little. In a way the woman represented what Sneaker was trying to build, a profitable business that was firm and fair.

  Leaning back slightly, Valerie relaxed as much as she was able, which wasn’t very much. She knew what was waiting for her back at her apartment. The dreams would come the moment she drifted off to sleep and would not finish until the morning when she would wake crying. They never stopped and she did not believe they ever would.

  She had not found peace, she would never call it that and not contentment, maybe distraction would be the right word. Her days were taken up with enough things to do to keep her mind away from her grief, while allowing her to function. She did not feel bad about that, when she went to bed, she would relive it all, again and again.

  There was still something else inside, caged and waiting. The rage hadn’t cooled in the slightest. It was not just tears of sorrow that fell in the mornings, but also tears of rage against those that hurt her family. Even now, as she contemplated it, she felt her grip tighten on the glass and forced herself to relax before she shattered it. That rage still needed to be fed. It still needed to be released, just as she had on Furioso.

  Even now, two years later, she felt little regret at her actions, but there was some guilt for the deaths of those she knew and worked with. What she mostly felt was satisfaction she hurt those running the Pantheon. She let those powerful men and women, who luxuriated in their wealth and power, without a thought to those they hurt, know they were vulnerable. It was possible for someone to attack them where they should be strongest.

  With a big swig, she downed the last of her drink and left the bar. To go home to her dreams and tears.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  The sun was up and shining when Valerie walked through the Dawning
Suns doors at noon, after her normal restless night. Tatiana, this morning’s bartender, was already pouring Valerie’s daily coffee. Valerie took the large cup and thanked the woman before heading upstairs to the casino.

  Unsurprisingly, there were not many people in there, Judge nodded to her from his usual place on the balconies above as Valerie crossed the floor. Suchao, another Enforcer, stood next to the stairs leading up to Sneaker’s office. He nodded to Valerie as she passed. The door was open and Valerie didn’t even bother to shake her head about it as she went in. It was an old argument, Sneaker wanted to be accessible and she wanted to make sure he couldn’t be a target.

  “Good morning, Valerie,” he greeted her from behind his desk. “How did it go last night?”

  “It went well.” Valerie said. She passed the small conference table and sat in one of the three comfortable chairs arranged in front of his desk. “No casualties on either side, our customers got exactly what they wanted and paid in full.”

  “Yes, I have had a call from a couple of them thanking me for the deliveries.”

  “Always nice to hear, but we really need to discuss recruitment.” Valerie said. “I can think of several more productive things that Hanna, Troll, Barney and myself could be doing instead of driving trucks. Also Rush and Deni maybe our Drivers, but anyone can drive a truck and they were on the Job for over twelve hours.”

  “I know, I know. You’re the one who’s always cautioning me about getting people we can trust. I’ve used up my contacts and those of the Crew.” Sneaker said, meaning Troll, Barney, Deni, Hanna, Judge and Rush. “I know you don’t have any around here to call upon.”

  “That’s true.” Valerie said with a nod. “What about Hobbs, Jackal, Suchao and the others? I’m sure Hobbs knows some Merc’s who want a steady payroll. I think we can trust people Jackal vouches for.”

  “You’re right.” Sneaker said smiling ruefully. “I’m so used to trusting only our Crew and you do have better relationships with the Enforcers than me. Why don’t you sound them out and get them to let me know who they recommend. I’ll have Hanna run background checks and give me a short list of those who fit the bill. We can then go through them and see who’s worth speaking to.”

  “I’ll have a chat with them.” Valerie agreed and then noticed something on Sneaker’s desk. Quirking an eyebrow she asked. “Is that Billy Bacc’s Manifesto? I didn’t take you for a rebel.”

  Sneaker picked up the fifty-four page hard copy and looked at it slightly quizzically. “I’m not really. Have you read it?”

  Valerie shrugged slightly. “Once. Quite a few years ago.” Although banned throughout the Pantheon, it was required reading for senior Devil commanders. “It’s well written, but I honestly don’t think he has a chance of actually changing anything. Can you see anyone around here rising up in mass rebellion?”

  “You’d be surprised, Carter, you’d be surprised.” Sneaker shook his head and Valerie got the impression he didn’t want to talk about it. “Anyway. I have another Job for you,” he said changing the subject.

  Valerie raised her eyebrows again. “Already? That’s a bit quick.”

  “I realise that and I agree the Crew do need some downtime between Jobs. This is a special order from Top Garson. He wants it done and he wants us to do it. Here.” Sneaker passed over a file of hard copies. If you wanted to do something and make sure no one knew about it, you sent the details on hard copies and a stand-alone drive.

  Valerie flipped through them. “It’ll raise our profile then?”

  “Massively,” Sneaker said nodding. “It’ll also give us an option on Helmdon.” Valerie thought about that. Helmdon was a neighbouring area and Alecto, the Boss there, was getting old without a clear successor. She was steadily losing control of her area, with small independents setting up shop inside of it. The option meant their Crew could move in when they wanted and more importantly, when they were ready, after completing the recruitment drive.

  “I would suggest an alliance with Alecto once we have the people, with the understanding her operation will be absorbed by us when she’s ready.” Valerie told Sneaker.

  “I agree. You’re getting ahead of yourself though, we need to complete the Job first.”

  Valerie closed the file. She hadn’t read it properly yet but she had seen enough. “It won’t be a problem,” she said confidently with a wave of her hand. “Our Crew can handle it. I’ll get Hanna started on background and Deni out scouting with some flybys of the area. Once we have the data and I have put a plan together, I’ll let you know. Did Garson say when he wanted it completed by?”

  “I told him we can have it done in a couple of weeks,” Sneaker said with a shrug. “He seemed happy with that.”

  “OK.” Valerie stood up. “I’ll call Hanna in now and get Deni to have a poke around this afternoon. Is there anything else?”

  “Nope,” Sneaker said with a shake of his head. “I’ll leave you to get on with it.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  “This is Derwent Tower.” Hanna said, activating the briefing table in the basement three days later. A large holo of a two hundred storey carbonide building, with its shining polished metal and glass façade, rotated in the air in front of Valerie, Deni and Hanna. This was the initial planning meeting where Deni and Hanna could explain what they found.

  “It’s owned by Rexor Holdings and is mostly leased by Orobello Construction.” Valerie suppressed the wave of emotion that name caused within her. It was where Tom worked before he was killed. It had been responsible for the Sandy Shores project. The multi-system company had building contracts all the way from the Pantheon, well out into the Edge. It was not a surprise she would come across them. When she glanced through the briefing documents in Sneaker’s office, she hadn’t noticed the name and she was glad she was in her own office when she did. It would not have done for her hard killer reputation, if Sneaker saw her break down crying in front of him. Since then she managed to control those emotions, or at least to not show them to whomever else happened to be in the room with her.

  “I know the Job looked like a simple info dump theft, but it’s really not.” Hanna continued.

  “I didn’t think it would be if Garson gave it to us.” Valerie said.

  “Yeah and now I’ve had a look at it, I can see why it came our way. Safelife have their planetary headquarters on the top ten floors and have pulled out all the stops.” Hanna explained.

  Deni laughed at that. “I’m not surprised with the amount of times we’ve hit them over the last year. They must be losing contracts by the hundreds. Who knows what would happen if it got out that their HQ was robbed.”

  “Exactly.” Hanna said with a laugh of her own. “So the system firewalls they’ve put in are impressive.” Valerie nodded at that admission. If Hanna was saying that, they would be very good. The girl’s confidence in her abilities had grown steadily over the last year and rightly so. “I won’t be able to do this remotely. We need to be physically inside Orobello’s mainframe to get to the data.”

  “OK, Hanna.” Valerie said. “What did you see Deni?”

  Leaning forward, Deni entered some commands into the table and four red icons appeared at different points around the tower. “Safelife have security patrols all around the building. We saw a minimum of four in the air on every pass we made. When they change the shifts, the on duty patrol doesn’t leave until their relief is fully in place. They’re using Dragonfly Helos and we recorded a total of twelve different energy signatures.”

  The Dragonfly was a civilian light version of the Helos used by the Legion Army. Though it wasn’t in the same class as the Windsoar, it still carried more than enough firepower to deal with anything they could field. The Crew’s own aircar, as modified as it was, would not stand a chance against one Dragonfly, let alone four. If Deni picked out twelve different energy signatures, it meant Safelife had a full squadron of twelve Dragonflies. They would be able to always have eight in the air at any one tim
e. The remaining four would be used as replacement aircraft, while maintenance and repairs took place.

  “We took the usual passive scan readings as well.” Deni continued, referring to the array that Sneaker somehow acquired. They fitted it to the inside of a normal airtruck. Its large flat sides made a perfect place to hide the three metre wide receiving dish. It could read any active scans just like a warship, but on a much smaller scale. “They aren’t wasting any bandwidth, that’s for sure. We recorded scans for heat, energy, metal, ceramics, carbon, organic and manufactured fibres. Anything you could build something out of, they were looking for. From what we saw of how the Dragonflies were working, I would guess they were checking everything that came to within a five hundred metre radius of that building. They were even doing flybys on each individual Pterodactyl, I wouldn’t be surprised if they have names for them all by now.”

  “It sounds like going in by air won’t be an option then?” Valerie asked.

  “You’ve got all my data, but I can’t see any way in.” Deni answered. Valerie would go through the data thoroughly later. It was always good to get the girl’s impressions first. While not as good as Hanna, Deni was learning and Valerie liked to push her as much as she could.

  “OK,” Valerie looked to Hanna. “What about the front door?”

  “Not a chance. ID passes, biometric scanners, visitors log and even escorts. The full works.” Hanna said shaking her head. She was a lot firmer than Deni had been in giving her opinion. “If we walk in there without already being in the system, they’ll watch us like mountain hawks and we won’t have room to breathe, let alone rob the place.”

  “So we can’t go round it, we can’t go over it and we can’t go through it.” Valerie said to summarise “We’ll have to go under it.” She could see that neither of the girls were getting her reference to the ancient children’s song. “What about Manual workers?”