by J. N. Chaney
“It’s okay,” he said, drawing me into an alley as several cop cars and an ambulance rushed toward the assassins’ guild building. “We weren’t supposed to meet here anyway. I just hoped you had her so I would know she’s safe.”
“Who the hell are you, Tom?” My arm twitched. The sad part about the situation was that I’d grown so accustomed to my arm and other gear being on the fritz that I barely noticed.
“I used to be a ship engineer, junior grade, but that was a long time ago before I made a lot of bad decisions. I’ve been trying to make amends since then.”
“Who is Elise to you?” I asked.
“A friend. She helped me out of some rough spots. Convinced me I still have a chance to do something good,” he said. “Not many people look at me like I’m a real person. At the factory, I’m Worker 6133, the guy who never calls in sick and does solid work. Everywhere else, I’m the homeless working man with two jumpsuits and a tool kit to his name.”
“Fascinating. Where’s Elise right now?”
“We saved up and chartered a ship. That’s another reason I can’t afford rent. Getting off this planet isn’t cheap,” he said.
“Take me to the ship,” I said.
He nodded. “Let me look at your gear first.”
I leaned against the wall, not wanting to sit down. Once I stopped moving, I’d never get started again.
“I can’t access much of your operating system, but some things are mechanically universal with Union technology. I can put this in stand-by mode and rig a sling. It might give your body a chance to rest.”
“That is an excellent idea,” X-37 said.
“Do it,” I said. “And thanks, Tom.”
He nodded awkwardly and fixed me up best he could.
“Take me to the ship you chartered,” I said.
We’d gone about five blocks when a shadow stepped from a doorway.
“Are you okay, Tom?” Elise asked.
“He’s fine. Don’t you want to ask how I’m doing?”
“I don’t care about you,” she said. “Or have you forgotten the day you left me here?”
“I came back,” I said.
“Probably because you had to. Or someone paid you. Are you going to sell me to the Union now that the bounty is a hundred thousand credits?” she asked.
I groaned inwardly. Her attitude hadn’t changed a bit.
“We should go,” Tom said. “The ship won’t wait for us. We paid in advance and they have other passengers and cargo.”
“What’s the name of the ship?” I asked just in case they tried to ditch me and I had to catch up with them.
“It’s the Renegade Star. Captained by one of the sleazier characters in the business,” Tom said.
“I talked to him,” Elise said. “He’s not bad.”
“Lead the way,” I said.
“We’re not taking you,” Elise said.
Tom intervened. “I’m sure Mr. Cain can gain passage to the ship. And it might be good to have a Reaper looking out for us.”
“No way. We’re done here. Leave him and let’s go,” Elise said.
“He rescued you from Dreadmax,” Tom said in a slightly lower voice.
“Then left me here.” Her voice cracked. “Everyone abandons me eventually.”
“I came back. Let’s get this done. The Union is still after us, Thane isn’t far off, and now we’ve pissed off the entire criminal underground of Greendale,” I said.
“Please, Elise. If you don’t want to forgive him, at least do it for me. We will need him sooner or later,” Tom said.
She stormed down the street without answering.
“I think that’s a yes,” Tom said.
“Thanks for nothing, Cain,” Elise said, watching the landing pad where the Renegade Star was parked.
Union soldiers guarded the area, checking everyone booking passage off the planet. Briggs and the remnants of his team moved among them, giving orders to the regular troops.
They had also made amends with the Greendale law enforcement organizations. A dozen regular cops helped the spaceport security officers and Union soldiers. An assault team stood near their armored car.
“This is less than ideal,” X-37 informed me.
Elise argued with Tom in a low voice she probably assumed I couldn’t hear well enough to understand. Most of her tirade was a repeat of earlier arguments. I listened but didn’t listen.
“What do you see, X?” I asked quietly.
“Commander Briggs staring at us?” X-37 said.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought too. Why isn’t he sounding the alarm?” I asked.
“Unknown, Reaper Cain.” X-37’s voice faded but was stronger than it had been for much of my time on the planet.
“The only good thing about this scene is that Thane isn’t nearby to punish me with the ROS device,” I said.
“That would also be my assessment. We should destroy the ROS at our first opportunity,” X-37 said.
“Agreed.” I held eye contact with Briggs, doubting he could see me as well as I could see him. Even with the random static in my optics, I had better range than the naked eye.
He probably saw my general shape, while I could see him well enough to read his confusing as hell body language.
“The only solid fact I have is that he hasn’t sounded the alarm. That could mean he is waiting until he has us surrounded, but if that were the case, he would pretend not to see me,” I said.
“You saved the lives of several members of his team at great risk to your own life. He must know that. Perhaps he is grateful,” X-37 offered.
“Yeah, I’m sure he wants to buy me a steak dinner and introduce me to his sister,” I muttered.
“Regardless, Reaper Cain, the fact remains that he has not sounded the alarm. The only rational explanation is that he has doubts about his mission,” X-37 said.
“Don’t you have the Jellybird?” Elise asked.
“Now you want my help?” I asked.
She clenched her teeth, clearly holding back some choice words.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said. “I heard the Renegade Star is a bucket of bolts anyway.”
“On the contrary,” X-37 chirped in my ear. “The ship has a near legendary reputation.”
“Whatever,” I said, leading the way back to the smugglers’ landing field where the Jellybird was parked.
We approached the nearly abandoned spaceport, stopping well short of the chain-link fence and the security gate that could be opened with a passcode. There was nothing fancy about the place. A casual observer might wonder if it was even active. The Jellybird was the only ship parked on a landing strip that could accommodate seven other vehicles.
Harsh lights shone from poles at each corner of the small facility. There was an eerie silence that allowed me to hear the hum of the electric boxes for the lights.
“Jelly, do you read me?” I asked, and got no response. “X, can you reach her?”
“I am unable to make contact,” X-37 said.
Holding up a hand for Elise and Tom to stop, I pointed back into the neighborhood that surrounded the spaceport. “Find someplace to hide. Thane is here. There’s going to be trouble.”
“Are you sure?” Tom asked.
“There’s no place else that makes sense,” Elise said. “This son-of-a-bitch you brought down on us knows how limited our options are.”
“I didn’t bring him,” I said. “He came for you, kid. Don’t forget that.”
“I’m no more a kid than you’re a model citizen,” she said.
“Do you want to fight a Reaper?” I asked.
She shook her head. Tom took her by the arm, and they slipped away.
I approached the gate, not sure how I was going to deal with thing. He had armor, weapons, and a tactical advantage. This was an ambush, and he would see me before I saw him.
There were only two things that might work in my favor. He couldn’t use the Reaper off switch when we were close t
ogether, so I was looking forward to momentary relief from all the nerve-ware bullshit that had been plaguing me.
That was all defensive, and probably inconsequential.
My real weapon was information. This wasn’t Byron Thane. X-37 and I had kicked around a lot of theories, but my knowledge of human psychology and experience dealing with… the final moments of a target’s life had taught me a lot.
Everyone wanted answers. They wanted to know why they were here and what they were supposed to be doing.
“X, see if you can make contact with this supposed Reaper on our channel,” I said.
“I can see you, Cain,” a voice said. “Which means I can kill you. So keep that in mind.”
“Why didn’t you contact me before this? Your LAI and my LAI could have hosted a group chat and avoided all this bloodshed and stupidity,” I said, looking for places my enemy might be hunkered down while I edged closer to my ship.
“It’s not as simple as that and you know it,” Thane said. “Even if I trusted you, you would’ve led the Union straight to me or sold me to someone like Gold or Fratley.”
“You took the contract on Elise. You’re going to sell her to the Union,” I said. “Maybe I’m dense, but that seems like a pretty good way for the Union to find you.”
“Stop being a dumbass,” he said. “You know I was using a third-party broker. Gold set everything up and then it got complicated.”
“Why not reach out to me? If we’re both running from the Union, then we should be natural allies,” I said, almost to the Jellybird.
“That’s close enough. I’m not letting you get on that ship. One more step, and I’m sending you an HDK round via Reaper express mail,” he said.
I stopped, turning in a circle to look for his sniper hide but not seeing it.
“Tell me about my father,” Thane said.
“So that’s it,” I said. “You’re a bastard they somehow missed during his security check.”
“They knew about me. He was so much better than the rest of the Reapers that they made allowances. He brokered a deal and had me raised in secret. I wasn’t supposed to get Reaper gear for myself, but he cheated. Which pissed off the Union,” he said.
“He wasn’t that much better than the rest of us,” I muttered.
Thane laughed loud enough that I heard him without the radio link. He was near the control tower, second level, I thought.
“He was, Cain. But if it makes you feel better, he talked about you a lot. Said your moral code would bring you down. I don’t think he respected any of the other Reapers,” Thane said.
“So what’s your question? What do you want from me?” I asked.
“Is he really dead?” Thane Junior asked.
“Yeah, he’s dead as they come,” I said in a low voice. We’d hadn’t been friends and I really hated this kid Reaper, but the moment retained a sense of gravity. Byron Thane had been better than me. We’d both known it and that was why we were always competing for the best kill, craziest mission, funniest story.
And best cigars.
Byron Thane made cigar smoking an art, like they had been invented just for him.
Byron Thane Junior stepped out of his hiding place, striding toward me.
“I think this is going to get awkward,” X-37 said.
X-27, Thane’s LAI, laughed, and I realized there was something wrong with it. Probably it was a copy of the original and had inherent artifacts from the duplication procedure. Basically, X-27 was insane and serving a young man with a murderous vendetta and a lot of questions.
“What is that thing saying?” I asked.
“I’m not sure,” X-37 said. “It may be a code between him and his host.”
“We should have a code,” I said as my enemy drew nearer.
“Of course,” X-37 said. “I’ll begin work on it immediately if you survive this encounter.”
Thane tossed aside his HDK, then did the same with his pistols. He left a trail of knives and other deadly implements all the way across the tarmac.
“Very dramatic,” I said dryly.
“I should remind you that he is physically stronger, younger, faster, and has two arm blades while you only have one,” X-37 said.
“Thanks for the pep talk,” I said.
“If you have a plan, now would be the time to tell me so that I might assist,” X-37 said.
“I have two rounds left in the gun Frank gave me,” I said.
“I was wondering why you hung on to it,” X-37 said. “Besides the obvious fact it’s a beautiful weapon.”
Thane stopped two strides away from me, extending both of his arm blades. I held up my own arm blade in a mock salute.
“You know that age and experience always trumps youthful vigor,” I said.
“You think you can draw that shitty old gun fast enough to take me down with, what, one or two bullets that you have left?” Thane asked.
“He has seen through your rather lame plan,” X-37 warned.
I pulled the .45 and fired, sidestepping, turning, and running for the Jellybird the instant after I pulled the trigger. The slide was still rocking back into place when I made my move.
“Jelly! Drop the fucking ramp!” I shouted.
“What seems to be the problem, Captain?” Jelly asked as though she’d only now realized I was at the spaceport.
Thane attacked with both blades.
I abandoned my attempt to get on the ship, rolling away and creating distance to defend against Thane’s assault.
“That was your plan?” X-37 asked incredulously.
I had two plans, actually, but no time to explain to X-37.
Thane tackled me to the ground and mounted me like a mixed martial arts fighter with his legs on each side of my torso, pinning my hips and legs while he attacked my upper body with his blades.
I deflected one with my left arm, but his left blade went straight through my shoulder, pinning me to the ground.
“You should’ve saved him!” Thane screamed, spittle flying from his mouth as his eyes twisted behind the blue light of his Reaper mask.
I wiggled the cigar knife out of my pocket with my right hand.
“You were both Reapers. They set him up. Even if you hated him, even if you were jealous, you should have known they would come for you next.” He spat the words, tears running from behind the mask.
“It’s not too late. We could beat the Union if we work together,” I said, barely able to speak through the pain.
“Warning,” X-37 said. “You require immediate medical attention.”
“You can go to hell,” Thane said. “That’s the only reason I’m here. I already knew you betrayed him. And now that you’ve admitted it, it’s time for you to die. I can handle the Union myself. You’d only slow me down.”
I tried to twist free but couldn’t move him. “I don’t want to hurt you, just saying.”
“Warning,” X-37 repeated mechanically. “You require immediate medical attention.”
Thane laughed maniacally. “You really are an arrogant son of a bitch.” He twisted his double left blade, sending fresh waves of pain through my entire body. Then he quit laughing and drew back his right arm for the killing blow.
I slashed upward with the cigar knife, catching him under the edge of his Reaper mask, slicing his jugular. The five-millimeter blade was more than enough to end his life.
His blood washed over me. His body convulsed even as I shoved him sideways and twisted out from under his weight. It barely hurt when the Reaper blade slid free of my shoulder.
Gasping for air, I staggered away from the young Reaper’s death throes, trying to stop my own wound from bleeding out.
Elise and Tom came running.
“That was your plan, Reaper Cain?” X-37 asked. “We need to talk.”
I felt flat on my face and embraced true darkness. Somewhere, I heard Tom talking about taking Thane’s gear.
It was strange to have people on the Jellybird again. Elise knew her
way around. She hadn’t spoken about her father, or about Dreadmax, or to me any more than necessary about anything at all.
X thought she would come around.
Tom was a surprisingly good companion. We sat on the bridge watching the walls of the slip tunnel, smoking cigars and drinking whiskey.
We had made a couple of stops after leaving the Greendale system—for essential supplies and whatnot.
I tried not to think about Byron Thane or my past. It was nice to be free of the ROS, which I destroyed and then jettisoned the pieces into space soon after my showdown with the young Reaper.
Tom began an intensive study of my augmented arm and had already made several simple repairs that provided a surprising amount of relief.
There were still problems with my Reaper gear, but having the basics tuned up took stress off the biological parts of me and allowed me to sleep better.
I rested, ate healthy, and trained just hard enough to stay sharp. It was a strange place to be—almost happy and feeling physically well.
“Shall I remove the smoking restriction from the bridge?” X-37 said over the speaker so Tom could participate in the conversation.
“Make it by invite only. I don’t think this will be a regular thing, just for special occasions,” I said to X-37.
“Very good, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said approvingly.
“We need to talk,” Tom said. “The Union won’t stop hunting Elise. Did she explain her relationship to the Lex project?”
I nodded. “Do you know what that is?”
“Only what she told me. Her father used it to keep her alive, and then basically gave her up to the Union for testing. I wonder if he had a choice, but haven’t brought that possibility up with her. She’s a long ways from forgiving him for abandoning her,” Tom said.
“She’s young and stubborn,” I said, then tried to blow a smoke ring.
“We need to get you squared away. Make improvements if we can,” Tom said.
“Everyone wants to make me a weapon,” I said casually, not really offended by the idea. It was what it was. Who was I to try and change things?
“As much as I hate to say it, we need to head for Roxo III. There is a technician there who can work on my eye, and maybe even handle my nerve-ware,” I said.