Neptune Road Volume IV Read Online Free Page B

- A Van in Scar City

     
    Sam and Rebecca sit opposite each other inside a van.
There are no windows at the rear. They can see very little of where
they are going through the windshield. Most of the thugs who
arrested them have stayed behind for other jobs, two of them sit up
front to escort them to... wherever they are going.
     
    "So, private arresting services?" Sam says. "Are
there private police and courts and such too? I've never seen
this."
     
    "Yeah, it's made up," Rebecca answers. "People hire
these guys as security, or to rid them of someone they want gone,
or to 'arrest' people. Except it's not an arrest. It's a
relocation."
     
    "I wonder where we are being relocated to," Sam
says.
     
    "It would help if you explained why so many people
seem to want to bust you," Rebecca says. "Someone out there is very
convinced that you killed your mother. They are not easily
dissuaded."
     
    "I didn't kill my mother," Sam says. "I rescued her.
Then a lot of really complicated stuff happened."
     
    "Really complicated stuff doesn't constitute an
explanation," Rebecca says. "Look, we're going to have to talk or
fight or hack our way out of wherever we are going. These guys up
front, they don't care. They just get paid for turning us in. If I
don't know what we're dealing with, I can't help you. Remember I
said, I may have to kick your ass if you're not straight with
me."
     
    The van comes to a stop in an intersection. They are
downtown again. Lights of many colors reflect on the front windows
and spill into the van's interior. The traffic is at a
standstill.
     
    A loud bang on the side of the van. A case of road
rage?
     
    "What was that?" Sam asks. The thug on the passenger
side rolls his window down, probably to have a discussion with
whoever is doing the banging.
     
    A cloud of yellow dust shoots in the window, right
into the two men's faces. They immediately slump down,
unconscious.
     
    "Crap!" Sam yells. "Cover your face!"
     
    Sam and Rebecca pull their shirts up over their
noses, but before they can even breathe any of the dust the back
doors of the van fly open. Three people, two men and a woman, stand
there in impeccable suits in an identical navy blue color. Casino
personnel.
     
    "You will come with us," the woman says. They step
back to allow Sam and Rebecca to disembark.
     
    "That's what this is? I'm being arrested by the
Casino?" Sam asks. "I haven't done anything... worth arresting me.
Or relocating me. Or whatever this is."
     
    "Please get out, now, or risk breathing very toxic
fumes," the woman says.
     
    Sam and Rebecca climb out and the van is left in the
intersection, occupied by a yellow cloud and two unconscious
thugs.
     

092 - A Box Arrives from Earth

     
    David O Millman, Agent, looks down at the box that
has been dumped at his feet. He's picked up the parcel at a local
combination bowling alley, bar and post office that he uses for
anonymous deliveries.
     
    He lifts the box and walks out with it. It's not very
heavy, probably mostly digital stuff and not a lot of paper. He
loads it onto the back of his folding bicycle and pedals off to the
nearest appropriate space to take a look.
     
    That space turns out to be a small square between two
buildings, consisting of a circular path and a series of tables
with chess boards printed on them. Several of the tables are the
sites for current chess games, but the rest are unoccupied. Agent
Millman chooses one and has a seat.
     
    He pries the top off the box. It's as he thought, not
a lot of paper and mostly digital drives. He picks one up and looks
at the side of it. It's printed with a logo and the words,
"Vertical Industries."
     
    The few papers that are in the box appear to be
documents pertaining to recent experiments, some of which were
successful and others which failed. He scans for fatalities but
does not see any listed. So this is not a murder or a wrongful
death situation, it would appear.
     
    "So, what am I supposed to be investigating?"