I decided to make a stop on the way to the CCD and picked up a cheap cell phone. At least that way I would be able to call for Shivers or backup if we needed it next time. The Glades combat sort of drove the point home that we needed that sort of coverage. I decided to test it out by making the first call a fun one.
"WHAT?" Casper answered. If she didn't like the cell phone, why did she have one?
"Casper, this is Cole. We're on our way. We h-"
"Where the fuck are you? Can't you read a watch?"
"We had an errand to take care of. Have you and what's-his-name gotten much done yet or are you still sleeping off the hangovers?"
"Fuck off! Can't you monkeys tell time? Why don't you pick up a fucking watch with BIG numbers on it on your way over and I'll teach you to read it?"
She beat me to the hangup, but then this 'monkey' didn't live with a cell phone grafted to his ear and couldn't find the off button quickly enough. I put it away and looked at K'rth who was grinning.
"Don't ask."
We trotted through sheets of hard rain to the security station outside of the CCD, but the skeleton security crew wasn't around. I fished the sign in sheet (real high tech) and scribbled our names below a Shiver squad. Casper's signature was gouged across several lines but there wasn't any time listed. Apparently she didn't own a watch and the one she told me to bring was for her.
"Where d'guards?" Obie asked.
I shrugged and started walking. "No idea. Guess that some people aren't as dedicated as we are."
When we entered the CCD, we crossed through the deserted security gates and headed over to the main customs dock where we had been worked yesterday. The place was a tomb and the pale cyan lighting, cool air, and high empty ceilings gave the structure a lifeless antiseptic feel. In the distance, a lone man in blue dock coveralls slowly shambled along after a wide broom. The poor bastard was probably bored into living death and if I had to work this Yellow for very long, I'd beg K'rth to shoot me before I got that far.
It's a good five-minute walk to where we worked yesterday and the only sounds came from us. In some aspects, the CCD is probably eerie but I thought of it as more of a waste of space and our time. After all, wasn't it the job of dock apes to shift through these things? I wiped a handful of rain out of my hair and tossed it onto the label of a crate.
We made our way through the labyrinth of crates without seeing a single person until Casper spotted us. She bounced her crowbar off the floor with a clang and headed to intercept us in her typical bad mood. I kept a straight face as we closed and thought how she really tries too hard to be the perfect stereotype.
"Oh, this had better be good!" She said, stopping less than a foot away in front of me.
"Oh, it is. Cloak sent us into a DN safe house and we nearly got our asses shot off. On the good side, I really ruined some Shiver's days."
She looked at me for a moment then over at K'rth to see if I was telling the truth. He must have nodded and she stared back at me but shifted her weight and crossed her arms. She loved to argue over everything I said anyway, but sometimes she takes an approach that throws me. Today she decided to play the evil big sister that beats the living hell out of you daily and then claims it was because she cares.
"If you got into shit, you should have called us you cocky son-of-a-" she started. I decided to cut in before she got her momentum going.
"How? Telepathy?" I asked.
"THAT'S WHAT A PHONE IS FOR, DUMBFUCK!" she yelled and pushed me. I decided to let that one go for now.
"I JUST PICKED THIS UP THIS MORNING" I yelled back. My voice had snapped to the same level as hers and the entire squad was watching. "IT'S HARD TO FIND A PAY PHONE IN THE MIDDLE OF A FIREFIGHT!"
Casper seldom backs down when she has an audience and the one time earlier this week probably put her over the quota. Thanks to that, I was guaranteed to be the preferred target of the week for the next year. Every damn argument with her sounds like a playback of the same tired CD and it helps to aggravate me further.
"THEN YOU GET BACKUP FIRST!" her words were chopped, like she was speaking to someone who just learned the language. Her voice echoed around the dock, but at least she wasn't punching yet.
"If we had known what we were walking into, we would have called for backup." I said, switching tactics. My voice was nearly normal speaking level and I was holding my anger down surprisingly well. After the adrenaline rushes I had just been through, her special ricky louse blend of bullshit didn't hold a lot of weight. When I stopped yelling back, Casper got even angrier and I began to look for a way out. She was rapidly turning the high I'd been on into the "morning after's hangover".
"A LOT OF GOOD THAT WOULD HAVE DONE YOU! ARE YOU BRAIN DEAD OR SOMETHING? YOU CAN'T PLAN AHEAD?"
My face must have shown that I was losing patience because MacReady decided to step in. He isn't your typical clan Frother (if you can call any of them typical, that is) because whenever his fatalistic streak kicks in, he either tries to be a hero or a diplomat. Today was one of his more lucid days, so there was no reason for him to not have known better.
He put on his favorite crooked grin, pushed the colored mop of hair out of his eyes, and came over to stand beside the two of us. I tried to wave him off with a stare but he already had his mind made up. Casper ignored him for a moment until he obviously wasn't going to go away and then turned on him.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM?" she yelled.
He smiled wider and draped an arm over each of our shoulders. The alarm bells went off in my head and I winced. Never, ever touch a Brain Waster when they're posturing unless you want a piece of their attitude. One of these days, he's going to get himself killed.
"I just think that you two kids need to relax, toss back a few, and get a roo-"
"HANDS OFF FUCKER!" she yelled and shoved him backwards. If it hadn't been for Obie, Angus would have landed on his head, not that I would have minded considering what the bastard had started to say. I took the opportunity to walk past her towards the tools, but she growled and stepped after me.
When you graduate from Meny KM, your reactions are so sharp that it's a challenge not to overreact. You're young, a little arrogant, and just dying to prove how much of a hard killing machine you really are. With a little experience, you learn when to use it and exactly how much. Today, I should have used more.
Casper grabbed for my hair and instead of knocking her across the dock, I blocked her hand to the side and stepped forward. I guess K'rth would have been proud of me, but Angus was probably looking forward to a showdown. God knows how much the lunatic betted this time around.
"Look. I told you what happened and everything worked out ok. Next time I'll call you if we try to run down a lead so that you can call the shots. Ok?"
She nodded and dropped her arm, relaxing a bit. She felt she had won.
"Ok. Next time you just remember who the boss is!"
I picked up the tools, feeling the anger boil up inside me. Why in hell does everything have to be a power struggle with her? If I were that unbalanced, I'd probably swallow a bullet. I thought about it as I walked towards K'rth and he was right. People like her really should be pitied.
"Oh yeah, Cole. You're partnering with Gael today. K'rth is with Mac. That way you'll actually have to work."
I stopped and turned back, tightening my grip on the tools as the blood boiled into my temples. Casper always had to have the absolute last word and I decided to toss the magnanimous "pity the weak" spiel out in favor of slamming her through a crate. Gael stepped up, pulled the sniffer out of my fist, and pulled on my elbow until I gave in and went with her.
"C'mon partner. We've got crates to smash," she said as she led me away.
I wondered how Casper always baits me into confrontations and figured that it's got to be her attitude. She's got the same one that bullies always have that I've always felt duty bound to shove it down their throats. I wished I could let things like that run off my shoulders but I haven't "evolved" to that level yet.
I wonder if K'rth pities me too?
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