by Mel Odom
The weight of the pistol felt reassuring. I didn’t think getting weapons would be difficult in Hong Kong. Nothing really was. But I had to have connections. And those were in short supply at the moment. Trust was the hardest commodity to find in the shadows.
The Guardian held twelve rounds and could be fired on single-shot or burst mode. This one was heavily chromed, a rent-a-cop showpiece, but still a serviceable weapon. I just preferred something more old school, less showy and not so high-maintenance.
Shielding my face against the downpour—and also covering my features in case the sec guard noticed his missing pistol and might remember what I looked like—I climbed the concrete stairs to the pier. A helicopter roared by overhead, temporarily drowning out the engine noise stuttering from the vessels chugging through the black harbor chop.
Standing there for a moment, I looked around and took in the sights. The pier was pure working class, no frills. I wondered what the woman and her guards were doing there, and did the math easy: nothing good. Not this late at night, not in this place.
The wind whipped around me, plucking at my duster and filling my nose with the raw stink of the ocean, sewage, diesel exhaust, spicy street food, and chem traces from industries ringing the port. Space was limited in Hong Kong, and every square meter was used to make a profit. The odor was enough to make my stomach lurch, but I kept everything down.
I started walking forward, wondering where to go next. The old man hadn’t left me any clues except for the city I now stood in.
A man called out my current SIN name, and I turned toward him, my hand slipping beneath my jacket for the butt of my new pistol.
A young guy wearing the water taxi’s colors carried a scuffed leather duffel to me. “Sorry for the inconvenience, sir.” He spoke in English. “We were supposed to deliver this to you on boarding, but the weather has been harsh.”
Before I took the duffel, I glanced at the handwriting on the ID tag tied to the grip. That was my SIN name, but below it someone had written the name I’d carried when living with Duncan and the old man.
I took the bag and slipped him a few nuyen as a tip, but not enough to be remembered. He thanked me and hurried back to the water taxi.
I glanced around, checking to see if anyone had developed any special interest in me, but everyone—including the old woman and her entourage—busily scampered to get out of the rain. All of them were soaked and couldn’t get any wetter, but they were in denial.
I took the ID tag out of its plastic case, let the rain soak the paper, then smeared the wet ink so that it became illegible. I moved on, keeping an eye on the sec guards ahead of me, waiting for the moment the guy noticed I’d liberated his piece. He never did.
Spotting a work site on the left side of the pier, I sank into the shadows and examined the duffel. I couldn’t find any booby traps or tracking electronics, and I was just sensitive enough to magic to know when I was in the presence of something truly dangerous.
None of which guaranteed that I hadn’t picked up something from the duffel. Still, curiosity is a powerful thing, and no one I knew had both of my SIN names. I believed the duffel could only have come from the old man.
I worked the zipper and found a full suit of new black ballistic-proof weave body armor just my size inside. I stood in the shadows under the new construction going up and got dressed. A note fluttered out from the bottom of the bag:
BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY.
—D.
The “D” puzzled me. The old man had never referred to himself as “Dad,” not even during the message he’d left me on the comm. But maybe he’d used that to mislead anyone else who might have gotten their hands on the duffel.
Either that, or the “D” stood for Duncan, and I wasn’t ready to go there yet. Duncan was in no way prepared for anything Raymond was involved in. Not with the old man sounding the way he had on the call. Whatever he’d gotten tied up in, I wasn’t sure I wanted any part of it. And I knew if it was too much to tackle by myself, I’d leave him in it. I was cold enough to do that. Duncan wasn’t.
I told myself Duncan wasn’t there because I wanted to keep my scouting mission as simple as possible. Get in, get a look, and if things looked too bad, get out again.
Dressed in the body armor, feeling more like my old self than I had in years, I covered it all with the jacket. I’d intentionally bought the garment large to cover armor. I just hadn’t known I’d be putting my hands on a suit so soon.
I tossed the duffel and my old clothes in a nearby trash dumpster and walked back to the pier.
Back on the pier, everyone gone now, hustling away from the rain and toward whatever waited for them in Hong Kong, I stuck to the shadows. Then I noticed two people walking toward the end of the pier. That bothered me instantly. The water taxi wouldn’t be back for at least an hour or so.
No one would wait in the rain that long for a ride.
I shifted to the low-light vision I’d upgraded to before I’d gotten imprisoned. I wasn’t a big believer in cyber augmentation, but there were some bits that weren’t too invasive and were way too useful to ignore. They were just expensive.
Even with the enhanced vision, all I could tell about the pair was that one was an ork and the other was an elf. He was big and bulky, probably street muscle, and she was curvy. What she was beyond that remained to be seen.
I took a fresh grip on the Guardian and kept walking.
Just as I was about to pass, the ork looked at me. Then he called out my name. The one only the old man and Duncan had known.
Chapter 4
The Partners
The ork faced me with his hand resting on the big pistol he carried. Even though sheathed in a long coat and body armor, his thick muscles were still obvious. His lean features looked challenging and unforgiving—and familiar. Wraparound sunglasses covered his eyes, the lenses chem-treated so the rain slid away immediately.
His partner held her pistol at her side. She wore sunglasses too, but I knew she was looking at me with cop’s eyes. I couldn’t mistake that much instant disapproval.
“I don’t know anyone by that name,” I said automatically. The name was common enough that my response was instantly a lie to anyone who had half a brain.
“I know you.” Despite the ork’s tough guy attitude, he smiled a little. He also looked worried. “We’ve been watching for you.”
My first impulse was to walk on. I would have, too, except in that moment I recognized him.
Duncan.
He’d gotten even bigger since I’d last seen him. He’d been fifteen eight years ago, already coming into his full growth, but he was easily a head taller now. He’d obviously been working out too, and whatever regimen he was following evidently agreed with him. He was taller and heavier than I was, and moved with a smooth glide that told me he was probably cybered, too.
“Duncan.” I said his name softly, but it reached him.
“Well, don’t you look like shit.”
I spread my hands and shrugged. In addition to the water taxi ride, the unfamiliar stenches that surrounded me, and the hours spent without sleep the last day or so, the surprise of seeing Duncan there—of knowing he was unknown to me and probably still in danger—made my stomach lurch. I barely kept it down.
“Green’s not really your color,” Duncan said. “Doesn’t go with that nice new armor you have.”
“I guess I have you to thank for it.”
“Yeah. From the way Raymond sounded, I figured we’d need to armor up.”
“How’d you know I was coming?” I didn’t want this reunion. Not like this. Not walking in blind. Not in front of Duncan’s partner, whoever she was.
“I didn’t. Not for sure. It’s been eight years.” He smiled, but still kept his distance, and his hand on the pistol. “Raymond said he was reaching out to you.”
“Where is the old man?” I wasn’t ready to be around family. Too many questions would be asked about where I’d been. The old man
probably knew, but he probably wouldn’t have told Duncan anything about it. Like me, he’d tried to protect Duncan from the world.
Duncan shook his head. “That’s what we’re in Hong Kong to find out. We arrived a couple hours ago.”
I looked at the woman. “‘We?’”
“My partner and me,” Duncan said. “Look, I don’t feel like standing around out here in the open. Too many skels out walking the streets, even on a night like this. We gotta find Raymond.”
“Find Raymond?” I shook my head, then looked around. “I thought he’d be here.”
“He never showed up.” Duncan frowned. “I don’t know if he was planning on it.” He focused on me. “I don’t know what he told you.”
“Not much. Just that he was in Hong Kong working on some old business.”
“I don’t suppose he told you what business that was?”
“Did he tell you?”
Duncan spat a curse. “No.” He kept up the tough guy attitude, but I knew him. Used to know him, anyway. I felt certain he was hurting. The old man had never been a guy who played games. He’d never hidden anything from Duncan and me.
Except for everything he’d done before that night he took us in.
That wasn’t exactly true, though. The old man had lived in Seattle for a while. He had a history there. But it only went back twenty-five years. The old man had had friends, but not many, and none who knew him well. We had no idea where he’d been before that. I hadn’t cared during the time I lived there. I was only looking for food and shelter, and a way out when I was ready.
Looking back now, maybe I should have been more suspicious. But I’d been focused on me once Duncan had been taken off my hands.
“When’s the last time you saw him?” I asked.
“A few weeks ago. Before I got his message telling us to meet him here. I’d been working a lot, so I hadn’t been by the house in a while.” Maybe no one else would have heard it, but I heard the guilt in Duncan’s words.
“How was he?”
Duncan bit his lower lip between his tusks, and that reminded me of the kid I’d spent two years trying to keep alive on the streets. “He’s not the same. Raymond hasn’t been himself in a long time.”
“How so?”
“He’s been restless. Staying in his study, inside his own head a lot. And he barely sleeps anymore.” Duncan took in a big breath and let it out. “I’ve been worried about him, but I haven’t figured out what to do about it.”
Part of me wanted to comfort him, but I knew I couldn’t do that because he was too aware that he didn’t know me anymore. His hand still stayed close by his pistol.
Even though all I saw were those red lenses, his eyes pierced me as he focused on me. “And I didn’t have a brother to turn to. Hell—wasn’t too sure you were even still alive, until Raymond managed to track down your number.”
For a moment, the tense silence hung between us, then the woman broke it. Her voice was soft but controlled, and no-nonsense, too. She was used to being in charge. “We should get going, Duncan. Head back to the meeting point in case your dad shows up.”
At her words, Duncan squared up in military precision. “Copy that, Sarge.”
The response surprised me, and I spoke before I knew I was going to. “‘Sarge?’”
The woman bristled liked I’d challenged her, but kept herself in check. “Carter. Seattle Lone Star. I’m Duncan’s partner.” She smiled a little, but it was cold, a mask to set lesser minds at ease. She was pretty. Dark hair framed her elegant face, and tattoos showed against the pale skin on her forehead and neck. “And superior officer. I let him carry my coffee for me sometimes…write my parking tickets…that kinda thing.”
Looking closer now, I could see the body armor they wore was Lone Star issue. The private security firm had a rep as one of the toughest in the biz.
“I figured I could use some backup,” Duncan said. “Didn’t know what Ray’d gotten himself into, and I wasn’t sure you were gonna show up.”
There was no way to miss the accusation in his voice, and I couldn’t help but respond a little heatedly. “Well, surprise. Here I am.”
For a moment, the quiet returned, and all I could hear was the rain pecking away at the pier like a thousand sparrows.
“Yeah, well, I wasn’t so sure, you know?” Duncan’s face relaxed a little. “Hey look, I’m glad you’re here. Seriously. But I’m gonna need some time to get used to having you around again. Been a while since I heard from you, know what I mean?”
I knew what he meant. He didn’t like it that the old man had a way to get in touch with me and he didn’t. I knew he felt like I’d betrayed him. Hell, I felt like I’d betrayed him, too. But he couldn’t have survived in the life I chose for myself.
Him signing on with Lone Star proved that. Duncan preferred the straight and narrow, and the old man had helped keep him there.
When I’d first left the old man’s house, when I’d walked away from Duncan, I hadn’t adjusted well. It took me a while to get to sleep at nights because I was always thinking about them, wondering if the kid was doing okay. Being in lockdown had made those nights even harder. I’d left, sure, but I didn’t know if I’d ever really pulled away. But I’d definitely tried.
“Yeah,” I told him. “We’ll talk about it later, okay?”
I could tell Duncan wanted to talk about it now. That was how he’d always been; always wanting to deal with problems, questions, and mysteries immediately. Not put them off.
I couldn’t help wondering how that attitude was working for him at Lone Star. Still, he was here now with a pretty elf sergeant, and they were both way out of their jurisdiction. He had to have something working for him.
“Yeah,” he replied. “Okay.” Definitely not happy. “Let’s just find Raymond. He was supposed to meet us in the plaza on the other side of this pier.”
“The sooner we find him, the sooner you all can have a big happy family reunion over dinner.” Carter smiled. “And the sooner I can find a place to get a drink around here.”
Duncan took his hand away from his pistol and smiled as well. “Damn right.” He walked toward the other end of the pier.
Carter followed and I brought up the rear.
In the distance, downtown Hong Kong was a forest of neon-lit towers. Helicopters and drones flickered through the dark night around them like glowing bugs drawn to the lights.
The old man used to say that Hong Kong was like a serpent that rose from the sea, that the scales were equal parts old and new, equally corp greed and government corruption, that no one could find the head or the tail in all the twisted coils that ran through the streets.
I saw it then, the skyscrapers reaching for the dark, lightning-lit heavens, and the small houses tucked into the shadows that filled the streets, the houseboats and fishing boats where generations of families were born and lived and died.
Yet somehow, in the middle of all this, Duncan and I were expected to find out what trouble the old man was in.
Before it found us.
Chapter 5
Smugglers
A short distance farther on, a massive alloy sec gate blocked our path. Mesh fences topped with sec cameras and razor wire created a corridor that ringed us on both sides, except for paths to the new construction, and those went nowhere.
Duncan walked to the gates and shoved. Nothing happened. “Huh. Well that was open earlier.” He looked around. “Looks pretty solid.”
“Shouldn’t there be someone here to let us out, or something?” I asked.
Swiveling his head, Duncan swept the pier with his gaze. “Yeah, smells funny, don’t it?”
“Who knows?” Carter said. “It’s Hong Kong. Not exactly sure how things work around here.”
I studied the gates, then looked to the left, where the sec shack sat. The darkened windows immediately warned me something was wrong. I caught Duncan’s eye and nodded at the guard post. “The lights are off.”
Duncan grimaced. “Could be a power outage.”
“Yeah.” I didn’t put much belief in my response.
Duncan still knew me well enough to read between the lines. His hand drifted down for his pistol. Mine was already in hand.
“Maybe we should wander over that way and see what’s going on.” Duncan stepped forward, but Carter caught him by the arm.
“C’mon, rookie,” she said. “We can cut through the construction site. We don’t need to be involved in anything that happened over there. Too many questions will be asked.”
Duncan smiled at her, and I got the vibe that maybe there was an enhanced partnership going on here.
“I hate it when you call me that,” he said, but there wasn’t any rancor in his words like there had been with me.
Carter took the lead, and we walked back to a security checkpoint we’d passed. The boxy computer interface sat a few meters from the smaller gate blocking access to the construction site beyond the barrier.
The various retina and print scanners immediately proved beyond my capabilities. Electronics had never been my thing. I depended on stealth and speed and muscle when social engineering failed, and when it came to it, I could break heads with the best of them.
“We can climb over,” I suggested.
Carter shook her head and pointed at beads set atop the fence. “Those are sec cams. Start climbing, and they start recording.” She looked at the computer interface. “Gimme a sec, and lemme see what I can do.”
Grabbing the housing with both hands, she yanked it off with a screech that ricocheted inside my skull. I closed my eyes for a second, till the echoes faded away.
After a minute, she looked up at Duncan. “Looks like there’s another way off the docks on the other side of this gate. I think I can bypass the lock.”
Duncan nodded. “Get it done.” He took up a defensive position in front of the gate.
I backed him up, but I turned so I could watch over the lady cop, too. Too many things might have been lurking in the shadows. I couldn’t help thinking it was a great ambush point. I’d always been slightly paranoid. That trait had saved me dozens of times.