Episode 105. Part 3
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New Lyon, Beaumonde
16:30 hrs, local time
New Lyon is a big city of sixty million people. A big city. It’s not the skyscraper sort of landscape. Rather, it’s just really really densely packed. It has heavy-duty industrial freight trains going through it all and their routes are all local, servicing the factories that are based here and nothing else. It’s all very highly industrial. And it smells like it.
Quite the departure from the quiet beauty of New Dunsmuir.
As we fly over, we see what look like little pockets of tumbledown communities: Chinatowns, Japantowns, Little Italys, ethnic communities.
The yard where we land is literally a yard. A big area surfaced in gravel, surrounded by a razor-wire crowned chain link fence, and a warehouse. Nguyen’s people are waiting for us and when the dust settles they take one look at our ship and demand to know what the hell had we done to it, lookit all that damage. Rina grits her teeth and says nothing. Nika shrugs and shakes her head. The repair crew starts chasing down the parts we need.
We’re in luck—the repairs require only commonly available parts. Nothing needs to be manufactured from scratch. The crew tells us to leave our ship in their hands and they’ll make the repairs.
Rina has trouble handing her baby over to these strangers, starts telling the crew all the quirky particulars of our ship, how to pull this gizmo or install that part….she goes on like this for some time. The crew just nods, “yes ma’am”s and “no ma’am”s her, and the minute she leaves off, they roll their eyes and get to work.
They set to with all the force that power tools can bring to bear. Quite unnerving for the uninitiated, as it looks like they’re intent on cutting the ship to pieces. Rina beats a retreat into the ship so she doesn’t have to watch. It’s just too damned painful.
Our cannibis client shows up sometime later, pulling into the yard with a flatbed truck flapping with tarps. He quits the cab with the loose-jointed gait of a habitual toker and his speech only confirms it. Pure pothead hippie, man, howsit goin’.
Chong: ‘Eyyy, man. Oh, you got my stuff. Didja see my cousin? You got my stuff. Excellent. Heyy, my cousin tells me you might be up for another job, too.
Nika: What kinda job?
Chong: (rubs his hands gleefully) Eeeasy moneyyy.
Arden: First we have to get paid for this job.
Chong: Oh riiight. It’s one tonna the stuff, right?
Arden: Yeah, but we haven’t got paid for it yet. You’re buying it from us, aren’t you?
Chong: Dude. You wanna sellit to me? Sure, I’ll buy it offya. How much would I buy for one ton…? Been a long time since I’ve bought any…
Arden: So what are you buying ten tons of it for?
Chong: I’m not, man. My cousin gave it to me.
Arden: He gave it to you?
Chong: Yeahhh, we’re old pals.
That’s what we get for dealing with potheads.
Rina: (grumbling) What’s Chong gonna pay us for ten tons of this shit, anyway? Donuts? Twinkies?
Nika: No, man. We’re gonna sell it to ya.
Chong: Ohh, buyin’ wasn’t part of the plan, but lemme see what I can give ya for it….
Nika: Tell me about your other job.
Chong: Other job?
Nika: Yeah. “Easy money”.
Chong: Oh, yeahh. Riight. Heyy, so. You know about the Blue Sun kiosks, riight?
Arden: No.
Chong: You know. Where you buy your food and stuff.
Arden: Ohh-kaay.
Chong: Dude. Don’cha get the munchies? Get hungry? For the Blue Sun Chips and the Blue Sun Soda and all that?
Rina nudges Nika.
Rina: See? I told you we’d be knocking over a twinkies stand.
Chong is still extolling the virtues of those kiosks.
Chong: …and those Blue Sun Chile Rellenos..and….
Nika: We’ve been out of system for a while.
Arden: In any case. Blue Sun. They sell all the stuff.
Chong: Riight. Everybody buys stuff, but most people use their credit chips to do it.
Arden: Right.
Chong: They’re useless to rob, right? But ahhhh! (Holds up finger) Here’s the thing. About 2 AM the strip joints close. Everybody’s got cash money and they need to get rid of it. They’re hungry and they got to a kiosk and they spend the money and the money’s not picked up til 6AM. I have the keys.
Chong leans back and looks at us expectantly: dude, you get the picture?
Nika starts to laugh. Geez Louise. Willya get a load’a this guy?
Chong: It’s soooo eeeasy. It’s like….stealin’ candy from a kiosk. Hey, man. You should do that, too. You should take some candy while you’re at it. At least the suckers.
Rina: This guy’s chock full’a nuts.
Nika keeps laughing.
Chong: Nahh, man, I’m tellin’ ya. Once the strip joints close, all the cash gets blown on these things.
Rina leans over to Nika.
Rina: I have two words for you, Captain.
Nika: Hm?
Rina: Streetside surveillance.
Chong jumps right on it.
Chong: Ohh, yeah. You gotta be careful.
Nika: So, why aren’t you guys doin’ this, yourselves? ’The hell you need us for?
Chong: Welll, you know what? I gotta baad leg. Acts up.
Arden: I’m a doctor. I can look at it for you, if you like.
Chong: Suurre.
Nika: See there, then you could do it yourself.
Chong: No waayyy. I’m not crampin’ my style.
Nika: Oh, and this looks like my style?
Chong: I’m not a good—welll….
Nika: Think carefully.
Chong: Just sayin’. Eeasy moneyy.
Arden: I think we’re gonna pass on this. Transport we can handle, but ….uhnnnn, no. Not this.
Chong: Oookaaay.
Nika: Thanks for the offer, though.
Arden: Yeah. Intriguing.
Nika: Lotsa goodwill.
Chong: Okay, it might be available again sometime.
Nika: All right, okay. I’ll keep that in mind when we’re getting sort on cash.
Arden: Really short on cash.
Chong will give us fifty credits for the ton we’re selling. It’s probably less than what it’s worth, but….he’ll buy it off us for fifty. He forks it over. We take it from him. He leaves.
Easy money.
Riight.
While we’re cooling our heels during the repairs, we try to find legitimate employment for the two-three days we’re waiting. Rina offers to set up a crate outside our ship with a sign saying “Small repairs while you wait.” She’s done it before. Unfortunately, though this isn’t a closed-shop/union world, the business communities are sewn up tight. She’s not going to get anywhere with the idea. We’re pretty much free agents at this point and we’re looking for lucrative cargo. Christian makes himself useful by getting on the Cortex to hunt prospects down.
However, since the Cortex is monitored, we have to go carefully if we start investigating things like Potemkin’s activities or if we have a BOLO on us or our ship. The news headlines are helpful, even though Potemkin isn’t the sort that gets splashed all over the front page. He prefers a lower profile. Nika hits on the idea of calling Massoukis on Paquin to see if he’s heard anything on his end. Is our backtrail clear? Or can we expect company? We send off a message to him and go on with our business.
The repairs on our ship are continuing apace. We’re not entirely sure if everything will get done before the job goes down, but there’s hope they will be. Rina watches everything as closely as possible, keeping an eye out for sabotage or shoddy workmanship that could kill us later. The bees we transported are still showing up in the most unexpected and unlikely places and there is a lot of head scratching and general ribbing about it from the repair crew. Like how the beeswax is the only thing holding this bucket of bolts together, that sort of thing. Rina growls over it, but leaves the crew unmolested by her 10-inch pipe wrench.
The materiel for the factory job starts trickling in. Our Blue Sun uniform coveralls arrive. Our employee badges. Intel: the map of the factory, with directions to the drop-off site; the access and scan codes we’ll need to get through the front gate; confirmation that the delivery service has hired temp drivers enough times before to assure us that our new faces wouldn’t look out of place.
Sunday, 10 Jul 2518
08:30 hrs, local time
The day arrives. More of Nguyen’s men show up with our transport van and carefully pack the chemicals, stabilized by an intricate packing frame. They tell us we might not want to make any sharp turns while driving. Wonderful. We’re carting stuff that might blow us up before we get there.
We pick out the weapons we’ll be packing for the job, aside from the RPG Nguyen gave us. Rina’s carrying her usual suspects: her pistol and her boot knife, extra gun clips and her pocket tools. Nika’s got her own gun/knife combo. Even Arden packs some heat, a pistol to go with his favorite scalpel.
Based on our skills, Arden is assigned as our driver. Nika is needed up front to speak for us. Since there’s normally only two people manning the delivery trucks, Rina volunteers to sit in the back. If asked, she’ll just say she’s the new guy in training, tagging along with the old hands.
We jump into our delivery van and drive to the lay-by site. We get there, we park, and we wait. After a while we see a Blue Sun transport van—just like ours—go driving by. And it’s heading for the factory.
We realize that Nguyen’s men have failed to detain the van so we could replace it.
Shit.
Rina: Then we wait and do this another day.
Nika: Rina, get on the radio.
Rina: Who do you want?
Nika: Get back to the ship. Tell Christian to get hold of Nguyen and find out what just happened.
Rina grabs the mike and thumbs it live.
Rina: Christian. You there? Pick up.
No answer.
Rina: Christian, get your fancy-dancy ass over to the comm and—.
Christian: (irritated) I’m here, I’m here, I’m here. What’s the problem?
Rina: Contact Nguyen. Our target just drove past us. They were supposed to waylay the truck before it got here.
Christian: Hold on a second. I’ll see if I can patch you through...
There’s a pause.
Arden: Are we waiting or leaving now?
From the comm, we can hear Christian mumbling.
Christian: Is this the ignition or is this the…communications button? Hold on….
Rina throws Arden an exasperated look.
Rina: What did you dope him up with?
Christian gets someone on the line and puts the call through. Rina hands the comm to Nika.
A voice comes on. It’s not Nguyen.
Man: We’ve had a slight change of plans.
Nika: Who is this?
A pause.
Man: That’s not important.
Nika: Wrong. You give me an ident or I hang up. And I take your crap with me.
Man: (quietly) This is our only chance to do this.
Nika: Talk fast. And you better give me the ident I asked for.
Man: (sighs) Let’s just say it’s somebody who’s not quite a priest.
Nika claps the mike to her chest and looks askance at Arden.
Nika: ’The fuck does that mean?
Arden: Exactly.
In the back of the van, Rina freezes in shock. Not quite a priest. God, no. It can’t be.
Man: Does that mean something to one of you?
Nika takes one look at Rina, sees the engineer’s expression, and decides.
Nika: Never mind. Go. Give me the plan.
Man: Follow the vehicle. We’re gonna try another intercept.
Nika: On it.
Arden: Okay, I’ll follow it.
Nika: Go.
Arden pulls out and we follow the target.
Arden: What does ‘Not quite a priest’ mean?
Nika: Not now. Deal with that later.
We put on a little speed to make up for our delay on the comm. We gain on it.
Nika: (into the comm) Where are your people now?
The answer comes in fits and starts, as if the man on the other end is busy with something.
Man: There’s going to be a…detour. In about…two kilometers. Our…hope is we’ll be able to intercept it there.
Nika: I’m listening.
Man: You guys are—
Nika: (Interrupting) Give me one second.
She thinks really hard. There’s something familiar about this voice…but she can’t place it. If it’s who she thinks it is—no, no, too long ago. She doesn’t recognize him. He’s just another voice on the radio. Nika looks back at Rina. The other woman is quietly shitting bricks. Whoever this mystery man is, he’s someone to listen to.
Nika: Gimme the rest of it.
Man: (evenly) You’re just gonna have to play it by ear.
Nika: Oh, I love flying by the seat of my pants.
Man: You’ll know what to do.
Nika: You want this gorram truck in one piece?
Man: What?
Nika: Their truck. Not ours.
Man: That’s not essential.
Nika: Fine.
The line goes dead.
Arden looks up from the road.
Arden: We’ve got the RPG.
Rina: (snapping out of it) We sure do.
Nika: We can’t afford to lose the RPG to the truck if it turns out we need it for the catalyst.
Rina: That’s true.
Nika: Start pullin’ pistols.
We all check our pistols, make sure they’re loaded and to hand.
Nika: (growling) I hate this. Everything always goes this way.
We follow the target van and sure enough, it looks like Mystery Man has come through for us. There’s some sort of traffic jam up ahead. It’s a detour around an accident. Cops are on the scene to redirect traffic around the block. We catch up with our target.
Which all of a sudden slams on its brakes when it reaches the intersection, hard enough to make its tires stutter on the pavement. We can’t see what caused the target to stop suddenly but that doesn’t stop Nika from issuing orders.
Nika: Bounce it.
Arden: You want me to hit it?
Nika: Not hard. Just light. Give them a reason to pause and get out of the truck. (over her shoulder) Rina, hold on.
Rina: (grabbing on) Ma’am.
Nika: Hit him.
Rina: (to Arden) If I die, I’m coming back to haunt you.
Arden: (pointing at Nika) She’s the one who told me to.
Rina: I’m haunting her, too.
Nika: We need a nice little fender bender, is what we need. Rina. Knives.
We switch off to our blades. Rina pulls hers out of her left boot and slides it up her left sleeve, concealing the haft with her cuff.
Nika: (bitterly, to Rina) This is the part I hate. These poor bastards are just doin’ their jobs. And now they’re not going home.
Rina nods, and unzips her coveralls just far enough to allow her access to her gun.
Knowing full well that the chemicals we’re carrying are volatile and explosive, we drop our speed to ten miles an hour and hit the other van in the rear.
Bump!
A nice little fender bender, easy as you please.
The dust settles.
The people on the sidewalk react like all jaded metropolitans the ’Verse over: they look around when they hear the noise, assess the situation, and go on their way—it’s none of their business, move along. Except a couple of them are stopping at the front of the vehicle we’d struck, staring at something on the pavement that we can’t see.
Arden grabs the gun from his bag.
Nika: Rina. Knife. Go.
Nika points at Arden and bails out the passenger side. Rina jumps out from the rear and catches up with Arden who’s already striding up the sidewalk. The guys in the van ahead of us are looking around in classic what-the-hell? confusion and though they have side view mirrors mounted, they really aren’t expecting Rina and Nika to flank them. Arden stops in front of the van, Rina comes even with him.
And her heart stops.
Lying in front of the van, unconscious on the asphalt, is someone she knows.
Someone not quite a priest.
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