Nimrod Squad

by Bard Constantine

  Lights blinked, creating a trail for Jinx to follow. She left the cargo hold and went into the hallway, where a wall panel slid open. Inside was a cutting-edge CPU system. It looked more like a complex water tank, with what appeared to be gleaming liquid silver swirled inside.

  "Indium gallium nanobyte system. Looks like prototype Maximillian Industries tech. Ay Dio, what I would give to have one of these! Ok, I see how you get the power. But what about storage? This still doesn't look like it can hold all the data needed for your programming."

  Deejay's face popped up on Jinx's holoband screen. "Down at the bottom."

  Jinx dropped to all fours, peering at the casing on the bottom of the CPU. Pressing a button opened a thick, armored door panel. Jinx's mouth dropped open when she saw what floated in the clear gelatinous fluid behind the glass.

  The cold muzzle of a handgun pressed against her temple. She looked up to see Cash glaring at her, cold fury glinting in his eyes.

  "Close it back up. Now."

  Mateo peered over Cash's shoulder, eyes widening in wonder. "Oh, wow. Is that what I think it is?"

  "It's Deejay," Cash said through clenched teeth. "I told you she's the brains of this operation."

  $$

  The cell door slammed into place. Jinx placed her hands on the bars and smiled at Cash. "You going to explain why your girlfriend's brain is floating in a jar and powering your AI system?"

  She jerked back when he thrust his face toward her. Rage simmered; reddening his skin, pounding in the vein on his forehead.

  "I'm not telling you anything, bounty head. You gonna tell me how you broke out your cell? Didn't think so. So let me tell you something: you get out again, I shoot you in the leg. You go near Deejay's system again…I just might put you out for good."

  She raised an eyebrow. "And throw away a five-mil bounty? No me estés divariando, pops."

  He slammed a fist against bars. "Stop saying stuff that I don't understand. It's aggravating."

  "Tu no hablas español, hombre? Good luck with that out there. What I said was stop the bullshit. You're not gonna harm a hair on my Afro'd head. Not if you wanna collect that big payday. Besides, I was just making friends with your AI."

  An anguished look flashed across his face. "She's not an AI, okay?"

  She softened her voice. "Look, I get it. She was special. You were in love. Something terrible happened. That night at her laboratory—"

  His eyes sharpened. "How do you know about that?"

  "I…saw it. When I jacked in, she defended herself by flooding my senses. She immersed me in a memory. Her last memory as a human being."

  He groaned, turning his back to her. Leaning against the cell, he slid down until sitting on the cold floor. Jinx knelt as well, leaning close so she could hear him.

  "I remember that day like it was yesterday. I dream about it…almost every night. She was the one who figured it out. Damned algorithms and calculations. But she was right. My partner was a serial killer, and I'd been working with him on the cases he was responsible for. He must have known I'd figure it out eventually. That's why he wanted to have one last laugh. A failsafe. If I caught him, it would cost me."

  "The man at her lab," Jinx whispered.

  Cash nodded miserably. "Vardis gave me a choice. Take him in or save my wife. I couldn't do both, he said. So, I made a choice. It was easy. I couldn't let anything happen to her. Not for Vardis. Not for anyone. So, I let him go. I chose Deejay. And I still couldn't save her. It was all a joke. Just a sick joke. Vardis won. He got away scot free, and I lost my entire world."

  Jinx reached through the bars, laying a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry."

  He abruptly pulled away and stood up, thrusting his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, that's life. Anyway, we're gonna get things fixed. Once we get that payday, we're gonna turn things around."

  She stared uncomprehendingly. "What? How can you fix that? Deejay is—"

  "In a state of temporary transition," Cash said. "But there are options. Maximillian Industries can join her brain with a body. Cloned flesh, real as you and me. I can get my Deejay back. Just a matter of time."

  "Ay Dio," Jinx said. "That's…impossible. You can't fool yourself like this, Cash. Don't you realize that Deejay—"

  "You're a thief, and you want to talk to me about ethics? Save your breath, sweetheart. And stay in your cell. Break out again, and I put you to sleep for the rest of the journey. That I can do." He ran a hand through his rumpled hair, frowning. "That I can do."

  He gave her a warning look before walking out of the cargo bay. The door hissed shut behind him. A few seconds later the wall monitor flickered on. Deejay gave Jinx an apologetic look.

  "Could have told you that was a waste of time."

  "How did you get—" Jinx gestured helplessly.

  "How did my brain get installed in a computer system?"

  "Right."

  "It was my magnum opus. The pinnacle of my research as a developer for Maximillian Industries. A complete transfer of human memories from the brain to a digital system. The solution to finally cure dementia and Alzheimer's among other maladies that affect the brain. My work was nearly complete when the events you witnessed occurred."

  "When you died."

  "Yes. But I had a plan in place in case of an untimely demise. I programmed medical androids to remove my brain and preserve it in a specially designed CPU. It was given to Cash after installation so a piece of me could always be with him. And secondarily because I knew he wouldn't know what to do with it."

  "What do you mean?"

  "In the wrong hands, this research has the potential to be used for evil purposes. I never meant to deliver it Maximillian. I was using his resources until I finished the experiment. After that, I planned to disappear. Find someone I could trust to use the work for the right purposes."

  "And what about Cash? He was a cop, right? Was he just going to drop everything and live a life on the lam with you?"

  "I don't know. I never got the chance to find out."

  "You mean he doesn't even know you were going to leave?"

  "No. And he doesn't need to know now. Everything has…changed."

  "And does he know about the other thing?"

  "What other thing?"

  "Does he know that the Deejay he knew and loved is dead? That what remains is just data harvested from her brain? That you're not really alive?"

  "Cash believes what he wants to believe. No one can convince him otherwise. Not me, and certainly not you."

  "Have you tried to explain it to him?"

  "No."

  "Why not?"

  Her gaze penetrated form the screen, eyes luminous. "Because it counteracts my programming. I'm his companion, his assistant, whatever he needs me to be. That is how I designed myself. Whatever truths Cash needs to discover he has to do on his own. And in time perhaps he will."

  Jinx shook her head. "Wow. This is too much. Why…are you sharing all of this with me?"

  "Because I like you, Jinx. You might be the only person that truly understands me. I think we can be good friends. We might be able to help one another out one day."

  "How can I possibly help you?" Jinx glanced around at the bars surrounding her and sighed. "I can't even help myself. I've been on the run even before getting tangled in up in that New Haven situation. Every decision I've made has been the wrong one. Every time I think I've found a good situation I still manage to screw it up somehow."

  Deejay smiled. "Well, you know what they say: when you hit rock bottom the only way to go is up."

  "Yeah, I guess you're right. But in a few more hours I'll be handed over to Kelly Crimson, and that will be that. So I don't see any way you can help me out, Deejay."

  "Oh, I think I can get Cash to reevaluate."

  "Reevaluate a five-million payday? How?"

  "Simple. By finding an even larger bounty."

  "You think something like that will post in time?"

  "Something like that alway
s posts. It's the nature of the business."

  Chapter 9

  Special Agent Ryan Hessler looked down at the Los Nuevos from the window of his RGA craft. The Roll Glide Air vehicle hovered high above, and from that viewpoint the Haven looked like a soap bubble on a sea of blistering sand. The mirrored surface of the Haven's shielding reflected the desert surroundings; almost a dream of a city, a mirage in the shimmering heat.

  The perfect city. The perfect disaster.

  His cockpit monitor flashed on, displaying Director Lynch's face. "Status report."

  You already know the situation, you old bastard. "I have the men needed to take the city, sir. The problem is entering."

  "I take it General Hamilton has sealed off the underground entrances."

  "Yes, sir. X-ray scans reveal explosives and sentry guns in every tunnel. Any attempts that way will result in massive casualties."

  "Then we use synthetic soldiers."

  "EMPs will render them useless."

  "We have shielded models."

  "Not enough, sir. If the EMPs don't stop them, the explosives will. We're ruling out breaching the tunnels."

  "And the force shield?"

  "No weak spots, sir. It's the most powerful ever built. Maximillian made sure of that. Able to withstand the full brunt of a pure fission bomb. The entranceways have been sealed since the attack, and the security system changes the passcodes every five seconds."

  "Five seconds is an eternity. Hack the code."

  "We have our best people working on it now, sir."

  "Your best people." Lynch's cybernetic eyes whirred, pulsing as they processed information to his brain. "Your best people aren't the best people, Agent Hessler."

  "You're saying you know someone who can pull off a job like this?"

  "The best sort for this type of work usually can be found outside the boundaries of the law. Black hats. Hamilton already has one in his employ. Suzie Chen. She's the one who reworked the security system to keep us and everyone else out. But there are others out there. Just as good as or better than Chen. Put a bounty out on General Hamilton. Start at fifty million. Let's see what kind of fish show up for the bait."

  "You're willing to put a mission of this magnitude on the shoulders of bounty hunters?"

  "Why waste manpower and expense on sending men and synoids to die and be destroyed, Agent? Let the bounty hunters and mercenaries test their mettle against the Haven's weak spots. Let them get their men killed uncovering the traps that Hamilton has laid. Eventually, their out-of-box thinking might find a way in. If and when they do, you'll move your men in and retake the city."

  Hessler had to admit it made a ruthless kind of sense. "And if they manage to take Hamilton? You're going to pay out fifty million?"

  "They won't take him. Kilgore will slaughter anyone who comes close. I want your snipers to put Hamilton down as soon as they get a clean shot. That will take care of Kilgore, too. Without a master, the dog will wander off. The rest of the Blood Legion will be easy pickings after that."

  "We don't take Kilgore down?"

  A rare look of amusement threatened to ravage Lynch's face. "Concentrate on what you can control, Agent. For now, make sure that the bounty posts on every disreputable site on the deep web."

  "Right away, sir."

  Lynch's profile winked off, but Hessler felt no relief. He had the feeling that Lynch was still watching, eyeing Hessler through the cockpit camera, through his holoband, through satellites orbiting the stratosphere. There was nothing Lynch couldn't spy out, which made Hessler wonder how Hamilton managed to invade the Haven in the first place.

  Maybe Lynch knew. Maybe he allowed it to happen. What does he gain? Is he working with Hamilton? Are we just pawns in some sick game of his?

  He wiped a trickle of sweat from his brow. Stop it. That kind of thinking will drive you mad. Concentrate on the mission. On what you need. Someone willing to throw their lives away for the chance of scoring big. Where do you go to find someone that stupid?

  $$

  "Fifty mil? Yeah, let's take the job. Change our course to Los Nuevos."

  Deejay blinked from the monitor. "You didn't even ask about the details."

  "What's there to know? A suicide mission to infiltrate the most secure Haven in the Territories, nab a top-ranked and highly respected rebel General, and get out without being killed. But…fifty mil, Deejay. With that kind of dough, I can finally get that body that you need."

  "That you need, Cash. I told you I'm fine the way I am. A body won't change things for me."

  Cash glanced over the table. Mateo sat across from him in the cramped kitchen, slurping down a bowl of cereal. Outside the window, browns and greens whirred by as the Battle Cat propelled along its predestined course. The sensation was like floating on air thanks to Mateo's work on the gyro system. The kid was good. That didn't mean Cash wanted him included in every conversation, though.

  He lowered his voice, leaning toward the wall monitor. "We'll take about this later, Deejay. For now, let's consider the pros and cons."

  "Fine. The pros?"

  "Fifty million, of course."

  Mateo looked up from his bowl. "Sixteen."

  "What?"

  "Sixteen million after the split."

  "You're in with this? I thought I'd give you the chance to opt out. It's gonna get hairy over there."

  Mateo smiled. "I'm your partner, Cash. Plus, I don't think you're thinking things out very well. You're going to need help to pull this off."

  "Okay, fine. You get your cut, I get mine, and Deejay gets hers."

  Mateo laughed. "Deejay? Since when does an AI get a cut?"

  Cash thumped the table with his fist. "You got one more time to call Deejay an AI."

  Mateo's grin vanished. "Sorry, Cash. Just seems like you're trying to be slick with taking two thirds for yourself."

  "My job, my rules. Who were you thinking about when you calculated?"

  "Happy, of course. Don't you think she'll want to go with us? We need an extra man. Woman, I mean."

  "Happy?" Cash barked a laugh. "You wanna put your life in the hands of an assassin who forced her way here and won't leave? I know her kind. Turn sideways, and she'll stab you in the kidneys, kid. I'll be happy to get rid of her as soon as I get the chance."

  "It's a trap."

  Cash jumped at the sound of Happy's voice. She slouched against the doorway, bionic eye glowing in the shadows.

  Cash groaned. "Great. How long were you standing there?"

  "Long enough to hear your dumbass decision. We're halfway to the drop-off point to collect your bounty on Jinx. You want me out the way? Stick to the rivers and lakes instead of chasing waterfalls."

  "What the hell does that mean?"

  She sighed, folding her arms. "It's an old saying. The point is, you already have a sizeable prize in custody. Deliver her as arranged and collect your payment. I'll be on my way, and you can try for this other bounty afterward. Perfectly logical."

  He shook his head. "No way. Every merc and bounty crew in the world will be gunning for the bounty in Los Nuevos, and they won't be taking any detours. The sooner we get there, the better. With luck, we can still make the Glades afterward. Kelly Crimson gave us a week. It's only been two days."

  "And you think you can make it to Nevada, succeed where everyone else has failed, and make it to the Everglades in time?"

  "Why not? I'm pretty good when my back's against the wall. Plus, that kind of cash doesn't fall from the sky very often." He took a bite out a ration bar and chewed. "I don't expect you to change your plans because of this, of course. You're welcome to take your bomb off my rig and strike out on your own any time you want to."

  "You know you're being used, right? A rebel military general seizes the country's most important Haven, and the answer is posting a bounty? You ever stop to think why?"

  "Uh…no. Too busy thinking about the reward."

  "Exactly. It's right from the HSSC playbook. They'll watch wh
ile the merc and bounty crews get killed trying to find a way in. If anyone succeeds, the HSSC will move in and take all credit for the op. The bounty crew gets hung out to dry—if they make it out at all. This type of threat deserves a military response. Why do you think they’re not taking charge of the op?"

  "Because they can't get through the shielding."

  "And you think you can?"

  "Yep."

  "Why?"

  "Because they don't have Deejay. I do."

  Happy glanced at the screen at the wall, where Deejay looked back with a coy smile. "You think your ALP can break through the defenses of the most highly advanced security system in the country? Now I know you're delirious."

  Cash crossed his arms. "Hey, no one's holding you hostage. Don't like it? Skip out. We won't miss you."

  Mateo smiled at Happy. "I'll miss you."

  Cash gave him a warning glance. "No one's talking to you, kid."

  Happy grabbed a handful of ration bars from the shelf and stuffed them in her pocket. "I'll stay and guard the ship while you do…whatever stupid thing you're planning on. If you get killed I'll take Jinx to New Haven on my own."

  "If that happens I'll be too dead to care, so suit yourself. Deejay, what do we know about the bounty head?"

  An image posted on the wall. "General Kirk Hamilton. Decorated soldier and officer, certified his legendary status with being credited for winning the Red War."

  Mateo looked up from his game with a puzzled expression. "What's the Red War?"

  "Are you kidding, kid? Were you raised in Hinterland or something?"

  Mateo's eyes dropped. "I mean, I heard about it, sure. Just don't know much about what happened."

  Cash sighed, scrubbing a hand through his hair. "Deejay?"

  "The Red War was fought on Mars. Previously used as a prison destination for the most violent criminals, everything changed with crimsonium was discovered."

  "You mean blood shards."

  "The common term, yes. A discovery that changed technology forever because of their ease of use in nuclear fission, propelling us into the Energy Age. But when Russian and Chinese miners clashed over territory rights, that scuffle quickly engulfed into a full-out war that threatened to dismantle the One World Order and send the Earth into unparalleled chaos. General Hamilton led a wave of troops that would become known as the Blood Legion. Representing the OWO coalition, he quickly won one victory after another, eventually restoring control of the planet back to the OWO. Since synoids and android parts were quickly worn down by crimsonium dust, most of the fighting was done by human soldiers, making it the bloodiest war in post-Cataclysm history. Millions died on Martian soil."