Industry & Intrigue

by Ryan McCall

  Snar had certainly embraced his role as a watch officer. Brenna was glad that he was here tonight to have her back. She turned to address the remaining officers.

  “I want a smooth operation. We take the door as fast as possible. Then our two young Scepters,” she gestured at the two mages, who bowed their heads in unison, “will blast open the doors and temporarily blind everyone inside. That will give us a chance to take them by surprise. You’ve done this before or trained for it, so you know there’s a chance they won’t give up peacefully. If that happens, don’t hesitate to shoot. Once the firing starts, its them or us and I want to come out of this without casualties. Is that understood?”

  They all nodded in answer to her.

  “Good, let’s move.”

  She led them through the back alley of the complex. It twisted around and past another large building, until it opened out closer to the warehouse. Brenna could see the orc guards clearly now.

  She turned to one of her officers and said, “Ok, give the signal.”

  He pulled a whistle up to his mouth and blew hard, the shrill sound echoing across the street.

  “Go!” yelled Brenna and she charged forward at the front of her officers towards the doors, their guns aimed at the guards. The two guards nearest to them only had time to turn and see what the noise was before they were surrounded, double barrels aimed at their heads.

  From the opposite side of the building, Selim and his men ambushed the other two guards. One orc dropped his weapon and put his hands up. The other scowled and looked like he was ready to fight.

  “Don’t even think about,” said Brenna. “On the ground,” she gestured with her gun. The orc slowly moved his gun down and placed it on the ground. He then put up his hands.

  He sneered at Brenna, “Good luck trying to get inside, you’ll be cut to pieces.” Brenna ignored him and called a few officers forward. They handcuffed the orcs and took them away.

  “Sadic, Andas, over here,” she called.

  The two mages stepped forward from behind the watch officers.

  “Time to work your magic.”

  They nodded and stood side by side in front of the doors. Sadic placed one hand out in front, palm facing the doors, and held the other near his face, chanting in a low voice.

  Andas lifted his staff to eye level and gripped it tight. He closed his eyes and his staff glowed with a soft, yellow light. The light grew brighter and brighter until eventually Brenna had to look away from the intensity.

  There was a sound of rushing air and the light vanished. The same light was suddenly streaming out the windows of the warehouse with far more intensity. At the same time, Sadic finished his chant and the doors blew inwards, coming off the hinges and flying inside.

  The light stopped, lasting only a few seconds and Brenna gave her next order, “Inside, as fast you can.”

  The officers ran in, brandishing their weapons and ready for hostile fire. Brenna passed through the doorway and saw three of Mikono’s men. They had been guarding the inside, but the light spell had blinded them and before they could react, their guns were taken away and handcuffs were slapped on their wrists.

  Her officers charged down the length of the room subduing many other blinded guards. They came to the wooden barricades and the path forward split in a T-junction. Brenna pointed left and Selim led his group in that direction. She took the other group of officers right.

  They came to the first opening in the barricade and Brenna took a quick look. There were several more armed guards, but they recovering from the spell, and adjusting to their sight returning. “Alkos City Watch. All of you drop your weapons and put hands over your heads,” she said loudly.

  Most of them obeyed, but a few of the braver ones, ran back past the next barricade, even while half-blind. Two of them made it and ducked behind the wooden wall, but the last tripped and fell.

  Brenna winced as his gun hit the ground and went off, the shot echoing throughout the building. If the light didn’t alert them, they’ll know we’re here now she thought.

  And sure enough, she heard shouts from the other side of the barricade, and the sound of running footsteps. From the left gunfire rang out, Selim and his men had encountered resistance.

  Brenna and Snar stood near the opening of the second barricade. She slowly edged the end of her shotgun towards the archway.

  BAM! A shot fired and was quickly followed by several more. They were fighting back. She and her officers had better weapons and could take them but she wanted to avoid a fight.

  “City watch,” she shouted towards the opening. “Stand down and you won’t be harmed.”

  There was a shout in return, “Sorry officer, no dice. If you want us, you’ll have to come and get us.”

  That sounded like Barus Asulius. Leave it to that bastard to refuse to surrender. They didn’t have time to wait this out either, if he was given enough time, Barus could get rid of his money and drugs.

  “All of you listen to me. Do you hear that gunfire from the other side of the building? That’s the rest of my officers overwhelming your men. When they’re finished, they’ll be in position to outflank you and you’ll be out of options. You have five seconds to stand down and end this without getting hurt.”

  There was no response, so she counted, “Five…four…three…”

  Snar tightened his grip on his axe and the other officers held their guns and tensed themselves in anticipation of opening fire.

  “Two,” she counted.

  “Alright, alright, we fucking surrender. Don’t shoot,” urged a panicked voice.

  Brenna peeked through a small gap in the wood. They looked to be putting down their guns and holding up their hands. Brenna was about to step out, but she felt one of Snar’s big paws on her shoulder.

  “Let me sergeant, if it is a trap, I have a much better resistance to damage.”

  Agorids did have thicker skin than most bipeds. Even gunfire caused them less harm.

  She nodded. ‘Alright, we’ll be right behind you.”

  She shouted back at Barus and his men. “Fine. We’re coming out. The first one of my officers you’ll see is a bear agorid. If you haven’t put down your weapons, we will not hesitate to shoot you.”

  Snar stepped out and walked through, his axe steady in his right hand. Brenna heard a few gasps from the guards. She and the rest of the officers followed him, training their guns on the surrendered guards.

  She walked over to the nearest one. “Where’s Barus and Mikono?”

  He was stubborn, and didn’t answer, but she saw his eyes flicker upwards for an instant when she asked the question. She looked up, above was an office at the top of a set of stairs, protected with a sturdy looking door.

  She gave orders to her officers. “Take these men outside. There’ll be a transport carriage for them soon.” She looked up at the office and said to Snar “Everything must be in there. We need to get inside before Barus can destroy the evidence.”

  She gathered the remaining officers and led them up. She stopped at the door. It looked heavy, but she had Snar. “Snar, can you take care of the door?” she asked.

  He moved past her and gave it a once over. He stepped back slightly, lifted his huge leg and with more muscle strength than she thought possible, kicked the door down.

  He ran into the room, Brenna was right behind him. Barus was standing in front of another door. He had a revolver and started firing at them both, but it did him no good. She wasn’t sure if Snar was hit or not, but he didn’t slow down and ran headlong at Barus, burying his axe in the man’s shoulder. Barus screamed in pain and dropped to the ground, but he was able to get off one more shot.

  Brenna felt like a sledgehammer had hit her. She dropped her gun and put her hand to the wound. It came away covered in blood.

  She collapsed to her knees. The pain was more intense than anything she had felt. She moved both of her hands to the injury to stem the blood flow, but she suspected it was too late. Barus’s sh
ot had torn her open.

  Snar kicked away Barus’s gun and his eyes widened when he turned back to look at her. He ran over and helped to keep her steady.

  “Oh fuck,” said Selim. He must have finished subduing the rest of Barus’ men. He came to her side. “Brenna…I,” his voice quivered. “We’ll get you help, hang in there.”

  She shook her head, “No, it’ll…be…too late.” She felt dizzy. It took every ounce of effort she had to lift her hand and point, “The next room…the door.”

  “Forget it for now, we need to get you help,” said Selim.

  “No,” she said, her voice stronger this time. “Open the door Selim. I need to know we did it. That we finally shut Mikono down.” Selim stood up and walked past the still body of Barus and opened the door.

  “Holy fucking shit,” he swore. “Sergeant, we have them alright. There must be several hundred kilograms of tarcaine in here and as much as a million crowns in dirty money.” He came back out the room, a large bundle of tarcaine in one hand and a package of notes in the other.

  Brenna smiled. She pointed again, this time at Barus, “Mikono. Ask him…about Mikono.” She was having trouble staying up, her head was starting to get cold and her thoughts were harder to keep ahold of.

  Selim looked down at Barus. “He won’t be answering questions sergeant. Snar did a real number on him. Exactly what this motherfucker deserved.”

  Damn. Where the fuck is she? thought Brenna. She had wanted Mikono, but the kitsune had luck on her side tonight. Brenna was finding it harder to breathe in and out.

  “Get one of…the others. Find Mikono…and take her down,” she said. Selim made his way back to her and crouched down.

  He held her head up and looked her in the eyes. “I promise you, no matter where she goes, I’ll get her for this.”

  “Good,” said Brenna. She gasped. Her body was numb, as if she had been dipped in icy water. Her eyes closed as she felt the last vestiges of herself slip away.

  ***

  Mikono watched the lights of Alkos City fade away into the dark. The ship she was on, the Hornbull, was officially a merchant schooner, registered to a company based in Kincaid province. Unofficially, it was one of the many vessels that smuggled tarcaine to Alkos City for her. This time however, she was the cargo being smuggled.

  The thought amused her, but not enough to improve her mood. Five years she had spent in Alkos City. Five prosperous years, building up a real drug empire, only for it to come crashing down.

  She had been warned of the watch raid on Barus’s warehouse only moments before she was about to go there. She had checked in her drawer before leaving and seen the piece of paper with the warning. Inissa had been captured and spilled everything to the Justice Branch.

  She had not wasted time. She burned everything that could be traced to her at the academy. She made straight for the harbor and commandeered the Hornbull, the captain being under her employ.

  She had been prepared for this possibility. Running drugs in Alkos City always carried a high risk. She had funneled most of her profits back to Longhaven, where it was safe and secure.

  Now she was headed back. Her network there was still in place, although it had never been as profitable as the one in Alkos City; Longhaven had so much more competition. On top of that, were the possible changes that would have taken place in the city since her last visit.

  In Longhaven, gangs rose and fell as frequently as the weather changed. She still had powerful allies, but others had retired or died in the interim and she was not as in touch with the new faces.

  While Longhaven would serve as a safety net for now, if Inissa gave them everything, they would follow her there. The Justice Branch had no jurisdiction there but they would pass it on to the custodians.

  Something would have to be done about that. Inissa had been a valuable employee for a long time, particularly her brothels, but she had crossed the line. Mikono could not allow her betrayal to go unpunished. Something large and brutal was called for. Something to ensure that, when she returned to Longhaven, those who did not know her would fear and respect her.

  There was Inissa herself of course, but Mikono had doubts about how easy it would be to reach her. With war on the horizon, there was a chance the Alkos City Watch would let its guard down. She could target Inissa’s harlots; Inissa cared about them in a motherly fashion.

  Yes that was the answer. The best way to punish betrayal was to hit Inissa where it would hurt the most. She had settled an important decision. She had many more to make over the next few days, they would determine her survival.

  Chapter 47

  The university apartment area was well lit, even at such a late hour. Normally, Lucina would avoid the lighted paths and stick to the shadows, but she was trying to fit in and ignored her ingrained habits. It was the only way she could throw off the scent of anyone following her.

  She had been lucky so far. She changed locations every night but if she dropped her guard, it would only be a matter of time before they caught up with her. Enough time had passed since the assassination that it would be safe to leave the city. She was still undecided on where to go, Arketh was an option, the Arm had no influence there. The city was the opposite of Longhaven; the Arketh authorities having little patience for crime and corruption.

  But even the Arm would overlook that to reach a traitor. Better to leave Alkos altogether; head for the Yarali cities. She could undoubtedly find work with her skills amongst the many warring Houses of the city states.

  As she walked towards her brother’s apartment, she was weighing up whether she should be here or not. It risked leading the Arm to him, but she had to at least say farewell. Otherwise he would always wonder what had happened to her. She didn’t want him thinking her dead a second time.

  She reached his door and knocked lightly, not wanting to wake anyone else. No response. She sighed and bent down to pick the lock. It clicked with success and she opened the door. Her brother wasn’t here. Where could he be? She decided to ask his friend, the short, well-built one. She had both her brother’s and his friend’s apartment numbers memorized from the school register.

  She knocked on the door to Michael’s apartment. There was a thump sound, someone’s foot landing on the floor and she heard the boy say, “Shit.” This was followed by giggling. Did he have a girl with him? This could be more awkward than she anticipated.

  The door opened an inch and revealed Reese’s friend, Michael. His hair was disheveled and he was only wearing undergarments. He was rather attractive, now that she could see him without clothes, his body was lean and muscular. But far too young for her, she preferred encounters with older men who knew what they were doing.

  His eyes widened when he saw her. “Uh…Reese isn’t here.”

  She pushed the door open wider and stared him down. “Where is he?”

  Michael gulped. “He’s away, a field trip for his zoology class.”

  Damn, of all of the timing

  “Who is it Michael?” said a soft voice.

  He turned his head to answer but Lucina quietly said, “Don’t. The less people who know about me, the better.” To emphasize her point she grabbed his hand roughly and pulled him back to the doorway.

  “Just a security guard doing a check,” he said to the girl in the room.

  “Nice recovery,” whispered Lucina. “When is my brother due back?”

  “He left this morning, said he’d be back in three days. Do you want me to give him a message?”

  “Are you a fucking imbecile?” she said. “I’m trying to evade both the watch and my employers, I’m not going to put my brother at risk by leaving messages.”

  “And Imperial Intelligence,” he replied.

  “What?” asked Lucina. This was news to her. She could avoid a casual tail but skilled spies were another matter entirely. She grabbed him by the shoulder roughly and clawed her fingers into his skin. “Tell me everything.”

  “Ow! Take it easy,” he yel
ped. She relaxed her fingers and let go. “You have a hell of a grip,” he complained. “Two agents came to talk to us. They could tell right away our story was horseshit. So we told them what happened, in spite of your ‘threats’. A cloaked figure burst into the room, threatened us and was away before we could even comprehend what happened.”

  Lucina relaxed. Reese and his friend had given the spies nothing useful. Enough to work out the Arm was behind it, but nothing on her specifically. The trail would take them to Longhaven and away from Alkos.

  “I see,” she said. “Thank you. You and my brother must be quick thinkers under pressure.”

  “It was all Reese, I went along with it. Is there anything else you need? Because I’d like to get back to well…I was preoccupied when you came by.” He grinned.

  Lucina instincts kicked in. Years of training and cat-like reflexes allowed her to twist out of the way of the blade that came slicing down from behind. Michael was not so lucky. The sword embedded in the middle of his chest.

  His eyes had a look of shock and he stared down at the protruding hilt. It withdrew as quickly as it had cut in and the boy fell back, his blood spraying out.

  Lucina heard the girl scream, but she ignored it; her attention solely focused on the attacker. The sword zinged through the air towards her a second time but she dodged again, this time dropping herself to the ground.

  She looked up and saw the grey-cloak of an Arm assassin. She couldn’t see the face, but a chin with dark stubble poked out from under the hood. She whipped out her revolver and fired once. The figure staggered back and gave out a sound of pain. He stepped forward lifting his sword to come at her again, though it took him more effort now.

  Lucina cocked back the hammer of the gun and fired once more. The man stopped, his sword fell out of his hands and he dropped to his knees. His hands clutched at the bullet wounds she had inflicted. She stood up, walked over and pulled back his hood.