Chapter 5: 5

Erik, the tall and stupidly handsome bodyguard of Byron Conner followed Krieger and Ronson back to their suite. He quickly stepped in after them then proceeded to wander around the place, hovering his holowatch around certain areas. He was obviously checking for bugs.

'It's safe to talk in here.' He sighed after doing a quick scan of the main room. 'Conner's paranoid as hell right now he's monitoring what's left of his staff.'

'That's nice, we're going out on the balcony anyway.' Krieger stated and wandered out, taking a seat at the table whilst kicking her boots off and resting her feet on the table top. She pulled out her cigarettes and began to light one. The bodyguard did his sweep again round the balcony area just to be sure, eventually taking a seat opposite Krieger. Ronson soon sat beside Krieger after bringing through a six pack of beer and a tray full of coffee paraphernalia; handing one of the cups to Erik and shoving down a few cups on his side of the table. The suite was that high up that they could barely hear any noise coming from the street but there was a lovely amount of sun beaming down on the balcony. It was nice to be outside in the fresh air for a change instead of being cooped up inside.

'So you seem eager to talk to us Erik.' Ronson announced as he handed a beer to Krieger and cracked one open for himself. He gestured for Erik to help himself to whatever he wanted. He graciously accepted and poured himself a cup of coffee.

'I am eager. We need to discuss the details of tonight's event.'

'Is that all?' Krieger asked, she wasn't convinced that was all he wanted to talk about.

Erik leaned back in to his seat and let out a half arsed sigh as he ran a hand through his golden blonde hair.

'I was planning on resigning after this party tonight. I can't handle working for this chump any longer. I already have a new job lined up.'

Krieger and Ronson glanced at each other knowing there was more to it.

'I mean this guy is unreal. He's ruthless, paranoid and way too demanding.' Erik continued.

'How long you worked for Connor can I ask? Ronson said.

'A little over five years. It wasn't so bad when I first started working for him but he just got worse. Plus his daughter is...'

'A spoilt bitch.' Krieger cut him off.

'I was going to be a bit more polite and say a little madam, but yeah. She is a spoilt bitch.' Erik smiled.

'What is she up to then? It can't all be down to Conner alone.'

Erik drank more of his coffee as he prepared what he was going to say to the pair. He sighed again just before he spoke.

'She's trying to blackmail me. Sort of. I don't really think she knows what she's doing. She's tried bribing me to sleep with her, tried getting something on me to sleep with her or just... stupid shit really. I'm getting sick of it.'

'You've not told anyone else about this? Or even told Conner?' Krieger quizzed.

'Margie knows, she's not a massive fan of Tammy. And Conner? God no he'd ruin me for the rest of my life, his little girl can't do no wrong. I've been trying to stay out of the way when I can and Margie has been stepping in when it comes to the kid.'

'Does Margie know you want to leave?'

'She does. She even helped me find another job.'

'And how does she feel about it, you leaving I mean?' Ronson asked. It all seemed a little bit farfetched as to why he wanted to leave and the reasons why.

'She understands. It's not been like this at all for her she's worked for Conner way longer than I have plus she doesn't get the attention I do.' Erik replied.

'Where you going after then? Where's this job?' Krieger said as she opened a beer and took a long swig.

'New Edo actually. Working for an outfit similar to yours.'

'Wait you know about our company?' asked Krieger. People did know who they were but it still surprised her whenever it was mentioned.

'Yeah you've participated in the Convict Chase for several years now and you and Vice-Captain Ronson here have been in the news a few times for, various reasons. ' He cheekily grinned.

'You think you can keep up with us all on New Edo? I mean you've been living on this planet for a while now it's a lot different, y'know frequent murders, gang violence , shoot outs and all that good shady shit.' Ronson cackled at the bodyguard.

'I don't think that would be a problem. Conner's had hitmen after him, we've been around when some of his places get blown up. Plus I'm ex- military and ex-EMA too I think I can handle myself. I need the change to be honest.'

Silence hit the table for a few minutes while everyone finished their drinks. They spoke nothing more of Erik moving to New Edo but continued to talk about the party tonight.

'So there are three other body guards on tonight, Margie included, myself and then we have your whole crew so that brings the total security to eleven people. Hopefully that's enough. Normally for an event this size we would have at least fifteen people but you two are practically cyborgs so that should even it out.' Erik smiled, keeping his gaze on Krieger just a touch longer than seemed comfortable. Ronson noticed this and so did Krieger.

'Get that fiddy credits out dude.' Ronson heard Krieger's voice in his head. She just heard him groaning in hers.

'The party kicks off at seven thirty tonight. All the guests will proceed through a security gate with full body scanners and DNA identification profiling. The main ballroom at the rear of the hotel is where the party will be held along with the adjoining restrooms and banquet hall The rest of the hotel will be off limits to guests who aren't staying. Conner's request of you and your crew is to blend in with the regular guests and be flies on the wall so to speak. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious, gather any information you can and defend Conner, his family and guests if anything bad happens. A bonus will be paid if this does happen and you're successful at keeping everyone in one piece.' Erik laid out the plan for the party.

'Bonuses we like.' Ronson proclaimed. 'But of course as it's us, something's bound to happen tonight you do know that?' He said directly to Erik.

'Yep. We're bad luck.' Krieger smirked. 'The only thing I'm not happy about is being without my weapons, technically it's against the Armature Law denying a person the right to bear their own weapons but I can understand why we've been asked not to open carry. It's just shit because the male members of my crew can conceal carry guns but it'll be a touch difficult for me and the twins, being women an all. Being "undercover,"' Krieger raised her hands and did finger quotes as she said this. 'Means we have to wear dresses and look like a guest on Pacifica of all places, where your police actually do their jobs and the rich don't need to carry weapons.'

'You done with your rant babe?' Ronson sassed his friend as he lit a cigarette.

'C'mon you know I hate being without Jake and Elwood, I feel naked without them they're part of my armour.'

Erik was slightly confused. He watched Krieger and Ronson bickering.

'You named your guns after the Blues Brothers?' He asked Krieger.

'Yes. And this here is Inazuma.' She replied matter-of-factly as she held up her katana. 'I've had this sword and my guns for a long time, of course I named them.'

'And have you named your weapons?' Erik turned to Ronson.

'Nope, I'm not like this sentimental cow here I got a Sig P220 and a katana.'

'Bitch please they're Cagney and Lacey if they ever had names.' Krieger leant over and flicked Ronson's left ear to which he batted her away.

'Give over.' Ronson complained. 'C'mon we got more shit to go through before the others get back at least let's be somewhat prepared.'

Erik bid farewell to the duo saying he would see them and the rest of the crew later that evening. Krieger and Ronson sat and drank the rest of the coffee and beers they had on the table and cracked open a pack of smokes.

'That's a good looking bloke.' Ronson declared.

'Those eyes man, those fucking icy blue eyes.' Krieger added with a swoon. 'I mean shockingly there's a few good looking blokes back on New Edo but I bet you there's fucking loads on this planet.'

'And they're probably all minted too.'

Krieger raised her eyebrows and scoffed in agreement. 'Yeah but they gonna go for two pieces like us though? Scum of the universe in their eyes.'

'Well you never know babe they might like a bit of rough. Not like we're completely skint though is it.'

Krieger started grinning, she knew Ronson was referencing her little scene from last night when that poor receptionist girls head nearly exploded once she realised who Krieger was and just exactly what kind of bank account she had.

'Honest to God I thought that girls head was gonna fall out her arse!' Ronson laughed.

'Yeah well they shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Besides money isn't everything, isn't that why we live on New Edo?'

'True. I don't think I could live on a planet like this it's way too swanky and...'

'Pretentious.' Krieger finished his sentence for him. Ronson nodded in agreement.

'At least we're getting another hot addition to our scruffy little shithole of a planet.' Ronson winked at his friend.

'That reminds me,' Krieger coyly smiled. 'You wanna give me that fifty creds now or do you wanna wait and see if you can still win it? Which I highly doubt will happen.'

'Bitch. Give it while the end of the night.'

'Good, I look forward to adding that fifty creds to my "bets I've made with Ronson and won" account.'

'Awrite awrite no need to brag about it! C'mon the others will be back soon.'

Michael and the others had finally returned with their suits and various other bits and bobs. The twins had gone back to the ship to pick up their dresses and shoes and the things the others had requested they bring back. The group poured in to the suite carrying bags and boxes in their arms, laying them down on the nearest surface. It was mid-afternoon now so they still had time to get ready for later and go through some kind of briefing as well as have some dinner. They all agreed on eating first so ordered room service for as soon as possible and they would have the briefing then. The service in this hotel was something else, the crew didn't have long to wait till their food arrived. They ordered loads. They ordered steaks, mounds of vegetables, barbequed meats, fried food, curries and anything else they thought they could manage. It didn't matter what the crew ordered it all got demolished along with a few good bottles of wine.

'This city is something else.' Tony announced to the others. 'Everything is so damn shiny and clean it gives you headache.'

'How was the suit place?' Ronson asked as he crammed an onion bhaji in to his mouth.

'A bit reluctant to even let us in at first.' Said Tony. 'Until Justin stepped up looking slightly menacing and told them that we were under the employ of Conner. They practically waited on us hand and foot then!' He chuckled.

Everybody went their separate ways to get ready for the party. The twins were probably the quickest, the did each other's hair and make-up and made sure they looked okay before they left their room and made themselves comfortable in the main living room with whatever wine was left over from dinner earlier. Everybody else poured out of their rooms to find the twins wearing the exact same dress, in the exact same make-up and with the same hairstyle. Krieger watched as they talked with each other, looking out for the certain tics that either twin had when they spoke. Jess had a habit of flaring her nostrils sometimes whenever she finished a sentence and Faye on occasion did a sharp intake of breath as a reply. Looking at them, Jess was always usually on the left and Faye on the right and to make things even weirder Jess always styled her hair on the left side whilst Faye favoured the right. They'd done it again as Krieger spotted Jess' widening nostrils.

'You look great guys. It's been a while since we've had to get dressed up for anything.' Krieger said to the twins.

'You look good too boss.' The twins replied in unison. 'Is that the dress you actually paid money for?' Faye continued to talk, remarking on Krieger's rather stylish dress.

'Yep, an' I'm gonna wear this fucker till it falls off my back.' She snorted. 'It's about the only dress I like and that I'll ever own in the next few years.' Krieger tugged on the hem of the black futuristic looking dress that fell to just above knees. 'At least it's comfy enough to compensate for the fact that I have to use this fucking thing.'

Krieger pulled the hem up at the front nearly flashing her underwear but not caring if she did or not. The twins got an eyeful of Krieger's pasty white legs and a strap going round her left thigh with a small compact Beretta pistol shoved in the strap just a few inches away from her groin. She scowled down at the tiny gun housed in an irritating inner-thigh holster. She wanted her USP's, but Ronson was wearing them right now under his suit jacket so if she needed them, she would have to go grab them off him. At least he could conceal carry his Sig in a belt holster.

'You girls packing?' Krieger asked the twins. They nodded back.

'Bra holsters.' Another synchronised twin reply. You couldn't tell they were wearing them; they had picked outfits that concealed their guns perfectly with swooping cowl necklines.

'Good, remember the guys have spare guns and ammo just in case anything happens.'

'Lets hope that anything doesn't happen.'

Krieger and the twins turned to find Justin stood behind them, fiddling with the buttons on his shirt cuffs.

'Wow they found a suit to fit the man mountain.' Krieger bellowed. 'You look good Justin.'

'Thanks. I'm surprised they even had anything that fit me. I might go back to that place before we leave and get a custom tailored one, I mean these are really nice suits.'

Gradually everybody else gathered in the living room for a quick drink before they went to do their job. Ronson was the last to show but was greeted with cheers and wolf whistles from the others. He kindly gave them a shit-eating grin and told them all to piss off.

'So we all know where we're up to tonight then?' Ronson decided to give everyone a quick quiz before the headed out. The group nodded in reply.

'Everybody got their guns?' Krieger added. Everyone nodded again.

'Remember to keep in touch with everyone and Zeke over neural-coms. Zeke's got the CCTV covered plus he's running the net when we need info, so make sure you report anybody who looks suspicious or anything you might hear over the course of the night.' Ronson continued their short briefing. 'And keep in touch with Conner's security staff too. We'll probably meet up with them before the party starts.'

'Sweet.' Krieger said. 'Right down the hatch everyone. Then we'll head down.'

Everybody downed whatever they head in their glasses then quickly checked they had all their weapons in order and checked their outfits one last time. Krieger quickly made a bee-line to their newest recruit.

'Check you out Mikey, fucking lady killer.' Krieger smiled at the young man as she dusted off a bit of fluff that was resting on his left shoulder. 'Ready for your first job mate?'

'As ready as I'll ever be.' The young man replied as he did the buttons up on his suit jacket. 'I would say I'm feeling nervous but to be honest, I'm not.'

'That's the spirit. No need to get nervous, we don't anyway. The job works out how it works out and we do what we can. That's all that matters.'

'I suppose so.'

Krieger gave Michael a quick reassuring squeeze round the shoulders.

'C'mon lets go look epic with the others on our way in. Sooner we get this night over with the sooner I can take off this stupid bloody inner-thigh holster the gun's chafing my minge for Christ sake.'

Michael tried not to laugh as his Captain wandered off toward the suite door. He noticed she was walking a bit funny, the gun obviously causing her a bit of discomfort. He followed her out and joined the others.

The crew of the Osiris slowly poured out of the elevator as the doors opened to the ground floor looking about as epic and important as a washed up, has been performer with a residency in a Butlins holiday camp; Krieger out in front was walking a bit like John Wayne, Justin flicked Ronson's ear making him flinch and try and bat him away. Only the twins, Devin, Tony and Michael actually looked like they had it together. They had about ten minutes before they started letting everyone in to the main ballroom so the crew went to find Erik and the rest of security and have a quick chat before everything kicked off. Habitually they made their way round to the main bar just outside the ballroom to find Erik, Margie and two other guards sat at a table. The bar was empty of guests but there were several staff bustling round getting everything ready.

'Ah they're here now.' Erik announced as he stood from his seat. Everyone this is Captain Krieger of the Osiris and Vice Captain Ronson.'

The pair received a smile and a nod from Margie who had met them earlier and a few hellos from the other two guards who Erik introduced as Gary and Rene; Gary being a somewhat shorter but well-built fellow with neatly trimmed and styled hair and Rene being a touch taller with a slimmer build, close to the wood shaved head and a well-groomed beard that was neither brown nor red but somewhere in between.

Krieger introduced the rest of her crew to the guards.

'This is Michael, Jess, Faye,' She had an internal giggle to herself as the look on the guards faces read "how the hell could you tell them apart?" She continued. 'Tony, Devin and our own Doctor Justin. Most of us are ex-EMA.'

As soon as she said that, the other two male guards lifted their left suit arms up just enough to show tattoos they had, EMA regimental tattoos signifying the regiment they were first assigned with. Krieger and Ronson recognised Gary's contained a Scottish flag and Rene's had a Danish flag in it.

'Yeah I never got one of those.' Said Erik.

'Neither did we.' Krieger replied. Krieger and Ronson did have tattoos but they could hide them using their nanomachines when the need arose, or when the nanomachines decided to do it themselves. Justin had one across most of his back but it was covered most of the time.

'So if it's okay with you guys we'd like to share a neural-coms channel. It's fully encrypted and is contained to hotel and the outer grounds.' Erik cited. He pointed to a sync device on the table that was ready to synchronise everyone to the same channel.

'Two seconds, you guys go ahead I gotta talk to Zeke.' Krieger said as she opened up a line directly to Zeke.

'Hey buddy could you do us a favour?'

'Of course Cas.'

'So the security guys here are patching us all in to the same coms channel as them, they're saying it's secure and everything but if I link you in too can you monitor it for me? Just in case?'

'Of course Cas. Plus it would be advantageous for me to be able to speak to them too. I will however contact you and the crew on our own channel if anything is amiss.'

'You're a total legend Zeke. Thanks bud.'

'You're welcome Cas.'

'Who's Zeke?' Margie had piped up, questioning who he was.

'You'll find out in a sec.'

Krieger hovered her holowatch over the sync device and waited a second for the beep to say it had worked successfully.

'Good evening everyone. My name is Zeke and I am the AI of the Osiris. Pleased to make your acquaintance.'

'Woah,' Rene gasped a bit, his Danish accent now revealing itself. 'He doesn't sound like an AI.'

You are reading story Living in the Fray at novel35.com

'He's one of our crew dude. Show him some respect he's got all our backs tonight and he'll do his best to keep us all updated on anything he finds suspicious.' Ronson interjected setting everyone straight. The guards nodded in reply.

'People are gonna start showing up soon. You guys stay here in the bar for now we're off to screen people coming in.' Erik said as he pointed to the scanners near the main entrance. Margie, Gary and Rene stood up and went about their business; Margie and Gary making their way to the entrance to monitor the scanners. Rene went in the direction of the ballroom to do a final sweep before it was filled with guests. Erik checked his holowatch again before making his way round the other areas to do his final checks then stand guard in to the bar to monitor those guests who were staying in the hotel.

Krieger and her crew sat down at the recently vacated table and within seconds a waiter hurried over to see if they wanted to order anything; a few bottles of red wine charged to the suite would do just fine.

'Zeke will you keep an eye on the data coming through the scanners and alert us if anything weird pops up?' Ronson spoke quietly, just loud enough for Krieger to hear what he was asking Zeke to do.

'Of course Chris. I've been monitoring the CCTV inside the hotel and nothing has appeared suspicious as of yet. Daniel Price is here though.'

'Wow THE Daniel Price?' Jess exclaimed. 'I bet his appearance fee is colossal.'

'Not like he needs the money sis, from what I know he's one of the highest paid DJ's on the GRN and he only has three shows a week.'

Most of the older members of the crew groaned. They knew that if Daniel Price was there then the music would be stuff from their teenage years and more recent music that none of them liked. Granted it was a younger crowd but they were secretly hoping there was some older stuff thrown in.

An hour later and nothing had happened. Krieger had however found the buffet after wandering around doing small talk with some of the other guests who actually recognised her from the Convict Chase. She would chat with them for a bit hoping to maybe get something out of them like if they had a thing against Conner or his business but to no avail; they just wanted to talk about the upcoming chase and what her plan was, much to the chagrin of the surrounding guests who had never heard of Krieger, the Chase or barely knew anything about New Edo or how rough it was. They looked at her like a cockroach, like pure filth that had somehow managed to blag its way in. So of course Krieger took great pleasure then in describing everything in great detail; such as the last Convict Chase she was stabbed in the shoulder with a Phillips head screwdriver by a serial rapist and murderer, who she then pistol whipped and shot in the dick before she thrust her gun under his chin and blew his head off.

'Oh I remember that one, one of my favourite kills from last year absolutely beautiful. The slow motion footage was incredible.' One of the guests mused.

The buffet was the most beautiful thing to her right now, tables upon tables of elegantly presented finger food from whatever Michelin starred chef worked at the hotel. Krieger didn't bother with one of the tiny plates that were left on the side she just picked whatever she thought she would like and shoved it in her mouth. Fancy tiny food never really sat well with her but it was free, there was loads of it and she didn't care and washed down with copious amounts of free champagne which she didn't even like, she was set for the night. She probably got some fishy stuff in there but the food was so small she barely had to chew, just straight down the hatch.

'And here's me thinking you didn't even know what a dress was let alone even own one.'

Fuck. Krieger thought. She felt a hand rest on her hip as she was halfway through some mushroom canape thing that was half protruding from her mouth, the other half barely even eaten yet. She looked to her side to find Frank DaCosta all coiffured and handsome with his gleaming smile, sharp suit and expensive smelling cologne. Krieger spluttered and partially choked on the dry pastry.

'What the fuck are you doing here?' She managed to mumble out through the tiny food, edging away out of Franks grasp.

'What do you mean? I was invited of course! Yeah Conner's hired me a few times in the past for a few jobs but this time I'm not here on business.'

'Yeah whatever. Don't care.' Krieger regained her buffet stance and started attacking again taking swigs of champagne in between not caring where the crumbs went.

'You look good Cas.'

'Thanks. Now leave.'

Krieger didn't even look up from the buffet table she just carried on ignoring Frank as much as she could so she could concentrate on the tiny white chocolate raspberry truffle cheesecakes that had been tormenting her since she spotted them not minutes ago.

'You still here.' Krieger stated knowing Frank hadn't even left her side. He turned and stood with his back to the table.

'Yeah, to be honest it's nice seeing you and your lot here. New Edo residents I mean it's a bit overwhelming here.' Frank told her bluntly.

'That's funny I woulda thought you'd get on well here with all the smarmy rich bastards.'

'Well it's funny really how even I thought I would kind of fit in, I'm still from New Edo and they all know it. There's no respect from these people, it's fear.'

Wow something profound from Frank DaCosta. Krieger thought.

'I revel in fear.' Krieger announced with a mouthful of chewed cheesecake; crumbs flying from her lips.

'I know you do sweetness.'

Krieger rolled her eyes at the pet name Frank always used on her. She wasn't a fan, only Ronson could call her by pet names.

'Anyway I'm gonna leave you to your,' Frank trailed off as he tried to find the correct word, he didn't. 'Whatever this is. Ciao bello.'

Frank was heading the direction of where a lot of noise and fussing was happening. Tammy had finally turned up to her own party nearly an hour and a half later after it started and all her friends and family were crowding around her, giving her hugs and kisses and wishing her a happy birthday.

'Update guys, anything happening?' Krieger spoke through the neural-com channel to just her crew.

She received several replies of "Nope. Nothing. Nowt." Even Zeke hadn't found anything suspicious. They all spoke freely on the guards channel, even they hadn't spotted anything out of place or untoward.

Krieger kept an eye on Tammy as she was swamped by the other party guests. Her father and mother were there, chatting with their guests and giving out handshakes and hugs and kisses. Conner had also invited several VIP's and other important people, most of them having their own kids around Tammy's age and from what Krieger and the crew could gather they all went to the same schools. The rest of the younger crowd all looked to wearing all the latest designer fashions and expensive jewellery. They all looked spoilt and overly privileged and gave off an air of superiority that Krieger didn't like. She watched it all happen, the circle of life of the higher social status where backstabbing and lying were common place. No sooner had Tammy spoken to some of her "friends" then went to speak to somebody else where the former would make those snide faces and whisper to each other.

Krieger just went back to destroying the buffet table. She seemed to be the only one there so she took advantage of having the space to stalk up and down picking out whatever she fancied.

'Ooh chocolate truffles.' She mumbled, grabbing a few and launching them in to her mouth. No sooner had she done that, she'd realised that all her champagne had gone. Frowning at the empty glass she went in search for another being freely distributed by one of the many waiting staff carrying several filled glasses on large trays. The buffet table would still be there once she found another drink. Krieger made her way round the crowd at a leisurely pace, trying to slyly listen in to peoples conversations over the somewhat loud music or size them up as she drifted pass. She saw her crewmates dotted about, chatting with some of the other guests and checking their holowatches from time to time; listening in on their own encrypted coms channel to what they had to say. Which was nothing.

'This is boring Cas. I'm genuinely hoping something does happen I dunno like a massive catfight or Uncle Knobhead gets arseholed and tries doing karaoke on stage or some shit.' Ronson sounded out over the neural-com channel. He was met with replies of chuckling and a "Yaaaaas Queen" from Krieger herself. Everybody was bored and hoping for something to happen. The twins had mentioned that they had found themselves talking to some guy who was apparently a modelling scout. He spoke to Faye first while Jess was away in the ladies room, trying to tempt her in to his offices to take some headshots. She quickly got bored of him prattling on about the business and how she'd make a great model.

'Excuse me for a moment, just going to freshen up won't be two ticks!' Faye said to the guy. She quickly ran off in the direction of the ladies room and tag-teamed her sister in giving her a brief explanation of this bloke and to see if she could wrangle some money or something free out of him. He didn't even have a clue that the twins had switched places and carried on nattering to Jess as if she was Faye.

She didn't manage to get anything out of the guy even using her best lines and turning on the charm. So she gave up and met back up with her sister. Shortly after the same man had spotted the twins propping up the bar together to which they acknowledged him with a cheeky little wave before turning to find two froofy cocktail umbrella laden Pina Coladas waiting for them.

'God I wish I had an identical twin.' Krieger voiced out over the com channel. 'The amount of shit you could get for free huh?'

'Let's just say we both get fed when either one of us goes out on a date.' Faye declared.

'Only with the guys we're not really interested in by the way.' Jess added. 'We get a nice expensive dinner and desert and usually a few bottles of good booze at their expense.'

Michael was chuckling to himself as he listened to the exploits of his crew mates. He was stood near the doors in to the hotels kitchens watching the staff come and go through the doors carrying fresh food out to the buffet table where he could sort of see his boss sifting through the various plates and bowls and scowling at whatever dip she was swishing a spoon round in. He glanced around at the huge room filled with people but one guy who he had seen a few times during the night he had noticed had been checking his holowatch way too often.

He was one of the waiting staff, wearing a white shirt, black bowtie and a black and red suit jacket with a name tag on his left lapel. Michael watched as the young guy checked his watch, placed a few empty glasses on the tray he was carrying, checked his watch again then took the glasses back through in to the kitchens. Michael decided to check in with everyone, guards included on the main coms channel.

'Guys I've got someone acting weird near the kitchens. Waiting staff, male, five-ten, black hair, tanned skin. Looks like he fancies himself as a bit of a Christiano Ronaldo. He's looking a bit shifty, keeps checking his holowatch a stupid amount of times.'

'Keep an eye on him please.' Margie's voice came over the channel. 'I'm with Mr and Mrs Conner right now. Rene can you do a sweep round that way?'

'Heading there now.' The Dane replied.

'Everything is still fine at the main entrance.' Gary's Scottish lilt came over the channel. 'I'll let you know if I see anything.'

Everybody was on a slightly higher alert than before now. Krieger had finally decided she'd had enough of the buffet table and figured it would be a good idea to actually pay attention. She had a good look around after dusting all the crumbs off the front of her dress, spotting Mikey looking cautious some way away next to a table near the kitchen doors nursing a pint of beer. She couldn't see the twins really well at the bar nor could she see Justin, Devin or Tony who she knew were probably in the main ballroom and she absolutely knew Ronson was in there rubbing shoulders with the important people and dancing like a complete arse. Gary she saw earlier parading about the main entrance watching people come and go while relaying info to everyone via neural-coms. She scanned the bar area again and saw Erik, quite literally trapped in a corner with a very enthusiastic Tammy practically hanging off him surrounded by her prissy looking little mates.

Krieger straightened herself out and made a bee line over to them. Erik's face showed a sign of relief when she appeared behind the gaggle of giggling girls.

'Captain Krieger.' Erik almost blurted out. Tammy's head shot round, upon hearing this and glared her down with the most evil stare she could muster. The rest of the girls turned round to see who it was and were greeted with the smiling but imposing figure of possibly the most dangerous woman in the entire building, wearing a Miu Miu cocktail dress.

'Erik!' Krieger exclaimed. 'I've been looking for you, c'mon we've got some catching up to do with the others.'

'Sure thing.' He replied simply, shrugging Tammy off his arm who desperately tried to keep a hold of him.

'You're coming back aren't you?' Tammy whined.

'Oh please don't go Erik stay and talk with us!' One of Tammy's friends joined in the whining.

'Sorry but I am supposed to be working, duty calls.'

Erik made his way past the group of girls and headed over to Krieger who was smirking at him. She mockingly gave the group a little wave and a cheesy smile then casually linked her arm with Erik's as she led him away to somewhere quiet.

'She is not going to be happy. I can feel her boiling with rage from here.' Erik whispered to Krieger who just scoffed back at him.

'Yeah well here in the real world you can't act like a twat all the time and treat people like she's treating you. Besides you're not gonna be here any longer.'

'True. She hates you though.'

'Why am I not surprised.' Krieger cackled. 'I can't help myself with people like her, I'm compelled to wind them up.'

'It's working.'

The pair walked through to the hotels vestibule where it was quieter and away from Tammy and all the other guests. Krieger groaned when she noticed a sign atop the reception counter reading that there was no smoking in the hotel. She spotted the staff door behind the counter and dragged Erik through it along a short corridor, past a few storage closets, a small office, breakroom and toilet that lead out in to a small staff entrance in an outer courtyard area that lead to an underground car park. She wiggled in her dress slightly as she had stashed some cigarettes and a lighter in a tiny pouch on her inner thigh holster that should have had a spare magazine in for her pistol. She managed to get one out along with the lighter, taking a massive drag as soon as she ignited the white stick.

'Much better.' She sighed as she exhaled the smoke. 'So you heard that our Mikey spotted a suspicious bloke. What do you know?'

Erik looked slightly confused; he didn't really know how to answer. He wanted to know why Krieger had dragged him outside and it wasn't just so she could smoke.

'He's new, relatively new anyway he's only been working here for about three weeks but I barely know him, named Jason or something. Then again a lot of the staff working tonight are fresh meat. Conner didn't just get rid of most of his security staff across his businesses he fired loads of regular staff too. Only just back to half his original workforce in the last few weeks.'

'Okay so I'm assuming this guy is supposed to be working till everything wraps up tonight yeah? Why would he be constantly checking his holowatch all the time then? I mean this shindig isn't supposed to finish till well gone midnight. It's barely past ten now.'

'Rene, I need you to go detain the new guy Jason the kid you're watching. Take him to the security room near the bar, make it seem like you need his help with something. Margie can you stay with the Conners I'm going to go talk to this guy.' Erik gave orders over coms. Margie and Rene soon replied, acknowledging his instructions.

Krieger was simultaneously giving her own crew orders; telling them to be prepared, to blend in to the background and make themselves as invisible as possible. She told Ronson however to make his way in the direction of the hotels reception. Her crew would be fine, they knew how to handle a situation like this and she also had a feeling Mikey would just fall in to place like them. She threw the butt end of her smoke to the ground and followed Erik back in to the hotel and through to the security room that led off from the bar. Rene was already there with the waiter Jason, pretending to rifle through a cabinet for something that was in there but soon stopped when Erik and Krieger turned up. Erik casually pulled a chair from the CCTV holoscreen desk and planted it in the middle of the room.

'Take a seat Jason.'

The young man looked bewildered but did as he was told even though Rene had told him that he needed to go through some new security red tape or something like that. He sat on the chair and looked up at Erik, Krieger and Rene. The look of bewilderment turned to that of fear within a second.

'I'm sorry I'm not doing my work properly! I swear there's a proper reason why!' The young man blurted out, thinking he was now in trouble.

Krieger had no patience for this. Noticing Jason had a neural-mod, she quickly depressed a small button on hers letting out a thin transfer cable. She pulled it out of the side of her head then forcibly plugged it in to Jason's neural mod.

'Zeke, back me up I'm running a polygraph.' Krieger said out loud as her neural-mod beeped and flashed. 'C'mon Jason, tell us what's really going on.'

Jason sat terrified at the woman glaring at him, connected to his head via a cable to her own. Her irises had glassed over showing that she had a HUD up reading data coming from his own head. He man sighed deeply before he began to speak.

'My girlfriend's just gone in to labour at the Clarice Denton Memorial Hostpital. I can't be there with her because I have to work this is the first proper job I've had in a while and we need the money!'

Krieger raised an eyebrow. It can't just be that. She thought. It was reading true on the polygraph, even Zeke confirmed it.

'That's everything?' Erik asked Jason who just nodded profusely.

'Yes Sir. I've not done anything I shouldn't have. Please I really need to keep this job I have a family to take care of.'

Krieger had already had Zeke confirm everything during the few seconds after the polygraph confirmed Jason wasn't lying. He checked out.

'Krieger, unplug him he's fine.' Erik asked. She removed the data cable from Jason's neuralmod and let it zip back in to the socket in her own head.

'Jason listen to me. Go to the hospital. You need to go now, don't worry it's special circumstances I'll make sure you won't get in trouble and you get paid for the rest of your shift.' Erik told the young man.

'Thank you Sir. You've taken a weight off my shoulders!'

Jason got out of the chair and quickly made his way out of the security room to gather his stuff and get to the hospital. Watching him on the cameras, Krieger and the guards made sure he got clear of the hotel before they got back to their own business.

'Are we clear for now then?' Asked Rene. 'We haven't had any other suspicious people tonight, I wonder if it's gonna be quiet.'

'Probably not Mr Rene.' Zeke's voice sounded out over the com channel to all. 'Somebody's trying to take over the hotels network and power supply. They can't.' Zeke sounded slightly smug on that last sentence insinuating he was the one preventing whoever was trying to take over from actually accomplishing it. 'I will make you aware though that I have spotted several bodies outside wearing active camouflage. Seven and counting. It's somewhat difficult trying to get a confirmed number as not all cameras outside this building are equipped for IR scanning. Eleven and counting.'

'Showtime guys.' Krieger declared with a grin, broadcasting on the coms channel. 'Everybody get ready something's about to go down. Zeke's following our would be assailants outside right now, numbers unknown but last counted at eleven.'

'Fifteen now Cas. There may be more.' Zeke added. 'They're getting ready to breach the side doors on to the ground floor.'

'Right folks, blend in. We need to take these knobheads out quickly and effortlessly and keep the guests safe. Zeke buddy, we're gonna try and handle this as best we can and on our own. If everything goes tits up I want you call the local authorities because if there's one thing we don't need then it's some idiotic police negotiator trying to diffuse a full on hostage situation. If it's the OWLF then they're shoot on sight, dead, alive whatever. Absolutely no civilian casualties.' Krieger gave her orders.

The group left the security room and took their places out in amongst the party guests. Conner and his family would be the main targets but so could many of the VIP guests. The Mayor was there, several other big business owners and their families were there too, famous actors and musicians. Really they could take them out if they wanted, especially if they went against their ideals.

Krieger and her team watched the doors in to the ballroom and bar area. Sure enough, some of the doors opened without anybody seeming to pass through them. None of the other guests seemed to notice. Michael was still relatively close to the door that led in to the kitchens and continued to watch the waiting staff gliding through the doors with trays either empty of full. He would see a faint blur in mid-air, a tell-tale sign that active camo was trying to keep up with the moving wearer. He counted four entering through these doors. Everybody else was updating on how many more had entered through their nearest entryways over the com channel.

'Twenty-one up to now Cas. All exits are covered.'

Krieger had made her way over to Ronson who was currently propping up the bar but keeping an eye on the twins who were hovering round the hallway that led to the restrooms. Erik and Rene had since positioned themselves in strategic places near the Conner family. Rene covering Tammy along with her group of friends. The two guards nodded slightly at Margie who was with Mr and Mrs Conner as if to give her the go ahead to tell them that something was about to happen.

'Mr Conner.' Margie whispered to him. 'We're currently surrounded by at least twenty-one unknown assailants all in active camouflage. Please remain calm we're all ready to take action. They will most likely incapacitate us guards first and not Captain Krieger's team, but it is imperative you keep calm and follow our directions to the T.'

'I understand.'

'Captain Krieger's plan is to take them all out as soon as they make their intentions clear or if they start shooting. She suggested we only call the authorities if everything goes awry, after all; OWLF members are shoot on sight for security teams and police.'

'Good idea. I don't really want the police involved if we can help it.'

Krieger was ordering a drink, a Sidecar cocktail to be precise. Ronson had ordered himself a Cosmopolitan because he was obviously a Samantha.

'Pre-shoot out cocktails.' Ronson said as he clinked his glass against Krieger's. They both took a large gulp of their drinks as they stared around the room, the high ceiling barely lit by the atmospheric dim lighting, the bright colours and music blaring out from the main ballroom saturating the space with an ambience that was about to drastically change. Krieger and Ronson could feel the tension rising and it made them giddy. Their excitement heightened when a whole submachine gun magazine was fired in to the ceiling of the main bar coming from nothing; the shooters active camo blurring as it could barely keep up with the erratic movement.

Everybody in the room quickly started screaming and ducking down as bits of ceiling started to drop on top of them along with chunks of crystal that had been fired off the grand chandelier that dominated the room, glittering as she shards fell in to the coiffured locks of the people down below. Krieger and Ronson took their time lowering themselves to the floor sipping their drinks as they went, waiting for the moment to start shooting these pricks.

'WE ARE THE OUTER WORLD LIBERATION FRONT! Byron Conner, you stand accused of atrocities and crimes against the natural world, humankind and our alien brethren. Your practices go against everything that is good and proper and we cannot stand by and watch as you bleed planets dry of their resources and exploit their inhabitants for your own greed!'

'He's the top bollocks then.' Krieger sounded out over the coms channel. She noticed that Rene was crouched down over Tammy and Margie was holding down Mr and Mrs Conner's heads if anything just to keep them hidden. She could see the barrels of submachines guns pointed directly at the heads of Conner's guards, their active camo not covering them. They would have to be taken out first to keep the guards alive. Especially lovely Erik. 'Guys,we need to do this quickly. They got guns on Margie, Erik and Rene. Where's Gary?'

'Sorry but I'm on the bog right now. Nasty curry last night.'

Groans from the rest of his crew were heard in the heads of Krieger's crew. This seemed like a regular occurrence.

'Okay Gary you stay put. Well, you know what I mean. If they haven't checked in the lav then you stay there while we'll call you through.' Krieger told him. 'And don't forget to wash your hands.'

'Roger that.'

'Zeke, can you pinpoint the rest of these jackasses around the room and send us their exact locations; we need to do this quickly. Everyone, take out the morons closest to you after dispatching those posted to the guards. You got it?' Ronson asked everyone before they let themselves loose with their guns.

'Roger.' The Osiris crew and the guards all replied in union. Zeke sent through the information that was requested, highlighting the other OWLF member's dotted around the bar and ballroom.

'Great.' Krieger was still gulping down her cocktail. 'Mine's the prick that won't shut up monologuing.' She discreetly pulled both of her USP's out of the shoulder holster Ronson was wearing, completely forgoing the dumb gun sandwiched to her inner thigh and nudged him slightly; nodding her head toward a fluffy black mink scarf somebody must have dropped in the kerfuffle. He reached out for it, carefully wrapping it around Krieger's guns as if she was wearing it as a hand warmer. Thankfully the OWLF guy was still busy ranting and raving, too busy to even notice their minute movements.

'Get ready guys.'

You can find story with these keywords: Living in the Fray, Read Living in the Fray, Living in the Fray novel, Living in the Fray book, Living in the Fray story, Living in the Fray full, Living in the Fray Latest Chapter