DusktoDust_Final3 (9 page)

“
Now wait a second, captain,
”
Letsego cut in.
“
This hunt is not over. We can still catch up to these smugglers.
”
He wasn
’
t going to quit now, not after what this pair had done to his men.
“
I have in my possession intelligence that could lead us right to them. We still have a chance.
”

“
I don
’
t care if you have ten digit grid coordinates to Windcorp
’
s secret stash. You screwed the pooch, Letsego. Now pack up your gear. You
’
re coming home.
”

“
Sir-
”

“
Staff sergeant, you are driving my patience. Now listen to me-
”

“
No, you listen to me, sir.
”
Letsego
’
s mouth started to run away from him.
“
I have chased these scumbags halfway across the planet. I have followed them into some of the most decrepit parts of this world. I have had a mountain dropped on me. I have been knocked out twice. I am not about to just throw in the towel. These smugglers are going to be brought to justice and I am going to do it.
”

There was a long pause. Letsego could feel the seconds tick by. It felt like an eternity, but Captain Burleigh finally spoke.
“
Staff Sergeant, you are relieved.
”

“
But Captain-
”

“
Staff Sergeant, I will not allow Peacekeepers to pursue personal vendettas under my watch. Return to your quarters and wait there until I tell you otherwise. You are done. Now give the mobile back to Holliday.
”

Letsego
’
s mouth was dry. He realized he had crossed the line. In response to his superior officer all he could muster was a
“
Yes, sir
”
, and then handed the mobile to Holliday.

His first thoughts were that it was over. He was done. His career, his life. Captain Burleigh would shit-can him and he would be patrolling the ass end of the shipping lanes until his retirement. His second thought was that he wasn
’
t going to let those two smugglers get away with this. They had killed one of his men. They had bested him once, but they would not do it a second time. He would find them, capture them, and drag them back to Skylift Station if it was the last thing he did.

Holliday interrupted his thoughts.
“
Lets, I
’
m sorry to have to do this. Captain Burleigh told me to escort you back to the Mandell City.
”

Letsego sighed and stood up.

“
First I
’
m gonna need your ID.
”
Holliday was clearly uncomfortable.
“
He revoked your security clearance.
”

Letsego kept his temper in check. He hesitated a second and then dug his hand deep in his jacket pocket.
“
Fine,
”
he said, slapping the ID into Holliday
’
s hand.

“
Thanks, follow me,
”
Holliday said, clearly relieved that his counterpart had not resisted. He turned and headed for the hover that was waiting.

Behind him Letsego concealed a smile. When he had reached for his ID he had felt the tablet in his pocket.

They completed the drive to Kentai in under two hours. As he sat in the passenger
’
s seat, David couldn
’
t help but notice the beauty of the Prospectian forests as they drove through. At a glance the vegetation was very similar to that on Earth, for the most part green and leafy. A closer look revealed many differences, though. The trees, if you could call them that, were short, the tallest being just over four meters tall. Their trunks were red. And because of the lack of animals on the planet the undergrowth was thick; a tangle of vines and creepers. David would hate to get lost in that natural labyrinth. He thought jungle described the region far better than forest.

The forest gave way to dusty plains. Fifty years ago they had most likely been the site of bloody battles. This whole area had been hit hard by the Colonial Wars. Off in the distance, David could make out the cityscape of Windham City.

Windham City was an expanse of concrete and metal. Of all the cities on the planet, it was probably the cleanest and most modern, though that wasn
’
t saying much. After the war, Windcorp had invested trillions of dollars in the ruined hulk of the city, revitalizing it and creating a galactic business hub for the corporation. At its center David could see the tall spires and towers which made up the city proper. Around this metropolis was a ring of shorter smoke stacks and factories which were the industrial zone. Beyond that area were the suburbs and slums that made up the outskirts of the city.

The city sat very close to the light side of Prospect. Because of this, aside from being one of the warmer places in the Dusk Zone, Windham City was always silhouetted by an ever present sunrise. It reminded David of driving across the Great Plains and seeing Kansas City or St. Louis at daybreak After the dark journey through the Skull Pit, the view was very refreshing.

Alana piloted the hover along one of the main highways that ran into the city. As the dusty plains gave way to the slums and suburbs and the slums and suburbs gave way to industrial areas, David was reminded that Windham City was not the ray of sunshine that it appeared to be. From the highway, he could see that Windham City was a true urban jungle. The streets were filthy. Many buildings were derelict or abandoned. In the industrial areas most factories appeared to be closed down. These areas looked little different than Decham and Mandell City.

Then the industrial areas gave way to the city center and it was like someone flipped a switch. The buildings here were immaculate. David imagined that their interiors resembled the hallways of Skylift Station, glistening and gleaming. The city center was a complete contrast to the urban sprawl around it. The streets were filled with people, well dressed people, wearing suits and ties, carrying briefcases. It almost looked like the streets of Dubai or Beijing, a completely civilized society.

This was what Windham Corporation had built. A relative utopia within the oppression of the Dusk Zone. Windham City was the flagship for Windcorp on Prospect. It was its pride and joy. It had everything that the other cities on the planet did not; prosperity, order, luxury.

But behind all of this, there was something else. Something that made all of this possible. David saw it on the faces of citizens every time he came back. It was what truly differentiated Windham from the other metropolises on the planet. It was fear.

Crime was what ran Windham City. Crime was what provided its prosperity. Backed by Windcorp, dozens of criminal syndicates and gangs ran their operations out of the slums, and invested their profits in the luxury of the city center. The people
’
s fear of these organizations, and more importantly, of Windcorp itself, was what made Windham City what it was and kept it that way. For all of its beauty and civility, the metropolis was a city without virtue.

Windham City was arguably the crime center of the galaxy. Gun running, narcotics, human trafficking, money laundering, hijacking. It was all run out of here. And it wasn
’
t as if the Peacekeepers and UNEC didn
’
t know it was going on. Many different criminal organizations had been brought down throughout the years, but their territory was just taken over by other ones. The problem was that Windcorp was seemingly untouchable. No criminal organization would give up information on the company
’
s involvement. And even if they did, the whole area was under Windcorp Security Forces
’
jurisdiction, thanks to the PDP. That is what made Prospect so inviting to crime.

David and Alana drove through the city center and back into the industrial areas. Kentai was a slum on the light side of the city. David had been there before. It was unfriendly and inhospitable, the perfect place for criminal activity to fester and thrive.

As Alana drove, David used his locator to guide them to their rendezvous point. It was almost 1600. They would get there just in time. He had never been to the Twilight
’
s End before and wanted some time to check it out before they sat down with their contact.

They pulled up to the bar just after 1600. Alana found a spot on the street and parked. David didn
’
t bother feeding the meter and he had Alana left the hover unlocked. They wouldn
’
t be needing it anymore and it looked like in this part of town the vehicle would have a new owner in a matter of hours. They then walked the half block back to the entrance of Twilight
’
s End.

The bar was an unimpressive hole-in-the-wall. It didn
’
t take Alana and David long to see all they needed to see. There was a bar, a couple of tables, and a dated jukebox. The only other exit was a door that looked like it led to the back alley. The bartender was a middle aged woman. She was definitely past her prime, in David
’
s opinion, as was the establishment she worked in. There were two patrons right now, and they both appeared to be highly intoxicated. The jukebox hummed a mellow reggae-tronic tune that had been popular about a decade before.

Alana and David took seats at the bar. The bartender took a minute to finish the magazine article she was reading before she helped them.

“
What shall it be?
”
she said, finally acknowledging their presence.

“
Two Long Islands.
”
It had been a long trip and David wanted something that would calm his nerves.

The bartender got them their drinks and took their cash. After that David and Alana waited.

They had done this half a dozen times before. Windcorp was very secretive and regimented when it came to their illicit dealings. David didn
’
t blame them. They had a lot to lose if they were officially implicated in any criminal dealings. All David and Alana did was show up at the appointed place at the appointed time and wait for Windcorp to make contact with them. In truth it was never someone from Windcorp. It was usually a representative from one of the crime syndicates.

This contact would give the smugglers everything they needed to make their run. Where and when to pick up the shipment. Any documentation they needed. Unlike other individuals that David and Alana worked for from time to time, all of the Windcorp-sponsored runs were planned to a tee. While David appreciated the effort, he much preferred to have the freedom to plan his own runs. But on the other hand, Windcorp runs always paid exceptionally well, and he couldn
’
t argue with that.

David and Alana sat in silence. For all they knew the contact could already be in the bar, and they were not about to reveal any information, even idle chit chat, to them. David nursed his drink. He knew they could be waiting here for a while. The longest he had ever waited for a Windcorp contact was seven hours. The shortest was thirty minutes. Nevertheless, David and Alana always showed up early.

Five minutes after the original rendezvous time the back door to the bar opened and a man stepped through. Immediately David could tell that he was out of place. He was dressed in a suit and was extremely well groomed. The man was older than most clientele you would expect to find in a dive like this. His hair was close cropped and white as snow. The look on his face betrayed disgust at his surroundings.

Without moving his head, David tracked the man with his eyes. He half expected the businessman to make a beeline for the door, but to David
’
s surprise the man walked up behind him and Alana at the bar.

“
Mister and misses Dominquez?
”

The hair on the back of David
’
s neck stood on end. His hand started to move slowly for his pistol.
Could the PKs have really followed us all the way here?
David kept calm and casually turned to face this out of place man. Alana did the same. They kept their mouths shut.

The man eyed them both for a few seconds.
“
Follow me,
”
he finally said, and then headed for the back door. David hesitated for a split second and then he and Alana followed.

The door didn
’
t lead to a back alley as David had expected, but to another room. The mysterious man held the door open for them and then closed and locked it behind them. He walked up to the lone table that occupied the small, gloomy room and placed a device on it. It was a sonic whistler, similar to the one David had.

David and Alana remained quiet. This meet was going differently than all the other ones they had had in Windham City. Something was abnormal. First of all, this man didn
’
t seem like the typical criminal underground type. He was far too clean and polished. And he had been punctual, hardly making the smugglers wait at all.

The man returned to them and pulled out his mobile.
“
Scan your fingers, please.
”
He wanted to check their fingerprints on the mobile
’
s screen. David had definitely never done this at a meet before. Even so, he sensed that protesting the request would be unwise. He placed his thumb on the screen and it flashed blue. Alana did the same.

The man inspected the results of the scans. When he was satisfied he spoke.
“
Mr. Carpenter and Ms. Ramirez. Welcome to Windham City. I trust your journey was pleasant. No complications I hope.
”

David kept his face neutral.
“
Nothing we couldn
’
t handle.
”

The man nodded.
“
Good. You may call me Mr. Black.
”
He extended his hand.
“
I will be assisting you in the next few days as you make your flight preparations.
”

David shook Mr. Black
’
s hand. This man was definitely not your typical criminal. He was too business-like. He wasn
’
t ominous like many of the cutthroats David had worked with in the past. He was almost nice, as though he was worried about customer service, like a concierge. David was taken aback.

“
Thank you, we appreciate the help.
”
David was still being very cautious. This could be a trap.
“
I
’
m sorry, is there any way
I
can confirm you are who you say you are? And that you represent our employer? You can never be too careful.
”

David would ordinarily never ask these questions. The fact that the contact was at the meet would be enough to confirm their identity. But this meet smelled. There was definitely something strange going on.

“
Mr. Carpenter, I understand your concern,
”
Mr. Black said.
“
I believe we have a mutual acquaintance. A Mister Tyler Reece of Athens, Georgia.
”

Tyler Reece- Tyrus- was the man who had hired David and Alana back on Earth. He had been the one who gave them the Windcorp contract.
“
Mr. Black, a name isn
’
t enough. For all I know you could be a Peak who got the location of this meet after interrogating Tyrus. And if you
’
ll excuse me, you are a little different from the people we usually deal with.
”

“
If you are implying that I am not your typical criminal low life I will take that as a compliment.
”

David didn
’
t know how to respond to that.
“
Mr. Black, who exactly do you work for?
”
It had to be a new up and coming crime syndicate. One David had never heard of.

“
Windcorp,
”
the well dressed man replied.

“
You know what I mean.
”

“
Yes, I do. And the answer is Windcorp.
”
David could tell the man was dead serious.
“
Mr. Carpenter, I will level with you. This is not a typical smuggling run. It is far more important. Didn
’
t you wonder why the notes were so large?
”

David had wondered that, more than once.
“
So you are saying Windcorp has hired us directly?
”

“
That is exactly what I
’
m saying. And we only hire the best.
”

“
You can drop the flattery,
sir
,
”
Alana interjected.
“
What are we hauling?
”

Black gave her a disappointed look.
“
Now Ms. Ramirez, you know well that the contract restricted you from asking such questions.
”

“
The contract also did not tell us where we are delivering this mystery cargo, or what we will be delivering it in.
”
David responded.
“
Are you going to tell us or do we have to guess that, too?
”