had a slight bug up their butt that someone in their security department could do what he could, he'd vanish from the registry of the living so fast even Naomi wouldn't remember him.
The banging continued as I did what Kazuma suggested. Two pushes on the panel by his head and the bag and gear fit just inside. I replaced the panel and watched as Kazuma's physical left hand came up and typed again on an invisible keyboard.
I heard the click. I also heard the whine from the door as well.
Shit.
I placed the commlink in his hand and he held onto it. And I knew if I still had his sister's 'link on I'd see his ID flash up in an AR window. I removed the hidden holster from Kazuma and placed it on my own waist-it barely fit. I was a bit wider than my elven friend. The Fichetti fit easily into the hidden seam of my coat as I slipped it back on.
'I found their IDs,' Kazuma said softly as I put his coat back on him as well. 'The ork's name is Harold Burton- limited enhancements; cyber-eyes, right arm, and an artificial heart. He's blind in his right eye-has a down payment on a new eye.'
I was impressed-this guy was hacking into their actual records-not spoofed ones.
'The human is Sylvester Van. He's had a half-replacement of a cyber-brain. His left eye is equipped with a target laser that is connected wirelessly to the firearm. He carries a katana-but isn't as skilled at using it yet. He has a blog-and his third lesson is tomorrow at noon. He has aspirations of being a samurai.'
With that I had to laugh as I braced for the door to open.
'The one hacking is called…' Kazuma frowned. 'I can't-' he winced and suddenly put his hand to his ears.
The door opened with an ear-shattering bang.
Sylvester-Chromedome-was the first one in and he pointed his katana directly into Kazuma's chest. I couldn't tell from my angle if it slid in or not. I hoped like hell it hadn't. 'Found him! He's in here!' He moved the blade's end to the pin on this lapel. 'And he's Knight Errant.'
Seeing me, he moved the blade into my face and I held up the Colt in one of my hands. 'Don't kill us-this man was wounded. Just let us leave and no will-'
'Shut the hell up!' Sylvester yelled. He jabbed me with the end of the blade, right into my chest. Luckily it only pierced the leather of my coat and not my skin-but he didn't have to know that. I made the appropriate noise and allowed him to grab the Colt from me.
'Get out of here,' he said as he pulled on my collar and yanked me to my feet. He might be stupid-but was definitely strong. Pulling me out of the room, he pretty much tossed me to the right and into the arms of the ork, Harold.
I really had to squelch a laugh at that one. And that wasn't hard seeing as how his fist made contact with my face.
His cyber-enhanced fist.
I saw stars before I even hit the ground. I'd also managed to fly over the coffee bar at the same time. The force of the blow was supposed to incapacitate me.
And it almost did.
Almost.
I landed against the far wall-close to where Kazuma was originally shot-and just lay there, waiting for the room to stop spinning. I watched as they yanked Kazuma out of the room as well-and he half-stumbled, half- walked as he was presented to the Hacker behind the counter by Sylvester.
The hacker narrowed his eyes at Kazuma, and I suspected he had smart lenses on, reading the ID tag from the now active commlink. 'Well, a Knight Errant boy,' he said in a voice full of phlegm.
I took that moment and tried to focus on the cameras. They were moving independently, zeroing in on me, on the front door and on the scene at the bar. Was that Kazuma?
A cry from that side of the room caught my attention and I looked back in time to see Harold using his huge cyber arm to squeeze Kazuma's wounded shoulder.
Damn-if they kept that up he was going to pass out. I wasn't sure what the rules were for Technomancers, but I was pretty confident if he went unconscious, whatever he was doing in the PAN would stop. And then the doors would be open and these shit-heads could go free.
The hacker grabbed Kazuma's chin and turned his face to look at him. 'You realize what you just did? How much nuyen you just lost us? All I had to do was retrieve one file, one damned file-and you destroyed my gateway.' He leaned in close. 'Your ID doesn't say it-but that accomplishment tells me you're pretty rich with the KE cred-which means you have codes. And I want those codes,' he removed his hand and then produced one hell of a rifle and pointed it at me where I half-lay, half-sat in a dazed heap on the other side of the room. 'Or I shoot the old guy.'
Old guy?
Kazuma's eyelids flickered and he slumped forward. The Hacker cursed again and then moved the rifle over Kazuma's shoulder to point at Sylvester's head. 'You overdid it!'
Harold came from the back, a scowl on his face, his tusks grinding back and forth. 'Jarod-the main server is back there. I found an access jack-but I can't even start to hack in. Everytime I try to I get bounced back.'
Jarod nodded. 'No, but this kid can. And he will-' he looked at Sylvester. 'Get that juice-the stuff you got off that kid you geeked last week.'
Sylvester looked crestfallen. 'Aw, man. That's my stash-besides, if you give it to the dandelion eater, he might die.'
'I don't give a shit as long as he's awake enough to give me the codes,' he pursed his lips.
'Can't you just hack his 'link?'
'The codes aren't in his 'link, drek-head,' Jarod said. 'Knight Errant security keeps the codes closely monitored-they're changed out during sporadic intervals and each Errant Agent is given the secure location for those codes. He'll have to give them to me himself.'
As I lay there, watching and listening-feigning being wounded but not feigning that much-I was amazed at how much this drek-head knew about Knight Errant protocols. Either his Johnson had given him the information or he'd actually worked for KE as an Agent at some point.
Either way, I needed a distraction. As Kazuma anticipated, they didn't frisk me for any more weapons-taking the most obvious. I still had access to the Fichetti-but I would need some sort of distraction to draw it. Any movement on my part might compromise whatever Kazuma had in mind.
Though at the moment I wasn't sure how any of this was gonna work, since he was out cold. And from the blood pooling on the floor-I didn't give the elf much more time in this world.
'Wake him up,' Jarod said. 'If nothing else, we need him to release the doors. We'll take him with us and find a good shaman to take the information from his brain.'
Uh oh. I honestly didn't know if that was possible-but the image of Naomi furious at me-that was very possible.
As if on cue, the side soy steamer came on, sending a hot, steaming blast against the counter. This caused the machine to wrench and fall forward.
It was funny, but it wasn't. All three of the shit-heads turned and fired on the poor steamer, riddling it full of holes. Kazuma fell to the floor in a dark heap on his right side, his face turned away from me. He was still.
A little too still.
'Stopstopstopstop…' Jarod called out. The shooting ceased. The steamer, dead.
And the Fichetti was in my hand, concealed and fully loaded. Thirty rounds of ammo-and the bastards weren't even paying attention.
The blender abruptly came on as well. Full of something the barista had been making before the ork barged in, now slurped and spewed into the air, splattering the three amigos.
'What the hell is going on here?' Jarod called out.
'Otaku!' Sylvester shouted and ran to the front door. He banged on it repeatedly and tried to wrench it open. 'There's a ghost in this system-'
I was up on my knees, tugging at the downed shelf I'd used earlier for cover and used it again as I filled Sylvester with a good dozen holes, then without letting go of the trigger I moved the gun to the bar and nailed Harold when Jarod ducked.
