11 – Into the Storm

  Addie watched Glitch work, wondering what her AUI was like as she alternated between swiping her hand left to right and tapping on her crystal-glass tablet. She often wondered if netjacking in reality was anything like what she saw on the serials she liked to watch. She was tempted to ask Glitch what she was seeing, but she knew it would only distract her. It wasn’t like she was really doing any netjacking at the moment anyway; she was just seeking a likely target for Addie’s nefarious plans.

  Nefarious. Part of Addie wanted to chuckle at the thought, but another part of her understood that she was about to undertake something less than lawful; she just hoped her justification was real enough that fate, karma, or the angels in heaven would overlook her bad behavior. She’d suggested trying to find a corporation to rob that deserved it, and Glitch had laughed and said something about every corpo deserving whatever came their way.

  She stretched out on the couch, loosening a knot in her lower back as she turned onto her side. The netjacker had been quiet for close to an hour, but when Addie murmured a soft groan, mid-stretch, Glitch lifted her visor and looked over at her. “I think I might have something here.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yep. This isn’t easy, you know. The thing about trying to steal high-end cyberware is that most of the companies that sell the good stuff have equally good security.”

  “I mean, you’re considering my talents, right?”

  “Yeah, sure, I am, but even if you can walk out of a boutique shop with a Synergistics Trillion Eye, it doesn’t mean it won’t have sophisticated trackers installed. I thought about it a lot while reviewing security measures and floor plans, and I think we’re approaching this the wrong way. High-end cyberwar equals high-end risk. What if we stole something else and used the proceeds to buy what I need?”

  “Something like?”

  “Like contraband being held by criminals.”

  “Contraband?”

  “Well, in this case, Dust.”

  Addie pushed herself into a half-seated position. “Really? We can get our hands on enough Dust to make the kind of stack we need?”

  “Possibly. I found a thread on one of the boards I frequent—a place where I pick up a lot of interesting rumors—talking about Rise Tech. You familiar?”

  “Rise? Yeah, of course; they make reactors and matrices—for Dust, I mean.”

  “Yeah, well, you can imagine the kind of Dust they keep on hand in their R&D facilities, and one of them got robbed recently.”

  Addie tilted her head, frowning doubtfully. “How recently? Won’t the Dust get moved pretty fast?”

  “Normally, sure, but this was in District Seven, and it’s on partial lockdown after the robbery. Checkpoints are on high alert. Whoever hit Rise will be lying low for a while. Thing is, it wasn’t a subtle job—a small army went in, guns blazing. They wore scrambler gear, so no one’s sure who it was, only that they had a lot of muscle, and some insider help to open the vault.”

  “So how do we rob the robbers if we don’t know who they are?”

  Glitch grinned, exposing a new cosmetic she’d had installed—golden fangs that pulsed with pink LEDs. “By following the rumors, my dear.”

  Addie sat up, chuckling. “Something tells me you already figured it out.”

  “Problem with using that much muscle is managing all those mouths. People like to talk, and a certain mindset, often found in the muscle breed of operator, loves to brag. I found a thread about a guy talking big at a shooting range in the district. Said he ‘topped’ three corpos over the weekend on a big score. Well, news feeds say Rise lost seven personnel in the raid, and several of them were shot in the head.”

  Addie frowned. “Lovely. Aren’t corpo-sec looking into the same rumors, though?”

  “Sure, but they’re always a few days behind. This is fresh. If we move now, we might be able to grab this guy. I’ve already got daemons working on the shooting range’s network. If I can get the security footage, we can try to hunt him down and grab him. While I’m at it, I’ll delete the files—make it harder for corpo-sec to follow the same trail.”

  Addie leaned forward, excitement making her antsy. “You really think he’s one of them? Do you think the Dust is worth enough?”

  Glitch laughed, watching Addie’s expression. “You’re so cute when you’re eager! I have a good feeling that he’s one of ’em, yeah. As for the Dust, I can only go off what’s been reported on the feeds, but it said a ‘large quantity of highly pure Dust used for research purposes.’ Now, I don’t know exactly what they mean by highly pure, but if it’s pristine grade, that means it’s at least a seven on the luminal index. You know what an ounce of Dust like that goes for?”

  “Seven?” Addie laughed, shaking her head. “No clue.”

  “50k an ounce, sis.”

  Addie held up her thumb and forefinger, trying to imagine the kind of container that would hold only a single ounce. “That’s small.”

  “Yep. If they have a case of ten or twenty vials, we’ll be well on our way. If they have more…” Glitch grinned, shrugging. “I don’t want to get us all excited yet. I’m sure we’re not the only ones interested in this news, so we need to act fast if we’re going to have a chance.”

  Addie jumped up. “I’m ready!”

  Glitch laughed, nodding. “I know you are! Listen, I’ll keep working on the shooting range’s net, but you should get ahold of Beef. You’re going to want him along, right?”

  Addie frowned, folding her arms as she paced back and forth in front of the couch. Beef and Glitch were a thing now, and she didn’t want to upset her by saying no, but did she want him along? Of course, she loved Randal in her own way, and she wanted to include him, but she also knew that every person she involved was a potential avenue for a leak—some misspoken word heard by the wrong person that might lead Cross Corp to Tony.

  “You’re going to want someone to help handle this guy if we grab him. I know you have a lot of tricks up your sleeve, but handling a captive muscle operator isn’t something that’s ever easy. I mean, unless you’ve got someone like Beef along.”

  Addie nodded. “Yeah. You’re right.” She’d already decided to go along with Glitch’s idea, but it was less to do with wanting Beef to handle her potential prisoner and more to do with the fact that she didn’t need to tell him everything. Even Glitch didn’t know everything—not yet. “I’ll get in touch with him. How soon can you get what we need?”

  “Anywhere between now and say…” She looked toward the ceiling, her eyes unfocusing. “Two hours.”

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  Addie nodded and got ready to call Beef, but then a bunch of second thoughts started to flash through her mind, and she paced again. What if this lead took them precisely nowhere? What if the guy was just bragging, making stuff up to impress his buddies? What if he was one of the muscle used in the robbery, but he had no clue where the Dust was? How much time could she afford to waste on a dead end when Tony was already in District One, risking his neck? Every day, every minute, was more time for Jen to see through his story and have him killed.

  “Are you sure we shouldn’t just pick a business that probably won’t have any Dust disruption fields? This seems like a long—”

  “Ads, the kinds of businesses that have inventory worth what we need, fall into two categories: businesses with small but valuable goods that, by necessity, employ high-end security, or businesses with bulky but valuable goods. Those might not have top-end security, but they don’t need it—a few goons watching the inventory makes it really hard to get the amount we’d need to sell. I’m not saying the perfect target doesn’t exist, but we might spend days or weeks searching for it. It won’t hurt to check out this opportunity.”

  Addie folded her arms, chewing her lip as she weighed Glitch’s words. She couldn’t see any holes in the netjacker’s logic. The fact of the matter was that if she wanted to use her Dust abilities as the primary means for gaining these funds, then whatever she stole would have to be small enough for her to carry. Unless she could get her hands on a bit-locker holding an absurd amount of Sol-bits, then that meant she needed small, but valuable goods. She had a hard time even imagining what that would be. Jewelry? High-end augments? Experimental tech or drugs?

  She stopped pacing and put a hand on Glitch’s shoulder, nodding. “The whole reason I’m here is because I don’t have a clue what we ought to hit. I’ll trust your judgement.”

  “Well, thanks, but I’m not exactly a criminal mastermind, you know. I usually take the jobs people give me. Coming up with something from scratch is kinda fun, but it’s also a little nerve-racking. I hope I don’t lead you astray…”

  Addie shook her head, squeezing gently. “No. You’re awesome. I’m glad I had you here to help me while Tony’s gone.”

  “You ever gonna spill about that? I’m curious what he’s doing on his end.”

  Addie smiled, nodding. “I will, but not yet.” She let go and turned toward the door. “Gonna step out for some air while I call your boyfriend.”

  “Hey!” Glitch’s voice said she was protesting, but her smile said something different.

  Addie just smiled and walked outside. As the heavy metal door closed with a clunk, she stared at her contacts, thinking about calling Beef. JJ got the message, and a blinking call window appeared on her AUI. While she waited for Beef to answer, she tucked her hands into her pockets and climbed up the steps. It was late afternoon, and the winter sky was gray and dim. Her breath plumed as she walked a short way up the sidewalk, trying to keep warm as well as stretch her legs; she’d been sitting most of the day.

  Finally, the call window crackled to life, displaying Beef’s smooth-shaven head and heavy brow as he glared at her. “Damn, doll. Can’t a guy get any sleep?”

  Addie snorted. “It’s almost dark out.”

  Beef yawned, and Addie could tell he was stretching. “I’m a night owl, what can I say?”

  “So, can you guess why I’m calling?”

  “If you’re looking for a date, I’m game, but I need to see if Glitch is down to add a third wheel.”

  “Oh, hush. I might have a job for you. Did you get your Metro Visa?”

  Beef perked up a little; his eyes, previously drowsy-looking, opened wider, and he nodded. “Yeah. Used my new SOA creds. We leaving the Blast for this?”

  Addie smiled. She knew exactly how he felt. When she and Tony had first gone through the checkpoint to do a job in a neighboring district, she’d felt like she was embarking on a grand odyssey. She’d almost felt like she was doing something wrong when they went through the checkpoint. “That’s right, big guy. You up for it? I need a little muscle.”

  “You know I’m down. Hardly doing anything for the Dogs anymore. They got Runt and Reject collecting on my turf, if you can believe that.”

  “Sure. You trained ’em, didn’t you?” Addie shrugged. “It’s just great they’re letting you go.”

  “Hah! As if they had a choice. Still wish I knew what T did to get them to back off.”

  “Trade secret, I’m sure.” Addie smiled.

  Beef grunted something obscene, but Addie pretended she didn’t hear. When he looked back into the camera, he asked, “So, when’s the gig?”

  “If you can come to Glitch’s place, we’ll head out as soon as she’s ready. There’s a clock ticking on this one.”

  “Okay. Gimme twenty. I’ll be there.” Beef didn’t wait for pleasantries, ending the call almost before he finished speaking.

  Addie zipped her coat up further, sealing the high collar all the way to her chin. Then she leaned against the bricks of the building, intent on people-watching for a few minutes. To her surprise, she saw someone duck behind a van across the street, the furtive movements far too conspicuous to ignore. “JJ,” she subvocalized, “play back the last few seconds of my visual feed. Freeze the image of that guy who slipped behind that van.”

  JJ did as she asked, opening a window on her AUI and pausing the playback on the best frame she had of the man’s face. It was a little blurry, caught in motion, but JJ processed it, revealing a middle-aged man with a white goatee and a dark visor that scrambled the top half of his face. Even taking the scrambling into account, Addie didn’t recognize him. “Maybe just a guy who was staring at me and overreacted when I looked his way?”

  “Perhaps,” JJ said, failing for the first time in a while to realize Addie was just musing aloud. “I’ve stored his image and will let you know if I spot his face in any crowds in the near future.”

  Addie smiled. The old JJ wouldn’t have thought of that. “Nice, JJ! Way to be a self-starter!” She realized she was talking to JJ the way Tony used to treat Nora when he was training her. Addie felt a brief panic at the thought; would she ever hear him trying to train that PAI of his again? Come on! She squeezed her eyes shut, forcing the emotions down. She just needed to stick with the plan and trust Tony to pull off his part. His number one job was to keep from getting killed, after all, right?

  She pushed off the wall and turned to stroll down the sidewalk a short distance. After making a show of loitering aimlessly for a couple of minutes, she turned to walk back up the street, casually eyeing the van where she’d seen the man. She got a good view of its license plate and was again impressed by JJ when he saved the image to a file with the video of the man she’d seen.

  “It’s funny,” she muttered, not minding if JJ thought she was speaking to him. “That van’s not very different from ours.” Of course, it wasn’t so much funny as concerning. You could conceal a significant amount of surveillance equipment in a vehicle like that. You could hide a lot of personnel in one. Suddenly feeling a bit more paranoid, Addie hurried down the steps to Glitch’s door and let herself in.

  “Get in touch with him?” the netjacker asked, looking over the top of her visor.

  “Yep, he’ll be here in about ten minutes.” Addie paused as she pushed the door shut and engaged the lock. “I think someone was watching me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Addie explained what she’d seen, then sent her the images JJ had saved.

  Glitch frowned, shaking her head. “Don’t recognize him either. Gonna put some daemons on the job, though. They’ll scour the local nets.” She stood up and pulled one of her hard-shelled, black rolling cases closer to her desk. “I’m almost ready. Let me pack up some stuff.”

  “You got the security footage?”

  Glitch looked at Addie over the top of her visor, wriggling her eyebrows. “You doubted me?”

  “I didn’t think you’d be this fast, that’s all!”

  “Well, I got it, and I already got a name and last known for our mark. Here.” She flicked her fingers toward Addie, and a new window appeared on her AUI.

  Addie stared at it until it expanded, showing an image of a muscular man with rubbery black synth-flesh covering his neck and jaw. He was Asian, but his face and shaved head were decked in tattoos—hundreds of them—making his skin look almost dark green or black. He was grinning into the camera, exposing chrome teeth that, coupled with his glossy, black marble-like eyes, made him seem almost shark-like. Some text accompanied the image, proclaiming his name to be Motor Cruz.

  “Motor?”

  Glitch shrugged. “It’s a handle—the surname too. A little unorthodox, but not unheard of.”

  “So is he a banger or an operator?”

  “He has an SOA license—tier six—but it looks like he gets most of his work through a mercenary contractor.” Glitch stuffed a deck and her crystal-glass tablet into the rolling case, then grunted as she pulled the stretchy cord up from the bottom, securing the drawers shut. “He has a loft in District Seven, so yeah, right neighborhood.”

  Addie started for the door. “JJ, bring the van around.” She looked at Glitch. “Come on, let’s get you loaded up so we can leave when Beef gets here.”

  “Right behind you, sis!” Glitch grabbed the handle on her case and dragged it over her cluttered floor, around the couch, toward the door. Addie held it open once again, shrinking down into her coat as a cold breeze blew down the concrete steps.

  “A storm’s blowing in, I think.”

  Glitch nodded. “Hope it doesn’t get too bad. We’ve got a two-hour trip to District Seven.”

  “JJ, how’s the weather looking?”

  “There’s a sizeable front approaching, but no road closures are anticipated.”

  “What’s he say?” Glitch asked, brushing past her to pull her case up the steps.

  Addie closed the door and followed. “Doesn’t look too bad.” As she spoke, a fat, icy raindrop splattered against her forehead, and she winced, hoping it wasn’t a sign of more to come. “At least Tony got the van pretty well fixed up. Batts are good.”

  Glitch shuddered, shivering as she blew warm air into her cupped hands. “I hope so, sis, I hope so.”