38 – Terriers

  Mr. Valdez looked from Addie to Tony, then back again. “What? Bangers? You said you forgot something!”

  Tony pushed past him, looking around the meager living space. A plastic-covered couch, a coffee table, a small dinette, and a tiny kitchen, complete with a Mrs. Protein—an appliance designed to mix nutrient packets into hot food patties. In his opinion, such meals were far worse than the canned vat-grown meats Addie derided. A single door led to a bedroom and a bathroom. Tony could just glimpse the old-timer’s bed from where he stood—a bare mattress with a sheet and a wadded-up blanket.

  “You need to go!” the stooped elderly man said, trying to push past Addie to the door controls. She stood in his way, wringing her hands, clearly upset that she’d lied to the guy.

  “I’m so sorry, Mr. Valdez, but if we go out there, people will get hurt.”

  “They’ll figure out you came in here! The management can access our external door cams!”

  “We won’t be here long,” Tony interrupted. “You can tell the bangers we forced our way in.” He gestured toward the bedroom. “Do you have extra sheets?”

  “What?” The older fellow turned on Tony, his cybernetic knee clicking and whizzing as he stepped toward him. “You can’t just barge into a man’s home!”

  “Yeah, I said I was sorry. If you help us, we’ll be gone in two minutes.” Tony shifted the electro-shotgun in his grip. It was a heavy weapon, and some moron had sawed off the stock, so he wouldn’t even consider firing it if not for his mechanical arm. The readout said it had 180 pellets in the canister, and the dial was set to twenty, meaning he had nine shots available, assuming the battery would hold up. He needed his hands free, but he didn’t want to lay a gun down where the old guy might pick it up and do something stupid. He held both the shotgun and the .40 caliber—two bullets remaining—out to Addie.

  “What?”

  “Hold these.” She gingerly reached for the guns, clearly hesitant, unsure where to grab them. “Just hold them by the grips here and keep your fingers away from the triggers. They won’t shoot themselves.” He guided the pistol into her hand and then helped her to get a grip on the shotgun.

  “You two need to go! I don’t need more trouble!” Mr. Valdez said, for maybe the fourth time. Tony had been tuning him out while he dealt with the guns.

  “Working on it. Do you have extra sheets?”

  “One! But I need my sheets!”

  “I’m not going to wreck ’em—not if you have two.” Tony had already invaded the man’s home, and things were urgent, so he gave up on being polite and stepped into the bedroom, ripping the sheet off the bed. He grabbed it, wrinkling his nose at the smell of body odor, then whirled on the older man. “Your extra sheet?”

  “Un-under the bed. In the drawer.”

  Tony pulled the drawer built into the bedframe open and immediately saw the sheet—blue and crisply folded. Never used? He yanked it out, whipped it until it was fully unfolded, then took a few seconds to tie the two sheets together. Then he returned to the main room and approached the narrow, glass balcony door. Looking out, he was pleased to see a sturdy gray-painted metal railing. “After we climb down, just pull the sheets up. It’s about time you washed this one, anyway.”

  “Tony, don’t be rude!” Addie walked toward him, still holding the guns away from herself like they were pans of boiling water.

  “C’mere.” He held up the sheets. “I’m gonna tie this around you and lower you to the ground. You should just reach.” She looked skeptical, and he added, “You can scout out there with your drone first.” He glanced at the egg-shaped device hovering near the door. He wasn’t the only one looking; Mr. Valdez was focusing on the door controls, glancing at the drone nervously. Was he really gonna open the doors and try to throw them under the bus? Tony cleared his throat. “You want me to tie you up?”

  “Tony!” He had a feeling Addie would have hit him if she weren’t holding the guns.

  “Hey!” The older guy held up his hands, shaking his head. If he hadn't been so old, Tony wondered if he’d put up a fight and try to push them out. His back was braced, and his hands shook; Tony could see he didn’t have much fight in him.

  “Relax.” He looked at Addie. “Both of you. I meant, do you want us to tie you up so the bangers think you put up a fight?”

  “Um.” The old guy rubbed his chin, glancing at the door and back again. “No. I’ll tell them you threatened me, and I locked myself in the bathroom.” He started toward his bedroom, then looked at Addie. “Please don’t steal anything.”

  Addie, of course, looked horrified. “I wouldn’t!”

  “Well, I didn’t think so. I didn’t think you’d lie and break into my home, either!” He didn’t stick around for a rebuttal, shuffling into the bedroom and slamming the door behind him. Tony could hear his worn-out mechanical knee whizzing and clicking as he took himself into the bathroom.

  “I really hate this, Tony!” Addie set his guns on the dinette with solid thuds, then Humpty hummed forward, pausing before the closed balcony door.

  Tony sighed and shrugged. “Yeah, I know, but it’s better than shooting our way through a dozen bangers. I’m probably better than most of them, but that doesn’t mean I can dodge bullets.” He stepped over to the balcony and opened it just wide enough for the drone to slip through. “What do you see out there?”

  Addie folded her arms over her chest, frowning, but Humpy whirred out through the gap, and her eyes went kind of blank as she concentrated on his feed. “I’ve never been to the backside of the buildings before. There’s a parking lot and a couple of basketball courts. I think there used to be a fence and some gates, but it’s open to the street. People are… They’re mostly just walking around like normal. There are kids on the courts and some banger types, but they don’t seem to be on the lookout for anything.”

  “Hang on.” Tony held up a finger. “Nora, order me an AutoCab. Have it wait just outside the rear entrance to this apartment complex.”

  “I’ve secured a cab, Tony. AutoCab had an eleven-minute wait time, so I checked with Fast Rides. ETA is six minutes, and the fee to deliver you to Bert’s Parts and Pawn is 48 Sol-bits.”

  Tony peered out the glass, confirming with his own eyes that there wasn’t any fence back there. “Six minutes until our ride is here.” He turned back to Addie and lifted the sheet. “Hold up your arms.”

  She complied, but she didn’t look happy. “I shouldn’t have come here. Did you know it would get this bad?”

  “I mean, we’re messing with the biggest corp in the district. They’re obviously trying to lower the value of these apartments. Who owns them?”

  “NB Holding Corp.” Addie frowned, her face contemplative, as Tony tied the end of the clean sheet around her chest, cinching it tight under her arms. “So they pay the bangers to increase crime and protection costs. They get people to move out or default on their rent, and then they try to get the apartments at a discount. I mean, isn’t that reckless? They could make a fortune harvesting Dust here, so why not just pay whatever NB Holding wants?”

  “That holding corp might not be local to this district. Maybe they’re a massive conglomerate. Maybe they don’t want to sell.” Tony opened the balcony door and, crouching low, moved outside to the railing, where he secured the other end of his makeshift rope. “Maybe they don’t want to tip off NB Holding by making an offer they can’t refuse. They might start investigating what Boxer wants with this complex.”

  “Yeah.” Addie shrugged. “Or maybe they’re just cash-poor. This is a big, urban property. We’re talking tens of millions. If they can shave off ten or twenty percent… That’s a lot of money for a corp in the Blast, even Boxer.”

  “You know, there’s one other thing we didn’t consider.” Tony turned to face her, leaning his back on the railing. “This might not be Boxer. It might be some individuals within Boxer. If you found a gold mine while working for a corp you hated, would you report it, or would you try to break away and start your own operation?”

  Addie’s eyes went wide, and she snapped her fingers. “Tony! That has to be it! The fancy lady, the secret dealings with the bangers—they’re trying to make a move before someone with actual deep pockets figures out what’s going on!”

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  Tony nodded. He knew all too well that just because a person worked for a corp didn’t mean they’d be a loyal soldier until death. In fact, as he’d come to learn himself, being inside a corp was a good way to build up an intolerance for everything they stood for. He tugged on the sheet rope, jostling Addie. “Ready?”

  “I guess.” She smiled slyly and added, “You won’t leave me hanging, will you?”

  Tony laughed. “Nah, I’ll be right behind you. Be sure you untie fast. Carry those guns for me; I’m gonna need my hands.” Addie frowned, but she picked up the two guns. She was holding them so gingerly that Tony took ahold of the shotgun and her hand, guiding it to a sturdy grip on the truncated stock. “Grip it tight. Here, where the dummy wrapped tape around it. As long as you keep your finger out of that trigger guard, you don’t have to worry about it. Trust me.”

  Addie let him guide her fingers, and she nodded, squeezing the tape. She’d made a fist under the trigger guard, so Tony took her pointer finger and guided it along the frame above it. “Keep it here. Then, if you need to shoot, it’s quick to just drop your finger down onto the trigger. Always keep your finger outside like this, though. That’s called trigger discipline.”

  “Um, ’kay.” She corrected her grip on the pistol with her left hand and nodded. “Got it.”

  “Nice. Now, I’m going to lower you pretty fast, but I promise I won’t let you hit the ground. Don’t freak out, okay?” They were still inside the door, just to the side to avoid people seeing them. “Is it clear? Humpty have a good view?”

  “Yeah, he does. I don’t see any bangers waiting.” As if her words had been fate’s invitation, a loud pounding sounded from the door to the hallway.

  “Heh, there’s our cue.” Tony moved around behind her and guided Addie toward the railing. He put his hands under her armpits, and, to her credit, she didn’t squirm. “Ready?”

  “Just do it!”

  Tony heaved her up, and Addie bent her knees so she could clear the railing; then he set her down so her legs dangled. He grabbed the sheet he’d tied around her and said, “Don’t freak out,” and then he pushed her off. Addie yelped and began to drop, but Tony tightened his plasteel and titanium fist on the sheet, rapidly slowing her descent. He peered over, and when she was only half a meter from the ground, he let go and vaulted the railing, keeping ahold of the sheet to slide down, the fabric zinging through his metal fist.

  He hit the ground just as Addie, grimacing with concentration, untied her sheet. She’d dropped his guns on the ground in front of her, and he bent to pick them up. “Hey! Do you have another gun in your waistband?”

  “Yeah. Borrowed it from your pops—just in case.” Tony started jogging toward the far side of the lot, where the concrete basketball hoops met a sidewalk and the street beyond.

  He’d only gone a few steps when Addie cried, “Tony! They’re coming! Lots of them!”

  He looked at his AUI and saw the cab's ETA was still two minutes out. “Nora, keep the cab updated on our whereabouts. We’re gonna be running toward it.” He slowed beside a concrete planter filled with dirt and gravel, waited for Addie, and pushed her toward the street. “Run!”

  She looked horrified, shaking her head. “Come on, Tony! There are like twenty of them!” She pointed toward the corner of the building.

  “I see them. Go, Ads. I’m faster than you.” He gave her another shove, then lifted the electro-shotgun, aimed it at the concrete in front of the oncoming throng of bangers, and held down the trigger. The battery whined, and the gun bucked in his metal fist with a loud electric zwap. The magnets along the fat barrel crackled, the battery whined, and then, zwap, it fired again. Sparks and concrete dust flew up in front of the bangers, and the pellets bounced into them.

  Tony had never seen a group of charging enemies scatter so fast. Several screamed and dropped, clutching their lower extremities. Others hollered their fury, and barking gunfire came his way. Tony had already crouched behind the concrete planter, and he hunkered there, watching his mini-map. Addie was nearly to the street, and the cab was just two blocks away to the east. “Ads, hang a right and keep running. Cab’s coming.”

  Concrete chips and dust showered around him, and Tony waited, wondering if he’d miscalculated. If they were disciplined with their reloading, they might hold him pinned until he got flanked. To bide the time and keep himself from doing something stupid, he tried to count the different guns. He heard a large caliber pistol, some kind of rifle—maybe a .308—a rapid submachine gun, several small caliber pistols, and at least one magnet-powered gun like the shotgun he’d acquired—maybe a bolt thrower.

  He was facing the street, back to the planter, getting ready to risk everything and run for it, when Addie’s voice came through. “A guy is sneaking up on you on your right. He’s coming around the planter.” Tony shifted the barrel of the shotgun in that direction and waited. “He’s almost there. Three…two…now!” Sure enough, a guy wearing a black motorcycle helmet jumped around the corner, and Tony’s shotgun zwapped. The pellets hit him square in the chest, throwing him back.

  Tony jumped up and whirled on the bangers, aiming for a cluster of three nearly twenty meters distant but standing fully in the open. The gun bucked in his hand, and they fell or dove for cover, and Tony turned, sprinting toward the road. He thought about zig-zagging but decided to just go for speed and beeline it for the street. Pumping his gun-toting fists, he gasped, “Addie, get running! Cab’s a block away.”

  “I—I’m running, but I’m flying Humpty!”

  “What? Where?”

  “I’m…distracting them…” She trailed off, clearly too distracted to talk. Tony watched her dot on his minimap as bullets zinged the concrete around him and snapped through the air. He tried to make himself small while moving as fast as he could, and he thought he was going to somehow, miraculously, make it without getting hit, but then a bloom of hot pain erupted in the meaty part of his back, right beneath his left shoulder blade. It didn’t stop him, though. If anything, it sped him up as his body flooded with adrenaline.

  He hit the sidewalk and turned to the right, pumping his arms and sprinting toward Addie, who was, infuriatingly, only half a block ahead. “I’m clear!” he yelled. “Call your drone and fuckin’ run!” Addie whirled to look at him coming, eyes wide as saucers, and then she turned and started running, her long ponytail bouncing behind her head. Tony almost caught her when something whirred by, and he saw Humpty take up a chase position behind her. “The cab!” he shouted, pointing toward the silver- and black-checkered, oval, bulbous vehicle.

  The cab stopped, and the door slid open. He and Addie slid to stop and piled in, panting for breath. Nora announced, “I’ve informed the cab that we’re here, and there are criminals in the vicinity.”

  “Nice one, Nora.” Tony panted, reaching past Addie to yank the door down with a solid thunk. “Drive, cab! Unless you wanna get filled with holes.”

  “Executing emergency performance maneuvers. Please remain seated and secure your safety restraints.”

  Tony turned, craning his neck to look behind the cab. Its little electric motor whined, and the tires chirped as it made the corner. The cab turned, and the apartment complex fell away, blocked by other buildings, but Tony saw some bangers standing in the street. If they’d shot at the cab, they’d missed. “That was pretty spicy,” he sighed, brushing sweat off his forehead with his shirtsleeve.

  He dropped the two guns to the floor by his feet, and as they thudded down, the cab’s AI said, “Excuse me, but I’m afraid I’ll have to add a hazardous cargo surcharge to your transportation fee. Do you agree?”

  Of course, the cab began to slow down while waiting for a reply, so Tony grunted, “Agreed.” He looked at Addie. “You okay?”

  “Um, no. I’m almost out of Dust, and Humpty’s trailing the cab. You closed the door on him.”

  “Nora, have the cab take a couple of turns, then pull over.”

  “I heard you, sir. I’m a seventh-generation Gomez Industries service AI capable of effortless human interaction.”

  “Well, do it, then.” Tony inhaled deeply, wincing at the sharp pain in his back. “Just a couple more minutes, Ads. Can you hold onto him?”

  “Yes, but I’m running on fumes.”

  Tony subvocalized, trying to keep Addie from worrying, “Nora, direct my nanites toward the bullet in my back. I want them working on that injury without exception.” The cab lurched around a corner, and the brakes whined as it pulled up to the curb. Addie leaned forward and pulled the door open, and her drone slipped inside. “Let’s go, cab—on to our destination.”

  “I am canceling the emergency protocol and progressing to your destination.”

  “Tony?” Addie said his name like a question, and he turned to look at her.

  “Yeah?”

  “Why is your seat covered in blood?”

  “Shh—”

  “I’m afraid I’ll have to charge an additional cleaning fee. Please agree, or I’ll have to cut this transport short.” The cab began to slow down.

  “I agree, dammit.” Tony rolled his neck, trying to ease some of his tension. “I took one in the back, but it didn’t hit anything vital.”

  Addie put a hand on the back of his neck. Her fingers felt like ice cubes against his hot flesh. “Is this how it’s going to be?”

  Tony braced himself with his elbow on his knee and looked at her. “What?”

  “Working together. Are we going to have to fight tooth and nail like this all the time?”

  “I could lie and say no. The truth is, Addie, we weren’t born into an easy time for humanity. Sure, if we make it big, we can afford a place to hide from all this shit, but right now? We’re terriers fighting over rats. Anyway, if I can help it, we won’t go up against a conglomeration of banger gangs; this was your job.” He tried to say the last sentence with a grin, but it probably looked more like a grimace.

  Addie didn’t take the bait. “Do you need a doctor?”

  “Sec.” Tony looked at his AUI, focusing on his nanite management app. “Nora, do the nanites have a report?” A three-dimensional view of a rendering appeared in the window. The model hovered, rotating slowly, precisely depicting the muscles beneath his shoulder blade. The bullet gleamed as a dark, jagged fragment lodged deep within the dense fibers of his trapezius, its metallic outline casting faint highlights on the surrounding tissue.

  A faint, pulsing line traced the nanites’ planned extraction path—a narrow, winding route that curved around larger blood vessels. Tiny pulses of data flickered as the nanites reported minute adjustments and projections in real time, recalculating angles and pressure as they proceeded to try to extract the foreign object. “No, I don’t,” he finished, “the bullet’s on its way out.”

  “Does it hurt?” Addie idly stroked his neck, and Tony didn’t want to admit how nice it felt.

  “Not really. They’ve numbed the tissue. Addie, I’m sorry it got so crazy. I don’t think I thought this through enough. I thought borrowing a needler from your dad was overkill.”

  “It’s definitely not your fault. I want to talk more, though. Are we still having dinner at your place?”

  Tony smirked. “My place. Shit! Imagine that! Yeah, of course we are.”

  “Well, then. We’ll have our first official business meeting. You better not be dodging my questions.” She gave his neck a final squeeze, shaking it gently for emphasis, then let go, picking Humpty up off her lap and stuffing him into her pack on the seat beside her.

  As Tony gingerly leaned back, no longer worried about getting blood all over the shiny gray upholstery, the cab announced, “We’ll reach your destination in thirty seconds. Please remember to use Fast Rides again.”