Chapter Seventeen
Do Not Disturb
Sea-Tac International Airport
Tacoma, Seattle
November 5, 2059
12:16 pm
Lenny and Shard entered Sea-Tac's main transway. It was crowded with hundreds of people hurrying to collect their belongings and wayward children. It had been a long flight to El Paso and back. Shard suspected that leaving had been the most difficult part for Lenny. She didn't know what, if any, history he and Haiku shared, but she could tell that it hurt to walk away.
One of the more nagging thoughts on Shard's mind was the fact that there was nothing she could do to help. Haiku's injuries and the nature of the metal in her body made working any kind of magic a futile effort. The wounds were simply too old. Even if she had gotten there sooner the metal would have resisted the flow of mana. Shard kept telling herself that the result would be the same.
Lenny hadn't said much on the flight back. Mostly he just slept. He called Hector just before leaving El Paso. The samurai had related the tale that Haiku had told. Hector wasn't pleased with it.
Greed was a big enemy for any shadowrunner. It cut into the professionalism of a run. It tempted people. That was exactly what happened on Haiku's run. They were stealing some magical artifact. Apparently they stirred up some nasty mojo on the way out. Then Austin, the rigger, must have found out how much the artifact was worth. When one looked at it that way it didn't seem complicated at all. In the end it wasn't the run that brought the team down at all. It was one man's greed.
It unnerved Lenny that a team could fall apart so easily. At the same time he felt that the karma gods were smiling on him. His team was still together. Well, except for Gideon, but he wasn't dead. He was alive. Lenny had even spoken to the ork at Hector's party. Still, he was surprised that his ragtag team had held together. Lenny remembered when they first came together. He had a nature loving mage, a total mercenary, a paranoid rigger, a jumpy adept, and a psychotic samurai. Not to mention a fresh on the street decker. They were all still alive. They still in the shadows.
Lenny smirked. Maybe that was the bad thing.
A phone beeped precariously in his pocket. Shard caught his sigh as he answered. No doubt he knew who it was.
"Hello, Hector." Lenny said as he answered.
"How did you know it was me?"
"Lucky guess."
"How is the weather?"
Hector wasn't really asking about the weather. He wanted to know if it was safe to discuss business. Lenny's cellphone did scramble the signal, but it wouldn't to much to someone with a shotgun microphone or even a casual passerby.
"The weather's a little foggy. We're just coming off the plane."
"I have a lead on our transportation friend." Hector was referring to Austin, the rigger who had double-crossed Haiku's team. "He checked into a downtown hotel a few days ago. I need you two to drop by. I'm sending the rest of the information to your dropbox."
"Hector, we just got off the plane." Lenny frowned. It seemed like they were doing more and more of the fixer's dirty work lately.
"I know and I wouldn't ask if they was someone else."
"There is someone else."
"They're working on something else for me."
Lenny's frown grew deeper. "You owe us for this one."
"I know. I'm sending the info now. Call me once you've spoken to him."
"So talk is all you want us to do?"
"Read between the lines, Lenny."
Lenny nodded, mostly to himself as his cellphone didn't have a video pickup. "I'll take care of it."
"What did he want?" Shard asked he Lenny put the phone away.
"Hector has a line on the rigger. We're going to drop by his hotel."
"From the sound of things that is not all we are going to do."
Lenny nodded solemnly. "Read between the lines."
Bellevue, Seattle
12:26 pm
Hector's telecom beeped just as he disconnected from Lenny. As eh answered Nightsky's face appeared on the screen. The fixer could see dull gray walls behind the adept. No doubt he was still in the Barrens. Nightsky's cellphone could scramble signals as well. The few times he used it anyway.
"Nightsky." Hector greeted. "I've been waiting for you to call. Did Tart show up?"
"Yes. The discussion with Findler is also over."
"And?"
"Findler is working for Lone Star. Last year he was arrested in California on a shadowrun that went bad. He cut some kind of deal to work as a mole. Lone Star gave him a lot of room. They didn't put a tag on him, electronic or otherwise. They setup a dropbox in the Matrix for his reports. Riggs searched his apartment. He came up with a microcamera concealed in a jacket. The same one he wore to the party last night. Tart said the dropbox held footage from last night's party. She is positive that the box was shut down before it could be accessed by Lone Star."
"So Findler was hiring himself out as a shadowrunner while reporting his team's activities to Lone Star."
"He mentioned a few other teams he had done this on. Tart is searching Lone Star databases to see if any arrests were made. Apparently we intercepted the data on us before Lone Star could. We should be in the clear."
"That is good news."
"Yes."
"But there's one thing that doesn't add up."
"And that would be?"
"If Lone Star gave him so much freedom why didn't he just disappear? Why stick his neck out by ratting on shadowruns? He's been in the shadows. He could have disappeared if he wanted to."
"Maybe he had a screamer, some way for Lone Star to track him."
"No. Some electronic like that would have been picked up by now. Lone Star had to have something they were holding over his head. It doesn't matter anyway."
"It doesn't?"
"No. Findler's lungs still carry the message. He can sell us out and put us away for a very long time."
"What do you want us to do?"
"Silence the message for good."
Nightsky turned slightly, giving the fixer a few of the rest of the room as his words echoed in his head. Gideon watched from across the room. The ork's expression was as unreadable as ever. Tart sat on a table with her legs dangling off the edge. The adept and the decker hadn't spoken much besides what was necessary. In truth Tart was still a little upset from last night at the party, but she didn't let that interfere with her job. She was more of a shadowrunner than anyone thought.
"Well?"
"Hector said to silence the message."
Gideon nodded thoughtfully. Tart glanced back and forth between the two. It was obvious that she didn't understand.
"Silence what message?"
Nightsky looked at the door Findler was behind. That look answered her question. Tart's expression soured a little. In a way she wasn't surprised. They were going to kill him. Sure, they had killed before, but for some reason this was different to her. This would be in cold blood.
"You're kidding, right? You guys can't just kill him."
"It's business." Gideon grumbled. "He ratted us out. Everyone would be sitting pretty in a Lone Star pen if in we'd been just a little later. We do him before he does us."
"Do him before he does us?" Nightsky repeated the ork's words. They seemed to apply to more than one circumstance in Nightsky's life. It was obvious when he looked at Findler and Gideon.
"It's biz." Gideon nodded as he moved to fill the wristphone's video pickup. "We'll handle biz."
"Good." Hector said. "Don't leave anything. Lone Star will think he decided to pull a disappearing act on them."
"We'll take care of him."
Hector's screen went blank with that. It would be the last time he would mention Findler's name. In a few minutes it would be like the ork had never existed.
On the other side of the sprawl the door to a small, gray room slowly opened. Findler could barely see. One of his eyes was swollen shut. A trio of deep gashes poured fresh crimson into his other eye. The pain was reduced to a dull throb now. He had long since become numb as the eccentric samurai mauled him again and again. What's more the sick freak actually enjoyed it. Findler could feel Smiley's hot breath behind him. He was full of anticipation.
Two people had entered the room. One was Nightsky, the adept's tell-tale katana sticking out from his long coat. The other was Gideon. The mercenary's metal cyberarm was easy to spot.
Findler knew why they were here without asking. He couldn't withstand Smiley's torture. By talking he had sealed his fate. It didn't seem so bad compared to the continued pain given by Smiley. The sheer violence of everything had shocked him at first. When Findler had worked in the shadows before he always followed a set of rules. Never kill unless necessary, quiet is better than noisy, and never cross a Johnson. Sometimes he forgot that, deep down, all shadowrunners were murderers. It didn't matter if they did it with a gun or lethal biofeedback from a Matrix program.
Findler frowned. Hell of a time to be reminded.
"Talk to Hector?" Smiley hissed.
Nightsky nodded.
Smiley pulled an Ares Predator from his holster and placed the barrel against Findler's head. "Looks like you're goose is cooked."
Findler spat at Smiley's feet. "You guys are really going to do this? After what we've been through on the run?"
"It's biz." Gideon grumbled. "You fragged up."
Findler squeezed his eye shut as he felt the barrel of the predator bore into his skull.
"Say goodnight, Gracie." Smiley hissed.
"Wait." Nightsky interrupted.
Smiley froze. Findler took a chance and peaked out his good eye.
"What the frag are you doing?" Gideon demanded.
Nightsky decided that Gideon didn't rate a response. "There is one thing I want you to tell me. What did Lone Star have over you? You had plenty of chances to skip out. What didn't you?"
"Why should I bother telling you?"
"Might save your life."
Findler looked at Gideon and Smiley. Somehow he doubted that Nightsky was capable of stopping them from carrying out their intentions.
"No it won't." Gideon cemented Findler's suspicions. The ork gave Nightsky a harsh glance. Again, he ignored it.
"See? It doesn't matter."
"Tell me anyway."
Findler shrugged. "My brother."
"Brother? What about him?"
Gideon stepped up. "Who gives a frag?"
Findler groaned. "Dig around. You'll find out. If you find out who did it, let me know when you get to hell."
"Enough talk." Gideon grumbled.
Nightsky nodded slightly. "Goodbye, Findler."
Gideon gave Smiley a slight nod. A sharp grin crossed Smiley's twisted features. He pulled the trigger.
And silenced the message.
Laubenstein Plaza Hotel
Downtown Seattle
12:50 pm
Lenny and Shard walked down the plush carpet covering the hallways of one of Seattle's finest hotels. The Laubenstein Plaza had an interesting history, but these two shadowrunners aren't here for a history lesson. The were on a run. Well, not really a run. This was a little different. It was more like a favor. Lenny was beginning to think all he ever did was favors.
It all started when Hector sent him to check up on a shadowrunner who had gone missing. It turns out that the shadowrunner was an old acquaintance of his. Lenny couldn't just ignore her, so he agreed. It turned out that the shadowrun Lenny's acquaintance went sour when the team's rigger decided to steal an artifact and cut the rest of the runners out of the picture. Permanently.
Now Lenny and Shard were about to face this rigger. Lenny was sure how this would go. The worst case scenario meant a violent confrontation. He had to be prepared for that. At the same time he had to be as quiet as possible in entering the room. That had already been taken care of. A few minutes ago Lenny had snatched a passkey from a maid's cart. Shard was sustaining a spell that would alter their appearance on the hotel's cameras.
"This is it." Lenny motioned at an otherwise unremarkable door. "Room 332."
Shard picked at the 'Do Not Disturb' sign hanging from the door knob. "Clever. What do you think this guy will be like?"
"I don't know, but be prepared for the worst." Lenny pulled the keycard from his jacket pocket as well as a Predator II from his shoulder holster. "Ready?"
"Give me one moment." Shard pulled a small jewel from her pocket. Any normal, mundane person would take it for a priceless emerald. Perhaps it was on some level, but it was also much more. As Shard mutters words of power there is a distinct glow from the gem. A brief flicker of magical energy blinks briefly before fading from sight. It takes a moment to tighten her mental grip on the cascading mana. Sustaining two spells is a strong test of willpower.
"Ready now?"
"Yes, please hurry."
Lenny passed the card through the reader and the door clicked open. Both shadowrunners were immediately on the move. The suite was roomier had a sitting area and a separate bedroom. Lenny surveyed the sitting area quickly using the cybernetic optics implanted in his eyes. Once he was satisfied there was no one present his attention turned to the bedroom.
As he did Shard quietly shut the door and dropped one of the spells she was sustaining. At the same time she tried to keep a certain distance between herself and Lenny. This was so Lenny would be protected by the bullet barrier her arcane magics held together.
The barrel of the Predator II slowly scanned the bedroom. To Lenny's eye a triangle sitting block traveled along the bed and walls through a thermographic overlay.
"Shard?"
The elfin mage closed her eyes as she shifted her perceptions to the astral plane. "No one, but-"
"But what?"
She opened her eyes. "There's something odd."
"Define odd."
"Odd." She shrugged. "That's all."
Lenny noticed a light coming from the bathroom. He motioned towards it with his pistol. There was a squishing sound as he stepped onto the bedroom's carpet. Shaking his foot caused drops of water to splatter in all directions. Lenny exchanged glances with Shard as if to say "What the hell?"
Shard only shrugged again as if to say "How the hell should I know?"
He dismissed it for the moment and quickly moved to the bathroom door. Shard was right behind him. Every step they took brought a squishing sound as their feet sank into the soaked carpet. As the neared the door they could hear the sound of running water.
He was sure they had found their man at last. Lenny nodded at the door. Shard returned it and idly fingered the jewel in her delicate finger. The spell it was linked to flickered for a moment before solidifying.
With that Lenny burst through the door. Inside the bathroom he dropped to one knee and cradled the heavy automatic in two hands. At the same time he was careful not to step behind the boundary of Shard's spell.
"Don't move Austin!" Lenny warned.
But there was no one to warn.
"Oh spirits!" Shard gasped.
Lenny saw what had startled her. A man's legs stuck out from the bathtub. The rest of him was buried under a rippling surface of water. The sight surprised him, but Lenny didn't dare lower his guard. He knew there were cybernetics that could allow a metahuman to breath underwater. However, as he cautiously peered into the tub, it was obvious that Austin hadn't invested in that cyberware. The man's skin was blue and bloated. His dead eyes stared back at Lenny. From the level of water in the bathroom and the raw fish smell emulating from the tub Lenny guess that the poor ork had been like this for a few days.
"He's dead." Lenny said bluntly.
Behind him Shard gagged, choking on the thick smell of waterlogged flesh. Lenny hadn't really noticed it yet. He was too busy trying to make sense of this. Austin was dead, yes. It looked like he had been drowned, but there were no binders on his wrists or telltale scars that they had been used. Austin looked like he had been a pretty stronger guy as well. It would have taken a lot to hold him underwater for so long. It didn't make sense.
Lenny was so intrigued by the scene he didn't notice the water from the tub was splashing on him. Shard had to point it out for him.
"Let's leave." She insisted.
"Wait, this doesn't make sense."
"I don't care. I don't like it here. There's something wrong about it." Shard took a few steps away. Her feet sloshed against the soaked carpet. "Let's go."
"Not yet. See if you can find that artifact Haiku talked about. I'll see if Austin left anything laying around."
"No, Lenny, I want to go. Now." She added the last part with a bit more force.
Lenny looked at her, confused. "Why?"
"I really don't like it here. There's something wrong."
"What?"
"Just trust me, Lenny. We can't stay here." Shard's eyes were darting frantically around the bathroom's doorway. "We should leave."
"Just a quick check-"
"No, Lenny, now!"
"Okay, okay. Wait for me by the door." Lenny frowned, quickly rummaging through the bathroom. "I'm not leaving until I've looked for that artifact."
"But-"
"I'll be quick."
Shard was about to protest, but didn't feel like arguing with him. This place had a bad air to it. It weighed heavily on her shoulders. The only thing she was concerned with was getting out.
Ten minutes later they were pulling out of the hotel's underground parking lot. The artifact wasn't found. The only thing the brief search turned up a one-way ticket to Hawai'i and a credstick with a healthy six-figure balance. It didn't look like Austin would be using that anytime soon.
Lenny couldn't get his mind off what he had seen. Apparently Austin had committed suicide, but that didn't make sense. Austin had a flight to an island paradise and enough nuyen to live easy for the next few months. Somehow Lenny doubted that guilt had drove Austin to the breaking point. The way Haiku description told of a man obsessed with greed and little else. There was also something about Shard's reaction that puzzled him. Something in that room scared her, but he didn't know what. Shard wasn't in much mood to tell him. She hadn't said a word since living the hotel.
Lenny put the piece of information away for later. There were other things to concern himself with. One of them being Hector. It was time to give him a call.
The old fixer answered on the first ring. "Yes? Lenny?"
"It's me." He confirmed. "I'm in the middle of downtown, so I will make this brief. Austin is pushing up roses. Looks like he planted the garden himself."
"Really? I'm sure Haiku will be glad to hear that. What about the Orb?"
"The what?"
"The Orb of Voices. The artifact Haiku's team was sent after."
"No sign of it. Why are you worried about it?"
"Professional curiosity. Anything else?"
"There was a plane ticket to Hawai'i and a credstick with a thick balance. He must have picked up the team's contract from the Johnson."
"He might have sold the Orb."
"Huh?"
"Sorry, I was thinking about loud. Thank you, Lenny. I appreciate this."
"You owe us one for this one."
"I will make good on it."
The fixer hung up before Lenny could say goodbye. It struck him as odd. When Hector had sent them on this little errand Lenny thought it was out of concern for Haiku. Now Hector seemed to have developed a healthy interest in this artifact. Why would he say the artifact might have been sold? Wouldn't he be happy knowing that Austin was dead and Haiku was alive?
Lenny rolled this thought around in his head. Something didn't add up. Hector wasn't telling them everything.
The Barrens
Redmond, Seattle
November 5, 2059
1:25 pm
This part of the sprawl is like a tomb. This deep in the scarred barrens there are no people on the streets. There aren't even any squatters in the alleys. Blasted hulks of buildings line the crumbling streets. Some are only skeletons of iron and brick held together by graffiti and rust. A few devil rats scamper about. Some as large as small dogs.
Tart sat in the Bison watching one especially large specimen wiggles its way underneath a pile of bricks. She curls her nose. The action is more due to the steaming box of noodles in her hands than to anything the rat might be doing. Nightsky and Gideon are nearby, also enjoying a late lunch of ramen noodles and eggrolls. Lunch purchased with a few handfuls of 10mm shells from a stand several kilometers away. Smiley and Riggs are nearby, but attending to another matter.
The group has been on this crumbling street for a few minutes now. Normally not even these harden shadowrunners would be in this part of the Barrens. The devil rats here will eat any metahuman that wonders into the wrong alley. What the rats miss the flesh-eating ghouls won't. Then again, such cannibalistic neighbors are the reason the shadowrunners came here in the first place. It's the perfect place to dispose of a body. It's better than an organlegger because that leaves a trail of body parts all over the sprawl. Any detective worth their badge can follow it. Rats and ghouls, on the other hand, would rather eat their interrogators than talk with them.
Nightsky sat on top of the Bison idly picking at his lunch. A devil rat about the size of a bloated gopher crept up beneath him. No doubt the little beast was drawn by the smell of fresh noodles.
The rat squeaked at him. It sounded like a cross between nails on a chalkboard and a choking cat.
"Looks like you've got a new chummer." Gideon walked around the front of the bison. The rat wasn't intimidated by the ork's appearance. It kept squeaking at the box of noodles.
Tart giggled slightly as the rat started gnawing on the van's tire. "What are you going to name it, Night?"
The rat gave another gagging squeak. Nightsky promptly pulled a Manhunter and splattered rat-guts on the Bison's fender. Tart jumped at the gun's report.
"'Dead Meat' sounds good."
Tart regarded the splattered devil rat for a moment. Then politely raised her window. Never one to be one happy with the real world, the decker pulled her cyberdeck and plugged in. Maybe she could amuse herself while Riggs and Smiley were taking care of the garbage.
Nightsky afford a slight smirk. There was a distinct clank as he lay the heavy automatic onto the roof.
Gideon discarded the rest of his eggroll. "We need to talk."
"What about?" He twirled a noodle around the delicate, plastic chopstick.
"Don't pretend not to know what I'm yapping about. You've been itching to bitch about it since last night."
Nightsky looked up from his noodles.
"You hate me for what I did seven years ago? That's you're beef. You hate me for selling you out to Barnabas and Imira last summer? I don't give a fuck cause I pulled you out of there when you would've been a dead little shit. It's old news and all of it biz."
Nightsky put his interest on his lunch. Idly thinking about the first time he tried to use chopsticks.
"I'm back in Seattle." Gideon continued. "In these shadows with this team. This is business. If you want to hold a grudge the rest of your life that's fine with me. What I need to know is wether or not you're going to let it frag with you on a run. I need to know you can keep things professional."
A brief gust of wind scooted garbage along the sidewalk. Bits of paper passed beneath his feet, tumbling head over heels like a skydiver in freefall. It carried the smell of the decaying devil rat in its wake. Nightsky curled his nose at the scent.
Gideon grumbled something as Nightsky stared blankly at the pavement. "I heard what you've been doing. With the one in downtown, the sword teacher, the accountant. Probably others that I haven't read about. My guess is you found Barnabas' black book of addresses and started calling numbers."
Nightsky perked up.
"You're making noise. Attracting attention you don't need. I thought you were smarter than that drek? I don't see why you can't let it go. Lay low. You could slip right through the cracks. In a few months it will be forgotten."
Nightsky was staring at the ork now. The mercenary held his full attention. One hand rested on the edge of the Bison's roof. The other hung loosely on the hilt of the katana.
"Keep doing this and you'll get yourself drek deep in trouble. Someone will come to geek you. Doesn't have to be like that. You've got talent. It will take you a long way in this life. No sense in throwing it away." Gideon noticed something different in him. His eyes were empty. There wasn't any feeling there. Just a cold, glassy stare. It hadn't been there the last time they talked.
The adept didn't say a word.
"Don't you care?"
"Not anymore."
"Then you're a fool!"
Nightsky chuckled. He was laughing! Practically mocking Gideon!
"What the fuck's so funny?"
He took a second to get a grip on himself. "You forgot what I told you, didn't you? In California?"
Gideon stuck his lip out in disgust.
"I told you the next time I saw you I'd keep it business."
"Why's that so funny?"
Nightsky adjusted his position by bending his legs beneath him and wrapping his fingers around the katana's hilt. He looked coiled and ready to strike. "I'll keep it business." He repeated.
The ork regarded him for a moment, dropping his brow and curling his lip. "You're fucking up, Nightsky. They'll send someone after you."
"Like you, maybe?" His voice carried an accusing tone. "Tell me, Gideon, why did you decide to come back to Seattle now?" Nightsky's wristphone started ringing. He ignored it for the moment
Gideon picked his tusk with his metal finger as the device continued to beep. "If I had wanted to geek you I could've done it a dozen times by now. I'm here for work."
"I don't believe you." He said flatly, but that cold expression broke into a grin. Then phone continued to ring. "But I'll work with you. After all, it's just business."
Gideon crudely nodded. "Just biz."
Nightsky answered the phone. "Yes?"
It was Lenny. "Nightsky? Where are you? Are the others with you?"
"Yes and yes to both questions, Lenny. We are taking care of some garbage at the moment."
"There's something developing and I think we are being kept out of the loop on it."
"If its about a rat in our ranks that has been taken care of."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'll tell you later."
"Right. This isn't about a rat. When you've finished come on over to the Pit. There is something that needs investigating."
"Can it wait?"
"No. I think our fixer friend is running something on the side. I want to make sure its on the level before something comes of it."
Nightsky thought about that for a moment. Lenny was obviously concerned about something. When that happened he always had a good reason to be so. "It will be a few hours. We have some cleaning up to do."
"Do what you have to, but try to hurry."
"See you in a few." Nightsky cut the call.
"What is it?" Gideon asked.
"Lenny wants to clue us in on something." He hoped off the Bison.
"We should slot and run with our biz here."
"Yes, but don't change the subject, Gideon."
"Eh?"
Nightsky approached the mercenary. "Don't make the mistake. You and I still have one very important thing to discuss."
Gideon crossed his arms. "Why don't you say it, then?"
Nightsky grinned, passing his eyes around the street. "Not here. This isn't the place or the time. We have more important things to worry with. Biz, you know."
"Yeah, Biz." Gideon nodded in agreement, but kept a wary eye on Nightsky nonetheless. Neither of them would be forgetting anything.