Dirty Work: Volume 2

Story Four - The Highest Bidder - 6

My Halo-Core buzzed as I was backing through the tables. Markro's voice called out from my pocket. 'Xayne, we tracked your signal. Police are almost inside. Keep everything quiet.'

All heads turned to me.

'If I might have your attention for just a moment, ladies and gentlemen,' I said, hands raised and backing away from the guards. 'It seems that some of the lots being sold tonight are in fact counterfeits. Someone has been trying to pull a fast one. The police are here to try and contain the situation, but of course, there may be some feeling that the police will do more harm than good. They're a bit ham-fisted at times. Celestria understands your concern that some bribery that you've committed in the past few years may be discovered, but hopes that you will be willing to cooperate. Celestria thanks you for your time.'

Nobody in the room blinked.

The security guard that had accosted me before entered the room, the twins at his side. 'Shoot him, for fucks sake!'

I dashed up onto the stage and took cover behind the painting that was being sold. 'Hey!' I called. 'This thing is priceless! Don't shoot it!'

Incredibly, they stopped shooting. I hadn't actually been expecting that.

'I don't know who you are,' the guard shouted, 'but if you'll come out now, we'll kill you quickly.'

'The intention was not to die at all.'

'Shouldn't have snuck in here, then. Mr Rothbane isn't going to be happy when he finds out we had a security breach. Luckily, we can plug the hole very easily.'

'With police swarming the building? You'll be lucky to get twenty years on Kalvulseah. Maybe the twins there will have better fortunes and be shipped off to Prosterothal instead.'

It was that, more than anything, that sent them into a frenzy. The two girls drew their weapons and charged into the room, guns in front of them. They shot blast after blast. They were going to hit me sooner or later. I l]found a button behind the case and with nothing to lose, slammed it with my fist.

A shimmering bubble of energy surrounded the case and kept me inside. Blasts that started finding their mark bounced harmlessly off the bubble. Force field. Sometimes the world is just nice to you.

I didn't know how long it would last, however. It looked to be taking a massive battering, and the guards had me surrounded now, firing from all angles. The force field was losing its blue hue. At any moment the thing would shatter and I would end up with an inability to pay the rent.

I took out my Core. 'Markro, get the police in here quick, I'm going down.'

On the other end of the line I could hear him panting and shooting. It sounded like he was leading the charge. 'I'm bringing up the rear,' he shouted into his pocket.

Then the firing stopped. The bubble started to patch itself back together again, knitting the energy bonds once more to form a functioning shield that wasn't about to send me to the depths. I couldn't see what was happening, tucked behind the painting case, but I got the feeling that people were rapidly fleeing the room. A rumble like an approaching storm.

A second later more shouting filled my ears. Gunshots galore, parts of the walls ripping themselves free and crashing to the ground. A body fell in front of me. I could only see the remains of a head, a gaping maw that was where a face should be. I saw shards of his skull where his nose had been seconds before, chemicals still eating the flesh around the edges of the hole.

There were times when I had puked at the sight, where the mere thought of blasting someone's face off would have given me the shivers for days. Not anymore. Now I just closed my eyes, counted to three, and moved on.

The fighting died down. The body was kicked out of the way and a familiar face peered down at me. 'Come on out.'

I hit the button again and clambered up from my shelter. The room was devastated, carnage everywhere. Dust clogged the air and the coppery tang of blood filled my nose. Bodies were littered like rocks. Policemen and Rothbane's security and buyers and their guards, all lying there, united in death.

'You guys don't go easy,' I said to a police woman with a cracked visor.

'It's not my job to go easy on people that shoot back at me,' she said. Her voice had no emotion in it. A splatter of blood had made it past her helmet, and it smeared across her forehead like war paint. Her eyes were dulled. This was her first big shootout. I recognised her stare.

'Come on,' I said, taking her arm. 'Let's clear out and leave this for forensics. You don't want to hang out in places like this for too long.'

The lights swung in the rafters like a searchlight sweeping over a battlefield, looking for survivors. It wouldn't find many.