38.

Geraldo watched the city unfold before him as the gun ship lifted up. It was bathed in lights from hundreds of buildings, tall monoliths reaching up to the heavens themselves, each tower displaying its own brand or advertising of stunning lifelike images of the most beautiful people pushing the most luxurious wears.

“Where are we going?” Geraldo had to yell over the roar of the gunship's engines, and the sharp and rapid chopping sound of the rotors.

One of the crew handed him a headset that was hard wired into the ship. Geraldo grimaced and slipped it over his ears. The sound from the gunship became muffled.

“Where are we going?” He asked once more. “Cy-Tech is on the west side of the city.” He pointed off into the distance.

“We have a mobile HQ set up.”

“Where?”

“Upper City, near sector four.” The crewmen answered.

“That’s near the Bioloxys facility?”

“Yes, sir. Capitan Andrews wanted to be as close to the action as he could.”

Geraldo’s stomach turned at those words. Gabriela was one woman. Sure, she had given them the slip more than once, but gunships and mobile HQs close to the action seemed like overkill. “Captain Ahab’s got to get his whale.” Geraldo shook his head.

Slowly, Geraldo reached into his pocket. He touched the data spool. He could end this, all of it. All he had to do was show Andrews the tape, but he knew that it wasn't that simple. Whoever had framed Gibriela had gone to great lengths to do so, and he had no idea who or what had staged the murder of Owen Conner. The whole thing reeked of corporate involvement, and Geraldo had no idea whom he could trust.

Cy-Tech had been gunning for Tauraus for years. They were no longer content with military contracts, and wanted into the civilian sector, and bad. Geraldo knew it was possible that Cy-Tech could have framed Gabriela and murdered Conner, or it could be Taurus, or countless other corporate entities. And showing the tape would implicate Tanya in the crime.

Slowly, Geraldo let go of the tape. He needed time to think everything through, he needed to mull it over, let his gut tell him what he should do, and mostly, he needed a drink. But time was the one thing he had run out of.

The gunship landed some distance away from sector four.

“We are going the rest of the way by car. We don’t want to alert anyone with gunships.” The crewmen explained as they all braced themselves for the landing.

The gunship jerked and jolted a bit before it finally touched its landing struts to the pavement.

Armed men came running toward the aircraft. All armed and wearing combat armor with the Cy-Tech logo painted across the best plate. One of them handed Geraldo a vest.

“Need you to put this on, sir.” He shouted.

Geraldo held it out and examined it. Cy-Tech light tactical gear. A white star with ‘Cy-Tech’ plastered over it in dark lettering. Geraldo looked up from the vest “Is this necessary?”

“Captain's orders, sir.”

Geraldo grimaced and took off his raincoat, quickly slipping the vest over his shirt before he followed the men to the cars that were waiting for them in the rain.

“I can take your coat, and your terminal.” The man held his arm.

Geralso tossed the man his terminal. “I can hold on to my own coat,” he sneered.

The man caught the terminal and motioned for Geraldo to follow him.

There were four vehicles waiting for them. Geraldo could smell the exhaust of the petrol engines. These were not the electric cars that most people put around the city in. These were military grade vehicles.

The man opened the door for him and ushered him in before he took a seat next to him.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

“I need to contact Chief Wedge.” Geraldo demanded.

“Miss Wedge has already been informed of the situation.”

“And what is the situation?” Geraldo demanded.

The man said nothing. He simply motioned for the driver to drive. Geraldo braced himself from the sudden acceleration as the convoy made its way down the streets toward sector four.

The drive was quiet. None of the men in the car talked. Geraldo’s questions went unanswered, and he wondered if the officers didn’t want to answer him or couldn’t.

In the end Geraldo, cracked a window and lit up a cigarette, noting that he only had three left. He thought to himself that it was a good time to quit but laughed the thought away. He told himself that he would quit after the next pack, just like he had for years.

Their convoy finally slowed and pulled up to a mobile building that had been stationed in a parking lot.

“When did they put this here?” Geraldo asked as he looked through the window.

“Three hours ago, sir.”

“Shit, say what you will about Cy-Tech, but you boys are efficient.”

“We need to be.” A woman sitting across from him spoke up for the first time. “Cy-Tech is the leading edge of corporate warfare. The boys, and girls, need to be ready to mobilize at any moment, efficiency is our brand.”

“Funny,” Geraldo smiled and put the cigarette out on the car’s door. “I thought your brand was killing kids in Indonesia for corporate gain.”

The woman leaned forward. Her eyes locked on his. “And we did it. Efficiently,” She added.

Geraldo decided that now was as good of time as any to keep his mouth shut. These weren’t jar heads employed by a security firm. They were killers doing a job, and he had no doubt that they were good at their job.

“Capitan is waiting inside.” The first man nodded towards the command center before he got out and held the door open for Geraldo.

“Well.” Geraldo slapped his thighs. “This was fun. Thanks for the ride.”

He followed the man inside the portable building. The first thing Geraldo noted was the four net chairs that were installed, which were already occupied by net breakers suited up and strapped in.

Brian looked up from a monitor. His eyes darted around the room before he motioned for Geraldo to join him. “Where the hell have you been?” He asked in a low voice.

“Following a lead. What the fuck is going on?”

“They found Gab, and now they are getting ready for war. They got gunships, automated warbots, officers armed with exo-aromor, you fucking name it, they got it.”

“All for one woman?

“No, Geraldo. That’s the problem. Gab is in a warehouse that they claim is some sort of operation center for a Son’s cell. Something big is going down. This is way more than a security breach or a murder.”

“You know Gabriela better than anyone.” Geraldo looked back at the Cy-Tech personnel moving around the room. “Did she ever seem like some radical terrorist?”

“Fuck no,” Brian scoffed. “She’s gen perfect, just like me. We are abominations to them. It’d be like a jew working with a Nazi. Shit doesn’t make sense.”

“No,” Geraldo mumbled. “It doesn’t.”

“Welcome, Gentlemen!” Andrews shouted and clapped his hands. “You are just in time for the big show.”

Geraldo stood up. “You need to call this off, Kris.”

“Why?” The smile never left Andrew’s face.

Geraldo wanted to shout in his face that it was a setup, that Gabriela was innocent, that their framing of her and their relentless pursuit of her had driven her to the Son’s of Adam. That she wasn’t a terrorist or a murderer, but he couldn’t do it, not here. There were too many soldiers. If Andrew’s said to shoot him, there would be a line of willing employees lining up to pull the trigger.

“Have you evacuated the area yet?” Geralod’s mind groped for a good reason for the man to hold off his assault.

“No, we don’t want to give ourselves away.” Andrews’ clasped his hands behind his back and walked up the bank of screens that lined the wall of the room.

“What about the citizens caught in the crossfire?” Geraldo demanded.

“We have classified everyone in the area as enemy combatants.” He assured them.

“You know this for a fact?” Brian asked.

Andrews laughed a little. “Of course not, but there is no way of avoiding collateral damage. Doing it this way keeps both of our companies' hands clean, and less work for the public relations department. Those kids hate overtime.”

“This is insane.” Geraldo snapped.

“This is business, Detective. Your colleague understands that. That’s why he is here, to oversee Taurus's corporate interests.”

Geraldo shot Brian a look.

“They are going to do this with our without us, Geraldo. At least this way we get some of the credit.”

“You mean you get some of the credit.” Geraldo hissed and slammed his hand down on the desk. “I always knew you were a snake, Brian. But to go so far as throwing your friend under the bus.”

“She threw herself under the bus,” Brian shot back. “You said it yourself. She either broke into Taurus or murdered Owen Conner. She couldn’t have done both.”

“Right, and I can prove she didn’t murder anyone. I just need time.”

“You had your time, Geraldo.” Andrews interrupted. “Now it's our time.”

“Hundreds of people are going to die , if not more, if you do this.” Geraldo stormed up to Andrews. The sound of weapons being cocked caused him to slow to a stop. Every weapon was pointed at him.

“It’s the price of business, Detective.” Andrews’ smile dropped from his face. “No one is going to miss a few hundred crips.”