<b>Roo'd</b>

# Roo'd

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# Chapter #40

Tonx insisted they split up onto different flights. They argued at length about whether to bring Marcus, but the big man had pointed out that he was under contract, and folded his arms and set his jaw, and that was that. It meant buying another ticket, but Tonx had found a line of credit from somewhere so Fede figured that wasn’t the main problem. The other issue was what to do with Poulpe. When they’d finally found him, sleeping in the sun with a face smeared blue with zinc oxide, he’d just smiled and nodded.

“I would suggest you take me with you. I am the only one who can readily determine the veracity of whatever data we obtain. You may need me on short notice” he said, pinching off the end of each word.

Tonx hadn’t moved. He ground his jaw as he thought it over.

“You’ll go with Cessus. And Fede” said Tonx. “Cass and I’ll go first.”

“What about Pharoe’s friends?” asked Cessus.

Tonx looked down the beach to two the tiny specs that were Baby and Esco.

“Last” he said. “If at all.”

Fede looked at Cessus, caught his eye. The bigger man shook his head slightly, slowly.

“Pharoe?” asked Poulpe.

“Never mind” said Tonx. “Just get your things together. We’re leaving in an hour.”

An hour later everyone’s stuff was piled into the truck or the station wagon, respectively. Tonx had had to bribe the German woman to keep their shorts and shirts.

“Fucking robbery” muttered Tonx, coming back to where the two cars were turned and lined up on the road. “Okay, here’s the drill. We drive to Mexico city. It’s about seven hours. When we get there Esco, Cass and I get dropped off at the airport and Bay will circle around with the car.”

“Why is Baby driving?” asked Esco.

“Because I want one of the both of you with some of us at all times, in case Disney catches up. The more communication channels we have the better” said Tonx.

“Baby will meet you at a Denny’s that’s about a half hour off from the airport. An hour after they join up with you everybody except Marcus will catch a cab into the airport and get on the next flight after ours. An hour after that Marcus will drive into the airport, park the car, scrub it, leave the keys in it, and get the last flight of the day.”

He looked at the faces surrounding his. “Got it?”

Everybody nodded.

“I don’t like getting moved around so much” said Baby. “Why doesn’t Esco stick with your hackers here, and I’ll catch the first flight?”

“No” said Tonx. “We’re going to need all the smooth we can get when we land. Esco stays with me.”

“What the fuck am I going to smooth in China?” asked Esco.

“The people I have to secure us with are going to want to see business professionals” said Tonx. “Baby’s not it, and you know it. We have one hour from the time we land until they arrive to make sure everything’s kosher, and you’re the only one here besides myself that can make that happen.”

He glared at Esco, reached up a hand to pull back a lock of hair. “You got my back, or what?”

Esco pursed his lips. He nodded.

“Once we arrive in Beijing we’ll take separate cabs to the Hotel Paris. Meet in the lobby there. Marcus, you go into the restaurant. We’re going to have enough trouble with you as is.”

“What do you mean?” asked Fede.

“Marcus is a popular man” said Tonx. “Damn fool did a commercial there and now he thinks he’s going to stealth mode it.”

“That was two years ago” said Marcus. “And it was in Japan.”

“For a Chinese product” yelled Tonx. He slumped back in his chair. “Whatever. Look, we have a lot to do. I’ve secured tickets and faked identity checksums, so make sure you sync your comms to Cessus here before we split up. Pull out all your munitions or anything else illegal by the time we hit Mexico city. We can store whatever we need in a locker on the way to the airport, but don’t forget they’re not deregulated. They’re going to have armed security crawling all over that place. Don’t do anything stupid.”

Everybody split up. Fede followed Cessus back to the truck. Marcus had spit-shined the whole thing, and everything that wasn’t fastened down was stacked neatly in the back.

“Pack what you need and put the rest in these bags” said Marcus, handing Fede a fistful of big black plastic.

“What the fuck am I going to pack?” Fede asked. “I’m lucky I have pants.”

He scrambled up into the back of the freight container and collapsed on a futon. Cessus dumped out a thin plastic bag of components and wires and began sorting.

“Going to be fucking awesome hitting the markets there” he said. “No idea how easy it’ll be to get shit, but if it’s anything like Japan there’s going to be some slick motherfucking tech to be had.”

“Idiot” said Fede conversationally. “China’s not Japan, you know.”

“That so?” asked Cessus. “Since when did you get to be the big expert, Feed?”

Fede smiled. “Hey, I just ownzored over 67% of the country’s computers. Looks like I know something.”

Cessus stared at him for a second, and then broke into a loud baying laugh.

“Boy, you’re coming along nicely” he said.

Fede just smiled.

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