“I told you, this time, you won’t be fighting. I’ve got the three guys to meet you there, and they’ll do the restraining. You’ve just got to look fierce and deliver the message,” Cheri started.
“But—”
“If you feel uncomfortable in them, we’ll fix them after. But we’ve got to strike now before one of them gets tired of the other.”
“Them” was Marine Lance Corporal Thane Regent and Kelli Mae Osterson, a local girl hired as a food service contractor to help feed the Marines. The two had managed to hook up, and they were meeting every Monday and Wednesday afternoon at her apartment for a discreet liaison; only it was not so discreet that Cheri and the WRP had not found out.
The decision had been made to break into their little tryst, capture the Marine, and record a message for distribution. The decision had also been made that the person doing the recording was to be female, and Cheri had volunteered Michi without revealing her identity.
Cheri had come over to the condo the evening before to set it up, telling them that this was a better plan than trying to jump a Marine somewhere. Michi and Tamara hadn’t batted an eye at that. None of the three involved had told Cheri about their disaster the week before.
Tamara mentioned the need for a “look,” and with Cheri quickly on board, the two of them concocted this warped fantasy outfit.
Michi took a deep knee bend. The boots restricted her flexibility.
“Uh, that might be a little revealing, I guess,” Tamara said, pointing to Michi’s ass as she squatted.
Michi jumped up, pulling up on the back of the low-riding pants.
“Don’t worry, we’ll fix that, too. For a first try, though, you look pretty bitching, if I say so myself.”
“Michi, we’ve got to go. Just follow the plan. I’ve got the overalls over there on the table. Be sure not to take them off until you are in the building, and don’t put them back on until you are on the roof. Doug is sure he can control any overhead surveillance and inside the building, but not all the security cams in the area.”
Both Tamara and Cheri kissed her on the cheek.
“Kick some ass,” Tamara said as the two left for their jobs.
Michi sat down, feeling alone. She turned on the holo and tried to watch a show on how T-cells were replicated to fight the constantly evolving virus threats, but she couldn’t focus. She got up and practiced some of her kicks with the boots on. Her favorite roundhouse was doable, but some of the others would be difficult and less than effective.
At 10:00, she fixed some soup, but she could only finish half of it. She threw the rest out, then called Seth to tell him she was not feeling well and would miss that afternoon’s session.
She regretted that. In only a week, she felt that she had really progressed. She was earning the increased skill, though. Seth was not holding back, and each lesson was a journey into pain.
The day crept on, but finally, it was time. She slid on the blue company overalls worn by utility teams. PI Services was not part of the company proper, but rather a purportedly independent spin-off that managed the water, sewage, and power for the planet. The overalls looked like the real deal. The boots sticking out from the bottom of her cuffs were not, though. She flipped on the face-spoofer, and her redhead alter ego appeared. She put on the uniform cap and pulled it down low over her eyes.
No one seemed to notice anything as she walked outside and over to the tram line. No one seemed to notice as she sat on the tram, going to the other side of town. No one seemed to notice when she got out and made the ten-minute walk to Kelli Mae’s apartment building.
As she walked up, three men in the same blue overalls stepped out from the side alley. One threw her a tool kit, which she caught and slung over her shoulder. Another one of the men swiped an access card, and the apartment door opened. Talking about the latest V-Game, they entered the building and went up three flights of stairs, ignoring the elevator.
“OK, you ready?” the first man asked her.
Michi didn’t know any of the men, and she hoped they didn’t know her. She nodded, though, and slid off her overalls and stuffed them in her tool kit. She thought she caught the briefest flicker of prurient interest from at least two of them as they slid out of their overalls, revealing black military-looking uniforms, but no one said a word. Each of the men had a wicked looking handgun strapped to his thigh, and the shortest of the three handed Michi one in a belted holster. She started to put it on backwards, and without a word, the short guy helped her get it attached. Michi looked down at it. She didn’t have a clue how to fire it if it came to that, but it did feel reassuring as it hung on her hip. No one was supposed to get hurt, but they had come prepared.
They silently climbed up two more flights, then slipped into a utility closet. Standing there, half-naked, at least in her mind, in close proximity to three men, Michi wondered how she got to this position. Just two months ago, her main concerns were ballet and planning a wedding. Now she was hiding in a closet, waiting to attack a Federation Marine.
One of the men, the swarthy-looking guy, Michi thought, had horrible breath. Michi thought she was going to gag as it filled the closet. Then, to make things worse, the short guy, the one who had handed her the handgun, let out a quiet fart. That broke the tension. No one laughed out loud, but there was a sense of normalcy about it. Suddenly, Michi felt OK.
It was only five or so more minutes before they heard movement outside. There was a quiet knock, then a whispered greeting. The four of them waited another five minutes before creeping out and moving to Kelli Mae’s door.
The tallest of the three put his ear to the door and listened: no high-tech gear, just an ear to the door. He nodded and motioned to the stairwell, and the bad-breath guy left and disappeared down it. He was their security.
The three left got into position. Michi knew what she was supposed to do, but it would have been nice to rehearse it at least once. She nervously waited behind the two men as the tall guy took out a small rectangular box that he held up to the lock. Red lights blinked for a few seconds before turning green.
For a moment, Michi wondered what his name was. It seemed impersonal to refer to him only as “the tall guy.” Then there was no time to wonder. He pushed open the door and the three of them barged in.
The Marine was at full throttle, pounding away at Kelli Mae, whose feet were up in the air straddling her thrusting paramour. He had time to glance behind him and start to dive off of her before both of Michi’s companions were on him, dragging the young man to the floor. Michi could see they needed no help, so she jumped on the bed, straddling the sweaty girl and placing a hand over her mouth.
“Shh,” she said, holding a finger over her own mouth. “Stay quiet, and no one is going to get hurt.
The Marine was struggling, and he managed to get up to a sitting position. Michi contemplated joining the fight when the tall guy managed to ziptie the Marine’s hands in back of him and slap a pressure gag over his mouth. They hauled him up, avoiding his kicks. The shorter guy stepped in back of the Marine, put him in a choke hold, and began to apply pressure before easing off. The Marine got the message and stopped struggling.
He was glaring bloody murder, though, and Michi had no question on what he would do to them if he could. He stood there, stark naked, being held, yet he was not cowed. He was no longer rampant, and his dick still had Kelli Mae on it, but he stood as if he had on full battle gear.
Kelli Mae, on the other hand, squirmed under Michi, not to escape, but to pull up a sheet to try to cover herself. She didn’t speak, but terror showed in her eyes. Michi felt a moment of compassion for her, but they had a job to do, and she was going to get it done.
“Over here, with the bed in the background,” she said. The shorter man nodded and brought the Marine over to the foot of the bed.
The other man reached in his tool kit and pulled out a small, high-def holocam. He stood in front of Michi, ready to go.
“Look, lance corporal,
you are going to be let free if you cooperate,” Michi said. “I want you to stand beside me while we record something. That’s it. Then you and your girlfriend will be free to go. If you make a move, if you try anything, not only will you fail, but Kelli Mae will pay the price. Do you understand, and do you agree?”
Michi would not hurt the girl no matter what happened, but the Marine didn’t need to know that.
“Nod your head if you agree.”
“Thane!” Kelli Mae pleaded.
“Shut up!” Michi ordered, not turning around to look at the girl.
The Marine looked beyond Michi at Kelli Mae, and Michi could see the capitulation. He nodded.
“Good. Stand here,” she said, pulling him over as her short companion stepped just out of cam range, but close enough to move in if need be. He pulled out his handgun and kept it loosely aimed at the bed.
Michi looked back at Kelli Mae, who had managed to cover herself. Michi knelt on the bed, then turned the girl slightly to the side, pulling back the sheet to reveal a long expanse of her side and legs. She let the girl keep the sheet over her front, but Michi wanted there to be no question as to what had been happening.
“You can put your head down so no one can see your face,” she whispered to the girl before getting off the bed to stand next to the Marine.
She nodded at the tall guy, and when the record light came on, she started.
“I am a member of the Free Kakurega Militia. We have been formed to protect our rights under our Federation Charter, rights that have been abrogated by Propitious Interstellar Fabrication, Inc. Not only have they broken the charter, but they have brought in Federation Marines to crush our legal right to protest.
“Today, we have stopped one of their Marines, Lance Corporal Thane Regent, from abusing a free citizen of Kakurega.”
At Michi’s use of “abusing,” The Marine stirred, but Michi’s short companion raised his weapon and pointed it at Kelli Mae, who thankfully didn’t see it as her face was still buried. The Marine saw it though, and he got the message and stood still.
“The Federation Marines have the power here. They killed three of our citizens when they arrived. They are enforcing martial law. And now they take our citizens for their own perverted pleasure.
“It is up to you, people of Kakurega. Will you stand for this? From First Families and all Free Citizens, from employees and indentureds, this is our home, and Propitious Interstellar cannot break the charter as they deem fit.
“If you agree, on this Saturday, at 9:00 AM in the city, we urge all of you to take to the streets. We are not advocating violence. We leave that to the Marines and Propitious Interstellar security forces. But let your voices be heard. Let the Federation know we will not stand for this.”
With that, she swept one hand back to indicate Kelli Mae. This was adlibbed, but the tall guy took the hint and zoomed in. Kelli Mae’s sobs shook her body, and Michi knew this was good footage. She made the cut motion, and the tall guy cut out.
“It’s OK, Kelli Mae. It’s over. You did fine,” she said, reaching over to put her hand on the girl’s shoulder.
The girl flinched, and looked up. “It’s not fine, you bitch. We love each other. It’s not like you said,” she spewed with anger.
The Marine, hands still bound behind him, climbed into bed and leaned up against his lover, who put her hands protectively around him.
Suddenly, Michi felt dirty. Very dirty.
She wanted to say something about the greater good, but their security came running into the apartment.
“Trouble! We’ve got jacks swarming.”
Michi’s heart fell. How had they found out so quickly?
The tall guy pointed up, and all four of them sprinted out the door, leaving the two lovers, and over to the stairwell. Taking the stairs three steps at a time, they climbed to the tenth floor and out onto the roof. Michi automatically looked up, hoping that Doug had been able to gain control of any overhead surveillance in the area.
Each of the four had his or her own escape route, but both Michi and the tall guy had the same initial first step. The tall guy stopped to wordlessly shake Michi’s hand before he took off. Michi followed and was on his tail as they jumped the alley to the roof of the next building. Michi barely made it, falling down and rolling on the other roof, cursing her ungainly boots. The tall guy turned to the right and was gone while Michi scrambled up to keep going straight to the next building over.
Below her and back at Kelli Mae’s building, she heard shouting and sirens. She didn’t have much time. She wondered if she had twisted an ankle, so despite the urgency, she approached the edge of the building cautiously. The next building was a story shorter than this one, and she had to make sure of where she landed.
The helmeted jack who appeared in front of her, climbing the fire escape, took her by surprise. Instinctively, she flowed into her favorite roundhouse kick. The jack saw it coming and tried to duck, but hanging on the fire escape limited him, and she caught him up high, knocking him off the ladder.
Michi rushed forward and looked down. Four or five meters below her, another jack was clinging with one hand to the ladder, the other holding the dangling jack Michi had just kicked. The one still on the ladder looked up, hate in his eyes. Michi knew he would shoot her if he could, but he needed both hands to hang on and keep his friend from plummeting to his death. Michi briefly considered dropping something on them, but that would be a wasted gesture, and one that would cost her time.
She took a few steps back and launched herself over the alley. Her ankle cried out, but she pushed beyond the pain and landed cleanly on the other side. Maybe getting beat up by Seth was doing her some good.
She took a right and ran down the length of the building, dodging air conditioning units and running around a rooftop garden, then stepping up to the next building. Somebody had already placed a rough steel grate between the two, so it was an easy transition.
These apartment buildings were part of Propitious Interstellar’s second expansion, constructed when they needed rooms for their workers. The buildings were generally cheap and close together with fire codes only loosely followed. Some buildings were connected to each other, others had ten foot alleys between them. By jumping, Michi was able to quickly move five buildings over. She risked a glance behind her. If two jacks had been climbing, others would be, too, and face-spoofer or not, Doug could not hide her from direct human vision. Just as she reached her stairway down, she saw the first jack making it to the top of Kelli Mae’s building. He was a good 70 meters away, but Michi was clearly visible if he turned around.
Praying that the door was open, she yanked herself off-balance and almost fell inside just as the jack started to turn. She didn’t know if he saw her. She was supposed to stay as her redhead alter-ego, but the two kids and at least one jack had seen her bright red hair, so she turned her face-spoofer off and pulled out her overalls, struggling to get them over her stupid costume. The boots almost got her killed. She considered leaving them there, but walking around barefoot while in overalls would draw attention, and despite them being sprayed with a derma-barrier, she wasn’t confident that a forensic lab could not find some of her DNA if she left it to be found.
Calm down, calm down. You’re just a worker going about her business, she kept telling herself.
She casually made her way down the stairs, too scared to use the elevator despite being several buildings away. She nodded to an old lady at the building’s front door, holding it open for her. Then she was out in the sunshine. There were sirens, and overhead, a chopper came screaming up. Michi resisted the urge to watch it and instead kept walking, trying not to look suspicious. People had come out of the buildings to warily watch the commotion. They had to be curious, but this was still a martial law situation, and no one wanted to be caught in any crossfire that might erupt.
Michi didn’t start to relax until she was on the tram heading home. She hoped her three unnamed companions had made it
out safely. It had been close, but she thought they had gotten out in time.
That left the question as to how the jacks had responded so quickly. They could have been spotted inside the building, she acknowledged, but Doug had been confident on blocking off anything inside. And if he hadn’t that was still a very quick reaction.
No, there was only one logical explanation. Cheri had been right in her suspicions. There was a traitor within the WRP.
Chapter 20
Michi and Tamara sat on the couch, focused on Michi’s manifesto. The signal wavered once or twice as the broadcast company tried to regain control over the feed, but whoever was hacking it was able to keep the clip running.
Michi knew it was her on the holo, but with the different face and voice, it was easy to feel it was someone else, a stranger. That somehow enabled her to really look at it, to analyze it.
The obvious, in-your-face aspect was that Tamara and Cheri had been right. She, the redhead Michi, looked great. Michi didn’t know if the holo had been brushed up or not, but the outfit, the face Doug had given her, even her earnest but intense voice created an image of a strong, capable woman, with the emphasis on woman. When she had put on the top, in particular, she thought it too small, but on the holo, it emphasized her curves and femininity. Michi rarely felt feminine anymore after she outgrew her dance partners, and she liked the feeling.
As the holo came on, Tamara had exclaimed, “Balls, girl, you look pure dead hot,” and for once, Michi accepted that.
The boots, the ones she hated, worked well, too. They took away from the camouflage bammers that clung to her legs and ass and gave her a more military air. With the handgun hanging from her waist, she looked decidedly warrior-like. She decided she liked the look, even if she was going to have to work on the boots’ utility.
The Marine standing beside her looked deflated. The small flinch he’d made when Michi had said “abusing” had been edited out. It was hard to look tough when naked, and with his head hanging down, he simply looked defeated.
Rebel (The United Federation Marine Corps) Page 9
