Noir, City Shrouded By Darkness

by Kristie Lynn Higgins

  She screamed, “Nothing will bring Preacher back. So you have to die!"

  "It isn’t all that easy taking someone’s life." Topa reached down, opened a desk drawer, and saw his gun tucked inside. He only needed the opportunity to grab the weapon. “So... Can you do it?”

  "I will kill you! You murdered Preacher! You should die!" Kat’s arm shook as rage and grief screamed at her to pull the trigger, but something held her back.

  Once he saw the hatred in her eyes, Topa became a little nervous. Two of his men entered from the door behind her, and he regained his confidence.

  Topa questioned, "Preacher? Oh... You mean the do-gooder causing me problems on Wayfaring Lane. You say he’s dead?"

  She yelled, "You know he’s dead! You ordered the Closing!"

  "Maybe I did."

  "I know you did!" The pain in her chest worsened as she could no longer withstand the sorrow wanting to consume her. Her resolve to kill Topa vanished. Kat wished Preacher would wrap his arms around her and tell her everything would be all right. She knew that would never happen. Her gun arm dropped slightly and she no longer aimed at Topa.

  "So you’re here to do what?” he questioned. “Kill me?" Topa looked her over. "You don’t have it in you."

  She lifted the gun as if that alone would give her the courage, but courage wasn't what she was missing. "You should die for what you did, but before I kill you, I have to know. Do you work for the Council or the Factory? Which one of them had Preacher killed?"

  "The Factory I’ve never heard of, but the Council..." He studied her more closely. "What would someone like you know of them?"

  She snapped, "You didn’t answer my question! Who do you work for?!"

  Topa laughed. "I work for no one, but myself."

  "So you refuse to answer me. It doesn't matter." She screamed, "You must die! You have to die because you killed him!" Kat aimed the gun again as she wrestled with the trigger and her emotions.

  She thought, “I don't understand. Why am I hesitating? Why don't I shoot Topa and finish this?” At that moment, she felt the worn leather of the book she carried in her other hand. It reminded her of Preacher, and Kat thought she heard his voice. Kat dropped her gun arm and sobbed as she thought, “Now I understand. Preacher wouldn’t want me to take revenge. It’s wrong. He wouldn't want me to kill someone because of him."

  Outside the window...

  Kim muttered, "Idiot! You’re weak. So spineless." She gripped the PPK. "Kill him. Take your revenge. I wouldn’t hesitate."

  Within the Sanctum...

  An alarm sounded. The analysts and supervisors fell silent in the Chamber as they tensed, fearing the reaction of the Council. On the Center Screen in large red letters blinked, Third Evolvement Failure.

  "NO!" Mr. Morta slammed his fist on the table, jogging his laptop. "Pandora failed! Why can it not take a life? Pandora has no problems dealing with the Un-Men, but it refused to kill every human assassin we sent after it."

  "The Un-Men are bio-mechas. They are not alive," Ms. Nona stated. "Pandora knows the difference even with the conditioning."

  "Should we terminate the project? "Mr. Decuma asked.

  Mr. Morta leaned back in his chair as an analyst turned off the alarm. "No, not just yet. All we need to do is find a sufficient catalyst."

  "What about the tests?" Ms. Nona questioned.

  Mr. Morta ordered, "For now, call off the bounty on Pandora’s head and cancel the Closing. Pandora could use the rest."

  "Agreed. I stated my concerns earlier over its fatigue," Ms. Nona said. "We have been pushing it too hard. Most subjects would have broken by now. And what about the Un-Men? Can we get the Factory to call them off?"

  "We can request it, but I doubt they will," Mr. Morta answered. "The Factory feels they have as much of a right to Pandora as we do. Most likely, they will continue to test their bio-mechas. For now, we will focus on finding a catalyst."

  "Agreed," Ms. Nona and Mr. Decuma said in one accord.

  Back at Topa’s estate...

  His henchmen quickly grabbed Kat from behind, when she dropped her arm, and one of them took her gun.

  "Vengeance is mine, says the Lord." Topa chuckled as one of his henchmen grabbed the book from her. "I think you should take up a new religion. This one has failed you." He motioned to his henchmen. "Take her to the wine cellar and hold her there. I’ll be down later to deal with our new guest."

  They nodded and took her out. Topa closed the drawer to his desk that held the gun. He stood and walked to a wall safe. He started to unlock it when the front door opened.

  "Now what is it?" Topa asked, irritated, and turned toward the front door.

  Kim entered, locked the door, and removed her knit mask. "I usually don’t let anyone see me." She knew the Mark didn’t know the reason for her arrival, but he soon would. She took a bit of wicked pleasure out of that fact. "But you’re a special case."

  "I’m going to have to do something about my security." His expression changed as he looked over the beautiful blonde. "I suppose you’re also one of Preacher’s friends.” He moved back to his desk. “Perhaps a lady of the evening who can’t live without her daily confessions?"

  She sneered, moving to the middle of the office. "Keep your hands where I can see them. I don't need you tripping any silent alarm. As for my profession..." Kim threw a business card on his mahogany desk.

  Topa glanced down at it. "What’s this? A firebird?" He recognized the emblem and sat in his chair as if someone had shoved him down in it. "No... You can’t be." He peered up and panicked. "Puck! You’re the Phoenix?!" He stood, searching for a place to run. "You’re a Closer! Don’t kill me! I’ll pay you anything! I can give you credits or–" Topa motioned to his safe. “–I have cash.”

  “Hades... You really disgust me. Why is it I always hear the same old thing from you Marks? Do you really think you can buy off a Closer? Well, you can't." She cleared her throat. "Samuel R. Topa, the Valhalla Corporation has decided they no longer want to do business with you. They're tired of losing their shipments of Sunna Snapps. So, under the Life Closer Clause of your contract with Valhalla, I am authorized by the Assassin’s League to terminate your life."

  "But why kill me?"

  "I’m only guessing, but it sounds like the narcotic Sunna Snapps hasn’t been approved for use, but you're selling it anyway for the corporation. A kind of clinical street trial, but the participants don't know they're guinea pigs. You messed up when you lost a few of the shipments." Kim aimed. "The Valhalla Corporation is now tying up loose ends and using the pretense of your contract to do it." She shot twice and smoke rolled from the silencer. With no emotion, she added, "You know, just business."

  Gray matter splattered the wall as Topa fell back in his chair and blankly stared at the ceiling.

  “For once, someone got what they deserved,” she muttered. “For Ares' sake! To think you had a preacher killed and used an Illicit Closer to do the job. Did you really think the Assassins Guild wouldn't find out?" She glanced over the black and white photos on his wall. "I know people like us are going to Tartarus, but you had to provoke whatever god you believe in to send you there a little early." Kim pulled the knit mask back on and headed out the front door.

  Chapter Nine

  The Un-Men Arrive

  Corporations had to develop alternatives for those addicted to nicotine since tobacco plants were nearly wiped out the first few months after the Dry Clouds appeared. The first year of the Dry Clouds (Zero Year), tobacco farms were started on the Light Side of the planet. Twenty-eight years ago, the Corporate Senate decided that crops planted on the Light Side had to produce food so NicPhake and other synthetics were created. The idea was to wean people off of smoking all together. The synthetic tobacco proved to be as addictive, and the secondhand smoke from NicPhake caused blindness in some infants. NicPhake was then regulated and could only be acquired with a prescription.

  10:12 A.M...

  The outskirts of the
Hellenistic Sector...

  Four black Chrysler 3000s drove across the road leading to Topa’s estate. The human drivers parked and turned the headlights off, plunging the area back into darkness. The passenger and the two back doors opened on the cars. Three Un-Men got out of each Chrysler. The cars rocked back and forth as the Un-Men exited. They moved to the back of their vehicles as the drivers popped the trunks. An Un-Man of each group removed Uzis from the back and armed their brethren.

  Their Input Sensor blinked three times after they received their orders from the Factory. They uttered, "Setting programing to Infiltration Mode. Eliminate any obstructions to primary Seek and Destroy Program."

  The dozen Un-Men gathered in front of the lead vehicle and checked that the safety/selector lever on their weapon was set on S. They looked to the north gate that was about a hundred feet down the wall from them. They synchronized to determined the best entry point and relayed their findings to the Factory.

  Five armed men stood guard within the gate. The men noticed the Chryslers when they pulled up and readied themselves to engage the armed intruders. If they had to, the men would shoot on sight.

  In unison, the Un-Men nodded their understanding of the Factory’s orders. They slung the Uzi over their shoulder and started for the wall directly in front of them. The drivers drove the vehicles away. The Un-Men climbed over the fifteen foot wall by stabbing their fingers into the brick. Each thrust of a hand into the mortar and clay sounded like a boot crunching across the snow. It sounded like an army marching across the white powder as they all climbed over. They leaped down into the estate.

  "Look! The intruders climbed over!" a man at the gate yelled. "This way! We have to stop them!"

  "Quick, radio in backup!" another man yelled through his WM-B.

  The five men halted and opened fire on the intruders with their handguns. Bullets riddled the dozen bodies, filling their business suits with holes. The Un-Men remained standing, staring ahead. The men ceased fire and glanced at one another.

  "Why aren’t they dead?" one asked.

  "Don’t know," another shouted over the intercom of his mask.

  "Maybe they’re wearing armor," the one said and ordered, "Switch to A.P.Rs.!"

  The Un-Men turned their heads in an eerily co-occurrence as the men ejected their clips. "Obstacle encountered," they stated and set the safety/selector lever on their Uzi from safety to automatic.

  The Un-Men assessed the obstruction. Two of them lifted their Uzi, aimed, and shot the men. The men’s bodies jerked as the wave of bullets bombarded them. The Un-Men ceased, and the men collapsed to the ground. The two Un-Men scanned the bodies and determined the men's life signs had ceased.

  "Obstacle eliminated,” the Team Leaders stated. “Setting programing to Seek and Destroy. We will track down Pandora and eliminate her."

  They headed into the heart of the estate in four groups of three as they all stated, "Pandora will not escape us this time."

  Earlier...

  At Topa’s house...

  Two men shoved Kat down the stairs of the cellar. The wooden steps creaked with their weight. Once they reached the bottom, one of the men frisked her. He took the Music Box, business card, and the Note from her pant’s pocket and set them on a table. He laid the Bible and Beretta there, after he ejected the gun’s clip and cleared the weapon’s chamber. The other man motioned with his weapon to a chair for her to sit, and she complied. Racks of wine filled the cool dusty room, and a rat scurried across the concrete floor.

  One of the men grabbed her chin, lifted it up, and examined her face. "Not much to look at, are ya?"

  She didn’t respond, giving up. Kat conceded that this was her fate and thought, "I couldn’t kill Topa. I had him in my sights, and I couldn't pull the trigger."

  The man released her chin and joined the other man at the square table. They both removed their WM-B and breathed in the room’s filtered air.

  "I couldn’t kill him." She gritted her teeth. "I should have." Kat regretfully wiped her hands over her face, remembering Preacher. The more she thought about him, the more she thought about how she'd failed to do what she had come to do.

  "What do you think Topa will do to her, Muggs?" one man asked.

  "Don’t know, Warner." The other shrugged. "Slap her around I guess. What does he usually do with women?"

  Warner picked up the Music Box, opened it, and Unfinished Melody played.

  Kat relaxed in the chair and her eyelids drooped. Her sorrow and pain vanished with the melody as it lulled her into an oblivious euphoria. Nothing mattered when she existed in this state, not even the death of Preacher.

  "Hey, she’s falling asleep." Muggs stood and kicked her chair. "Stay awake!" He glanced at the book. "Maybe use this time to pray." He smirked. "Or don't you know you’re going to die?"

  Entranced by the melody, she ignored Muggs and listened as if she was a child and the Music Box was the Pied Piper of Hamelin. She would happily follow the bewitching music and vanish from existence. Kat stayed in this euphoric state until Warner closed the lid, ending the melody.

  After he did, Warner examined the Music Box more closely. "This ain’t no ordinary trinket. It’s electronic or something."

  "You could at least pawn it," Muggs said. "It is silver."

  With the drug-like music gone, her pain and sorrow rushed back like a hover train running over her. “Feeling nothing's better than this heart pang,” she thought.

  Kat pleaded, "Could you please let the melody play?"

  "Shut up! You don’t get a final request." Warner propped his feet on the table and started rolling a cigarette with synthetic tobacco.

  Muggs looked around the cellar. "I’ve heard a couple of stories of people who’ve been taken down here. Isn’t there another entrance to this place? One that comes up in the middle of the estate? I’ve heard..."

  lub-DUB... lub-DUB...

  Kat ignored the men as they talked. She focused on the cellar door like a prowling tigress about to pounce. Ultra-Epi coursed through her blood as the e-field of her body altered, and her ocular organs sparked with blue voltage. With a calm voice, she said, "They’re here."

  Warner lit the cigarette and blew white-pink smoke from the side of his mouth. He took another drag of NicPhake as he ignored her warning. He didn’t even look at her.

  "Who’s here?" Muggs asked, turned to face her, and gaped, seeing her eyes. "Are you some sort of creature from the underworld?!"

  "They’re here," Kat repeated. She didn't care if the Un-Men found her or not.

  Warner tightened his jaw, not hearing his partner’s comment, and yelled at her, "Didn’t I tell you to shut the puck up?!" He stood, lifted his hand to strike her as white-pink ashes dropped from the cigarette, and paused. "What's wrong with your eyes?"

  "There are twelve intruders at the north gate!" a man yelled over the intercom of their WM-Bs. "Hades! They’ve scaled the wall and are inside!"

  Warner picked up his mask and listened.

  The man on the other end breathed hard as if he ran. "We're engaging them." Weapons fire filled the airwaves. "Something’s wrong. Our guns don't affect them! They must be wearing armor. We’re switching to..." There was a pause. "Two of them are turning toward us and have lifted their weapons! Take cover!"

  The rapid tat-tat of Uzis drowned out the man’s scream.

  Warner turned to his partner. "Muggs, quick get on the radio and see what Topa wants us to do."

  "Right, I’m on it." Muggs put his WM-B on and activated the intercom. "Boss, this is Muggs."

  No reply.

  "Boss, this is Muggs."

  Still no response.

  "Can anyone hear me?"

  Only dead air returned his call.

  He turned to Warner. "Now what?"

  Warner thought for a moment and said, "You stay with the woman. I’m going to head to the main house and see..."

  Gunfire erupted above ground, drawing their attention.

  Muggs loo
ked up to the cellar’s small window and said, "It's outside the house!"

  "These intruders move fast," Warner said. "We need to get out of here!"

  The door to the cellar burst open, and three Un-Men started down the stairs, aiming their Uzis. "Target acquired," they stated in their monotone voices. "Will now terminate Pandora."

  "Hades!" Muggs cursed as he and Warner drew their guns.

  The men opened fire, and the Un-Men continued down the steps unhindered by the metal barrage.

  "Puck! Why won’t they die?! What are they?"

  "Don’t know, Muggs!"

  Kat ran to the table and grabbed her things. She turned the table over and ducked behind it then glanced at Warner and Muggs, knowing they were doomed. At that point, she didn’t care and thought, "This will give me a second chance at Topa."

  "Hey! What are you doing?" Muggs turned to her and a bullet struck his shoulder, knocking him back.

  Warner grabbed him, pulled him behind some crates, and continued firing at the three intruders as they reached the bottom of the stairs. "Die already, you puckers!!"

  Muggs leaned on the crate to support himself and returned fire.

  Kat dashed for the rear of the room as bullets sprayed by her. In the back, she found a door. She turned the knob, but it was locked, so she stood back, fired at the old lock, and kicked in the door. She sprinted down a tunnel, hearing the two men die as the Un-Men overran their position. It didn’t matter to her if the men died. As hatred filled her heart, she believed they got what they deserved.