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1900. Lake Elmo Apartments. Oct. 22, 2044.
Across the street in a small soy cafe, I watched the limo pull up. It circled into the Apartments front office and three large UM (universal military) types filtered out with four corps carrying suit cases and wearing freshly pressed three piece suits. It looked like this would be interesting I decided as I was casing the apartments. They were five story, balconied apartments which sat inside a walled property. There were a pair of large wood and steel doors that functioned as a gate. Next to the gate was a small normal door to allow individual entrance without opening the big gates. The door and the gate were both operated by keypads, they buzzed the room to have the room open the door or you punched in a PIN to let you in.
I paid the NYL that was the serving girl/waitress and she only thanked me; not even offering to be my love slave for the night. Sometimes I wonder about the younger generation. But I picked up my Irish tea and took a slow walk around the four block area of the Lake Elmo Apartments. The lots were set up exactly aligning to NSEW, (north south...) as was to be expected in the nicer section of upper-corpville. This was the part of downtown that was rich in the extreme, but no single corp claimed it. Mostly these were the ultra-intelligent people that could afford to make livings as consultants and corporate free-lancers. Different corps set up arrangements for utilities and other mundane stuff, which was pretty easy since it was bordered on the north and west by the 3M-Honeywell-Dupont; on the south by this soy cafe and 'Eat Til You Die' a popular wanna be restaurant (like TGIF); and on the east by MVE and Menasha. The driveway was on the south and the parking garage on the north. In between there were ten separate buildings (each five stories) connected by skywalks to each other and the garage. On all four sides the wall went right up to the sidewalk, and thence the street. The streets were large busy base-wired (for smart cars and smart busses), the N/S ones had an ell, and one block of 'Eat til You Die' was a subway station.
Blending in here was as easy as going with the huge throng of corp geek types. Every once and a while I would get my attention distracted from the Lone Star security guard or video camera by some hot-as-white-tungsten corp secretary that was wearing something small that was tighter than Teflon between pipe threads. Oh, if I weren't on a job. Yes, I wasn't trolling as much as I'd like to be, I was on a job. What was the job you ask? Well, according to an individual inventor/entrepreneur, who shall by his own wish remain anonymous, that spoke with me, Kid, and Raven, inside apartment 210 tomorrow there would be a chip trade. Some Arasaka boys were going to be buying a set of chips this guy made from the local Crime Lord, by the name of Blake. Mr. Inventor stood to make a lot of money from Colt Corp. if he could sell it to them, it had to do with thermal shielding plastic cased electrothermal rounds that got past the cook off due to heat transfer thing. Outa my league except that it'll let me kill better. Somehow Blake had learned of the chips (probably from the Joygirl I'd talked with that had been spending time with Mr. Inventor.) But enough of his personal life and him dressing up 16-year olds to look like little girls, I wouldn't want you to find him at 20550 East Cedar in the Proxy Tower. Oops, did I just tell you his address, well I hope you don't shoot him, we'll move him next week. Now, I'm busy. We had to find the chips and this was the best place to start.
After my short trip around the Apartments, I'd noticed that the west side had the fence very close to the Apartment outer walls. On the east side, it was very far; so we'd use the east side. The internal cameras were fixed, so I guessed that a netboy of a good neural net were watching them; Max would have to take care of that. And the main building which straddled the front gate like a Midevil gatehouse with portcullis, held at least a dozen Lone Star renta-cops. But they wouldn't be a problem, the solo-suits with Arasaka would be; if they showed up early. The orcs with Blake would be like shooting paper targets. Hopefully the UM's and the corps that got in would be gone, and leave us just PSMF's to shoot at. I didn't feel lucky tonight. Better head back and rally the troops.
I took the ell over to South Saint Paul, then a smart-taxi up to Woodbury, walked under the 694 overpass, and then circled back through the Woodbury mall til I got the subway and took it north three connections. Then I got on a bus and cruised over to Bloomington. No trailers so far, but I didn't want anybody to find the Doctors. From Bloomington I took the subway again until I was two stations away from the station nearest to Docs. I never got off at the same station in Edina, that would have made it obvious. So I took a alley-crossing, parking lot cutting path that eventually ended me up in the apartment next to Doc's. I got into the basement, scaled up the elevator access shaft, got on the roof, and then jumped down to Ravens. I waved at the security cam and made sure the roof guns didn't engage me, then shimmied down the interior drain pipe. The house was big like an old Roman Ranch house, with a central veranda and a big square flat exterior. I had to say the Doc had good defensive taste.
2045. Edina MSP. Oct 22, 2044.
"Now you don't think I can get in," an exasperated blond purred.
"No, I said you're not going up the drain pipe ahead of me. I would be caught like a 'dear in headlight' as the old saying goes. I could fall off, and I don't wanna trust Kid to catch my ass-struck-butt." Chuckles all around. Frown from Kat. "No, really. I always go first on any job I'm running. I'm the leader, I take the risk, I make sure everything is ok. Full stop. End of story." Doctor nodded his approval. "When I get up onto the fourth story balconies, I'll lower a rope. Not that you need it but it will make it faster for everyone."
I hated discussing what we were gonna do. I knew what had to be done, but this is one of the drawbacks of working in a committee driven, civilian outfit. These people didn't have to go with me, so I had to convince them. I'd already convinced Kid to come with along with Zig, Zag, Boomerang, Nasty Nick and I for out little foray into corpville. Max was eager to hang out with 'Legs' in an alley way for the duration of the mission so he would be at a remote location to jack into the matrix. Plus he was eager to spend time with her for other reasons...
"They what do you want me along for?? It's not for my firepower."
"Ah, but it is my sweet. While we will keep things safe for us and deadly for anybody but us. I would be most obliged, as would Boomerang, if you could join us to make our passage through the most vile and heinous security pleasurable, through suitable application of your hi-tech 'explosives'," I said stressing the word explosives sarcastically, and bowing while doing my best musketeer bow and flourish.
She couldn't help but smile at my charm, or at least that's what I told myself she was smiling at. "Ok, chrome boy. I'll go along, but I'm not carrying a gun."
"Ok," I answered. Calm as a hoopajoop. "I'll carry an extra for you."
2200. Docs Basement. Oct. 22, 2044.
We'd spent the duration of the time preparing our gear and readying ourselves. I spent some time doing dry draws of my new Ares Predator. A nice big gun; I drew it and brought the 3-Dot sights up into alignment several times. Then I repeated it with my eyes closed, then opening them when the weapon was on target. Every time after the first it was; muscle memory. Kid was getting dressed in an all black rip-stop kevlar gortex bodysuit, for being more stealthy. The rest of the guys got into whatever they usually wore, but now sneakier...
I walked over to Kat. She looked as good as a Georgia peach, not the peaches from today but the ones I saw in books. She wasn't radiated and chemically poisoned. She looked much better, but I blocked out my groins calling. "You got everything you need?"
"Yeah, almost." -- "Well, what do you need?" -- "Your trust," she said putting down what looked like a ultra-small highly modified electronic lock pick.
"Well don't we all. This is my first job with you. I've heard allot about you, all good. But God falls into the same category. Sorry." For now I thought I'd be Mr. toughguy.
"Your royal ass-holiness," she stood up. "What the frag gives you the right." I wanted to draw the Ares and stick it in her throat and say THIS!, but decided against it. I knew she was good friends with Kid. Platonic, but still friends, and he was behind me. "I'll tell you what does." Pointing at my head, "this does, and I'm not talking about my superior intellect. The fact that Doc let me take this mission, means we're doing it my way. You don't have to like it, you just have to do it. So until I know you better and have seen your abilities for myself, you just have to do it." This short monologue was delivered looking down from almost a foot and a half up, looking down at her very cute hair rimmed blond face. "If anything goes wrong, I want to know right where you are, not that you're off on your own sneaking around. Full stop, end of story." With that I turned around and said, "Be ready in 15, we're outa here."
2230. Outside Lake Elmo Apartments. Oct. 22, 2044.
We'd all taken different routes in pairs of two. Kid and Boomerang, Zig and Zag, Me and Kat, Pick and Halfpint, and Legs and Max. The payphone I was waiting across from rang, I picked it up. "Hello?" -- "Is this Cheesy Soy Pizza?" -- "Nope, wrong number." I hang up, Max's message he was ready was enough for me. I turned to Kat, who stood up against the building this pay phone was outside of. She was wearing all black, jeans, turtleneck, wrestling shoes, gym bag, and even the 'scrunchie' in her hair. "Lets go. OPSCED give us ten to be in position." She followed mutely, as we watched for traffic, and then crossed to the northeast edge of the Apartment grounds. It was almost pitch black out. Gator and Nod had gone once around the block with a sling shot and steel balls and shot out all the street lights on the east and west side. Then with darkness on our side, we could begin our insertion. I loved insertions. What I called it a fence was more like a wall. It was probably two feet thick, eight feet tall, topped with one foot of ornamental steel spikes and glass shards. Coming south down the sidewalk on the side of the Apartments, I paced off the distance to the edge of the bush I knew was on the other side. Once I got there, I stopped, turned, lit a cigarette while I let Kat bend over and pick up a pen she was doodling with on her notepad as she walked. When she stepped down, I took a step towards her, glancing to make sure most of the street was empty, and then planting my foot on upper thigh. I pushed off, she grunted, and now the adrenaline was really flowing.
There I grabbed the edge of the wall, felt the glass crumple under my kevlar gloves. Pulling myself up, I straddled the metal spikes, locked my legs on it, and leaned over to Kat. She jumped up, having slung her bag and cinched the waist strap, grabbed my hand and I pulled her up and over. Oh GOD! That damn spike was S, H, A, R, P. Yanking her up and pulling her to me, she immediately stepped over the spikes and dropped to the ground. I was half a second behind her. We shuffled sideways into the shadows of this bush we dropped beside and sat still. Perfectly still for one minute. I patted myself down after that and all three guns were still there. The shotgun, the Predator, and the Beretta Light 5mm (my suppressed pistol.)
Elsewhere along this wall, the other three teams would be going in by just jumping over off of a street bench or a newspaper stand. Once no flashing lights went off or any guards with guns ran out, I figured things would be safe enough. No sign from Max our cover'd been blown. So I proceeded to lay down on the ground and begin a slow crawl towards the nearest building. The flower garden and the shrubs were all that separated me from the Apartments; that and 40 yards. The pace was slow and made slower by all the noise of the streets. Not being noticed meant not going too fast and drawing attention to yourself. So Kat and I crept along at a pace measured in feet per minute.
Eventually after about twenty minutes we made it to the wall of the apartment and I stood up in a blind spot of the building. Kid and Boomerang were there, as were Pick and Gator. That made six on the inside, with Zig and Zag outside, standing guard at opposite corners of the Apartment complex. I immediately went up the drain pipe that was there. Inch by inch, foot by foot, I just gritted my teeth and as the muscles started to burn kept on pulling. Past floor one, up to two, past three and then onto the balcony on four. The lights in the apartment were off, so I kept low and lowered down a rope to the others. Kat was the first up and then Kid, Halfpint, Pick, and Boomerang. When Boomerang got up he said, "Looks like we're gonna have fun tonight, Boss Dude," in a low whisper. We had to go six apartments over and then into that one, which looked empty. Slowly we took turns standing up over the rail and jumping to the next balcony as the rest waited laying down on the previous balconies.
2400.
We were outside the apartment we thought was 453. End of the West most building on the north-west corner. The interior of the grounds were lit by dim sodium lights. Waiting for Max's signal now was getting tedious. Totally exposed, nothing but shadows between us and detection. The next building over could spot us and make a call to the CorpSec or they sit around and see if anything interesting happened.
0045.
About goddamn time. The radio crackled to life. "Wiener this is Beaver," came Legs' voice. Surprised at hearing hers in my advanced communicator implant instead of Max's, I replied. "Sit Rep."
"Max got cooked. Some bad Black Ice at that joint. You're on your own. I'm moving up to an overwatch with Double Team." I couldn't believe it. Something was wrong when a pad like some corp-snot-puke Apartments had Black Ice the could waste on of the best Netboys around. This was really bad. I handsignaled back to the team 'Max dead. We continue.' Then signaled, 'Boomerang, Half-Pint, get asses up here and open window.'
They quickly and quietly complied as good little Frogs should. Halfpint went to work with his electronic gadgets on whether or not the door was rigged, then Boomerang, squatting beside him went to work on the door lock. They turned to me together and said 'It's too tough. Can't go.' Now you all know those are words I don't like to hear. So I turned to Kat who was laying beside me and whispered," Now's your chance. Get us in that door." -- "I was wondering when you were going to ask," she said with a smile. Ten minutes later she had the toughest, German made, backpressure, unsequential tumbler lock picked. Plus she had jammed/fooled any sensors by putting these little button shaped things by the door. Boomerang and Halfpint watched in mute amazement. I was really glad she came with.
0100. She waved the signal that she was going to open the door. I squatted next to the side that the door opens and she cracked it open. I'd been listening to the window with my amped up hearing and sure enough this room was unoccupied. I darted in and checked the room, with Kid right behind me. As the last person in, Boomerang shut the door quietly and we moved over the hallway door. Kat looked out the peep-hole and took out a fiber optic snooper cam, the kind with the short flexible heads for looking around corners and under doors. I was standing at the wall opposite from the door hinges. Halfpint was right behind me with a suppressed MP-20, then Boomerang with a pump entry gun, then Pick and an Suppressed HK UAP, finally Kid took up the rear with a pair of silent .44 Magnum eight shot revolvers (plus a Machine pistol in his belt.) Kat peered down the dark hallway and waved me out after her. I stepped ever so slowly so I couldn't even hear my pants rustle, and put my hand on her shoulder. She led us all out into the hall at a slow creep. We were all in one big stack hands on each others shoulders as we creeped through the hallway. At this pace we might be there by Christmas.
0125. She stopped outside room 410. She knelt down the open the door, while we stood like shunned lepers in other doorways waiting. Five minutes later she had the door open and waved in Kid, Pick and Boomerang. They'd be ready to drop in the window to 210 if we needed them. Odds are we would. Then the three of us (Her, Me, and Halfpint) continued on our merry way until we found the stairwell right where it should be. She checked the lock and it was open. I took point and put her between me and Halfpint. As I eased the door open it started to squeak, she grabbed my shoulder, and I stopped. She reached in her vest and pulled out a can of spray stuff. Spraying a bit on each hinge liberally, she then put it back in her vest and rejoined the stack. Her hand on my shoulder, and Halfpints on hers, when she got the squeeze from him, she squeezed me and I continued to open the door. No squeak. With it all the way open I started down the stairs at another agonizingly slow pace. I could only hear the THUMP THUMP of the veins in my head pounding away, and kept hoping to myself that any sentries wouldn't hear it too.
0135. One landing down.
0140. Second landing down. Muscles burning from keeping this slow pace.
0145. Done with break. Continue down.
0149. Third landing down. One to go.
0154. Guard walks out second floor door into stairwell, starts to reach for radio and gun. Swinging out my sonic pacifier, I blast him with a couple shots of stun. His knees buckle and he goes down. I rush forward and grab him before he hits the ground. Halfpint is now watching both directions and we are hurting. Somebody was expecting him somewhere, sometime. It is only a matter of time before he is missed. I shoot him up with a couple doses of Sleeper and then cuff-tape him at the ankles and wrists.
0201. We head out onto the second floor and go right towards room 210. Three doors from our destination I start getting that feeling that something is really really wrong. Standing in the middle of a hallway would not be a good place to be caught, but I can't panic. Holding myself back I continue our pace. Eleven minutes later I'm outside the door listening. SHIT! From on just the other side of the door I hear a person breath in, just a little too fast and with a hint of a wheeze. Inside, my ears heard, "How much longer." quieter than a whisper. Somebody was not observing sound discipline, I squeezed Kat's hand signaling 'voices,' while I drew the Ares in my other hand. She signaled, 'use this' and pressed a long oblong flashlight shaped device into my hands. 'Jams cameras, fiberoptic under door,' she continued. So I pointed it at the door base and pressed the button. I didn't like this one bit, holy magic technology. Then the voices inside the door continued, "Peek and then go." A small rustle, then the fiberoptic end poked out. I was ready to kick down that door and start shooting, but waited. "Damn," the voice said, I thought we'd been compromised. "This things on the fritz." A second voice said, "Go." Big mistake buddy, Mr. Murphy says Doom on you. I pressed us against the wall and waited for the first guy to step out. As he did I pressed the muzzle of my Ares to his head and said freeze. He did for a millisecond. Now things would get hairy. With the Beretta Light in my other hand I stuck it around the corner and waved out the BGT while moving out BGO that I had the Ares to his head. I was taking up 4.5 lbs of pressure on each trigger, they fired at 5 lbs of pressure.
"Ok, now everybody be cool," I said as BGT came around the corner and I stuck the Beretta to his temple. I subvocallized, "Contact made. Two plus. Negative fire. Come too, wait at back." Then I continued as they would be rappelling to the balcony and as Halfpint moved up beside me with the MP, "Ok, how many more of you?" No answer. "By three talk or you get it." I said to BGT, who I could tell was wearing Arasaka combat suit which bore the rank of Captain. "One, Two," -- "Ok, three men, right behind me." -- "What is by the back door?" -- "Nothing. It's empty." -- "No traps?" -- "None." -- "Tell one of your men to drop his weapons and open the back door." -- "I can't do that." -- "You'd better," I finished. He must have had night vision because I had my war face on and it convinced him I meant business. "Orange," he said, "Disarm and open the balcony door." Like a good little jap he did. That dude must have dropped six weapons and eight knives. Ok, we were outgunned. Whatever these Araska guys were going in could not be good.
"Kid, man coming to back door. Be ready. He will open it." -- "Roger." And sure enough the corp guard opened the door. Kid pressed a .44 to his forehead and said, "Get back with the others." Waving to his two comrades by the door. "Hands on heads, and disarm," I could hear him say from the back. Over the radio I heard him say, "Oh shit. We got a blood bath. They beat us here." Like I thought, hopefully they hadn't made it out with the chip and these five goons were just waiting as a trap.
Just finishing his sentence gunfire broke out from outside the balcony. I heard one yelp, knew it was Pick and pulled both my triggers that last half pound. Both corpsecs lost their mind and hit the deck, posthumously. Kat screamed as Halfpint pulled her to the ground. I low crawled into the room to find the other three corpsecs wasted, Kid musta got em, dang I loved that silent .44 Mag. I crawled over their almost headless bodies and made my way into the room. Most likely a Gatling gun was leveling the wall, I kept crawling and found Pick hit three times on the other side of the bed. The shooting was just stopping as I reached him and grabbed his load vest. I dragged him onto the other side of the bed, oblivious to his bitten back yells as he hit the ground on the other side. I ripped off his rig and started to apply some patches as the firing resumed. Kid tossed a hot smoke to the Balcony. Then yelled, "We gotta get out of here." -- "No Drek! Get everyone out and I'll drag Pick. Anybody else hit??" -- "Negative."
As he ran out the door, he grabbed the two high ranking corpsec guys. Boomerang was right behind him and I was last dragging Pick. Outside Kid dropped their bodies and began rifling through their pockets. When I got out there with Pick I continued to administer basic first aid. It looked like he'd been hit by 7.62 rounds, and he was in bad shape. Headed for unconsciousness fast, I shot each wound with a load of Hypercoagulin. Two shots was all I could safely give him, then I saw Kid going through that guys pockets and said, "Looking for his watch?"
"Yeah, that and his wallet and credsticks. But mostly that chip." He said giving me a mean grin. "Ah ha. Found a chip box." He opened it and handed it to Kat who had Halfpint laying on top of her back. She reached down and grabbed a palm-comp and plugged in the chip. She scanned it for about ten seconds and said, "It looks encrypted, but the file size is a match to what our source told us."
"Ok, great, terrific, swell, lets go." Having given my order, I picked up Pick and said, "We go east, then get over the short wall. Then its back to edgeland." Everybody formed up, staggering on either side of the hallway, and we headed out. We made it to the stairs and I looked through the door. Looked clear. I opened it and headed down with Boomerang behind me watching up the stairs and Halfpint after him watching us. Kid had the rear and I'd passed off Pick to Kat. Halfpint and I moved down the stairs in bounds and then Boomerang took rear watch as Kid went by.
At the first floor landing I went out the door fast, with Halfpint, going high and low. Clear. Too easy. Had to be a trap. We headed through the side door looked out in the street. We were on the opposite side of the building we were on before and it was just ten yards to the wall with more of those wonderful sharp spikes.
0230. Then I heard what I'd been waiting for. Sirens. I looked over and saw the main gates opening. "Everybody, up and over. Kid, lead." Kid bust out and jumped up on the wall, Halfpint right after him. Once up on the wall Kid set himself as the transfer man. Kid caught Halfpint in mid leap and carried him over. Boomerang was right after them carrying Pick. He got to Kid and handed up Pick, as the doors were opening at the gate and a Lonestar wheeled light APC rolled in. Kat was about to go, but I grabbed her with my right arm, thereby releasing the grip I had on my shotgun which I was holding by the pump-action with my left. I roughly pushed her back into cover of the buildings entryway. It's turret turned in the direction of Kid and Boomerang. Boomerang and Kid basically fell over to the other side of the wall as the turret aligned on them and loosed a long burst of what had to be Electrothermal Fifty-cal. Oh, shit. Now how would I get across. Ten yards started to look like a football field.
As it finished its burst and Kat was back against the wall my right hand connected with the smartpad on the handle of the Shotgun. The GYROC under the barrel blinked to life, and I squeezed the trigger and pumped three times rapidly. The HEAT warhed mini-rocket rounds flew straight at the APC's turret. The first rounds shaped charge warhead detonated the reactive armor, nullifying its effectiveness. The next two rounds hit unprotected metal and blasted two one inch holes through the armor, spraying the turret crew with molten steel. That was how I would get past. But alas, two Lone star cop cruisers had driven in during our exchange. I fired the last two at their engines, hopefully so the troops inside would just get burns. Then I lobbed a pair of mini-concussion grenades towards the gates, and two smokes between me and the gates. I reached down to Kat, "Lets go," I said as I grabbed her, picked her up and sprinted in half a second to the wall, came to a stop and launched her up. She caught a spike rightways and hauled herself over. I jumped up, grabbed the edge, and then vaulted over one handed.
Out in the street, Bear pulled up in a smart car and had to door open as he came to a stop. Kid shoved Pick in and the rest of us were right after them. Bear sped away and merged with traffic, then took us on a long winding route full with six car changes to make sure we weren't followed before we were back at Docs.
0400. Lower Edina. Oct 23, 2044.
Back at Docs house, he'd met us at the gate and helped me carry in Pic on a stretcher. The nameless inventor guy was there too. He rushed right up to Kat, "Do you have the chip." He said this as he almost began to grope around on her to look for it. His search was cut short by Kid's hand on his shoulder, "Just wait til the Doc is ready," was what he said as he pulled the guy away from her.
Inside things had calmed down. Somewhere Doc had learned medicine, cuz he was cuttin' up Pick like a field medic. Laser scalpel, nano-med kit, plasma blood expanders; he had it all. I'm glad as hell he did too. But while I helped Doc take care of a now very sedated Pick, the rest gathered around the body bag of Max's. It sat, black and cold in the center of the basement parlor.
0425. Doc looked up and asked for the suture gun. I gave it to him and he fired a rapid stacato of shots into the incisions he'd made on Pick. "He'll be on his feet in forty-eight hours."
"Great Doc, he thanks you. Now what?" I said.
Doc said, "Now Sir," refering to the inventor. "The contract has changed from one Mega-nuyen to half a percent of the royalties I KNOW," he stressed know there, "that Colt Corp is going to pay you." The poor guy couldn't do anything but agree; not that he wouldn't retire rich anyways.
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