Project Starfighter (10 page)

‘XS-0017811’ the identifier on
the top read. Son of a bitch! It was the very same drone from both
the diner and the city. Unless the IDs on WEAPCO drones were all the
same, this was the third time that Chris had come face to face with
it.

“Bastard,” he said, as he began
to get to his feet. “Is that thing stalking me or someth— Oof!”

“Alright, mate,” one of the
mercenaries said, descending on Chris and pushing him back down onto
the floor. Sid gave a similar grunt as another of the men descended
on him, pulling his arms behind his back.

“I think it’s time for you to
stop pissing about and tell us what you and your friend are doing
here,” the man restraining Chris said. “Did Mal put you up to
this, as part of some sort of initiation?”

“Hey, look,” Chris started, “I
genuinely came here to request your help. I’m here to talk to
Tyler.”

“Are you working for WEAPCO?”
the man asked, forcing a gun against his head. “Because I’m only
going to give you this one chance to admit it. Admit it now, and I’ll
blow your head off, nice and quick. Otherwise, I’m going to take my
time killing you.”

“No, we’re not involved with
either Mal or WEAPCO,” Chris said. “We were a part of the
Resistance. Didn’t you hear the drone?”

“It could have been lying,” the
mercenary said, increasing the pressure on Chris to make sure he
stayed put. “I noticed the buggers didn’t shoot at either of
you.”

“That’s because I’m not
armed!” Chris retorted. “I’m assuming that’s the first rule
of combat – kill your opponent before they can kill you.”

“Lorrie’s dead,” Eve then
said. The woman was crouched over the body of one of the mercenaries
that had stood behind Tyler. The front of the man’s suit was
covered in blood coming from where it looked as though several lasers
had struck him. The blood was now collecting into a pool next to him,
steadily increasing in size.

Chris felt the grip and weight on
him slacken, before he was hauled to his feet. There had been four
casualties in the docking bay here today, Chris saw – two humans
and two WEAPCO machines. He glanced down at Jim Barnet’s corpse.
Poor guy had simply been doing a job, and today this had been his
reward. Whether he had known the risks or not, there was no way he
could have anticipated such an outcome.

Eve gave Lorrie’s body one last
look before standing up and striding rapidly over to where Chris was
being held, raising her gun and pressing it against his forehead. Her
eyes were fierce, rage surging through her body. She held her gun
remarkably steady, far steadier than Chris’ legs, which were
shaking in terror.

“Okay, wait, wait, wait—”
Chris began.

“Shut your hole!” Eve shouted at
him. “You think you can just waltz in here, let one of us take a
hit for you, and then walk out alive, huh?”

“I say we shoot both of ’em,”
the man holding Chris said.

“Too right, Dar,” Eve said, her
finger twitching on the gun trigger.

“Let him go, Eve,” Tyler said.
The man was floating down from where he had moved out of the line of
fire. There was the shimmer of something around him, before it
vanished. An energy shield. That would have protected him at such
close quarters with the bot. The belt the man wore certainly had a
number of tricks available.

“He killed Lorrie,” Eve said,
still scowling at Chris.

“No, he didn’t,” Tyler said.
“The bot did.”

“We’re supposed to have an
agreement with WEAPCO.”

“Yes.” Tyler looked at Lorrie’s
body. “
Supposed to
. Stand down, Eve.”

The gun pointed at Chris’ head
remained where it was for a few moments longer, then Eve snatched it
back and turned on her heel to walk off. Chris exhaled. He wasn’t
going to die just yet. Eve then rounded on him, returning to Chris
and smashing her knee into his groin. Dar released his grip as Chris
went over, clutching himself.

“No, wait ... OW!” Chris heard
Sid protest before he received his own blow, sliding down on the
floor next to Chris and groaning. Through watering eyes Chris saw
Tyler floating next to him, reading something off a holographic
display that was being projected from his belt.

“Quite a bounty on your friend’s
head, Mr Bainfield,” Tyler said. “Half a million. Am
I right to assume that those they killed were also part of
your little Resistance movement?” The man was keeping his cool
despite the sudden violence in the dock. He likely had many
questions.

Chris tried to speak, let out a
grunt and simply nodded.

“And you didn’t feel like
turning your friend in?” Tyler looked at Sid, who was still lying
balled up on the floor.

“They don’t pay it,” Chris
managed. “They killed all the others who turned people in. And
besides, I value my friends much more than that.”

Tyler chuckled. “What a model
human being you are.” He indicated for Dar and the other man to
pick Chris and Sid up off the floor. “Now, do you want to tell me
why the pair of you are here and why I shouldn’t, as Eve so greatly
desires to right now, kill you?”

“We have come here to request your
assistance in fighting WEAPCO,” Chris said.

“Not going to happen, boy,”
Tyler said. “We and WEAPCO have a treaty – we don’t bother
them, they don’t bother us. Or, at least, that’s how it’s
supposed to work.” The man glanced to the war bot and drone, and
then back in the direction of Lorrie’s body.

“The drone said the treaty was
void,” Sid said. “I think whatever agreement you guys had may
have recently expired.”

“I will speak to the Family about
this,” Tyler said. He looked Chris and Sid up and down. “What
exactly did you two expect from us, anyway? We don’t actively
engage in hostilities with WEAPCO and would rather keep it that way.”

“I don’t want you to help us
fight WEAPCO directly,” Chris shook his head. “I just want you to
help us gather together some of the means to do so ourselves. Like
you did before.”

Tyler’s robotic eye flexed. “Such
as?”

“I’m looking for a starfighter.”

“A starfighter?” Dar sneered.
“You’re a pilot?”

“I am,” Chris said, with as much
dignity as he could muster while still clutching at his bruised
groin.

Dar folded his arms. “You don’t
look like much of one to me. How long you been flying? One, maybe
two, years? Whatever it is, you’ll have a tough time fighting
against the AIs. I’m one of the best there is, and even I’m not
stupid enough to go up against those. What kind of starfighter are
you after?”

“A Firefly.”

“A Firefly?” Tyler asked.
“You’re looking for a
WEAPCO
starfighter?”

“Yes,” Chris repeated again,
keeping his voice even.

The four mercenaries looked between
one another before bursting into laughter.

“Guy’s a dreamer,” Dar said,
after he had calmed down. “I say we drop these two back off at
Ceradse station and wish ’em the best of luck.”

“Better yet, if the Corporation
are after this one, how about we take him in and cash that reward for
ourselves?” Eve suggested. “This thing here is probably a
misunderstanding,” she added, indicating the fallen machines, “and
I could use the money for some new toys.”

“No, wait, wait, wait,” Sid
shouted. “Look, I can help you to find out why WEAPCO was happy to
kill one of your guys! I can hack the bot and find out what its
orders were.”

“Can you?” Tyler asked,
sceptically.

“I can, yes,” Sid nodded. “I’ve
done it before.”

“Are you lying to me?” Tyler was
interested now. “Because no one here can get into one of those
things, and I’ve never known anyone to do so either, without
blowing themselves to kingdom come in the process.” He removed a
cigar from a pouch about his waist, lit it and took a drag.

“Not lying, sir, no,” Sid said.
“I was part of the Resistance’s hacking team. I broke into most
of WEAPCO’s systems. It’s why the drone wanted me.”

The five waited as Tyler took
another very slow drag on his cigar, puffing the smoke out. “He
could be of some use,” he gestured towards Sid eventually. “I’m
not sure about the other one, though.”

“Dibs!” Eve said, striding over
and raising her gun to Chris’ face once more.

“No, wait!” Chris began to
protest. “I can sell you some stuff. You can have the ship—”

“It’s ours, anyway,” Dar said.
“It’s on our property, owner is dead, it’s ours.”

“I can tell you where you can get
some salvage from the Resistance – weapons and stuff like that,”
Chris tried again.

“Salvage is of indeterminable
value, until we get a hold of it,” Tyler said.

“I can give you a chameleon suit!”
Chris cried as Eve prepared to pull the trigger.

“Hold on, Eve,” Dar said,
placing a hand on Eve’s gun and pushing it out of the way. “For
real?”

“For real,” Chris breathed.
“It’s back in the ship. Stretchy kind; can fit anyone from
five-nothing to about six and a half feet. It’s not working at the
moment, but I’m told it’s not difficult to fix.” He glanced at
Sid, who was nodding enthusiastically as the mercenaries looked at
him.

“Hmm, nah,” Eve said, looking at
Tyler for permission to end Chris’ life.

“Stand down, Eve,” Tyler
ordered.

“Boss—”

“You can kill him later, when he’s
of no use to us.” He hovered closer to Chris, nudging Eve out of
the way. “You say you’re a pilot?”

“Yes, sir,” Chris said.

“You ever been in combat?”

“Yes.” Chris hoped that Tyler
wouldn’t pick up on the lie.

Tyler’s robotic iris flexed as he
thought. “He can be put to work defending home base against Mal,”
the leader of the Wolf Pack told the three others. “If he dies, he
dies. But the Family needs as many capable pilots as it can get. He’s
going to start flying with us immediately, got it?”

The three mercenaries grumbled some
objections but did not otherwise contradict their leader.

Chris breathed a sigh of relief,
shrinking back a little as Tyler loomed closer.

“Right, boy, this is how it’s
going to work,” the fat man said, his breath stinking of cigar
smoke. “We’re taking the ship and the suit. Your friend here is
going to find out why WEAPCO permitted that drone to attack us. I’m
not willing to accept any ‘harbouring a fugitive’ arguments just
yet. While he’s doing that, you will join the New Chile defence
line to fight to keep the Immortal League at bay. You will also take
us to that salvage point, and we will take from it what we want. And
then
we’ll see about getting you that Firefly.
If
we
choose to. Got it?”

“Yes, sir,” Chris nodded,
coughing as Tyler blew smoke in his face.

“Good. Dar, I want you and Clayton
to get some people in here to clear up this mess. Take the drone and
the bot to the workshop, and set Wilson up in there so he can get to
work.

“As for you, boy,” Tyler turned
once more to Chris, “you can wait on the
Sauvignon Blanc
until
I’m ready for you. Don’t even
think
about going for a
wander. Eve, since you’re so keen, I’m charging him to you. Make
sure he doesn’t go anywhere.”

“Got it,” Eve said, grabbing
Chris tight about the shoulders and bringing her knee once more into
his groin.

“Ow!” Chris cried, collapsing on
the floor and curling up to protect himself. “What the hell?!”

“Kind of glad, now, you told me
not to shoot him,” Eve smirked. “I think I’m actually going to
enjoy kicking him in the nuts a lot more.”

[Encrypted
Data Transmission]

[To
>> Lance Skillman, CEO]

[CC
>> Erik Overlook, Kline Kethlan]

[From
>> XS-0981672]

[Subject
– re: Security enforcement]

@XS-0981672
– Tyrone Vin has been eliminated. Sid Wilson remains active. His
location is currently unknown. I have also lost contact with
XS-0017811.

@SkillmanL
– How?

@XS-0981672
– XS-0017811 was tracking two men acting suspiciously from Ceradse,
who had travelled to the orbital station. XS-0017811 chose to
investigate after an attempt to access Chris Bainfield’s frozen
bank account was made.

@OverlookE
– Who is Chris Bainfield?

@XS-0981672
– Chris Bainfield was a member of the Resistance, who was believed
to have been eliminated by XS-0017811 and two Sawtooth-class war bots
over the Atlas Gorge, on Ceradse. His hover was shot off the bridge
and fell into the gorge. It exploded on impact with the ground.

@SkillmanL
– Did you find his body?

@XS-0981672
– Negative. An initial sweep of the wreckage indicated that a human
could not have survived the detonation of the hover. The remains
would have also been incinerated. A more thorough investigation is
scheduled to take place in twenty-one hours.

@OverlookE
– Lance, I think we should determine whether or not this man is
dangerous.

@SkillmanL
– Agreed. XS-0981672, what more can you tell us about Bainfield?

@XS-0981672
– Bainfield, Chris. Born on 2389. Twenty-two years ago. Only child.
Worked at Leonardo’s Italian Restaurant. Schooled at—

@SkillmanL
– What was his part in the Resistance? Was he senior command?

@XS-0981672
– XS-0017811 reported his attire to be consistent with that of a
starfighter pilot. He was dressed as one outside the Last Stop Diner,
where Jasmine Wooding was discovered and eliminated.

@OverlookE
– Sounds like he’s a nobody. How was the access to his bank
account made?

@XS-0981672
– Via a mobile phone or other cellular device. Reverse trace
requests indicate that it did not come from a fixed terminal. A phone
that appeared to match the requesting device was recovered from a
number of youths, in the Tira City airport. They admitted to having
stolen it from an amusement arcade.