Excerpts: The Chauffeur

The following is an excerpt from Bloodhunters v1: Bad Blood, Chapter 02.01. A portion of the ending has been excluded to avoid potential spoilers.

ED.02500.02.10

Sigran “Siggy” Trihannen leaned against the inside wall of the trash bin, trying to catch his breath. Had he lost his pursuer? He thought so. He hadn’t seen any sign of him for three blocks. Still, this wasn’t just any old bounty hunter he was fleeing. Siggy put his ear up to the side of the bin, listening for footsteps. Nothing. He waited another five minutes before daring to push up on the lid for a peek at his surroundings.

The lid wouldn’t open. That was interesting. He pushed a bit harder, but it didn’t give. Siggy hadn’t always been claustrophobic, but the past few months in prison had changed him. Now that he might be trapped, the oxygen seemed thinner in a way it hadn’t just a minute ago. Were these things airtight? He didn’t think so, but that was the type of trivia he’d rather look up online than test in person. Slogging through trash juice, he pushed his way to the other side of the bin and tried the lid there. It didn’t give a bit.

“Not good,” he murmured. He pushed harder and harder, until finally he banged on the inside of the lid, his fear of suffocation drowning out his desire to stay hidden. “Hey!” he shouted. Something on top of the lid shifted, then slid off onto the ground. Siggy gave one final push, throwing the lid back, only to find an energy blaster pointed at his face.

“Don’t try anything,” an electronically-enhanced voice said. Siggy saw his own horrified face reflected in the blood-red domed helmet of his captor. Oh well, at least there was no shame in getting caught by Bloodstone.

It was a long drive back to the prison. Siggy sat in the back of a sleek black hovercar. There were no buttons or switches back here, no way to open the doors. A sheet of unbreakable glass separated him from his captor-slash-chauffer. Siggy looked out the windows. It was the mother of all traffic jams. The freeway was four lanes wide and three lanes high, and every lane was at a standstill. Siggy wondered if his escape had had anything to do with the traffic. He’d caused a few explosions earlier to distract the police; that kind of thing tended to affect the local traffic. 

Well, this is it, he thought. The last car ride I’ll ever get. His escape hadn’t been planned. He actually took advantage of another prisoner’s attempt to escape, running off while the cops were busy catching the first guy. The other prisoner had been planning his escape for three months, but it took Siggy less than a second to plot his own. Not that his escape had been successful, but he sure made it farther than the other guy. Siggy had a knack for making the most of an opportunity, and he started to wonder if this traffic jam might be another one.

“Look, can we talk?” Siggy said to the driver.

“No,” the bounty hunter said.

Siggy sighed. “Any chance you could stop by a restroom? I really need to go.”

“I doubt that,” Bloodstone answered. “You already wet yourself when I caught you.”

Siggy looked down and realized the bounty hunter was correct. With all the trash juice on his legs, he hadn’t even noticed. The combination of smells in the backseat was starting to make his eyes water. “I just want to clean up a little. Can you at least crack a window back here?”

“No.” But Bloodstone did press a button on the dashboard, increasing the air circulation in the back seat. Clean air blew in, stale air was sucked out, and the stench became a bit more bearable.

Hmmm, Siggy thought. So the bounty hunter did have a heart after all. Or maybe he just didn’t want his captive getting sick all over this nice car. Siggy went back to studying his surroundings. He knew better than to try smashing the windows. Not only would they be unbreakable, but he wanted to stay on Bloodstone’s good side, such as it was. There were no other potential exits – double-sealing doors, no control panels, no hatches in the roof or floor, no behind-the-seat passage to the trunk. It was a custom-built vehicle, and the backseat was specifically designed to be a mobile prison cell.

But there was always psychology. Siggy believed things happened for a reason. His execution was supposed to be tomorrow; why would he be presented with an opportunity to escape, if he wasn’t meant to take it? And this traffic jam was obviously another gift from fate, he just had to figure out how he was meant to use it. Maybe he could talk his captor into helping him. It was a long shot, but he’d always been good at long shots.

“You know I’m sentenced to death, right? And that my execution is tomorrow?”

“Yes.” It was like talking to a computer.

“So by turning me back in, you’re basically killing me.”

No response. Siggy was pretty good at reading body language, but Bloodstone just kept both hands on the wheel with no change in posture.

“I was framed, you know. You’re killing an innocent person.”

Bloodstone appeared to take a deep breath before answering. “That’s for the courts to decide. And they did. You are guilty of murder, and you will be punished by the authorities. My only job is to bring you in.”

Siggy hadn’t expected to get so many words out of the stoic bounty hunter. This was good. Maybe he could coax out a few more. Get him talking, get a dialogue going, and he would see Siggy as more than just a job. Maybe even see him as a victim.

“I understand,” Siggy said. “We all have our roles in life, why try to break the mold?”

No answer, not even a twitch.

“But the truth will come out after I’m gone. And you’ll have to live with that on your conscience forever.”

Bloodstone appeared to sigh at this. Siggy wasn’t sure if he was getting through, or just irritating his captor. Probably the latter.

“Well, I’m just going to talk, okay? After this, they’re going to push the execution through as quickly as possible, so this is my last chance to tell anyone the true story. If you don’t want to listen, that’s fine, but I have to get this off my chest.”

Bloodstone nodded, almost imperceptibly.

“I never wanted to be a criminal. I don’t like hurting people. But I had to steal to survive, living on the streets. I had to join a gang for the shelter and protection they offered. I was only a kid when my parents kicked me out.”

“Why?” Bloodstone’s head was cocked slightly.

What was this? Actual interest? Was this a shared experience? Siggy wasn’t going to waste it, though.

“Well, the first thing you have to know is that I was born a girl. I’m transgender.”

Bloodstone only nodded, but body language told Siggy that this was new information to the bounty hunter. The local judicial system had its flaws, but they were impeccable when it came to privacy. Siggy could tell Bloodstone was trying hard not to react. For whatever reason, he had the hunter’s full interest.

“I got lucky. Really lucky. It turns out my gang’s leader had a sister who was trans. The sister had killed herself. They were very understanding.” 

Bloodstone nodded slowly, and sat up a little straighter.

Siggy sensed a connection. He was good at that. Much like the mythical Aurorans, his species had a knack for body language. The Knarvans came from a planet with a thin atmosphere, where sound didn’t travel particularly well. His people used hand signals and body language for most communication. While Aurorans supposedly used this skill to develop their unique martial arts, the Knarvans mostly used their skill for socialization. They made great negotiators, politicians, and con artists. 

Siggy had gleaned more intel from the position of Bloodstone’s shoulders than from anything the bounty hunter had actually said. He didn’t know what the connection might be, but something was definitely there. Had Bloodstone also grown up on the streets? Or maybe he had a family member who was transgender? Siggy knew better than to ask. If he did, Bloodstone would retreat into his shell and become a brick wall for the rest of the ride.

“My parents came to this planet when I was just a baby,” Siggy continued. “They weren’t rich, but they made good money. They weren’t abusive, but they were strict. They weren’t ethical, but they had traditional values. I have eight identical sisters. That’s how my people are born – in litters, usually about eight to twelve. But I always knew I was different. I knew before I could even walk.”

Siggy intentionally paused a few seconds longer than he normally would have. When he finally saw Bloodstone’s head turn a bit to the side, he knew the bounty hunter was invested, waiting for Siggy to continue. Good.

“It was like... It was like I was wearing a costume. I was wearing a girl suit, and the zipper was stuck. And I didn’t hate the costume. It was a nice costume. But whenever I looked in the mirror, I didn’t see me, I saw the costume. And the older I got, the more uncomfortable the costume got. The worse it felt that I never saw my own face in the mirror. The more frustrating it was that everyone recognized me by my costume, but didn’t know the real me.”

Bloodstone nodded, and Siggy kept talking. “I confided in my sisters, hoping for a shared experience, hoping to find someone to talk to. But none of them felt the same way. Weird, isn’t it? All of us are identical, and yet...” he trailed off. “Anyway, one of my sisters outed me to our parents, and I was out on the street.” 

“That is unfortunate,” Bloodstone said.

“So yeah, I joined the gang to survive, and stole so I could eat and buy hormones. And to hopefully save up for my transition. This went on for years. I kept saving and saving, but crime just doesn’t pay much. With every big score there was a setback. At the rate I was going, I would be ancient by the time I could afford any operations. And then one day… an opportunity presented itself.”

“The Valmer Estate,” Bloodstone said.

Excellent, Siggy thought. We’ve gone from mild interest to full-on interaction. By the time we’re out of this traffic jam, Bloodstone will be begging to set me free.

“Yes,” the captive confirmed. “It was my sister Sephra who tipped me off. She’d been working for the Valmers as a maid. She knew all their security passwords, and when they’d be on vacation.”

“But I thought your family was estranged?” Bloodstone asked.

“She sought me out. She said she wanted to be a family again, despite our parents’ wishes. And of course, she knew I had thieving skills. I was so starved for family that I didn’t question it.”

“So she offered to give you all the information you needed to rob the place, in return for which you’d split the money,” Bloodstone said.

“Exactly! So, I waited until the Valmers were on vacation, wrote down all their security codes and procedures, and went to work. Only…”

“Only they weren’t on vacation after all.”

“Yeah… I thought the house was empty, but they were just asleep. I heard footsteps, saw Mr. Valmer, he shouted something, and I ran. That’s it. I didn’t kill them, I swear. I’ve never killed anyone.”

“Your hand was found at the crime scene,” Bloodstone said. “Sliced off by Mrs. Valmer’s AON knife.”

“I’ve never lost a hand in my life,” Siggy answered, holding up both hands in protest.

“Except your species can regenerate limbs,” Bloodstone said. “A fact you tried to hide at your trial.”

They were out of the traffic jam now, on the final stretch of road to the prison. Siggy didn’t have much time left. “Yeah, my lawyer’s an idiot,” he lamented. “He didn’t think the prosecutor would come across that bit of trivia. He said when I showed up with two hands, it was going to be an open-and-shut case. But when the prosecutor spouted that little fact, it just made me look that much guiltier. But that wasn’t my hand they found, I swear!”

Bloodstone sighed. “The hand was a one hundred percent match with your DNA.” The exasperated I’m-tired-of-your-lies tone said it all. The experienced hunter had probably had similar conversations with hundreds of captives over the years.

“I told you, I have identical sisters.”

The hovercar slowed down a little. 

“Sephra… betrayed me. Her plan, right from the start, was to kill her employers, steal what she could, and blame me. She chose me as her patsy because I had a criminal record, and because she hates trans people.”

The car pulled over to the side of the road. Siggy trembled with anticipation. Had he gotten through to the hunter?

“Why didn’t you mention this at the trial?” Bloodstone asked.

“At that point, I knew I was being framed, but I didn’t know it was by her,” Siggy answered. “I couldn’t believe she would do that to me, and I didn’t want to do anything that might place the blame on her. It wasn’t until later, when she visited me in prison, that she made her transphobic attitude clear.”

Bloodstone pushed a button on the car’s center console. Much to the captive’s disappointment, it wasn’t the button to open the back doors. A holo screen blinked on, hovering a few centimeters in front of the center console. “Computer,” Bloodstone said. “Hack into Sigran Trihannen’s case documents.”

A loading bar briefly crossed the screen, and a computer voice announced, “Documents found.”

Bloodstone tapped the air, swiping through several pieces of evidence on the holographic screen, finally enlarging one. It was a chemical breakdown of the hand that had been left at the crime scene. “Includes traces of artificial testosterone,” Bloodstone read aloud.

Uh oh. “Well, see, Sephra is also transgender...” 

“You just said she was transphobic. And you keep calling her ‘she.’ A trans person would never misgender someone that way.”

“Okay, maybe it wasn’t Sephra. I have seven identical sisters...”

“Eight.”

“Yes! I meant I’m one of eight. Look...” The story was falling apart. “Listen, I have money stashed away. Whatever they’re paying you to bring me in, I can double it. Triple it!”

Bloodstone made a disgusted sound, pulling the car back onto the road. “Are you even actually trans?”

“Yeah,” Siggy said. “That part was true.” They didn’t speak again for the rest of the ride.

The final stretch of road was a long bridge over the rough, choppy waters of Lake Maligna. It was an artificial lake created specifically for the island prison, full of sharp rocks, toxic water, and genetically-modified piranha. The lake’s rotten egg odor made Siggy’s stomach lurch, even from this height with the windows sealed. It made his own trash-and-urine-soaked pants smell mild by comparison. The bounty hunter in the front seat appeared to be unaffected, probably because of that fancy helmet’s filtering system.

Siggy grew more anxious the closer they got. “Look,” he said, panic raising his voice half an octave. “I’m sorry I lied before, but it’s death we’re talking about. You’d do the same if it was your neck.” No reaction. Time was short, so he started talking faster. “Just hear me out. Yes, I’m guilty. As per this planet’s privacy laws, they kept my gender out of the news during the trial. Court evidence remains encrypted for a hundred years, by which time I’ll be long forgotten. They sent me to a unisex prison with a private cell. Even the warden doesn’t know I was born female. As far as the world is concerned, I’ve always been a guy. But after my death, the coroner isn’t bound by the same laws as the judicial system. My birth sex will be made public, and I will become a joke. All I’m asking is for a chance to die with dignity, as a man. Don’t let them make me into a joke.”

They finished crossing the bridge, and parked the hovercar in the outer courtyard near the gatehouse. Bloodstone got out and took in the scenery. A stone monolith stood in the center of the courtyard, engraved with the words: JUSTICE IS RARELY KIN TO MERCY. – ZURA CHIPRYSS III. There was a picnic area here for who-knows-what reason, and a spectacular panoramic view of the planet’s ugliest lake. Beyond the gatehouse, an electrified fence, and a laser grid, the prison itself was a featureless black box that stretched way too far up in the sky. It reminded Bloodstone of a giant anvil, partially buried and abandoned by a long-extinct race of titans.

Two guards and a processing agent came out of the gatehouse to greet the bounty hunter. Bloodstone opened the back door and grabbed Siggy roughly by the wrist. As he was being pulled from the car, Siggy felt something being shoved into his hand. He clenched his fist, not knowing what he was holding but determined to keep whatever it was. Then he was handed off to the guards. Bloodstone spoke to the agent while the guards led Siggy away. As the officer marked the bounty complete on his datapad, authorizing the payment, there was a commotion in the distance. Bloodstone and the agent turned their heads just in time to see a flash of light and some smoke. 

The two guards were on the ground, looking confused and dizzy. Siggy ran towards the edge of the grounds. “Stop him!” the processing agent shouted, and Bloodstone patted an empty holster. It was too late to catch Siggy, who reached the outer guardrail and hurled himself over the side. Everyone ran to the edge and studied the waters far down below. There was already a foamy mass of activity as the mutant piranha skeletonized their victim. Within seconds, there would be nothing left to identify. 

Sirens blared overhead, and more guards appeared. Too little, too late. The prison’s reputation for being inescapable had made the staff arrogant, and their reflexes were slow. There would be a major inquiry after this, and a lot of retraining.

“I apologize,” Bloodstone said to the processing agent. “I left my sidearm in the car. Your guards should have done a better job of checking him for weapons. Good thing it was just a flash grenade, it could have been a lot worse.”

With the job completed and payment received, the bounty hunter got back into the hovercar. As the vehicle sped back over the bridge, the guards continued watching the bubbling waters down below, mouths wide open, wondering how they’d dropped the ball so badly.

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