Tailspin, page 45
Ren’s voice broke through my thoughts, and I turned to look at her. “First time?” she asked, and I nodded, my throat dry.
“It’s something else, seeing it for real,” she said, her eyes fixed on the wall ahead. “I’ve only been over it once myself.”
“Was it…” I trailed off, unable to finish the thought.
“Scary as fuck,” she replied, her tone grim. “You get a real sense of how small you are up here and how easily something like that could come crashing down on you.”
I shuddered at the thought, my eyes still fixed on the wall ahead. The closer we got to it, the more my heart thudded. It was a terrifying and awe-inspiring sight all at once, a symbol of the dangers that lurked beyond and the strength and resilience of those who stood against them.
The wall was an awe-inspiring sight, stretching into the sky and spanning for miles. Its thick, black modular units were perfectly designed to interlock with one another, creating a seamless and unbreachable surface. The wall cast a deep and foreboding shadow over the land, reminding all who looked upon it of the dangers that lurked beyond. Its imposing presence dominated the landscape.
We passed several wall sections with far more damaged modules being fixed, then undamaged ones. My HUD flashed with warnings, identifying the battle-scarred units that needed replacement. However, it was clear the wall was designed for easy maintenance, with massive mechanical cranes hard at work, deftly removing and replacing the damaged units with fresh ones. It was a testament to the ingenuity of those who built it that the wall could withstand heavy damage and still be repaired quickly, whether by human or robotic hands.
Apex? Does everyone see this?
No, he replied. I can’t hide it from you, though.
Our shuttle lifted, and my stomach went with it as we climbed higher and higher. I’d never even checked out how high it went. Then we were over it and plummeting. I couldn’t help myself but let out a little yip. Holy shit. It was worse than those bridges. As kids, we used to fly over them at speed.
I took it all in when the shuttle settled into a steady flight. Every tiny road leading out of the city, every plumbed-in waterway did the same. It all fascinated me. There were rugged buildings, and people everywhere, working. They were in the thousands, all doing very different jobs. But the most important jobs were structural work on the wall.
“This is one hell of an operation,” I said, looking at Malaki.
“It really is. I had no idea.”
“Without them keeping on top of it, we will fail,” Walter added for all of us. We could only nod.
The further we went, though, the fewer and fewer people there were.
Ahead, there it was, our destination - New Forest.
It looked like nothing I’d seen before, nothing at all, just a mishmash of everything. A chaotic mess of people, tech, and soldiers.
***
“All right, kids, listen here.” The robust yet shorter Staff Sergeant Beck stood before us and even had to crane his neck to look Malaki in the eyes.
“You have today to get to learn your new helos. Get in, get up, get fucking on with it. Understood?”
He didn’t need to mess around. No one here did. Malaki ran after him when he turned, and I followed her, indicating that everyone else stayed where they were.
“Sir!” she called.
He turned and stopped dead, leaving her almost running into his back.
“You get one minute, Canlas,” SSgt—Staff Sergeant—Beck said.
“I need to know who—who?”
My blood chilled, and I faltered with her question, that…
SSgt Beck leaned into her, and she lowered her head, listened, nodded, and he walked away.
Malaki turned to me. “Sorry,” she said. “I just—”
I understood. “You just need to know, right?”
She nodded and leaned on me. “Usually, helo pilots only go down one way.” I put my arm around her and waited. “They wouldn’t leave their fireteam. They wouldn’t stop fighting for them. When it went to shit, and they went down, so did the pilots.”
“Only other way they’d go down,” I said. “You and I would do it, too. We’d leave the helo.”
“I know,” she said. “I know.”
For the first time I saw her, she actually feigned a little confidence. “Malaki,” I said. “Penny?”
She laughed. “I love flying,” she said. “But this, this is a lot more real; real situations, real consequences.”
“Yeah. We’re not playing here.” I pointed to where the others waited for us to return. “That is not a toy. It has a gun. That is a genuine killing machine.”
“Guns Ren is an expert in.” Malaki’s expression turned from the depths of darkness to the helo. “But no,” she said. “That is a combat, search, and rescue helicopter. CSR” She put a significant emphasis on the R.
All I saw was its fucking gun…. One kick-ass, side-mounted, rotating, belt-fed death-dealing weapon that was bigger than me.
Combat.
Sure, it would rescue some people, but to me, that was a helo that had to fight no matter where it went. That gun, I had not the slightest bit of experience with.
You have fired better, Apex said.
With the Black Bears? No. I snorted. You fired better. That was nothing to do with me.
“Let’s get her up in the air and my blood pounding in my head again.” Malaki frowned at me. “First one there’s the pilot!”
She was still much faster than me and was checking over the helo herself, despite the engineers fussing around her.
Aden’s words reverberated in my mind. Thorough little shit, ain’t ya?
54-Shay/Anada
“It was a good run,” Anada said, and smiled his way.
They drew closer to the street Natty’s hotel sat in, and Shay found himself not wanting to go back. Despite it being a tough mission with her, he’d taken to Anada. Her strength of character and personality, even though quiet, shone through and damn, she could fight. He craved that, someone to teach him. No, just an adult who wasn’t a hooker.
“Thanks,” Shay replied and smiled back. Pim snuggled in his jacket, the walrat’s fur tickling his neck. The weather was warmer, but the rain still hit at odd times. If you weren’t wet from the rain, you were wet from the sweat and running about, now he was cold and wet with a sticky over warm neck.
Anada stopped walking, and her smile turned into a scowl. “Something going on?”
Shay looked to where she was. Many people were milling around his hotel’s open doorway. “Nothing out of the ordinary,” he said with a frown and shake of his head. “Little busier, maybe. It’s a popular place.”
“You really did do well out there,” Anada said, then paused her red face softening. “Listen, if you stop working for the hotel, got some other work, would they kick you out?”
“Other work?” Shay’s stomach hurt. After all this he was going to get recruited…no, no way. “This all for Miss Tellier?”
“Hell, no,” Anada said. “She provides us nothing, and as you said, they’d ship you to a tech lab soon as they could sell you.”
The hotel lights flicked off and on as people moved around. It was much busier than usual, though Shay didn’t know why. Across the street were several vehicles he’d not seen around this side of the block, either. “I’m not sure,” he replied. “I’m one of their best workers, but they might need the room for someone who will work for them.”
“Give them notice,” Anada said, her tone sharp, demanding.
“What?”
“Tell ‘em you’ll be leaving next week. By that time, you’ll be earning more money than you ever could there. I don’t want you tired.”
“I’m not getting wrapped up with Miss Tellier,” Shay said sternly.
“Look, we have a spare room. I live with my girlfriend.” Anada looked down at him, and Shay wished he was older, bigger, and more robust. He wouldn’t seem so easy to push around to them. Anada covered her mouth slightly and lowered her voice. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be pushy. My girlfriend works for B-Line News. You heard of them?”
Shay knew she was being cautious in whispering. “Yes,” he replied. “Is she…”
“Janet Lester,” she added.
“I’ve seen her all over,” Shay said and recalled the last time he had. “Her tech is really glitchy.”
Anada dipped her head, she nodded. “Yes, it is. Let me talk to her first. But if you can help me, then help her. We’ll make sure you can get to do what you want, no questions asked.”
That seemed an offer too good to be true. But his initial time around Anada had been interesting. “Really?”
“We’re both undercover; she does a lot of work all around Artem, and I keep an eye on Tellier for her. The more protection we both have where we go, the better.”
Shay understood that. Out here, everyone was fair game. “I’ll give them my notice,” he said. “But if you try and make me do anything I don’t agree with, I’m out.”
Anada moved to walk away. “I’ll drop by tomorrow after work,” she said. “Then you can take a better look at what you’ll be doing for us.”
“Okay,” he said, and they parted ways. Shay’s stomach churned the closer to the hotel he got. This really wasn’t any normal crowd. He pushed through the throngs of people and into the commotion beyond. He spotted one of his coworker’s backs to him and headed on over. “Vlad, what’s going on?” he asked.
Vlad looked up at him, his long dark hair and usually bright blue eyes were red and raw, tears streamed down his cheeks. “Why’d you take a day off?” he cried. “Why?”
Shay’s stomach flipped over and over. Something terrible had happened. He’d never seen any emotion off his friend in all the time he’d been there. Vlad was as strong in personality as he was in person. Built like an ox. This hurt seeing him in so much distress. “I had some things to do. I needed a break. What’s going on?”
“They gave me your rooms,” Vlad said. He sucked in a breath, steadying his breathing to talk. “I found her.”
Found her…those words. No, no. “What are you saying?
Vlad sobbed again, they grew louder, and the main elevator doors opened. Several men and women stepped out. They had on thick black, tight uniforms. Artem’s City Enforcers, also known as ACE. Must have been twenty here, maybe more. Shay didn’t think there were that many in this district, let alone in one hotel. What followed ACE out of the elevator was a floating gurney and a covered-up body.
Shay grabbed hold of Vlad’s arm his own emotion threatening to engulf him. “Who?”
“Taya,” he said. “Oh Shay, there was so much blood, so much.”
Shay stepped back. Several of those ACE passed him, their faces and tech that showed nothing, as stoic as ever. They never gave anything away; they couldn’t.
One of the men stopped before them and Shay noted the red piping down his jacket and the pin on his collar. “You’re the one who found her?” He looked to the red-faced Vlad.
Vlad wiped his eyes, blowing his nose on his sleeve. “We’ll need you to come with us,” he said. “Run us through everything you saw this morning, this afternoon.”
“I didn’t see anything,” he said. “But I did find her.”
“We’ll still need to talk. Come with me, please.”
The man walked Vlad off with him. The crowd parted, letting them out, and then moved back in like an ocean wave. Shay wanted to follow the others out of the main doors, run and never look back. Taya…why Taya? She was so nice, so…. He brushed some of his own tears away, hoping no one noticed.
“All right.” Shay looked to where the voice was. The owner, Natty, stood on her desk, still in her pajamas and housecoat. “Enough, everyone, back to work! Move now. This hotel can’t afford to sit around.”
Several people made their way out of the lobby, and only a few stayed chatting in quieter corners. Natty locked eyes with him, waving him over.
Shay’s legs moved, but he didn’t want to. He knew what was coming. “The bots have gotten everything they need,” Natty said. “It might have been your day off, but can you clean the room?”
“Now?” Shay asked.
“Yes,” she said. “Now, please.”
Shay sighed. “I’ll grab some food and head on down.”
“Thanks,” Natty said. “Shay, you’re the only one I’d ask.”
He guessed it was kind of a compliment, but not one he wanted. Not ever, not at all.
Shay left the lobby and headed to his room, “Going to leave me?” Pim asked.
“You don’t want to see this.”
Pim nudged his neck, licking the tear off his cheek. “No, take me. We’re in it together, okay?”
Shay put his bag down and changed into some older work clothes before heading back up to get his gear and to move to Taya’s standard room.
There were other people still moving about as usual. Nothing kept them down for long, but they were subdued, shoulders sagged, voices low. No doubt Natty had to give discounts on the rooms tonight, which meant no one would earn enough. He sighed, stopped at the door, and hesitated briefly before pushing it open and going in.
It was the smell that hit him first, and he tried to cover his nose, to stop it. Rusty, metallic, rotten. He gagged. The room was virtually destroyed. The mattress had been removed, but blood was left all over the floor and in the bathroom. “Bots could have cleaned this,” Shay said with a shiver.
“Expensive,” Pim said. “Much cheaper to pay someone with a bucket and some water, then just cover it all up.”
Pim jumped off his shoulder and padded around the room, his whiskers high in the air, sniffing.
Shay went to the bathroom and ran the hot tap, filling a big bucket. He added all his bleach and cleaning liquids, making it quite the potent-smelling mix. Donning gloves, he slowly started cleaning everything he could in the bedroom. He righted the chair, the contents on the desk, and pulled the curtains. They’d need washing, too. This room wouldn’t be fit for anyone till tomorrow night at the very earliest. Anything that could be saved, Shay saved it. Natty would need it, all of it.
This would have cost her a lot of money.
Not to mention the cost of Taya’s life.
“What happened? Taya?” Shay asked the room, he hoped maybe her ghost might answer. Nothing, no one else was there but he and Pim. “What the hell happened?”
“I can tell you some of it if you like,” Pim said softly.
Shay spun around to him. “What?”
“You never looked at my skills really, did you? What walrats were designed for?”
Shay shook his head. “No, I…I never thought that much, that far ahead.”
Pim sat in the middle of the floor in the only dry spot there now was. “We started off as just urchin farmers, keeping them away from the huge kelp forests the Techean grow. But we are as many say, smart. So once the Techean realized this, we became much more than just ocean farmers, we worked with them on the rigs, became close friends, assistants.”
Shay moved to the chair and pulled it out. “Tell me what happened here,” he said and sat down. “I don’t want to know, but I need to know, you know.” He sighed and rubbed his eyes. He was so tired, beyond exhausted. “Sorry, mumbling idiot here.”
“You’re not,” Pim said, and he hopped up onto his knee and then onto the desk. “You know tech is worth something, right, to everyone?”
“Of course, but what could she have that someone else wanted?”
“A debt to be paid off…”
“She was one of the top earners,” Shay said, holding his hand out for Pim to nudge if he wanted petting. “I don’t get it.”
“She was hiding something,” Pim said, nudging his hand.
Softly, Shay stroked his head, then tickled his ears till Pim had to stop him to scratch it. “You need that wax syringing.”
“There’s a lot of things I need, but they’re not important yet.” Pim nodded over to the bed. “Taya’s tech was stolen. She probably saved for a long time to get those upgrades. Someone saw them, didn’t like her having them, so came in and took them.”
“They’d take you, too.” Shay gasped, and Pim hopped onto his shoulder to offer comfort in wrapping around him, tail and body for support.
“They would. We really do need to leave.”
“Today,” Shay ordered, more than asked.
“Today.”
***
Shay finished the job for Natty. He knew she wouldn’t get anyone else to do this. The hotel was a-buzz still, full of extra mercs, extra everyone. Shay wrote a note carefully on the hotel-branded paper and left it in Taya’s room. It would be found the following day as someone else went to air it out and refit it for business, despite it not having time to dry much.
My dearest Natty—I have done my best for you, and you have supported me throughout my last year. I can’t stay any longer. It’s too dangerous. You may keep my pay till you find someone else for my room. I will be gone by the time you get this. Thank you.
Shay packed his meager belongings; sadness permeated his very soul. Despite the nature of the hotel and his job, he’d had some good times in here with Vlad and the other ladies. Quickly, he put all of his clothes on, rather than carry them, and left without looking back.
If Anada couldn’t put him up tonight or for a while, he would find somewhere else to sleep. The streets, if he needed to. It wouldn’t be the first or last time, he was sure.
Shay - I’m sure you’ve heard there was a murder at the hotel. I’ve left. I can’t stay there anymore, it’s too dangerous. If you have a room for tonight, I’d appreciate it, please send me an address.
He walked south and grabbed some early breakfast from one of the streets stands and a hot drink. Standing in the queue, he listened to other locals talk about the murder and the ongoing ACE investigations. The smell of cooking schmeat and toasted bread made his mouth water. For now, he had enough funds in his bank to eat and drink when he needed. When he was served, he asked for extra schmeat for Pim, then moved across to sit on the slightly damp grass. They both sat in silence, making the most of their meal. Every morsel cherished, thick salty, sticky goodness.
