Code Breakers: Beta (24 page)

Chapter 34

Petal wrestled with the Jaguar’s controls as she saw the glowing light of the Dome just up ahead. One of the engines had blown, skewing the craft’s momentum. Xian clawed the edges of his seat with a death grip. His jaw clenched, making the muscles in his face jut out. She felt how he looked.

“This might get bumpy,” Petal said as she navigated to the port of the Dome. Thankfully, it hadn’t been fixed since Gerry had smashed out of it in one of Libertas’ own shuttles.

The engines groaned as she descended. The fuselage creaked and whined. The tail fin juddered, making their flight choppy and uncomfortable. But she relaxed as they closed in on their destination, knowing it was nearly over.

Xian’s eyes grew wide as they drew closer. First time he’d seen the Dome. Petal remembered her first time. Coming out of a world of ruin to see that crystal marble brought with it a degree of awe. Spending a number of years living inside, hiding in the shadows, took some of that shine off.

“Going in,” Petal said. She checked the fit of the harness around her shoulders and chest. She didn’t expect to get in so easily. Her legs and arms tensed. She slowed the craft and piloted through the breach in the Dome, all the time waiting for a shuttle to intercept them or a squad of drones to blast them from the sky.

The lights of the control tower were off, however. The great mushroom rising up from the various landing pads appeared deserted. She activated the landing protocol, but with just one working VTOL engine, the craft started to spin in circles as it dropped to the ground.

“Hold on,” Petal shouted over the din of the whining engine and the screech of metal stretching and deforming against the G-force.

The Jaguar struck the landing pad with a devastating jolt. The VTOL engine sheared off, and the tail fin snapped against the toughened Polymar surface, breaking apart, sending them scraping forward on the runway towards the park.

They skidded for a few hundred metres until they hit the spongy surface of the grass. The sharp edges of the hull where the tail had broken off dug into the soil, spraying up a cloud of dirt behind them. Eventually they came to a stop. Dirt and leaves and branches rained down on the windshield.

“Fuck that,” Petal said as she tried to move. Pain shot up her spine, the flight seat unable to absorb the effects of the impact. It jarred her for a moment, winding her. She turned her head, easing the pain from her neck muscles. Xian’s head had dropped to his chest, and his arms were limp against his frail body.

“Are you okay, Xian?”

Petal unclipped the harnesses and reached over to shake him by the shoulder. “Hey! You alive?”

“Eh?” He lifted his head, shaking it slowly, his eyes clenched tightly shut. “Landing rough,” he eventually said as he began to move.

“Yeah, that’s one way of saying it. Can you move? We need to get out of here.”

Xian nodded and sucked in his breath sharply as he unclasped his harnesses and turned to push open his door. It wouldn’t budge. Petal tried hers, and the entire thing fell to the ground with the barest of touches. When she looked closer, the hinges had sheared off through the rust. She realised how lucky she was it hadn’t come off mid-flight when she wasn’t strapped in.

After helping Xian out of the craft, and taking an automatic rifle with her, Petal got her bearings. She traced a line from the control tower to the west over a series of smaller towers: the business district, until she saw the tallest and brightest tower in the Dome’s skyline: Cemprom’s building.

She felt Gerry in her mind urge her towards it, and a familiar buzz of a private network; somewhere close was one of her virtual private networks. It wasn’t Gerry or Gabe, which left only one other person: Enna.

Probing out with her mind and using Gerry’s skill to shroud her connection from Elliot’s awareness, she connected to Enna’s VPN node with her internal systems and sent her a message, telling her what had happened to Alpha and Gabe, and that she was heading to Cemprom. She also enquired about Omega’s whereabouts. They’d need it in order to go up against Elliot.

Even then she doubted they’d be up to the task, but Gerry’s calming influence within her prevented her from falling into a pit of self-defeatism.

“We’re not far,” she said to Xian, who shuffled behind her, moaning under his breath about his poor old knees and hip joints. “We’ll be there in ten minutes. Just keep your eyes open for ronin. Stick to the shadows.”

He pulled a rifle from over his back and tapped the barrel. His mouth twitched, and his eyes bulged. A grim determination etched on his rubbery features.

Over to the west, towards the older district, she heard the familiar sounds of UAV engines.

Chapter 35

James heard the voices of Enna and Elaine quieten as they descended the steps and made their way into the station. He wanted to scream out, make them notice they’d left him behind, but Samir’s undeniable strength held him firm and covered his mouth. She dragged him behind one of the booths and stood before him. She stepped back as if daring him to make a move.

His voice caught in his throat. He wanted to shout, but he knew she’d be too quick. She held a dagger at his gut and grinned a sadistic smile. No doubt picturing herself skinning him.

She cocked her head slightly, a botanist inspecting a rare plant.

“You’re not a good man,” she said, her voice low and husky. “You’ve done so many terrible things. But it’s okay. I’ll help you in the afterlife. You just need to kneel before me and beg for forgiveness. Confess your sins and redeem yourself.”

He swallowed, trying to inch away from the blade that continued to push against his flesh. She’d drive it through him on a whim, but he couldn’t remain calm. He opened his mouth to call for help, but her fist struck him in the face, muting any desire to speak, splitting his lip and making his eyes water. He sobbed then, trapped and tormented.

Samir’s face twisted with hate. Sweat glistened on her head.

There was a time when he found her and clone two beautiful in their peaceful stasis-state. Fully animated and motivated, however, she looked every inch the monster he remembered from before. Regardless of Saladin’s technology and ability to control her, she hadn’t changed. She was still the flawed psychopath, the result of his failure.

She placed a finger against his lips. “Quiet now. I’ll make this quick—maybe.” She moved forward to kiss him on the cheek, pressing the blade against him until the skin finally broke beneath its point. Her free hand gripped the back of his neck, pinning him in place.

He screamed then.

“Confess,” she whispered. “Repent.”

Through gritted teeth he uttered, “I am a sinner, I confess.”

She smiled then, even as the sound of Enna and the others clattering up the stairs echoed through the old station. She made to move away, but then leaned in once more, bringing her lips to his ear.

“Enough talking... bitch,” James said through gritted teeth.

A shot rang out, sounding far too loud in the close space.

Her body stiffened.

Samir fell back, clutching her ribs.

Blood poured from the gunshot wound. She looked at James, her face already pale and waxy.

The pistol shook in James’ hand, and he eventually dropped it.

Enna and Elaine were the first to rush to James’ side. Ghanus and Liza-Marie followed and stood over Samir’s prone form. Ghanus took a pistol from his waist belt and shot her twice through the head before turning to James. “You did good. Saladin will know we’re here, though. We need to move quickly.”

“He’s been stabbed,” Enna said. “He can’t—”

“I’m okay,” James said, looking down at the wound. She’d only penetrated a few millimetres, barely through the flab around his gut. “I knew being overweight would have its benefits someday.” He tried to smile, give the impression he was okay, but the sight of Samir’s body hurt him more than the minor flesh wound.

“Come on,” Enna said. “We should carry on.”

Taking a brief look behind him, he tried to ignore the feelings of regret for killing his creation. Though he knew he hadn’t a choice, it left him hollow inside. With Sasha gone, Samir gone, and Petal’s fate unknown, all his family were quickly disappearing: the only ones left being the insane Elliot and the second clone, who was no better than Samir. And given he doubted he had more than a few hours to live, it looked like the end of the Robertson line for good.

A cool breeze blew down the old metro tunnel, bringing with it the smell of dust and carbon, but with each breath, everything began to smell of blood.

“Hold on,” Enna said. They stopped. James swayed but clung on to his helpers.

“What is it?” Liza-Marie said.

“Petal! She’s alive and here. She just sent me a secure VPN message. She said:

–
I’m heading for Cemprom. Got a few problems with some drones, but I’m heading there with Gerry—bring Omega.

“She didn’t have any luck with Alpha, though... and Gabe... didn’t make it.”

“How many more have to die for this goddamned city?” James said.

“I don’t know, but we’ve come this far. We can’t let Petal down now. We have to get to Cemprom. With Petal and Omega we might stand a chance. We have to try.” Enna reached out and shook his shoulder, catching his gaze with a steely expression.

“Lead on,” James said with a determination that, if it came to it, he would at least get to see Petal again and apologise, truly confess his sins to someone who mattered. He could relate to how she was probably feeling after losing Gabe.

Chapter 36

Petal and Xian dashed from side street to side street, always staying within the shadows of the buildings. They approached the square of the business district. The fibre-optic lighted fountain dominated the centre of the empty space. Most of the buildings had lights on, the citizens safely ensconced in their homes.

While standing in the shadow of an apartment building that looked like it was made entirely from glass and steel, Petal received a reply from Enna.

–
Hey. Glad to hear you’re okay. Be careful out there, a shit storm has descended. Fuentes has betrayed us all. Trust no one.

Her message went on to fill Petal in on what had happened to Malik and Sasha and what their plan was. Yet more grief to add to the mountain of pain she still felt about Gabe. Losing Sasha seemed especially cruel, being one of her true family, kind of. She always hated this city. It seemed the more time she spent here, the more loss she experienced.

Hanging from two high poles, a giant media screen showed the image of Rosario Fuentes spreading her lies. Petal felt a wave of fury when she saw the pictures of James, Enna, and the others, including herself and Gabe, as terrorists and killers.

“We’ll see what you say when I get my hands on you, bitch.” Petal tore her gaze away from the screen and scrutinised the area, watching for movement, for ronin. Her internal transceivers were awash with the now-familiar traffic generated by Elliot, but she dared not send her mind into the data. Elliot would spot her in an instant. Even now, she wondered how long it’d be before he found her. The city felt like his domain now. Every ronin-chipped person a potential meat puppet for his will.

“Come on,” she urged Xian, who waited anxiously beside her while taking in the details of the city. In another situation, she would have given him time to get his head around it all, but right now it was more important they get to Cemprom’s tower without being spotted.

They dashed across the square and ducked into the shadows of an alley. She heard the low buzz of a stun weapon coming from further down the street. It grew louder, and two ronin stopped in front of the alley. They were chatting with each other about new orders.

One of them, with long, shaggy hair, turned round to see Petal and Xian at the entrance to the alley. His eyes went wide with surprise, and for a brief moment he seemed to not know what to do. “Hey,” the ronin said, both grabbing his partner—a small ratlike man—and reaching for his gun.

Two shots fired from behind Petal, making her dive to the side, clutching her ears. As she hit the wall of the opposing building, she saw the two ronin collapse. Xian stood by her, the smoke still twisting from the barrel of his rifle. He wore a satisfied smile.

Petal shook her head as her ears continued to ring. “Damn. You’re a fast shot.”

He shrugged, looking at the dead bodies dispassionately, all emotion now gone. She didn’t blame him. They destroyed his whole world. She doubted he would be happy until he saw them all burn.

She checked the bodies. Neither wore chips. But one of them had a slate. Scouring through the files, she found regular messages from someone within Libertas’s security force. It backed up what Enna had told them about Fuentes’ lies and influence within Cemprom and the security divisions. But more importantly, it was connected to the old citywide network and not directly to Elliot like the ronin-chips.

When she checked further, she realised that the connection was cloaked. To an outsider, no such network would appear, but this particular slate had tunnelled into it securely, giving the ronin a line of communication. She wondered, then, if the plan was to bring it online and connect the populace to it via their AIAs. It’d be easier than manufacturing enough ronin-chips for the entire populace. That way, Elliot could be directly inside everyone’s head—assuming they could repair the network sufficiently.

“Xian, I’m going to try something here. Can you keep watch for a few moments?”

“I watch.” He kneeled down close to the side of the building, shrouding himself in shadows. He brought the rifle up and scanned the entrance and surrounding areas.

Petal knew they probably didn’t have long until someone came to investigate. His rifle wasn’t exactly a subtle weapon, and her ears were still throbbing with the sudden blast of it.

She connected to the slate via her remote, internal transceiver. Immediately, her mind became infinitely lighter and faster. Gerry had slithered out of his dark hiding place and guided her through the system—much of which he had designed when he worked at Cemprom before all the madness started. She connected to the citywide network and saw the full topography stretch out ahead of her. Small tower icons represented each node. Gerry conjured a graphical interface for her. He led her, like a data ghost, down the virtual street until they came to a warehouse. She peeked inside and saw rows and rows of combat ’ droids.

–
You want me to hack the droids?
she asked Gerry with her thoughts.

–
Yes. And the UAVs.

He made her turn her head. Beyond the ’droids were small plane icons representing the drones. Lines of data connected each one together. She followed the line until she came to a central server: the server the UAV controllers used to assign orders. It seemed the ’droids’ orders had been modified to come from there too.

In the physical realm, it was a room within the mushroom-shaped control tower. Must have been underground, given the place seemed deserted earlier. She considered trying to contact Malik and get him to speak with his buddies back at the tower, but then if it were that easy, he’d have already done it.

She decided to take down the server herself. The security layer around it was new. Definitely improved since the last time she and Gabe had needed to get into Cemprom’s various systems. The server icon appeared to have a shield around it—a graphical representation generated by Gerry as he manipulated her optical nerve to interpret the system.

She felt unsure how to go about the task, not used to having a fully capable consciousness inside with her. Gerry seemed to pick up on her hesitance.

–
Just follow my lead.

– I don’t know how.

– You will.

With that, Gerry, represented by a ghostlike form, spread out around the shield on the server. As he got close to it, black streams of datalike tentacles unfurled and struck against him. Gerry’s ghost backed away, gripped one of the tentacles with his hands, and wrestled it away from the server. Five other tentacles flayed out to attack him, but he was too fast, dodging their assault, buying her time, and causing the necessary distraction.

It took Petal a while to get used to such a stylised graphical representation. Before, she’d just dive into the data and analyse the bits and bytes as numbers and information. Seeing it as a mini-drama unfolding before her made her hesitant, but as she drew her mind closer to the server, she remembered all the techniques Gabe had taught her.

She remembered how to generate enough data to create a Denial of Service attack. That seemed an appropriate technique while Elliot’s new security layer fought with whatever Gerry was doing, his intentions obscured by the graphics.

From her transceiver she sent a wave of information requests to the server, spoofed as one of the ’droids. It was keeping up, increasing its CPU and memory allocation to handle the flood of requests.

The images of the ’droids faltered as they moved chaotically about the warehouse. Despite not bringing the server down, the flood of data affected the communications to the ’droids.

Seeing an opportunity, she increased the barrage of data to the server. While it was busy trying to deal with all the interactions, she started to decrypt the orders being sent to the ’droids. The bandwidth of the slate restricted what she could do. With Gerry fighting with the tentacular firewall, creating the diversion, and her attempts of flooding the server, there wasn’t enough capacity for her to pick apart the encryption.

–
We can’t do it this way,
Petal said, hoping Gerry could hear while he battled with the server security.

–
Drop your attack,
he said after a few moments.
Take down the
’
droids. Leave the server to me.

After cutting the Denial of Service attack, Petal focussed her mind on the connection to the ’droids. Remembering what James had said during the war with the Red Widows, she hunted for the central routing ’droid.

A trace program applied to the data quickly identified a single point of reference where the orders were being sent. The lead ’droid would then use its limited AI capacity to route the instructions to the other ’droids on the network.

It was then she saw the pattern of the data and realised she didn’t need to decrypt the instructions at all. She just needed to divert the information and send her own orders out.

She scanned the network and found a node that wasn’t responsible for anything critical. Within the Cemprom network, a computer was setup to handle internal messaging. She scanned it for weak points and an open communications port that allowed the computer to send and receive messages.

–
I’ve found a way
, Petal said.
Can you hold off the server for a few more minutes?

Even as she said it, she knew he could. In fact, when she looked closer, his ghostly avatar had severed a number of the tentacles writhing out from behind the server’s firewall shield, and he was closing in on the centre of the server, his arms a blur of movement. In reality, his mind was overwhelming the security with an ever-evolving piece of code designed to infiltrate a networked computer. He had it locked in so deeply, the server would fall—it was just a matter of time.

–
Do it!
Gerry said.

Spinning a program that acted like a dam, Petal scrutinised the routes of traffic to and from the ’droid. The lines appeared to her like a river system, Gerry interpreting her attentions and creating the graphical overlay to make her job easier.

It amazed her how he could multitask so seamlessly. He was at one with the network now; she could tell from the strange hollow feeling in her mind.

He’d taken himself out, stretched his own mind into the system and beyond. It occurred to her then that he and Elliot were one and the same thing. She just hoped Gerry’s consciousness didn’t suffer the same fate as Elliot’s.

Focussing back on the job at hand, Petal spotted a main trunk in the river where the water split off. She dropped her program down into that location and watched the data crash into it. At first she thought it wouldn’t hold and the data would find another way through the network, but a second later the rivers had changed—flowing to the destination node: the messaging server.

Pulling back from the microview of the system, she became cognizant of the warehouse once more. The ’droid icons had turned to black, indicating they were offline. She’d done it!

Further into the system, she watched as Gerry ripped the last flailing tentacle from its place and threw it to the ground with the others. He approached the server and seemed to absorb into it. Gerry had won! Overwhelming the system, he’d got in. The UAV drone icons flickered before disappearing, deleted from the network. And then all became black.

With a harsh feedback screech, her connection via the slate cut off. For a brief moment she thought she saw Elliot, huge and all-encompassing like a black hole in space. And worse, Gerry was no longer in her mind, but trapped in the system.

“Gerry!” she screamed, trying to get back in via the slate, but it was futile. The slate had burned out. Nothing more than a blackened, smoking lump of plastic in her hands. She dropped it to the ground. But this time she wouldn’t let grief grip her.

Gerry was the Techxorcist. He knew what he was doing—even if she didn’t. She had to trust that he was capable of defending himself for now. She and the others had to reach the data-centre. With Gerry in the system, Elliot’s destruction was no longer the only mission.

Xian had shuffled to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. “You okay? You hurt?”

He seemed to physically lurch back when she looked up at him. She wasn’t wearing her goggles. “They’re black, aren’t they?” she said, referring to her eyes.

Xian just nodded slowly, a sense of fear seeming to grip him.

“It’s okay.” She stood and took a deep breath. “This happens from time to time—they reflect my current state. Black isn’t as bad as it looks.”

Black meant that her internal code storage was empty. It meant she no longer carried Gerry inside of her. It meant that she was entirely alone; her mind was hers again, and she didn’t like it. She’d grown accustomed to Gerry being in there.

“Come on. We’ve got to get to Cemprom.”

She lifted her assault rifle and led Xian out of the alley. No longer could she detect the whine of the UAV drone engines. And the sound of distant gunfire had ceased. But there’d still be ronin lurking in the streets, looking for her and Enna and the others.

“Keep your eyes open, Xian.”

“Xian watching.”

Petal and Xian stalked through the empty streets of glass and steel buildings, keeping to the shadows and avoiding the glare from the various, large media screens. While they moved, Petal sent Enna a detailed message of what had happened with the ’droids, drones, and Gerry. She also found Malik’s VPN on the network and copied him in on the situation. She hoped he and his squad mates would join them at Cemprom. She didn’t exactly expect to just walk up to the place without some resistance.