Dragonet

Chapter Seven

Three days later Mad Mage watched as the last man left the warehouse he currently called home. "Losers" he yelled, knowing they'd ignore him, even if they could hear him. Of course with the battered old house trailer's doors and windows closed it was more than likely they hadn't. Not that he cared, their leaving only meant he could get started cooking up more Meth for his buyers. He glanced at the remote wind meter noting that is indicated a strong steady wind from the sea like every night. Tossing aside the skin book he'd been reading he lifted his feet off the woman laying helpless on his floor, slowly walking to the front of his tiny home. Here was his lab, a room filled with chemical equipment and supplies. The woman, his sole companion, was his current experimental animal. Resetting a heavy circuit breaker he listened as the blowers started while a light breeze from his back told him everything was working. Reaching over to one of the blacked out windows he popped it open. The light breeze became a steady wind. High above on the warehouse's roof, nearly sixty feet above him the air was ejected in a steady stream. By the time it drifted back to the ground the steady on shore breeze had pushed the smell miles away.

When you cooked Meth, it stank like cat urine.

Dragonet, as ex-police detective Teresa Mendez had taken to calling herself, was fighting the winds at her current altitude. From the ground it was a steady, if strong breeze, at her altitude it was a battle to make headway towards the warehouse district. But she needed things, and if she stayed in her abandoned water tower they certainly wouldn't come to her. Besides she was hungry, the kind of hunger where your stomach was trying to eat your backbone. She had three destinations tonight, two 'clubs' and a warehouse. Since she'd be fighting the wind all night, the warehouse had to be last. Looking down she spotted the garish light marking her first target, a 'Gentlemen’s Club.' Yesterday morning she'd picked it out more from the signs than location, its official function was self evident, the drugs sold within were another matter. Closing her wings slightly she started her landing, eventually using the winds to hover a meter above the ancient stone covered tar surface. Dropping down with a light thump she moved towards one of the four skylights. “I’m getting good at this” she laughed softly.

Mad Mage shook his head. "Outta acid again." He walked out of the trailer, headed for his 'storage area'. A section of the warehouse where unclaimed freight was kept. His supplier used it to store the stuff he'd need. Pulling out his key ring he unlocked the gate, unconcerned if anyone might see. There wasn't a night-watchman to worry about, since he was officially now the night watchman. Walking in he headed for a stack of pool supplies near the back.

Dragonet spent nearly an hour in a slowly building drizzle watching dancers on the stage so far below. Still, selecting a target... “No” she whispered to herself, ”An informate. Keep the labels right girl, don’t slip any more into that strange madness. Your not Calisto after all.” That odd reference to a fictional character on a long dead television show helped her keep her mental balance, even so it would take more than a single hour to decide. Besides, there was that other club she had to visit, the really strange Goth one. Snapping open her wings she lifted silently into the night air, turning South. She'd just reached what could be called her 'cruising altitude' when the smell hit her. Almost retching and the foul scent Dragonet dropped instantly to a lower altitude. Whatever it was the smell had brought images of darkness, death and evil. It was Meth she was certain but where? No matter, right now there were other things to worry about. A safe place to sleep for one. That, and informants

Willing or not..

Mad Mage watched the chemical reaction, his face covered in a surplus gas mask. Not that he was afraid of anything getting out of his homemade vent hood, he just didn't like the smell. Suddenly a buzzing caught his attention. Turning in his chair he waited, pulling free a fax page as it finished. "Dabber wants acid" he muttered as he read the 'order form.' Big party he thought. Two hundred doses in cube form. That meant he'd need sugar cubes again and there probably wasn't any in his trailer. Time to hit the employees break room again. Dabber paid cash on delivery, had never quibbled about the price and never asked questions. Mad Mage liked the guy. Unlike his other buyers Dabber was specific, showed up on time and never tried to cheat him. Not like the Stoned Man, that guy was serious bad news. Mad Mage never dealt with him direct, only through a series of middlemen and drops. The guy was crazy-mad. Yawning, Mad Mage turned back to his current project. Glancing at the clock he sighed, at least two more hours before he could finish.