Guns for Hire - Script Fifteen
Forlorn Hope, Night City 10.33pm 05/06/2015
For a moment Gonzales stared at Uzzitt in confusion,
"Should I know who you are" asked Gonzales, gesturing to an empty stool.
Nervously
Uzzitt took the seat & composed himself, accepting the beer proffered by Gonzales
he shrugged his shoulders & apologised to those seated around the table for
disturbing their evening. For the moment ending their seemingly interminable
bickering over whose turn it was to clean the apartment, wash the sheets, take
out the trash, blah, blah, blah. . . . . . .
Price, Skinpin, Vrasten & Mariusz turned their attention towards Gonzales's new buddy & waited expectantly.
Unsure of himself Uzzitt again introduced himself,
"Look fella's I didn't mean to interrupt your night but, well, I've been asking around &, well, someone said you guys might be the ones who could help me. It's a long story but if you'll let me buy you a pitcher maybe you could hear me out"
Uzzitt then proceeded to tell Gonzales & Co a little about himself,
"I run a farm over Mariposa way, its eighty miles or so
inland of NC" he replied in response to Alex's blank look, "Soya bean, maize
that sort of thing plud plenty of pasture, about 450 acres all told, anyway's
not much else for an old man to do these days, finished with the navy in 2006,
iffy ticker Doc said, & took over farm from the old man, didn't know what else
to do after Maria died."
"Sorry, my life past ain't your problem" responded Uzzitt, "Well, problem is see that I got, well, had, a daughter, cute as pie, Melody, would have been thirty three this Fall, clever too, got that from Maria I reckon, not from me anyway's, qualified as a doctor at Sacramento Med."
"Few
years back she got offered a job with some outfit doing medical research, Shore
Chemical Company, about nine months ago she comes over one time & tells me she's
off to Ecuador as Shore have some study or such like going on in the rain forest
& they'd asked her to up sticks & go down there for two years or so. I can tell
you I weren't to enamored about it, what with all the troubles there's been
over the last ten years or so but what's a father to do I ask you, lock her
up"
"Anyway's she ships out September last year full of beans, phones aren't to good down there but we e-mail, tells me how good its all going. Then out the blue, I get a visit from some suit on behalf of SCC, tells me Melody & some techie she works with been killed, diving accident he says, tragedy for every one, SCC very sorry & all that crap, it fair blew me to shit it did, didn't know what to say to him"
Taking a few seconds to compose himself Uzzitt continued,
"So, he gives me this box of clothes an' such & tells me that SCC will sort out the bills, tells me insurers are sorting out things & that they'll be a cheque as soon as, what the fuck do I care about any god damm cheque. Anyway's he goes on that some mix up happens at the local hospital & Melody's body & that of the guy who was with her gets cremated instead of being shipped home proper like. I wanted to fly down there, just to see where it, where she died, just to you know, close it down you know, say good bye. Anyway this shit head says no can do I'm afraid, restricted area an' all that shit. I was to fucked up at the time, just nodded & said OK"
"So what's this got to do with us" interrupted Gonzales
Embarrassed, Uzzitt glanced at Gonzales as if for a second he hadn't got any idea why he was in the Hope,
"Yeah, right, sorry, it was just hard to take, sort'a just wiped me out inside"
"So anyway's the goon from SCC phones me a few times, tells me some chief doctor at Arajuno is all sorry about the ways things had gone, De Abreu, Agnieska De Abreu, or some such name, & that he's putting a cheque in the post to me, even sent an urn with her ashes in. I know the kid was only doing his job but fuck; I hated the bastard for it"
"Shit happens anyway's, I get on with things, try not to think about it to much but then two weeks back, I get this text message from an unknown sender, just says, Melody Uzzitt did not drown, I mean, what the fuck was I supposed to do"
"That's how I ended up here, I'd heard about this place a couple of years back from a guy I served with, told me it was full of, begging your pardon, bastard grunts & cyber jockeys with shit all do but think off ways to kill Charlie"
"All I want" whispered Uzzitt, "Is to no what happened"
All five sat back, fuck me thought Mariusz, do we really need this shit. Alex leant forward,
"Look Frank, were all sorry an all that about your daughter, but, I've gotta ask, how much do you wanna spend, I can tell it ain't gonna be cheap"
"I can pay" said Uzzitt, "I'm not looking for charity, with the money from SCC,
never touched it, just put it in the bank, & savings I can go to maybe $450K,
give me time, maybe a couple of months, I could raise another $200K or so"
"And if she is dead" asked Alex "I just want the truth, if Melody's dead, then OK, its over, but I need to now the truth of what happened, its easy now, SCC's story was just to clean, it all fitted, I just nodded & accepted all their bullshit, but you know, it ain't right, it stinks, & the other thing right, Melody can't have died diving whatever they say, she couldn't swim for shit as a kid, hated the water, she was aquaphobic, bloody ironic really, me being a life long navy boy. As Frank obviously had more to tell Vrasten ordered over another pitcher of beer however as questions & theory's were thrown around the table somebody tapped him on the shoulder, startled he glanced up, it was Bluto,
"Vrasty man, its cool, can we like talk business"
Excusing himself, Vrasten nodded towards a spare booth, it was a fairly quiet night so far, on stage Sundance, Banger, ZZ & Ras were sat around jamming, playing more for them selves that the punters. Mariusz, weary of Frank Uzzitt's whining stretched & then surreptitiously slipped the safety of the Dunarmco under his coat, muttering his apologies he took a seat with a better view of Vrasten & Bluto, after all you never knew who might be interested.
Forlorn Hope, Night City 11.54pm 05/06/2015
Back at the table Uzzitt had gone having left a contact number with Alex, Vrasten & Mariusz rejoined them having established that Bluto's client was very happy with the merchandise, as such arrangements had been made to meet the following afternoon at Jonkers Cafe to make the exchange, Mariusz was disappointed that nobody had tried to eaves drop.
Before departing Uzzitt he'd filled them in a few other details, personnel stuff about Melody, her area of study: Regressive Reproductive Abnormalities, as well as what little he knew about SCC & such like.
He'd also told them that since receiving the text message he'd not contacted
SCC but had managed to contact the doctor who'd signed the death certificate
at the Voz Andes Hospital just outside Puyo, the province of Ecuador in which
Arajuno & the river for which it was named were located. Uzzitt's Spanish was
none to good however after twenty minutes or so he'd gleaned from the hospital
doctor, Dr. Anna Gabriella, that she had signed the death certificate as a professional
courtesy to the head of SCC's research team, Dr. Agnieska De Abreu, she herself
never having actually seen the bodies. Dr. Gabriella had complied with De Abreu's
request because both Melody & her colleague, had been pronounced deceased at
the scene of the incident by Dr. De Abreu, in fact the good doctor confirmed
that she had not even been on duty when the bodies were brought into the hospital
premises, Dr Gabriella had also mentioned that SCC provided substantial funding
to Voz Andes so compliance with De Abreu would not have been easy to refuse.
Whilst Alex & Gonzales squabbled about the best method of traveling to Ecuador Vrasten made good use of Alex's wireless palm PC pulling up as much information as he could concerning SCC, Frank Uzzitt & his daughter, Arajuno, Shell, Puyo & its indigenous population, additionally he pulled up records from various regional scream sheets that made reference to "Local girl dies in tragic circumstances" which eventually lead him to the name of Melody's deceased colleague, Gary Triador.
Ignoring the arguments, & despite the hour, Skinpin, trying to bury the hatchet with Alex, ordered her a large bourbon, the Hope's best, before making a few calls regarding the availability of commercial cargo charter flights as well as waking a few old squad acquaintances to see what were the chances of a non scheduled operational flight. For the minute he drew a blank on the latter however he did find one privateer, despite the lateness of the hour, who didn't baulk at the mention of flying south of the border, the cost however, nigh on $160K, almost causing Gonzales to piss himself.
Across the table Mariusz, bored of it all, wondered if Roxy & Kissy would show tonight, eager to sample the delights of the previous evening, disappointed Mariusz leaned forward,
"Look fella's, before we get buried neck deep in shit about how we do this can we just make sure we actually want to get involved in this pissy lost little girl bullshit"
Briefly Vrasten, Alex & Gonzales turned blank faces towards Mariusz then continued to exchange views on the the why's & what for's of the best way to reach Arajuno.
Mariusz & Skinpin exchanged a few quiet words & then leaving the others to their plans casually slipped away from the table, it was only a few minutes later however that Gonzales, turning to ask Skinpin & Mariusz's view on some petty detail, realised that Mariusz & Skinpin had cleared out.
It'll Do Motel , Night City 1.04am 06/06/2015
Sixty minutes or so later Skinpin & Mariusz paid of the cab driver & as it disappeared back towards down town NC slunk towards the It'll Do Motel, from across the street the lobby windows had been boarded over to cover the damaged caused by Skinpin's casually tossed grenade,
"Made a fucking mess here didn't ya" sniggered Mariusz "shame you didn't do a proper job"
Skinpin tucked himself behind a vandalised data term opposite & watched Mariusz saunter through the broken & boarded doorway of the motel lobby, where the fucks that dog gone now thought Skinpin.
It'll Do Motel , Night City 1.07am 06/06/2015
Stepping into the motel lobby Mariusz was confronted by a bruised & bandaged grease ball behind a make shift counter, without looking up from his teen jazz mag Fat Larry scratched his but & grunted,
"$35 dollars, don't ask for clean sheets cos' we ain't fuckin' got any, no fuckin' queers, break out & you pay for it, if you don't wanna pay then piss off"
Mariusz looked the piece of shit up & down, slipped the SK19G from under his coat & emptied a full clip into Fat Larry's pock marked face,
"No bastard witnesses now" murmured the grinning Mariusz as he walked out of the motel.
Forlorn Hope, Night City 2.14am 05/06/2015
Alex, Gonzales slammed down their respective shot glasses on the table, Vrasten long since having slipped into passed into alcoholic oblivion,
"Another drink for me an' my bestest ever friends" slurred Gonzales as Banger cleared the two dozen or so empty shot glasses off the table,
"Your well fragged honey pie" laughed Banger "Go home & sleep"
Alex grinned,
"S'funny, I didn't realise you were twins"
The apartment, Night City 10.42am 06/06/2015
By
mid morning everybody, including the ashen faced Gonzales, had surfaced, conversation
again turned to the possible trip south, before anyone could question Mariusz
& Skinpin had pissed off to the night before however a breaking news follow
up report by Marcy Kravitz flickered across the KCRA news channel reporting
that,
"Persons unknown had returned to the scene of the previous nights robbery at a motel on Mitchell Avenue & brutally slaughtered the hero of the hour, one Leonard J Denver"
""Just tidying up loose ends" offered Mariusz in response to Alex's raised eyebrows.
Junkers Cafe, Prague Square, Night City 2.17pm 06/06/2015
Dressed in their finest Vrasten, or in the case of Skinpin & Gonzales what ever Vrastens meager wardrobe could provide, the five eased their way through the lunch time affluent lunching in Night City's premier day time venue, Prague Square, seeing a suited Bluto sat at a table outside of a cafe bar called Junkers, Vrasten, accompanied by Alex & Co joined Bluto,
"Sorry guys, starving, couldn't wait, foods fantastic, you are paying for this Vrasty I take it"
Behind Bluto a couple of well dressed & discreetly armed heavies gave Mariusz, Skinpin, Gonzales & Alex a professional once over, Mariusz, looking around the cafes patrons spotted the remaining members of Bluto's entourage, a smart couple eating at an adjacent table doing their best not to be interested, smiling Mariusz politely asked if he could share shier table, the woman demurely smiled & gestured towards a third seat before continuing to discuss with her "husband" the colour of her new Masseratti.
Vrasten
& the others perused the cafe's ample menu,
"Lobster, bloody good" grunted Bluto as he continued to stuff his face "Lets have a shufty then"
Vrasten opened up a battered hold all, Bluto, sucking the last of the juices off his fingers leant forward & quickly inspected its contents,
"All looks pretty good to me"
Zipping it up he went to pass it to one of the grunts,
"Er, arn't we forgetting something" reminded Vrasten
Grinning, Bluto handed over a slim but expensive briefcase, Vrasten placed the case on the table & turning it so as it opened toward Bluto flicked the catches, when it didn't explode he, as well as the others, peered over the lid, inside the case was a single solitary pre paid debit card & a slip of paper bearing the cards encryption code.
"What the fuck, Bluto, where's the greenbacks, we agreed, cash sale only" exclaimed Vrasten
"Its cool dude" replied Bluto gesturing to his assistants to keep there hands in the open "Its all there, pre paid & chipped, check it out"
Leaning forward Alex picked up the card & looking around the square spotted a shiny & working data term, taking the card & under the watchful gaze of both parties she quickly walked over to the terminal & inserted the card & tapped in its authorisation sequence, three seconds later the screen readout confirmed that the possessor of the card was worth near on $350K, smiling she deducted & pocketed $1000, returning to the table she sat & politely asked if any body wanted to go shopping.
Bluto handed over the hold all to one of his associates who scuttled off across the square, Mariusz's new found friends requested their bill & nodding to Mariusz departed in the same direction as the goon.
Bluto, sat back & belched,
"Pleasure doing business people, don't forget to call if you find anything else like that again, I now a few collectors who'd be appreciative, Oh & Vrasty, thanks for the food, tabs in your name"
As Bluto walked passed Mariusz's table he leant down & whispered,
"You dirty bastard, Roxy & Kissey, I could get top dollar for a tape of that one"
Mariusz grinned.