Chapter Three
Sometimes the Truth Hurts
It was the early hours of the morning before they made it back. They had dumped the remains of Mr. Tanaka in the ghoul invested quarters of the Redmond Barrens. By the time the sun rose there would be nothing left of him.
Thess cupped her hands under the facet. She splashed the water on her face, feeling it's coldness against her synthetic skin. The water was refreshing, but not enough to take her mind off things. The team was packing up the storefront. Soon they would go their separate ways. It might be weeks or months before she saw any of them again. Thess had already packed her things. Kino was going to drop her off near the subway so she could catch a ride home.
She walked into front of the store front. The morning sun poured from the window. Behind the counter Boxer was disassembling his Predator. The ork was replacing the barrel and firing pin from his weapon.
"Leg still hurt?" He asked.
"Not really." She replied. Not that she could feel it if it was. the damage compensators woven into her neural structure blocked signals of pain. "Where are Kino and Puck?"
"In back, packing up."
Thess pushed the doubled doors open. The back storage room was larger than the front. A few tables were scattered about. Puck was hunkered over one of the tables. The dwarf yawned occasionally as he refilled his fingertip needle with one of his choice chemical cocktails. Kino was sitting on a bench with her remote control deck across her lap. Wires from the deck ran to the datajack behind her left ear. The Steel Lynx drone in the corner made periodic responses as she ran a diagnostic on its controls. Kino did not have the extent of cybernetic implants Thess had. Most of her body was still hers. Not a sickening collaboration of metal and vat grown cells. Thess admired that.
"Kino, can you still give me a ride?" Thess picked up a briefcase and a small overnight bag from the table. She smirked to herself when she saw that Kino was wearing a tanktop with a big, red bullseye printed on the front.
"Huh?" Kino looked up, pulling the datacord from her head. She grabbed a small bag at her side."Oh, sure. I'll be ready in a second. I just have to put the drone up."
Puck chuckled. "All that work on the Lynx and you never got a chance to use it." He closed the small port on his fingertip that covered the injector system.
"I'm glad I didn't have to clean it up with that mess in the van." Kino groaned.
Puck placed the vial of gamma-scopolamine into a carrying case and shut the lead. "Well, I can't say it's been fun, chummers, but it has been real. I'm slotting and running. I plan to spend some time away from Seattle. Maybe I can come up with some quick jobs down Denver's way. What about you two?"
"There's a place in the Nations I'm going to stay for a while." Kino replied, hopping off the bench. Thess caught a glimpse of the rigger's Browning pistol underneath her armored vest. "What are you doing, Thess?"
"I'm going to stay in Seattle."
"Seattle, huh? That's not for me." Puck said as he waddled through the double swinging doors. "I've had my fill of this town. Catch you chummers later."
"Bye, Puck."
"So long." Puck called as he disappeared behind the doors. The dwarf made his merry way by Boxer on the front who said little more than a word. He was too busy trying to figure out if he had reassembled his Predator right. Figures, the ork was better with computers than he was with guns.
Puck stepped into the blinding light of early morning. The sunlight was brutal on his eyes. He was too use to living his waking hours at night. Come to think of it, this was the first sunrise he has seen in months. The sprawl looks different at this time of day. The streets are bustling with people trying to get to work. Grocery stores are restocking their shelves with produce. Street vendors are wheeling their carts of trinkets and doo-dads around like the customers would fly away before they arrive. All the commotion caused Puck to take a deep breath of the air and thank whatever gods he worshiped that he didn't have a nine to five job like the rest of these suckers.
The dwarf pressed the remote to his Volkswagen Elecktro. The little one-passenger car beeped happily at him. Puck had bought the car a month ago for five-thousand nuyen. Now that he was leaving Seattle he didn't even consider it worth selling. Odds were he would leave it in a parking lot somewhere and let the street denizens feed off it.
Puck hurled his case into the tiny space behind the seat and took one last look around. So long Thess, he thought to himself, you razor girl you. So long Boxer, you nearsighted decker. So long, Kino, and your bad driving.
Puck was about to swing himself into the seat when he froze in his spot. A black Toyota Elite turned down the street. It rolled on at a painstakingly slow pace. Puck watched with intense interest. Everything about it screamed at his sixth sense that something was wrong. The Elites' window rolled down. His gaze met the driver's. Slowly, but surely Puck's fight or flight instincts kicked in. Puck wrapped his stubby hands around the Colt Cobra nestled behind the car's seat.
The back door of the Elite flew open. The biggest, twisted motherfragger Puck had ever seen stepped out. The submachine gun his hands glinted in the early morning sunlight. His emotionless eyes fixated on Puck just as the Cobra leapt into his hands.
Inside the storefront Boxer gave a toothy grin to Thess. "Hey, Thess, did you ever hear the one about the Fixer, the Troll, and the Dragon?"
The storefront window suddenly burst into a shower of glass shards as high explosive rounds chewed into anything stupid enough to be in their path. Boxer brought his hands up reflexively to protect his eyes. Thess dropped next to the counter as the backboard behind Boxer came apart explosive impacts. Her mind kicked into overtime. She couldn't see anyone on the street, just twinkling glass and the deafening sound of a submachine gun on automatic. Puck was hiding behind his car. Then she knew what she had to do. She pulled her Guardian and dashed for the shattered window.
Out on the street Puck cringed as a full auto burst ate it was down the shattered window and into the fender of his car. The little subcompact shuddered under the heavy impacts.
"THESS!" Puck yelled over the roaring autofire. "We've got spooks!"
Boxer grabbed his Predator. "Where's Kino?"
"Puck! Get inside. I'll cover you! Box, Kino's out back by the van. She doesn't have her radio."
"Ah, drek." Boxer groaned and leaped over the counter. "I'm going to get her."
"She can handle herself, Boxer!"
"If she's in the van she might not hear anything."
Another car door opened and shut on the street. An instant later more automatic fire tore through the storefront. Boxer dropped on his face as explosive rounds ripped the counter into shreds.
Puck ran faster than he ever had before on his short, squat legs. He half jumped, half fell through the broken window. Thess grabbed him by the collar of his coat and yanked him out of the way. Out on the street the Elite's tires squealed as the driver kicked it into gear and brought it to a grinding halt in the alleyway.
"How many did you see?" Thess asked Puck.
"Two on the street at least. One in the car. Packing MP5s and they look like they could take a few rounds before going down."
A small, spherical object flew through the open window and landed somewhere near the counter. Another burst of automatic fire followed. Thess immediately hauled Puck to his feet and pushed him into the double swinging doors that lead to the back room.
"Grenade! Grenade!" She called. "Boxer, move your ass."
"Where'd it go?" Boxer looked around frantically.
"Never mind." Thess grabbed Boxer by the sleeve and used her augmented muscles to slide the ork across the floor. "Take cover!"
Boxer scrambled for the door as Thess and Puck dived through. He felt that he was almost through when the deafening explosion overcame him.
Kino looked up. She tilted her head and listened. That was an explosion, wasn't it? It was hard to be sure. The simsense-like experience that her remote deck fed her sometimes made it difficult to tell the difference between what was real and what was simulated. A simple thought put the remote deck on standby. She listened again, idly thumbing the datacord that ran from the deck to the datajack behind her ear.
Kino walked around the Steel Lynx. She send a mental command through the remote deck and into the van's CPU to lower the ramp . She stepped out of the van and into the warm morning sunlight. Bathing in the rays of the sun was soothing, but it didn't last. The thundering sound of automatic fire shattered her peaceful moment.
That was gunfire she heard!
Kino pulled her Browning and took one step on the ramp before a fist collided with her face. A knee stole the air from her lungs and she tumbled down the ramp. A tall, cruel looking man of Asian descent towered over her. Kino spat at the blood in her mouth from her busted lip and pointed her Browning right at the guy's head.
A quick snap kick nearly broke Kino's wrist. The gun went sailing over her head.
"You should not toy with people who are over you, gaijin." He smashed the heel of his foot into Kino's abdomen and snapped the foot up, catching her chin. Her head bounced painfully on the concrete.
Kino's senses were spinning. She couldn't think of what to do. She wished she was someplace else. She forced her eyes open in time to see him pull a sleek pistol. Fear overwhelmed her. She started to panic, but in her panic she caught a glimpse of the Steel Lynx behind him. She still had her remote deck plugged into her datajack. She quickly accessed the network and sent commands to the drone.
"You are about to die." The man grinned. "Tell me how it feels."
The Steel Lynx beeped in the back of her mind. Its sensors came online. They locked onto the man's signature. Kino afforded a painful smile. "I don't know. Why don't you tell me?"
There was a clicking sound as Lynx's LMG shoved an explosive round into the chamber. The man looked behind him and Kino rolled over and put her hands over her head. Her would-be murderer had just enough time to let his jaw go slack as the LMG roared to life. The man came apart.
Out front one of the hitman ripped the half empty clip from his MP5 and shoved a fresh on into its place. He motioned to his partner. The two of them kicked in the storefront's door. There wasn't much left of the counter. Explosive rounds and grenades had turned the whole room into an odd collection of ruined furniture and shattered plastic. There was no sound to be heard. The two hitman looked around for a moment, but after determining there was no one here they moved for the double doors that lead to the storage rooms. They communicated silently to each other using hand signals as they approached the swinging doors. One of them pushed the door back.
The doors flew open as Thess barreled into both of them. She stripped the MP5 right out of the first's hands, did a half spin, and leveled a reinforced foot at the head of the second.
"Geoshenko!" He screamed, ducking the foot and smashing his palm into Thess's face with enough force to rock her head back.
"Suck lead!" Puck screamed as he triggered his Cobra. "Thess, keep right!"
One of the goons stumbled slightly as bullets flattened out against his armor. He triggered his MP5 wildly in Puck's direction as Boxer came out of no where and charged him like a lineman, knocking him flat on his back.
Thess held back and blocked a vicious punch from her foe.
"Thess, Box!" Puck called insistently. "You're in the way! I can't get a shot!"
"Argh! Die you stupid frag!" Boxer growled as yanked his Predator from its holster. The goon grabbed the gun and struggled for control. A 10mm slug dug itself into the floor. "Frag you!"
"Geoshenko!" The prone hitman cursed as he tried to rip the Predator out of Boxer's hands. "Honorless pig!"
"Go to hades!" Boxer growled as he triggered the heavy auto. More slugs penetrated the floor around the goon's head. Blood erupted from his mouth and shattered his teeth. His lower jaw exploded in bone fragments. The man screamed in gagging agony and desperately tried to yank the gun out of Boxer's grip. Boxer held the man's hand down, placed the Predator against his skull, and blew his brains out.
Thess got slammed against the wall as her opponent landed a series of devastating blows. Her damage compensators become overloaded and she felt the searing ache of bruised muscles. for a moment she wondered why such artificial things should feel pain. He was about to finish her off when his fist came apart under Puck's fire. He screamed something horrible as his hand ceased to exist.
At the same time something large and heavy crashed through the storefront's door. Thess caught a glimpse of the Steel Lynx as its drive swung the drone of death around. The menacing barrel on its turret swivelled in her direction. The heavy rounds tore the man's armored coat to shreds and opened a gaping hole in his side. Thess grabbed the shaken man and slammed her forehead against his. Her titanium laced bones broke his skin and produced a satisfying cracking sound.
He didn't slow down, planting a punishing foot into Thess's chest and rocketed her against the wall. Then the Lynx tore him apart.
"Ah, frag." Boxer cursed as he lifted himself off the corpse with the ruined head. "Kino, where-"
"One came around back, but I took care of him." Kino's synthesized voice came over the Lynx's tiny speakers. The drone rolled on its wheels. The van came out of the alley and stopped in the street. "We have to get out of here. My van's scanner is picking up a Lone Star response to shots fired."
Thess leaned against the wall cradling her bruised ribs. "Where did they come from?"
"Worry about that when Lone Star hasn't been invited to the party." Puck ran passed Thess and Boxer. "I'll follow you chummers in my car, if it isn't too banged up."
"Agreed." Thess lifted herself off the wall with some effort. "Let's fade."
Boxer hefted Thess's arm around his shoulder.
"Come on." Kino urged as the Lynx rolled out of the storefront.
"These men were tough." Thess grimaced slightly as Boxer lifted her arm. "They are not your average thugs."
"No drek, no- Hey!" Boxer looked down at the hitman that had been torn apart by the Lynx's drone. "I recognize this guy."
Thess looked at the bloody mess. "Are you sure."
"I'm positive. He was with the Johnson last night. Don't you remember?"
Thess took another look at the dead man's face. There was something familiar about him. Could it be the same man who was body guarding their Johnson?
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