by Kai O'Connal
A couple more rounds of ammunition were exchanged. By now, the wall across the hall from the doorway was more holes than substance. The troll got unlucky and took a bullet to the arm that made her drop her gun in the middle of the entrance. Rather than try to recover it, she pulled another from under her jacket, but her right arm now hung limp at her side.
Another camera feed popped up, this one showing the interior of the apartment. Their target—an older dwarf with a distinctive Celtic knot tattoo covering most of his forehead—was crouched behind a counter, the sides of which had been chewed up from the firearm exchange. He fired another burst of bullets and then dropped back behind the counter, reaching up to one of the shelves for something Keandra couldn’t see. When he pulled his hand back, he held some kind of grenade.
He tossed it around the corner into the hallway. Keandra shifted her attention to the hallway monitor and saw the small metal cylinder bounce near the troll’s feet. She kicked it away, back into the apartment. A flash of light filled both screens, forcing Keandra to rub her eyes to clear them of spots.
When she could see again, the troll was in the room, lifting the dwarf by the neck. She put her gun barrel against his forehead and pulled the trigger a single time. Keandra looked away from the ensuing graphic display. After a few seconds, she realized E-jekt turned off the other monitors. There was no need to see any more. They got what they needed.
Lance cut his feed immediately. The mission had been a success, even if the job had been handled with a lot less finesse than her team would normally employ. But that was to be expected, since they’d hired a team barely above amateur status. She looked at this as more of a proof of concept than anything else, and they had proved it would work. As she crawled into the passenger seat, a grin creased her face.
While Paz navigated back to their base of operations, Keandra drafted a message to their Johnson, letting him know that the mission was a success and requesting payment to be transferred to her account as soon as it was convenient. To her surprise, she received a transfer notification before they’d reached the safe house. It was the fee they’d agreed on, with no bonus or additional commentary. In other words, business as usual. If the Johnson had a problem with their methods or was curious about the uncharacteristic nature, he didn’t appear to think it was worth bringing up.
“Looks like we got paid, gang. And without anyone taking a shot at any of us. I told you this would work, and it’d be worth it.”
“Sweet. Nuyen is nice, but easy nuyen is even better. So are we going to do it again?” Paz asked, the excitement strong in her voice.
“I think we should. It isn’t as much as we’d normally make, but it still seems to be a profitable endeavor. What are your thoughts?”
Keandra leaned back and looked over her shoulder to make eye contact with E-jekt. He was out of the Matrix now and looking at the front cabin. He shrugged, but Keandra knew he’d have no issue with voicing a problem if he saw one.
“I’ll admit, I had my doubts,” the decker said. “But you’re right. We got paid, and I do like the not-getting-shot-at bit.”
“It’s settled, then. I’ll start going through our job backlog and see what else we have that we could farm out. I might want to take on something a little bit bigger now that we know it can be done. E-jekt, you’ll need to keep working on assembling team dossiers so I can make the right connections between team and job.”
Paz parked in the garage and used her commlink to check her accounts. She grunted, which caught Keandra’s attention.
“What is it?”
“It’s just…” she paused. “It’s less than I was expecting. That’s barely enough to keep things running.”
“That’s why we need to take on bigger jobs. I figure we’ll be keeping about the same percentage. So the bigger the run, the better payday we’ll get. Of course, it’ll never be as much as if we did the run ourselves. Think of it as a safety fee. That’s the price we pay for not being in the line of fire.”
“Then we better take on a hell of a lot bigger jobs, safety fee or not.”
6
The next several months were good to Keandra and her team. True to the plan, they decided to tackle larger jobs with better payouts. This necessitated hiring more professional teams, but as time went on, things started to fall into a groove. They even had access to a couple of teams they used multiple times. The runs started to achieve the professional level that Keandra and her team were known for, which emboldened them to take on ever higher profile jobs. The percentages were still low, requiring them to tap into their reserves and drain them almost to nonexistence.
That just meant they needed to make a big score.
Currently, Keandra sat at her patio table at Elliot’s, waiting for Mr. Johnson to arrive to begin negotiations. Based on the preliminary information, this run would be at the top tier of what she could commandeer if they were performing it directly. The percentage for their finder’s fee should be enough to get each of her team comfortably through the rest of the month, assuming all went according to plan.
Her commlink got a ping from the front desk. Francis let her know Mr. Johnson had arrived, and was on his way back to see her. She nodded at Lance, who stood in his customary position at attention, ever the ready guardsman.
When Mr. Johnson stepped onto the patio, Keandra waited until he came around to stand and extend her hand by way of greeting. She had to remind herself that she was in the subservient position now, after spending so long as the social dominator.
“Mr. Johnson, it’s a pleasure to see you once again. I’m glad our business ventures can continue.”
“Ms. Tiernay, it is a pleasure to see you again as well. I was wondering when we might have reason to meet, and was hoping to continue our mutually beneficial relationship.”
“I must say that you have the ability to make an offer too tempting to refuse. As is the nature of these kinds of problems, if you throw enough nuyen at it, a solution will present itself. I’m hoping we can be the solution to your current predicament.”
Mr. Johnson pulled a small, disposable commlink from inside his jacket. He placed it on the table and slid it halfway across before removing his hand. Keandra picked it up, placing it on her edge of the table and folding the napkin over it.
“That contains the digital imprint of a certain file we need liberated from some servers. The server is, of course, located in a secure facility that has no remote access to the Matrix, otherwise we would not need a team with your unique talents. To facilitate your success, you also have a copy of the blueprint of the structure, as well as some preliminary reconnaissance as to the security you might encounter. In short, we have done as much as we can to lead you down the path of success. I trust you realize the importance of this package, if we have gone to these lengths to assist you.”
“Of course. I’m also honored and privileged you accepted our bid. We won’t let you down.”
“See that you don’t, Ms. Tiernay.”
There was no need for overt threats. Keandra knew how important this mysterious data file was, considering how much Mr. Johnson had already put on the line. Normally, the team would be responsible for their own surveillance and attempting to scrounge up information such as blueprints. If the company was throwing around weight to pull some strings, this was bigger than the latest simsense encoding software. Things that important were not left to chance.
She uncovered the commlink and turned it on to check the data stored on it. The first thing she noticed was that it was isolated, and had no hardware to connect it to the Matrix. That was odd, but she brushed it aside. Based on the information she’d already received, this commlink wouldn’t need Matrix access to accomplish their mission. The rest of the data was there, as he promised. Keandra turned it off.<
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Then Mr. Johnson pulled out a gold credstick and slid it toward Keandra. Despite her rigorous control, she couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow in response. This was unusual, and not part of their initial negotiations.
“Given the importance of this endeavor, a limited down payment was approved to procure your services. I trust you will find this satisfactory. That amount will be deducted from your final payment, of course.”
Keandra recovered as quickly as she could and palmed the credstick, sliding it up her sleeve where it would not be obvious if anyone caught a glimpse. The windows looking into the restaurant were screened as usual, but she didn’t want to take any chances.
“I thank you for your generosity in this matter. Is there anything else we need to discuss?”
“I believe not. I look forward to reconvening with you three evenings from now.”
With those words, he stood up and walked to the door, his bodyguard following close behind.
Keandra waited until she received a message that he had left before she pulled out the credstick to check it. It contained a certified balance of twenty-five thousand nuyen. She tried to keep her expression blasé as she texted the team.
Paz was right: they needed to get going now. Keandra paid their bill and rushed out of the restaurant, leaving the food cooling on the table. It was a waste, but there was nothing for it. They needed to make sure to arrive at Japonessa in time to set the scene. They had used the establishment enough that the staff would have prepared the room correctly, but much more needed to be done now.
Traffic was not on their side, and Keandra grew restless as they crawled down the street on the way to pick up the limo. She drummed her thumbs on the dash until Paz glared at her, then folded her hands in her lap and forced herself to sit still. As she stared at the brake lights of the car in front of her, she chastised herself for her restlessness. She was nervous. This was one of the largest jobs they’d ever taken, not just the largest one they’d handed off. Still, they’d picked a solid team, one she believed would get the task done. And they needed this.
If only they could get to the restaurant and start the ball rolling. The sitting still was the maddening effect.
By the time they reached the restaurant, Keandra managed to rein in her emotions. Lance opened the door for her and she slid out, the picture of grace and power as she unfolded her legs and took the lead to the front door, the rest of her crew close behind her. The staff at the front of the building recognized her immediately and waved her through. As she entered the meeting room, she cursed herself for setting the meetings too close together. The runners were already here.
Meritus, the team’s human leader, sat in the power seat directly opposite the entrance. He had two other members standing behind him: Kylie, their elf decker, and Tors, their ork street samurai. As soon as Keandra saw their faces, lines from their dossiers danced through her mind. She was well familiar with their skills, strengths, exploits, and weaknesses.
Meritus smiled and held up a glass in salute when Keandra entered. He gestured across from him, instructing her to take a seat. They’d obviously arrived early, attempting to play the position of power. A dangerous move for a group of runners to try with a Johnson. Keandra swallowed her pride and took the offered seat, not wanting to make a scene. After all, the role she was playing would portray a persona of not care about such a slight.
Meritus grinned, clearly pleased with his initial victory. “Thank you for reaching out to us, Ms. Johnson. I’m glad that our resume caught your attention. Seems like you have a rather urgent need for our services.”
“I do, and I see no point in wasting time going over preliminary details. You’ve already read the pertinent information about the task and agreed to the fee. I am here simply to provide some assistance.”
Keandra pulled out the disposable commlink she’d acquired only an hour ago. Following the same motions as the Johnson she’d received it from, she placed it on the table and slid it toward Meritus. He picked it up and immediately handed it over his shoulder to Kylie so she could scan it. As she went to work, Meritus spoke.
“I think the fee is fair. A good day’s pay for a good day of work. However, that’s the issue, isn’t it?”
“What do you mean?”
“You want this job done over the next twenty-four hours. That’s a very tight window. While I’m sure you have other teams you could reach out to, I wonder how many would be of sufficient caliber to accomplish this task.”
“I assure you, Mr. Meritus, that while your services would be helpful, they are by no means required. There are many skilled in your profession who would jump at this opportunity. Do not make me regret presenting this offer to you in an attempt to blackmail me for a higher fee than what was agreed upon.”
Meritus held up his hands in a placating gesture. Keandra narrowed her eyes, but waited to see what he offered as a response.
“I was not suggesting an increase in pay, but merely that perhaps it would be worth a significant prepayment. If we could have, say, twenty-five percent up front, it could go a long way toward helping us succeed. Bribes, extra equipment, and the like.”
Keandra leaned back and lifted a hand to her chin as she considered the offer. They could easily afford it, especially considering they’d received half of their fee up front. And it seemed like it would appease Meritus and his crew. Despite what she said, he was their only option right now, especially if they left with the commlink. Then their only option would be to go in themselves, and they would be blind while doing it. She analyzed the possibilities, looking for downsides.
“Very well, Mr. Meritus. We agree to your terms.” She glanced over her shoulder and nodded at E-jekt. “You should find the funds transferred to your account shortly. Now, if we are done here, I have other business to attend to.”
“We are. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
“I look forward to concluding our business.”
Keandra stood and held out her hand to Meritus, forcing him to rise and accept it. It was a way she could salvage some of the power lost due to their late arrival. Then she turned and left, letting the rest of her team follow behind her. None of them said a word until they were safely in the limo and on the way back to pick up the van.
Keandra shared the thought they were all thinking. “Now we wait. And pray they succeed.”
7
“Keandra, you’re going to want to take a look at this.”
Keandra shut down her commlink and rushed over to E-jekt’s place on the couch. Paz and Lance circled around him, getting close so they could see what he was about to show. He gestured, pulling up a traffic camera and displaying it in the center of the room. The view showed a parking lot surrounded by an electric fence and connected to a three-story building. Through the first-floor windows, they saw the telltale staccato flash of gunfire.
“I thought it might be a good idea to check on our runners since there’s so much riding on this one. This is the parking lot, and I think there might be a problem.”
Everyone grew silent as they focused on the video feed, waiting for any sign of how things played out. Keandra took a breath and gasped, not realizing she’d been holding it the entire time. She smelled the musty odor of E-jekt’s sweat as the gunfire continued, but no team emerged from the facility.
Finally, one of the windows crashed outward, glass shattering across the pavement. Mer
itus jumped through the opening, sprinting and firing a gun wildly behind him. Keandra was impressed that he managed to avoid hitting his own team in his mad dash. Shortly behind him, Kylie jumped through the window, followed by Tors. Even with the limited resolution of the traffic cam, it was clear all three were injured.
A large blast knocked Tors down on his face, shredding the back of his armor and leaving him stunned. Kylie and Meritus both turned. Meritus rushed back to help his teammate, but Kylie grabbed his arm as she passed him, jerking him along with her. Tors struggled to push himself up on his arms, but it was futile. An unseen force picked him up and hurled him back toward the building, sending his hulking form flying through another row of windows and out of sight.
“Do you think they got it?”
Keandra and E-jekt both shushed Paz as they watched the scene. It looked like the they had already cut a hole in the fence and were aiming for it. Kylie slid through first while Meritus provided cover fire. As soon as she was past the barrier, she stood up and returned the favor so Meritus could escape. They climbed into a waiting car and took off down the street so quickly that E-jekt had trouble hopping traffic cams fast enough to follow them.
“Let it go. They got out and we’ll be hearing from them sooner or later. Wherever they go from here is irrelevant.”
“So I’ll ask again: do you think they got it? ’Cause if not, that means we gotta go in there and get it ourselves, which is gonna be insane. After this, they’ll be clamping down tight. Something tells me the suit won’t be too happy if we tell him we’re empty-handed, especially since we can’t even pay back his deposit!”
“We know, Paz! There’s not really anything we can do but wait. What else do you want us to do right now?” Keandra snapped.
“I don’t know, maybe figure out how we’re gonna break into a high-security compound to steal something we don’t even have the blueprints for, since we gave away our only copy?”