10 Fate
Nico Wachalowski—Alto Do Mundo
The Alto Do Mundo was the second-largest skyscraper in the city, and its base covered almost an entire block. It had its own underground rail station beneath it, and contained shops and restaurants the likes of me could never afford. I had to flash my badge twice just to get through the gate and into the parking area, where a well-dressed valet quickly moved my car out of sight. I had to present it again to the automated security system at the main entrance, and wait for my identity to be verified before I was allowed in.
The foyer was like the inside of a palace, with enough wealth on display to spark a revolt. Just inside, two uniformed doormen stood at attention. They had a military stance, and each one had a gun under his coat. I flashed my badge at them as I passed, and I saw the orange flicker in their eyes as each one scanned it. One blew air through his nose, and followed me out of the corner of his eye, but neither one moved to stop me.
I headed through the huge foyer and up to the security desk, where another clean-cut, military type sat. Time in the grind had a way of bridging class gaps, but he still kept a close eye on me as I approached.
“Good evening, Agent Wachalowski. How can I help you?”
“I’m here to visit one of your residents, Zoe Ott.”
“Are you here in an official capacity?”
“No.”
“Sign here, please.”
He swiveled an electronic tablet around, and I penned my signature. The tablet disappeared back behind the desk.
“Go on up.”
The elevator was decked out in bronze, glass, and marble. I’d never actually been inside Alto Do Mundo before, and it was hard not to be impressed. Like Suehiro 9, it was the kind of place people associated with first tiers, but I was first tier and it was way out of my pay scale. Zoe may have had an ace in the hole, but her citizenship was third tier. Ai and her people were giving her the royal treatment. A deal that good was usually a devil’s deal.
At her door, I rang the bell, but no one answered. I turned the knob and stuck my head in.
“Zoe?”
“Back here!” she called from down the hall.
I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. The place was a complete mess, but even so, it was incredible. The living area was huge, and full of top-of-the-line furniture and electronics. Hardwood flooring gave way to stone tile in a vast kitchen area. Looking around, I saw a gas fireplace, a huge flat-screen television, a half bar, and even a balcony. Next to the door, pizza boxes and other trash sat in a pile—Zoe’s signature. Her clothes were lying on the furniture and the floor. It smelled like fast food and body odor.
Heading down the hallway, I heard a low, bubbling sound. Steam was drifting through an open door, and I heard a splash, then two women laughing.
“Zoe?” I moved into the doorway.
Zoe and Penny were sitting on opposite sides of a big hot tub, the surface bubbling around them. Penny wore a black bathing suit and Zoe wore a white one. Bottles were racked up along the edge of the tub, and they were both blind drunk. A huge flat-screen television was mounted on the wall across from them, and on it men in military gear were scrambling across a helipad toward a waiting chopper.
“Hey, look who decided to show up,” Penny said, pointing. Zoe smiled.
“This thing is awesome,” she said. It was the first time I’d seen her look that happy in a long time.
“Hop in. Join the party,” Penny said, making Zoe blush.
“Cut the bullshit,” I said. “We found the ship. Now where’s Calliope?”
“No,
“That’s not going to happen.”
“You don’t get to just decide that. It’s not part of the deal.”
“There is no deal.”
“Sure there is. Ai still wants to see you, by the way.”
“I know.”
“You shouldn’t keep her waiting.”
“Did she hit the Healing Hands Clinic?”
“Hit it? Hey, they blew those clinics themselves.”
“But she had them raided?”
“Sure, but no one made Fawkes blow them up. What is this, our fault now?”
“If she has the resources to track those sites down, then why get me involved?”
She shrugged. “Because you kill Fawkes. She told you that. You’re part of it. Ai saw all this. All I know is that the destruction of the ship is tied to you, and that’s what we really care about. You verified the location when you found your friend’s message.”
“You’ve known all of this?”
“We knew they bombed Concrete Falls to steal something from Heinlein; someone on the inside confirmed that. They ran a search on their own, but they never tracked it down. Whatever it was, it has them real nervous. Nervous enough to talk to you.”
She took a pull off a long-necked bottle sitting on the edge of the hot tub. The clear liquid inside sloshed as she put it back down.
“You’re going to meet with Ai and tell her what you talked about when you were over there. If you know anything about what was taken from Concrete Falls, you’re going to tell her that too. Forget about your little trip to the boat.”
“You—”
“Don’t worry,” she said. “You were totally right about Buckster. We knew he’d take Flax, but we didn’t know what the connection to you was until near the end.”
“Take her where? What do you mean, take her?”
“She gets taken,” she said. “That was seen—not as a certainty, but a high probability. We were sure he’d hand her over to Fawkes like the other hobos. We just didn’t know you’d hand her to him.”
I started to say something, but stopped. I wanted say it wasn’t true, but it was. Cal thought she knew what she was getting into, but she didn’t.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.
She raised her eyebrows. “Because we knew you’d pull her out of there.”
“I could have gone in.”
“That’s not how it happens. She goes. She was the last of the five—that’s why I got assigned to her. Thanks to you, she bumped back into Zoe here.”
“I made her forget me back then….” Zoe said.
“…and I made her remember when she got back,” Penny continued.“So you arrest Buckster and put Zoe on him. Zoe gets into Buckster’s head. Calliope and Buckster compare notes. Buckster decides to take her right to ground zero, right to the ship. Game, set, match.”
“How?”
“She doesn’t know it, but she’s been busy since she got back. She’s going to take care of them for us.”
The room in her apartment, the one hidden behind the hanging flag, it had nothing to do with Buckster. It had nothing to do with Fawkes.
