reached for the dagger handle but Kina was already on her, pressing the assassin’s arms to the floor with her feet.
Tai brought his second barrel up to Linus’ head when he made to move.
“You want to chat now, Linus?” Tai said. “Surely, you’re not gonna end your life right here and now because of that treacherous scumbag, are you?”
Evangeline clenched her jaw with the pain. Her face poured with sweat. People from outside in the corridor came to see what the noise was and quickly ran away when they looked in and saw the scene, not wanting to get involved. You never got involved in drama on Haven, let alone in the slum levels. Everyone was fighting their personal battles; much better to let them deal with it in their own way.
“She’ll be dead in a few minutes,” Kina said. “If you want her to live, you better start talking, or you’ll join her.”
“Okay, fine, get those pistols out of my head and I’ll tell you everything you want to know, but Tai, you need to do me a solid favor in return. I need a safe place to stay for a while. I need one of your secure lockups. If they find out… it’ll be my name on one of their contracts.”
“Oh, you don’t think we can take them out?” Tai requested.
“No offense, intended Tai, old buddy, but no, I don’t, and when they’ve done with you, it’ll be me next. Give me security, and I’ll give you their last known location—oh, and sort Evangeline out, will you, she’s on my payroll and she ain’t cheap.”
“Fine, you can have one of my lockups at two-hundred percent, but I can’t guarantee your safety.”
“That’ll do for me. It’s better than nothing. I don’t feel safe in the dark levels anymore—something’s in there. An entire pack of rogue vuls disappeared yesterday. The screams were heard throughout a dozen levels.”
“I heard about that,” Tai said. “Terrible business.”
“Are we done?” Kina said.
Tai hung a hand down in front of Linus, presenting him with a deal chit. Linus took a stamp from inside his jacket and pressed it against the chit. A green enzyme stamped Linus’ image on the surface, confirming the deal. Tai pressed his stamp and handed the chit to Linus as a security note for the deal—these chits would go to Drifts, in their Book of Trades.
Once inside the Be-oh-tee, there could be no dispute. Not without the Drifts getting involved, and that was an outcome no one ever wanted.
Satisfied they’d come to an acceptable deal, Kina lifted the minigun. “You do know that this thing would have busted your eardrums with the noise and then set fire to the frecking room with the muzzle blast?”
Linus shrugged.
Shaking her head, Kina took the minigun away and placed it in a secure lockbox within a hidden room of her apartment. She shackled both Linus and Evangeline—now equipped with a med-patch on her chest—and sat in a chair opposite them to start the interrogation.
“So, get talking,” Kina said, not wanting to waste any more time. “Tell us everything you know and don’t even think of lying—that’ll negate the deal and I’ll send you to the reclamation vats.”
CHAPTER 5
Kina strode with confidence through the throng of customers mingling about on level sixty-two. Of all the days they needed to visit Napier Industries—to procure appropriate weapons—it had to be one where Haven’s biggest, and best, arms manufacturer were having an expo, displaying their latest high-end weapons.
Tai stuck close to her. Together, they pushed through gawping scumbags and wannabe gangsters. The whole level was rammed with hundreds of reps from the Iron Council, Blackmarks, Cauder Industries—it had to be that bitch, Hela!—and a dozen smaller factions among them a handful of Haggard’s Lawkeepers.
This was the only time on Haven when this group of people could enter the same room without killing each other.
That would come later after they’d purchased their new toys.
“Tai, watch it,” Kina
Tai brought his second barrel up to Linus’ head when he made to move.
“You want to chat now, Linus?” Tai said. “Surely, you’re not gonna end your life right here and now because of that treacherous scumbag, are you?”
Evangeline clenched her jaw with the pain. Her face poured with sweat. People from outside in the corridor came to see what the noise was and quickly ran away when they looked in and saw the scene, not wanting to get involved. You never got involved in drama on Haven, let alone in the slum levels. Everyone was fighting their personal battles; much better to let them deal with it in their own way.
“She’ll be dead in a few minutes,” Kina said. “If you want her to live, you better start talking, or you’ll join her.”
“Okay, fine, get those pistols out of my head and I’ll tell you everything you want to know, but Tai, you need to do me a solid favor in return. I need a safe place to stay for a while. I need one of your secure lockups. If they find out… it’ll be my name on one of their contracts.”
“Oh, you don’t think we can take them out?” Tai requested.
“No offense, intended Tai, old buddy, but no, I don’t, and when they’ve done with you, it’ll be me next. Give me security, and I’ll give you their last known location—oh, and sort Evangeline out, will you, she’s on my payroll and she ain’t cheap.”
“Fine, you can have one of my lockups at two-hundred percent, but I can’t guarantee your safety.”
“That’ll do for me. It’s better than nothing. I don’t feel safe in the dark levels anymore—something’s in there. An entire pack of rogue vuls disappeared yesterday. The screams were heard throughout a dozen levels.”
“I heard about that,” Tai said. “Terrible business.”
“Are we done?” Kina said.
Tai hung a hand down in front of Linus, presenting him with a deal chit. Linus took a stamp from inside his jacket and pressed it against the chit. A green enzyme stamped Linus’ image on the surface, confirming the deal. Tai pressed his stamp and handed the chit to Linus as a security note for the deal—these chits would go to Drifts, in their Book of Trades.
Once inside the Be-oh-tee, there could be no dispute. Not without the Drifts getting involved, and that was an outcome no one ever wanted.
Satisfied they’d come to an acceptable deal, Kina lifted the minigun. “You do know that this thing would have busted your eardrums with the noise and then set fire to the frecking room with the muzzle blast?”
Linus shrugged.
Shaking her head, Kina took the minigun away and placed it in a secure lockbox within a hidden room of her apartment. She shackled both Linus and Evangeline—now equipped with a med-patch on her chest—and sat in a chair opposite them to start the interrogation.
“So, get talking,” Kina said, not wanting to waste any more time. “Tell us everything you know and don’t even think of lying—that’ll negate the deal and I’ll send you to the reclamation vats.”
CHAPTER 5
Kina strode with confidence through the throng of customers mingling about on level sixty-two. Of all the days they needed to visit Napier Industries—to procure appropriate weapons—it had to be one where Haven’s biggest, and best, arms manufacturer were having an expo, displaying their latest high-end weapons.
Tai stuck close to her. Together, they pushed through gawping scumbags and wannabe gangsters. The whole level was rammed with hundreds of reps from the Iron Council, Blackmarks, Cauder Industries—it had to be that bitch, Hela!—and a dozen smaller factions among them a handful of Haggard’s Lawkeepers.
This was the only time on Haven when this group of people could enter the same room without killing each other.
That would come later after they’d purchased their new toys.
“Tai, watch it,” Kina
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