Lazarus Rising

1.2 Cheyenne Styx

Investigator Cheyenne Styx's mood was as dark as the approaching storm. Dragged out of a restless sleep by Hyders and ordered down to the Foundation building in advance of the 'crash' investigation team, she'd pushed a handful of poppers into her jacket and stumbled into her cold aero. 'Get in and take control before Rovin and his team get there,' Hyders had instructed her breathlessly. Snoop around and report straight back about what she found, talk to no one but him, Hyders, about what she saw. There'd been an explosion in the building and the President was suspected missing, possibly killed. As she'd begun to protest he'd cut her off in a bout of coughing and put the com down on her.

This was madness, she hated Hyders for doing this to her. Rovin would know she'd been here before him and would want to know why and how she knew so quickly. There would be retribution - and Rovin always took dark pleasure in making people that crossed him suffer.

She angrily swung the aero twice round the top of Foundation Building risking going too close and accruing a black mark on her Report and another dressing down from her enigmatic boss. A gaping hole had appeared in one side of the tower and a thin web of dirty smoke, the remnants of a spent fire, spun out of the opening like weft of cotton to be draw off into nothingness by the buffeting up draughts. Inside she could make out the figures of two men standing watching her as she swept by.

She hauled her aero round again, and slowing to the point of stalling looked across. One was abnormally heavily built with a shining skull cap, the other short, with a shock of blue hair. Like Frankenstein and his monster they stood silhouetted by the electrical shorting of the cables hanging behind them, watching her as she circled the building, their clothes flapping wildly in the wind. She made one more pass -they had disappeared, leaving a gaping mouth of flickering electrical light flashing its indecipherable message across the city.

She dipped down and then up to get a better view. Through the open clam roof Metro men swarmed, some crowded into small groups, huddled tight again the rain swept surface, others directing a succession of brightly lit vehicles on and off the limited parking lot space. She dropped her aero down, over a crowd of tightly knit metro officers forcing them apart under the fury of her engines.

'You idiot!' one of the Metros shouted breaking from the crowd scattered round her vehicle. Pulling her door up, he shoved his face into the vehicle. 'You can't come down here.' He looked into the cabin and seeing her red suit and the logo on her service bag spluttered to a halt and gulped back his words. 'Sorry Investigator I didn't realise. There's been an incident, we're locking the place down.'

Cheyenne took a deep breath and rolled out of her seat pulling her bag with her. Seeing the flash of her tailored red suit, the throng round her scattered leaving the sole Metro Officer standing alone in front of her, no doubt wishing he could press his camo button and get sucked into the floor.

'Get me your Captain. I want know what's happening,' she said hauling her bag over her shoulder. 'Let's go.'

They walked quickly across the roof, the stark roof lights drawing out their reflections in the puddles into two bent legged arachnids, crawling across the lot. The Metro officer muttered into his com, running his hand nervously through his wet hair as he talked.

Cheyenne watched the tall Metro Captain break way from a small group of his men by the roof exit and cut across to meet her. From the strained expression on his face she could tell he knew he was in trouble.

He nodded at her and coolly ran his eye up and down her frame. She was a little taller than him so they stood almost eye to eye. His field suit was neatly pressed with two thin lines running down either side. On the collar of his newly purchased shirt, he had stuck an old army campaign pin. His hair was clipped unfashionably short reminiscent of the services types she had trained with some years ago. With his neat turn out and haircut, she figured he was single, a girlfriend would have sorted out that hair style.