The sound of helicopter was loud, but not loud enough to drown out the sound of my pounding heart. Clara has gone on for a few minutes about our new client. I wasn't listening.

  "Mark?" She shook me out of it.

  "Did they hit your neural port or something, what's the problem?" She seemed sincere.

  "Nah, I'm good. Where is this dude at?" I tried to sound more convincing.

  "He's in the red light district." She tapped away at her keyboard. "He must own a club there or something." As much shit as I gave her she was pretty thorough at her job, which made her mistake more worrying.

  "I've already narrowed down some potential identities, but I can assume he's using a bunch of aliases."

  "Are you worried Clara?" I took a final drag of my cigarette and snuffed it out. "A Client with no face, no skin in the game."

  "Why do you think I'm doing this." She gestured at the laptop.

  "Right, but it makes me think he's throwing us into the deep end with no intel, on purpose."

  "My goal is to find out the purpose, but we have to play along for now."

  "We're at the drop point." The pilot said over the netlink.

  "It's showtime." I grabbed my jacket and slung it over my shoulders.

  The door slid open to reveal a well guarded rooftop.

  "Greetings! Ahab will be meeting you in the sub basement." The voice came from a women adorned in dermal chrome. She was probably an assistant trained by the Atmos corporation. "Please leave all weapons and side arms with the gentleman on your left."

  I stepped off the chopper and noticed a large man to my left. He must have been six foot eight. Military hair cut with a large build, man could put up a fight without any enhancements to say the least.

  "Weapons." He spoke in a stilted tone.

  "Damn, you're a big dude." I grab my pistol and handed it over.

  Clara dropped down from the chopper.

  "Right inside please!"

  The guards looked at us intensely, watching our every move. It felt like I was carrying a bomb.

  'Probably a bunch of corporation psycho bootlickers.' I thought.

  "We gonna meet the big man today or what?" The question seemed to make the air more tense.

  "I'm gonna take that as a no?" Their silence spoke volumes.

  "Fine, be like that." I continued to the elevator door.

  "At least this time it works Clara." She shot a disappointed glance at me.

  "Oh, right serious time."

  "Mark shut up." She whispered. "Stop asking questions and just be composed for once."

  "I am very composed, I think these guys are the weird ones." I gestured to the man guarding the elevator door. "We work with their boss so why do I feel like a war prisoner."

  "Sir please enter the elevator."

  I froze.

  "How about, I get my revolver back after all." I plucked another cigarette from my pocket and lit it.

  The elevator chimed

  I swung on the closest guard.

  Slammed my metal fist into his jaw, sending him to the ground.

  "Wow after all the trouble, you are making me regret our first meeting," A strange voice yet familiar cadence came from within the elevator.

  The guards already had their weapons drawn before the guard hit the ground.

  I met the gaze of the new person and my jaw dropped.

  He was a small man, no more than 5 feet tall. He was old too. He wore a slick black suit and tie and his head was shaven. His presence, in contrast to his stature, was that of a powerful man. I'm sure everyone always turned their head when he entered a room, only natural for a kingpin of the New Salem underground.

  "Not what you were expecting, aye?" He chuckled. "Don't worry I'm used to it, my name's Ahab." He paused for a second to look us over. "Well it's Ahab for now."

  Clara stabbed me in the back with her gaze. "I'm sorry sir—"

  He held his hand up to quiet me. "Not sir, my name is Ahab."

  I regained my composure and grinned. "Nice to meet you—"

  "I'm sure she figured that out already, so lets get down to business." He held his palm out. "Where is the chip?"

  "Where's the creds." Someone was always trying to rip someone off in this line of work. It pays to be cautious.

  "Give him his gun." The air froze when he said it. He showed his face and is allowing me to be armed during our first meeting. He was either really dumb or crazy.

  The biggest guard handed me my revolver as I flashed a shit-eating grin at him. "Thanks big guy, and uh—" I look down at the guard I just hit, blood dripped from his lip. "Sorry about that, I get a little antsy walking around without my gun."

  Ahab chuckled. "It's quite alright, I know how it is in this city." He looked me up and down. "Never know when someone will get the drop on yah."

  The guard got up. He would have probably loved to clock me right then, judging by the look he gave me. It was like Staring down a wounded bear.

  "Let's head inside to talk business kid." The old man opened the elevator and gestured at me to walk inside.

  Clara and I stepped into the elevator and watched the door close.