Lasers, Lies and Money

by Alex Kings

  No way to anticipate where they would be.

  “Worst case scenario,” he muttered to himself. “Where could you do the most damage, Rurthk?” He paused. His eyes widened slightly. “Oh, shit,” he whispered.

  The next second, he was leaping into action, striding down the corridor. He hit the comms. “Get me the fastest ship we have,” he said. “Now. We're going to Nereus.”

  Chapter 58: Nereus

  Nereus was the largest space habitat in the known galaxy, a crown which it was unlikely to lose any time soon. A wheel a full thousand kilometres in diameter and five hundred kilometres wide, it was closer to the scale of planetoids than other space habitats.

  It had been built by the Tethyans around the time humanity was building Stonehenge, abandoned a couple of centuries later, and then colonised by various other species. It was still in Tethyan territory under the Pax Galactica, so while other species used it, none of the spacefaring powers had claimed it.

  The interior surface rotated at 6000 km/h, giving a gravity slightly less than Earth's. The nonrotating outer shell consisted of an asteroid shield of rock, mixed with spaceports and industrial machinery.

  It was here, in one of his dozen or so homes across the galaxy, that Albert Wells was currently living.

  The Outsider accelerated towards Nereus, until the outer shell became a giant wall floating in space ahead of them.

  “We have a berth in the nearest spaceport,” said Mero.

  “Take us in,” said Rurthk. He turned to Kaivon, who was standing nearby. “As soon as we're off the ship, I want you to leave the spaceport. It would be easy for someone to lock the Outsider down, and I want us to be able to jump out of here at the first sign of trouble.”

  “What about you?” Kaivon asked.

  “We can buy a shuttle,” said Rurthk. Speaking of which, while you're buying parts to repair, get some weapons shuttles too. And stealth shuttles, if you can find them.”

  “Yes, Captain.”

  The giant wall of Nereus seemed to cover the sky. The Outsider rose quietly into a spaceport. Effector fields slipped out of the walls and held it steady as a docking tube attached to its airlock.

  Rurthk, Eloise, Mero and Olivia stood together, each subtly armed. The airlock opened, and Rurthk led them out into the tube. A light artificial gravity kept them steady as they headed down a corridor through the rock. Distant grinding and tumbling sounds, like muffled thunder of heavy machinery sounded through the walls.

  They entered a large cabin. Windows ahead and behind looked out onto a nearly pitch-black plain. The faint light of the cabin showed a black floor extending off into the distance, and a similarly dark ceiling which was reaching past a few metres above them. Rurthk tapped at a panel on the wall, picking out a location. The doors slid shut, and the cabin started to move.

  The cabin was in the gap between the inner and outer shells. It accelerated on maglev tracks, matching the speed of the inner shell. It modulated its artificial gravity as rotation gravity took over. When it was going at the same speed at the inner shell, it seemed to lift through the ceiling.

  They emerged into a station in the middle of a city. All around them, giant buildings with giant arches and great swooping curves plunged through the clouds. Sunlight reflected by giant mirrors hundreds of miles above glittered off of everything.

  And yet it seemed very nearly deserted. The occasional car slid down the road or crawled up the side of a building on its effector field, and once or twice aircraft passed above, but that was it for traffic.

  “What's with that?” Olivia asked.

  “The skyscrapers were a fad from fifty years ago,” Eloise said. “Built quickly and cheaply by automated fabricators, so everyone decided to make one. But the population was never high enough to justify it, and more people left after the fashion had passed. So now most of them are empty. A few are still used for legitimate business.

  As Rurthk led them down the street, he explained, “Albert Wells is too difficult to get to directly. He doesn't take messages from people he doesn't know. We can't get within a mile of his home without getting shot or arrested.”

  “Why are we here, then?” Mero asked.

  “We're going to talk to one of his underlings. If I can convince them to pass on a message, drop names Sukone, Zino and Egliante, tell them it's urgent, he might be willing to hear us out.”

  “And his underling works here?” said Eloise, looking around.

  Rurthk pointed ahead to a skyscraper spiralling into the sky like a DNA strand. “In there. The front business is a shipping contractor. We can walk right in.”

  *

  Felix Zino walked right into the foyer, followed by three of his allies. He looked around. The foyer was huge, with polished granite floors, an oversized reception desk, and a sweeping stairway and ramp at one end (also granite). Most of the staff were Albascene, with a few humans and a couple of Varanids.

  Zino went to the desk, where a crystal vase filled with carnivorous alien plants was sitting. He swept it off the desk, and it shattered against the floor with a pleasingly loud crash.

  “Everyone, shut up and pay attention,” he said loudly. “If you're not a member of Sweetblade, leave now, while you still can.”

  A couple of people glanced at each other, then went for the door.

  “Good,” said Zino. “Now, listen. I'm here on behalf of Sukone. We have some special guests who will be here at any moment. We are going to give them a worthy welcome.”

  An Albascene came gliding across the floor towards him. Its upper and middle segments rotated briefly in opposite directions as it stopped a few feet in front of him. “Felix Zino,” it said. “We respect you, but this operation belong to Albert Wells. You have no authority here.”

  “Oh, how silly of me,” Zino said, a grin spread across his face. “I have authorisation to direct this operation today. Here it is.” He reached into his white jacket and fumbled about for a moment as though he were trying to find a tablet. Then he pulled out a gun and shot the Albascene six times in the lower segment.

  Water poured out of the holes, carrying with it hundreds of tiny fish in neon colours. The Albascene's effector fields flickered and vanished, and the suit fell to the floor.

  Zino held up his gun. “Does anyone else want to see my authorisation? Good.” He singled out one of them and gestured at the broken vase and dead Albascene. “You. Clear that up. Everyone else, with me.”

  Chapter 59: Found You

  Rurthk stood with his crew in front of the double helix building. A few people passed by, but the street was mostly empty.

  “I don't like this,” said Mero. “Too clean. Too ostentatious.”

  “Me neither,” Rurthk admitted. “With any luck, we won't be here for long.” He took the pistol out of his coat and gave it to Eloise. “I'm going in alone. You wait here, keep an eye on things.”

  With the rest of them lounging against a wall on the opposite side of the street, Rurthk went through the giant tinted sapphiroid doors.

  The foyer was oversized, overdecorated, and far too quiet. A few people of various species talked quietly in alcoves. The click of his boots against the polished granite floor, echoing through the chamber, seemed to be the loudest thing there.

  He reached the desk. A patch of the floor in front of it glinted slightly with a thin sheen of water. Rurthk could smell a faint hint of brine.

  “Hello, sir,” said the human behind the desk, interrupting Rurthk's thoughts. “How may I help you?”

  Rurthk sighed. “Hear me out, okay? I need to talk to Albert Wells. And believe me, he'll want to hear this. I have information regarding Tommy Egliante, Felix Zino, and Sukone.”

  “I'm sorry, sir, I –”

  “Look,” said Rurthk. “I don't care about this front of yours. Albert Wells' life is in danger. I might be able to help. You wouldn't want to keep that from him, would you? So be a pal and tell him I was here, okay?”

  The man's obsequious smile r
emained for a moment before vanished before being replaced by something much colder. “We'll need more than that before we disturb Mr. Wells. I'll call someone now to talk to you.”

  Rurthk held his gaze for a moment. “Fine. But let's not waste time, okay?” His foot was in the door, he knew. That was all he needed.

  “Of course not,” said the man.

  An Albascene came to collect him. “Please come this way.”

  It led Rurthk to a weapons scanner and a Varanid who patted him down. When they were satisfied, he was allowed to go onwards. The Albascene took up a few floors in a lift, then showed him to a room with a large desk and no chairs.

  “Please wait here,” it said, and left the room, closing the door behind it.

  *

  Zino stood in a security room, watching several camera feeds through screens on the wall.

  “We have the subject isolated as you requested,” said a voice on the comms.

  “I can see that,” Zino said. “But he's alone.” He caught sight of a screen showing three figures waiting on the far side of the road. A broad grin crossed his face. “Gotcha.”

  “What is it, Mr. Zino?”

  “You deal with the Glaber. He's by himself, no guns, no challenge. I'll take down his three friends outside. We attack together, so they don't have a chance to warn each other. That means you wait until I make my move.”

  “Yes, Mr. Zino.”

  *

  Olivia kept one hand inside her coat, firmly clutching the handle of her gun. She still wasn't sure if she could use it, but it made her feel slightly safer.

  “Kid, stop looking around like that,” Mero said. “everyone within a mile can tell you're nervous. It makes you more noticeable.”

  “I .. I didn't notice,” said Olivia.

  “It's perfectly natural,” said Eloise. “But Mero and I, we're keeping a good watch, don't worry.”

  Mero snorted. “Imagine you're just relaxing,” he said. “Standing here without a care in the world. People still move when they're doing nothing, so move like that.”

  “Okay,” said Olivia attempting it.

  “Better,” said Eloise.

  “Now find the routes someone might come down. Spend a bit longer looking that way, and take them each in turn.” Mero snorted. “There's someone coming this way now.”

  “I see it,” said Eloise. She tensed slightly.

  Olivia saw who they were looking at. Human, black coat, hat covering the face.

  He passed them by without looking at them. When he was a few paces away, Olivia relaxed slightly.

  Then someone else came running around the corner in a flash of white. He held a pistol in each hand.

  “Found you!” said Zino, laughing.

  Chapter 60: Quartz Club

  Rurthk circled the room slowly, examining it. The desk was white quartz. Milky patterns swirled on its surface. He tapped it with a claw and listened. It was authentic, not a polymer imitation.

  Hemisphere lamps were embedded in the ceiling. They gave off an inoffensive pale glow to supplement the sunlight. There was a small window on one wall. It looked out onto the space between this and the adjacent building. He was about four floors up.

  He went round to the far side of the table and drummed his fingers on it.

  The door slid open and an Albascene glided in on effector fields.

  “Finally,” Rurthk said. Then he noticed the black port on the middle section of the Albascene's suit. A laser, turning to aim at him.

  *

  As soon as she saw Zino's face grinning at her, Olivia's grip on her gun tightened. Before she could go any further, she felt Eloise dragging her to the side behind a car. At the same time, Mero leapt into the air.

  Zino fired a fraction of a second too late. He broke into a sprint, firing once more to keep any of them attacking as he dived into cover into the space between two buildings. “You people are good,” he said. “I'm going to have so much fun killing you.”

  “Don't move,” Eloise hissed to Olivia. She glanced out briefly, fired, then pulled back. “I hope it goes as well as last time,” she said.

  “Oh, you can run,” said Zino. “Run as much as you like. I'll find you every time. I'll wear you down until you've got nothing left. And then, I'll be the one to put a bullet through your head.”

  Eloise looked out and swore.

  “What?” said Olivia.

  “He's gone,” said Eloise.

  Zino reappeared running over the car. As Eloise was trying to stand, a well-placed kick knocked the pistol out of her hand. Eloise reacted almost instantly, grabbing Zino's leg while he was off balance and pulling him off the car.

  Zino landed on his feet. He and Eloise each blocked each other's blows in a close-quarters brief exchange before Zino leapt back, raising his pistol at Eloise.

  *

  As soon as Rurthk saw the laser, he started the backup plan he'd been building in his mind since he was put in the room.

  He grabbed the desk and flipped it over, dropping behind it. The white quartz cracked open without shattering entirely, with several large shards coming away from the surface.

  A second later there was another sharp crack – this one of a laser. This time the quartz desk shattered fully.

  But Rurthk was already moving. He'd grabbed a lump of quartz and one of the desk's ornate, heavy legs, and began to run around the remains of the desk. He hurled the quartz through the window.

  The Albascene, momentarily distracted by the window shattering on one side and Rurthk appearing on the other, didn't react quickly enough. In a fraction of a second, he was on top of it. He brought the desk's leg up like a club, smashing the jagged lump of quartz into the Albascene's laser.

  The blow broke the laser aperture, dented the suit, and sent the Albascene reeling backwards into the wall.

  Rurthk steadied his grip and swung the club over his head.

  Chapter 61: Nice Save

  Zino's aim lined up with Eloise's forehead with unerring speed. There was no time for her to react, to dive away or to lash out.

  And then, as Zino fired, Mero dropped out of a glide and onto his back. With catlike grace, Mero kicked off at the same moment, sending Zino sprawling forward. The gun fired into the pavement.

  Zino regained his balance, but now he was within arm's reach of Eloise and off-balance. She smacked the pistol from his hands. He grabbed her wrist, dragged her forward, and headbutted her. With his other hand, he swatted aside a second attack from Mero.

  Olivia, still bewildered at how fast things were progressing, took out her own pistol. Before she knew what was going on, a sharp pain bloomed in her wrist; Zino had wrenched the gun out of her hand without even looking.

  “Run,” Eloise hissed at Olivia, blocking another blow from Zino.

  Olivia scrambled back, still clutching her wrist. She could see the logic in it: There was nothing she could do to stop Zino up close, but if she could find something else, she might be able to help. She got to her feet and sprinted between two buildings.

  *

  Zino saw the girl run away. She was useless in a fight. She would be so easy to kill it was scarcely worth the effort.

  This moment of distraction cost him. Eloise got past his defences, striking him near the solar plexus.

  He had to hand it to her: She knew every human weak spot. Had he been a lesser man, Zino would have gone down then. Instead, he stumbled backwards, making himself seem more hurt than he really was, to buy himself a few seconds.

  He activated his comms subvocally: “Send someone after the girl,” he ordered. “And get me some backup!”

  Mero advanced on him, while Eloise went for one of the pistols on the floor. Grinning, Zino struck suddenly, lashing out and hitting Mero, sending him back into Eloise. He followed up with two more quick blows while they were off balance, leaving them on the ground.

  He grabbed the pistol Eloise had been trying to pick up, and stepped back quickly, levelling it at them both. “
It's been fun,” he said. “I haven't had a bit of hand-to-hand for a while. But now it's time to end this. Goodbye.”

  He saw them look up, and glanced up himself.

  Half an Albascene suit – the upper two segments – was falling through the air towards him.

  He leapt back.

  The suit crashed into the pavement where he'd been a moment ago with a loud bang. He looked up again, bewildered, and saw where it had come from: One of the windows a few floors up had been shattered. A Glaber appeared at the broken window, and threw the final segment of the suit at him.

  Zino dodged that too. But by that point, Eloise and Mero had both picked up pistols of their own.

  “Nice save, Cap!” Mero called up.

  Rurthk jumped out of the window towards the other building and caught a window frame a floor below, then repeated the operation jumping back to the double helix building. A few seconds later, moving like that, he had made it to the pavement.

  “Where's Olivia?” he asked.

  “I told her to run,” said Eloise.

  “I can still kill one of you,” Zino reminded them.

  “Yes,” Rurthk said slowly. “And what would that accomplish? We'd still kill you. And then we'd win. Besides, what's the alternative? We give in and you kill all three of us? I think you might need a better threat.”

  Zino laughed. Good point, well made,” he said. “Will this do?”

  A dozen armed gangsters – humans, Varanid, Albascene – came pouring out of the building to join him.

  Chapter 62: Hunted

  Olivia ran out from between buildings onto another street. It was deserted here too. People must have heard about the disturbance and evacuated already. She ran to the nearest human-suitable car, finally stopping to look behind her. She couldn't see anyone following her.