Chapter Eighteen
One More Time
Club Magenta
Downtown Seattle
April 20, 2059
1:00 pm
Gabriel Frost passed through the patrons of the club. Most of them were Japanese businessmen. Fresh off the plane from Japan and ready to begin a week in Seattle. What better way for a Japanese man to start his first night in America than to visit a night club? Club Magenta attracted this audience with ease. The contrasting styles that made the scene. Elegant and comfortable chairs placed around marble tables. Drinks were expertly prepared and delivered by waiters in black suits and shades. Perky music was performed on stage by young talent. Tonight the singers were dressed like schoolgirls in plaid skirts and white tops.
Drinking and entertainment did not interest Gabriel. The business he sought was in the basement. He had not seen his contact in years, but was sure nothing had changed. Gabriel made his way through the kitchen without any objections from the cooking staff. At the back were a set of large freezers. Gabriel opened the one in the center. Behind it was a stairway leading down. The stairway is implacably clean. Not a speck of dust was on the floor.
At the bottom of the stairs a door is built into the wall. A heavy, steel door with an electronic keypad and maglock. On the wall above the door a digital camera glared at the stairway.
Gabriel pounded on the steel. It echoed through the empty chamber.
The camera adjusted to Gabriel's face. A lense focused before cutting in light enhancement features to pull the elf's features out of the shadows.
"What do you want, Gabriel?" A whiny, childlike voice screeches through a speaker next to the camera. "I'm very busy."
"I don't care how busy you are." Gabriel scorns. "I want information. I know you can get it."
"I don't know what your yapping about. I thought you went clean. Took the route of the nice suits you did." The reply came. "Got no business here anymore. Leave before one of the customers decides you're not worthwhile."
Gabriel glanced over his shoulder. Were the customers of the club more than they seemed? Gabriel did not think so. Though he had to admit that he had been witness to some strange happenings here.
"A trade then." Gabriel offered. "I've got something you want, you've got something I want."
"Ah?" The reply sounded interested. The speaker crackled with static. "A bargain? Oh, I do like bargains."
"I thought you might."
"What do you have that could interest me?"
Gabriel pulled out a shiny credstick. He held up the small readout on the credstick to the camera lense. The picture the camera picked up lacked the quality to make out the numbers. However, six digits were plainly visible.
"Oh, I see what you have to offer." The door beeped loudly. A green light flashed by the keypad as it unlocked. "Come in. Let me see what I can do for an old friend."
Loveland
Puyallup, Seattle
4:04 pm
Clouds cover the sky. So much that they block out the sun, casting an everlasting shadow on Loveland. It was difficult to believe than on the other side of the sprawl the sun was shining beautifully in the sky. A few miles away the light it strangled out.
"I can't believe we're back in Loveland again. Didn't we get enough trouble out of this place last time?" Nightsky asked as he peered out the window. "I hate this place."
"We're here for the tape, Nightsky." Gideon grumbled. "Get use to it."
"We? The three of us?" Nightsky shook his head. "I don't see why Lenny couldn't have been here."
Gideon motioned for Riggs to take a right down the next street. The dwarf pulled the Bison around a seamless turn. Riggs looked completely catatonic. That was only because his mind was plugged into the machine. Datacords ran from the jacks on his head to the console. The only thing that he was aware of was the feel of the road beneath his tires and the smog filled air gagging his intakes.
"Lenny's got other things to take care of. Finding a place to stay being one of them." Gideon said harshly. "Lenny and Smiley are not in much condition to be out at any rate. Both of them got torn a bit when Gabriel decided we weren't worth it anymore." Gideon cursed, flexing his metal hand. "If I ever get my hands on that daisyeater I'll break his neck."
"I just don't like this." Nightsky watched the street with nervous eyes. "We've been driving around for half an hour trying to find this motel."
Riggs cut in over the Bison's internal speakers. "Hey, you think you can do better, then plug the jack into your temple and drive."
"I didn't mean it that way, Riggs." Nightsky said at the disembodied voice. "We've already invited trouble with Forever Tacoma. Suppose they were to recognize the Bison? What then?"
"Then we knock them out." Gideon grunted. "Now keep your eyes open. That place has to be around here someplace."
Nightsky watched the street. It seemed that there were eyes on the slow moving van. Almost like the van was drawing the attention of everyone on the street. Maybe it was paranoia, but Nightsky didn't feel safe. He felt like they were being watched.
"There it is." Gideon pointed to a sign on the next block. It had the markings of the motel the group was looking for.
"I got it." Riggs stated.
"Doesn't look like much." Nightsky remarked.
The motel was nothing more than a sign of the crumbling neighborhood that was becoming greater Loveland. Graffiti spread over the outside walls like a vine. The sign of the hotel is huge. Bright letters read off the name of the building. They glow in flourescent light. The sign is the only bright thing about the building. Street riff-raff and squatters crowd the sidewalks and alleys around it. Chipheads and addicts rent the cubicles for a few hours of enjoyment with one of a thousand illegal substances. Prostitution reeks. Dozens of prostitutes and pimps line the doorway alone. Almost like a barrier that must be past to get inside. Across the street a pair of punks beat a squatter senseless. The screaming squatter calls out for help, but no one responds.
A man runs up to Gideon's window. He has a wild look in his eyes. His arms are open. Almost pleading to the ork.
"Some change, mister, just a little change. Please. I got problems." The man pleaded.
Gideon wrapped meaty fingers around the man's face and shoved him aside. The man stumbled away as the Bison passed. Like lions, the punks beating on the squatter took note of new prey. They jumped the pleading man before he could get to his feet.
Nightsky pulled out the clip of his pistol. After making sure it was full he reloaded and checked the laser sight against his palm.
Gideon instructed. "Riggs, drop us off here. Then make a block and pick us up. We'll be ready by the time you get back."
"If you say so. Hopefully no body is looking to turn the Bison into a chopshop." Riggs whined over the internal speakers.
"At least you don't have to get out." Nightsky sighed.
"Cut that talk, 'Sky. You're here because you can get that coffin open." Gideon reminded. "Just do your job."
"Check." Nightsky replied nonchalantly.
The Bison stopped at the doorway of the coffin motel. Gideon opened his door and got out. There was the look of stone coldness about him. Nightsky wormed his way past the seat and hopped out the same door. No sooner than he stepped out than the door was closed. The Bison pulled slowly away, making the block as Gideon had instructed.
"Hey there, tall, dark and tusky." One of the joygirls with fire red hair goaded at Gideon. "How about getting barbaric with me."
Gideon looked at Nightsky. "Keep to the job, don't screw around." The ork was wearing an armored vest with plates. It showed his metal arm along with its extensive modifications. A machine pistol was slung from a shoulder harness. There was also an oversized knife in his boot.
Nightsky huffed, a worried look on his features. Those two punks were still beating the man that Gideon had pushed down. "Don't worry about me."
Gideon pushed past the joygirls. Willingly knocking those aside that would not move for him. A few gave curses to him. Shouts and taunts followed. Gideon ignored them. Nightsky tried to force his way through as Gideon had, but he met with some difficulty. He did not have the mass or intimidation factor that the ork possessed. He shrugged off a few hands that held onto his coat and shoulder. This met with even more curses than Gideon had received.
"Kick it into gear." Gideon spat at Nightsky. The ork was already halfway along the catwalk. He was counting down to the right coffin where Abigail had stashed the tape.
Nightsky jogged up behind Gideon. A coffin suddenly opened directly in his path. Nightsky almost took it right in the head, but me managed to stop himself.
"Get out of the way, drekker." A large man with a full beard cursed as he climbed out. A thin joygirl with missing teeth climbed out behind him. "Don't let me catch you in my way again."
"Sorry." Nightsky nudged passed.
"Come on, Nightsky." Gideon motioned at a coffin he was standing in front of. He knocked on the metal door with his hand. "This is it. Get out that little kit of yours and work your magic."
Nightsky came up to the coffin. It was locked with a generic mechanism that held all of the coffin doors closed. A timer on the lock suggested that Abigail had payed in advance for several days use. Nightsky pulled out a small pack from the pocket of his long coat. Inside was the tools that he used to break down various maglocks. Nightsky set to work carefully removing the outer casing before he could get into the guts of the system.
"Hey, what the hell do you think your doing?" The bearded man that had climbed out of the coffin questioned.
Gideon stepped in between Nightsky and the man. He put his hand on the machine pistol as a warning. "Mind your own fragging business." Gideon cursed, then looked at Nightsky. "Keep working." He instructed.
The cover on the locking mechanism popped off. Beyond it was a mass of circuit boards and wires. Nightsky discarded the cover. It made a clanking sound as it hit the floor.
"This is my business, tusker." The bearded man warned, slowly making his way towards Gideon. The joygirl that the man had stepped out of the coffin with slowly made her way to the entrance. "I own this motel."
Gideon looked around, taking in the crumbling scenary. "Your motel is a pile of drek."
Nightsky pulled out a wire and ran a bypassing connection. He was almost through. He was all but ignoring the words exchanged by Gideon and the owner.
"Don't make me come over there and-"
Gideon stepped up to the man, inches from his face. The ork was taller and far more muscled that the bearded owner. Gideon held his metallic arm at his side. There was a distinctive clink as the razor jutted from the cyberarm.
"Back off, drekker." Gideon warned. "Before I remove your head from the rest of your body."
The man leaned to one side. He got a good look at what Nightsky was doing. The door to the coffin gave a slight creak as the maglock clicked open. The door slowly swung open.
"I got it." Nightsky said.
"You fraggers!" The man shoved Gideon. "You got to pay for that drek! Nobody gets a free ride around here."
Gideon snatched the man's wrist in a metal grip. Servos whined as enhanced hydraulics in Gideon's arm clamped down. The bearded owner let out a yelp of pain as Gideon's grip tightened. Dozens of bones within the wrist were displaced.
Gideon gave a broken-toothed grin at the man. "Get the tape, 'Sky."
Nightsky spared a quick glance at the owner, but he shook himself loose at Gideon's order. "Right."
The owner tried to rip his hand away from Gideon, but the ork held onto to it like a girl holding a doll. "You just made a bad choice, tusker." He took a swing with his good hand.
A fist knocked Gideon upside the head. The ork took little notice of it. A thick, bony skull could handle a fist. The owner saw this and threw a back hand. Before he could connect Gideon brought up his metal forearm. The owner ended up smashing his knuckles into the metal frame. He let out another yelp of pain as he bruised his knuckles and ripped the skin right off.
"When I say that it isn't any of your business, breeder, you listen to what I say." Gideon dropped the bearded owner down to one knee with a series of blows to the gut. The man gasped for breath, feeling nauseous with every move.
Nightsky dropped out of the coffin. He held a small holodisc in his hand. "I've got it." Nightsky held the disc up for Gideon to see. "I've got the tape. Now can we get out of here?"
Gideon looked the tape over. "That's all we came for. We can go." Gideon put a boot into the bearded man's mouth. The blow flipped him over. He turned around with his back to the prone man.
The man spat out a mouthful of shattered teeth. "Curse you, tusker. Get out of my place."
"Got no reason to stay in your drekhole." Gideon replied as he plucked the disc out of Nightsky's hand. "Let's go, Nightsky. Riggs should be waiting on us."
"Go? Awe, hell no." The man pulled a small item from his pocket. "The only place that you are going is to the organgrinder, tusker!"
The man spun around an planted the stun gun in the small of Gideon's back. The jolt of electricity temporary paralyzed him. The bulky ork shook violently for a moment before dropping to his knees.
"I told you not to mess with my place!" The man bellowed. He put the stun gun at Gideon's shoulder and let another jolt out.
This time Gideon groaned with pain. He fell, nearly smashing his head on the floor, but he put out his arm just in time to stop himself.
"Next time you'll know better!" The man was about to give Gideon a third shock. He had the stun gun ready to hit Gideon in the back of the neck.
"There's won't be a next time!" Nightsky pulled a throwing knife from his glove. The slender piece of metal neatly pierced the second joint on the man's index finger.
"Frag!" The man cursed. He dropped the stun gun in favor of holding his nearly severed finger. "You stupid little fragger!" The man cursed at Nightsky with eyes full of hate. "I'm going to break you in half for that. I don't need any shocker to take care of you!"
The man leapt for the adept. Nightsky stepped back and grabbed the door of the coffin that he had opened. At the last second he flung the door open. It smashed into the bearded man's face. The impact nearly knocked the man cold. The force of the recoil almost knocked the door its hinges.
Nightsky moved in before the man could recover. A snap kick sent a whole new world of pain racing through the man's nervous system. Nightsky twisted into a half round-house. It was a move that Gideon had taught him. To the adept's surprise he executed it perfectly, placing his foot firmly in the man's chest and pushing the small of the man's back into the metal guard rail. Nightsky ducked the man's flying fist and countered by pulling another move that Gideon had handed down. Nightsky locked his right foot behind the man's ankle. Then connected his elbow with the man's nose while side stepping with his foot. This sent the man hurtling over the guard rail and onto the hard concrete floor. The man landed dazed and feeling like his face had been sat on fire. His nose was thoroughly broken. Blood poured from his bleeding lips.
"Filthy trash." The man hacked out a mouthful of blood.
Nightsky frowned at him. "Get up, Gideon." He pulled on Gid's vest, urging the big ork up. The idea of getting out of here kept racing through Nightsky's mind.
Gideon stumbled to his feet. He was still woozy from the effects of the stun gun. His neck and lower back still screamed in pain. Pride would not let the ork show his discomfort. Though he did make a note to himself to invest in some pain editing modifications when this was all over.
"You still got the tape?" Gideon shook the dizzy feeling from his head.
Nightsky nodded. "Yeah, I've got it." At the door there was a small group of people gathering. They were staring at the fight that had taken place. Some of them looked to be waiting for the shadowrunners to leave. Probably so they would pick the area clean of any valuables. A few of the other onlookers seemed to be calculating their chances at taking the pair. That prospect was not inviting to Nightsky. "We better get out of here before we get a repeat of this."
"Do what you want." Gideon kicked the bearded and bleeding owner. The ork's boot knocked the man cold. He stomped on his head for good measure. "This guy insulted me. He called me a tusker." Gideon pulled his machine pistol out of the shoulder harness. "I'm going to make sure he don't have the chance to do that again."
"Lenny sent us after this." Nightsky held the tape up. "We have to get it back to him."
Gideon leveled his weapon at the unconscious manager. A pool of blood was already collecting around the man's ruined nose.
Nightsky stepped between the gun and the ork. "Lenny told us to get the tape. That's our job." He pointed at the bleeding man. "He didn't tell us to throw down a massacre in Lovelend. We'll be inviting more trouble from Forever Tacoma."
"Move." Gideon huffed, pushing Nightsky aside with a meaty arm. Nightsky did not weigh much to begin with. It was a simple matter for Gideon to move him. "Those gangers can take their chances with me like everyone else." Gideon triggered a burst into the prone body. It jerked violently as the explosive bullets tore out chunks of flesh.
Nightsky grimaced as gore splatter the floor.
"Now we can go." Gideon commanded, turning for the door. The crowd at the door parted for him.
Nightsky spared a glance at the body. The man was very dead. Not the way they Nightsky would have done it. Gideon was cold, but it was not entirely his fault. The man had insulted him, that was true. Gideon held his convictions very high. He was proud of his metatype. Still, Nightsky did not think that pride was worth a man's life.
Tukwila Neighborhood
South of Downtown Seattle
7:30 pm
"Hey, fearless leader, this thing go here?" Smiley dropped the armored crate he was carrying on the floor. The crate made a considerable thunk when it hit the ground. It was enough to startle Tart who was working with her cyberdeck. Tart was sitting at a table with Abigail across from her.
"That's good." Lenny spared a glance at Smiley. "That crate is counter surveillance gear. White noise and jammers."
"White noise?" Smiley shrugged. "Why isn't there a pink noise or a yellow noise?"
"Probably because it's too loud, stupid." Abigail sneered. She sat with her arms crossed and her lower lip sticking out.
Smiley grunted. He seemed to be favoring his injured leg. "Don't you have a stiff upper lip today?" Smiley grinned sinisterly. Razors sprouted out of his hand. "Want me to soften it up for you?"
"Give it your best shot!" Abigail taunted while giving Smiley the finger.
"Heh." Smiley straightened, raking the razors across the tabletop. They made a horrible scratching sound against the composite plastic. Tart wrapped her hands around her cyberdeck. She knew better than to hang around when Smiley got in a bad mood. "I like a girl with spunk. They last longer."
"Smiley-" Lenny interrupted. "Stand down. Try to keep things clean till morning."
"Morning." Smiley cursed quietly to himself. "Yeah, your right, fearless leader. Tomorrow I won't have to look at this slitch anymore." He pointed at Abigail.
Abigail turned away from the eccentric samurai. "I'll miss you too, happy-face."
"I'm going to keep watch. Maybe I'll find a devil rat or something. They make good conversationalists." Smiley snatched his shotgun and stalked out. "I'll look for a rock to give to Abby. Maybe some of the rock's love and affection will rub off on her."
Tart shook her head. A worried look crossed her frail features as she slowly put her cyberdeck on the table. "I wish you wouldn't do that." She said to Abigail.
Abigail looked at her with crossed eyebrows. "Do what?"
"Antagonize him." Tart replied. "Smiley is scary enough without any help from you."
"You mean that walking fruitloop scares you too? That's amazing. He is your friend too." Abigail forced a smile. "I guess we have something in common."
The two shared a giggle.
"Maybe we do." Tart admitted. "But he's not really my friend. I haven't known Smiley that long." She shrugged slightly. "I do know that it's not a good idea to patronize him. He's dangerous."
"No more dangerous than a hungry alley cat." Abigail dismissed.
"Alley cats don't have metal in them." Lenny said coldly.
Abigail gave Lenny a harsh look. "I don't believe that I was talking to you."
One thing that Lenny had concluded about Abigail was that she had a tendency to have mood swings. Only a few hours ago Abigail was crying her head off. It looked like she would never stop bawling. Now she was like a cat that had been rubbed the wrong way. The opportunity for an argument was golden to her.
"Hush, Abigail." Lenny snapped at her. "You not staying with us for your sparkling personality."
"Then why don't you let me go? Are you afraid that I'll tell people about you."
"No." Lenny replied. "It occurs to me that you would not last a day on your on."
"How do you know that? I've made it just fine by myself."
"I doubt that. We found you in less than a day. You can bet that Gabriel would have found you too. I'll admit that it would have taken him longer, but the result would be just the same. You can't hide from him, Abigail. If you hide he'll hunt for you. If you run away he will hire someone to find you."
Abigail quieted down.
"Sweeping this mess under a rug is not going to make your hardships go away. Bring it into the limelight. The public eye is the safest place in a situation like this."
"You saying that Gabriel wants to kill me?"
That was blunt, Lenny thought. "I suspect that he would once he had no more use for you. What you know about our mutual friend, Mr. Wesson, is very valuable information. Gabriel will pay to have it silenced. At the same time there are people who will pay to have it told." Lenny paused. "That's what we are hoping to do."
Smiley came in over the commlink. "Hey, fearless leader."
Lenny sighed and keyed the receiver. "Lenny here."
"I got Riggs and the crew coming in. They've got the tape."
Lenny looked at Abigail and smiled. "Let them in, Smiley." He instructed. "We've got the proof. Now all we need is our reporter friend to come through tomorrow."
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