The Sigma Imperative by Greg Dragon

Author:Greg Dragon [Dragon, Greg]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thirsty Bird Productions
Published: 2018-01-05T05:00:00+00:00

‡Chapter 12‡

Against All Odds

Lur sat up on the tiny bed and leaned back against the metal wall, shifting to find some comfort in between the slats. This was a stacked dock hostel, one of the cheap living options that littered the poverty stricken beach areas of the island. It was where tourists that had little money stayed, and people who wanted to stay off the grid.

The hostels took UCC chips, which Lur had to scrounge for but found enough to pay for a night. The building—if you would call it a building—was an accident waiting to happen. Old storage units with makeshift windows cut out of them, welded atop each other in a complex honeycomb of “rooms.” Hers was on the top floor, so she had to climb up the rickety metal stairs that were barely attached to the units.

The room itself reminded her of the smaller spaces in the zeppelin. The bed consisted of crates welded to one wall, complete with a mattress and a few lumpy pillows. Pipes for the sewage ran along each wall and ended in a standing shower and toilet. There was a desk with a lamp and a few jacks for a rack, and a small refrigerator with a lock on it.

Apparently access would cost 10 UCCs, and since the room cost 20, Lur didn’t bother. She had been tempted to try her rack again, now that she was away from the house and her variant victim, but she was tired so she took out some clothes and spread them over the stained mattress. She had packed them close enough to keep her skin from touching anything, and slept fully clothed just in case.

This was the lowest of the low, and she couldn’t sleep at first, but in time it came and she was in the land of dreams. Now as she looked around, she got a glimpse of the time: it was a little after 7:00 a.m. She hopped up off the bed and removed her clothes, but kept on her shoes so as not to make contact with the shower floor.

The water was cold and had no pressure, but she made it work, then she used the bathroom and put on a fresh set of clothes before gathering all her things. When she stepped outside she saw several men on the beach. They were all looking towards her direction, and one of them waved. Lur went back inside and collected her pistol, slipped it into her back pocket, and grabbed her suitcase.

This time when she went outside one of the men was climbing the stairs. She gripped her pistol and held her ground, ready to slip back into the room. A phone call was coming in but she dared not answer, not when she was about to be kidnapped by these strange men.

“Not another step,” she announced. She pulled the pistol free, but when she did something else fell out and she saw that it was a tiny envelope. The contents were the complementary sleeping pills the hostel clerk had given her, as well as soundproof earplugs.

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