Deadly
Game
Chapter
Ten
By
Fade
Back in another safe house, the team awaited a visit from Peter. Hammer and Shadow had managed to carry their companions safely back to the tunnel system, where they met up with the team left to try and hold an escape route open for them. Lonestar had been coming down the hall when the two teams entered the tunnel system, but a few quickly placed shots from narcojet pistols had served to discourage further pursuit.
The teams that Peter had hired for the assault had fared quite well. Just about every runner had been wounded, but the mages Peter employed had kept all but three people from dying. Two of the dead runners had families, which Peter had already arranged to receive annuities for the next ten years. “It is sad that Peter cannot do something to truly replace the fallen,” Peter had reflected in an earlier call with Hammer. “At the very least, this gives the children of the runners a chance to obtain a better life.”
The question of what to do with all the loot, which the teams had pulled from the complex, had the possibility of becoming a sticky issue. The teams had technically been hired to destroy the complex, and consequently Peter technically didn’t have a right to the valuables that had been stripped out of the complex before Lonestar arrived.
Flash’s order for the teams to grab anything that might help pay for the op, had clouded the issue enough though that it could have been argued that the scope of the work for which people had been hired had increased.
In the end, most of the runners agreed to split the loot with Peter after some manner or another. In another move that was quite uncharacteristic for someone in Peter’s profession, the fixer had used his share of the loot to cover his expenses and provide for a reasonable profit margin, and then bonused the rest out to the runners who had been stuck above ground for the op.
Even better as far as most of the runners were concerned, was the fact that their reputations had all taken a healthy hit after being involved in such a high powered run. The shadows were already buzzing-simple breaking and entering, or wet work was par for the course in Seattle, but an actual assault on somebody with the resources of a small corp was virtually unheard of.
The biggest drawback to the flurry of rumors and gossip that was flying around the plex was that the Star had people out in force throughout the city. Rumors that bore suspicious resemblance to the reality of what had happened seemed to have made it to the ears of the mayor, who was coming down hard on the corp hired to protect the innocent, or more importantly the wealthy of the city. For a short time, the cops had even tried to conduct random weapons searches on some of the worse streets. That of course had rapidly cost Lonestar a number of policemen. Between the mob, the triads, the other forms of organized crime, local gangs, the occasional shadow runner, and the droves of paranoid and frightened citizens of Seattle, there were just too many guns floating around for the Star to try and start controlling them without flying in substantial assets from other cities. In the end, the execs in the Star had decided that it just wouldn’t be profitable to try and really crack down. After the Star had made its half-hearted efforts to placate the mayor, things went on basically just like they had before.
The publicity was not something that Hammer and the rest were very excited about. Racists had a tendency to pursue vendettas that a corp would simply chalk off as being unprofitable, and the team would rank only slightly behind Peter as a key target for someone looking to get even for the events of the past week. It looked like the team would have to maintain a low profile for quite a while.
Despite that, no one could argue that the four runners weren’t likely to come out of the events better off monetarily. Peter had been true to his word, sending a 60,000-nuyen payment by courier as soon as the team arrived at the safe house, which he had arranged for them.
The only other matter to deal with concerned the items that the team had liberated. Hammer had attempted to talk to Peter about the issue, but the small man had refused to discuss the matter until he had come to personally thank the team.
A quiet knock signaled the fixer’s arrival. Hammer looked at the video monitors to confirm that it was indeed Peter before opening the door. The Aztlander entered the house accompanied by two very muscular humans, both of which dwarfed their small charge.
Peter asked the bodyguards to wait in the front room, while he went back to the kitchen to talk to the runners. Shiver had spread everything except for the paintings out on the table where Silk was all but drooling over the diamonds.
The mage had spent a pretty good chunk of time asleep recovering from drain, and then demanded that each of the other team members tell their version of events that happened after she had succumbed to what she had taken to calling the magician’s curse.
Silk had been very interested in hearing about the fight with the vampires, and had complained about always being unconscious when the really cool things happened. The complaints hadn’t lasted too long though. Upon seeing the diamonds, the mage had turned into a little girl wanting to try on her mother’s clothes. When Hammer saw the elf trying to rig some kind of ring with wire and one of the diamonds he had sternly told her to put it back down before she got any more attached.
Silk had stuck her tongue out at the troll, but had acknowledged that following his advice would probably be a good idea. “Wearing something that big would be incredibly tacky anyway,” muttered the elf. “I just wanted a chance to see how it would look-I’m not very likely to ever have a rock that big to try on, so I needed to do it now.”
Starting guiltily as Hammer and Peter walked into the room, Silk put two of the diamonds back, shooting Hammer a glare before moving to a chair that was positioned further away from the table. Hammer grinned slightly before gesturing for Peter to sit down.
Pulling
over a gigantic chair that had been designed specially to accommodate the
weight of the average troll, Hammer sat down, wincing a little bit as the chair
creaked and threatened to break.
Peter needs to look into getting bigger chairs in his safe houses, thought the fixer. With all the metal he has in his body, friend Hammer is quite a bit heavier than the average troll.
Hammer gestured to the items on the table. “These were all basically in a bug out bag that Shadow found. We also brought out what I believe are very nearly the complete-original works of Itai, a painter of considerable influence from a while ago.”
Peter nodded, and then pulled out a portable credstick reader. Slotting the credsticks one by one, the fixer made notes on his pocket secretary. “It would appear that there are about 300,000 nuyen on the credsticks, a goodly sum to keep so liquid. The diamonds should be worth about 20,000 each, while the decks have a combined value of about a million and a half.”
Peter looked over to where the paintings were carefully laid out. “If it is agreeable to the four of you, Peter will take the credsticks, the diamonds, and the decks, leaving the rest to you.”
Hammer shook his head. “To do so would be unreasonable on our part. For all that you would be taking items valuing nearly two million nuyen, the paintings are quite possibly worth four or five times that sum. The only equitable route would be for you to take some of the paintings as well.”
“Peter disagrees. The paintings need to be kept together as a set, in this way they are much more valuable than they would otherwise be. Not only that, but Peter owes his very life to the four of you. All of Peter’s other efforts would have come to naught without your help.”
Hammer opened his mouth to protest, but the tiny Aztlander continued quickly to avoid interruption. “Peter knows that there are those who would try to argue that Peter helped you eliminate a dangerous enemy who wanted you dead, or that without Peter’s involvement in setting up the run, that you would never have had a chance to come across such valuables. While this may be true, Peter refuses to take more than his fair share-the four of you have paid in blood and pain. Senior Hammer, there is no question that you value the paintings much more highly than would Peter, therefore it is just that you keep them.”
The big troll bowed his head for a moment, before thanking Peter. Even Silk, who had a hard time seeing anything but nuyen when she looked at the pictures, knew that to simply sell the paintings off to the highest bidder would be somehow too mercenary. Sad that the team wouldn’t be seeing more hard currency, the mage sighed before brightening momentarily.
“Can we put them all in my room then? I’m sure it is simply the height of fashion to have millions worth of paintings surrounding you while you sleep.”
A somber Shadow shushed the mage with a motion before bowing to Peter. “Friend Peter, you are an honorable man. Thank you very much for your gift.”
As the fixer left half an hour later, he turned back to the runners. “Before Peter forgets again, you are welcome to the free use of this safe house for the next two weeks. Also, Peter has given an accounting of the events of the past week to a certain mutual friend. Should you happen to run into those two vampires again, the mutual friend would like to know-he maintains a close watch on those diablos.”
__________
Author’s Note:
First thing, if you liked this story, or even if you didn’t, please drop me a line and let me know what you thought the strengths and weaknesses were. To be honest, when I started I didn’t think I could actually write an entire book. Now, just over six months later I know I can write a book, and the question becomes whether or not I can write a good book.
I always hated it when authors went on and on thanking people who contributed in the writing of a book, so I’ll try and keep this fairly short, but I feel like I would be very ungrateful if I didn’t mention a few people. Those of you who don’t want to read the acknowledgements can skip them with my blessing.
Firstly, I’d like to thank Shapcano. I appreciate the fact that he has written and posted such good stuff for us to read, the fact that he was willing to post my stuff, and most importantly the fact that he always encourages everyone to try their hand at writing.
Thanks need to be expressed to Rat, who also writes great stuff, and who was kind enough to let Harry help Hammer and the rest of the crew.
I also need to recognize my friend Vaughn, who was kind enough to let me bounce ideas off of him, as well as editing the first draft of Deadly Game. (If you thought the version you got needed some editing, you should have seen the version he got).
In the vein of feedback, I’d like to thank the eight people who read Deadly Game as it was being published chapter by chapter, and e-mailed me with encouragement and comments. It was nice to know that people I’d never met were enjoying what I’d done. Thank you very much for taking the time to let me know what you thought.
Lastly, but of equal importance, I’d like to acknowledge the support I’ve received from my family. I count my parents and siblings as my truest friends. Thanks.
__________
This story is copyrighted by the author. The author grants license to all parties to copy and redistribute this work, as long as it is not used for commercial gain or modified in any way. Additionally, the author must be given credit for his work, and his contact information, [email protected], should be included with any copy of his work. All other rights are reserved.
Shadowrun is a Registered Trademark of WizKids, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used without permission. Any use of WizKid's copyrighted material or trademarks in this file should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks.