Sukie Red-Flower pt2. And then a Trip to Atlanta

Sunday 7th July 2070

Six, Ash, Glyph.

Glyph’s new yacht was moored in a sheltered lagoon not far from San Francisco. Glyph watched the unconscious Sukie below deck, while Ash kept watch above. Six sat in his car, about ¾ of a mile inland on the main road, which hugged the coastline.

The runners read the fabricated news report and were sure that their contact, Mitchell was behind it. They couldn’t prove anything but Ash phoned him to see if he could glean any other information. Mitchell brushed off Ash’s concerns and told them to sit tight.

The runners sat tight, and the hours ticked by.

Mid afternoon, Six was reloading the Antioch when he saw a figure dart across the road. Six instantly warned Ash and Glyph, and Ash took up a position to see if he could see their assailant. Six then sent the Flyspy drone after the man to see if he could track him down.

The man was dressed in full combat fatigues and was armed with a sniper rifle. He was watching the boat, but out of the corner of his eye say the Flyspy. He fired but missed. Ash got a bead on the target, based on the muzzle flash and fired blindly through the tree he sat up against.

Ash, glyph and the Sniper traded lead for a few moments before the sniper was shot dead. Ash made his way over and discovered that he was some kind of mercenary. Maybe a hunter, maybe on another job, probably after Sukie/the runners.

They decided to move out at sea away from land, Six got supplies and the three of them took the boat 7 miles out into international waters. They waited some more. Sukie began to regain consciousness, and after untying her, Glyph began to talk to her under the watchful gaze of Six. Ash remained above deck on watch.

It turned out that Mitchell was Sukie’s agent, and that he had set up this whole kidnap affair to boost sales of her flagging back catalogue of sim-flicks. In the meantime Ash received a call from Mitchell. He claimed that negotiations wither her agent had gone badly and he wanted her dead. Ash asked to consult with the team and offered to call him back.

The team were not going to do the wetwork, and when they phoned Mitchell back to tell him, they cajoled him into re-asking for Sukie to be hit, this time they recorded the conversation. Mitchell had anticipated that the runners would turn him down, and had made arrangements for two powerboats to be positioned within striking distance, and once he had given the word they closed in, and began to shoot. They intended for no one to survive. The runners returned fire and eventually beat off the assault. They hot footed out of the area back to land.
The runners had been tracked by the RFID tag on Sukie, and once the skimmer drone had identified the tag on the boat, the runner’s position was compromised. Ash had burned off Sukie’s tags, but had neglected the boat. The runners realised this and rectified the mistake.

Sukie was told everything. And the runners offered their apologies and a recording of Mitchell asking to have Sukie killed. She asked to be taken to her dad’s home, and paid the runners for the recording. It seemed money was so important to them after all. And after this the runners headed home for some sleep and a bit of downtime.


12th July 2070

Six was making his way back to his lockup when he saw a black sedan parked outside. He didn’t recognise the car, but played it cool and walked over. A mafia man stepped out. It was Nunzio, Six’s brother.

They went in, had a coffee, and caught up a little. Nunzio told Six that he and his friends had made some very dangerous enemies. Nunzio had been keeping tabs on his little brother and knew that something was about to happen. Nunzio knew how proud Six was so he offered him a “Job” to get him and the team out of town for a while. It would also get Nunzio a man he could trust in Atlanta for a time.

The job was a cake walk, catch up with a man who was headed to Atlanta, steal a comlink from him without him noticing, and pressing on to Atlanta to hand it over to someone Nunzio had already positioned there.

Six rallied the team; they tooled up and then blazed. Their target was travelling at the speed limit, at the runners pace they would catch up with him on the second day of a four day journey to Atlanta. Border checkpoints were a cinch, and the runners made good time.

Six had noticed a rider at one check point. He eyeballed Six from the back of his BMW bike, and six gave it right back. He was through the checkpoint first and was gone.

The runners stopped at a motel for the night and slept. The runners had been touched by the astral when they defeated Alisom, and they had a similar feeling. The all saw the same things.

Their target eating in a diner.
A man on a bike.
An albino man lying on his back on the floor, dead. A bullet hole in his forehead.
A photograph scene. Some kind of school, or military photo.

The runners puzzled over this as they drove onward the following morning. Slowly, mile by mile catching up with the target.

About 60 miles ahead, and about 100 miles from the border the comlink trail they were following, stopped. The runners were subjected to another waking vision.

A man eating, a briefcase between his legs.
The bike rider securing something under a car.
Their target opening his car door.
An explosion.

Six took the hint and pushed the throttle to the bulkhead, Ash tried to keep up but the crewcab was not as fast. Six arrived at the diner and saw the targets Ford Americar. He pulled up in a parking space opposite and sat, waited and watched. 10 minutes later, a motorbike pulled, the same rider that Six had eyeballed at the border days before. Their eyes met and the rider sped off back in the direction of the oncoming Ash.

Ash spoke to Six briefly and then saw the oncoming rider; he was travelling fast. Ash veered onto the other carriageway to stop him. He stopped.
The bike smashed into the bonnet of the car, the rider thrown through the windscreen.

Glyph and Ash pushed the broken rag-doll body of the rider out of the car and staggered from the wreckage. The crewcab truck had taken serious damage but the bike was nothing more than bent metal. Ash checked the riders ID. He was a nobody. Glyph checked the panniers on the bike and found a small charge of explosive. Enough to blow a car to pieces.

They cleared up and Six arranged for a towtruck to pick them up. Meanwhile the target was moving again. Six took up the tail and followed him to another motel. Six booked a room and set up observations. Ash and Glyph hit the road 4 hours later, with the crewcab patched together and they met up at the motel.

Sneaking into the mans motel room, the runners took the comlink, and switched it for a new one the runners had purchased for the task. They then left.

Easy as that. The runners drove on, and made it to Albuquerque. Ash headed for a garage where he could get the truck repaired properly. Getting a hotel room he would catch Glyph and Six up.

Glyph and Six headed onto the prosperous city of Atlanta, they met up with Nunzio’s contact, who gave Six an address for a safe house as they handed over the stolen comlink. The runners were paid the easiest money they had earned.