Chapter Twenty
Reach Out and Touch Someone
Hector's Home
Bellevue, Seattle
April 21, 2059
1:34 pm
"Come watch, daddy!" Danny called as he drove his remote control car through the living room. The little red vehicle was modeled after the new Saab Dynamite. A sleek, streamlined design that just craved attention. Of course, Danny's Saab did not cost the half a million nuyen that the real thing did. "See? See daddy?" Danny pleaded with his father as the little car bumped into the wall. "I can drive good."
Hector smiled. His son was his pride and joy. "That's great son, but I hope you can drive better by the time you get your own car."
"I'll be a good driver." Danny said with a wide eyes. He drove the car through the kitchen where it bumped into the boot of a young ork woman.
"Hey there, little racer." The ork smiled warmly. Her name was Evelyn Henry or just Eve for short. A delicate name for such a muscular woman. Eve had an ork's build, but the mind of a scholar. Eve was a shadowrunner. Tonight she was serving as part of Hector's security force. It was a job that she had done many times before. It was beginning to become a habit with her.
"I'm sorry, Eve." Danny pouted as he backed the car up.
Eve chuckled. "I better watch out or you're going to be out-driving me." Eve's field of choice was vehicle rigging. She had a set of datajacks at the back of her neck that link with her implanted Vehicle Control Rig. The Rig was not top of the line, but Eve had a good reason for that. She had gotten other implants including a low-level reflex booster. This enabled her to perform as a bodyguard.
Hector's telecom rang as Danny drove the car out of the kitchen. The little Saab zoomed down the hallway. Hector nearly tripped over it as he answered the phone.
"Yes?" Hector said into the screen.
Lenny's face came into view. He had a serious look on his face, like he was unhappy with something. "Hey, Hector."
"Lenny? I did not think you would be calling this soon. How are things with that missing persons job you were talking about?"
Lenny sighed. "Not so good. Things are getting complicated."
"Trouble?"
"Nothing we can't handle. It's the missing person that's causing the problem. I don't have the time to explain the whole thing."
"Then why did you call? I'm sure that it was not to hear my voice. Something wrong with the safehouse I set you up with last night?"
"No, it was a good place. Even if it was only one night." Lenny shook his head. "I just need some quick information."
"On what?"
"What do you know about pirate broadcasters?"
Hector thumbed his chin. "A lot. What part do you want to know?"
"Any groups involving anti-politics or save-the-innocents type of thing."
"Going for the saints, huh, Lenny?"
"Hoping to."
"Well, you won't find any like that. Nobody goes for the Save the Earth thing anymore. That doesn't mean that they won't be interested in a story. Anything that will insult the government or the corporations will be a big seller with them."
"Any particular groups that I can get in touch with?"
"One comes to mind, yeah." Hector said. "They're called Free Air. They broadcast out of a few locations. Lone Star has been cracking down on them recently."
"Why's Lone Star taken the interest?"
"It's not Lone Star per say. Some of the things that Free Air broadcasts are targeted at the mayor and a few other offices."
"That's perfect, Hector. Do you know how I can get a hold of them?"
"I don't have any ties to them if that's what you mean." Hector admitted. "Not really my cup of tea. You'll just have to look them up. Rumor has it that Free Air has snoops looking for hot stories. They have also got a few deckers on their payroll. I've heard a few of those deckers use to run the shadows."
Lenny nodded. "Okay, Hector. Thanks for the info."
"One more thing, Lenny, before you hang up."
Lenny stopped. "Yeah?"
"When you guys get down with that gig, are you up for some security work?"
"Might be."
"I've got a couple big deals going down in the next few weeks. I could use the back up. I know how your group operates."
"I'm sure we'll be interested. I'll give you a call when this is all over."
"Okay." Hector said. "Goodbye, Lenny."
"Bye, Hec. "
St. John's Street
Kent Neighborhood
Tacoma, Seattle
1:43 pm
Lenny folded up his phone and stuffed it into his jacket pocket. His arm was swore from where he had been shot. It would probably be several more days until the pain dulled to where it would at least be bearable without medication.
"I thought you said that you had everything covered?" Gideon rumbled.
"I do, Gid. Things will be handled."
"Any better than the way things have gone so far?"
"Oh, knock it off, Gideon." Riggs complained through the Bison's internal pickups. "You've been like a sour pill since we started this job."
"If I want to be a pain, Riggs, then I'll be a pain."
"Spoken like a true mercenary. You been working with the corps? That's what it sounds like because all those corporations do is cause trouble. They're always looking for a way to make a buck too. Why I wouldn't be surprised if they were behind that Big D thing." Riggs babbled on.
"Riggs?" Nightsky interrupted the dwarf's rant.
"What?"
"Be quiet."
"Be quiet? Hey, I'm the one who's driving here. Therefore I get to say who has to be quiet and who don't."
"Riggs." Lenny interrupted.
"Yeah, bossman?"
"Please be quiet."
"Sure, boss." Riggs hushed up and kept his mind on the road. "Can I ask a question first, though?"
"Sure."
"Where are we going?"
Gideon stared at Lenny. "Yeah, Lenny, where are we going?"
"Tart?" Lenny called to Tart.
She was sitting in the back of the Bison lost in her own world. No one knew what she was thinking about. She didn't want to admit it to any of them, but she was thinking about her mother. It did not matter how much trouble talking to her mother brought to her. Tart missed her so much.
"Tart?" Lenny called again to get her attention."
"..uhm..." Tart shook her head. "Yes, Lenny?"
"I need you to access the Matrix. We need to post a message."
"Okay, that's no problem."
Lenny tilted his head. "Then what is?"
"I need a jackpoint."
"Oh, yeah." Lenny mentally slapped himself. A few months ago Tart and Riggs had put together a small satlink dish. They had used the dish in a run. However that little dish had degraded since then. It was all, but useless now. If Tart was going to post a message, she would need an access point to get onto the Matrix.
Lenny spared a glance at Nightsky. "Nightsky." He said. "Your place is not far from here."
"Hey, don't look at me." Nightsky held his hands up. "I don't have a telecom."
"You go for the cheap drek, don't you?" Gideon gripped at Nightsky's comment. "Get a fragging phone instead of using that pager all the time."
Lenny leaned against the seat. He let his eyes wonder along the street. Riggs drove slowly through the midday traffic. That made it easy to pick out the signs that lined the road. Lenny noticed one sign in particular. It was a Cyber Cafe, a chain store with locations all over North America. Some international corporation that produced cyberdecks owned the stores. Lenny had used their free connection servers more than once for making quick calls.
"Riggs."
"Yeah, bossman?"
"Pull over at that Cyber Cafe." Lenny turned to Tart. "Tart, you can use one of those terminals in there to access the Matrix, can't you?"
"I think so." She managed made her way to the front of the Bison where she could see out the windshield.
"Did you get that hitcher jack installed?"
"Yes, I did. I finished it this morning."
"Great. I'll go in with you. I'll draft the message and put a response into one of my call numbers. With any luck Free Air will see the message and give us a call."
Tart peaked out the window and got a look at the Cyber Cafe. It looked familier to her. She began to have a feeling of deja vu. Then it hit her. She remembered that she had been here before. It had only been a few days ago. This is where she had met.........the Klown.
"Wait, Lenny." Tart interrupted. "I can't go here. Not this one."
"It's the closest thing we got." Lenny said as he motioned at the curb. "Riggs, pull in there."
"No, Lenny." Tart pleaded. "Can't we go to another one?"
Lenny paused and glanced at the decker. Her eyes had the look of fear about them. "What's wrong, Tart?"
Tart glanced at the Cafe again. Then shrank her shoulders. "I just don't want to go in there."
Riggs cursed to himself. "Stay or go, Lenny?"
"Stay." Lenny told Riggs. "Tart, what's wrong with this place?"
"I just don't like the people in there."
Nightsky made his way to the front and glanced at the Cafe. "Oh, that place." He said.
"You've been here before, Nightsky?" Lenny asked.
"A few days ago. It was when you asked me to watch after Tart." Nightsky explained. "Tart, don't worry about that Klown guy that was in there. I don't think that he's going to be wanting any more trouble."
"No, that's not it."
"What is then?" Lenny wanted to know.
"I probably should have told you this yesterday, but I didn't." Tart said shyly. "I went on the Matrix to find some information on Abigial."
"I remember." Lenny acknowledged. Lenny also remembered how Tart had some dried blood on her nose. A sign of cerebral hemorrhaging often associated with combat in the Matrix.
"Well, I had some problems in getting it. I ran into a decker before I could jackout. His went by the name Killer Klown."
"That was why you had the nose bleed, wasn't it?"
Tart nodded quietly. "Yes, but that's not what scares me. He said that he knew that Fuchi was looking for me. That I had a price on my persona. If he's in there he'll recognize me."
"We can handle a deckhead." Gideon rumbled.
"Whoa!" Riggs screeched as be brought the Bison to a bumpy stop. "Did someone mention Fuchi? That's bad news. Fuchi is always bad news. Why the stories that I could tell you guys about them."
"Riggs." Nightsky interrupted the dwarf's rant. "Save it for another time."
"One decker we can take care of, Gideon." Lenny said. "But if that decker were to put a call into Fuchi? That would make for a considerable problem."
Gideon nodded.
"Nightsky." Lenny said. "Do you think you could recognize this Klown if you were to see him again?"
"Oh, yeah. This guy doesn't exactly blend in with a crowd."
"Good. Take Smiley and see if the Klown is in there. If he is, take him out back and explain things to him."
"Heh, I'm a real people person." Smiley grinned, flicking his razros in and out. "Come on, Nightsky, we got a decker to smush."
"Wait a minute." Nightsky stood. "We don't even know if this guy is in there."
"What are you worried about." Gideon grumbled. "This guy sounds like a push over from the way you talk about it."
"He is." Nightsky replied. "However, he could bring in a drek-storm from Fuchi. Tart said that he was getting all warm and fuzzy with that bunch."
"Null worries." Smiley loaded his Predator and chambered the first round. "We'll just explain to him that he doesn't want to talk to the corporation. I'm sure I could convince him. I got a special way with words."
"Tart and I will go in first." Lenny explained. "If he is there and he is looking for us, he'll make his way to a telecom and give a call to Fuchi." Lenny pointed at Smiley. "You and Nightsky come in just after we do. Pick him out of the crowd and make him quiet."
"No problem."
"Okay." Lenny reached for the door. "Let's go."
"Nightsky," Smiley said as Lenny opened his door. Both he and Tart stepped out. "What does this guy look like?"
Nightsky shook his head. "Just look for the clown, Smiley. Look for the clown."
1:54 pm
Lenny entered the Cyber Cafe. It was not packed. The lunch crowd had moved on. A few hardcore Matrix-heads sat at the terminals. Wires ran from the jacks on their heads. None of them looked like the Killer Klown. Maybe he was not here this time of day?
Tart stepped in behind Lenny. A worried look hung on her face. She stuck close to him, clutching his jacket.
"Those terminals." Lenny motioned. The pair headed to an empty terminal in the corner. That would suffice for their needs.
As the sat down Tart pulled her cyberdeck of the dirty gym bag. In a few moments she had it hooked up to the terminal. A second wire ran from the deck to her datajack. She offered Lenny a spare datacord that he connected with his jack.
"I'm sorry, but you won't be doing much more than watching." Tart apologized.
"I'm just along for the ride." Lenny smiled, glancing around the cafe. "I'll tell you where to go and what kind of message we need posting. You just have to do the decking."
"Okay." She got herself comfortable. "Have you ever done this before?"
"Not for many years." Lenny admitted. "Hit it."
Tart's nimble fingers hit a few keys on the cyberdeck. In a moment both of their minds were on the digital land of the Matrix.
Tart's persona took the shape of sleaze and masking programs. The girl of rippling liquid held it's place in the virtual landscape of the Matrix. Lenny's appearance was far less dramatic. His manifestation in the Matrix was nothing more than a glowing ball of light. Like a little firefly that annoyed anyone nearby.
"Where to, Lenny?" Tart wondered.
Lenny smiled, but the action was not visible in the Matrix. "Shadowland."
1:56 pm
Smiley and Nightsky stepped in a few minutes after Lenny and Tart found their places. Neither of the two lingered at the door. They came in and headed in opposite directions. Nightsky went towards Tart and Lenny. Smiley went towards a relatively deserted corner.
There were a few customers in the cafe. Some were at the bar having a sandwhich. Other people were at one of the many terminals. Two teenagers huddled by a telecom. They were in a heated argument with whoever was on the other end. None of the customers fit the description of the Killer Klown.
"No sign of him." Nightsky said into his commlink. With those words he turned to the bar and ordered something to drink. He might as well try to blend in.
"Heh, I don't see any clowns. I got bad memories of clowns from my childhood." Smiley grinned. "My mom took me to the circus when I was three. Worst experience of my life."
"Keep your cool." Nightsky took a sip of his drink.
"Thought you said this guy really stuck out in a crowd? So where the frag is he?"
"How should I know, Smiley? I'm not his keeper."
The bathroom door open. Nightsky did not pick up the movement because his back was to the door. Smiley, on the other hand, had a perfect view. The person that stepped out had a chunky gut. What really drew the samurai's attention was the fact that the man wore clownish face paint.
The clown took a few steps forward. His eyes wondered over to where Tart and Lenny were sitting. The clown glanced at Lenny without a second thought. When his eyes met with Tart he stared for a moment.
"I got me a clown." Smiley sneered into his commlink. A hint of harmful intent was apparent in his demonic voice.
"Where?" Nightsky whispered, trying to hide his words as he took another sip of his drink.
"Right at your six."
Nightsky peaked over his shoulder. It was the same man that he had ran into a few days ago. It was hard to forget a face, or appearance, like the Killer Klown. "That's him." Nightsky confirmed. "Come around. We'll force him into the stalls."
"Null sweat." Smiley replied and started moving towards Killer Klown.
The Klown seemed to have a flash of perception. One moment he was staring at Tart and the next it looked like someone had flipped a light switch in his head. He started to turn for the telecoms at the other end of the Cafe.
"Cut him off." Nightsky instructed Smiley.
Smiley came around the bar with a demented grin on his face. He stood right in Killer Klown's path. Klown was about to give Smiley a good cursing. The decker was furious to have his way blocked. After all, he was the Killer Klown. The best decker this side of the Matrix. He did not have anything to fear.
"Out of the way, drekface." He cursed at Smiley.
Smiley grinned. It was like the man had given the eccentric samurai an invitation to dismantle him. "I don't think so, Bozo." Smiley latched a hand onto the man's shirt while pulling a pistol. To Smiley's credit, he kept the pistol hidden beneath the folds of his long coat. "Step into my office."
"What the?" Klown looked at the barrel that was pointed at him. "Who the frag are you?"
"A man who doesn't like you very much." Nightsky from behind Killer Klown's back. "That voice?" Klown said. "I know that voice." He started to turn around.
Nightsky stopped him before he could turn. "And your going to get to know Smiley's little friend real well if you don't come with us."
At that Smiley grinned. A hint of insanity found its way past the samurai's sunglasses. Klown did not put up much of a struggle. He let the two shadowrunners lead him into the men's room. As KK entered the room Nightsky hung outside for a moment. He keyed his commlink to tell Riggs that they had the Klown. At the same time he suggested that they keep an eye on Lenny and Tart. In the meantime Smiley and him were going to have a few choice words with the Killer Klown.
2:02 pm
"Hey!" Klown screeched as he went flying into a stall door. The collision knocked the door off its hinges. KK collapsed on the ground nursing a substantial dent in his forehead.
"Time to pay the piper, drekhead." Smiley leered.
Nightsky walked around the prone Klown, passing an unconcerned glance as the man crawled around in pain. Nightsky knocked each stall door open to make sure they were alone. Once Nightsky was satisfied that the bathroom was empty he locked the door.
"Look, I've had just about enough of you." Klown stumbled to his knees. He caught a good look at Nightsky for the first time. "You!" He said loudly. "I remember you!"
"Fancy that." Nightsky said unhappily. "I remember you too."
"You little fragger." Klown struggled to his feet. "The Killer Klown's still looking for you. I'm going to ruin your SIN for what you did."
"Sorry, Klown." Nightsky said. "But I don't have a SIN to ruin."
Smiley grabbed Klown's collar and hurled him into a stall. The back of the Klown's head smacked against the toilet seat. Without hesitating, Smiley pulled his Predator and leveled it at the Klown's head.
"Hold on, Smiley!" Nightsky pushed Smiley's pistol down. "If you're going to shoot him at least do it with a silencer."
Smiley looked at Nightsky, then looked at his Predator. "He's not worth the bullet." Smiley put his pistol away.
Killer Klown should a sign of relief.
"However, these little fellows..." Smiley snapped the implants in his hand. Razors sprouted out of his flesh like some kind of metallic claw. ".....are just dying to meet the clown."
"Frag, what do you guys want with me?" The Killer Klown whined. "You," He pointed at Nightsky. "You already whooped my hoop last time you were here. Why did you come back?"
"I wouldn't have come back if you had minded your own business." Nightsky replied, pacing around the Killer Klown. "Oh, this is Smiley." He motioned at the insane samurai who was scratching his razors on the stall door. "And he doesn't like clowns very much."
"I noticed." The Killer Klown said unhappily.
"The fact of the matter is that you've been searching around on the Fuchi want ads. I hear you tried to take up on a contract of someone both Smiley and me know. As you can tell, Smiley don't like you doing that."
"Hey, whatever, man." Klown waved his hands up.
"Drop the contract and stay away from Fuchi. You and I both know that they're a sinking boat. I don't think you want to be going aboard a doomed ship, do you?"
"What if I don't drop it?"
"In that case, Mr. Smiley will be happy to introduce you to some close friends of his."
Smiley grinned, flicking his razos from both hands. "Meet Righty and Lefty." Smiley had gone to extreme lengths to make his implants look as fearsome as possible. The combination of razors and spurs in both hands made for an unnerving appearance.
"Okay, okay." Klown whined. "You two just stay frosty."
"Nice to know you haven't lost your smart side, KK."
"Lucky for me." Klown mumbled.
"Good." Nightsky said, turning to his shadowrunning teammate. "Smiley, please beat this clown senseless."
The Killer Klown suddenly had a sinking feeling in his gut.
"Heh." Smiley grinned. "With pleasure."
2:10 pm
Lenny stepped into the Bison as Riggs mentally sent the command to open the side door. Lenny was enough of a gentleman to help Tart in first. When he got in he looked around. He found only Gideon and Riggs were present. Riggs was still hooked into the Bison. Gideon was in the back sitting on a large piece of equipment that had a large blanket over it.
"Gideon!" Riggs cried from the Bison's internal pickups. "Get your hoop off my baby."
"You baby?" Gideon looked at the chunk of machinery he was sitting on.
"Yeah. That drone you plopped you butt on costs more than your house."
Gideon stood, taking his rear off the piece of equipment. "Happy now?"
"Very, thank you." Riggs said. Even though his voice was synthetic, a creation of the Bison's internal systems, Gideon could pick up a hint of sarcastic malice in the dwarf's voice.
"Where are Nightsky and Smiley?" Lenny wondered.
Riggs answered. "Nightsky called in a second ago. Seems they caught that clown character on his way out of the bathroom. The two of them are having a conversation with him."
Gideon changed the subject. "Did you get the message posted?"
"Yes, it has been taken care of. Now all we have to do is wait and see what the message pulls out of the woodwork." Lenny sighed, checking his watch. He silently cursed to himself when he realized the time.
"What's wrong?" Tart wondered.
"It's Thursday already." Lenny pulled his phone out and started punching in a number. "I meant to check on Shard yesterday, but it slipped my mind."
"Oh." Tart remembered that one of the team was still in the hospital.
The hospital answered Lenny's call. He was put on hold for a few minutes. It took that long for an operator to get to him.
"Room three-ninety, please." Lenny said.
"I'm sorry." The operator replied. "But there are no patients in that room."
"No patients?" Lenny was confused. "But how-?"
"The patient that was in that room, a Ms. Sharon Tsung, was released earlier today."
Lenny chewed his lip. A look of concern criss-crossed his features. Nightsky and Smiley came back to the Bison as Lenny was in the middle of his call. Nightsky saw the expression on Lenny's face. It lead him to believe that something was wrong.
"What happened?" Nightsky asked.
"Shard released from the hospital earlier today." Lenny hung up before the operator could ask him anything.
"Hey, that's great news." Nightsky said.
"I told here that I would be there to pick her up." Lenny put his phone away.
"You'll just have to meet her later." Riggs said.
Lenny put his phone away. "Where?"
"Wherever we normally meet, Lenny. Do I look like a tour guide?" Riggs scolded.
Lenny stood. "Shard still thinks were staying at Boise."
Riggs faltered.
"Oh, drek."
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