New Arizona – May 15, 2497
“Sir, are you really sure this is a good idea?” a small man with greying balding hair asked as he looked at the building in front of him.
He was standing holding an umbrella up over the head of his boss. Despite being in a city, redesigned and built following a nuclear explosion in the year 2000, the city engineers still enjoyed soaking people with manufactured rain. The whole city was beneath an invisible force field that kept the harsh ice-age conditions engulfing the planet from killing the humans who lived there. New Arizona had been designed to be a conglomerate of old American cities and had areas of the city that were named as such. The two men were standing in the heart of the New York section of the city. This section had its reputation for being the centre of crime in New Arizona. It was too large for the authorities to patrol and essentially it kept itself in a strange balance, so they just let events happen.
“This guy is supposed to be the best,” the younger man beneath the umbrella replied in a soft low tone of voice.
“But hiring a mercenary. It seems so dirty,” the old man pointed out honestly.
“What would you have me do? My daughter has vanished. The police are not doing a damn thing. I am not going to lose my daughter as well as losing my wife,” the younger man snapped back in a tone that clearly showed a high mixture of despair, anxiety and grief.
Both of these men, by the way that they were dressed, where clearly out of place standing on this dark street. They stood out just like a shining bright light would have in the darkness. The younger man moved out from under the umbrella and edged across the dirty street slowly. There was barely any light in the street. What there was, cast strange eerie shadows across the brickwork that made it look even more sinister than it was. The entrance to the bar was a basic metal door. A battered and tattered neon sign blinked on and off above the door, but was the opposite of inviting. Steam rose from the ground as the rain bounced off the concrete. Smoke billowed. The whole scene was dark, dirty and most unwelcoming. It was definitely not a tourist attraction and a person would have to have a very good reason for being in this place. The old man stayed on his side of the street. His eyes were flashing up and down the empty street nervously. His anxiety at being stood alone on a dark street was clear on his face. He was not going to question his boss though. He understood what was driving the man to this desperate act.
The young man slowly pulled on the metal door. The closer he had got to the building, the more he managed to see that there were actually windows at the front. They were darkened in, so it was impossible to see inside the place, but easy to see out. That made him even more nervous. This type of place was something he had not even thought could exist. He was from the Los Angeles section of the city, which was considered to be the richest area to live. Grim, dirt and darkness were no existent there. He cringed as he felt the rough texture of the door handle and felt the sticky sensation on his hand. The smell and the smoke that hit him as he stepped inside made him gag. He quickly pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to cover his mouth. That also served to wipe his hand. He peered through the smoky atmosphere trying to see the inside. He hoped that the man he was meeting would know him and come to greet him. On his right there were groups playing virtual pool on hologram tables. They buzzed and flashed occasionally, telling him they were not real and also showing the lack of maintenance the whole of the interior suffered from. The other side of the bar was filled with tables and stools. There was a ring of booths running around the walls. A tiny stage was in the far corner. What used to be a dance floor was in front of it, but the cliental of this place were not the dancing type. Most of them could barely stand. The young man started to question what he was doing in such a place. Only a picture of his daughter kept him from turning on his heels and running back out of the door. He slowly moved through the building heading towards the bar. Numerous people flashed inquisitive looks in his direction. Others turned away from him showing the disgust that he was even in their ‘space’. He moved slowly. Every step he made was a struggle for him. He did not even like to think about what he was stepping in. He just knew the shoes that he was wearing would have to be burnt once he left. He felt like everyone’s eyes were on him. He had to admit that this was the most uncomfortable situation that he had ever been in. He approached the bar with caution. There was no way he was going to put his arms anywhere close to the surface. He coughed nervously to attract the attention of the barman. The large man serving the bar was just as dirty looking as the rest of the place. He was unshaven and his clothes looked like they had not been changed in months. He was wiping the glasses with a rag so dirty that it was making the glasses worse than before they started. The barman took one look at the smartly dressed man standing in front of him before shaking his head.
“Are you sure you are in the right place pal?” he stated in a rough and ready voice that matched his burly exterior.
“I am here to meet—” the suited man started to say nervously, but was cut off in mid-sentence.
“Let me get you a drink,” a young, attractive blonde haired woman said from behind and to the side of him.
The young man looked around slowly. His mouth nearly dropped open when he saw the blonde standing in front of him. She was slim, but quite well endowed. Her long blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes were not dulled in any way by make-up overkill. Her skimpy outfit hugged the curves of her fit young body to perfection and showed off nearly all of her athletically toned legs. The young woman slipped up to stand beside the man closely. That embarrassed him even more.
“I’m sorry, but I am here to meet someone else,” he started, a little unsure about the words to express what he meant. “I’m not looking for any company,” he finished finding the most polite way of putting it.
The young woman glanced up at him briefly. She knew what he was getting at. It was hard not to know given the surroundings they were in.
“Oh, you don’t understand,” she said calmly with a bright smile coming to her face. “I know who you are here to meet Mr Foster,” the woman continued lightly. “My name is Alaska Jordan. My friends call me AJ,” Alaska stated holding her hand out in offer of a handshake. “My friend asked me to meet you here first,” she explained quickly.
Foster took her hand and lightly shook it. Alaska returned the touch briefly before waving her arm towards one of the booths. Foster quickly followed her lead. He was just glad to have someone with him. Alaska nodded her head towards the barman then quickly glanced to the far side of the room. She smiled briefly before she quickly walked to the booth.
Foster went to sit on the stool with his back to the crowd. Alaska quickly took his arm and ushered him to the bench seat running along the wall.
“It will be safer for you to sit on the bench,” she said calmly. “There are a lot of credit lifters around here and you won’t know you’ve been skinned until it is too late,” Alaska finished with a comforting smile.
She waited until he was sitting down before she slipped sexily on to the stool to face him. The barman dropped two glasses on to the table and left a bottle of green liquid sitting in the middle of them. Foster glanced briefly at the bottle, cringed, having no idea what the substance could ever be, before returning his eyes to Alaska’s.
“Miss Jordan,” he started as he eyes glanced behind her briefly.
“Please, call me AJ,” Alaska replied softly.
“AJ,” Foster corrected quickly. “Is your friend close? It’s just this place worries me and I want him to start looking for my daughter as soon as possible,” he expressed nervously as his voice went into speed overload.
Alaska smiled softly. She placed her hands on to the table and touched his arm gently.
“There is nothing for you to worry about now,” Alaska soothed calmly. “As you can probably imagine, my friend is not exactly friends with the Blue Coats around here and we just have to be sure that this was not a set up,” she explained trying to make sure Foster understood the motives for coming to this bar. “Being the best mercenary New Arizona has to offer just puts a target on—” Alaska continued.
“AJ,” a male voice drawled out from behind her to cut her off in mid-sentence. “AJ, AJ, AJ,” the voice continued as two men came to stand up close behind Alaska at the table. “It has been such a long time since we saw you in here,” the same man, the one on the right of the two, expressed with almost delight running through his tone. “We have missed you,” he stated then paused for several seconds. “Still up to your old tricks I see,” the man pointed out as he glanced in Foster’s direction. “How about ditching this douche bag and spending some real quality time with real men?” he drooled lustfully while leaning down to stroke his hand over Alaska’s bare right shoulder.
Alaska felt a cold chill run down her spine. She did not even need to look back to know who the men were standing behind her. She had made some questionable choices in recent months. The man started to press a little closer into Alaska’s back. Foster was like a shrinking violet, slowly trying to shrink into the bench that he was sitting on to become invisible.
“You got a problem AJ?” a light female voice, with a slight French accent, asked from behind the two men hounding Alaska.
Alaska now looked over her shoulder. The wave of relief that washed over her was clearly visibly to all of those around. Foster glanced at the other young woman who had approached the table. On first glance, Foster could not see what help she was going to be. He sighed deeply. Alaska smiled.
The man that had spoken to Alaska turned around slowly. His mouth slowly started falling open as he looked up and down the stunning young woman that was standing in front of him. She stood about the same height as him at five foot eleven. Her auburn hair was swept back into a tight ponytail at the back of her head, leaving just a tiny fringe down her forehead. The whole package standing in front of him was just too sexy for him to take. With the look similar to the actress Hudson Leick at the same age, the young woman before him had the body to match her stunning looks. The man cast his eyes down the full view. A pair of black tight-pattern fishnet stockings covered her legs. On top of them going around her waist was a small, tight figure hugging black leather mini-skirt, which, at about eight inches long, just covered her buttocks. On the top she was wearing a black leather shirt, with the top few buttons undone, over a black lace bra. The shirt was tucked into the mini-skirt. Her jacket, a black leather motorbike jacket, matched the black leather motorbike boots on her feet. The boots had a number of buckles on the side and came up to halfway up her shinbone. Her face had just the right amount of make-up. Her eyes were surrounded by a dark eyeshade and her lips were a bright red with a black surround.
“This a friend of yours?” the man asked after taking several minutes to regain his composure while glancing back down to Alaska sitting behind him. “Maybe we can have a party, just the four of us,” the man stated bluntly. “Sorry pal, but you ain’t invited,” he snapped glancing back at Foster with almost a sense of disgust on his face.
“Why not,” the auburn haired woman said as she backed away from them into the middle of the room. She playfully started to motion them towards her with her right hand. “Come on then, what are you waiting for?” she stated with a sexy smile coming on to her face.
The two men glanced at each other, then at Alaska, before fixing their eyes back on the auburn beauty as they moved towards her. She stopped moving backwards as the men edged closer to her.
“I’m sorry Joe,” the young woman shouted out aiming her comment towards the barman. “I promise I will settle up with you later for the damage,” she finished smartly.
The two men looked confused. The barman just shook his head with dismay.
“Damn it Larna, I’ve only just got the place cleaned up after the last time,” he called back in frustration.
The two men still did not know what they were talking about. They just did not have any idea. The first sign of trouble came so quickly that neither of them had time to react. They certainly were not able to stop what happened to them. Larna’s moves were lightning fast, extremely powerful and quite unexpected. She swiftly kicked the man on her left in the groin with a sharp left boot. As he bent down with tears streaming down his face, Larna grabbed the back of his shirt and sent him swinging headfirst through the room. He crashed and smashed through several tables and stools before slamming hard into the front of the bar. He crumpled into a heap next to it out cold. That man was not the one who had done the talking. He was still standing. Larna’s first attack had been a complete surprise. Her second was expected a little more, but still did not help. She continued the spin around that had launched the first man to drive her knee firmly into the stomach of the other. He bent forward sending all of the air out of his lungs in a volatile reaction to the fierce blow. Larna slammed both of her fists down into the middle of his shoulders. The man crashed face down on to the floor. She did not stop. She roughly grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him back up to his feet. She physically dragged him across to the nearest table before driving his head down through the top as hard as she could. She did not let go. As he went limp in her grip, she hauled him across to the next table. Larna spun him around to face her, took a big step back, and before the man could sag and drop to the floor, she did a right footed rising kick that connected right under his chin. The man flew backward off his feet, crashed on to the table behind him on his back, then smashed down through it to the floor. Larna dusted her hands off casually as she backed away from the crumpled mess she had caused. She turned to flash a smile at Alaska then moved slowly across to join them at the table. The barman looked around at the mess briefly.
“Get those pieces of trash out of here,” he cried out bitterly.
Several men rushed to clean up the mini-disaster zone caused by Whirlwind Larna and moved with motions that were almost too well practiced.
Foster could hardly keep his mouth shut. Larna slipped down on to the stool next to Alaska. Her movements were so sexy now. Quite the opposite of the destruction and power she had just displayed. Alaska had not stopped smiling since Larna had made her appearance. She felt so much more confidence now that they were together. Foster shook his head to bring his senses back to the moment in hand.
“I’m sorry, but I’ve got to go,” he said while he started to rise to his feet. “Your friend is obviously not going to come is he,” Foster expressed with disappointment.
“If you’ve got the credits, if you’ve got the reason, you will sit your ass back down on that bench,” Larna snapped instantly as the playful sexy smile dropped immediately from her face.
“Mr Foster,” AJ started calmly. “My friend here is a fox by name and a fox by nature. If you are looking for help then please, sit down,” she soothed as softly as she could. She even reached out her hand to softly touch Foster’s in a show of tender support.
“You’re the Fox?” Foster exclaimed in amazement while sitting back down on the bench with his eyes fixed on to Larna sitting to his right.
“Larna Fox,” Larna said offering her hand to Foster for him to shake.
Foster slumped back down on to the bench with astonishment written all over his face. Larna withdrew her hand slowly not at all upset that he had not accepted the offer. Larna knew this reaction all to well. It was the same one she received every time it was revealed that she was the best mercenary the street had to offer. She was not upset that most people she met considered that person would have been male. It gave her a distinct advantage and it also felt like a warm comfort blanket that it was not obvious who she was. Those that did underestimate her and misjudge her soon regretted it. Most regretted it in a painful way. Just like the men she had just beaten up.
“AJ told me something about you looking for your daughter,” Larna started softly.
She turned her tone into an assuring, comforting and soft version that was designed to provide support for the man sitting in front of her. It was the voice that she liked to refer to as her ‘counsellor’ voice. AJ watched Larna with fascination. The way Larna could easily click between characters was something she always struggled to do. One moment Larna could be the sexy provocative temptress, the next a nursing comforting soul and then turn into a raging ball of bitterness, anger and destruction. All of these wrapped up in the same alluring and sexy package. Foster was starting to calm down and relax. His nerves were settling. He reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out a small computer notepad file. He gently placed it on to the table then slid it across to Larna with his finger.
“Her name is Cassidy,” he started as Larna lifted the pad to activate the computer file. “That is all of the information I have managed to pull together about the events leading up to her disappearance. Her personal file is also there,” he quickly pointed out when he saw Larna skimming through the information.
“Attractive young woman,” Larna said when she saw Cassidy’s picture in her file.
“Thank you,” Foster said modestly. “She was out celebrating her sixteenth birthday with her friends. They went to some place called Bones. I’m afraid I was completely in the dark to what they were planning,” he explained quickly going into the basically details of the facts he had managed to gather so far. “Her friends say Cassidy hooked up with a young man that they had never seen before. His name and file are in there,” he paused to nod down to the computer pad. “Her friends told me that they left her with this guy. She just disappeared. That was over a week ago now,” he finished trying to hold back the mix of frustration and upset in his voice.
“So the Blue Coats could not pick up her LSR?” Larna checked quickly.
LSR stood for Life Sign Reading. Everyone on the planet had a distinctive life pattern signal. Technology had been created that allowed authorities to track people down based on this signal. There were ways to block it, but that took money and connections. Foster nodded his head to agree with the conclusion that Larna had made.
“Could they track this Jonathan?” AJ asked pausing briefly while she checked the name of the young man Cassidy had met.
Foster shook his head. AJ and Larna exchanged meaningful glances with each other. They were only brief, but it showed they both knew what the situation was. Larna turned her attention back to Foster.
“You have a lot of information to go on here Mr Foster. Why do you need me?” Larna asked carefully.
“I have the information, but not the means to act upon it. I heard about your many talents for this type of work and I need you to help me find my daughter. It is hard not to hear the rumours about the mercenary known as Fox,” Foster explained in a flat voice. “Please help me,” he begged in a pitiful sounding tone that was drained of all hope and confidence.
Larna just nodded her head in acknowledgement and acceptance of the job without saying another word. A wave of relief washed over Foster as if he had just been given a gift that would save his life. A large smile of relief came on to his face to clearly show what he was feeling.
“Of course, nothing comes for free,” AJ then pitched in knowing that Larna would not.
Larna was not really in the mercenary business to make money. She had an ulterior motive behind her life on the streets. It was one that AJ knew about, did not really understand. AJ had different reasons for being there. For her it was all about the money and the stature. Foster nodded his head expecting that the mercenary would not come free or come cheap. He was willing to pay for the best otherwise he never would have agreed to the meeting in this place. Larna glanced at AJ briefly. Sometimes she did not like the way her apprentice could be so blunt. This man was hurting after losing his daughter and from information she had seen in the file, the girl that she would return to him was not going to be the same Cassidy Foster that left to celebrate her sixteenth birthday with her friends. AJ moved forward closer to the table.
“OK then, let’s discuss the details,” AJ said smartly.
Larna hated this part. She looked at Foster’s reaction. He seemed to fully accept what was going on, so she did not feel as bad. It still did not feel completely right.
First Prequel story set in the time before Larna was a time traveller. Larna is on the streets looking for revenge. She kills any crime boss she can get her hands on, while doing the odd mercenary job. When she is hired to rescue a kidnapped girl, she gets the chance to do both.