Here's the next installment! Please C&C, tell me what you think of it.
Send C&C either publicly or privately. I'm not picky. =)
Ziggy (Legal Mojo) Sez:
The Dirty Pair and the Predator belong to their respective owners, and are
used without permission.
Ryozo, Doc, Ozzy, Specs, and Twiggy belong to both myself and Arthur Edwards.
Preying Angels
Chapter Four
STARCOM SECTOR--TOWLER MEMORIAL HOSPITAL--RECOVERY WARD
TIME: 0500
DATE: 2143.06.24
Pain was the first thing Yuri was aware of. Her throat felt like sandpaper,
and the rest of her body throbbed in time with her heartbeat.
All things considered, she felt like shit.
Against her mind and body's ardent protests, she slowly opened her eyes.
For a few brief moments the images were blurred. The lights and furniture
seemed to be one surreal portrait. Slowly, her eyes focused on the relieved
visage of Kei.
Yuri finally noticed the antiseptic scent in the air, and the damned
uncomfortable mattress beneath her. The faint beeping from the vitalscanner
droned on and on in her ears.
"K...kei..." she whispered in a hoarse voice. Kei placed her hand on Yuri's
forehead and whispered,
"Shhh... Don't talk."
"What happened?" Talking was torture. Her mouth was dry as a desert,
speaking above a whisper impossible.
"Whatever that thing was, it got us both pretty damned good." Kei said. She
was sporting quite a few bandages herself. There was a prize-winning bruise
on her chin, but it would fade within twenty-four hours. Lucien model
upgrades could take considerable punishment, and recover quickly. "We've
been here about five hours." Yuri turned her head and beheld the foxtail
through the window, heralding dawn on Corix IX. Rather than red, the false
dawn was several colors considered by many to be most psychadelic. Such were
the sometimes strange effects of industrial pollution.
"Who...was..that?"
"I dunno." Kei replied. Her face darkened at the question. "But whoever he
was, he's gonna pay."
Yuri smiled, and another dose of morphine shot into her from the
vitalscanner. Her eyes closed, and sleep re-claimed her.
Kei took her seat in the uncomfortable green chair beside Yuri's bed,
watching her sleep. That invisible bastard had worked her over good fashion.
She stretched out in the chair, and winced at the many small and
not-so-small pains that rocketed through her nerves. Not for the first time,
she wondered why hospitals had such hard chairs. The bandages and pain
reminded Kei that Yuri wasn't the only one that got a beatdown. That
sonofabitch had worked her over six ways from Sunday as well. Kei kicked
herself for what felt like the thousandth time. She was a 3WA Criminal
Trouble Consultant. She was supposed to be one of the best trained people in
the whole of United Galactica. She had faced hundreds of criminals and
thugs, from the bloodthirsty and ruthless to the outright ridiculous. Not
once...not ONCE...had she lost so badly. Not only did this guy beat her like
a red-headed stepchild, but he almost killed Yuri, her only real friend.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. Gradually, her rage
faded into exhaustion. She eventually dozed off as the morning sun began to
shine its golden light in through the window.
============================================================================
OUTSIDE TOWLER MEMORIAL
TIME: 0516
DATE: 2143.06.24
Six very tired, very grumpy men sat in a cramped van eating cold leftover
szechuan.
"Anyone mind tellin me what the HELL we doin' here?" asked Doc between
bites of shrimp fried rice.
"We're keeping tabs on the Dirty Pair. I thought that was obvious." replied
Specs.
"One more crack like that, honkey, and them glasses is gonna be up yo ass."
Doc and Specs began to argue, their voices echoing in the walls of the van.
"Guys! Please, I got sensitive shit in here!" yelled Twiggy.
"Enough!" shouted Ryozo. The two quarrelling men quieted down and faced
their leader.
He sat sideways in the driver's seat, facing the group. He yawned, rubbed
the bridge of his nose, and began to speak again. "I don't like being up at
the ass-crack of dawn outside a hospital either, but we have to keep an eye
on the Dirty Pair. They did, after all, encounter our mysterious assassin
last night. Specs, what've we got in the way of leads?"
"We've got exactly dick." Specs replied.
"Right, so sticking to those two is our best shot right now."
"I wanna know what worked them over so damnded well." Ozzy blurted out.
"No shit." said Doc. "Those two whupped MY ass good..." he began as he
flexed his muscular arms.
"That ain't saying much..." joked Ozzy. Doc wiped the smile off Ozzy's face
with a well-placed smack on the back of his head. Before the fight could get
out of hand, Ryozo whopped Doc on the head with his ever-present umbrella.
"Would you two dingbats mind terribly acting your ages?"
Silence reigned in the van for a few moments before Twiggy asked,
"Just what the hell's IN that Goddamn container, anyway?"
"Glad you asked." replied Specs. "RRF is short for Rigellian Red Fever. It
was first diagnosed ten years ago in a mining colony on Rigel 4."
"So, what does it do?" asked Doc
"RRF isn't exactly lethal, but it IS a huge pain in the ass." he replied.
"RRF has an incubation period of 110 hours. The symptoms are synonymous with
influenza, though they are much more severe."
"So we got a nasty version of the flu?" asked an incredulous Ozzy.
"A VERY nasty version." corrected Specs. "It's not outright deadly, but it
can be without medical treatment. Fevers from RRF can reach 115 degrees. Hot
enough to fry the brain. The virus can also lead to severe pneumonia in both
lungs. Loss of appetite, diarhea, and dehydration are among the earliest
symptoms, then comes coughing, sneezing, standard flu shit. Once that
big-assed fever sets in, lack of medical attention can easily lead to
death." The assembled group was silent for a few moments.
"Shit." whispered Twiggy.
"Anything else we should know about this virus?" asked Ryozo.
"Well, there is one thing. RRF is native to Rigel 4, hence the name. It
doesn't naturally occur on any other world."
"I get it." said Doc. "Once cases of RRF start turnin up..."
"Then we'll know our boy's gotten started." Twiggy finished. One of
Twiggy's panels beeped for attention. Twiggy pressed a few buttons, and the
main monitor on the surveilliance console flared to life.
The picture was heavily distorted, indicating the sender wasn't
transmitting visual.
"What's your progress?" came the heavily distorted voice from the speaker.
"We haven't found the Bio-Container yet, sir."
"Why not?" The voice was louder this time, with traces of anxiety, if not
the first signs of panic.
"Sir," said Ryozo, "we're following on some promising leads..."
"JUST FIND IT!" The monitor went dark again as the transmission was cut.
"What bug crawled up his ass?" asked Doc.
"It may just be me, but isn't he just a wee bit anxious over this?" asked Ozzy.
"It's understandable." Said Ryozo.
"What?" asked Twiggy.
"Think about it." Ryozo replied. "Some disgruntled wage-slave gets the idea
to give the corp a fat lip, and boosts something small."
"Like a Bio-Container of RRF." proffered Specs.
"Right. We let this fuckstick get away with it..."
"What's gonna stop someone else from lifting some shit with a damn hard
bite." finished Doc.
"Congratulations, you all get gold stars." joked Ryozo.
"Fuck you, boy." Doc replied, knowing Ryozo hated that name. Doc smiled as
Ryozo's face grew red.
============================================================================
UNDISLOSED LOCATION
TIME: 0700
DATE: 2143.06.24
|| The Hunter gazed at the city in the early morning light. For a rare
moment, its cloak was inactive, allowing the light to touch its skin,
instead of having the light bent around it. Of all the Oomans in this
Plascrete jungle, only two were of any consequence. Fingering the scar on
its chest, the Yautja recalled the two females from the previous night.
It had never seen the weapon before. It cut like the disc at its side. It
had even cut through the chest plate. The Hunter vowed not to underestimate
the Soft Meat again.
It would take a lot of work, and much in the way of patience, but the
Hunter would set the perfect trap, then lure the Ooman females to their
deaths. Their shiny, white skulls would adorn its trophy case.
It still had much to learn about Oomans. However, it had time, and there
were plenty of good trophies out there...||
============================================================================
STARCOM PRIVATE SHUTTLE 1776--EN ROUTE TO VIRALTECH HQ CORIX DIVISION
TIME: 1057
DATE: 2143.06.24
Kei and Yuri reclined in the overstuffed seats of the small shuttle. The
design wasn't unique; three seats in a streamlined cockpit, aerodynamic
exterior, and a twin-thruster engine capable of Mach 1.6. The shuttle would
never break planetary gravity, but was ideal for on-world travel.
Bruno, the Angels' escort, piloted the shuttle with mechanical precision.
The bald Biodroid was waiting for them in the lobby of Towler Memorial, much
to their dismay. Of all the people Kei and Yuri wanted to deal with on their
emergence from the recovery ward, he was not among them.
The chairs were infinitely more comfortable than the ones in Towler
Memorial, a fact that the Angels truly appreciated. They were still a bit
stiff from the previous night's brawl. The building was completely
destroyed, as was the neighboring rave club. StarCom's CEO, who had assigned
Bruno as their escort, was NOT pleased. Nor was Gooley when he got word that
3WA was expected to pay for the damages. It was interesting, his asking if
they were all right then threatening to kill them in the same sentence...
"Oh, I'm glad to be outta that hospital." groaned Kei.
"Yeah. I'm just glad to be out of those damned gowns!" Kei had to agree,
there. Ironically, their bikini outfits were less revealing than the paper
gowns. "Damn, those things were drafty."
============================================================================
ISLA LUNAR--VIRALTECH CORIX HQ
TIME: 1126
DATE: 2453.06.24
There was almost no vegetation on the small island. As far as the eye could
see, the landscape was Plascrete and metal. The buildings were short and
wide, most never exceeding seven floors above ground. Given the number of
employees ViralTech had on the island, the Angels figured most of the
facilities were underground.
The small hovercart was being auto-piloted by ViralTech's sec-systems. The
Angels took in the maze of twisting grey pipes and squat grey buildings with
a small sense of awe. It was hard to believe that research on diseases took
place in what looked lke an industrial/military complex. Kei and Yuri gazed
at the tower of glass and shining metal that soared in the distance.
"Call it a hunch, but I think that's where we're headed." said Yuri.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The man sitting behind the oak desk was an overweight bald fella. He was
well dressed, the suit was designed to make him look slimmer.
From the look of things, he had to fire his tailor.
"So...what can I do for you" he asked nervously. His eyes kept dropping to
the Electro-Mag holstered at Kei's hip. This fact didn't go unnoticed.
Caressing the large gun, she smiled and said,
"Well, for starters, you can tell me what kind of research goes on in your
labs."
"That's classified, ladies." he said, gaining some confidence. Unfazed,
Yuri launched the next shot.
"Not to us." she purred. "We got called in to find your missing
Bio-Container, and personally, I'd like to know exactly what was in it."
"A sample of Rigellian Red Fever, we told 3WA that when we filed the
petition for assistance." he replied.
"Oh, that's right." Kei said with a healthy dose of sarcasm. "How silly of
me to forget that. Now, would you mind telling me WHY you have a highly
infectious virus on a populated planet?"
"Our facilities are tightly secured, and we percieved no threat of theft."
"If I were you, I'd fire the sec crew here." said Kei.
"RRF is not a fatal disease, with medical treatment."
"Maybe, but if that bug got out in a populated world, just what else could
escape your labs?" aksed Yuri.
"And just what are you implying?" he asked. His face was growing red, every
word enunciated.
"You could either let us take a look at your facilities now and without
fuss..." began Kei.
"Or, we could open an investigation on your company. I'm certain we could
find SOMETHING suspicious to harp on here." Yuri finished.
"ARE YOU THREATENING ME!?" he screamed.
"You bet your ass." Kei replied, patting her gun for emphasis. "Believe me,
you really don't want to get on the 3WA's bad side, much less United
Galactica." After a few moments, his face fell and he heaved a defeated sigh.
"All right. Follow me." With a grunt, he hefted his fat frame from the
plush velvet chair and proceeded out of the double doors to his office
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The labs were deep underground, at least two miles beneath the topsoil. The
hallways were cool, unlike the labs which were downright freezing. The
Angels, however, were not allowed in the laboratories proper due to the
sensitive nature of the research. The labs and the hallways were separated
by triple-dense glass and hermetically sealed titanium doors. The techs
inside the labs wore full space-suits, tanks of compressed air on their
backs. They moved as though they were in a low-gravity environment,
lumbering about their tasks.
Everything in the labs; the floors, walls, and ceiling were done in white.
Even the suits worn by the lab techs were that flat, antiseptic color. The
air stank of disinfectant. The narrow halls were a cross between a hospital
and a dungeon labyrinth. These labs stretched all under the island's
surface, and neither Kei nor Yuri fancied getting lost down there.
"So, as you can see," began Oswald, the fat manager of Corix's ViralTech
branch, "We research only bacterial agents and pharmaceuticals in our Corix
labs."
"If that's the case, what was a potentially dangerous virus doing here?"
asked Yuri.
"Sometimes Bio-Containers will come through here for incineration. We only
research viral agents on our deep space and asteriod research labs."
"How were you able to get the Bio-Container on the planet?" asked Yuri.
"We don't charter to shipping companies, even to those who specialize in
bio-hazardous material. Too big a security risk that way. Instead, we use
our own transports to ship any materials we use. The corporate governments
on Corix IX know about it, and we aren't breaking any bio-hazard
regulations. Since we use our own ships, there's no middle man, and a few
miles less red tape to cut through. Now, ladies, the grand tour is
officially over." Oswald led them to a nearby turbolift, and waved them in.
Once again above ground, Oswald's breathing slowed a bit. All the walking
they had done in the past hour had taken its toll on him.
"How was the Bio-Container removed from the island?" asked Kei.
"We know some of the dock personel were involed, though we can't prove who.
Internal Affairs is handling that aspect of the investigation. We do have
one suspect, though."
"And he is?" asked Kei.
"She. Her name is Sara Kilbane. She was head book keeper for the R&D
department."
"She would have had access to cover the evidence of the theft, but what
makes her a suspect?" asked Yuri.
"Well, she disappeared just three days after the theft was alleged to have
happened. And she was the only person in Book-keeping who would have had the
security clearance necessary to alter the record logs in the main computer."
Oswald took a deep breath and continued.
"She was quite thorough. In fact, if it wasn't for our several security
fail-safes, we would never have found any discrepancies."
"And those were?" came Kei.
"Miss Kilbane didn't have access to the records on our central hub on our
headquarters in lunar orbit around Vpiach VI. Records from our research
labs, disposal facilities, shipping depots, even our laundry rooms are
checked and re-checked twice each week against the records on Vpiach. Once
we discovered the discrepancy, it was easy to identify at least one of the
players in this little drama."
"What was this discrepancy?" asked Yuri.
"Records on Vpiach stated a Bio-Container of RRF on this world was labeled
for incineration. Records on the computers here said nothing about any
Bio-Container. Our file security programs soon found evidence of records
tampering."
"Next question," said Kei.
"Where's Sara?" replied Oswald. "If we knew, we'd have her cute little ass
here, now wouldn't we?" It was clear that he was getting more and more
agitated by the moment. "Listen, ladies, you've wasted enough of my time
already. If you don't have anymore questions, then I'd suggest you leave.
Now." Shrugging their shoulders, Kei and Yuri sauntered out toward the exits
that would take them to the waiting hovercart.
"Catch ya later, doughboy." Yuri purred.
============================================================================
EMPLOYEE/CIVILLIAN SPACEPORT
TIME: 1225
DATE: 2143.06.23
The hangar was very well lit, nearly every corner illuminated. Though she'd
never admit it to anyone, Yuri sincerely appreciated that fact. The only
thing of significance in the hangar was the Lovely Angel itself. Some
loading equipment was lying around; hover-lifts, crate-carrying trams, and
two sets of pneumatic loading arms hung on one of the walls.
"Mughi oughtta be done analyzing that gunk." Kei said.
"What gunk?" asked Yuri.
"Last night, I hit that guy with one of your Bloody Cards." Kei replied
with a hint of pride in her voice. What she'd done was no small feat, though
most of it was due to extremely good fortune. "When it came back, there was
some glowing green stuff on it."
"Could it have been some kind of lubricant? A coolant, maybe?"
Yuri had heard of research in the direction of light-bending camolflauge
being incorporated into hardsuits and personal mech units, but that was
still on the drawing board...wasn't it?
"I haven't seen any lubes or coolants that glowed before." Kei replied. "I
had the Card sent here so Mughi could run it through the Angel's chemical
scanners." They finally reached the ship, it's sleek form towering over
them. A two-meter square hatch opened far above their heads, a small
platform descending to the ground.
Any Criminal Trouble Consultant would tell you that instinct is a TCs best
friend. Aside from a reliable blaster and a damn good partner, a good TC
needed to have the ability to sense when something just wasn't right. The
previous night taught Kei that, and it was a lesson the two were lucky to
have survived. Kei drew her Electro-Mag, its weight a comfort. Yuri looked
at her quizzically.
"What are you doing, Kei?"
"Something's not right." she replied. Her voice was as tense as her body.
She stared up into the dark hatch of the ship that dwarfed them. "Where's
Mughi?"
"Probably taking a nap in the cockpit." Yuri answered. Though she tried not
to show it, she was becoming a bit nervous herself. Kei didn't bother to
answer, instead stepping onto the platform. Yuri drew her small pistol and
followed suit.
The hydraulic pistons silently and effortlessly lifted the Lovely Angels
into the shadowed entry hatch. The ship seemed to feel different, as though
someone had been there. Kei tried to tell herself that it was just nerves,
but her mind wasn't buying. Trying to merge with the shadows, the two crept
toward the center of the ship, where the sleeping quarters and lab
facilities rested. It was an odd experience, having to sneak around their
own ship. After a few minutes sneaking, the found themselves before the
ordinary-looking door to the facilities. Taking up positions on either side
of the door, Yuri pressed a few buttons on a small panel beside the door.
The door opened without fanfare or noise. No light spilled from the small
lab area; no blasts, flames, or men in black leapt out at them. Yuri turned
on the lights, their soft flourescent glow banishing the shadows. Everything
looked fine...except...
"MUGHI!" they cried in unison. The giant cat lay unmoving on the cold metal
floor. A small pool of blood was on the floor beneath the fearsome feline.
Kei and Yuri knelt beside Mughi, inspecting the wound. Mughi's barell chest
rose and fell with breath, but the wound still oozed blood. Kei ran to the
nearby wall and retrieved a small med-kit.
The med-kit was a small white box with a bright red cross. Popping it open,
she saw a small variety of first-aid tools. She fished out a small
plastic-wrapped rectangle marked "Bio-Pack."
The Bio-Pack was one of the more useful tools in any med-kit. It was an
adhesive gauze pack that administered dis-infectants and healing enzymes
directly into the wound. Kei ripped open the sterile packing and placed the
sticky pad over the wound in Mughi's side.
Together, they lifted him off the floor, and laboriously carried him to a
long table in the center of the room. A large monitor flickered to life,
showing the cat's vital signs. In moments, the soft female voice of the
ships computer gave the diagnosis.
"Carbon-matrix laser wound, low impact level. Bolt penetrated abdominal
wall, minor damage to stomach lining, gall bladder, pancreas. Healer enzymes
repairing damage to muscle tissue and organs." Kei and Yuri both heaved
sighs of relief. Though Mughi's wound was serious, it wasn't lethal, and
could be treated using the available equipment on board.
Kei activated a console on the wall, opening a small 30 mm slot. A tray
slid out of the newly-created opening. An empty tray.
"DAMNIT TO HELL!" Yuri looked up, startled at Kei's sudden and colorful
outburst. "They fuckin' GOT IT!"
"Got what?" Yuri asked, looking up from her tending to Mughi.
"They got the card!" Kei quickly dashed across the small, oval-shaped room
to a computer bank mounted on another wall. She began to frantically type.
Windows of all sizes opened at blinding speed, as Kei's face fell. "They got
the results, too."
"This is getting weirder and weirder." whispered Yuri. She looked back at
Mughi, whose breathing was regular and deep. At least he'd be all right.
==================================================================
Next Chapter, Our teams meet, our hunter gets some new trophies, and a few
surprises come to light.
Thanks for reading this! =)
Jed