NOVEL FROG Chapter 57: What’s Up With Chowder?
The fight I was expecting did not come. There was a lot of screaming though. I put the ones that were close to death out of their misery with headshots. The three remaining attackers writhed on the ground, their brains partially scrambled by the explosion. Hunds, even warhunds, were particularly vulnerable to the concussive effects of high explosives.
It was so anticlimactic. I couldn't even question the survivors because they were all too fucked up. Judging by the HUDs they wore, none of them were warhunds either. I might as well have thrown my grenades into a swimming pool filled with baby ducklings. It was so frustrating!
I viciously kicked one of the corpses. My boots thunked into his ribs, which only made me angrier. The dumb fuck wasn't even wearing side plates! How was I supposed to blow off some steam when all they sent me to kill were these stupid, unprepared, soft, worthless idiots? I wanted to scream, so I did. But it didn't make me feel any better.
I called Sapphire via wetware as I started methodically stacking weapons and separating out the living from the dead. She was not going to be happy.
***
Echo went back to sleep as soon as Sapphire showed up. The final three survivors of the attack on my apartment were being transported via ambulance to the nearest hospital but their chances of survival were slim to none.
To my surprise a familiar face greeted me when it was time to talk to the police. “What the hell? Sacher told me you were dead!”
“I'll bet he also told you he was still a cop too.” Detective Inspector Chowder replied, adding to my confusion. “We put him on administrative leave and were in the process of terminating him when you did the job for us. Thank you for that, by the way.”
Before I could say anything, Sapphire elbowed me in the ribs. Right, I wasn't supposed to talk to the police.
“The group that hit you were mercenaries. Our current guess is that the Cutters couldn't get to you themselves, so they hired some local muscle. The IDs on the ones you killed all trace back to some murder for hire shitbags. I've looked over your statement, it tracks with what we confirmed through our sources. You should be in the clear for Sacher and the others. The new chief is not wasting any more department resources on Sacher or his bullshit.” Chowder looked at me as if he was expecting something.
“Thank you for handling this unfortunate situation with professionalism.” I said, leaning into the formality of my corporate upbringing. “Have there been recent changes to department policy or management?”
“Yeah, you could say that. Sacher went into the gang war guns blazing and got dozens of our people killed or injured. Nobody liked that. Chief Temple took over a month ago. He did a complete overhaul and now we're looking for new recruits to replace the ones who either died or got kicked out on their ass for corruption.”
Chowder smiled. “Say, would you happen to know any hot blooded young academy graduates who can handle themselves in a firefight? Ones who definitely are not in the pocket of the Cutters or the other gangs.”
“I might. But if you don't need anything else from me right now I would like to head out.”
“Don't let me keep you.” Chowder looked at his tablet. “Body removal and forensics are done. We should be out of your fur in about thirty minutes. Think about the offer though. I read your file and you could do a lot of good, not just as a shooter either.” He sent me his contact info.
Sapphire gave me a look as soon as we were alone in my room.
I picked up my bag and took a look around. There was nothing else I needed. I called for an airlift to the factory and filled Simon in on what was going on.
A text from Simon flashed in my mind and I smiled.
***
Some people bought tickets, others chartered flights. The very rich might even have their own planes and flight crews. But only Simon had a supersonic jet.
It originally started out as a project to bring supersonic flight to the masses. When the original buyer decided to go another way Simon snagged the prototypes for his personal use. Then he continued to improve them until he was satisfied.
Lockheed was powered by a micro reactor and could circle the globe without stopping. Or reach the edge of space, if needed.
I was fuzzy on how it all worked. All I knew was that Lockheed was fast. So damn fast. At normal altitude it could hit mach 3 without issue. But if the pilot was particularly suicidal they could climb to the upper atmosphere and exceed mach 10. It wasn't a plane, it was a rocket with wings.
A familiar walking tank greeted us from the tail ramp. “Get in bitches, we're going shopping!”
An hour and several prayers later we touched down in Möhi. The armrests of Sapphire's chair were shredded and she was breathing like she just ran a marathon.
I laughed. Taking a trip on Lockheed was a bit intense to begin with and Bones didn't exactly care how much fuel she burned. All she wanted to do was go fast. “You can retract your claws now. We've landed.”
Sapphire turned to look at me, still panting, not speaking. Going three times the speed of sound had that effect on people. She had just about lost her shit when the wingtips started glowing red.
“Oh no.” I said, making a big show of checking my pockets. “I think I left my passport at home. We will have to go back and get it.”
For a second it looked like Sapphire was about to cry. But eventually she realized I was fucking with her. “Eden, you're such an asshole sometimes.”
“She's ungrateful too.” Rook said from his seat behind us.
“Extremely ungrateful.” Knight agreed. “We were supposed to have a week off. Now we're stuck guarding this plane while you party with supermodels.”
“Wait, you aren't coming with me?” I looked at the two hunds.
“Nope, GG and Gigot have taken that duty upon themselves. Customs will come aboard to stamp passports then Gigot will take you over to Crufts. He landed around the same time we did.” Knight went back to his book. Behind us the ramp lowered and I heard the sound of someone coming onboard.
“Oh.” Sapphire shook her head. Katzen couldn't blush but she was doing her best.
“What?”
“I… apparently Amanda and GG are getting along better than I thought. She sent me photos.”
I was confused. “That's a good thing, right?”
“Yep.” Sapphire nodded, very pointedly not elaborating or explaining.
“Wait a minute… are they?” I made a rubbing motion with two fingertips.
“Yep. Very much so. Them and about three or four models.” Sapphire twisted awkwardly in her seat. “It's really really hot and they invited me to come play.”
I wasn't sure how I felt about my aunt having mini orgies. Mentally she was damn near ancient, but physically she was a katzen in the prime of her life. I was saved from my dilemma by a tall hund approaching to scan my passport.
“Do you have anything to declare?” He asked.
“Yes, my aunt is sleeping with my best friend’s partner and I don't know how I feel about it. They're non-monogamous, but it's still weird, right?”
The hund cocked his head to the side. “Any goods, I mean.”
“Oh… in that case, no.”