by Hal Archer
"Checkered hats! They've got their lights on Birdy."
She flew her drone away from the street, rounded a couple of buildings and settled Birdy into a hover over an empty alley. The video feed was coming through fine now, though it was darker.
She noticed the tension in her shoulders, and her breathing had gotten a bit faster. She took a moment to calm down.
"Don't worry, Squeakers. I'm sure Birdy is going to be fine. They just spotted her. I don't think they're coming after her. They've probably moved on to harassing someone else by now."
She nodded her head in agreement with her assumed scenario. She pushed her thumbs against the drone controls, steering it a couple more buildings down. Then she turned it into the alley heading for the street.
"Gotta take another look."
She edged Birdy around the corner of the street-side of the building, turning her to peer back toward the shop stall she had been watching. She pushed the zoom on the lens control until the shop became large enough to see.
She saw the thick-set man walking in Birdy's direction down the side of the street, about twenty feet past the merchant stall.
"Guess the woman told him to get lost. Good for her."
She flew Birdy higher and angled the drone's lens, so she could see the alien-looking guy and more of the street around him. After a couple more seconds, and another fifty or so feet in altitude, she saw the guy in the brown jacket.
"I knew it!" She shook the controller. The image on the video tilted and jittered. "Oh. Whoops." She steadied the controller and tipped the toggles around until she'd leveled Birdy.
She maneuvered Birdy until she had both men in view again. "That's the guy he's after. You heard what he said, Squeakers."
Squeakers made another mouse sound, which was all he could do.
Tiffin looked at his head peering out of the folded roll of carpet. "How can you think about cheese at a time like this?"
She stared at the mouse for a moment. "You're right. I'm sorry." She reached into her vest pocket and snatched a piece of cheese. She tossed it to the mouse. "But we've got to do something. Warn him or something."
CHAPTER 6
J ake stood on the street corner, looking at the hustle and bustle. People—he used the term loosely—doing their thing. Can't exactly walk up to them and say, hey, where can I get an illegal shipping license.
The shadow of a hover car darkened the street in front of him, and then moved past. It made a faint whirring noise like a distant cat in a late-night fight. Jake watched the orange light from the sky cab run over the windows of the building across the street.
He'd ask several street vendors and a few pedestrians who kinda ran the neighborhood. Said he was thinking about settling in somewhere local. Wanted to find out more about the area before making a decision. Most of the people he talked to said they only kept tabs on their block. They said they were too busy to pay attention to the rest of the neighborhood.
Jake took them at their word. No reason not to, he figured. They were smart. Kept their heads low. Did their jobs. Made ends meet. Most people had enough sense not to go looking for trouble.
Never learned that lesson, I guess.
He glanced around the streets again. He was at an intersection. Probably two or three hundred stories walking around—heading to meet up with somebody, rushing to work, making their way home, out for a stroll, looking over their shoulder, working a plan, aimlessly wandering.
What am I doing here? He shook his head, then looked to his right, at the nearest path out of the busy streets. He took off for an alley.
He wasn't sure where he was heading, but he knew he had a better chance looking in the city's shadows. He was looking for a way to get to Baron Vos, to find a way to make a deal with him. Jake knew that sort of truth hid in dark places.
He walked the alleys, took the shadowed corners, for the better part of half an hour. He exchanged words with a few vagrants, but none of them could tell him what he needed to know. He ran across a few different back-alley merchants, turning down their promised pleasures and highs. He came up empty-handed, except for a warning from the last guy. Don't deal with the Baron, the man had said. When Jake pressed him about Vos, the needle pusher clammed up and folded away his goods. Then the guy took his juice bag and scurried off down another alley. The way the man reacted, nearly stumbling over himself as he hurried away, said a lot. Jake figured he was right to peg Vos as the man who could get him what he needed.
Just need to find out how to force him to deal.
Jake's thoughts were interrupted by a whistling sound coming from around the corner of the next alley.
He walked over to check it out. The whistling continued as he approached the turn around a gray brick building, but he noticed the whistling sounded more like a chirping.
He turned the corner and saw a drone. As best he could tell, it was the same one he'd seen spying on him earlier. This time, however, it wasn't high in the sky, but was instead hovering only ten feet off the ground.
Jake could see the camera on the bottom, which was pointed at him. The drone was black and gray, but the colors were uneven, coats of paint, some areas worn and faded. It had anything but a factory-fresh look.
The drone chirped again, and drew the sound out—the whistling noise. Then it tilted and moved a few feet away from Jake. It paused, then came back to its first position and repeated the maneuver, chirping again.
"What do you want?" Jake said.
He felt ridiculous even trying to communicate with the machine, but he knew someone must be controlling it.
The drone repeated the chirping, tilting, fly-a-few-feet maneuver.
"I'm not in the habit of talking to machines, let alone trusting them," he said. Then it dawned on him how untrue that statement was, sort of.
"Ah, hell. OK, I'm not getting anywhere on my own. You want me to follow you. Is that it?"
The drone chirped three times, then repeated the tilt and fly maneuver.
"This better be worth my time," Jake said. "If I detect a trap, or you're wasting my time," he put his hand on his blaster, "then it's bye-bye birdy. Get it?"
The drone hovered for a few seconds. No chirping. Then it sounded again, tilted, and slowly flew down the alley. Jake followed at a walk, which was enough to keep up.
He rounded the corner of the third alley and became impatient.
"I'm losing interest. Make your point or you might as well fly off."
The drone chirped three times, then did a quick back and forth flying maneuver before continuing down the next alley.
Jake reluctantly followed, but flipped up the strap over his blaster before he did.
When he came around the corner, he saw a figure at the end of the alley, standing behind a wall of metal bars. The bars connected to the building on either side of the alley. The barrier stood about twenty feet high.
"Nice precaution," Jake said to himself as he slowly walked down toward the person.
The drone flew faster, rising to clear the bars when it reached them. It settled into a hover beside the person standing on the other side of them.
When Jake got close enough to see the shaded figure, he eased his hand away from his blaster.
"What do you want?" he asked, still about twenty feet from the bars and the teenage girl standing next to a metal dumpster on the other side.
"That's close enough," the girl said.
Jake obliged, respecting her caution.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"Jake. You?"
"Tiffin. Some people call me drone girl." She tipped her head toward the drone hovering beside her. "This is Birdy."
I called that one.
"Why have you been spying on me?" Jake asked.
"Not just you. It's what I do. Girl's gotta look out for herself, ya know."
"Fair enough, but I don't like eyes on me unless they're invited."
"Fair enough."
"So?" Jake flipped his hands open.
"Oh, right. Sorry. You're in danger."
"Tiffin, right?"
"Yeah."
"Tell me something I don't know."
"There's a guy. He's following you."
Jake glanced over his shoulder. "Go on."
"I saw him, with Birdy. Well, first I saw you. Then I saw him. Same places."
"How long have you been spying on me."
"Long enough to know you've got a tail."
"Checkered hat?"
"No. Big guy. Bigger than you. I haven't seen him around here before. Of course, I haven't seen you around here before either."
"Big guy. Got anything more?"
"He's kinda ugly."
"That's not saying much around here, depending on your taste for aliens."
"I know. But, hey, we’re aliens too."
"I suppose you're right."
Jake glanced at the buildings to either side, checking the windows and the roof lines. "How well do you know this neighborhood?"
"Probably better than most," Tiffin said, "at least in a way."
Jake cocked his head slightly, waiting for more.
Tiffin stuck one of her hands halfway into her pocket. With her other she still held the controller to her drone. "I don't hang out with people too much, but I like to see what's going on."
"Birdy," Jake said.
"Right." She smiled. "Do you like her?"
Jake could tell she asked the question with pride. Something about the girl made him feel like he didn't want to disappoint her. "Looks good. Where'd you buy it?"
Jake was thinking about Baron Vos, and whether Tiffin could give him any useful information which might help his situation with Vos.
"Oh, I didn't buy Birdy," she said. "I made her."
"Is that right?"
"Not bad, eh?"
"Impressive."
"Thanks." She took a moment and looked Jake over. “Glad you got the chirping. I’m still working on some problems on the voice relay. Any reason why the guy would be following you?"
"I can think of a few," Jake said, "but it's probably for something I have no clue about."
Tiffin shifted her feet and squished her lips to one side, apparently thinking about Jake's response. "You in trouble?"
Jake chuckled. "Who isn't?"
Tiffin shrugged. "Good point."
Jake decided he needed this conversation to get somewhere. "What do you know about a man named Vos?"
"The Baron," Tiffin said, folding her arms, still hanging on to her drone controller with one hand. "Bad news."
"That much I know." Jake glanced over his shoulder again, and then scanned the buildings for a second. "What's he into?"
"What isn't he into?" Tiffin said.
"Neighborhood kingpin, then. Is that it?"
Tiffin look around, checking the alley behind her and glancing at the buildings, as Jake had done. "Try half the city."
"OK, so he's a big deal, and he's dirty. What's the best way to get to him? What's he interested in lately?"
Tiffin shook her head and took a step back. "No. Not a good idea."
"I'm not looking for trouble. I just need to find out what he wants. I need to get him to deal with me. I need leverage."
"Listen to me, Jake. Stay away from him. Just do that. OK?"
"Well, suppose I listen to you," Jake said, "any other leads on where to get… hard-to-find items?"
"You mean black market."
"OK. Yes. Contraband, papers, licenses, corporate secrets—those sorts of things."
Tiffin chuckled. "Corporate secrets? Seriously? I'm not some dumb kid, ya know."
"Obviously not," Jake said, tipping his chin toward her drone. "I'm looking to get my hands on an unregistered galactic shipping license. Don't ask why."
"Only two players around here for something like that, Vos and the Professor. They hate each other. I'm not sure which one's worse, but you're less likely to get killed on the spot if you talk to the Professor."
"Thanks. Where can I find this Professor? What's his name?"
"That's it. He just goes by the Professor. Thinks pretty highly of himself."
"Right. So, how do I get a hold of him?"
"Call a sky cab," Tiffin said. "Ask for car fifty-four."
"Thanks, Tiffin."
"Don't thank me. You'll probably regret ever asking me."
"One more thing."
"What?"
"How do I call a cab?"
Tiffin laughed. "You really are fresh meat. Didn't you notice the call boxes? They're practically on every street corner."
"Right. Last time I was here, they weren't a thing." Jake nodded. "Car fifty-four?"
"Exactly. But don't say I didn't warn you."
"Thanks."
Tiffin backed away from the bars and stepped in front of a door just behind the dumpster. Then she paused, catching Jake before he turned to leave. "Oh," she said, "one more thing."
"What's that?"
"Watch your back."
"Thanks. You too."
She turned the handle on the door and shoved the bottom of it with her boot to open it. She went inside and her drone, Birdy, flew in after her before the door closed.
Jake turned away from the bars and headed back down the way he came.
Time to call a cab.
CHAPTER 7
J ake stood beside the call box. He leaned against the rough gray concrete of a forty-story tower. Just above his head, in faded paint on the building was a red arrow pointed up. Below the arrow six short lines of text were painted in black. The third one down was in english— Sky Cab.
He'd made the call, getting a recording on the other end. He'd listened to the first two parts, not understanding anything that was being said. Then he heard the instructions and spoke the cab number he'd been given.
He took in the city scene as he waited. It was still dusk, same as always in Eon. The street in front of him had the same heavy foot traffic he'd seen when he first arrived. He was sure people slept and worked and had places to be each day, but there seemed to be enough people in the city to keep the streets crowded all the time.
He passed the next couple of minutes counting the number of different alien races passing by. He lost count around thirty-seven when a huddle of three female something-or-others walked past. They were evidently having a great time. He recognized laughter, but had no idea what they were saying. Purple hair and luminous double-sized eyes made them hard to ignore. Their silver bodysuits, Jake figured for flight uniforms, made it reasonably clear they could pass for human, aside from their eyes.
Jake spotted the orange light of a sky cab passing over the side of the building across the street. He looked up to see the flying vehicle slowing as it flew overhead, but it didn't stop near him. He watched it continue down the street past three more buildings, before it lowered the forty or so feet to settle into a hover just off the ground. He saw the door open and somebody step from the pickup spot into the cab. A few seconds later, the vehicle lifted back up to about the same height as before and flew off.
Jake turned his attention to a couple of checkered hats who were talking to the proprietor of a stall on the corner of the building across the street. He watched them interact with the man, but they were too far away for Jake to hear anything they were saying. The shopkeeper pointed down the street. Satisfied they weren't discussing anything concerning himself, Jake glanced skyward, checking both ends of the street for another sky cab. He saw a couple of flying freight trailers, but no cabs yet.
Jake pulled his comm box from his belt and opened the channel to Sarah.
"I suppose it'd be too much to hope you’re calling because you got it," Sarah said, "and you're coming back soon, so we can leave?"
"I'm doing the best I can," Jake said. "You do realize there's not an illegal license shop on the corner of Main Street, right?"
"Sorry. I'm being impatient, aren't I?" Sarah asked.
"Hey, I get it. I'd rather be done with this too. Y
ou doing alright?"
"Oh, yeah. It's great. My favorite thing is sitting in a locked down port, waiting around for you."
"Sarah."
"I'm fine. I miss you though. I wish I could help."
"I'm going to get this done as fast as I can. Then we can get out of here."
"Sounds good. Any progress?"
"A lead. I'm going to check it out. A guy named the Professor."
"You and a professor, wish I could see that conversation."
"He's not a professor, at least I don't think so. That's just what he calls himself. Local boss, but he might be the guy I need to talk to."
"Is it the one you told me about before?"
"No," Jake said. "Word on the street is the two are bitter rivals."
"Jake," Sarah sounded worried, "how do you manage to get in the middle of everybody's troubles?"
"I guess I'm just a peacemaker."
"You're hopeless."
"Not when I've got you."
A sky cab flew overhead. He saw the number fifty-four on the side, along with some alien scribblings.
"Gotta go. My ride's here."
"Jake," Sarah said.
"I know. Don't worry."
He closed the comm channel and clipped the device back to his belt, as the vehicle lowered in front of him.
CHAPTER 8
J ake punched the button on his credit chip to set it to pay the price of the sky cab ride to the thirty-third floor of Urgru Tower.
"Like I said, there's no ground access to this floor. He likes it that way."
"So, I call for another sky cab to leave?" Jake asked.
"Unless you want to take the quick way down." The driver laughed.
Jake swiped the thin silver square in front of the payment meter on the back of the driver's seat in front of him. The meter's display showed the payment received. He glanced at his credit chip and confirmed the sixty credits he'd queued up had zeroed out. He dropped it into his inside jacket pocket.
He glanced out the window before opening his door. The cab had pulled alongside the building, but hadn't landed. Thirty-three floors to the ground made an impression on Jake. His side of the cab hovered a couple of feet above the platform which extended twenty feet out from the entrance to the Professor's floor. At the far side of the black metallic patio surface, a single tinted glass door waited between a curved wall of tinted glass. Jake was struck by the fact that the expansive black patio had no railing. He could hear the wind against the outside of the cab.
