Like a Boss by Adam Rakunas

Author:Adam Rakunas
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Windswept, Science Fiction, space rum, Padma Mehta
ISBN: 9780857664822
Publisher: Angry Robot
Published: 2016-04-06T22:00:00+00:00

FOURTEEN

Soni sagged against the ambulance’s bulkhead. In the soft LED light, I could see bags the size of cricket balls under her eyes. Even her head stubble looked tired. “This is just about the perfect way to cap off today,” she said. “Every precinct has been on tactical alert since the strike started, and that means making all my people wear armor while carrying half their bodyweight in water bottles and riot foam. You know how unbreathable our armor is?”

“Is that why you’re not in it?”

She gave me a weak smile. “The advantages of command. My armor is back at the Fourteenth Street Precinct, air drying in my office. I’ve been on my feet since four this morning.” She closed her eyes. “Believe it or not, I am happy to see you. I heard about you walking around today, talking with people. But you vanished for a bit after the fire at your building.”

“I went back to Tanque.”

She made a face. “How? The outbound buses had stopped.”

I opened my mouth to say, Letty gave me a ride, and realized I had no idea whose side Soni was on. That made my stomach roil. We had pissed each other off as much as we’d made each other laugh. Maybe more. I could count the people I trusted on one hand, and she was right there. That was before all of this chaos, and I now had no clue where she stood. Was she loyal to Letty? Saarien? The general good? How the hell do you ask your friend if she’s really on your side?

“I got a lift,” I said.

“And you didn’t think to call?”

“Well, Soni, considering how the fire brigade didn’t bother to show up, I wasn’t sure what would happen with the police.”

She didn’t protest. “Yeah. I’m sorry I couldn’t spare the hands. I had to deal with looting on Kuttner.”

Now it was my turn to make a face. “There’s nothing but clinics there.”

Soni sighed and nodded. “A bunch of footie thugs raided the dispensaries. Made off with a whole lot of painkillers. Everyone’s convinced the city’s going to burn and we won’t be able to buy meds for a year. Half my people are just standing guard at every chemist in town.”

I rubbed my temples. “Soni, what the hell is going on? This apocalyptic crap pops up every now and then, but it’s never more than a dozen people. The whole city’s losing it.”

She quirked her mouth. “I’m sure you’ve heard about our friend, the Good Reverend Saarien?”

I nodded. “I even went to see him.”

Her eyes went wide. “What the hell for?”

“Because I was helping Keiko Nakamura. Remember her? Runs that omusubi-ya?”

Soni’s face darkened, and she looked at the EMT. “Would you mind leaving us for a moment?”

“I have to monitor this guy,” said the EMT.

“I can handle that.” She jerked her head toward the front of the ambulance. The EMT shook her head, the beads in her cornrows clattering. She threw her hands in the air and climbed into the front, sliding a panel behind her.

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