Luna dragged the pair into the room. Sirisena, the gang boss, went to his knees when she stomped on the back of his calf, driving him down, and the chemist staggered toward the others, heading to the corner at her shove.

I smiled down at the fucker on the floor, all friendly-like, as I nodded to the armory door.

“Open it,” I ordered.

He glared at me, before spitting on the floor.

“What’s to stop you shooting me then?”

“I only kill when I’ve been paid to,” I said. “I had a job to recover your chemists, and that one.” I nodded to the one who was moving to the others, joining them in the corner.

“So you’ve—” he started to say, and I lifted my hand cannon, the comforting weight of the hurricane revolver sitting nicely in my hand as I leveled it at his crotch.

“You’ll live so long as you’re useful,” I explained. “Those guns and that gear? Useful. Your crotch? Not useful to me. One.”

“But I—”

“Two…” I aimed and sent a mental order to my RI to record this, just in case I needed it for Lucky. “Th—”

“Okay!” he snarled, as the armory door clicked, unlocking with a hiss.

“Good boy!” I grabbed him by the back of the left shoulder, the barrel of the revolver jammed into the rear of his skull. “Now, let’s go have a look, and see what we have, shall we?”

“I’ll find you after this,” he assured me in a low voice. “You fucking little shit, I’ll find you and I’ll…”

I jabbed the gun in hard to the back of his head.

“You know, I’ve got to wonder,” I said thoughtfully. “You think you’ve suddenly got a chance of surviving, and you immediately start threatening me with the consequences of letting you do so. Is it suicide, or death by gobshite that I should put this down to?”

“Gobshite?”

“Yeah, army term,” I explained, watching him carefully, waiting for the move I was sure was coming. “It means to run your mouth uncontrollably and fucking stupidly.”

He didn’t wait long. As soon as my hand left his left shoulder, he darted forward, reaching for the armory door with his right, even as he swung his left up and around, hoping to slap the gun off its aim.

It ended badly, because I’d released him to grab my vibro-blade, and the arm that went for my gun met it in midair, shearing through it nicely.

He laid his hand on the edge of the armory door as the pain hit and he started to scream. That was when I shot him in the back of the right leg, sending him crashing to the floor.

Being the trusting person I am, I stepped to the left of the door, so I was behind it as it opened, and he in front of it, and I made sure there was nobody else in the line of fire.

The boom of a directional fragmentation grenade was loud and permanently ruined his face, as well as keeping him interested for the rest of his life. I winced, the door suddenly covered in dozens of pockmarks and ripples, and I hesitated a few seconds, before opening the door fully, and risking a glance inside.

“Holy mother of Sam, son of Jack!” I cursed, invoking the patron saint of mercenaries as I stared at the racks of high-quality weaponry, nestled undamaged and comfortable behind the directional booby trap. Sure, they weren’t insanely expensive, but they were good, solid weapons: A handgun with what looked like pearl-encrusted grips. Grenades by the box. Ammo on racks. Rifles with a dozen mods—yeah, they looked fucking stupid, there was that much aftermarket work done—as well as gold chasing added to it, probably reducing the actual usability of the rifle. But still!

“Yeah, we’re having these,” I declared to Reign, who darted in and started looting as the far door opened.

This time, it was Gessh leading the transport cases, and grinning at me as she came.

“Anything good in there?” I asked, and she shrugged.

“Fuckload of drugs, some equipment to make more, but I dumped it on the floor, and filled it with the guns from out there.”

“Nice,” I agreed, grinning.

“What…what do we do?” a call came from the corner, and I looked over, seeing one chemist standing hesitantly. “Do we owe you for our freedom or…”

I hesitated, then cursed, and shook my head. “You’re not free,” I said between clenched teeth. “Not yet, anyway. For now, you work for Lucky.”

“You’re Lucky?” the speaker questioned, and I snorted.

“I’m feeling insanely lucky right now, but no. Lucky will be on his way.” I turned to the girls. “You all okay?”

“Not really.” Gessh grunted, indicating her side. “You?”

“Same,” I admitted, glancing at my fucked-up left side. The nanites had stopped the pain and sealed the leak in my lung. They’d also started to form a bridge of bone to cover the fucked-up clavicle. But that’d not last long and although nanites could replace the bone, they weren’t magic.

There’d be fragments left over—there’d be issues. No, I needed a decent doc, or better yet, a chop shop. We had shit we needed to sell anyway, and our only chance against Stinger was if we were loaded for bear and on the ball.

Add to that, I was certain that Lion had inserted a tracker into me. If he’d done that, it was fifty-fifty that he’d rammed in an explosive charge as well. And if that was there? I needed it out.

Best person to remove it was the man who’d put it in, and I had the girls to watch over him as he worked this time.

“Okay, load up, and get ready. We leave as soon as you’re done.”

Reign grinned like a lunatic, grabbing more shit and dumping it into the transport crate.

I pulled up the comm log and started the call as I regarded the fucker, speaking quickly before the link connected. “And get us a cab that can take the crate!” I ordered Reign, who paused, then nodded.

“Kabutt,” Lucky greeted me a few seconds later, and I forced a smile.

“Lucky,” I replied. “The floor is yours.”

“The floor?” He sat up and stared at me.

“We took the entire floor—the security station and labs and so on. I think about ninety percent of their troops are dead, and all four chemists are standing ready to do a deal with you.”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“A deal?” He scoffed. “They’re mine. There’s no deal to be had here…”

“They’re people, Lucky,” I said coldly. “Not slaves, not—”

“Your job was to take them. Now they’re mine,” he snapped back. “They’re what I tell them they are.”

“Okay, let me save you some time, Lucky.” I forced another smile. “They’re employees, not slaves. You treat them as slaves? That makes you a slaver scumbag. I spent ten years in the wilds judging and killing slavers. You don’t want to end up on that fucking list, do you, partner?”

“I think you and me are gonna have a little talk about our ‘partnership’ real soon, boy,” he hissed, and I nodded.

“Yeah, I think after the jobs are done, we are. For now, though? We’re going to rearm and grab some new gear, then we’ll be back for Stinger.”

“Don’t forget him,” he agreed with a final smile, before cutting the connection.

I stared at the End Call symbol, knowing, just fucking knowing what was to come, and that in giving him time to prepare, we were making a mistake.

The truth was, though, if we didn’t get fixed up, and especially get that bomb out—if I wasn’t just being a paranoid fucker—I’d definitely be dead in an hour, one way or another.

“Boss?” Reign asked, and I jumped, having been miles away. “You all right?” she asked, noting my grimace as my wounds made their presence known.

“Nope,” I admitted. “You got that cab sorted?”

“Aircab.” She grinned and gestured upward. “It’ll land on the roof, figured it was closer, and that way it can fit the case. It’s more expensive, though, and I’m broke now.”

“I’ll sort it.” I glanced at my bank balance and shook my head in momentary disbelief.

“Let’s go,” Luna said, and I nodded, looking over the battered team before me.

“We’re headed to get fixed up, then replace any gear we need, and the hit,” I explained. “Once we’re alone, we can talk.”

“Johnny Air-Cab?” Gessh asked hopefully, and I glanced at Reign, who hesitated.

“I can if you want, but it’s a hundred creds more, and…”

“Do it,” I said.

Gessh nodded to the pile of unlocked cred-chips in the case.

“I used their thumbs,” she admitted. “Transferred them all.”

A second later, a new knock went through, and we were all four thousand and change richer from her.

“Thank you.” I smiled, then nodded to the door. “Let’s get moving.”

The trip up to the roof wasn’t long, and the four of us, even wounded as we were, enjoyed staring out the window as more and more of the city became clear.

It wasn’t the first time I’d been up so high. Hell, I’d done it a load of times. I’d walked the wall on occasion in training with the army, and I’d been on helos aplenty, passing up and over the city.

It just wasn’t normal, though.

We weren’t meant to be so high in the sky, no matter what those batshit bastard flyboys claimed, and as I stared out over the city, watching the ground vanish so far below, I gritted my teeth.

The lift farted again, and we slowed to a gentle stop. The doors opened after a second round of beeps sounded, and we all had to approve the warning that was sent to us.

Please be aware, Dayocare Corporation accepts no responsibility for lives lost from this, or any other platform within any of Dayocare’s arcologies. Due to a recent increase in the loss of lives from this location, please confirm that you accept that Dayocare is not responsible for your safety, and that you accept full responsibility.

We all accepted and affixed our idents to the warning, and the slow opening doors suddenly jerked as the wind up here yanked at them.

The wind that whistled around the upper floor was insane, and we all grabbed the transport crate as it drifted, having to fight with it to cross the short distance to the central landing field.

The roof was a massive square, tapering inward to the central landing area, with four lifts spaced around the outside edges, and ornamental walkways that led from the center to them.

There were also nice benches and more around the outside, proving once and for all that no amount of AI assistance could overcome good old human stupidity. The arcology rooftop was two and a half kilometers up, or thereabouts, meaning that the wind was fucking constant on a normal day.

Add in the storm that was currently soaking the city?

The fucking planters that made up the lines of the walkways had ornamental hedges and shit in them once upon a time, and despite the sheer stupidity of that, when they’d been building this place, they’d been able to feel the damn winds, and they’d still put them in.

Madness.

The route we ran to the cab was short, and the winds blew all four of us left and right as we got to it. As soon as the storage area had accepted the crate and sealed again, we all piled inside, dripping wet and stunned by the ferocity of the world up so high.

I stared out the window, all four of us dismissing the “fouling charge” warning we received, all of us bleeding as we were. I confirmed the destination, as well as calling ahead to Lion, warning him we were coming and to be ready.

As we arced around, most of the special features of the Johnny Air-Cab—the massage seats and so on—were all ignored in favor of the privacy field as we talked quickly, knowing that, for now at least, we were safe from eavesdroppers.

“What now?” Luna asked, and I smiled.

“We’ve got options,” I said. “I got the gang boss to transfer me his creds and—”

“Did you claim the bounty?” Reign asked, and I paused.

“Fuck, I forgot all about that!” I snarled to myself.

“Idiot,” she growled, shaking her head. “I’ve found him. Give me a minute, and…There! Accept the invite and attach your ident at the bottom.”

I paused, a knock on my Keystone letting me know what she’d done. I moved quickly, affixing my ident and approving the short declaration that was outlined, confirming that the four of us were claiming the kill equally, and splitting the bounty.

“Another thousand, two-fifty, nice!” I nodded my thanks to Reign, as she grinned.

“Now what were you saying?” she asked.

“I got the asshole to transfer his creds,” I repeated. “A hundred and fifty-seven thousand and eleven creds.”

“Holy shit!”

That was the consensus around the cab, and I pulled my helmet off, nodding as I looked at them all.

“Exactly. That gives us two choices,” I explained, setting up the split between us all and hesitating before transferring it, seeing the looks on the faces of Luna and Gessh, and the sudden concern on Reign’s.

“First of all, with your situation, Reign…” I paused, then pulled out a credit-chip, holding it up. “Do you want me to put it on the chip, so that they can’t claim their cut, or do the transfer?”

The relief on her face was touching, as well as slightly concerning. She’d clearly thought we were about to rip her off.

“I’ll take the transfer.” She smiled sadly. “If I use a cred-chip? It alerts the corpo anyway, but thank you.”

I nodded and transferred the money over to each of them, splitting it equally, seeing the way she relaxed marginally once it was in her account.

“Right,” I started again. “So we’ve got two choices. First, we all need fixing up. That’s something any chop shop can do, but Lion seems reasonably trustworthy, for all he’s in Lucky’s pocket.”

“So we get fixed up here?” Luna asked, and I nodded.

“Gods, we need it.” Gessh lifted a hand away from her side and a trickle of fresh blood leaked free.

“You need a medikit?” I asked, and she forced a smile, shaking her head.

“Used one. Not using another. Not when I need some work doing anyway.”

“Fair enough,” I said softly, looking her over. “Seriously, though, if you need one, just say.”

“Options?” Reign reminded me.

“Yes, fuck’s sake, sorry.” I grunted. “Okay, I’m pretty sure that Lion put a tracker and maybe a bomb in me the last time I visited, and—”

“And this is the guy you think we should visit?” Luna shook her head. “Fuck’s sake, Kabutt, you’ve got some weird friends.”

“Yeah, well, he didn’t try to kill me outright.” I shrugged. “Believe me, that’s rare enough I’m giving him extra points. He gave me a note, warning me about the tracker. He didn’t need to do that. I think he only installed it because Lucky sent some gangers to make sure he did. We’re going to get him to take it out, as well as fix any issues. Once he’s done that? We’re off, and we need to decide where we go.”

“What’s the options?” Luna asked, and I shot her a glare.

“Stop fucking interrupting and I’ll damn well tell you, fuck’s sake,” I groused, ignoring the smile on her face. “Right, I’m going to send Bowdoin half of the fee now. That gets us the location, I hope, and the rest on completion of the job. But regardless, we don’t need that bounty now, so…”

“I still want it,” Reign said. The other two nodded quickly.

“You sure?” I asked. “I mean, we can do the bounty another time. We’re almost certain to be hit as soon as we complete it, so that we can’t claim the payout.”

“I need the fucking money,” Reign said. “If you guys don’t want to risk it, I do, still. Even alone.”

“I need it as well,” I admitted, and as I looked around the group, I saw the others were in, too.

“Okay, so we still do it. The only point is, do we do it now? I mean, we could tell Lucky that the deal’s off, do it tomorrow or another day, give him the chance to be elsewhere, and maybe we don’t get stabbed in the back.”

“Call Bowdoin,” Gessh suggested after a few seconds’ thought. “If he’s not ready yet, and we’ve got time? Honestly, I say do it—hit the fuckers and hit them hard. Claim the bounty. He’ll think you’re rigged to blow, and when he tries it? It’ll end badly for him.”

“Or someone else, depending on where the bomb is…” I grunted, then nodded. “Fine, I’ll call Bowdoin. Might as well sit back and relax. We’re nearly there.” I turned away and looked out to the window as I put the call through, hoping the flakey fucking hacker answered.