Melanie headed into the city in her civilian clothes. She wore casual grey trousers and a jacket that made her look like a cross between a soldier and a tax inspector. It was the best look she could manage right now. If anyone stared she would just have to ignore them.
She had been tipped off that a familiar face was hanging around in some of the local bars, and she wanted to get close enough to see if was true before the word got out that the place was crawling with security forces.
Café Amber was situated towards the sleazy end of the Old Quarter, further east than anyone in their right mind would want to go. At night it would be a no go area for all but the most depraved citizens. At mid day it was merely disturbing. The sun rode high in the sky as she walked down the dusty side streets, stepping over the occasional item of discarded clothing and foul smelling puddles that had formed outside the local bars.
She approached the cafe at a leisurely pace, trying not to stride in her usual forthright manner. The entrance was a white stone wall with an arch that led to swinging oak doors. Pushing them aside, she stepped into a dark entrance area, doing her best to ignore the sound of thumping music from inside. She swung left, following the smell of alcohol as she walked down an oak-floored corridor that led to a side bar. The owner must have been making way too much money if he could afford so much oak. It was getting more and more expensive each year.
A guy in a wide rimmed hat stepped out from a side door, blocking her path. His lopsided smile looked anything but inviting and a slither of a moustache twitched with delight on his upper lip. 'Hey, sexy lady. What're you looking for? I think maybe you already found it.'
Melanie pushed him to one side.
'Hey!
'Not now, bozo.'
Following the sound of thumping music, she took the door on her right and found herself standing in a large room illuminated by multicoloured lights that reflected from a dozen different bottles behind a long, steel-topped bar. The barman looked up as she approached and a wide grin spread across his face.
'Don't even think about it,' Melanie said. 'I'm here to meet a friend.'
The barman raised an eyebrow and Melanie waved a card in his direction. 'Get me a beer, nothing too sweet.'
The barman cocked his thumb and finger in her direction before winking slowly with one lazy eye. 'Coming right up, gorgeous.'
Melanie considered pulling him head first over the bar and ramming her elbow into his private parts but she guessed that my attract a little too much attention, so she gave him her best bored expression and turned to examine the bar stools on her right. Three guys turned away at once, each pretending to be interested in their drink. Maybe she was just wasting her time?
The barman placed a bottle in front of her. 'That'll be eighteen credits.'
'Have you seen any new faces in here recently?'
'Like who?'
'Maybe a woman in a red dress.'
'Maybe I have. Maybe I haven't.'
'Do you have a license to sell those blue cocktails. It's not just alcohol in them as far as I recall.'
'Who are you lady? We don't want any trouble here.'
'Answer my question.'
'Maybe she's in the VIP lounge upstairs.'
Melanie leant back, staring up at a bunch of girls dancing on the level above. She couldn't make out much except a lot of short skirts and tight asses. Picking up her bottle, she headed for the staircase that ran along the back wall.
'Eighteen credits,' the barman said, raising his hands as though to ask where she was going.
Melanie used her neural implants to send a payment to the credit terminal on the bar. It beeped once as he glanced down at its display, his mouth hanging open.
'How did you do that?'
Smiling sweetly, she took the stairs two at a time and stepping out onto a small square landing above. A bunch of girls were using it as a dance floor in the middle of the day. Melanie tried not to look like a disapproving aunt.
'Hey sugar,' one of them said with a lopsided smile. 'Does your mother know you're out?' Her speech was slurred and her movements uncoordinated.
Her friend nudged her shoulder and they both laughed a little too loud. Their fine dresses had what looked like finger marks across the front.
'You're drunk,' Melanie said.
'That's right, sweetie. Care to join us?'
Melanie gazed across the landing and then pushed between them as she stepped towards a woman in a short blue dress. She was talking to a tall man with black, trimmed sideburns. The guy turned and smiled as Melanie approached and the woman slapped him hard across the face.
'What was that for?' he said.
'Your eyes have been wandering all morning. You might as well follow her home and get out of my sight.'
The guy frowned, looking her up and down as though working out what he was missing, and then turned and walked away.
'Oh it's you,' Helen said, turning to face Melanie with a lopsided frown. 'So what do you want?'
'How did you get out of Hammond Point?'
'A girl doesn't get as smart as me without figuring a few things out.'
'I didn't think I'd see you again. I sent several warnings before we blew Hammond Point apart. I thought you'd decided to take one for the team.'
'Not my style, honey. I made my choice. I'm here.'
'You're going to have to come with me.'
'I don't think so.'
'I need to ask you some questions,' Melanie said, placing one hand on Helen's arm.
Helen shrieked and pulled away.
The man with the carefully managed sideburns came back with a frown. 'Is there a problem?' he said, stepping closer.
'Not unless you want to find yourself in a whole heap of trouble, no.'
Helen ran to the top of the stairs. Melanie chased after her but the guy with the sideburns shoved her sideways and she went flying over the banister. The room spun as she fell, landing on her back on the bar several metres below. The three guys had fast enough reactions to pull their drinks out of the way but a couple of bottles shattered, spilling their contents across the floor.
'What the fuck?!' the barman shouted, jumping back in surprise.
Melanie grunted as she got the wind knocked out of her lungs. Slipping one leg over the bar, she staggered onto her feet just as Helen ran by. She tried to grab her by the arm but she was already running for the front door. Melanie picked up a bottle from the bar and threw it towards the entrance. A man with a missing tooth ducked as Helen ran past him, and the bottle caught her on the back of the head. Her momentum carried her forwards long after her legs had gone south and she left the bar horizontal rather than vertical.
The guy with the sideburns dashed down the stairs with his mouth hanging open. Melanie swung her boot in a smooth arc, bringing it into contact with his teeth and he went down hard.
'Hey!' the barman said, pulling out a long wooden bat from behind the dented steel bar top.
Melanie turned towards him with her best don't-fuck-with-me face. 'Put that away if you know what's good for you. You're looking at Commander Melanie Rocker, and I'm here on official business. I have back up outside.'
'I knew something was phony about you!'
The front door burst open just as half a dozen people tried to run out. Three members of the security forces pushed their way in, wearing black combat gear and carrying long black batons. There was a brief struggle as they seized the fleeing customers, wrestling them to the ground before binding their wrists with power magnets.
'What are you doing?!' the barman said. 'You're scaring my customers!'
'I'll do more than scare them if you don't calm the hell down. I can shut this place down. You know that right? '
'For what, dancing?'
Melanie ignored him and stepped outside, letting the cool breeze ruffle her hair. A Rotohawk truck was parked a dozen paces away. Helen was already stumbling inside with a thin line of blood running down the side of her head as Commander Ling Tyler and Major Eric Ruffle helped guide her inside. She struggled more for show than with any real hope of escape. Her happy juice was finding it hard to compete with the bruise on her head and she had the start of tears in her eyes.
'Don't make a big scene out of this,' Melanie said as she walked towards them.
'I was just dancing. Couldn't you let a girl dance?'
'You must have known we were looking for you. You worked for Jacob. You picked the wrong side.'
'You didn't have to throw a bottle at me,' Helen said, rubbing the bruise on her head. It wasn't bleeding much. It was a shallow cut that had made a mess of her hair but not much else.
'Maybe run a little slower next time or don't run at all, and remind your dumb friend not to throw me over a banister if he wants to keep the rest of his teeth. He put me in a bad mood.'
'He's a jerk,' Helen said. 'He's not my friend.'
'He's an unconscious jerk now.'
'Where are you taking me?'
'Back to the towers.'
'Don't torture me. I had no part in Jacob's plan.'
Melanie rolled her eyes. 'We're not the Kamari, Helen. We're the law around here. You'll be answering questions about Kamari technology and we'll be making a lot of notes. Don't make it any more complicated than that.'
'Can't you just let me go? I didn't do anything wrong.'
'No,' Melanie said, slamming the Rotohawk's rear door shut with Helen safe inside.
'Are you okay?' Ling said with frown as she walked towards the pilot cabin.
'I'd be a lot better if I hadn't landed on my injured arm.'
Ling winced. 'You should get that looked at when we get back.'
'I intend to.'