Freezing Shadows, Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Meeting

Meeting in the middle of the Sound was a pain, generally, because navigation was not as easy as navigating in the sprawl. Oh, sure, you can just point the boat in a direction, and go until you hit the waypoint, but even after nightfall we weren’t the only boat on the water. Seattle had a port, after all, and it was a busy one. That meant we needed to get to the target area without hitting traffic, but there were no roads or anything so we knew we weren’t going to run into a container ship’s path. Not fun.

Still, we were here. Everyone was armed, naturally. Berzerker even brought out her LMG, since we weren’t likely to run into any cops who might ask unfortunate questions. She had the thing on a sling with a special rig allowing it to be hip-fired, and a foregrip to help maintain control. And she had the thing loaded with EX-Explosive rounds! Decidedly unhealthy for anyone on the other end of it.

Berzerker wasn’t the only one who brought a toy out to play, though. Babydoll currently had one of her new blimp drones hovering in the air, silently gliding along in the blackness above. The drone was armed with a sniper rifle and armor-piercing ammo. It would tear through a typical lined coat as though it wasn’t even there, meaning that anyone she aimed at through that drone had best hope that she missed them, because there was no shrugging off that hit. Hell, most vehicles would be struggling to deal with those shots, unless they were seriously up-armored.

Ten minutes before the meeting, Babydoll spotted a boat on approach. There really wasn’t any hiding their approach. That was one of the selling points of a meet on the water, after all, you saw everyone coming well ahead of time. Typical motorboat, from the looks of it. Outboard engine, steering wheel up by the bow. Basic design, and something that’d be utterly indistinguishable from anything else out there. And, from what Babydoll could see, there were three men on it, and she shared the video of them. Thankfully, their faces were lit by the lights and instruments on the boat. Meaning the driver probably wasn’t familiar enough with boats to have faith in their driving without some lights.

One of the three was the middle manager that Sexkitten had met. The other two were obviously security of some kind. No obvious chrome, at least that we could see at that angle, but Berzerker was proof that you didn’t have to have chrome sticking out all over to be a heavily augmented and dangerous opponent. They did, however, have assault rifles of some kind on slings, and their coats had to be armored.

“Babydoll, mask up, then, go lay down, out of sight. I want you in your drone.”

“Sure thing, boss. Target priority?”

“Engines, Gunmen, Mr. Johnson, in that order.”

“Got it,” she said, before finding a place to sack out, where she would at least have some hull between her body enemy fire, if bullets started flying. She pulled her breathing mask on, just in case.

“Everyone else, masks on. Keep your weapons with safeties on, but don’t get cocky or comfortable. This could still go sideways in a hurry.”

A chorus of ‘yes’ echoed, and I followed my own orders, putting on the breathing mask. About a minute later, the boat pulled up to us. The middle manager, who looked to be the only unarmored and unarmed person here, looked at Sexkitten, and said, “Ah, thank you for meeting with me. I know that this is not the customary way of doing things, but it is imperative that this conversation be completely secret.”

Iceblade’s Judge Intentions test: 10d6 = 4 hits, 2 miss

Manager’s CHA+WIL test: 6d6 = 3 hits, 1 miss (1 net hit)

I noted his body language as he spoke. He was not nervous, but there was something slightly off about his attitude. Perhaps he’d popped something to calm himself down? Either way, I moved to the front of the group, and said, “Understandable. Perhaps, then, you could start by telling us more about the job?”

“Ah, yes. You see, there is a problem beginning to arise across the border, in the Free American Nations. A recent attack on a corporate facility near Vancouver resulted in the theft of some extremely sensitive data. The data was later recovered, however, during the recovery process, documents were discovered that imply that the theft was orchestrated by an insider. Naturally, something like this cannot stand.”

“Yes, betrayal is not something you can easily countenance. But surely any corporation has individuals it can call upon for terminating employees? Especially ones that break their contracts so badly?”

In other words, why come to someone like us with this? Most corporations had corporate security of some sort, and the ones that weren’t willing to file termination notices at muzzle velocity under these circumstances were few and far between. Which meant that there was something else going on.

“Ah,” the man said. “Unfortunately, the situation is a little more complicated than that. You see, the infraction was committed in the Vancouver office, which is part of the FAN branch, while the evidence was recovered by the UNAS branch. On top of this, the individual in question, while a minor player in his own right, has connections with some of the upper levels within the FAN branch of the company. I will not bore you with all the specifics, but suffice to say that they would be able to quash any evidence brought by our department, long before termination proceedings could begin. For similar reasons, it was deemed necessary to employ outside contractors to resolve the situation.”

“I see. And I take it this individual is remaining in Vancouver? Why not contract with a team there?”

“Because, unfortunately, one of the individuals that this person is connected to is in the procurement department for external contractors. Any efforts to contact local talent would alert the target. This also means that the normal methods that may be used in the Seattle office are off the table, as well. Hence our unusual meeting location, and the way this offer is being made.”

That was convenient. So convenient that it stank to high heaven. Unfortunately, it was also very believable. Those kinds of politics were rife within the megacorps. Sometimes it seemed like shadowmen were hired as often for runs against another target within the company as they were for runs targeting other companies. So, the whole setup could be legit. But it was still a bit too convenient.

“Where is the target located?”

“For the time being, the target is staying within a secure corporate enclave in Vancouver. However, they are currently set to conduct a security review of facilities in Victoria. The review is set to begin one week from today, and is scheduled to last for approximately one week. During that time, they will be staying at their private waterfront villa in Sooke.”

“So that everything is clear, what restrictions, if any, are there on this job?”

“While violence is necessary, and, indeed, encouraged in this case, disruption or destruction of corporate holdings is not acceptable. The target’s villa, however, is a private holding, and not subject to any restrictions, so long as the target is terminated. As long as things do not damage the corporation, then any means necessary are acceptable.”

That set off another bout of warning bells. A corporation basically taking the leash off and letting any kind of damage out, so long as it didn’t damage corporate property? Either they were sending a message, or they expected this to be one hell of a fight. Either way, this meant trouble.

“Very well. However, crossing country borders, with the gear to properly do our job, away from any of our typical information networks? That adds to the danger, and to the cost. What kind of compensation is being offered for this job?”

“Because of the restrictive nature of the job on our end, obviously an extensive payout in nucred is impossible, as it would leave too many tracks for internal auditors to follow. However, as you are no doubt aware, Mixsanto has many companies under its umbrella, offering an impressive catalogue of weapons, ammunition, and other gear. I am authorized to offer payment in corporate script, as well as a chit giving you access to items that would normally be barred to those without a more official corporate standing.”

In other words, they wanted to pay us in Mixsanto-bucks, or whatever they called their corporate currency. Problem was, corp script could only be used in places associated with the corporation, and it was a lot easier to track. No certified credit on corp script. However, opening up the ‘restricted section’ of the company store, for lack of a better term, could just make it worth the hassle.

“Obviously, if we accept that, then the compensation would need to be increased accordingly. So, just how much payment are you offering?”

“Twenty thousand in advance, for the group, with another forty thousand upon completion of the task.”

Iceblade’s Negotiation Test: 12d6 = 4 hits, 2 miss

Manager’s Opposed Negotiation Test: 6d6 = 2 hits, 2 miss (2 net hits)

“That’s far too low, and you know it. Especially when dealing with corp script, and its… restrictive nature. Sixty thousand, in advance, with another Sixty upon completion. That’s more than fair.”

The manager looked like he bit on a lemon. Probably was cutting into whatever profit margin he was promised with this. But he wouldn’t get any profit if he played too hard, and we turned to shooting our way out of this.

“Fine,” he spat. “Sixty thousand in Mixsanto corporate script, and the same on completion.” He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a datachip, and six credsticks, marked as being 10k each. Holding them out to me, he said, “This is the information on the target, and the location of their villa. The datachip also contains a code allowing access to the Mixsanto online purchase store, including all items up to Availability grade 24, including Forbidden materials. The code will be good for two weeks.”

I handed the materials to Twilight without taking my eyes off the manager. “Twilight, if you would?”

She caught on to what I was asking, and slipped the datachip into her commlink. She didn’t need the commlink for anything but data storage, and for show, but anyone looking on would be suspicious if she didn’t use something like that. After a moment, she said, “No virus or malware detected. Corp script has valid markers. All clean.”

I nodded, and said, “Very well, Mr. Johnson. We will eliminate your errant employee, and ensure that the damage does not splash back on your facilities.”

With that, the boat turned, and headed away. I took a breath, as Babydoll sat up. “All right, Babydoll, get us back to shore. We need to figure out how we’re going to do this. And we probably ought to spend as much of the corp script before going on the job.”

Berzerker nodded slowly as we started heading back. “That high availability could let us get the high-end weapons, the really nasty ammo, and a good boat to get tricked out later. What do you all think?”

Shadowgirl nodded. “I agree. And I have some savings that I can contribute to the vehicle funds, as well.”

“Same,” I said. “Even if we don’t have time to make all the modifications on the boat before the job, we can get the materials and stack them up in the warehouse until we have time to get them all in. And if we go into personal funds for it, we can work out a way to repay it as we go. But remember, some types advance more with money, and others need Karma for any major advancements.”

I took a breath, and said, “Of course, we have to survive everything, first.”