Ch 11: The Hounds Close In
Kael stood on the outskirts of Albatross, leaning against the crawler as the faint hum of its engine provided the only sound in the desolate wasteland. His eyes scanned the distant horizon, where a storm of dust seemed to linger unnaturally. He'd seen enough in his life to know what that meant—vehicles. Not locals. Consortium hunters.
"They'll be here in less than two days," Kael muttered, his voice heavy with resignation.
He rubbed his temples, the weight of his predicament gnawing at his resolve. The chips had brought him fortune, but now they were a beacon for death.
Kael paced around the crawler, muttering to himself.
"A tense chase would be disadvantageous. Negotiating isn't an option. They don't bargain. And I can't run forever."
His mind raced through the possibilities, each one less viable than the last. If he kept all three chips and the cylinder, the Consortium wouldn't stop until they had him dead or alive. Running was temporary; they'd track him eventually. Fighting? He might be smart, but he wasn't suicidal.
No, the only solution was to misdirect them. Give them what they wanted—or at least, make them think they had what they wanted.
He pulled out the cylinder and the third chip from his satchel, setting them on the hood of the crawler. The cylinder, containing an unknown yet clearly important substance, glinted faintly in the fading light. The third chip, detailing the research logs about the substance, was the key to understanding it. Together, they were a treasure trove—but also a death sentence.
"I need them to find these," Kael said to himself. "But not me."
Kael drove the crawler deep into the outskirts of the city, searching for a place to stash the items. He needed somewhere conspicuous enough for the rumors to feel credible, but not so obvious that the Consortium would think it was a trap.
He found an abandoned warehouse on the edge of a crumbling industrial zone. The building was a skeleton of rusted steel and shattered glass, surrounded by piles of debris that offered perfect cover.
Inside, Kael placed the cylinder and the chip in a reinforced container he'd scavenged long ago. He sealed it carefully, ensuring the items wouldn't be damaged by the harsh environment, and left the container in the center of the warehouse.
Before leaving, he scrawled a symbol on one of the walls—a crude version of the Consortium's insignia, something he'd seen on their drones and equipment. It wasn't perfect, but it would be enough to convince anyone who stumbled across it that the stash was important.
Kael returned to Albatross under the cover of night, his hood pulled low to avoid recognition. He made his way to a bar where mercenaries and scavengers gathered, knowing it was the perfect breeding ground for rumors.
Sitting at the edge of the room, he struck up a conversation with a scruffy-looking man who reeked of alcohol and desperation.
"You hear about the warehouse on the edge of the industrial zone?" Kael said casually, taking a sip of his drink.
The man raised an eyebrow. "What about it?"
"Word is, some Consortium tech was stashed there. Big stuff. The kind that could make you rich—or get you killed."
The man's eyes lit up with greed and fear. "You serious?"
Kael shrugged. "Just something I overheard. Figured someone like you might be interested."
Over the next few hours, Kael repeated the story to a few more patrons, each time altering the details slightly to make it seem more genuine. By the time he left the bar, the seed had been planted.
Back at the crawler, Kael sat in the driver's seat, staring at the two remaining chips. The first chip, containing the blueprints for advanced drones, was his ace in the hole—a resource he could use or trade when the time was right. The second chip, with the base layout, was his ticket to undermining the Consortium's power.
He had no intention of keeping the second chip for himself. It was too dangerous. But in the right hands, it could do significant damage to the Consortium's operations. He just needed to find someone capable of using it.
"Now, I just need to make it out of here alive," Kael muttered, starting the engine.
Kael sold off a few more items he no longer needed, consolidating his belongings into a single pack. He left behind his rented storage space, his tools, and anything that could tie him to the city.
As he drove out of Albatross, the distant storm of dust was closer now, moving steadily toward the city. Kael gripped the wheel tightly, his eyes darting between the road ahead and the horizon.
"They'll find the stash," he said to himself. "And when they do, they'll think they've won."
But even as he reassured himself, a nagging doubt lingered in the back of his mind. The Consortium wasn't just a group of hunters—they were a machine, relentless and precise.
Kael glanced at the two chips sitting in the passenger seat. He was gambling everything on his plan working.
"Let's hope this buys me enough time," he muttered, pressing down on the accelerator.
The crawler roared as it sped into the wasteland, leaving the city and the Consortium's hunters behind. For now.