by J. M. Hagan
Location: Mortron City, New-Wave Security Forces Barracks
The next morning…
“A cityscape – an entire world of glitzy skyscrapers, shopping malls, booming nightclubs. Where did we end up? Mortron City – a place as run-down as Detroit,” moaned Jack, resting hands on the back of his head. He rose up and down impatiently on his tip-toes.
They were fully armed and wearing bulletproof vests. The building they waited in was right next to the checkpoint. While they stood giving a vigil watch of the street, Siena and Jeriko were seated at a table in the back of the room. It was a barracks for the security forces, and they were given free reign due to their Starmen status to wait for their target’s arrival.
Starman HQ in the Delta Sector were responsible for assessing the majority of New-Wave’s recruits. Mostly tier-3, although the higher-ups were former deputies. The rest of their ranks were made up by former soldiers of the Federation.
When they met with them earlier, they looked at the crew of Europa like they were Generals, given their tier-1 status.
All they had to say was they were on a mission, and the security forces offered all the help they could, once their credentials had been verified. They even offered to call them the second Vorjool’s I.D. showed on the scanners, so they could prepare for his exit from the checkpoint.
The security forces offered to hold him. But Jack refused. This was a kill warrant. He was wanted dead. Period. They had the element of surprise. Besides, for all they knew, Vorjool wasn’t alone. If he was coming to this side of town, he had to have a reason.
“You’ve never been to Detroit,” commented Anderson, looking out the window intently.
They had a view of the street and his optic-goggles let him see everything clearly, no matter the distance. When Anderson fixed his gaze on something far away, it intuitively zoomed and focused.
“Yeah. But I’ve watched 8 Mile a dozen times,” said Jack.
“Well, if we’re going by movies, it looks more like the Detroit from Robocop.”
“I loved that movie. Remember when the guy falls into the toxic waste, and he comes out all dripping skin and gruelling? That movie is so crazy. Where else would you find shit like that just randomly tossed into a movie? The 80s, man, they were the best.”
They had already witnessed a mugging in the alley across the busy street. New-Wave security were hired to protect Virtra City. Whatever happened this side of the checkpoint wasn’t in their job description.
“So, how are things with you and Siena?”
Anderson shrugged. “They’re good,” he said.
“You tell her what we talked about yet?”
Anderson shook his head. “I’m leaving things like that until after this is done.”
“Good call. So…you’ve been getting to know her. Physically, I mean,” he said, and Anderson’s brow shifted at the risqué topic. Careful Jack. Don’t offend the dude. “She’s an alien. But is everything…in the right place?”
Anderson grinned. “Oh yeah,” he assured him.
Jack smirked. “How different is their physiology from ours?”
“Aside from her eyes, the little ridges on her ears, it’s no different, far as I can tell. She’s got a lot of…energy,” he boasted.
Jack chuckled, realising what he meant. So has Malora. I don’t wanna go blabbing about that yet, though. She was gone when I woke up…and she hasn’t shown even a hint that anything is different between us. Then again, neither have I. “I hear ya. What about inside? You know, her organs?”
“Eugh. Well, not that I’ve checked,” he said, with a disapproving frown devoted to the topic. “But I think they’re similar. Since when did you become so interested in biology?”
He shrugged.
“Jack,” Claudia’s voice rang through his com. “It’s almost time.”
Jack checked his watch. “Ten minutes,” he said. “Are you ready?”
“Yes,” she answered, then paused. “Ready as I’ll ever be. What about you?”
“I’m ready.”
“And, Mark?”
Jack glanced at him. He was devoting his attention to the street. “Yeah. He’s ready,” he assured her.
Jack kept looking at his watch. Those ten minutes dragged. But he still found himself wishing he had more time. His palms got sweatier with every passing moment.
A minute to go…
They were all checking their weapons. Prepped to race out the door of the barracks the instant Vorjool appeared.
“Claudia, Malora, let me know when you have him in your sights. New-Wave will contact us any second now,” said Jack, holding his sub-repeater ready.
“Copy,” said Claudia.
“Affirmative,” said Malora.
He took a breath. Wiped perspiration off his chin. Then rubbed clammy hands against his thighs. Jack checked his watch.
“Yep…any second now.”
They waited a full minute longer than was expected. Malora contacted him via her com. “Jack, any sign of— “
“Not yet,” he moaned.
“Check in with security.”
Jack nodded, feeling more sweat gather on his face. He used his PDP to contact the checkpoint. “This is, Murphy. Any sign of our target?”
“Negative, Sir,” replied Ethan, the New-Wave officer he’d spoken with earlier.
Jack bit down. “Okay. Stay frosty.”
“Yes, Sir.”
The call ended. He looked at Anderson – his eyes fell away.
They waited and waited…
Forty-five minutes of nothing followed. There wasn’t a sign of him. They kept checking over their intel for any mistakes, finding none. Then Cane contacted him.
“Commander – we need to start considering other options.”
“I know,” said Jack, huffing. “Shit!”
Jack stormed across the room and kicked over a chair. Then he went back to the door and held his sub-repeater ready again. Everyone felt the same degree of frustration. The same confusion. Even Jeriko seemed affected in those moments.
“What are we gonna do if he doesn’t show up? I don’t understand. He’s supposed to be here,” Jack cried, with rising anger. “Why isn’t he here?!”
*
The team lined up in front of him. Jack put hands on his hips. After some discussion with Cane and Anderson, they had come up with a plausible theory for why Vorjool hadn’t shown.
Like Anderson had said before – time travel was a dangerous business.
“The only explanation is that we’re somehow responsible for this,” Jack told them all. “Maybe, Vorjool, got held up at Maji-Onda, or maybe, hopefully, the son of a bitch died there. We just don’t know. What we do know is our future-selves wouldn’t have given us bogus information. No. Freaking. Way.”
“I agree,” said Anderson. “Think about it – we’ve changed things already by taking out the Overseers. They were supposed to be his allies in the future.”
Jack nodded. “Maybe it’s some kind of ripple effect. But has anyone done anything that needs telling – and I mean anything – since arriving on Delta-2?”
Jack scanned their faces. He noticed Claudia and Jeriko share a frightened glance. He caught Claudia’s eye then.
“Spill it,” he said, urging her with his hand. “Whatever it is.”
Everyone’s eyes went to her. “We made an arrest last night,” admitted Claudia, tilting her head nervously to the side.
Jack grimaced. “An arrest? What do you mean?” His gaze flipped. “Yo! Jeriko – start talking. Both of you.”
Jeriko told him about Kal, what he’d seen him do, and what he’d done in turn. Jack didn’t know what to think.
“You knocked out, and arrested, a Starman because he was taking a bump in a nightclub? Who gives a shit? That’s what people do in nightclubs.”
Jeriko shrugged. “I didn’t like the guy. Scum like him will give the guild a bad name. I have a career to consider,” he said unapologetically.
“Probably
not the brightest idea to bring in a seasoned Starman for something like that, man. It’d hurt your career more than anything, the way I see it. People will call you a nark.”
“Nark? Like those Earth fish?” he asked, confused and looking to Claudia for an explanation. She shook her head.
“That’s a shark,” she moaned. “A nark is— “
“Someone people don’t like much,” Jack interjected. “But that’s not the point right now. Okay. We’ve got nothing else to go on. Let’s find out what we can about, Kal Lojac.”
“Agreed,” said Jeriko. “Let’s start investigating.”
“Yeah. Great. Okay…where do we start?” Jack asked, and they looked on him as one with silent surprise. Jack scratched the back of his head. “We got anything to go on here, Jeriko?”
Jeriko crossed his strong arms. Dipped his head as he gave it a moment’s consideration. “When they booked him at the station, some of the cops knew him. Heard them asking where he’d been. Kal, said he’d just returned from a mission off-world.”
Jack’s eyes sparked. “Okay. Siena, Anderson – go visit Starman HQ. Maybe we can find out more about his mission.” Anderson nodded for them. “Malora, Claudia, Cane – you stay here. Keep going with the plan encase he shows up.” Malora lifted her rifle and their eyes met. Their stare lasted briefly, but her eyes softened. She gave a little grin, then started brusquely for the door, followed sharply by Cane and Claudia. “Jeriko, with me. We’ll go to the station and talk to Kal. Right now, he’s all we’ve got to go on. We’ll figure it out along the way.”
13
Location: Mortron City Checkpoint, Underground
It had only been a few weeks since he got the job working the checkpoint, but Ethan was already sick of Mortron scrubs causing him bother. Today was the worst. It was hot as hell. The place stank so bad he brought the stench home with him at the end of every shift.
Some teenage kid dropped his bag and the contents spilled over the floor. A whole bunch of fliers. He was picking them up and holding up the line to get on the ice-white subway car that brought them from Checkpoint A to Checkpoint B.
Ethan shoved the kid inside with his rifle. “Get in there,” he cried, and the kid wailed as he scuttled to the floor. “Stop holding up the line!”
The crowd gave him mean looks. But none of them dared do more than that. The door to the subway car shut. He stood with a smug grin, watching them give offensive hand gestures as they were shipped away.
Jill laughed. “Those insolent bastards.”
“I know, right? Don’t worry; they won’t get off so easy.” Ethan used his cybernetic implant to contact the next checkpoint.
His partner shook her head. He hadn’t said it, only thought it, but every New-Wave employee was connected by the same cybernetic implants. It kept them in constant communication with each other. Not only were they fully armoured and armed to the teeth, but they had perfect vision, acute hearing, and super-human reflexes.
“Damn. That’s cold,” she said, as they strolled back to the security scanners. “It’ll be another few hours before they make it through now.”
Ethan wiped some sweat off his brow. It was always hot down here. But today was almost unbearable. “I’m glad to ruin their day. Scum deserves what it gets.”
They made the short walk to the scanners again. They were in place where the toll booths used to be back when this place was nothing but an ordinary subway. There were sandbags and gun placements where the confectionary used to be, and New-Wave employees maintained a vigil watch of everyone coming and going.
As they made it to the scanners, another subway car pulled up. Among the faces that came out, he noticed, Jack Murphy, the Starman he’d spoken with before sunrise. He was accompanied by the fernode, a Plysarian, and another human wearing glasses.
Ethan waved them over ahead of the crowd.
“Any luck?” he asked, when Jack was in earshot.
The Starman Specialist grimaced. “Not yet. We’ve gotta chase up some leads back in Virtra,” he said.
“Damn. Where’s the rest of your team?” he asked.
“They’re waiting on the other side for him to show. Right now, we’re praying that he does,” admitted Jack, his body language urging him to let him through. Ethan employed the use of his cybernetic implant.
“Well, best of luck,” said Ethan, waving them on.
Murphy and his crew went on toward Virtra, and Ethan watched them go.
“Didn’t it seem a little odd to you they were waiting until he passed all the way through the checkpoint?”
Jill shrugged. “It’s a kill warrant. I guess they wanna make sure they get him.”
“Yeah. But why let him through to the other side? They could have easily requested we hold him here in the facility. Then they could walk in and execute him in the holding area. Piece of cake.”
It made sense to him. Just because they were tier-1 specialists, it was like they were in charge of them. His affiliation with the guild had ended when he completed his tier-3 training. He was New-Wave now.
“Beats me. Anyhow, we’ve gotta report for maintenance” moaned Jill. Their implants required daily review.
They went to medical and the doctor put Ethan in the chair first. His implant responded immediately and the screen on his right flashed on. It scanned his artificial enhancements for a moment. It almost felt like a visit to the dentist every time he sat in that chair. He was just glad it was always over quick.
“Any nausea today?” the doc asked, shining a torch in his eyes.
“Nope,” said Ethan.
The one time he had complained of headaches, the doc held him back for ages to perform additional tests. It took so long that by the time he was finished the pain had long subsided. He never felt the need to complain since.
“Any ringing in your ears?”
“Nope,” he said again. “I’m tip-top.”
The doc slapped his shoulder. “Okay. Back to work,” he said, and Ethan got out of the chair. “Next.”
While Jill went in for her examination, Ethan went to the canteen and got himself a couple of candy bars. He needed energy. Despite what he’d told the Doctor, he didn’t feel great. He was tired, strung out, feeling the heat, and low blood sugar wouldn’t help.
He was on his third cup of water by the time Jill came out to join him. As he sat there suffering the stifling heat, he’d been thinking it over more and more…
“How do you feel about pulling a double shift?” he asked.
It wasn’t something he’d suggested before. Given the heat of the day, he would’ve been nuts for even thinking it usually.
“Are you shitting me?” she laughed, clearly thinking it was some attempt at humour. Ethan handed over a candy bar and a cup of water.
“I’m thinking…why let those Starmen take that bounty?” he whispered.
“Hold on, Ethan,” she whispered in reply. She had a look around to make sure nobody was listening in. “Are you thinking what I think you’re thinking?”
He nodded, his eyes sweeping around the room. “Sure am. Imagine what we could do with all those credits,” he said, greed gleaming in his eyes.
She bit on her lower lip. “It’d be a great boost to our retirement funds,” she said. But her contemplation led to apprehension fast. “Ethan, it’s too risky. New-Wave will sack us in a blink.”
He knew this was gonna take some convincing. The company paid well. But a big time contract like this could easily change their lives.
“Yeah? A couple hundred thousand credits in our pockets each, added to what we’ve got saved away already – we could buy a ship of our own. Get off this damn rock for good.”
“Our employers might not appreciate us taking a kill warrant. Especially here,” she protested.
“Who cares? Think about
it…we’ve got this son of a bitch. All we’ve gotta do is hold a group of people behind so that he doesn’t get suspicious. We take them aside for individual checks. When we bring him in for screening, we’ve got him alone.”
“What about the cameras?” she asked.
“Take them offline. Stay off the implants, too. We’ll stick together and communicate the old fashioned way.”
14
Location: Virtra City, Starman HQ
Siena and Anderson got out from their hover car parked in an alley around the corner from Starman HQ. Her shinning brown hair was taken in the wind as they walked by all the other parked vehicles. Along the way, Anderson checked the port records for Virtra City and saw that the last time Vorjool set out from this world, Kal had set out the very same day. It was a promising start.
They went inside and it was much like the HQ they’d been to on Maji-Onda. An elevator took them up to the archives.
“We’ve gotta register before we go poking through records,” she said.
“They really just gonna let us look at whatever we want?”
Siena smirked. “Yeah. We can thank, Fischer, for that.”
“Huh?”
“Jack, has more or less named me the tech guy for our team.”
“Tech girl,” he said, winking.
“Same difference,” she panned him off with a shrug. “Fischer, granted us a special code that will give us the authority we need to access sealed records. Just another perk of being assigned a priority op.”
The elevator stopped and the door opened revealing the archive. They stepped inside and found a lot of other citizens treating it to the silence of a library as they studied holographic screens.
They approached the front desk. A young guy with a crazy pink haircut looked up over the oval counter. “Can I help you?” he asked. Anderson grimaced, seeing he had bright orange eyes. A stark reminder I’m on an alien world.
Siena told him her personal ID code, then Anderson told his. The guy punched them into the computer slowly and smiled while he was doing it. Her fingers rapped on the counter impatiently, a gesture he either ignored or didn’t notice.
“Ah. Tier-1 specialists,” he said, a moment later. “How may I help?”