by Mel Odom
“That wouldn’t have made Liu happy,” Gobbet said.
It hadn’t, but I wanted to let Drake tell it.
“Sure enough,” the archeologist said with more excitement, “we were only a few days into the excavation when we discovered a series of tombs lying beneath the site. The scope of the tombs was far beyond anything Liu or I had expected—several acres of catacombs, at least, and untouched relics throughout. What’s more, they’re certainly older than the Song Dynasty. They may even be from the previous cycle of magic.”
“He’s talking about Fourth World relics,” Gobbet whispered. Her eyes widened and her pupils dilated. The rats in her clothing wriggled around in a frenzy.
That didn’t mean much of anything to me. Magic was a tool I didn’t use.
“Before I could make my report to the Free Enterprise Zone authorities, however, Liu called in his allies in Tan Tien Incorporated,” Drake said.
“Tan Tien?” Duncan raised his eyebrows.
“One of the smallest megacorps still in existence,” Is0bel replied. “They’re part of the Pacific Prosperity Group. They focus on biological data storage and cranial cyberdecks, and are working on a multi-user cyberdeck interface they’re calling Parallel Thought. I got the info from a decker friend named Kein Ding who was once a street mage. He broke into Pacific Prosperity a couple years ago. He’s running with another decker named Frigid Flux. They’re willing to pay for any info we might turn up.”
I nodded.
“Doesn’t sound like Tan Tien would be interested in Fourth World relics,” Duncan said.
Is0bel grinned up at him. “They’re also rumored to have their own otaku tribe and be protected by the Great Dragon Lung.” She shrugged. “I got that from a mage named Ajax. An—occasional friend. Something’s allowed Tan Tien to withstand attempts from Fuchi, Renraku, and Mitsuhama to swallow them in a hostile takeover. Since they signed on with the PPG, they’re almost bulletproof.”
“Some say the otaku’s ability to interface with the Matrix without cyberdecks is possibly related to magic,” Gobbet said. “Tan Tien plays its cards close to the vest.”
Duncan folded his arms across his chest. “If a megacorp, no matter how small, is involved in this, there’s gonna be a lot of risk.”
“On the surface,” I said, “Tan Tien isn’t interested.” I switched the trid back on.
“Liu sold the entire site to Tan Tien, who then leased it back to him.” Drake shook his head in quiet fury. “Because Tan Tien is considered to have extraterritoriality in Hong Kong, local authorities were powerless to stop Liu from looting the tombs. He immediately began building a museum—if you can call it that—atop the site.”
I pulled up an image of the new building that had taken the place of the original manor house. The larger structure doubled the original space and sprawled over much of the acreage. Cheap, gaudy signs hung over the front of the “museum.”
“He had the gall to call his museum ‘The Emperor’s Tomb’—can you believe that?” Drake blew out a harsh breath. “The odds of there being an actual emperor buried there are basically nil, but he doesn’t care! Anything to sell a few tickets.”
I cycled through images of the museum’s interior that I’d gleaned from the Matrix. The rooms inside the building were pretty plain, showing display cases and shelves filled with recovered artifacts.
“Liu has continued his excavations,” Drake said, “using Tan Tien contractors to expand the dig.”
I flicked to another image that showed a large room with an opening in the center of the floor. It had obviously been built over the dig site. Railings ran around the cave mouth, but whatever was inside remained hidden. Digging equipment lined the walls.
“What he didn’t know,” Drake said, “is that I bugged his commlink before he fired me. Based on what I’ve heard, something strange is going on in the lower levels. Workers have been disappearing, only to be found dead several days later. Whatever is down there is too dangerous to be left in Liu’s hands.”
“Well,” Duncan said, “that doesn’t sound good.”
Drake continued. “Liu must have found my dataline tap, though. I stopped receiving any information three days ago. The last thing I heard him talking about were a pair of ancient texts the workers had discovered. Then he issued an order that further excavation be halted until he can secure the subterranean areas.” He paused. “I’m betting those texts are the cause of whatever’s killing the workers.”
“That definitely sounds bad,” Is0bel noted.
“I have quite a bit of experience with these kinds of dangerous excavations,” Drake said, “but an operation of this scale is beyond me. I need a team that’s tough enough to get in and survive, aren’t afraid of making a mess, and who can get out with the books and whatever else they can carry.”
“This Drake guy must be dropping a lot of nuyen for this run,” Is0bel said. “Otherwise Kindly Cheng wouldn’t touch this.”
“She’s not touching it, remember?” Duncan growled. “She’s got us to do the job for her. She gets a piece if we’re successful.”
“When we’re successful,” I said.
“We could walk away from this,” Duncan said.
Gobbet shook her head. “No, we can’t. You owe her, and if you walk away from Kindly Cheng’s work, pretty soon you end up floating in the harbor as a message to anyone who thinks about crossing her. If she wants this done, we have to do it.”
I played the rest of the trid recording.
“Beyond the two texts,” Drake said, “I’m willing to pay very well for whatever other artifacts your team can liberate—the more valuable, the better. Don’t worry, they’ll be going to actual museums, not some rich playboy’s mansion.” He paused. “I’ve got a second program in place that’ll suppress Liu’s security system. The team will have to be careful, though—there are only so many alarms I can suppress. Go beyond that number and I’ll scrub the mission.”
“At least he’s being careful,” Is0bel said. “That means he knows he can get slotted if this thing goes off the rails. We’re an investment for him.”
“I’ve included a catalog of likely items to help the team appraise the most valuable items,” Drake continued. “They don’t need to be subtle—in fact, I’d prefer they make it look like a common robbery. Tell them to smash and grab whatever they can. Let me know when you find a suitable group of shadowrunners.”
The trid blanked.
I looked at the others. “Kindly Cheng says to let her know when we plan on heading into the museum. I’m thinking we move tonight.”
“We’re pushing our luck,” Gobbet said. “The trip out of Whampoa Garden, now this. I know Kindly Cheng’s running interference for us, but how long will that hold up?”
“It would probably be better to keep pushing it now,” I said. “The longer we take to get things done, the weaker her protection will get.”
Duncan nodded. “I don’t want to wait around and get our covers blown, then not be able to find out what happened to Raymond.”
I looked at Gobbet and Is0bel. “Say the word and you’re out of this one. We’ve got other people we can tag up if we need to. Kindly Cheng gave me a list of shadowrunners we can contact.”
The rat shaman and the decker looked at each other for only a moment, then both turned back to us.
“We’re in,” Gobbet said. “We still want payback for what happened to our chummers.”
“And a payday is good, too,” Is0bel said. “The shadows run on nuyen. It takes creds to operate.”
Chapter 41
Into the Earth
We took the mass trans to Tai Po at dusk, and arrived at the station after dark. The sprawl had come alive in bright neon around us, but we stayed in the shadows. Gobbet and Is0bel took one cab, and Duncan and I took another a few minutes later. All of us watched for tails and other runners with our hands never far from our weapons, hidden under long black coats.
Just because a job came up didn’t
mean we were the only people it got offered to. I didn’t want to deal with competition popping out of the plascrete.
After getting out near one of the hot spots, we walked the three kilometers to The Emperor’s Tomb Museum, rejoining Gobbet and Is0bel at the tall sec fence that ran around the premises. Earth-moving equipment stood out on the grounds like metallic statuary, and fresh-turned soil offered evidence of the ongoing work. The wind blew cold off the sea, and debris—both natural and manmade—blew over us. Small dust clouds from the dried earth swirled around us.
Is0bel cracked one of the sec checkpoints and hacked into the system and confirmed the passcodes Drake had given us were good. She also took a moment to plug in a subroutine that would allow us to get out even if the archeologist’s fail-safe got blocked.
We went through the back gate, near where the heavy machines had torn up the grounds and left deep ruts. Within minutes, we were at the back doors, where Is0bel had spoofed the sec cams to loop vid footage of the empty lot so we weren’t tracked.
Then we were inside, leaving the wind and cold behind as we stepped into the long hallway leading into the museum. The hallway was one of the recent additions, and held a massive generator against one wall. A Buddha statue also sat there, along with crates and tarp-covered shipping boxes as well as other, lesser artifacts. Everything smelled of old dust—or the grave. To me, it was a toss-up.
My commlink peeped to life as Drake contacted us. I glanced at the others, and knew they were receiving the same message.
“I’ll need access to a video feed,” Drake said.
I nodded to Is0bel, and she brought the archeologist online with us, letting him see what she saw with the cam mounted on one of her shoulders.
“Good,” Drake said. Anticipation and tension mixed in equal parts in his tone. “I’ll be appraising what you see as you go through this floor. Grab the best stuff, and my alarm suppression should keep you afloat. Just don’t get too ballsy.”
“We’ll grab extras after we get the books,” I said. “We keep our eyes on the prize for now.” I wanted to keep things as simple as I could.
The hesitation before Drake spoke again told me he wanted to argue, but he knew better. “If the books haven’t been catalogued yet, they’ll still be in the basement—the tomb. I’ll be in touch.”
Before we could move, the lights went out. For one cold moment, I thought the sec system had lit us up, but when nothing else moved, I relaxed.
“Brownout,” Is0bel said. “It happens out here sometimes. Ancillary lights shut down, but the sec systems stay online.”
“We’re blind in here,” Duncan growled.
“Maybe not.” I headed back to the generator and studied it, tracking the cables that snaked out of it. “This looks like it hooks up to the building’s electrical grid.”
Beside me, Is0bel nodded. “I think so, too. These guys working in here, they wouldn’t want to get caught in the dark down in the ground if a brownout occurred. I say we turn it on, see what happens.”
Working in the dark wasn’t an option. I flipped the lever, and the generator rumbled to life. Around us, the lights flickered for a moment, then came on in a steady burn that wasn’t quite as strong as earlier.
“You know,” Gobbet said, “I’ve always wanted to do something like this.”
“What do you mean?” Is0bel asked.
“These artifacts have all been stolen from the earth.” Gobbet waved at the Buddha statue and other items around us. “So, now we get to teach a lesson to the man who’s excavating it. That they were never truly his.”
“All right, but don’t forget we’re thieves ourselves.” Duncan grunted sourly. “We’re stealing things from one man only to give them to another man. And those artifacts don’t belong to him, either.”
Gobbet smiled sweetly. “Oh, he’ll get what he deserves, too. Objects like these are too bright to remain in some vault or display case. More thieves will be drawn to them, like moths to a diode. I’m just excited to be a part of the cycle.”
I pulled up the museum’s online map on my comm and headed deeper into the museum, past rooms filled with display cases holding artifacts. Gobbet and Is0bel kept up a running commentary. The rat shaman talked about the history of the things she recognized, while the decker tried to figure out the worth, then began pulling Drake’s estimates off the data he sent us. She put together a wish list of things we could take after we secured the two books.
A couple rooms later, I found the room where the dig site was located. The hole was a rough square about five meters to a side. A metal ladder allowed access to the catacombs below, and the stench of old earth filled my nose. Thick electrical cables hung down into the opening as well.
No one else was around.
I took the lead, leaving Duncan to cover our rear with the shotgun. The Ingram hung from a Whipit sling under my right arm as I descended the rungs, ensuring that the SMG would be easy to get to if necessary. It was dark in the hole, but I saw light at the end. I kept going down, and the world around me grew colder.
When I reached the bottom, a doorway filled with light stood to my left. I slid the Ingram into my palm, but left it concealed by the folds of my long coat.
The room on the other side of the door held a desk and computer on the far side, with several chairs and tables spread out between.
“Staging room,” Gobbet whispered behind me. “Gives them a place to look over items and catalogue them.”
Is0bel and Duncan joined us. Duncan monitored the doorway while I took up a position on the door on the right side of the staging room. Taking advantage of the cover there, I peered out into the adjacent cavern, and at what I assumed was the first of several catacombs.
“Got a map of the catacombs.” Is0bel stood next to me, looking at a sketch on the nearby wall. She used a camera and captured the layout, then scanned it into her comm and emailed it to all of us. Drake hadn’t been able to provide that much information about the catacombs.
He was excited about the discovery, and wanted us to keep moving. I let Gobbet deal with him. I didn’t want him inside my head unless he could help us.
Moving slow and careful after we ascertained neither of the books Drake wanted was in the staging room, I stepped out into the catacombs and followed the dirt hallways around. I’d heard stories of the Fourth World, and the blood magic those people had believed in. It was hard to keep my adrenaline dialed down as I crept through the shadows, but I let the Ingram precede me, my finger resting near the trigger.
Several holes in the ground provided dangerous pitfalls, and a number of crates—empty and packed—added barriers along the way. I stayed on the outside perimeter in an effort to scope out the terrain and not step into the middle of a group of late-shift archeologists. I listened, but I didn’t hear any sounds of anyone else in the catacombs. Still, the hair on the back of my neck twitched, and a chill ran down my spine constantly.
In another large room—or cave, I wasn’t sure what to call them—I scanned more crates and loose piles of stone. Evidently the rubble was fresh, the result of the digging that had gone on in the area.
“Wait.” Gobbet put her hand on my arm and stopped me.
I froze, trying to hear what she must have alerted her, but the only sounds that reached my ears were our breathing. The catacombs’ acoustics were lousy. “What’s wrong?”
“I can sense we’re close to something that’s anchored in the astral. Give me a minute to see if we can locate it.” She stood still, and a dozen rats sprang from her clothing and raced across the floor to the left.
I held in my irritation, afraid the rodents would trip a sec alarm, but they didn’t. A couple minutes later, Gobbet smiled. “I think we’ve found one of the books.” She took off in the direction the rats had gone, going faster than I wanted.
I tried to stay up with her, but she made a quick turn and stepped into a room ahead of us. I followed as quickly as I could, and fell into position at the corner of a wall
just as Gobbet reached a book sitting open on a shelf.
She reached for it. I tried to warn her that it might be booby-trapped, but it was already too late, and I was wondering who would leave a valuable book out in the open.
Gobbet held a hand over the book and closed her eyes. The rats circled her enthusiastically and climbed back into her clothing.
The book was as thick as my fist and as long as my forearm from elbow to fingertips and half as wide. The cover looked like leather, some kind of skin, but just looking at it triggered a pounding vertigo inside my skull. I looked away. Duncan was looking away too, and Is0bel looked queasy.
“Is it one of the books we’re looking for?” I asked.
Gobbet nodded and picked it up from its shelf. “I think so.” She held the book up in front of Is0bel’s cam, and Drake confirmed it as one of those we’d been sent to find.
Duncan growled a curse. “If I’d had my choice, we’d never come near something like that.”
I silently agreed with him. The problem was, we didn’t have a choice. Not as long as Kindly Cheng called the shots.
“There’s no telling what else may be down here.” Duncan took a fresh grip on his shotgun.
“This place is filled with old spirits.” Gobbet shoved the book into her backpack. The bad vibrations I was getting from it were muted somewhat, but I still didn’t feel safe. “As long as we don’t disturb them, we should be fine.”
“Yeah,” I said, “let’s plan on that.”
I took the lead again. More rooms followed, all empty, but showing signs of habitation where the work crews had settled in to excavate and clean their finds. Then we found what apparently had been a basement area for the original home.
The room was large, the floor covered in plascrete, as were three walls. The fourth wall had been removed to open into the catacombs. The excavation crew must have decided to expand the area as they’d pursued the digging. More tables and chairs filled the area, along with workstations and a computer hookup.