Gaea

Chapter 15

by Baybelletrist

New Corpus Christi

8/4/2098, 1817

Officer Edra Crowley, NCCPD, growled, "I am not having a good day!"

Officer Judah Merrin shook his head. "It wasn't that bad, Edra. He didn't actually break through your armor, now, did he?"

"He bit me," she said through her teeth to her partner. "And I know he was foaming at the mouth."

Merrin rolled his eyes. "Yeah, Edra, whatever. He was just another drug addict."

From the corner of her eye she glowered at him. "I love my fucking job," she muttered. "I love my fucking job."

The radio crackled. "All units, all units. We have a 241 reported at Renner Park, 7th and Peel. Two civilians reported injured, ambulance en route. Please respond."

Merrin grabbed the mike and pressed the Call button. "This is unit 704. We're three blocks over. Responding." He replaced the mike, hit the lights and glanced over at Crowley. She scowled and pulled into the left lane to turn.

"Fuck. Parahuman trouble," she grumbled. "My day is now complete. Like that damn black copter overflying the whole damn city isn't bad enough."

"Yeah," Merrin answered mischievously. "What next? Fire? Explos—"

"God damn it, Judah!"

He laughed. "You are so superstitious, woman. What the heck is up with that?"

She just glared.

"We're not—"

"When the shit hits the fan," she said, still glaring, "just remember you're the one who said it."

Greenwood Drive, New Corpus Christi

1817

In his rental car Goose made an abrupt lane change, leaving a chorus of honking horns in his wake.

"Sir," the onboard AI said. "Sir, I am required to remind you that unsafe driving practices violate the terms of your rental contract."

"Shut the hell up," Goose snarled, "and plot me the fastest possible route to 7th and Peel."

"Sir—"

"Don't make me mad."

On board Ranger One, New Corpus Christi airport

1817

"Oh, great." In the Nav Bay, Doc sat up straighter in his seat, hand going to the earbug he wore. Niko looked up from monitoring Space Navy frequencies to see him grimace. "This is not happening," he groaned. "I'm gonna close my eyes and click my heels together three times, and when I open my eyes I'm going to be standing in my bathroom, brushing my teeth—"

"What is it, Doc?" Niko asked

"It's ugly, is what. New Corpus Christi PD Dispatch just sent out a patrol car on a 241, which according to their datafiles is Assault, Parahuman related."

Niko stared at him in dismay.

"And if I'm monitoring the police frequencies, you can bet our friends in the Mongoose will be too."

Niko opened a connection to the bridge. "Zach, we're going to need clearance for takeoff as soon as we can get it." She rose. "Doc, I'll be up front."

"Gotcha, lady."

The hatch hissed shut behind her as the engines began to cycle up.

7th and Peel Streets

1819

Crowley and Merrin pulled up the curb at Renner Park. An ambulance sat on the sidewalk, red lights flashing, and nearby a pair of medics were giving first aid to a couple of scruffy-looking young men. Crowley set the brakes and studied the scene.

"Nice coupla street rats," she said. Merrin grinned at her and climbed out. She followed him across the pavement.

The two young men looked up with some apprehension as the officers approached. Crowley noted automatically: Brown/brown, 19 to 22, about six-two and 160, unshaven, blue plaid, jeans, brown work boots. Blond/blue, 19 to 22, about five eleven and 155, unshaven, blue denim, jeans, black combat boots.

"I'm Officer Merrin, and this is my partner, Officer Crowley," Merrin said to the group at large before bending a calm grey gaze on the dark-haired young man. "What are your names, and what happened here?"

The brown-haired man winced as the paramed probed his skull. "Ow, lady! I hit that when I fell down, okay?"

The blond man spoke up. "I'm Aller and this is Fitz. We went up to this freaky-looking birdie, all dressed in some institutional-looking uniform thing, and we offered to show her around, and next thing I know Fitz is kissing pavement with his nose bleeding. I yelled at her and wham! I woke up staring at the side of that trash can, man."

Merrin traded a glance with Crowley. "How do you think you came to lose consciousness, Mr. ...Aller?" he asked.

"Aller Kirkus, man. I dunno, that freaked-out woman did something. She was off her beam in a big way, if you know what I mean. She was shaking and screaming and yelling at us to leave her alone. But we weren't doing nothing, man, just offering to show her a nice time."

"She seemed really scared," Fitz said. "I was kinda sorry for her. Maybe she was tripped out on something."

Merrin frowned. "What do you mean by 'did something'? Did she strike you?"

Fitz and Aller both shook their heads. "That's the freaky thing, man," said Aller. "She didn't lay a finger on either one of us."

From across 7th Street, laser fire sounded.

On board Ranger One, New Corpus Christi Airport

1819

Zach stared at the Air Traffic Control officer. "You put us in a queue? We're law enforcement officers on a case!"

"Sorry, sir," the young woman chirped. "We're really backed u—" She broke off and blinked as Niko leaned into pickup range, eyes glittering.

"We're taking off," Niko said icily. "You can clear us a corridor now or we can clear it ourselves. Do you understand?"

"But, but ma'am—"

Niko cut the connection and opened a hailing channel. Zachary glanced at her in amusement. "Wasn't that a bit harsh?" he asked mildly.

She shot him an exasperated look, sat back in her seat and spoke into the mike. "Attention all pilots, ground crew, traffic controllers! This is Galaxy Ranger vessel Ranger One, priority code 77006. Clear the area for liftoff at once! I repeat, clear for liftoff in ten, nine—"

Zach hastily strapped in, noting with amusement the consternation Niko was stirring up over the general channel.

Eight seconds later, Ranger One leaped free of the tarmac.

7th and Peel Streets

1820

Crowley and Merrin turned and dashed toward the laser fire.

"That's heavy laser assault rifle fire. What d'ya wanna bet their birdie and that gunfire are connected?" Crowley demanded between breaths, veering around a car stopped for the light. From somewhere off to their left a horn beeped once.

"No bets," Merrin answered. Into his radio he snapped, "This is 80225. Shots fired, 7th and Peel, requesting 11-99!"

Crowley frowned as a sound she'd been hearing subconsciously since they arrived at Renner Park filtered through the low rumble of traffic and caught her attention.

"Is that that damn copter again?" She craned her neck to hunt for it as they reached the southeast corner of 7th and Peel. She nearly tripped on the curb as more laser fire sounded.

"Walkway between TelCorp 1 and 2," Merrin said, indicating the two huge office buildings before them with a wave of his arm. They were turning to run south down 7th when the black copter rose from behind the southern building, men clad in black armor braced in its open hatches.

"Holy shit!" Crowley barked, skidding to a halt to stare opened-mouthed. The copter nosed down and made a run over the space between the TelCorp buildings. The men inside rained laser fire down on the walkway. From behind them Crowley heard the squeal of brakes and the sound of a collision, followed shortly by another, then a third. She turned, wincing, to see a four-car pileup that added a fifth as she watched.

"That copter came up from the parking lot," Merrin said from behind her. He sounded as stunned as Crowley felt.

"Jesus," she swore. "What the hell are those goons doing in our town, Judah? This isn't fuckin' Tortuna City!" She snatched the radio off her shoulder and hit the Call button. "Dispatch, this is 80194. We got a fuckin' airborne assault going here, plus a five-car 11-83, 7th and Peel. Immediate civilian evac required, 11-99!"

Motion caught her eye and she glanced south down 7th. "Damn! There's more of 'em over there! Come on!"

She drew her gun and broke into a sprint, Merrin at her heels. "Hey! YOU! New Corpus Christi PD! Drop your weapons and put your hands where I can see them!"

8th and Alder Streets

1820

Goose sprinted down 8th Street, heading for Peel and the back end of the TelCorp plaza. From a block and a half away laser fire resounded in his ears—and then it stopped.

Hang on, girl, just hang on...

TelCorp 2, New Corpus Christi, Texas, Earth

1820

The firing had stopped. Faintly Gaea heard shouting from the direction of the street. That's not in the park, she decided. Her head hurt and she dashed away the tears with a grimy, impatient hand.

From the parking lot behind the building she heard the copter settle to the ground, its fans lowering to an idle. All around her were minds—intent, curious, afraid... hunting. Hunting her.

The recessed doorway where she huddled had barely sheltered her from the copter's strafing run. She looked again at her side where the laser had caught her. The skin visible through the hole burned in her flimsy tunic was still pink and tender, but the pain had mostly stopped. She turned back to the door lock and tried again to open it, but her head hurt so much and she couldn't focus.

I'm so tired. Why can't they just leave me alone?

You've been very bad, Gaea...

She cowered in her too-small refuge, stifling the wail that rose in her throat.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...

7th and Peel Streets

1821

"Planetary what?"

"You heard me, officer," the leader said coldly. "This is a matter of planetary security. Stand down. We will handle it from here." The badge in his hand gleamed coldly. It bore no rank or agency name, only a number.

"My ass," Crowley started, but lapsed into silence at Merrin's hand on her shoulder.

"This is going straight to our chief," he said coldly to the man. "You just parked a Mongoose in the main parking lot of TelCorp, you're firing heavy assault laser rifles inside city limits, and I've never seen that before," and he indicated the badge with a straight-pointing finger that still managed somehow to convey disgust. "You can squeal planetary security all day, but this is still our jurisdiction. You got it?"

The man smiled. Crowley thought of barracudas. "Whatever makes you feel better, officer," he answered. "We won't take up any more of your time now."

Crowley heard a vehicle squeal to a halt behind them. As the sound of a door slamming open resounded off TelCorp 1, the man's eyes flicked to something behind her. In the distance a siren wailed into life.

"If you really want to be useful," the man continued, "you can keep those newshounds off our backs."

Another set of brakes screeched. The man smiled again, and a red haze descended over Crowley's vision.

7th and Peel Streets

1823

"No, you stupid asshole, the people don't have a right to know! And you don't have a right to get ventilated by some moron with a heavy assault rifle on my shift, get it?" Crowley shoved her face a little closer to the reporter's. The man backed off hastily. She pushed the crowd-control pylon next to her a bit further toward the curb and ground her teeth as an overeager camerawoman jostled it. A steady trickle of evacuees from the TelCorp complex—employees working late, cleaning crews, security officers—flowed down the sidewalk toward Alder.

From the intersection she caught a glimpse of an extremely harried Dara Sterling refereeing among the auto-accident victims while trying to keep traffic moving off 7th Street. Moments later barriers went up at Alder and at Peel, closing the street. Distantly she heard horns blare, and someone on Peel with more lung power than brains bellowed profanely as he found himself unable to make a right onto 7th. Just wait 'til we close Peel between 6th and 10th, she thought with an unpleasant smile.

"This is all we need. We need more reinforcements, Judah. No way are we gonna be able to keep a lid on this mess and keep the newshounds out of the fire without more cops."

"I'm working on it, Edra," he answered, almost snapping. "We got a shift change at Dispatch and I'm stuck repeating myself here."

She growled. "Why the hell don't those people read their goddamn memos?"

774 Peel Street

1823

Goose stared up at the building in front of him. Two floors higher than TelCorp 2, it offered the perfect route to TelCorp 2's roof.

He leaped for the fire escape ladder.

On board Ranger One, New Corpus Christi airspace

1824

"Zach!" Doc appeared on the screen, his face tense. "Bad news, Captain."

"Have you picked up more video from the base?"

"...No. I'm switching your screen to a Tri-D feed."

Silence.

"Oh, shit."

Niko raised an eyebrow at the profanity and touched a few switches. Ranger One shuddered as they picked up speed.

Just ahead, the high-rise buildings of downtown New Corpus Christi gleamed in the late-afternoon sun.

Gaea - Chapter 15

From Betamountain.org

Gaea

Chapter 15

by Baybelletrist