Chronicles of a Space Mercenary 0: Tanya (6 page)

In all probability, Tanya thought, she had worked for the Senator a time
or two already, through Handler of course. The rich and ruthless were defined by their enemies; other rich and ruthless. If Tanya had worked for Senator Geble, they weren't aware of one another. But the Senator was about to become aware of her, even if only for his final, fleeting moments of life.

The puck was a highly sophisticated device. It made trillions of calculations per
nano-
second, rivaling an AI. It was very powerful, and very expensive. She would have to return it to Handler after the job, but she had
lost
more than a few throughout her long career and several of them were now in
her permanent care.

When she
made enough money to get out, she was thinking about retirement on New California, where the penalty for possession was death. But Tanya was a hoarder when it came to valuables.
Above and beyond being able to disable any computer below the power of an AI, which meant access to and through almost any door-locking mechanism, she could walk through an electronic sensor-field without being detected.

The device interacted directly with the surveillance system's data-stream and operating system, first passively identifying the signal types and operating system
(s)
in use, then coding its own copies of the surveillance signals and hacking them into the operating system by sending nano-viruses up the data-stream. As long as it wasn’t an AI in full control, and few people were willing to spend that kind of money to
do nothing but monitor a security system, then the field-nullifier would get her in. It had never failed her before.

Tanya was the master of her craft, and knowing she was close to where the surveillance system's first signals would be bleeding through the woods, she slowly moved forward, placing every step cautiously and carefully. She wasn’t close enough to be detected, but was close enough that the field-nullifier could detect the bleed-off chatter. It would remain passive for now while it deciphered and reconstructed that chatter into a solid data-stream of completely rewritten code. She watched the display, and halted when the barest flicker declared that she
was
within range for the device to get accurate readings. Tanya found a hidden place within a tree's foliage and quickly installed the device with its included strap. Then she went back the way she had come.
Chapter 11
Tanya was cold-camped in the middle of a dense thicket of thorny bushes, stretched out on her groundsheet, well hidden and enjoying a rare moment of relative relaxation. With little else to do, she allowed her mind to wander to her most recent remembrance, reviewing it in her mind, and with a flash she was back again.
Tanya had a secret hoard. It wasn't that she wanted to hold anything back from the others, but knowing what they would say if they knew the totality of the risks she was taking, because her risk was also thei
r risk. It made her feel guilty taking the risks she was taking and
knowing they would probably starve without her. But if she had not begun doing
what she
did
, the children would either have starved anyway, or be out on the streets picking through the garbage as many others were doing these days. There were so many children in this group because she took
in any that asked
, and with twelve mouths to feed Tanya had been left with no options as she saw the matter.

Even at the innocent age of thirteen years, Tanya was already an adult in her thinking patterns and unafraid to look at herself candidly. She recognized that at least part of the reason she had begun hoarding was greed. Even though recognizing it as a major fault, she was still unable to change herself. Greed; Tanya was greedy.

Her stash was very large and steadily growing. It contained many things that held no interest for her in the least, namely the drugs. She had no idea how much she had. With every robbery,
she getting more
successful
with each new
accomplishment
, the pile had grown and grown.
The drugs alone were worth millions of
credits street-value, but of this Tanya was unaware. The bags of powders and pills didn't seem like much, though Tanya knew what drugs did to people. It was everywhere to be seen in the tax-free zone and she wanted no part of it.

The piles of credit notes were almost equally worthless to her, at least for the moment. If Tanya showed herself on the streets and attempted to spend any of it the inevitable outcome was preordained. The pimp wasn't the only one looking for her these days. Everyone wanted her. There was a price on her head and she was suddenly the most sought after person in the entire ghetto. She might not be able to come out into the open, but that didn't mean she couldn’t hear what was being said. She heard everything. They wanted her dead or in the stable,
either one and not necessarily in that order. There was betting on which way it would end for her.

They knew who she was. The
little scavenger girl-child, now
turned professional thief. She was becoming a bit of a hero in many of the ghetto denizen's minds, though hero wouldn't be the word she would use to descri
be the thoughts of those she
actually robbed. It seemed strange to Tanya that people who made their living robbing, pillaging, plundering, kidnapping, raping, selling drugs and prostituting women could be those who would be most shocked to become any kind of victim themselves. It was they who became the most furious when it was done to them.

Thinking these thoughts and looking at her own stash, Tanya had a cold realization. All of her belongings were here in this one place! She admitted readily enough to herself that she was just as likely to be angry if she were robbed as anyone else. Certainly she had earned nothing of what she possessed; but neither had those from whom she had taken it, and that’s what made it right in her eyes.

Tanya also knew that her reputation was catching up with her. She was forced to travel farther and farther every time now, staying gone for up to a week at a time. Tanya gently lifted her ratted shoulder tote from her pile and opened it, revealing the treasures within, and reverently lifted out one of the hand-lasers she had acquired. She now possessed three of the weapons. Such shiny, deadly works of flawless carbon beauty! She slowly caressed the smooth surface of the weapon, in much the same manner as the ring on her thumb, with much the same thought pattern directing it. The shiny weapon was as much a treasure as the ring on her finger, perhaps more so, and the touch of its cold
casing sent shivers coursing through her, really her first taste of ecstasy in her short and brutal life.

There were fights in the streets on a daily basis and Tanya was well acquainted with the tremend
ous destructive power of a hand-
laser. Those who wielded them possessed real power, and now Tanya had three of them. It was a heady feeling.
The memory faded as Tanya actually felt the cold carbon of that old laser in her hands, even after the memory had faded. For the first time in what seemed like an age she remembered the awe her younger self had felt at the power that weapon gave her. A power that meant
she would no longer need
to run. Tanya had grown tired of running, tired of being like a rodent running down a hole. Was that life better than death? Tanya wanted very much to live. Living like a rodent meant death or worse, and no more.
Chapter 12
Jason Cormach, known to his operatives as Handler, looked at the computer screen with something akin to regret as he pressed the Enter key
and set the timer sequence running
. Tanya was his best but he could no longer trust her. Somehow she had remembered, found, and
killed the pimp! That meant
at the very least she had already remembered something. If she hadn't already remembered the rest,
she might shortly, or maybe already has
. It gave him a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach
.

There was actually no contract on Senator Geble. In fact, Jason was killing two birds with one stone. Senator Geble had contracted the
Organization on a rival politician, but then had changed his mind at the last minute when he’d decided to beef up his security instead. The Organization did not hold such things against good clients, however. Such inconveniences often presented excellent opportunities, and this case was no exception. Tanya was there so that she could be killed, and in the process convince Geble of the need to hire the Organization to get rid of his enemies.

A signal was sent to a hacked satellite above Geble's mansion and was relayed toward the planet. Tanya
was
his best, but
the
Tanya's in this profession never lasted, even if they were the best when they were on top.

“Goodbye Tanya.” Jason said. He logged off the computer and went about other business. Another chapter closed. He would miss her.

Chapter 13

Tanya retrieved the field-nullifier and saw that it had detected and was ready to hack four signal types since she had initialized the passive scan. She was green and
go
. The field-nullifier went into its protective case on her belt and she looked through the woods in the direction of the mansion. Not that she could see anything from this distance, but she could feel. And something suddenly felt wrong. She couldn't put her finger on it and it wasn't a strong sensation, but it was enough to set her on edge. She had hunches, and she always listened to hers. Nothing she could do about it but be extra cautious,
as she had a job to do and
she was here to do it, and
then
she was moving forward. The
scoped laser-rifle finally came off her shoulder, her eyes ever watchful as she moved forward without a sound.

She spent the entire day covering half the distance, her camo blending perfectly with the surrounding flora, having been made especially for this ecosystem. Her laser-rifle and backpack were camo. In addition she carried two belted hand-lasers in tied down holsters and numerous other weaponry of various design. Tanya spent her entire life in the study of weapons and their use, and that was why the last memory had struck her so powerfully.

The feel
ing
of the carbon hand-laser
was
even more powerful than her memory of the ring. It had been
an overpowering
life-changing moment. It was the moment which would define the remainder of her life, even though she had been unaware of it
at
the time. Since she did not have a life besides her occupation, had no friends, nor seemingly wanted any, she spent all her time in the pursuit of the mastery of her weapons; all derived and predetermined from this one point in her life. It explained much of herself that she had never before understood. Why she was the way she was.

Tanya shook her head to clear it of distractions. Her inner senses kept telling her that something didn’t feel right, and the feeling seemed to be increasing as she continued to move forward. It was certainly a fact that humans could feel it when others were watching them, and she was no exception, though she didn't quite have that feeling of watchful eyes now. But she was feeling something. Disconcerted, she began searching for a place of concealment which could be defended. Just because she didn’t know exactly what she felt didn’t mean she shouldn’t take that feeling seriously.

She found another thick patch of thorns and wormed her way into it, settling herself in for the long wait. Tanya could lie immobile for days if it became necessary. She had learned her patience well in the ghetto, and now she knew where she had learned it. It was easy when it was her life on the line.

This was no such situation now so she took time to eat
and defecate, in that
order
,
burying the remains in a little hole she dug with a small trenching spade. Then she took out the field-nullifier
and
realized what her uneasy feeling had been about. The field-nullifier wasn't green-go. It wasn't even on. Nor would it turn on.

Never had one of Handler's devices failed her before, because they didn’t fail. They didn’t fail because they were military grade and designed with too many fail-safes, and because they simply never failed. Yet hers had. Tanya quickly gathered her things and made her way out into the darkness of the new fallen night. Back the way she had come, and she wasn't taking her time. She ran.

Chapter 14

Tanya knew she looked foolish with the huge laser-pistol in its holster belted around her waist, but there was no one to judge her anyway. She hadn't quite acquired the courage to walk the streets in plain sight, despite her vow to stop being a rabbit, but she supposed she was on the path. Even at that point in her life she was planning everything as accurately as she could before she acted. She tried to think things through thoroughly, and she knew she wasn't proficient with this
weapon. Being able to aim it and hit what she was pointing it at did not mean that she would be able to hit someone who was aiming back at her, or moving, or had gotten their weapon out first.