by Zen DiPietro
“Everyone functional? Things are about to get loud.”
“Check,” Peregrine said.
“Check,” Raptor echoed.
“Check,” Hawk added. “But I really hope you know what you’re doing.”
She opened the craft’s door, shouted, “Clear!” and, after waiting a moment, activated the propeller.
The explosive sputter of the propeller beginning then settling into rhythm felt so right to her, it was like a homecoming.
She guided the tiny plane to the runway, then began the taxi. She gradually picked up speed, got into the optimal range, then left the Earth.
No matter how many times she did this, or in what vessel, she felt the heady sensation of buoyancy. Using camber and propulsion to slip the bonds of gravity felt like magic, no matter how many times she did it.
Doing it in such a small craft, where the sensations were stronger and empty air was just beyond her in any direction, only intensified the thrill.
Not so for her teammates. Once she got to a cruising altitude, she assessed her crew. Though Peregrine seemed to take it in okay, when she glanced behind, Raptor looked tense and Hawk looked downright pale.
“We’re good,” she assured him. “I’ve got this.”
“I hope so,” Hawk answered as she turned back to keep watch over her instruments.
She had actual instruments, not just digital readouts. She felt like she was back at the origin of Earth flight, with the Wright brothers.
Fine, so the technology at her fingertips was centuries beyond those guys, but it felt thrillingly primitive to her. Back to the basics.
Sadly, the designated coordinates were only an hour away. She contacted flight control of the small commuter airport and circled until she received clearance to land on the first of the two runways.
The ground rushed up at them, since the angle of the runway required a steep descent. She adjusted for the wind and, having gotten a good feel for the craft, nailed the landing, putting it right down on the number one.
The feeling of jubilance and satisfaction was like no other.
She taxied to the slip assigned to her by the authority, cut the engine, and watched the propeller come to an abrupt halt.
“Welcome to our destination,” she said as she pulled her headset off. “Wherever we are.”
She opened the door and got out, which allowed Peregrine to slide out, then Hawk and Raptor.
Raptor gave Fallon a grin as he got out. She smiled back, grateful. Whatever else was going on between them, she knew he’d be supportive.
Maybe that was all she really needed to know.
She consulted the infoboard. “We’re going to need a taxi. Our meet point is two miles away. Hawk, you’re going to be on point for this. Are you familiar with this Lowell guy?”
Hawk crossed his arms. “Heard of him. Never met him.”
“How do you suggest we make the approach?”
“First off, you and this guy,” he pointed at Raptor, “will need a place to hang out. Not only is it weird for four people to go to something like this, but he looks like he’s headed to a preppy frat boy dress-up party.”
Raptor’s eyebrows shot up and he opened his mouth to say something.
Fallon put her hand on his arm. “You’re right, four would be suspicious. We’ll stake out a place to wait.” She looked to Raptor. “Think you could find a system to hack into so we could keep track of them?”
Raptor frowned in thought. “Probably, so long as they carry something that will ping me with their location.”
“Like a comport?” Peregrine asked. “The ones we have should be clean and untraceable.”
“Yeah, but if they take it from you, I’ll be out of luck. Too bad we don’t have something they wouldn’t know to take.”
“I’ll work on that for future missions,” Peregrine said. “For now, we’ll have to hope the comport works.”
Hawk nodded. “We can handle whatever happens in there.”
“Hang on,” Raptor said. “How do you know you two can handle it, but we couldn’t?”
Hawk met Raptor’s gaze. “I didn’t say you couldn’t. Thing is, I don’t know what you can do. I know this one can handle herself.” He jerked a thumb at Peregrine. “I’ve seen her fight, and she grew up fighting for what she got, just like I did.”
They all looked to Peregrine, whose eyes had widened slightly. “What makes you think that? I never told you anything about how I grew up.”
“One survivor knows another. We’re not like them.”
“Maybe I didn’t start out that way,” Peregrine answered, her voice soft but with a hard edge. “But who are you to tell me who I am now?”
She stepped toward him, looking ready for a fight.
Fallon stepped between them. “Now’s not the time for this. You want to debate our toughness or see who’s left standing after a fight, fine. We’ll do that later. But right now, we have a job to do. Got it?”
She stared each of them down, including Raptor.
They all gave her grudging nods.
“Good. Let’s get ourselves into the right neighborhood and have a good look around. We’ll figure out where Raptor and I will monitor you from. No talking about all this on the ride there, though. There’s no telling who the driver knows around here.”
Hawk gave her a nod, and she noted his look of satisfaction. He liked that she’d thought of that.
Good. She needed him to trust her judgment. She’d just have to impress him again, maybe a couple thousand times, until she had his confidence.
The ride over was nearly silent. The driver was a surly looking man who thankfully didn’t engage in small talk. They asked to circle the downtown area a couple times, then had him pull over at the curb in an entirely nondescript spot. He didn’t ask any questions.
As discussed, Hawk and Peregrine got out first, walking to the left. After waiting three minutes, Fallon paid the driver, then she and Raptor walked to the right.
She put her arm around his and leaned in, pretending to be just a couple out for the evening. She wished they weren’t wearing the similar all-black outfit. It felt conspicuous. Why had Whelkin chosen it?
They went into a late-night café, ordered fancy coffee drinks, then sat down at a table with a voicecom display.
“This isn’t my favorite way to work,” he muttered, quietly enough to avoid being overheard by the couple on the other side of the café.
“It’s all we’ve got. We have to work with it.”
After two long minutes, he said, “I’ve got them. Cross-referencing their location with the city blueprints.” After a pause, he said, “It’s a big building. They’re along an exterior wall. I wish I could tell how many people were in there.”
“Can you patch into some system in that building?” she asked.
“Trying. I don’t have any of my usual short codes or codebreaking programs.” He made a sound of annoyance. “Their security system is locked down decently well.”
“Can you break through it?”
“Of course. It’s just a matter of how long it will take.”
Minutes ticked by, and she worried that they would be no help to Hawk and Peregrine. She didn’t like the idea of them being in there with some bad dude without having eyes on them. They didn’t even have an escape plan.
She grew increasingly doubtful of their decisions up to that point when Raptor finally hissed, “Yes!” under his breath. “Here. Look.”
The image was distant, but she could clearly make out Peregrine and Hawk sitting at a table with a bald guy.
She wished she could hear an audio feed, or at least read the body language, but neither was possible. “What about the other rooms? Are there a lot of people there? Anything weird going on?”
Raptor switched from camera to camera, showing a smattering of people, most of which seemed to be doing warehouse work. Moving inventory around, packing crates, and so forth. Nothing that looked nefarious.
Unl
ess, of course, their inventory was something illegal.
She guessed it was.
When they switched back to the feed showing Hawk and Peregrine, he had stood from the table and was making large gestures with his arms.
Uh oh. That didn’t look good.
She and Raptor exchanged a glance.
At what point should she go in after them? She couldn’t do it too soon or she’d risk making a dicey situation into a horrible one. She’d have to wait until she knew for sure things had gone wrong.
She needed to trust that Hawk was the best person equipped to handle the situation right in front of him. This was why he’d been recruited.
The bald guy stood up. Emiko bit her lip.
The guy slapped Hawk on the back. Hawk slapped him back. Then he slid his arm around Peregrine and the pair casually walked to the exit.
“Did they do it?” She didn’t mean to say it out loud, but she had.
The guy didn’t follow them. Raptor switched to an exterior camera and they saw their teammates strolling down the street, back toward the spot they’d left the first taxi.
“Signal the comport, tell them to walk to the end of the lane. We’ll pick them up there,” she told him.
After a moment, he said, “Done.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
“I don’t like this guy’s style,” Hawk scowled as soon as he got in the taxi.
“Sorry, sir?” The driver peeked at him over his shoulder, looking nervous.
“Not you,” Hawk qualified.
“Ah. I see. Destination?”
Emiko raised her eyebrows at Hawk in question. “Blue Nine.”
She tried to figure out if that was a street name, a section of town, or a business name. If only she’d had a chance to study up on the city beforehand.
They pulled up in front of a bar, which made sense. After Emiko paid the driver and the groundcar drove off, Hawk filled them in.
“We’re to sit at the bar and wait for someone to approach. We’ll make half payment, get the location for the pickup, and pay the rest on delivery.”
“Seems sketchy,” Raptor said.
Emiko nodded. She was thinking the same thing.
“It’s sketchy as hell,” Peregrine muttered.
“Sure, but it’s not that unusual,” Hawk said. “Right now, they’re trying to dig up info on us. No doubt they’re running our images across all their facial recognition databases to see if they can trace us to rivals or authorities. A meet like this is a common stall tactic to give them some time to decide if they really want to deal with us.”
“Or they could be planning an ambush,” Peregrine added.
“Sure,” Hawk agreed with a shrug. “But it’s not really an either-or situation. Even if they decide we’re okay to deal with, that doesn’t mean they won’t try to kill us once they have the money. That’s business.”
“Great,” Emiko said sourly. Not that she’d expected any better.
Hawk gave her a hard pat on the shoulder. “Buck up, Fallon. This is what you signed up for.”
She nodded. “You two hang out just outside the door for five minutes. Then take your places at the bar. We can’t exactly be subtle about being your backup in here while dressed like you, so we’ll follow you shortly after.”
“Got it.” Hawk put his arm casually around Peregrine and they leaned against the wall of the bar, looking like a couple enjoying their time together.
“He’s good at that,” Emiko noted.
“I’m sure he’s had practice,” Raptor noted. “Where are we headed?”
“Two blocks back, I saw a secondhand store. We should be able to get what we need there.”
Inside the shop, she looked past the luggage, musical instruments, decorative items, and small furniture. She went straight for the four racks of clothing.
Since he’d be the tougher one to fit, she looked at the men’s rack first. All she could find that would accommodate his wide shoulders was a light-blue button-up shirt with long sleeves. It would have to do. She removed it from the rack and shoved it at him, then moved to the smaller-sized women’s clothing.
She ignored the skirts and dresses, since she didn’t want to take off her jumpsuit. Whatever she wore would go over it.
She found a pair of wide-legged beige pants, and guessed they would work. To go with them, she selected a tailored white blouse with black details along the collar and cuffs.
“I’ll be back.” The dressing room was along the interior wall. Trying on the pants, she found that the length was okay, but the waist was a little loose. She pulled the blouse over her head and frowned at herself in the mirror. It was obvious she was wearing black underneath, but it would pass as an undershirt.
Good enough.
On the way to the cashier, she grabbed a belt. “We’ll take these.”
She snapped the tags off the pants and shirt she wore, and set the belt and man’s shirt on the counter.
On the way out, she threaded the belt through the loops of the pants, and Raptor buttoned up his shirt.
He looked nice in light-blue.
They sidled into the bar and sat at a table that provided a view of Hawk and Peregrine as they sat at the bar.
Emiko studied the menuboard on their table. “I’m getting sake. Do you want to share?”
Raptor grimaced. “I’ve never had a taste for it, but I can pretend.”
She smiled. “That’s the job, right?”
She punched in the order, then felt like it wasn’t enough. Some food seemed like a good idea. She added two steamed pork buns to the order.
The buns seemed like a safe bet. A place like this wouldn’t make them fresh, so they’d come straight from the package and go into the heat-ex.
They probably wouldn’t get food poisoning.
In surprisingly short order, a server appeared, delivered the serving flask of sake with two small cups, and a plate that held both steamed buns.
Raptor reached for the flask, and moved it toward his cup.
“You should fill my cup. Then I fill yours.”
He froze. “Oh. Sorry. Why?” He did as instructed, filling her cup, then returning the flask to the table.
“Tradition. Manners. It’s a social bonding thing, showing goodwill toward each other.” She poured the slightly chilled sake into his cup.
“I see. I guess you can tell I’m not from around here.”
“No.” She smiled to soften her sarcastic tone.
She was curious about his past, and where he came from, but she wouldn’t ask. Their first lives were off limits.
Likewise, he didn’t ask her about her background. She could tell he wanted to. It made the moment awkward. Their first lives contained too much information that could hurt one another, along with whoever was part of those first lives.
Some things were too dangerous to know.
She sipped from her sake cup, then bit into her steamed bun. It was hot, sweet, and spicy simultaneously. Darn good for food from a packet.
“Is it safe?” Raptor asked, looking skeptical.
“Not bad at all.”
He took a cautious bite, shrugged, and took a bigger one.
They ate the food, then sat chatting and sipping their sake. Whoever was meant to meet up with Hawk and Peregrine, they were being slow about it.
Did that mean trouble was headed their way? If they didn’t perform well on this first team mission, it wouldn’t reflect well on them.
A full half hour after Emiko arrived, a burly guy with a round belly approached Hawk. He sat on the stool next to him. After a brief discussion, he presented an infoboard, which Hawk took. Transferring half the funds, presumably. They talked for a couple minutes longer, then the man departed.
Five minutes later, Hawk and Peregrine slipped out of the bar.
“Should we?” Raptor asked.
“We’ll wait for his signal,” she said, taking another sip of sake. She’d actually swallowed very little of the alcohol. She
didn’t want any of her reflexes dulled. Mostly, she just pretended.
The signal came a few minutes later. Her comport vibrated against her hip.
Meet us at the airport. So far, so good.
“Roll out,” she said, standing and smoothing her secondhand blouse.
Raptor waited until they’d exited before nudging her and saying, “You’re enjoying those power phrases, aren’t you, Fallon?”
She smirked. “Yeah, I kind of am.”
He summoned a taxi and then off they went, back to the airfield.
When their car had driven away, they looked for the other half of their team. They found them on the other side, past the buildings and approaching the aircraft slips.
“Nice outfits,” Hawk said, looking them over.
“Just wait,” Emiko retorted. “Next time, I’ll put you in the costume.”
He grinned at her. “You can try.”
She wouldn’t tell him so, but she liked his smile. It was one half genuine amusement, one quarter ego, and the last quarter was pure hedonism.
Despite herself and their situation, she started to like him a little.
“What’s our status?” she asked.
“Waiting. I suggest you two go get the plane ready, and keep eyes on us. There’s no telling what will happen at this point. Could be fine. Could be anything but fine. This is the fun part.” Hawk’s eyes glowed with a maniacal light she instantly recognized.
The way she felt about flying and fighting was how he felt about dealing with criminals.
Interesting.
Although they were different, it seemed they had at least a couple things in common.
“Agreed. We’ll be watching. If you need help, signal us by lifting your right hand above your head.”
Hawk nodded.
Raptor added, “Just be careful not to give any super high fives or anything by accident.”
Hawk grinned at him.
Even Peregrine smirked.
They all shared a look. This grouping might just work as a team, after all.
She saw the realization in all of their eyes, too.
They walked through relative gloom until they got to the aircraft, which had better lighting. She had enough illumination to check the exterior of the plane over, ensuring all of its structures were intact.