Chapter 3

At first I didn’t know where I was and what was going on, so I panicked a bit. But then I realized what was happening.

The grav turbines had changed pitch. Only slightly, but the last days had me sleeping very lightly and I was not yet beyond the stress, so it was enough.

A short look at the time told me that we were in the landing approach. A much longer look at the news told me that the search for Vivian DuClare was going on unabated in Seattle. It was unlikely to bring any results, but nonetheless I wished them fun.

Then I reviewed the checklist for New York again.

1. Lodgings. I would have to pay for a hotel in the beginning. A house or an apartment was priority though, even if I could afford to live in a hotel for quite some time.

2. Contacts. Luckily I had one name to drop that would open some doors for me. And of course access to the deep web. Otherwise I would have to search long and hard to build up a new network.

3. A place to work out of. I needed an obvious place to work out of. Something that everybody knew about, that was a reason why I was a bit shy, but not really illegal. Of course illegal was no problem in New York for the last 130 years, but I wanted to avoid overt scrutiny.

4. Paramount for survival in New York, a benefactor. Since the criminal organizations took over most of the north eastern United States during the big war, anybody who wished to do any business, regardless of light or shadow, had to pay a tribute to the territorial leader.

5. Build up my reputation. The overt one and the deep one. That was at once the easiest part and the hardest. I knew that my idea against CRS worked. But to get it onto the streets would take time. And the other ... well, that would take a hideout and resources. I could, for a while, use the cluster I had to leave in Seattle. But that was only a temporary solution. So until I had a place to hide a new cluster, I would be a bit hampered.

After a bit of consideration I decided to move point 4 to point 1. I would have to get information about the different families and their territories before I would decide which territory to settle in.

And of course I would loathe paying two benefactors, so the lab/hideout and the new home should if possible at all be in the same territory. I also had to be careful about my ancestry. Unlike Seattle, my type was often not so liked on the east coast.

Yep, the idiots back west had damaged our collective reputation. Quite severe in many cases. Bigots beget bigots, racism begets racism. Fortunately I was at least outwardly a unique exemplar of my race. I looked nearly completely like a Mongrel. So I should be able to keep it under wraps. Mostly.

With that I deactivated the link, and took a Coke out of my back pack. After activating the cool tap, I enjoyed the ice cold drink, while the ship shuddered a bit. Then the growl of the turbines ebbed, just to fall silent entirely, followed by the ceasing vibrations of the fusactor.

A few minutes later Ernest came from the cockpit, and announced that we had reached New York. He followed this with opening the ramp and going down.

The others on the flight began to leave the ship, while I decided I would take my time. So I used the opportunity to arrange short term warehousing of my equipment. I timed it right so that I was the last to leave the ship, thinking that most of the passengers would already have left the bay.

Well, I was wrong. All the others were still in attendance. In addition to a rather large group of men.

Five each stood at the three exits of the bay, making it clear that they would not let anybody pass.

A dozen more stood in a half circle in front of the ramp, Mr. Willinger and the other passengers.

All of them were heavily armed, and held the various guns ready. Somehow I managed to escape more than six thousand peace keepers, twelve thousand rioting gang members and God knows how many others, just to land in a hold up here on the other side of the continent.

The obvious leader of the strangers was talking to our pilot when he saw me, and stopped mid sentence. He let his eyes roam over me for a few seconds.

“Well, well, well. Another one. And even nicer than the others. You brought us a righteous feast, Ernie. That so does make up for not paying. We still have to take you in of course; you understand that, don’t you?”

The malice in his voice was enough to send it cold down my back. Ernest began to beg.

“I have your money, Frankel. Here, fifty thousand Dollars. I can give it to you right here. I would have brought it right to you” he wheedled.

The answer was even colder than before.

“And you got it in Dollars right? Dream on. Nobody would give you Dollars in Nowhere. And Nowhere Creds are not worth it here. You would have to get what? Twenty thousand creds for that? Only to get 50k good old dollars, without a fee for converting of course. No my friend. No deal.”

“Not creds. Gold! 75 kbucks in gold. By weight. From what I heard the coins are worth even more. Twice as much. Here! For you!”

By now the desperation was not to miss. Ernest pulled a handful some things out of his pocket. I was right in my guess that is where the 10 gold eagles I paid my flight with. Frankel took them, and looked at them a few moments.

“Wow. They seem real. And directly solid. Too bad for you, that you are too late. We’ve already taken you and all you own as compensation. Your rust bucket will be worth a few bucks. You, I will be honest, you will probably end in the arena. And our guests here we have to decide on.”