By Jonty
“God, I’m
so sick of waiting around” Max hit the handlebars of her bike with frustration.
Biggs
looked over at her with surprise. “Somewhere you need to be? We still get paid
the same, whether we hang out in queues all day, or work our asses off
delivering packages. Relax.”
Max shook
her head. “Sorry” she apologised. “Its just, long night, that’s all. Had a job
to do.”
“Yeah, Alec
mentioned it this morning. He said, it went fine, though.”
“Yeah, just
great. He actually stopped talking long enough to steal the jewel. Well, change
that. He stopped talking long enough to get to the jewel. He started again as
he opened the glass case. almost got us caught.”
“But, you
didn’t get caught, right?” Biggs raised an eyebrow, smiling slightly.
“No, but…”
“And, he
knew how to open the case, yeah? Could you have done it?”
“Well…” she
stopped talking, and glared at Biggs as he started to grin broadly.
“What’s so
funny?” she demanded.
“the way
you talk about Alec. Its just…” he shook his head, trying not to laugh.
“It’s
what?” she flashed her sector pass at the police officer, and started biking.
Biggs
struggled to catch up.
“Well?” she
asked
“You talk
about him like he’s… inept. Like he screws everything up.”
“He
basically does.”
Biggs
laughed out loud, swerving his bike as he tried to stay in control of it.
“My street”
he commented, nodding to an alley they were fast approaching. “Meet me at Crash
tonight. Got a few stories I think you should hear.”
>>>>>
Max sat at
a table in Crash, watching Sketchy beat OC in pool. She finished her jug of
beer, and rose to get another one.
“He’s
cheating” she commented to Cindy as she walked past.
“I’m not…
how do you cheat in pool?” Sketchy exclaimed. Cindy swatted him on the arm
“Better not
be cheatin’ fool”
Sketchy
missed his next ten shots.
>>>>>
Max grabbed
her newly filled jug off the bar.
“Am I
late?” Biggs tapped her on the shoulder, and grinned.
Max
shrugged. “Why couldn’t they create a transgenic male that showed up on time?”
She walked
back to her table. Biggs gestured for a jug of beer, then pointed at the table.
The
bartender nodded, indicating that he would bring it over.
“So, finish
the discussion.” Max looked at him.
Biggs
shrugged. “I don’t even know where to start. You always talk about Alec like he
makes your life more difficult, like he complicates things. I remember this one
time, in Africa. A team of four of us were sent in to assassinate the leader of
a rebel force. Something went wrong, the mission went completely sideways.”
Max looked
at him.
“No, it
wasn’t Alec’s fault. One of the others in the team, 343, she made a mistake.
Her foot slipped while scaling a building. Dislodged a piece of brick. It hit
the ground, alerted the guards. They opened fire immediately. Alec, he had gone
first, was already at the top, and the other guy too. They hit me in the leg as
I scrambled to get up. Alec grabbed me, pulled me up to the top. 343, she was
hit several times. She went down.”
Biggs took
a mouthful of beer, then another.
“Alec, he
asked me if I could run. I told him, yes, of course. He told us to get out, get
back to the rendezvous site.”
Max stared
at him, waiting for what was to come next.
“He went
back for her, Max. there were like a dozen guards down there, and he went after
her.”
“What
happened?” she asked, taking a mouthful of beer.
“What I was
told, got back to the rendezvous point. The CO was livid that we had lost two
men. He was just about to take off when we saw Alec, pulling 343 with him. he
saved her, Max. he took two bullets, one in the leg, one in the arm. But he got
her out.”
Max looked
down at the table. She could hear the pure, undiluted respect in Biggs’ voice,
ad felt bad for her earlier comments.
“When we got
back to Manticore, there was hell to pay. It was supposed to be a
straightforward mission. In and Out. They wanted to know why.”
Biggs
looked at Max. “He took the blame. Alec. He said that there must have been some
fault with his recon, that he had missed a guard on the rooftop.”
“Bet they
were thrilled about that”
“Apparently.
Not really too sure. He was gone for 9 days, and when he came back, it took a
few weeks before he smiled again.”
“And the
girl?” Max’s hand tightened on her glass as she imagined just what the
Manticore techs could do given nine days. “Was she okay?”
Biggs
laughed out loud. “You’ve been among humans for too long, Max. You learn the
names we chose for ourselves, but not out designations.” He looked over to the
pool table, where OC was talking to CeCe, both of them hassling Sketchy.
“X5-343” he told her.
Max’s face
dropped. “Whoa.” She commented.
“I’m just
saying” Biggs poured her another beer. “Don’t assume anything where He’s
concerned.”
“I have
another question” she asked him.
“Shoot”
“Why do you
always do that?”
“Do what?”
“Stumble
over his name. Every time you say Alec’s name, it’s like it’s unfamiliar to
you. Yet, you don’t do that with me, or CeCe, or any of the others.”
“I guess
I’m not used to it yet. It’s uncomfortable.”
“What did
you call him back at Manticore? surely you didn’t call him 494 all the time.
Didn’t you guys have any nicknames for each other?”
Biggs
looked at her for a long time. “I called him ‘Sir.’” He answered finally.