Kidnapped

by Nathan Pedde

  “We need to hurry,” Des said.

  “Why?” Susan said.

  “Because daylight is under two hours from now, and I have no desire to get spotted by some farmer,” Des said. “I don’t want to be caught trespassing.”

  “Trespassing?” Susan said.

  They walked for the better part of an hour before they reached the familiar sight of the field and the small grove of trees. With the daylight hours starting and the light from the spindle turning on, it was easy to see things around them.

  I shouldn’t have raced in the scooter. It would be so nice right now,Des thought.

  Des jumped the fence and began to walk across the field. He took effort not to damage the grain as he walked. Both Elsie and Susan were doing the same.

  The smell of wheat and mud filled his senses erasing all thoughts of the putrid city smells. The three of them disappeared into the grove, hiding them from sight.

  “There is nothing here,” Susan replied.

  Des walked through the grove of trees to the backside and the entrance to the hideout. The big outer doors hidden by bushes and overgrowth.

  He unlocked the door with a metal key, opening the doors up. “Here is home, sweet home.”

  Des led Elsie and Susan into the storage room, turned to the hideout.

  “What is this place?” Susan said.

  Des told her what it was and how he found it.

  “What do we do now?” Susan said.

  He walked over and sat on the couch. He stumbled on his words on how and what to tell Susan the news. Elsie and Susan both joined him.

  “Sheemo has been kidnapped,” Des said.

  “What?” Susan said, sitting down on the couch.

  “The same things that chased you got to Sheemo.”

  “Those large robot things?” Susan said, continuing, “and what are you? How did you do those things?”

  Des looked over at Elsie, a worried expression on her face.

  “I guess we better tell her,” Elsie said.

  “I agree,” Des said. “I can’t come up with a compelling lie to keep her safe.”

  He turned back to Susan.

  “First,” Des said, “Why did you call us?”

  “I didn’t want to call you,” Susan said. “When I got jumped, they called a guy named Martin. He forced me to call you specifically with a written script. I felt so bad you were going to get taken by these guys.”

  “That makes sense,” Des said.

  “I told you that was a trap,” Elsie said.

  “Who are you?” Susan asked, narrowing on him. “You waltz into the suite, take out three big guys on the way in, then on the way out, take out more.”

  “I’m a security agent for the station,” Des said. “So is Elsie.”

  “What about Sheemo?”

  “He isn’t,” Des said. “But he was working with us to see if we can find out who was sending those missiles.”

  “That day,” Susan said. “The missiles came, you panicked and ran off. You said you were going to go save Elsie.”

  Des stood up, as memories of that day came flooding back. “I lied. I was told to. I rushed to the undercroft and to stop the attack.”

  “But there was a hull breach?”

  “There was. Elsie saved me from getting spaced.”

  “Spaced,” Susan said. “What… who…”

  Susan turned on Elsie, her finger at her.“And you. Do your parents know?”

  “Not on your life,” Elsie said.

  “Jacob?” Susan turned to Des. “Does he know?”

  Des shook his head “Not a chance. The only one who knows is you.”

  Elsie hugged Susan as the older woman started hyperventilating.

  “Everything will be fine,” Elsie said. “Des and I will-”

  “Des and you?” Susan asked. “Are you two a couple?”

  “What?”

  “In the street, you two kissed.”

  “I don’t know what we are,” Elsie said.

  “Right now, it doesn’t matter,” Des said. “We have a mission to do.”

  Susan looked at Des and Elsie, tears falling down her cheeks.“What do I do? I have friends who will be worried. Plus, jobs and classes.”

  “At the moment,” Des said. “You need to keep your head down.”

  “I’ll lose my job,” Susan said.

  “You will not,” Elsie said. “Right now, if you leave here, those robots will go after you. We need to stop the threat and find Sheemo before you go back.”

  “Why you two?”

  “Because there is no one else,” Des said. “If there was someone else, I’d let them do it. But there isn’t, so I’m doing it.”

  “Besides,” Elsie said. “It’s our job, and we must.”

  Susan put her head into her hands, tears fell from her eyes.

  “I—” Susan said. “I was almost sold… as a… thing.”

  Elsie hugged her tighter, her hand stroking her head.

  “What am I to do?” Susan said.

  “Stay here,” Des said. “Relax and chill. You’re safe now. Elsie and I do need to go back out soon before the workers enter the field.”

  “We do?” Elsie asked in a hushed voice.

  “We need to scout,” Des said. “Get a scooter, see if we can get lucky with Sheemo.”

  Elsie nodded and smiled.

  “Excuse me,” Susan said. “You want me to stay here in this dump?”

  Des looked around at the dust-covered concrete floor and walls. The room did look like a bunker more than anything else.

  “Honestly,” Des said. “You’re lucky we found you before you got sold or worse.”

  “Lucky you found…”

  “I don’t want to have to find you again. Next time, I may not be so successful,” Des said.

  Susan walked up to Des and gave him a big hug. “Thank you, anyways. I will stay here.”

  Elsie looked down at her clothes. “We have a problem.”

  “What is it?” Des asked.

  “We look like we are about to rob a bank.”

  “Lose the jackets.”

  Elsie took her jacket off. The tight-fitting and pants showed off her curves.“What about now? Can I pass for a civilian?”

  “Maybe,” Des said. “We need a better disguise, though.”

  “I could slip into a store and buy something,” Elsie said.

  “I’m not sure where the closest store is.”

  Susan coughed, interrupting them. “I know that you two are spies and all.”

  “Really counter-intelligence agents,” Des replied.

  “Whatever,” Susan said. “You could both dress up as homeless.”

  “That is possible,” Elsie said. “But, we don’t have rags.”

  “And I’m not sure two youth like us could pass off as homeless,” Des said.

  “What are you two going to do?” Susan said.

  Des turned to Elsie and Susan, pondering the problem. Without a stocked safe house, it was impossible to do the job. When they were working with Cryslis and Cooley, they had closets full of extra clothes to change into.

  “We leave the jackets here,” Des said. “Then we find a clothing store and buy something.”

  “I know of a good secondhand store,” Susan said. “But it is in the Teal Sector.”

  “I doubt our target is in the Teal Sector.”

  Susan shrugged.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Ten minutes after Cryslis hung up the phone with Milo, a yellow hover-cab pulled up in front of them. To Cryslis, the cab hadn’t changed a bit, it still looked old and used. Cryslis always enjoyed seeing the vehicle, the old memories always piled in. Most of which were wanted, appreciated, and nostalgic. The cab driver on the other hand, Cryslis didn’t enjoy seeing.

  The driver glared at Cooley and then herself as they climbed into the patched backseat.

  Milo was an older man, with a thick Ganymedean accent with all its rolled r’s. He was a nose ta
ller than Cryslis, and sported a long-waxed mustache, giving him a comical look.

  “That was quick,” Cryslis said.

  “I was in the area,” Milo said, driving off.

  “You’re never in the area,” Cryslis said. “You never leave the purple sector.”

  “Well,” Milo paused. “I got a good fair.”

  “Speaking of which,” Cooley said, “why’s the counter on?”

  “Did you think that this trip is free?” Milo replied.

  Cryslis was silent for a moment, as she watched the sights of the city pass her by. In the sky above, the light from the spindle began to appear.

  “Why did you call me?” Milo asked.

  “I need help,” Cryslis said.

  “Really? The great Cryslis and Cooley need help.”

  “Someone hit my team hard,” Cryslis said.

  “Give me a full SITREP.”

  “Our specialist has been kidnapped,” Cooley said. “There was an attempt on the team as we made our way to an evac point. Now we have been scattered.”

  “Then regroup,” Milo said. “You don’t need my help.”

  “Two problems,” Cryslis said. “On our way out, we double-checked our safehouses. The main one, the secondary and back-up location, was torched.”

  “Any family?”

  “One has some,” Cryslis said. “The Captain got them away, and they are on the next shuttle to Europa.”

  “That far?” Milo asked, shocked.

  “This has the captain scared,” Cryslis said.

  “He said that?”

  “No,but when you have worked for the man for as I have, you can tell.”

  Milo went silent, chewing on the end of the mustache. “Fine. What do you need?”

  “I need two things,” Cryslis said.

  “Intel and equipment?” Milo asked.

  “Exactly right.”

  Mile turned a corner on the street, passing underneath the station’s elevated train line. One of the first trains clattered along its tracks.

  “Intel wise, my team and I are just as in the dark. I have two agents underground saying robots tried to kill them, not knock them out like you guys. The other two are keeping our heads down as our cover isn’t compromised.”

  “What about other teams?” Cooley asked. “Was this a wider sweep?”

  “I’m not a hundred percent certain,” Milo said. “However, judging from the number of news reports of rampaging robots, my guess would be yes.”

  “Fuck,” Cooley replied.

  “Equipment?”

  “Don’t you have drop points?”

  “Of course,” Cryslis said. “But I don’t know what is compromised and what isn’t.”

  Milo scratched the top of his head at his graying hair. “I have one drop point that isn’t compromised. I may be willing to let you have access.”

  “What’s the cost?” Cryslis said.

  “I have the feeling the Captain is, how shall I say it, a fish out of water.”

  “More like out of his depths,” Cooley said.

  “Exactly,” Milo said. “When you find the bastards who hit us, I want in on the operation to take them out.”

  “Done,” Cryslis said. “When we know, we will let you know.”

  “Good. The drop point is an older one,” Mile said. “However, one that you will find familiar.”

  Mile handed her a piece of plasto-paper. “The code to let you in. Take whatever you need.”

  “Where is it?” Cryslis asked.

  Milo pointed up to the roof of his cab and beyond.

  “The spindle one?” Cryslis said.

  “Of course,” Milo said. “No one looks up.”

  “Shit. I can’t get into the spindle.”

  “Of course, you can. You’re station security,”

  “I’ve been given the specific orders to lay low,” Cryslis said.

  “Then you shouldn’t be talking to me,”Milo replied.

  “Yet, here I am.”

  Milo pulled over the hover-cab to the side of the road, next to them was the elevated train platform.

  “I showed you where the stash is and gave you access,” Milo said. “Do what you need to do. If you can use the supplies, then good.”

  The cab driver pushed a couple buttons on his dash computer.

  “Cost twenty-two credits,” Milo said.

  Cryslis pulled out a twenty-five-credit chip and threw it at him.

  “Thanks for your help. Keep the change.”

  Milo nodded as Cryslis and Cooley got out of the cab. He drove away, leaving them to stand on the sidewalk alone in the Purple Sector. For a moment, they watched the cab disappear into the distance. The walk was filled with people, all headed to work or school. More than a few of them glared at them as they walked by. However, most people simply ignored their existence.

  Cryslis wished she wasn’t in this situation and that nothing had changed.

  “Now what?” Cooley asked. “We hoped we could use supplies to start to hunt down Sheemo’s kidnappers.”

  “I don’t know,” Cryslis said.

  Cryslis walked down the sidewalk. The vast sea of people parting for them as if they had the plague.

  Cooley stopped at an alley and leaned on the corner for a moment. His eyes on everyone in the crowd.

  “Down here,” Cooley said. “We need to get out of the main street.”

  “Why?”

  “Somethings off,” Cooley said.

  She nodded, understanding her partner. He was built to be a spy as his situation awareness was second to none. The only two agents she had ever met who could rival Cooley was Milo and Des. For those reasons, whenever Cooley suggested like changing their direction of travel, she listened.

  Walking down the clean alley, Cryslis passed row upon row of dumpsters and sliding doors of the nearby business. It was cleaner than those of the Green Sector. No trash or debris lined the edging making it hard to see down.

  Cryslis walked down the alley, passed row upon row of dumpsters and sliding doors of nearby businesses.A click echoed in the quiet alley. A moment later, a sliding door opened. Standing in the doorway were a half-dozen robots and as many men with weapons. The robots were a modified construction robot with hastily welded on firearms.

  The men were all dressed in tactical clothes. Pockets and pouches were scattered across the garments. All twelve of them pointed weapons at them.

  Cooley was one step ahead, tossing a large metal canister out of his pocket at the group’s feet. Large blue waves of electricity arced from the robots at the assembled force. The robots fell to the ground, blue and black smoke pouring out from the joints of the robot’s body.

  Two of the six human attackers collapsed to the ground, the other four held onto their eyes, blinded temporarily.

  “Run,” Cooley yelled.

  Cryslis took off down the alley. She knew Cooley could run faster than her, so having Cooley hang back was appreciated.

  Not like I will tell him that,Cryslis thought.

  The four remaining attackers pursued them, leaving the confines of the room.

  “Where did they come from?” Cryslis said, pulled an electro-baton from her jacket.

  “Run now,” Cooley said, “talk later.”

  Cryslis turned a sharp corner in the alley, ducking behind a dumpster, Cooley did the same. As he crouched next to her, he gave her an unhappy look, stun gun out in his hands.

  The first man ran, rounding the corner and didn’t see them. The other three came a moment later. The attackers looked confused, not seeing Cryslis and Cooley.

  Cryslis jumped out from the alley, her baton raised in the air. She charged at the first one, catching the man off guard. Her weapon struck a shoulder, the electricity zapping the man into unconsciousness.

  Cooley aimed his stun gun at the first attacker and squeezed off a shot. The man dropped to the pavement, pins in his back. Cooley pulled an electro-baton from his jacket, jumping at the third attacker. His b
aton hit the man in the face, his nose cracked, spilling dark red blood across the pavement. The electric shock blew through the man, sending him to the ground.

  The last attacker, seeing his entire team drop in a matter of seconds, dropped his stun gun and ran. Cooley threw his baton underhand at the man’s legs. It skipped along the ground once, sending electric sparks into the pavement. It then smacked into the man’s ankles.

  Cryslis heard the sharp snap of bones as the baton bounced from the attacker to the building wall. The man dropped to the ground, groaning and dragging his shattered ankle behind him.

  “Damn it,” Cooley grumbled, his voice quiet. “Impact grounded the baton.”

  “We could question him,” Cryslis said.

  “We could and next time you want to ambush the ambushers, perhaps it would be better to pick a spot farther away.”

  “I chose it for a reason,” Cryslis replied.

  “What would that be?”

  “I want to see if there is anything of use in there,” Cryslis said.

  Cooley looked at her, then at the sliding door where they had ambushed. “Short as it was, if there is anyone in there, they would have heard the fight.”

  “Exactly,” Cryslis said. “No reinforcements came to help those four. This means we have time.”

  “I’ll grab gimpy over there and bring him along,” Cooley replied. “What about those other three?”

  “I’ll do a quick search. See if I can find any quality intel.”

  Cryslis rummaged through the unconscious man’s pockets, hunting for anything of value. She hated this part, it wasn’t the stealing part, but the necessary means to survive. She would have preferred the man to be dead, though. Not that she wanted to kill him, it was he may wake up at any moment. Cryslis didn’t trust the science behind the electro-baton and the stun guns. They could knock a victim unconscious for six hours, knowing a few people who came to a touch too early.

  “Did you find anything?” Cooley asked.

  Cryslis looked at the stash of items she had piled in the middle of the alley. There was a pile of credit chips and stun guns. She took all the men’s ID cards and phones. One even had a pocketknife with an engraving of some military unit. She slipped them all into her backpack to examine them later.