Guns for Hire - Script Thirty Two

Forlorn Hope, Night City 9.07pm - 13/05/2016

Vrasten looked past T-Bird, his attention momentarily caught by the white collar who was stood nervously at the end of the bar trying to get Slipknot's, the latest bar attraction, attention, the dude was was obviously feeling pretty uncomfortable & out of place in the Hope. Vrasten watched him as he finally overcame his embarrassment & caught Slipknot's eye, after a few seconds conversation Slipknot gestured towards where Vrasten & the others were having a beer.

Addressing the group he nervously began to speak,

"Mlle Price, messieurs, forgive my untimely intrusion on all of your valuable time, may I sit down please, it has been a very trying day I'm afraid"

Somewhat taken aback that the stranger new her name Alex hooked a spare stool with her foot from the adjacent table,

"Again I am sorry to intrude but I was told I might find you here by Uriel Sebree"

At the mention of Uriel, the Milkor suit who they'd dealt with a couple of months back, the tension eased, marginally. Mariusz, as gently as possible so as not to upset the natives, eased on the safety catch of the 12mm Dunarmco that he had taped to the underside of table muttering about bloody witnesses.

Sensing that this was going to be more difficult than he'd imagined he went on,

"My name is Yanic D'Aubigne, I work for Uriel, for Milkor as a Project Resource Account Manager in the administration of the Night City PD project. I have a difficulty that it seems the local police agency can't assist with, Uriel suggested you may be prepared, for a fee, to assist, before I explain further however I have something for you that Uriel tells me you are expecting, please, it is outside in my car"

Standing, Yanic turned & headed for the door only realising part way that Price, Mariusz, T-Bird & Vrasten were hanging back for some reason, after a few seconds hurried discussion they seemed to come to a decision & slipped out of the door ahead of Yanic eyes everywhere. Feeling suddenly very worried at the way these people were watching him, the car & the street, Yanic flipped the trunk catch, wincing as it clicked open, distinctly afraid that maybe he shouldn't have taken Uriel's advise & come to this stinking hole.

"I, I do not know what's in the box's" stuttered Yanic, almost slipping back into his natural tongue, French, as he fervently wished he was back in Juigne Bene.

In response to Price's quizzical stare Yanic answered,

"I'm sorry, I do not know, Uriel just said to make sure I gave these to you"

Realisation suddenly dawned on Mariusz & Alex, simultaneously both blurted,

"Mine, mine, mine all mine"

As Yanic quickly jumped out of the way Mariusz cracked open the catch on the nearest box, inside was a gleaming MGL - 105 Grenade Launcher, grinning Alex flicked open the second case,

"Snap"

The remaining four crates each contained eight 40mm grenades, terrified, Yanic watched as the crates were reverently removed from the trunk of his hire car & loaded into some sort of rusting pock marked armoured bus parked across the street from the flea pit Uriel had sent him to, returning to Yanic's side T-Bird slapped him on the shoulder & smiled,

"OK frenchy, how about a drink then"

Forlorn Hope, Night City 9.47pm - 13/05/2016

Grimacing at the sour taste of the malt beer Vrasten had thrust in front of him Yanic repeated his story,

"I have not been in your city for a very long time, I was sent here as a part of the administration team to oversee the NC project, in honesty I do not like this place, it smells, the people smell"

Sighing he went on'

"I am here with my two sons, Sébastien & Étienne, Sébastien is just eight, Étienne seventeen. Their mother, my wife, Yvette, died several years ago in a car crash, Étienne blames his father for her death, I was driving, we argued , I crashed & she died. Since coming to your country things have gone bad, deteriorated , he has as you say been mixing with a bad crowd, drink, drugs maybe, I hope not, I do not know but it is not good. Six or so weeks ago however he returned to me, he came home one morning before I dropped Sébastien at his day school, he fell into my arms full of remorse, telling me he was sorry for the way he had blamed me & how he would now be a good son"

"His word was good, he became the boy I had not seen since the day before Yvette's burial, he helped around the apartment, he played silly games with his little brother, but then two weeks ago he did not come home, I found a note repeating his sorrow for the blame he put on my head & forgiving me for what I had done to his mother, his note went on to tell me he had found a new family he could truly be a part of. I reported his disappearance to the police liaison desk but they tell me Étienne has committed no crime & as he is seventeen & his note implies he has gone of his own free will they cannot look for him"

Throwing his hands into the air Yanic exclaimed,

"What am I to do, in France this would not be permissible, this city is merde de chien , nobody cares a fuck what happens, it is no wonder that Milkor are needed here. I have done what I can to find Étienne but I am a foreigner in a wrong place, it is not easy, I speak with my friend Uriel, he suggests that I talk to you"

"There is one more thing to tell, when I spoke with Sébastien he cries & tells me he had listened to his big brother talking to a pretty girl one day when Étienne had taken him to the cinema, his brother & the girl had talked about something called 'Heavens Gate', I found a group, a sect, I think you call it, in a place called San Diego, I have tried to talk to these people, to ask them for my Étienne, they told me that they did not know him & I should not call again, after this I searched Étienne's room, I found this"

With that Yanic handed Vrasten a crumpled flyer proclaiming the gospel according to 'Heavens Gate'

Yanic sat back quietly unsure what reaction his tale would get, Alex leant forward,

"So how much you got to spend then"

Forlorn Hope, Night City 10.23pm - 13/05/2016

After quarter of an hours' fiscal haggling it was agreed that Yanic would pay $35K if they could bring Étienne home safe or if he was indeed safe & happy proof of such for a reduced sum. Mariusz, egged on by Alex, tutted his way through it all dropping several hints towards Vrasten that maybe if he'd not been so fucking arsey about cashing in on H12 they could all have retired happy & rich by know.

Before Yanic left the Hope Vrasten pressed one of the disposable fixed credit phones into his hand so as they could keep in contact,

In return Yanic dropped a photo of a smiling Étienne on the table.

"People can get hurt sometimes you know, there's no guarantees"

Yanic nodded somberly in recognition of Mariusz's warning & left without looking back.

Forlorn Hope, Night City 10.36pm - 13/05/2016

Before Yanic had made it to the door Vrasten had already started researching the 'Gate of Heaven' on his palm pod courtesy of the Hope's WiFi, whilst the others discussed the job he fed what information he dragged up to the others.

It appeared 'Heavens Gate' was a pseudo religious sect centered at some place called Barratt's Lake some twenty-five miles inland of San Diego.

According to what Vrasten had dug up in a text by some dude called Jacques Vallée in his book Messengers of Deception the group began in the early 1990s when Marshall Applewhite was recovering from a heart attack during which he claimed to have had a near-death experience. It went on to say that Marshall came to believe that he and his nurse, Bonnie Nettles, were "the Two", that is, the two witnesses spoken of in Book of Revelation 11:3 in the Christian bible.

After a brief and unsuccessful attempt to run an inspirational bookstore, they began traveling around the country giving talks about their belief system. As with some other New Age faiths they combined Christian doctrine, particularly the ideas of salvation and apocalypse, with the concept of evolutionary advancement and elements of science fiction, particularly travel to other worlds and dimensions. Applewhite & Nettles used a variety of aliases over the years, notably "Bo and Peep" & "Do and Ti". The group also had a variety of names, before the name Heaven’s Gate was used it was known as Human Individual Metamorphosis. Marshall himself believed he was directly related to Jesus, meaning he was an "Evolutionary Kingdom Level Above Human". The only way a human could live through the recycling would be to leave Earth.

Marshall believed that the planet Earth would be recycled, wiped clean, renewed, refurbished & rejuvenated & that the only chance to survive was to leave earth. The group believes in several paths for a person to leave the Earth & survive before the "recycling", one of which was hating this world strongly enough: To quote Applewhite "It is also possible that part of our test of faith is our hating this world, even our flesh body, to the extent to be willing to leave it without any proof of the Next Level's existence"

Bizarrely Vrasten also found reference that Marshall claimed that a alien race was coming to take him & his devoted away from earth before the great recycling & that were traveling in the tail of Halley's comet next due in 2061.

"Triple A fucking Wacco" commented T-Bird

Forlorn Hope, Night City 11.23pm - 13/05/2016

Having decided to forego any further research & pay Heavens Gate a visit they wasted no time & struck out for San Diego immediately figuring that they'd be there by breakfast. Vrasten had pulled up various maps of the area & they'd pin pointed the mansion purchased by the cult in 2011 on the shores of Barratt's Lake, the lake itself roughly central in the Cleveland National Forest. Leaving a note behind the bar for Skinpin who was pulling yet another shift in the Hope's medical facility they piled into Alex's defiled campervan & headed for the stateline.

San Diego Highway, Route 5 4.49am - 14/05/2016

Skirting San Diego itself Alex rubbed her eyes before finally admitting to herself she was knacked, she didn't trust any of the others to drive the truck so she'd insisted driving herself whilst the others had joked about for a bit before getting some Zzzz's, bastards. Seeing a sign for 'Jerry & Bert's Roadside Steak House' Alex pulled over in need of caffeine & breakfast.

Jerry & Bert's Steak House, San Diego 7.53am - 14/05/2016

After a couple of hours sleep, a juicy T Bone & a half gallon of coffee Alex felt almost human again. Back in the truck & following Vrasten's directions they headed west following a series of long faded & battered tourists signs towards Barratt's Lake. A hour or so later Vrasten announced that the winding single track road was actually Barratt's Lake Road & it would take them to within a mile or so of the estate owned by Marshall Applewhite. Sure enough ten minutes later they passed a gated track leading off through the trees towards the lake itself, the rusting gate appeared to be padlocked with a but prominently displayed sign nailed to the gate post declaring it private property. To either side of the gate a nasty looking razor wire fence separated the road & ditch from the woodland beyond. As Alex slowed the truck Vrasten rattled off a string of photo's.

Sat at the road side several miles on the digital images confirmed there was no sign of any sort of CCTV, in fact it all looked pretty innocuous.

Having discussed their options, simply driving up to the door & bullishly demanding to speak to Étienne, posing as lost tourists or wasting everybody in site they finally decided to do neither & drive further around the lake to try & get a look at whatever set up Applewhite was really running. Half a mile on they got lucky.

Alex carefully guided the truck along an abandoned & overgrown track that the online map hinted at leading to a property across the lake that would give a reasonable view of the Heavens Gate home base. After what felt like forever Alex drew clear of the trees & pulled up in the lee of a long derelict lake side condo, killing the engine the site was explored taking care not to reveal themselves to anybody watching from across the lake.

Barratt's Lake, Cleveland National Forest 6.07pm - 14/05/2016

After watching the Heavens Gate house for most of the day Mariusz & the others were convinced that the kid had simply fell in with a bunch of Christian hippy misfits who were just trying to get away from it all, they'd seen maybe thirty or so people going about daily life, fishing, tending what was clearly a vegetable garden, sitting, talking etc. By mid afternoon they'd eventually seen Marshall Applewhite himself shortly followed by Étienne D'Aubigne, the kid clearly wasn't there against his wishes & he didn't look drugged, in fact from the way he seemed to hang on every word of Applewhite they doubted very much that they'd get him out of there other than by force.

Deciding to set up camp there for the night, watches were set & grub rustled up via the camper vans small hot plate, again care was taken not to alert Applewhite or his followers to their presence.

Barratt's Lake, Cleveland National Forest 3.54am - 15/05/2016

Mariusz hunkered down to watch across the lake through the broken window of the derelict first floor bedroom, faintly the hum of a generator could be heard across the water. It was pretty clear night, the near full moon illuminating the surface of the lake, with the night vision glasses from his pack Mariusz was confident any movement across the lake would be easily visible.

The crack of branch below the window startled the half asleep Mariusz back to life, staring into the shadows beneath the trees Mariusz eventually picked out movement, quietly, almost reverently, he eased open the case at his feet & in seconds had the Giscard laser carbine settled into his shoulder, with his right eye locked to the scope he slowly released his breath & then gently squeezed the trigger. Under the trees the sound of thrashing continued for a moment as the large bull Wapiti he'd taken down didn't realise it was already dead, by the time the others emerged blinking, Mariusz was up to his eyes in blood & guts.

Barratt's Lake, Cleveland National Forest 8.58am - 15/05/2016

After a breakfast of pan fried steaks & with little else to see across the lake they loaded up the van & decided to go knock on the door & see what happened, renegociating the rutted track & wincing more than once as the last vestiges of chrome trim were scraped off, Alex eventually turned the truck back onto Barratt's Lake Road & headed back the way they'd come yesterday towards the locked gate.

Half a mile along the road . . . . . . . . . .

Dreams & Nightmares

Alex Price

Lying on a filthy metal framed bed in what appears to be a cell, 12' x 10' x 10' high, single high barred window, iron door ajar, in corner near door a body, male, is slumped, dead, laser rifle lying on floor next to body. Alex is battered, bruised & exhausted, very tired, right arm in a dirty sling, broken, right trouser leg ripped deep wound/burn on thigh, blood crusted/maggots, next to bed is a water canteen, a shotgun, loaded & a ragged photograph of Alex & the unknown man arm in arm in a crowded bar, on the back of the photograph is written, July 2019, Jiaozhou Bay, also a nap sack containing shells, basic medical kit, knife, etc. All is silent, Alex staggers to the door, outside is a landing with metal walkway, three floors up, it is a prison, rubbish everywhere, roof caved in, brilliant sunshine, vapour trail high in the air.

Mariusz Boronski

Darkness, voices, a woman crying maybe, distant/muffled, Hands drop to the wheels of a wheel chair, no feeling in legs, radio faintly playing some forgotten song. Sound of door opening, voice, a child/young girl "Papa, papa, are you awake papa, somebody is asking for you, says he knows you from the old days, momma told him your sick, don't want to see anyone but he won't go away, says to tell you he's lost his dog again.

Graham "T-Bird" Ryder

Surrounded by a dozen or so naked women all pointing big guns at T-Bird, alarm ringing, red light flashing, wake up startled, alarm still ringing, red light above head flashing, drop zone indicator noise, throbbing vibration, looks to his left, he is at in a helicopter, 9 grunts with him, 4 to his left, 5 opposite, black guy opposite smiles, offers him a stick of gum, explosion rocks the bird, light goes out, chopper starts to drop erratically, chopper ditches, chaos, breaks up, T-Bird thrown clear, drags himself away from burning wreck, other troops on the ground, somebody drags T-Bird to his feet "shit Ryder, thought you were fragged & bagged, Ritzi says to get your fat butt . " explosion, goon's chest in front of T-Bird opens up, blood every where, all over T-Bird, laser cannon opens up from somewhere ahead, scorches the crumbling wall behind which T-Bird is cowering.

Vrasten Nordskov

Crouching against a rock wall staring out in a monsoon, saturated & cold, glances behind, in a cave, to dark to see far into it, there is a woman crouched on the opposite of the cave entrance, young, Asian, pretty once, scar runs across her face through her left eye, obviously pregnant, looks scared/terrified even, staring out into the rain, thunder rolls across sky followed by lightning flashes, dark skies, through the rain trees/jungle maybe, outside machine gun fire cuts through the noise of the rain, a scream, silence, a shadow maybe, movement in the trees, the girl speaks, Vrasten looks across but realizes she is not talking to him, she is muttering to herself, clutching a necklace, a rosary, she's reciting a payer maybe, she smiles at Vrasten, raises a pistol to her temple & pulls the trigger, from outside there is a crashing of trees, something is coming from the undergrowth, explosion, flying debris, Vrasten looks down to his hand, there is a remote detonator in his hand, three switches remain un-tripped.

Barratt's Lake, Cleveland National Forest 9.01am - 15/05/2016

. . . . . . . Alex woke with her face bloodied & stuck against against the cracked windshield, she could taste blood, her lip & cheek split, behind her she could hear the others moaning, the camper was nosed into the ditch at the side of the road, the engine stalled,

"What the fuck Alex" blurted T-Bird, "are you fucking pissed, how'd you fucking crash this heap of shit"

Unable to contain himself however T-Bird blurted out his hauntingly realistic dream.

Stunned, they all looked at each other not sure what the fuck had just happened, Alex couldn't believe she'd crashed the truck, one second they'd been driving, the next they were all waking up.

Outside Vrasten beckoned them to come look, in the distance, above the tree line, maybe twenty miles back, a thick column of oily black smoke spiraled into the clear blue sky.

"You reckon this is anything to do with Applewhite & heaven's Gate" asked Mariusz

Unsure just what the fuck was going on Alex wondered how the hell they were going to get the van out of the ditch.

"Somebody coming" said Vrasten pointing down the road as a ratty pick up trundled towards them.

Ready to kill, Mariusz watched as the flat back drew to an unsteady rest, from behind the wheel a woman, maybe thirty, crying, almost fell out of the cab, her left arm was twisted, maybe broken, in her right arm she clutched a squalling baby, as she staggered towards them Mariusz tried to phone Moose Jaw, a recorded message told him all the lines were unavailable.

Whilst Alex inspected the damage to the truck Vrasten & T-Bird tried to calm the woman, she kept babbling about the radio until Vrasten realised she was trying to get them to listen to the radio, shouting to Alex to flick the campers radio on they all listened to see what the woman was whining about, incredulous, they realised the unnamed woman had good cause, if what was being broadcast wasn't some sort of a mass fucking hoax, & with what had just happened to them they had no reason to suspect such, earth, the whole fucking lot of it had just fallen asleep for around two fucking minutes.

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