Mirror Sky. Part 1 - Blissful Nemesis

15 - Warm Welcome

Dan carried the child through the maze of tubes and conduits and out of the alley. Sonya, Artur, and Tom followed them close behind.

Dan stopped and looked at the stores around. He was not much of a clothing shopper. He always came to the closest store, picked the first thing that fit from the closest to the exit rack, then paid and left his wife behind to stay there for four more hours. He once complained about the amount of clothing she had in her closet, and she walked him to his closet, twice as big, soundproofed, and ventilated, filled with tools and guns. She suggested counting the amount they spent filling their closets, and Dan wisely refused. His plasma welder alone was as much as ten of Liza's most expensive shoes.

The boy in Dan's arms moved and almost fell out.

"Chill, little fella," mouthed Dan and adjusted his grip. "What store should I pick, the one by the pile of your homelanders or the one by the trench they mangled?"

He already felt weird going along with this plan. He glanced at Nightingale on the ground. There they were, fulfilling his Dying Wish. What were the odds that four like-minded individuals would stumble over a Leper kid and agree to help him? He did not believe in stories about Gost, but it all was too lucky. Also, luck tended to run out, and so was the mythical attention of Gost. He expected something nasty to happen any minute.

"There," said Sonya and pointed at a store down the street. "Chic Children."

"Their stuff is expensive," said Dan. "You can dress up five adults for the price of a pair of shoes there."

"We aren't buying," said Tom. "We're looting!"

Artur took off, jumped over several bodies, slipped on blood a few times, then approached the store. He looked at the cracked reinforced storefront, found a luxurious wooden door, and kicked it. The door splintered to pieces, flew in, and sent an echo through the empty streets while Artur disappeared inside the store.

"I guess we chose the store," Dan noted. "What's Artur's deal? Is he mute like the kid?"

"No," said Tom. "Just shell-shocked."

"You two seem comfortable with looting," said Dan, trying to hide judgment in his voice. He hated looters. Shot a dozen of them over the years. "You aren't the penal company lot, are you?"

"We are," said Tom. "Well, we were."

"What?" Sonya eavesdropped. "Really? You weren't volunteers?"

Tom looked up to the sky.

"Yeah," he stretched his words. "Artur and I are what you call troubled youth."

Dan now felt even less sure about the plan, as it came out from an ex-convict.

"A couple of juvies in my unit," said Sonya. "And people say you can't keep a secret in boot camp. Why didn't I see any records on your file?"

"It was expunged as a part of our deal," said Tom. "Artur and I joined the penal company instead of going to prison with a garland of felonies. Seemed fair until we saw the penal company from the inside. In hindsight, I almost wish I took the prison and the record."

"You must have had a hell of a lawyer to get that deal," said Dan as he set off to the store.

"I negotiated the deal myself, with the lawyer present," said Tom, joining him. "I weaseled out of tight spots before, and I figured, what the hell? It couldn't hurt to try."

"And it worked?" asked Sonya, joining them.

"Yup," said Tom, jumping over a body. "The lawyer said she couldn't use a high multiplier on her hours because she did not do much in the meeting."