Chapter 6

“So, what’s the plan?” Kessa asked as she hopped out.

“Restel said the coils are getting dropped off at one of the manufactory’s loading bays. Once they’re unloaded, they should be unattended for a few minutes before local security comes to pick them up,” Castor said, unloading after her. “That’s when we make our move.”

“We sure they’re gonna be left alone? That sounds an awful lot like bait for a trap,” Tensor said, shutting off the van

“We should probably assume it is,” Quill said. He opened one of the recessed compartments inside the van and pulled something out of it. He tossed it to Tensor. Tensor caught the pistol and checked the magazine. Satisfied, he stuffed it in the waistband of his trousers.

Sera pulled an object out of a pouch on her belt. It looked like a metal sphere maybe two inches across. She pulled a small loop of some kind of thread out of it and placed her gloved hand in it. Then she dropped it. It fell taut at the end of a length of thin cable, a bit like a yo-yo. She bounced it gently a couple times before flipping it up into the air. In a remarkably deft set of gestures, she whipped and twisted the sphere in a whistling flurry of spins before snapping her hand out toward the nearby loading ramp. The sphere struck the synthcrete with a loud crack and a spray of chipped stone and dust. Spinning to redirect the sphere’s momentum away from her, she neutralized its speed before gracefully catching it in one hand. She noticed Rina watching her in amazement and took a mock bow.

“I’ll take one of the repeaters,” Kessa said to Quill. “And some smoke.”

Quill pulled two more objects and handed them to her. He looked over at Castor questioningly. She flexed her metal arm, causing the servos to whine. A thin jet of steam hissed out of the elbow joint.

“I’m good,” she said.

Quill nodded. He pulled a leather harness with another pistol in it out of the cabinet and strapped it around his torso with a practiced ease. Then he pulled one more thing out, and shut the cabinet behind him. He walked over to Rina and put it in her hand. It was a thin metal cylinder maybe half a meter long. One end of it flared, and a sphere of yellow crystal sat recessed inside. A small rubber switch bumped out of the metal on one side, and in front of it, a small button.

“I know you’ve never held or even seen a gun in real life, so I’m not giving you one,” he said.

He pressed up the rubber switch, and the yellow crystal at the end flared to life, brightening in intensity until it smoldered as bright as a lightbulb. Then it began to crackle faintly, small arcs of energy sparking and flicking in the air around the stone.

“This is a stun wand. It’s simple, but effective,” he said. “If you find yourself in danger, point this at what’s threatening you and press this button.”

He guided her hand until the wand was pointing at a blank spot on the other side of the lot and mashed the button. The crystal flared, the energy around it surging. A sphere of energy swelled and burst off the end with a faint boom, rocketing the ten or so meters to the far wall, where it burst in a flash, leaving a smoking, charred dent in the brick. Seeing the expression on her face, Quill gave her a knowing look.

“If it makes you feel any better, it only does that to not-living things. When it strikes people, on the other hand, the surge enters their body and causes it to lock up, temporarily paralyzing them, as well as anyone standing within a meter or two of them.”

He turned the switch off and the light in the stone faded.

“Be careful not to touch the stone when it’s on, unless you feel like having the worst shock of your life. Otherwise, it’s safe to handle. Turn it on when you need it. Otherwise, keep it out of sight. Better that anyone you have to use it on doesn’t know you have it until it’s too late.”

Rina looked down at the wand, then stuck it in the waistbelt of her pants and pulled her shirt over top of it.

“Thank you, Quill.”

He gave her a nod, then turned to the rest of the crew.

“Okay, van’s staying here until we’re pretty sure the dropoff’s clear. Tensor, keep a radio by you. We’ll call when it’s clear for you to roll up. Castor, you’re on loading duty, for obvious reasons. Most of the rest of us will be on guard duty once Tensor rolls up. All we have to do now is decide on who’s running lookout to call when it’s clear for Tensor to move.”

“I’ll do it,” Rina said, stepping up.

Quill turned and looked at her.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” he said.

“It makes the most sense to me. I can’t fight like you all can, so I’ll be no use as a guard if something happens. But I know how to use a radio,” she said.

“You’ll be all alone. If someone comes after you, you could be dead before we ever get to you,” Quill replied.

Rina shrugged.

“I’ll stay out of sight. If I get spotted, I’ll run. If I’m cornered, I’ll use this,” she said, gesturing to the wand. “I can’t control what happens to me, but I can promise I’ll be careful.”

Quill studied her, then nodded.

“Alright then.”

Following the directions given to her by Castor, Rina found the loading dock where the dropoff was set to happen. After a moment looking at her options, she ultimately settled on a narrow alleyway between two warehouses at the far end of the loading area. It gave her a full view of both entrances into it as well as the drop-off bay, while also being far enough away she could use the radio without being heard. After moving a few trashcans, she felt pretty certain no one would be able to see her either unless they happened to walk straight up to where she was. She settled into position, and waited.

She did not have to wait long. Within a minute, a large open-bed hovertruck cleared the far entrance and eased noiselessly over to the loading bay, backing the rear of the truck up near flush with the loading ramp. A quartet of men in gunmetal grey coveralls hopped out of the cab. Two climbed inside the truck bed and pushed. The other two waited at the tailgate, lifting and guiding one of the large metal shapes in the back of the truck onto the ramp. In quick succession, they unloaded three more, leaving the four stacked in a neat column. The tailgate shut, they loaded back into the cab, and a moment later the truck eased soundlessly out the other entrance, turning left away from where Quill and the rest of the crew waited in the van.

Once she was sure the coast was clear, Rina called over the radio. A moment later, Betsy rumbled through the other entrance and eased up alongside the front of the loading ramp. Tensor left the van running, but hopped out of the driver seat as Quill, Castor, Kessa and Sera piled out of the back. Quill looked around the lot, then held a thumbs up in the air that it was clear for her to come out of hiding. Rina slid out of the little alcove she’d made and stepped into the lot. Quill, seemingly surprised that he hadn’t seen her, gave her a nod of approval as she walked up.

“I looked right where you were twice and never saw you. Nice work,” he said.

“I was class champion in school at hide and seek when I was a kid. I probably should have mentioned that,” Rina said, grinning.

Tensor threw the back doors of the van open.

“Alright, we’ve got four here. How many do we need?” He asked.

“As many as will fit. Better to have spares if one burns out,” Castor said.

Quill turned to Sera and Rina.

“We’ll handle loading. You two keep your eyes open for unwanted attention.”

Sera nodded and pointed toward the far entrance.

“I’ve got that one, if you can watch the other.”

Rina nodded.

“You got it.”

Castor walked over to the first coil rod and grabbed the end of it with her metal arm. Its servos whined faintly in protest at the weight as she lifted the end of the coil. Tensor, Kessa, and Quill collectively lifted the other end and slowly walked forward as Castor backed into the van.

Rina looked away from the loading process toward the near entrance. Past the open gateway was a side lot maybe fifteen meters wide between two buildings and a couple hundred meters long, filled here and there with storage containers. Past that was a narrow side street. Turn left and you’d dump onto the main street the other entrance connected to. Turn right, and you’d head the direction they’d come from. In the far distance, several skyscrapers rose above everything else, seeming to glow with inner light that shifted through a myriad of colors.

A flash of light caught her attention as a truck turned into the sidelot in the distance. As soon as it did, its lights went out, but it kept moving.

“Hey guys! Someone’s coming!” she called out.

“Three’s enough. Drop it!” Castor said. The rest let go of the rod they were holding, leaving it half hanging out. She grit her teeth and yanked the coil rod the rest of the way into the van by herself, causing a jet of steam pressure to burst out of her arm. That done, she scrambled out of the back and slammed the door behind her.

Quill, Tensor and Kessa drew their weapons as the vehicle rolled into the loading area. It was another heavily modified van similar in design to Betsy, albeit a bit older and more battered. A stylized black hand was painted on its side. It came to a stop and the passenger cabin door slid open. A quintet of bodies in matching charcoal coveralls piled out of the back. Each was armed. Bats. Crowbar. Rifles. Some had pistols on their hips. Of the five, the man with the blonde hair spikes was obviously in charge. He swaggered forward, resting his wrists on either end of the bat laying across his shoulders.

“Well well, if it isn’t the great artist himself,” He said, giving Quill a sneer.

“Kaji. It’s been a while,” Quill said evenly.

Kaji ignored him, instead looking around at the rest of the crew.

“And let’s see, there’s grandpa, carrot-top, and the one-armed wonder. And I’m betting that little thing in the distance would be baby sister. Looks like the gang’s all here. Well, I mean, what’s left of it, anyways.”

He stopped short when he saw Rina and whistled. He leaned forward, grinning wolfishly.

“Well now, who’s this new one? She’s cute.”

“None of your swivin’ business, chiphead,” Kessa said, scowling.

Kaji adopted an expression of mock offense.

“Chiphead? Why, I would never!”

Quill crossed his arms.

“What do you want, Kaji?”

Kaji lifted the bat off his shoulders and pointed it at the coils laying on the ground.

“We’re here for these, same as you. And since they’re in our turf, that gives us first dibs, as far as I’m concerned,” he said.

“There’s four. We’ve already loaded two. How about you take the other two and we call it even?” Quill replied.

Kaji dropped the bat to one shoulder, the knuckles in his hand cracking as it tightened around the handle.

“We came for four,” he said, taking a step forward. “We’re leaving with four.”

“Sorry, not gonna happen,” Quill said, still unphased.

The two stared at each other. Everyone in both crews tensed. The two Black Hands closest behind Kaji shifted the rifles in their hands into low ready. Rina heard the safeties click on Kessa and Quill’s weapons. Kaji opened his mouth to say something when Sera’s voice crackled over the radio.

“Guys, we’ve got more company. There’s a vehicle turning into the sidelot. A big one!” She said.

“That one of yours?” Quill asked, his face hardening.

Kaji scowled, his expression darting from Quill to the direction of Sera and back.

“You’re bluffing.”

Quill looked toward the other entrance. Before he could reply, Sera started sprinting for the van. Her voice crackled again, frantic.

“Quill, It’s a Ministry suppression team!”

Rina stared in horror as a large grey armored vehicle screeched around the corner into the lot, roaring after her. If Betsy looked like a riot control van, this looked like an actual tank.

Quill cursed and spun back to the rest, his face filled with fear.

“We’ve got to go! NOW!”