Chapter Ten

Panam stepped over Scorpion and mounted the motorcycle next to him, doing her best to avoid glancing down at his corpse again. This had been Miles' bike. Miles hadn't been with the Aldecaldos long, but it didn't take long to become family. Her heart felt enclosed by a shroud of numbness that she knew would vanish the moment she had the capacity to let it, the moment their objective was completed and the adrenaline withdrew from her veins. It was a moment she dreaded. For now, though, she had a purpose, and that purpose was to help V get his guy. She looked over her shoulder and saw V, who climbed on Scorpion's bike and kicked on the engine. How surreal it was, seeing somebody else in that saddle. Panam gave her head a slight shake, started the engine of Miles' bike, and pulled out of that damned graveyard with V close behind.

They were headed west and the sun had now fully risen behind them. The early-morning dew had left the desert ground impressionable; Panam had no trouble locating and following the tracks left by the vehicles the Kang Tao survivors had taken from the Aldecaldos. After a short ride, twenty minutes or so, Panam saw their destination over the crest of the next hill–a lonely filling station off the side of the highway just ahead. She slowed her bike and cut the engine while they were still several hundred yards away, and V pulled up beside her and did the same. They were outnumbered, and stealth was their greatest advantage; if their targets were to overhear their bike engines, that advantage would be lost.

Panam dismounted, pulled a pair of binoculars from the back pannier, and took cover behind a nearby outcropping of sandstone. This would have to do as a vantage point. She surveyed the scene at the distant station as V took cover next to her and began doing the same with his Kiroshi implants.

"I wager that's where they're holding Hellman," Panam said.

V nodded. "Got a couple of turrets out front. I'll take care of those." V was quiet for a moment, concentrating. "Okay, it's done."

"Two snipers," said Panam. "On the tower and the roof."

"And a pair of drones on the perimeter," V said.

"No way of knowing what's inside." Panam winced as a thread of pain laced through her side. The MaxDoc booster was beginning to wear off.

V crouched back down below their cover and said, "You okay?" His eyes were wide, searching.

"I'm fine," she grumbled. "What's our plan?"

V didn't respond for a moment, and Panam felt as though she were being studied. "Can you cover me from here?" he finally said. "I'll take out as many as I can quietly, but like you said–no clue what's waiting inside."

Panam nodded before retrieving Mitch's rifle from her bike and returning to cover. "Let's do this," she said.

V looked down at the station once more, marking his targets, and took off. Panam felt like she was in Rocky Ridge again as she watched V work his magic through the scope of her rifle. He sprinted to the edge of the highway and crouched behind an electrical box, watching the station until there was a gap in the Kang Tao patrol routes. Once he saw his window, he took it–he ran across the highway, leaping over the divider in the middle without skipping a beat, and disappeared behind the fence at the base of the tower.

Panam did a quick scan of the drones and soldiers patrolling the station, but none of them seemed to have noticed V's presence. Returning her scope to the base of the tower, Panam's heart rate increased; V had still not reappeared. She cursed herself for not thinking to establish a holo link before he'd taken off for the station. Her rising panic dissipated as she relocated V, creeping up the stairs to the tower. She watched him approach the sniper from behind, grapple him into a chokehold, and break his neck. He made his way back down the tower, crossed the alleyway between the tower and the station, and used a dumpster to hoist himself onto the roof. After he'd killed the second sniper, Panam watched him take out his phone and felt her own vibrate in her pocket.

She picked up the holo. "Nice work down there," she said.

"Thanks," said V. His voice was low. "You ready? 'bout done with this cat n' mouse shit."

Scorpion's lifeless, blood-covered face flashed before her eyes, accompanied by a surge of rage and bile in her throat. "I thought you'd never ask."

V nodded. "Let 'em have it."

Panam readjusted her sights, training them on one of the Kang Tao soldiers patrolling in front of the station. Panam fired, and the soldier crumpled to the ground with most of his head now missing. She quickly panned left and gave the other soldier the exact same treatment. V dropped from the roof and ran toward the front station entrance while Panam fired at the three drones on his tail, eliminating them with just one shot each.

V pried away the S.C.S.M that was barricading the entrance and disappeared inside the station. Panam heard heavy turret fire, which lasted only a few seconds, followed by regular gunfire and screaming. She propped her rifle against the sandstone she'd been using as cover, drew her pistol, and made her way toward the station as quickly as she could. A trickle of blood trailed from her wound and seeped into the waistband of her jeans, and though she did her best to ignore it, the pain was growing in intensity.

As she reached the station entrance, the violence occurring inside went silent, replaced by the distant roar of engines. She turned to scan the horizon and saw a convoy approaching from the east, looming larger with each passing second. Fuck! Were the Kang Tao reinforcements finally here? She froze and listened more carefully. No, those were certainly nomad vehicles. The Aldecaldos!

Hoping that her judgment about the identity of the fleet was correct, Panam reached out to V over the holo link. "V? Where are you?"

"Garage," he said.

"Is the building clear?"

"Sure is. Be out in a sec," he said, then disconnected their link.

Satisfied that V was safe, Panam limped to the exterior garage doors and waited for her former clan to arrive. The roar grew louder and louder, until over a dozen Aldecaldos pulled into the station on a variety of bikes and trucks and cut their engines. The last vehicle to pull up was her Thorn, though its driver, Mitch, was the first to climb out and make his way to her.

"Panam!" he called, giving her a once-over as he approached. "You holding up?"

"I'm fine," she said, leaning against the panel of the wall between the two garage doors.

"Where's V?" Mitch asked.

At that moment, the garage door to her right lifted. She stood, turned, and watched V exit the garage with an unconscious corpo in an expensive-looking suit draped over his shoulder. V looked tired. Sweat sheened his forehead and a scattering of minor cuts and scrapes dotted his arms, but otherwise he seemed okay.

"Is that him?" said Panam.

"Sure is," V said, staggering slightly under the weight of Hellman.

A few of the Aldecaldos had been sent to retrieve the bikes V and Panam had left across the highway, and at that moment, they pulled up.

"Toss him on the bike," said Panam, motioning toward Scorpion's ride.

V nodded, walked forward, and tossed Hellman across the back of the motorcycle without much care. He leaned against the bike and caught his breath. Panam came around on the opposite side and stood facing him.

"The cavalry arrived," she said. "Mitch gathered together a few Aldecaldos."

Mitch approached and stood next to the front tire of the bike with his arms crossed. "The road was clear," he said. "I don't think we were spotted, but we would do better to not hang around too long."

Panam glanced at Hellman. "What do you plan to do with him?" she asked V.

"Just gotta ask him a few important questions. It's a long story," he said with a sigh.

Panam did her best to quell her frustration at V's evasive response. Hadn't she earned a few answers? "Well," she said. "I'd love to hear it sometime."

V gave her a smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

Saul approached without warning and stood between Panam and Mitch. A mixture of anger and anxiety swirled in her gut at his presence.

"Everything's done here," Mitch reported. "All clear."

Saul folded his arms and shot a wary look at V. "I heard Mitch is alive thanks to you," he said.

V stood up straight and met Saul's eye. "Me and Panam," he said.

Saul nodded and looked down with disgust at Anders Hellman's limp body draped over the back of Scorpion's bike. "I just hope he was worth it," he said.

Panam summoned her courage and spoke up. "Saul, I tried to raise Scorpion, but he…"

Saul looked at her, and the disappointment in his eye made her stomach drop. He shook his head and began pacing.

"Maybe I could help out somehow?" she asked. Damn that quiver in her voice.

Saul scoffed. "I think you've helped enough."

A familiar burst of anger overwhelmed Panam. "I tried to stop him!"

Saul stopped pacing, facing away from her.

"Sure," she said. "Just turn around now, let it all be damned. You're good at that, aren't you?!"

Saul whipped around and closed the distance between them with one striding step. His face was only a few inches from hers.

V spoke up. "Look, Saul, it really wasn't Panam's fault. It's mine."

Saul tore his menacing gaze from Panam's face and turned to V. "Careful," he spat. "You and me are not buddy-buddy. Besides, nobody's blamed anyone for anything–yet."

Panam shook her head and gave a bitter laugh. "Sure," she said. "Right."

Saul backed off a step.

"Panam was just helpin' me," V said. "It was my doin', my fault that AV got hit. Without me, Scorpion and his people wouldn't have gone out to grab it. That's the truth."

Panam felt a warmth begin to supplant the anger in her stomach. She simultaneously appreciated V stepping in to defend her and wished he would stop blaming himself. Besides, this argument with Saul was about much, much more than just today's shitstorm.

"When you are an Aldecaldo," Saul said, looking straight at Panam, "you are always responsible for yourself and your people. The circumstances change nothing. Perhaps Panam should ask herself if she's still an Aldecaldo."

Saul stormed away before Panam could formulate a response to the dig. Instead, she spat at her feet and folded her arms with tight fists. "Damn it all," she said through clenched teeth.

"Hey, don't worry about Saul," said Mitch. "He'll get over it."

Panam steeled herself. "I don't give a damn," she said.

Mitch shook his head. "But he gives a damn about you, Panam. As soon as he heard what happened, he ordered us to follow you. He was worried about you."

Panam looked down at her feet as her face flushed.

"Look," Mitch continued. "Maybe you two don't see eye-to-eye at the moment, but you're family. And Saul will do anything for family."

Panam pinched the bridge of her nose and forced the tears rising to her eyes back down. "The thing is," she said, "am I even part of the family anymore?" She exhaled and looked up to the sky.

"You know you are," said Mitch. "Come back to us."

At that moment, a sudden wave of dizziness crashed over her, accompanied by a shock of pain from her injury. She started losing her footing, but before she could hit the ground, V darted forward and caught her, draping her arm over his shoulder and his around her waist.

"Mitch!" he said. "She needs some help."

Mitch hurried toward Panam's ride and called over his shoulder, "Bring 'er over here!"

V guided Panam toward the Thorn and helped her climb up on the tailgate, where she sat with her legs dangling over the edge as Mitch inspected the wound. "Gonna need to clean this out," he said. "It'll hurt like a bitch."

It already hurt like a bitch, so Panam braced herself and said, "I'm ready."

Mitch disappeared to retrieve some supplies from the cab of the truck. V leaned his elbows on the tailgate next to Panam and looked up at her. He only half smiled as he said, "You're not gonna let a ricocheted bullet from a fuckin' Kang Tao drone be the end of Panam Palmer, are you?" He joked, but worry and guilt traced the perimeter of his eyes.

Panam laughed and then winced as the movement caused a fresh spike of pain through her abdomen. After taking a second to recover, she said, "Certainly not." After a moment, she spoke again. "Sorry you had to witness that, with Saul. Things just get complicated, dramatic, sometimes."

V shook his head. "Don't be sorry. I get why you butt heads with him. Seems difficult to get along with."

"He means well," said Panam. "That's what everyone says, anyway. But he doesn't listen well."

V looked off into the distance, thoughtful.

"Hey," she said, and he met her eyes again. "What Saul said back there? About Aldecaldos being responsible for their own? That much was true. Scorpion…," she paused to hold back those damned tears that were rising again. "What happened to him was not your fault. He, and everyone else with him, should have been more cautious. But Kang Tao, those are the motherfuckers who killed him. Not me. Not you."

V hung his head for a moment and nodded. He looked back at her, and she was captivated once again by the force of his blue eyes, the intensity of his gaze. "Panam, I–"

At that moment, Mitch returned with alcohol, gauze, and a pair of small forceps. "All right, Panam," he said, setting the supplies down on the tailgate. "Here goes." He climbed up and crouched next to her on the truck bed. "Might wanna hold on to somethin'," he said.

"I'll be fine," she said, clenching her fists. "Do it."

Without hesitation, Mitch used the forceps to pull out a miniscule ribbon of metal that must have been stripped off the top of the Thorn and planted itself in her side. It hurt, but not more than she could manage. Then, Mitch doused the gash with the antiseptic, and Panam instinctually reached out for something to grasp. Her hand found V's, and she gripped it tight as black spots crowded her vision and a groan escaped her mouth.

By the time her vision returned to normal and the pain receded, Mitch had already bandaged up the wound with gauze and disappeared again to return the supplies to the truck. Her hand was still planted firmly in V's, and her desire to leave it there battled with her aversion to appearing weak. After a split second of deliberation, she decided to leave it. "Thank you," she said.

"How you feelin'?" asked V.

"I'm fine," she said. She wasn't. The gash still stung like a motherfucker, and now that Hellman was secure, the images of Scorpion lying dead in the dirt were getting harder to keep at bay.

"Listen," said V. "Gotta get 'im out of here." He jerked his head toward the corpo, who remained unconsciously draped across the back of Scorpion's motorcycle.

In the distance, Panam heard one of the Aldecaldos yell, "They're coming! We gotta move, one minute!"

"Take care of Scorpion's bike," said Panam. "It's yours now."

V looked as though he were about to protest but decided against it. In the end, he nodded and said in a quiet voice, "I will." All around them, the Aldecaldos were scurrying back to their rides and revving their engines.

"You look out for yourself, all right?" said Panam.

"Panam, I–" V looked down and cleared his throat. He took a deep breath and met her eyes again. "I don't want this to be the last time I see you." His jaw clenched once the words were out.

Panam smiled. "Of course not. You still owe me a long story, remember?"

V's jaw relaxed and shifted into a grin. "That I do."

Mitch opened the driver's side door of the Thorn. He gave V a short nod before climbing in, which V returned in kind.

Panam looked at V, gave his hand a squeeze, and let go.

The Aldecaldos began pulling out of the filling station, heading the opposite direction from which they'd come. V took a few steps back from the bed of the Thorn and Mitch hit the gas. "You've got my number, gonk!" she called to him as they pulled out of the station. "Use it!"

V smiled and put up a hand in goodbye. Panam watched him turn into a speck as the Aldecaldo convoy drew farther and farther away. She pulled her legs up into the truck bed, leaned back on a bunched up tarp, closed her eyes, and smiled softly. Then, with a deep breath, she put down the walls and let all the pain of the day rush in.