Christmas in Zonei Pt. 09

"I'll deliver it to your office if you let me have a slice," the receptionist bargained.

Michelle laughed. "Randy, you eat more than people twice your size. How you manage to stay so skinny is one of life's big mysteries. But, yes, you've got yourself a deal. Only one piece though. Raeden is ravenous."

She turned to Kim. "I hope you like pizza. I got two of them. One is half cheese, half vegetable. The other is a meat combo that I know Raeden likes. I also got a Caesar salad."

"I've never had pizza," Kim said shyly, "but I'm sure it will be fine. I've always wanted to try it."

Both Michelle and Raeden goggled at Kim.

"How did you make it to twenty-years old without ever having tried pizza?" Raeden asked.

Kim shrugged, looking embarrassed. "Zonei," he said by way of explanation.

Michelle knew that citizens in the lower zones lived in extreme poverty but to have never tasted pizza? For some reason that thought was unsettling to her. Such disparity.

"What else would you like to drink?" she asked. "I've got coffee, tea, soda, juice, beer and wine. I could mix a cocktail too, if you're so inclined."

"Ooo! Beer, please," Raeden said.

Kim shot him a sharp look and they seemed to have a silent argument. Kim finally said, "I'll try a beer too—something else I've never had."

Michelle raised an eyebrow but said nothing. It was definitely going to be interesting to get to know Kim. She had never really spoken with anyone from the middle zones.

"Lager or ale?" she asked, checking out her beer selection.

"Ale, please," Raeden answered.

Kim looked befuddled for a moment, glanced at Raeden, and then said, "Lager, please."

Michelle smiled as she fetched the beers, deciding uncharacteristically to have one herself. After all, it was Christmas Eve.

It turned out Kim didn't like beer, neither the lager nor Raeden's ale which he also tried a sip of. He loved the pizza and the salad, though, and both the men ate ravenously, until there were only two pieces left. She slid them into a sealable, plastic baggie for them to save for later and didn't miss that Kim eyed the baggie curiously. They don't have baggies in the lower zones? she wondered.

As soon as they finished eating, she prepared to interview them. She was just about to start when her intel buzzed.

"Yes, Randy?"

"Doctor Granger!" Randy's voice was high-pitched with excitement. "There are CorpSec security guys on their way to your office! I couldn't stop them! They—"

What now? That Captain Hernandez is a piece of work. Who knows what scheme he's concocted to get them back? She had already informed her boss of the entire situation and was fairly confident that they had a good bargaining position.

"It's okay, Randy," she interrupted. "I'll deal with them."

Chapter Sixteen

Specialist Casey McNeil raised his eyebrows as he saw the name emblazoned on the building where their wayward pickup was hiding: "Corporate Science Headquarters." He had been astonished to discover that this morning's pickup, who lived in Zonei and only had clearance through Zonee, was somehow in Zonesee. Now he stared in awe at the gleaming silver monolith that was the home of the Corporation's science department.

This morning's job had seemed routine at first. Easy. The subject was a short, slight Japanese American who, until he had illicitly used Representative Kenner's computer for his own means, had never put a toe out of line. Poor schmuck, he had thought. He was probably just trying to discover the secret to solving the latest video game.

Picking up those who were deemed a threat to the Corporation and delivering them to CorpSec Detention Center was his job. It was a horrible job and one he was increasingly loath to do, but he didn't have any other options. It's not like he could quit and find another job. The world didn't work like that anymore. And even though living in Zonegee wasn't luxurious, it was worlds better than whatever lower zone he'd be tossed into once he was no longer useful to the Corporation.

"Holy shit! How the fuck did the little fucker get in there?" his partner, Brad, asked.

Casey shook his head. "No idea. I guess maybe he's not as much of a non-threat as he seemed at first."

"They're all guilty," Brad said.

Casey disagreed. It seemed that more and more often they were picking up average citizens who he couldn't imagine being a real threat to the Corporation. Maybe Brad just needed to convince himself of their guilt in order to sleep at night. Heaven knows, Casey hadn't had a good night's sleep since he'd started this job almost two years earlier.

"Let's just get this over with," he said. Although he and Brad were low-level CorpSec employees, they had clearance to go anywhere except Zoneay or Zonebee to perform their job. It was rare to have a pickup in Zonesee and this was the first time he had ever fetched someone from a zone for which the pickup didn't have clearance. He wondered how the hell Mr. Takemoto had gotten in and who could possibly be hiding him in CorpSci headquarters.

CorpSci seemed to have a deep-seated fear and mistrust of CorpSec—well deserved in Casey's opinion—and they were detained right off when they attempted to cruise through CorpSci's security. They were obviously heavily armed, but their uniforms and badges, usually an immediate pass in, were not enough for the stern matron who manned the security scanners. She made them cool their heels for nearly twenty minutes while she checked and rechecked their references and then conferred with one of her superiors.

Eventually she had to let them in, though. It was the law. They had every right to pick up citizens who were a threat to the Corporation.

Once in, they got the runaround from the man who sat behind the information desk. He insisted that there wasn't anyone by the name of Kim Takemoto in their building. He was not in the official registry of visitors for the day. The man did a quick scan and declared that, in fact, he had never visited CorpSci Headquarters. He assured them that they were mistaken.

By this time Brad was losing his temper and things might have gotten ugly if Casey hadn't just hauled him to the elevator. "If he was smuggled in, then he wouldn't be on the visitor's list. We can just find him through his intel."

They got off the elevator a floor below where the subject was located, but quickly discovered their mistake and took the stairs up one more level. There a very cute and obviously gay receptionist attempted to detain them. Casey wouldn't have minded flirting more with the young man—maybe even getting his number—but Brad was out of patience and went charging down the hall.

Casey followed reluctantly.

They paused outside the door to the office where the GPS locator said he was hiding, pulling out their guns and double-checking that they were set to stun. Then Brad pushed the door open and they quickly trooped in.

There were three people in the room and he located their quarry immediately. He was standing behind the biggest man Casey had ever seen. The third person in the room was a tall imposing redheaded woman who was standing in front of the other two. The expression on her face was like a thundercloud about to let loose with the storm of the century.

"Kim Takemoto," Brad began. "You are under arrest for crimes against the—" He broke off what he was saying and his mouth dropped open in amazement.

The huge man was changing. Before their very eyes he grew bigger. The color of his skin started to darken and the shape of his face changed dramatically. Oddly, he whipped off his sweats just as a huge tail emerged behind him. Suddenly they were no longer looking at a man, they were looking at a monster.

The small Japanese man quickly scrambled onto the monster's back and peered at them over his shoulder with wide dark eyes.

"Holy shit!" Casey said, not even aware that he was speaking. His heart started thundering in his ears as he automatically raised his weapon. He had heard of mods but had never seen one. He was obviously looking at one now. He couldn't believe his eyes.

"Don't you dare!" the flame-haired woman cried, stepping between them and the monster. "Captain Herandez and I had an agreement. He can't send his goons in here to sweep them away. It doesn't work like that."

"Ca—Captain Hernandez?" Casey stammered. The captain was his boss's boss's boss. Adrenalin was racing through his system. His body was ready to fight. It made it difficult to focus on a conversation.

Brad seemed to recover himself first. Using his intel, he projected a holographic image of the official arrest warrant. "An arrest warrant has been issued against one Kim Takemoto." He glared at the smaller man who was still on the monster's back. His eyes were huge in his finely boned face. "Mr. Takemoto, we have been granted the authority to use all necessary force to bring you in for questioning. Will you come with us willingly or do we have to do this the hard way?"

The red-haired woman snorted. "You may have the authority, but you certainly don't have the means to bring down a warrior pair. If you try, you will dead in two seconds flat and there won't be anything I can do to save you."

Meanwhile the monster let out a low growl that raised the hair on Casey's neck. This was definitely far beyond any experience he'd had thus far in his career.

He caught Brad's slight movement out of the corner of this eye and realized his partner was about to fire his weapon.

"Hold, Brad!" he said, but he was too late. His partner fired a shot over the red-haired woman's shoulder. The monster moved so fast that he wasn't even visible. A great roar reverberated through the room.

"Raeden, calm down. I can fix this," the woman said calmly. Why she was not cowering in fear, Casey couldn't imagine. She wasn't even armed and she had her back to the creature.

It appeared that the stun had missed him, or if it had hit him, it'd had no effect.

Brad raised his weapon again. This time Casey responded more quickly. He dropped his own weapon and practically tackled his partner.

"Brad, stop!" he cried as he grabbed the other man's arms. He held onto them and looked his partner in the face. "We have no idea what we're dealing with here. Let's get more information before we do anything rash."

Brad was clearly angry. He's never been thwarted during an arrest before, Casey realized. They had had pickups resist—many of them resisted—but they were always easy to subdue. This time it was clearly not the case. "Brad, the stun didn't work on him. It makes no sense to try again."

"I'll set it to kill," Brad growled.

Casey kept a tight hold on his partner's arms. All the while they were talking, a low ominous rumble reverberated throughout the room. Casey had his back to the monster as he talked his partner down and that made him extremely nervous.

"Brad, if you accidentally kill the woman, it would be the end of your career—probably even the end of your life as you now know it. She's obviously very high up in CorpSci. I mean, just look at this office! Besides, we don't know what we're dealing with. Even set to kill, your gun might not have any effect on the creature. Let's just talk for a minute and see if we can get this resolved without violence."

Brad glared at him. Casey met Brad's eye, taking deep steady breaths, willing his partner to calm the fuck down.

Just then there was a loud thump. Both of them jumped and Casey whirled to face the danger, regretting that his weapon was now on the floor.

The monster was pacing back and forth behind the woman, clearly agitated. He was difficult to see—it seemed he blended into the background somehow, but Kim was visible on his back. The creature's massive tail swished to and fro with lightning speed. The couch sat at a cock-eyed angle and the lamp on the table next to the couch rocked dangerously before it settled. Brad realized that the thump they had just heard was likely the creature's tail hitting the couch. He noticed that his hands ended in long sharp talons.

He could turn us into minced meat in two seconds flat, Casey realized. That's likely what the woman was talking about.

Casey addressed the woman, as she clearly seemed to the one in charge. "We have a warrant for Mr. Takemoto's arrest. It is legal and binding. We may not have the means to remove Kim right now, but with a phone call I'm sure we can get enough firepower to subdue your ... mod. You might as well send Mr. Takemoto with us now to avoid further violence."

The monster let out another hair-raising growl.

"What is it that Mr. Takemoto is accused of?" the woman asked. She seemed calm, but it was the kind of calm that happens before a storm.

"He illegally used a computer with a higher security clearance than he is allowed. We don't know what information he pulled off of it because he managed to erase his tracks. CorpSec wants him for questioning."

The monster had stopped pacing, and now the woman turned and addressed the man on his back. "Is this true, Kim?"

The Japanese man answered in a small voice. "Yes. I couldn't find any information on mods and I needed to find out more about Raeden. Opportunity came my way—the representative's feed to CorpSec went down so my actions were untraceable—so I did a quick search."

"Is that all?" the woman asked, rolling her eyes. "The fact that CorpSec even attempts to keep information on mods secret is a testament to their lack of intelligence. Everyone has heard of mods. Most people already believe in their existence. Quite a few people have actually seen mods. As more and more mods are created and integrated into society, there is no way they can continue to keep this secret. It's ludicrous."

She turned back to Casey and Brad. "So your orders don't come directly from Captain Hernandez? This is just a routine pickup for you?"

Well, this is anything but routine. Casey didn't voice that thought. "This was on our roster of jobs for today," he replied. "I don't think Captain Hernandez is personally involved, but I couldn't say for sure."

"And what needs to be done to get the arrest warrant cancelled? You won't be able to remove Kim from Raeden's side and I don't think you want to take the mod with you."

"Uh, no," Casey said, eyeing the creature. He was easier to see now that he was standing still. He was standing too still. His eerie golden eyes bore into Casey with an intensity that sent a shiver down his spine. He looked like a predator ready to pounce on his next meal.

"Um, I'm not really sure how to get an arrest warrant cancelled. I'd have to call my boss." His boss was an idiot who saw everything in black and white. If they brought their pickup in it was a success. If they didn't it was a failure, regardless of the circumstances. They were screwed.

"Why don't I call Captain Hernandez instead?" she suggested.

Casey really didn't want anyone that high up involved in this fiasco, but she seemed to know the captain. Maybe things would work better that way. "Whatever you think is best," he said with a sigh. He hoped this wasn't going to mean a demotion, or worse, for him.

She stepped over to the window to have a quiet conversation on her intel. Casey could not quite catch what she was saying. Meanwhile, the monster stood motionless, staring at them with his inhuman eyes. It was most unnerving.

The woman finished her conversation and came back over, smiling. "It's all taken care of. The order should be cancelled shortly."

He and Brad waited, shuffling restlessly. He picked up his weapon from the floor, set the safety, and holstered it. Brad holstered his as well.

The call came a few moments later, both of their intels chiming at the same time. He pressed the button to answer and his boss's voice came out loud and clear. "Etherington! McNeil! Get your butts back to headquarters pronto."

"Yes, sir!" they both said. Casey exchanged a look with his partner. His boss was obviously pissed.

Another chime sounded and Casey glanced at his intel. A message flashed across the screen informing him that the arrest warrant had been cancelled.

"Sorry to have disturbed you," Casey said to the trio as he and Brad trooped out.

The attractive receptionist was hovering down the hall and watched them as they passed. Brad was too worried about what his boss was going to do to him to give the boy more than a passing glance.

Once back at CorpSec headquarters, however, he had a pleasant surprise waiting for him. The red-haired she-devil had sent his boss a message commending him for his calm handling of a potentially disastrous situation and recommending him for promotion. His boss was apparently even considering it.

*****

"Well, I think that just about wraps things up for now," Michelle said, setting aside her tablet. She stood up, stepped over to her desk, and picked up a large manila envelope. Raeden and Kim stood as well. Raeden rolled his tight shoulders.

"Kim?" Michelle smiled at him sweetly. "Can you run this up front to Randy, please?" Raeden noted that the envelope was sealed and had, "Randy" scrawled across the front. "And tell him he can go home now."

Raeden narrowed his eyes at her. What is she up to?

As soon as Kim was out the door, she pressed a button on her intel. When her receptionist answered she said, "Randy? Kim is on his way up there with your Christmas present. Can you keep him occupied for a few minutes before you let him come back here please?"

After Randy answered in the affirmative, Michelle wished him Merry Christmas before turning her attention to Raeden.

"You're not going to fool him, you know. He'll know that you wanted to talk to me alone."

"Why? Because he can read minds?" she asked, watching him sharply for his response.

Raeden couldn't help the startled look that raced across his face. "No, because he's smart," he answered dryly.

"Yes, I'm sure he is," she replied. "His father has an IQ of 152. And the first time he was tested, he was practically off the scale in telepathic abilities. He seems to have lost them though, for some inexplicable reason. The last few times he's been tested his score has been close to zero."

Raeden stared at Michelle in shock. "Kim's father is still alive?"