by E. R. Torre
The base was eerily quiet. Too quiet.
Nox moved along the warehouse wall, working her way to its entry. This was where Robert Octi Junior’s helicopter was kept. Nox found a window and peeked through it. Perhaps Robert and his bodyguard were back. How she hoped this was the case.
The warehouse, however, was empty.
Nox moved on. She made her way to the two story structure that lay beside the warehouse. The bar’s lights were off and the office on the second floor was dark.
Nox stepped up the bar’s door and tried the door knob. It was unlocked. Nox cautiously opened the door and stepped inside.
The bar was also empty.
Shelves that housed drinks were bare. The cash register and the interior furniture were all gone. The place was abandoned.
Nox stepped into the middle of the bar and slowly spun around. Along with the secret Desertland base, Octi Corp. had cleared this place, too. In time and unless some other company claimed it, the wind and sand would swallow Octi Desertland Base 6 and it would become another of the desert’s many, many lost landmarks.
Nox walked to the window and stared out. Exhaustion and hopelessness washed over and threatened to overwhelm her. Her hands pressed against the window sill and she lowered her head. Darkness intruded at the corner of her remaining eye. She shut it and, for a moment, drifted off. She wondered where Natalie was, and worried Ellis’ daughter had joined her father.
A sharp squeak intruded upon the deathly silence. Nox spun around and saw the bar’s door open. A burly, red-haired man entered. He held a gun in his right hand and pointed it at Nox.
“Hello again,” the man said and smiled.
Nox fell back against the window. She was facing the same Octi Corp. Security Guard who was ordered to execute her back at the buried base.
“What…?” Nox managed before shutting her mouth.
An elegant blonde stepped into the bar behind the burly Security Guard. She was one of the most beautiful women Nox had ever seen. Her face was like classic porcelain; her body was rigid and trim. She walked on severe high heels and carried a small black purse.
“We finally meet,” she said. The blonde walked to the bar’s counter and leaned against it. “Too bad they took away the chairs. My feet are killing me.”
The Security Guard smirked. He remained in place with his handgun pointed at Nox. Nox shook her head and stepped away from the window. She approached the blonde’s side.
“Stay where you are!” the Security Guard yelled. His grip on the handgun tightened and his eyes narrowed.
Nox shook her head.
“If you wanted me dead, you would have killed me when you had your first chance,” she said.
The red-headed man growled, but made no effort to stop Nox. The blonde let out a chuckle.
“She’s got you there,” the blonde said.
The Security Guard lowered the gun. He approached Nox and the blonde.
“Try anything and I’ll finish the job.”
“At this point, just about anyone could,” Nox said. “Including your boss.”
“She’s two for two,” the blonde said.
The Security Guard’s lips pressed together until they were tiny white slits. He shook his head and exited the bar, slamming the door as he left.
“Petulant fellow you got there,” Nox said. “Who the hell are you?”
“You can call me Julie,” the blonde said. “I'm your guardian angel.”
Nox let out a sharp laugh.
“Guardian angel? Hell of a job you’ve done so far.”
“You’re alive, aren’t you?”
“I’ll give you that. Why?”
“I've been watching you for a while now, Nox. I first found out about you through your job with Donovan.”
“You work for Octi?”
“Middle management.”
“Then you must know your bosses have a few issues with me.”
“Oh, I think we’re far past the ‘few issues’ stage. I’ve never seen such high level interest in bumping off one lowly Independent.”
“Mechanic.”
“Mech—?” Julie smiled. “You’re the last of an honorable breed, Nox. If it were up to Octi, you’d be extinct.”
“Which brings us back to my first questions: Exactly who the hell are you and why did you have your boy spare my life?”
“Business is war and promotions are hard to come by. You might say I’m at war with Robert Octi Junior and concurrently seeking a satisfying promotion.”
“To his position.”
“Naturally.”
“And the enemy of my enemy is my friend?”
“Absolutely.”
“What do you want from me?”
“I want you to help me discredit Robert in front of his father and the board,” Julie said. “They’re both on thin ice as it is, but the Old Man’s safe. The board won’t dare kick him out. Not yet. His son on the other hand…” She winked and leaned into Nox’s ear. “Get rid of Robert Junior and I’ll be that much closer to controlling the whole damn company. When Robert’s gone, the only one standing in my way will be his father, and I have every intention of outliving that dirty old bastard.”
“Why should I help you?”
Surprise filled Julie’s face.
“I saved your life!”
“You did,” Nox replied. “And when I get back to the Big City I have every intention of sending you a real heartfelt thank you card. Now, why should I help you?”
Julie sighed.
“I was hoping not to get into this,” she said. “You didn’t ask me how I knew you would be here.”
A chill traveled down Nox’s back.
“That’s right, Nox. Robert knows about Ellis.”
“And Natalie?”
“Of course.”
“They killed her?”
“Worse. She was demoted. Natalie had one of the best damn Desertland jobs available. She hung around this nice air conditioned bar collecting tax free tips. Now she’s out there in the heat, just like all the rest of them. She’s lost twenty five percent of her salary and gets no vacation for 3 years. It’s fucking inhuman if you ask me.”
“Robert did this to her?”
“Yes. But I can correct this injustice, provided I get what I want.”
Nox considered Julie’s words but said nothing.
“Let me sweeten the pot some more,” Julie said after a while. “I'll offer you two hundred thousand credits to help me get Robert. I figure that’s just icing on the cake. The real incentive will be your chance to get your revenge.”
Nox stiffened. She recalled her meeting with Ellis at his gas station. She recalled the bitter look on the old man’s face when he noticed Nox’s injured hands.
“Revenge…Is that what this is about? Someone hurts you and you have to hurt them right back? First rule of being a Mechanic—”
Nox had finished Ellis’ thought: “—don't let emotions cloud your judgment. Do your job like a machine: cold, efficiently, and unemotionally.”
Nox turned away from Julie and walked back to the window. The burly red headed Security Guard stood just outside, smoking a cigarette. Another Security Guard was hidden in the shadows by the warehouse. A third, armed with a sniper’s rifle, lay on the warehouse roof. Julie had Nox surrounded. Just in case.
“I've made my offer,” Julie said. “If you don't want to accept, fine. There are plenty of other people Robert’s pissed off that I can look up.”
“I refuse, and bury me with this base,” Nox said. “How many more men you got out there?”
“More than enough. But I’d prefer you do this job because you want to, Nox. Remember, I’m not the one who screwed you over. I’m not the one that tried to get you killed…how many times now? I’m certainly not the one responsible for Ellis or his daughter.”
“Tell me about the buried base.”
A satisfied smile appeared on Julie’s face. She reached into her purse and pulled out an old bl
ack and white photograph. Nox walked to the blonde’s side and grabbed the photograph. The image on it was that of a man in his late thirties or early forties. His hair was stringy and disheveled. He wore thick glasses and had an awkward smile.
“Who’s the geek?”
“His name is David Lemner. To many he was known as the Demon.”
“Demon?” Nox said. She dropped the photograph on the counter. “Looks more like Casper the friendly ghost.”
“In his time, he was the wealthiest, most powerful man in the world.”
Nox took another look at the photograph. She finally recognized the image before her.
“Oh yeah. He worked with computers.”
“That’s like saying Shakespeare was a man who just happened to work with a pen.”
Julie grabbed the photograph and addressed the man within it.
“This wonderfully gifted individual designed a vast database network that was beyond the scope of anything –everything– that came before it. He anticipated changes in technologies decades before they actually happened.”
She paused and folded the photograph.
“But most importantly to us, forty five years ago he created the computer system all businesses work on. Even now, a decade after his death, we still use his systems. You want to know why?”
“Because they’re easy to operate and tamper proof,” Nox said.
The smile returned to Julie’s face.
“At least so far.”
“What about this buried base?”
“As you’re no doubt aware, some twenty plus years ago a series of massive sandstorms hit the middle of the country and most of the northern continents. It obliterated cities both large and small and took out farms and military bases and nuclear plants and…well, a number of things. Most importantly, it also buried an unknown number of top secret research bases that Lemner operated. You see, David Lemner was wealthy and powerful enough to keep the construction, and eventual disappearance, of these bases a secret from everybody. But when he died, rumors of the lost research bases bubbled to the surface. Some of the rumors proved more reliable than others. In time, the largest industries bought into the very real possibility that at least three or four of these bases actually existed. If even one of them could be found, then the secrets of Lemner's research might finally be revealed. The wealth of information buried in these sands would be worth billions.”
“Is that the real reason so many companies are out here scavenging?”
“In a word, yes.”
“I didn’t think there was enough money in collecting all that other shit.”
“Oh, there’s more than enough of that, too.”
“But Lemner’s bases are the jackpot.”
“Exactly.”
“Octi Survey Group 4 found one?”
“Not quite. They found the remains of one of the workers at one of Lemner’s bases.”
“Who?”
“His name isn’t important. He was a low level temp who was trapped in that particular base when the winds first kicked up twenty years ago. He somehow managed to dig his way out and fled. Instead of dying with his fellow workers, he died out here. But he had a diary on him, and Robert spent many hours going over it, looking for any clues that would lead him to the buried base he came from. Robert convinced his father to commit to a costly re-routing of survey expeditions. They were tasked, one and all, to find this base. In the meantime, they scavenged absolutely nothing. Money was bleeding out of the Desertland operation, money his dad kept off Octi Corp.’s books. But Robert Octi Senior’s enthusiasm for this project went only so far. After a couple of weeks, he threatened to shut it down. Things were looking real bad for Robert Junior until a miracle happens and one of the search vans stumbles on the base. It was everything Robert hoped for, and more. Ironically, he had too much material to go over. His staff had to separate the ordinary programs and equipment from the potentially extraordinary ones.”
Julie laid her right hand on Nox’s arm.
“And then you showed up,” she said. “You hurt him pretty bad, just by doing that. You proved his security, like most everything else in his life, was worth shit. He was forced to pull the plug on the operation, something which did not sit well with his dear dad. However, he had already stored a good deal of hardware, so this early withdrawal may prove to be a temporary setback only.”
“What exactly is he –is everyone– hoping to find in this base?”
“Come on, Nox, use your imagination.”
“I’m fresh out.”
“Operating in the business world is not all that different from playing poker. You hide your assets, you bluff, and you bet on having a stronger hand than the other players, whether you actually do or not. As I said before, in the business world, everyone uses Lemner’s programs.”
“You’re not talking about the passkey, are you?”
Julie let out a giggle.
“You have heard some of the rumors after all.”
“Refresh my memory.”
“It’s been said that David Lemner had a so-called backdoor program which worked for all his other programs, an artificial intelligence prototype that scans security features and adapts to them, cracking any security system on any computer. With this program you could theoretically break into your competitor’s databases. With this program you could erase any outstanding taxes or criminal history. With this program you might even be able to inflate your company’s worth or gain inside information on transactions between rival companies.”
“Like playing poker with a marked deck.”
“Exactly.”
“And if you win this particular game, you rule the business world.”
“Eventually,” Julie said. “If such a program actually exists.”
Nox considered what Julie said. Her thoughts came with great effort. The effects of the Go! pills were wearing out, and she could feel a growing wave of exhaustion wash over her.
“You don’t think it exists?” she said. Her words were slurred.
If Julie noticed her weakened voice, she didn’t say. Instead, she looked into Nox’s good eye and said:
“I'll be honest with you—”
Her words hung in the air like a brilliant sun and time slowed to a crawl. Nox remember the last time someone said those same words to her. It was Donovan, not so very long ago.
The moment anyone tells me they’re going to be ‘honest’ with me is the moment they’re about to lie.
“—I think Robert’s chasing a fantasy,” Julie said. The smile on her face faded, replaced by a look of concern.
“You look pale,” she said.
“I’m fine. Go on.”
“If you say so. Anyway, even if the passkey did exist, I doubt it could do what people think it’s capable of. Oh, it undoubtedly will give you some benefits, but a way to unlock all computers? I don’t think so. My primary goal is discrediting Robert. Once you help me accomplish that task, feel free to check into what he brought from the base. If you find something, I’ll pay good money for it. If you don't, or can’t, I want the whole thing destroyed, and I want Robert’s dad to know you did it. I want Robert Octi Senior to know his son had you in his hands and let you go.”
Nox grabbed at the bar’s counter and fought off a wave of dizziness.
“I'll do the job,” Nox said. “But there are a couple of things I want.”
“Okey,” Julie said. There was caution in her voice.
“I want five hundred thousand credits.”
Julie’s eyes went wide.
“What?!”
“You’re middle management. Write it off. Tell your superiors your department needed extra pens and paper clips.”
“Very funny.”
“You will send half that money to Natalie Howard. You will also find her father’s body and arrange its transfer to her. Not that any of you corporate types care, but he was a decorated soldier foolish enough to fight your wars and even more foolish to think he wa
s doing so to protect our freedoms instead of your bottom line.”
Nox let out a long cough. The effort of standing here, talking to Julie, was draining the last of her energy.
“But that’s old history and I’m babbling. Give Natalie her father back, and pay for a proper soldier’s burial.”
“It’ll take some doing.”
“That’s not my concern. And I want a signed and notarized document that states Natalie has received both the money and her father. This document is to be made public in the Hall of Records before it’s given to me.”
Julie’s eyes were wide.
“You can’t be serious.”
“Never put anything in writing, right?” Nox said and smiled. “You’re going to make an exception. I won’t do a damn thing for you unless I get that document.”
“Octi Corp. will not take responsibility—”
“—for Ellis’ death? No, of course they won’t. And I’m not asking them to do so. Finesse the language all you want, I don’t care. But Natalie receives the funds and her father, and this gift from Octi Corp. will be made public, so you can’t turn around and take it back. Not without some heavy negative publicity, the type that dips your stock values.”
Julie shook her head and let out a sigh.
“I’ll do it,” she said through gritted teeth. “And the other half of the money?”
“Small bills will be fine.”
“I’m sure,” Julie said. “I’m afraid to ask. Is there anything else?”
“Yeah, just one last thing. Get me a doctor.”
Nox’s remaining eye closed and she felt her body slip off the counter and onto the floor.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
The night’s blackness turned a dark gray. The gray grew lighter, and lighter, until it became a sandy brown.
Nox’s left eye opened. She looked around, and found she was lying on a cot. She was still in the bar, but neither Julie nor the burly red headed Security Guard was present.
“You’re up?” a voice asked her through a dense fog of silence.
Nox turned to her right. An old man sat in a cheap fold out chair beside the window. He sucked on a wooden pipe and eyed Nox as if she were a carnival curiosity.
