Episode 1 - The Beam

released that information to the world, it’d look like a conspiracy. And believe me, those hippies have the hackers to release whatever they want.”
    The standing cop looked at Leah and said, “That’s what I’ve heard.”
    After a small bluster, the cops relented. Dominic used the Quark station’s canvas to transfer Leah’s records to the DZPD Beam sector and cleared her for access through the outer corridor. During the walk, Noah’s deep, soothing voice expressed a concern for Dominic’s blood pressure and urged him to see a physician for an injection of diagnostic and scavenger nanos. Then it complimented Leah on her hair color and admonished her to stay out of trouble. He added that her shoes, which were little more than canvas with individual toes, were better for her back than Dominic’s synthetic leather clodhoppers. Dominic swore.
    Once they’d exited the Quark hallway, Dominic marched Leah straight-faced through the DZPD station, past the desk clerk, and through the front door. Officers and detectives watched him pass with the pink-haired girl. He said nothing to answer their stares. It was amazing what you could get away with if you acted like you were allowed to do it, and if you were the captain.
    They walked outside, then skirted the corner and stopped in front of an Amino stand. The stand was unoccupied, the vendor apparently off at the bathroom or stoned somewhere on moondust. The second seemed likely. Dominic walked by the stand every day after parking his hover in the subterranean garage, and the guy who ran it was as Organa-looking as Leah.
    Dominic unlocked her cuffs. Leah looked up at him, rubbing her wrists.
    “Stupid, Leah,” he said.
    “I had a man on the inside who I knew could spring me,” she answered, giving Dominic a satirical salute.
    “Sloppy, too. I thought you were better than that.”
    “I’m not sloppy. I’m free-wheeling.” When Dominic continued to stare at her, her serious glare finally broke and she groaned — a gesture that said, Fine!
    She held her tattooed fingers in front of Dominic’s face.
    “You’re not seeing the whole picture, Dom. Those cops were both Beam clerics. Did I not tell you about my new enhancements?”
    “You’ve had those since I met you.”
    “Not the tattoos, shitter.”
    “What? Did you add some nano reservoirs?”
    “Nano fabricators ,” she clarified. “Under my nails. Problem with Quark security is that the encryption can only be bypassed from the inside. Once these —” She wiggled her index fingers again. “— saw what kind of nanos the clerics had filled those meat sack bodies of theirs with, they fabricated cloned soldiers to match. So I spoofed them, and left a few dozen on that table. Now my nanos are inside the clerics, and they’ll never know.”
    “Behind the firewall?”
    “Right.”
    “You wanted to get caught.”
    Leah shrugged. “I needed something to handshake with. Not that this makes things any easier. Hax0r encryption has evolved to ridiculous levels. One of the advantages of having computers doing all of the computer development in The Beam.”
    Dominic closed his eyes and shook his head. “Dangerous. They could find out.”
    “They won’t.”
    “They’ll trace you. And then they’ll wonder why you weren’t questioned further. They’ll look into the records and notice that all trace of your visit today was purged. Then maybe a few people will remember who took you in for that supposed further questioning.” He made a fist and planted his thumb in his chest.
    Leah extended her hand and slapped Dominic lightly a few times on the cheek. She had to strain to reach him. She was probably five-five and Dominic was over six feet tall, at least fifty pounds too heavy. Being a captain, he could afford fat scavenger treatment, but he didn’t give a big enough shit about his potbelly to put machines in his body.
    “I’ll see you around, Dom,” she said.
    “Fuck you, Leah,” he said. But of course he didn’t mean it.
    “I’ll say hi to Crumb for you,” she said, and was gone.

Doc Stahl was grinding like hell down the A05, the airborne avenue that roughly followed Broadway from above. All of the autocops stationed by the buoy lines marking the skyroad’s sides should have been lighting up and following, but Doc’s hover had a jammer — a good one, too, bought from the same crooked son of a bitch who’d sold him his anonymous router. Doc had another anonymous router in the car, but