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fades in, and then fades out again.
The commercial returned to Simone in the studio. “Welcome back to Stories with Hart: DocWagon Edition. I’m Simone Hart, your host. In this special edition, we were privileged to go behind the scenes and ride-along with High-Threat Response Team of DocWagon 19. Later in the program we’ll have a live interview with a special guest with some explosive information about the night I rode along with DocWagon 19. If you’re just joining us, we was responding to VIP contract client Chrome Holly.” The scene faded to black.
The scene opens in the back of the Citymaster, with Simone looking at Takeshi. The team leader’s face is impassive. “On the clock everyone. SIMaeon, details.” Simone follows the conversation as everyone speaks.
“Chrome Holly. Trid star of the recently dropped Holly’s Follies. She’s at the Gates Casino, in one of the private rooms.” SIMaeon’s avatar is gone, his body limp in his seatbelt restraints, but his voice is heard over the commlink.
Takeshi glances toward Gunther. “Time to the casino?”
“Two minutes.”
He nods to Odder. “Status of the client?”
“Elevated BP, increased perspiration, rapid heartbeat, constricted blood vessels. Possible stimulant overdose.”
“Permission to access?”
“Casino has a blanket agreement,” SIMaeon replies.
Takeshi frowns. “Who’s got control of the casino these days?”
Hey Jude’s voice floats over her shoulder. “Officially? Gates the Third. Unofficially? Finnigan territory.”
“We gonna get resistance from them?” Gunther asks.
“Better not. I got friends.” Hey Jude stops talking, glances at Simone, and then shrugs. “We won’t, or if we do, I’ll deal with them.” She taps her Ares Alpha assault rifle.
Takeshi looks at Simone. “Miss Hart. Simone. We agreed to let you ride along, but we must insist that you hang back. You may come with us. The patch we gave you will show the DocWagon symbol in AR, and people should get out of your way. But—” he glances at Odder, “—this is a dangerous job.”
“I understand. I promise I’m here to observe, not get involved.”
“Arigato.” He gives her a small, seated bow.
“Do you think there will be a problem at the casino?”
Takeshi shrugs. “We must treat every stop as dangerous. If this isn’t a simple overdose and someone is trying to murder our client at the casino, they may try to stop us on the way in.”
“Murder?” Simone sounds surprised, shocked even. “In such a public place?”
He nods. “Not so public. One of the backrooms.”
“We’re here!” Gunther brings the Citymaster to a smooth stop and the gull-wing door flies open. The DocWagon team tumbles out of the ambulance and onto the sidewalk, bystanders immediately getting out of their way.
Hey Jude takes point as they fall into a wedge formation. Gunther and SIMaeon stay behind with the vehicle, but two small flying drones follow about a meter above the group.
Simone takes her place behind the wedge, watching everything she can as she speaks quietly to the show’s audience. “‘Chrome Holly’ Heller just turned twenty-seven. Holly’s Follies was dropped from the network as ‘too old’ for their target audience. Rumor has it that she didn’t take it well. She’s had a good run as a reality star, but recently has been dealing with the backlash of being famous for being famous as a dilettante of the Heller family.”
While Simone speaks, she follows the DocWagon team into and through the Gates Casino. Inside is a myriad of blinking lights, ringing bells, and laughing people. Casino girls in high heels and short skirts holding trays of drinks stop to watch the commotion. Men in uniform remain around the tables and slot machines while nearby patrons quiet down, herd instinct telling them that Something Is Not Right.
No one tries to stop them as they stride across the casino floor. Not workers, security personnel, or gamblers. Casino patrons stand up from behind slot machines, watching the DocWagon team pass. Over the comm, SIMaeon gives the team directions. Casino security trails on the left and right flanks of the DocWagon team, but does nothing to hinder them.
As they turn down a hallway, one of two large trolls steps in front of Hey Jude. “You can’t—”
The ork doesn’t hesitate. She gives him an uppercut with the butt of her rifle, then slams him hard with a shoulder.
As he stumbles back with a cry of pain and surprise, the second troll grabs him. “What the hell you doing, you stupid trog? That’s DocWagon!”
Hey Jude busts through the private room door as the offender shakes his head. “Didn’t know…didn’t see.”
Simone pauses, waiting for Takeshi, Odder, and Hey Jude to secure the room. One drone remains in the hallway, the other enters behind the rest of the DocWagon team.
It’s a plush room decorated in burgundy, gold, and black. A couch and two overstuffed chairs sit around a low table holding the remains of a partly eaten meal. A spilled drink speaks of a sudden reaction to whatever drug Chrome Holly ingested. Hey Jude takes up a position in the corner, clearing and watching the room. Takeshi and Odder move to the only two people there: a woman in a short, emerald green dress lying on the floor, and a man in a suit leaning over her.
As Simone watches, Takeshi pulls the male human off Chrome Holly in a controlled manner and escorts him to the side with a soft apology. Odder takes the man’s place. As he turns, his handsome face is clear. With a small inhale of surprise, Simone murmurs, “It’s Brian W. Gates the Third, owner of the Gates Casino.”
As soon as Takeshi turns his attention back to Chrome Holly, Simone moves up. “Mr. Gates, could you tell us what happened here?”
He blinks at her, his surprise and confusion evident. “You’re Simone Hart.”
“Yes, sir. What happened to Chrome Holly?”
Mr. Gates shakes his head, running his fingers through his hair, “I don’t know. We ordered dinner and drinks. We were talking…business. Chrome Holly might do a show here…then she collapsed. I was informed when her RFID tag went off. We knew DocWagon was coming.”
“Could you tell us why one of the bodyguards outside the door tried to stop the DocWagon team?”
His concern for Chrome Holly morphs into a quiet rage. The confusion clears from his eyes, leaving an angry glint and hard lines around his mouth. “Did he now? Which one?”
“The one missing some teeth. Hey Jude dealt with it.”
Mr. Gates gives Hey Jude a double take of sudden recognition. “Well, there won’t be any charges filed. All guests at the Gates Casino have full access to DocWagon services at all times.” He straightens his jacket. “Please excuse me. I have to deal with this now.” Without waiting for an answer, he strides out of the room.
Simone steps closer to Chrome Holly and Odder, who’s kneeling next to the star’s supine body. Chrome Holly is beautiful, with metallic silver hair and chromed cybernetic eyes that flutter as Odder speaks softly to her.
Then Takeshi is there, putting his body between Simone and Chrome Holly. “She’ll be just fine. We’ve called for her personal doctor.” His voice takes on an apologetic tone. “But, I’m afraid you won’t be able to speak with her. She overdosed on an unknown drug, and she may not realize what’s she saying. Normally, we’d just take her to Overlake, but she’s requested that we wait with her until her doctor arrives. As her vitals are unstable, this is the best course of action.”
The scene faded to black and then returned to the studio with an image of the stunningly beautiful Chrome Holly next to Simone. “We’re happy to state that Chrome Holly made a full recovery. She asked us to express her gratitude to DocWagon 19 for their care and sensitivity with her rescue. Also, Chrome Holly is indeed going to star in a live trid show out of the Gates Casino called After Hours with Chrome Holly, where she’ll ask the audience for cues, and then improvise an adult fictional story
about herself.” Simone winked at the camera. “Two guesses on what those stories will be about, and the first guess doesn’t count.”
The image of Chrome Holly is replaced with an image of Hey Jude. “Before the next rescue call, I talked with Hey Jude to find out how she went from urban brawl player to an EMT for DocWagon. As she said, all of the members of DocWagon 19 had interesting lives before working for DocWagon. But first, a word from one of our sponsors of this special edition of Stories with Hart.”
An old woman putters in her garden. She suddenly gives a gasp of pain and falls over.
A handsome man in a DocWagon uniform reads his smart glasses that have words appearing on them. “Mrs. Stetson is in trouble! It’s her heart!” he declares, and the SRT ambulance he is in flashes its emergency lights, tearing down the street.
A man in a suit slips on a wet floor and falls down a flight of stairs. As he moans in pain, a beautiful woman in a DocWagon uniform looks up and calls out. “Mr. Aoki is injured! He’s broken his leg!” Another DocWagon ambulance flashes its emergency lights and tears down the street.
A beautiful starlet is struck as she’s taken hostage. A dangerous-looking man holds a gun on her while another tears her jewelry off. A fierce-looking man in a DocWagon HTR uniform touches his commlink. “Rosa Rose has been hurt—it’s a hostage situation!” An Ares Citymaster squeals around a corner with its lights flashing.
The first DocWagon med-tech stands over Mrs. Stetson on a gurney, holding her hand. He looks at the camera. “DocWagon. We’re there when you need us.”
The second DocWagon med-tech kneels next to Mr. Aoki on the floor as another DocWagon med-tech magically repairs his leg. She looks at the camera. “No matter where you need us.”
The third DocWagon med-tech stands next to a door with an Ares Predator at the ready. “No matter how dire your situation is, we’re there.” He busts down the door, shoots and kills the two bad guys, then pulls off his helmet and goes to comfort the sobbing Rosa Rose.
Mrs. Stetson appears and smiles at the camera, “Get your DocWagon contract today. I’m glad I did!”
The brightly lit TV studio reappeared. “Welcome back to Stories with Hart. As we continue our behind the scenes look at the day-to-day operation of a DocWagon High-Threat Response team, we learn more about one of the members of DocWagon 19.”
An image of Hey Jude floated next to Simone’s smiling face. “Lucy ‘Hey Jude’ Judet was born in Seattle in 2050. An orphan left on the sidewalk outside Harborview Hospital, her early years were difficult. She was in and out of trouble until she befriended Anthony Wu, a member of the Seattle Screamers. Within a year, she auditioned for the Screamers and became one of the youngest players on the team. As an outrider, Hey Jude’s job was feint and defend. And she did her job well until 2066, when she suffered a catastrophic injury that left her in a coma for three months. After that, Hey Jude faded from sight. Now, we find her braving dangerous situations to save lives. What an amazing change. We can’t help but admire her for it.”
The image shifts to Simone sitting across from Hey Jude in the Citymaster. The ork checks over her weapon, making sure everything is in shape. As she does so, her smartlink is visible, as is the metal covering the right part of her skull. “So, whatcha wanna know?”
“Well, how you went from being an urban brawl sports star to an EMT for DocWagon. Was it an immediate jump or…?”
Hey Jude gives a bitter half-smile but doesn’t look at Simone. “Or did I completely lose it after I lost my ability to play?”
“I wouldn’t put it like that.”
“I would. Why sugarcoat it?” Hey Jude glances at Simone, then nods at her. “What do you call that eye of yours?”
“My eyes?”
“The camera in your head.” Hey Jude pats the Ares Alpha assault rifle. “I call her Athena. Most people name their most valuable tools. Gunther calls the ambulance Matilda. So what do you call your eye?”
Simone hesitates for a moment. Her voice is soft with embarrassment. “HAL. I call him HAL.”
“Why?” From the grin on the ork’s face, she gets the old pop culture reference.
“Because…he doesn’t always do what I want him to do, but he sees more than I do. I always discover this when I look at the recordings later.”
Hey Jude smiles; a wide, genuine smile that lights up her face and makes her beautiful. “A good name. Just get worried when he closes the pod bay doors.” She tilts her head, her broken tusk gives her a rakish look. “And to answer your other question, yeah. I did go a bit crazy. Drugs, drinking, fights. And then a certain person kicked my ass and told me that my life hadn’t been saved just for me to throw it away.” Hey Jude glances at Takeshi.
Simone also glances at Takeshi. The small man’s eyes are closed as he breathes in slow, deep breaths. She turns back to Hey Jude. “So, what happened then?”
The ork shrugs. “I had to take a good long look at my life and find a new purpose. That purpose turned out to be DocWagon. It was hard going. I’m not much for book learning, but I can slap a patch with the best of them while keeping the enemy at bay.”
“You’ve found a new purpose and a new home.”
“Let’s not go that far, Simone. I like these guys, but I don’t live with ’em. You should see Gunther’s place. It’s a sty. And people say orks are messy. That guy’s place is one spill away from a biohazard warning.”
“Hey now!” Gunther’s voice comes over the vehicle speakers. “It’s not that bad.”
“Yes is it!” SIMaeon smirks at Hey Jude from his usual corner, egging her on. “I’ve been there.”
“Bad enough, short stuff.” Hey Jude looks toward the front of the Citymaster with a wicked grin.
“Don’t you two start!”
Takeshi coughs lightly, and what seemed about to become a familiar bickering session quiets down.
Hey Jude shrugs. “What else you wanna know?”
“What do you do when you’re not working? Got any hobbies?”
The ork mumbles something.
“I’m sorry?”
“I like bonsai trees. The little ones.” She looks away, embarrassed. “‘Like’ isn’t the correct word.” Odder gives Hey Jude a grin. “She’s got an amazing green thumb. Seriously. She sells her little
trees under the name Verd—”
The AR miniature version of SIMaeon appears in the middle of the ambulance. “Incoming. Gold level, it’s only a block away. Looks like one Daisuke Nagano has a broken leg. Normal sarariman working for Ares. Accounting, from his file.”
Simone glances between SIMaeon’s now slack body and the AR image for a moment. Then she focuses on the active miniature SIMaeon for her question. “Why do you tell the team what your client does for a living?”
SIMaeon shrugs, then shrinks into a small blue fireball. “What they do often tells us something about them, their possible situation, and why someone might want to target them for an illegal attack. Or if they’re just accident-prone.”
Odder laughs as she looks at the client data on her smart glasses. “He’s at the bottom of the stairs of Powerline.”
Hey Jude looks at Simone. “We don’t have to tell you what that is…do we?”
“No. Of course not. I’m aware of the entertainment establishments in the area. Even the adult ones. Especially Powerline. I’ve got a show about them coming up soon.”
“I’m surprised any of them would let you record their faces.”
“Some didn’t. That’s all right. I’ve got the best masking software there is.”
The ambulance stops on the sidewalk, and just as before, everyone tumbles out of the vehicle, with Simone following. The team shows a bit less intensity than during the last rescue.
This time, Takeshi hangs back next to Simone while Hey Jude escorts Odder to an older Japanese man sitting on the sidewalk at the bottom of a long flight of stairs leading to a nondescript building. His leg is bent at a painful angle. Above the double doors is a simple Pow
erline logo in neon with its double in AR. Pistol at the ready, Gunther is out of the ambulance and keeping an eye on the situation.
“SIMaeon?” Takeshi’s voice is soft as he surveys the area, not appearing to pay any attention to the man with the broken leg.
“All clear. No bogies. No paparazzi. Just some looky-loos.” SIMaeon’s voice is just as soft. “Seventeen’ll be here in three.”
Simone also looks around the street. Several people are watching, all of them keeping a respectful distance. A couple, probably tourists, takes photos of the minor event. “Are we expecting trouble?”
“Yes. No.” Takeshi walks toward Daisuke Nagano, whose face is contorted in pain and anger. “We’re always prepared for trouble. We treat every stop as a potential firefight, because even a simple stop could be a trap. Usually, we don’t stop for Gold or Basic clients. That’s not what we normally do.” He stops in front of Odder and the older gentleman. “But no, I don’t expect any trouble right this moment.”
“—I was pushed! Someone tried to kill me.” Daisuke hits the ground with the palms of his hands, clearly frustrated with Odder. “I’m not drunk.”
“Odder?” Takeshi keeps his voice low.
“Something’s wrong with his blood tox. Can’t figure it out. I need more blood.”
Takeshi gives Daisuke a bow. “Nagano-san, please understand we’re fulfilling our mission. We need another blood sample.”
Daisuke shakes his head. “I’m not drunk. I just came to watch my boys dance. Is that a crime? I never drink. Just watch. I come here every Wednesday. I never miss them.”
Takeshi bowed again. “Be that as it may, if you don’t allow my med-tech to have the blood sample, your contract with DocWagon may be voided.”
Crossing his arms, Daisuke pouts like a child as he considers this. Finally, he holds out a wrist. “Fine. But someone hit me from behind. I was just standing there, minding my own business, thinking about my boys. I wasn’t blocking anything…and then BAM, I got hit in the back.”
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