Angry Jasper-Nineteen

CHAPTER TWO
LIFE’S A BITCH, AND THEN YOU DIE.


When Kate came to she was shackled to a chair in Maury’s office. Well, that’s what he called it. The unmade bed was to one side, and his desk to the other. The world was still little more than a blur of unresolved images and motion. Her jaw ached, but not as badly as her tongue, which she had bitten hard after being clobbered. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth and throat. She could feel it dried upon her lips. A burning headache spit fiery waves of hideous pain all the way down to her toes, no doubt from the rattling her brain had taken.

Kate struggled weakly against the binds, but they held her wrists and ankles fast. Aside from all that she didn’t seem any the worse for wear. Her clothes were still intact, and she was quite relieved to find she hadn’t been molested while incapacitated. At least there were small blessings still to be found. Several hybrid-looking guards stood to either side, holding ARPs at the ready. Obviously Maury wasn't taking any chances with Kate.

She spit out a mouthful of blood at one of the guard's teeth, delighting that it provoked a disgusted grimace. “Make you hot, huh?”

“Back among the living, I see.” It was Maury’s putrid little voice. It took a moment for her eyes to find their focus.

“That’s debatable,” she groaned, glancing knowingly at the hybrid guards.

He was dressed in a cheap looking shining leather coat and jeans, like some east European cop of old, or some creepy lout that frequented strip clubs and called the dancers his “lady friends.” His greasy hair was swept back in straight lines from that drooping dreary face. She could almost imagine him skulking around the gray rain-swept streets of some backwater Communist-era dump like Brno or Kiev or Belgrade harrassing Gypsies, bullying dissidents or taking advantage of nubile runaways. He was holding her credit pod, as well as that of the murdered rebel spy from the market. The rebel kid’s pod was scorched and partially melted from the glancing blow of a mercury round. Maury smiled. It was a snide, victorious gap-toothed smile.

“Guess you screwed me more ways than the usual, eh Kate?”

Kate was indignant. “Mind your own business instead of mine. I have a lot of clients, and some of them don’t like questions asked. I don’t ask questions. I’m just in it for the credits.”

“Ah, yes the money. And how much did you make on that transaction, huh?”

“I don’t have to answ…”

He cut her off quickly. “We tracked your account.”

“What right…?”

“I’m the Governor, remember? Don’t play the fool, Kate, we know you transferred the balance to your rebel contact.”

She swore under her breath. There was no use fighting it now, That was just more of the stupid game she had been playing for the better part of her life.

“So what are you gonna do, kill me?” she stood straight and defiant. “Do it in stead of playing at something you’re not, Maury.”

“And what would that be?” he asked without thinking.

“A man.”

“Touché,” he frowned. “Walked right into that one.”

The Governor moved slowly around her, breathing her in with those piggish, wheezing breaths. “Waste of energy and time torturing you for information. You wouldn’t give up any information anyway.”

“You know me too well.”
“Too well, indeed!” He rubbed his fat belly and looked over her body one last time. Maury grinned proudly. “Know every inch of you, inside and out.”

“Thought I felt something. Hard to tell with the little things.”

Maury chafed, but held his temper. “Had some good times. I know you did, by the sounds you were making.”

“I was thinking of taking up acting.”

His fat face turned bright red. For a second she almost thought he’d have a coronary right there. The governor caught himself again and forced a smile.

“I’m going to miss our moments together,” he said.

“Right,” she shot back, “a moment is how long I remember you lasting.”

“Have a laugh,” he said.

“Should have just killed me at the market.”

“And miss this snappy repartee? It was a consideration, but plans change, eh? It’s your lucky day Kate. One of our ships was shot down with some rather high value citizens on board. I’m going to send you back to Earth as part of a prisoner exchange.”

“You aren’t afraid I’ll blab about your nuclear penis extension?” she asked.

“Go ahead. Fat amount of good it will do.”

Kate wondered what Maury had up his sleeve. It was too simple that he would simply exchange her for some fat Corporate client or other. They were a dime a dozen, and most often anyone foolhardy enough to venture close to Earth was involved in something nefarious or just plain dumb. She felt around the inside of her mouth for a tracking patch, and burped hoping to taste the metallic flavor of one, thinking that Maury might have force fed her one. There was no way she would allow herself to lead Maury to the rebel base. She’d rather die than to betray the cause.

“I'd prefer death,” she said.
“So would I, dearest, but neither of us will get that lucky today at least.” With a nod he motioned to the guards.”Be careful with this one and make sure she gets to where she's going safely or you'll be pulling dredging duty in old China.”

Maury turned and went at the glass looking down at the wheel as Katy-did was led away. No woman would ever get the best of him. He’d see to that, and to the end of the rebellion. In seventy-two hours Kate and her rebel friends would all be history.

Angry Jasper-Eighteen

At twice the circumference of the moon the wheel was an impressive sight. Shimmering blue and green and silver-white just beyond the moon’s orbit the wheel reminded Jazz of those old images of Earth before war and the Corporation had turned it into a virtual ashtray. The wheel turned slowly on great spokes that connected in the center at the Governor’s palace. Jazz threw his feet onto the console and leaned back in the big leather pilot's seat as the wheel faded in the distance. He watched it for a time before turning his attention to more pressing matters.

Madame Pie had fronted him twenty-five thousand credits. He had already used most of it for provisions, to get the ship repaired and send old Doc Redhorse a box of his favorite Venetian cigars. When all this was over he’d see about getting a new ship, but at sixty or eighty thousand credits, that was a long way off.

He had no illusion about the dangerous nature of this mission. It was likely to be the riskiest he had ever undertaken. Enough that no small part of him thought the prudent move would be to spend the credits on supplies and fixing the ship, split to one of those roughshod colonies on the frontiers of the solar system and disappear for good. He'd get a fine job wrangling comets for water, and selling it yuppies at some frontier spa (yes, they still exist), or to colonists for a hefty little profit. What did he care for Old Lady Pie? Damned if Jazz wasn’t too honest for that sort of thing. Jazz was just too decent for his own damn good.

He'd saved a cigar for himself. He didn't smoke them much. The fragrance of the finely rolled leaves reminded him of his father, and a time when life had the chance to go so many better directions than this one. He ran the cigar slowly beneath his nose, taking in the cigar’s peppery-warm scent.

He was thinking that he hadn’t asked for nearly enough from the old bat. She had caved in a little too quickly. Hell, the old gal could have easily afforded another fifty thousand credits. That would have put him on easy street for, well, maybe for good. Then he wouldn’t have to traipse all over god’s creation, picking fights with Cretans, creeps and creatures!

Invariably Jazz' thoughts turned to Kate. He wondered where she was, and who she was with. It was that second part that tore at him most. Why couldn't he have lived a normal life, he wondered? What was it about Katy-did that spoiled him to other women? She was clearly not good for him, and vice versa? But something about her felt eternal, as though the entire purpose for the universe was to bring the two of them together in this life with the express purpose of making him gloriously miserable!

“Get over it, Jazz,” he groaned.

The ship moved into low Earth orbit. Jazz sat up and harnessed himself in for what was sure to be a rough entry. Below huge trenches gouged deep into the Russian steppe for thousands of miles. Caught by the morning sun deep dark shadows filled them to the brim. The land was parched and barren in a dull golden gray landscape now covered the planet, with only pockets of dusty green along the coasts.

Crossing the scarred and quarried Himalayas Jazz spied a pair of twin peaks and immediately thought of Kate again. He was missing her exquisite boobs. Jazz closed his eyes a moment and could almost feel them slapping him in the face as she rode him. Jazz smiled wistfully at the vision and could almost smell her sweat and musk. He imagined them together, in the wild throes of animal passion, as they had been a thousand times before.

Jazz chased away the thoughts. He’d put on a couple pounds lately, and the suit was getting tight. He didn’t need to make it any worse by thinking dirty thoughts about Katy. Besides, things were about to get a whole lot crazier from here on out and he'd need all the focus he could muster.

The holographic instrument readings in front of him danced and flickered as the ship skated over the atmosphere. Jazz was threading a needle here. Too high and he might run into a Corporation patrol cruiser. Too low and he could easily be tracked by Rebel batteries that would blast him out of the sky. Coming back to Earth always made for a tricky run. He set a course in the navigation system, keeping one eye to space for Corporation ships. The plan was simple. Jazz would come in high above the ancient ruins of old Chicago and then plunge towards the surface in hopes of outsmarting Rebel gunners.

Crossing the great Pacific basin, all but drained by the Corporation Jazz spotted Maury’s atomic weapon as maneuvered into low Earth orbit. He watched curiously as the narrow end tipped slowly towards the planet. It was obviously some sort of weapon, the likes of which he had never seen before. He lingered for a time, his gaze fixed almost hypnotically upon the object.

Jazz lingered just a bit too long. There were Corporation fighters everywhere above him now, though for the moment they hadn't appeared to notice him. Jazz had little interest in waiting around to be discovered, even accidentally. Pushing the throttle forward, he turned towards the northwest. And made his final run at Chicago.

Angry Jasper-Seventeen

Kate feigned to the right, drawing the predictable fusillade. Mercury rounds cracked past like white hot lightening and exploded against the wall in showers of dust and chunks of concrete. Kate instantly rolled left onto her belly, firing two shots from a prone position. Both rounds struck home. The first cleaved off the nearest gunman’s left arm at the shoulder. The hand of the disembodied arm still held the ARP, a finger still depressed on the trigger. As the arm spun away a half dozen rounds sprayed wildly across the market. The other round took off the top of his head in a great crimson halo of gore. The shot was so impressive Kate could swear the dying man smiled just before toppling backwards.

The second man disappeared in the sudden dissolution of his partner. There were just two left, and though Kate had no clue where they were at the moment, the odds now were a bit more to her liking. She rose cautiously, scanning the marketplace. Buzz was nearby, struggling to stand with those clunky and awkward little arms and legs. Kate pulled the fat little robot to his feet and drew him back to the relative cover of the support.

“Okay, little buddy?” she asked, her eyes warily scanning the market.


The market was still now, but it only felt like a pause and not an aftermath. Smoke hung in the air, drifting among battered market stalls and heaps of bodies. There was hardly a sound, but for the low moans of the wounded and sobs of the terrified. Somewhere among that languishing mayhem death still lurked.

Kate had a mind to take Buzz and retreat from this mess. With luck they could make it to the ship and, at the very least, make it to a rebel base on Earth. But Kate just wasn’t that kind of girl. She had this obstinate streak in her when it came to justice. When the Corporation did something this heinous she took it personally. It blinded her to any reason. Buzz looked up and could see that look in her eye and knew no amount of reason could keep Kate from finishing what the Corporation had started.

“Stay here,” she said low and resolute. He held her thigh, pulling her back as she started forward to finish off the last two Corporate men.

“See what they did here, Buzz?”

“Prudence is the better part of valor.”

“Prudence is for pussies,” she pulled away. “Someone needs to pay for this.”

Kate crept sideways, stepping over the dead where she could, and climbing over them where she had no other choice. She picked her way forward towards the first man sh had shot, hoping to double her firepower. Just as she bent to pick up the dead man's weapon Kate felt the muzzle of a weapon against the back of her neck.

“Drop the weapon,” the man grunted. The last man rose from the carnage, casually dispatching a wounded rebel fighter straining to reach a weapon.
.
“Killed two of my best men,” said the Corporate man, roughly turning her around.

“Buy me dinner,” Kate said smugly, “and I’ll squeeze you out a couple of replacements.”

Those were the last words she remembered. The guy cold-cocked her with a brutal upper cut that lifted her from the ground. Kate's world went bright white to black, and she dropped like a stone.

Angry Jasper-Sixteen

“You’re Katy-did?”

“No names,” she cautioned.

“It really is you?” he stammered like a nervous schoolboy. “You are her?”

“Yeah, kid.” Kid. She called him kid. Why? Because he was a kid! For Pete’s sake he could barely shave. Suddenly, and for the first time really, Kate felt her age.

“Six months ago I was in an intelligence gathering unit on Earth. You are a legend among the few who know your name.”

“You should forget my name.” She looked anxiously to the curtain. “Memory spies are everywhere.”

“Relax,” he said, “I have men all around the market. Anyone comes snooping around and they’re toast.”

“Just the same I’d prefer to get this over with.”

They quickly began to transfer the credits from Katy’s pod to a secret rebel account. The transfer code was encrypted in case anyone was remotely monitoring the system. Not even Kate knew the encryption, which is why she found herself slumming in this crap hole!

Katy watched the transfer nervously. It seemed to take longer than normal, a sure sign the system was being bugged. She hoped the encryption would put whoever might be listening off. Still she was sweating bullets. It didn’t help that Buzz was tapping his foot nervously and making annoying clicking sounds, a sign that he sensed impending disaster. Katy did too and wouldn’t be satisfied until she was safely away from Cygnus Prime. A little voice told her to leave and make the transfer later, but it was too late to worry about that now.

“Are you in contact with the rebellion?” she asked leaning close to his neck. She frowned that his nearness didn’t have a stronger affect on her, not as it once had. Instead, it made her long for Jazz.

“Only in emergencies,” the kid replied.

“Dust off the transmitter, kid. Maury’s got a new weapon he claims will annihilate the rebellion.”


“No way to do that unless he can blast through about a half mile of rock and rubble under Chicago.”

“My guess is he can,” said Kate. “Doesn’t look it will be ready for some time. Gives us time to take it out before it becomes a problem.”

“You’re serious about this, huh?” asked the kid.

“Young man,” Young man? God, it made her feel so damn old! “Young man, I’d make this priority one.”

With a beep two words flashed across her pod

TRANSFER COMPLETE

“That’s it,” she said, and was already shoving Buzz towards the entrance when gunfire erupted in the market. She recognized the low hollow sound of ARP rounds fired in short bursts and knew immediately.

“Corpora…” She couldn’t finish the words before several rounds smashed through the curtain. The young rebel pulled a weapon and pushed past Katy, taking a fusillade meant for her. One round took his arm off at the elbow. It spun him around where he wobbled moment like a drunken man. He raised the stump of his arm, blackened and cauterized, and gave the most disbelieving look. His mouth opened, but before he could make a sound a second erased his handsome face.

Kate dove for the ground and rolled out into the stall, coming up with the dead boy’s weapon at the ready. It was still attached to the lifeless hand, gripping it so tightly that Kate had to pry the weapon from boy’s dead fingers. She tossed the hand aside and looked back at the corpse, her gaze settling on the bigger than average bulge in his trousers and thought it was a terrible waste.

“God, Kate, you’re terrible,” she muttered, turning her attention to the pandemonium before her.

ARP rounds filled the air, whining and whipping through the panicked market-goers. The feeble resistance from the hand full of rebel fighters, and a half dozen or so others was quickly extinguished in concentrate fire from the Corporation men. To call it a battle would have been wishful thinking. This was an outright massacre!

Hundreds of people fled blindly, trampling the dead and dying as they sought cover. The corporation men moved steadily through the stalls firing short aimed bursts in every direction. They were cool and disciplined. Their rounds splintered tables and eviscerated anyone unlucky enough to get in the way. A rebel gunman flanked the trio and fired two quick shots. He was nervous, though, and the shots went wild. A short burst from one of the Corporate hybrids cut him in half.

Kate and Buzz were pinned down beneath the splintered table and old robot parts. It was easy to blend in and not be seen. Bleeding bodies and parts of bodies were scattered everywhere. For now their interest was elsewhere, concentrating their fire on one particularly obstinate opponent breaking to better cover. Kate could feel Buzz trembling against her.

“Okay, buddy?” she whispered.

“If I wasn’t a robot I would have crapped my pants.”

“I recommend against that,” she quipped, checking the weapon. “Might rust.”

The ARP she had was old. The power level flickered and threatened to go out. Kate dreaded the thought of rising to shoot only to find the gun was useless. She tapped the meter and the light came on stronger. Fearing this might be her last opportunity Kate began to rise. Buzz caught her.

“Why not let them pass?”

“Are you kidding?”

“Sound like I’m kidding?” he replied.

“They’re here for me, Buzz.”

“How do you know?”
She grimaced. “The Corporation wouldn’t risk this mayhem on a bunch of black marketers. I think somebody was monitoring the credit transfer. Gotta fight now. Just keep your tin foil butt down.”

“Why not just blast us both and get it over with. No way we’re getting out of here alive.”

“Remind me to program you to have a pair.”

“Do me a favor,” said Buzz. “Program me to be a microwave next time, so I won’t give a flying f…” He was drowned by the sound of gunfire.

Katy dropped the first shooter before the others saw her. She took the shot on the run, letting go just as she dove for cover again. She was a decent shot, but as the mercury round drilled the lout dead center of the chest even Kate was surprised. She came to her knees looking at the ARP with a measure of disbelief.

“Damn, that was good!”

By now the others had reacted. Their rounds splintered the wood and corrugated metal stall above her. Kate scrambled away amid a shower of debris, coming to a sitting position behind a heavy steel support. More rounds slapped at the floor beside her, and thumped heavily against the steel support. She was trapped, pinned there by bracketing fire. Each time Kate made a move one way or the other murderous gunfire chased her back.

Katy could feel the pair closing in on her. She had no intention of being taken alive, and damn sure wouldn’t quit without a fight. Nor did she intend on waiting to be slaughtered. With a deep breath to steady her nerves Kate rose slowly to her feet behind the post. She looked back over the carnage of the shattered market. She was all alone now. The others had either been killed or, seeing the futility of the fight, fled.

Angry Jasper: Fifteen

Cygnus Prime was a hellhole, and that was being kind! Corruption, criminality and neglect made coming anywhere near the place a risky proposition. It had fallen into terrible disrepair, and much of it lay in ruins. Only one of the great domes, that once could be seen from earth, still remained. One had collapsed due to general neglect into a giant heap of twisted steel. Another had been destroyed in a rebel suicide attack, appearing like a shattered eggshell. The scorched and jagged wreckage rose high above the stark lunar surface, and could be seen from anywhere in the colony, like a tombstone to a more civil time in human history.

What remained appeared as a dull pale infection upon the dusty and cratered surface. Long semi lit passage ways grew in all directions from the last remaining dome. From each passage grew clusters of smaller domes, like metallic little grapes. Around and among the pods and passageways was all manner of refuse, discarded equipment and the wreckage of few hapless ships. In fact, trash and junk littered the plain and filled several nearby craters. Stretched in a great tattered mesh over much of the colony was meteor shield. It too had fallen into hopeless disrepair, enough that a meteor strike year or so earlier had scored a direct strike, smashing one hapless pod.

The place was thick with Corporate and rebel spies. They were practically bouncing off one another. That was hardly a secret to anyone who knew anything of CP. Within the colony that understanding bred a certain suspicion and paranoia infecting every aspect of life there. As Buzz guided the ship into a small docking port Kate knew she could not be too careful. It took a moment for the pressure to equalize in the lock. It came as a low rhythmic thumping against the hull. It opened with a hiss. Cold, stale air from the colony flooded into the ship, only confirming Buzz’ misgivings. He caught Katy by the arm.

“What is it?” she asked.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” he replied. “Maybe we should go.”

“Relax.”

“I’m going out of my freakin’ circuits, I tell ya.”

“Maybe you just need a tune up.” she patted his head and gave a reassuring wink. “I’ll be careful.”

“Listen, baby,” Buzz refused to budge. He tried to keep his voice low, “I’m telling you, we are in some serious sh… I don’t like it here.”

Kate signed and knelt, taking Buzz’ hands, as though he was acting like a petulant child.. “It’s something I have to do, Buzz, and I just couldn’t live with myself if I let down the rebellion. But I promise we’ll get out of here just as soon as we can.”

Buzz gave a mechanical sort of groan and looked away. With some effort Kate pulled his face back to hers. His head creaked grudgingly.

“Ouch!” Buzz complained. “Pinched a wire.”

“Don’t be a baby. Listen, we’ll go where ever you want,” she said. “One hour. I’m in and out.”

Buzz still couldn’t look at her, but there was no use in arguing the point. He nodded reluctantly. “Whatever.”

Neither of them noticed as Governor Maury’s spy docked at the adjacent port. The docks were wild chaotic places. He’d have to have had stepped out naked playing a drum for anyone to have noticed specifically. He stepped into the passage, shoving some poor lout that happened into his way to the floor. He was followed at a distance by three more men. All of them were dressed like the local dregs. They were tall, their faces covered to obscure the wolf-like features of hybrid soldiers. Under long cloaks they were heavily armed with ARP-34 automatic rifles locked securely to one arm. They carried enough firepower to lay waste to the colony, if that’s what it came to.

The ancient passages were crowded and crazy, even by Cygnus Prime’s offbeat standards. Time and time again Maury’s men nearly lost Kate as she and Buzz headed for the great dome and it’s legendary marketplace, which was by far the biggest and seediest in the lower four planets. Catching up he brushed past her, secretly affixing a tracking dot to her thigh. It was simple and she felt nothing so much as the casual bump, like a thousand others in the crowded passageways. The dot was hardly the size of a stamp, transparent and virtually undetectable. Legs entended from the dot and it crawled quickly up and under her clothing. It would allow him to track the pair on his credit pod safely at a distance without arousing undo suspicion. More than that the dot would transmit every conversation she had as clearly as if he was standing beside her.

The passage opened abruptly. Beneath the iron and glass lattice of the dome was nothing short of a crowded city center, if that city was ancient Rome. Once the maze of streets and alleyways, laid among neat concrete and steal structures, had been neatly maintained. Wave upon wave of the displaced, dejected and miscreants had transformed it completely. Makeshift structures, hovels and shacks leaned, rotted and crumbled everywhere. Filth and excrement putrefied in the gutters and made streets slick. Disease ridden prostitutes harangued passers by, battled one another or plied their trade in the shadows. Beggars and thieves swarmed over newcomers. Katy palmed her credit pod and held tight to Buzz, fearful he would be sold for scrap or chopped up for parts.
At the center of the dome was a busy market square. There were goods and contraband from every corner of the solar system. Much of it was junk. The most valuable items were hidden carefully where they could be protected from fellow thieves, or spirited away during one of the occasional Corporation raids. Katy moved slowly from table to stall, as if she was interested in the various offerings. She was looking for one particular stall and found it without much difficulty.
A dark man in rags stood behind a table of bionic replacement valves and out of date robot parts. He sat alone and sullen, digging at dirty fingernails with a curve antique Turkish dagger. He frowned as Kate approached the table. The frown changed to an unblinking stare that was filled with contempt.

“Business good today, I see,” she remarked sarcastically.

“Good enough,” said the man, quiet and low. He didn’t bother looking up at her.

“Must be your exemplary customer service skills.”

“Something I can do for you?” he scowled. “If not then shove off.”

“No way to talk to a woman.”

“What makes you think I care if you’re a woman or not?’

“If your content with the toothless bug-ridden hags around here?”

“I’m celibate. Saving myself for marriage,” he replied with ample sarcasm.

“Won’t she be the lucky bride!. Never mind, just a working girl looking to make a couple credits, and you look the least detestable around here.”

He knew the code words well enough and replied in kind. “Take I.O.U.s?”

“Sorry, I only deal in hard currency,” she purred suggestively.

The man stood and nodded. “Maybe I can work something out. Why don’t you step into my office?”

Kate and Buzz looked, scanning the crowd with the utmost suspicion, unaware that they had already been compromised. They stepped around the table and followed the man through a musty smelling red and white-striped wool blanket strung across the back of the stall. Inside there was just the narrowest space, bounded at the back by the metal dome wall. Kate wasn’t at all comforted that there was no escape route. She quickly felt trapped, and felt that tension building in her chest.

The man turned abruptly and stuck out his hand straight and rigid. Kate took it in hers. He had a good, strong handshake. He uncovered his face and hair revealing a fatally handsome young man. She quietly cursed, wishing she were ten years younger. Then she would really give him a ride to remember.