Chapter 2: The Menagerie
Our armory was modest by Sub-Met standards, a cramped office space formerly occupied by the chief of the Sub-Kyoto police department. With the chief's passing a few months ago due to radiation sickness, we had occupied the building as our headquarters. Now, instead of the bureaucratic paperwork that formerly covered every available surface in the room, the office was jam-packed with a variety of firearms, some confiscated, others brought, and other assorted gadgetry. Malaya picked up her pair of customized chrome-plated Astro Automatics from its wall mounting, and scowled back over at me, mocking judgement.
"You're seriously bringing those relics along to a firefight? With those at your side you might as well just give up and ask for mercy." I laughed.
"Yeah, yeah. I wanted to have these things field tested so we can see if they do the job that High Command said they would."
One of the "relics" she was referring to was a new-build type 105 Astro Banshee hand-held sonic emitter. The gun, I was told, was designed to incapacitate criminals by sending out compressed high-frequency sound waves, causing nausea at the lowest level and eardrum bursting at the highest. Our suits inhibited the waves by way of dampeners, so we were safe. The other so-called relic was another new build, an EMP grenade. Since half of our quarry were probably wearing sound-dampening suits, I hoped that the pulse would disable their suits so we could incapacitate them with the sonic gun. After all, simply killing criminals was not an effective law enforcement tool, as we needed to be up to date on our underworld intelligence. But back before the Argo returned, the opposite was normally the case.
"I hope you at least bring something you know will work."
"Of course. I'll grab the flintlocks from the weapons closet." She laughed. Alastair poked his head in from the main room.
"Children, I'd finish suiting up pretty quickly. Those guys, while not exactly Olympic Sprinters, have already almost made it to the zoo."
"Sorry Alastair. I'm still a bit rusty. First action since shore leave ended."
"I get it Sam, we're all still recovering, but we have a job to do. I for one don't want high command-"
"They won't Al. We're the best team they have in this damned Sub-Met." Alastair sighed.
"Sam, we're the only team in this Sub-Met."
"Exactly. Now get back to monitoring their position. We'll be able to get to them just before they make the drop."
"Roger that." And with a flash of his jet-black hair, Alastair disappeared back into the monitoring center, his own personal office. Two minutes later, we set off into the debris-strewn streets after our quarry.
Not having a working aircar to patrol Sub-Kyoto in, Malaya and I set out on foot to figure out where the drop was taking place. Full body suits were necessary for prolonged periods of time down below the surface because of a number of radiation leaks that had occurred as of late, and ours were equipped with sound dampeners that made it to where we could hear each other. Unfortunately, they did little to mute our movements in the cavernous corridors of the town. On my HUD, an aquamarine map of the area showed Malaya and I moving southwesterly towards the zoo, where Alastair had last seen the four men. "Keep a lock on our position Al" I huffed into my comlink.
"Roger that chief. Say, haven't we seen Death Adders down here before?" Before I could respond, Malaya answered his question.
"Not that I can recall. If my memory serves me correctly they're a Sub-Tokyo based organization, with branches stemming off towards the South and West."
"Yep. They specialize in enforcement, express delivery of assorted drug paraphernalia, racketeering, and a host of other violent crimes. Not the sort you'd want to meet on a dark night." I added.
"Or morning, for that matter. Sam, didn't some of your squadmates get into that gang?"
"Yeah." I smiled weakly. A large portion of the Death Adders were former marines who turned to crime because, frankly, it paid better than the military. And up until recently, biker gangs actually had a higher survival rate than the UN Space Cavalry. Those who survived a tour of duty on the moon, it was said, came home to ride in the desert under its watchful gaze.
"Al, bring up a schematic of the Sub-Kyoto Zoo for us." Malaya brought my mind back to the present. I had the tendency to wander off some times. It wasn't too bad, but still got me in a fair share of trouble.
"What's the magic word?"
"Do it now, Corporal." Quick side note. Ranks are screwed up in the IUA. Drawing personnel from all branches of the military, headquarters had never quite figured out what to call people rank-wise. On paperwork, my rank was "Sergeant", though I had been a Lieutenant Commander of the local garrison before the IUA was chartered. Alastair, a corporal in IUA standards, was really a Specialist from the UN army. And Malaya, a Lieutenant in the Cosmo Navy, was given the rank of Captain. Confusing as it was, we normally referred to rank only when pulling it.
Alastair snickered. "Close enough." Then the ruckus of clicking keys and buttons we so accustomed to his line of work started, and stopped. I looked back up. On my HUD, a map of the zoo popped up on the left side. Three corridors, one going in each direction except south (that was the entrance to the facility) formed a letter "T". According to Alastair's intelligence and security cameras, our foursome would be heading towards the left, then meeting in a room in the back of the zoo. Unfortunately, there were no cameras in the facility, so Malaya and I were on our own.
We walked in silence for a while, punctuated only by the sounds of our heavy rebreathers. It was still a good three minutes to our intercept, so both Malaya and I kept to our thoughts. I readied my Astro Automatic in my right hand and the Banshee in my left, just in case trouble came earlier than expected.
The minutes passed. Beneath us the smooth concrete gave way to black bricks as we approached the austere, one-story Sub-Kyoto Zoo. The brainchild of our first mayor (who died of radiation sickness a full three months after taking office, an unbeaten length of tenure thus far), the zoo was little more than a series of glass cells fitted with holographic projectors showing what wildlife used to look like. Honestly, it was one of the most depressing sights I had ever laid my eyes upon.
"Wow. What a dump." Malaya whispered into her comlink.
"Oh yeah. We never got the chance to patrol this thing together." I replied. "Come on. Al thinks he knows where they're meeting up."
"Roger that. Al-" Before she could finish, Al cut her off.
"-Keep a lock on you. Yeah, I'll do that. Stay alert."
The glass doors slid open with ease, despite Sub-Kyoto being off the electrical grid. The cobalt lights, running off a backup generator, bathed the hallways in their meek light, giving the appearance that we were underwater. We slowly advanced, keeping an eye on our flanks. After a few steps we came to the three connecting hallways. I motioned leftwards.
As we walked forwards, the "animal" cages rose up on either side like casket bearers. Each cell, a space no more than five feet deep and six feet high, was empty and mostly dark, as the light coming in from the ceiling was heavily diluted by the thick glass. We were completely exposed, one quick glance away from being shot, but no aggressor appeared in the hall ahead of us. We continued along slowly, creeping by cell after cell in the long corridor. On my HUD, the meeting place showed up as a bright red dot, only five meters ahead. I signaled to Malaya to stop.
Ahead, I could see that the door at the end of the hall, marked "employees only" was slightly ajar. I signed "let's go" to Malaya and started moving forward again. We were now right on top of the red dot. Not hearing anything in the adjacent room, I picked up the EMP grenade and singled to Malaya to get back. Cradling it like a baseball, I rolled it through the opened door and into the room.