NextK'rth and spoke with the second Shiver squad once it arrived and led them past the first squad to the four crates while Casper concentrated on brow beating passersby. This squad didn't waste any time and began to unpack a variety of items, mark them with orange stickers, and record the information on data pads. It was interesting that the two groups of Shivers kept apart and seldom spoke. I wondered what Gael had said to make the new group suspicious, but it might have just been instinct.
Obie, K'rth, and Angus watched over the work from inside the holding area until the stacks of weapons made standing room too scarce and they had to pull back to the other side of the fence with the rest of us. Eventually, the dockworkers and second Shiver squad gave ground also and crowded to watch the proceedings. Fortunately for them, McNeil stepped in to talk with Casper before she got too far into another lecture and led her to the side.
As the contents of the crates stacked up, I heard Angus whistle. The maniac was hanging on the chain link fence like a kid as he watched and drooled.
"I GOTTA get me one a those!" he grinned.
I looked at the growing pile and couldn't tell what he meant. There were boxes of "Kraker" anti-armor grenades, AH-40 nerve gas dispensers, and even a crate of Lancer 303 surface to air missiles. There were also over a dozen generic big guns that I couldn't identify, but they were all huge and sturdy looking. Whatever Mac was slobbering over didn't really matter and I ignored him as he started to spout weapon stats like the gun nut he was. I was thinking about the bonus we were about to get and it felt like Sla-mas all over again.
Our mood became infectious and soon even the second Shiver team seemed happy about the seizure. The only exceptions were Casper, who is never really happy and the first Shiver squad, which was simply watching quietly. Few people take Casper's sort of abuse with any degree of control, but their Zen-like calm set off warning bells in my head. They didn't yell back, threaten, or even try to walk away when she tore into them – they just stood there and took it. Either they were stewing over a way to get back at us, or this seizure, no matter how big it seemed to us, was nothing more than a minor inconvenience.
I'd rather be over cautious than foolhardy and assumed both were true. That meant there was a lot more contraband hidden in that sea of crates and a lot of scuffed knuckles in our future. It also meant that we would have to start watching ourselves in case they got cocky. Shivers never try anything overt, but something would drop out of the sky sooner or later with our names on it. We'd deal with that as it came and I mentally turned back to the crates. It could literally take years to find everything if we weren't organized and I groaned.
The most economical way to find that proverbial pot of gold was to persuade the Shivers to talk, but that was about as likely as Nix becoming a vegetarian. That meant we had to go through them instead of around and would require a little leverage. Since no one had taken the initiative, I decided to get the ball rolling and walked up to my favorite reference desk, directory, and encyclopedia. Ever since Gael bought that deluxe Oyster with remote link capability, the squad has abused the hell out of her kindness. Nevertheless, she was the quickest way to get information on the first squad.
"Get a read on the IDs for the nervous one and the Sergeant and see if they've been reported missing or dead. They aren't leaving until we know for sure that they're who and what they say they are."
As Gael started to type, Casper broke away from McNeil and came towards me in a rage. I didn't know how she had the energy for it since she had just spent the best part of the last hour chewing up a Shiver team, but then she can be pretty amazing at times. When she shoved me, there was no doubt about who was next on her shit list. Looks like it was my turn again.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" I asked. She pushed me again and I bounced into the chain link fence with a rattle. Some of the dockworkers and Shivers looked over, but the work inside continued.
"YOU THINK BECAUSE YOU'VE GOT BALLS, YOU'RE IN CHARGE?" she yelled and tried to shove me again. What in hell had I done to push her buttons this time? I assumed she was only running on the high over the earlier ass kicking until I saw the shit-eating grin on McNeil's face. He must have wound her up and aimed her at me just to start trouble. He really had it coming…
"What is your prob-" I started.
"WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, GIVING ORDERS TO MY SQUAD?" she yelled again and reached for me. I blocked her arm hard across the wrist and slipped to the side, well aware that she was getting angrier by the second.
"I WANTED TO GET SOMETHING CHECKED OUT AND GAEL IS THE BEST-"
"DON"T TALK BACK TO ME, PRIMATE!" she yelled again. I hate when she tries to play bully in front of an audience and my temper bubbled in response. The Waster took in a breath then swung at my head, but I wove to the side and avoided it. It was probably a mistake to have held my counterattack, but I really didn't want to fight over something stupid today. Even though Casper is technically DS, she's still hell on wheels in hand to hand and I knew I couldn't dodge forever. My patience would run out long before my luck did.
"LOOK YOU CRAZY-"I started, but she cut in.
"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR SHIT! YOU KNOW THE ONLY THING YOUR BALLS ARE GOOD FOR?" she screeched and lunged. My God, the woman had snapped, but at least she likes to telegraph…
I slammed my forearm into her knee shot and slipped past her elbow as the haymaker whistled past. For the time being, my reactions were mechanical and honed but that would change if my emotions got out of control. I could feel the pounding in my temples and felt my resolve not to trash her fading.
"I'M GONNA SHOW YOU WHO THE FUCKING BOSS IS!" she said and lunged for my eyes. I trapped her wrist and pushed her backwards off balance, but she caught herself and snapped out a kick. I hooked under it and slid in, tossing it up as I swept her backwards. As she fell, she tumbled sideways like a cat and kicked out, catching me low and hard with her knee. Even with my KM brand cup, I felt a cold tightness spread across my abdomen and I bent forward to catch my breath.
"Alright, bitch." I growled as she came to her feet. I had tunnel vision on her ugly sneering face and took the fight to her. I chopped her in the armpit as she swung then put a knee into her floating ribs. As she heaved forward, I hopped into the air and put the edge of my foot into her kidneys but the deathsuit took most of it. She tumbled forward and rattled into the fence, but quickly came back to her feet. Her lip was split, giving her pale complexion a red tint as she growled and crouched.
As she leaned forward, her hand vanished under her jacket and I thought, "don't try it" aloud. She was out of my striking range, so I pulled my Blitzer in response and swept the red dot across the mesh towards her head. She raised a Flintlock and rushed in, but I met her charge and ended up jamming the barrel of the pistol into her forehead. She shoved her Flintlock into my groin and held it as our eyes met.
"You better kill me with the first blast, bitch," I snarled and her eyes narrowed. I was so angry that I was shaking and she seemed to be doing the same.
"If I pull the trigger, you'll wish you were dead," she growled back.
"Go ahead then. Pull the fucking trigger!" My eyes were locked into hers and neither of us moved. "DO IT!" I yelled at her and the grin widened.
"You really ready to die, Cole?" She said in a soft voice laced with acid. Her eyes hadn't moved from mine and the voice was chilling. All I could see was her ugly sneer as I realized that she was playing some sort of chicken and I put more pressure on the trigger. The hammer trembled.
"Yeah. Are you?" I answered.
"Uh-huh. My kind is born to die." She had become calm and her voice was empty of any anger.
"Then pull the trigger and I'll splatter your brains all over the dock."
A long pause. Someone moved on my periphery and I think they were trying to stop this, but I ignored them.
"You first, big man," she challenged.
I didn't want to kill her. I didn't even want to fight, but she had forced it and now I was fighting to keep control. By stopping my KM programming, I was pissed at both her and myself. It was had taken every bit of resolve I had not to have snapped her neck earlier and not to pull the trigger now. She smiled broadly and centered her face on the barrel.
"If you were as good as you think you are, you'd be in charge of this squad instead of me. Really bites your ass, doesn't it?"
"Fuck off," I said back. The hammer was still back on my Blitzer and I hadn't pulled the pistol away from her head. One squeeze and I won the argument by default. It was becoming more tempting by the second…
"SLA knows you don't have any talent too. That's why you're only two tenths of a point above a fucking Chagrin."
"And you're only two tenths of a point above me. How does that make you feel?"
"It means SLA says I'm better than you and that FEELS GOOD!"
"Cole don't!" someone said from to my side. Hands were near my wrist, but so far, no one had touched either of us.
There was a long pause as she gloated as she read my expression. Her higher SCL was a major sore point for me and I felt my anger intensify.
"You going to pull the trigger or not?" I asked.
"What and end your misery?" she said as she lowered the Flintlock slipped it into a holster. "I get to watch jealousy eat you alive."
"Jealousy? Of you?" I asked. She was ignoring the pistol and I kept it pressed to her skull.
"Uh-huh. You can't stand taking orders from me."
"You're so full of shit," I said as I lowered the hammer on my Blitzer and put it into a holster. "I don't like to take orders from you because you're a fucking egomaniac, not because you're a woman or a Waster."
"That so?" She said, stepping into my face. Her voice rose out of the calm whisper back to a low snarl. "Well, monkey boy, I'm going to make this clear. I run this squad and if you want to be part of it, you'll have to do EXACTLY what I say."
"You really get off on being an asshole all the time, don't you?"
She laughed and turned away to walk toward McNeil.
"Go back to work on the crates," she said as McNeil who high fived her. "The first stringers will handle this."
It was over in her opinion, but there was no way in hell I was going to let this drop.
"You like it so much that you get off on it, don't you."
"Are you going to do what I told you or not?" she asked, half turning. I didn't give a damn if she kicked me out of the squad. She had started this and by God, I was going to have my say.
"Do you really think that anyone but dumbfuck there willingly puts up with your shit?"
"That's enough," she said and turned around. Finally, I might be able to hit a nerve. McNeil tried to turn her back, but she shrugged his hand off.
"The squad only put you in 'charge' because you wouldn't shut up otherwise. You HAVE to be in control – all the time. You must be a real bitch in the sack."
"Shut your fucking mouth before I do it for you," she snapped, stepping toward me. Gael tried to block her, but she shoved past the Ebon too.
"What? You don't want to hear this? Well you're going to," I continued. "No one in the squad even likes you."
I heard a low growl from her throat and Obie started to intervene but K'rth stopped him.
"McNeil's only with you because you're an easy fuck. Everyone but me feels sorry for you."
Her face twisted and she clenched her fists, coming at me at a fast walk. She was too angry to pull a pistol and I waited on her. I was starting to enjoy this.
"I'm only here because I want to see how badly you're going to fuck up next."
She started her swing three steps back and let if fly as soon as she got in range. I met her punch dead on with mine and there was a crack on impact. A spark of heat shot across the bridge of my hand and ran up my arm, telling me that I had broken it. Since she gasped and clutched her hand, I guessed she was in the same boat.
"CRAZY MOTHERFUCKER, YOU'RE GOING TO FUCKING PAY FOR THAT!" she said as she glared and clasped her fist.
"What is your problem with me, huh? What are you afraid of?" I yelled. The pain had sparked my voice, making me sound like a whiny kid.
She continued to curse to herself, then tried to formulate to heal her hand. She wa far too angry to concentrate and glared at me. I stepped up and lowered my voice.
"You're afraid that you'll find out that nobody gives a shit about you, aren't you?" I asked. "And you know what? You'd be right."
In a rage, she snapped back into my face and spat as she screamed, "YOU'RE OFF THE FUCKING SQUAD! GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY BPN!"
"Truth hurts, doesn't it bitch?" I snarled and stepped back. She started to swing again but I was out of range. McNeil wrapped his arms around her highness and kept her from coming at me.
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! YOU'RE OFF THE FUCKING SQUAD!" she screamed again.
I turned and walked away, shouldering past Angus when he didn't get out of my way and stormed through the labyrinth to the main gate. My right hand had swollen and become hot, making it tough to load the Kickstart injector but I fumbled with it and managed to fire it off into my forearm. The burning spread around the break and I knew there was plenty of time to let it work as my rage steamed in the falling rain.
In the distance, the black sky was broken flashing lights of circling SCAFs and fire from incoming shuttles. For the first time in a couple years, I was on my own again without a squad. Maybe it was for the better. Maybe not. When the wind kicked up, a wave of bitterness rushed over me and I crossed my arms for warmth. Damn that bitch to hell.
I was alone, cold, and empty. Mostly empty.
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