Specter Protocol

by Eddie R. Hicks

  Yanmei stopped ghostwalking and appeared behind the woman holding a pistol. She pointed it at the back of her head. “What do you want?”

  “Not a fight as you can see,” said the woman. “I want the two of us to work together, temporarily. Do it and I’ll overlook the fact you have stolen Yoshida property in that trailer—”

  “You mean stolen Zhang property,” Yanmei sneered.

  “I don’t see their name on it.” The woman grinned, lowering her glowing hands. “Oh, and make a left at the next turn. There’s a checkpoint being set up on the right.”

  Serge checked the GPS on his phone, leaving one hand on the wheel. “That’ll take us—”

  “Away from Anchorage?” The woman cut in. “Yes. But you don’t want to go back there, trust me on this.”

  Yanmei grimaced as her grip still held the pistol to her head. “You’re an avatar.”

  The woman turned to watch her, unfazed that the gun now pointed to her face. “What gave it away?” she asked.

  “We encountered one of your kind last month,” Yanmei said. “You possess the same level of skill.”

  “Avatar 33 they call me,” she said. “But, just call me Portia. It’s the name of this body. And I kinda like it. Very exotic for an adult entertainment actress.”

  “An avatar,” Serge said. “Aren’t they loyal to Yoshida?”

  Yanmei lowered the pistol, nodding slowly. “They are.”

  Miyuki wanted to rage. If Portia was devoted to Yoshida, then she was an enemy to her big brother Nobuo. That made Portia her enemy. She became a figure to be hated, regardless if she helped them escape the checkpoint.

  “I don’t trust her,” Miyuki spoke up. “She might try to mislead us. What if she turns us in?”

  “If I was going to do that, wouldn’t I have done it already at the checkpoint?” Portia said.

  “Maybe you want to hand us over to the Alliance military instead? —”

  “Matsuoka!” Yanmei spat. “That’s enough.”

  Portia gestured to Miyuki, then back at Yanmei. “What’s her problem?”

  “She met the man who killed her brother,” Yanmei said.

  Portia looked to Miyuki again, eyes narrowing. “Now I know why you look familiar.” She took a step closer, seductive eyes still gazing at Miyuki’s face. “Nobuo was it?”

  Miyuki gasped. An Alliance foreigner spoke her big brother’s name. “You knew him?”

  “I know he wasn’t killed by a man,” Portia said.

  “He had his katana!” Miyuki roared, anger and hate fueling her voice.

  Portia crossed her arm and tilted her head inquisitively to the left. “Who is he?”

  “Partington,” she whispered to the floor. “Ray Partington.”

  “You met him?” Portia’s red glossy lips arched into a smile.

  Miyuki continued. “In the mountains, just before the train…”

  “Is that so…” Portia interjected. “Did you kill Partington?”

  “He escaped. He might have been killed in the explosion.” Miyuki paused and looked to the floor, hands clenching. “I hope he was…”

  “I got some bad news for you,” Portia said. Miyuki faced her again. “Ray Partington didn’t kill your brother.”

  Fire burned in Miyuki’s eyes. Ray had the katana. It had to be him. Was she wrong to direct her hatred at an innocent man?

  “Are you sure?” Miyuki said, heavy emotion in her voice. “He was using Nobuo’s nano katana. The assailant took Nobuo’s blade and killed him with it.”

  “Nobuo was trying to kill Ray when an RW attacked,” Portia said. “That RW stole his katana and cut him in half.”

  She wretched while listening to the details of her big brother’s death. Miyuki didn’t cry, not that she could anymore, she just got angry. The real killer wasn’t Ray. It was someone else, and she didn’t know who. Miyuki nearly ended the life of a man innocent in her brother’s death.

  With clenched fists, she asked. “Who did it…?”

  “Tell you what,” Portia said, and faced Yanmei. “Give your boss your full support, and I’ll take you to her.”

  She nodded. “What do you want?”

  Portia sat with Serge, facing the roads ahead. “Head south and follow my directions,” she said to him. “And be fast about it. Everyone I mind control will wake up and realize what happened and send in RW teams.”

  “You didn’t answer my question.” Miyuki pushed past Yanmei and stood behind the seats Serge and Portia were on. “Who fucking killed my brother?!”

  Portia revealed the killer. “Estrella Rodriguez killed your brother.”

  Estrella Rodriguez. It was a name Miyuki will never forget.

  “Serge,” Miyuki said. “Give me everything you can find about her!”

  He compiled a list of Alliance news articles and hacked LAPD reports of the RW that now became the prime focus of Miyuki. He handed his tablet to her to examine. Miyuki held the device with both hands, trying her best not to snap it in half with her strength. On the screen was a file photo of a young Latina witch about the same age as her, with long black hair, and emerald shimmering, synthetic eyes looking at her.

  Miyuki committed Estrella Rodriguez’s face to memory.

  Forty-Five

  Estrella

  Hours earlier…

  “Hey, Malcolm. Tell your dad he owes me.”

  “One love.”

  Malcolm departed into the neon night of the city. It was a relief as Estrella left the dead club with a limp pixie kiwi slung over her shoulder. She really didn’t want to give him a lift back while carrying Piper around. Police sirens wailed in the air, their sounds growing louder with each passing second. She’d stay and give them the lowdown on what happened, but she carried a wanted woman with her. Leaving before they arrived was her only option now.

  How Piper managed to not fall off the motorcycle ride back to Estrella’s pad was beyond her.

  Estrella arrived in her apartment, kicked the door behind her shut, and flung Piper on the futon. The pixie kiwi giggled and laughed on the way down, landing back first. Taking Piper to her place would have made sense, except it was deeper in the IW district and Estrella needed to be off the streets, now crawling with police cars.

  Besides.

  She looked at the pixie kiwi, Piper was still high as a kite. Piper needed rest, and she needed it ten minutes ago. Estrella pulled out her network cable, brushed away a lock of Piper’s hair to reveal her input jack, and jacked in.

  Piper’s vitals and system status windows obscured her view of her resting on the futon.

  Geoffrey, what else can we do for her?

  Receiving updates from her AI, Akane, please standby.

  Hello Geoffrey, Piper’s AI Akane digitized voice echoed. It has been a while.

  Greetings to you, Akane—

  The link went dead.

  Piper’s status and vitals vanished from Estrella’s vision. What happened?

  Her battery power is currently low.

  She grimaced. Figures. Estrella’s arm split open. She reached in and took out a spare RW battery. It was one of two she had left. Her synthetic arm shut, and she turned Piper to her side and eyed the back of her neck, the location of her battery slot. She pulled it open, swapped the battery, then pushed the tray back in.

  The link to Piper returned, so did Akane’s voice and her appearance as a holographic raven peeking down at Piper from the top of the futon.

  Thank you, Akane vocalized. This should increase the productivity of Piper’s life support nanites.

  Estrella nodded to the holographic raven. Anything else you need?

  Perhaps some water when she awakes. Piper’s hydration levels are low.

  Noted. And she jacked out.

  Estrella grabbed a glass and held it under the water faucet, turning the cold-water handle until the glass was full. She returned to Piper resting on the futon, leaving the glass of water on the coffee table beside her. Piper didn’t take it. Gi
ve it another minute she figured.

  She reached for her phone during the wait. No messages or missed calls. Estrella sent a quick text to Lady M, stating she had an update. Then remembered Lady M wasn’t a fan of phones. Ray still hadn’t replied. It had her worried. She called his number and nothing. Not even a ring back tone. She shot him a text message. No reply. The dead can’t pick up phones. She hoped that wasn’t his reason.

  Estrella turned the TV on, flipping from channel to channel until she found national news briefs for the evening. The news reporter spoke of the bodies of Yoshida PMCs at the Port of Alaska. The PMCs were responding to reports that a cargo freighter, owned by Yoshida, called the Kobayashi, mysteriously returned unannounced. Its crew was missing, and logs wiped out. A ghost ship, the news called it. She made sure not to change the channel, this was relevant to her interests.

  She laughed. Funny how they don’t mention the pods.

  It might have been offloaded when it arrived in Tokyo.

  The news continued, first talking about an attack at Yoshida’s Elmendorf Installation, then reports of ships crashing in the nearby mountains, and a train derailment. Search and rescue teams were deployed. Not much else was mentioned, not that it mattered, because at that point Estrella had Geoffrey pull up a map of the region. Her view of the TV and her apartment changed to a three-dimensional top-down image of the Anchorage area.

  The Port of Alaska isn’t far from that base… She analyzed the map. Someone got off then attacked. Then the fighting moved to the mountains.

  Ray and the others might have been killed.

  It’d explain the radio silence, and why Obsidian opted to reach out to Piper’s messenger, rather than Ray.

  Her body tensed. Ray, Bashiir, and Theo… dead? She thought back to the other day when she was nano printing their passports. She was handing them their tickets to hell.

  Whose side is Obsidian on? she mused to herself, standing cross-armed.

  Given what happened tonight, our side. Geoffrey concluded. We were able to not only rescue Malcolm, but shut down the Bald Skulls, and obtain proof Dennis Patterson was working with them. Furthermore, we are closer to learning the true nature of the avatar project.

  The avatar project: Neurologically linked telepaths, able to remotely control other telepaths with the implant she discovered. Yoshida, rather, the shady members of the corporation, were experimenting on the telepaths they captured and used the Bald Skulls to gain them. Well not anymore as they’re dead. She double-checked the surveillance video logs downloaded from the Bald Skull’s hideout. They were still in her head, and ready to be delivered to Lady M as evidence.

  Geoffrey chimed in. Perhaps we should alert the LAPD of what we discovered?

  She shook her head. Not yet, Lady M needs to know first. Cops might fuck it up, and then I lose my freedom, again.

  Corporations over law enforcement?

  I don’t like it, believe me. But it’s the only way for me to get what I want. And what I want is to get out of this fucking city.

  Estrella minimized the windows of the maps from her view and then turned off the TV. Her apartment went dark save for the horizontal lines of blue and pink neon bleeding through the blinds. She hoped it was all fake news. It wouldn’t make sense for Obsidian to lure Ray and the others into a trap up north while luring Piper and Estrella to what they were seeking.

  Piper groaned. She was finally coming to. Estrella stood at her side watching as Piper placed an empty glass back on the coffee table, its sides dampened by a thin layer of condensation.

  “Welcome back,” Estrella said to her.

  “Never doing that again…” Piper’s synthetic arm opened, and she reached in and pulled a cigarette and lighter.

  “Fuck’s sake!” Estrella grabbed both from her and tossed them over her shoulder. They went clunk on the floor. “I had to give up one of the last batteries I have for you!”

  “Oh.” Piper touched the back of her neck. “That’s why I feel so full of energy.”

  “I’m a step closer to death now thanks to you.”

  A Mona Lisa smile stretched on her face. “My plan worked didn’t it?”

  “There were other ways. We could have overpowered him when we were alone.”

  “While everyone else knew foul play brought him down?” Piper laughed. “My way made it look like an overdose.”

  “Foul play was what ended up happening.”

  “And wasn’t part of the plan,” Piper said as Estrella sat with her. It’d been the first time she sat since the bike ride up. “Admit it, death aside, that was fucking hot.” Piper inched closer. Her right shoulder touched Estrella’s left.

  Estrella smiled. “Didn’t know you could move like that.”

  “Oh, don’t give me that!” She felt Piper’s fingers circle her lower back. “Did you forget the fun we had at Robbie’s already?”

  “How could I…” Estrella was flushing now. Heartbeat racing. “I—”

  “Almost experienced your first kiss,” Piper finished for her. “Or, did you finally experience that when I was gone?”

  Estrella’s head shook. “No, I haven’t.”

  Piper grimaced, giving Estrella a perplexed glare. “Been here for a month, and you’ve never?”

  Another shake of the head. “No.”

  “Why?”

  She stared at her. She stared right back. Two pairs of glowing emerald eyes in the low light apartment. “What do you mean, why?” Estrella asked with a hint of timidity in her voice.

  “You’re smart.” Piper’s fingers slithered up Estrella’s spine. They got lost within her black hair. “You’re very, very beautiful.” Now Piper was facing her outfit, the same party girl one she’d been wearing. “Especially now, like holy fuck. Then again, the same can be said about me, eh?”

  Piper still wore the corset and garter set covered in her robe. It was still untied too. It wouldn’t take much to undo the rest. That thought made her thighs tingle.

  “I’m a cut up psytrip girl, turned cyborg witch, in the fucking IW district,” Estrella said.

  “But you’re not chained to it, like Ray and I are. You could go to the human ones; you could mingle with them or other RWs. But you don’t, you stay here.”

  Piper placed her index finger under Estrella’s chin and lifted it. It forced Estrella to face her. Piper gazed at her with bedroom eyes. She was still high. “You’re shy, aren’t you?” she asked Estrella.

  “Fuck no.”

  Eyes still locked. “Still a virgin?”

  “Technically no because of the forced sex with the Skulls.”

  “That doesn’t count. You didn’t want it and didn’t enjoy yourself. You’re still a virgin.”

  A shrug of her shoulders. “I guess, kinda.”

  “I like virgins.” And a Mona Lisa smile. Piper leaned closer. Two noses almost touching. Estrella’s heart wouldn’t stop thumping. “You don’t have the guts, do you? That’s why you’re alone and a virgin?”

  Her words brought heat and moisture to Estrella’s lips.

  “Fuck that. I ain’t scared!”

  “Prove it.”

  Piper didn’t move. Neither did Estrella. Their noses were now pressing against each other.

  Estrella shut her eyes. She counted down.

  Three.

  Two.

  One.

  She gently pushed her lips forward. And they met Piper’s. Another woman’s lips squished hers. Estrella had no words to describe the rush during the kiss, especially when she felt Piper stroke the flesh above her collar bone. It was done now, so she thought. Yet, the two were still holding the kiss, Piper’s other hand holding Estrella’s shoulder like she was trying to keep her in place and prevent Estrella from backing away.

  Their lips parted for a second. Piper went back in, this time squeezing Estrella’s arms. There was no escaping the pixie kiwi’s trap. Piper kissed her upper lip and moved back slowly. Then kissed the lower lip and moved back slowly. And then came
another kiss, one where Piper kept her lips open and snuck her tongue into Estrella’s mouth. She didn’t resist, she accepted it in like a welcomed guest, a wet and playful one that slid and wiggled with her tongue.

  Estrella took everything in, the scent, the sounds, and the feelings. She had to remember all of it. That was it. She kissed someone for the first time. It happened. It fucking happened! She had to force herself to make it happen, but it happened none the less. Nothing could change that moment.

  Piper wasn’t holding her still anymore. Her right hand slipped into Estrella’s top and caressed her left breast. Piper pulled away her lips at last.

  “You’re so fucking hot right now,” she whispered, her hands now stroking the cute ribbons on Estrella’s stalking. “I’m not lying, I’m so attracted to you right now.” Piper tilted her head. “Aren’t you?”

  “Aren’t I what?” Estrella asked.

  “Don’t you find me, hot?” she asked. “You looked at me when I was naked, at my place. You saw my tits hanging out, and my wet pussy. You didn’t look away.” Piper wasn’t wrong. Estrella bit her lip. “A shy one, eh? Cute, I go for girls like that.”

  She got groped again by the pixie kiwi. First Piper started at Estrella’s stockings, shifted her hands up across her waist, grabbing the edges of her top, pulling it up and over her head, pulling it from her body. She had no idea where Piper threw it. Estrella sat there, only a bra, stockings, and micro skirt on. So, Piper unhooked the bra, pulled that off too and tossed it. Estrella’s breasts were free. Piper pushed her to the futon, her back felt the fabric of it as she landed.

  Piper was above her on all fours, looking down. Her mouth opened in shock. “Whoa, what the fuck!”

  Estrella panicked. “What?!”

  “You didn’t introduce me to the twins.”

  “Eh?”

  Piper cupped her bare breasts, thumbs ringing around her dark nipples. “Didn’t realize you were that busty.” Piper playfully took Estrella’s hands, forcing them to cup her breasts. “I’m a little jealous, I thought it was the other way around with us.”

  “You gave them a good squeeze today.”