Huge explosions came from behind them. But they were already at a safe distance. And they still had the cardamine, as the crate which they put on the other boat just a simple crate, hell knows why the pirate wanted it.
Ray checked the autopilot and adjusted a little on the objective. Than went back to the girl, she was still unconscious so he blandly slapped her.
-I almost thought I have to look for another beautiful and deadly partner... Hey, just slowly...
She sat up, still dizzy.
[color=#33CC00] -Okay, so the situation is the following. We could escape the pirates, but I have contacts on the radar closing on us. I doubt we can make it to the coast, unless you have a plan B.
Research is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought.
Lana clearly reacted badly to the slaps Ray gave her. She was annoyed but could do little about it, since she just came about from suffering a rather violent blow to her head. She opened her eyes slowly and could only just make out the figure of Ray under the starry night sky.
She tried to rise, but all it did was send a sharp pain up her head. Lana groaned and moved her hand to the area, then was shocked to see it come back with patches of red. She ignored Ray for the moment and tried to right herself again. The man gently caught and helped her to sit up straight, for which she was glad.
"C'mon Bonnie," Ray said impatiently, "I know you're tougher than that. Listen, we gotta get outta here fast or we'll be done for."
"Yeah yeah, just gimme a moment to think,' Lana answered weakly, her head still felt like it was about to split.
With some effort, Lana tried to recall all that had happened in the past few hours. It was supposed to be a straight forward operation - go in, grab the package, come out alive and get paid. But everything has gone uncontrollably wrong from the moment the power facility turned out to be a secret research lab. Then they were chased by pirates which blew each other up - okay, that was lucky - Lana thought. Now they have the entire LAPD sea patrol force on them...
"We have to get rid of all evidence", Lana thought and relayed the same message to her partner, "dump everything."
As Ray began to gather their equipment and throw them out into the sea one by one, Lana thought hard again to come up with an escape plan. Her headache was starting to ease up and she was beginning to regain her quick wits. Suddenly, she remembered those remote explosives still strapped to their boat's vital parts.
"That's it."
"What?" Ray was confused by that remark, he just finished removing his armour and disposing it in the dark waters.
"We put the boat on auto-pilot then swim," Lana explained confidently, "then blow it up when they get close for cover."
"What are you, crazy?" Ray retorted, "we're swimming, in mid-winter, during the night?"
Lana replied sarcastically, "well you're welcome to stay and try to explain what happened back there to the police, since you're so good with your words."
"Fine, but you're paying for my equipment."
"You must be naive to think you could hide the value of that package from me," Lana said, "but I'll talk to you about that later."
Having regained her strength and awareness now, Lana pushed herself up and swiftly removed her amour. Then she flung it into the waters below, along with her sidearm, leaving only her knife. She picked out the remote detonator from her back and threw the rest into the sea too. Without further words, she walked to the side and dove into the freezing, wintery seas of Planet Los Angeles.
For some seconds, Lana's entire body was in shock due to the sudden change of temperature. Her warmth was brutally robbed from her and her muscles felt like they were going to seize up. Lana clenched her teeth and began to swim, at the same time her nerve endings began to go numb due to the extreme temperature. Then she heard a splash from behind, Ray was catching up.
As the two got to some 50 metres from their boat, the police boats sped by with sirens blaring and lights flashing. Lana and Ray abandoned their ship not far from the shore so Lana hoped they could get to land before freezing to death. After 15 minutes of intense, energy draining swimming in the waters cold as ice, the two were relieved to find themselves amongst some large rocks near the shore. Luckily, they swum to a shore in the poorer areas and away from the city lights - where no one would even lay an eye on a pair of soaked swimmers in a winter night.
By the time they reached the shore, Lana was exhausted beyond her own belief. She looked across and saw their speed boat about to be boarded by the police. She quickly reached for her detonator and pressed hard on the control. With a confirming beep, the speed boat went up in a spectacular explosion, showering nearby police boats with its broken body.
Lana on the verge of hypothermia, combined with the earlier head trauma and extreme exhaustion. She had no word and she felt tired. She laid on the beach and slowly closed her eyes.
Ray saw the girl collapsing to the ground. He was in a lot better condition, maybe the fact that he lived most of his life on icy planets made him a bit more resistant. But his muscles were still negating him sometimes. He approached the girl, who seemed to be passed out. He picked her up in his arms and started to go towards the hotel. Fortunately it was only one kilometer away.
They reached it quite fast, still nobody was on the street, although the sun was already getting up. Ray went up to his room, through the back entrance. The girl was still unconscious, her clothes still wet. Ray put her on the sofa, removed her clothes, and gently put her in the bed, covering her with a big blanket.
Than he went to have a long and hot shower. He glanced back to the girl once again from the door to the bathroom, and hoped that she will be okay.
Research is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought.
Screams emanated from the room directly below. Lana crawled forward to the grilled air vent, only to find her comrade captured and tortured by the rival syndicate. She had to keep going. She had to stay alive. She had to escape. She crawled and crawled, trying to ignore the screams of pain from her friends below. Blood ran down her face and her clothes were ripped. She was shaken by the ordeal that played out before her very eyes.
Then a gunshot came.
Lana fell into a distorted vortex full of her violent past. She was paralysed and desperately tried to break the bound. She kicked and punched but found herself held down by an invisible force.
Then she opened her eyes to see the concerned face of Ray, who held her firmly.
Lana stopped her movements and eased down. Ray responded by releasing his grip.
"It's alright," he said in a comforting tone, "you're safe."
Lana did not answer. Instead she reached down her body and felt the her smooth skin. She immediately gave Ray an incriminating glare.
"You were gonna freeze to death if I hadn't taken those clothes off you."
The glare was not satisfied with that answer.
"Do you really think I had the energy to do anything to you last night?" Ray reassured Lana with a chuckle.
Then he returned to the desk and grabbed his tracking device. He headed out of the hotel room, leaving a remark.
"There are clothes in the wardrobe, food will be sent up shortly and I'm away to scout the area."
Maybe there's still hope for that man - Lana thought. As soon as the door closed, she removed the covering blanket and got up. Opening the wardrobe, she found some dull, drab coloured clothing. She picked out a pair of tight fit jeans, a loose t shirt and a hooded sweater then quickly put them on. Lana made her way to the window and peered through a small gap between the curtains. She saw a typical view of a ghetto near the far side of capital city. A hubbub rose from the makeshift market places people walked by run down buildings that surrounded the area. Then she spotted Ray by his tall build and followed him with her eyes until he disappeared in the crowds.
"Room service, breakfast." A voice came from the other side of the door.
Lana went and opened the door. She was treated to a large variety of refreshing drinks and tempting foods. She felt her stomach grumble at the sweet smell of strawberry jam on toast. She laid the tray on the bed and began to go through the delicious food.
-There are clothes in the wardrobe, food will be sent up shortly and I'm away to scout the area.
Than he left the room. He didn't want to leave the girl, until she was awake. She was resting during the whole day, but finally Ray could go out to search for the third crate. The hotel he found was a decent one, but at the edge of a poor district. At least the crate was nearby. Following the signal, he entered the narrow streets, full of shady people, beggars, thieves and who knows what not. This was the dark side of the beautiful planet Los Angeles.
The signal lead him deep into the ghetto to a bar. It has already got dark, so the read neon showing the bar's name could be seen from far. Den of Demons.
Entering the bar the first thing which he saw was almost nothing. At least he could barely see anything from the smoke. It took him a few seconds, till his eyes managed to focus. The place was a quite big one. To the right several tables around a small platform, where a girl was dancing. Several men and women were playing cards at the tables, only a few was watching the show. Behind these tables there was the counter. Two girls, wearing almost nothing, were laughing with a man, who was clearly under the effects of excessive cardamine use. To the left there were many private boxes, all of them full with guests and dancers.
Ray walked over the bar, and asked for a beer. The bartender asked something of him, but he couldn't hear anything from the music. He leaned closer, and the bartender showed him a small package of cardamine.
[color=#3366FF]-Do you want some?
-I want a lot more, than just this small package.
The bartender put away the package, and motioned Ray to follow. They went through a corridor, with several rooms to the two sides. One of the doors was open. Someone enjoyed the company of one of the dancers. They went into a room at the back. The room itself was huge, with several billiard tables, big
leather sofas and a bunch of man playing cards in the middle of the room. A girl was lying in one of the corners, another near her intoxicated. As Ray entered one of the men stood up and grabbed a pistol from the table.
-Who the ***** is that?
-He wants a bigger package.
-Fool! You simply took him here? And what if he's a cop? Get out of here you idiot! -the bartender left the room very fast. -So who are you?
-I think you have something, what I need.
-I have lots of thing, what others want. Why should I give it to you?
-You may find yourself dead within your little den, if you don't give me what I want.
The man started laughing.
-Look kid, there were many before, who tried to threaten me and I'm still here. And where are they? Most of them lies somewhere deep in the ocean, with a nice concrete shoe. So get your ass out of here before I loose my patience.-he was almost shouting at the end.
-As you wish- Ray's tone was ironic, but he changed that to rather frightening- but I'll be back soon, to take, what's mine.
He left the bar, without any further accident, and hurried back to the hotel room.
Research is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought.
By the time Ray pushed open the hotel door, Lana had already finished sorting and laying out their equipment for the upcoming and remaining package retrieval. Ray was astonished to find a selection of assault firearms and various gadgets all laid out neatly on the bed, along with their accessories.
"Oh, you're back," Lana said, without taking her eyes off the pistol she was busy cleaning, "let me guess, a local gang took possession of our package and is intending to make a profit out of it."
"Yep," Ray replied with a sigh and threw his tracking device onto the bed.
Lana concentrated on assembling her weapon. With a micro-screwdriver, she carefully locked the barrel onto the capacitor unit - bypassing all fuses and eventually connected the heart of the miniature multi-phasic energy modulator with the central chamber. She then hooked her holo-com up to its firing controls and with some taps the calibration sequence was complete. Lana took aim at Ray, whilst checking the weapon's heat dissipation vents, and pulled the trigger.
"Pew!" Lana gestured playfully with the pistol, while a small warning beep came from it - indicating an absence of an energy cell.
Lana then showcased her small collection of equipment on the bed.
"As long as you don't plan on taking on the LAPD again, what we have here should be more than enough to scare off some thugs. There's a pair of compact SMGs, a CQB assault rifle, a good ol' pump action shotgun, a couple of smoke grenades and some remote detonators. Being an ex-lover of a Sirius wide crime syndicate boss does have its perks."
"Well, let's go and get our package," Lana said with a smirk, "using the English language or... the universal language."
She inserted an glowing energy cell into the pistol, snapped it close and holstered it on her back.
"Any questions?"
"I dunno about you," Lana answered as she collected her armour reinforced coat to conceal her weapons, "but I have enough blood on my hands from last night, so if a fight does break out try not to leave too many bodies for the police to trace."
Ray nodded in agreement.
Lana shook the dust off her cloak and put her hood on, hiding most of her face. Together, they gathered the rest of the equipment in a bag and took off.
Fully armed and armoured, the two took off to the bar Ray mentioned. By the time they arrived it was past midnight, but the noise inside did not seem to quieten down. Lana set her bag down behind a large dumpster outside and proceeded to the entrance. She pushed the door open and was immediately greeted by sounds of blasting music and a thick fog of smoke. However, she was no stranger to clubs and pubs. In fact, Lana found herself enjoying the deafening sound of eccentric music with some shouting and screaming thrown between. The crowd did not seem to notice the couple as they moved through the sides. Everyone was too busy either enjoying the blaring music and shuffled along the dance floor or the tasting inconspicuous toxins they no doubt shared privately
"Remember," Lana shouted in Ray's ear, "try the English language first."
The pair started towards the back door and the bartender was the first who stepped into their way. Lana greeted him with a straight left punch making him meet with the floor. Almost nobody noticed it. They were even holding their ears to the ground or they were simply in a state they couldn't realize what happened around them. Either way it was good for Ray and Lana.
As they entered the corridor a man were stepping out of the big room. Maybe he noticed the submachine gun flinging from Ray's back as he reached for his gun. But Ray was faster, he grabbed the knife from his belt and in a second it found it's way up in the man's stomach. The 25 centimeter blade cut through easily the skin, the abdominal muscles, the liver and it ended up in the heart of the man. Pulling it out took a little more time.
Ray kicked out the door and he stepped in, Lana was behind him, still with her hood on.
-I'm back for what I have left here last time.
[color=#CC0000] -No...Not you again. How many times do I have to tell you? I. Won't. Fraking. Give. It. To. You. Did you cached it or should I say it again, you mother... -he couldn't continue as Ray shot the glass he was holding. -Are you fraking kiddin' with me? You're in my den! You will not be able to leave this room alive!
-I doubt it. -Lana stepped forward, removing her hood.
Research is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought.
"So you brought your backup this time, cute," the boss chuckled and said, "but I also have my own backup."
He clapped his hands twice and a dozen of armed men seem to have suddenly materialised from the shadows.
Lana is unfazed, she demanded, "we're here to negotiate a possible business deal, let's not touch our guns - yet."
"Whadaya want?" The boss answered impatiently and gestured the guards to step back.
"We want what you're smoking and we can offer a generous amount for it." Lana said, pointing at him and looking at him straight in the eyes.
"Oh yeah?," he laughed and replied, "what possible amount can you offer for this crate of pure poison that would bring me hundreds of millions out on the streets?"
Lana moved closer towards the man and sat down between one of his girls and himself. The boss did not appear to be alerted to her approach at all as he obviously underestimated this young woman in front of him. Although the guards behind him could be seen with tightened grips on their weapons and stiffer stances. Oh this is too easy - Lana thought to herself as she wrapped her soft and warm body around the boss, her cloak covering most of their body parts.
"Just tell me what you want," Lana whispered into his ear, "and I'll provide it."
"I don't think so." The man said with a cunning smile and tried to remove Lana from his lap.
"Well that's just a shame."
The sound of a powering laser pistol came from under the cloak and the man froze. The guards around him immediately drew their weapons and trained them on Lana. Ray drew his dual sub machineguns and aimed each of them at two closest assailants. In return two guards turned and aimed at Ray. Dragging the boss by his collar, Lana slowly rose and two stood upright. She brushed her cloak aside with one hand and revealed her laser pistol at his chest.
"Drop it!" The guard captain demanded.
"I don't think you're in the position to make demands, boys." Lana said and got behind the boss figure, her pistol still pointed at him and she held him by his neck. She looked at Ray.
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