Trinity: Atom & Go

by Zach Winderl

He met her gaze.

  “This is our agreement.” She held out the paper, just out of Atom’s reach. “I can’t say I like what happened up there.”

  “You don’t have to like it.” Atom did not play Coffey’s game, instead he awaited payment with an open palm. “You just have to be satisfied with the achievement of your goal. When I take a job, there’s a desired conclusion and the path to that conclusion isn’t always pleasant.”

  “But I’m having second thoughts.”

  “That’s not how it works,” Atom said with simple directness. “A job is a contract and unless you call it off before the conclusion, there is no way to avoid the outcome.”

  Coffey narrowed her eyes.

  As she contemplated, a roar of ship engines washed over and through the thin walls of the town’s hab. As Coffey glanced up, Atom snatched the paper from her fingers and hopped to his feet.

  “I can’t say it was a pleasure doing business with you,” he said with a wistful smile. Her hand snaked to her gun, but Atom held up his hands. “Transaction’s complete.”

  Coffey stayed her hand on the butt of her gun. Her eyes darted from the vibrating ceiling to Atom and back. “I didn’t hear any tell of an arriving ship. Our skies were clear until our supply drop, sometime beyond next week.

  “Are these friends of yours?” she demanded, her accusing eyes bore into Atom she rose to her feet. Her knuckles whitened with tension as she gripped her pistol.

  Atom shook his head.

  “So, who are they?”

  “Not a shade,” Atom said as he tucked the paper into his pocket and turned for the door. “But I can almost guarantee they aren’t friends of anyone here.”

  He paused, his hand hovered over the hatch control, and he looked over his shoulder with concern framing his eyes. “If you can, get everyone to the outlying habs. This trouble started with Blonde, but I won’t say it hasn’t jumped to me now.” He scowled at the closed hatch, as if he could catch a glimpse of the ship settling into the hangar at the head of the town. “But that trouble has everything to do with the information you just gave me.”

  Her face blanched. “If I know the poem, am I in danger?”

  “Does anyone else know about the poem?”

  She shook her head.

  “Then you should be safe, as long as you make yourself scarce.”

  “One last piece of info,” she said as she rose to her feet. “Your girlfriend came in and reviewed the tape of the Blonde incident. She seemed a might interested in your findings on the table.”

  “My girlfriend?” Atom looked puzzled.

  “The one with the glasses.”

  Atom turned, slapped the hatch, and leaving Svitać’s coat behind, plunged into the bitter wind. He held one hand to shield his eyes against the recirculating breeze. The other hand hovered above his rail-pistol.

  He stalked into the night.

  “Koze, any idea what we’re looking at?” he growled against the wind.

  “Based on engine signature I would estimate a dropship,” Kozue replied. “I don’t have the scanning abilities without the Ticket in a closer position.

  “Margo and Shi?”

  “Shi is awake.”

  “Tell her to load Margo up in the pram and sit tight for the moment.” Atom halted in the center of the road and glowered at the broad, hangar hatch. “I want to see what we’re up against before I bring them in.”

  “Be careful,” Kozue sounded worried.

  “When am I not?” A dark grin pulled at Atom’s cheek as the pale planetlight drifted between the scudding scatter of clouds above the hab.

  “Always,” came the reply.

  The biting wind skirled around Atom’s legs.

  Framed by the snow-glow of the icy ground, the drop ship sank beyond the boxy bulk of the hangar like a squat hound hunkering down against the evening chill. The whine of engines fell momentarily, only to scream as the dropship burned from the hangar’s pads.

  Atom’s pulse quickened as he stepped out of the hangar hatch.

  Without any solid information, he assumed at least one squad, if not two, had disgorged from the darkened maw of the beast.

  As he drew near the tavern, the hatch hissed open. Light spilled into the street. Atom halted, his toes just shy of dipping into the warm, golden pool. He tore his glare from the hangar and watched as the atmo-skin slipped over a shadowy form . . . and a pram.

  “Rekin you’d miss this.” Shi sauntered into the street, pushing the pram with Margo snuggled up, still asleep, inside. Shi tossed Atom his coat. “She’s still tuckered, but I ain’t feel comforted sittin’ this tussle out.”

  “You listen to suggestions like a marine,” Atom growled. Nonetheless, he slipped into his worn brown coat.

  “I’ll take the comp. Or ya could say a marine scentin’ blood’s like a wolf on a wounded stag.” Shi grinned as she stood in the warm tavern glow and surveyed the empty street. “You’d think a town this size’d have more lights to ward the dark.”

  “It could work to our advantage,” Atom stepped into the light and took the pram.

  “How you reckin?”

  “Dark gives us more shadow to hide.” He led the way into the dim light from the planet above, leaving the tavern behind. The hatch shut, closing out the last true source of light.

  “You know they’ve gear to null that.”

  Atom shrugged as he said, “We can’t do much about it in the present.”

  “You could wait,” Kozue interjected.

  A shot rang out from the darkness, a blaster-bolt. In reaction, the pram’s shield flashed into existence and deflected the bolt up into the night.

  Both Atom and Shi drew and fired. Instinct split the pair. Atom winged several shots into the darkness as he side-walked into the cover of a nearby alley. Shi fired twice and scurried to tuck into the cover of a parked rover.

  The pram sat alone in the blue-green light of the night.

  “What should we wait for?” Atom asked Kozue.

  Kozue remained silent. Then, with a flickering surge, the scattered lights along the street glowed brighter until each building cast a wide arc of light into the night. “It will only last a few minutes before the system overloads, but this may prevent the enemy from using the darkness to their advantage.”

  “Level the battlefield?” Atom hazarded a glance out into the street.

  As the street exploded in a ruddy glow, Atom caught sight of the lightly armored soldiers advancing against the backdrop of the buildings. The soldiers scattered in the light, like exposed cockroaches.

  Atom stepped into the street, pulling his pistol and dropping the last stragglers.

  “With me,” Atom called out.

  “On you.” Shi rose, flung her poncho back, and brought both guns to bear. In a steady tattoo, she fired into the artificial twilight. Some shots hit, others forced the enemy into scurried retreats, but most important, the fusillade allowed her to shift positions and advance up the street into the cover of a nearby building.

  “Loading,” she yelled, kneeling in cover to run her ladies through auto-load.

  Atom took the lull as an opportunity to shift forward, calling the suspensor-pram to his side as he walked the street with stolid steps. A shot barked from his rail-pistol with each step until he ran dry and ducked into cover.

  “What’s the count?” he yelled to Shi.

  He held his pistol to his belt and the auto-reloader.

  “Put down two. Winged a third,” Shi replied.

  “A moment,” Kozue murmured and from the pram, Cody rose to disappear into the black above the golden burn of the hyper-illuminating buildings. The moment passed. “It would appear five have fallen between the two of you. I count eleven more, four of who are wounded. There is also a reserve of four waiting near the hangar.

  “I don’t believe they have connected Lilly’s ship, despite the fact that a record should tie the ship to the prison break. Interesting,” Kozue puzzled. “Either Lilly has scrub
bed her connection from the operation or you have done a wonderful job of getting under the skin of Toks Marshall. If the information on the treasure ship is the ultimate goal, I would assume Marshall has associated the two of you and so should have her ship pinged.”

  “And this concerns me how at the moment?” he grunted.

  Snapping the cylinder home, he peeked from cover only to be driven back by a spatter of blaster fire.

  “We’re a fresher meal.” Shi leaned low and fired off a pair of shots.

  “It’d be my play.” Atom pulled his secondary pistol.

  He kicked the pram out into the street. Harmless fire splashed off the shield. He ducked out into the street after the pram, firing a rapid salvo. Shadows flitted beyond the edges of the building lights, drawing his fire.

  The pram coasted to the center of the street.

  Running dry, he spun back into the alley.

  “Firing,” Kozue called out and the turbo-laser dropped from the bottom of the pram. Guided by Cody’s eyes in the sky, a brilliant pulse of light ripped from the underside of the pram and flew in short, staccato bursts. Leaping from target to target, Kozue drove enemy troops to ground.

  “Flank,” Kozue called in alarm, just as a squad of armored troopers slipped into Atom’s alley.

  Throwing himself sideways, Atom managed to avoid most of the attack, but a stray blaster round ripped through his left shoulder and punched him back into the gutter.

  Rolling to a stop with his back against the metal wall of the building, Atom snapped off a few rounds with his good arm. Even as he drew attention to himself, Shi sprinted at an angle, bypassing the pram and slipping into the alley. Without wasting breath, she emptied her pistols into the enemy.

  Her shots ripped through the light armor of the four troopers.

  Atom watched. Pain laced his vision as he fought past the cold burning of the blaster bolt.

  Centering his breath, he dropped his rail-pistol and pushed himself up the wall.

  “You solid?” Shi asked as Atom poked at the singed hole in his brown coat. He stooped and retrieved his fallen pistol.

  “I’ll manage,” he grunted as he struggled to holster his off-hand pistol with his right hand. Panting to control the pain, he picked up his rail-pistol and tapped it against his thigh to knock the icy crust from the barrel. “It’s time to end this,” he growled.

  Without waiting for a reply, he strode out into the street and past the silent pram. Vengeance burned fierce in his eyes. As each enemy appeared, they fell. Atom’s pistols could not miss. His right arm extended and fired, even as his left hung limp and useless at his side.

  Like Death, he stalked the street.

  Behind him, Shi scurried to keep up. The gunslinger threw lead at every shadow to catch her eye.

  Atom ignored the pain.

  He fired by instinct. Soldiers died at his hand and burned before his fury.

  Only when he reached the supply depot outside the hangar did Atom slow. His breath frosted the air like an agitated bull.

  He swayed.

  Shi caught him and eased him to the ground as the pram floated up behind them and settled to the ground allowing Margo to look on in concern.

  “Dada,” she whispered.

  “Just a scratch, girl.” Atom kneeled, supporting himself with the gun barrel of his good arm jammed in the icy ground.

  “Sorry bunch we seem,” Lilly said from a pool of light a dozen paces behind.

  Atom twisted his gaze up from the road. Shi’s gun leaped like a snake, beading on Lilly even as she slipped between Atom and the baug.

  “Peace, slinger.” Lilly held up her hands, but remained motionless. “He ok?”

  “Are you?” Shi asked Atom without taking her eyes or gun from Lilly.

  “I’ve had worse,” Atom grunted through gritted teeth. Sweat stood out and froze on his forehead. “Shot missed anything vital, but it may have burned a chunk from my blade.” He reached up and poked at the wound. “No bleeding, which is good. It’s a blaster burn, which isn’t good. It hurts a hell of a lot more than a bleeder.”

  “We should get him back to the tavern.” Lilly stepped forward.

  Shi tightened her grip on her pistol.

  “She said peace,” Atom whispered, his head lolling forward and breath coming shallow. “She’ll stand by that word.” Taking a deep breath, Atom forced himself to his feet where he stood swaying beside Shi.

  “Will she?” Shi whispered back as her eyes tracked the shadowy figure slipping through the flickering light.

  “I believe the lights may be reaching their threshold,” Kozue said.

  Most of the lights followed her words and winked out, leaving Atom standing in the dark of night. Here and there a few tenacious lights continued to glow in scattered pools, but the noon-bright illumination had passed.

  “You can trust her.” Atom closed his eyes against the pain. “I can make it.”

  Shi backed off a step, but remained close. On the other side, Lilly stood with a concerned expression as she watched Atom sway like a thin tree in a winter breeze. He clenched his eyes. Breathing in short gasps, he gathered himself and fought the pain.

  “Nice to see you again,” a voice called out from the darkness of the supply depot. “Where’s your man?”

  Atom froze.

  “Show yerself,” Shi called out, shifting again to place herself in harm’s way. Her pistols strained to see into the shadows.

  Lilly slipped in close beside Atom. She wrapped a supporting arm around his waist.

  Lights sprang to life, revealing Toks Marshal, clad in heavy crimson battle-armor. She stood just outside the hatch to the hangar. The lights shone from her armor. Without a helmet, Toks’ short hair whispered in the wind. Her glasses reflected the blue light of the armor’s HUD. A thought of a quick shot and a quicker death flitted across Atom’s mind, but vanished. Toks played to her advantages. He knew she had an angle.

  Maintaining his best, level stare, Atom waited for Toks to speak.

  She remained silent.

  “What do you want?” he asked after a few uncomfortable moments. The chill breeze bit through his coat, but he burned with an inner fire.

  “You know what I want,” Toks laughed. Her face seemed unnaturally smooth, almost porcelain in the soft blue glow of her armor’s HUD lights that continued to feed her information. “I’m a seeker of knowledge. I guess that makes me a scholar. I know you have the knowledge I’m looking for. I aim to collect.

  “And I’ve a score to settle with your man.” Toks grin drove some fire from Atom’s gut.

  “I have no men. I left that behind when I resigned my name.”

  “Pity.” She pouted. “Guess I’ll just have to settle for your women.”

  Shi bristled.

  “I’d have your lady-friend stand down,” said Toks.

  “Why’s that?”

  A shot ticked the side of the pram, jolting it sideways. The suspensors whined in surprise, fighting to maintain balance and position. Margo grabbed the sides with a fearful expression as her deck wobbled beneath her. Her fortress lay compromised.

  Shi kept a gun trained on Toks while the other searched the darkness.

  “I have nothing Atom,” Kozue spoke in a hushed tone. “I calculate a sniper in thermal cover. He’s good. I’m not detecting any irregularities anywhere in the dome.

  “Even running numbers, I can’t drop below six possible locations.” She sounded at loss. “Too many options.” Panic flowed through her words. “That’s a high velocity rifle. It will bypass the shield and punch right through the pram.”

  “Stand down.” Atom laid a hand on Shi’s shoulder.

  Emitting a soft growl, the gunslinger lowered her pistols with aching slowness, but refused to return them to their holsters.

  “That’s better.” The predatory smile returned to Toks’ glowing face as she looked to Lilly. “You know he’s contracted to kill you.”

  Atom felt Lilly’s breath catch.r />
  “Oh, he failed to mention that, did he?” Toks shifted forward, her cockiness radiating through the augmented power of her servos. “My birds told me of a meeting he had with your father.

  “That has to hurt.” Toks crossed her arms and looked down on the group with smug superiority. “Your dad wants you dead and your partner’s the one to do it.”

  “He’s not my partner.” Lilly glared back defiantly, but shifted away from Atom.

  “If you’re a free player, what say you hop over to this side of the trench and I will slap a truce. You and me find this treasure and I’ll split sixty-forty your way. I’m not greedy. Way I see it, you fly with Ulvan and nobody gets the goods.

  “Fly with me and you get two things.” Toks nodded, feeling the flow and effect of her words with a fisherman’s caution.

  “Yeah?” Lilly dropped her arm from Atom’s waist and took a step towards Toks.

  “You get the treasure and you keep your life. Don’t think Ulvan can promise you either of those things.”

  “And you can?”

  “Kill him and we have all three parts of the map.” A shadow flitted across Toks’ face.

  “Kill me and nobody has anything.” Atom’s wan smile reflected his wounds.

  With deliberate and casual air he lifted his rail-pistol and aimed at Toks. The smile never left his face.

  Toks straightened. Her weight shifted back. “You know I have a bullet with your daughter’s name on it.” She shifted her gaze between Atom and the pram. “Even if you put me down your daughter dies. Can you live with that?”

  “We’ve made our peace.” Atom’s gun held steady. “We live every day like it was our last because, to spit the truth, we died with our han.”

  “You’re ghosts?”

  Atom’s smile grew hard. “We’re on the Ghost’s Road.”

  Toks’ eyes darted to Lilly and the imperial cocked her head. “Seems one more good reason to slip sides in the matter. I wouldn’t want to fly on a death ship.”

  “Wrong again, Toks.” Atom clutched his wounded arm to his side as he stepped out from behind Shi. “I have a piece of this puzzle and Lilly has the other half. And while you’re just twiddling out in the Black, riding our vapor trails, we actually know where we’re headed.