“Yes sir, how would you like us to proceed?” The large senior guard regarded Chad’s prisoner with some pity. He could only imagine how many times, and in how many ways Chad had done her. And because Gimlet could read his mind, she almost laughed.
“Someone’s got to get into bubble-stop #4…me. I’ll nab Roxanne Smoot from the Eldridge bar at #4. I’ll do it myself. I’m going to bring this prisoner to #4, demand a trade for Roxanne; tell that bitch it’s her or I kill the prisoner. Either she agrees to be Leo’s pussy for life, or I kill her little sister. She’ll do it; sell herself for her best buddy little sister. Then we slave that red haired piece of cunt to Leo for all the R&R stocks we want. I hear he’s obsessed with her, will pay anything. I’ll get Roxanne Smoot. But do not, I repeat, do not approach Leo Songtain yourself. I’ll do the negotiating. You got it?” Chad turned and kicked Gimlet, who cried out pitifully.
“Yes, sir, I got it, sir. But we got us another issue. We caught some ugly prisoner creeping around in the back tunnels. I guess she’s the owner of that dog. You want to check her out, or should we just eliminate her now?” the big guard asked, leering at Gimlet.
“What does she look like? Will she bring anything on the Blacks?” Chad was not particularly in favor of killing some poor person in need of shelter. Maybe she belonged in the sewer city, or maybe, just maybe, she was Roxanne Smoot in a fat suit. Chad had to figure out a way to get Roxanne released without drawing suspicion from the pirates.
“She’s about as ugly as they come, and fat. I suppose she’d bring some change as a domestic in low management housing or something. You want me to do that. Sell her that way?” the guard asked, while picking a piece of leftover food ball from his back tooth.
“No, we owe the sewer city council for safe passage taxes. Bring her to me. I’ll trade her to the sewer city folks as partial payment. Tell them they can deduct her from our bill.” Chad kicked Gimlet again, eliciting a cry sounding like genuine pain, and walked off dragging his prisoner behind him. Luckily Chad had padded her stomach with Leo Songtain’s all-use bubble-type crap-wrap.
They’d planned it of course, up top, right after explaining the plan to Dorian. He had to know first, that his daughter was not in trouble, unless you considered she was in love with a clone soldier. Her mom would go nuts over that one; that’s more or less what her dad had told her. But second, because Dorian had to hack into the stock markets to peel off a billion R&R trades without being noticed. He’d have to do it over several days, and with Michael Segev’s help, by creating some sort of stock market diversion. Dorian then contacted Segev, who after his Kabuki kill, just so happened to be at one of the stop-over docks in #3.
Segev had done this once before for Dorian. He was not sure how he’d done it, did not ask. Dorian then nixed getting Leo Songtain involved, too complicated; he said he’d get them the R&R stocks directly, for the pirates’ promise not to bother Roxanne on her rig hauls ever again. And of course, it went without saying, they’d never ever touch his daughter again or he’d munch them with a re-targeted laser recon satellite. No one messed with the daughter of the world rebel leader.
There was of course, a catch.
“If you tell the pirates or anyone where those stocks came from or anything about the rebels, the deal is off, and I’ll send Dina and my alpha team in to fry all of you, pirates and clones. Do you understand, Yac?” Dorian was uncharacteristically rude. No one messed with his daughter.
“Yes sir, I understand,” Chad replied.
“I can make no promise that Dina will not kill you and your clone mates eventually. I can delay the shipment of your family to Las Vegas for one week; you have one week to rescue your family,” Dorian told Chad, and then gave him bot-com access to Michael Segev if they needed a miracle from the devil.
“Close the open line, Mr. Yac. I will speak to you alone now.”
Dorian talked in private to Chad, regarding Chad’s relationship with his daughter. That conversation remains a secret to this day, but Chad was very pale and serious when he gave the com back to Gimlet.
Chad considered himself to be very lucky, to have Dorian’s help, and the rebels were lucky to have Dorian. Dorian had been made by the military scientists at the Andros Island facility about forty years back, as a prototype, half organo-digitally implanted, mostly human in form; he’d been cloned to control the underground military complex in the desert. He was a one-of-a-kind, and extremely dangerous. Luckily his wife Dina had found him, and together they’d escaped, after she blew up his penthouse suite at the Las Vegas games.
The rulers thought he was dead. He wanted that belief to remain intact.
At rebel headquarters, Dorian put down his hot chocolate, stretched his beautiful and perfect body, walked to the control panel, and passed one glowing pale hand over several thousand access keys. Immediately, the day’s trades from all over the world showed in 3D, complete with current transactions and future stock projections. His gold, glowing eyes darted back and forth, taking in all the information at once. He passed a hand through his silver hair, and gave a mental-speak command.
“Please show current R&R, Lanai stock status only. Yes, now futures projections, and current offers. Thank you.”
Dorian examined the data for several seconds, and then passed his other hand over a panel, which opened access to all the earth’s satellites. It took several more seconds and a couple of novel algorithms, developed as needed, to program the buy and sell systems on Wall Street and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong.
It would work; he’d own a billion Lanai R&R stocks in about two days, then he would launder them through one of the free zones, probably Israel, using a bogus Inc. They would end up as R&R stocks for a fake holding company, owned by another, owned by another…ad infinitum. It was a trick he’d learned long ago from the mortgage banks, pre-WME. But he’d have to move them quickly, or the transactions could be traced to the rebels. He had too many rebel citizens to hide and protect. This all had to happen fast.
And it did. By the following week, those R&R stocks were archived as assets of Anne Bonny’s Salt Water Taffy Conglomerate, Inc. It was Dorian’s rather strange attempt at humor, because Anne Bonny was a very famous pirate.
That particular evening, Dorian was not yet finished. He still had to deal with the toxic nutria-blend issue, although the CEO of Nutria-blend, Inc. had been dealt with at the Kabuki Theater in Tokyo. He’d been found in his orchestra box seat after the performance, sitting with his hand over his heart. Apparently, he’d had massive heart failure.
Tonight Michael Segev would report back on his decision about Max Peabody, whether to also eliminate him, or worse, make an example of him. They’d discussed several options. Segev favored early retirement, care of nutria-blend overdose. But the lab results were not back. Dorian was not sure what too much nutria-blend would do to brain cells; would it kill Max or turn him into a cognizant but frozen vegetable?
Dorian thought either was insufficient punishment for what Max and the CEO had concocted. And make no mistake, while Dorian was immensely beautiful to the eye, he was also extremely dangerous, especially when angered; with his special abilities, he was even more dangerous than Michael Segev. But of course, he was considerably kinder.
Dorian got up from his control panel and walked down the hallway to the viewing window, to the east of the Donnerpass headquarters, the one overlooking the hot as hell desert. It was near sunset, but the intense heat still caused the entire Eastern desert to appear wavy from the heat. Dorian was not really thinking about the desert; and no one went there anymore, except by plasmon bubble tunnel at night, to access the historical DNA archives at Salt Lake. The entire city of Las Vegas was also encased in such a bubble; otherwise the metal in the buildings would have melted.
Several rebels passed Dorian as he stood by the window. They bowed or nodded, according to rank, used to seeing their fabulous glowing white elf leader at this time of day. He usually only left the control room once each day to
take in the sunset; even a global warming sunset was still gorgeous, and Dorian had spent a big slice of his life living underground in that prison cell.
At the moment, he was carrying on an internal conversation, practicing how he was going to tell Dina that their only child was planning to spend her life with a clone soldier as her mate. He’d already taken care of Chad’s request to delay shipment of the clones. It would be a simple thing at this point to lose the shipment into bubble-stop #5. Michael Segev could make it happen. But would Dina find them? Was it only a matter of time and her unforgiving crusade?
“I’ve got to change her mind. But how? If I bring the clones here, would she allow me the time to test them? Or, would she just kill them all immediately? No, I have to face this. She will have to accept my decision.”
It was hard for Dorian, not because he was afraid of her, although she was a rather unusual mutant, with some really dangerous powers. He was equipped with his own protective abilities; was even more powerful than she was. No, it was hard because he loved her, because she had saved him, and because he still felt guilt over his part in the death of her father. He’d ordered Jordan into that fifth corridor during the Battle of Kyoto.
He was supposed to be better at recon, but Jordan had been killed. Dorian had a part in Jordan’s death. And it had made him more accepting of his wife’s clone soldier killing spree. He sighed and returned to his databanks, worried, but happy his daughter was safe. Although back at #3 Gimlet, though safe, was tired of being dragged across the floor of the tunnel.
“You can stop kicking me now, Chad. I think they got the picture,” Gimlet said, after they turned the corner, and were out of the guards’ hearing range.
“Sorry, did the bubble wrap work? I had to make it convincing. Sorry, I still gotta drag you to the office in case someone turns up here.” Chad pulled Gimlet across the floor to his office, keyed in his code, and opened the door, pulling Gimlet in behind him.
Once the door was shut and locked, he passed out.
Roxanne hit him hard on the back of his head, with some sort of glass knob thing, a paperweight from the desk drawer.
“Hurry, I’ll untie you, Gimlet. We have to get out of here.”
Roxanne stood before Gimlet, looking like the bride of Frankenstein. Half her face was Roxanne Smoot, but the other was melted zombie.
“Oh my god, Roxanne, what happened to your face; does it hurt? Is there a cure? What are you doing here?” Roxanne looked behind Gimlet to where Rose was standing.
“Where have you been?” Roxanne asked, with a frown.
“Don’t look so miffed, Roxanne. I found them you know. They might have left you here. The original plan was to escape to the sewers once they’d contacted Dorian. We came back for you. Don’t be so impatient. You know I always watch your back.” Rose was indignant.
“Sorry Rose, you’re right. I’m just pissed off at this guy. You were fantastic. That dumb dog act was sublime.” Roxanne patted her head, kicked Chad, and finished tying her whip to her waist. She’d already stashed her guns into her boots, then remembered Gimlet’s question.
“What, oh right, my partial face is melting. I had to disguise myself to get in here. I thought you were a prisoner. Who is this?” Roxanne looked down at the floor, at a moaning Chad.
“What are you doing with a clone soldier, Gimlet? Explain fast, or I’ll shoot him.” Roxanne aimed a sonic directly into Chad’s head with her finger on the trigger.
“No don’t, he’s a friendly. Well okay, he’s a lot more than a friendly. We have to escape now, fast. I’ll explain on the way. Did you come alone? Do we have to rescue anyone else?” Gimlet asked.
“Rescue anyone else? What’s that supposed to mean? I came to rescue you. You needed the rescuing, remember? Okay I know, we gotta go; explain on the way little sis. That guard I knocked unconscious will be waking up soon. They’ll notice I’m gone. Let’s go. Do we leave him here?” Roxanne asked.
She slid her sonic back into the back of her pants, and Chad decked her.
He sat on top of her, pinning her to the ground, just starring her directly in her half Roxanne face; only now one of her eyes was back to green.
Gimlet held her breath.
This happened all the time. It got a little tiring, really. She brought home a potential boyfriend and he went gaga over Roxanne. She sighed, thinking it was inevitable. Chad would fall all over her beautiful big sis, the one, and only Roxanne Smoot.
“Don’t hit me on the head again or I’ll risk your co-pilot’s wrath to break your arm.” Chad was pissed. He’d have a head basher.
But, the weird thing was, he did not think Roxanne was anything special; did not even seem to notice her at all. And this made Gimlet smile.
“Okay, you two play nice. We gotta go before the #3er guards find us.” She kissed Chad full on the lips, and he kissed her back, while Roxanne staggered to her feet, glaring at Chad; then she glared at Rose for allowing Chad to deck her.
“What? Turnabout is fair play, Roxanne. As Gimlet said, he’s a friendly. Please, we have to leave now. We’ll explain everything on the way.” Rose trotted to the door, pawed in the exit code, and walked slowly into the hall, checking for guards.
Chad raised an eyebrow at Roxanne, signaling a let’s get out of here. Roxanne whispered, “WE’VE ONLY GOT ABOUT THIRTY MORE MINUTES.”
14
“THIRTY MORE MINUTES UNTIL WHAT? Wait…Joster contacted you? What was that about? Was he tracking me? I hate it when people do that.” Gimlet followed Roxanne, Rose, and Chad out of his office and into the hall, whispering as they went.
“He said all the university students have tags now. I thought you knew that. Anyway it’s how he knew you’d gone missing. He even risked a flash freeze to get to us and deliver the message,” Roxanne whispered back. She quickly relayed how Joster had climbed into their rig at three hundred miles per hour.
“I owe him big time for that. I’ll be sure and get him something special when I get back. What’s happening in thirty minutes?” Gimlet asked, as they reached the portal.
“Enough talk, we have to move fast before the pirates return. We’ll have a hard time explaining our way out of this one,” Chad interrupted, as they stepped into the first Sewer City portal. Chad locked the door behind them.
It was critical they get Roxanne, Rose, and Gimlet out of #3 so that Chad would have time to explain the stock purchase to the pirates without letting them know the source of the stocks. He hadn’t even decided what he would tell them yet. All Chad knew was, if the pirates found both Roxanne and Gimlet in #3, it would be a no go. It would just be too tempting for the pirates. Chad would never be able to convince them to let both the hostages go and wait several weeks to get those stocks.
Plus, he couldn’t tell the pirates the rebels were in on it, and anyway they’d never believe him. Dorian had been very explicit about keeping that secret. And despite Chad being a clone soldier, he had a healthy respect for Dorian’s ability to vaporize him.
As they started down the tunnel, Chad stopped, turned to them and said,
“Wait, I have to contact my clone mate, Jason, at the R&R, so he can meet us up top. You go on through the sewer tunnels. Rose knows the way. Rose, take them back to where we found you, back at that clearing. Be careful of those guards. There’s a hole in the fence, big enough for all of you to get through. Behind that dumpster you’ll find two hoverbikes. Hopefully you’ll also find a guy who looks like my twin. You’ll have to share the bikes, but they have nitro-ramp speed controls. Hightail it to your rig and take off. I’ll join you at the low-way on ramp, out of the stop heading west, unless they catch me. Don’t wait for me. You have to get out of #3,” Chad kissed Gimlet, grabbed a bot-com device and his gun, and took off down the hall towards the guards.
Gimlet started to follow him, but Roxanne grabbed her arm and said,
“Gimlet, come on, we have to leave. Now I only have twenty-five more minutes.” Roxanne walked quickly in the oppos
ite direction, tailed by Rose.
“Until what? What happens in twenty-five minutes?” Gimlet asked.
“The drones will come looking for me. I’ve got to be back on the tracks in twenty-five minutes. Let’s go!” Roxanne followed Rose into the bilge #1 tube, sliding down the scum-lined tunnel until she hit sewer city level one. Gimlet glanced back at Chad, who was already back at the entry portal. He waved goodbye, unlocked the door, and disappeared. Gimlet followed Roxanne through the tunnel. The three ran along the metal walkway to the bilge #2 station, trying not to slip on the scum, while both Roxanne and Rose kept checking their palm, or paw timers.
“Keep going, we’ll make it. No wait, I’ll run ahead and initiate the start-up protocol on the rig. It should give us some extra minutes before re-track.” Rose took off at full canine speed, skidding around the corners. She bolted the stairs to the exit, but then stopped.
There were guards outside the portal, lots of them. Rose could smell over fifteen, maybe twenty of them. They were WME security/culling guards, not local Lanai police. She could tell, because their protective security uniforms gave off a sort of mercaptoethanol smell, like rotten eggs. She’d have to do her dumb dog routine to reach the hoverbikes. Rose turned, and whined a signal to Roxanne, who was about twenty yards behind, then exited the portal, yapping like a happy puppy.
“Stop, Rose says there are WME guards at the portal. Here, take this.” She handed Gimlet her sonic, removed her whip, and checked her Glock; it was fully loaded. Gimlet set the sonic on stun. Killing a WME guard was capital, and there was no sense in risking a life flash freeze. They both climbed the stairs to the exit portal, trying to be quiet.
“Did she say how many guards are there?” Gimlet asked, in a whisper.
“She said about fifteen to twenty, too many for us to take on. And, they probably have security suits, maybe the stinging kind,” Roxanne replied.
Gene Drifters: The Clone Soldier Chronicles-Book III Page 14