CHAPTER SEVEN—OD-103-L9

The orange-yellow hues on the horizon were beginning to purple as Kyle and John flew to the place in question where they were to do their stakeout.

“Here we are,” John said. “Outer District 103, Landfill Nine.”

“It’s gonna reek down there.”

“Actually,” Lexa said cheerfully, “this particular landfill is for non-biodegradables.”

“Something, I guess.”

John glanced out of the left side driver’s viewport. “I can’t believe we’re taking the Corvo,” he said, glancing down at the scrap heaps that climbed like steep mountains.

The landfill stretched far, various towers and lights and cranes spread throughout. But now the place was relatively dark now that they had arrived after hours.

“Have to do things with style, John—otherwise you got no class.”

“You know, hunting killers in landfills doesn’t strike me as too ‘classy.’”

“Exactly!” Kyle said. “We don’t belong here. This is just a quick stop before we mess up Strogaus.”

He sure is pushing for that.

But without proper planning and intel, the chances that they got killed, or worse, caught, were much higher. It was up to John to be the duo’s voice of reason—and sometimes—constraint.

“That spot looks good,” John said, pointing to the landing pad.

“Yeah.”

It was a raised platform high above the ground level where sky-cars and transports could land. It was connected with the administrative buildings which were mostly dark.

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“Could be security guards though,” John added as he went in for the landing.

“Then we take ‘em out.”

“That would be unwise,” Lexa said. “It would be best to attract as little attention as possible so that our current objective isn’t interfered with in any way.”

“Our objective?” Kyle asked. “Since when did you become part of the group?”

John shrugged as they landed, the engines coming to a stop. “She is the holo-babe sidekick, right?”

Kyle scoffed. “Sure.”

They stepped out into the warm night air. In the distance a siren lashed out as the cops chased somebody through the city. Off in the distance the bright neon cityscape of Life City could be seen.

There was a strange dichotomy, John noticed between the noisy hustle and bustle of Life City and a quiet landfill like this. The city’s bright neon attractions conveyed a sense of noisiness off in the distance, and though beautiful from here, made the landfill seem… almost peaceful.

John sighed with a smile.

“What are you so happy about?” Kyle asked as he flipped open the back of the Corvo to get at their gear. “You like running around rust heaps hunting for killers?”

“Maybe,” John said.

“It’s just nice to get out into the quiet.”

Kyle shrugged, glanced about the landfill, then put his attention on the contents in the trunk. He got the Oma Repeater out and slung it on his back.

John noticed the UABs. “You brought those?”

“Yeah,” Kyle said. “Did you see this place?” he asked, gesturing. “We might need to jump around.”

“It’s overkill.”

“You know my thoughts on this matter,” Lexa said. “Bigger is better.”

“That’s a commercial I know I’ve seen recently,” Kyle quipped as he brought out the UABs.

“What is this?” John asked.

“That’s mine,” Kyle said, taking the pizza box. “What, I told you I was gonna bring pizza, man.”

“You’re going to share right?”

“Maybe.”

They closed the trunk. John patted his side, feeling for his massively oversized pistol hidden in his jacket. Something told him he wasn’t going to need a rail gun in this place.

While Kyle strapped the Utility Augmenter Boots onto his feet, John lifted his coat sleeve and brought up a satellite view of the landfill on his wristlet. The holo-display showed various points of interest that he had previously marked.

“Okay,” he said musingly. “Not going to fly the Corvo all over the place, so we’re going to have to walk to spot where we need to place the sensors and cameras.

“All right,” Kyle said as he stamped about, clearly getting a feel for the Utility Augmenter Boots. “I can’t wait to shoot this freak.”

John chuckled. “Save something for me to shoot. Let’s head down this way.” He nodded and pointed a finger. “There’s some stairs.”

Kyle slung the repeater on his back to his front. “After you.”