Chapter Two
The Sky is Falling
Everett, Seattle
July 11, 2059
7:16 am
Dark shadows chased themselves around the innards of the old church. It was once catholic with a loyal congregation of believers and beautifully decorated halls. Now little was left of the holy spirit that had once filled these chambers. A cold, dark sore has festered in the absence of good people. The church is by no means homely and safe. The mark of a darker side of humanity is here.
The main doors open, creaking like they haven't been used in decades. Streams of dust fall from the wooden surface like so many raindrops on the street. The sunlight tries to peak in, but clouds forbid it.
A girl enters. She isn't old, perhaps still in high school. Her hair is a shade of lavender. The color is as natural as her pointed elvish ears and slender build. She is by no means homeless. She wears the uniform of a private school, suggesting that her parents have no worries about money.
"Mother?" The girl called into the darkness.
"I'm here, Alona."
"Where are you? I can't see....oh. Hi, Mom. Still trying to refurbish this old church, aren't you? Why are you sitting in the dark?"
The woman cracked a smile. "It feels nice, honey."
"And your smiling, mom."
"I know. It's because I've found someone that I've been looking for after five years."
"Where at?"
"I found him in Redmond of all places. I guess what they say on the streets is true. If you ever want to find someone you have to go to the Barrens."
Alona was baffled at her mother's words. She wasn't making any sense.
Her mother noticed the confusion etched on her daughter's face. Alona's naiveness made her mother smile. The girl had no idea what was really going on.
"Rung along, Alona. You are going to be late for school." Her mother urged. "You'll know everything with time."
Alona hesitated, feeling like she was missing something from the ordeal. An emptiness in the back of her mind loomed like a spot on a wall.
"Yes, Mom." She gave in, behaving as her mother had asked.
Just like a good girl should, Imira Folkstaff smiled.
The door closed heavily behind Alona. When it shut all the sunlight that was so eager to peak through the clouds was cut off.
"Barnabas?" Imira called.
A shadow moved near the door. Slowly stepping into the dim light that managed to penetrate the stained windows of the old church. A man came into view. He wasn't particularly large, but he had an eerie quality about him. His features are sharp and well defined like an ancient samurai sword. He stands proudly, not letting the dusty church soil his fine white suit. His hair is a dull blonde, pulled into a ponytail. He stands with his arms crossed, his eyes silently measuring the distance between himself and the outside world.
"She really has no idea, does she?" Barnabas said. Though it sounded like he was talking to himself more than to Imira.
"None at all. My daughter will be kept in the dark for as long as we need. Until we are ready."
"The Order will be pleased?"
"Once we are finished, yes." Imira said. "I have a job for you."
"Name it."
"I've finally found the one I've been searching for. I need you to follow up on my lead. Keep a close eye on the Redmond Barrens and on a gang called the Blackhearts. They know where he is."
"I am to find him?"
"Yes, Barnabas. Find him and bring him here. No matter what it takes."
Sea-Tac
Downtown, Seattle
July 11, 2059
11:10 pm
A crowd of people pushed their way down the stairs. Most of them are business men arriving on a late flight. The only exception wis a young woman with a child in tow. The child, a toddler really, cried and begged her mother to carry her. The loving mother gently lifted her child and carried her up the stairs.
Lenny watched them with some interest. This was what the rest of the world was doing while he was running the shadows. Families raising children and building a future. Lenny didn't get to see this side of humanity much. It was a welcomed change from his norm.
But Lenny wasn't here for sightseeing.
He keyed his commlink, a small disc snuggled underneath the collar of his coat. "Check in," he ordered.
"Shard, present." The elfin mage responded with a sharp, crisp voice. Shard had been with the team for most of the past year. Sometimes it was hard to tell that she was a hermetic magician. The way she worked magic resembled the following of a totem than anything hermetic. When not running the shadows, Shard made it a point to visit every club in downtown Seattle. She had an impressive wardrobe to suit her glamorous activities.
"My butt's asleep!" Harsh words came from the mouth of the group's rigger, Riggs. Riggs was a stumpy dwarf with an arrogant streak longer than his black beard. He had a tendency to go off on a paranoid delusion about once a week. Fortunately Riggs had steady head when it came to rigging.
"All smiles." The eccentric samurai, Smiley, grinned. Smiley is an oddity. Nearly every inch of his body has been cybernetically enhanced. There is more metal underneath his skin than flesh. This makes Smiley highly dangerous, equally unstable and completely without remorse. Many of the other shadowrunners did not trust Smiley because of his reputation.
"Nightsky, check." Nightsky was closer to the gate than anyone. The physical adept brought a diversity of skills to the team. He was proficient with a weapon, but he also understood security systems. In the past it fell to Nightsky to overcome security measures when the group needed to obtain entry into heavily guarded sites.
"Cinder, check." Cinder made a new addition to the group. He never committed himself to a team before. Cinder was very much a loner, feeling that society had labeled him as an outcast. He wasn't one for being subtle either. His aggressive disposition affected the way he wielded his magic. Most of the shadowruns he accepted had him in the role of magical fire support.
Five shadowrunners at Sea-Tac international airport.
None of them were here for a pleasure trip. They were on a run. Hector, a fixer that most of them dealt with, offered a job. The job came from a Johnson who was high in the pecking order. The amount of money offered was a testament to that.
The job itself sounded simple. Intercept a man name David Hague as he arrives on a late flight from Tokyo. David is to be taken to a safehouse in Renton where he will be turned over to Mr. Johnson. A simple assignment. The money was good. All the team had to do was slip through security and beat Lone Star patrols.
Lenny had spent the better part of the day planning the operation. Everything had been worked down to the last second. The team had reserved two vehicles for tonight's endeavors. One was a battered Ford Americar, actually Lenny's old car, parked outside the terminal. It had been collecting parking tickets for the better part of the last hour. This was the escape route out of the terminal. As soon as the group had David free from the terminal they would park the car in a parking garage and switch to the Bison for the trip to Renton. The Bison had been painted in a strip-away polymer to hide its true colors.
The only thing that made the run complicated is David Hague's status. David Hague is a representative in the Corporate Court for Fuchi. He would have serious protection. Fortunately, Lenny knew exactly what kind of security David had. Mr. Hague was being watched over by a pair of elementals, spirits that were bound to him by corporate mages. Shard had consulted with Lenny about the orders the elementals had. She suspected they were to defend David more than anything. This was the reason for Cinder's recruitment. Cinder would be able to handle any spirits, allowing the rest of the team to push through bodyguards and snatch David.
Simple, right? Hardly. Things were rarely simple in the shadows.
"Stand by, ten minutes until flight's due." Lenny checked his watch against the terminal's clock. Both were running perfectly in sync.
"Sometimes I really hate this." Nightsky said to no one in particular. He was talking to himself, but forgot that he left his micro-transceiver on stand-by. It's not the first time.
"What's to hate about this? The birds are singing and the butterflies are chirping." Smiley scorned. "What's your fragging problem?"
"Where the hell do you see butterflies, you friggin' nut?" Cinder retorted.
"Cut the chatter." Lenny said sharply enough to established control over the commlink. "This isn't a chat line so keep it clear. We've got a job to do."
The rest of the group fell into silence, but it didn't last long. A buzzing came into Nightsky's earplug.
"What do you hate about it?" It was Shard. She was using Nightsky's personal frequency. This way the rest of the team would not hear their words. The only other shadowrunner who might be listening would be Riggs. Frankly, Riggs didn't care.
Nightsky flipped the selector on the side of the transceiver. "Don't tell me that you never get tired of this, Shard?"
"Of running the shadows?"
"Haven't you ever wanted a normal life? One where you don't have to worry about putting your life on the line for the next paycheck? Or one where you don't have to worry about a Johnson cutting you out?"
"I had a life like that once, Nightsky. A long time ago in Tir Tairngire."
"Did you like it?"
"It was enjoyable." Shard replied. "But if you want to get out of this business all you have to do is walk away."
"It's not that simple."
"It can be if you want it to."
"Shard, there's not much else I can do. This is my life. It's all I've ever been good at."
"Then why do you want to leave?"
"It's not that I don't want to stay. The money's good, but there's a lot of risk. Not just to myself, but to the rest of us."
"You're trying to say that you are worried about losing one of us?" Shard supplied. "Like when Gideon left?"
"Gideon left on his own. It's not like he's dead." Nightsky admitted, glancing at his watch then at the terminal. "Hold on a second, Shard." Silently cursing to himself, he switched his micro-transceiver to the open channel. "Lenny? Where the hell is he? He's flight's not here."
"Flight's do come in late." Lenny replied. David's flight is five minutes past due.
"Something's going on down here." Nightsky observed. "Security guards look nervous and it's not because of me. There's a lot of whispered words."
"Stand by." Lenny said into the commlink. No sooner had the words come out of his mouth than the status of Flight 1118 went from On-Time to Delayed.
"Riggs?"
"Yeah, bossman?"
"You picking anything up on the scanner? Police band or otherwise?"
"Nothing special." Riggs said after a moment of silences. "Oh,"
"What?"
"There's a lot of noise over local bands. Mostly airport emergency crews. Something about covering runway three."
"Is that the one Flight 1118 is coming in on?"
"Yeah." Riggs snorted. "Er...boss. I'm getting something over an emergency frequency. Give me a second." Riggs said, switching over a set of frequencies. "Uh, bossman, what flight were we waiting on?"
"1118."
"Oh, that one."
"What is it?"
"Bossman, you're not going to believe this......." No sooner had the words left his mouth than a thunder could be heard overhead.
Flight 1118 from Tokyo
July 11, 2059
11:15 pm
David Hague watched the Seattle skyline pass below him. His first class seat offered luxurious accommodations as well as a stunning view from his window. The Renraku Acrology came into view. The suborbital was making its final turn into Sea-Tac.
Renraku, David thought to himself. Renraku had been a thorn in Fuchi's side for years. That thorn had recently festered into a severe problem. Though it couldn't be proven, David suspect that Ranraku was behind many of the problems that faced Fuchi.
It started nearly two years ago with the death of Dunkelzahn on the night of his inauguration as president of the UCAS. The Great Dragon's will was made public a few days later. The will itself was thousands of pages long. It revealed Dunkelzhan had vast holdings beyond what anyone could have predicted.
The will also had a clause in it that greatly affected Fuchi. Miles Lanier, head of security at Fuchi, was given a position on the board of directors at Renraku. Miles took his new position seriously by providing Renraku with valuable information on Fuchi. This allowed Ranraku to leap ahead in the technology curve. On June 6 Fuchi brought a suit against Renraku in Corporate Court. Fuchi accused the company of using Miles Lanier's inside knowledge to steal Fuchi trade secrets. David was responsible for bringing the case to court, only to have the charges dropped within a day.
Though the day in court never came, something good did come out of it. Shortly after the charges were dropped Miles Lanier sold his four million shares of Renraku stock to Zurish-Orbital Gemeinschaft Bank at a staggeringly low price. Renraku's corporate worth took a serious plunge in the stock market.
Those days were behind David now. However, Fuchi was not out of the woods yet. A series of internal conflicts had broken loose. David had a few ideas on how to handle the situation. That was the reason he was coming to Seattle.
"Ladies and gentleman," the flight attendant said over the intercom. "We are beginning our final approach. Please put your trays and seats in their upright positions. Please disconnect any devices from the sub-orbital's system."
David disconnected his datajack. He had been enjoying reading Shakespeare on the plane's internal library. The text was piped through an image link directly on David's retina.
"Soon." David said to himself. "Soon I'll see Villers. There has to be a way to set things right. Things cannot continue this way. Fuchi will not survive."
He glanced out his window again. The Seattle Sprawl was slipping beneath him. An endless sea of lights spread out across the horizon. This was the Sprawl. There, near downtown, Fuchi's corporate offices stood as a silent testament to humanity. David wasn't going to let that testament fall. He'd face the Corporate Court for it.
David patted the briefcase that was handcuffed to his left wrist. David had the methods to give Fuchi a second chance and strike Renraku where it hurts. By morning the corporate world would have a different perspective.
The sub-orbital gave a shudder. A dull thump ran the length of the large plane. A violent shaking filled the cabin that caused overhead compartments to spring open, dropping bags and suitcases on the passengers. People started screaming. The sub-orbital suddenly jerked hard enough to flatten David against his window. It felt like the plane was rolling.
"Please stay in your seats. The captain has turned on the seatbelt sign." The flight attendant tried to calm everyone down. "This is only turbulence."
An orange fireball erupted at the rear of the sub-orbital. A hellish glow came through David's window.
"Turbulence my ass." David breathed.
Another explosion rocked the cabin. Live flames burst through the ceiling, licking the tops of heads. The sub-orbital suddenly turned onto its belly at an ever increasing speed. David saw the concrete of Seattle's Barrens rushing up as the flames overtook him.
Everett, Seattle
July 11, 2059
11:12 pm
"I know, Linna, but you just don't understand." Alona talked on the telephone. Her calculus homework lay long forgotten in front of her.
"I know it must be hard." Linna said into the line. "But really, I just can't understand how you can handle it."
"I suppose it is hard to understand." Alona sat on her bed, her eyes wondering out her window at the Seattle skyline. "But my parents divorced when I was little. I can still remember the day my mom left. I was heartbroken and cried for weeks."
"Sounds terrible. I'm glad my parents are still together. I think I'd go crazy if they split up."
"I know." Alona paused for a moment to open her window and let the night air in. "But when my dad died last year, I didn't know what I was going to do. I didn't really have any other family. I didn't have anywhere to go. I was worried that I was going to be put into some home."
"But you were."
"Yes, but not for long." Alona nodded. "My mom came and got me. I couldn't believe it. I haven't heard from her in so long and suddenly she was there for me. I was so happy. Everything was coming back together. I had a family again."
"I can't see how you would be so happy about it. If i hand't head from my mome in nine years I would've been a little miffed at her."
"I think I was, deep down. But I was just so overjoyed to be with her that I didn't care about those years. I just wanted to be happy again."
"Looks like you go it."
"I know." Alona smiled. She really had found a place in Seattle. This was home.
A flash of light outside the window caught Alona's eye.
"Hold on a second, Lenna." Alona crawled next to the window and peered out. To her surprise a fireball suddenly shot across the sky. It was beautiful at first, but Alona shuddered when she was able to make out the fuselage of a suborbital. "Oh my god!" She breathed as the fireball disappeared over the buildings. A few seconds later she saw a brilliant flash light up the sky followed by an echoing boom.
Alona sat shocked, unable to force any words out of her mouth. "Lenna, turn on the news! I think a plane just crashed."
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