Kaleb dove through piles of scrapped circuit boards, half-broken sets of tools, and random bits of garbage and metal. He found many interesting types of metal and a few repairable circuit boards, but no weapons. He glanced over at Roy who seemed to have the same luck that Kaleb had while Daivor had disappeared once Kaleb set him down.

After a few minutes of searching through the same pile Kaleb and Roy split up and headed deeper into the massive garbage site. Kaleb kept an eye trained upward on the giant metal portal that occasionally opened and dumped more garbage. Whatever was pulling the larger pieces of equipment made sure he wasn’t hit with any large debris, but he didn’t want to take any chances.

As he made his way toward another pile Kaleb heard a low humming noise from over his shoulder. The noise sounded similar to the hum the garbage truck repulsors made. Turning to find the source of the noise, Kaleb almost burst into laughter. Daivor was hovering in mid-air, seated on what Kaleb could only describe as a metal chariot. The Gnome had taken a repulsor and somehow rigged up a mini-control console to it.

The repulsor Daivor had used sputtered and his hovering chariot dipped a little as he flew closer. Daivor frantically pulled miniature levers and knobs before the chariot seemed to right itself.

“Power distribution on this thing is shit. I will have to rewire the thing when we get home.” Daivor said as he floated close.

“Nice find.” Kaleb said around a grin.

“I can’t have you escorting me around the workshop all the time. What happens if I have an idea in the middle of the night? Plus, if I can divert enough power from the repulsor and find a barrel I can teach the rats in the lab a lesson they won’t soon forget.”

Kaleb smiled and laughed before he remembered Dr. Kane. Trying to keep a straight face he asked.

“There are rats in the lab?”

“A few, and now I think about it, I have seen none since my first day in the garage.” Daivor said as the power draw on his chariot lapsed again.

Kaleb thought about Daivor’s words. If he was assuming correctly, Dr. Rafelos Kane had his lab under surveillance. Or at least he had his rats watching the lab, but then why would they back off? Kaleb glanced at his Gnome, who was rerouting power in his hovering chariot. The Gnome could probably easily deal with the rats, so did Dr. Kane know about the Gnome and call off his pet rats? Or was Kaleb being paranoid?

“Let me know if you see anymore rats around the garage.” Kaleb said seriously.

Daivor got his chariot under control and nodded at Kaleb’s words. “Sure thing, boss.”

“Find anything interesting?” Kaleb asked shaking off his paranoia and smiling at his companion.

“Yeah, I did actually. Two mounds that way.” Daivor said pointing and squinting suspiciously at Kaleb’s sudden change in mood.

As they walked, Kaleb filled the Gnome in on his suspicions. Kaleb stepped around several pieces of assembly line armatures as he described his misadventures with the Deckart family in the underground tunnels. Daivor floated along, listening quietly until they arrived at the location he had indicated.

“It’s right here, boss. And if you are that worried about little furry spies then we can both ward up the garage. Matter of fact you should also ward the hell out of your home. You never can be too careful, break-ins happen.”

“Ahem, yeah… uh they do.” Kaleb agreed awkwardly before he changed the subject. “So what’s…”

Kaleb words caught in his throat as he looked down at the small mound of metal Daivor had led them to. There were several incomplete and broken cybernetic arms piled up in front of him. He briefly wondered why they were all in one spot before he one arm distracted him. It was missing its hand, but otherwise the arm was in good shape. It was also comprised almost completely of Synth-Muscle which, from his online browsing, Kaleb knew meant that it was a high-end cybernetic arm.

The electronics in Synth-Muscles allowed for faster response times and the fabricated corded muscles could make him five to ten times stronger. Kaleb fell to his knees and looked over the matte black arm. The corded Synth-Muscle was loose and cut in some areas and something froze the joint at the elbow. But the biggest problem came when Kaleb inspected the socket at the shoulder. The arm used a square multi-lock joint, which was a far cry from Kaleb’s circular ball and socket joint.

“Damn.” Kaleb swore as he looked around at the other arms.

“What’s up?” Daivor asked. The Gnome had landed his chariot and was working on its console.

Kaleb shook his head. “This is a great arm, but I would have to convert the joint and probably replace some of this Synth-Muscle.”

Daivor nodded as he looked up from his work. “That’s assuming the pointy-eared fellow will let you keep the arm.”

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Kaleb nodded absently as he looked over the arms. A few were like his, low-end models that were missing various gears or wiring. There were a couple that looked alien and human that frankly gave Kaleb the heebie-jeebies. All the arms were missing hands or other important internals. Kaleb sighed.

He could use these arms, but Daivor was right. There was no guarantee that Blutschläger would let him keep any of the arms. Maybe he could get one of the lower-end ones, but he would have to repair blaster pistols and other tech for months before he did enough work to earn the Synth-Muscle arm.

“Something to look for when we come back ourselves.” Kaleb said in a low tone to Daivor.

“Come back?” the Gnome asked.

Kaleb tapped his headband and gathered a few of the low-end arms. Daivor stared at Kaleb curiously for a few seconds before he seemed to catch on. Kaleb picked up the arms and a few more bits before he headed back to the garbage truck. As he approached, he saw that Roy leaned up against the truck, waiting.

“Hey Doc. Good haul?” Roy asked as Kaleb dumped the metal arms into the back of the truck.

“I did okay. You?”

Roy nodded absently as he stared off into the distance. “Fine.” He said distractedly. The young Nova fidgeted for a few seconds before he continued. “Hey, Doc. Didn’t that guy say we only had a few minutes?”

Kaleb nodded as he scanned the area for their driver.

“And I haven’t seen the other two Quinica who rode on the back of the truck.” Roy continued.

Kaleb turned to his assistant, a question clear on his face. Roy shuffled on his feet and jerked his head to the right.

“And I swear I heard voices off that way a few moments ago.”

Kaleb twisted his head curiously before he pointed the direction Roy had nodded too. When Roy confirmed that was the correct way, Kaleb put a metal finger to his lips and moved off to the right. Roy began to follow but Kaleb silently indicated for his assistant and Daivor to wait with the truck. Neither looked too pleased with the idea but the both nodded their heads reluctantly.

Kaleb maneuvered around several mounds of metal junk as he listened for voices. His attempts were offset by the sounds of trash being dumped and the occasional mound of junk shifting. But as he walked, he made out what sounded like a female’s voice. Kaleb crouched and slowly made his way closer, listening as the voice grew louder and clearer.

“All scavengers must pay to enter any K-Tech dumping site. Then they are only allowed access to the non-lethal areas only.” said a gruff female voice off to Kaleb’s left.

“We pay.” responded a voice Kaleb was sure was their driver.

Kaleb shifted around a few more piles before he got a clear view on the situation. Six people were standing in a small clearing. A tall and muscular woman with feline features and two more men in combat uniforms had cornered the three Quinica. The woman didn’t have any weapons, but the men held rifles with the barrels pointed down. Kaleb thought he saw the cat-lady’s black ears and tail twitch before she spoke again.

“We have no records of your party paying for or entering this dump site at all. Which means you are here illegally and that we, as K-Tech security, are within our rights to shoot you.”

Kaleb could see the other Quinica tense as the driver put his hands up soothingly. Kaleb was behind a mound of junk staring at the situation from the side. He could see the hands of the security goons tightening around their rifles and he was sure the cat lady was grinning.

“No trouble. We make right.” Said their driver as he pulled a credit stick from his front pocket.

Kaleb was sure he saw the woman’s grin grow wider, and he felt a shiver run down his spine. Kaleb wasn’t sure why but he was sure he didn’t want to mess with the muscular cat-woman. He was also sure the lady wasn’t the type to take a bribe. The Quinica were in for a world of hurt if he didn’t do something. He needed a distraction.

He began quietly digging through the nearby junk pile as he heard the lady snicker.

“Bribing a security officers is also grounds for arrest. I suggest you fine gentlemen come with us. We will charge you with trespassing and attempted bribery.” Said the female feline.

Kaleb glanced around the junk mound again as his hands continued sifting through the junk. The three Quinica men were standing tensed and ready to fight their way out. Meanwhile, the security team had their weapons trained and ready to fire. Both sides seemed ready and willing to make a fight of things.

Kaleb looked down at his small collection of junk. He had a few wires, three repulsors, a few bits of metal, and several broken circuit boards. Kaleb wracked his brain for something when a sudden thought flashed through his brain. Repulsors create a large flash when they explode. How do I know that? Kaleb thought idly as he tied the three repulsors together with wire. He peeked around the junk mound again to check the situation.

The Quinica were still cornered but now they were bearing their fangs and hissing menacingly. The Cat-lady was barking orders while her men were shouting for the Quinica to surrender. Kaleb sighed as he drew his Sun Gun and set it to maximum. Bouncing the tied together repulsors in his hand once, Kaleb set his feet and threw. He aimed for the middle of standoff, his aim was slightly off the mark curving just behind the cat lady.

Kaleb exhaled and shouted. “Run!” as he fired at the falling repulsors.

His first shot missed but the second one hit and the repulsors exploded right behind the cat-lady in a bright flash of white light. Kaleb felt a whoosh of air and turned to see the three Quinica blurring as they ran through the garbage mounds. Kaleb followed as he heard an angry yowl come from behind him. He wasn’t nearly as fast as the Quinica but he kept them in sight as he followed behind.

They ran through the maze of garbage, making their way back to the truck. Kaleb saw the Quinica ahead of him turn to check on him. Kaleb kept running and gave a silent wave as he hopped over some random piece of equipment. Suddenly there was a loud growl, a flash of black, and the Quinica male who had turned to check on him was gone.

Shit! Kaleb mentally swore as he pivoted around a garbage mound and continued toward the garbage truck. The cat-lady had come from nowhere and pounced on the poor man, he didn’t even have time to scream. Kaleb swallowed as he turned another corner and the garbage truck came into view. Kaleb could see Daivor and Roy shouting at their driver as the Quinica got into the cab and started the truck.

“Get in the truck! Get in the truck!! Get in the truck!!!” Kaleb shouted as he got closer and slid around to the passenger side door.

He heard and felt Daivor and Roy follow him as the truck pulled away. Kaleb looked at the passenger side mirror to see the other Quinica male hanging off the side of the truck, looking relieved. The hover truck took to the air and Kaleb watched as the cat-lady suddenly appeared beside and plucked the poor man off his perch. There was a brief struggle before the cat-lady had the man pinned beneath her foot.

“Who the fuck was that?!” Roy asked as he began to stick his head out the window and look back.

“Don’t!” Kaleb yelled as he reached for his assistant and drug him back into the cab.

He wasn’t sure if the security team had any cameras in the junk yard but he would not let the crazy cat-lady identify Roy. Kaleb figured she had already seen him, but deemed him less of a threat than the Quinica. That’s why she had picked them off first. Kaleb was probably just another down-on-his-luck lizard from Under-Town.

As Kaleb exhaled loudly, he heard a quiet chuckle coming from their driver.

“Hehe. We do good this time out. We only lose 2.”

Kaleb gave the driver a strained smile as he thought of all the swear words he would share with Herr Blutschläger.