Nobody ever suggested that to me again.
Once I finally made it back to the Palace, I locked myself in my room and for the first time in my life I cried. I didn't venture out until my stomach forced me too, and even then my forays were brief and far between.
Eventually I did come out of my shell a little, Dara had started coming to my room again and wouldn't stay away. Teri had died in the latest surge of work, actually about half of the whole section had been wiped out. So she was the only one of my 'lovers' left alive. As she was another assassin, I was surprised she even wasted her time trying to help me. We weren't a very caring and sharing bunch.
Especially to each other.
Eventually I rejoined the world, or what bizarre piece of it that I actually lived in. I was back to spending nearly all my time out in the garden, I rarely slept in my room anymore. Dara was still hanging around, actually I noticed everybody who was still alive was at the Palace. There were only about eighteen left, so it wasn't exactly crowded. I hadn't seen Mr. Siedman since I came back, or any of my other 'Handlers' for that matter. My entire debriefing had only been that one conversation with the Intell people. It wasn't right, but then everything was getting strange, if such a thing could be possible here that is.
I was lying among my Lilac's when I heard the intercom say "We have an uninvited guest! Attention, we have an uninvited guest!" I was wondering who or what could be crazy enough to still try and break in here when a large explosion shook the complex.
"Attention, we are under attack! Attention we are under attack!" The computer started, until another explosion cut all power. I could hear the sounds of small arms fire being exchanged, and quite a few smaller explosions. We were being raided!
I grabbed the Lilacs and started ripping them out for all I was worth, then dug through the dirt another foot or so. It was tough going with the gravity plates dead, but I still managed in the lighter gravity. I quickly found what I had buried so long ago, my 'escape' equipment.
Spacesuits and weapons were not allowed inside of course, the company didn't want us leaving without permission. But I had managed to sneak in an assault rifle over the years, one piece at a time. Along with that and some other stuff I had taken a survival balloon, which the company allowed us to have, and hidden it all out here.
While I had been digging and loading my rifle, a few of the other senior assassins joined me as well. I wasn't the only one who had taken these precautions. We waited until the firefight made it to the garden's entrance, then opened fire as the attackers tried to move inside getting a brief glance of what looked like Earth Force’s armor. That pretty much stopped them cold as we all had excellent cover and could hold them off for a long time. It didn't take the opposition long to figure that out.
I was sitting in my un-inflated balloon, waiting for the attackers to figure out the next step. It didn't take them long, and a few minutes later a projectile came in and hit the heavy plastic dome. The explosion blew out several of the larger panels exposing the entire garden to vacuum. I saw the heavy emergency doors close off the doorway as I quickly sealed myself inside my balloon and turned on the oxygen.
Now came the tricky part, getting down on all fours I rolled and bounced my way over to the hole in the dome. The others queued up behind me, as I checked the opening through my plastic viewport. It didn't look too bad, so picking my way carefully, I rolled through.
I then immediately fell the one hundred or so feet to the bottom of the ridge below. It was a little scary, but in the moon's lighter gravity, it was about the same as a sixteen foot drop in one G. I hit and rolled of course, rolling was all one could do in this inflated ball anyway. I then watched to see which of the others survived, mostly out of curiosity. All four made it.
Then I looked at my compass and headed off on my own as we all split up to try our individual ideas out.
It was tough work moving across the crater, after several hours I started to develop some really terrible cramps from being on my hands and feet. My ancestors might have been good at moving on all fours, but the genetically redesigned me was better at walking upright like my Human creators. After twenty hours I had to stop and give it a break. As far as I could tell, I was making progress to where I wanted to go. But I had no idea of exactly how far I had gone, or had left.
I checked my re-breather, I had another 40 hours of air left, and took care of a few bodily functions, trying hard not to make a mess. Then it was back on to plodding painfully across the lunar surface.
What I was heading for was one of the cargo warehouses that were scattered everywhere across the moon's surface. The palace had been situated among quite a few of them, many of which belonged to other corporations as well. This made it easy to explain the traffic that went in an out and the vacuum helped to keep out unwanted visitors of course. But even with this being a 'populated' area, things where still spread out on a grand scale, and I wasn't making for the nearest one either. I had fifty miles to travel before I got to the entrance I hoped was safe.
Eventually I rolled up to the airlock I had hoped to find, some sixty odd sleepless hours later. The CO2 indicators on my rebreather had started to show dangerous levels, and I knew it was more a matter of luck that I had made it this time.
Now I'm sure you've all seen the rescue balloons before, probably in some deep space disaster movie. They're just a round globe that holds one, sometimes two, people. It has no arms or legs, and while tough, is extremely cheap to make. They had been designed over a hundred years ago by the now defunct NASA for their Space program. The low price made them ideal back then, and kept them popular now. Also I think rescuers liked the idea of having the accident victims all nicely wrapped up. Less trouble that way.
So here I was outside the airlock door with no hands or manipulator to open it. Or so one might think. There is always a work around, if you bother to look for it. I took out a long heavy glove that went up to my shoulder. At its end I had made a wide flange a long time ago. Then I got out a tube of vacuum cement. Wonderful stuff actually, stays tacky until exposed to vacuum, then it seals in seconds. Trying hard not to get any on my fur, I coated the flange. Then taking my knife in my hand I slit open the side of the balloon. The rush of air pulled my arm out, and the glue quickly sealed around the base. Viola! Now I had an arm.
I rolled closer to the Airlock then, and with some careful maneuvering, and a little cursing, got my hand on the controls. Once inside I quickly got out of the balloon as the pressure came up. Gathering my gear together I moved out into the warehouse.
It was empty inside, except for the automated storage equipment, so I quickly found a place to stash the balloon and rebreather, I didn't want them found right away, then I found myself a place to crash. I had barely fallen asleep when I was woken up by the lights coming up all over the place. I crawled over to a better vantage point, and looked out into the warehouse.
What I saw was a guard searching the stacks, he didn't look too worried and was making a beeline for the lock I had used. I must have set off an alarm when I came in, I hadn't thought of that. I was really tired I guess. So I grabbed my gun and started stalking him, no rest for the weary.
It wasn't too hard to sneak up on him, he was fully suited up and didn't even have his helmet open. I couldn't tell what type he was, but he seemed about bear size. I was able to get quite close to him before he even noticed me. When he turned around I held my rifle up to my shoulder.
"Don't move." I said quietly. He put his hands up slowly. I reached forward and opened his helmet. "For your sake I sure hope you didn't call this in yet." I kept my voice low so it wouldn't carry.
"You kill me, they'll know it!" He said unafraid.
I looked him over, he was a bear alright. A fairly old one too, probably had been retired out here where they could afford to lose him. "You're a P.L.M.D. aren't you?" I asked quietly.
"A P.L.M.D.?" He looked confused.
"Old Human joke, Polish Land Mind Detector. It means
you're expendable, they don't care if you get killed, 'cause they'll still find out there's a problem in here."
"So what are you going to do?" He looked me over, I know I was a sight. I also stunk from being in that damn ball without any plumbing.
"You're going to tell them that the lock hasn't been opened. It was just a false alarm. Then you're going to help me get to the city. I'm not looking to kill anyone today, and at your age I doubt you're looking to play hero."
"And if I don't?"
I lowered the gun, "I'll just tie you up and take your suit. What does the company charge for something like that nowadays?" I could see his mind working that one out, most companies charged for lost equipment. "Like I said before, I'm not looking to kill anyone. Or even steal anything for that matter. I'm just trying to stay out of trouble."
"Then why are you here?"
"You don't want to know," I smiled. "So what's it gonna be?"
"They only pay me to keep the place from being robbed," he smiled and put his hands down. "If you're wantin' to move on anyway, I don't see why I should tell anybody. It's not like you stole anything," he looked around, "or even damaged anything!
"Come on, I'll take you where you want to go." And as I listened he called in the report I had asked him to.
Who ever said Bears were stubborn? "Would you unload your gun please?" I asked following him, "It'd make me feel a lot safer."
He did as I requested, and then I let my own rifle point at the floor. When we got to the main lock I looked out the viewport and checked his vehicle. It was unpressurized and ten feet from the lock, this was going to be a problem. I should have realized it would be something like this when I saw him in the suit, to tired to think straight I guess. I turned and looked at him, he was pointing the gun at me.
"You're not to bright you know," He said frowning.
"Actually I'm tired, very tired." I sighed, "I've been running for my life all day. So what are you going to do?"
"Call in the company police I guess."
"I'll kill you if you do," I warned quietly.
"You mean you'll try," He frowned again. "I've got the jump on you boy. And I'd appreciate it if you'd drop that Machine Gun of yours."
I shook my head, "No. You won't shoot me unless I make a jump on you. You're not a killer."
"You sure about that boy?" He showed some teeth.
"And I won't make a jump on you if you don't turn me in," I continued. "I just want to live. Is that asking too much?" I could see this wasn't getting me where I wanted to go. I really didn't want to kill the old bear, but if he didn't change his mind soon I was going to have to.
"Drop it," he warned again.
I sighed and tossed the gun at him, he nimbly dodged out of the way and laughed, "I'm not that dumb boy!" and then jumped in surprise as it went off when it hit the ground. I had filed off the safety a long time ago, I didn't believe in them myself. I knocked the gun in his hand aside then and jumped him, he wasn't able to put up that much of a fight.
"Drop the gun!" I growled with my knife to his throat, "Or I will kill you!" I grabbed it as he did. "Now strip!" He silently complied with that order as well. I tied him up good, then looked for another one of those damn balloons. I found one and stuck him in it. "Okay now, before I zip you up, listen closely. I'm taking you with me, if I'm found, I'm sure you'll buy it in the ensuing firefight. So with that in mind, where's a safe place to head?"
"Make a beeline for the city, it's on a ninety six degree heading. And pull the fuse numbered four under the radio. It's a remote tracking beacon." He grumbled, "you'll never get away you know."
"Hell, you don't even know what I'm running from!" I growled.
"You're one of those escapees from the penal mines!" He growled, "So don't think I don't know who you are! They got news out on you folks all over."
I stopped zipping him up for a second, "Did they have any pictures?"
"A few, but none of you that I recall."
I let out a sigh of relief, "That ain't what I'm running from. If it was, you'd have been dead long ago. I'm a company spy that got blown, and if I get caught with what I know, I'm dead. Plain and simple." I finished zipping him up and let him stew on that.
It didn't take me long to go over the vehicle. I found the fuse he was talking about, and another tracking device he hadn't mentioned. I shook my head at that, you couldn't trust anyone these days it seemed.
The ride to the city was uneventful, I thanked providence for that. Once there it was a simple matter to simply transfer in through one of the Airlocks.
Imbreum City was way too large to monitor all the locks effectively. Also, this time I remembered to disable any telltales there may have been on it. Once inside I dumped the suit, unzipped my friend, then made him suit up and leave. Once outside I jammed the lock so he couldn't get back in, and as I had disabled all the radios I knew I wouldn't have any trouble from that quarter for a while.
Then I literally ran and hid.
It took me two more hours, but I was finally able to get myself deep into the city. I had kept the Bear's coveralls and credit chain, so I didn't stand out too badly. I was even able to buy myself another coverall in the first fifteen minutes, which I figured were safe. Once I made it to an empty hall deep in the city, I opened an Airway shaft and crawled inside. I'd have to do something about my stink soon, but first I laid down and slept for the first time in days.
I woke up slowly, I knew where I was and what I was doing. My watch told me it was twelve hours later, but I didn't feel guilty about over sleeping. I changed coveralls, dumping the Bear's, but I kept the ident chain. I wouldn't be able to use it, but I'd be more conspicuous without one. Then I slipped quietly back out into the hallway and moved off like I belonged.
Next what I had to do was get a shower, I probably smelled and looked pretty bad. Hopefully everyone would think I was just coming off shift. The problem was money however, fortunately I had food for a few days yet, even if it was emergency rations. But I'd have to start making some changes quick. Crypto accounts were illegal on the Moon and Earth, so I couldn't even tap into a bank.
What I ended up doing was going up to one of the entertainment areas, and rolling a drunk Leopard. I swapped I.D. chains with him, then got myself a room. I didn't have the heart to let him get found out however, they might mistake him for me and kill him. So I dragged him in with me, took my shower, got myself straightened up, and got a few hard credits out of his account. Then I gave him back his bracelet and left him asleep on the bed. He'd wake up later on with one hell of a headache and no idea what had happened.
It would have been safer to kill him, true. But my conscious had finally found its voice for the first time in my life and I just couldn't do it.
Then I went and found myself a pay terminal, and locking the booth I paid for ten hours time and went to work.
I was able to access my dummy accounts without too much trouble, and I immediately started to look for clues. On my last job the approval had come from the same place as before, which was still not normal company sources. I looked through all the other files I could find, or crack, and found that in the last three months ninety percent of all assignments had that same number.
Those assignments didn't really make sense either. I downloaded a list of all the targets, and what information I could learn about them, then sent out a request for information on my own last three targets to some of my net friends. Next I started a search on Siedman. Six hours later I was still looking. I had found out that he was transferred out one day before we were hit. At his own request! I also found out that the hit had been carried out by the Earth government, I had thought that the people in armor had looked human, but I only gotten that one glance.
Continuing along I learned that casualties had been high, many staff members had been killed in the attack, a lot of Human ones too. And the company had been able to put some distance between itself and the division, but not enough.
Looking further
I found that the Senator I had hit was still alive, and expected to recover, but not fully. Too much nerve damage from the bio-engineered poison I had used. Several other corporations were being accused of maintaining hit squads of their own, but only mine had been raided.
Eventually I decided to make an attempt at my own personal account, but found it gone to my surprise. Then I went back to check some of the accounts I had raided just a few hours earlier for the information on the targets, and I found those being destroyed as I watched. Somebody had sent in a virus, and it was specifically going after the accounts which contained that code number I was so interested in.
On a hunch I logged into one of my front accounts deep in the companies secret computers back on Earth. I didn't go there often, the lag was a royal pain. And getting there from this public terminal took a bit of skill as well. Once there I took a chance and sent a message to an account that was as secret as they come, a corporate vice-president's. I had found it on a lark one day, using information I had stolen off a desk a long long time ago. The message was simple: Who is TU952-4RIZ99E?
That was the ID I had seen on all those orders. One which I had not been able to uncover no matter how hard I looked. I had cultivated that company official by sending him important information every once in a while. Eventually he started asking me questions. I didn't always know the answers, but I had never asked him for anything. Maybe now I'd get some payback.
I went back on the net then and looked for the reason for the raid. The Earth government was saying that it was a response due to pressure brought on by the people from the amount of innocents being killed. Insiders said it was due to a highly placed government official being wounded, and a close personal friend being killed. My last target no doubt. And corporate rumors among the trenches of the different corps was that Earth was just trying to grab more control over the Corporations and the other settled worlds.
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