Hard Luck Hank: Basketful of Crap (21 page)

I headed back to my place on
battered legs.

They told me that I likely didn’t
have much to fear being out in the open as the corporations, or corporation,
didn’t seem interested in the citizens anymore. They had killed everyone they
wanted to kill, thanks to me.

We had pieced together the events
from the last years and it seemed like a concerted effort to get anyone capable
of opposing them off the station. The corporation battles with “innocents”
getting caught in the crossfire for instance.

The Yeolenz Flame casino being
bombed and my assault on the Ulzaker-Ses club. Things like that had been going
on ever since the corporations came. It forced everyone with common sense to
leave Belvaille and all those without common sense to end up dead.

There was only a handful of the old
guard left and we weren’t going to be mounting any campaigns against a united
corporation.

When I came to the new Hank Block I
looked up at the street sign for some moments.

I took the pole in my hands and
shook it back and forth with all my weight until it began to loosen in its
socket. I was able to eventually wrench it from the ground. I stepped on the
thin metal plate that displayed my name and bent it back on itself.

I did not feel I deserved a street
named after me.

The only good thing I’d seen in a
long while was the fact the Gandrine weren’t sitting on my steps.

I walked to my front door when
Rendrae peeked out of the adjacent apartment.

“Hank,” he said, looking around
anxiously, “we need to talk.”

“I’m not in the mood,” I said,
entering my place.

He followed in after me, slamming
awkwardly into the door as I was closing it.

“This is urgent! I live in this
building now. My home isn’t safe.” He closed my door behind us and locked it.

The fact he hadn’t sent little
children, wasn’t in disguise, or modulating his voice meant he was frightened enough
to drop that silliness. Still.

“Rendrae, I hate to dispel your
delusions, but no one cares about you.”

“Then why did my offices get
destroyed by a tank two days ago?”

“A tank blew up
The News
?”
It sounded pretty unlikely.

“I wasn’t there to see it, but the
neighbors were. Nothing else was touched. And they didn’t exactly blow it up,
the building is still standing. But they destroyed everything inside.”

“Hmm. So is that what you wanted to
tell me?”

“No. Can I sit down?”

“Sure,” I said tiredly.

He sat down, pulling his plump leg
up to cross it.

“Have you seen what the Gandrine are
doing?”

“No. Well, I tried, but I haven’t
heard back.” I thought about that. I didn’t have any messages from Cad and it
had been quite a while. It’s possible he could have taken my money and left the
station, but I think he would have at least told me in transit.

“I’ve spoken to numerous engineers
on Belvaille. The station’s power consumption has increased over a hundred fold
in the last month.”

I didn’t answer because I didn’t
know what to say.

“Not only that,” he continued, “but
I’ve spoken to someone who helped secure one of the corporate freighters to
Belvaille. He said inside it had pods that he recognized and were, and I quote,
‘capable of containing infectious biological agents.’”

That sounded bad.

“The soldiers on Belvaille are all
biological. Like they’re all the same blood thing. DNA.”

“What?”

“I don’t know, I’m tired. Delovoa
said they were all the same. They’re making soldiers. Like in a shop. And
they’re all the same. All the corporations are the same one too.”

Rendrae’s head almost exploded. He
jumped to his feet and took out his tele to take notes.

“Wait. Go over that again.”

“I’m exhausted, Rendrae. And I’m
not the person to ask. Tele Delovoa, he knows how it all works. It never made
any sense to me. But that’s maybe the shop they’re building the soldiers in.”

“What if they are storing
biological weapons instead?” he asked.

“What are they going to use them
on? Us? They don’t need them.”

“Why would they ‘need’ to destroy
my offices?”

“I don’t know. Because your paper
is boring?”

He flashed me a mean look and I
realized I better backtrack if I ever wanted to get him out of my apartment.

“Sorry. I’m getting crabby. Can we
talk about this tomorrow? Follow up with Delovoa and he’ll set you straight.”

“Will you monitor the Gandrine?” he
challenged.

“Sure. I need something restful to
do anyway.”

The next day I saw my autocannon
with a note from Delovoa. He explained all the repairs he had made to the
weapon. I didn’t understand it of course. I was more interested in how he had
gotten into my apartment and how he had carried the gun to begin with.

I had over a hundred messages on my
tele. I assumed from widows and girlfriends wondering where their lost partners
were. I felt I owed them…something, but I couldn’t bring myself to call that
many people with bad news just yet.

There were four messages from the
General. I called him up.

I was transferred from three
different officers and left waiting for thirty minutes but he finally picked
up.

“What the hell is going on down
there?” he barked.

“I was hoping you knew. Did you jam
our teles?”

“Of course not. We don’t have the
authority.”

That meant the corporation did it
somehow. This was even more frightening because it meant their resources were
vaster than I had realized—which was saying quite a bit.

“Are you able to secure our
telescopes?” he asked.

“Who?”

“You!”

“Me? How would I be able to do
that?”

“So you are conceding that vital
Navy property is at risk and there is no recourse available on that station to
ensure its security?”

I got the sense that that was not a
casual question.

While I had no love for the
corporation, I was concerned what would happen if the Navy decided to get
serious. At the very least they would invade us, bringing them into direct
conflict with the corporation, and that could very well destroy the city.

“Just wait a minute,” I said. “The
corporations have been stockpiling weapons. Maybe even strategic weapons. They
have also scared away or killed anyone capable of fighting them. Can you think
of why they would want to do that?”

Without missing a beat he answered.

“Clearly it is an uprising to throw
off the mantle of the Confederation completely.”

“So like become our own country?”

He almost chewed his tele.

“Obviously.”

There were planets that were their
own countries, but nothing as miniscule as a space station. It made some sense
that’s what they were doing with the Portals. They could trade without relying
on the Navy’s Portals and it could be at any rates they want and any goods they
wanted.

While it was theoretically true that
Belvaille was an illegal haven, we still had to ship goods to the Colmarian
Confederation. That meant at some point it had to touch Colmarian soil and be
subject to Colmarian laws.

And I guess all this military
equipment was to protect them from the Navy and get rid of all the
troublemakers already here. Using the biological soldiers meant they could
flush them away and not worry about casualties.

It was all a bit much for me to
digest.

“Do you still want me to find your
disintegrator?” I asked.

“You signed the contract!”

I wonder if Belvaille becoming its
own country would get me out of all these dumb contracts I signed. I should
talk to a lawyer.

“I’ll get on it. I have some good
leads,” I lied.

“What leads?” he asked
suspiciously.

“I don’t want to talk over the
tele. If you guys didn’t jam us, then the corporation did, and they might be
listening.”

The General’s eyes bugged.

“We’ll send you a secure
communication device as soon as possible,” he almost whispered.

“Good. Until then, let’s maintain
communication blackout.”

He hung up without agreeing. But
that was a general’s way of agreeing.

I needed to get some concrete
information on what was going on before the Navy attacked the station and
brought it back into the loving arms of the Confederation.

First things first. I visited Ioshiyn.

“How much for those special boots?”
I asked. I was tired of my feet getting shot to pieces. I could handle my arm
stiffening or even my lungs—a bit—but if I couldn’t walk I wasn’t going to be
very intimidating, and that was my only job skill.

“Hank,” Ioshiyn exclaimed. He
seemed pretty surprised to see me. And no wonder. I had led a disastrous
assault that had killed a significant number of the city’s entire population.

“Being barefoot has lost its
appeal,” I said.

“I can give them to you for five
grand. It will take about a week to make them,” he said. “I’m looking to get
out of Belvaille and I’m not interested in haggling.”

“I believe ten grand was the price
and that’s what I’ll pay. But I need them faster than that. The money came from
the corporation so I don’t mind giving it away.”

We made the transaction and he took
measurements. He recommended they be boots that fastened in the back of my leg because
I’d probably get shot from the front. He also recommended laces because you
could replace those easily.

From there I headed back to my
block and went up to the house Cad had been sitting in to watch the Gandrine.
Nothing had changed as far as I could see.

I had only paid Cad for the first
week, and while it was a decent amount of money, I still didn’t believe he ran
off with it. He didn’t join me in the fight—or at least he wasn’t on the list.
The only thing I could think of was he was killed following the Gandrine.

That being the case, it seemed a
bad idea to repeat his steps, but from what Rendrae said, it might give me more
information about what the corporation was doing.

I didn’t want to sit in this room
so I went up the street and sat on the stairs just five buildings down from the
Gandrine. I looked exactly like them except they were looking at the building
across the street and I was looking at them.

Two hours later I started calling
the widows of my soldiers. It was the one piece of information we collected
during recruiting: next of kin. It was not an easy task, but I had to do it
sooner or later. After the first few dozen, I became somewhat robotic in my
answers and delivery. “It is with a heavy heart that I,” blah blah.

For the most part they took it on
the chin. These were not women—or men—who were soft. If they lived on Belvaille
they knew tough times.

There was almost no crying and no
one cursed at me. The most they asked was how they died, and I couldn’t answer
that because I had been busy trying to save my own skin.

I offered the other half of the
soldier’s fee to those who would take it.

No one refused.

Five hours of this and two orders
of take-out and four trips to the bathroom and I was tired. You’d think it would
be easy sitting on a porch, but it was hard work.

I was about to call it a night when
I heard one of the Gandrine yell something. They were not quiet guys when they
talked, but I was too far away to hear clearly.

Whatever it was, they both stood up
and began walking.

I jumped into action and hid behind
the railing to watch them go.

Five minutes later and they had
managed to get off the porch.

I snuck across the street to hide
in the doorway to see them better.

But you can only stay tensed for so
long. After an hour I was casually leaning against the doorway and thinking of
ordering more food. I could also go inside my place and get my autocannon. But
I didn’t feel like carrying it for hours. And I doubted if I shot a Gandrine he
would be concerned. Maybe an armor piercing round would hurt.

After an hour they were still on my
block and I was pretty certain Cad had died of acute boredom. Either that or
alcohol poisoning to combat said boredom.

I wanted to yell at them to hurry
up but felt that wasn’t a good tactic since I was trying to tail them in
secret.

After they moved a certain
distance, I would go to the next house and sit on the stairs just like I had
before. Then wait. There were all kinds of things I was thinking about. When would
my boots be done? Should I go back to my apartment and get some food? What would
Gandrine slow dancing look like?

After two blocks, I decided to go
back to my place, get a thermos of coffee, some pillows, and some rations to
eat. I could use the bathrooms of the apartments we “walked” past.

I caught up to them easily, made
myself comfortable and had some coffee. I figure I could time how fast they were
going and maybe get a little sleep. There was absolutely nothing for at least
ten blocks in any direction and I could probably sleep a few hours relatively
safely.

However, I decided to maintain my
vigil, because knowing my luck as soon as I dozed off they would go sprinting
down the street doing backflips.

I had just repositioned myself at
the next house when I heard the roar of an engine.

I ducked into the doorway and saw a
heavy lifter pull around the corner. It was a tracked one used to haul
Belvaille’s larger machinery. Monolithically slow, it was still orders of
magnitude faster than a Gandrine.

I figured I could keep pace with
the vehicle if it was going to pick them up and drive them.

They indeed stepped onto the
platform and the heavy lifter raised them off the ground. It then turned and
continued the journey up the street, its treads squeaking and grinding.

Leaving my pillows behind, I headed
after them in hot pursuit.

It was not difficult to stay behind
them, but after twenty blocks I began to get tired. We passed several train
depots but the problem was I didn’t know where they were headed.

We were past the middle point of
the city, headed south, and I was extremely tired. My body was just not
designed for running. Or endurance. Or stalking prey.

As I puffed a full block behind the
vehicle I wondered if I could simply hitch a ride. It was a huge transport. If
I missed that ladder, or slipped off, I would get ground to a pulp underneath
the treads. No amount of mutation would save me from that.

I decided to play it safe and keep
limping after them.

We were deep in the southwest.
There was nothing out here. Not that I knew.

The lifter was now four blocks away
and getting further. I was slowing down. I could still see it, so I didn’t
mind. And presumably the Gandrine would have to get off at some point and that
would take some time.

I crossed an intersection and
froze.

There were two machine gun
emplacements with about twenty corporation soldiers and an APC sitting there!

They were a collection of all the corporate
emblems I had ever seen and some I had not. They were not even pretending to be
unique entities anymore.

But as Garm had told me, they
didn’t care about my presence.

I gave a small wave, waiting for a
response. They didn’t even turn their heads.

I warily crossed the street,
wondering what I would do if they attacked, since I hadn’t bothered to bring my
autocannon.

When I was safely across and out of
view, I hurried after the Gandrine.

I passed numerous more soldiers and
vehicles, including what Delovoa had called a fighting vehicle.

Finally I saw the lifter was
getting closer. I sped up as best I could, but I was truly exhausted. I’m glad
no one witnessed that I was slower than a heavy lifter.

When I got within a few blocks I saw
the Gandrine had stepped off. I also saw an enormous set of machinery in the
distance.

Belvaille had a lot of big
equipment on it. Stuff at the port. The telescopes. The latticework. But
nothing of this size was in the southwest. This was all residential area,
uninhabited for the most part.

There were twin pylons that were so
tall I couldn’t tell how far from the latticework they reached. They stretched
hundreds of feet in the air, maybe a thousand. They were several blocks apart
from each other.

The heavy lifter began to turn
around and I hid in a building. It drove past and I took that opportunity to
sneak up the street and get a closer look.

There were no soldiers here. No
vehicles. Just a ton—or more like a lot of tons—of very complicated instruments
and two Gandrine. The Gandrine seemed to be working the equipment.

Had they built all this? It seemed
impossible. At Gandrine speed it would have taken a century. And no ladder
could hoist them up that high to work on those pylons.

I stood there for an hour.

Then I sat there for three hours.

Then I was thinking I should just
go up and ask what they’re doing.

ZHOOM!

My hair stood up and my eyes almost
burnt out of their sockets! A huge light burst forth from down the block.

I felt a tremendous force pulling
on me and grabbed hold of the building. I was being turned inside-out! I
shielded my face as best I could while still maintaining my grip.

There was a terrific roar as if I
was standing in the center of a tornado. The sound died abruptly and the light
no longer burned.

I took a chance and turned to see
what was happening.

It was Wallow!

A Therezian stepped through what
was obviously a Portal. He was naked.

My eyes cleared a bit and I knew it
wasn’t Wallow. Wallow always looked angry. And this one seemed to be somewhat
bored by the process. It was another Therezian!

Belvaille had two Therezians on it!

Two out of a thousand available in
the whole galaxy.

ZHOOM!

“Ack!” I said, not prepared to get
blinded again.

I held on to the building and
waited for it to pass. Was he going back? Did he just come through to say
hello? Or maybe he realized what a lousy city this was and left.

When I looked again, I almost
fainted.

Another Therezian had walked
through!

But this one made Wallow look like
a child. It was almost impossible to tell his height because I had no scale
except buildings and he towered over them. I would guess he was somewhere shy
of a hundred feet tall! Was that like the king of the Therezians?

How big were they?

The two of them walked down the
street towards me but didn’t move much further.

The tall one bumped into a building
with his foot and the building dented like it was cardboard.

Neither of them looked down, they
kept their gaze at eye level. As if nothing of import could be less than thirty
feet tall.

ZHOOM!

I held on for dear life again and
when it passed there was yet another Therezian!

He was somewhere between the size
of the first and second and looked equally disinterested in walking through
space-time.

The pylons let out an enormous
cloud of smoke or steam and they sizzled.

I had learned everything I cared to
learn and got out of that area of the city as quickly as possible.

After five blocks I hopped a train
and headed home.

As the train sped away I looked
through the windows and could still see the awesome sight of the lumbering Therezians
in the distance.