Themis woke up a sweaty, sticky, disgusting mess. Thankfully she had left the window of her bedroom open, so at least the room didn’t stink as much as she did. It had gotten dark outside, the sounds of the city quiet. Then she heard her doorbell ring again, realising it was it that had woken her up. Must have been Carmen. She got up and stretched, pleasantly rejuvenated by the nap. Her shirt was disgusting, but not disgusting enough to change. She walked to the door and let Carmen in.
“Nice place,” the Captain noted, taking in the quaint little space.
“Thanks,” Themis said. “What time is it?”
“Eleven forty,” Carmen said. “We got time, we don’t have to be at the dock till half past midnight.”
“Cool, thanks.” Themis rubbed her eyes. “I’ll hop in the shower real quick. You hungry? I can throw together something quick after I’m done.”
“No need, thanks,” Carmen said. “I’ll just wait.”
“Cool.”
Fifteen minutes later Themis walked out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her body, hair dripping as she walked to her room to get dressed. Ten more minutes later she was done, dressed in her usual jeans and t-shirt, feeling ready to take over the world. Her new knife hanging from its sheath in her belt, the stick tucked in her kutte and her gun holstered under her shoulder, finally looking like a badass biker. Carmen was still standing in the living room, flipping through the modest bookcase right outside the kitchen.
“Didn’t peg you as a reader,” Carmen said, hearing Themis approach.
“I picked it up in prison,” Themis said. “That’s my dad’s though, I haven’t read any of them.”
Carmen turned, holding a book up and raising an eyebrow. “Pride and Prejudice?”
“He liked the classics,” Themis shrugged. “I’m more into sci-fi. Hitchhiker’s Guide, Dune, that kind of stuff.”
“Hmm,” Carmen said. “Mind if I borrow it?”
“I didn’t peg you as a reader.”
It was Carmen’s turn to shrug. “War takes a while, and you don’t do anything. It’s not constant firefights and air strikes.”
“Fair enough,” Themis said. “Ready to go?”
“Actually, what about that food you talked about?”
Themis rolled her eyes with a sigh and rushed to the kitchen. Her cooking utensils were crusty and unusable, and she didn’t have time for anything impressive. She buttered up four slices of bread, filled them with cheddar, lettuce, tomato and whatever cold cut she had available, in this case ham, and wrapped them tightly in parchment paper. No pan to grill them, they wouldn’t make for the best of sandwiches raw, but they would have to do. She threw one at Carmen as she pushed her door open and started climbing the stairs down.
“Aren’t you gonna lock up?” Carmen asked after she caught up with her.
“No point, I don’t have anything worth stealing,” Themis shrugged.
“This girl, I swear,” Carmen chuckled, rolling her eyes.
They got out of the building and snacked their sandwiches quietly. Then they dusted the breadcrumbs off and hopped on the van, out of habit Themis reached for the driver’s seat but Carmen stopped her. She wasn’t a prospect anymore, members rode shotgun. Being alone in the car unearthed painful memories for both, and Carmen felt compelled to speak as she started the engine and got on the road.
“Hey,” she said.
“What’s up?” Themis asked.
“Don’t be a hero this time.” Carmen looked at her intently. “I mean it.”
“Relax,” Themis said with a grin. “What are the chances it’s a setup again?”
Carmen rolled her eyes, muttering something in Spanish under her breath, too low for Themis to catch. They took the highway again, just like that time a year and a half ago. This time they rode it downwards, towards Ventura instead of Kern. They took the second exit and within ten minutes of driving they were on the beachside road.
Hunter County was not known for its sandy beaches and its mellow water, especially not with Santa Barbara a few miles from it. The beach was rocky and it attracted two very specific types of tourists. Amateur geologists, fascinated with the unique for the state rock formations, and broke frat bros who couldn’t afford to spend their spring break in Malibu. It didn’t matter to them too much, they’d spend their break cross faded anyway, what difference did it make where they’d get arrested for partying too hard?
A few more minutes and they saw the port at the horizon. The natural breakwater that hugged the modest cove with just enough space for a container ship to pass through and the dock was the only thing that had kept San Raul alive after the gold rush ended. Its remote location dissuaded regular shipping companies from choosing it over bigger and better equipped ports such as Long Beach, but made it perfect for potentially dangerous or covert cargo. All kinds of things from oil, uranium and mercury to weapons and military prototypes had been shipped to and from the port over the years. Alongside the occasional regular car or clothes shipment.
Carmen parked some ways off the port’s chain link fence, and the women got off. She led Themis around the entrance, to a gap in the fence hidden behind a container. They had to squeeze through the tight opening, then shimmy through the container and the fence until they were in. Themis had never been in a port before, and while it wasn’t as big as others she had passed by it was still impressive.
It was lit up by powerful spotlights, and two huge container cranes hummed from above them. Countless containers were stacked in large piles, staggered in rows with large gaps between them. With that much walkspace out of view, the port was essentially a labyrinth. No wonder they needed more people to guard the shipment. In the middle of the port was an open lane between stacks, a large truck was slowly backing inside from the front gate.