Ep.#1 - "Escalation" (The Frontiers Saga: Rogue Castes)

The Frontiers Saga Part Two: Rogue Castes

Episode #1: Escalation

Copyright © 2016 by Ryk Brown All rights reserved.

First Edition

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.

CHAPTER ONE

The young man’s head snapped to the right as the woman’s open hand made contact with his left cheek. By now, he had grown accustomed to such reactions. “I’ll take that as a no, then,” he said to himself as she stormed off in a huff. He flexed his jaw from side to side, then picked up his drink from the bar and tossed it down his throat. “Another, please,” he told the bartender, sliding his empty glass toward him.

“This ain’t that kind of place,” the bartender warned as he filled the empty shot glass.

The young man looked to either side. The bar was full of scantily clad women, some in groups, some alone, but all of them trying their best to look appealing to the young men prowling the dingy, poorly lit establishment, looking for the same thing he was. “Right,” he replied, picking up his refilled glass and emptying it in one smooth motion.

“Maybe it’s your style, Josh.”

It was a woman’s voice, older, and one that Josh knew all too well. “Go away, Neli, you’ll scare away all the respectable young women.”

“Don’t you think you’re doing that on your own, already?” Neli signaled the bartender. “Palean rum, one ice.”

“What are you doing here?” Josh asked, still not looking at her.

“You might try talking to them a bit…you know,
before
you ask them to perform some deviant sexual act.” Neli picked up her drink and took a sip. “You might not get your face slapped as often.”

“I don’t like to waste time,” Josh replied, only half-joking. He finally turned and looked at her. “Does Marcus know you’re here?” he asked, one eyebrow raised.

“Marcus sent me.”

“You mean, he finally came to his senses and sent you packing?”

Neli sneered at him. “We got another run. Departure in two hours.”

“But I just got here,” Josh protested.

Neli examined Josh’s face. “Not by the looks of it,” she retorted as she picked up her drink again. “You should try to alternate between right and left-handed women…maybe it’ll even out the redness.”

Josh flashed a fake smile at her as he put his credits on the counter to pay for his drinks. He looked at Neli as she tossed back the rest of her drink.

“Thanks for the drink,” she told him as she turned to leave. “See you back at the ship.”

Josh rolled his eyes and placed another credit on the counter. “Keep it.”

“See ya next time, Josh,” the bartender replied.

Josh made his way to the door, then turned back and scanned the crowd. He flipped his jacket collar up and sighed, then continued through the door.

Josh hated Arikar this time of year. It rained nearly every evening, like clockwork. And it wasn’t a pleasant, refreshing rain. It was a dreary, cold, downpour that soaked you to the bone if you stayed out for too long.

At least they would be getting off this world in a couple hours.

* * *

Jessica mainta
ined a steady pace as she followed the group of men about twenty meters ahead of her. There were five of them, four younger men in black suits, all surrounding a much older one carrying a metal briefcase attached to his wrist with a silver chain. The group couldn’t have been more obvious if they tried. It was another one of the stupid traditions commonly found on fringe worlds, to proudly display one’s wealth and power at all times, especially in public. Stupid, yes, but it did guarantee a steady stream of opportunities for some easy credits, and jobs like this generally paid quite well.

She had been tailing them for only a few blocks before she spotted another tail. A couple on the opposite side of the street, dressed inappropriately for warmer weather on Jixbo. “Male and female, opposite side of the street,” she mumbled, as if talking to herself.

“
I have them
,” a voice replied in her earpiece.

“
Another pair, fifty meters ahead of the target,
” another voice reported. “
Two men, business suits, one brown, one blue. Opposite direction… They’re both carrying.
”

“What about the couple?” Jessica wondered. “They carrying?”

“
Negative.
”

“
Two behind you, Jess
,” a third voice reported anxiously. “
Casual dress. White shirt and red shirt. Both are carrying.
”

“That’s six,” Jessica realized. “You think they’re all on the same team, or is there more than one interested party here?”

“
Weapons are all the same,
” the first voice reported. “
Jixian stunners. The low-power kind that don’t set off the cheap detectors most of these building owners use.
”

“How much is this guy carrying?” Jessica wondered aloud.

“
I don’t know, but I think we should be charging more,
” the first voice replied.

“Three, keep on the couple across the street,” Jessica instructed over her hidden comm-set. “Two, on the ones in the suits. One, stay on the target group.”

“
What about the two behind you?
”
the first voice inquired.

“I’ll handle them. You just keep on the target, in case one of his men is in on this. If that case gets away from us, we don’t get paid.”

“
Copy.
”

Jessica slowed her pace, taking a less-efficient path between pedestrians moving in the opposite direction, so as not to appear obvious to the two men approaching from behind.

“
Target is approaching the intersection,
” the first voice warned. “
He should be turning to the right.
”

The two men in casual attire passed Jessica to her right, neither of them paying her any undue attention as they picked up their pace. “My two have picked up speed,” Jessica warned in a barely-audible voice. She moved to her right, falling in behind the two men in casual attire, then adjusted her pace to keep up with them.

“
Target has stopped,
” the first voice reported in a concerned tone.

“
Suits are crossing the intersection,
” the second voice announced. “
They’re drawing!
”

“Take them out,” Jessica whispered, her eyes fixed on the two men in front of her. The man on the right, the one wearing the red shirt, pulled a stunner from his right pocket.

Two, bright blue, needle-like beams of energy struck the two men in suits that were advancing confidently across the intersection as they pulled their weapons. The beams struck each man in the middle of their heads, burning through their skulls in an instant and dropping them in the middle of the street.

Tires screeched as vehicles slammed on their brakes. People screamed, and pedestrians scattered in all directions as two more beams of blue struck the couple charging in from the opposite side of the street.

Jessica ran forward. After three steps, she tucked forward, placing both hands on the ground, and flipped over, popping up into the air. Her feet struck the men in front of her, both red and white shirts, in the sides of their heads, knocking them sideways.

The black-suited guard standing to the back right of the old man carrying the metal briefcase had pulled his weapon, but instead of turning to defend, he shot the similarly dressed guard in front of him. His partner to his left did the same, dropping the guard in front of him.

Jessica landed on both feet, then spun around to face the red-shirted man to her left who had not fallen all the way to the ground. His stunner still in hand, he brought it around and fired. Jessica anticipated his move, and dropped to the ground, spinning around to her left as she fell. Her left leg shot out and caught the red-shirted man’s leg, taking him down. She rolled, came back up to her knees, and then slammed down with her right elbow, driving it into the fallen man’s nose.

As a needle beam of blue struck the rear right guard in the back of the head, the rear-left guard pulled a laser knife, and in a single, smooth motion, chopped off the old man’s forearm. The old man screamed out in pain as he fell to his knees.

Jessica rolled, pulling the body of the stunned, bleeding, red-shirted man over her as his white-shirted partner fired his stunner in her direction. The yellow flash struck the red-shirted man on top of her, instantly rendering him unconscious.

“
I’ve got it!
” a man’s voice cried out a few meters ahead of her.

“
The case is on the move!
” the first voice reported over Jessica’s comm-set.

Another blue needle beam struck the white-shirted man square in his chest, as he was about to fire his stunner again. The white-shirted man’s eyes doubled in size as he gasped for air, a sizzling hole now in his chest. Before he could look down at the wound, a second blue beam pierced his forehead with a crackling sound. The white-shirted man’s head snapped back, and he dropped to his knees, falling backwards to the pavement.

“
The case is moving west! Crossing the street! Anyone got a shot?
”

“
Negative!
”

“
Too many bystanders! I’ve got nothing.
”

“Three! Move to the other side of the building and see if you can pick him up on the other side!” Jessica instructed as she pushed the unconscious, red-shirted man off of her and quickly scrambled to her feet.

“
Three is moving!
”

“One, scan for secondaries!” Jessica ordered as she ran in pursuit of the black-suited man who had hacked off the arm of the man he had supposedly been protecting, making off with both his metal briefcase still attached to the old man’s forearm. “I’m on him!”

“
Two more coming from behind you!
” the second voice warned. “
Hit the deck, Jess!
”

Jessica didn’t question her instructions, and immediately dove to the pavement as two balls of yellow light streaked over her head, slamming into innocent bystanders desperately trying to get away from the commotion, knocking them to the pavement.

Two more beams of blue rained down from above, striking the two men who had just fired stunners at Jessica, killing them both.

“
You’re clear!
” the second voice reported.

Jessica jumped to her feet to continue her pursuit, but had lost sight of her target. “Which way?”

“
Straight ahead, down the street to your left,
” the first voice instructed. “
Three, he should be coming out your side in five seconds.
”

“
Three is in position!
”

Jessica charged off in the direction given, skirting around the people trying to help the stunned bystanders who were lying unconscious in the street. She could hear sirens in the distance as the Jixian authorities responded to the incident. She had minutes to catch the man with the briefcase and take possession, or things would get a lot more complicated.

“
I’ve got him!
” the third voice reported.

Jessica heard the unmistakable sound of energy beams blowing apart the pavement as she rounded the corner of the building and headed to her left down the cross street.

“
Damn! He’s still moving!
” the third voice reported. “
He knows I’m up here! He’s using the traffic as cover!
”

A man stepped out of the building without warning, directly in Jessica’s path. Jessica ran into him, and he grabbed her as if to keep her from falling.

“Sorry, miss,” the man said. He smiled, revealing a gold tooth. But for some reason, the man wasn’t letting her go.

Jessica squinted, noticing something sinister in the man’s smile.

“
Runner is turning right, heading up Twenty-First!
” the third voice reported.

The man still hadn’t released her. Jessica drove her knee into his groin. As he bent over in pain, she broke his grip, wrapping her arm around his neck, and walked up the building wall to her left. She pushed off, and came over the top of him. The man twisted to his left in well-practiced fashion, to prevent her from snapping his neck as she rolled over his back. He was left with no choice but to fall onto his back. As he hit the sidewalk, he continued to roll, utilizing the momentum she had imparted onto him.

Jessica landed less than a meter to the right, but was taken down as the gold-toothed man rolled into her legs. A moment later, he was on his feet and trying to drive his boot heel into her face. Jessica rolled to avoid the blow, as a blue beam of energy struck the gold-toothed man’s shoulder.

The gold-toothed man roared in pain. It wasn’t a cry of pain, but rather a pain-fueled howl of fury. Jessica’s foot came up and struck him in the side, and another needle-like blue beam struck him in the neck. His growl was replaced with a gurgling sound as blood spewed from his open, sizzling wound. The gold-toothed man grasped his neck, but still stood…until a third needle beam pierced his skull and took him down for good.

“Thanks,” Jessica said as she scrambled to her feet and resumed her pursuit.

“
You’re leaving my view,
” the first voice warned. “
Three, cover her as she comes around to your right.
”

Jessica reached the end of the street and headed left.

“
I’ve got her,
” the third voice acknowledged.

“Two is almost to street-level,
” the second voice reported. “
I’ll be a block behind you when you turn up Twenty-First, so I should catch you by the time you cross Alder.
”

“In your dreams,” Jessica retorted as she ran up the street and turned right onto Twenty-First Avenue. She made the next intersection in seconds, slowing just enough to scan both directions for the intruder. She heard screams directly ahead, and continued up Twenty-First Avenue, sure that the commotion was caused by the man she was pursuing. “He’s still headed east on Twenty-First!” she announced. “OUT OF THE WAY!” she ordered pedestrians in front of her.

“
Authorities are three out,
” the first voice warned over her comm-set. “
Jumper is standing off ten clicks south.
”

Ahead, the crowd of bystanders parted, staring at something on the ground. As Jessica charged through the gaping hole in the crowd, she spotted what they were all looking at…the old man’s severed forearm laying on the sidewalk. At least she was headed in the right direction.

The sound of screeching tires and the crunch of metal and breaking glass to her left told Jessica which way to turn at the next intersection. She veered left, darting out into the middle of the street, not wanting to lose time by weaving her way through panicked bystanders. By now, most of the traffic had stopped, halted by the sudden commotion in the distance.