by Jak Koke
After splashing some water over his face, he stepped back out into the corridor and turned left, going even further into the rock. He came to the massive double doors. They were heat-shielded and made from twenty centimeters of duracrete, backed by another twenty of plexan. They could take a direct hit by anything short of an antitank missile and not even scratch.
Ryan hit the palm lock, and the doors slid silently open.
The command room was a cavernous circle, dominated by a huge oval table. The table itself contained a powerful holographic generator that could either display a main presentation to the whole table or act as a heads up display for each individual seat.
It was a testimony to Ryan's far-reaching plan that the table could easily seat fifty.
The runners were scattered around the large area, and Ryan picked up the immediate clue by how they were seated. They're tired of the boring search.
Nearer the door, Axler and the dwarf Grind sat together. They glanced up as Ryan entered, but continued to talk in low tones. Dhin sat opposite them, and he gave a grin and a shrug.
The new mage, Miranda, was seated by herself at the far end of the room. She was a small human with a broad oval face and a shock of jet black hair streaming down her back. She cradled a steaming cup of coffee in her hands and looked as though she was barely awake.
Ryan stepped into the room. "Miranda?"
She looked up, startled. "Travis? Travis, is it really you?"
Ryan smiled. "You look good, Miranda," he said. "But my name's not Travis. It's Quicksilver or Ryan. And I lead this team of shadowrunners."
"And at Fuchi…"
"I was working undercover."
Miranda scowled. "You left so suddenly. They said you'd been transferred to Kyoto, but I couldn't get word to you."
"No," Ryan said. "It was just a temporary assignment so that I'd have a solid identity when Aztechnology stole me away. It's a lot harder to infiltrate the Azzies."
Miranda sighed and took a sip of her coffee. "You went to Aztechnology? That's heavy drek," she said. Then with a glowing, intimate smile, she said, "I'm glad you made it out alive."
Ryan remembered working next to her in the labs at Fuchi. She was all professional on the surface, toeing the corporate line on the outside. But he'd seen something underneath, something that had come through in the few moments when they'd had a chance to get closer. A hidden wild undercurrent.
Ryan had never let himself become intimate with her; he'd been in love with Nadja even back then. Even if he hadn't been, he never allowed himself to get too close to anyone during the time he was undercover. He and Miranda had become friends. Friends on the verge of more.
There was something alluring about her life-the corporate life. The safety and simplicity of it, protected by the huge corporation. A life of carefree happiness.
Ryari could never let himself think that such an existence would even be remotely satisfying. He'd left abruptly and without a word, regretting he couldn't say goodbye. That he couldn't give her an explanation.
"I'm going to talk about what happened," Ryan said, walking to the head of the table. "Jane, you with us?"
"In the next best thing to the flesh, Quicksilver." Jane's voice came through the room's speakers.
"Good, let's get this show rolling," Ryan said. "Time is short, and we've got a lot of ground to cover. First of all, I have something to say."
He got nods from Axler and Grind. Dhin grunted, and Miranda peered through the steamy haze rising from her coffee.
Ryan looked hard at Axler and Grind. "I want to offer an explanation for my actions over the past few days. I've taken over control of Assets and haven't given any of you much input. I've been driving you hard without a lot of explanation. I've also been acting erratically and it probably seems like I'm on the edge of losing control. I can understand if you think I'm deranged. You might even think I'm not capable of effectively leading this group."
He saw Axler nod her assent.
"There is an explanation for my strange behavior, and I'm going give it to you. I know I couldn't work with anyone I thought was a liability."
Axler's look softened. "We don't think you're a liability, Ryan. But you haven't been yourself, not since we scooped you up from the Azzies. You've made some bad choices, decisions you wouldn't have made three months ago. It's got us worried."
Ryan took a deep breath. "When I was at the delta clinic in Panama, they tried to erase my mind and remap it with another personality. Ever heard of Thomas Rox-borough-the vatcase megalomaniac who owns a big hunk of Aztechnology? It was his mind they tried to map over mine. You saved my hoop just in time, but they'd nearly erased my memory, and there was a period of adjustment that was very confusing. It was like I had no control over what I was doing, even though I knew it was wrong. Can you understand that?"
Miranda gave a low whistle. "Aztechnology is one of the bloodier corps, and Roxborough has a reputation for utter ruthlessness. That's some serious drek."
Ryan's smile was tight. "To put it mildly. But things are different now. Roxborough is still with me, but Quicksilver's on top."
Axler frowned. "How do we know that? You've taken leadership away from me and Jane; that's not something the old Ryan would do. Assets was running smoothly before you made your 'improvements.' "
Jane came on over the speakers. "I have to agree with Axler, Quicksilver. I especially resent my current role in the scheme of things. I'm not officially part of Assets, but I've always been in control of any runs I do decide to make. From here in my box, with my virtual re-creation of all the data, it's much easier for me to form a complete picture of what's going down than it is for anyone on-site."
"Jane, I-"
"I take inputs from each runner, plus Matrix data. I can make better-informed decisions, and I can make them quicker."
"Jane, I value your expertise and I'm going to need it more than ever. Especially during the next few runs. But I'm going to be leading the team. I've got combat training that you don't, and I refuse to shirk that responsibility." Ryan turned to Axler. "I want you to be my lieutenant, and I'll need your advice. I know it's going to be hard to adjust, but I think it will improve things in the long run."
Silence engulfed the room in the wake of Ryan's speech.
"Okay," Ryan went on, "I don't want anyone to stay who isn't satisfied with the arrangement. Now's your chance to bail out of Assets if you want to. Anyone who thinks I'm going to get him or her killed can walk. There's twenty thousand nuyen in a numbered account for each of you. I'll give you the code, and you go with my blessing."
Dhin shook his head slowly, but no one spoke.
"You all know that Roxborough would never have given you walking papers," Ryan said finally.
Axler nodded.
Ryan looked around the room, pausing when he got to Dhin. "So, do I have any takers? 'Cause if you decide to stay on board, you're on all the way. I've got some serious plans for this organization, plans that are going to ask shadowrunners to play a serious part in protecting the future of the world."
Axler sat up. "I know a lot of runners who want to make a difference," she said. "But in our line of work runners don't have much to say about whether we're on the right side or the wrong side. Shadowrunners have to do whatever the Johnsons want, and a lot of times don't even know whose side they're on. How can you change that?"
Ryan smiled. "We don't have to please anyone but ourselves. We've got independent funding and the means to make a difference."
"Under your leadership?" Axler asked.
"That's right," said Ryan. "You're going to have to trust me." He looked around the room, challenging any of them to get up and walk out.
Dhin answered first. "You got me, Bossman. I'm not going anywhere."
Miranda had a feral smile on her face, beaming at Ryan in that way he remembered from back at Fuchi when she was excited about an upcoming project. "Me too."
Grind looked at Axler, then laughed. "I'm in," he said
.
Ryan gave Axler a hard stare. "I need you, chummer. You're my fragging lieutenant."
Axler smiled. "I'm here, Ryan. Slot it, I'll be here to the end. Let's get on with this run."
Ryan's eyes flicked toward the speakers. "How about you Jane?"
A sweet, chiming laugh filled the room. "You have to ask?"
"For the record, yes."
"Well, then, for the record, I'm with you. We may have some disagreements, but we'll work those out after this run."
Ryan nodded, and an invisible weight fell from his shoulders. "Good. Now that we're all on-line, let's get back to business. As I said, Burnout survived. Not only did he come through the fall in one piece, he managed to outmaneuver us."
Grind nodded. "That's one tough piece of tech."
Ryan nodded. "Jane, roll the trid."
The hologenerator in the table hummed quietly to life, and suddenly, there in the center of the table, the scene from the depot played itself out in slow motion. When it was over, Ryan looked around the room. "Any comments?" he asked.
Axler nodded. "This not only gives us a clue to Burnout's location, but it also shows us just how tough he is. Despite the apparent damage to his good looks, he took that fall into the canyon like a pleasure cruise."
"Yes," said Ryan. "We're going to have to assume that Burnout is still fully functional. He's fast, he's mean, and he's well armed."
Dhin cleared his throat. "How long ago was this?"
"About eight hours, give or take."
Dhin shook his wide head. "That's a lot of time for a chummer like that. He could be almost anywhere."
Ryan smiled. "That's true, but thankfully unimportant. Burnout leaves a trail through astral space, kind of like a polluted scent. I've smelled it."
Axler scanned from Miranda to Ryan, her voice cool. "So you can pick up his spoor and track him in astral space?"
"Exactly. After that, it's just a matter of time until we run him to ground."
Grind leered. "And then? You better have an army on hand to take that boy down."
Ryan smiled. "I don't need an army. I have you guys. We're not going to go head to head with him. I really don't care what happens to him, though my preference would be to throw his metal hoop into a waste compactor. No, the important thing is the Dragon Heart."
Axler cleared her throat. "You've fought him twice. What's the best way to take him down?"
Ryan shook his head. "There is no best way. But the fact is he was built to kill. He's tactically sharp, but his thinking seems to be a bit linear. I think we can use that to our advantage."
Axler nodded. "He's also out of options. Our kind visitor, General Dentado, indicated that Burnout has gone rogue. He can't count on any backup from the Azzies. He's solo."
"That's good," said Grind. "Five on one is my kind of odds."
Ryan smiled. "I must emphasize that the Dragon Heart is our goal, killing Burnout is gravy. Once we have the Heart, we can hunt him down at our leisure."
"Right," said Dhin, "I can take him out from nine hundred meters up."
"Yes," Ryan said, "but unfortunately, we can't fire a missile at him until after we've taken the Dragon Heart away. I don't now how much destructive force it can tolerate, and we absolutely cannot risk destroying it."
Around the room, four heads seemed to nod in unison.
"All right, we go wheels up in forty-five minutes. Full combat gear. Now let's head out."
The room cleared, all except for Dhin. He approached slowly and put his callused hand on Ryan's shoulder. "I've been rigging for most of fifteen years. Rigged more kinds of drek than I can remember. For the first time, your story about Roxborough has got me wondering just what it would be like to have somebody else rigging me. Welcome back, Bossman."
Dhin turned and left.
Ryan stood alone in the command room. "Jane?" he said.
There was a moment of solemn silence, then Jane's voice came on grave. "I'm sorry about what happened, Quicksilver. I don't think you're totally clean of Rox- borough yet, but I'm committed to this run, and I'm going to see it through."
"Good, I need your expertise and your support."
Jane's voice held more conviction now. "You've got it, let's take this fragger out."
"Thanks." Ryan made his way quickly back to his quarters, and opened the door to find that someone had already laid out his gear. Within minutes, his body was encased in his armored nightsuit, form-fitting plycra with Kevlar III panels intercalated to maintain flexibility and absolute freedom of movement. Ryan needed to maintain silence and stealth even in heavy combat situations.
He checked his vest for his grenade pistol and narcotic throwing darts. The darts were habit; he brought them even knowing they wouldn't be much use against the cyberzombie. The clips of explosive and armor-piercing bullets for his Ingram should more than make up for it.
When he was ready and had achieved focus, Ryan pressed the earpiece for the Phillips tacticom into his right ear and attached the adhesive wire microphone to his throat. When it was all connected, he triggered the unit on his belt. "Everyone ready to roll?"
Axler's voice was full of droll humor. "Everyone except you, Quicksilver. We're suited up and boarded already."
Ryan chuckled. "Be right there."
The wind whistled in his ears as he made his way to the LAV. The Saeder-Krupp Phoenix II was a huge low-altitude vehicle, sitting where the Mistral had been an hour before. Ryan stepped under the Phoenix's wedge-shaped nose and walked back toward its tiny stub wings, to the ramp. Inside, the rest of his team was outfitted in matte-black Esprit full battle armor, including helmet and integral commlink.
Miranda was the exception. She was wearing camo T-shirt and pants and combat boots. On closer inspection, Ryan could see the yellow smiley faces on her socks where they stuck out just above the boot tops. She carried a small jeweled cane, and her wrists and neck seemed overloaded with charms and foci. The matte-black headset looked out of place on the small woman's head.
Miranda looked up and noticed Ryan's inspection. She shrugged. "You said full combat gear."
Axler hefted a Panther assault cannon and checked its clip. "We're ready to go wheels up on your mark," she said.
Behind Ryan, the ramp started to close, and he turned toward the cockpit. Dhin wore his armor, minus the helmet, and he was jacked in-slumped low in the cushioned seat.
"Jane give you the locale grid?"
Dhin's lax body didn't respond, but his voice came over Ryan's headset. "Copy. But I hope this is a fast trip. The sat-feed says we got God's own thunderstorm heading this way. It's going to cover the whole area just around noon."
Ryan nodded. "Wheels up."
The Phoenix roared to life, and Ryan barely had time to find his seat before the vehicle screamed into the air.
14
In the pre-dawn gray, the bulky Ford Canada Bison's off-road tires caught the loose gravel at the edge of the pavement, kicking up rock and dust. Burnout leaned into the turn, swiveled to the left and lashed out with his foot.
The driver's-side door, which had refused to latch after Burnout's forced entry, sailed into the chill air, landing with a crash as the Bison accelerated down the cracked asphalt of old Highway 83. Wind swept through the big cargo truck's interior, sending candy wrappers and bits of refuse through the cab.
In the hours since he'd bailed from the track-train, Burnout's mood had grown foul. The constant presence of Lethe inside made him think too much about everything, and it was starting to slot him off something fierce.
"She was a pig," Burnout muttered to himself, not really expecting Lethe to have any comment. The spirit was still angry over the way Burnout had geeked the Bison's driver.
"She was an innocent." Lethe's voice dropped into his head like Burnout's long-forgotten conscience.
Burnout grunted. "Innocent, my hoop. You think that old slitch was out for a pleasure cruise at oh-four-hundred? Ten-to-one we jacked ourselves a drekload of red-hot BTL
chips headed for Seattle or Spokane. If it makes you feel any better, we probably just saved the lives of fifty chipheads." Burnout didn't give a frag for anyone addicted to Better Than Life simsense, but he wasn't sure if Lethe would know that or not.
There was a long pause, then, "No, it does not make me feel any better."
Burnout laughed. "That's what I love about you.
Everything's so black and white. Well, here's a reality check for you, chummer. The world doesn't work that way. There's no such thing as good and evil, just different shades of gray."
"Explain yourself."
Burnout sighed and pushed the Bison up another twenty klicks an hour. According to his GPS, they should reach the abandoned mail road in less than forty minutes, provided he could keep this tub on the roadway. "There are always reasons for apparently evil acts."
"Justifiable homicide?"
"Yes."
"No such thing."
Burnout slammed his fist into the dash, trying to contain his anger. "All right, let's just forget for a minute that our little old lady was a piece of trash who has made the world a better place with her hasty departure."
Lethe chuckled, a low soft thing that Burnout found oddly comforting. "All right, it is forgotten."
Burnout nodded. "That's better. Let's say she was a granny out for a joyride to visit her brat's brats. I chose this vehicle for a reason. It's been years since I've been along this route. I don't know just how the terrain has changed. I passed up two Jackrabbits and a Westwind before this ride came along."
"You have lost me again."
"Then listen, slot it! Granny comes along in the perfect vehicle for our purposes. Now, it doesn't matter that she hadn't been doing anything wrong, that she'd led an innocent life. We needed this truck, right?"
Lethe chuckled again. "Well, at least I am still following you."
Burnout slowed to take a long, winding curve, then punched it in the short straight-away. "Now suppose we left Granny alive. What's the first thing she's going to do when the next car comes by?"