I had to concentrate on not getting lost in the reconfigured Itokawan passageways. I pointed myself toward the Cosmic Gutter and ultimately the Port of Alloy, where I hoped my crew and ship were still waiting.
A small crowd started to follow, but it wasn't as big as before. The news broadcast pivoted between rumors of the Fracker, the live pillow fight taking place outside Stellar Dreams at the outskirts of the Garden District, and a hot new story about peace talks between the Introverts and Extroverts.
Peace talks? That was news to me. I wondered how much of that was real. We seemed caught in a cycle of passive war, peace talks, and fervent war, but it had been a few decades since any real peace talks. Most of my existence has been passive war. We were "meh" right up until the Occator Flood in UC159, the embassy bombing on Ceres that flooded the ocean city of Mariana-1, killing 137,431 people from the 1.8 million population. They plucked me out of the mining crew after that, but a few years later we were back to "meh."
I wished I was back on my ship, not just because I'd be safe, but because then I could have time, and a more secure channel, to check my messages and find out what was going on out there.
I spied the Cosmic Gutter as I rounded a corner and hung a sharp left. I was grateful for something familiar, and I was feeling better now about my chances of making it back. I dared myself with a plan of going into the store and escaping through the same storeroom passage where Amy had led us. By my calculations, that would be a nice shortcut to the next set of hallways that would lead me toward the Port of Alloy.
The last time I did this, @foxcutter and I were immediately caught by the Thrusters, and I was pretty sure Amy had something to do with that. Would I be caught again if I did the same thing? Was I insane for thinking I'd get a different result? I didn't have any better ideas at the moment, so took a firm grip on my gravity hammer and sprinted for the Cosmic Gutter.
It turned out, going into the Cosmic Gutter was a dumb idea. The small trail of pursuers behind me saw me enter, which I had foreseen. But I didn't expect the inside of the Cosmic Gutter to be filling up with people who had figured out my general direction and were coming in from other entrances. I ran down an aisle filled with bolts, screws, and nails before getting cornered.
The group ahead of me was four men. They were unarmed. One of them held a slice of pizza in his left hand. No one was prepared for the Fracker to suddenly show up, so of course, few had any weapons. These four must have figured they could overpower me. I was just a miner after all.
"You gonna slap me with that pizza or what?" I mocked them. I raise my gravity hammer high above my head and screamed. I charged at them.
That sent them running. The man with the pizza slice tossed it in my general direction, as if that would slow me down, before scampering backwards and diving off to the ground on his left.
The stupid pizza slice hit my right arm and the front of my leather jacket. I cursed, hoping the stain would come out. But then again, with all the blood from my back, this jacket would need to be trashed anyway. For good measure, I slammed my gravity hammer into the display of screws to my right, near where the asshole with the pizza had gone. My hammer smashed it wonderfully, sending dented metal shelving and screws flying toward him. I heard a lovely yelp from that direction, and I continued running forward.
I took a right next, skipping over the fallen screws, and ran down toward the heavy machinery.
I reached an open intersection in the store where four aisles converged, the center of which was a shopping display featuring solar power generators, on sale now for $487 qcoins. That seemed expensive to me, but probably Itokawa being so remote and dirty allowed them to drive the price up.
I recognized @golfswinger ahead of me with two of his goons. They had guns. That was bad.
Another group was on my far right. They had armed themselves with items from the store. That was another reason coming inside was stupid. I had given them the weapons they needed. Two of them had gravity hammers just like mine. The other had a small axe in each hand.
Then there was a group in dark blue and black soldier fatigues and full helmets that were extremely well equipped, the kind of folks you'd expect to find in a war situation. I spotted two people in the back with machine guns out, two more with shock spears at the front, and their obvious leader, who held a shotgun pointed at my chest. He was an imposing man, but not the biggest I'd seen. Similar in build to @golfswinger but thicker, more muscular. One on one, I could probably take him, only because I'm faster than most.
I glanced behind me. More of the dark blue and black soldiers were coming down the aisle toward me.
I was fucked.
Which usually means it's time to start talking.
"Okay, okay now," I began. "You all think I'm the Fracker, and you want your money. I'm not." I looked at each of them, my left hand out with the palm extended, my right hand out in a nonthreatening way, but still gripping the gravity hammer. "I just got caught up in all of this like you did."
I pointed at @golfswinger. "Ask him! He knows me. I'm @wrench. I'm just a businessperson here to make a deal." I used my left hand to make the h sign, indicating I was trafficking humans.
The leader of the black and blues spoke next. He glanced toward @golfswinger, his shotgun still pointed at me. "This true, Thruster?"
@golfswinger confirmed with a shake of his head. "He is what he says. We got a tip to intercept him."
I slowed my breathing, relaxing a little. They all held where they were. They weren't just going to let me walk out though, even if they believed I wasn't the Fracker. They'd want proof. They'd want to take me down anyway and sort it out later.
"But is he the Fracker?" @golfswinger continued. "I don't know. I'm not willing to bet $5.7M qcoins on it." He eyed the competing groups around me. "I'm open to splitting it. No need for us to fight each other for him."
He made a great stupid point. They all seemed to be liking that idea. I had to do something, so I addressed the leader of the black and blues.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
"Who are you anyway? Ash Drifters? Hollow Kings? Dustborn? Black Ember Pact? Bloodworm?" I rattled off the various criminal or underworld groups I could think of. They were too well kitted out for Hollow Kings or Ash Drifters. I was betting on Black Ember Pact.
"Gravemind Syndicate," he replied. That meant nothing to me, but the others flinched at his words.
"You've clearly got the advantage here," I said. "I'm going to end up going out of here with someone. I'd rather it be you."
That caused a rumble around me. A fight was coming. The only question was if it was me against the world or if these Gravemind soldiers would help me cause some problems so that I could try to give them all the slip.
I needed to rush their decision.
"I'm ready for war," I said confidently, slipping gracefully into a combat stance with my hammer at the ready. I smiled so wide that I must have looked like a creepy jack-o-lantern. Sure, I was outnumbered, but these were Thrusters and goons. The ordinary citizens had ran away. I could kill everyone here without remorse.
Time for another risk. I wasn't going to pull my pants down this time. "To war!" I shouted, and I threw myself forward at @golfswinger.
"Kill!" the Gravemind leader ordered.
No mistaking that.
But he didn't shoot me with his shotgun. He waited for me to cross in front of him and then fired, striking the man with the two small axes. More guns rang out as the Gravemind Syndicate opened fire freely.
I surged ahead, landing a satisfying blow to @golfswinger, who had been trying to figure out if the Gravemind Syndicate was going to fight with or against him. I wasn't the real threat in the room apparently. That worked to my advantage. @golfswinger didn't have time to react as I bashed him on his left shoulder, flipping the gravity force on and watching it crush down on him, sending him screaming to the floor.
He tried to get up, his left arm hanging useless, crushed but still attached. I spun to my right to avoid one of his thugs, who started firing his pistol at me. Looked like a snark15 handgun, small and easy to hide, but effective. It would penetrate the leather, but it would take multiple shots to do me in.
As I spun, I lifted the hammer upward and back to take a nice big swing. I was preparing for a tremendous blow, in the style of a golf swing. It was only fitting. I swung down in an powerful arc, connecting with @golfswinger's head.
"Reanimate this!" I screamed, while at the same time thinking I should have yelled Fore! in classic golf style. @golfswinger's head exploded into tiny bits, pieces of skull flying forward with a spray of blood. The Cosmic Gutter was going to be a mess.
One of @golfswinger's goons saw what I had done to his boss and turned off at a hard sprint. No amount of money was apparently worth having one's brain split open. I had the advantage on all of them. Most people try to stay alive. I had been trained to die. I feared mostly for others and my own sanity.
I used my golf swing momentum to carry myself into another spin, going after the remaining Thruster while team Gravemind cleared away the rest. I missed on purpose to get him to move into a location where I could smash him. Then I carried the arc forward again, flowing from one move into the next, keeping the hammer going in a graceful arc. I slammed him across the chest with a thunk and the sound of crunching bones. He was probably dead before he bonked into the stack of power generators behind him.
My attack was brilliant. The Gravemind soliders were on the other side of the display, taking care of the ruffians and thugs who had followed me in. The tower of power generators fell like a vertical stack of bowling pins, down and out to the sides, loud and dangerous, offering me a moment to get away.
I turned and ran. There was nothing else to do. I couldn't take them all out. I dashed for the counter, down the aisle and off to my left.
I spotted Amy, her eyes peeking just above the countertop.
"Secure the room," I heard the leader shout from behind me, where the thumping of gunfire was dying down.
I dove over the counter, falling to the floor, my breath racing. I crouched and eyed a terrified Amy, in her same jeans and white t-shirt.
"You owe me," I said sternly.
I stood up and threw my hammer forward in the direction of stomping boots, triggering its gravity force just as I released it. The hammer flew forward, and in that moment, I felt like the god Thor.
Music played in the background, majestic and ominous. Time slowed as the hammer soared through the air, an unstoppable force. I felt energy flow through me, the hair on my body jolted out as chills electrified every cell in my body. The pain from the lashes of the whip were nothing to me. I was the eternal guardian of the solar system.
I laughed the laugh of the gods.
Then I noticed I was peeing myself, and Amy was holding a taser to my neck.
I stood there watching the hammer fly with intense satisfaction, while drool built in the corner of my mouth and my limbs convulsed.
"Goddamnit!" I yelled, although it sounded more like "gommammunt."
I slapped the taser away, falling backwards, catching myself roughly on my wrists. Anti-electrification mods managed to keep me functional, but the pain was still real.
"Motherfucker!" I screamed again, looking angrily at Amy.
She rushed toward me again with the taser. I kicked her away and grabbed the taser, yanking it away from her. I pinned her down with my right arm and put my face close to her ear.
"I'm not your enemy," I said firmly.
I let her go and listened to the screams as my hammer thundered to a halt somewhere in the store.
"Follow me," she panted, breathlessly. And then she opened a hatch below us, leading down into darkness.
Oh god, I thought. I really hope she doesn't fuck me over again.
I gulped and threw myself down the opening, landing painfully on my back, hitting a wood floor. Amy followed, down a ladder I hadn't seen. She closed the iron hatch, leaving us blind in a warm dark place.
A dim light appeared.
Amy stood with a flashlight. She fired up another and handed it toward me. I groaned, lifting myself, happily taking the flashlight from her and looking around the room.
There was a small but comfortable looking old chair, a small table with books, and a framed photo of an ocean. The ceiling was thick metal. That hatch would only open with a sizable explosive. I didn't doubt the Gravemind Syndicate would either have one or be able to get one relatively quickly. We were safe for the moment, but needed to keep moving.
"I come down here sometimes to get away from everything," Amy said, an explanation for her little chair away from the world.
"Trust me. I get it," I replied. She moved away from the ladder and opened a panel on the far wall. It was a ventilation shaft, running under the store.
"I'm sorry about before. I have to feed the local groups something every once in a while. It's good for business."
I noticed she called them groups, like they were little social clubs. Not criminals. Not the underbelly of legal society. These were her people. I had to figure most Itokawans felt that way.
"We are all the underbelly," I said. That would be a great motto for Itokawa, I thought, and it seemed appropriate, even coming from the Fracker.
"Yes, we are," Amy acknowledged approvingly.
I walked over to her side. She was short and slim. She was on her own. She was no match for the chaos that was coming for me.
"You coming with me?" I asked.
She laughed. That was reassuring. I can't even tell you how nice that feeling was in that moment below the halls of Itokawa.
"It's been a day," I said, laughing back.
"I have countermeasures upstairs." Amy seemed very confident. "I'll just sit here and have a good read, check the monitors from time to time."
She flashed her wrist and a little holographic display popped up against the wall, showing a live view of the soldiers above us, standing, and then suddenly falling to the ground as shocks ran through the floor of the store.
"Don't look at me that way," Amy said. "You forget where you are."
She was right. This was Itokawa, and this was the Cosmic Gutter. There was a reason I had added mission to my logs to come back here and steal something.
I laughed again. "I'm crossing Steal something from the Cosmic Gutter off my list."
She raised her eyebrow at me.
"Oh, I didn't steal something," I corrected myself. "I was planning to, but I don't think that's necessary."
She nodded, reaching out to hold onto the arm of my leather jacket. With her flashlight, she pointed down the dark ventilation tunnel. I followed her gaze.
"Follow that out. Keep going straight and left." She paused thinking. "Yeah, straight and left. That will take you toward the ports. It exits to a service passage nearby. I assume you're trying to get to a ship."
"Yes," I said.
She turned away, retreating to her chair, where she flopped down, looking perfectly at home.
"Thank you. Enjoy your chair away from the world."
She smiled and waved. No apology for trying to electrocute me to death.
I waved back and ducked slightly, crouching my way through the dark tunnels of Itokawa. This wouldn't be my last time, but that's a story for another time.