Boss King and the Blade
Chapter 3 - Last chance to pay before it begins

Boss King

Boss King was sitting on a low wall outside the Food Court, eating the last of his ramen with textured protein, when he saw the commotion. It was in the lit section of the parking lot, his premium turf, where Mighty Princess was in charge of collecting the evening fees.

He had to charge a higher rate for this area as he paid a small commission to the Market owners to cover the electricity costs. Boss King replaced the worn-out globes and fixed the elderly metal poles himself in order to keep the costs down. Only outsiders tended to park there, the locals knowing it was going to be more expensive so they used the dark outer bays.

Tonight some joy-rider from Haven, based on his car registration plates, had come to the Central Markets looking for cheap goods and maybe cheaper thrills. Boss King watched as two lean, slick haired guys exited their new model electric roadster. A girl with heavily made up face and skimpy black skirt and top followed them out of the vehicle. All three Havenites could be seen giving Mighty Princess a look of ill-disguised contempt.

“Five Pandas” he heard her call out to them, the usual price for safe parking of such an expensive looking roadster.

“Go away, little girl” one of the men replied, ignoring Mighty Princess as he smart-locked his vehicle. The three joked a little amongst themselves and went to walk towards the Market entrance. Boss King’s partner planted herself in front of them, her hand on her sheathed machete.

“Pardon me, Mister” she declared loudly. “But parking here costs five Pandas for the evening”

Boss King was too far away to hear what they said to her, but he clearly saw the driver shoulder past the girl, nearly knocking her to the cracked paving. His plastic bowl and chopsticks hit the ground as he leapt from the low wall, landing easily on his feet. He was right beside the entry steps and he stood in their path.

A few regulars at the Markets saw the suppressed fury in his face and moved hurriedly away, casting looks of pity at the foolhardy newcomers.

“Ten Pandas” he stated flatly, blocking the two men and woman’s access to the steps.

“What?” demanded the driver. Up close, Boss King could see his smart clothes and new shoes, his hair cut in the latest style and colour. The young man in front of him had never wanted for anything in his life, he was certain of that.

“Ten Pandas” Boss King said again. “Each”

He quirked an eyebrow at Mighty Princess, now lurking behind the oblivious trio. She gave him a slight nod, letting him know she was Okay. His gaze fixed on the driver and he noticed the man’s hand drift to a bulging jacket pocket. There was a weight to whatever lay concealed in that pocket and he knew it wasn’t a wallet or phone.

“Twenty Pandas, each” the boy announced. His eyes were locked onto the driver, as black and merciless as a snake. “Last chance to pay before it begins” he added coldly.

“Just give the kid his money, Leon” said the girl at the back. She looked the youngest but she had enough street-sense to know they were in trouble.

“Like hell I will” Leon spat and drew a small black pistol from his jacket. His arm extended in one smooth motion, his draw precise and fast.

Boss King was faster.

The witnesses in the Market who saw the encounter claimed you couldn’t see his machete slide clear of the scabbard. It was just there, hovering about half a meter past the guy that everyone now referred to as Left Handed Leon.

Leon screamed and snatched back his arm, looking in stunned horror at the bleeding stump where his right hand used to be. The hand itself thumped wetly onto the concrete paving, the pistol still gripped tightly in the fingers.

“If you leave now, there is a good chance they can reattach that for you at the hospital” Boss King said quietly. “Or you can walk back to your car and go for a nice drive. Either way you are not welcome here”

The second guy hustled his injured friend away, wrapping his coat around the bleeding stump. It was the girl who came forward and gingerly picked up the hand with two well manicured fingers.

“Thank you” she said and went to turn away. “For not killing him, I mean” she added then ran to catch up to the others.

“You’re welcome” Boss King told her but he didn’t think she heard him.

=====

“Holy crap, King” Mighty Princess enthused. “I’ve never seen you move that fast before!”

She was seated on an old sedan, one that belonged to a stall-holder that he let park for free. Boss King sat on a dusty blue three-wheeler that faced her, his back leaning against the windshield. They both drank from re-useable coffee mugs, watching the insects cluster about the tall light poles that ran down the middle of the premium parking spaces. Small bats, barely seen other than as momentary shadows, zipped about as they feasted on the winged bounty.

“It’s just something you can learn” he said easily. “My mother taught me the basics and I practice every day”. He drank more coffee and shifted his gaze to his young partner. “It’s about time you headed for home, Princess. There won’t be any new arrivals until the morning”

Mighty Princess met his eyes and grinned over her coffee mug.

“Are you just trying to get me out of the way?” she teased. “I bet you’re hoping that girl comes back, looking for the brave King to save her”

“Don’t be stupid” he growled. “She’s on the run from something, so she’ll be miles away by now”

“I don’t know, King” Princess continued. “You may be right, but my feminine intuition tells me she’ll be back”

Boss King snorted at his partner. “Since when do you have ‘feminine’ anything?”

He knew as soon as the words left his mouth that he would regret them. Mighty Princess lowered her mug and slid off the car bonnet, her scabbarded machete rattling on the fender. Without a word she emptied the last of her coffee onto the ground and placed the cup next to him. It was his turn to rinse them and give them back to the coffee stall owner, a whip-thin Jamaican everyone called Coffee Beanpole.

“Sorry Rebecca” he said to her. She nodded once and began to walk in the direction of her home, the one she shared with her mom, three older brothers and one mangy cat named Mr Tibbles.

“I’m still on the parking lot” she finally answered, nearly out of earshot. “My name is Mighty Princess”

“Will you be here for the morning rush?” he called out.

“I won’t let you down, Boss King” she shouted over her shoulder and then she was gone.

“Yeah, I know” he answered to himself. He drank the last of his coffee, collected the other mug and slid to the ground. With a wistful smile, he set off to the brightly lit edifice that sat at one end of his tiny empire. It was time to close up shop for the night and head home too.

=====

Abandoned Factory, The Hole

Melody-Six

Melody sat with her back to a solid wall, the chipped concrete a cold yet comforting presence. From her hiding place on the upper floor, she could see most of the ground floor below her through the gaping holes in the structure. Whatever had sat on this upper level when it was still in use, the heavy machinery had fallen through the old flooring and lay in piles of rusted metal and shattered plastic on the one beneath.

It had taken her a couple of hours of searching to replace somewhere that wasn’t already home to families of refugees or lone survivors like herself. This factory showed signs of someone camping here in the past, but none of the scattered rubbish they left was recent.

Her only companions were the rats, insects and one solitary stray cat that nosed about the ground floor. A squeal of rodent pain, cut off suddenly, let her know her room-mate was still here in the factory.

Melody settled into a semi-conscious state, letting her active mind rest while her subconscious kept watch over her surrounds. It was one of the first techniques Melody and her siblings had been taught by the Guardfathers, refined and developed over the past five years since she had started her training.

Thinking about the Nest and her lost brothers and sisters brought a tear to her half-open eyes. She fervently hoped at least a few of them had escaped the surprise raid by the Guard clones. It had come without warning, the outer sensor array disabled before the Guardfathers had detected the network intrusion.

The first she had been aware of it was when Nursemother Narelle-Five had roused her from a deep slumber. Like the other trainee Blades, Melody had been exhausted by ten hours of extensive physical exercise, weapons training and hand to hand combat practice. Gunfire had been echoing already from the access tunnels, the comforting sound of Guardfather rifles holding back the inhuman Guards.

Yet the Nest was doomed to fall once it had been discovered. That was their doctrine, to stay hidden at all costs from the servants of Archimedes. Once a Nest was found, all they could do was run and hide, waiting for a chance to unite with another fragment of the Hive.

Archimedes, the Artificial Intelligence that ruled Pan City and all of the Zone, was an implacable foe. It was relentless in its pursuit of the Nests, determined to stamp out the Hive and crush the Shadow Blades once and for all.

“I hate you Archimedes” Melody whispered into the night. “I will replace my lost brothers and sisters and together we will destroy you utterly”

Sleep claimed her angry mind at last, only her peripheral awareness searching the darkness that surrounded her.

=====

The hounds found her in the hour before dawn.

Melody snapped to complete wakefulness in an instant, her active mind moving from deep sleep to full awareness when her subconscious spotted the movement. Visible through one of the holes in the upper floor where she was hidden, the stealthy dog-shaped machine crept over a mounded pile of rubbish.

Its head was a long, tapered box, sensors and black lenses studded across the metal face. The body was low and lean, four legs lifting it and moving if forwards with those rear facing legs they all used. The mechanical paused and raised its weird head, looking directly at Melody.

“Fudge!” she swore softly, the harshest curse word the Nursemothers allowed their children to use. She sprang into motion, grabbing a meter long piece of metal pipe she had found last night. It had been laid next to her hand all through the long hours in case something like this happened, ready to be used as a weapon.

The girl bolted across the unstable floor, uncaring of the noise she made. The scout hound had found her and now it was time to run. Light from the pre-dawn sky showed Melody the busted window in front of her and she aimed for that, knowing there was a low roof beneath she could jump to.

She was almost there when a second mechanical hound bounded up from below, skittering on its plastic and metal legs to block her escape. This one had a short, blunt barrel projecting from beneath its sensor eyes and it tracked her with machine precision.

A sharp ‘pffftt’ noise was all the weapon made when it fired, but Melody was ready. The dart moved much slower than a bullet and she pivoted easily, letting the needle-tipped projectile sail past her right shoulder.

Melody stepped into range of the artificial hound and swung her pipe with controlled strength. She hit the sensor head just behind the neck joint, flinging the machine sideways with the power of her blow. Sparks, fat and bright blue in colour, sprayed from the head as it separated from the body.

She didn’t pause, running past the fallen mechanical and leaping through the open window. A fall of about three meters then she tucked into a roll, somersaulting along the corrugated roof before arcing into a controlled landing on her feet at the base of the building.

If there had been anyone to see it, she would have won a gold medal. Instead she set off running, using what cover the trash filled service road could provide. Behind her, loud thumps and crashes told her that at least two more of the mechanical hounds were following her route from the factory.

Somewhere there would be controllers, people who had sent these robot hounds to replace her. With only the pipe to defend herself, Melody doubted she could win the battle. What she needed was somewhere to hide with lots of other people, maybe someplace she could steal a better weapon.

Ahead of her, lit brightly against the pre-dawn sky, she saw the Central Markets. Lights gleamed from the upper levels that she could see, shadows moving as people traded and haggled at even this early hour.

Melody put on a fresh burst of speed, knowing exactly where she needed to go.