Chapter 16: Cold Pursuit
September 3rd, 2316 – 12:30 PM – Whisper Valley, Cictra
While Canma and Nack wrapped up and prepared to leave Whisper Valley, another visitor was fast approaching the same location. A sleek Learjet streaked through the sky towards the valley, going as fast as it could through the snowy sky. In the pilot's chair was Nail, dressed in a heavy blue coat instead of his usual blue T-shirt. Meanwhile, in the back, Redrum was propped up on a box and was using the mini bar inside the plane as a table to check over their weapons.
Wine and champagne bottles on the shelves above the bar twinkled in the lights of the cabin. Nail had considered trying out a few of them when they first broke into the plane, but then he decided that now was definitely not the best time to be getting drunk. He needed to be fully alert if he was going to get this jet to Whisper Valley in time. Instead, he wondered just how wealthy the person was who owned this jet.
He's really goddamn rich, whoever he is. This jet alone would cost millions, but tack on that mini bar stocked with all those rare vintages, and I wouldn't be surprised if he owned a sprawling estate, an entire garage of super cars, and a yacht too.
Nail grinned and chuckled to himself.
"What's so funny?" Redrum said, calling up from the back.
"Oh nothing," Nail replied, putting a lid on his giggles. "I'm just thinking about how pissed off the guy who owns this jet is going to be when he finds out its missing."
Redrum laughed back.
"Nah...I doubt he'd miss it. He's probably got an entire hangar of these back at his mansion or wherever he lives."
"True...true. But damn! This jet is nice! No way I'd ever be able to afford something like this in my entire lifetime."
"You just might, if we can get back Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles in time."
Nail paused, but then he feebly replied, "Yeah..."
"Hey...that reminds me. How'd your meeting with your sister go? In all the rush I forgot to ask you about it."
Nail swallowed a moment, before he responded, "Forget about it. She...ended up getting me tossed in jail because I kidnapped Sonic. I say if she's going to treat me like that after all these years, screw her. She asked me to save Sonic, so now I think I'm gonna do the opposite just to spite her. I'm not going to let myself wander from our mission anymore, Redrum. You have my word."
"Great then!" Redrum chuckled. "I was worried that sister of yours would screw around with your head, with how you told me she was all goody two-shoes when you lived with her. Glad to see you've still got it under control though."
"Yeah, I got it under control..." Nail repeated. "All under control..."
To be perfectly honest with myself though, I do feel bad about hurting her, when she found out I was the one who kidnapped Sonic. Almost makes me feel like wanting to stop all this. But, it's not like I can just suddenly throw away this life over one little conversation I had, even if God was kind enough to let me see Carrie again.
Even if I wanted to stop being a mercenary, it's not like I can just leave the underground world and start an ordinary life. I've done a lot of stuff in my time, and so people on both sides of the law would love to see me dead or arrested. Not to mention I never even finished elementary school. The best job I'd be able to get with that kind of formal education would be a checkout clerk at a grocery store, and I definitely don't want to spend the rest of my life stuffing bags for elderly ladies. I sure wouldn't like going back to school either...
He let out a sigh.
Through the snow streaking past the window in front of him, he could see their destination coming up. Nail was thankful this country was where he was born and raised for so many years. Otherwise, he might have missed the valley completely. From memory, he also recalled there was an abandoned runway on the south end of the valley. Fortunately though, they were already on the proper end, and he could see the old hangars and a crumbled control tower sitting next to a broad clearing. Nail could also faintly see the Tornado 2 on the ground, so that meant that Knuckles and Tails were already here.
He smiled a bit, knowing that it would still be possible to get all the money. However, this was gonna be tricky. Nack and his partner were going to be in the area, in addition to Tails and Knuckles. Not to mention...
"Redrum...you better buckle up," Nail said, as he lowered the landing skis. "This is gonna be a rough landing."
"I figured that..." Redrum said, as Nail heard him climb into a seat.
"There's a runway, but it's covered by snow and ice. This plane has skis for landing in cold weather, but it's still gonna be dangerous, so hang on."
"Sure man," Redrum replied, buckling up. "I know you can do this. You've got experience behind the stick."
Nail smiled.
"Well thanks for the vote of confidence then. But get ready, because here we go."
Nail adjusted his course towards the runway, using the tracks that the Tornado 2 had left in the snow as a guide for lining up. He figured that if Tails safely landed that way, he should be able to do the same.
If I hadn't read it in his profile, I would never believe that an eight-year-old could fly a plane, much less land it in these conditions. I wouldn't be surprised if his balls are already growing in, if he's courageous enough to pull this off! There's no way I would have been able to do the same thing when I was eight. Hell, I hadn't even been in an airplane yet.
Nail realized he was letting his mind wander, and abruptly focused his attention back to the matter at hand. The ground was rapidly approaching, as his altimeter lowered. The Tornado 2's tracks steadily increased in size as he got closer and closer. Nail gently pulled back on the stick, and the jet tilted upward. The skis made contact with the ground, rattling the entire plane in the process. Nail then pulled on the airbrake.
The plane shuddered as it came to a halt, and the fox felt his body being pressed forward into the seatbelt. He winced as the strap pressed into his body, trying to maintain his concentration at the same time. Normally Nail would go easier on the brakes, but this runway was short, and it was also covered with ice that compounded the problem. He had to stop this plane, and he had to stop it quickly.
Already Nail could see the Tornado 2 in front of them rapidly growing in size. In another few seconds, he wouldn't be able to see the entire thing in his windshield anymore. He nervously chewed his lip, as he glanced between the window and his speedometer. He could make out Tails' tails symbol on the rear wing of the Tornado 2, and the Learjet still hadn't stopped. Nail closed his eyes and braced for the impact.
However, it didn't come, and the plane came to a stop. Nail opened his eyes, and looked out the window. He saw that the front of the plane was just inches away from hitting the tail of the Tornado 2. A sigh of relief escaped Nail's mouth.
"If I still had a digestive system," Redrum spoke up. "I think I would have shit myself watching us land."
Nail chuckled a bit, liking that Redrum was lightening the mood. He headed towards the back of the plane, where Redrum had just finished unbuckling himself, and was now "standing" using his arms to prop himself up.
"I got your favorite rifle ready while we were flying Nail," Redrum said. "Got both the lethal .338 magnum rounds and the nonlethal tranquilizer darts ready."
"Thanks a lot, Redrum," Nail said, looking down at him. "I owe ya one."
"Damn right you do!" Redrum said, hitting one of the fox's knees with one hand. "You would have never gotten out of that jail if I hadn't been there to save you."
"Well I guess we're even now then," Nail smiled. "You saved me from jail, and I saved you from being a slave to Robotnik's programming."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Redrum said, as he pointed to the minibar. "I left your gun right there."
Nail nodded and walked past him. A military green sniper rifle lay on the polished wood, complete with a powerful scope, a bipod to steady aim, and several clips of ammunition. Nail was very partial to this weapon, for all the history he had with it but now was not the time to dwell on it. He had to earn his twenty million demens to make today...
But what will doing this do to Carrie?
He stared at the gun hard, weighing his choices. Suddenly, he felt someone grab him by the leg, and looked down to see Redrum.
"Well?" he asked. "Are you gonna pick it up or are we just gonna stay in here staring at it all day? We gotta get a move on if we're gonna get Sonic and his friends!"
Nail shook his head.
"Sorry, you're right," Nail said, picking up the gun, as he also picked up a magazine loaded with the lethal ammunition.
Meanwhile,Redrum continued to talk as he loaded the clip into the receiver.
"Since I got no legs, I wouldn't be much help out there I think. Do you think I should just stay behind and keep an eye on the plane?"
"Nah," Nail replied. "You can piggyback on me, and then when I find a good spot to shoot from, you can get off and act as my spotter.
He pulled a pair of binoculars out of a nearby box and held it out to Redrum. The half-robot dog took them and used their strap to hold it around his neck.
"Sounds good to me," Redrum said. "Now let me get on your back."
"Okay," Nail said, kneeling.
Redrum climbed on his back and wrapped his arms around Nail's neck. Once that was done, the fox stood up and headed for the exit hatch. With the press of a button, the hatch lowered with a hiss, revealing an endlessly white landscape beyond, with snowflakes swirling past in the wind.
Nail grinned, feeling right at home. In fact, he hardly noticed the cold, since he was so used to it from growing up here. He eagerly stepped out of the hatch and walked across the snow, his boots crunching in the soft powder.
"You sure we're in the right place?" Redrum asked.
"Yeah...I distinctly heard them say Whisper Valley was the rendezvous point."
"Do you know where in the valley?"
"No, I don't. Anyway, we better stop with the chatter now. It could give us away. Don't talk again until I say it's all right for you to do it, or unless it's really important."
"Got it."
"From this point on, don't say a word."
Redrum nodded a little. They trudged onward through the snowy valley, past groves of trees and a small stream. They didn't meet a single soul the entire journey. To Nail though, this place didn't feel deserted. He wasn't sure about it, but he felt like there were people nearby...
His hunch was proven true, as he heard the sound of a jet engine igniting nearby. His ears rotated to identify the source of the sound, and he determined it was coming from the west. Looking in that direction, he saw Nack's hover bike rising into view from the tops of the mountains bordering the valley.
Nail dashed to hide behind a nearby tree, and whispered, "Redrum, binoculars."
Redrum passed them to him, and Nail held them up to his eyes with one hand. Through them, he could clearly see Nack and Canma riding on their bike, with a cage tied to the bottom of the craft. Inside he could clearly spot Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. Nail frowned.
"That bastard's got all three of them," Nail growled.
"Why don't you shoot at 'em or something?" Redrum said back.
"I can't," Nail said. "Because if I shoot Nack or the bike, the bike will just crash and kill everyone. Then we won't get paid because our bounties are dead. We'll just have to try to follow them and wait for a better opportunity to strike."
"But how? It'll take too long to get back to the plane, and we'll never keep up if we chase them on foot!"
"Don't get worried," Nail said in a reassuring voice. "I know a thing or two about this place since I've been here before. I used to live in this country you know. There was a very good reason they chose this place for the rendezvous, and we can take advantage of that."
"What do you mean?"
"There's a warp zone nearby that leads to a place close to the drop off point. It's arranged so that whoever gets there first calls the client to come over, so they'll have to land and wait for him to show up. That's when we'll kill Nack and Canma, and then we'll get back the bounties just in time to hand them over to the client."
"Glad to know there's still some hope for us."
"Yeah...but we better get a move on. I'm betting we're only going to have a short time to pull this off."
"Well, let's go then! We've got twenty million demens to earn today!"
Nail nodded, and took off running through the snow, after Nack's hover bike.
Up in the air...
Nack carefully piloted his hover bike close to the bottom of the valley. He was flying so low that the cage strapped to the bottom of the vehicle grazed the snow a few times. It would probably send snow spraying inside the cage through the bars, but Nack didn't really care about the comfort of Sonic and his friends. After all, as long as they were alive, it didn't matter how banged up they were when he delivered them to the client.
At the end of the valley ahead of them, he could see a soft blue glow behind the trees. That was a warp portal to the Land of Darkness, where the drop off point was. According to his warp hole map, it would drop them off within just a few minutes' flight of the client's rendezvous point. That was the very reason why they'd chose this spot to capture Tails and Knuckles. Otherwise, they would have definitely picked a place that was warmer. Nack had been freezing cold the entire time.
Fortunately, it wouldn't be bothering him for much longer since they were almost upon the warp hole. The swirling blue circle in front of them bathed everything in a bluish tint, as they got closer and closer. Finally, the front of the bike hit the blue circle and went right through. Nack soon passed through as well. It was kind of like going through a curtain of water, only without getting wet. The feeling felt strange, but it only lasted for a second or two.
Soon they were on the other side. A swirling vortex of colors all around greeted them, as they headed through the warp dimension. It would have been an amazing sight to anybody who'd seen it for the first time, but Nack had long since gotten used to it due to living on this planet all his life. He was also a little too busy right now trying to hold the bike steady, as Canma held on by wrapping her arms around Nack's chest.
The weasel grinned a little at her holding onto him, because this was the only time she was willing to do that. Nack had tried to make some advances on her at other times before, but she'd repeatedly denied his offers, always saying they needed to keep their mind on this mission. He supposed she was right, but it annoyed the hell out of him. It wasn't like they had anything else to do while they were waiting for Tails and Knuckles to show up...
Another blue circle waited for them at the end of the vortex, indicating the end of the warp zone. After passing through the other side, they found themselves in the Land of Darkness. Specifically, they were in the country of Reppoc. Nack didn't really care what country it was though, because almost everywhere down here looked about like this: a pitch-black sky created by the bottom of the Land of the Sky overhead, and endless dark forests below, which were occasionally broken up by mountains, rivers, or whatever. This area was no different.
He turned the bike to the east, as he turned for the rendezvous point. Within a few minutes, the place came into view. A grassy field greeted his eyes, the green occasionally broken up by large boulders and rocks jutting up from the ground. It reminded Nack of a place he'd heard about that was on Earth, but he couldn't remember the name that well.
What was it again? Somehenge? Stonewenge? Oh well...it doesn't really matter. It's not like the client won't give me the money if I don't know the name.
"We've finally made it, Canma," Nack said.
"At long last..." she said with a sigh. "This whole mission's been nerve-wracking from the beginning. Can't wait to get that money and start enjoying it..."
Nack settledthe cage down into a relatively clear spot towards the edge of the clearing, and landed the bike nearby. As he dismounted from the bike, Canma began to speak up again.
"So where's the client?" Canma asked. "This is the right meeting place, isn't it?"
"Yeah...we're in the right spot," Nack replied. He pulled out his radio and adjusted the frequency. "We're supposed to contact the client so he'll know we're out here and ready for him. I guess he didn't want to be left waiting out here for too long."
Nack hit the talk button and brought the receiver up to his mouth.
"Attention...Attention... Is this Mr. Kenny Oviron?" he said.
Through a hiss of static, a squealing voice came through on the other end.
"Yes...yes...this is Mr. Oviron speaking. What is it?"
"We've got your bounties. All three of them. Sonic Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, and Knuckles Echidna. They're alive and ready for collection, and we're ready for our payment."
"Heh heh, don't worry about your payment! You'll have it soon. I'll be there to personally make the exchange in about fifteen minutes."
Nack narrowed his eyes and put on a toothy grin at the same time.
"Good. We'll be waiting."
Nack turned off the radio.
Well, that's it. With the bounties secure, and the client on his way, I don't need Canma anymore. Good boy time is over. A shame I never got to enjoy her... Oh well. With all the money I get out of this, I can have all the women I want.
He placed the radio back into his belt. Then, in one swift motion, he swiped the revolver out of his holster, and whirled around to point it at Canma's face. He managed to do that...but she also had her sword pointed at his throat.
"I'm afraid our partnership is over now," Canma said.