Corroded Cells, page 12
part #2 of Cyberpunk Saga Series
“Salad,” he whined.
“You could use a fucking salad,” Ynna retorted. “Gimme that.”
“Anders has agreed to lend a hand,” Moss announced.
“Swell,” Ynna said through a mouth full of roughage, “he’s good in a scrap, too.”
“I may be able to be of some service,” Anders offered, standing up tall and resting a fist on a hip.
Ynna rolled her eyes. “Moss fill you in on the plan?”
Anders smirked. “Do you have a plan?”
“Need to see the place first,” Moss told them. “We have some Carcer gear though, so hopefully that will help.”
“Fake prisoner transfer?” Gibbs suggested.
“Let’s wait and see,” Moss told him.
Ynna nodded toward the ceiling. “How was it up there?”
“Amazing,” Moss said. “We should come back someday when we have time.”
“Right,” Ynna scoffed.
“Also, it turns out our new friend here has a heart of gold,” Moss said, and Anders grumbled.
“Fucking Chester,” he moaned.
Moss smirked. “Fucking Chester.”
Anders snorted. “Let’s get you to C City before any other secrets get out.”
“I’m fine, by the way,” Ynna announced.
“It’s you. Of course, you are,” Moss said and added with a wink, “it’s why we don’t ask.”
“Asshole,” Ynna said, and they all got in the van on their way to Carcer City.
Chapter 13
Carcer City was a sprawl of rust. Layers of walls and guard towers surrounded the brown city built into a low valley. Buildings filled every available space, and plumes of smoke rose in hundreds of acrid pillars. Drones and gunships circled like vultures. Lights from the towers scanned over the city and the people within.
Though it was a massive space, it looked small compared to BA City. None of the buildings were taller than a few stories, and they all looked dilapidated, made of scavenged materials which the jailers provided. In the center of the city lay a massive square building illuminated with floodlights and walled in. It was a command post, barrack, and interrogation center.
A single road led to an immense gate system with a medieval-style portcullis. Small cement pillboxes were built into the ground under the tall misters which surrounded the entire city. It looked as impregnable as Moss had feared.
“Fake prisoner transfer may actually be our best shot,” Anders said, “I suppose it’s a classic for a reason.”
Gibbs beamed. “Told you.”
“You said you have Carcer gear, what is it?” Anders asked. They were parked on a hillside just outside of scanning range, though Anders had turned on all the vans defenses to be safe.
“We have a couple of prisoner’s jumpsuits,” Ynna said.
“That’s it?” Anders asked.
“That’s pretty good!” Ynna exclaimed.
Moss looked around in disappointment, stating the obvious. “We’ll need more than that.”
“Got a plan?” Anders asked.
“Yes,” Moss said, turning to Gibbs, “think you can hit a moving target with a tank on?”
“Shot those drones down, didn’t I?” Gibbs answered easily.
Within an hour, the three sat in the van with their tanks at the ready and Gibbs lay on an elevated spot watching the road. Utilizing the bodysuit given to him by Powers, his presence was cloaked both visually and on scanners. Moss was grateful the man had let them take such advanced tech with them.
Several prisoner transports had entered the city in the time they had been watching, and they had little doubt that another would be arriving soon. Anders had set a graymaker by the side of the road to interfere with transmissions and was watching for any activity on the radar. Moss and Ynna sat primed, ready to move at a moment’s notice.
It occur to anyone that another car could come upon us leaving the city, Gibbs asked through the neural network Anders had established.
Hopefully, we’ll be lucky, Moss answered.
Have we ever been? Ynna asked.
Who votes we don’t think about it? Anders said, and Moss and Ynna raised their hands. Car approaching, and they all stopped communicating.
Moss turned to watch his friend. It was all up to Gibbs now. He surveyed through the sight—thermal images.
Four people in the transport, two in front, two in the back, he told them, and Moss watched as the weapon followed the transport, raising and lowering slightly to compensate for subtle movements. Moss was relieved that Gibbs had taken all the time to practice and believed in his friend.
Luck may be on our side, Gibbs said and took in a long breath, waiting for the vehicle to come into range.
It glided over the road, and Gibbs pressed his finger to the side of the trigger. He had one shot, one chance to hit his target. If he missed and the guards were alerted to their presence, it would all be over. An army of prison guards would swarm and take them if not kill them. He had to shake those thoughts from his mind.
The transport came within range, and Gibbs pulled the trigger, clearly aiming for where he hoped the driver would be rather than where he was. Anders had told them that Carcer used human drivers after one too many transports had been hacked.
The rifle cracked, and nothing happened for what felt like an interminable amount of time.
The transport ground to a halt.
Nice shot! Ynna told Gibbs, and their van was speeding down to the roadside.
They all hopped out quickly and surrounded the transport, guns up. Through the blood-soaked windshield, they watched as the guard tried frantically to hail the city on comms to no avail. Part of the Carcer guard armor was a built-in respirator, but she looked frantically at the small bullet hole in the windshield. Reality set in on her face, and she lifted her hands in surrender. As Anders approached the side door, her eyes narrowed briefly, and she reached for her gun. Ynna took one shot, splitting the woman’s face at the bridge of her nose. Blood began to seep into the armor, and Ynna hurried to the door which was locked.
“Shit,” she said as one of her fingers opened at the tip to reveal lockup picking apparatus. She fiddled quickly and got the door open. The prisoners at the back pulled at their chains, and Moss’s heart broke for them as their faces were completely uncovered.
“It’ll be a mercy,” Anders said, seeing Moss’s reaction. Gibbs came running down the hill, shimmering out of digitally rendered invisibility.
“You guys see that?” he asked excitedly before seeing the grim expressions on the faces of the three. Moss pointed to the two horrified prisoners.
“No,” Gibbs said.
Ynna looked at him, her face stern. “It’s too late for them anyway.”
“No!” Gibbs repeated. His eyes darted around, looking for one of them to support him.
“You want to watch them suffer?” Anders asked.
“But,” Gibbs began, all the color drained from his face.
“It’s not your fault,” Moss told him, but he was beginning to shake.
“It—it is,” he said, and Moss had never seen his friend so forlorn. Tears were welling in his eyes as he realized his bullet meant certain death for two innocent people.
“We have to do this, and we don’t have time for a discussion,” Anders said and made his way to the back of the transport.
Ynna walked over to Gibbs.
Gibbs stared at the prisoners. “Why weren’t they in masks?”
“Turn away,” Ynna said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder.
“But—” He wept, and she pulled him in for an embrace.
“It’s a mercy,” Moss found himself repeating as he pulled his Kingfisher from its holster and followed Anders to the side door. A young woman with crimson hair flailed and thrashed.
“I’ll fucking kill you!” she screamed at them. The man sitting next to her had stopped struggling and looked at them with miserable eyes. Moss stared at the two wondering what his father would think of him now?
“I’ll take her,” Moss said.
“Easier on the conscience?” Anders asked, and Moss simply nodded. “All right.”
Moss uncoupled the woman’s neck restraints and pulled her from the car.
“I’m sorry,” he said as she tried to bite him, looking wild and enraged.
“Fuck you,” she screamed, and he looked away as he pulled the trigger. The large man waved Anders over with a shackled hand, and Anders leaned in as he whispered something. Anders nodded, and the man went calmly to his death. Gibbs sobbed into Ynna’s shoulder as Anders’ pistol fired.
“I don’t get it!” Gibbs shouted, his voice strained through the respirator. “If it’s airborne, what good are the misters. Is it a disease, a bacteria, what? How can they do this?”
His face was wet, red, and contorted with anger and misery. Anders turned, his face severe.
“ThutoCo are liars and thieves. They and their cohorts poisoned this planet to sell goods in space. They probably have a treatment, a cure, but we will never know. We probably won’t even find out how this infection works. But it doesn’t matter now. What matters is helping your friends, right?”
Gibbs nodded, though his demeanor did not change.
“Ynna, it’s a girl and a black guy, so it’s you and me as the prisoners. These two will be the guards.
“One of the guards was a woman, too,” Ynna protested.
“Yes, but Moss is… slender… so he can fit in that armor. So, unless someone runs the ID number, we should be alright,” Anders explained. “We got a lot to do so we have to get moving—and Gibbs, I understand you blame yourself, but I just executed a man for some folks I’ve never met, so you have to deal with your shit later. Let’s move these bodies and get back to the van before someone spots this.”
His words were enough to get everyone moving. They dragged the bodies and moved the transport up to the van to keep it out of sight. One by one, they dressed in their new attire, Ynna grousing that, “We didn’t even need what Powers gave us after all.”
Moss looked to Anders, “I need you to break my nose.”
“What?” Anders asked.
“My suit’s all covered in blood. We’ll just say Gibbs got blood on his from me, but we can’t show up looking like this,” he explained.
“I mean, I just met you, but all right,” he said, shaking out his hand. Before Moss could brace himself, he felt hard metal crash against his face. Ynna laughed as Moss reeled back, pressing his hands to his face guard to try and stem the flow of blood.
“If I have to play the prisoner, I get to punch your fucking face,” she said happily.
Anders laughed. “Thanks. Felt wrong to punch him.”
“You both suck,” Moss said. He tasted blood as it seeped out of his nose. He spit into the mask and regretted his decision. “I’ll try not to make your restraints too tight.”
“I could still kick your ass,” Ynna chided.
“Let’s do this,” Gibbs said. He looked serious and threatening in the black and red plated Carcer armor. Moss realized he must look the same. He had dressed in such haste he hadn’t taken the moment to appreciate the dark visage of which he appeared. He had kept the Dermidos on under the tight-fitting shirt and trousers with affixed plastimesh plates which folded into one another to keep the wearer’s body mostly covered.
At his side was holstered a Turaco Brand knee-knocker. The pistol was made by the Kingfisher company’s North American subsidiary for mass production. They were almost exclusively used by Carcer and were notoriously unreliable—a fact which had come in handy for Moss on more than one occasion.
The bleeding had subsided, though his face throbbed and he knew bruising would be obvious under his eyes—the only exposed portion of his body.
They shackled Ynna and Anders into the back, and Moss took the driver’s seat. Stan had been teaching him how to operate a car in case of emergencies, but he didn’t feel comfortable at all.
“You going to be okay?” Gibbs asked as the vehicle started moving with jerky motions.
“Are you?” Moss whispered, trying to drive smoothly.
“I don’t know,” Gibbs said. “I’m not sure I’m built for all this.”
“I know,” Moss soothed, “but things are about to get a whole lot tougher.”
Gibbs nodded, and Anders announced from the back, “When we arrive, each one of you will take one of us to the transfer point.”
“Right,” Moss said.
“I’ve known people who bought their way out,” Ynna told them, though Moss knew she had done time. “The guards can come and go anywhere in the city, so get a lay of the land and try to find us or the others.”
“You know of any landmarks or anything in the city?” Moss asked before realizing his blunder. “Through your connections, I mean.”
“There used to be a bar called the Alco-Traz. We’ll make our way there tomorrow after processing,” Ynna said, and Anders’ face suggested he had deduced what Moss already knew about her.
“There are bars there?” Gibbs asked, seeming only just to have noticed they were speaking.
Ynna looked at him as though he was an idiot. “Sure, it’s a proper city. It’s just that the citizens are inmates, and everything is made from scrap and shit Carcer provides. But the people try to make lives for themselves while they wait for their family to scrounge up enough money to buy their freedom.”
“What’s the currency?” Gibbs asked. “A pack of smokes?”
“Money. Since Carcer sells everything used in the city to the people, the inmates use what little money they have to buy goods,” Ynna told them.
“Wait,” Moss said. “So, Carcer gets a bounty from whatever company or government wants a person arrested. Then they take money from the families to keep them alive and expect the inmates to pay for whatever they need to survive? Fucking profit on all sides.”
Ynna snorted. “Yep, it’s a pretty efficient system.”
“The few companies left down here know nothing better than how to turn a profit,” Anders said, fiddling with his restraints, “it’s why the rebellion caught them so off guard… and what you all did. They’re not used to their peons taking actions against them.”
“Hopefully that’s why this will work, too,” Moss added.
“Shit,” Gibbs said.
Moss turned nervously, before feeling the transport drift and looking back to the road. “What?”
“Will they genomatch you guys? Will they be able to tell you aren’t who you say?” he worried, but Ynna chuckled.
“Nah, if they did that at all, it would have been upon arrest. We are not high priority enough to warrant it. They’ll just ask you to transfer our data,” she explained.
As they passed under the misters, the windshield was coated with drops of liquid and Moss panicked for a moment before the transport’s internal computer compensated and dried the window. Moss decided that he hated driving.
“Good.” Gibbs sighed. “Could this plan work?”
“Getting in is the easy part,” Ynna said.
“This was easy?” Gibbs exclaimed.
“Easier, anyway,” she corrected. “Getting out will be a lot harder.”
Chapter 14
Moss’s heart pounded as he pulled up to the gates of Carcer City. He slammed the car to a stop as a guard approached, and Moss rolled the window down. The guard inputted some data on a tablet and looked up.
“Shit, man, you got fucked up,” he said, looking at Moss’s face. He tapped the screen. “Says here she’s a wild one.”
“Yeah, with a fucking robo hand,” Moss complained.
“Don’t worry. We’ll break her of that right quick inside,” the guard said and waved to a tower above.
“Looking forward to it,” Moss said.
“Asshole,” Ynna muttered under her breath and Moss didn’t know if she meant him or the guard. His heart pounded, and his palms were numb. They had done some crazy missions, but this was something entirely new. They were giving themselves over to the very people who wanted them dead. They were ushered over to a parking spot, and Moss did his best to drive smoothly. He jerked to a spot once more, and he and Gibbs hopped out.
Looking around, Moss noticed few of the guards were wearing masks. They had driven through the misters beyond the walls, but that hardly seemed enough to stop the spread of some infection from engulfing the world. From everything he had heard and seen, he knew there was much more to be learned about the disease and, if he made it out of this alive, he wanted to find out what he could.
A guard approached, taking wide confident strides toward them. “Driver’s training ain’t what it used to be,” she mocked. “You guys know the routine?”
“No, first day,” Moss answered, very aware of his bruised and bloody face.
“Fresh meat?” she said, making no effort to hide her annoyance. “Can’t believe we are so desperate that we have noobs doing transfers. Guess that’s the age we live in. Well, each of you take one down to get processed and come back out here, and I’ll get you sorted.”
“Thank you,” Gibbs said as he opened the side door of the transport.
“Thank you, ma’am,” she emphasized.
He looked at her cautiously and parroted, “Thank you, ma’am.”
“Not going to make this a long day for me, are you?” she questioned harshly.
“No, ma’am,” Moss said as he unclipped Anders and made a show of dragging him from the vehicle.
“Good,” she said, “just take them to that building there and see that they’re washed and fitted.”
She pointed to another square concrete building with the words “Guest Services,” written above the door in block lettering. Moss pushed Anders forward, and Gibbs did the same with Ynna, who turned back to hiss over her shoulder.
“I guess you finally get to see me naked.”
“Not exactly what I had in mind,” Gibbs whispered.
“Your lucky day, too,” Anders said to Moss.
“Dreams really do come true,” Moss joked nervously. A green light flashed on his wrist, and the metal door to the building slid open, leading to a bank of rooms with one-way glass windows looking in. He brought Anders into one of the small rooms, seeing the cameras pointing down at him. There was another door at the rear of the room which appeared to be stacked cinderblocks painted white. Metal nozzles protruded from the walls and ceiling, and a drain was set into the center of the floor.
