The Johnson Run

by Kai O'Connal

  Even though they couldn’t see them, Keandra heard the soldiers pursuing them, tromping down the hall as they attempted to catch up with the intruders. Keandra was forced to duck through one intersection as someone opened fire on her from a side passage. She sensed the bullets as they tore past her, but only one grazed the back of her calf. She stumbled, but got her feet under her and kept running. Paz ran sideways through the intersection, firing at their assailant and taking him out without breaking her stride.

  The air Keandra sucked in burned her lungs as they rounded the last bend and saw the carnage in front of the elevator. She heard E-jekt wheezing next to her as he put a hand against the wall for balance and caught his breath. But they didn’t have time to spare. Keandra grabbed his arm and forced him to drape it across her shoulders as she picked up the pace again, now with an extra burden. Her injured calf burned with every step and her forearm throbbed, but she kept her attention completely focused on the elevator just a few meters ahead.

  When they got closer, she saw there were a couple new bodies on the floor, along with some fresh blood. One of the security officers was half in and half out of the elevator, collapsed across the threshold. He had several deep gashes and laid in a pool of what she hoped was his own blood. Lance slumped in the corner, his sword on the other side of the elevator, both the blade and the handle completely red. His bloody knife lay on the ground next to his hand.

  Paz kicked the soldier out of the elevator hard enough that several of his bones crunched from the force of the blow. Once the door was clear, she mashed the first-floor button repeatedly until the doors started to close.

  E-jekt dropped to his hands and knees as Keandra left him to take a look at Lance. The elf looked like something out of a horror movie, but there was no way for her to tell how much of the blood was his. As she bent close, he opened his eyes and gave her a weak smile.

  “Told you I’d hold the elevator.”

  “God damn it, Meat-sack. You’re gonna give the old man a heart attack. Now can we please get out of here?”

  Keandra squeezed Lance’s hand, glad to see he still had some strength left in his grip. Not a lot, but enough that he seemed no worse off than when they’d left him. The fact still remained that he needed a hospital as quickly as possible, or else it wouldn’t matter. As the elevator chimed up a couple of floors, Paz broke the silence. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on and we don’t got time to go over it. But, Freyr’s pissing up a storm on our network. Said something about being locked down.”

  “Yes. He lied to us, so I kept him from running off into the Matrix until we have a chance to talk to him. I’ll tell you more once we get out of here. We need to figure that out fast. By now I guarantee the entrance is locked down. Can you hack it from this side?”

  E-jekt took a few more deep breaths, trying to slow his breathing before he sat up and leaned back against the wall. “No. We’d need to get to the director’s office and use the override there, then get back to the door without anyone relocking it.”

  “What about the hangar? The spot we think had their vehicles?”

  “That door should be controlled in the hangar itself. Yes, I could get it open with enough time.”

  “That’s settled then. Quick map of the place?”

  The elevator chimed for the third floor as E-jekt projected a map of the first floor into the air in front of them. A path lit up showing the route from the elevator to what should be the hangar or garage. Keandra memorized the route just as the elevator chimed for the second floor. She stood to the side of the door and held her gun up in front of her, ready to turn and open fire. Paz took up a similar position on the opposite side while Lance and E-jekt hid as best as they could behind the others.

  Keandra winced as E-jekt’s touched her calf near her wound. He said nothing, and she was thankful for that. She’d see how bad it was once they got out. For now, she could still run, and that was what mattered.

  The doors slid open, and the first thing Keandra noticed was the alarm. Lights flashed and a siren sounded from multiple speakers down the length of the hallway. While it wasn’t pleasant, it was better than being greeted by a bunch of soldiers and a rain of bullets. People in other hallways shouted and called to each other, creating a palatable air of chaos.

  The team left the elevator, Keandra taking the lead and Paz bringing up the rear. E-jekt helped Lance, who was having trouble walking on his own. He could stand, but if he tried to move at anything faster than a shambling walk, he stumbled.

  Keandra led them along the memorized route, a bit surprised there wasn’t a wall of security between them and the hangar. They were probably protecting the director or the main exit. Hopefully there wouldn’t be a team waiting in the hangar itself.

  As they neared their destination, Keandra spotted a turret above the door leading to the hangar. It swiveled back and forth, scanning the hallway as it looked for any intruders. It noticed Keandra as she watched it, and she had to duck back as it opened fire. It continued firing for a couple of seconds after she’d taken cover, carving chunks out of the floor and walls with high caliber rounds.

  Paz stalked ahead, leaning around Keandra and trying to get a shot off. She pulled the trigger once and then had to duck back behind the wall as the turret fired again. Even with her speed, she wasn’t able to get a good shot.

  “E-jekt, can you hack it?”

  The ork pulled up his AR display and began working. In the interim, Keandra extracted her commlink to make sure her jammer still functioned. It did, and it was clear Freyr was still trying to get access to the Matrix. She decided to access the local messaging to see what the AI had to say for himself.

  She scrolled through most of the ranting and raving, only giving it a cursory glance. Most of it read like a spoiled child who had been caught lying, and then objecting to the punishment. Even though he was an artificial intelligence, the comparison seemed apt considering his relatively short and isolated existence.

 

 

 

  Keandra checked on E-jekt—he still worked furiously on the turret. Sweat appeared on his brow even though the hallway was cool and they were sitting under one of the vents. She also checked to make sure the conversation was set so all members of their team could read it. She wanted E-jekt and Paz to both know the full story so she didn’t have to explain it later.

 

 

 

  E-jekt’s frustrated grunt pulled Keandra back to her present situation. “I can’t hack the turret. Every time I take down a defense, something builds one back up. I’m not fast enough.”

 

  Keandra turned to look at her companions. When she did, she saw Lance, resting there and focusing on staying alive. His eyes were closed and his head dropped limply to rest on his chest. Sparks flared visibly from a couple of Paz’s cyberlimbs, and for despite the conflict, she had
no smile. Sweat and grime caked her face making it impossible to tell where the blood and tears mixed. As for E-jekt, his hands shook and the rest of his body trembled in time with his painful wheezes.

  They were running out of time. The security forces would converge on their location soon. Keandra could see a camera directly across the hall staring at them.

  She turned off the jammer.

  “Do it.”

  34

  Keandra didn’t need to check her commlink to know that as soon as she turned the jammer off, Freyr would jump out as quickly as he could. She just hoped he’d take the time to disable the turret on his way out. Otherwise, she didn’t see how they’d get out of here. She didn’t have a backup plan for this scenario, and was putting all of her faith in an AI that had openly admitted it had lied to her and manipulated her team to obtain its desired end.

  It didn’t make her feel well.

  To make matters worse, the sounds of chaos had died down. That meant that people had been evacuated from this area, and it wouldn’t be long before the security forces arrived. They had no cover, and she was sure Paz was running low on ammunition. Lance was in no condition to fight, and against trained heavy security forces, she and E-jekt were practically useless. In short, if that turret wasn’t taken care of, it was all over for them.

 

  Keandra sprinted around the corner to the door. She yanked hard on the handle and was surprised when it opened. Apparently, Freyr had done more than just disable the turret blocking their escape route. E-jekt and Paz carried Lance between them as they followed her. She stepped into the hangar, hoping their collective hunch was correct.

  The door led onto a catwalk overlooking a two-story garage. A row of military-grade armored vehicles had been parked just beneath her, and several smaller double-person ATVs off to the side. One side of the catwalk led to the stairway going down to the main floor of the garage, while the other direction led to a small office. That office contained a guard, who raised his gun. Keandra dropped flat against the catwalk as he fired, the bullets sparking as they ricocheted off the metal and the wall.

  Paz growled behind her. “Get Meat-sack to a truck. I’ll take care of the guard.”

  She leaped over Keandra and charged the office, shooting on full auto and forcing the guard to take cover. Reaching the door, she kicked it down, the metal frame flying into the office from her sheer power. She launched herself into the room, dropping her now-empty rifle at the entrance, relying on her strength and ferocity.

  Keandra pushed herself up, turning back to help E-jekt with Lance so they could jog toward the stairs. The elf was practically limp between them, and his eyes were no longer open. At least he groaned when they got to the stairs and had to juggle him a little on their way down. That meant he was still alive. But for how much longer, she wasn’t sure.

  When they were halfway down the stairs, the large rolling door across from them rumbled as it opened. Outside, wind-blown sand whisked and danced in front of the portal. It was the most invigorating sight Keandra could have pictured. She rushed down the steps as quickly as she dared considering her burden.

  On the ground floor, they hurried to one of the armored trucks. There was no way they could transport Lance on an ATV given his current condition, and it would be faster to steal a truck than to try recovering their SUV parked at the main office. Overhead, Paz ran after them, her feet pounding against the metal mesh with a deafening clatter. Luckily, the truck’s doors were unlocked. They opened the rear doors and eased Lance into the seat. Keandra buckled him in while E-jekt went to the driver’s seat and began hacking the car.

  Once Lance was safe and secured, Keandra swung around the front of the vehicle and climbed into the passenger’s side. She buckled in and then pulled out her sidearm, leaning out the door so she could fire at the doorway leading into the facility. As soon as a guard stepped through, she fired and he fell back. Someone returned fire, and she had to hide in the truck, letting its armor soak up the bullets. When there was a pause, she leaned out again and fired until her magazine was empty. That gave Paz enough time to run up to the vehicle. She smacked E-jekt lightly in the shoulder, and he climbed into the back seat next to Lance, still working on hacking the truck.

  On the other side of the door to the hallway, the turret roared to life and began firing. The guards screamed, and it was a matter of seconds before everything was quiet again. Keandra put down her empty firearm and pulled out her commlink.

 

 

  E-jekt got the vehicle working and Paz revved the engine before putting it into gear. As they pulled out, Keandra got another message.

 

  Just to be sure, Keandra turned her commlink over, but the jammer was still disabled. She removed it and pulled out the battery, making sure there was no way it could interfere.

 

  E-jekt chimed in.

  Paz slammed on the brakes, skidding the truck across the slick floor of the garage and coming to a stop when they were only a few meters from the exit. Keandra looked up and saw what had made her stop.

  Mr. Johnson stood in the center of a half-circle of armored vehicles and soldiers, all of them with weapons trained on Keandra and her team. While most of the soldiers had guns, she also saw several RPGs with more than enough firepower to completely obliterate their vehicle.

  “Miss Tiernay, a word, if you don’t mind.”

  His words were amplified, clear to her even inside the armored truck. She glanced around, but there was only the one exit from the facility. Not having any other options, Keandra unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door.

  E-jekt grabbed her arm. “You can’t. He’ll kill you. He’ll kill all of us.”

  “We still have something he wants. We still have a bargaining chip. You just need to give them a way out.”

  She didn’t have time to explain what she meant, and she hoped he understood. Keandra stepped out of the truck, holding her hands high and well away from her body. She heard the soldiers as they shifted, training their aim on her. The combination of blood loss, the adrenalin crash after battling their way out, the cold temperature, and the pressure made her want to curl up, but she kept her head held high as she walked forward to meet Mr. Johnson. After a couple of steps, she eased her arms to her sides, making sure not to make any sudden movements. She would not approach him in a position of supplication. This was a negotiation, just like any other. The stakes were just a little bit higher.

  “Sadly, I think this is probably going to conclude our business relationship.” She offered a smirk and stopped when she was still several meters away, making him come to her if he wanted to continue the conversation without shouting. She made sure to keep her voice soft and controlled, letting him know that at this distance, it would be difficult to negotiate. She was pleased when he walked forward, his ever-present bodyguard in tow, to meet her in the center.

  “I believe you are right. I must admit, this was not the end that I anticipated. I considered you to be much more trustworthy and one who valued the strength of your word.”

  “Of course I am true to my word. I wouldn’t be much of a businesswoman if I didn’t put much faith in my reputation, now would I? After all, fortunes may come and go, but reputations are things that you’re stuck with.”

  “And yours is irreparably tarnished now. Not that it will matter, as your lives are about to become forfeit.”

  At his words, the soldiers shifted again, raising their
guns. Keandra blocked them out. They were irrelevant. This was a deal, and one she could still turn to their relative advantage, if she spun it the right way. She took a few steps to the side, turning away from Mr. Johnson but keeping her hands in plain view. He paused, turning to watch her.

  “I hesitate to tell this to you, but you are about to make a grave mistake. We never violate our agreements.”

  She stopped and waited, staring out at the night sky and deliberately not turning to face him. She could barely make out his form in her peripheral vision, but she heard the rustle of his suit as he shifted, and then the whisper of the sand as he walked to the side, paralleling her path. This was good, he was following her. The mental would follow the physical.

  “I am intrigued. Your agreement was to turn over a data file in exchange for a large sum of nuyen. Instead, you opted to refuse the payment, as well as claiming to have lost the data we require. Based on your current actions, I think that you didn’t lose it, but rather that was a story you concocted in order to accept another job, perhaps from a more generous employer. What part of this scenario is you keeping your agreement?”

  Keandra turned toward him and grinned, a predatory look with narrowed eyes and cocked eyebrow. She could see she had his full attention now and he was hanging on, waiting to see what she would say.

  “Why, simply that we went above and beyond, and doubled your request.”

  For a few seconds, everything was still. She heard the wind as it whispered against the landscape. She even heard the breathing of some of the soldiers as they waited, their weapons still held in the ready position. A quick burst of turret fire interrupted the silence, shaking Mr. Johnson back into the present.