Crusade For Vengeance (Dark Vengeance Book 2) (6 page)

Her eyes gave it away, they flickered behind Valerie and she swept Deni’s attack aside with a sideways block while moving to the right.  She was only a split second ahead of Hanna’s kick.  It was all she needed.  As the girl’s foot found only air, Valerie’s lashed out with a foot and caught her squarely in the stomach.  She pulled the kick considerably and it only winded the girl.

Trying to take advantage of the distraction caused by Hanna’s failed attack, Deni drove in and Valerie fended her off.  The girls were still learning the art of unarmed combat.  Their moves did not have the precision and tightness of a master like Valerie.  They did have speed and determination.  Unlike Valerie, Deni wasn’t pulling her punches.  There was no point teaching them how to defend themselves, if they didn’t automatically put everything behind it. 

It was a quick and dirty way of teaching, it got the job done in the quickest way possible.  Their best couldn’t hurt Valerie, so she let them give their all and she would work on their control later. 

Hanna recovered and tried to attack from the side.  Valerie kept moving, constantly turning the girls back towards each other and stopped them from surrounding her again.  She fought mainly on the defensive, with only an occasional light punch or kick to make sure they kept their defences up.  In the hot sun, the swift back and forth was hard work.  After the sprint runs, the girls were drained and Valerie could see it in their faces and movements.  The attacks were coming less often now and slower. 

Their last move would be soon.  The two of them would have come up with something, they always did.  The first one was a feint to get Valerie to lower her expectations.  She did not think they seriously thought it would work.  The question was, would it come from Hanna or Deni?  Who would be the distraction and who the real threat?

Breathing heavily, the girls broke off and put some distance between themselves and Valerie.  She didn’t press them and let them go.  Maybe they really were as tired as they looked and couldn’t carry on.  It was possible, but Valerie still thought they were planning something, they were too smart not to.  She could easily imagine them staying up late last night in their flat, to find some way to win this.

Deni and Hanna suddenly darted forward.  Valerie stepped in to meet them, but it was another feint.  The two split.  Running to either side of Valerie and this time she did not turn to meet them.  Expecting a normal attack, she was pleased to see them try a different tactic.  They simultaneously charged at her full on. 

Mind racing, Valerie was torn between letting them get to her, or showing them what was wrong with their move.  She wasn’t ready to let them have a day off from their punishment.  Valerie spun and stepped to the side, slightly towards Deni.  Grabbing the charging girl’s arms, she pivoted and redirected Deni’s momentum straight into Hanna.  The two went down in a tumble of limbs onto the hard roof.

After waiting for their thrashing to stop and satisfied there were no injuries above a bruise or two, Valerie crouched down next to the plainly exhausted girls.

“Not bad.  It would have probably have worked in nine out of ten times.  Maybe next time.  We start again at seven tomorrow morning on the range.  Don’t be late.”  Valerie held out her hands to them.  “I believe Frank has some ice-cream in stock down in the bar.  What do you say?  My treat?”

Five minutes later the three of them were sitting at a booth in the Dawn Sun, a large bowl of already melting ice-cream in front of each.  Hanna and Deni were tucking into theirs with a gusto of someone more than half their age.  It was another reminder to Valerie, neither one had enjoyed a normal childhood and probably hadn’t had an opportunity like this very often.

“How did it go with Sneaker earlier?”  Hanna asked.   “Any news of when and how we’re going to get to Olympus?”

“Not yet,” Valerie told her.

“Why’s it taking so long?”  Deni said, clearly exasperated by the delay.

“These things take time.  Sneaker needs to connect with his contacts on Olympus and, even for a Courier, it’s a fifteen day round trip.”  A civilian courier left Blaze for each of the other twenty four worlds in the Pantheon once a day.  They carried private citizens mail, along with most other non-urgent and unclassified messages.  The military, news networks, banks and big corporations used their own Couriers.

“Sneaker can’t use those,” Valerie continued.  “The security services monitor all messages.  His had to go through the actual channel we’re going to use.  It’s a civilian freighter and will take about forty days.  That includes the time to reach the planet from the gravity shadow and the unloading and loading of the cargo.  Our freighter only left ten days ago, so we still have at least thirty days.”

“Oh.  I didn’t realise.”

“What’s it like out there in space?”  Hanna asked in wonder.

“To be honest, it’s amazing.  I started out flying orbital and atmospheric fighters.  I love flying in the open sky, but it didn’t compare to how it felt once you left the confines of a planet.  It’s impossible for our minds to truly comprehend it, until you actually get out there.  We spend our lives on the surface of a planet hemmed in by walls, buildings, trees, mountains and even horizons, but out there…”  Valerie paused for a moment as she stared off into the middle distance, not focusing on anything, trying to find the right words.  “There’s none of that.  When you look out into space, you really are looking at the infinity of the universe.”

Scooping up a large dollop of ice-cream heavily covered in chocolate sauce, Valerie luxuriated in the flavours before swallowing and continued.  “Nothing we experience on a planet can truly allow you to comprehend the enormity out there.  Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is about one hundred thousand light years across. Our fastest ships could go from one end to the other in about seventy years, but we’ve never done it.”

“Why not?”  Deni asked with a frown.  “Someone on Life X could do it easily.”

“True, but why would we want to?”  Valerie replied.  “We have never seen any indication of any other intelligent life.  The number of planets with their own individually evolved eco-systems are very few.  We have the technology to see if a world orbiting a distant star has the right conditions for life, but there’s no reason to go.  We have more than enough stars to visit within the area already colonised by humanity.”

“Hang on,” Hanna interjected.  “There are only twenty-five systems in the Pantheon.  Surely there are other places people can go and live to get away from the Privileged, further out.”

“Twenty-five systems doesn’t sound like much, you’re right.  It’s when you consider the Pantheon is about one hundred and thirty light years across.  There are three and a half thousand stars within that volume of space.  The Boundary surrounding the Pantheon, is three hundred and thirty light years wide.  If you include both the Edge and the Wild, human space is one thousand, two hundred light years across and contains over three and a half million stars.  With all of that, mostly unexplored, within six months travel of Olympus, why would we want to go further?

“Yes, we could leave the Privileged far behind, but in reality life would be hard.  Colonising a world isn’t easy.  Then, you need huge amounts of money for the terraforming.  If you’d managed to find a habitable world with its own eco-system, you still need to fund the ship and supplies necessary.  Even if you have overcome all of that, in all likelihood, within a few years, the colony would still be in the same state as the Pantheon is now.

“Throughout human history, there has always been the Privileged in one form or another.  From the Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt, over seven thousand years ago, to the Kings and Queens of Europe, five thousand years ago, to our modern day, there has always been a small part of the population who hold the majority of the power and wealth.  It’s human nature.”

“So nothing will ever change,” Hanna said questioningly.

Shrugging, Valerie shook her head.  “I doubt it.  It’s built into our DNA.  At heart we’re animals, with the same instinctive responses as all the others.  Even a Stone Dragon, evolving on a completely different planet to us, has the same instincts.  It’s keyed to survive and mate.  Everything the Dragon does will be with that in mind.  Humans are no different.  Our first instinct is always to go with the choice which has the least risk to us personally.”

“So your saying, to change the system, someone would need to make the choices of the Privileged as risky as possible.”  Deni pointed out.

“Or find some way to limit an individual’s wealth and power,” Hanna said.

Valerie stared off into nothing before nodding.  “I guess I am.  It would take someone a lot smarter than me to work out how.  It’s a question that’s haunted humanity for thousands of years with no answer.”

Hanna’s smile was impish.  “I’ll work on it.”

“Alright, I’m here, Sneaker,” Valerie said as she walked into the Dawning Sun, her hair still wet from the shower.  “What was so urgent, I had to get back from my run in such a rush?”

The tall, blond, dark-skinned man turned from where he stood chatting to Frank at the bar.  Hanna and Deni were both sitting on stools next to him.

“An old friend of mine just got into town and we need to go and see him.  Come on, my car’s out back.”  The two girls hopped off their stools and followed him as he headed to the back door.  Evidentially they knew what was going on and as no one saw fit to tell Valerie, she rolled her eyes, shrugged and followed.

Despite earning quite a lot of money from leading the gang, Sneaker never changed his battered old wheelie.  The rundown silver car with its worn seats, sat in the small yard at the back of the building, next to Rush’s black, much sleeker vehicle.  Sneaker preferred his low-key approach.  While Valerie would much prefer he drove something better defensively, she saw the sense in using an inconspicuous wheelie.

It didn’t stop her from unclipping her holsters from her thighs and setting them under her arms.  They would be easier to draw while sitting.  Valerie waited until they were all in the car and Sneaker pulled them out into the street, before asking the question.

“So who’s your friend and why are we going to see him?”

“As I’m sure you know, it’s pretty rare us Manuals leave Blaze.” Sneaker said with a glance in the back to show he said it for the girls benefit.  Valerie had a very good idea they knew this and would have responded with a rolling of their eyes to his back as a bare minimum.

“And?”  Valerie prompted.

“So there are actually very few specialists in the art of inter-system passports and ID’s.  My friend is one of a select few who has that particular skill-set on Blaze.  He’s in town for a only a few days.  Trust me, Scribe is the guy you need, if you want the credentials to get onto Olympus.”

“Sounds good, but what’s the rush?”

“Scribe moves around a lot, partly because his unique services are needed all over the planet by only a few people, but mainly as he is also one of a handful of people actively hunted by the Blaze PD.  For some reason, they don’t like the idea of us Manuals being able to move around freely without their say-so.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Hanna asked rhetorically from the back.

Sitting back Valerie relaxed as much as she was able.  Traffic was fairly light and Sneaker drove well as he cut from one side street to another.  The car did have a screen showing the view from behind.  Valerie kept an eye on it in case anyone was tailing them.  It was more by reflex than an actual worry.

The streets all looked the same, no matter how far they went.  It was the same grey permacrete buildings and roads.  All differentiating one from another were the names on the streets or over shops and businesses.  Eventually they pulled into a small warehouse, set in the bottom few levels of the standard Ghetto forty storey building.

Two Enforcers stood at the entrance of the open loading dock, their weapons were clearly visible.  Valerie stepped out of the car first and moved around it, so there was nothing to get in her way if she needed to defend Sneaker and the others.  They waited in the car until she was in position before joining her.  Scribe may be a friend, but in their world and, especially outside of Sneaker’s territory, it paid to be careful.

The two Enforcers made no hostile move, Valerie’s precautions would be normal for their clients.  She waited for a nod from them and led their small party forward.  An aircar sat inside the loading dock out of sight, three more hired guns stood by it and one of the Enforcers indicated a small office off to one side.

“One of you only,” she said.

“It’s alright.  You and the girls wait here, Carter.”  Sneaker said her name quite clearly.  All of Scribe’s Enforcers stood up a little straighter and looked more alert.

“They know who she is,” Hanna whispered to her friend.

“You think?”

Valerie jerked her head slightly to the girls, they understood and moved to stand opposite her, whilst she was turned sideways to the two groups of Enforcers.  Hanna and Deni could watch her back, while she kept an eye on the office Sneaker entered and still watch the Enforcers in her peripheral vision.

The next few minutes were tense, at least for the others.  The girls continued to dart looks in all directions and the Enforcers stood almost rigid, their hands close to, but not on their weapons.  Valerie was relaxed, her feet a shoulders width apart and her hands by her sides.  With her pistols under her arms, they were as far from her hands as it was possible to be and still be on her body.  Despite this, she was confident she could draw and fire before anyone else raised their guns, if she had to.

The minutes continued to tick by.  Finally Sneaker stepped out laughing with another man.  He was a similar age to Sneaker, late fifties, Valerie guessed, and a few centimetres shorter with a ruddy complexion.

“So where is the indomitable Miss Carter I have heard so much about?” the man practically boomed.

“Right here, Scribe.” Sneaker clapped the man on the shoulder and pointed to where Valerie stood.

Scribe strode right up to Valerie and thrust his hand out to her.  She stood looking at it consideringly for a moment and behind Scribe’s back Sneaker gave her the look, telling her to take it.  With a mental shrug and leaving her left hand free and clear, she took his hand. 

“It’s an honour.”  His voice was deep and seemed to almost echo around the room as he pumped her hand up and down.  “I’ve heard so much about you.  How would you like to come and work for me?  I pay very well you know.  You’ll get to see the planet rather than being stuck here in one city.”

“Hey!  We didn’t come here so you could steal away my Crew.”  Sneaker interjected before Valerie could reply.  His voice was light, but there was a slight edge to it.

“A young beauty like this shouldn’t be kept holed up here.  She should be out seeing what the world has to offer.  Come with me and you’ll see it all.”

He had not released her hand and she gently extracted it as gracefully as she could.

“Thank you for the offer, Scribe, but I work for Sneaker and I’m not looking for a new employer.”  The smile she gave him was mostly genuine.  It was funny how he thought she was more than half his age, when actually she had twice his years.

“No hard feelings, Scribe?”  Sneaker said and clasped the other man on the shoulder again.

“Hah.  So long as you don’t blame a fella for trying.  I wouldn’t want the man who has this woman on a leash mad at me.”

For an instant Sneaker, Hanna and Deni froze.  Valerie almost smiled again at their reactions.  Not long ago she would have in all probability done something precipitous and violent.  Today she simply shook her head and indicated the office Scribe came out of.

“Perhaps we could talk in private and get down to business?”

“Of course, of course,” Scribe boomed and waved ahead of them.  “This way.  Follow me, follow me.”

In the run down room, a new table was set up in the middle.  What Valerie recognised as a very high tech bio scanner sat on it with a datapad plugged in.  Scribe dropped into a large comfy work chair behind the table.

“So what can I do for you?  Off on holiday, Sneaker?”

There were no other doors in the room.  Valerie moved over and leaned against the wall opposite the entrance.  With no other chairs, the two girls stood by Sneaker in the middle.  None of them got directly between her and the door.

“I need complete sets of passports, ID’s and DNA masks for these three.  They have to be good enough to get them onto Olympus and back again.”

“DNA masks?  That’s expensive, Sneaker, and why all three?  I can imagine the beauty, oh-so-casually leaning against the wall and watching the door, may well have got on the wrong list, but not these young ones.”

Sneaker shrugged as though it was of no concern.  “What’s the point of giving the authorities more than you need to?  As you say, they’re young and I think they’ll be around for a while.  It’ll pay me back in the long run.  You know how I like to be careful.”

“Hmm.  OK.  It’s your money.  Please step forward ladies so I can get a baseline.”  Hanna went first and stood in front of the bio scanner.  A spread of lasers swept her from head to toe, taking a simple measurement of her dimensions.  Deni went next and when Valerie stepped forward she kept her eyes closed and fists clenched.  She didn’t want Scribe taking a record of her finger and retinal prints.

Once the scans were complete, Scribe leaned forward and accessed his datapad.  He spent several minutes flipping through various files while they waited patiently before looking up.

“You’re in luck.  I already have the DNA sequences on file with a close enough match.”  Faking a DNA scanner was not complicated.  A spray similar to the common skinseal could be used to layer your hands in someone else’s DNA.  As long as the sequence you were using matched your basic body type, such as skin colour, height and ethnicity, no one would be the wiser.   If you gave the authorities cause to look at you more closely, it would be no protection.  All they would need is the smallest hair or blood sample and they would know instantly something was wrong.

“It will take a few days and you can pay on delivery.  The price will be two hundred thousand, payable in metals.”  Valerie raised her eyebrows.  Payment in rare metals was not surprising, but the price was very steep.  On one of her more covert missions for the Legion, her five person team from Shadow Company had been caught on a Boundary world.  Their covers blown, along with their exit, she needed to buy the services of Scribe’s counterpart to get off world.  For five ID’s and DNA masks, it cost her half the price Scribe wanted today.

“That’s over the top, Scribe,” Sneaker argued.  “First you try to poach one of my Crew and then rob me blind.  Fifty thousand on a Bullion chip.”

“Hah.  That was quite rude of me.  One fifty, metals.”

“Rude?  You did it right in front of me.  One hundred, in metals.”

“Now who’s robbing who blind?” Scribe said, waving his arms in the air.  “How can I afford to feed my children on a measly hundred?” 

Sneaker raised his eyebrows.  “Children?  Really?”

“Alright, alright.  It’s nonsense but a classic.  One hundred in metals.”

“Excellent.”  Sneaker leaned across the table with his hand outstretched.  “It’s always good to do business with you.”

“So it should be for a hundred grand.”  Scribe accused, but it was only light sarcasm, with no vindictiveness behind it.

“You’re welcome to come by the casino while in town and try to win the difference,” Sneaker offered.

“I might well do.  Miss Carter isn’t the only thing I’ve been hearing about.  Word is The Dawning Sun is the place to be, if you want to have a good night and do some decent business on the side.  I’ve even heard some are calling it neutral ground.”

“We have an excellent set of conference rooms and, let’s face it,” he pointed his thumb at Valerie.  “Would you start any trouble with her on the door?”

“Not a chance, my friend.  Give me a couple of days and I ‘ll bring the ID’s round and enjoy the hospitality of your establishment.”

“A table will be ready for you and you won’t be disappointed.  Until then.”  Sneaker shook Scribe’s hand and turned to leave.  Valerie swept by him to exit first.

Outside there was a perceptible relaxing by the Enforcers as the five of them came out of the room.  Scribe stayed by the door while Valerie led them out of the loading dock.  Once back in the car and on their way, Valerie turned to Sneaker.

“Can we trust him?”

“As much as you can trust anyone in this business, besides, you saw how impressed they all were with you.  I don’t think crossing you is something they would contemplate.  Anyway, he and I go way back and he knows exactly what I can do to his systems.  He relies on that large database of his and I can shut it down, no matter where he is on the planet.  It’ll be fine.  In a couple of days you’ll have your ID’s and a week more the freighter will be back from Olympus.  We’ll know then if the route is safe for you all to use.”

Valerie nodded.  “I’ll cover the ID’s.  I haven’t used any of my cuts from the Jobs.  I have plenty to cover it.”

“What?  Do you have it all stashed under your mattress or something?”

“Never you mind.  It’ll take me a day to get it.”  She turned to the girls in the back, who barely said a word for the whole trip.  “What do you say?  The two of you fancy a road trip?”

“Where to?”  Hanna enquired.

“It’s a surprise.  Deni, can you get the keys off Rush for the aircar?”

“Yeah,” Deni said a bit bemused.  “It won’t be a problem.  I’ll have it in the yard for eight.”

“Excellent.”  Valerie turned back.

“OK.  Now I’m curious.  Where on Blaze have you stashed your stash?”  Sneaker asked

“As I said, never you mind.  I’m not going to tell you, so stop asking, and don’t even think about trying to get it out of those two.  They fear me a lot more than they do you.”