Keeping
the Secret 2000
short story by Jonathan Hicks Six
years after Episode IV - A New Hope The
skyhopper slued round as it came in for its landing, blowing debris and paper in all
directions. Its vectored manoeuvring jets tilted to allow it to settle gently onto the
roof speeder park plascrete It screamed its power as it began the descent sequence. The
man in the black suit stood next to a black landspeeder as the vehicle came down. He
screwed up his eyes as all the collected filth on the roof of the multi storey was
violently disturbed, turning his head slightly as the heat from the skyhopper`s engines
spread across the landing platform. As
the undercarriage of the hopper connected with the roof, the side door swung upwards. The
interior of the vehicle was dimly lit, and the man in black had to squint to discern any
interior. Another man in a similar suit stepped, a Blaster rifle of high quality resting
easily in the nook of his arm, his finger stretched over the trigger guard. He gazed
around the roof for a few seconds, and, satisfied that the skyhopper and the landspeeder
were the only two vehicles on the roof, nodded to another two forms inside. The
other door swung upwards. Another man, starkingly similar to his counterpart, climbed out
of the hopper with a similar weapon in his hand, his other hand helping out an injured
alien dressed in a light grey suit. His reptilian features were scarred by cuts and
bruises, with blue hair cascading from his brows and down to his waistline. He hobbled
around to the front of the vehicle, obviously hindered by injury. Around
the scene Amagad City sprawled like a malignant tuma, growing and spreading, corrupting
every new inch of ground that was built upon. Towerblock upon towerblock spread for as far
as the eye could see, lit up by huge strobing searchlights or holographic advertisements.
Hoppers and other air transports buzzed between the buildings like bees around beehives,
their fanciful illuminations spreading their own light. Sirens blared and engines screamed
from above as well as below. High above the city, the two moons tried to push their faded
light through an almost constant cloud of smog. The
reptile took out a mask and fitted it over his nose and mouth, taking a deep breath of
fresh air. The man in black took three steps forward from the landspeeder, his hands in
the pockets of jacket, his long white hair tied back in a braid. "Noomtil," he said in greeting to
the alien. His voice was deep and devoid if any discernible emotion. A drop of rain fell
from the heavens and landed on the lapel of his coat. The
reptile took the mask away from his face and handed it to his aid. "Melm. Your looking well for a dead
man." The other aid had lit up a NixStik, throwing a used lighter over the side of
the fifteen storey building. He drew in deeply and held his breath for a few seconds
before exhaling. The man in black watched him, trying to guess at the narcotic. "The game was getting dangerous. It was
about time I disappeared and laid low for a while. No-one comes looking for a dead
man." The
reptile laughed, the sound turning into a gurgling cough. The aid handed him the mask, and
after a few deep breaths, he spoke. "Very clever, that trick with the body
in the burnt out skyhopper. Who was the body, anyway?" The
man in black leant back against his landspeeder, smiling to himself as he looked down at
his feet and then back at the reptile. "I don`t reveal my contacts. And as for
the body, it was someone trying to collect the bounty on me. He won`t be missed. Not
officially, anyway." The
atmosphere suddenly went strained. An air transport screamed overhead, its jets disturbing
the scene and its lights revealing the shadows. After a while it had turned down another
street and disappeared. "So, I guess you`ve come to kill me now
then?" the reptile asked casually. His aid gripped the gun tighter, but otherwise did
not react to his boss`s blasé comment. The
man in black shook his head, looking out over the city, chewing his lower lip. "No, I`m not here to kill you. The war
never actually took place, did it? Dressel has got his territory secured, Pocock and Spyte
are reasonably happy with what they got out of it all, and all those little gangs are all
satisfied with the outcome. No, I`m not here to kill you." The
reptile smiled and nodded, and turned back to the hopper. "The reason why I set up this meeting
was so that you could drop me a few thousand credits so that I can get out of this city,
out of this sector for a few days. Its the least you could do for the man you set
up." The
aids looked at each other nervously, and the reptile stopped. Straightening his back as
much as he could, he turned to face the man in black. "So you figured it out then," he
said. "Oh yes, I figured it all out. You ask
me to cap off a couple of guys who you say are muscling in on your territory, I do the
job, they turn out to be another gangleader’s sons
and you falsify documents saying I was hired by Dressel to kill them. While they very
nearly kicked seven shades of pudu out of each other, you get ready to move in to pick up
the pieces. Very clever, Noomtil. I liked the plan all the way up to the point where
several gangs wanted my heart ripped out because you frecked me about." The
reptile smiled and then laughed softly so not to bring on another fit of coughing. He
looked up at the man on the landspeeder. "Melm, Melm," he said, "I
always knew you were smarter than that. I knew you wouldn`t let them catch you. You`re
really good, thats why I hired you... " Melm
was suddenly wary. Noomtil was stalling for some reason, and his eyes flashed over the two
aids as the reptile rattled on about his professionalism. He noticed that the one aid by
the hopper kept turning his head to look out over Amagad, and when he did his lips moved
almost imperceptibly in the dim light. He`s talking
into a comlink in his lapel, Melm thought. Someone
else is here. I arranged a private meeting with Noomtil for him to pay me off so that I
can get out of this damn city, and he set me up. He`s not going to help me. He`s going to
kill me. Well,
I couldn`t have expected anything less. He
tensed as Noomtil came to the end of his short speech. If anything was going to happen it
would be within the next few seconds. No
bombs. Noomtil wouldn`t kill me that way because it would attract too much attention. Sniper?
Possible. There`re several buildings surrounding this rooftop, with some good vantage
points for a clear view over the entire roof. It`s probably a sniper the aid by the hopper
is in communication with. Maybe
he has other people on the next level below. Not likely, there`re a few people leaving
their places of work around this area of the city, and he wouldn`t want witnesses. The
roof area of the multi-storeys were usually empty because the owners of vehicles didn`t
want them stained by any corrosive rain which might happen overhead. As a result, they
were used as refuse dumps for the surrounding buildings who couldn`t be bothered to travel
to a local trash compactor. Maybe
the two aids will open fire. They`re armed and ready, but would they take the risk
at such close quarters? Melm
quickly scanned for available cover, and judged the large pile of refuse bags to his left
as a useful barrier against any incoming fire. Noomtil
was waiting as if expecting an answer, and Melm realised he hadn`t been listening for the
last few seconds. Now the reptile would realise that he was ready for a double-cross and
go into action. He
saw the aid by the hopper move slightly, and watched as he sucked in his breath to shout
something. In the second that he had seen the intake of breath and heard the bellow of
"Take him!", Melm had dived from the
landspeeder towards the pile of bags, his hand going inside his coat to close around the
butt of his Blaster. The pistol slid from its already unbuckled holster as he hit the
floor and rolled. The
rapid roaring of two weapons filled the already noisy night air as the two men by the
hopper opened up, their bolts raking the floor around Melm and then tearing apart the bin
bags. Melm immediately regretted his choice of cover as a few shots tore through the
plastic containers and spewed organic rubbish over him. He cried out in faked pain, a
tactic that Goah Galletti had told him almost always worked, and started to move back for the landspeeder. One
of the men had stopped firing and was moving forward, hoping to take advantage of the man
he thought to be injured and was rewarded for his efforts with two explosive energy bolts
in his chest as Melm dived back for the vehicle. His back exploded in a technicolour
splash white sparks. He fell back, landing on the plascrete. The
other aid was helping the reptile back to the hopper, where the pilot was starting up the
motors. The energy from his gun shattered the front windscreen and holed the bonnet of the
landspeeder as he covered their escape. Melm
swung around the other side of the vehicle, and his gun reported twice. The first shot hit
the aid in the chest, throwing him back to fall upon the reptile who cried out in dismay.
The second shot hit the pilot in the head. Other than the humming of the skyhopper’s
motors, the scene was much quieter than it had been eleven seconds ago. Melm
was breathing hard. Suddenly, he caught a flash out of the corner of his eye and was
moving as another bolt shot towards him. It caught him in the left upper arm and he
gritted his teeth against the agiony. There
was a sniper on the opposite building. He
forced himself to relax, listening to the reptile`s wimpering as he lay pinned under the
bulk of the aid. The wound was still numb, and Melm hoped it would stay that way until he
could get it seen to. What he needed right now was to get rid of that sniper. He
took off his coat and balled it up, moving to the front of the landspeeder. He held his
gun ready, and threw the coat towards the back of the vehicle, above the roof. A
shot rang out, and the coat was immediately holed. As the coat fell smouldering to the
floor, Melm swung round from the front of the landspeeder, his eyes quickly probing the
roof of another multi storey opposite. He saw the sniper swinging his weapon around to
reacquire a target. His
thumb flicked a switch and the weapon emptied its energy pack in the direction of the
sniper. One long strobing flame accompanied by a high speed release issued from the
muzzle. The sniper was thrown back by the multiple impacts of several bolts as the rest
tore apart the vehicle he was using as cover. Melm did not like using that much energy on
a single target, especially with the risk of the weapon overheating and exploding, but at
that range he had to be sure he scored at least one hit. As the magazine ran out it
automatically disengaged from the weapon, leaving a trail of smoke as it fell down. Melm
realised he had been holding his breath, and he let it out sharply, getting up and moving
quickly to the hopper. The lawdroids would be arriving soon, the shots would not have gone
unnoticed. He gave himself a few minutes leeway. The law in Amagad City was not exactly
renowned for its promptness, for the use of firearms was an almost socially acceptable
thing. More murders took place every night than they could cope with. The
reptile was dead. He had suffocated under the body of his aid, not able to reach the mask
which supplied him with his much needed fresh air. Melm cursed and looked over at the
landspeeder. It was doubtful whether he would find enough credits on the reptile or in the
hopper to help him get out of the city safely. It
was time to cover his tracks. His clothes were a synthetic fibre so they would not leave
strands lying around. His coat was useless with the hole in it, and the landspeeder was
stolen anyway, ruined now that it was full of holes. He threw his coat into the
landspeeder. He dragged the body of the reptile into the back of the landspeeder, too.
Then he peeled off the synthetic skin from his hands which had falsified his prints and
tucked it into the body's pocket. The only thing he was concerned about was his own blood
still on the roof, but he decided that there was very little he could do about that, and
he had no time for a full after-hit cleanup. He went back to the hopper and re-loaded his
Blaster. He
took from his holster what looked like an elongated bullet and cocked the pistol, sliding
the small missile into the barrel. Then he took aim at the landspeeder and fired, the
sharp bang startling night creatures which had settled around the bodies. The landspeeder
erupted as the explosive connected with the hood, flipping the bonnet into the air like a
coin off a finger. The energy source turned the whole vehicle into a huge fireball, which
in turn set fire to the refuse bags Melm had used as cover. He looked deep into the fire
as he re-holstered his weapon. Sleep
tight, you double-crossing blue-haired bastard. He
powered up the hopper, and somewhat gingerley took off from the roof, leaving the fire and
the bodies to be found by the authorities. He had to find some other way out of the city,
and he knew his options were more than limited. Two
law speeders and a fire transport blared past him as he turned into the main street, and
he smiled weakly. The
city spread out before him as he flew the
hopper between the colossal buildings, dipping under walkways and overhead roads, keeping
the speed low so that he would not attract any attention. Each huge construct was a
twisted creation from an architects nightmare as each and every new block tried to outdo
the one before it by changing the style of design. Some buildings were constructed as
pyramids, some as straightforward towers. Others were built like steps, whereas the more
obscene were spiralled or arch-shaped. Landing pads covered the buildings, steam from air
purification systems from most. The city was a landscape of gravestones and tombs, covered
in an almost perpetual shadow, and covered in the most horrendous smog cloud imaginable.
The populace swarmed around the metropolis, trying to live their lives as if this mockery
of sentient imagination was not twisting their minds. Violence was commonplace. To survive
a week in Amagad City was every citizens goal. The corrupt authorities had the power of
the law on their side. The people had the power of self defence on theirs. If
you were in between, you made sure your life insurance was paid up. Melm
flew on.
"This
is Amagad Broadcast with the hottest news from around the city, bringing you updates and
fast breaking stories as they unfold... sponsored by Antiheat armour products, the
bodyarmour company who won`t put a hole in you or your account. "The latest from the Setnin Sector gang
wars is that they never officially took place. Govenor Glann Cipple was quoted today as
saying that the `the threat is over... once again the people of Amagad can breath easily
as these reputable gangs settle their differences in a peaceful manner.` These apparent
peaceful settlements are still to be verified as another twelve people were killed last
night in four gang related shootouts, including the death of one Noomtil O`dorsh, leader
of the infamous `Backhanders`, a new gang dating back only a few months. His body was
found burnt beyond identification in a landspeeder on the roof of a multi storey, along
with two of his aids and another man who could not be identified. "Lawdroids are this evening trying to
put together the clues left behind by this weeks seventh killer nicknamed the
`Razorman’. After finally getting a positive ID on the sixth victim in a nightly
reign of terror... " The
screen of the holovid flickered and died as Hapgit switched it off. He slowly put his bowl
of overly sugared food on the chav table and leaned back in the chair, the mock bantha
leather creaking under his weight. He rubbed his eyes, pulling his tail free from being
trapped behind his back. He
continued to stare at the screen, too bewildered to even continue chewing. Noomtil
O`dorsh was dead. He was dead. The leader of the Backhanders was dead. Dead. Never to be
alive again. Dead. He
started to chew again as he thought about who the other unidentified man on the roof might
have been. If things had not gone according to plan, which obviously they hadn`t, then the
fourth body was most likely Melm. He swallowed slowly. There
was a tap on the window. He jumped, turning in his seat to look over at the viewport which
was securely covered in the new Antiheat security anti concussion blast screen. It was
always a good idea to protect your apartment from all angles, even if you did live on the
seventy seventh floor. That's
right,
Hapgit thought, I`m on the seventy seventh floor.
Who’s tapping on my window? He
held his breath and just stared at the window. He could feel the sweat beginning to build
up under his dark skin, but then he thought, maybe
it wasn`t a tap at the window. Maybe it was one of the neighbours. Yeah, thats it. I`m
just getting jumpy... There
came three hard, deliberate bangs from the window. Hapgit
reached under the table and slid free the sawn-off Blaster rifle. He rose unsteadily to
his feet and moved slowly and cautiously to the window, his hand reaching out for the
operation controls to lower and raise the armoured shutters. He levelled the weapon at the
window and pressed the up button. The
expected gang of mountaineering cutthroats was not outside, and neither was the murderer
with a repulsorpack on. What greeted him was a man in a black suit with white hair hanging
out of a skyhopper, hovering three feet from the window. The roar from the engines at full
hover thrust was muted by the thickness of the plastiglass, and Hapgit had to wind up the
shield before he could communicate with the man. "Melm!" he shouted over the noise,
"What the hell do you think your doing?" Melm
leant further across and put a connecting clamp on Hapgit`s windowsill, securing the
vehicle to the building. It was quite legal in the city to park a vehicle outside an
apartment window, just as long as it had substantial fuel in it and was not in any danger
of falling from the sky and crushing innocent bypassers below. "Hapgit," Melm shouted back to
him, "I need another favour!" Hapgit
motioned for him to come inside, grimacing as he tried not to imagine what trouble Melm
was causing him. As
he entered Hapgit noticed the scorched cloth on his arm and shook his head. “Bad
meeting?” he asked. Melm
huffed a response and dropped into the chair, gingerly excercising his wounded arm. “You could say that.” “So what happened?” Hapgit
was forthright and very inquisitive but he kept anything he learned to himself which was
why Melm used him as a confidant. “Noomtl came out of the Ki-Ki Sector
and started muscling in, without knowing what kind of operation he was upsetting. Both
Goah and Feese have tried to warn him, but he just kept on coming. I considered him a
threat but Glann didn't so I decided to infiltrate his organisation.” “Did Glann sanction the
operation?” “Of course not. He thought Noomtil was
an idiot. Goah and Feese showed him how dangerous the Setnin Sector could be and he
tightened up, started doing things more underhand. I couldn’t get close to him so the
only way was to do a job for him and gain some trust. He hired me to kill two people who
he said were threatening his op but it turned out they were the sons of some small time
gangleader.” “But everyone says that it was Dressel
who had them killed.” “No, it was Noomtil and he falsified
documents saying that it was Dressel who hired me to do it. Glann goes mad and it takes me
an age to convince him that it wasn’t true.” “Why didn’t you just tell him the
truth?” “What, and admit that I almost
precipotated a gang war? Get real.” “I heard that Noomtil was almost killed
by someone taking a pot-shot at him with a plasooka. I’m suprised he turned up. What
happened to that speeder I stole for you?” “It got totalled. And talking of
favours, I need a place to lie low for a while. Glann will calm down, and I don’t
want to go back wounded or he’ll start asking questions.” Hapgit
smiled. “The leader of the Shadow Warriors
hiding in my apartment. Cool.” Melm
couldn’t help but smile. He
took a long breath of the stale air and looked around him at what passed for organisation. A
firefighting transport hovered over the charred remains of the landspeeder whilst the
mortuary officials took what remained of Noomtil O`dorsh from the wreckage. Law
enforcement officers stood around in groups, talking about the crime scene and other
things not connected, and some were already leaving. The Amagad Broadcast reporters had
given up hope of any more information and had quit the area, leaving only a few hopefuls
lingering behind. The other bodies had been bagged, tagged and flown out. All that
remained was for the City Engineers to arrive and clean up the mess. The
atmosphere had become much more relaxed and a lot less chaotic, and this was how Arroth
Quenn, Amagad’s leading law official, preferred to work. "Mister Quenn? May I ask how you are
going to proceed? I mean, the law has already gone over the area and forensic ‘droids
will be here in the morning, so I doubt there is much you can do now." The speaker
was a short, wiry haired man, and as he spoke he pushed his electrospectacles back up the
bridge of his nose and looked over a datapad. When he received no answer, he looked up at
the man as he took another deep breath. "The scene is still fresh and forensic
‘droids are useless. Tonights rain will wash away anything that`ll tell us what
happened here," he pulled on some tight gloves, "Get your tapboard out and start
taking notes." The
wiry man flipped over the dataapd and revealed a small computer with a flat screen and
keyboard. He pressed a switch, the screen beeped, and he looked at Arroth expectantly. "Right," Arroth began, "Three
bodies on the roof, one in the car. A lot of ground around here has been disturbed by the
lawspeeders so we can`t discern whether there was another vehicle up here. Entry and exit
wounds on the two suited bodies suggest they were shot from the direction of the
landspeeder, and there is nothing to suggest the bodies were moved from where they were
lying, no blood smears, no crumpled suits. The body of Noomtil O`dorsh was taken from the
landspeeder, and the others are his employees, but I doubt if he shot them. Besides, the
murder weapon was some high energy Blaster with explosive bolts, judging by the holes in
the flesh. O`dorsh was too frail to lift a weapon like that, too much recoil. There were
no other bodies around other than the one in the pilot’s suit with the head wound. If
a bolt from that weapon had taken his head off, surely there would be some carbon spray
over the roof, or at least more where the body had fallen. There is no evidence of this,
and still no more evidence that the body had been dumped on the roof, so that leads me to
believe there was another vehicle up here, he was killed in it, and then pushed out, his
carbon spray being left inside the vehicle, which was most likely a skyhopper judging by
his clothing which would easily pass as a licensed hopper pilot. “Now that we know the landspeeder was
stolen, the killer probably capped off the aids and the pilot, popped the body of O`dorsh
in the landspeeder, blew it up and took off in the hopper. "Now, this is the bonnet of the
landspeeder, blown off in the explosion. As you can see, the very front of it is damaged
severely, the metal has been torn up like paper and badly burnt. There is no kind of power
plant at the front of the vehicle where this part of the bonnet is situated, so any
combustible area of the engine exploding would not have caused such damage, or ripped the
bonnet off with such force, as you can see by the twisted hinges. So the killer detonated
the car with some form of missile, small and accurate. Going by the extent of the damage
done to the bodies by the weapon, this leads me to conclude the gun used was a Tolleck
Assault Pistol, because that is the only one which can take explosive bolts and miniature
barrel-launched missiles. Also on the bonnet is a long burn mark which fades out towards
the end, as if someone had put a lighter to it. The angle of the burn and the smell of scoring suggests someone let off a very long burst
from the Tolleck whilst using the left hand side of the speeder as cover. Seeing as though
the Tolleck is the only hand held weapon capable of full automatic fire, this strengthens
the identification of the gun used. The burn points at a right angle from the bodies
found, so the target must have been over there somewhere... " Arroth`s
finger swung outwards until he had it pointed directly at the multi-storey opposite, and
all he could see was a lone speeder parked on the roof. He took a small macrobinoc from
his inside pocket and held it to his eye. "Hmm. I can see many fist-sized holes
in the side of the vehicle on the top of that building, surrounded by burn marks, probably
caused by the Tolleck. I think we`ll find another body on the roof of that building.
Commandeer a speeder for me, will you?" As
the wiry man ran off to talk to a cluster of lawmen, Arroth surveyed the roof. His eyes
fell on a small box-sized object and he walked over to it and picked it up. It
was an energy pack from a Blaster pistol. He recognised the design immediately. Tolleck. Tolleck
pistols, he knew, were powerful and very rare. He had only ever seen one and that belonged
to the last person he would have imagined to be here. But
when his finger caught on something stuck to the pack he shook his head in disbelief. It
was a hair. A long, white hair that had somehow come loose from it’s owner and caught
on the empty pack as it disengaged automatically, another feature of the Tolleck. “Melm,” Arroth whispered, and
considered whether he should keep this information to himself or not.
Keeping
the Secret 2000
short story by Jonathan Hicks Six
years after Episode IV - A New Hope Histories
- Following
on from the story Hiring a Hero, this shows Arroth
Quenn at work and operating as the inside man
for Glann
Cipple
in the Amagad
security services. This Jonathan Hicks story also shows Melm, Cipple's prime Shadow
Warrior,
using his disgression and infiltrating the operations of Noomtil o'dorsh, the Ki Ki Sector
ganglord who tried to gain a foothold in the Setnin Sector. Cast
of Characters Melm Noomtil
o'dorsh Hapgit Arroth
Quenn |