The dwarf interlaced his fingers in his lap. “My name is Draco Powell. This—” He looked around the room. “—is my staging area for Los Angeles. My original purpose for coming here was to retrieve a few technomancers our R&D department had tracked down through verified lists supplied to us by Horizon and Ares.”
Blackwater shook his head. “That’s usually not the way it works. Most snatchers grab the technos and sell them to the corps, not get their names from them.”
“Depends on the nuyen, and who is in charge of the books.” Powell smiled at him. “Most of the corps don’t even realize that they’ve given up those lists. Much like the information a technomancer stole out from under you, Mr. Cole Blackwater.”
That pushed a nerve. He took a step forward. “What do you know about that?”
“I know everything about that.” He slipped out of the chair and put his hands on the desk. All the vids darkened into a moving starfield, with the Contagion Games logo in the center.
“Son of a—” Clockwork lowered his arms. “You work for Contagion? Is that where we are? We’re in a gaming company?” He pointed at the door they came through. “That’s some weird shit you got set up for playing games.”
“Yes. It is. In truth I work for Ferdinand Bellex and Miranda Sebastian, the owners of Contagion.” He looked at Blackwater. “And they are very interested in this technomancer that outwitted you, as well as the data he stole. But please…Mr. Clockwork and Mr. Blackwater. Mr. Bellex would like to talk to both of you himself.”
Shax stepped forward and handed them their commlinks. “Put these on.”
The room darkened as the vids all meshed into one large image of the logo. The logo twisted and spun until it took on the shape of a man. With sharp clarity, the face and smile of Ferdinand Bellex filled the vids. Blackwater immediately recognized him from the news. His was a face that was hard to miss. Perfect hair, perfect teeth, and perfect smile.
He was too…perfect.
“Hello and welcome.” Bellex’s voice boomed through speakers around the room. “I’m so sorry we couldn’t meet in person, but I’m afraid I’m swamped with meetings and dealing with a few media problems.”
Clockwork slipped his commlink on, and so did Blackwater.
“Now, we don’t have a lot of time, so we need to get down to business.” He looked at each of them and smiled his perfect smile. “Powell here tells me you want the technomancers—the little elf girl and this elf man—and the data he stole from the Horizon Annex.”
Both of them nodded.
“That’s all well and good.” His smile actually twinkled as he leaned into the screen. “But I’m willing to bet what you really want is a good payday. You want good cred. You want the accolades that will come to you. Am I right?”
Blackwater was going to nod at that, but Clockwork took a step toward the screens. “No. I hate technomancers. I snatch them so I can sell them—and the price isn’t important. I want to know they’re going to get their heads cut open and their brains scooped out.” He put his hands on his hips. “And the way I see it—whatever that data is—it’s valuable, all right. But not something you can measure in nuyen. When this many people want something—that something can give power. And I want the power it’ll give me.”
Blackwater watched Bellex’s expression. He looked patient as he appeared to listen to Clockwork, but there was something in his eyes that unnerved him. In fact, he looked thoughtful as he seemed to consider Clockwork’s words. “I see. And I can understand why you would feel that way, Mr. Clockwork. May I call you Clock?”
“No.”
“So be it. Clock, there are a few things I believe you need to know so you’ll have a better grasp of your situation. All technomancers have been, and will be, claimed by me. They’re my property once I have them. So, all thoughts of some kind of petty revenge for this alleged damaging of your so-called reputation aren’t part of this equation.”
All during this, Bellex never once broke his smile. What he said didn’t match the look of patience in his expression.
Bellex continued before Clockwork could react. “And as for the data that was stolen—it is something your disgusting, beady eyes will never see. And if you ever do see it, I will personally remove you from this planet. What you two are going to do is help me acquire Kazuma Tetsu and the packet of data he now possesses. If you have any questions or doubts to the validity of my request, or to my ability to get exactly what I want, I invite you to step inside your AR and show me your AI.”
AI? Blackwater looked at Clockwork. “You got an AI?”
“Yeah, I do.” The hobgoblin’s face darkened.
“Then I suggest you check on it, Clock.”
With a lingering glare at the screen, Clockwork activated his commlink. Blackwater did the same so he could see the PAN images. After a few seconds, Clockwork lowered his arm and balled his hands into fists as he faced Bellex. “Where is he?”
“He’s safe. For now. And if you want to keep him safe, you’ll do as I say. This isn’t an action to control you, Clock. This is an action to show you that in my world, I get what I want, and you have to do what I say.” Bellex’s gaze shifted to Blackwater. “I take it from your silence that you don’t have any objections?”
“Am I gonna get paid?”
“Yes. Quite handsomely.”
“Then I got no beef. What’s the plan?”
Bellex’s smile twinkled again. “I am so glad you see things like this, Cole—may I call you Cole?”
“Long as your nuyen’s good, you can call me anything you want.”
“Good. Now Clock,” Bellex said as he looked at the seething hobgoblin. “I think using this elf girl as a trade proposition is a good idea. Tetsu was traveling with her. It is possible he will sacrifice for her.”
When Clockwork didn’t answer, Blackwater nudged him. But the rigger wasn’t having any of it, and didn’t reply.
Blackwater said, “Actually, he might. But there’s this hacker named Slamm-0! that might be more interested in a trade. If you contact him and the shadow team he’s working with, he might get the data and Tetsu to trade for her.”
“Splendid! Cole…you might just fit into my plans better than I conceived.”
Clockwork raised his head and Blackwater stepped away, afraid of what he might come out of the hobgoblin’s mouth. “What exactly are your plans, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Bellex’s smiled twinkled a third time, and Blackwater winced at the glare. The man looked as if he would explode with joy as he said, “Why, to join with God, of course.”
Chapter Forty-Four
Unknown Location
Kazuma awakened with a start and felt a firm pressure on his chest. He blinked up at someone he didn’t recognize. Female, with luscious, long blonde hair, intense blue eyes, a thin face, and a pair of tusks sticking up from behind her lower lip. He stared at her, more so that he could see her fully, and not because of her goblinization.
“If you take a vid it’ll last longer, chummer. And I can pose with fewer clothes on.”
Knitting his brows together, he grabbed her wrist. “Where’s Silk?”
The woman laughed. Her voice was nice to hear, and her accent was something distinctly southern. “Oh, baby—” She plucked his hand from her wrist as if he had no strength and set it back on the bed. “—you are an innocent little thing, aren’t you? And not bad on the eyes, either. Silk’s fine. Nice lady you got there.”
“I—” before he could complete his question, everything from before he faded came rushing back. No…he hadn’t faded…the host! He lifted his head to look at himself and saw it was her hand on his chest. He wore a sheet—and bandages. The wound from the Annex had bled. Again. “My clothes?”
“Sorry, beautiful, but they had blood all over them. Incinerated them a few hours ago after I got you out of them. You’re going to get an infection if you don’t rest long enough to let that wound heal. Looks like you took a bullet.” She grinned.
“That where Cole got you?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Cole…Cole Blackwater…that’s the hacker with Clockwork. He’s…the wolf-hacker.”
“Wolf-hacker—oh! Right. He uses that cheap out-of-the-box persona. Yeah…you took that data from him. No one’s ever done anything like that to him before.”
“I don’t know why.” Kazuma rubbed at his face. “He wasn’t that well prepared, and he had no protection to speak of.”
“Well, I don’t think he thought anyone else would be in that host in the first place.”
“And that’s my fault?”
She blinked and then laughed again. “Sweetie, my name’s Shayla. I’m Mack Schmetzer’s rigger.”
He shook her offered hand. “Kazuma Tetsu. I’m a—”
“Technomancer,” she filled in when he hesitated. “No biggie here. I used to think Mack had a problem with you people, but recently I’ve changed that opinion.”
More memories came back, and he gripped the side of the bed and pushed himself up on his elbows. “Netcat—where is she? Did she make it out of the house?”
But Shayla’s expression told him what he feared. “Sorry, Kaz. Slamm-0!’s beside himself, nagging the crap out of Mack to go find her. He’s afraid that prick named Clockwork will sell her.”
“He might. He tried it before.” Kazuma recognized the sluggish feeling in his joints. Dumpshock. He hadn’t pulled out of the host fast enough before he crashed it. “We are going to rescue her, right?”
“I’m not calling the shots. And neither is Slamm-0!. Mack is, and we’ve been waiting on you to wake up so we can get this party started.” She pushed herself up, and then offered him her hand again. “Come on. I can get you some food on the way there.”
Kazuma half-rolled off the bed and onto his feet. Dizziness came over him, but it was brief. “Where’s Silk?”
“She’s with Mack. And so is your interesting friend MoonShine. They’re waiting on you, too. She’s been talking to Mack about you, and your people.”
“My people?”
“Technomancers.” Shayla waited until he was upright and confident he would stay that way before leading him out of the room. The walls around them were red and brown brick, and the lights along them revealed a hazy fog just above his head. He smelled smoke and clove, and felt the beat of music against his chest. “Where are we?”
“One of Mack’s clubs.” Shayla walked him into an elevator and turned to face him when the door closed. Kazuma’s stomach lurched when they headed down at a rapid speed. “Can’t say which one. Gotta talk first.”
He nodded, and when the elevator stopped, the wall opened behind him. He turned and waited for Shayla so he could follow her. The walls were still red brick but the smoke and music were gone. They stepped from the hall into a hangar-like area where he saw a Shinobi, Silk’s Hummer and another vehicle.
A troll lumbered up to meet her and stopped in front of Kazuma. “It’s good to see you up and some color in your cheeks. My name is Preacher.”
Kazuma sensed something powerful about Preacher. And alien. The symbols on his horns, along with the pierced rings and the way he dressed, suggested the troll might be a magic user. “Kazuma Tetsu. Nice to meet you, Preacher.”
The troll grinned. He focused on Shayla, whose height only brought her up to Kazuma’s shoulder. Slender, petite, and a knockout, even with the tusks and slightly forward brow. “Mack and Silk are in his office with Slamm-0!. Apparently he caught the hacker trying to find Clockwork and Blackwater. Stirred up GOD a bit. So we’re staying off the grids, except for a few public access points, until something breaks.”
Shayla took it all in and then gestured for Kazma to follow her. Preacher followed behind him as the three of them approached a door nestled between three-meter high stacks of tires and wires. Kazuma followed her into a good-sized, nicely-furnished office.
The room was long more than wide. On his right sat a desk, and to his left and mostly in front of him was an oval table, where he spotted Silk and MoonShine. Silk jumped up and ran to him. She felt good in his arms, and he threw modesty to the wind as he gave her a deep and longing kiss. She wore a tight-fitting black T-shirt and pants with various pockets and she looked…amazing.
Silk pulled back and put her hand to his swollen face. “You still look like hammered shit.”
“And you still look beautiful,” he said in a soft voice. For him, being a technomancer and touching the datasphere in what some perceived was a magical way meant nothing when it came to this—to physical contact and connection. He loved her beyond question, and it wasn’t because Hitori had introduced them—though they did share that connection—he loved her because she was what his heart wanted.
“Okay, let’s break it up. I told you he was fine.”
Kazuma turned and matched the gruff voice with the grizzled human as he walked into the room, followed by a young man with spiky blond hair and a disgruntled expression. Kazuma noted his datajack and gear, visible on his upper arm and hip.
Kazuma didn’t expect the blond hacker to approach and shove a finger in his face. “This is your fault. She’s in this because of you!”
Silk reacted first by inserting her long arm between Kazuma and the blond, then pushing him back. “I suggest you back off, Slamm-0! This isn’t anyone’s fault.”
This is Slamm-0!? What is he doing here? Kazuma put a hand on Silk’s arm in an attempt to calm her temper. “No, it’s okay. I understand how he feels.”
“No, you don’t.”
Kazuma had moved past those days of remaining in the background and letting others speak for him. He gently pulled Silk to him and then stepped between Slamm-0! and her. “Yes. I do. Because if someone as sick and twisted as this Clockwork or Blackwater had Silk, the anxiety of not knowing, of not being able to act would eat at me. The same way it’s eating at you right now. I would blame anyone and everyone that had direct contact with her before she was taken. So yeah…” he said as he canted his head to his right shoulder, his gaze locking on Slamm-0!’s. “I do know.”
“All right, kids,” the older man said with a decisive clap. “We’ve got a lot to go over in very little time. Kazuma, you and Silk sit over there by Whitey—”
“My name is MoonShine.”
“—Moon guy. Everyone else take your place.”
Kazuma’s gaze lingered on Slamm-0! for a few seconds. He didn’t know if he’d gotten through to him, but he did want him to know he understood. And he planned to help get Netcat back.
Once everyone was seated, the older man stood at the head of the table and addressed Kazuma. “My name’s Mack Schmetzer. I’m the owner of this establishment—one of many. I’m also the leader of this shadow team and the one that paid Cole Blackwater to retrieve the information from the Horizon Annex that night.”
This news wasn’t a surprise to Kazuma. He leaned forward as his senses opened up to the soft, soothing whispers of the datasphere. The wireless here was shielded, but he could touch the Matrix, cling to it for support. “You lost a woman that night. I saw her…on the floor next to the guards.”
“Yeah. That was Maria. At first I was led to believe that you shot her. But I don’t any more. Evidence to the contrary was given to me from an unlikely source.” His eyes unfocused for a few seconds, and Kazuma knew he was looking at something else within his AR. “Yeah…send them down.”
Silk interlaced her fingers with his as he leaned in for her. Shayla came through the door with a tray of food and set it in front of Kazuma. Fruit, protein bars, a bottle of water.
Mack nodded at him. “Eat while I talk.”
Shayla smiled as he tore into the fruit, and Silk opened the water for him. She took a seat beside Preacher as the door to the office opened again.
In walked a tall, blonde female elf and a large male troll. The troll looked the part of a businessman—nice suit and tie, with a briefcase in one meaty hand. His horns were unadorned, and his face was handsome in comparison to Preacher’s.
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Mack stepped forward and took the elf’s hands in his. He kissed one of them. “You ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.” She turned to the troll. “Renault, if you’ll give Mack what you showed me this morning?”
He looked hesitant, but she turned and went to him with a hand on his shoulder. “Trust me on this. We can trust Mack.”
“Is he the—” His gaze cut to Schmetzer.
“Yes. This is him.”
Whatever the two shared about Schmetzer seemed to comfort him, and he set his briefcase on the desk at the other end of the room. He and Mack shook hands and spoke in soft tones as the elf came to stand in front of Kazuma. He wiped his mouth with a napkin as he smiled up at her.
She offered him her hand across Silk’s brow. “Sergeant Delaney Charis, PCC local law enforcement. My partner is Officer Raoul Renault.”
That pronunciation set off several protests, mostly from Slamm-0! and MoonShine.
The blond hacker shot up. “A cop? Mack, are you crazy?”
“You didn’t say she was PCC,” Shayla said from her seat, with Preacher’s large hand on her shoulder. Kazuma didn’t know if it was there to keep her seated, or to reassure her that he supported her. “I thought Charis was your first name.”
“No, he’s not crazy,” Delaney said, then looked at Shayla. “Charis Monogue was the name I used while working undercover at Horizon.”
Kazuma finished shaking her hand. “Kazuma Tetsu.”
“You have the online handle of Soldat?”
He hesitated as he pulled his arm back. “Yes.”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Tetsu. I’m on your side.” She straightened and looked at the table. “I’m the Johnson who requested your team retrieve the data. My boss, while I was undercover—the former Mr. Artus Wagner—employed Cole Blackwater to take it simultaneously. This was nothing more than an unfortunate coincidence.”
Shayla’s jaw dropped.
“So the piece of drek was a double agent,” Slamm-0! said.
Shadowrun: Dark Resonance Page 20