Red Shift: The Odds (Censored version)

  Chapter 23

  Jules’s comm lit up, waking him from his sleep. He was surprised he’d dozed off.

  “Ox, it’s Blake.”

  “Well if it isn’t Robin bloody Hood. I assume it’s you I thank for taking a piece of extremely high value kit from the lab up-coast?”

  “Hey, we didn’t kill anyone, and believe me, you’d rather it be in my hands than the other guys we ran into on the way back.”

  “Excuse me if I don’t give you a hug.”

  “Yeah, well I need you to be on the level with me. Did you know anything about what Wing’Tan were really up to, or their links to the Alphas?”

  “Two things boy. First, I’m disgusted that you would think I had anything to do with those criminals. Second, I don’t have to get on any level with you. As of now, you’re on the other side of the fence yourself.”

  “Ox, we’re going to get nowhere if we keep beating the crap out of each other. Can we meet, off the record, to talk?”

  “Where are you?”

  “On the road, I can meet you in one hour. I’ll drop you the co-ords.”

  “What says I don’t just have you picked up?”

  “Because I have something you want very much. I have an Alpha.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean I know who is behind the Autohacking, and I’m getting proof of their involvement in the assassination of John Mac. They may also be donkey-deep in the tech that the WT were cooking up.”

  Blake cut his comm signal and called Jack. “Yo, cowboy, you got any heat?”

  “Nope, plain sailing.”

  “Right. You get that device to the others to start setting up. I have a feeling we’ll need all the weapons and armour we can get for what’s coming.”

  “I hear that. Where are you?”

  “I have to make a detour.”

  “What the hell? Where to?”

  “I’m meeting my old boss from Osiris.”

  “For Christ’s sake Blake, you are not doing that. Get your arse back to the house.” Jack was shouting through the comm so hard Blake could swear he felt spit on his ear.

  “Listen to me carefully. We currently have the Feds and cops from two states after us. We are biding our time, and I don’t know how much we have. Do you really think we can fly under the radar permanently?”

  “So what, your boss is gonna call off the heat, reinstate you, and declare me innocent?”

  “Well I’m not flipping if that was your point. I think Ox knows a lot about what’s going on, and I think he will have a lot of resource to help. At the very least I’m going to try and convince him to open corridors for us so we can do what we need to without too much hassle from the Feds.”

  “And what makes you think he’ll do that?”

  “I said at the end he will have Tyrol, and the tech.”

  “This isn’t a good idea.”

  “Just make sure Ping and Sin both have a good lock on me and the Coffin. If I get lifted I don’t want to be alone with them too long. Feds don’t play nice with agents that jump the fence.”

  Blake chose to meet Ox in the new city. There was a risk he would be picked up before he got to the meeting place, but he was careful, only taking secondary roads, checking tails, occasional double backs. The car was getting a fair bit of attention, but he was only planning on being there for an hour, two at the most.

  As Blake drove along the top deck of the multi-tier urban interchange, he could see the entire lot of where he was to meet Ox. He had the Coffin running scans for tracking signals, but it came up clean. He could see Ox parked at the far end, near the abandoned processing factory. It was a heavily overcast day but no rain yet. He could see the clouds glowing at times, the dance of the fire-balls no doubt in force high above.

  Pulling into the lot, Blake activated his signal jamming, he wasn’t going to take any chances with Ox. He parked about twenty metres away and slowly got out, not taking his eyes off Ox. As he stepped forward he pulled his weapon in one swift movement, training it on Ox’s face.

  “Put that away Blake. If you really want to talk, you won’t need it.” Blake slid the gun into the holster on the suit in one swift movement. “Nice costume by the way.” Ox chuckled to himself.

  “Thanks, it’s got more tricks than your mamma, and is bullet proof, so don’t get any ideas.”

  “It appears you have yourself some creative company, making fancy suits, fancier guns. Let’s not forget stealing government property, oh, and killing a senator. Where do you want to start?”

  “Let’s try the beginning shall we. I haven’t turned on the government. We took the device from the lab because if we didn’t someone else would. We believe another techie from Wing’Tan survived the attack, and is now negotiating with an Alpha named Tyrol.” Blake had to give Ox something to claw back a little trust, he figured a name was a start.

  “Tyrol, huh?”

  “Yeah, you know him?”

  “He was one I was looking into. He pledged a fair bit of money to the Agency for alternative technology development. He seemed a little too interested in what was going on.”

  “When was that?”

  “About a year ago. We think he was getting off his inheritance and striking out to make his mark. Then a few weeks ago we got a tip he was associating with Xan.”

  “Who is Xan?”

  “No one to you right now. So why do you think you are a better custodian of the tech than the Feds?”

  “I think we just proved it didn’t we? The Alphas will only want it for their own personal gain. It is extremely powerful technology. Biotronics will change the way many industries operate, and who knows what else.”

  “But it’s only just being discovered and understood now.”

  “By the Government, yes. Wing’Tan had two techs that originally discovered the interface that led to the box you boys had, but that was only the beginning. They were developing at ten times the pace of the Government. They had working prototypes of interfaces, sequencers and printers.”

  “So bring it in. C’mon Blake, you and I both know that’s the end game, and anything you do between them will only make you look even guiltier.”

  “Not yet. We need proof of the Alpha’s involvement, and we need to clear Jack’s name.”

  “How well do you know these people Blake? Are they worth throwing away your life for?”

  “I don’t see it like that Ox. The Agency is corrupt, the police are corrupt and you know it. It’s guys like this Tyrol that are screwing up our entire justice system, and society while they’re at it. I can’t get to him as an agent.”

  “So you’re going to try it as a renegade? A fighter of truth? A vigilante?”

  “Call it what you want, but I’ve had enough of those pricks destroying lives as though it was a game.”

  “So you and a few crooks are going to take on the resource and power of the upper echelon of our society. I don’t like those buggers any more than you do, but I can’t see it happening.”

  “We could always use some help.” Blake looked Ox in the eye and opened his hands out. “The Alphas are onto us now I think, but they don’t know we’re onto them quite yet.”

  “Look, even if, and that’s a damned big if, I wanted to help you, there’s no way I could. The Government has the Agency and Osiris locked down tighter than a ducks arse. If I so much as cough in the wrong direction they’ll be all over me, much less giving you hardware and intel.”

  “I’m not asking you to put your life on the line. I’m just looking for allies.”

  “Well you have one here, in principal only. The best I can do is throw out a few false leads, try and keep the heat off. But it won’t last long. If you have a plan, you better be putting it into action.” Ox gave Blake a subtle nod, then turned away to go to his car. He paused and turned back.

  “Hey, get one of your goons to look up a bloke named Peiter Solice.”


  “Friend of yours?”

  “Don’t think so,” Ox said, turning to walk away again.

  Ox took the long way back to HQ, he needed time to think. The right thing to do would be to tell Sophie and Peiter about his meeting. But who was it “right” for? The government, the people, himself, or the Alphas? And who the hell was this Peiter guy? It seems awful convenient that a freelance industrial intelligence operative came to the aid of the Feds, at the same time the Alphas were trying to secure this new technology.

  One question at a time. He needed to work through them, mold some semblance of reason and rationale to the situation. Then, and only then, would he move. His emotions would betray him, but at the same time they were his greatest asset. He needed Sophie to help structure his thoughts. She knew the agency and government, as well as anyone. If there was a pattern or link to anyone he could get to for information, she would find it. She may also have a plan of how to deal with Peiter.

  He found himself thinking more about Sophie these days. They had once had a moment, a while back. It was after a few drinks, discussing how Osiris was going to be the saviour of the country, how they were going to use truth and honesty to destroy the charade that had become the justice system. It was ideological dreaming, fuelled by a late evening and a few too many drinks. They both finished their drink at the same time, the bar was empty, there was some old love song playing in the background. As Ox took his glass from his mouth he looked at Sophie, and she was staring directly into his eyes. They paused there for a moment, before the song ended and some ghastly modern beat shook them into the present. Neither of them had talked about that moment since.

  But now was not the time for reminiscing and romantic speculation, he needed his game face on. Peiter was balls deep in the chase for Biotronics technology although he wouldn’t admit it even if pressed, this was after all his game. So for now Ox was going to keep the trail of the tech as cold as possible. At least now he knew where it was, and as much as he wanted to kick Blake’s arse for all the strife he’d put in his life, he had a feeling he could trust him, on some level at least.

  Pulling into the car park at Osiris HQ, Ox couldn’t help but feel this was no longer home. The events of the last few days were almost too much to process. He had lost one of his best agents, another had gone rogue, his agency was now observed by an ex-spook from Russia, and he also found out that some speculative tech they were nudging around the edges of discovering was actually fully functional.

  He walked across the empty car park to the lift and waited for the scan recognition. Even the lift seemed alien all of a sudden. This world he and Sophie had created was slipping away, he could feel it. He felt violated by the presence of Peiter, and betrayed by the Secretary for putting him there in the first place.

  The doors opened to the main floor, the bio-lighting illuminating the first half of the office. As he walked through the office, the lighting followed him. He looked to one of the main comms consoles and saw Peiter standing there with a tapper.

  “Afternoon Jules, just catching up on some of the last communications in the building.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Nice drive?”

  “Sure. Just putting things together. The office gets a little claustrophobic at times.”

  “I bet it does. Can’t be easy with all of this interference and intervention.”

  “We’re all on the same team, right?” Jules raised his eyebrows and nodded towards Peiter. The subtle challenge was not missed.

  “I hope so Jules, for all of our security. Tell me, there was no untoward activity from anyone on the main floor. Of course I can’t check your office, you have an encrypted internal line.”

  “Yes, it stops scum bags eavesdropping and using information against me.”

  “I am pleased you take adequate precaution. Well, looking at this I see no reason not to get the rest of the team back on deck. For now we will set aside our information gathering on Wing’Tan, it seems a little redundant. I want a focus on this Tyrol character, and any links we can find to Biotronics.”

  “OK, I’ll have the team back in first thing for a briefing. Will you be heading the investigation?”

  “No, I am just an observer, remember. And I’d appreciate it if you kept my details to a minimum, please.”

  “Right.” Ox figured it was probably in case one of their spooks recognised his name from old files. Not that Peiter Solice was likely to be his real name. Ox had decided he would get a few of his operators to do a bit of under the table snooping about the guy.

  Ox walked to his office, Sophie was there as he had asked. She was sitting on the couch with her legs crossed high, and a glass of water in her hand. He checked out her legs as he walked past, and got caught when he looked up and saw her looking right at him. She just raised an eyebrow and went and sat at his main desk. Ox walked around to his chair, put his coat on the back and sat in it, almost slumping.

  “Weight of the world on your shoulders there Jules?”

  “That obvious is it?”

  “A little. So you mentioned that you’ve been doing a bit of soul searching out there. Ready to fill me in?”

  “Yeah, there are a lot of pieces to fill in too. Blake passed all of your tests, was a model agent and seemed a very staunch proponent for truth and justice. So why would he flip and join a convict?”

  “Well, I’m guessing you came to the point that there are two possible conclusions. Either he was offered a large monetary incentive or blackmailed.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t think he’s a money man, and he doesn’t have family ties, part of the reason we hired him.”

  “So that leaves the second possibility. That he knows something we don’t, and he’s actually on the right team.”

  “Right where I got to Soph. It just doesn’t add up that he would flip. Am I being sentimental and generous with my consideration of his innocence?”

  “No, it’s the same conclusion I came to earlier, I needed to know if you saw it the same way.” Sophie smiled in a way that made Ox feel a little warm inside. For christ’s sake, stop acting like a school boy, he thought.

  “So next on the list is this runner, Jack. He’s got a chequered past, but was an excellent soldier, and was marked for future tech development positions. You don’t get that easily.”

  “And the only reason he was dishonourably discharged was because he knocked out his CO, who was shagging his wife. Some would call that justifiable.”

  “Even though he went off the rails after that, he never did anything more serious than DUI or street brawling. Hardly the pedigree of a professional assassin.”

  “I don’t think he was the assassin either, Ox. Between the precision of the hit, and the fact the Blake is with him, it just doesn’t make sense.”

  “But it does make sense that Mac would be hit by disgruntled Alphas.” Ox paused for a minute to gather his thoughts. “They would have the resources, and the balls, to go after him. I’m not just being a green-eyed monster, you know they’ve done it before.”

  “I know. I’m not seeing you as jealous of anyone Ox, you’re one of the most sensible and reasonable people I know. This Tyrol man seems to be making some ripples in the pond lately, but he wouldn’t co-ordinate a hit like that himself, he’d use an outside contractor.”

  “So lastly, that brings us to Peiter. He’s exactly the type of guy that mixes with Alphas. It seems awfully coincidental that he turns up just after Mac gets hit, and in time to call in our team to find the Biotronics tech.”

  “He was called in by the Secretary.”

  “Maybe he has something on him. The man does like a bit of the nasty-nasty with borderline clientele.”

  “Jules, keep it out of the gutter. It’s beneath you.”

  “Yes dear. Anyway, as I was saying, if Peiter is after the tech, we need to keep a close eye on him. I’m sure whatever he’s planning will happen fast, and he’ll be
a ghost.”

  “I’ll keep close, draw suspicion from you.” She saw the mild shock in his eyes. “Don’t worry Jules, I’m not really into Russian agents with dreams of world domination.” She smiled, put down her glass, and left the office.