Spaceport – “Lounge-Side Tapcafe”
As Kaneda waited patiently for his “friend” to come , he took a sip from a cup of warm, and thoroughly much needed , Correlian Java. Rubbing his eyes he glanced outside at the spaceport, he could see through its huge gleaming windows that the sun was now beginning to set. He wondered if Primus would show up or not, taking another satisfying sip, he supposed it depended on whether he needed the money.
Checking his Chrono the operative smiled… Superintendent Grimlock would be getting his message right about now…
“…Dakena?…”
His thoughts were interrupted by a thick Ettian accent...
"...Ah... I was starting to think you weren't going to show up..." The Section operative quipped ,whilst gauging his newly acquired friend in front of him.
Primus took a seat opposite after glancing furtively around the cafe. Noticing this, Kaneda tiled his head slightly out of curiousity...
"...nervous?..."
Primus frowned a little as he replied...
"...I think I have reason to be..... I could get whacked for this you know...."
Kaneda raised an eyebrow at the Ettian's response, perhaps he had found something of interest after all....
"...well?... what do you have for me?..."
The Ettian, glanced around once more, before reaching into his pocket and sliding a small piece of flimsiplast across the table towards Kaneda. As the Operative read it , a slight smile started to develop...
"...Calgar?..."
Primus glared towards Kaneda in reaction , almost as if just saying the name in public was a hazardous exercise...
"...he's bigtime, nothing happens in this city without him knowing about it...word on the street is he ordered the hit...."
"..so it was a contract?..."(he thought aloud)
Kaneda leant back into his chair as he listened to the man speak, his instincts had been confirmed, after all , he had seen the footage, and the killer had seemingly melted away into the general crowd. The poison was exotic, and it needed to be handled expertly, it all pointed to someone....professional....
"...so this wasn't anything personal..."
Primus shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly...
"...beats me....you never know.... "
Kaneda retrieved the picture of the man he had developed from the footage of the murder, and showed it to Primus...
"..do you recognise this man?..."
"...no..."
The Ettians response was instant, a little too instant. The Operative observed that he hardly looked at it, puzzled at this , he was about to put it away when the man stopped him...
"...I, I could show it around if you like, ask some people?..."
considering this for a moment, Kaneda nodded in agreement and handed it back to Primus...
"...I ...er...have to go now, so ..."
As Primus stood up to leave Kaneda looked at him bemused, he had also observed that the Ettian had not asked him for any payment, which was not only just odd, but downright suspicious. Nodding in acknowledgement, Kaneda watched as the man walked away quickly, almost walking into an entering patron.
A nearby waitress spoke for his attention...
"...Sir!...your friend left his bag behind..."
Kaneda turned to face the woman who had spoken, then towards the direction of where she was looking, standing up to look over the table, Kaneda's eyes narrowed, sure enough, the Ettian had indeed left a small bag behind. He lept up from his chair and shouted towards the Ettian...
"...hey!...your bag!"...
The Ettian turned to face Kaneda then ran out of the Cafe, deeply concerned at this, a grim realisation struck the operative...
Retrieving a small blaster from his pocket , Kaneda launched himself onto a nearby table, and fired it into the air to gain everybody's shocked attention...
"...THIS IS THE POLICE! EVACUATE THIS BUILDING.... NOW!...."
For what seemed like a split second everyone seemed too shocked to move , until Kaneda fired one more off in rapid succession....
"...MOVE!..."
That was all the motivation the various patrons needed, and they rushed for the doors, (Kaneda could have been a gun-toting pyscho, or a real Espo, they didn't know or cared, either way, it seemed they weren't hanging around to find out)....luckily for everyone inside, the cafe was not busy, far from it in fact, this thought flashed through Kaneda's mind as he grabbed one of the waitresses by the arm and forced her roughly out of the door, (under great objections)...
He had barely gotten out of the doors as what seemed like the entire cafe became engulfed in a deafening explosion. As he and the waitress dived for cover on the floor , Kaneda wrapped himself around her to protect her from the flying pieces of debris that had been sent in their direction. Taking a moment to survey the damage , Kaneda looked down at the woman he had flung onto the floor along with him...
"...are you ok?..."
"...ah...er....no...not really..." Came the sarcastic remark back...
Smiling at this response Kaneda figured this meant she was indeed in one piece, and slowly he got to his feet and dusted himself down, the Cafe had turned into a raging fire now, with thick black acrid smoke spewing out from inside it. The shocked onlookers had gathered around, as well as those who had been inside near moments before, obviously counting their blessings.
The Espo's had already arrived, along with the Fire-Droids , who had started to gather their equipment to start to combat the blaze.
"...WHAT IN THE NAME OF!?..."
Kaneda glanced up to see a familiar face, albeit a very shocked one...
Superintendent Grimlock stood before the Vinda-Corp Operative , gauging the chaos in front of him…
“….what happened?…”
Continuing to dust himself down , Kaneda smiled faintly…
“…someone doesn’t like me being here…”
Still holding his cane with his left hand, Kaneda delved into his inside pocket with his right, and produced a small computer of some description. Activating it via a small switch on the side, his eyes narrowed as he studied the screen’s contents. Grimlock, still slightly stunned at the situation, couldn’t hide his curiosity as he peered over the agent’s shoulder…
“…whats that?…”
Turning to face the Superintendent, Kaneda responded…
“…a trace….
....Wanna make a house-call?…”
