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  Lumiya’s gaze found a nearby panel and he wondered if he could reach it and trigger the alarm.

  “I’m enjoying our talk, Professor.” The killer stretched his hand casually toward the panel. It and all the devices around it deactivated, including the nearby lights, and they were immediately enshrouded in semi-darkness.

  The professor retrieved the pistol with his other hand and vented it. “You will not—”

  “I hear you are a new father, Professor,” Gin commented as he tapped his fingers on his omni-blade.

  The man’s eyes widened in rage. “Don’t start that. You will not threaten my daughter.”

  “I’m not. That is honestly not how I do things. I will simply offer you a choice. Either way, I’ll walk out of here, but I made it a personal goal—or maybe a game—to not spill a drop of blood.” Gin looked at the table beneath which he’d hidden the guard. “I guess technically, I already broke that since an injection would pull out a literal drop of blood, but considering what I normally do, I’m still clean.”

  A crisp click sounded as Lumiya slid the vent of his pistol closed with his shaking burnt hand and aimed it at the intruder once again.

  “When you take up a weapon, your life is in play,” the killer stated coolly. “Kill or be killed is the more common phrasing, but you’re obviously new to this. I’m willing to overlook your little stunt—”

  “When you threaten my family?”

  “I said I’m not—not directly, anyway.” Gin removed his helmet and stared at the professor with his artificial eyes. “You’re a new daddy. An exciting time, isn’t it?” He placed his helmet on the table. “There’s the initial excitement, but once that’s over, there’s the future to look forward to—the first time she walks, talks, rides a hoverboard. Those father-daughter dances and the like.”

  “Quit taunting me.”

  “Tell me…” The killer’s smirk disappeared and he stared at the other man with an expressionless façade. “Is it worth giving up on all that for some knickknack? To rob both you and your daughter of that potential happiness?”

  “I don’t want to live in a world that you inhabit!” he declared and a single tear hovered on his lashes.

  “I don’t usually come to Earth. I’m here for a special reason, so there is no need to worry about that.” Gin stood, seemingly to emphasize the large difference in height between him and the other man. “This might be a foolish question, but do you believe in an afterlife, Professor?”

  Both of Lumiya’s hands shook visibly. “W-w-what…what a-are you t-t-talking about?” he stammered.

  “I’ve never come to a conclusion myself, but the basic gist is you’re supposed to meet your loved ones after you pass on, right?” The killer pondered this for a moment. “So tell me, if I kill you here, when your daughter eventually passes on and there is an afterlife in which you meet… What will you tell her when she asks why you weren’t there, why you had to die?” He didn’t move the dispassionate, inhuman gaze from his victim’s face. “My only guess is that you will have to tell her that you felt that this device and being a company man was worth more to you than she was.”

  Lumiya lowered his gaze to the floor and his legs trembled as the Altair pistol fell from his hand. A few tears dripped onto the weapon where it lay at his feet. Gin placed a hand on his shoulder. “This isn’t a threat, merely a fact. There is no point in being a hero. I’ve killed many heroes.” He leaned in so close that his mouth was just to the right of the professor’s ear. “If you wanna be a hero, make sure you are her hero.”

  The man remained motionless and silent before he slowly nodded his head. “Just… J-j-just go,” he muttered.

  The killer nodded, picked his helmet up, and walked past Lumiya. “There’s a guard under that desk. You simply need to make up something about falling asleep.” He placed his helmet on and turned back to the man who still trembled, his face ashen. “No one needs to learn what happened here. I froze all the cameras, and even if you could convince them to find me, many have tried and failed.” He opened the door out of the lab. “Hopefully, this is the last time we see each other. Don’t do anything foolish, Professor.” With that final warning, he activated his cloak and the doors closed. The scientist fell to his knees with both sadness and relief.

  Chapter Seven

  “I’m here for a gig,” Kaiden told the dealer, who looked up from her tablet, her eyes darkened and hazy from either a long shift or the use of stimulants, probably both.

  “What is the name and—”

  “The job title is ‘Crash’ and my merc number is 909-117,” he informed her. She nodded, turned to her console screen, and typed it in.

  “You were almost late. Seven more minutes and we would have cleared the transport for takeoff,” she admonished and frowned at him. “We would’ve passed your gig on to another merc in the lobby.”

  He turned to scrutinize about twenty mercs who loitered in the area, shook his head, and gestured at them with a thumb as he turned to her. “I’m sure you would have had plenty of biters for a job that has you chasing after a machine designed for heavy combat. Look at that lot. Do you think they would last a round with a few decently armed defense droids?”

  She studied him and raised an eyebrow at his long jacket and boots. “You don’t exactly look like someone geared up and able to take one on either, unless you think looking like a sub-flick action hero will strike terror into an unfeeling robot.”

  Kaiden opened his jacket to reveal his armor underneath. “It’s more likely that I’ll deal with a group of hackers who grew too big-headed for their own good. Besides, the idea is to take as little fire as possible, so this’ll suffice,” he explained as he closed the jacket once more. “I didn’t think it would be a good idea to walk around Chicago in full armor.”

  “As long as you keep your merc tag on and don’t carry your weapons in plain view, you’re fine.” She pointed to the other mercs, “Do you think they arrived here dressed casual?”

  “I’m not even sure that any of them bathed.” He sighed and waved a finger under his nose for emphasis.

  The dealer chuckled before she shook her head. “I imagine that most of them hope their missions are downwind.” She scrutinized him once more. “Are you prepared? I don’t see any weapons.”

  “They’re in the case.” He pointed to a silver carrier on his left and the woman peered at it for a moment before she nodded,

  “Very well. If you’re all set, here are your details.” A small chip popped out from her console and she took it and handed it to him.

  He took it and drew his oculars from his pocket, slid the chip into a compartment on the side of the frames, and put them on. Quickly, he read through the information as it appeared onscreen.

  “You’ve cut it a bit close, so here’s the important stuff,” the dealer explained and he lowered the oculars down his nose slightly to look at her. “Your ride is in bay three, pad two—you’re assigned to a pod-zep. I’d get there quickly. The pilot is known for his punctuality and not known for his nice demeanor.”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever ridden in a zep before… Wait, a pod-zep? That’s a one-way transport.”

  “Yep,” she said in a bored tone. “You should have been aware of this when you took the job. What’s the problem?”

  “The gig said the company would provide transport. How will I get back from the middle of nowhere?”

  “Leg it, I guess,” she suggested unhelpfully. “That’s what the contractor paid for. You seem resourceful so I’m sure you can figure something out.”

  “My target is a junk town owned by a gang. I doubt there’ll be a carrier station nearby,” Kaiden muttered and merely earned a shrug from the woman.

  “Contact them and bitch. I can’t do anything. You’ll have plenty of time on the ride there. Zep’s are stealthier than most dropships but that sacrifices speed.” She looked at her monitor. “By the way, you have about two and a half minutes before takeoff.”

&n
bsp; He rapped his knuckles on the counter and shook his head as he grabbed his case and walked off. “Cheap bastards.”

  “Are you trying to hold this entire op up, kid?” the pilot snapped as Kaiden boarded. “If you had gotten here earlier, you wouldn’t have to holler at me like that.”

  “I still had a few seconds and you were closing the door,” he countered as he placed his case on the floor. He cast a quick glance inside the ship and saw a long hallway with four doors on either side. “What’s your hurry? All you have to do is fly us over our spots and drop us off. Do you have a hot date or something you’re picking up on the way?”

  “I gotta take my zep in for repairs at the next stop. I ain’t gonna have the mechanics up my ass because you take your sweet time.”

  “Well, with that in mind, thanks for using some of your precious time to yap at me.” He removed the chip from his oculars and handed it to the pilot. “Also, thanks for letting me know I’m riding on some busted flyer. Should I start making my peace with God when we take off or as we crash?”

  The man took the chip and slid it into a notch on his tablet. “Calm down, this baby is perfectly functional. She simply needs a little TLC.” He looked at Kaiden with a wry smirk, “Maybe next time, you won’t be so cheap and go with the default option. You could spend the creds to get your own transport.”

  “Maybe, but then I wouldn’t be able to meet so many wonderful people like you,” he sassed and looked back to see a door open on the left. “Well, it’s easy to guess which compartment is mine.”

  “I would hope so. Special assistance like that isn’t part of the package,” the other man snarked. As Kaiden looked back to glare at him over his oculars, he removed the chip and handed it back to him. “You might have been the last one on but you’ll be the first one off. You’ll be dropped off at the southern edge of the state near the borders of Indianapolis and Kentucky.”

  “Is that so? When I’m done, I might get me some moonshine to celebrate,” he quipped. “About how long until the drop?”

  “A little less than a half hour.” The pilot moved past him into the corridor.

  “That long?” he asked incredulously. “I know these big bastards are called zeps in reference to zeppelins, but don’t you think the flight speed is too much homage?”

  “This craft is built for stealth drops and to withstand all sorts of mayhem. The tradeoff is speed and maneuverability.” He sounded like he read the information off a pamphlet. “Which is all the more reason to get going, so get into your pod, get comfy, and shut the hell up.”

  Kaiden picked his case up and made his way to his pod behind the other man who evidently headed toward the cockpit. He grabbed the door handle and turned back as he entered. “I guess I’ll kick back and enjoy my ride on the SS Flying Turtle, then. Try not to make it to bumpy.”

  The pilot stared at him for a moment, and he half expected him to get in one last dig. Instead, his expression was more bemused, which worried him more than snark would have. “I merely recommend you hold on,” he warned. “The ride might be bumpy, but the drop? That’ll be a hell of a lot more than bumpy.” With that, he pressed a button on the wall as he strode into the cockpit. The lights in the cabin dimmed and the door above Kaiden begin to slide down. He hastened into the compartment and it shut and a low blue light illuminated his surroundings as he heard the zep activate.

  “Nice guy.” Chief chortled and Kaiden shook his head as he removed his oculars and hefted his case to slide it into a compartment above. He paused and thought about it for a moment before he lowered it, removed his helmet, and placed it on the chair before he finally pushed the container away. “It might be a good thing he won’t come back.”

  “Do you really think it was smart to mouth off to the guy who’ll drop you to earth? He’s responsible for where you’ll land, so you might end up in the middle of the junk town.”

  “If he does that, I’ll give him a seriously pissed-off review,” he muttered, picked his helmet up, and examined it as he took a seat. “Two stars, minus four for dropping me into the middle of a battle zone, but I crushed two hostiles on landing so plus one for a nice shot.”

  “Next question. Do you really think we’ll only have to deal with the Azure Halo members?” the EI asked and appeared near the door to study him. “You’re the fifth attempt at this point. A couple of the previous gigs actually involved groups. I doubt a gang known primarily for their hacking would be able to take on a few battle-hardened mercs.”

  “That’s probably what the Tessa Labs were thinking, which would also explain why they’ve been so frugal with everything.” Kaiden pondered the ramifications for a moment. “Not paying for incidentals, shoving my ass on this zep with no way back…at least they didn’t skip on the payout.” He flipped his helmet and put it on, folded his arms, and leaned back as the HUD came up. “A million credits… I’m getting the big bucks already.”

  “Two things…” Chief intoned cautiously as he slowly floated closer. “It’s a million credits if you bring it back intact. My guess would be that it’s pooled from the payouts of the unsuccessful gigs. Keep that in mind.”

  “Noted. Next grievance?”

  “Purely so that you don’t walk around enemy territory with an overinflated head as a target, I should remind you that you weren’t offered this because of your notoriety. You took a gig no one else wanted.”

  “Their loss, my gain,” Kaiden retorted and stretched his arms along the back of the seat as he fixed his gaze on the glowing orb. “Are you trying to insinuate that my decision wasn’t because of confidence and grit but because of something like idiocy?”

  Chief rolled his eye. “I would feign politeness and say something like, ‘Perish the thought,’ but I’ve worked on a pet project to prove that all your decisions are at least ten to twelve percent idiocy, so I’ll let that lie.”

  Kaiden chuckled with real amusement. “Only ten to twelve? Have you gone soft on me?”

  “I’m talking about something you should want at zero,” Chief countered and floated lazily in the air. “But I haven’t given up on you. I’m sure we can bring it down. Although I should add that I’m hoping for a bump on the head to speed things along.”

  “Did you actually have a second point or was that only a ruse for you to prod at me?”

  “No, I do, but keeping your ego in check has been updated to a primary function, so priorities and all that.”

  Kaiden made an “okay” sign with his hand. “Bang up job, Chief.”

  The EI’s eye narrowed “My point was that the gig had no takers because it was a risk level of seven-point-five. It started at five but had to be updated—you know, because of the aforementioned horrible deaths of the last guys who tried it.”

  “It’s on a scale of one to eleven,” he countered. “Besides, we don’t know if the deaths were horrible per se. They might have simply been ‘unfortunate’ or ‘would rather have not.’”

  “Should I also remind you that the gig on which you ran into Gin was a risk level of five?”

  “Unforeseen circumstance.” Kaiden waved airily. “The Azure Halos don’t work with anyone other than themselves. They supply devices or hack things brought to them and are more an illegitimate business than a real gang.”

  “I’m merely saying, considering what happened, that you should be—”

  “I’ll get it done, Chief,” he stated, his tone heavy and stern. “I’ll get in there and get that droid, and I’ll live to get drunk off my ass when it’s done.” He looked squarely at the EI. “I won’t let him win.”

  A long and almost uncomfortably silent pause hung between the two before Chief looked away slowly. He suddenly seemed to find the wall rather interesting as he shifted to a dim white hue. “So…uh, have you looked over those upgrades Chiyo made to your HUD? What do you think?”

  Kaiden’s gaze roamed around the HUD and studied the new display and additions. “You popped in to look at them when she gave it back to me. Don’t you
have an opinion?”

  “Oh, they are good—surprisingly good. When she said it was only a firmware upgrade she found on the Net, I expected a new background and maybe the option to add filters to any pictures you take, but we could get some use out of these.”

  “That’s close to what I thought too,” he admitted and scrolled through the options in the display. “The scanner had the biggest overhaul. I want to ask where she got it but I imagine that could probably make me liable or an accomplice in the right court.”

  “It’s the gifts that could get you five to ten that show you how much they love you,” Chief intoned cheerfully. Kaiden looked up and tilted his head in query. “Potentially sharing a cell shows they like being around you, at least.”

  “I’m reasonably sure co-ed prisons aren’t a thing. At least not ones where they intermingle. It might work, though—more opportunities to blow off steam.”

  “I’m sure the annual Sadie Hawkins dance would be a huge hit among the criminal crowd.”

  “That’s not quite what I implied but we can go with it.”

  “I’m not programmed for dirty jokes.”

  “Oh, bullshit.”

  Kaiden and Chief continued to talk and joke as they awaited the drop, which was announced by a shift of the room’s light to yellow.

  “There she glows.” Kaiden straightened in his chair as a safety bar came down across his chest. He slid the safety belt along his waist and held on. “How long until the drop?”

  “The yellow light means two minutes until ejection, so counting down from one minute and forty-one seconds now,” Chief stated and disappeared from sight before he appeared in the HUD. “Also, that was a terrible pun.”

  “Not my best, I’ll admit—” A loud hiss distracted him in the moment before the pod shook, dropped a few feet, and tilted at an angle. “What the hell was that?”