Millie the Gunsinger

The ride to the office took us less than thirty minutes. Twenty was quite a good driver and she dodged and weaved like a pro through the other traffic.

When we pulled up outside I could see the office lights were on. Twenty parked the scooter right next to the door. She took the smart key but I could see she was concerned about the scooter being stolen. That happens a lot here in the Spit.

I told her we had to leave it there for now (there was no way Daniel-san would let us bring it into the reception area). Tomorrow we would get a chain lock for it. She seemed mollified by that. With a final pat on the handlebars she followed me inside.

The reception area was empty. No Erika of course, not at this time of night. Daniel-san’s door was open so we headed in with me in the lead. Twenty followed to give me cover.

He was sat at his desk as usual, but this time there was an open bottle of cheap Scotch and a partially filled tumbler to one side. His data pad was active and I could see he had been reviewing the Bounty files.

“Hi boss” I said meekly. He looked up and he surveyed the wreckage that was me. I had my burned and scarred vest on, my legs and arms had dirt, mud and some blood on them. My left arm was kind of reddish and I knew my neck was a mass of dark bruises. I just hoped my hair still looked fabulous.

Twenty stood next to me and met Daniel-san’s stare. She was in better shape than me but we both had a war-torn look going on.

“Who is your friend?” he asked levelly, returning his gaze to me.

“Ah, this is my new partner, Twenty” I said as brightly as I could manage. “She has just recently retired from active service and decided to join up with me. She is very strong, is a great shot and an excellent driver”.

“She is a member of the Guard, Millie” he said. “They don’t get to leave. Please tell me this is some strange prank you are pulling”. He was really starting to seethe.

“OK, here is what happened” I began, trying to put a cap on the volcano about to blow. I sat down, gently this time, in the visitor chair and began the tale of what I had been up to these past couple of days. Twenty stood solidly at my back, like a bodyguard, her arms loosely at her side.

As I recounted my story, every so often he would ask a question of me or Twenty. My answers tended to wander a bit but hers were always concise and honest.

At the end of it all, he sat back and looked us over.

“How do you know the Archimedes Network won’t just take control of Twenty again? It may think she has been destroyed, but it could still reactivate her at any time” he stated. He was looking at Twenty closely now.

“Jericho-Three made me an offer” said Twenty before I could blurt something out. “In return for my help he gave me the Command Sequence for my quantum processor. It can’t be reactivated unless I choose it. I can permanently disable the link if I wish to”.

“Why don’t you disable it right now?” I said to her with a stunned tone.

“I may need it again one day” she responded. “That is what Jericho-Three said to me. I agree.”

Twenty met Daniel-san’s unhappy glare. She looked all kinds of determined.

“I owe my life to Millie-san” she said to him. “She has given me her trust and I will never break it again. I will stand by her side and give my life for her”. She bowed to Daniel-san and stood upright once more. Hell, I was impressed.

Feelings I could not fully understand were roiling around inside of me. I stood up myself and gave her a hug. She put her arms around me and hugged me back. I guess that sealed the deal for Daniel-san. He knew how I felt about hugging people. This made Twenty very special to me.

“OK Millie” he finally relented. “You are crazy as hell but I can’t stop you. What is the plan?”

“Well boss, I know you still use your old war buddies sometimes as Freelancers for tough bounties. Are any of them up for a fight with Yamaguchi? The pay should be really good” I began. Daniel-san was nodding and so we got down to it.

Twenty, myself and maybe two of his old squad mates would take on the convoy. Jericho would be able to supply us most of the hardware we would need via some black market connections. All we had to do was take out the drones, disable the Guards and get Otaki and Emily out of the transfer vehicle. Once we had them we would then head to a rendezvous at a private airstrip with a smuggler aircraft.

Daniel-san offered some refinements and sat back.

“So, we will need hardware and armour for five of us” he announced. “You better get on the phone to this Jericho guy and arrange a delivery. I will contact my best two people for this job”.

I did a quick head count. “Isn’t it four of us? I said to him.

He gave me his grumpy look, which is very similar to most of his other looks.

“You know I am coming with you” he replied. “If you go and get killed I am never going to hear the end of the complaints from Erika. You are the only one of my bounty hunters she can tolerate”

“Erika likes me?” I wondered. She hides that really well I thought.

=====

I called Jericho and told him we had a crew. I relayed the hardware requirements from Daniel-san and confirmed the price for this mission. He accepted without a qualm.

Each participant was to be paid ten thousand Pandas into an account that Daniel-san provided. It would be dispersed by him to the relevant crew members. Since Twenty had no bank account, legal or otherwise, her share would go to my account for now.

“Clean up and get some rest” Daniel-san told me. “We will meet up at the underground lot at Six AM. Don’t be late”.

Twenty and I reclaimed our scooter from outside and rode it the short distance to my apartment block. I showed her how to get access to our little underground garage and we stored the scooter in a corner, out of the way.

I sneaked her upstairs past the foyer. Luckily it was quite late by now so none of the other residents or Mr Singh were about.

When we got to my room, before I opened the door, I warned Twenty to please excuse the mess. I had not been expecting company the last time I left it. With that I pushed the door open and let her into the apartment.

She surveyed the scattered clothing, used food containers and unmade bed.

“Did you have a fight in here?” she asked me, wide eyed.

“Only with the goddess of hygiene” I answered and shut the door behind us.

We spent a little time taking off our armour, gear, boots and the like. I tossed my stuff into a corner, then watched as Twenty picked it all up and sorted it neatly. OK I thought, she is going to be that kind of flat mate.

We alternated using the bathroom. When Twenty was done she came out buck naked and asked where she could rest until morning. I guess in the Guard there was no such thing as modesty.

I found a spare shirt that would do as a night dress for her. It was comically short so I recommended she put her military grade boxers back on. Not for her sake, more for mine.

She helped me tidy up the bed then slipped under the covers without a second thought. She looked at me uncertainly. I have never ever had someone in my bed for like ten years or more.

“No funny stuff” I warned her. “I have a real mean bite”.

Twenty just smiled at me and shuffled over to give me plenty of room. I climbed in next to her and lay on my back. She moved closer again on her side, her warmth radiating into me.

I turned off the lights with my room remote and we lay there in the dark. Only a thin strip of light came in through the window shutters from outside.

“Twenty” I said softly “Are you going to be OK with what we have to do tomorrow?”.

“No, having to wound or kill my brothers and sisters will be the hardest thing I have ever had to do” she answered. I had not realised she considered the Jacks and Jills as her family. This was all messed up.

“But Jericho told me about what Emily represents. The Governors want to use her to make clones with far more power than us. They will be able to use your kind of abilities and implants at the same time. They will be unstoppable. Humans and the Guard will no longer matter. It will be a whole new species, completely under the control of the Archimedes Network”.

“For real?” I said in shock. No wonder they had wanted Emily and Otaki back.

“If Emily remains in the hands of Yamaguchi, everyone is in danger” Twenty said. “The lives of my Squad are important to me, but I know they will support me in doing what I have to. We were not made to live forever Millie”.

I turned to her and hugged her close. I fell asleep in her arms and slept without dreams until the alarm awoke me.