ABC - Penance
Chapter 15

Preston Gang Camp, Wasteland Area

There were four of us crammed into Sam’s room in the other big building, seated around a folding table on plastic chairs, with our host sitting on the edge of her bed. I wanted to check what info the camp leader could give us about Victor before we headed home.

I groaned a little too loudly as I sat down, feeling the aged chair creak in sympathy as I settled my weight. My wounds had been treated and I had taken another painkiller, this time a nice blue one from my private stash.

The young paramedic assigned to the raid had arrived in the second group, waiting until the fighting was done. She had patched me up, stemming the bleeding from my hip and gluing the cut on my arm. After that she had tended to Minke, tut-tutting under her breath at the wounds and abrasions over her body. At least none of the girl’s injuries were serious and the paramedic gave her a booster shot of antibiotics just in case.

We had sent the Paramedic to check over the camp’s inhabitants, making sure the kids had any injuries looked at. Sam had been surprisingly grateful to the Paramedic, an Indian woman who did double duty as a Street Officer and first aider on raids like this.

“I want to give you something back, Alvarez” Sam announced once we were seated. She lifted a corner of her bed’s mattress and drew out a plastic bag then placed it on the table top. I opened it curiously and found two phones, Ident cards and a wallet. They belonged to Minke and I, so I handed the relevant items to the girl and checked my phone.

The traitorous device activated Okay and I saw I had a number of missed calls, mostly from Papa and Jan. I slid it into a pocket of my uniform along with my Ident. Minke’s Ident was still on the table while the girl checked her phone too, so I picked it up and ran my eyes over the details.

Her full name was Minkatya Ilyra Rostarov, born September 12th V-Ten. She was Registered as a Projector - Luminous, Grade One.

“Hey, you really are only sixteen years old!” I snorted, then rubbed at my chest as the movement made the bruises ache.

“Don’t look at that!” Minke demanded and snatched the Ident from my hands, folding her own over it protectively. She glared at me and I could see the youth in her now, the harsh years in the Wasteland dropping away for a moment.

“So who named you Minke?” I asked her. “I thought that was a type of whale or something”

“My mother” Minke replied, still clutching her Ident card. The sturdy plastic was flexing under her grip so I guessed her mother wasn’t around anymore. “She always loved the whales. All kinds of sea life fascinated her, even stuck in Moscow. When I was born she named me Minkatya but I was always called Minke by the family”

“Ah, so your family came to the Zone from the Eastern Bloc?” I enquired. I was always interested in how people ended up here. It gave some insight into what drove them, what their aspirations might be.

“Yes” Minke answered. “Father came to work as a Warden in the Labour Camps and Mother was a cook. We were at Camp Three, up near the tip of the Zone. I was born there, in Camp Town, not long before my father was killed in a prisoner riot”

“Oh” was all I could say to that. Riots in the Labour Camps were not uncommon, especially the low threat ones like Camp Three. Few of the detainees there would be wearing PCDs, since anyone considered that big a risk would be moved to Camp Two or even Camp One.

“What happened to your mother, Minke?” I asked her gently, my curiosity pushing aside my sense of decorum.

“She came here to Spitfield, to work at a restaurant one of her cousins managed. It went well for a while and we were happy enough. I went to school and got tested as an Awakened, which made my Mother very proud. Then it all went to shit”

“Your Mama died?” I probed. Ghost was watching us impassively but Sam had her eyes fixed on me, her expression showing her disapproval.

“Minke’s mother died here, at the camp” Sam interjected. “She had been unwell for some time and needed somewhere cheap to live. It was a cancer that got her in the end”

“I see” I said to Sam. “So when did Victor come on the scene?”

“Mama knew him from her time at the restaurant” Minke continued. “He was some kind of Mafiozi, working for the Bratva. Do you know about them?”

I was a Detective in the Police Auxiliary, so I knew all about the Bratva, or Brotherhood. Most people called them the Russian Mafia, every bit as dangerous as their European counterparts but far better equipped. There were deep connections between the Brotherhood and the Russian government, with many of the military involved in the criminal network.

“Yeah, I’ve had some run-ins with their crews” I confirmed to Minke. “They control some of the underground Arenas too. I fought against one of their Bears in the old days”

For the record, the Bear was a heavily Enhanced giant named Vasily the Bonecrusher. He had both arms replaced by ex-military cybernetics bought from an Eastern Bloc dealer. They were heavy hitters, with kinetic drivers in the forearms that let him punch as hard as I could.

Almost, I should amend. He got me good and I busted three ribs in that fight before I turned his right arm into twisted junk and broke his jaw. It wasn’t my cleanest victory but any win in the Arena counts.

“If you’ve known Victor for a while, does he have a last name?” I asked, looking at Sam and then Minke.

“Kamarov” Minke answered and Sam agreed. “That’s what Mama knew him as. I have no idea if that is his real name”

“Okay, that’s a good start” I said with a small grin. “We’ve got a name, we’ve got his image and we know he has links to the Spitfield Bratva. Fucker is as good as caught!”

“You are such a fucking optimist” Sam muttered. With that our meeting ended and Sam ushered us out of her room.

=====

We squared the last of our gear back into the Carriers, distributed some more protein bars and ration packs from our supplies, then clambered into the rear passenger sections. I was seated next to Ghost, with two of the Sentinels facing us impassively.

Minke stood next to Sam and a few of the camp locals, including young Cisco and his sister Mara. I tossed one of the Police issued E-Phones to the boy and he caught it with a confused look on his face.

“What’s this?” he demanded.

“They call them Emergency Phones” I replied. “You can call the Police Auxiliary or any other Emergency service for free. My number is already stored in there under Alvarez. If you ring me, the call will be routed through the Police server to my current contact number, any time of the day”

“Okay, thanks” he replied and I was rewarded with a look of gratitude on his smiling face.

That about wrapped things up for now, except for one last detail.

“Have you got all your stuff, Minke?” I asked her. The Carrier engines powered up with a whine and I heard the driver asking if we were ready to go.

“Just one more passenger, driver” I called out over my shoulder, my head turned to face Minke. She looked uncertain, ready to bolt like a startled rat. I got out of my seat and stood at the lip of the rear hatch, my hand extended towards her.

“Papa wants to know when you are coming for another training session” I lied, but I knew it was true anyway. Papa had liked her quite a lot.

“Go on” Sam urged her. “She’s offering a better deal than anything going here”

Minke took my hand and climbed into the back of the Carrier. I closed the rear hatch, giving Sam a quick nod of appreciation before it closed. She gave me a raised middle finger in reply, which I took as a positive sign.

I took my seat next to Ghost again and Minke seated herself at my other hip.

“Good to go, driver!” I called out and the Carrier rumbled into motion.

We left Sam and the camp behind, our convoy heading into the heart of Spitfield and something approaching civilisation. In terms of capturing the Jacker, the mission had been a failure. In terms of healing some of the damage I had caused, I would count it as a win.