Drop Zone

by Amanda Carlson

  Mina trailed her best friend in the entire world. “You’re never moving on. You’re stuck with me. For. Life. Who’s not being a realist now?”

  “Try me and see.”

  Chapter 2

  “Lee, this place is fantastic!” Mina exclaimed. It really was. The rooms were bright and airy with high ceilings. Even though the overall space was compact, it had a comfortable, lived-in feel. The standard residence furnishings were colorful, but not overwhelming.

  She walked to the four good-sized solar-catch windows that spanned the living area. “The view is incredible, too. Very spec. You’re high enough to see over most of the standard high-rises. I can see the harbor in the distance and some greenery from Atlas Park. Well done.”

  “Thanks,” Lee replied, his face one big, beaming smile. “I’m really happy. I know it’s not huge, but it’s so much bigger than my last residence. I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do with all the space.”

  Kaylee picked up a decorative bowl, arching an eyebrow at Mina. “This is pretty. I love all your personal decor items, Lee. Really makes the place feel homey.”

  Mina chuckled. “Way to rub it in.”

  Lee bobbed his head between the two of them, obviously missing what was happening. “It was my mom’s. It was passed down from her mom. I think my great-grandmother used to put sweets in it or something. I’m not sure.”

  “Personal items make a place sparkle,” Kaylee said, turning to mouth, “See?” at Mina.

  “Kaylee is just picking on me,” she told Lee as she eyed a pretty vase. This one was purple glass, perfectly symmetrical, not at all weird. Lee did have a lot of personal things, and they looked nice. “Don’t egg her on. She thinks it’s weird I don’t have many sentimental items in my residence.”

  “Try zero,” Kaylee said. “Not weird, just sorta bot-like. I always thought you were an air breather. Maybe not? Come over here so I can take your temperature.”

  “Har,” Mina quipped. “And I do have sentimental stuff. I just haven’t unpacked it all yet. It’s in a box in my utility closet where the mover bots put it. I told you, I haven’t had time. I’ve only been in that place for a few weeks, but I plan to at some point.”

  “How long have those special items been in that particular box?” Kaylee asked, hands on her hips. “I’m thinking since you moved out of your parents’ residence. I’ve certainly never seen a single speck of anything.”

  “Possibly. Does it really matter? Instead of being hung up on this, we should be oohing and aahing over Lee’s new residence,” Mina instructed.

  Kaylee was right. Her rightness wasn’t any less annoying. That aluminum storage box had remained unopened since Mina had moved out of her childhood home. She probably could’ve found the time to take some of the items out, but she hadn’t.

  Now she wondered what was in there. She’d completely forgotten.

  “Harmony Biggins is requesting entrance into the building,” a standard female sim intoned. “What are your orders?”

  “Allow access,” Lee answered.

  “Access confirmed.”

  Lee said, “I haven’t personalized my sim yet, but I’m planning to.”

  “Of course you are,” Mina said. “However, it might have to happen later.” She checked her cuff. “I sent Norm a message on our way over. They’re releasing him from the medi-unit within the hour. We need to be there. He can’t go back to his residence. McAllister is working on setting something up for him, but Norm is pushing back in typical Norm fashion. Says he’s fine and all that. Doesn’t want us to fuss.”

  “You mean fuss enough to keep him alive so a monster mobster doesn’t slice him into tiny, decorative ribbons?” Kaylee said.

  “Exactly,” Mina said. “I’m going to have to convince him he has to go somewhere safe until we figure out a plan.” It was going to take some creative persuading, but Mina would prevail. She was crafty like that.

  “Maybe Pormal?” Lee questioned. “I don’t think the Syndicate has ties there.”

  Mina considered the idea. “They might not have contacts inside Pormal itself, but they definitely do in the outskirts, which is too close for my comfort.”

  “Yeah,” Lee said. “That’s true.”

  “Harmony Biggins has entered the tube and will be here in twenty seconds,” the sim said.

  Lee walked over to his door, placing his thumb on the government smudger, leaning his eye into a retinal scanner, grinning enough to break his teeth. Agents were required to have increased security. Lee was doing his best impression of a geek-out.

  But it wasn’t actually an impression, it was the real thing.

  He yanked the door open as the tube chimed.

  Mina could hear Harmony’s hoots from here.

  Kaylee shook her head. “Trying to teach that girl to keep a low profile is going to be the hardest thing I ever do.”

  “Karmaseeker, this is super-duper, mega, static spec!” Harmony bounded into the room, taking everything in, missing nothing. “I can’t wait for it to be my turn! Getting out of my stupid stinkhole will be a dream come true. But this”—she swept her arms around—“is heaven.” She walked over to Lee and clapped him on the back. “Well done.” She shoved something into his hands. “This is for you. Don’t make a big deal about it.” She skipped over to the windows to stand next to Mina. “Pretty sweet setup, huh?”

  Mina nodded. “The sweetest.”

  “When do you think, ah, it’ll be my turn?”

  “Slow down there, star-streaker extraordinaire.” Kaylee walked toward them, chuckling. “You’re not even out of the natal phase yet. Good things come to those who have more patience than a child hoarding treats. You’ve passed a few tests, nothing more. Agent Adams had to wait over a year and a half for this, not to mention he solved a case big enough to garner him a gold commendation.” She inclined her head toward Lee. “Well done, by the way. That was a super-fun party.” She swung back toward her mentee. “You, on the other hand, have some proving to do.”

  Harmony crossed her arms, one hip on its way to full jut. Mina was coming to understand that it was her most natural position.

  “You mean disarming a missile full of poisonous gas that could wipe out an entire city isn’t good enough? Or how about shutting down and reworking the vid feed of a Syndicate member?” She dropped her arms, taking on a pleading pose, clasping her hands in front of her, knees bent, bottom lip protruding. “Those two alone should at least grant me a level one in a boring housing unit. Anything would be better than what I have right now. You could sneeze, and my residence would fall over.”

  Mina burst out laughing. Kaylee had just said the same thing about the vase. “How can you two be the same person?” She glanced between the two of them, shaking her head.

  Kaylee rolled her eyes. Harmony went back to arm crossing, hip jutting, and foot tapping.

  “Harmony, you’re welcome to take up a housing request with Director McAllister,” Mina said. “It’s up to him to decide timing, levels, and everything else. For now, let’s all take a quick tour of Lee’s place, then he and I need to get moving. Norm’s being released soon. We need to be there.” She threw her some small hope. “I bet if you help us bring down a fixer of the Syndicate, you’ll get approved for a new residence in no time.”

  A gurgle came from Lee, and they all turned to look.

  He held a small, square piece of tech in his hands, glancing down at it in awe. He slowly brought his head up, homing in on Harmony. “Is this…a Jupiter sonic accelerometer?”

  “It is,” Harmony answered. “I told you not to make a big deal about it.”

  “But…but,” Lee sputtered. “There’s only, like, three of them in existence.”

  “What’s a Jupiter phonic accelerometer?” Kaylee asked as she and Mina moved toward Lee to see what it was.

  “Sonic,�
�� Harmony said. “And there are actually five. I know, because I only made five. They measure microvibrations in the gravitational constant.”

  Mina was a little worried that Lee might fall over in his ecstasy. She moved closer to brace for it.

  “You made these?” He was as incredulous as Mina had ever seen him. He looked down at the tiny cube in his hand, his face full of wonder.

  “Yeppers,” Harmony replied. “I spent a lot of years by myself with my dad’s toolkit.” Her father, Strum Littlefield, was a renowned hacker who’d just gotten sprung from many years in a box. Mina hoped their reunion was going well. Seemed like it was. “It helped that he’d already figured out how to build one. I just finished his work. It’s not that overly complicated, other than, of course, my technocoded software. There’s a super-tiny sonic aural transmitter that measures dynamic acceleration through the—”

  Kaylee held up her hand. “Okay. I’m going to have to stop you two right there. Although this conversation is hyper fun and supes scintillating, we have an ex-marshal to save and a Syndicate fixer to fix.” She gestured at Lee. “Show us the rest of your place, then we’re streaking out.”

  Harmony and Lee bopped their heads together as they walked, continuing to chatter about the exciting, five-of-a-kind tech.

  Mina cackled. “Who knew we’d be enjoying domestic duties together like shopping for home goods, buying practical gifts, and trying to keep our children in line? Oh, how times have changed.”

  “Very funny,” Kaylee groused. “We are not those people. We don’t buy lamps, and we don’t enjoy practicality. But at least your kid listens. Mine’s going to spend all her time trying to dig herself out of the naughty sinkholes she keeps jumping into.”

  “No, she’s not.” Mina chuckled. “I adore her energy. Not to mention her brilliance. She’s just young. But she’s completely moldable. You’ve done an excellent job so far.” They came to a stop, glancing in to see Lee’s impressive sleep room. It was roomy with a good-sized platform and a sleep pod. “Wow, Lee,” she said. “Have enough beds in here?”

  Her partner blushed. “I…um…I requested a sleep pod, which the residence delivered, but they, um, left the platform.” He scratched his head. “I have to figure out what to do with it.”

  Harmony hopped on top, giving it a few quick bounces. “I wish I had room for this at my place. It’s totally phantasmic.” She cocked her head at Kaylee. “But my place is a teensy, tiny little elemental cave. This thing would take up all my remaining space.”

  “Your living arrangements are not up to me,” Kaylee answered primly. “As Agent Kane so nicely detailed, help bring this Syndicate asshelmet down, then we’ll talk.”

  “That shouldn’t be too hard.” Harmony sprang off the platform, the rust-color sheets now mussed. “The guy’s basically under residence arrest. We’ve got time to play.”

  “I don’t know if we’re going to be given the authority to pursue this,” Mina said. “First thing we have to do is talk to Norm and shuttle him somewhere safe. Did McAllister say anything to you two about plans moving forward?” Mina and Lee had left the scene to attend their audit, while Kaylee, Harmony, and Vince had figured out a way to make it look like Norm had broken out of Wilbert Waterbury’s residence.

  Kaylee shook her head. “Nope. I think everybody is just waiting to hear what Webb has to say.”

  Mina glanced at Lee, giving him a nod. “We have to get a hold of McAllister before we meet Norm. Do you want to do it on your new screen? Or should I call him on my cuff?”

  Lee smiled enthusiastically, on top of an already enthusiastic grin. “Let’s do it on a screen. The biggest one is out in the living area.”

  He led the way, and Harmony skipped after him. “My screen is like a junked craft blew up and one of its panels attached to my wall.”

  Once they were all assembled, Lee put in the call.

  “Agent Adams,” McAllister said. “Is this a new-residence celebration?”

  “A small one,” Lee replied. “I just arrived a few hours ago.”

  McAllister scanned the room. “Looks like a great space. Congratulations.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Lee said.

  “Norman Webb is going to be released within the hour,” McAllister said.

  Mina nodded. “We’re planning on being there. Have you found a safe place to keep him?”

  “Not yet,” McAllister said gruffly. “I wanted him installed in a safe room at Government One so we could keep a better eye on him until we see what Waterbury’s next move will be, but he’s turned us down.”

  Sounded like Norm.

  “It’s going to be a bit of a struggle to get him to consent to protection, because he prides himself on his well-honed evasion tactics,” Mina said. “But I plan on winning that argument. Have we gotten approval to investigate Waterbury yet?” Mina didn’t want to sound too hopeful, but a little hope rang through anyway.

  Their boss frowned. “I’ve put in a request, but have not received any confirmation. I cannot sanction a full government operation until then.”

  “That’s unfortunate,” Mina said. “Wilbert is going to visit his residence this afternoon and find Norm gone. It would be optimal if we were there to capture the moment.”

  “I agree,” he said. “But to buy us more time, I plan to have the counselors restrict Waterbury’s movement until late this afternoon. A full day, if they can manage. But that might be unrealistic, as he will understand that there’s been interference within the system, which we don’t want.”

  Mina nodded. “Did you get my request about funding Phineas Raphael’s vacation?” Mr. Raphael, a civilian, had allowed them to use his residence at the Meridian, Waterbury’s high-rise, the day prior. Mina didn’t want him embroiled with anything to do with the Syndicate.

  “I did, and I’m looking into it.”

  “Vince is putting him up at The Bella for now. The colonel has also let me know that we have further permission to use Mr. Raphael’s residence for the remainder of this operation, if we so desire.”

  Mina didn’t want to think about what that was costing Vince, but she was thankful for it.

  “Noted. I will make that decision after we have a debrief from Norman Webb,” McAllister said. “The details of his capture and torture are to be recorded on a veribox and reported immediately. That evidence will help me secure this case. If you can locate a place he’ll agree to go to for safe keeping after your interview, all the better. Agent Poston and Harmony Biggins, I want you at headquarters. I have a small op for you to complete. If we get authorization to deal with Waterbury, all four of you will be working together.” He addressed Mina. “What about Colonel Kramer? If he wants to continue with this investigation, he has my approval.”

  “I’ll pass that along when I speak with him,” Mina said. “I’m sure he’ll appreciate being included.” She resisted the urge to check her cuff for messages. She’d approved his calls to go straight through this morning and would’ve heard if he’d called.

  McAllister nodded. “I’ll be expecting a report soon. That is all.”

  Chapter 3

  It wasn’t surprising to find Norman Webb standing alone on the roof of Government Four, appearing disgruntled and a little put out when Mina and Lee arrived.

  The drone door opened.

  “Save it, Webb,” Mina instructed, corking any excuses before they spilled out of him. “Get your backside in this craft so we can talk.”

  Norm leaned over, refraining from actually boarding, calling, “I told you I don’t need any guarding! I’m fine. I know how to protect myself. You told me the kid left town. So we’re good. Go complete an op that matters.”

  “So help me,” Mina started, “if you don’t get inside this drone in the next three seconds, I’m leaking a juicy story to the media about how you have an uncontrollable…feline addiction.” It was th
e best she could come up with on short notice. “Ex-marshal of the US government is obsessed with his four-legged friends. His residence is crawling with them. The smell is atrocious. His neighbors complain about constant meowing. I can see it splashed everywhere. The goss rags love that kind of stuff. They eat it up. They’ll probably give you some snappy moniker, like Catman Webb or Hissy-Fit Norm. I’m sure the younger generation you work out with at the exercise dome will think it’s hysterical, particularly when it flashes across all the screens while you’re all there together.” Lee blinked at Mina’s thin attempt to shame the ex-marshal into compliance. She shrugged, muttering to her partner, “You got anything better?”

  “No,” Lee answered. “But look, here he comes.” In a lower tone, he asked, “Can you do something like that? Leak a fake story to the media?”

  “Not exactly.” Soft stories such as the one she just described aired all the time. Nobody took them that seriously. The government had a direct line to the media, but Mina wouldn’t use it for something so frivolous. “Don’t think for a second he fell for it either. He’s just too worn out to put up a real fight.”

  Norm moved with a minor limp, one of his arms pressed close to his side. Other than that, he had no outward appearance of the injuries he’d sustained at the hands of Wilbert Waterbury, a presumed fixer for the Syndicate. It was mildly surprising, as his injuries had been egregious. Multiple fractures, bruised ribs, a mild concussion, and a puncture wound that had caused him to lose a lot of blood. It was amazing how far medical technology and healing had come.