“I’ll get it for you …” He reached into the first-aid kit for the second and final injector. Climbing back up into the Gus, he administered the painkiller. “Ok. Now, I need to get her outta here. Too many people. They’re already looking at her funny.”
Jocko grabbed him by the arm, a desperate strength in his grip, maybe the last he could muster. “Listen to me, asshole! I’m done for. You know it and I know it. Don’t hang around here just to hold my hand in the ambulance.”
“You ain’t done fo—”
“Shut up! Cops’ll be here any minute and when they do, you’re sure to end up going away for a while after what happened tonight. You forget what kind of people we poked with a stick?”
“No.” Tiger hated where this was going. He hated it because he knew the man was actually being noble for a change. The kind of nobility a man usually exhibits when he realizes he needs to make things right.
“Take the girl and go. She needs you. Ain’t nothing else you can do for me.”
Tiger looked down and away. The guilt and pain were overwhelming. This was all his fault. “Jock, I … I’m …” He couldn’t find the words to make it right. He didn’t know if there were any.
Jock seemed to sense what he was trying to do. “Shit happens, my friend. Just how it goes down sometimes. Go on, get outta here. You might be Mr. Shit-Don’t-Stink Tiger Thomas up there, but down here … down here, you’re just a dumbass who doesn’t know when to walk away.”
“Yeah well … unfortunately, I ain’t that much different up there, either.”
“Well, it’s too late now. You can’t walk away. So start running while you got a head start!”
The faint sound of the first siren could be heard off in the distance. Tiger turned to Amber. “Go! Get outta here! I’ll catch up with you!” She still had uncertainty in her eyes, hesitant to move. “Go, Amber!” he entreated, handing her his Spacehawk and shoulder rig. “I’m right behind you.” He looked desperately into her eyes. “I promise. Go!”
The sirens were closer now, and she knew she really didn’t have much of a choice. Pushing past Tiger, she climbed up and leaned in to give Jocko a tender kiss on his dry lips, caressing his cheek softly one last time. In her big, expressive eyes, a message of gratitude and affection was sent. Turning to leave, she gave Tiger a sad shake of her head, tossed his pistol belt over her shoulder and was through the crowd before there was anything any of them could do. In seconds, she was swallowed up into the black night, leaving some of the onlookers more than a little unnerved by the strange, naked creature that moved through their midst like an unsettling spirit through the mist.
As they watched her slink off into the dark, Jock chuckled weakly. “Good thing you’re leaving now. I think she was starting to fall for me.”
“You’ve always been irresistible to half-animal women,” Tiger countered good-naturedly. In the distance, he heard more sirens. Now he had to go. In the steadily failing glow of the cab lights, Jock had turned a sickly pallor. Tiger grasped his hand, giving it a firm squeeze. “I’m sorry about all this …”
“And you’re the one who said I should get out more.” Jock shook his head weekly. “Here … take this.” He handed Tiger his PDC. “You might find it quite useful.” Tiger didn't argue. He figured anything belonging to Jock didn't need to fall into the hands of the authorities.
“My bag. Take my bag. Hurry!” Jock continued. The sirens were getting close. He knew Tiger would have to go. “There’s some stuff in there I downloaded that I need you to get to someone. It’s on quicksticks and tramp drives.”
“Ok! Sure!” Tiger nodded anxiously, distracted by the oncoming police.
“I’m serious!” He grabbed Tiger’s arm, holding it with a death grip. “She goes by Baroness von Hackemoff! She’s probably the best hacker in Sol. I’m like community college to her Oxford. She’s in Luna Seven. Find her! Give her my data!”
“I promise to!” Tiger saw the blue glow over the horizon. He was pressing his luck. He should’ve been long gone. “Once all this shit dies down and it safe to go up th—”
“You don’t understand!” Jock struggled to raise his head, his voice emphatic. “You gotta get there as quickly as possible. I was able to download some data from GenetX before they turned the tables on me. She can take it and hack back into their mainframe. She can get around their traps!” He paused for breath, his eyes wide, as he fought back a new wave of pain that the Lunarol was no longer able to dull. “She is the one person who can find out all you need to know about Amber!”
Tiger paused momentarily, letting it all sink in. The last thing he needed now was to go to the moon. What he needed to do was get Deep Spaced as quickly as he could. Even Mars might not be safe, depending on the lengths these people were willing to go to retrieve Amber. He needed the protection of someone like the Cap’n. Still … he wanted to know. He needed to know. He reached into the back of the cab and grabbed the knapsack and his extra pistol.
“Take care, my friend!” he said to Jock. “I’ll make sure you’re well taken care of! I promise!”
Standing up, he kept his back to the onlookers. With a sly grin, he raised his pistol. “Jesus!” he screamed, his voice full of exaggerated panic. “Is that a bomb?” He then squeezed off a couple of rounds into the night sky. As panic ensued and
