The Two Towers (2 page)

Veridian, normally serene in comparison to Kayla’s more fiery nature, stood up. His long, light brown hair fell in disarray around his face and his eyes were a soft brown. He stood a foot taller than Kayla, but met Carl’s eyes evenly.

Kayla often thought Veridian had been born during the wrong century. He seemed to lack the ruthlessness and cunning necessary for survival during these harsh times. But there was no questioning his loyalty or the sense of protectiveness he felt for Kayla. They’d been raised together and Kayla would do almost anything for him. As far as she was concerned, she could be manipulative and deceitful enough for both of them.

“That’s not necessary, Carl,” Veridian jumped to Kayla's defense. “We’ll get out of your sector. Just leave her alone.”

“Stay out of this, V,” Kayla told him. Veridian frowned at her but didn’t raise any further objections. Kayla didn’t want him getting involved in any altercation with Carl. Confident she'd receive more leeway if she played him right, she shrugged out of her jacket and tossed it to Cruncher.

He grabbed it with one hand and began searching her pockets. She turned back to Carl who was watching her with new appreciation.

Her short red tank top left her midsection bare. Dark UV protective pants hung low on her waist and clung to her curves.

“Jacket’s clean, Boss,” Cruncher informed him.

Kayla put her hands on her hips. “Are we done now?”

Carl grinned slyly and walked over to Kayla. He wrapped one of his arms around her waist and pulled her against him. Kayla gasped in surprise.

Veridian made a lunge for Carl, but Cruncher grabbed him and held him back.

Carl leaned down and whispered into Kayla’s ear, “You can either hand over what you’ve taken or I can go searching for it. The second would suit me fine.”

With a look of disgust, she pushed against his chest. He grinned and took a step back as she reached into her shirt to pull out the necklace. She tossed it to him. “Take it. It’s not worth having your hands on me.”

Carl caught the necklace and held it up to admire it. “I’m impressed, Kayla. You were down there for how long? Twenty minutes?”

“Twelve,” she retorted and crossed her arms over her chest.

He lowered the necklace and rubbed his chin in thought. “I have a proposition.”

“Forget it,” Veridian interrupted. “We’re not interested in anything you have to offer.”

Carl ignored Veridian and kept his focus solely on Kayla. He held out the necklace to her. “You gave this up way too easily. I doubt this was all you took. But I’ll allow you to keep this and whatever else you may have smuggled out today as a gesture of goodwill. In exchange, I want a small favor.”

Kayla considered him. Between the necklace, the rest of the jewelry, and the carving, she estimated Leo could probably bring in over two thousand credits. That amount would pay the camp expenses for at least a week and she’d have enough left over to finish fixing their auxiliary cooling system. Interested now, she cocked her head. “What favor?”

“I want a few hours of your time, Kayla. Nothing more. Come to my base tomorrow.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Why?”

“Because your talents are wasted on Leo,” he told her. “He doesn’t have the resources or connections we do. Why waste your time as a ruin rat when there are other possibilities? Let me show you our operation. You can meet some of the crew.”

“So she can scavenge for you, Carl?” Veridian asked coolly. “You traders are all the same. You’ll screw over anyone and everything so long as it benefits your bottom line. Kayla’s part of our family. She can’t be bought.”

Carl spared the briefest glance at Veridian. “I appreciate the fact that your
friend
is trying to look out for you. Feel free to bring him along if it makes you more comfortable. It’s just a few hours of your time and who knows? We might surprise you. I’m not asking for a commitment, only a chance to show you what we’re about.”

Kayla weighed her options. She leaned forward and took the offered necklace. “Done. I’ll stop by tomorrow. Send the coordinates to my comlink.”

Veridian’s mouth formed a thin line but he remained silent. Kayla didn’t miss the disapproving look on his face before he turned away to finish packing up their equipment. She quelled her initial impulse to reassure him that she knew what she was doing. Instead, she focused on keeping her head in the game as long as Carl and his crew were still around. Her experience with traders made it clear they would pounce on any sign of weakness.

Cruncher winked at Kayla as he handed her jacket back to her. “Notorious ruin rat considering going legit?”

She gave him a smug smile as she slipped her jacket on. Stuffing the necklace into her pocket, she said, “Hardly. But I’ve never been one to turn a blind eye to a profitable deal. A few hours of my time to get the grand tour and I keep my loot. It’s not my problem if your boss has a brain that fits in a gnat’s ass and still has room to rattle.”

Carl raised his eyebrows and Cruncher let out a loud laugh. “How much are you walking away with, Kayla?”

Kayla smiled cryptically. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Cruncher. But I believe we might have some items we need to get prices on. I’ll see about bringing them with me tomorrow.”

“Oh, and stay off our channels, Carl,” she warned, as she recalled his earlier mention of intercepting their transmission. “Or you may end up hearing things you don’t like. I’d hate for your delicate trader ears to be forever scarred.”

Carl chuckled. “I doubt there’s much you could say that I haven’t heard before.”

“You might be surprised,” Kayla muttered. She picked up her helmet and walked over to her speeder. The other men followed her example and mounted their bikes.

Veridian hit the button to disengage the UV Guard. A loud beep signaled the one-minute warning. Kayla put on her helmet and activated her bike.

She glanced around one last time and saw Carl and his crew waiting to make sure they left. She rolled her eyes at their obvious lack of trust. Veridian held up his hand to let her know he was ready.

With a nod, she threw the bike into gear and took off over the desolate landscape. The war that had occurred over one hundred and fifty years ago had left much of the world a wasteland. Ruined buildings crumbled over onto themselves. Once lush areas had become barren.

Biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons had taken their toll. A large portion of the planet was rendered inhabitable. There were some places where people lived differently, either in areas less hard-hit or locked up in shelters that had been outfitted in preparation for the attacks.

Twin white towers stood in the distance, a constant reminder of the changes. They had been built by a company called OmniLab before the war began. Entry into the fully self-sustaining towers had been permitted to several thousand individuals that met specific criteria. Rumors indicated the price tag had been steep.

But even those self-sustaining towers had their weaknesses. The inhabitants craved the lost memorabilia that had once been commonplace in their society. These relics were considered luxury items and people like Carl were appointed by OmniLab to obtain artifacts from the ruins. In exchange, they provided necessary equipment, food, and other supplies critical for survival outside of the towers.

The Omnis, as they were called, had little to do with the outsiders. Carl and a few others were the only ones permitted to trade directly with the elusive Omnis. This relationship granted them exclusive rights to certain ruined areas. Only once an area was abandoned by the traders were the ruin rats permitted to scavenge and sell any additional findings to the traders. If a ruin rat scavenged in an area actively controlled by an Omni trader, the trader could essentially blacklist them from selling their findings.

Leo and other ruin rats had tried to approach the Omnis directly over the years, but they refused to acknowledge them. As a result, they were forced to work with an intermediary, usually Carl or another trader named Henkel. These traders usually took a cut off the top for negotiating with the Omnis, which could be significant depending on the item.

Leo was going to be pissed when he found out about the incident with Carl. He was already ticked off that they’d been in a different sector, but she knew he’d fly through the roof when he found out Carl had caught them.

She shifted into a higher gear and felt a slight thrill as the bike tore across the landscape. Veridian’s voice came over her headset. “Are you trying to kill us? Slow it down a bit.”

With a disappointed sigh, she downshifted. The adrenaline junkie in her would have to wait. They were approaching their base and she didn’t need to set Leo off any more than she already had.

As they pulled up, Kayla slowed the speeder until it came to a stop. She shut off the engine and went over to Veridian’s bike to help him unload the gear. They carried the equipment into the temporary base they’d set up a few weeks earlier.

Their lifestyle required them to move around periodically to locate new areas to scavenge. Usually, they stayed in a place for several months or even a year before they needed to move. The farther they were able to travel, the more they were able to scavenge without interference from the OmniLab traders. But they wouldn’t be able to trade for supplies as frequently. It was a delicate balance, but it seemed to work.

Kayla pulled off her helmet as Leo approached them. He was a tall, thin, balding man in his early forties and had been leading the camp for the past ten years. He was cantankerous and his mouth seemed to be permanently fixed in a frown. The years hadn’t been kind to him but Kayla supposed he hadn’t been kind to them either. He wasn’t a bad man. They just had different styles and Kayla preferred her independence.

“Where the hell do you two get off scavenging in an unmapped sector? If you know Carl’s crew is headed to the planned sector, you pull out and contact me. You don’t just decide to do whatever the hell you want.”

She rolled her eyes as she shrugged off her jacket, knowing the tirade was only temporary. Once he got a good look at their daily take, he'd be salivating. “Maybe you should wait to see what we found before jumping down our throats.”

Veridian put down a box of equipment with more force than necessary.

“You mean, what Carl let us keep,” he reminded her.

Kayla elbowed Veridian in the ribs, earning her a grunt in response. Leo looked back and forth between them. “What do you mean? Did something happen with Carl?”

She didn’t bother to reply. Instead, she pulled out her frequency detector, unscrewed the base and dumped the contents out on a nearby table. Leo’s eyes widened at the sight of the jewelry and the carving.

“Mmmm,” he murmured as he examined some of the pieces more closely. “These are excellent.”

Pleased with his praise, she pulled out the ruby necklace from her pocket and put it on the table with the rest of the jewelry. Leo frowned when he realized she had kept that piece separate from the rest of the stash.

“Why the diversion piece? What happened?”

She waved a dismissive hand. “Carl showed up. But the situation was handled.”

“Handled how? Dammit. We can’t afford any problems with him.”

Veridian folded his arms across his chest. “He’s trying to recruit her. She agreed to meet him at his base tomorrow to hear his offer in exchange for keeping what she scavenged today.”

Leo’s eyes narrowed on her.

“What’s the harm?” she asked with a shrug. “I go, pretend to listen, nod my head at the appropriate times, and leave. I think we ended up ahead in this arrangement.”

Leo threw up his hands. “What’s the harm? Everything! Kayla, you know how these traders work. They’ll screw over every single one of us to get what they want. We’re trash to them. I don’t like it and I don’t trust him.”

“I don't either but I already agreed to meet with him, Leo. Do you want me to break a deal with a trader?” Kayla gestured toward the back of the camp. “The auxiliary cooler is shot and needs to be repaired. If our main one goes down, we're in trouble. You're down one scavenger already from Johnny's accident last week. We need the credits and you know it.”

“Fine,” Leo relented with a scowl. “At least take Veridian with you. Hopefully he can keep you out of trouble.”

“That'll be a first,” Veridian muttered, staring up at the ceiling as though seeking divine intervention.

Kayla gave him a playful shove. “I was planning on taking V anyway. But this visit isn't anything to worry about. I can handle Carl. I’m more concerned he’s somehow managed to put a sniffer on our communication system.”

Leo scratched his head. “I thought you said your coms were clean.”

“Mine are,” Kayla insisted. “I can’t say the same for yours, though. I’m heading to the tech room now to run a scan.”

Leo grunted an affirmative answer and turned back to fully inventory the items Kayla had scavenged. She smiled inwardly at his eagerness. Motioning to Veridian, the two of them headed back toward the tech room.

The tech room was a small room filled with computers, both working and non-working. Machines disassembled for parts were pushed up against the walls. Kayla pulled up a crate to use as a makeshift chair and took a seat in front of the communication system’s interface.