Chapter 44

"I have you beautiful, intelligent, kind to me and friends, ruthless to enemies..."

I was going to spend at least five minutes listing all the positive aspects of my girls, but was interrupted by a call from an unknown number... Again. what kind of day is this?!

"Listening..."

"Quiet..."

The speaker's voice was familiar. It would be difficult not to recognize him, because I had recently talked to the owner of the voice in person. But what could he want from me? We had talked about everything...

"Mr. DeShon?"

"I'd like to hire your subordinate... I need to process a tape recorded with very good optics. It's got all the layers of the recording, normal and thermal and sound, basically everything... and you have to be a real pro to process it... Unfortunately Alvarez refused to work specifically with me, according to her she does not work separately from the team, so I would like to hire your team..."

I shook my head.

"We're not interested."

"А?"

"Mr. DeShawn, I'm not stupid enough to fall for such an obvious ruse. If we agree to process a recording that's supposed to be used for mission planning, we'll be put on the list of informed minds... and knowing your reputation, that's the kind of people you like to get rid of."

"But the customer said she knew Alvarez...that she was the best and..."

DeShawn fell silent.

"Uh, uh. is this about Parker?"

"Hrm. yes."

"Well, your client has a very high opinion of herself. She and Alvarez have a nasty relationship, although it used to be pretty good. Except she buried that relationship herself a while back."

I was quiet for a couple seconds.

"About Alvarez being the best, I won't argue here, at least of those I know or have heard of, she really is the best..."

To say that I myself am not very interested in the topic of brains and I've just never been interested in anyone from this sphere. But more than sure that in Knight City there will be a couple of people of the same level, and maybe even better. However, I will keep all these thoughts to myself.

"...But we'll still say no and I suggest you look for another break master."

"Ugh... I didn't think Tihonja would be a coward... and you're dragging the team into this cesspool... aren't you ashamed of yourself?!"

"Mr. DeShawn, I would ask you to watch your mouth... but if you're still wondering why I've made this decision. I'm interested in a quiet and peaceful life. At the level we're at now, we have stable jobs, decent pay and good bonuses, and moderate risk..."

I won't say anything about the fact that the risk is moderate for me, the one with the experimental Sandi. Because I'm not gonna lay my cards on the line for this guy. Just like I'm not gonna reveal the real state of affairs between me, Regina, and Bestia.

"...I see my task as a group commander as not that they acquire big names and eventually name their cocktails in the Afterlife, but that they live to a ripe old age and have decent savings to live on during their old age without denying themselves anything. And to fulfill these tasks I do not need to risk my life and theirs more than I do now."

"Tsk... it means to be a nobody and live quietly until old age, not to write your name in history and die before you're thirty, right?"

"Exactly, Mr. DeShon, you have understood my position perfectly, now goodbye..."

I cut the connection.

"Where was I?"

"On how lucky you are to have us...but now I'm more interested in who just called you?"

"DeShawn, uh. he was trying to hire our Judy to process a tape he planned to use for mission planning."

"Seriously? Hiring a team member to bypass the squad leader?"

"Well, uh. he thinks he can do anything, so yeah, he tried to do it, but our Judy was smart and refused. And then he tried to hire her through me. I guess he thought I didn't know what he was used to doing with people who were too well-informed about his plans.

"I see..."

The tortie blasted the engine and picked up speed and I fully approved of Panam's action, as he was now quite capable of trying to forcefully get the job he needed. With that I dialed the girls, again making a conference call.

"I think it was said recently..."

"Girls, pack your things and come to our house. This is non-negotiable and it's everybody's business, including you, Kiwi. I don't like the fact that DeShawn is putting so much emphasis on our team, so we better stick together.

"Okay, we'll be right there."

"Keep in touch, I need to know you're okay. And yes, Becca, warn Pilar, he is your brother after all, they may try to influence you through him."

"Through Pilar?"

There was a mocking sneer in Becky's voice.

"Don't lie to us. even though you cuss him out, if you didn't give a shit about him you would have dumped him a long time ago, and you don't... and I think DeShawn would at least consider that possibility of pressure if he was really that interested in our team."

"All right. I'm gonna warn that motherfucker."

The girls were silent, but they didn't disconnect the connection until we got to our apartment, where Judy had already prepared sleeping places for everyone. Of course we'll have to squeeze in a little, but it's only for a couple of days, and then we'll have the weekend off again, and then we'll get out of town, and then we'll stay in the Begimotik, which will have a tent attached to it. And there will be enough room for all of us due to the tent.

I exhaled calmly when Lucy, being the last of our group, stepped across the threshold of the apartment.

We worked like hell for the next week and kept our eyes open, but luckily nothing strange happened that required our attention. Regina's assignments, as always, were directed mostly against drug dealers and gangs, and in the latter she even went beyond the borders of her neighborhood, which, according to Knight City police statistics, had become the cleanest drug-free neighborhood in the city.

Bestia, as usual, preferred to work against corporations, though she preferred not to cross the roads of big businessmen, or to work against the little scoundrels who had gone rogue and whose loss wouldn't hurt the corporation much. No, she wasn't afraid, at least I didn't see any fear in her, she just didn't see the point in taking risks when the same result could be achieved with ten small blows. Without drawing too much attention to herself.

Now we were returning from another mission...

"David, we're being tailed..."

Luckily we all fit in one car, even if it was a little more cramped in the back. But this tightness meant that we didn't have to worry about splitting up.

"I see..."

I sighed.

"...Becca, get ready ..."

I connected to the machine gun on Tortik's roof, and then watched through its camera without moving it. The camera has a three hundred and sixty-degree view. But this is only after a recent modification from Panam and me. And this modification made the machine gun much more reliable, and before it often jammed ...

"I can't figure out who it is, but they're watching professionally..."

"Not just professionally..."

Panam interrupted me.

"...it's a nomadic tracking style. Only clans work this way. which is too bad, because there are only two clans around Knight City right now. The first is the Aldecaldo, and the other two. they're only considered a clan."

"Stilettos?"

"Yeah..."

I sighed.

"Well, there's no point in Aldecaldo following us. They already know a lot about us. And they won't work against their own, but the Steelers..."

"Uh-huh, these ones can. but how did they figure us out?

"You think they were looking for us on purpose?"

"Otherwise, the surveillance would have started not from the city, but near the clan's parking lot, and then they would have attacked us in the city. And then they found us in the city. Although there is still the option that they accidentally spotted us and decided to work off..."

"Couldn't they have spotted the nomad's car to try to get into the clan's parking lot that way?"

"Well... doubtful, the clan's parking lot has never been hidden much, so locating it isn't a big deal..."

"Panam, get off the course, take a ride around the city, the port areas, where the storage facilities are off limits to the corporations... I think that's where they'll show their colors, and we can ra--

A man with a gun came out of the pursuing car and fired his machine gun in our direction, except that Tortik was well armored and weapons of such quality could not do much damage, but it untied my hands and I immediately activated the machine gun... but I didn't kill the guy, instead I gave him a short burst at his weakest point... the radiator. No matter how hard anyone tries, that's usually the weakest point of defense.

"Radiator punctured..."

I reported to Panam, but Becca had already climbed into my lap and opened the window of the door and leaned out with her pistols, which I had upgraded. After that a few shots rang out. The car of the opponents swerved, it was clear that Becca punctured their tires, and then the car was thrown and flipped in the air...

In flight, the very type who opened fire on us fell out of the window, and Panam at that moment sharply pressed on the brake and sharply twisted the steering wheel turning the Tortik forward to the enemy.

Becca was almost thrown off me exactly into the window she was still sticking out of, so I grabbed her well-fed ass, which she was very proud of, and held her down.

"Hold me tight!"

I could hear the obvious pleasure in her voice, but these actions and her words didn't stop me from turning the machine gun around and now it was looking at the opponents' vehicle again.

"Exho..."

"Everybody sit down, me and Becca are going to the opponents..."

My words were interrupted by Panam, who was about to start giving commands. She must have felt at ease with the attack of the Stilettos, whom she had encountered from time to time.

"Becca out, Judy, I'm hanging up, you--

"Kiwi would rather be behind a machine gun than me."

"Okay..."

I nodded my head.

"...then Kiwi will take the machine gun. I'm gonna go with Becca to take these assholes out."

"Cut it off?"

"Well, since Kiwi's behind the machine gun, you, Judy, and Lucy will be breaking in. I think robbing the Steelers' base for trying to attack us would be a good retaliation. And finding out what they wanted from us."

"We'll do everything."

I disconnected from the machine gun and left the car and Kiwi was immediately in the front seat hooked up to Tortik's machine gun.

"Becca..."

"I know, I know... I'm right behind you and I got your back. Still, you're the sandy, I'm just the shooter. Where the hell am I gonna find one for me?"

"If you want it, we'll buy it... I think Vic won't refuse to install it for you, but you'll have to give up some of the other chrome, you're already heavily chromed..."

"Uh... I guess not."

She shook her head, while I had already gone over to the individual who had fallen out and inserted a splinter, one of the ones that Lucy, Kiwi and Judy had jointly prepared in large quantities for the orders.

"The first one is there, work..."

I walked toward the car and just in time to see the movement and turned on the sandy. As if in slow motion I watched the bullet fly out of the muzzle of the gun pointed at me, and the Sandy was already going full speed. Much faster than I'd ever accelerated before...

The bullet was so slow...

Such a...

Not dangerous...

But I didn't lose understanding of the situation and in such a situation I was simply afraid to move, realizing that although synthetic muscles can withstand such a thing, but the bones, which are strengthened by ordinary chemistry, will not be able to withstand such a thing.

They'll be crushed to dust!

I began to slowly reduce the acceleration...

It was difficult...

It's morally difficult to start reducing acceleration and see the bullet coming at me faster and faster, and to realize that Becca is behind me and I can't just walk away.

I was lucky, though...

When the bullet was moving at the speed of a normal person walking slowly along the road, I felt that now I could hardly move, but I decided not to take any chances and slowly shifted to the side with a little less acceleration. I turned around a little and made sure that Becca was following me...

So I took a step toward her and put my arm around her waist and lifted Becca up, then stepped aside. Once I was in a reasonably safe place, I set her on the floor. My body was starting to feel a little sore, and I realized that this meant I was moving too fast...

I go to the car and I bend down and look inside, there's two people in there. one's unconscious and I put a splinter in him, but the other one... I snatch the pistol from him, not caring a bit that he is now clutching its handle, and his finger is on the trigger... And the fact that my actions were breaking his fingers, while tearing off the one that was pulling the trigger, I didn't care either.

"A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ah!

I fell out of the acceleration spitting up the blood that had begun to accumulate in my mouth.

"Shut up..."

One blow and the enemy loses consciousness, and in his socket there is a chip, and a dozen seconds later a chip is in the on-board computer of the car.

"Panam, will you call your people? I think more less prepared by your standards car for Aldecaldo will not..."

"Sure..."