“What do you think, cylinder five or six?” I asked Johnny as I checked each of the ignition wires.

  “I look like a mechanic to you? Fuck should I know?” Johnny said from behind me, rolling his eyes.

  “Johnny, I learned every nut and bolt of this car, which means that you learned every nut and bolt as well. We share a brain, remember?”

  “Yeah, doesn’t mean I like to go pokin’ around on your side of the room,” he replied, “Otherwise you’d be complainin’ about it for like hours and hours, and that’d give me a rel bad fuckin’ headache.”

  “Whatever, fine,” I groaned, “I just hate having to get the stupid voltmeter. Never seems to cooperate…”

  “Thought you were indifferent to cars anyway, ain’t that what you said?”

  “Ugh, Johnny,” I grunted as I struggled to disconnect one of the wires, “Do you ever have anything productive to say, or are you just gonna stand there and criticize me?”

  “First of all, I’m sittin’ down,” he said with a slight grin.

  “Great, sure,” I slammed my hand on the head cover, “But when you have a car that’s over a hundred years old, you better learn how to work on it. Unless you love walking.”

  “Nah, that’s a fair point,” he stopped me, “Remember what Judy said a few days ago when you drove her to Clouds? She asked you why you’d bother drivin’ this thing around all the time. Usin’ your sword, all that shit.”

  “Well, she didn’t put it like that,” I shrugged, “But yeah, I remember. So?”

  “So why bother? All you’re doin’ is drivin’ a car that’s instantly recognizable, usin’ a sword that leaves a telltale sign. Anyone who’s payin’ any measure of attention’s just gotta follow the breadcrumbs. Plus this shit’s gonna wear out way faster than any old scop you find on the used market.”

  “Johnny, you held a fucking concert outside of the building where they were holding your girlfriend, I’m not exactly interested in hearing lectures from you about subtlety,” I criticized.

  “It’s not about subtlety, V, it’s about takin’ care of your shit, you… ugh, forget it,” he groaned at me, “Do whatever the fuck you want. ‘S always what worked for you, right?”

  “Yeah, great, thanks,” I brushed him away, “Look, I get what you’re saying, but it won’t change my mind. This is my car. And I’ll drive it however much I like, thanks.”

  “Whatever, just don’t complain when someone crashes into it, is all I’m sayin’.”

  “Johnny, I… Why you always gotta do that?” I asked him rhetorically, “And here I thought we were just starting to get along.”

  “What, you mean tryin’ to look out for your best interests? Yeah, such a fuckin’ tragedy, ain’t that the worst thing…”

  “So what, you have something on your mind?” I said more sincerely, “Or are you just taking the piss for the fun of it?”

  “Can’t be both?” Johnny replied with a slight laugh, “Nah, just thinkin’. It’s been about, what, two months since this shit’s started?”

  “Something like that,” I thought, “Funny how stubborn we both are, I guess.”

  “Mm,” he pondered, getting up from the stool, “And here I thought I’d have your body all to myself for weeks at this point.”

  “Aw, well I hate to disappoint you,” I sarcastically told him, “So what do you–”

  Oh? A phone call. Great, could use a break from this monotony. Maybe it’s Judy – no, Panam. Hah, maybe she heard my cries and wants to help me fix my car…

  “Panam?” I answered, “Hey, what’s up?”

  “V, thank God you answered…” Crap, this sounds serious… Well, nice to be needed, I guess…

  “What’s the matter, Panam?” I asked her, heading outside of the garage to get some fresh air.

  “It’s Saul, he’s been kidnapped!”

  “What?!” I exclaimed, “He’s the leader of the clan, how the Hell was–”

  “V, please,” Panam interrupted me.

  “Right, sorry, uh… Where are you?” Seriously though, how’d they let him get kidnapped? Did someone rat him out or something?

  "Fuckin' typical," Johnny moaned behind me, "More people askin' you for shit. No wonder why you're rollin' in money, never got any down-time to spend any of it."

  “I’m at the camp,” Panam replied with a sense of urgency, “V, we gotta find him…”

  “Alright, I’ll get my shit and drive over,” I told her, rubbing my forehead with trepidation. And here I thought they’d skipped town by now… Fucking hell, Panam…

  “Thanks, I can’t tell you how good it is to hear you say that…” she sighed on the phone.

  “No worries, you helped me, I’ll help you,” I smiled and hung up. Right, time to roll with the clan again, I guess. Panam wasn’t a bad person, and I was happy to help. But it just didn’t make sense that Saul, the leader of the Aldecaldos Night City chapter, went down without her behind him. Must’ve gotten snatched in the night or something. If it was Kang Tao then he was dead already and this whole affair was for nothing. But then she wouldn’t have used the word “kidnapping,” more like “disappeared.” A kidnapping implies that there was some sort of proof that the person was taken – a list of demands, contact by someone else… Eh, guess I’ll find out when I get out there…

  –

  Guess they didn’t move camp after all. Nomads were always extremely tight-knit, by necessity just as much as by nature. Probably should’ve taken off my makeup before coming here, the sweat will just let what’s left of it run all in my eyes. But whatever, guess it’s too late for that now.

  Panam paced around as I pulled up, waving me down to pull right up to the entrance. Not exactly the perfect terrain for my car just after a fresh oil change, especially not with the oil temperature and pressure both teasing the top of the gauges. Fantastic, off to a running start today. But I guess it could be worse, as is the case with Saul, apparently.

  “V!” Panam shouted, all frazzled and kicking the dirt beside her truck, “Glad you’re here.”

  “It’s not a problem, Panam,” I gave her a comforting smile, “Happy to help out where I can, you know that. Though I didn’t expect to see you back here with the Aldecaldos.”

  “Yeah, they continue to grind my gears somethin’ terrible,” she admitted, “But, well…”

  “They’re family.”

  “Yeah, exactly.”

  “So what happened? Saul got kidnapped?” I asked her, brushing my hair to one side. Yeah, I desperately needed a haircut…

  “Wraiths took him,” she said furiously, “The bastards…”

  “Wraiths? How do you know?”

  “The brickbrain ventured out with a small patrol and never came back,” Panam explained, “I’ve been observing their camp. It’s in an old paint factory, I think. Bumped up security, holding prisoners, word is they got someone important.” That doesn’t tell me much, but I’d never object to clearing out a Wraiths camp. The fucking savages are just slightly better organized scavs. Likely holding Saul to get at the rest of the camp, I’d think. It’s their only logical reason for keeping a hostage like him alive.

  “Alright, so just tell me where the camp is and I’ll get to it,” I shrugged, “Could use the exercise anyway, if I’m being honest. It’s been a few days since I got a good workout.”

  “Hah, I like your attitude,” she laughed, “You know, for some reason, I knew I could count on you.”

  “Of course,” I said cheerfully, “You help me, I help you. Besides, you took me in and made me feel accepted despite my sketchy history with clans. So it’s the least I can do.”

  “Appreciate someone who values their word,” Panam returned the gesture, “Goodness knows the City’s in short supply of trust.”

  “Yeah, can’t deny that…”

  “Though I’m guessin’ you’re not one to turn down the assistance of one of the best sniper rifles in the West?” she grinned at me. Guess she wanted to get some payback.

  “Course not,” I shot her a half-smile and gave her a quick hug. Glad she warmed up to me, her and the rest of the clan, I assume.

  “Here, come on,” she ushered me along, “Mitch’ll give you the details.”

  Panam’s presence certainly caught the camp’s attention – I assume she only just got here as well, given the amount of side-eyes people were giving her. But every single person I walked past greeted me practically with open arms, giving me a wave and saying, “Hey, V!” between the hushed whispers of speculation as to why Panam had returned.

  It was really sweet, honestly. It sort of reminded me of the community I was a part of in the Concrete River back home. When you have nothing but each other, you find out the true meaning of material importance versus that of friendship and loyalty. Knowing someone’s always got your back, no matter what, is a tremendously powerful thing, and the only way any of us could really survive back then. It very much feels like that spirit’s alive and well here, just surrounded by Joshua trees instead of rusted scaffoldings.

  The bonfire was raging on as we passed, a lovely smell of burning wood and food coming from the middle. Nice little breakfast meal, getting me hungry. Perhaps I can join them for lunch once we get Saul back; it’d be nice to meet the rest of the clan. They all seem like decent enough people, albeit rough around the edges. But with some of the shit people do in the city, I think smoking peyote and doing drug runs is pretty fucking far down the list.

  “V, this is Carol, Teddy, and Cassidy,” Panam introduced me. Her crew was bent over some shitty old car, looking like they wouldn’t have the time for the woman if she handed them a wristwatch.

  “Panam? You never mentioned you were seeking outside help,” the woman, Carol, stated plainly as she worked on what looked like a coolant leak.

  “Guys, this is V. Expert infiltrator, she’s our best chance at getting him outta there,” Panam replied earnestly.

  “So what’s your plan, anyway?” I asked her, leaning up on the car roof, “You said he was in a camp. Might be best to do a two-man team, in that case. The more people we throw into the fire, the more likely it is that the heat’ll go out of control.”

  “In other words…?” asked Cassidy, dipping his head beneath his ten-gallon hat.

  “They’ll kill Saul if they suspect they might lose him. We need to get him out without them ever knowing he was gone. Then we go back and finish them off, if it’s on the table.”

  “Hm, see?” Panam smiled at them.

  “Yeah, but you’re forgettin’ one thing,” chimed in Teddy, “We have no equipment. At all. Not after the last raid.”

  “Suppose we get Saul and bring him back here,” Carol continued his thought, “Then what? Wraiths come at us, kill even more of our guys? Use up the rest of our food and water? How many more we gotta lose ‘fore–”

  “Wait,” I interrupted them all, “Saul’s your leader. You’re throwing him under the bus because of a what-if? Do they even know where this camp is? If we lose them between here and there, it’ll be nothing more than a simple snatch-and-grab. I’ll just get in my car and go pick him up right now, it’s no problem.”

  “And you think Saul would want you throwing your life away for his?” Carol hissed at me.

  “I think it’s pretty sad that you all had to ask for ‘outside help’ to rescue your leader. I’d hate to see what little effort you’d put into helping someone at the bottom of the pecking order.”

  Carol stood up and stared me down. “Oh, you did not–”

  “Leave it!” Panam shouted over her, “She has a right not to understand.”

  Oh thank God, Mitch is here. The gruff bastard came walking over from behind the truck, looking in no mood to fuck around and sit around all pensively, unlike this crew. Maybe we’ll actually get some shit done today, that’d be nice.

  “Hey, V,” he walked over to me, crossing his arms and shooting me a scowl, “We gonna get shit done, or are you just gonna keep mouthin’ off?”

  “Mm, my apologies,” I frowned. He was right, it wasn’t my place, even if I was a bit irritated, “Sorry, everyone.” The crew all nodded and brushed me off.

  “Right, well, here’s the deal,” Mitch explained, “We got Saul locked up in a large warehouse-like compound. Big factory unit connected to a smaller garage, surrounded by a large gate and wall. It’s crumbling, so there’s likely to be breaches you could use. I had a drone flying overhead, spotted the truck they used to haul him in, along with whatever other prisoners they got. Couldn’t catch a glimpse of him directly, though.”

  “Means he’s probably in a basement of some sort,” I thought out-loud, “Maybe the work pit in the garage. I’ll have to clear those buildings. Could use supportive fire outside from you or Panam in case push comes to shove.”

  “Done,” Panam replied, “Mitch, the van primed?”

  “Much as I could make it,” he shrugged, walking past us both, “Follow me.”

  He led us back to a beaten up old van, not exactly ideal for what I had in mind but at least all of us plus Saul would fit in the back of the damn thing. “Alright, so we go pick him up and then what?” I asked Mitch.

  “Like you said, V. We lose the tail and take him back to camp,” he replied, leaning up against the van, “Panam and I’ll back you up. One more thing.”

  “What’s up?”

  “You’ll need this,” he produced an airhypo that looked as old as me. “Spiked SuperJet. Militech used ‘em in the War. If anything’ll get Saul’s blood pumping, it’s this.” Fair point, I couldn’t exactly carry him out of there. “There’s a couple machine guns in the back of the van, in case we gotta give ‘em the good news.”

  “Got it,” I replied, accepting the first aid medication, “Thanks for including me.”

  “Family have their scuffs, but we gotta stick together, you know that as well as I do,” Mitch said with an asymmetrical smile, “You’ll take the van. I’ll be on lookout from here.”

  “Alright,” Panam said with a grin, “V, you drive me down?”

  “Sure, you got wheels? Mine’s still not quite there yet,” I confessed, slightly embarrassed.

  “Course, you take the wheel, gotta fiddle with my scope anyway.” After collecting my gear from Miyoko, Panam and I got into the pile of crap as Mitch headed back to camp, likely to smooth things over between myself and the rest of the crew as well. Admittedly I need to work on my first impressions… “Heh, we even have a radio in here…” she mumbled as she flicked on some tunes. How decadent, hah.

  “Something on your mind?” I asked her as we headed onto the road.

  “I just… I can’t get over how Saul just let himself get captured,” she thought out-loud as she shined the scope lens with her shirt, “Anyone else, but Saul?”

  “We all have our bad days.”

  “Granted, but… Moving civilians across the border during a bombardment… Hijacking a Petrochem tanker, opening the valves, cranking a few figure-eights across the desert to set it ablaze and give the kids a fun show… that’s the Saul I remember.”

  “And we all have our idols, too” I shrugged, “People change.”

  “I know, it’s just– wait,” she paused and looked up, “Do you see that?”

  Fucking hell, that’s a big sandstorm. One of the biggest I’d ever seen in Night City’s borders… And it just had to happen today, of all days… Wonderful. “Wow,” I exclaimed, “That’s a hell of a storm.”

  “Oh, it’s worse than it looks,” she said shakily, “Step on it! If it hits that camp before we can get him out, we’re fucked!” I complied and put the throttle to the floor, the van aching and groaning in protest as we rocketed down the lonely road. At least we wouldn’t have to worry about traffic. Even if it was a main road, nobody’ll be on it with this monster approaching.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  “Alright, it’s just over the next hill,” Panam instructed me, “Pull over here. I’ll find a place to roost up.”

  “Got it,” I nodded, pulling the van behind a rocky outcrop, “Good luck.”

  “You too,” she told me as she got out and retrieved her rifle from the trunk, leaving me to my own devices. Was about a quarter-kilo hike to the base – I’m guessing they had no patrols stationed around the place. Scavs normally wouldn’t, but Wraiths? They generally knew what they were doing, if only through the process of elimination. This terrain has a habit of rooting out clueless people pretty quickly. Bases like the ones they had were built upon those who tried and failed before them, and they carried many lessons with them to the grave. Lessons which the survivors may have learned. I should be careful here.

  “Man, don’t you take us to the nicest places,” Johnny said as he appeared beside me, “Garbage dump, whorehouse, sketchy ripper, old paint factory. Fun times, huh.”

  “Fun times, indeed,” I said with a slight chuckle, “Feels good to actually put this shit to good use for a change.”

  “Oh? It wasn’t before?”

  “Back during the War? After with Arasaka? God no,” I shook my head with disgust, “But giving Wraiths the finger? I’ll happily do that for free.”

  “Not to mention that Panam seems like a cool cat,” he continued, “Wonder if she’s gonna stick around. Hell, if any of ‘em are.”

  “What, the Aldecaldos? I don’t see why not,” I shrugged, flipping on my Agent and taking a low stance, “I’d think that they of all groups would value loyalty and brotherhood above anything else. They don’t strike me as the type to be dicks to people without good reason.”

  “Shit’s definitely changed from my days, then,” he thought to himself, “Santiago was fuckin’ ruthless, but not unreasonable. Remember a quote he once said – ‘We don’t have any rights ‘cept what we take.’ Always stuck with me.”

  “You ran with the ‘Caldos?” I asked, genuinely surprised.

  “Mm, for a couple years,” he confirmed, “After the Alt job. Had to lay low, and they were the best in the biz.”

  “Hang on a sec, Johnny,” I stopped him, “Gotta concentrate.”

  I put some shrubs at my back to break up my silhouette and counted the heads. I see at least a dozen Wraiths, with tons of open ground between here and there. And I absolutely did not have time with this fucking sandstorm rolling in, that’s for sure – what a bastard of a play. How the hell did Saul end up here, anyway? He must’ve been snatched and brought in… Fuck.

  Alright, think… What do they have here. A garage, for sure. And if it’s a paint factory, then they’re liable to have some sort of drainage piping or something. Might be a way in, but I’m willing to bet they thought of that… Alright, this’ll get interesting.

  “Panam, you in position?” I asked over my Agent linked to my phone.

  “Yup, gotcha covered,” she replied, “I see two snipers, one on the garage and one deeper in. Could be a way in on the right, but–”

  “No, that’d involve crossing the road, and the right side’s got no cover anyway. Even if I backtracked, they’d see me coming a mile off,” I pondered, “Alright, take out the snipers if you can, I’m gonna have a look around the left for a way in by the trucks.”

  “Got it,” she muttered. All I heard was her breathing from then on… Least she knows what she’s doing and how not to get spotted. She was a hell of a shot the last time we were together, here’s hoping for a repeat performance. “Ready to fire.”

  “Keep a bead on the garage sniper,” I instructed her, “I’m gonna go say hello to a little friend of mine, need you to tell me when the sniper’s got his back turned.”

  “Okay…” she paused as I made my way up to the Wraith sentry off to the left. Poor bastard was all alone out here, God knows why. Whatever, I’ll take a win where I can get it.

  “Go for it,” she told me. I slowly drew my sword, testing the waters to see if anyone would respond to my presence. Luckily the storm started to drown out the sound of my footsteps. Not that this guy’s gonna be around long enough to do anything even if he turned around right now.

  “I’m in,” I whispered as I climbed over an old train car and into the depot, leaving the guy’s bloody, dismembered corpse rotting in the desert sun behind me. “I see… a lot of them.”

  “Me too,” she confirmed, “Looks like you got at least a dozen outside now. I don’t think they’re onto you, though. You’re gonna wanna get up into the security tower to get eyes on Saul.”

  “Nah, no need,” I shook my head and bunched up against the wall, “He’ll be in one of those basements, I’m positive. I’ll check the main building first, then divert to the garage if he’s not there.”

  “Alright, what do you need me to do?”

  “Keep your eye trained on the yard,” I whispered, “If anyone sees me, pop ‘em without hesitation.”

  “With pleasure,” she said while surely smiling and checking if her rifle was loaded. Alright… Let’s see how rusty I am at this shit.

  I silently climbed out of the train car, being extremely deliberate with my moves. Standing upright, walking to the same tempo as the guy in front of me. The trick with dealing with snipers like this was to act as natural as possible, look like the scenery so they don’t think to look at you to begin with. Walking near somebody else is nothing more than urban camouflage, and it seemed to work well here, too.

  There are deceptively few places on the human body where one can penetrate with a sword in such a way that the enemy makes no noise at all. The easiest to pinpoint is the one I usually go for – the bump on the back of their head, the inion. It hosts a number of vital connections to back and neck muscles, and just behind it is the connection between the medulla and the rest of the brain. A swift jab there with Shinden is enough to instantly flatline anyone before they so much as register what had happened. Part of me thinks it’s too generous for these people, considering what they do. Still, one less Wraith won’t bring about any complaints from me…

  “Good, you’re in front of the main building,” she guided me, “Head up those stairs in front of you, that’d bring you into the security office.”

  “Alright…” I nodded, stealing a glance over to the rocky outcrop where she was posted. “I hear voices inside. Three at least. One of them’s talking about Saul.”

  “Oh? What’s he sayin’?”

  “Wait a minute,” I stopped her, running into the security room and utterly eviscerating the guard on duty. He barely had time to let out a gasp before his arms shot up instinctively – I cut through both of them and his head with ease. “Alright, make that two guards… Mentioned Saul still having his teeth. Locked up in the basement. We were right.”

  “Okay, I’ll get the van in position for a quick getaway, see if you can drag him outta there,” Panam replied with the muffled sounds of a rifle being unloaded in the background.

  “Not a problem,” I whispered, jumping down and landing silently behind the two guards. Luckily neither of them were in any position to see the staircase… I guess they never expected me to get this far.

  Weird… I don’t see any guards downstairs. Were they waiting around the corner to ambush me…? No, that’s not it, otherwise everyone else would’ve already been alerted.

  “Go on, commit to it,” Johnny teased, “I dare you.”

  “Honestly? Not a bad idea,” I thought to him, “It’d certainly be the last thing they’d expect. And I hold the advantage down here with a sword… Okay…”

  I pensively stepped around the corner, taking it nice and easy as I approached so I didn’t alert a soul. Where the hell is everybody– oh.

  Oh, of course the pair of guards are just blitzed out of their minds making drugs in the lab. Why would I expect anything less from the Wraiths… Fucking hell. Saul’s never gonna live down having been kidnapped by a bunch of fucking junkies and wannabe scavs…

  Well, my sword was already out anyway, be a shame not to use it on them…

  I walked to the door they were, uh, guarding and opened it up, revealing one last woman sitting down in an office chair. “What the fUUUUGH…” she groaned as I buried my sword into her eye socket, causing her body to involuntarily twitch and flail around before collapsing five seconds later.

  “I have eyes on Saul,” I said over the Agent as I walked downstairs to what looked like a mixing room.

  “Is he…?”

  “He’s breathing,” I reassured her, “Saul…?” Leaning over revealed a surprisingly intact leader. Seemed like he was just crocked out of his mind on some sort of concoction they gave him.

  “D-d-do you have m-my cigar?” he muttered, his voice heavily stuttering.

  “Uh… your cigar?”

  “I told you sons of bitches… a cigar… some ice-cold hooch… and a couple o’ ladies to keep me company… What the fuck are you even saying, what’s a ‘hanaki’?”

  “葉巻 [Hamaki, cigar],” I corrected him, “I’m here with Panam.”

  “P-Panam… Wait… I remember you. You’re that merc from the CHOOH station…”

  “Not a merc, I’m doing this gratis,” I scanned over his body, not seeing any signs of serious injuries, “Can you walk?”

  He tried to get up, but the only thing he could do was produce a loud, “Fuck!” that echoed through the basement. “Somethin’s outta whack…”

  “We’ll figure it out later, then,” I replied, taking out the SuperJet and jabbing it into his chest, “Come on, family’s waiting.”

  “MMmmmmhh, ohh, yeah, what the fuck is this shit…” he blurted out, “Time to don my dancing shoes…”

  “Saul’s mobile,” I told Panam, “We’re headed out now. Also he demanded a cigar, booze, and some ‘companions,’ just to let you know.”

  “Heh, that does sound like Saul,” Panam laughed, “Now get the hell outta there! I’m firin’ up the engine.”

  “Don’t worry, we’re still undetected. Take your time, we’ll be out in a minute.”

  “Sure thing.” I looked around and noted a storm drain in the cellar… could be our way out.

  “You… got past the guards?” Saul asked me, still dazed.

  “I’m an infiltration specialist, this is my job,” I said reassuringly, “Just stick close to me and if Panam holds back then we’ll be outta here without firing a shot.”

  “Mm, sounds good to me,” he grinned, brushing himself off as we walked towards the storm drain. “What was your name again?”

  “V, Saul. Just V.”

  “V, huh… I appreciate it,” he whispered as we ducked into the drain and started the long trek into the unknown.

  Sure enough, I could soon hear the sound of howling winds above us… Guess that storm rolled in. And a good thing, too – all the Wraiths were liable to be holed up inside, probably wondering who on Earth just slaughtered half their crew and took back their prisoner without them noticing.

  “Looks clear,” I shouted over the storm as I waved Saul on and into the back of Panam’s van, parked just outside of the grate.

  Fucking miracle that she found it in this weather. Guess she spotted it from her perch up-top and didn’t want to bug me about it.

  “Fresh air at last,” Saul sighed with relief as he ran into the back of the van first, with me closely following him and gently closing the door behind me. “That storm is picking up steam.”

  “Perfect, it’ll cover our tracks,” Panam replied from the driver’s seat, slowly pulling away with the lights off so as to not alert anyone of our presence. I noticed that she was fidgety as anything, flipping through radio stations once every few seconds to try and fill that awkward silence in her mind.

  “We have good reason not to head straight back to camp either way,” Saul suggested, “We should hide out, wait ‘til the storm’s over. They haven’t made this van, have they?”

  “No,” I shook my head, “But that’s a good idea. Panam?”

  “There’s no need to play it safe, we’ll just burn time,” she replied hastily.

  “Better late and safe than dead,” Saul reminded her. Another fair point.

  “Alright, I know just the place, then…” she muttered, shutting off the radio entirely and sitting in silence. Saul looked about ready to pass out. Drugs were likely wearing off already, the poor bastard.

  “How’re you feeling, Saul?” I asked him, laying my sword across my lap and finally relaxing for a bit.

  “Better’n I was, appreciate the rescue.” His voice sounded far too raspy to be normal, definitely still had some drugs in his system. That, and he likely hadn’t had anything to drink in over a day, which is a killer in this weather.

  “Don’t mention it,” I shrugged and looked up at Panam, the windshield getting sandblasted by the storm. “Where are we going?”

  “Little place I know that’s empty, beyond that’s kinda hard to describe.” Heh, fair enough… Guess now’s as good a time as any to rest my eyes…

  –

  “Come on, V, we’re here,” Panam roused me awake before opening her door. Sand came flooding into the van as Saul and I did the same – I could barely see a fucking thing… God dammit. What I wouldn’t give for my mask right now… “Inside!” Panam screamed over the constant roar of the storm – no shit, I was planning on standing out here and letting the coarse sand shred the skin off my bones, but now that she mentioned it…

  I slammed the door closed behind us – this was a nice little hovel. Looked like a single-story home that’d just been abandoned at some point, with a bunch of sleeping bags strewn around the place.

  I always found these sorts of homes to be oddly comforting, if only because of the unwritten rules they held. Leave the place better than you found it. Stash away some money, some recreational drugs, alcohol, maybe a jacket or something. Clean up after yourself. Replace any stale food.

  All in all, places like this actually put the city dens to shame. When you’re relying on a roof over your head for survival, the last thing you want to do is step on a dirty, used needle in the dark. When you’re on the run from the Wraiths, a little ammunition can go a long way. That or some power would be nice… The wind gusts and lack of sunlight was making this place quite cold, actually.

  “Lot of useful things,” Panam observed as we all fumbled around in the dark, “Ingalls must’ve left in a hurry.”

  “Ingalls?” I asked her.

  “Previous occupants,” Saul replied to me, “Biotechnica must’ve made ‘em a good offer.” Biotechnica?! Oh boy…

  “Yeah, prime,” Panam said sarcastically, “Sell us your land or we’ll–”

  “You don’t know that,” Saul protested. What the fuck? Saul defending a megacorp? I guess I should watch out for Mayor Holt to walk in through the front door and ask me to give him head.

  “No bulldozers, no backhoes ever showed up. Lousy, rotten way to get them out,” Panam continued her rant.

  “Don’t go there. Not now,” Saul said fatalistically. Sounds like they have some real issues to work out…

  I remember doing a gig with Jackie a while ago, we had to go up to the penthouse of a Biotechnica corporate hotel to erase this high-level corpo. I forgot her name… Jenna, Joan… something. Whatever. She was probably the most unscrupulous woman I’d ever had the displeasure of meeting. Found out on her computer that she was working with the scavs to kidnap nomads and experiment on them with biological agents. She killed hundreds of people without a second thought, just like that.

  Word is that she wiped out an entire clan from start to finish. Gone, just like that. All in the name of ‘science’ or whatever the fuck. We couldn’t get her in that AV fast enough. She’s probably somewhere in the southwest getting ripped apart by what little remained of the clan she tortured.

  The fact that Saul doesn’t know any of this, or he does know but just defends them anyway – that perplexes me. But I don’t want to presume his agenda. First thing’s first, let’s just get this power turned back on before this place turns inside out from that storm… Right, junction box… Oh. Well, duh, might help if the fucking wire was plugged in.

  “Hey, it worked, we have lights!” Panam shouted from the living room, the cold blue fluorescent lighting flickering to life. God, this place is depressing without any windows…

  “Damn, it’s getting cold,” Saul muttered, shivering a little in his recliner.

  “Tryin’ to get us some heat in here, but no luck,” Panam sighed as she fiddled with the radiator, “Could you check it? Might have the magic touch.” Hmph. Well if the junction box inside this place didn’t do it then it’s probably the breakers, which are outside…

  Great…

  I pinched my nose shut and gritted my teeth, swallowing enough sand to put on five kilos in the first few seconds of opening this goddamn door. The air assaulted every one of my senses, though it certainly wasn’t anything I hadn’t experienced before. Jackie and I used to take shelter in vans, holes in the ground, whatever… This would’ve been considered kingly by our standards. And with functioning power and heat, too? I’d be insane not to take advantage.

  Hm, another plug dangling in the wind… though next time Panam can do this shit. My natural eyes stung like motherfuckers. All I wanted was to get the hell out of this God-forsaken place already… Shit was getting to be as bad as the Middle East at this point. And we only got one nuke dropped on us in the past century… Fuck it, whatever, fine…

  “Fffooo…” I blew out and wiped off all the dust off my body as I headed back in, noting that the radiator was a toasty red-hot. Thank God for electricity… “Glad to see it’s working finally…”

  “Mm, thanks, V,” Panam replied with a smile, “Oh, look what I found. Expiration date’s before the War, so it probably tastes like gasoline but it’s better than nothin’! Guess today’s our lucky day, huh?” A nice stout bottle of whiskey sat on the coffee table between them – I had never in my life seen anything so beautiful.

  “Save me a glass,” I requested, “Just gonna drop my stuff in the other room.”

  “Yeah, help yourself,” Saul motioned to the back before looking over at Panam again. “Lucky… interesting choice of words.”

  “Do I hear a lecture coming on?” I overheard from the other room as I gently tucked Shinden inside my chest armor.

  “No, no lecture… But we do need to talk. That Wraiths crap, it shouldn’t have happened. They wanted everything – routes, locations, offloading points… If they knew what state we were in, one or two more raids and that’d be the end of us…”

  I walked in on what was certainly becoming a livelier debate by the minute. “I’ll take that drink now,” I said, sitting down next to Panam.

  “And if you hadn’t launched that raid then it would’ve been the end of me,” Saul continued, “Thanks again.”

  “Yeah, of course,” I nodded graciously, “So what’s all this about Biotechnica, anyway? Just out of curiosity.”

  “Saul plans to sell us out to Biotechnica,” Panam sneered at her leader.

  “What?” I exclaimed after a pause to process what she’d just said.

  “We can’t hope to take on the Raffens alone,” Saul elaborated on his, uh, decision.

  “V, tell him it’s a damn rotten idea!” Panam shouted in my left ear.

  “Saul… it’s a damn rotten idea,” I repeated, I don’t mean to meddle in your affairs this much. But if she’s asking for my opinion–”

  “And what the hell would you know about it?” Saul interrupted me.

  “Huuh…” I let out a deep, throaty sigh and coughed up some more sand, “You want the long story or the short?”

  “He can take it,” Panam insisted.

  “Alright,” I leaned forward, “Well, corporations have hierarchies both within and without. They place an arbitrary value on human lives based on productivity. I was a mid-level exec at Arasaka, I know how this goes by now.”

  “Sure, but that’s Arasaka,” Saul countered, “Biotechnica could–”

  “Biotechnica’s exactly the same, Saul,” I said with a slight head shake, “I had a job once, uhm… Could you do me a favor and tell me what the name of the nomad clan was, the one that disappeared about five or six years ago?”

  “The Red Ocher?” Saul recalled, “What about ‘em?”

  “The woman I was contracted to arrest, she had kidnapped the clan. The entire clan. And used them as guinea pigs for biological agents,” I replied morosely, much to both Panam’s and Saul’s shock, “Trust me, they want nothing to do with you except labor. If you’re lucky, anyway.”

  “Fuck…” Panam sighed deeply, “All those people… We never knew. Just thought they up and left or something…”

  “I’m not trying to scare you two,” I said reassuringly, “That woman’s history. I’m just telling you the reality of the situation."

  “Alright,” Saul muttered, “Color me convinced.”

  “I’m not trying to convince you one way or the other,” I explained, “Everyone has their issues. It’s not for me to say what’s right or wrong with the family, that’s your job.”

  “Heh, and like any family, we’ve had our spats,” Saul laughed.

  “More than many,” Panam grumbled, staring up at the ceiling and reminiscing.

  “Panam, you know you’re welcome back here any time,” Saul told her, sitting back in his chair, “We’ll be waiting. Arms open wide.”

  “Thanks, I appreciate that.”

  “But there will have to be some changes. No more jumping to the front of the line.”

  “And so it begins…” Panam groaned and rolled her eyes.

  “Know what?” Saul did the same thing, half-mocking her, “We’ll have plenty of time to tear each other’s throats out later.”

  “That is my hope,” she smiled in return as Saul got up and stretched his legs.

  “Right now… I wouldn’t mind catching a few winks,” he muttered.

  “Need help?” Panam teased him.

  “Fuck off,” he quickly shot back before stopping in his tracks. “Huh… Know what they call these storms in North Africa…? Haboobs… Damn, I love that word…”

  Heh… What a word, indeed… Saul left us to it, heading into the back room as Panam and I stretched out on the couch.

  “Well, what was that about?” Panam asked me.

  “Enough of that,” I shook her question off with a smile, raising the bottle instead, “A toast. To haboobs.”

  Fuck me, she was right… this crap tastes like paint thinner. Did we seriously drink this shit back in the War…? Desperate times call for desperate measures, I guess.

  “Yeah!” she exclaimed as I handed the half-finished bottle to her, “To haboobs!”

  Man, this woman can drink with the best of them. She cleaned it out in about three seconds flat, all while stretching out beside me, too. Those’re some impressive moves, that’s for sure… Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if she could outdrink Jackie on a good day. I still miss his little comments about stupid shit like naming all the subtle flavors in booze. Man was a connoisseur if I ever seen one. But Panam, she was just an empty water tank, completely indifferent to whatever fluid you filled it up with.

  “Blegh…” she spat some of it out, “Now that packs octane…” And… oh, boy. Her legs are up on my thighs. Okay, I guess I’m getting turned on tonight. I mean, I wasn’t planning on it… At least I certainly hope she isn’t coming onto me. I don’t know her well enough for that. “Yeah, this’ll make for a cozy little motel… I rarely sleep with a roof over my head. Funny, this’ll be the second time with you… When you’re on the road day after day, your butt fusing to your seat, you forget what it’s like, you know?”

  “Heh…Sadly, I do,” I laughed, resting my arm on top of her calves.

  “Well, least we get a decent night here. Little fireplace, booze…” she pondered, looking around the dwelling, “Hell, only thing missing is a grumpy receptionist.”

  Hmm… I have an idea. “And how was your whiskey, madame?”

  “Mm… bold. Yet smooth. Subtle metallic aftertaste…” she smiled at me, “Four outta five stars.”

  “Think it would be more comfortable with your shoes off, madame.”

  “Hah! After a day like today, I fear a health code violation.”

  “Nonsense, you deserve a nice, relaxing time.”

  “Oh? And what did you have in mind?” she raised an eyebrow. Yeah, definitely flirty. But I’m just not feeling it, not this quickly. She said it herself, it’s only our second time together.

  “Here at the Independent California, customer satisfaction is our priority,” I said smoothly, “Your wish is my command.”

  “Heheh, hey, better be careful, you dunno what I’d wish for,” she replied with a slight wink, “But first thing’s first… it’s been a helluva long day… Let’s try and get some sleep… V, I’m glad you came. Really, thanks… it meant a lot to me.”

  I gently moved her legs off of me and brushed off my pants. “Heh, wonder if they have laundry service here…” I snickered.

  “Pff, I doubt it,” Panam laughed as she fell onto the arm of the couch, “Hmm… You hear that?”

  “No…?” I raised an eyebrow.

  “Mm, the wind has waned…” she muttered to herself, “I dunno about haboobs, but when a chinook rolls on through, I can’t get any shut-eye… Not… a… wink…”

  And just like that, she was out like a light. “Good night, Panam…” I whispered under my breath as she snored. Guess that means the couch is hers… I should probably go get ready for bed, myself… My watch said it was midday but it felt like a fucking eternity had passed… That and I desperately needed to recharge my body after exerting myself…

  Johnny appeared sitting beside the empty bottle on the coffee table, staring longingly at the passed-out Panam. “On behalf of the staff of the Independent California Motel… I wish you all sweet dreams…”

  Thanks, Johnny… Good night to you, too…