ABC - Penance
Chapter 43

Bobbi’s residence, Unity Townsite

January 20th V27 (2047AD)

I woke up in the bottom bunk of Catherine’s room and for a moment I had trouble remembering what day it was. The pleasant sense of uncertainty did not last and I recalled the events of yesterday.

Bobbi’s crew had joined Ghost and I in returning the Camp AI to full operational status. In return a lot of inmates had died trying to stop us, then Bobbi had been killed by one of the Warden’s cronies.

I hadn’t realise I was crying until the upside down face of Catherine appeared over the edge of the upper bunk, gazing at me with concern. Her red hair hung around her inverted face and I could see she had been crying too.

“Hey, Luisa” she said gently. “It’s Okay to miss her, but don’t be sad. Bobbi always said she would die in some pointless battle someplace. That was her karma she told me. All she wanted to make sure was that her buddies got out alive”

“Nobody wants to die, Catherine” I said callously.

“I never said she wanted to die” Catherine corrected me. “She always fought as hard as she could to stay alive. Bobbi was our Warrior Queen and we were her Knights. All of us were willing to die for her, but in the end she died for us”

I looked at the strangely innocent face of the Pyromancer. She could incinerate a horde of people on a whim, yet she kept her unspeakable power on a leash. All because Bobbi had taken her under her wing, giving her an outlet to use her Ability only when the law allowed her to.

“How did you meet her, the first time?” I asked Catherine, forcing my thoughts away from the events of yesterday. I would have to deal with the outcome soon enough.

Catherine pursed her lips, thinking back, until a warm smile passed across her face.

“I had been working with a Freelancer team operating out of Haven” she began. “We did small jobs around Haven and Spitfield, occasionally making a run in Port August. I had never even heard about Extraction jobs on the Labour Camps until one day my old boss, Chain Hammer, got us a gig at Camp Three”

“Some Pan City executive’s kid had killed a nightclub bouncer and he was being sent to the Labour Camps for twenty years. Daddy was willing to pay us twenty thousand Pandas to get Junior free and onto a smuggler boat out of the Zone”

“So what happened?” I asked, interested now to know the story.

“Bobbi’s crew happened, that’s what” Catherine laughed. “Must have been a data leak somewhere because the Camp Three AI sent Bobbi after us once we had ambushed the prison van”

“Ah, so you didn’t break him out of the Camp?”

“Hell no! That’s way too tough for the crew we had. I was still a Grade Two then, so I was able to slag the van’s tyres and force it to stop. Then I burned the van doors open and voila! Pretty boy was ours for the taking”

“When did Bobbi catch up to your crew?”

“We got to a place called Bluff Point on the western coast of the Zone. Not very big, mostly just a pub, a fishing wharf and some houses the fishermen lived in. Hammer had already ditched the other prisoners twenty klicks back, telling them to replace their own way out. Turns out they were the lucky ones, because Bobbi was waiting for us on the wharf”

“Other prisoners?” I interjected. “How many did you escape with?”

“Well, the van had five prisoners being transported to the Camp. Hammer took all of them, to make it less obvious who we had been paid to rescue. Those other four were the ones we dumped on the side of the road. I think they were grateful, at least they were after Hammer suggested he could just shoot them and leave their bodies for the Dingoes”

“I don’t think we have Dingoes this far north” I suggested, but I wasn’t sure myself.

“Yeah, I wondered about that too” Catherine replied and she seemed to be thinking now about local fauna.

“What about Bobbi’s crew?” I prompted her to get the story back on track.

“Yeah, so back then Bobbi had Wade and Nigel of course, with Jimenez as a Shield. You’ve met him, he’s the tatttoed guy who works at Mabel’s in the bar. His Ability is a Blocker, so he used to provide a kind of mobile shield for the crew to fight from cover”

“Okay. So why did he stop working as a Freelancer and become a bartender?”

“I think he said something about better hours and less shooting. We do get shot at a lot, you know”

I had to laugh at her then, nodding my head in agreement.

“Me too, Catherine, me too. So Bobbi’s crew ambushed you guys on the wharf?”

“Uh-huh” she continued. “Classic pincer move Bobbi told me afterwards. Nigel blocked our escape route with his combat drone, taking out our own drone support with two shots. Then Bobbi and Wade closed in from the front, using Jimenez as a human shield if you know what I mean”

“Our heavy hitters, Hammer and his partner Valkyrie, laid down suppressive fire while I tried to knock Nigel’s drone out. He was too damned good though, weaving that big sucker around the sky like it was a toy. None of my fireballs got close to it and he managed to plug Valkyrie good with a shot from the rear”

“Then the city boy, the Executive’s son, decided to try and make a run for it on his own. He ran past me while I was trying to launch another fireball at the drone. Dumb shit sent me right over the edge into three meters of water. I can’t swim and I thought that was it for me, game over you know?”

“Next thing I know, this big woman has jumped into the sea and drags me coughing and spluttering to the shore. It was Bobbi of course and she insisted on giving me mouth to mouth resuscitation, even though I was still conscious and breathing!”

“That definitely sounds like Bobbi” I agreed with a smile. “So what happened with Hammer’s crew?”

“Well, Wade shot the escapee in the ass so he couldn’t run away. Hammer and Valkyrie surrendered and our Drone Jockey drove off in the team van. Hammer was really pissed about that and it made Bobbi laugh so hard she let us all go. Her mission was to recover the escapee so whether she brought the other crew in or not made no financial difference to her”

“Is that why you joined her crew?”

“Kind of” Catherine answered me. “She had risked herself to save me, an enemy combatant in the middle of a firefight. That kind of shit makes an impression on you, you know?”

“Yeah, I know what you mean” I replied.

“Plus she was a really good kisser” Catherine added.

=====

Ghost rode up to the driveway of Bobbi’s house on his big black motorbike, the last of the morning fog fading away in the sunlight. We had found his machine in the garage at the rear of Morituri’s, along with the mangled wreck of my bike. With his beloved bike returned to him, Ghost had decided he was staying at the Restful Kingdom in Room Eight again.

He didn’t like sharing the house with others, especially since Wade had come back from treatment. I thought about moving into Room six again, until Catherine asked me to stay. All of Bobbi’s crew were still coming to terms with her death and for some reason they felt like I was helping with that.

I was dressed this morning in my uniform, cleaned overnight by Catherine and pressed by me after breakfast. My red eyes were hidden behind sunglasses borrowed from the Pyrokinetic and I felt as ready as I could be for the day ahead.

“Good morning, Alvarez” my partner announced. He was dressed in Wade’s spare clothes still, although I noted they had been cleaned and pressed too since yesterday. Maybe the housemaid had gone back to work at last at the motel? The thought of Ghost standing in a Laundromat washing and ironing his own clothes was too outrageous to contemplate and brought a brief smile to my face.

“Morning, partner” I told him. He glanced around, wondering how I was following him to the Camp. Bobbi’s truck was still parked under the carport and there was no other bike in sight. Realisation dawned on him just as I stepped up and slung my short ass over his seat, settling myself against his back.

“Get off my bike” he demanded but I just wrapped my arms around his taut waist and laid my head against his shoulders. He was pleasantly warm, the morning sun warming his jacket and his higher body temperature soothing to my touch.

“Nope” I replied and nestled my head deeper into his broad back. “I had a really shit day, yesterday, so you need to be nice to me”

Ghost held himself still, legs bracing the big machine as it idled on the driveway.

“I’m not that kind of partner, Alvarez” he said quietly, tilting his head to try and look at me over his shoulder.

“I’m your boss, so you will be whatever kind of partner I need you to be” I told him firmly. “Today you are my older brother, giving his sister a ride to a shitty interview with her superior”

Ghost lost some of the stiffness, and reached one gloved hand across to touch my own. I thought he was going to wrench them loose, instead he patted my linked hands gently.

“Okay, boss” he responded. “You did really well yesterday, so today I will do whatever you ask”

“Whatever I ask?” I teased him, feeling him tense up within my arms.

“Don’t push your luck, Alvarez” he growled. “Or you may not like tomorrow”

“Fine” I conceded. “Then let’s start with driving me to the new Head Warden’s office”

“Copy that” he agreed and reversed us out onto the road, then accelerated smoothly away.

=====

Labour Camp One

If the Camp had looked abandoned yesterday, this morning it was like the circus had rolled into town. Dozens of Warden Carriers lined the access road, with grey clad Warden Corps troops milling about while Sergeants yelled orders and Officers shouted counter-commands.

A platoon of blue painted Sentinels stomped past, their legs and arms moving with machine choreography. Behind them came blue uniformed Officers of the Police Auxiliary, marching with slightly less precision and a lot more shouting of instructions.

Ghost wove his bike dextrously past the organised chaos until we reached the outer gates. A grey Warden Corporal stood sentry with a matching blue dressed Police Auxiliary, the pair of them eyeballing our temporary Idents and scanning us with matching devices.

We were given a combined all-clear and Ghost rode slowly along the road between the inner and outer gates. I twisted in my seat, observing the gun towers. They had all been closed down again, although I was sure Charlie was ready to activate them at the first sign of trouble.

Another pair of blue and grey uniformed officers checked our credentials at the inner gates then we parked in the Visitor’s bay. Official looking sedans and even a limo were also parked in the bays, at least one of them showing Pan City licence plates.

“I get the impression that the Police Auxiliaries and the Warden Corps don’t trust each other at the moment” I observed to Ghost as I dismounted. “I wonder how many of the top brass have come out here for the show?”

“And how many have gone into hiding?” Ghost added. I had to agree with him there, this fiasco had shown some serious failures in the Camp management, aided and abetted by senior ranks in the Warden Corps and maybe even higher.

We walked side by side past the sensor poles, my eyes falling automatically to where the bodies had lain yesterday. They had all been tagged and bagged, carried off to the Camp’s Morgue for examination. There was more evidence of hurried clean up when we got to the front entrance of the Headquarters building.

Bodies had been taken away, the burnt and shattered planters pushed into an untidy jumble at one side and the front doors replaced by temporary plastic sheeting. More Wardens and Police Auxiliary stood sentry at the doorway, only standing aside for us at a command from within.

“You’re late” Trixie told us flatly, regarding us with her unblinking metal eye. She was dressed as a Guard clone today, only her more fluid body posture and scowling expression a tell-tale to those who knew her that she was no longer connected to the Archimedes Network. If it hadn’t been for the Enhanced eye, it could have been Bingo standing there I reflected, except she only ever scowled when I wouldn’t feed her.

“Our apologies, Unit B-Zero-Three” I replied. “The traffic was murder”

She relented at the sight of my hangdog expression and gestured us to the elevator. A faint tang of burnt plastic still hung in the air, all other evidence of the fighting already scrubbed away from the foyer. Trixie used a smart card to summon the car and we were soon rising to the topmost floor.

“The rest of the Camp is as bad as this building” Trixie informed us. “They had to start shipping the bodies out in freezer trucks, there were so many inmates and Wardens killed in the riots”

“What did the Warden want to gain from this?” I wondered. “He’d already gotten his chosen ones out of here. Why lock the Camp down and let the inmates riot unchecked?”

The elevator doors went to open, but Trixie jammed her index finger on the Close button for a moment.

“Boss has some theories” she informed us. “I’m sure you do as well. Just keep them to yourselves for now and let him do all the talking at this meeting”

“Sure, Trixie” I replied. Ghost added his own silent nod of understanding.

“Good” the tall clone woman said. “And don’t call me Trixie in the meeting!”

“Copy that, B-Zero-Three!” I answered like I was on parade.

She released the doors and we stepped into the lobby of the Head Warden’s office. For a moment my resolved failed and I could only stop and stare at the spot where Bobbi had fallen. Faint blood stains still remained on the marble floor and painted walls where the cleaning robots hadn’t finished their work.

“You need to keep going, Alvarez” Ghost whispered at my side. “The fight isn’t over yet”

“Thanks, partner” I said from the corner of my mouth. I moved forwards once more, heading to the opened wooden doors and the spacious room beyond. I barely heard his reply, yet it warmed the coldness that had taken root inside of me.

“It’s what a big brother is for” he’d said.