The limousine swished along the elevated expressway in near silence, the sheen of its sleek black exterior reflecting ribbons of colour from city lights. A heady scent of Oudh oil permeated the air of the opulent passenger compartment, recalling a vague memory of minarets and souks for Domino. She frowned, unable to place the imagery, a fragment of an uncertain past.
“You seem troubled,” opined Capricia. She was staring at Domino intently.
“It's nothing, just a few bruises.”
“I see. No doubt the injury you sustained to your hand is causing you no small discomfort. Or perhaps cybernetic limbs dispense with such inconveniences?”
“No... it still aches.”
Capricia shrugged off the fussing of the three boys draped around her and sat forward. Her manner intensified and her tone shifted to the interrogative.
“Tell me, why did you enter my arena tonight?”
“I imagine the same reason everyone else does.”
Capricia threw her head back and laughed.
“My, aren't we evasive? I have seen as many reasons for fighting as I have seen contenders. What was yours?”
“Money. And the challenge. I like to test my skills.”
Capricia cast Domino a look of incredulity.
“Everyone wants money, that's a given. As to testing your skills, I suspect you didn't even come close to doing so tonight.”
[I don't like where this is going, Yukiko.]
[I know what you mean. No sign of the laptop yet, either. This isn't as easy as I'd hoped.]
[She must keep it close. Hang in there. I'm tailing the limo on the lower level expressway if you need to bail. I'm on my Suzuki.]
[You brought the bike out?]
[Yeah, I know you prefer me to stay out of harm's way but once I figured you'd be on the move, I wanted to stay close.]
[Thanks, Angel.]
Domino had been watching her own reflection in the window of the limo while communicating with Angel. She returned her attention to Capricia again, who was watching her with open curiosity.
“You're giving me too much credit. It was a tough fight.”
“Ah. Modesty.” Capricia paused, pressed a button on the console running alongside her seat. “Or something else?”
A slimline laptop emerged slowly from the console. Capricia pulled it free and powered it on, her eyes fixed on Domino the whole time. The prize was within reach now and Domino wasn't certain that she had succeeded in concealing her interest.
“If I were to plug your 'Kunoichi' alias into my little friend here, what would I find?”
“Not much. I prefer to stay off the grid.”
“Indeed,” Capricia mused as her fingers flicked idly at the keyboard.
Domino hoped Capricia was bluffing. If the laptop was wired for internet access, it was the wrong machine.
[I'm checking her notebook now, Yuki-chan.]
[Read my mind.]
Domino found it very difficult not to smile in that moment. So much of her pursuit of Yamada through his network of underlings would have been a much greater struggle were it not for Angel's help and, perhaps more importantly, her insight and empathy.
[That's it! That's the one we need. She's bluffing: it's not transmitting or receiving any data packets via the web.]
[You're an Angel.]
[Yeah, yeah. Very funny. Now concentrate on the job.]
Capricia had finished her faux search and was once again regarding Domino, a lofty expression on her face.
“Hmm. Interesting. I wonder...” Capricia drummed her fingers along the top edge of the laptop screen. “... It's this you're interested in, isn't it? Your attempt to mask it was admirable but your reaction was obvious to me.”
Domino was watching Capricia's hands very carefully now. She had scanned the Italian woman as they sat in the limousine and knew she had a four-shot .357 Derringer strapped to her thigh beneath her gown. Capricia was still talking though, showing no signs of moving for her firearm.
“I had thought that dear Vasily's demise was a simple robbery, an arms deal turned sour. But then I remembered the matter of one of my warehouses being reduced to a smouldering ruin...”
[She's not as stupid as she looks.]
[More's the pity. This is going to get ugly, Angel. Can you hack the driver of the limo, maybe provide a distraction? I think it's one of those savant chauffeur models.]
[I can try.]
“...and so I suspected a possible attack on the syndicate.”
“Sounds like you've had a bad time of it. That why you're hiring fresh muscle?”
“Don't be cute!” Capricia bristled. “I'm giving you the chance to discuss this civilly.”
“Very charitable of you.”
Capricia's flash of anger was building rapidly into a full blown storm of rage now. Domino smiled: she needed Capricia angry. She'd be more clumsy that way. The fact she hadn't pulled her pistol already was worrying though. Domino started to wonder if the three loincloth-clad Egyptian boys might be more than literal hangers-on.
“Shut up!” shrieked Capricia. “I know you must want access to the corporate intranet. I just want to know why. Tell me and perhaps we can negotiate a deal.”
“If you weren't such a bloodthirsty narcissist who delighted in watching the desperate kill one another for her pleasure, I might have considered it.”
“You have no idea who you're dealing with. I'm one of the most powerful women in the -”
“Oh hush, you're just window dressing.”
With that, Domino launched herself at Capricia before she had the chance to reach for her gun. She was brought up short by the trio of boys as they erupted into a bizarrely co-ordinated defence of their mistress, their gangly limbs moving with surprising speed and flexibility.
Domino tried to twist past them but was forced into a defensive crouch as three sets of rubbery arms and legs pounded her body. They descended on her in eerie silence, idiotic blank smiles on their lips. She was parrying and dodging their blows as rapidly as her reflexes would allow but in the close confines of the limousine the hairless Egyptians' synchronised assault threatened to overwhelm her.
She had suspected they might serve as bodyguards but hadn't anticipated their level of skill or their unrelenting disregard for pain. Within seconds, she had managed to break their ribs, fingers and, in one case, a femur and yet they showed no hint of discomfort. In fact, their grins widened along with their hooded eyes and each was rapidly developing a more obvious demonstration of arousal.
Acutely aware of the many bruises and lacerations ravaging her body, Domino knew she had to bring the chaos under control, find a way through their simian movements to their boss, who now had the Derringer levelled at her, waiting for a clear shot.
Two of the boys suddenly collided in their enthusiasm and broke the rhythm of their attack for the briefest of moments. That window of opportunity was all that Domino needed. She aimed a merciless snap kick into the midriff of one of them, sending him sprawling and vomiting into Capricia.
Dropping herself to the floor, Domino spun on her buttocks, whipping her legs around in the style of a street dancer or Capoeira fighter and broke through the defences of the second, her double kick smashing him into the mirrored ceiling. She heard something in him crunch and he fell still.
Muzzle flash from Capricia's gun filled Domino's vision as the impact from the shot snapped her shoulder around violently. Her pain suppressor kicked into overdrive then, nullifying the cold spread of shock from the wound. She closed on Capricia with unerring accuracy, despite the insistent bombardment of blows from the third boy. Her hands found Capricia's before she could fire another shot.
In a blur of motion, she took Capricia's pistol from her grasp, shot the third boy through his eye and, with her free hand, flattened Capricia's nose against her cheek with a crushing back fist.
[Yuki!]
[A little busy...]
[I know, I know! I'm about to fry the driver's CPU. Grab the laptop if you can and I'll blow the sunroof. Get out of there!]
[Wait, there isn't any sunroof-]
[Just trust me!]
The first boy had recovered from his retching and was once again attempting to pummel Domino, his spooky smile still fixed firmly in place. She spotted an ornamental pen protruding from Capricia's console and pulled it free. Holding it in a reverse grip she wielded it as a makeshift dagger and fell into a lethal dance of strikes and counter-strikes with the boy.
As Capricia writhed in her seat, alternating between nursing her gushing nose and gagging on the boy's vomit, Domino worked the boy's defensive posture higher and higher. Each thrust of the silver pen was designed to draw his arms up, the whirlwind movements of their arms too fast to track. She soon had the opening she needed as he committed to one of her feints and she dropped the pen under his guard and sank it deep into the artery serving his inner thigh.
She used his scrambling attempts to stem the fountain of blood from the mortal wound to break free and grab the laptop from Capricia's side.
[Now, Angel. Now!]
A loud 'pop' sounded from the driver's compartment, accompanied by the smell of fried circuitry. A heartbeat later and the mirror above Domino shattered into a thousand tiny fragments as Angel overrode the vehicle's safety protocols and force-activated the emergency exit.
Her adrenals spiking, Domino leapt straight up, her feet barely clearing the roof of the limousine as it sped away beneath her. Inertia and gravity carried her into an awkward tumble as she landed, ripping both clothing and skin from her already broken body. She dashed to the edge of the expressway, narrowly avoiding the path of a hover-taxi.
Further along the road, the limousine was picking up speed, now on a certain collision course with a sound-baffling wall. Seconds later, a fireball bloomed and engulfed the vehicle and all who remained inside. Domino collapsed, exhausted.
She was only half conscious moments later when Angel arrived. She was dimly aware of clambering onto the bike behind her friend before the protective canopy extended back into place around them and Angel gunned the engine.
[Wrap your arms around me if you can. Try to stay awake. I'm getting you to Suture's place.]
[N-no... not yet. Get back to... Venus Lounge... look for Russian... Petrov... may still... be alive. Suture... get him to meet us there.]
[Okay, Yuki-chan. You got it.]
Angel fed the Suzuki at breakneck speed through canyons of neon, leaving the flaming remains of Capricia Morucci far behind. She soon felt the ruined body of her friend fall limp behind her. Blinking away a hot rush of tears, she forced herself to focus on the tiny readout of Yukiko's vital signs on her heads up, willing them not to flatline as she desperately raced to their meeting with Suture.
Copyright © A. Flood 2010
Copyright © A. Flood 2010
