Chapter 3
"The infant runs toward it with its eyes closed...
the adult is stationary...
the old man approaches it with his back turned."
--Denis Diderot (1713-84)
La Maison D'Indochine
Downtown, Seattle
April 2, 2059
1:30 pm
Lenny looked around the restaurant finding that it had not changed much since the last time they had been here. It was still the same elegant interior with it's clean atmosphere and glittering chandeliers. The menu was written in a language that Lenny had to slot a chip to read. Flowers of different colors lined a small indoor garden next to the front door, that was something new. Still, the whole building screamed corporate elite.
"Just once I'd like to see a Johnson like this meet in a place like the Big Rhino." Riggs muttered to himself over the commlink. The dwarf had an internal cybernetic communications system that allowed him to access it even if he was rigging a vehicle. This way he wouldn't have to divert so much of his thought.
As before, Riggs was in the Bison slowly scanning over the outside while other members of the group were strategically placed to provide for immediate support. Only this time there were a few differences. An unusually large group of Japanese tourists had dropped by for lunch. At their appearance, Lenny thought it best if Gideon remained out of sight. The ork would only draw attention in the presence of such bigots as Lenny thought. They might call in Lone Star just to move the ork. Instead, he put Smiley in Gideon's sentry position outside the restaurant. Nightsky held the second sentry position at the opposite side of the building. He fit in quite well after he changed clothes into something that would better blend in with the crowd. Tart had originally asked to be there when the Johnson came in, but Lenny refused her. He pointed out that she wouldn't know how to handle herself if there was trouble. It was too dangerous in Lenny's opinion. Lenny didn't trust Mrs. Johnson all that much to begin with.
Shard moved a little in her seat, yet she looked calm enough. She was wearing a bright yellow leather jacket with a white blouse made of a ballistic weave and complimenting skirt. Small jewels hung loosely from her jacket. Jewels that seemed to be with her no matter what she was wearing at the time.
"Not nervous, are you?" Lenny asked with a polite tone. "That's unusual."
"No, not nervous. I think your the one for that?"
Lenny huffed, he looked insulted. "There's a difference between being nervous and being careful, Shard."
"You don't trust her, do you?"
"Do I have a reason to?"
Lenny didn't say anything. In his silence, he gave Shard her answer. There had not been any real evidence that Mrs. Johnson was plotting against them. Yet Lenny remained on edge every time that he had to deal with her. That showed that he didn't trust her. Probably because she was corporate or Japanese or both. It was hard to tell with Lenny. When something inside told him that it seemed wrong, Lenny went with that feeling. He was stubborn to a point with it. Lenny would trust his feeling more than he trusted most people. Shard knew his goal with the meeting. It was always to secure a job that would offer the best benefits to his group and ensure the best chance of survival and safety. The words of a wannabe seeking a thrill by living on the edge didn't exist here. Professional as he was, Lenny knew to limit his exposure. He knew better than to bow to a Johnson just because the Johnson was the employer. As far as he was concerned, he was on equal grounds no matter how the rest of the world viewed him.
When Mrs. Johnson stepped in the front door, Lenny picked up her immediately. His eyes shifted from natural to a thermographic, picking up every detail he could. As the Maitre d' lead heer to their table, Lenny watched every move she made. Her dress is the first thing that he noticed. This time she was dressed in the latest corporate fashion. A flowing skirt with blue and green colors and a lavishly decorated top, glittering with pendents and jewels. A bit much for a lunch date. Mrs. Johnson's hands were empty except for a small purse.
"Konchiwa, Lenny-san." Mrs. Johnson said as she came up to him. Lenny stood politely kissed her on the hand as she offered it. A ruse in Shard's opinion. "I apologize for my tardiness."
"Think nothing of it." Lenny replied.
The Maitre d' pulled out Mrs. Johnson's chair for her. "Would anyone like something to drink?" She said with a rehearsed accent.
"Seven of Seven." Lenny stated. Shard waved off any drink with a quiet smile.
"What is the wine of the day?" Mrs. Johnson asked.
"Ah," The Maitre d' straightened her posture. "Today we have a lovely champaign from France chilled lightly. A good year of 2029."
"That will be fine." Mrs. Johnson said. The Maitre d' gave a slight bow and headed off to fetch the drinks. In the meantime, Mrs. Johnson turned her expressionless features over to Lenny. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Lenny-san. I trust that you have been enjoying yourself."
What she meant was wether or not Lenny had been spending the money that she had paid him with last month. "Most lucratively." Lenny replied. "Though it is always a gift to see you again, my lady. Might I ask what circumstances have brought us together today?"
"I've had an interesting situation to present itself." Mrs. Johnson's glance drifted to Shard. Apparently she knew a little more about the elf than she did the last time they met. Now she was aware that the elf was a mage, thus the reason why she was sitting next to Lenny. Mrs. Johnson's drawn out glance let Lenny know this.
Mrs. Johnson didn't say anything else as the Mairtr d' arrived with the drinks. When she left, the Johnson continued.
"I must remind you that anything said doesn't leave this table. The information could be quite damaging if it were to escape."
Lenny felt insulted at those words. It was like the Johnson thought he was an amateur, like he didn't even know what he was doing. Anger boiled up inside him, but he quickly snuffed it out. It wasn't professional to lose one's cool. "Of course."
"My partners have been impressed with your past services. Thus we would like to offer you another opportunity. The proposal carries with it more risk than the previous one. I feel I should warn you about that now. However, the compensation will also be greater."
"Tell us more and we'll tell you if we are interested, my lady."
"My partners have enlisted the help of a prominent individual who would be able to aid in many important tasks. This individual, or subject, feels that a relationship with my partners would be most beneficial to her. Unfortunately she is tied to a previous contract against her will. Since my partners are concerned with her happiness, they have agreed to relieve her of the previous commitment so that she may become a free agent for my partners to pickup. That is why I have requested you here today. My partners want this individual to be extracted from her current holding so that she my join an important project. The compensation for this venture is fifty thousand for each of your group, Lenny-san. That is all I can tell until you commit."
Lenny leaned on his hand, tapping the earplug in his right ear with his finger. A flurry of words followed of the link, but Lenny ignored most of them. He had some questions that he wanted answers to. He was not going to walk into something that could get him and everybody else killed.
"More information is required." Lenny said sternly. "Target entity?" By entity he meant corporation. He had gotten enough from Mrs. Johnson to know that this was an extraction, by far one of the more difficult shadowruns to pull off.
Mrs. Johnson shook her head. "I am sorry, Lenny-san, I cannot tell you at this time. You have all the information you need. Make your choice."
"I have not what I need, my lady. I require information on a matter like this. Who's the owner?"
"You know all you need to know."
"Not enough to talk price and time." Lenny countered.
Mrs Johnson gave a sigh, obviously getting annoyed at Lenny's persistence. Lenny didn't care what she thought. She wasn't the one putting her life on the line. "The company is Mauss Chemicals."
An extraction against Mauss Chemicals? The company may not be the largest in the world, but it was definitely not the smallest either. Lenny rubbed his chin. "Subject?" He asked in a single word.
"A chemist." Mrs. Johnson. "I cannot tell you her name until you accept."
Lenny nodded, listening to the words spoken over the commlink as his eyes slowly scanned the room. Mrs. Johnson flinched as she noticed Lenny's eyes wondering around. Lenny caught the movement and swept the room in his field of vision. His eyes passed over several couples having lunch and a few men sitting by themselves. There was a woman in the corner sobbing with a box of tissue and musicians playing classical music on stage. What was out of place? Lenny couldn't see anything wrong, buta feeling told him that the Johnson was not alone. He had to be careful.
There was an acknowledgment from the commlink. Lenny spared a glance at Shard who nodded back to him. With that, Lenny leaned forward and put his hands on the table. "We agree, fifteen percent down payment for seven members comes to three-hundred and fifty payable up front."
Mrs. Johnson didn't move a muscle on her face as she reached into her purse and pulled out a small pouch. She handed it over to Lenny who in turn handed it to Shard. Shard immediately slotted each of the seven credsticks in a portable scanner to verify that they were correct.
"Tell us more."
Mrs. Johnson pulled out a pocket secretary from her purse and handed it over to him. "Everything you need to know about the subject and where she is being held is here."
"Just where is she being held?"
"A modest security condoplex owned by the parent company."
Lenny frowned at that. "Tell us more about the subject."
"You are to retrieve a chemist named Michelle McVey. Her expertise is very important and it is imperative that no harm comes to her. There is a profile stored on the pocket secretary."
Lenny nodded, filling the bit of information away.
"I'm sure you can deal with and obstacles it might present." Mrs. Johnson sounded confident about that. She stood up and emptied her glass. "My number is stored on the secretary. Contact me once you have completed your assignment. I will make arrangements to have the subject delivered." She gave a small smile. "Good day." She turned and walked out.
Lenny listened to the commlink as Smiley and Nightsky reported her leaving. Riggs later verified when she pulled away. At the same time Lenny could not help thinking that he was being watched. He looked around again to find that every thing looked normal. There was nothing out of place. Yet there was still that feeling......
Somewhere in the Barrens
Redmond, Seattle
5:30 pm
Floppy peaked out the window again. He didn't see anything, but the grim covered street below. There were a few squatters milling around in the dumpsters in the alley. They didn't look like much of a threat.
"Sure am glad that Nightsky gave his doss for us to crash in." A young girl, who went by the name Sand, said as she piled up blankets to make her bed. She had discovered that Nightsky didn't keep much in his home. Apparently he slept in a hammock that was strung in the small bedroom. The rest of the apartment was very clean with a lot of open space in the main room.
A dwarfish ganger named Stumpy was the senior of the group. He was by far the oldest member of the Blackhearts whom had decided to holdup in Nightsky's doss after Jackal had given the orders for the gang to spread out. He had a good five years over Floppy and Sand. Stumpy was very short, but his shoulders were a pack of stiff muscles. His feet were comically oversized. Stumpy seemed to waddle more than walk.
"Jackal's confident as a devil rat that Nightsky can take care of himself. Those fragging Humanis slots aren't someone I'd like to tangle with." Stumpy muttered to himself as he tried climbing up into hammock. "Cept that Night doesn't own a drekking thing. Look at this place."
Floppy closed the shreds of a curtain that still hanged over the window. "Talk about sparse. I think he moved everything out before we got here."
"There's just a pile of clothes in here." Stumpy called from the bedroom. "And that frig is empty." He pointed to a small refrigerator that sat next to the door. A small trideo was perched on top of the frig. It's picture had a lot of static in it. There were no weapons or personal effects to be found. Stumpy knew otherwise because when he had seen the adept the night before. Nightsky was wearing a MP-5 under his poncho then.
"What do you know about him?" Sand asked her she snuggled up in her blankets.
"Sky?" Stumpy muttered to himself as he finally managed to seat himself in the hammock without tipping it over. "A little of this and that."
"He's one of the lieutenants, isn't he?" Floppy asked. He didn't know much of the ranking that the Blackhearts had. Floppy had not been around long enough to know all the gang members.
"No, not him. He is never around enough anymore." Stumpy said as he dug through his synthleather coat and pulled out a cheroot. "He's senior, though, Floppy. Him and a old banger, Oreo, use to be big chummers. Oreo got geeked a few months ago. That kind of soured things for him."
The door to the apartment suddenly flew open as a large man wearing an armor jacket studded with chrome spikes slammed his massive foot into the cheap composite plastic. The hinges creaked under the force and snapped off, allowing the door to tumble to the floor. Floppy nearly jumped out of his skin at the loud crash. He stumbled back and tripped over a misplaced shoe.
"Morning fraggers!" The man sported a brilliantly green mohawk. His hand gleamed form the implanted razors beneath his fingernails. "Let's have a night for humanity!"
Sand stared open mouthed, too shocked to move. Her mind kicked into action and identified the distinctive mohawk and razors that the man sported. "Night Hunters." She said almost breathlessly.
The first man moved into the room with a marauding intention. He made a lunge for Sand who scampered out of the way.
A second Night Hunter stormed into the apartment just after the first. This one was another man with a set of grizzly black and yellow teeth. This one also wore his hair in the distinctive mohawk, though his was much shorter. He held a vicious looking knife in one hand while his fingernails gleamed of metal razors.
"Time to bash some brains!" He scorned as he planted a steel-toed boot into Floppy's ribs. The blow lifted the boy three feet in the air and sent him crashing against the wall.
Stumpy waddled off the hammock. Nearly falling face first on the floor in the process.
"Frag you halfer!" The first Hunter yelled as he tore through the small apartment, charging Stumpy like a football player.
The dwarfs husky build gave him a little advantage over the rampaging Hunter. He bent down and returned the charge. When the two impacted Stumpy reached out and flipped the ganger's foot up, causing the Night Hunter to crash into the floor. Stumpy was careful to avoid the chrome studs on the ganger's armored jacket. One slice from those could do serious damage.
"Gah!" The Night Hunter screamed as he tumbled from the charge. "Fragging meta-trash."
"You ain't so hot either." Stumpy retorted as he moved into the main room where Sand and Floppy were getting mauled by the second Night Hunter.
Floppy was still in the corner coughing his innards out. Apparently that kick and hurt him worse than he had first thought. Sand was having her own problems with the second Hunter. The Hunter made several attempts to grab her, each of which failed miserably. Finally the ganger grabbed a fistful of Sand's hair and pulled her up to eye level with him. The pain was unbearable as the Night Hunter yanked at her hair. Sand thought that she would pass out.
"This is what you get for messing with meta's, girl." The Hunter gave a horrible grin with his blackened teeth and punched Sand's lights out. She lost a handful of hair as her head snapped back. She made instant contact with the wall. She screamed loudly as pain blurred out her senses.
"Why don't you try that with someone your own size." Stumpy snorted. When the ganger's crooked teeth turned his way he immediately wished he could take it back. "Uh-oh."
"Uh-oh don't cover it, halfer!" The blackened-toothed Hunter waved the knife in his hand and planted his boot into Stumpy's face. The dwarf skittered to the floor where the Hunter raised up the knife and made a quick slash at Stumpy's face.
Stumpy's eyes went wide and he threw his hands up to protect himself. The knife cut across the inside of his palms, slicing deep enough to draw a generous amount of blood through the gaping wounds. Stumpy grunted at the cold smoothness of the knife and tried to kick the Hunter off him.
Suddenly the ganger that Stumpy had tripped in the bedroom pushed the blacken-toothed Hunter back.
"I'm going to stuff this halfer!" He screamed and hauled Stumpy to his feet as he was taking the razors on his left hand and gouging the dwarf's cheek.
"Frag off, I ain't done yet. I'm going to make this mate-trash beg." Black-tooth scorned and stabbed the steel toe of his boot into the small of Stumpy's back. "Beg for forgiveness, halfer, beg! Tell me your sorry! Tell me your sorry for ever being born!"
Stumpy buckled under the impact and slide to the ground. A paralyzing pain burning from his waist down. He yelled something that was barely coherent.
"Stumpy!" Sand screamed as the first ganger kicked Stumpy's head in. "Get away from him! He never hurt you!" Sand pleaded.
The first ganger pointed a razored finger in Sand's direction. "Make yourself useful and shut that little slitch up." He said to the other Night Hunter.
"Who died and made you Kenneth Brackhaven?" The other Hunter gripped as he picked at his decaying tooth. An evil gleam in his eye, the grizzly Night Hunter lumbered off in Sand's direction.
Sand backed up, but found herself in a corner with no where to run. She cringed at the approaching ganger.
"Baby," The Hunter said as he pointed his knife at Sand, "I'm about to rock your world."
Floppy launched himself from the corner and collided with the large Hunter. The Hunter dropped his knife which stuck straight up in the floor. The two of them landed on a pile of blankets that Sand was planning to use as a bed.
"Floppy!?" Sand screamed as the Hunter pushed Floppy's head back with his hand. The razors dug into the sides of Floppy's head just before the Hunter punched him hard enough to knock his teeth loose.
Floppy's head snapped back and he tumbled onto the floor. The young boy looked seriously hurt. Sand started to move to him, looking for some assurance that he was alright. Beyond Floppy she could see that Stumpy was getting the life beat out of him as the first ganger wailed away.
"Where the frag you think your going, slitch?" The Hunter that had just laid Floppy out cold grabbed Sand's hair again. "I wouldn't want you to think about leaving until I'm done with you."
The Hunter pulled her hair back, forcing Sand to look up into his decaying mouth and vengeful eyes. Blood was streaming from her nose and lip. The ganger only seemed to derive pleasure from seeing the pain that he had inflicted. He let out a loud gloat as he raised his razored fingers above her head. Sand was about to close her eyes and take the blow that was sure to come. Then her hand ran across the knife that was still sticking in the floor. Without thinking she grabbed the handle and jerked the knife free. Then she did the only thing she could think of. She plunged the stainless steel blade into the nether regions of the Night Hunter.
The Hunter screamed, making an unholy sound in the hell that the apartment had become. He let go of Sand's hair and backhanded her with a massive fist, nearly knocking her out the doorway.
"Fragging slitch stabbed me!" He howled. "She stabbed me!"
Sand did not waste any time. She scampered out the shattered door and down the hall. All the way she heard to terrible voice of the ganger. For a moment, she thought that she could still hear the sound of the other Hunter's fists pounding Stumpy's lifeless form. She shook the thought from her mind, knowing that Night Hunter's always traveled in packs and that there would be more of them. She kept running and didn't stop until it felt like her heart was about to burst out of her chest. Either from pushing herself to get away, or the pain of having left Stumpy and Floppy alone.
Meridith Moore Condominium
Yarrow Point Neighborhood
Bellevue, Seattle
7:00 pm
Michelle McVey stepped out of the elevator and began the short walk to her door. She was tired, feeling drained from a hard day of measuring chemicals and breaking down the chemical composition of polymers. Simple tasks that any university intern could have done. It made her bitter to know that Mauss Chemicals had reduced her to such activities. She deserved better treatment than that.
She sighed quietly to herself, thinking that she wouldn't have to do this much longer. No more insulting assignments. If her ticket came through, she would be working on the cutting edge of technology. It was years beyond anything that Mauss had. Michelle liked that idea. In her narrow minded thoughts she craved the chance to prove herself in any situation. The chance to show the world what she could do was better than slotting a BTL chip.
Just as Michelle was about to unlock her door, she heard shuffling from behind her. She glanced across the hall and noticed that her next door neighbor, a plump man named Lestor Hamm, was coming towards her. He was an annoying little man that worked as a resources management technician. In Michelle's eyes, meant that he was little more than a glorified accountant.
"Michelle?" Lestor blurted, letting his large lower lip drape down. "I'm glad I caught you. Have you been working late tonight?"
Michelle sighed, the last thing she wanted to do was have a conversation with a man that she considered completely disgusting. "Yes, Lestor, I'm always working late."
"Oh, well, working is good." Lestor looked at the floor, kicking it lightly with his foot. "It's better then not working or being alone or being bored. It's good to work, huh? I like working." His words collapsed into a ramble.
"Right, Lestor, it's good to have a secure job." Michelle slid her personal credstick through the lock on her door.
"Well, you don't work all the time. That's good too." Lestor started to chew his lower lip. "Uhm, listen, Michelle, I was wondering?"
"Yes?" Michelle felt insulted talking to him. She had a guess and what he was about to ask. The anticipation made her feel ugly and dirty inside. How could Lestor think that she would ever be interested in him?
"Well, if you weren't doing anything tomorrow night that we could....." He searched for the words, feeling a little embarrassed. His cheeks were starting to turn red. "You know. Go out and have some dinner."
The sick feeling she had in her mind suddenly got worse. Michelle clenched her eyes shut. She made sure her back was too Lestor so that he would not see.
"We could talk about work, or not." Lestor said quietly.
Michelle forced a smile on her face and turned around. "I'm sorry, Lestor, but I can't. I've got a report I must get to work on." She opened her door an gingerly stepped inside.
"Work? Oh, well." Lestor looked like his cheeks were about to burst into flame. "Working's good." He repeated.
"I thought so, Lestor. Goodnight." She slid the door shut, leaving the little man to waddle in his own thoughts.
Michelle leaned up against the door and rested her head in her hand. Her mind was flushed with a dozen thoughts. Only some of them pertaining to her work. She felt overwhelmed, but at the same time she knew that she was on the verge of a major change in her life. A change that would show everyone what she could do.
"Only a little longer." Michelle tried to convince herself. "I don't care how she does it. It's just a little longer....."
Renraku Acrology
Downtown Seattle
9:15 pm
Montague showed his ID to the armed guards that stood before a heavy metal door. One guard checked the ID in a portable scanner before allowing him to enter. Montague knew where he was. He was in the dark cracks of Ranraku. No one from the public ever saw what happened in these deep corners of the Acrology. Fewer still knew that a place like this existed. High Security barriers and magical shielding made it nearly impossible to penetrate. Indeed this was the safest place in Seattle, but only if a person belonged here.
Montague had spent most of the day trailing the shadowrunners that Kie Sekcuro had hired. He concluded that the shadowrunners were a ragtag mix of professionals and amateurs. Lenny, the groups apparent leader, was a master at social manipulation. Montague had seen that much during the meeting at that La Maison D'Indochine. Lenny was cautious and careful in every move that he chose to make. The runner's leader had a surprising air of grace about his movements. This lead Montague to believe that Lenny had a number of hidden surprises. Probably wired reflexes and some advanced headware. Kie already knew that he had some kind of softlink to access language chips. Lenny had proved that before in a slightly embarrassing conversation.
Once Montague had begun his tailing of the group with the resources that Kie Sekcuro had provided, he learned a great deal about the other members of the group. Montague also gained knowledge from the reputation some of the shadowrunners had. Such information came form squatters on the street. Those people that Montague preferred not to associate himself with. Montague had sent some of his associates to check up on those contacts.
One of the runners was an ork named Gideon. Montague had heard some about this genetic reject. Gideon was an experienced mercenary with definite links to the underground. Montague did not know exactly what kind of links. Nor did Montague want to know because learning more about the ork's life would mean associating himself with them.
He also learned of a elven mage who called herself Shard. A cursed elf in his opinion. Just thinking about the elves in Tir made Montague's blood boil. He suspected that was where Shard was from. Still, she was a mage. That made her a force to be dealt with. He had no way of knowing how her skill in the Art compared with his own.
In his search Montague also uncovered some information about an unusual individual who called himself Smiley. The rumor on the streets was that he was a classic psychopathic case with no remorse and no control. Apparently he was better off in an asylum than running the shadows. This fact made Montague wonder why he was with this team. Surely someone so uncontrollable would be a liability for the rest of the runners. A dishonor that Montague would have dealt with if it had been anyone under his charge.
There were other members. He had seen the dwarfish rigger, but couldn't find any information on him. That would take more time. He had also seen a young female carrying a gym bag. Montague placed her as the decker since she was too small to be any muscle and her aura was dim, meaning that she was not magically active. There was a physical adept. Montague had confirmed this, but could not find anything interesting on him.
Montague shook his mind back to the present. He had nearly forgotten the reason why he had traveled to the dark corners of the acrology in the first place. He was here to pick up someone.
He made his way down a hallway that was lined with doors. The hall itself was quite wide, nearly three meters across and easily a thirty meters long. The mage passed the doors until he came to the one with the correct number on it. Then Montague removed a keycard from his suit and slid if past the lock. The door opened automatically, revealing a well muscled oriental man sitting in a barren room. His legs, strong and hard, were curled into a lotus position. His eyes were closed and his head slightly raised.
"Termushi." Montague started firmly.
The man's eyes snapped open in one clean motion. Montague walked around the small chamber until he was facing Termushi. As he moved Montague noticed the vast array of personal weapons that he had laid out in front of him. There were no less than a dozen different types of knifes and throwing stars. There was even a monowhip sitting gracefully on a cloth pillow.
"You disturb me?" The man said in a disturbingly empty voice.
"It's Montague. You remember me?"
"I remember." His face didn't flinch nor did his voice change tone. He kept perfectly still. His eyes didn't even blink.
"Good." Montague began pacing a lazy circle around the chamber. "You remember what we've done before?"
"Yes."
"What did you gain?"
"Power in myself. Tests that I passed, souls did I see, and courage did I witness shrivel and die." The words sounded rehearsed, like he had spent countless hours thinking of them. The words could have been the response to any number of questions on why Termushi was put on this earth.
"I have another assignment for you."
"Yes?"
"You will be most pleased. I'm granting you the honor of dispatching the lowest forms of life."
"I am honored."
Montague smiled. His responses here empty, like a machine. A man with no mind of his own, only to take orders and obey them without a thought. That's the way that Termushi was.
Cold.
Boise Safehouse
Tacoma, Seattle
10:16 pm
So much to do and so little time, Nightsky thought to himself. In the hours since the meet the group had already spent time planning and plotting their way in. For the most part that had a working idea on how to get into the walled complex that the subject of the extraction was in. It was the hours necessary of preparation that followed now. Hundreds of details had to be filled out before a run of such complexity could be carried out.
Lenny had made sure that everyone understood that planning was important. He had also made sure that everyone knew what their individual jobs were. New boltholes had to be setup beforehand. At least two. One would be for when they broke Michelle McVey out and a second for backup. False computer dates, ID codes, and work orders had to be forged. Blueprints had to be obtained as well. This insured that Tart would be on the Matrix for most of the night. She would be the one responsible for tracking down most of the research information. In the meantime, Lenny and Gideon would setup the new boltholes. Nightsky would also have a role in this. He would be setting up a safehouse in the Redmond Barrens. The nature of the Barrens would make the safehouse difficult for anyone to track down.
Then their came the necessity of the plan. Hired help had to be found to watch over Tart's meat body incase she was traced in the Matrix. That fact was fairly easy to do. There were medical equipment that needed to be moved and escape routes for Riggs to devise. Hours and hours of planning for one run. That was something that any trid show never showed.
It was no big secret that Nightsky got incredibly on edge during planning. He didn't have a mind for it. That was Lenny's department. He just did what he was told.
Nightsky's wristphone beeped precariously. Nightsky was a bit startled at the noise since it was his hour to be on watch. He clicked the flashing green button that was blinking rapidly.
"Yeah?" He said into the voice only phone.
"Nightsky," It was Jackal's voice.
"Jackal?" It was unusual for him to call. The only times that he did it was during an extreme emergency. "What's wrong?"
"I got some less than wiz news. Night Hunters hit your doss today." Jackal said. "I was letting three of the chums stay there."
"Who?"
"Stump, Sand, and Floppy."
"Floppy was there?"
"Yeah, the racist fraggers busted in on them this afternoon. It wasn't a pretty sight, not from what I saw when the rest of us got there."
"What about them?"
"Floppy's dead, Night." Jackal said in a cold, stern voice. "He's dead and so is Stumpy. Sand just barely made it out. She's been crying tears about the whole thing since it happened. She's down by the old Nukit Burger now."
"The Hunters did it?"
"Drekking right they did." Jackal sounded enraged. "This is too far. It's rare enough for them to geek someone. Normally those sick slitches just want to make them beg, but this was different. It's gotten out of hand down here."
"Sounds like it."
"I'm keep the gang out of sight while I try to work out something. Meantime, if you decide to bomb down here the next few days watch your back."
"I'll stay frosty." Nightsky said.
"You do that while I see what I can do about the Night Hunters." The line went dead after that.
Nightsky switched the phone off and stared off at the street. Here he was, working with Lenny while most of his friends were fighting for their lives on the other side of the city. Was that how it was suppose to be? Nightsky knew that it wasn't, but he couldn't turn his back on the commitment that he had made with Lenny. That just wasn't done. Maybe, in a few days, he could get back to the Barrens. Then he could try to help the Blackhearts during a hard time. Nightsky owed that much to Jackal and the others. That thought made him want to get this job over with as quickly as he could.
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