by Hal Archer
"Let's check on that alley guy, Squeakers."
She ran the controls with an effortless touch, guiding her drone down the alley on the opposite side of her building than she'd taken it before, hoping to watch from behind the man who stared her drone down earlier. She didn't like how he'd threatened to shoot Birdy the last time.
Her screen dimmed for a moment before Birdy's auto-correcting lens kicked in, compensating for the darkness of the alley. She kept Birdy a little higher than before, but nudged the slider between the two toggles to zoom the camera focus. She had a good view down the alley, from the edge of her building on past the next two towers. Beyond that, it was too dark too see.
She didn't see the man from before, but there was another figure below. He looked a little bigger than the other guy, not a race she'd seen before. "Probably passing through." Wonder where they go from here. Or where they come from.
She saw the thick-set guy lift a palm-sized device near his mouth. He looked like he was talking into it. Tiffin pressed a button on the controller.
"He's here," the man said. "I think I know what he's after."
"Who?" Tiffin said to herself, listening to the audio coming through her drone controller.
Birdy's directional microphone picked up more. "I'm going to take care of him, but I'm going to enjoy it too. He won't get off Eon. Just leave it to me."
Tiffin turned to the carpet where Squeakers had been hiding. "Oh, that's interesting, huh?"
CHAPTER 4
J ake paused to listen before taking the turn into the next alley. He stood before the backside of a massive tower, black glass rising into the smog haze about a hundred feet up. Dark marble cladding covered the base of the tower from the ground to what he figured was about the third floor. No doors on the side facing him, and only a foot of space between the building and the ones on either side, Jake's only path was a narrowing zig zag to his right.
He heard the muffled street noise on the other side of the black tower, and a steady drip he spotted with a glance at a drain pipe jutting out of the building to his left. The zig zag alley, darkest yet, remained eerily quiet, except for a steady low rushing noise.
Just means it's empty, maybe.
Jake leaned his head to peer around the tight turns, but couldn't see past the first one. He glanced back down the alley he'd come along. Empty. At least as far as he could see. The shadows of the buildings had reclaimed the first part of it. He looked skyward. No drones. Just the city's poor excuse for an atmosphere.
He reached down to the flap over his holstered blaster, then decided to leave it closed. He stepped into the narrow opening between the brown building set with oversized blocks, made of something like granite, and the crumbling red-bricked building on the other side of the zig zag portal.
A line of cold tracked across his body as he passed through the threshold of the alley. It felt as if he was entering a different place altogether. A chill uncoiled from the base of his spine, and he shivered.
He took a few steps and noticed the crunching sound under his boots. He looked down. Ice crystals covered the pavement.
"Hmm." He saw the milky vapors of his breath.
He walked a few more steps, then turned the first corner, only to see another bend in the alley. He didn't like the tight space. The alley spanned three feet wide. It was only brick and stone to his sides as he walked, but not having room to move around if the need arose made him uncomfortable.
His breath continued to appear in front of him as he turned yet another corner. He reached over to the wall on his right and touched it. Ice cold.
The alley was darker now, but he wasn't walking entirely blind. There was faint light shining from above him. He glanced up. The air overhead was blowing. He could see the jets of air, or at least the dust in them reflecting the light. He noticed a metal grate, ten feet up on the brick building to his right. The air was blowing out of it and across to another grate on the opposite building. The light came from something above the jet of air, but he couldn't see what it was. The dusty air and the glow of the light fused into a blur. He reached his hand closer to the currents and felt the air to be much colder there.
He walked another five feet, more crunches under boot, until he moved out of the pocket of chilled air. The alley ran straight in front of him another twenty feet. He saw it turned at the end. To his right, just a couple of feet out of the cold jetted air, was a metal door. It had a dent, about the size of a boot, underneath the handle. A metal plate had been welded onto the door, running along the edge where the door met the jamb of the wall, on the opening side. The door was ajar with a one-inch gap between the metal plate and the wall. A red tinge colored the narrow opening, from top to bottom.
Jake wondered if the giggling man counted the zig zag section as the last two alleys he was supposed to walk before finding Baron Vos. Had he walked five blocks?
He shrugged and opened the door.
Dim red light filled the room in front of him. The floor was concrete, cracked in several places. A chipped unframed mirror covered the three-foot wide wall at the back of the room, across from where he stood. Ten feet deep and just as wide, the room was empty, with a hallway opening to his left and another metal door to his right. He noticed the middle of the door had discoloration, like it was damaged somehow. The ceiling had seen better days. Pieces of molded plaster held on, dangling, and broken. Several of them had fallen to the floor and busted.
Jake stepped to the door on his right. The air near it felt cool. He tried the handle. It was ice cold. The door was locked.
Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a red dot in the mirror, on the back of his jacket.
Hell.
He turned and lunged toward the mirror. He heard the pistol blast behind him, hitting the locked metal door. In the mirror, he saw the energy bolt impact the steel and scatter several inches before disappearing. He also caught a glimpse in the mirror of his own hand drawing his blaster. He turned toward the hallway as he raised his weapon and fired.
His shot went down the hall several feet before striking the side of the passageway.
He heard someone running away down the hall, and ran after them.
As he set foot in the hallway his assailant had already turned the corner at the end of the hall. Jake rounded the corner without slowing down, pushing against the left wall after the corner to keep himself moving without hitting the wall. The fleeing attacker hadn't yet turned the next corner. Jake aimed his blaster at the man, but he didn't shoot him.
Can't shoot a man in the back. Wait. That's not a man.
Jake slowed and watched the teenage boy clear the corner at the end of the hall and move out of sight.
"Wait!" Jake only took a few more steps, not sure if he should keep pursuing and risk getting shot at again or let the kid go. He knew he didn't want to shoot him. "I'm just looking for someone!"
"Why were you chasing me, then?" The boy's voice resounded down the hall and around the corner to Jake.
"Are you kidding me?" Jake shouted back to the kid.
Jake waited for a moment. No response.
"I was told I could find someone here," Jake said.
"You don't belong here." The boy sounded as if he was catching his breath.
"Fair enough. But you left the door open, and somebody told me the man I need to talk to could be found around here.
A voice came from overhead. "Leave the boy."
Jake glanced at the ceiling. He saw a small domed camera ringed with a speaker, the source of the man's voice.
"Return to the mirror, so we can talk face to face."
The voice from the speaker sounded like it came from a man about the same age as himself. His tone was authoritative, but the voice strained a bit. Jake guessed the man might be ill.
He backed out of the corridor, keeping an eye on the corner where he'd seen the teenage boy flee. Then he made his way to the room with the mirror and the cold locked door. The door to the alley was still open. H
e glanced outside to make sure there weren’t any more red dot surprises. Satisfied his six was clear, he stepped over to the mirror.
"OK," he said, facing the mirror, "I'm not going to talk to myself, as charming as I am. Show yourself."
A digital image appeared in the center of the mirror. A man was sitting in a yellow oversized upholstered chair. He was heavyset and bald. His arms draped over the sides of the chair, and he had black tubes stuck into his skin on his neck and chest. He wore a red shirt, peeled back at the chest where two tubes were inserted. Jake noticed the tubes plugged into a panel on the wall behind the man's chair.
The man's breath was visible when he spoke. "I am Baron Vos. I run this part of the city. You are?"
There were ice crystals on the man's overgrown eyebrows. A vent below the tubes connected to the wall belched air that was visible, like the man's breath.
Jake realized the man was in the cold room.
"Jake Mudd. I was told you're the man I need to see."
"I apologize for my nephew, Mr. Mudd. He means well."
Jake glanced over his shoulder toward the hall. "I'm not sure he meant me well."
"He likes to protect his uncle. He's not very polished, that's all."
"He's lucky he didn't get killed."
"I appreciate your prudence in the matter."
"He's young. He got a one-time pass."
The vent behind the man, to the left of his chair expelled more cloudy air.
"What is it you want, Mr. Mudd?"
"I'm told you're the man to talk to for hard-to-acquire items."
"That depends."
"I need a GSR license."
Baron Vos moved one of the black tubes off his other arm, before pushing against the chair to scoot himself up a bit. "I think you have been sadly misinformed. Eon is not the sort of place to get a license for the Galactic Shipping Registry. Many places have facilities for you to apply for such a license, but not here. And this is not something I do."
"I'm looking to get one without all the paperwork. I'd rather not have my name on the record, if you get my meaning."
"Mr. Mudd, you surprise me. What you are asking is illegal, even in a place such as Eon Station. I'd be careful stating things of that sort. You never know what kind of trouble you might get into."
"Something tells me you're not so surprised."
Baron Vos looked Jake over for a moment before answering. "Call me curious, Mr. Mudd. If such a thing were possible, what would it be worth to you?"
"Let's just say, I need it."
"I'm sorry Mr. Mudd. I can't help you." Baron Vos signaled with his hand to someone off-camera.
"I can pay."
"I'm sure you can, but that's not the sort of thing I deal in. You've been misinformed."
"Any idea who can, then?"
"It's time for you to leave, Mr. Mudd."
Jake heard several sets of boots coming down the hallway. He turned, but kept his blaster down as he saw he was outnumbered and outgunned. Three single-grip blasters and two heavy-duty pulse rifles were pointed at him. The gang of four men and one woman said nothing, and looked all business.
"Goodbye, Mr. Mudd," Baron Vos said. "Enjoy your stay on Eon."
The screen in the mirror faded out of view. Jake looked at the five gunmen and nodded. He smiled. "You guys have a nice day. I'll show myself the door."
He holstered his blaster, but kept the strap open, and made his way to the exit, keeping an eye on the lot of them until he was back in the alley.
He didn't bother closing the door before continuing down the alley in the direction he hadn't yet walked.
Bastard's lying.
Jake glanced behind him as he walked. No one following. He took the turn at the end of the path. Another dark alley. This one had more side alleys, evenly spaced for several blocks. He walked on, checking behind him every so often.
He didn't want to discuss a deal. Still, if he's the guy who runs things around here, at least in the shadows, he's gotta know how to get a hold of one. Need to find out what he wants. Get some leverage.
Jake pulled the comm device from his belt and flipped it on. Then he tapped out a code with his thumb.
"Jake," Sarah sounded upset, but in a complaining sort of way, "I can't believe you left me here. They've been traipsing around like they own me. They're done now. Didn't take anything, but they had no right to barge in like that. I feel like I’ve been…violated.”
Jake shook his head. "So, you're OK?"
"Well, yes."
"Glad to hear it. Sorry you had to go through all that, but technically speaking, they do have the right. Their rules. I don't like it either, but we didn't really have a choice."
"I hope you're staying out of trouble."
"You know me."
"Oh, great. Don't even tell me."
"No. I'm fine."
"Have you made any headway? I'd like to get out of here as soon as possible."
"Maybe. Things have changed a bit since I was here last."
"OK. Be careful, though. Alright?"
"Don't worry. Careful's my—"
"Oh, shut up."
"I think I may have found someone who can help, but I need to find a way to convince him."
"You have the credit marker?"
"Yeah, but I don't think this guy needs the credits. He seems to have other concerns. I'm feeling the situation out."
"Be careful who you trust. I'm not sure even the law in this city is legit. I heard things from the security detail checking me out. They didn't know I'm an A.I."
Jake chuckled.
"What?" Sarah asked.
"Nothing. I'll call you again later. I'm switching off my comm. I don't want to draw attention to myself."
"Good luck with that."
"You're a peach, Sarah."
"Just hurry up. OK?"
"You got it. I'll update you when I can."
Jake flipped the switch on his comm box. Then he clipped it back onto his belt.
He felt guilty for making Sarah deal with the security sweep team.
Sooner I get this done, the better. Gotta get the word on the street about this Vos guy.
CHAPTER 5
"Squeakers, this guy's bad news." Tiffin watched the thick-set guy on the screen of her drone's controller. She saw him head down the alley. She knew where he was going. Most of the time, she didn't fly Birdy in that neighborhood. Too risky.
She worked the sticks on the controller in her lap, keeping Birdy high enough and close enough to one of the taller buildings to avoid the drone being detected.
The man she was tracking came to the black-glassed tower. He stopped and pulled something out of his pocket. It was a paper. He unfolded it. Tiffin couldn't make out what was written on it. Birdy's eyes had enough zoom, but not the right angle. The man folded the paper back into a small square and put it back in his pocket. He went into the zig zag alley.
Tiffin flew Birdy a bit farther. She lost sight of the man as he passed under a foggy section of the alley, but then caught view of him again when he came out the other side.
"He's going into the Baron's place!" She glanced at the rolled carpet across the room, where Squeakers liked to hide. "Do you believe that? I told you this guy's no good."
Tiffin reached into the pocket of her tan vest and pulled out a broken cube of cheese. She threw it into her mouth and munched it up while watching the now closed metal door the man had entered.
She chewed two more cheese cubes and gave one to Squeakers. The door still hadn't opened.
"Well. I guess he's not coming out any time soon. Boring."
She glanced over to the carpet roll, then to the collection of gear, gizmos, and electronic parts on the floor against the back wall. They were piled three feet high, and sprawling out from the wall on the other side of the door to her apartment from her bed.
"We could make something." She looked back to Squeakers’ hideout. "You're right. Not today. Let's see if we can find the other
guy."
She tapped and nudged the controls to her drone, directing Birdy to soar around the neighborhood. She kept it mostly within the alleys, or at least near the buildings. City traffic in the airways above the streets made it too risky for Birdy to fly there.
She'd lost her previous drone, Butterfly, to a sky taxi. It shattered on the windshield. The pieces rained down into the street. She salvaged some of them, but not enough to bring Butterfly back, at least not the way she was supposed to look. So, she built Birdy.
Two cheese nibbles for Squeakers later, Tiffin saw the other guy.
"There he is, the guy in the brown jacket."
She watched with Birdy's eyes, as he talked to a woman at a merchant stall tucked into an alley, where it met the street. He nodded his head and gave the woman a wave. The woman turned her hands up and shrugged, as he walked away.
Tiffin trailed him with Birdy, as he walked the street for a couple more buildings. She saw him chat with a few more people. Each conversation only lasted a few seconds, so she didn't bother to bring up the audio. There wasn't enough time to target it, anyway.
"What's he looking for?"
Squeakers gave a—well, a squeak.
"You're right," Tiffin said. "Probably something not so good. Same as everyone."
She pushed a button on the controller, then set it on the floor.
"Gotta wash the bowl, Squeakers."
She went into the restroom. A minute later she came out and picked up Birdy's controller.
"Wait. Was that the other guy?" She had caught a glimpse of the thick-set strange-looking guy she'd seen in the alley. He was stopping at the merchant stall, talking to the woman who ran it. Same stall the first guy stopped at. "He said he was going to take care of someone."
She watched as the man stepped behind the counter. The woman seemed upset. She was waving her arms around.
Birdy's video feed to her controller went white.
"Argh!" Tiffin pushed the toggles, flying her drone to a new position.
An image of the city again came through the feed, but a second later the bright white light washed out the image.