Chapter Ten
The Nightlife
Club Prenumbra
Seattle, UCAS
November 4, 2059
8:40 pm
The Club Prenumbra on 5th Avenue and Yester Way is the place to be for a Seattle club goer. It was one of the oldest and most respected nightclubs in all Seattle. There is already an impressive line of clubbers desperately trying to get inside only to be halted by three grizzly-like troll bouncers. That is understandable because the club is the crowning jewel of Seattle nightlife. An impressive dance floor dominates half of the club's main entertainment room. State of the art trideo and laser effects dance across the club's interior to the beat of pounding hard rock and popular dance hits. Clubbers mingle on the moon-surface floor and star-covered black walls as th ebeatof the night soaks into their souls.
Everything is not as innocent as it seems on the surface. The Prenumbra has a darker side to it. It is also one of the oldest and most respected haunts of the shadow community. The club's private booths are popular with Johnsons and shadowrunners alike. The organized chaos of pounding beats and jumping dance crowds always unsure enough noise to mask any conversation.
The club caters to a special group tonight. The "Futari Room", which occupies a significant portion of the second floor, has been reserved for a private party. Only those with invitations get through the extra security. Though many of the guests were more than capable of dealing with any unforseen incident themselves, the main goal was to have a good time. Equipment had been moved in to baffle any electronic eavesdroppers. The entire service crew had been screened. Even a semi-legal escort service, The Glitters, had been hired for the night.
Hector really had gone all out for the occasion. The fixer had succeeded in creating an environment where business could be handled in responsible confidentiality and provide some of his companions with an enjoyable time where they didn't have to worry about looking over their shoulders. Not It was a great opportunity to meet with people and forge new friendships, but it also tightened the fixer's network of shadowrunners and contacts.
Alona and Nightsky made their arrival shortly before nine. Alona, who had been looking forward to tonight, wore an elegant white and gold dress which sharply contrasted with Nightsky's plain black suit. He had purposefully left the tie at home.
He wasn't much for conversation tonight. They had drove to the club in complete silence. Alona wondered if he resented going, but he escorted her to the club like a perfect gentlemen. Either that or he was just putting on a show to keep her from complaining. Halfway to the door she noticed that the adept's overcoat hide the Browning Ultra-Power surprisingly well. She had also become conscious of the lump on his forearm which, no doubt, was a snapblade. The presence of such weapons caused Alona to sigh. In her eyes the shadowrunner was overly paranoid. Hopefully tonight would calm the strung-up adept down.
That wasn't the only reason Alona wanted to come tonight. The life that she once knew was gone. It had wandered off when her father had died last year. It left completely when her mother passed this summer.
The new life laid before her bordered on the edge of the insanity called "The Shadows." She had received tastes of this new world through Nightsky. A few months ago Alona had ran away and gotten into trouble. Nightsky had come to her rescue, but being rescued wasn't going to get her anywhere in the long run. Yet she was enticed by this world of shadows she ahd caught glimpses of. She wanted to see more of the shadows. This was the perfect chance to do so.
The club's front door was a knot of people. A line stretched halfway around the street. All of them shouted to get in. Most were avid clubbers who spent their nights wondering from nightspot to nightspot in search of the next great thrill. At times they would go for days without sleeping, surviving on stimpatches and chemical cocktails. Some had been waiting for hours, but the three trolls were very selective tonight. The bouncers were turning away a lot of people.
Alona and Nightsky had no trouble getting inside. The invitation from Hector got them pass the bounces without so much as a word. It was on the inside, in the middle of the ecstatic glee of celebration, that Alona began to worry.
The Futari Room, where Hector's party was, had even tighter security than the club's front door. There were quite a few club goers trying to talk their past the by two monolithic trolls at the entrance to no avail. The trolls wore their starched suits like uncomfortable uniforms and their faces were as unmoving as stone masks. A human stood next to them. He was tiny compared to his behemoth counterparts.
As Alona and Nightsky approached the trolls grunted for their invitation, but before they could utter the command the human greeted Nightsky warmly.
"Look what the devil rats dragged in! I didn't think I'd see you tonight. Hector spoke like you weren't coming."
"Hello, Cinder." Nightsky gave a friendly handshake.
The two trolls eyed him for a moment, but they didn't ask for his invitation. Alona couldn't take her eyes off them. She felt an itch of uneasiness settle on her shoulders, but quickly shook it away. This was a new life. That lost little girl was long gone now. There was no reason to get nervous. She had an invitation. Alona was welcomed here.
"How have you been, chummer? When's the last time we ran together?"
"The crash I believe."
Cinder laughed. "That's right. How could I forget that smell? I burned my clothes from that run, but every morning for a week I woke up smelling that drek. It was really starting to chip me out. I bought enough air fresheners to cover up Guido's stink."
Nightsky gave a light chuckle. It wasn't much, but Alona took that as a good sign.
"Are you working the door tonight?"
"For a while. Some of us are planning a card game later. Do you want in?"
"Sure."
"I'll save you a seat." Cinder pointed to Alona. "Who's this?"
"This is Alona." Nightsky presented Cinder with their invitation. "You'll have to thank her and Tart for getting me out tonight. Alona, this is a friend of mine." He used the term friend loosely as he always believed that he had no true friends. Not in the normal sense of the word anyway.
Cinder placed the invitation in a stack. "Good! You needed to come tonight. In what we do, we don't see much of our chummers unless its biz. Go on in you two."
Nightsky eyed the doorway, spotting the metal detector that had been fused with the doorframe. With a slight sigh he slowly reached for his pistol. "I suppose you'll be wanting this."
"No." Cinder stopped him. "Don't worry about that. It's not for you."
"Ah." He mused.
"Try to keep an eye on things." Cinder grinned. "Have a good time."
Nightsky nodded slightly as they entered the Futari Room.
Beyond the curtained entrance was a world filled with the pounding music of a techno dance hit. The party was already well underway even though it was still early in the evening. A sea of bodies writhed in time with the flowing beat. The crowd was filled with the young and beautiful. They were eye candy of all kinds hired by the managers to entertain special guests. They were here for their looks and not for their personality or knowledge. All the gorgeous and happy people made Nightsky feel out of place. For a moment he regretted coming. Then he noticed that among the rolling sea of dancers there were those who stood out among the streetmeat. They weren't gorgeous. Their flesh was marked with scars and horrors of the lives they led. They weren't glitter pieces for people to ogle. They were people who held the hard look to their eyes. They were people of the shadows.
"Hoi! Me, Guido, know you! You Guido's chummer!"
Nightsky glanced to see the hulking form of a troll standing just inside the entranceway. The troll's deep, yet squeaky voice carried over the wail of music and dancers like a thundering train. He stood a good three meters, towering over the surprisingly attractive ork girl who had wrapped herself around the troll's massive arm.
Yes, it was hard to miss Guido de Troll. Any normal person would be unnerved at the troll's towering monstrosity. Alona took it in stride, smiling warmly at someone Nightsky obviously knew. The ork girl hanging on the big lug's arm did not say anything. She only offered a flirt's smile accented by her black studded party dress. A dress that bore enough flesh to leave little to the imagination.
"Hoi, Guido, how have you been?" Nightsky greeted.
"Me, Guido, wike it 'ere cause me, Guido, can have fun. Me happy Hector invite Guido to 'ere." The troll gave a broken toothed grin, his tusks protruding from his lower lip. The troll was speaking in his ever so simple manner. "Me, Guido, glad Guido came! But Cinder no glad Guido came 'cuz when Guido met Cinder outside Guido pat Cinder too hard and make Cinder mad and Cinder call me, Guido, big dumb trog. Guido no wike dat, but Cinder Guido chummer so me Guido understand why Cinder call Guido big dumb trog. Then Cinder invite Guido to card game later. Guido wike card so me, Guido, say yes."
While Guido looked like a grotesque urban brawler, he was as simple as a child and just as harmless. Most of the time anyway. The troll's mannerisms had a habit of putting people at ease despite his massive bulk. Alona couldn't help, but to chuckle a little at the big troll's wit. She decided to introduce herself.
"Hi, I'm Alona. Nightsky's friend." Alona offered her hand, completely oblivious to the fact that Guido's ham-sized hand could probably crush every bone in her arm.
"Er? You Guido's, chummer too cause a chummer's chummer of Guido is me, Guido's chummer." The troll took her hand surprisingly gently. "Me, Guido de Troll. Me glad me, Guido, meet you."
Alona smiled. Tonight wasn't going to be so bad after all.
"Nightsky," Lenny called as he detached himself from a small knot of people. Lenny wasn't getting the stares he normally got at such functions. For once his pitch black cybereyes didn't seem out of place alongside the rest of the guests. "I was wondering if you would turn up." He gave a passing nod to Alona. "Good evening."
"Hello, Lenny." Alona offered her hand. "I'm surprised you remember me."
"How could I forget such a charming young lady?"
Alona thought he was teasing.
"Lenny!" Guido bellowed. "Me, Guido, no see you come here, but me, Guido, no be long here."
"That's fine, Guido. I didn't see you either."
"Me, Guido go now." The big troll motioned at the well supplied buffet across from the dance floor. "Me, Guido, hungry. Me, Guido, going to eat."
"Okay, Guido. Save some for the rest of us."
The troll lumbered off.
"So, Lenny, have you seen anyone else around?" Alona asked as Nightsky didn't seem prone to say anything.
Lenny nodded as he sipped his drink. "One or two."
He looked at Nightsky. There was an unspoken exchange between them. Alona suspected that he was wondering why Nightsky had brought her along. Alona tried not to notice. She knew that Lenny was a big man in the shadows. At least in Nightsky's team anyway. She had met him a few times before and he had always struck her as someone who looked comfortable anywhere. Right now he looked perfectly at ease with himself. Nightsky, on the other hand, seemed to be completely oblivious to the fact that this was a party and he was here to have a good time.
"Shard and Tart called a little while ago. They are going to be late. Riggs is here. He has a table saved across from the dance floor. He's already helping himself to the buffet." Lenny was speaking directly to Nightsky and not Alona. "Did Cinder say anything to you when you came in?"
"Only that we were all acting as part of security tonight."
"Something like that. Hector has several gillettes on staff tonight." Lenny explained. "He told me that we shouldn't have to worry and just have a good time. There's one or two old Johnson's floating around. So don't be surprised if one of them says a few words. Be polite, it's good for rep."
"If you say so."
Lenny frowned before glancing at Alona. "Not really in a partying mood, is he?"
Alona chuckled. "No, not really."
"We'll see if we can fix that tonight. Come along, Alona, I'll introduce you to Riggs."
A short time later they had collected around a single table that Riggs had staked out early in the evening. Riggs was there. The dwarf looked perfectly ridiculous in a red suite complete with tails. Throw in a top hat and he would be ready for a Broadway musical.
The dwarf was thoroughly enjoying the vast selection of foods available at the buffet. Though his subjects of conversation had little to do with each other, The rigger would praise the cook while at rambled on about the Urban Brawl and the latest off road tires. A half empty bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey sat next to the dwarf's plate. Lenny always found it amusing when Riggs would drink an excessive amount of alcohol and complain about anything and everything. In such a state the dwarf was capable of carrying on an argument completely by himself.
Lenny wondered if the alcoholic rigger would be driving himself home tonight.
Shard and Tart arrived half an hour later. Lenny stood when they approached the table. The elfin mage looked absolutely stunning tonight. Her hair had been impeccably arranged so that blonde blades held firmly in place as soft curls delicately hugged her pointed ears. She wore a dazzling strapless dress of both deep and brilliant greens that swirled together to form a beautiful artwork of fabric and sparkling stones. Her tall and statuesque figure accented her attire perfectly. Shard wore the dress like it was a childhood blanket. She was perfectly at ease with who she was and what she was doing. She soaked up the club scene like a toddler starving for attention.
Tart, who was considered almost pathologically shy, had made a bold statement tonight with a little help from Shard. She wasn't as beautifully stunning as Shard, but the decker did turn some heads. She wore a backless dress of rich royal blue which meshed flawlessly with her smooth mocha skin. Her curly hair was just as flawlessly arranged as Shard's. Though Tart didn't carry herself as confidently as Shard did. It showed that she was a little unfamiliar with the club scene. Even though this was a private party, she was too self conscious to completely relax.
Though, when compared with the attire Riggs had chosen, everyone was beautiful.
Lenny offered Shard a chair next to him which she gladly accepted. It was only then that he noticed the intricate pendant around her neck. Most people would see it and compliment her on such a striking piece of jewelry. Some people in this crowd would compliment her on such a fascinating magical focus.
Tart spared a glance at Alona who was sitting next to Nightsky. There was just a tiny hint of jealously in the decker's eyes as she sat next to her.
Or was that disappointment?
When she arrived Nightsky had said a brief hello before returning to a colorful argument he and Riggs were sharing. The decker looked at Nightsky again after she had carefully seated herself.
Lenny sat and watched. The people he had spent most of the past year with were sitting around a table talking like normal people. Tonight they weren't shadowrunners or criminals. They were friends. It was nice to think of them that way for once.
Then it occurred to him that not all of them were here. Sure, one of them had been gone for months, but there was another that wasn't present.
Where the hell was Smiley?
"Look chummer, I don't care who you are or who you know." Cinder growled. "You don't have an invitation. You don't get in. Do you scan that?"
The two trolls on either side of Cinder straightened their jackets. They weren't taking any drek tonight. Findler was trying his best to get inside. He did not have much choice in the matter. So far he had tried convincing Cinder that he knew Hector. He even reminded Cinder that they had seen each other yesterday Hector had paid the team He even mentioned that they had recently been on a run together. That in itself was a severe break in etiquette. Saying something like that in public would destroy his credibility, but Findler didn't have much of that to begin with.
He was about to give up when a perfectly unbalanced individual approached.
"Heh." Smiley grinned his eccentric grin as he approached the Futari Room. "Look who's here. Feels like a family reunion. Too bad I hate reunions."
In all honesty Smiley was the last person that Findler wanted to see. He knew the man's rep. He also knew that he was probably one of the most depraved individuals in the shadows of Seattle. However, Smiley was little more than a thug. He did what smarter people, like Lenny, told him to do. Unfortunately Smiley wasn't under anyone's direction right now. That made him more dangerous than usual.
Tonight Smiley had brought a guest. An attractive, red haired woman was at his side.
"Evening, Smiley." Cinder greeted. He wasn't too found of the samurai either and knew how unstable he could be. Cinder had also seen first hand what he was capable of. There was no real authority figure around to Smiley without Lenny or even Hector around.
"Fraghead." Smiley used that word just as casually as other people used the word "Hello."
"Smiley." Findler said. "What are you doing here."
"I'm here to frag my brains out, Findler. What about you? Want to frag your brains too?"
"No. Actually I need to talk to Hector."
Smiley glanced at Cinder. Then back at Findler. "Cinder don't look a whole frag of a lot like Hector."
"Hector's inside, but this guy won't let me in."
"Smiley, you know this guy?" Cinder asked.
Smiley twitched and tilted his head like a bird or prey. "I know he's a fragface who whines too much on a run. How's the arm, fragface?"
Findler rubbed the wound he had received the previous night. "Not bad."
Cinder didn't bother asking for Smiley's invitation. The eccentric samurai would probably tell him right where he can cram it, but he wasn't going to let Findler in so easily. As part of security he had to check him out. "Can you vouch for this slag, Smiley? Is his frosty?"
Smiley looked at Findler for a moment. Then smiled that creepy smile of his. "Frosty as a dead joygirl."
With that the eccentric samurai pushed passed Cinder and the two trolls. Neither of whom made any attempt to stop him. Afterwards Cinder regarded Findler.
"Okay." He finally said. "You're in."
Findler did his best to suppress his own creepy smile as he adjusted a small button on his jacket.