Stray Cat Strut Chapter Sixty-Five - Reckless

Chapter Sixty-Five - Reckless

Once a commoditys price has reached the lowest it can possibly go without becoming unprofitable to sell, the focus of the market becos less the price of the commodity, but the thods around the sale of the commodity.

That ans shipping cost and speed, packaging, and things like custor support and additional sale incentives.

--mo to Amazon subsidiary retailers, 2028

***

I sat on my hoverbike, helt in hand, and just... took a few minutes to breathe.

I was hovering a couple of kilotres above the city, sitting in the sky in a way that would have been a huge waste of kerosene if my bike was even a little more normal than it was.

Not too sure what the next step is, I admitted with a yawn.

Sothing about the thinness of the air was making tired. Or maybe it was just shortness of breath, from all the smog in the air this high up.

Your itinerary is rather empty at the mont. Perhaps you might consider returning to the floor you purchased? The renovations should be underway as we speak.

I could check on Rac too, I said. Poor girl; probably thought Id run off. Though I bet she was still worshipping that machine. Yeah, not a bad way to waste an afternoon. Lets go pick up Lucy first though.

I gave you ninety-nine percent odds that youd want to do that.

You know, when people call out the odds they gave sothing, its not usually so high, I said as I tugged on my helt.

Most people arent as certain of things as I am.

Fair enough, I said. I leaned down, rooted around with my augs to find the controls that took the bike off of its hovering mode, then I glanced around until I found the glowing path leading all the way back to the hotel.

I gunned it, grinning as I tried to push the hoverbike to its limits and see just how fast the thing could really move. As it turned out, that was pretty damned fast.

Oh shit, shit! I said as I steered up and rolled over a line of traffic that I probably would have had more ti to react to had I not been moving so fast.

Reckless as ever. Do you want to know the odds I give you of crashing?

No, I dont think I do, I said. I took her advice and slowed down as I slid into the next curve.

The hotel wasnt all that far, so after a couple of minutes of cruising along at a reasonable and entirely safe speed, we swung around and into the parking level I had gotten used to using when entering the hotel.

I slid my bike close to the entrance, then swung off of it while flagging down the nearest valet. Can you park this thing sowhere close? I asked.

Certainly, maam, they said. From the smug look they shot back to the other valets, theyd just hit the equivalent of the bragging-rights jackpot.

I waved them off before heading into the lobby.

Almost as soon as I stepped inside, one of the workers behind the counters at the far end of the room went around and jogged over to . Miss Stray Cat, She said. She was a cute twenty-sothing, in a stylish burgundy uniform that hugged her in nice ways. Forgive , maam, we received an urgent-sent package for you, but it flagged our security.

Oh? I asked.

She nodded. We only just received it. We were going to send a letter to your suite, but seeing as how youre here now, I thought it wise to inform you in person, maam. She smiled, all big and proud.

Oh, well thanks, I said. I dont recall ordering anything. Whats in the box? How big a gift are we talking here?

Its just a small package, maam, she said while making so gestures about a foot across. Our in-house security scans flagged it as potentially dangerous material. Did you want to see it?

Sure, I said. Wheres it from?

The offices of Mister Burringham. Sent express, via private courier.

A gift from Burringham?

I opened my augs and sent him a quick text. Hey, Jeff, did you send anything?

I got a reply before the cute lobby worker and I had even reached the nearest sidedoor. Yes! Hope you enjoy it!

Reassured, I let the lobby girl step up ahead of and lead through a couple of long corridors. They lacked the opulence that the rest of the hotel had, but were clean and soone had still made an effort to decorate.

So, whats your na? I asked.

Im Eleanor, Miss Stray Cat, she said.

Using my full na. Or at least my title. She was being all professional. You work here long?

Since I was sixteen. My parents both worked here too. Its becoming sothing of a generational thing.

Thats cool, I said.

Here we are, she said with a gesture into a room. There was a label above that read Security and on entering I found a long room with packages on a slow moving conveyor at one end, all of them sliding through a large machine with enough radiation warnings on it to give a radiophobe nightmares. That was on the other side of a glass wall.

Thats the package, maam, Eleanor said. She gestured to a table on our end of the room. There was a plexiglass box on it, with an air-tight hatch and a smaller conveyor leading into it. A way to separate the box from the others?

Right, I said as I walked over and tugged the hatch up. I bet its sothing stupid. Guy who sent this is a politician.

Eleanor walked over to a wall and tapped it, revealing a screen inlaid into it. Fancy shit. Ah, says here the box was flagged because... residues of sothing explosive.

What would Burringham send that could explode? Fireworks? A gun?

Idly, I upped the shielding doohicky on my jacket and shifted in my armour. I probably didnt need to worry though. Well, lets see, I said.

I grabbed the box, then shook it a bit.

The box is sending a constant connection signal.

Weird, I said. I tapped into it with my augs, and all I got was an ID check. Id received shit from online retailers before that had sothing similar. Maybe this was the fancier version of that?

I sent in my credentials.

My hearing shut with a pop.

I tried to scream, but I couldnt expand my chest to pull in any air.

I blinked, but for a long, long ti, I was blind.

No pain. No pain, but disorientation. I was on my back?

Catherine? Its hardly a good ti to be laying on your back. Your vitals read as mostly positive, and your armours integrity, while damaged, isnt compromised. Can you get to your feet, check yourself for injuries, and take stock?

I coughed, and the pressure around my lungs faded. It was my armour, tightening around like a sort of vice. I took so strange pleasure in breathing easier, and more when my hearing returned with a pop.

An alarm was blaring, water was pouring down from above, and as the glass on my helt faded, I could make out a room filled with a thick smoke that was quickly being shredded by an active fire-suppression system.

I half turned, then pushed myself up to my feet.

The table where the package had been sitting was a wreck, the entire thing blown apart, and the wall behind it was sared in black soot.

A concussion explosive. Look at the walls, those little pinpricks of scarring.

There were little streaks all over, and a few little bits of tal stuck to the wall. Whats that? I asked.

Shrapnel. The bomb was designed to kill an unarmoured person.

But I was armoured.

I blinked. Eleanor? I asked.

I found her behind , pressed up against the wall, blood pooling around her. Her mouth was opened, one eye wide, the other a gorey ss.

Oh, fuck, I said as I dropped to a knee next to her. Myalis!

Catherine, I cant detect a heartbeat. One mont, she has active augs... but theyre not reading anything from her mind but faults.

The fuck does that an? I asked. I tugged her to the side, laying her flat on the ground.

It ans shes dead. Im sorry, Catherine.

Just like that.

Fuck.

I wasnt attached to her. She was a greeter or sothing, just another cog in the hotels machine, but fuck, she was nice and polite. Shed been helpful, and now she was dead.

Fuck! I said, this ti with more anger, more confusion in it.

The door burst open and a staff mber took one step into the room, stared around with an open mouth, then ran off.

Myalis, who the fuck sent that box? I scread. That thing was going to be sent to my rooms upstairs. It was going to be in the penthouse with the kittens, with Lucy. Hell, with while I wasnt wearing any armour.

So fuck had just tried to kill and my family.

My hands shook.

***