Dirty Work: Volume 2

Story Seven - The Breaking Storm: Part 2 - 2

I can't claim to have walked, run, or even stumbled my way to the back of Ochre Vaults, because I would be lying. In reality Z11 dragged me through it. Above the wail of sirens, the scream of shutters slamming down over routes into the depths, and the gunfire behind us, I recall asking Z11 if she had any more of that hyperadrenaline stuff. 'I could really use it right now,' I think was my feeble excuse.

Every so often we would hear boots stomping from a stairwell or around a corridor and then the next wave of security would come towards us with sights trained on our chests and we'd throw our hands up in the air and shout 'We're civilians! They're in the lobby in black hoods! Please help!' or something of that nature, and they'd storm past us with one or two looking back our way as we pressed deeper into the offices, looking for the way down to the vaults.

'These people can't signpost for shit,' Z11 mumbled as she dragged me back to a doorway with a vibrant neon sign above it saying 'Section 21Y 5980A – 6000Z'.

'What vault number are we looking for?' I asked.

'Haven't a clue.'

'So we're going blind.'

'Not entirely.' She grabbed her Halo-Core and quickly rang a number. It took several seconds to connect, but eventually the light pixels formed into the hologram of a Brykthylosian male with bags under his eyes.

I admit that I have an instinctual hatred of Brykthylosians. Never mind that we're now allies, it's rooted deep in my psyche. Z11 apparently registered this quickly and held my arm by the sleeve. Good thing, or I'd have shot the Core to pieces on pure instinct.

'Z11, I was asleep.' Deep voice, even through the Core which makes everything a little tinny, one that growled deep in my bowels. 'At my desk, but asleep.'

'Need a hack quick. Vault number at Ochre Vaults.'

The Brykthylosian sighed and scratched a multitude of scabbed-over scars on the side of his head. 'You know I can't do anything without approval from Gina Five or higher.'

'I don't care what you can't do. I need it now.'

'I'm on a very special loan from the Brykthylosian Embassy to help aid relations between us and your Empire. If I step out of line for even one second...'

His face was blown apart as a gunshot tore through his forehead. It ripped between the two of us, and we hit the floor. Z11 fired back at the shadow, two shots, one arm blown off and a face melted.

The brykthylosian's face returned into being. 'As I was saying, I can't do anything. However, I can confirm that across the hallway, Mark23 is in contact with another agent headed your way for support, so if you want to...'

Z11 killed the conversation and dialled another number. Whilst waiting for it to connect we tucked ourselves into a doorway, myself scanning the reflections in the glass opposite for anyone coming close. The corpse down the hallway was bringing my nerves back to full attention.

'Z11, so good to see you. I've just sent someone your way as requested.'

'Don't care, I need a vault number.'

The Merkiosen blinked all of his eyes. 'And you expect me to able to get it for you? To hack a major company's security system, when they rely on security for their reputation?'

'Yes, and I want it done five minutes ago.'

'As a matter of fact,' Mark23 smiled, 'it was done five minutes ago. You want Vault Section 76F, Vault 9673M.'

'I'll fuck you when I get back.' Z11 hung up on him as well, tucked the Core away.

'You go for Merkiosens?'

'You work at a strip club.'

I didn't have a reply for that, so I refocused on the task at hand. 'I can see a wall map up ahead.'

'Hooray for small mercies.'

We wasted no time in hurrying to it. I kept expecting to see backup coming to the body but nobody appeared. Maybe the Ochre Vaults security guards were actually good at their job; a fact which, looking back on it, surprises me immensely.

The map was huge; it took up an entire floor-to-ceiling section of wall about twenty feet long. I looked and couldn't tell what I was meant to be looking for. Z11, drugged up, had no such issues. She pointed to a number. 'There. We're here. Second right, two floors, left, second left, two down. Remember it.'

'Can't you?'

'I don't know my fucking birthday right now. Move.'

Move we did. Shifted ass faster than I've ever shifted before. You might think I wouldn't be scared or frightened, considering all the stuff I've been through. And although I don't remember being consciously scared, I think I must've been, deep down. That's the only way I would have been able to keep going through the consistent fighting, the constant cloud of doom hanging over us.

And as we ran through the hallways I wondered what it was that the Red Rose gang, and these new hooded assholes, could be after. What had we put into the vaults? Was it a weapon, perhaps? A priceless jewel from some forgotten kingdom on a forlorn planet half a galaxy away. Maybe it was a slip of code which gave access to every single person's name in the Empire.

I also remember thinking that I didn't care that much. Whatever was in the vault, its importance wasn't to be underestimated. This was no longer a skirmish between underground movements; it was all out war, larger than the club, and I was caught in the middle of it. When you're in the storm, all you hope to do is ride it out and pray the winds don't rip away all your walls.

We lurched down the final staircase and stopped momentarily in front of the door. The sign above read SECTION 76: A-M. Door locked.

Z11 was back on the Core. 'Get the door to SECTION 76: A-M open.'

'I'll see what I can...'

'Now!'

Mark23 grumbled but ran his way through the code, his eyes reflecting the falling rain even through the hologram. A few seconds later the door clicked. 'There. Thank me later.'

We opened it.

Z11 noticed it immediately. A tripwire to a timer glowing in the dark. On five. A heartbeat.

Four.

She shoved me ahead and I staggered down the sloping hallway. She ran after me.

I didn't need to see the timer to know when it finished clicking down.

BOOM.

The hallway exploded. Chunks of ceiling came down and ripped the floor out of the fire. Searing heat at my back, thrown forward in the blast, I never noticed the fissure open up between us. My eardrums bleeding, I never heard Z11 scream as she fell through the floor and into the black.