ABC - Penance
Chapter 21

Alvarez Gym, South Bank District

It was a little after Two PM when I dropped Minke off at Papa’s place. I parked in my usual spot at the rear of the gym, next to a motley assortment of electric motorbikes, bicycles and a couple of worn out micro-sedans. From inside the gym we could hear the familiar thump of weights being lifted and fighters sparring in the ring.

Minke was on the back of the bike, her new bag loaded with all her worldly possessions and perched like a snail shell on her shoulders. She had only lived with me for a couple of nights and I already felt sad at the thought of her not being there.

She got off first, then I dismounted too. The younger woman smiled as I stretched the kinks out and limped towards the gym’s rear entrance. It took me a good five steps to stand fully upright and move my legs without grimacing.

“Knock it off, kid” I warned her. “You’ll be old and broken one day too”

“Sure, Mama” she laughed at my back. It was an innocuous statement, a throw away line she spoke jokingly to me, yet it cut deep into my heart.

Papa saw me as soon as I entered and rushed up to envelop me in a bear hug.

“Easy Papa” I begged him, feeling my aches all over again. He lowered me onto my feet and looked deep into my eyes. I felt sure he could see some wetness there, shining under the bright lights of the gym.

“What’s the matter, Luisa?” he demanded, but I shrugged it off. It seemed so silly and I pushed those feelings deep down, letting them sit in the dark where Judy waited.

“Had a rough meeting last night” I explained.

“She was fighting a robot revolution” Minke added helpfully, appearing at our side. Papa immediately released me and swept the surprised woman into a hug of her own. I thought for a moment she was going to flip my father over her hip in a throw, then her face relaxed and she wrapped her arms around Papa too.

“Hi, Mister Alvarez” she greeted him warmly. “Thanks for letting me stay here while Luisa is away”

Papa held her away at arm’s length and gave her one of his big grins.

“You are always welcome here!” he declared. “Please Minke, call me Papa!” he insisted.

“Okay, Papa” Minke replied. Papa beamed with pleasure then ushered us through the gym and to the stairs that led to his first floor apartment. I followed the pair of them, glad that Papa had once again chosen to accept the girl at face value.

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“This is Luisa’s old room” my father announced, throwing open the door to reveal a small bedroom still cluttered with the debris of my childhood. Minke gazed at the well maintained room, marvelling at the (to her) ancient posters and framed photos that adorned the walls and ceiling.

“I thought you told me you cleared all this crap out!” I said to Papa, looking with rising embarrassment at the life sized posters of male and female athletes that were fixed to the ceiling. They had been my heroes when I was in my formative years, their powerful and graceful bodies firing my imagination.

And my raging hormones if I am honest. I had spent many nights gazing up at their oiled and muscled glory, barely concealed under scanty lycra and spandex. Papa didn’t let me have a lock on my door, so I used to wedge my study chair against the door handle while I fantasised about my idols.

Papa had followed my gaze to the posters and gave Minke a sly wink.

“Maybe you will enjoy those as much as Luisa used to!” he snickered and I gave him a scowl.

“Get the ladder, Papa” I demanded. “Those are coming down now!”

“It’s Okay, Luisa” Minke assured me, still looking up at the posters. “I like them”

I grumbled for a bit then relented. Papa was not the only one who caved into Minke I realised.

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We left Minke sorting out her room and Papa escorted me to where I had parked my bike. He seemed unusually pensive, so unlike my normally effusive parent.

“She’ll be fine, Papa” I said reassuringly. “She loves the gym and gets on well with Hanna-Lei. I’ll only be gone for a few days, I promise”

“It’s not that I am worried about, Luisa” he said quietly. “This man, Victor, he knows this place. What is to stop him coming here again to try and take Minke?”

I finished checking my bike and faced Papa directly.

“He’s a wanted man now with the Guard and Police Auxiliary” I began. “Every camera in the Spit will be monitoring for his face, so it won’t take long for him to be arrested”

Papa knew when I was lying and he shook his head now.

“No, Luisa, there are not enough cameras around here” he reminded me. “This man has contacts, doesn’t he? The kind that keep him out of the Police records and let him walk around without fear”

“Yes, Papa, he has connections” I reluctantly agreed. “But so do I. I have a Net Diver I know monitoring the CCTV network too, running Facial Recog programs to replace him. If he shows up anywhere, we’ll grab him”

Papa was unconvinced, clenching his big fists in frustration. I knew how he felt and wished again I had used Armour Piercing rounds that time I shot Victor. Or shot him in the head when he was down on the tunnel floor, rather than reaching for my Jangler.

Life is full of regrets and I vowed the next time I had Victor in my sights he was not getting a second chance.

“Trust me, Papa” I asked him. I reached out my hands and clasped his within my own.

“I always have, Luisa” he told me and leaned forward to plant a kiss on my forehead. “Go do your job. I’ll take care of Minke while you are away”

“Thanks, Papa”

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Central Police Auxiliary Headquarters, Spitfield City

“You’re late” Ghost reminded me as soon as I turned off my bike’s engines. We were parked side by side in the cavernous basement lot beneath the Headquarters building, using the bays near the service elevators. I slid off my bike and removed my helmet, rubbing my short hair so it stood up in spikes.

“Sorry about that” I mumbled. “I had to visit a friend before I came here”. Ghost gave me his best glare and I pretended to ignore it as I opened the rear panniers on my bike, re-checking I had everything I needed from home.

In truth I had stopped by Jan’s apartment to let her know in person I was going to be out of town for a few days. Amy had been on a play date at a friend’s house so Jan and I had the place to ourselves. One thing led to another and here I was a whole hour past our agreed meeting time.

“So how is Janet?” Ghost asked me without any detectable emotion, but I could see a sly gleam in his organic eye.

“Fine” I grunted noncommittally, trying to hide the smirk on my face. Actually, she had been damn fine and I felt like I could tackle anything right now. I looked at the small pile of cases and black carry bags arrayed on the ground next to Ghost’s bike.

“Did you get everything we need?” I asked my partner. He had already strapped a couple of cases to the sides of his own bike so I opened one of the bags. Inside I could see a suit of blue armour weave with a strap on chest plate, vambraces and pauldrons. The chest armour had a gentle swell around the upper half so it was obviously mine.

“Only half armour?” I enquired from my knees. “What about tassets and greaves?”

“Too bulky” Ghost replied with his usual economy. “If you want more gear we need to take a car or van”

“They will be too obvious” I countered, the continuation of an earlier discussion. “And the Police vehicles all have transponders in them. I don’t want any nosy people seeing where we are headed”

It was why we were heading out after dusk, using the cover of night to make it harder for drones and satellites to follow our movements. Not impossible, just harder.

I finished checking the other bags and cases, noting with satisfaction Ghost had requisitioned me a Machine Pistol with a Smart Link for goggles. He had also nabbed four magazines of ammo, one each of Suppression and Standard plus two Armour Piercing. The Quartermaster in charge of our supplies must have taken a shine to my tall, dark and handsome partner.

“Looks good” I told the man in question and started strapping the hard cases to the panniers. The bag of armour I slung crossways across my back, glad that Ceramite armour was light as well as being super protective.

Of the many technological developments that originated here in the Zone, it was Ceramite that was the most widely exported around the world. It had so many uses beyond the purely military, particularly in medicine for lightweight yet durable bone replacements. It had been originally developed for exactly that purpose, augmenting the skeletal structure of the Guard clones.

Then they realised how good it worked as rigid armour, offering some flexibility depending on how the base material was blended and shaped. That discovery alone probably bankrolled half of the building costs for Pan City.

I settled myself on my bike, synching my helmet to my phone and to the bike’s own internal processor. Everything came up green to go, so I started the engines and checked my battery reserve. I could ride for close to five hundred klicks before it needed a recharge.

Ghost sat astride his own hybrid monster and gave me a thumbs up. With a deft flick of the throttle I sent my bike squealing across the parking lot, startling a pair of off-duty Officers as I raced past. My partner followed, his bigger machine giving a hefty whine as it powered along in my wake.

We raced up the access ramp to the main street and headed north, joining the early evening traffic. I had no idea what we would discover at Camp One and in the background of my thoughts I fretted about Minke and what Victor was up to.

Yet for now I was happy, riding into the night with a reliable partner at my back. For a Wednesday, it was a pretty good day.