Slamm-0! was calling? After a whole day with no word, he decides to call her now? She paused in the dark, and almost pushed the contact away before she heard his voice.
At a distance.
Netcat refocused on the people jumping out of the Shinobi. An older man with a grizzled face, a huge troll with a staff, and a younger guy with blond, spiky hair—
Netcat wanted to strangle him. She just wanted to—
Netcat grew cold and she took a step back toward the house.
Slamm-0! had stopped in the middle of the street to talk to her, but now the troll was running to one side of the house and the old guy to the other as Slamm-0! started toward her.
Netcat had just moved back to the top step when she saw Slamm-0! freeze. His eyes widened, and he brought his weapon up and pointed it at her. She was about to protest when an arm came around from behind and yanked her back off her feet. The strength and the stench—
“Clockwork!” Slamm-0! shouted as he charged forward, his weapon drawn.
Netcat drove her elbow into the hobgoblin’s side as she kicked. He was trying to pull her back into the house, and that just wasn’t going to happen. Once he moved to the step above and behind her, Netcat grabbed the arm around her neck, stepped back and used what strength she had to bend down and pitch forward to bring him over her head.
It worked—but Clockwork didn’t let go of her neck, and they both tumbled down the steps.
She saw stars before they landed as his chokehold did its job. But if she could stay conscious and make this work, then Slamm-0! could reach them—
She heard the gun go off, but didn’t register that she’d been hit until her body refused to obey her commands. Clockwork’s arm no longer held her neck and she was on her side, but her arms and legs refused to move. She could see the rigger’s boots in front of her as he leaned down and hauled her up again—only her feet wouldn’t move under her any more, and she couldn’t fight back.
Am I hit?
“Mack, no! You do, and you might hit Netcat!”
Her e-sense told her the old man and the troll were nearby, both of them facing Clockwork and her, with Slamm-0! directly in front her. The rigger was moving her backward, back up the steps of the porch. “Another step, and mama here dies.”
“Clock—she’s bleeding. Please…let her go. She’s no good to you like that.”
“Oh she’s plenty good to me because she’s gonna make sure me and my partner get out of here alive. You won’t touch me as long as I have her.”
“Slamm-0!—” said a voice from the right.
“Mack! No! Please!” Slamm-0! paused. “What do you want?”
“For you and your little team to stay right here.”
It was all Netcat could do to stay awake as she felt herself drilling down into darkness. She didn’t have the strength to answer Moon’s message.
As Clockwork backed them across the porch, she used what strength she had to answer him.
She watched as Slamm-0! ran through the gate to the porch steps as Clockwork shut the doors and locked it. Once inside he dropped her and faced Blackwater, who was now up and coughing hard.
“Where’s that other techno?” Clockwork demanded as he went to the back door and looked out. “We got PCC units on their way, and I ain’t staying. This better be worth my while, Cole.”
Netcat’s vision blurred and when the lights went out, she thought she’d lost consciousness.
“What the hell? Did they cut the power?”
Netcat blinked as she listened to the datasphere, and knew the house host was dead. Kazuma had taken it down. But where was he? Did he make it out?
It was the last message she sent before she slipped into unconsciousness.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Risen Residence
Powell seethed as he remained in his hiding place in the backyard. His last command to Shax had been to hack into their commlinks—not into the house’s host!
He was less than six meters from where Tetsu and the woman had hid, and he’d heard every word. He knew the host was going to crash and he’d warned Shax. Damn fool!
So far, he was of the opinion that technomancers who embraced dissonance traded in a good bit of their common sense for power. And he was losing patience with it. He’d had a plan, and if the fool would have followed it, he and Shax could be leaving the house with Tetsu and the data in tow by now.
But here he sat, with no real access into the house, the host crashed, and with it any trace of the data. Mack Schmetzer’s team was crawling all over the house as he watched Blackwater and a nasty little hobgoblin drag a limp female elf through the back yard to the fence exit.
With a sigh, he slipped through the darkness to the hole he’d found on the other side. Using his own magic shield to hide himself from the others, he headed back down the street toward the ramp where he left the van.
Shax sat where Powell left him in the back—but now he was clutching his head and using a whole array of mixed metaphors the dwarf had never come across before.
“Suck it up, we have to move. Get your weapon ready.”
Shax did as he was told, but a quick look in the rear view mirror told Powell the technomancer had applied a slap patch full of stimulant. Pissed off, in pain, and wired on drugs. No problem there. Powell cranked the van up, then turned on the heat-signature monitor he installed a year ago. This little charm had helped him tremendously over the past year—and it would help him now. He dialed the scanner toward the house.
Powell saw the two in the back yard—Tetsu and the woman. He watched the Shinobi’s occupants scatter toward the house, and started the van down the back alley. He was pretty sure the two retreating augmented idiots didn’t have an exit strategy, so the least he could do was provide them with one.
And even if they did—who was going to say no to a fast way out?
Powell followed their signatures—three of them—as they ran through the back yard and then through the back fence and down the road toward the Stuffer Shack two blocks down. He turned right and gunned the van down the deserted street and smiled when he came out ahead of them and blocked their escape.
As anticipated, both men had their weapons out. Blackwater had the female elf over his shoulder. But Powell had his weapon ready as he opened the door facing the three of them.
Shax fired twice, and both of them went down. Powell joined Shax in getting the three of them into the van—if not a bit unceremoniously—then took off as the PCC cars roared past.
Chapter Forty
Risen Residence
Mack watched Slamm-0! run at the front door and slam into it. It didn’t budge, and the kid stepped back, fired at the doorknob twice, then ran at it again. This time it crashed inward as he ducked and rolled, his guns up and ready.
Mack waited at the side of the house, his eyes on the door. No one fired at him. The house was dark. No wireless signal. Nothing. The host was completely black.
“Kid?”
“I need a light in here!” Slamm-0! called out.
Mack reached into his vest and retrieved a flashlight as he climbed the stairs and shined it over the immediate area. The living room was partia
lly trashed. There was broken glass scattered everywhere, and he was pretty sure the dark splotches on the woven mat flooring were blood.
“Host’s dead. Crashed. You got anything on heat?” Slamm-0! said.
“Two in the back yard.” He redirected his focus on his AR. “Preacher?” he said over his commlink.
“Got ’em under cover, boss. Wanna come see?”
Mack ran around Slamm-0! through the now open sliding glass doors and into the back. Given what he could see by his light, he was pretty sure the place was an Asian delight back here, complete with gurgling stream, bridge, and pagoda.
Behind the single story pagoda, Preacher stood with his gun trained on two people on the ground. One wasn’t moving, and the other knelt over the motionless body, a gun in each hand, trained on Preacher and now Mack. A quick flash of the light told him what he needed to know. Mack held up his free hand. “Put that down. We’re not here to hurt you or Tetsu—but we got PCC security coming, and we need to get out of here.”
The ebony-skinned woman stood, and Mack was a little surprised to see that she came up to Preacher’s nose. In the dim light, he could see markings on her body, and thought at first she was a shaman. Then he saw the commlink on her arm and the jacks in her temple. “You’re not hurting him and you’re not taking him,” she said.
“Ma’am,” Preacher said, and Mack half-smiled at the troll’s deep, patient voice. “We don’t plan on hurting anyone. But we do need to make a swift and hasty retreat right now.”
“We need to go after Clockwork,” Slamm-0! insisted. “He’s got Netcat, Mack. He’s going to sell her!”
Mack noticed the way the younger hacker was pacing. And if the elf was his girlfriend, then he could understand the man’s anxiety. But their own survival and non-incarceration was the big priority.
Mack held out his hand. “You need to get your head clear, kid. We’ll find him. But first things first—”
The woman narrowed her eyes at Slamm-0! “How do you know Netcat?”
Slamm-0! tilted his head. “Do you know her? Are you a technomancer, too?”
“Not like she is. But you didn’t answer my question—” and then it looked as if she was seeing him closer. “Slamm-0!?”
It was the hacker’s turn to narrow his eyes. “Do I know you?”
“No. But I know you.” She lowered her weapon and offered her hand. “My name’s Silk.”
Slamm-0!’s expression changed. “Silk? From GiTm0?”
She smiled and nodded.
Then his expression turned to surprise. “And is he…Soldat?”
“Netcat wasn’t kidding. She has told you everything.”
Mack looked at the two of them as they shook hands. “Okay that’s all well and good—but we need to go. We can have happy-time tea somewhere far away from here.” He pointed at the guy on the ground. “Preacher, can you bring him?”
Silk moved like a swift shadow to stand in front of the troll. “You will not harm him.”
“Ma’am,” Preacher said with slight smile around his tusks. “I promise I won’t hurt him.”
That appeared to appease her, but Mack noticed her watching every move as the troll bent down and carefully lifted the black-haired elf in a fireman’s carry. “Get him back to the Shinobi—”
“Wait!” Silk held up her hand. “Another member of our team’s waiting in my Hummer.”
Mack turned to Slamm-0! “You ride with her and get her to the club. Now!”
Everyone scattered. Mack watched as Slamm-0! disappeared into the darkness with Silk, then took off after Preacher.
For a troll his size, he was fast and determined. He beat Mack by several meters. Mack made it into the Shinobi and buckled in next to Shayla just as a PCC van showed up along the street. Men and women in black uniforms got out just as Shayla had the inertia ready for liftoff.
“Preacher?” He looked back to see the troll had the elf securely fastened in a seat.
“Got it.” Preacher moved to the side of the Shinobi, which tipped as he jumped out and stood in front of it, facing the uniforms.
“Mack, I’m gonna need to dive to do this fast enough.”
“Then do it.” He reached out to take the wheel, so to speak, as Shayla leaned back in her seat. He felt her take the controls back, and released them as Shayla’s mind became one with the powerful machine.
Before the PCC officers could order them to stop, Mack saw the blue-white light of magic as it encircled Preacher. There was a pulse, and then everything in his vision went black. Now he understood why Shayla wanted to dive—the only way to see through the blackout would be through the eyes and camera of the Shinobi.
There was gunfire. But no flashes of light. He felt the metal hull get pinged as the Shinobi lifted, then dipped just a bit as Preacher jumped back in. Then they were spiraling up fast and the force of that lift pinned Mack in his chair.
He gritted his teeth as she broke free of the spell’s perimeter and then twisted the Shinobi over hard to point it in the right direction. Once in the air and looking down at the brilliant lights of Los Angeles, Mack blinked once to activate his AR.
There were several seconds before Slamm-0! answered.
Drek. Mack didn’t answer. He just hoped like hell Hestaby didn’t mind a bit of a delay.
Chapter Forty-One
GiTm0
Welcome back to GiTm0, omae; your last connection was 10 hours, 2 minutes, 25 seconds ago
BOLOs
Just a reminder—this host’s got less than two hours left before decompiling. Send your sprites out twenty-four hours after that for the new link.
New name: Shax, dissonant technomancer. Check the link to his online persona image.[Link] Full list available [Link][Guest] but don’t read the list online. And don’t forget, these runners are out for the nuyen, and they don’t give a damn about us.
Remember, GOD is always watching.
IMPORTANT: ALERT! NEED ANYONE IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA!
I need as many of you willing to help as possible.
Just got word from Silk that the rigger Clockwork and the hacker Cole Blackwater have taken Netcat. It was done in a house invasion—and that’s all I can say for now. The less we know, the better.
At present, Soldat is alive and recovering after having to crash a host to escape what Silk described as a dissonant poison that had invaded the host along with the technomancer, Shax. This technomancer is working with an investigator known as Draco Powell. You’ll remember his name from a few reports back. He’s connected with Renraku as one of the survivors of the Arcology incident. What we don’t know is who he’s working for now.
What we need from any of you is information. Intel of any kind that can help us find Netcat’s current location. When Clockwork tried to sell her before, it was to NeoNET, so keep your eyes and ears open for anything from them, or any deals or possible TM scores dealing with a female elf.
Slamm-0! and Silk are currently working with a shadow team she has vouched for. If you have any information on Clockwork, Blackwater, Powell or Shax, contact me offline or Shyammo.
ALERT
>>>>Open Thread/Subhost221.322.1
>>>>Thread Access Restrictions:
>>>>Format:
>>>>File Attachment:
>>>>Thread Descriptor: KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN
>>>>Thread Posted By User: RoxJohn
> Does this bastard have anything to do with Hip’s disappearance?
> 404Flames
> We don’t know yet. He’s still a mystery. What we do know is that Clockwork and Blackwater are dangerous, and we don’
t want to think of what they might do to Netcat.
> RoxJohn
> That’s Slamm-0!’s worry. Hi all. I’m with Silk, Soldat and Slamm-0!. We’re working hard to locate her, but Soldat’s suffering from dumpshock as well as fading, so he’ll be offline for the time being. This team’s magic slinger ruffled some serious PCC feathers, so we’re not taking any chances on the street. Just need intel on where Clockwork and Blackwater are.
> MoonShine
> Glad to hear everyone’s okay. Are all four of them working together?
> Venerator
> We’re not sure. What we do know is Powell was the one that tried to grab Soldat in real life at his place of employment—so he already knew what he was. Shax works for Powell. Blackwater used to work for the team we’re with now.
> MoonShine
> You sure that’s a good idea?
> LongTong
> Hey Moon, Rox, have you tried searching through public records on holdings? Not just on Powell but even on Blackwater or Clockwork. I doubt you’ll find anything through those handles, but if anyone knows their street names or even birth names, it would help.
> 404Flames
> You think either of them have that in Los Angeles?
> RoxJohn
> I don’t know where they’re from. But a preliminary scan on Draco Powell—other than his ties with Renraku, he’s also in bed with Ferdinand Bellex.
> 404Flames
> Drek! That’s that Contagion Games guy!
> LongTong
> Notice how we keep going back to that game? I think we need to look even deeper.
> Venerator
Chapter Forty-Two
PCC POLICE Headquarters
Los Angeles
Saturday
“Sergeant Delaney Charis.”
Shadowrun: Dark Resonance Page 18