The Johnson Run

by Kai O'Connal

  Also by Kai O'Connal

  Shadowrun

  Shadowrun: Fire & Frost

  Shadowrun: The Johnson Run

  Shadowrun Anthology

  Shadowrun: Drawing Destiny

  Shadowrun: The Johnson Run

  Kai O’Connal

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Looking for More Shadowrun Fiction?

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

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  If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

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  * * *

  SHADOWRUN: THE JOHNSON RUN

  Cover art by Ian King

  Design by Matt Heerdt and David Kerber

  * * *

  ©2019 The Topps Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Shadowrun & Matrix are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of The Topps Company, Inc., in the United States and/or other countries. Catalyst Game Labs and the Catalyst Game Labs logo are trademarks of InMediaRes Productions LLC. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the Copyright Owner, nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.

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  Published by Catalyst Game Labs, an imprint of InMediaRes Productions, LLC 7108 S. Pheasant Ridge Drive • Spokane, WA 99224

  1

  “I told you this would be easy.”

  It was practically a law that those words were guaranteed to be a curse, bringing down all the misfortune possible and then some. Keandra regretted them the moment they passed her lips.

  As if reading her mind, E-jekt snapped his attention to her rather than the AR display in the air. She shrugged in response. He returned to hacking the alarm system for the next room with an exaggerated sigh and mumbling. If not for their current activities, he could have fit the stereotypical old ork sitting on his porch, scratching at his frizzy white beard, complaining about the kids. She imagined him screaming for her to get off his lawn and claiming to have clothes older than she was. Judging by the state of his tattered jacket, it didn’t seem like too much of a leap.

  Keandra looked down the hall, trying to catch any sign of the rest of their team. The white-tiled floor and brightly painted walls reflected the little light available to let her see all the way to the elevators. The hall was empty, which was both a good and a bad sign.

  The good news was the guard on patrol was nowhere in sight. Her sole consolation rested on the fact she’d see him the moment he stepped into the hall. But the only tool at her disposal to deal with him was the Beretta tucked under her arm. If her responsibilities included being the muscle, things would’ve progressed so far past south they’d have looped around the world.

  The bad news was Lance and Paz hadn’t finished their rounds. She had no way of knowing if they found trouble. This floor of the tower was small, and shouldn’t take more than ten minutes to do a sweep. Keandra glanced down at the display mounted on the inside of her wrist and winced. They’d been gone for almost twelve.

  Closing her eyes, she strained to listen for any sound of the other runners. She heard the steady rattling hum of the HVAC system in the background and E-jekt’s ever-present wheeze; the ork really was getting on in years. But she couldn’t hear anything she could attribute to her teammates.

  When she opened her eyes, Keandra jumped and put a hand against the wall behind her as her breath caught. Lance stood at the intersection only a few meters away, flashing a smile that would be menacing if she didn’t know him better. He looked like a shadow, sleek and covered in black except for his shaved head. With his dark skin, he merged with the shadows to the point where she worried about finding him again if she took her eyes away. Not for the first time, Keandra appreciated having him as an ally.

  His sword rested in its scabbard under his long coat, so he hadn’t found any trouble. Experience taught Keandra that if he’d run into any disturbance, he’d still be armed. Despite their history, he continued to impress her with his stealth. Even watching him strut toward her, she couldn’t hear his footfalls.

  Paz was another story altogether. The sounds of the sturdy dwarf tromping down the corridor preceded her long before she turned the corner. Then again, it was expected of walking tanks with short metal legs and one unskinned cyberarm. Paz looked more machine than dwarf. Even the tight braids of her short hair added to her android impersonation, looking like thick, dark wires coming out of her head.

  Unlike Lance, she held her assault rifle out and ready, moving with military precision as she swung into view, her gun barrel leading the turn. When she recognized the rest of the team at the end of the hall, she pointed her gun at the ceiling and marched toward them.

  “All’s clear on the east side of the tower. Looks like everyone cleared out for the day. How’s the west side, Meat-sack?”

  “Dark and empty, like your soul.” Lance said the words with a grin that reached his eyes as he gave Paz a deferential nod.

  “Somebody must’ve messed with his brain. We both know I don’t got a soul.”

  Lance was quick to continue the verbal sparring. “I thought it was a heart you didn’t have. I swore you had it replaced with a mechanical pump last year.”

  E-jekt let out a low growl, a cue to Keandra the banter distracted him. She hushed the other two and they quieted with professional precision. Paz spun around to watch the elevators, her gun lowered and ready to react at the slightest movement. Lance slid across the floor, moving like a whisper as he took up position behind E-jekt, ready to burst through the door if need be.

  Several seconds of tense silence followed, straining Keandra’s optimism. The security here should not take this long for E-jekt to dismantle. Perhaps his age reached the point where it affected his abilities. It wouldn’t be surprising. But she couldn’t picture going on a run with another decke
r. They’d been together since her first run, over twenty years ago. She glanced at him and opened her mouth to say something, but shut it before uttering a sound. Anything she said would add stress and make him take longer. Besides, she reminded herself, E-jekt was one of the best hackers she’d ever met.

  The ork closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He waved at the door with one hand, gesturing they should proceed. Lance opened the door, his leather jacket creaking as he slid through the narrow gap. Keandra waited, counting in her head until she reached twenty. Then she opened the door all the way and stepped into the room beyond. E-jekt crept in behind her, closing the door and leaving a small crack visible to the hallway beyond. Paz maintained a lookout position to secure their exit route. Everything moved as planned.

  The room was a private office, with various fine art pieces decorating its walls and corners. Just one of those statues or portraits could fetch over twenty thousand nuyen to the right buyer. Keandra couldn’t tell for sure, but she’d bet the glass decanters on the small table next to the desk were filled with real alcohol – and top-shelf stuff at that. The temptation rose in her to open one and waft the mouth to get a subtle taste of the rare beverage, but she tore her attention away. They had a specific target and the mission came before anything else. Besides, she had a bottle of her own at home. With what this job paid, she’d be able to afford another two or three.

  Lance walked around the edge of the room, lifting the corners of the portraits away from the wall with a gloved hand to peer behind them. Three quarters of the way around, he stopped and waved the other two over. As they reached him, he lifted the nearest painting from its hook to reveal a safe embedded in the wall.

  “I’ll never understand the obsession with being old-fashioned and hiding your valuables behind pieces of art,” he said. “It’s such a trite custom, observed in most cases by those with far more wealth than sense. Still, their predictability makes our jobs easier.”

  Keandra pressed her lips into a thin line and glared at her verbose companion. Now was not the time for foolish witticisms. When he saw her stare, Lance offered a slight bow before moving out of the way, carrying the painting with him. He rested it against the wall, tilting his head to study the abstract shapes from a different perspective. It made the tattoo on the back of his head look comical as the angry dragon’s gaze tilted to the side.

  E-jekt fiddled with the keypad of the safe, alternating between it and his AR interface before giving her the thumbs-up to let her know he had it under control. Keandra turned away and investigated the rest of the room while she waited. The desk had a full holographic display, but she didn’t dare turn it on. She kept her distance in case it was motion-activated. There was no telling what kind of security measures might be layered on top of it. Any unsanctioned activity could alert the corporate executive who worked here.

  One of the walls in the room stood bare of any decorations or furnishings. Wandering over to it, Keandra noticed it wasn’t a normal wall at all, but a large projection screen. Based on similar offices she’d been in, she guessed it displayed an outdoor scene when powered on. Having a large window would be a liability, but you couldn’t deny the successful businessman his window office. That had been a representation of power ever since offices existed, and Keandra knew that these white-collars valued their status symbols more than any tangible success. She’d seen enough of them in her time and knew how to use them to her advantage.

  “Problem.”

  Paz’s voice snapped Lance and Keandra to attention, both turning toward the door to the hallway. Lance sprinted across the carpeted floor, but the sound of heavy gunfire erupted before he crossed halfway across the room. Keandra saw staccato flashes of light through the small crack in the doorway. Above the noise she heard a distinct deep thrum followed by a brief clatter.

  Paz burst through the door and slammed it shut behind her as an explosion shook Keandra’s knees.

  “We’ve got company.”

  Several people shouted in the hallway, too jumbled and distorted for Keandra to make decipher any words, but it was clear they didn’t have much time. Lance took up position behind the door as Paz stood near the edge, gun pointed at the opening. She gave a nod and Lance slid the door open enough for the dwarf to fire a burst down the hall. She and Lance moved in unison: she stopped firing and pinned her back to the wall as Lance slammed the door shut with his foot. The return fire ripped into the metal portal and echoed in the office like heavy rain on a tin roof.

  Keandra rushed over to E-jekt, checking how he was coming with the safe. Sweat streamed down his face, running down the heavy wrinkles etched into his skin. His hands shook as he worked with his sprites. The entire scene proved impossible for her to decode.

  “E-jekt, we need it open ten minutes ago.”

  For a moment, she wondered if he heard her, or more accurately, if it registered. He paused to take a deep breath, and then his entire body went slack. Now, more than ever, he needed to be protected. Keandra crouched in front of him, shielding him with her body. Nothing in the room looked usable as portable cover. The desk might stop a bullet, but the weight of it made it an impossibility for her to move on her own.

  Across the room, Paz and Lance continued to work together to fill the hall outside with a deadly rain of bullets and explosions. A few return shots made it through their defense and bit into Paz’s armor. More than once, a bullet sparked off her arm or leg before ricocheting and embedding itself in one of the walls. If it affected Paz in any way, she didn’t show it.

  Time was critical. Reinforcements would arrive soon. Those would be the heavy troops, maybe even Knight Errant. They needed to get out, even if it meant abandoning the mission. Keandra turned, grabbing E-jekt’s shoulder and getting ready to force him back to the physical world if need be. Before she had the opportunity, the safe whirred as gears turned inside and the door swung open. Keandra stood and flung the door open the rest of the way, reaching inside and dumping most of the contents on the floor. At this point, secrecy was pointless.

  In the back of the safe was their objective, some type of BTL chip in a glass case. She snatched it and held it to the light from her commlink, verifying the part number etched into the main processing chip. Their intel had proven valuable—this was the one they needed.

  Shoving it into one of the pockets of her coat, Keandra grabbed E-jekt by the arm and dragged him up. “Target acquired. We need an exit, now.”

  Paz dumped the magazine from her assault rifle and slammed a fresh one into place. She also loaded a couple of grenades. “Next burst, Lance take point. I’ll keep ’em pinned down. My hallway, second office on the right. Taking the express.”

  E-jekt’s arm tensed in Keandra’s grip before he yanked it free. Keandra knew he wouldn’t be happy with the plan, but it was better than fighting through the entire security team and their reinforcements. Besides, it was Paz’s call. When things went south, she got them out in one piece.

  When there was a brief lull in the clatter of bullets against the door, Lance jerked it open and Paz fired into the smoky hall. This time, instead of slamming the door shut, Lance ducked low and slipped through the opening, skirting to the far wall as he drew his blades and tapped into supernatural speed.

  He shifted one shoulder, dodging a bullet that would have pierced his chest, and then he stood in the middle of three security guards. His blade slashed the throat of the first man within reach and then he spun, driving the tip deep into the chest of the second. He dropped to the ground, yanking his blade free with the motion and taking cover as Paz burst out of the room and sprayed rounds with a beastly roar. The final guard in the advance group fell, her body ripped to shreds by the hail of bullets. The rest of the security team ducked behind the far corners and didn’t dare peek around and expose themselves.

  Paz held the trigger down until the magazine emptied and she reloaded once again. Keandra sprinted, steering around her dwarf companion and following Lance as he turn
ed and made for their exit point. Her feet slipped in the blood and she stumbled forward. Rather than catch herself, she went with the momentum, turning her shoulder to slam it into the wall and bounce back toward the office serving as their contingency plan. Once out of the line of fire, she turned around to take stock of her team while Lance broke the window. A sudden rush of air breezed past her as the wind howled through the makeshift opening, drowning out the crystal rain sound of fractured glass.

  Turning the corner, E-jekt lurched to the side and his eyes widened. He stretched a hand toward Keandra as he collapsed, his other hand clutched to his bleeding side. Time slowed as he hit the ground, and Keandra couldn’t move, couldn’t even force herself to breathe. Then everything snapped back to normal speed fast enough to cause her head to spin.

  Paz’s weapon roared to life once again, drowning out the other noise as she laid down suppressive fire. She came into view, holding her gun in one hand as she reached down with the other to grab E-jekt’s belt. Walking backward, she half-dragged, half-carried him to the office before kicking the door shut. Keandra’s muscles listened to her brain once again and she rushed to one of the tables, sliding it across the floor to bar the door.

  “Come take the old man, Beanpole. Don’t get squished on the way down.”