-1-
Belle lays her head against the table and her lips twist into a devilish smile. She picks up her martini glass and clinks it into my water glass.
“Deal,” she smiles.
2 million would be a significant blow to Rayne's finances, but that was her price to turn on the Mjollner. For an extra five mil she’d try get three others to join. We were on our own for the rest, but it was still good enough for us to get a shot at the Rektor.
“The next Board meeting is next week,” she says. “Do you really think that’s enough time to plan the Rektor’s assassination.”
She mouths the word assassination—we were in a Mjollner casino after all.
“It’s not an assassination,” I tell her. “We’re not killing anyone. Just getting answers.”
“What about the Cavalcotti Riders ?,” she asks. “I used to fuck with one. They are brutal--”
“They’re not my problem--
“Except that you killed three of them--”
“I didn’t know,” I tell her. “Besides as far as they know it was some Mjollner Street Samauri. Once this is over I’m getting these blades out and getting the hell out of here.”
“Aren’t you going to kind of miss this ?,” Belle asks, looking around at the casino. We were sitting in a private 18th story balcony overlooking the casino floor, a concierge bartender had been bringing us our drinks all night.
I shrugged. None of this had ever felt real or mine. I was just playing a part like I always did. Growing up around someone like my dad who craved opulence and power had made me bored with it.
“What are you going to do when it’s over ?,” Belle asks me.
“I don’t know,” I tell her. “ A part of me kind of hopes Rayne will give me a payout and cut me loose. Maybe I’ll go out on my own for a while.”
“Well, in that case you should keep the hacks,” she tells me. “I mean, they’re pretty badass.”
“I can’t,” I said. “They freak me out,”
“Look, Alan I don’t know your whole deal, but I know you’re not from around here--,”
“Is it still that obvious ?,”
“--- and you need people in a place like this. In times like these,” she continues
I nod absently.
We finish off the night in silence, her downing three martinis and me nursing a shot of vodka. When I can see the sun coming up through the massive skylight I leave her and go straight to Dr. Markov’s to escort him to the lab for the day.
-2-
When I arrive at his penthouse door he gets in the car without a word to me. He is too busy rapidly responding to messages on his Syndicate.
“I expect completion of M44 testing today,” Dr. Markov smiles as he opens the lab doors with his fingerprint.
I notice a new preservation tank is waiting in the corner of the room. Dr. Markov hurriedly walks toward it and peers into the top to observe the body before striding to the safe where he keeps the M44 samples.
“6 months of development is about to come down to this,” he tells me.
“Congrats,” I deadpan.
Filling a small syringe with the sample Dr. Markov injects one of the preservation tank’s IV tubes with M44. I look at the monitor screen connected to the tube; there are no signs of stimulation.
“1 cc of M44. No response,” He says into his recorder.
“It doesn’t work ?,” I question
“Not at all,” he says quickly. “It just means the active dose should be larger.”
He inclines his head slightly before injecting the IV line again. Suddenly I hear the person in the tank splashing around in the preservation liquid. The computer hooked up to the tank starts flashing as readouts scrawl across the screen showing abnormal brain function and rabid heartbeat.
“4 ccs,” Dr. Markov says into his recorder. “Specimen is experiencing high pleasure. Brain is still alert and blood pressure is low. Will move on to next dosage.”
A labored moan comes from the tank and my heart stops.
It’s familiar.
I cross the lab just as Dr. Markov inserts the third injection into the IV line. I look down into the tank to see Sage, her small body protruding with catheters and IV lines as she convulses against the sides of tank.
“NO!,” I shout, shoving Dr. Markov away from her. “Get away from her.”
Dr. Markov stumbles and falls to the ground. He stares at me in disbelief and I can see his hand going for his Syndicate. Before he can get to it I snatch it and put it into by pocket.
“You need to stand down,” Dr. Markov tells me firmly. “You are interfering with important Mjollner business.”
Ignoring him, I unlock the tank and carefully pull the lines out of her body. Sage is still in the M44 high and her eyes are dilated so large I can barely see any white. She’s moaning incoherently and thrashing in the liquid of the tank, splashing my face and clothes in the brackish preservation liquid.
“You really should leave her in there,” Dr. Markov warns me.
I ignore him as I lift her out of the tank. Her wet body is slippery in my hands and I cradle her in my arms as carefully as I can without the blades getting in the way. She’s naked and the words TRAITOR have been etched across her chest.
“What happened?,” I ask her.
According to the display screen on the preservation tank she’d only been in the preservation tank for six hours. Which means whatever she did to do this she’d done recently.
Sage moves her lips and the milky white preservation liquid spills from her mouth in gurgles. She pants like she wants to talk but can’t catch her breath.
“Sage, you have to tell me,” I say.
“She’s been leaking her client list,” Dr. Markov says from behind me. “I’m sorry if you enjoyed her company in the past but she betrayed the Mjollner. You can’t trust these new young whores--
“You’re a fucking monster,” I tell him. “Were you really so enthusiastic to experiment on a girl ?”
“This is a better punishment than most,” Dr. Markov says. “M44 is giving her the most present high possible. Look at her brain activity...her pleasure center is experiencing hundreds of tiny--,”
“Shut up,” I tell him.
Guilt racks me. I did this to her. This was all my fault. I only hope she didn’t tell them about me. I needed to keep this going until the next Board meeting.
I lower Sage to the ground on her side. I see the elegant red Mjollner tattoo has been burned off her back. Her body continues to thrash and I hold her still, putting my face close to hers.
“Who found you out ?,” I whisper her. “When did this happen--”
“She question me…,” Sage gasps. “I…didn't give you up....I...never….should have trusted you.”
“Don't worry. I will save you,” I tell her. There had to be something to
reverse M44.
“Ilena…,” Sage coughs and grits her teeth “….knows you are…. a spy--”
“She’s in pain. Make this stop.” I yell at Dr. Markov.
“She’s not in pain. She’s experiencing pleasure,” he tells me.
“Make it stop,” I repeat louder.
“Okay,” Dr. Markov says quickly. “But you have to let me touch her,”
I nod. With quick reflexes Markov kneels next to us and sticks a needle into her skin.
“Why…me ?,” she asks.
“I’ll take you to our safe house. It will be okay,” I tell Sage.
She nods and closes her eyes serenely. Not a second later she opens her lips and screams loudly, blood pools from her eyes and mouth before her quivering body stills.
“What the fuck did you do ?,” I yell at Dr. Markov, who was
still kneeling beside her. "What did you give her ?,"
“I’m sorry,” he tells me. “But I had to finish the tolerance testing. 6 ccs of M44 seems to be the lethal limit. It’s for the good of us all. She was going to be killed anyway.”
“You’re a cold hearted bastard--”
“And apparently you’re a spy,” he says.
Letting Sage’s head drop to the floor I remove my jacket and let the blades in my arm raise. With one hand on Markov’s chest I hold my other arm to his neck.
“Calm down,” Dr. Markov says in steady breathes. “I don’t give a shit about who you work for. M44 is complete. Let me get the samples to Bishop and get my payout and go. I have nothing to gain from turning you in for whatever you are doing.”
I lower my arm as he backs away slowly on his knees and stands.
I take in the scene of Sage, looking barely like herself strewn on the ground like trash. Dr. Markov steps over her body to open one of the lab cabinet and pulls out an extraction kit.
“…I need to take the test specimen’s organs for future testing,” he explains.
“Her name is Sage,” I remind him. Even though I know that isn’t even her real given name.
“I’m sorry if she meant something to you,” Dr. Markov says. “But she sacrificed herself to a good cause,”
I bristle at his comment. She didn’t sacrifice herself. And there was no good cause. Just his payout and the Mjollner’s continued profit.
I watch as he expertly carves out her liver, kidney and veins and packages them in dry ice bags. He carefully stitched her back up, but something tells me if I wasn’t standing there he wouldn’t have given a fuck how he left her body.
Dr. Markov places her vacuum sealed organs into the same briefcase containing the M44 samples and locks it with his retina scan.
“Alright. Now, will you escort me to Bishop’s office at the Stratosphere ?,” he asks. “I promise I won’t say anything. You can stay with me the whole time. I’ll just turn over the materials, collect my check and we’ll part ways. Your secret is safe with me.”
I nod my head.
“Is that all the M44 samples ?,” I ask pointing to his briefcase.
“Yes,” he says and then hesitates. “I suppose I can give you one for the road.”
“That won’t be necessary,” I say heading for the door.
I hold the door open for him and as he passes by me I make a clean arc through his neck. His head falls of his body cleanly and lands with an soft thud to the ground.
The briefcase falls with the rest of his decapitated body by the door. I take the briefcase out of his still clinching hands and then manipulate his fingers to unlock his Syndicate.
Gideon ? I type
I wait to see if I will get a response from Bishop.
Yes, Markov ? Bishop responds
M44 tolerance testing is complete, I type, I’d like to bring you the samples now.
Excellent. How did Pytor respond to your new specimen.?
He knew. That son of a bitch Bishop knew I knew her.
He seemed unmoved. Why ? I type
Don’t worry about it. Ilena’s silly suspicions..,Come soon. The Rektor will be pleased.
Like hell she will.
I pick up Sage’s body and put it back into the preservation tank. Covering the tank with a labcoat, I grab the briefcase and roll her out of the Excalibur II and into the backseat of the red Mustang. Once I have the tank squeezed into the backseat I call the one person I know won’t stop this suicide mission.
“Minnow--,” I say when she connects
“Is this a secure line ?,” she asks quickly
“Doesn’t matter,” I tell her. “I need you.”
“It’s about time--”
“The Mjollner are suspicious of me.”
“Shit… You can’t hold them off until the Board meeting ?”
“Actually, I probably could have,” I said. “But I just killed their synthesizer. It’s only a matter of time now. ”
“What about the plan ?,” she asked. “What about next week--”
“The plan is fucked. I fucked up.” I tell her. “I need you to meet me at the southwest corner near the Stratosphere. Bring a car”
“On my way,” she tells me.
***
When I get to the intersection Minnow is waiting in a small green convertible with an ivy pattern laser etched into the side.
“Can you believe this shit ?,” she smiles, spinning the key in her hand. “I jacked it from the back of Rayne’s garage.”
“Fuck. It’s too small.”
“For what ?”
I open the backseat of the Mustang and gesture for Minnow to look inside.
“Oh, no--fuck no,” she says when she sees the preservation tank.
“You have to take her away from here,” I tell her. “Sage didn’t give me up. They hurt her to get to me. You have to get her back to her family.”
“Her family ? Is she even alive ?,” Minnow asks.
“No,” I tell her. Although in the back of my head I do wonder.
“You should have told me I'd be carrying Snow White. She can’t exactly drive shotgun,” Minnow says putting her hands on her hips.
“Just take the Mustang,” I say giving her the keys. “Drive like hell out of the sprawl and to the safehouse.”
“Bossy,” she says as she takes the keys.
“Take these too,” I tell her as a I open the M44 briefcase and empty the contents into the passenger seat.
“These are all of Dr. Markov’s samples and research. You have to get it out of here--”
“Alan, what are you planning ?,” she asks. “Come with me to Mojave. We can--”
“No. I fucked up somehow—Bishop's wife Ilena knows about me. I’m finishing this,” I tell her.
She crosses her arms but only leans up on the toes of her boots to kiss me, I kiss her back harder and with more intent than I had in months.
“Don’t fuck this up,” she tells me.
“I’ll try,” I say
***
I clean Dr. Markov’s blood of my blades and walk casually into the Stratosphere with Markov’s empty briefcase at my side. I head up to Bishop’s office in the Stratosphere without a word to any of the staff and guards standing watch. No one dares to stop me
When I get to Bishop’s office door his personal bodyguards, raise their guns at me. I could easily tell them I had an appointment, but I don’t.
I just take them out.
I steal a red machines gun from one of the bodies and use it to force the office door open. When the hinges pop off and I walk in and I see Bishop and Ilena standing behind a large desk with their arms raised.
I glimpse the security screens projecting off the wall. They’d seen me kill the guards outside.
“I told you,” Ilena says sharply.
“Shut up,” Bishop chastises her. “Where is Markov ?”
“I killed him,” I tell Bishop. “I know you know I’m not who I say I am. You hurt Sage as a message to me. But I’m done being scared.”
“The Rektor’s Guard will be here in minutes,” Bishop spits at me. “They’ll make easy work of you.”
I lower the machine gun and sling the strap over my shoulder, so the gun is pointing down.
“Markov really did finish M44,” I tell Bishop holding up the briefcase. “I stole all his samples and work. If you don’t start cooperating with me I’ll have it all destroyed. I really hope getting rid of me is worth the millions you stand to lose in those international deals.”
They are silent for a long time“What do you want ?,” Ilena demands.
“First, call off the Rektor’s Guard,” I say. “Call off any street fighters.”
“I never called them,” Bishop says.
I lift the machine gun up at him and he bristles.
“I didn’t,” Bishop says again. “The Rektor doesn’t need to know about my indiscretion in bringing you on. Let’s settle this between us. What do you want ?”
“Three months ago a baby was stolen from Mojave by some of your people. Where is he ?,” I demand.
“We don’t know--,” Ilena starts.
“You shut up,” Bishop growls at her. ”No more games... There was a baby brought here once. But it went straight to Mother,”
“What did she do with him ?,” I ask.
“We don’t know,” Bishop says. “We never saw it again.”
I raise the gun at him again.
“Take me to the Rektor,” I say. “ Now.”
“I can’t give you an audience with the Rektor on short notice--”
“I don’t want an audience,” I tell him. “I want to question her. Alone.”