Family Affiars Part 3
01 May 2017Stryker Aune
Amphisatsu, Wantabe Terminal“This is Watanabe Terminal Actual. Stay on your current vector…”
Locke guided the sleek Imperial Courier though the mail-slot. In the distance he could hear the station announcements reverberating through the cylindrical flight deck. He quickly located his landing pad and descended the ship. As it touched down the struts groaned under its weight as the man quickly shut down all the non-essential functions.
“This is station maintenance,” the squawk box announced. “Do you require any services?”
Locke removed his opaque Remlock helmet. “Yes, fuel the ship and have it ready to depart,” he said, and made his way to the slowly descending gang plank. He hoisted a backpack over his shoulder and quickly left the ship.
The docks were a bustling array of activity. Maintenance workers pushing their way through to service ships. Pilots bustling around. Passengers milling about at creating choke points in the flow of traffic. Locke picked his way through with ease. He knew where he was going..
He made a turn and looked up to watch a mag-lev train woosh past on its overhead suspended trellis. His cool eyes saw it slow to a stop at a terminal. He wasn’t about to go through a security checkpoint to board the train.
He pulled out a short length of cord, and wrapped it around a support strut holding the single wide and pale blue glowing rail aloft. He leaned back using the leverage to support his weight and placed his feet against the same pillar. With hopping motions he pulled the upward upward, climbing the support. When he reached the top, he made the short jump from the pillar to grab hold of the trellis. He felt the pull of the gravity, and glanced at his now dangling feet. Pulling himself up, he couched on the topside of the trellis as another mag-lev shot past under him, shaking his footing as he quickly ran along the length, over the security line, and quickly hopped down onto the platform, slipping into the train just as the doors closed.
He stood with his back against the wall, feeling the train sway about as it shot through the station. A woman was hunched low, trying to calm a crying child. This annoyed Locke, and he looked away. His gaze fell upon a man in a crisp white business suit. Pinned to his lapel was the emblem of the Utopian movement. He rolled his eyes.
“Housing district One B,” came a cool automated voice. Locke looked up at the holo-displays that ran along the sides of the interior near the ceiling. They alternated between the next stop, and a diagram of where they were on the line. The train slowed and came to a stop. The doors opened and people pushed their way in and out.
“Next stop, Upper living district One A.” The holo-display quickly showed the station zoom in, rotate and flash the section they were heading to. It was a large complex on the outside of the station. Where the wealthy lived and enjoyed “normal” gravity. Locke changed position, drawing closer to the sliding door. He watched quietly as buildings and superstructure whizzed by, thinking about his task at hand. After a few minutes he felt the train slow.
“Upper living district, One A.” The doors opened and the assassin slipped through them. Locke made his way out of the mag-lev station and found the avenue he was looking for. The air here was fresher and lacked the staleness and stagnation that the inner station was more accustomed to. He quickly walked along the street and found the target home. Block of four living units clustered together, stacked two high, to give the impression of some outdoors space, but still packing in the greatest amount of population density. He approached the block opposite of the Ichikawa residence.
It wasn’t that difficult of a climb and Locke was soon laying prone on the roof. He pulled out a disassembled rifle from his pack, and efficiently fitted it together,, finishing with a silencer. He pulled the scope out of the bag and affixed it to the barrel. He checked the aim, and now it was the waiting game.
* * * * * * * *
Stryker was lost in thought; his brows knit together as he wildly trying to generate different ideas to get everyone out of the mess, but he knew, deep down, that they would fail. He considered paying off the loan, until he found out how much it was. Some two million credits, and he didn’t have that kind of cash lying around. He thought about faking the death of his brother-in-law, but knew that too would be futile. He was to bring back a head. The thought made the rucksack on his back uncomfortable.
What if they could just disappear? he thought, knowing that wasn’t really an option either. Another failure, and it would be his head.
That bitch he savagely thought again.
The bodybuilder wasn’t exactly aware of his surroundings but he had enough wits to find his way. The long avenue was dark. Trees lined a cobbled square with a fountain as he passed through it. He saw some flowers that had been planted and picked out a simple white daisy. He looked it over for a moment. It brought up a feeling that that he couldn’t quite identify with, but it troubled him all the same. He turned it over in his hand. Anger washed over him and he crushed the flower, letting it slip from his calloused, rough hand. He continued his pace, rounding out the square and finding the avenue his sister’s family lived on. He counted down the housing blocks until he stood in front of their door.
From his perch, Locke watched the man through his rifle sight, holding The crosshairs on his unwitting target’s center of mass.
Stryker took a deep breath, trying to steady himself for the task at hand. As the door opened, Hideki peered through the crack.
“I uh…” It didn’t immediately register with the man who it was at his door, “I suppose you're here to collect the debt?”
“Hideki….” Stryker whispered.
The man of Asian descent, raised a brow. “Sven?”
Stryker nodded as Hideki let the large man in and led him to a sparse, clean, and delicate sitting room. They both sat.
Outside, Locke had a clear view of both men. He lined his sight on Stryker.
“Why are you here?” Hideki was frank.
“It would seem you have gotten yourself into a spot of financial trouble.” Stryker flexed the cybernetic claw. Hideki glanced at it.
“And you know this, because…..you are the one they were going to send to collect on the debt?”
Stryker deflected the question with a question.
“Where’s Freyja?”
Hideki sat forward. “She is in the other room, sleeping...She never forgave you. And begging for that now is very inappropriate.”
“I didn’t do anything! And I did my best to help! To protect her! We were kids!”
“I know,” Hideki said, “What happened was outside your control. Perhaps that is why you turned to steroids, and weights?”
Stryker flexed his claw again. “It….it was. I wanted so much to hurt that man. And I thought if I were bigger…”
“You are bigger, and now you are hurting your only family member. Why are you doing this?”
Stryker was not prepared for this. “I don’t… I don’t have a choice.”
“Every man has a choice. And from the looks of it, you have chosen to fall into a bad crowd of people. Did they do that to you, against your will?” He asked, gesturing to the cybernetic.
Stryker could only nod in reply.
“And why did they do this?” Hideki asked.
Strykers mind was racing What is he doing….what am I doing? “I….that’s not why I am here. I’m not here to discuss this monstrosity.”
“Ah, you're right, you are here to collect the money.” Hideki shifted his weight. “Did you know that the Imperial Navy is looking for you?”
Stryker was taken back by the simple question.
“Oh, they came by asking about you. If I knew where you had defected off to….”
“This isn’t about me…”
“I think it is. They are offering a reward for you. They seem to think you're now an agent for the Federation…” Hideki reached over to a Holo-slate.
“Don’t…” Stryker warned.
“Family, Sven, is important. You can help your sister now, by allowing me to turn you in.”
“And spend the rest of my life in an Imperial labour camp?”
“It’s better than me being dead. And this way, Freyja is taken care of. It is the better of your options.” Hideki swiped the pad.
Stryker knocked the device from his hand, sending it spinning across the room. “I can’t live in that sort of bondage.”
“You already are, Sven. One of a different type.”
Stryker stood abruptly facing his brother-in-law. Locke readjusted his aim. “You… you don’t know what you're talking about.” He knew he sounded stupid. But he also know Hideki was right.
Hideki stood with a calm, collected demeanor. “I am turning you in, Sven.” He took a sideways step towards the fallen pad.
Stryker bull rushed his brother-in-law.Hideki, anticipating the move, turned lightly on his heel like a leaf on the wind. Then, with one fluid motion, he brought a cupped fist down on the large man’s back, sending Stryker face-down onto the floor. Stryker grunted, trying to catch himself. Hideki followed up with a quick graceful swing of a leg, bringing the foot down hard on the man.
Stryker’s sheer bulk took much of the blow, but it still disoriented him.
“Now, Sven, I am turning you in.”
Freyja peeked around the corner, and with a yelp exclaimed “Hideki!”
Hideki looked up at his fragile wife. “Everything will be fine.”
She bit her nails. “No, no no no no NO!” she cried out, falling against the threshold, her mind reeling into a flashback of abuse.
Hideki picked up the holo-slate. “A bow can be a deadly weapon when strung tightly and properly. You, Sven, are a broken bow. Untrained. Relying on brute force to bring an end to your means…”
Stryker pushed himself up onto his knees, looking at Hideki.
Locke continued his careful aim, ever so slightly keeping the crosshairs on the larger of the two men. He is going to fail this… he thought, and squeezed the trigger.
There was flash, a scream, and the thud of a body hitting the ground.
Locke’s finger slipped from the trigger and he slowly pulled his eye away from the scope and allowed himself a smile.
A special thanks to Nicholas Locke, Jubei Himura and Jemine Caesar for their edits and insight.