The impact stung up to his shoulder and had little effect on the attack. If he hadn’t twisted to the side, he would’ve gotten stabbed. She had to be chromed up underneath her corpsec uniform. She continued her assault, her arm picking up speed and her series of quick slashes forcing Yu to retreat into the room.
He couldn’t let the fight continue. She could notify security any second if she hadn’t already. He feigned a stumble, luring the guard into trying a heavy stab. He fell faster, dropping under the strike and grabbing her wrist in his cyberarm as he approached the ground. His fingers tightened, applying more pressure than any normal limb could take. He yanked down at the same time, adding all of his strength to the weight of his falling body.
The guard lurched forward, unable to support them both from her compromised position. Yu used that moment to swing his legs around and snap his foot into the side of her forward knee. Her knee caved, and she crashed to the ground. Yu rolled out of the way, keeping his hand on her wrist to make sure he didn’t find the knife in his side.
The guard cried out, the sound making Yu hiss in frustration. He reached out and grabbed her head, picking it up and slamming it into the ground to stun her. As her head rolled from one side to the other, he dragged her back into the server room by her wrist, yanking off her commlink and shortwave radio. If she had body mods, there was nothing he could do to restrain her, at least not on short notice. The best he could do was get distance on her.
He slammed the door shut, not caring about the noise it created now, and smashed the maglock a couple of times with his fist, hoping it might at least slow her down.
The update from Zipfile reinforced Yu’s need to get off the floor with as much speed as he could manage. He sprinted around the corners, following the path he took with unerring accuracy. If he ran into another security force, there was no way he’d get away without a fight. He found himself missing the comforting weight of his handgun. Usually he hated the weapon and saw it as a last resort, but right now he couldn’t think of any better way to describe his situation.
Seeing the elevators around the next corner made him bust into a full-blown sprint. As he reached the doors, he doubled over and took several breaths as much from exertion as from fear. As he stood there, he realized there was no elevator call button or scanner to request access. The elevator doors stood next to a flat featureless wall.
He shook his head at his own stupidity. He should’ve checked this when he’d gotten off the elevator in the first place.
Rude chimed in with his standard solution.
Yu took a deep breath and ran down the hall again, heading toward the stairwell as directed by Zipfile. Even if they didn’t have a blueprint of this floor, it wasn’t like stairs could magically change location for one floor alone. The question was what type of security might be on that door.
“Freeze!” a deep voice shouted from down the hall, right before the heavy rattle of gunfire. Corpsec wasn’t waiting to see if he responded to the command.
Yu stumbled forward and swerved to the side, skinning his elbow as he slipped rounding a corner to get out of the path of the bullets.
Judging solely by the tone of voice, this was a new adversary. It didn’t matter if the earlier guard had sent out an alert, this one had had more than enough time to do so. It was only a matter of time before the entire security force would be coming after him. So much for a quick job and getting out before anyone noticed he was there. Now Yu needed to improvise, and do so without endangering his allies. They didn’t have enough information to come in with guns blazing. The risk would be too great. He needed to at least mitigate their risk before calling them in.
Not to mention he’d never hear the end of it.
At least the corpsec guard couldn’t keep up with his pace. That additional armor came at a cost, and Yu pressed his advantage as much as he could, sprinting until his lungs burned with each heavy panting breath. He ducked around every corner he came to, making sure his path kept him going in the general direction of the stairwell. He didn’t want to take too meandering of a path because seconds mattered.
When he reached the door, luck swung once again, this time turning in his favor. The door was locked, but had an emergency release on this side. It seemed like all of those mandated safety regulations had a positive side to them as far as runners were concerned.
He slammed his shoulder into it, bursting through and rushing to the stairs. As he put his hands on the railing and prepped to jump down to the next landing, he hesitated.
Logic and fear both said to go down, which meant that would be where they expected him to go. If he couldn’t be picked up on camera, then he might blend in by going upstairs. It might be unconventional, but it also just might work. Rather than jumping down a flight, Yu leaped up the stairs, taking them four at a time until he had climbed two stories. He stood on the landing, taking short but deep, explosive breaths to calm down. Once he could take normal breaths and didn’t feel new beads of sweat forming along the sides of his face, he opened the door and stepped into the hall beyond.
A couple of wageslaves in the area looked up from their displays when he stepped out of the stairwell into their cramped office area. They went back to their tasks, continuing to work for their corporate overlords and attempting to keep from falling behind. Yu understood their dedication and fear, having seen it plenty of times in the past with those who worked for the Triads. If they didn’t perform, they would be let go. And if that happened, finding another corporate job would be impossible. Their previous employer would guarantee it.
Yu kept his eyes pointed forward, putting a slight scowl on his face. Very few people wanted to interrupt a manager who looked irritated and overworked. That was a sure way to get more tasks put in your inbox, and that was the best-case scenario. The entire corporate environment was one of fear, something Yu knew how to manipulate to his advantage.
As he walked through the floor, he soaked in as many details as he could, looking for eye twitches, nervous ticks, sudden intakes of breath. Anything that might indicate reason for alarm. But it looked like Zipfile’s assumption was correct. The news of his interference had not appeared to reach the employees on this level.
Yu lengthened his stride, increasing his pace without looking like he rushed through the aisles. He almost bumped into a dwarf carrying a stack of papers. With a spin, he avoided impact and snarled in Cantonese. The dwarf muttered an apology, backing out of his way even after he passed. The trick was to growl and snap at people dressed worse than you were. Clothes served as a measure of status, provided one knew how to read the subtle language of fashion.
“—Did you hear about what’s going on?” Yu caught a snippet of con
versation as one wageslave leaned over a divider and talked to his neighbor. “I just heard from Shane on 21. He said corpsec’s locking down the entire floor.”
Yu’s jaw clenched, but he forced himself to keep his steady pace on his way to the elevators. The news spread like wildfire, radiating out from the source in waves. He managed to stay ahead of it, but heard the rumors following behind him. If it had already spread to this floor, it was a safe bet that soon the entire building would hear about it. And once that happened, he imagined it wouldn’t be long before Telestrian saw no reason not to spread his face around as well.
When he reached the elevator and pressed the button, every ounce of him wanted to fidget. But he tapped into the calm spirit he had learned standing in front of criminal syndicates as a child. It took more than this to rattle his nerves enough for others to see it. His insides may have been jumping around like crazy, but he saw no reason to give that information to any observers.
The doors opened, and he expected to be staring down an elevator full of corpsec. Instead he saw a few scientists and business officials. Yu gave a brief nod of acknowledgment, keeping the scowl on his face and stepping in before jamming the button for the ground floor, even though someone had already pressed it. It helped to maintain his image and discourage others from engaging him in conversation. Everything in life was an act.
The elevator began dropping, and Yu couldn’t help clenching his fist as they passed the 21st floor, but didn’t slow down. He dared to hope this might work. They stopped a couple of times to let on passengers and let others off, but it wasn’t long before the doors opened onto the ground floor.
Yu stepped out first, getting ahead of the other travelers. He passed through the security station. The guards had their attention focused outward still, not looking at the people exiting the building. Yu passed through and walked into the largest cluster of people, blending into the crowd and then working toward the exit, avoiding the large open area in the center.
It took a few minutes, but when he stepped out of the building, his pace was easy and he didn’t feel a need to look over his shoulder. Emu’s vehicle sat next to the curb up at the end of the block. Yu walked over and climbed inside, Emu easing into traffic as soon as the door closed.
Rude twisted around in his seat, an impressive and uncomfortable feat considering his size. “I’m impressed, elfy-pants. Thought I was gonna have to go in and save your ass.”
“I know you find it hard to believe, but I can take care of myself, no matter what Frostburn says sometimes.” Yu smirked, then winced when a flash of pain lanced through his side.
He reached down and probed it with his fingers, feeling a tear in his clothes along with some wetness. He didn’t need to look at it to know the moisture seeping into his clothes was blood. One of the bullets must have caught him. He assumed his adrenaline kept him from being aware of the injury.
It was a good thing he wore a dark suit to hide it from the wageslaves. Otherwise, no amount of posturing would’ve gotten him through that floor without incident.
“Don’t suppose you have a patch? Looks like I’ve gone and found religion.”
When Rude furrowed his brow together, Yu brought his fingers around, showing the blood. “You know, because I’m so hole-y?”
Rude growled and shook his head, the scowl on his face making it seem like he wanted to put more holes in his companion. He fished around in a pouch and grabbed a patch, hurling it at Yu before turning around and facing front.
Yu grabbed the patch and applied it, the drugs seeping into his system about the same time he became aware of the pain. It dulled the edge of it and kept his mind sharp.
“So you completed the job. What next?” Emu asked.
“Next we head back to the safehouse, and I contact the Johnson and let him know the job is done and arrange for final payment.”
He looked in the rearview mirror, making eye contact with Emu and sharing their unspoken agreement. He knew she had kept his secret about that payment. As much as he didn’t want to share the information, it was a relief to share the burden with someone he trusted.
“Sounds like a plan. I like getting paid to do nothin’.”
As they reconvened at the safehouse, Yu went to his private room to contact the Johnson. He needed some measure of privacy to finish the last step of negotiations.
Mr. Johnson picked up at the first ping. “Is it done?” he asked, cutting right to the root of the matter. The connection was audio only.
“Yes. Delivered the package just a few minutes ago. I trust you’ve put things in place for the final payment?”
“Of course. Once I verify the contents of the package delivery, I will put in the final call. I trust you would like to observe the final result?”
Yu hesitated. He hadn’t considered this before. Some part of him wanted to watch the BTL dealers get taken out. It would be helpful to guarantee they were removed once and for all. Otherwise, the Johnson could easily claim to have taken care of the problem and not do anything at all. How would Yu confirm what happened? If anything, the corp would do whatever it could to prevent such an incident from becoming public knowledge. It reflected poorly on their business and reputation was one of the most valuable currencies to a corporation.
But if he were honest with himself, he couldn’t deny that part of him wanted to watch for the satisfaction of watching them being dispatched and their illicit cargo torched. When it came down to it, it wasn’t a choice.
“Yes. I need to verify the completion of the deal, just like you. Otherwise, how can we trust each other and continue to do business?” He didn’t know if the Johnson believed his excuse. It sounded probable, but in the end, he didn’t care.
“Very well. Assuming successful package delivery, then I will arrange for the incident to be carried out at 2100 this evening. The later hour increases the chances of a greater presence. I would prefer to teach the perpetrators a lesson, and not just confiscate the cargo. After all, there is our reputation to consider.”
“A pleasure doing business with you.” Yu cut the connection and collapsed on the bed. It looked like the entire plan had gone off without a hitch. Whatever the package was, it had been delivered, and was no longer his problem. Let the corporations play their games. The more they stabbed at each other, the more work for him and his teammates, and the more opportunity for the Triad to benefit. And if he could indulge his personal vendetta in the process, why not?
Sitting up, he transferred twenty-five hundred nuyen from his personal account into their group account. It would hurt, but he had the savings to spare right now. And this way they wouldn’t ask questions. For the moment, only Emu knew his secret, and he preferred to keep it that way.
Walking out into the main room, the other members of the team turned to him.
Yu flashed an easy grin at them. “Good job, team. We got a bit of a bonus. Not much, but I worked my magic and a little something is better than nothing. We’ll give it an even split, and I’ll let one of you pick the next job. Who knows, maybe know we’ll get one of the big ones. Client said he was happy with our work. It doesn’t hurt to have a name like Renraku willing to back us.”
The team nodded their assent and went back to their personal business and conversations. The job was finished, now was the time to relax before the inevitable looking for more work. Part of the price for being a shadowrunner.
Zipfile came up to Yu. “I’m going to head down to The Sports Bar again tonight. Want to come along and see if you can win another round?”
Yu shook his head. “Maybe another time. I need to see if Emu’s willing to shuttle me around for a bit. Plus, I have to buy her dinner or something, makeup for wrecking one of her drones.”
“Suit yourself!”
Frostburn retreated to her room, and Rude left without telling anyone where he was going, leaving the two of them alone for the moment.
“You need a lift to the warehouse, don’t you?”
“How�
��d you guess?”
“Figured you’d want to make sure the Johnson kept his end of the bargain. I don’t like this. I don’t like you going out alone and not having backup. You know what Johnsons are like, always looking for a chance to double-cross. This is your final payment you’re going out to pick up. How many times has that gone sour?”
“Only twice. And three more times where it might’ve if Rude hadn’t been there. I get your point, but this is different. The Johnson doesn’t know where I’ll be. I’ll be in the shadows far away, keeping an eye on things. As far as he’s concerned, our business is done, and we have no reason to contact each other.”
“If you say so. I’m just letting you know I don’t like it.”
“Does that mean you won’t give me a lift?”
Emu tilted her head down so she could glare at him through her eyebrows. “And leave you to take a rideshare that’s going to dump you and jet, or give you reason to go seducing some woman just so you can use her car? No thanks. I’ve seen you drive.”
The hours passed with painful slowness, and Yu considered letting time slip by a bit faster with a dip into his stash, but his righteous rage kept him from doing so. He wanted to be focused when the BTL dealers were dispatched, and didn’t want to risk still being high when that time came. Instead, he went to the Vigilant Iron Schooling House, using the hours to train until he worked up a heavy sweat, and then trained some more. After several sparring matches, he cleaned up and went back to the safehouse to meet with Emu before heading out.
The ride over to West Seattle was quiet. Yu tumbled over his own thoughts, analyzing them to the point where he didn’t even register Emu’s presence. She kept silent, giving him the opportunity to self-reflect.
When they got nearby, she pulled over to the side of the road a few blocks away. “You know, I can dispatch a drone, and you don’t even need to get close.”
The Frame Job, Part 1: Yu Page 5