(This is the beginning of a much longer story. Call it very near future. Loosely speaking, it is a spy/underworld/perhaps-alternate-timeline story with all sorts of science fiction bits and pieces thrown in. A casserole of fun stuff. It is definitely gritty, not lacking in violence, and involves characters with questionable ethics. It is also unfinished, unedited and untitled, but I work on it between other things.)
The downtown had the usual, dingy, rundown look of every small, northern town I had ever seen. Patchy attempts to improve the visual rot only made it worse. The waterfront was probably the only decent place in the downtown core, though the rot was seeping into it, as well. The place was dead and just hadn’t noticed; a zombie town.
I strolled to the docks, discovering the harbour area was smaller than it looked from a distance. Really, it was a parking lot set next to a walkway along the water, with a restaurant on one side and a very industrial looking complex on the other. Charming.
If autumn had an upside, it was in being cold enough to keep riff-raff from sleeping outside during the night. I had seen two distant joggers earlier but the place was otherwise deserted. I continued along the larger of two main docks, figuring it was as good a place as any to do some thinking while I waited. A car sped past in the distance, an ancient hatchback, rotting away like the town, and disappeared into a side street. As quickly as that, I was alone.
The waterfront was on a bay off the great lake. The water was icy still and dark; the predawn light seemed to cast shadows on everything, and those shadows seemed to collect in the water. It had a peaceful quality, all the same. I kept my back to the town, enjoying the view across the bay, a mostly undeveloped area that gave an illusion of purity.
Time passed and I fell into a deep, thoughtful state, almost a trance, aware of my surroundings yet deep within my own mind. There was no ritualistic or spiritual element to it. I had learned to do it as a boy and got into the habit. The opportunity was sometimes scarce, though I never lost the knack. It was like being awake and dreaming at the same time. Thoughts, emotions, memories, and sensations swirled in a gentle maelstrom; they crossed, merged and sometimes settled with each other, creating a kaleidoscope vision of my mind. I had found that the longer I was able to hold myself in this state, the more likely it was for the elements to generate the semblance of a message, or concept, or something meaningful. It had a dreamlike quality, without the random, shifting and confusing nonsense. The maelstrom had inertia, yet I could guide it along with gentle pressure; I always envisioned it as the same sort of pressure a tugboat exerted on a large ship. The trick to holding the state and manipulating the storm was in not putting too much or too little pressure; too much pressure caused the elements of the maelstrom to weaken and fade, eventually breaking it; too little pressure made the intensity strong, but made it more difficult to find guidance from the mess.
Minor distractions were another weak spot. The solitude and tranquility made it easy to form the whirlwind; the increasing wakefulness of the town, rotted and sluggish as it was, wore down my focus. It was difficult to estimate the passage of time, just like in a dream, so I was unsure of it when the final straw fell. The light suggested that the sun had been up for a little while.
“Fine morning,” a voice offered, sounding old, attempting to engage me in conversation. My maelstrom collapsed into itself and disappeared, a fading memory in an instant. I turned to the old voice, extending my hand to it. Energy surged through me, nearly unbidden. An elderly man, looking shocked at my quick, aggressive motion, stood a few feet away. He had been right behind me. The flicker of rage I felt at his interruption spiraled away in time for me to collect myself. I had wanted to harm him for his lack of manners and inconvenient presence but it would do no good; I had my own business to attend to, and it would not serve to draw attention to myself.
The man was a little scared, judging by his reaction. I guessed his age at sixty. He wore tan slacks, a plaid shirt and a windbreaker. Just an old man with a big mouth, taking a morning walk because he had nothing better to do. “Whoa,” he said, holding up his hands defensively. “I didn’t mean to –“
“Shut up,” I snapped, venting my ebbing anger at him without attempting to soften my words. “You shouldn’t sneak around and surprise people like that. It could go badly for you.” I lowered my arm and walked away. The old man simply stood there, too frightened to speak.
Downtown closed around me before I was a block in. It was a new town but a familiar place. I had worked the central northern beat for Porter long enough to recognise the same old thing in a different place. I had studied the map enough to know where I was going in this new piss hole. My dawdling was wasted, anyway. The maelstrom had yielded nothing, even before I lost it. Something was not right in this place, only I could not place it. Normally, I would have come away with something.
I was in a pissy mood when I arrived, three blocks later, at 119 Foundation Street. The Pawn Prince was a dismal sight; it was another relic, only brightened the slightest with a cheery, white banner proclaiming Cash for Gold in red letters. The building had a second floor of apartments that merged with the adjacent buildings. The entrance to the 119 apartments was a heavily abused wooden door to the right of the pawn shop. The door handle had broken off, probably years earlier, and been replaced with a small length of rope. It was already open a crack, which made it a bit more convenient for me. The stairs were solid but filthy. I turned left at the top of the stairs and made my way down the hall. The lighting was dim, likely a by-product of cheap, low wattage bulbs and never-cleaned light fixtures. The smell of stale cigarette, pot and beer almost masked the undercurrent of stale mop water, garbage and urine. If it had been unexpected, I might have been thrown off.
As it was, I felt my energy flow through me, accumulating like a charge. It was doubtful I would need a lot, but apartment 2C had to know a visit was coming; and it was tough to say what countermeasures there would be. The door to 2C was open, just slightly.
I let my energy level build a bit more before I made my move. A hard kick flung the door wide open, exposing a smoky room within. Two men jumped up from a moldy couch, knocking over a coffee table in front of them; they both looked high as kites, one of them made a clumsy move for something inside his belt. I unleashed a blast of energy that hit him square in the chest, knocking him through the wall; heavy bruises, broken ribs and a mild concussion were guaranteed, unless he was unlucky and I had collapsed his lungs and damaged his spine. It didn’t matter. The second man was the subject of my visit, and he was already on his knees and in shock.
I kept a solid reserve of energy at the ready. Something still felt wrong. A quick check revealed no other guests in 2C. Bobby O’Mara was on his knees begging me not to kill him. Someone in a neighbouring apartment was hollering about keeping the noise down.
“For Christ’s sake, shut the fuck up,” I said, closing the apartment door. “I don’t have much time for this, so pay fucking attention. You should know better than to disrespect Porter the way you have. You are way behind this year and you don’t even bother to call last month when you pay nothing. That’s not cool, Bobby. So this…” My attention trailed off as I felt something familiar, something dangerously familiar, from behind me. Someone was building up their energy and they were damn close. Instinct took over and I formed my energy into a shield, encasing me in a protective cocoon. A blast zipped past me and struck Bobby O’Mara squarely in the head, pulping it in one strike.
I wheeled around, stirring up energy as fast as I could for a fight. Standing at the back of the room was Mallory Stelton, an old associate who I thought I was finished with years ago. She had changed her look, but was recognisable despite the Goth-ish wardrobe and makeup. “What the hell, Mal?” was all I could think to say.
“Nice to see you, Peters,” she said with a grin. I had not dropped the shield. Mallory was releasing her energy passively as she strolled forward.
“Why are you here?” I asked bluntly. “This bullshit is going to make things awkward for me back in the city.”
“When did you get so sloppy?” she asked back. “I couldn’t have got this close to you before without getting noticed.”
“Fuck,” I growled, partly at Mal, partly at the mess in front of me. It would take some explaining to keep Porter off my ass.
“So,” Mal said, getting up and lighting a cigarette, “you are some sort of hit man, or something like that?”
“Collections, actually,” I said, realising there would be no easy out. I began a quick search of the place in the hopes I could find enough cash or dope to mitigate the screw up.
“What a waste,” Mal said. She was clearly amused by my frantic search. Her nonchalant attitude had not changed in the years since I last saw her.
“Is there something you want from me?” I asked, distracted by my search. “This is a long way from Montreal, isn’t it?”
“You always were a suspicious one,” she said with a smirk, watching me rifle through a putrid bathroom. “Can’t a girl just stop by and say hello?”
“Probably better you don’t tell me,” I responded, pushing by her and into the kitchen. All I really wanted was to find a giant stash of dope, get out before the authorities arrived and ditch Mallory. The last part would be the trickiest; she wasn’t here by chance.
“Listen, tough guy,” she said, still toying with me, “why don’t we have a little chat? There has got to be a place that serves coffee around here.”
“Not interested,” I said without a blink. I had left the world she belonged to, and that had taken some doing. I had been left alone for some time, yet Mallory was a sign that world wanted me back.
“Come on. What is the rush? One cup of coffee.”
“The rush is,” I growled as I headed from the fruitless kitchen to the bedroom, “that I am supposed to have supper with my boss today. If not, I owe him an advance phone call.”
“Right,” she chuckled, “the collections thing. You will be delivering from this run.” She paused and finished her cigarette. “Well, the city isn’t more than a couple of hours and it is morning. That leaves time for a coffee, or do I have that wrong?”
The fellow I had knocked through the wall was breathing. He had a badly broken arm and numerous lesser injuries. He didn’t look much like hired muscle. A quick search of him produced a knife, about five thousand in cash and fifty dollars in weed. It was chump change, in the big picture, but covered most of what O’Mara owed. It also suggested he was here to buy, which meant there was another five grand in product in the apartment. I was willing to press my luck by extending the search. An even ten Gs would cover the debt, plus a little for the hassle. Porter wouldn’t be happy; but he would understand a situation gone wrong. It happened, from time to time, and life would go on.
“Time is money, Mal,” I said, tearing the room apart. “So if you have something to say, say it. I am out of here soon.”
She was uncharacteristically quiet. I found a very sturdy little end table; heavy oak, bolted together like it was made to survive a bomb blast and locked tight. I drew up a bit of energy, which got Mallory’s attention. Fine work like this was not my forte, and I was distracted, so my attempt to blow the lock resulted in smashing up the entire thing. The contents spilled out, mostly unharmed: bags of pills, powder and a bit of cash. I grabbed it up and stuffed it into my jacket; big, inside pockets were gold in the collections business.
“Time’s up,” I said, taking my turn to be funny. “I got what I…”
Mallory was gone. It was hard to sense if she was still nearby or not. Something was definitely going on and I didn’t like it in the least. Keeping myself in the moment, I went for the window. The same neighbour who hollered about the noise was hollering again, and this was the type of place that attracted police attention. The window had a rusting fire escape to a partly overgrown parking area below. I made my way down and got moving. Once I was sure my trail was clear, I only needed to get back to the car; then I was home free.
John Settger 