Stranger King (2 page)

Once she got back into the air, she felt a little less queasy and programmed the craft to take her to the Manthras Company’s building, near the waterfront of English Bay.

Upon docking, she saw someone waiting for her at the edge of the building. Disembarking, Lena walked out with an open hand.

The woman who returned her handshake was at least a decade older, with a firm grip. Dark ebony skin, even darker eyes, and a coy smile. Her long, braided hair stirred in the heavy winds from the ocean.

“Stiar,” she introduced herself, “Agent Stiar of Manthras Company. You must be the newest recruit, Lena Greenwood. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“All good things, I hope.”

“The best. Come on now, let’s get you inside the building before the sun really gets up.”

“It gets brighter than this?” Lena joked hopefully.

Stiar smiled, “I better get you some glasses and block. You’re going to need it. Come on, you might also want some balm. You’re pretty red from the disinfectant.”

Lena blushed, “Is it that obvious?”

“Check out your ass when you strip tonight. Don’t be surprised if you get slapped a lot these next few weeks. All part of the local welcome.”

“Were you born here, then?”

“Yep. Born and raised in the glorious metropolis,” Stiar rolled her eyes, “I was lucky enough to be born on the second Confederation Day. They like to think of me and my birth mates as lucky.”

“Are you?” Lena asked, surprised Stiar was so young.

“Could be worse. I could have been born sixty kilometers south of here or even worse, sixty kilometers north. It’s damn cold up there.”

They reached an observation room with tinted windows. Lena sat near the window, looking at the city. Stiar went to a cooler, grabbing two bottles of water. She tossed one to Lena, who caught it with one hand.

“Good catch,” Stiar commented.

“I was a baseball player for many years. I was a pitcher.”

“I’m sure Papa was pleased at you loving the American pastime.”

“I should have realized you’d know who my dad is.”

“We research the shit out of everybody. I probably know your academic records better than you do. I also know about that time you dyed your hair pink for two weeks. It wasn’t a very good look for you. Professor Duncan also had some very interesting things to say about you punching out a fellow student when you were eight. You had a very good right hook, apparently.”

“Even more impressive since I’m left-handed. So you were the one to hire me?”

“Technically my boss did. But I was the one who put the file on his desk.”

“Did you pick me because of my dad?”

“I picked you in spite of your dad. I thought you would be opposed to what we do for a living.”

Lena smirked and said, “What dishonest things could happen by the light of day?”

Stiar tapped her bottle against hers, “I think I’m going to like you, Greenwood.”

Chapter Two

“Come on
now, kid. Your ancestors did this all the time without bursting into flames. You can do the same. I know where all the shelters are, you can take a break where you need to. It’s really not as bad as people say it is. You’ll adjust to it amazingly quickly.”

Stiar offered a hand to Lena as she waited for her. Lena took it gingerly, letting Stiar lead her out into the street. Lena immediately looked up at the Manthras Company building. It stood tall and grey against the paling yellow sky.

Stiar lit a cigarette and offered the pack to Lena. Lena shook her head. Stiar shrugged as she took a puff, “We’re probably going to die of cancer anyways, kid. You might as well enjoy your lungs while you can abuse them. Come on, let me show you the sights of the city.”

They made their way into the crowd passing the building on their way to the dock markets. Vendors pushed their way into the crowd, their exo-suits gleaming with the rising light. Lena had a dead goat pushed into her face until Stiar pushed it back, reprimanding the vendor in a language Lena didn’t understand.

Stiar explained, “Street slang. It’s a bit of Mandarin and Haida. I’m not sure exactly how it happened, but you’ll get used to it soon enough. I picked up enough to know when I’m not welcome and to swear at anyone who tries to pull one over on me.”

“Was he trying to sell me meat?”

Stiar shook her head, “Trying to sell you its protection. Goat livers are good luck. People pickle them and wear them in slices around their neck. The rich bury them in their backyards. And, well, I guess you could eat the rest. Technically, you’re right on that part.”

Lena frowned, “Weird.”

“Hey, everywhere has their superstitions. When I went off to the academy, my own Oma sent me a pickled goat liver for luck.”

“What did you do with it?”

“I lost it in a drunken poker game. I regret it now, actually. It used to mean a lot to me that Oma had thought about me long enough to send it.”

“Where did you go to school?”

“Ostwick in Dawson City.”

“A prospector, then?”

“Aw, yes. We panned for gold in between lessons on how to kill a foe with a single pinch.”

“Really?”

“That was a joke. It was really more of a stabbing action.”

Lena laughed, “Naturally.”

“Here, there’s the fellow I was looking for.”

Stiar shook the hand of a figure in an exo-suit, its heavy sigh signifying a greeting. The suited figure pointed to a colorful series of pouches hanging from the tent. Stiar pointed at a red pouch and put up two fingers. The figure gave a heavy puff through the suit and lifted three fingers.

Stiar shook her head and the figure puffed again, holding its metal hand out. Stiar put in three copper bits, grabbed the red pouch, and tossed it to Lena.

“What is it?”

“Candy,” Stiar smiled, “Ginger candies. They will help with the queasiness. I remember when I transferred from night to day, I was really quite ill. I thought I was dying. I went to a doctor and she just laughed at me and told me to eat these. Thought I’d save you the trip. Though to be fair, you’re from the Interior, you probably wouldn’t go see a doctor anyways.”

“Most of us don’t actually think doctors sell organs to Americans.”

“But enough of you do that I don’t feel so bad if you tease me about goat’s liver.”

Lena laughed and followed her back into the crowd.

*

“Let’s stop here for a minute.”

They rested under the underpass, Stiar throwing Lena a bottle of water.

“You’re going to want to start chewing on one of those candies,” Stiar warned, “It’s getting near noon now. I don’t want you too sick on your first day in the field.”

“I’m fine,” Lena lied, wiping sweat off her forehead. “If I’m going to be able to do more than walk in the sun, I’m going to have to work through this.”

“No point on burning yourself out.”

“Did you do that on purpose?”

Stiar smirked, “No, it just sort of happened. I’m actually rather pleased with that one. I’ll have to remember it.”

“Do I actually have to worry about burning?”

“Yes and no. Nothing immediate. If exposed to the sun at its strongest, you’ll be sick as shit. It’s radiation poisoning, and you won’t forget that. You’ll learn to survive without the suit. It’s what they pay us for. We can get things done when all the rich are cozy in their beds while the sun is up. The suit slows you down, makes it hard for you to communicate. It’ll save your life though, it’s not all bad. You’ll probably have a persistent sunburn for the first few weeks. We’re lucky in Vancouver, it’s not quite so strong with all the cloud cover. I wasn’t kidding about the cancer thing, though. Use block when you can, though you won’t always have enough warning. We’ve got a doctor on staff, and you’ll get examined once a week for any bumps or lumps.”

“So they pay us to slowly die for them?”

“We get cancer often. We don’t die from it often. You’ll just get some lovely scars to show off at parties. Trust me, daytime parties are pretty spectacular. And when you go to the evening ones, you’ll be the most intriguing woman in the room.”

“I’m not doing this for show.”

“No, you’re doing it to prove you’re not your father.”

Lena raised an eyebrow as she sipped from her water.

“Hey,” Stiar said, “Don’t get me wrong. I obviously approve of what you’re doing. I wanted to hire you. But I can’t imagine the great General Greenwood was pleased with his daughter becoming a hired gun.”

“He was less than thrilled, you might say.”

A siren went off and Lena looked around in surprise.

“I thought it was still noon,” she said, eyebrows raised.

“It is. They’re just testing the alarms. They test them every day at noon and they’ll go off again at quarter to five. From five to six is the deadliest hour. You’ll work up to being out in that. You’ll definitely need the exo-suit. Even then, you’re going to wish you never left your house.”

“They test them every day?”

“Then they have a few hours to fix it if it’s broken. They have pretty high safety protocol in the city.”

“And yet they allow mercenaries?”

Stiar shrugged, “We’re called and registered as personal assistants. For some reason, that tends to make them feel less bad about the whole deal.”

“That makes us sound like we walk rich people’s dogs.”

“I’ve done that once, actually. Guy’s dog was driving him nuts, wanted it to go out once in the daylight to teach it a lesson. Poor pup. I ended up just bringing the dog back to the office and we played fetch in the detox room. Mind you, usually we get hired to do much more practical things.”

Stiar looked at her watch, “We got to keep moving. We’ll finish the rest of the circuit through downtown and then I have to get you your gear at the warehouse.”

“That’s not back at the office?”

“We don’t like to keep all our eggs in one basket. You’ll see when you meet our boss. He likes to plan for the worst possible scenario.”

*

Lena settled into the outfit, surprised by how easily she could move in it. White synthetic pants were bound thickly enough to stop a bullet, but with enough room to allow her skin to sweat. The jacket was similar, the logo of the company embroidered onto her back. The white helmet would cover her throat from a knife strike, the shield protecting her eyes from the sun, but her face bare from the nose down so she could breathe freely. Her feet had hardly any support, her thin white shoes meant for speed, not comfort.

“You’ll typically only wear this on assignments,” Stiar explained. “Mainly because they are a pain in the ass to clean and they tend to chaff a little. I’ve got a lotion that’s pretty good for that; let me know if you need it.”

“So why am I wearing it now?”

Stiar put on her helmet, “Practice.”

*

They made it back to the Manthras building just as the sirens began to blare throughout the city.

“I guess we got here just in time,” Lena said, making her way to the door.

Stiar shook her head, “It’s danger hour, it’ll be locked. Come on now, rookie.”

Lena looked in surprise as Stiar grabbed onto a ledge of the concrete and began to pull herself up. The sirens rang louder as she saw six others climbing up the building. Not hesitating, she gave herself a running start and threw herself into a handhold. She pulled up, not daring to look back at the red sun breaking through the clouds. Her skin sweated and she could smell her own fear in the stink.

She pulled herself further, cheering inwardly when she passed Stiar. She only had a few more minutes. Her stomach churned and she felt increasingly dizzy. Lena remembered the landing pad being only a few more stories up. Lena could see the edge. She could make it there before she grew too ill.

Then the sun passed a tall building and reflected light blinded her. She cursed and closed her eyes, feeling for the next hold as she pulled herself up. Her feet slipped slightly as she heaved herself over the last foot and threw herself onto the landing bay. Before the illness overtook her and she passed out, she removed her helmet and looked at the sun directly for the first time in her life.

Chapter Three

Lena woke
and immediately threw up in the bucket beside her. She coughed twice, pulling the cool cloth off her face. She stared at her hands, the red blisters that were forming on her knuckles, the slightly pink texture of her skin.

Lena looked up and saw the doctor smiling at her. She was an older woman, short red hair streaked with grey and white. Her freckled skin shone healthily against her white Manthras Company uniform.

“That didn’t take you so long then, dear. Excellent!”

The doctor wrote this down in her chart while Lena sat up slowly, still feeling incredibly dizzy.

“Take it easy,” she said, “It’s going to take your body a few minutes to get used to the medication. You should start feeling better in a little while.”

“Thank you, Doctor…”

“Beverley-Anderson. Everyone just calls me Sam, though. I’m going to check your retinas, sit still for a moment.”

Lena grabbed into the padding of the bed as Sam shone a light into both her eyes.

“You look good, kid,” she complimented, “It seems that you have some natural immunity to some of the radiation. I find that occasionally with those who were born in fall-out zones. You’re from Kelowna, right?”

“I was raised there,” Lena explained, “I was adopted when I was three. Dad brought me in from a place called Sioux Lookout in northern Ontario.”

“That would explain it,” Sam said, handing her a bottle of water. “Drink it slowly. It’s going to taste a bit weird because of the injections.”

Lena coughed after she drank a sip. “It tastes like metal.”

“You’ll get used to it. It’s better than ending up here every day after the speed test.”

“Every day?”

“It keeps us in shape.”

“I didn’t see you out there.”

Sam smiled, “I’m a redhead. I don’t get to go out into the field.”

“Lucky you.”

“I like to think so. It’s the better way of looking at it then being a liability. How are you feeling now?”

Lena stood up, testing her weight. “Better, actually. My head has stopped spinning.”

“Good. Then come with me, we have a staff meeting to go to.”

Lena followed Sam out of the room and down a white hallway. She looked out the tinted window, seeing the sun slowly setting. She paused, watching it for a moment.

Sam smiled kindly. “It takes a while to get used to.”

“It’s beautiful,” Lena admitted. “I never thought it would be that distracting.”

“Soon you’ll see it and be glad you’re off shift,” Sam laughed, “I get sleepy seeing it now.”

Lena continued down the hallway and into a small boardroom on the right side of the hall, facing out toward English Bay. The electric lights were already turned on.

She saw a man standing in front of a round table of five others. She recognized Stiar, who gave her a nod as she sat down with Sam.

The man in front said, “Team, this is our new recruit, Lena Greenwood. She comes to us from Oswood Academy. She also now has our fastest time for a recruit climbing the wall without any chemical assistance. Damn foolhardy for you to pull that on her, Stiar.”

Stiar smiled at Lena, “I knew she could do it.”

“It would have been a disaster if she had fallen or was really exposed. Next time, don’t be such an idiot.”

Stiar frowned and Lena winked at her. She appreciated getting to show off a little.

The man continued, “I’m Daniel Kozol, your supervisor. You will report to me, understood, Greenwood?”

Kozol was well into his thirties, his light brown skin already wrinkling, his dark hair peppered with white and grey. He was not a tall fellow, but he was strong and sturdy, his feet planted on the ground like a statue’s.

“Alright. Now, I have a request for three guards for a traveling businessman who has to go out to Seattle. It’ll be a few days out of town and yes, you still have to decontaminate coming back. The new inter-state laws don’t apply to us. The nice thing about having our freedom is paying more fines, isn’t it? I also have a request from a scientist needing photographs of Haida Gwaii’s regrowth. Do any of you know how to work a camera?”

Lena put up her hand. The others laughed.

“This isn’t school,” Kozol reprimanded, “If you want something, just say so.”

“I want to do it,” Lena said.

“That’s better. I’ll send you up with Stiar. And you, Calvin? Do you intend to actually work for your pay this week?”

A stern-looking man sitting in the corner shrugged, “I’ve been contracted as a guard for a celebrity filming in the neighborhood. She apparently worries that American-hating-Canadians will come kill her in her sleep.”

“So she hired a Canadian to guard her?”

“The irony does not escape me.”

Lena looked over at him as the other names were listed: Delia, Martin, Derek. The others she did not examine as thoroughly. Calvin was maybe a few years older than her. Long dark hair braided in the back, skin the color of dark oak, grey eyes framed by long dark eyelashes.

“All right then. Your dossiers will be sent to your rooms. Get back to the barracks. Dismissed,” Kozol ordered.

“Where are the barracks?” Lena asked as they stood to go.

“I’m heading there now, just follow me,” Stiar said, signaling Lena to walk behind her.

They walked out into the hallway and into a portal shoot. They crammed into the turbo pod together and Stiar showed Lena the keypad code to access the floor. They were shot up five stories before the pod jerked to a stop, making Lena dizzy all over again. Stiar held her arm to help her onto the floor.

“This is the common room here,” Stiar said, pointing to a space with a few couches and a vid-screen. “The women’s dorm is to the right, the men’s is to the left. None of us really follow that, though, so sleep wherever you want. Kitchen is in the back. The food is delivered first thing at night. Most of it is prepared; none of us are big cooks. Payday is Tuesday. You already have an account set up, you just have to stop by Bank of Yukon/Colombia and sign a few forms. They’re open pretty late; you can go out late at night or early at the end of a shift. Room and board are included and you have an expense account for clothes or medication. Any questions?”

“Is there a vid-connection so I can call my dad?”

“Yeah, we have a common one through the vid-screen in the living room. There’s not much privacy, I’m afraid. But it’s good enough to let family know we’re still alive. Kozol doesn’t want to risk us spreading sensitive information. We had a few problems about five years ago.”

“How long is your contract?”

Stiar looked amused. “I renew yearly. I’ve been doing this for eight years now, since I graduated. You’re just out of school, so you’re a three-year fixed, yeah? It’ll speed by, don’t worry. You’re going to fit right in here.”

Lena paused, “But you’re only a few years older than me then, you look…”

Stiar chuckled, “Sadly, black does crack if it’s exposed to enough radiation. I did a lot of suitless missions when I first started out. You pay a price one way or another. Mine was extra money for an extra decade or two worth of wear and tear on my skin.”

Lena didn’t know what to say, and Stiar patted her on the back.

“Go phone your dad,” she said, “I’ll give you all the other horror stories later.”

Lena nodded and went to the vid-screen. She dialed the series of numbers and the passcode to access the little condo in Kelowna. In a few moments, an image of her father having breakfast came on screen. He smiled and waved.

“Hi Dad,” Lena said with a sad smile.

“You’re doing okay?” he asked, sighing in relief.

Lena looked over at Stiar humming in the kitchen and said, “Yeah, I’m fine. Listen, I don’t have long, but … we didn’t exactly end our conversation well before I left today. I just … I just…”

Stiar walked back into the room, mug of coffee in hand.

Her father frowned slightly and bowed his head. “You seem busy, dear. Maybe I can call you tomorrow?”

“I’ll be out of town,” she said, “Out on Haida Gwaii.”

“Well, call me when you can.”

“Bye Dad.”

The screen went blue, and Lena stood and walked into the kitchen. Stiar turned and smiled at her, offering her a piece of pickled sweet beet. Lena smiled back before plopping one into her mouth.