Code Breakers: Beta (26 page)

Chapter 39

Petal gritted her teeth and fired a burst from behind a squad of five ’droids, taking out an insurgent firing down from one of three escalators that dominated the foyer. The other two, at either side, were guarded at the base and the top by more of Fuentes’ loyalists. They were a mix of Libertas Security and Cemprom workers—the latter completely inadequate in such a situation, indicated by their frantic and fearful movements.

Petal watched the ’droids, under Gerry’s influence, split into three squads of five. Two took the flanks and battled with the Fuentes’ force by the escalators. The third group set up an arc in the middle of the foyer, using the reception desk as cover. From their position they covered from one side of the foyer to the other, and more importantly gave Malik and his team sufficient support to lay down fire as the situation changed.

On the second floor, standing behind the armoured Plexiglas, Fuentes stood with her hands on hips, surveying the battle zone. A young scientist was next to her, talking frantically, gesticulating at the heavy losses they were suffering.

Malik spotted her from his position behind the ’droids. He fired a few rounds at her, but the bullets bounced off the barrier. It still made Fuentes jump back. She was clearly nervous. Petal felt that tide turn. And Gerry must have seen it too.

The two ’droid squads at each side of the foyer moved up, pushing the insurgents higher up the escalators as they scattered to find cover. The gunfire sounded like the tornado back on the plains: a never-ceasing roar that rattled right through to her bones.

Xian was by her side, keeping watch, firing when an insurgent dared to fire upon their position.

She turned to see James, Enna, and Elaine join her behind a Polymar barrier that the insurgents had initially used for cover, until the ’droids overwhelmed them and forced them back. Petal and the others ducked down below, their backs to the barrier.

Over the thunder of gunfire, Petal shouted to them, “There’s an entrance at the back of the foyer that’ll lead us to the main part of the building.”

James shook his head. “There’s too many of them. Even with the ’droids, we’d never make it across the open ground without getting shot down.”

“There’s another way,” Elaine said. She hefted Omega off her back and took out a slate from within her security jacket. “I worked here for years. There are a number of private, security corridors that allow workers to get from one place to another without going through the public spaces. There’s one over there.” She pointed to a spot on the right-hand wall.

All Petal could see was a line in the tiles.

“Are you sure?” Petal asked.

“Absolutely.”

A grenade exploded ten metres to their right. Four of the five ’droids in that squad fell to the ground, various limbs bending in the wrong way, wires and pistons hanging out, sparks flying. A flood of insurgents rushed down the escalator and secured a position behind one of the barricades.

“Fuck it!” Petal said. They’d never get to the door with the insurgents covering that side of the foyer now. She connected to the network via her transceiver. Since Gerry had left her, she’d felt the buzz of a connection in the back of her mind but hadn’t wanted to risk joining it in case Elliot was lurking somewhere, waiting. But now was the time she needed to act.

Her mind turned black as she connected. The network no longer displayed a graphical interface. Instead, raw data traversed from node to node. There were two large sources of data. And by large, they were petabytes in order of magnitude. The two streams came from separate parts of the network but clashed together at one single server.

Gerry and Elliot! Even now, they were battling each other.

–
Gerry? Can you hear me?

–
Petal, get out, now!

A force slammed against her, making her vision flash white.

–
I need the
’
droids to help us to...

A wave of static smashed into her, crashing her connection and dumping her out of the system. She fell to the ground with the shock of it. Her vision blazed bright white, and a pain gripped her brain. A pair of hands grabbed her by the shoulders. A voice said, “Petal, are you okay?”

She took a few breaths, waiting for the effects of the crash to dissipate. She’d never get used to that. At first she thought it was Gerry, but the violence of the data-attack had Elliot’s influence all over it. When she opened her eyes, James was looking at her, panic written in the lines of his face. He seemed to have aged a decade since the last time she saw him.

“I’m fine,” she said, pushing him away. “Elaine, we need to find another—”

The lights in the building went out. Only the small bursts from the muzzle flashes provided any light. They plumed and died out like candles in a breeze. In the shadows, she noticed the shapes of Ghanus and Liza-Marie slither to the sides of the foyer, their inherent skill turning this situation into an advantage for them.

A second later, the group of ’droids covering the centre shifted to the right and focussed their fire on the barricade by the escalator. “Do they have night vision?” she asked James, the creator of the ’droids.

“They have everything-vision. EM, infrared, and limited X-ray.”

“He’s helping us,” she said.

“Gerry?” Enna asked.

“Yeah. Come on; let’s press the advantage. Elaine, lead the way.”

“Xian come?” Xian said from the side of Petal. He’d stuck there like a loyal dog ever since they arrived in the city.

“You’re coming,” Petal said, squeezing his shoulder in thanks.

While the ’droids and the Upsiders laid down a covering fire, Elaine hefted Omega on her back, and together, Petal and the others dashed across the foyer until they reached the hidden door. Elaine pressed her palm against the white tiled surface. A lock activated from inside, and the door opened inward.

Petal waited for a brief moment, letting her hearing adjust to the sudden change. The corridor, still in darkness thanks to Gerry, had a compressing effect on sound, muffling the outside roar to a dull, distant thunder.

Enna switched on her OLED lamp and handed it to Elaine.

“This way,” the security member said. “We’ll be there in a few moments.”

Xian pushed his way to the front, leaving Petal behind. He took up a position next to Elaine. The corridor only just about accommodated both of them within its width. He raised his rifle and aimed it forward. Petal was impressed with him. On their way here, a number of reservations about his mental state prickled at her judgment. Perhaps it was the city and the company of more people bringing out his sane side.

As they stalked through the corridors, Enna inquired about Gerry. “What’s happened to him? How did he get out of your mind?”

“It was voluntary. As soon as I got into the network, he just jumped out,” Petal said.

“Are you okay? No weird lasting effects?”

“None.” She didn’t want to voice how hollow she felt. How heavy, slow, and incapable. How incomplete and fragile. And then there was the terrible emotion of knowing Elliot was probably too much and would destroy Gerry if they couldn’t get into the network and help him in time.

It took five minutes and a few wrong turns, but eventually Elaine had led them to the rear entrance of Cemprom’s main data-centre: a room that extended three floors beneath the ground and had the biggest concentration of servers and computational power on the planet—or at least the largest one known to them.

“Wait,” James said as they approached the door. “Someone’s in there.”

Petal pressed her ear against the heavy steel security door. Indeed, she could hear faint, muted voices. It sounded like the place was guarded, which wasn’t exactly surprising. Elliot must have known what was happening and had commanded his drone people to secure his most precious thing: the data-centre, the very home to his mind.

“What do we do now?” James whispered.

Petal extended her forearm spikes. “What we always do, Doc, fight.”

Xian kneeled, raised his rifle, and aimed it at the door.

“Everyone stand aside. When I go in, you follow up. Xian watch and provide cover fire. Got it?”

Everyone nodded.

“Open it,” Petal said to Elaine.

The security officer hesitated at first, but when she saw Petal’s face, she moved forward and entered her details into the gesture-controlled access panel. It bleeped, confirming her credentials. Petal kicked the door open and rushed inside, spikes up.

Chapter 40

Through the muzzle flashes, Malik saw Petal and the others disappear into a door in front of the escalator. The central group of ’droids had covered their position and forced back the group of insurgents behind the barricade.

A group of six insurgents held the top of the left escalator and exchanged fire with the second squad of ’droids.

“Okay, everyone, support the right—we need to clear that escalator.” With that, he hobbled across the foyer, behind two of his best marksman, gun in one hand, crutch tucked beneath his other arm. They joined the ’droids in laying down fire. They caught three insurgents as they tried to fire back, leaving just two of Fuentes’ men. They scrambled back, and the ’droids, along with Malik and his squad, bore down on them. A moment later they had taken the right flank. He wanted to give the ’droids orders to guard the escalator as he and his officers scaled their way to the next level, but they were answering the orders of someone else.

Through the smoke, he could just make out the squad of ’droids on the left raise the Polymar barricade and shuffle forward until they were at the base of the left escalator. Their fire scattered the two remaining ronin fighters after killing most of the group.

“Okay, squad. Now’s as good a time as any, follow me. We’re taking the second floor. I want that bitch Fuentes dead.”

Two officers switched on their flashlights to illuminate their way. The amount of blood shining on the tiles of the floor and walls and the steps of the escalators surprised Malik. It stood out starkly in the beam of the light. He recognised many of the dead insurgents as former colleagues. It hurt to know that Fuentes had manipulated so many of them to join Elliot’s cause.

For a brief moment he didn’t move, overwhelmed by the enormity of it all. Despite the Family’s control and D-Lottery, there was never this level of death and loss. A slither of a thought suggested that the Family’s rule would have been preferable, but then he remembered Gerry, his sacrifice, and his desire for humanity to have freedom, free will. He soon snapped out of it when he thought of Fuentes and her orders to kill Sasha.

“Let’s go. Can someone lend a hand?”

A young officer who had so far proven to be an excellent marksman helped Malik up the steps. This time he didn’t object. It would take him too long on his own, and he didn’t want to risk exposing his officers longer than necessary. Two of the five others covered them, training their rifles ahead in case of a surprise attack.

This floor contained mostly offices for various managers and department heads. A trail of blood across the white tiled floor stretched off down a hall and turned left at the end. They followed like bloodhounds. As they turned the corner, Malik heard panicked voices calling to Fuentes for orders. It seemed she didn’t have many fighters left at her disposal. Malik stopped and ordered his squad to be quiet as he listened to the voices, trying to ascertain their location.

“You will do as you are told! Now get out there and fight!” Fuentes sounded desperate and close.

“Come,” Malik said, his voice hushed. “Be ready.”

While he shuffled forward with pistol in one hand and crutch in the other, two young men backed him either side. Three others took the rear. “How we doing for ammo?” Malik asked.

Each man in the squad had at least one magazine. Malik only had half a magazine in his pistol: fewer than five shots.

As he reached the end of the hall, he extended his pistol and stole a look round the corner.

She was there! In the darkness, he could just make out Fuentes standing with her back to him as she remonstrated to a pair of injured fighters in the hallway between two offices.

Moonlight shining through the open windows made them appear monotone.

Before he could be spotted, Malik turned back to his officers, whispering, “Three hostiles, including the head bitch, right round this corner. We move as one, on my mark. Ready?”

His squad nodded silently, readying their weapons. Malik waited, listening to the conversation. Fuentes was saying something about the data-centre. He held up his hand, three fingers extended. He folded each finger as he counted down until he reached one. As a single unit they spun into the corridor ready to fire, but she’d gone.

“Damn. Sweep the rooms,” he said as he looked through the windows into the various offices, his gun before him. “She’s here somewhere.” Before he took another step, a dark shape dropped from the ceiling, scattering his squad. Flashes of chrome caught his vision.

The man next to Malik screamed before falling against him, knocking the crutch from beneath his arm. Malik fell to the ground, dropped his pistol, and watched as the flashlights from two of his officers danced erratically on the roof.

The beams of light reflected off something chrome moving so fast he couldn’t make it out. His officers screamed as the attack continued. Malik heard the sound of a blade burying deep into flesh. A scream burst out, only to be silenced by another sickening, wet ‘thud’. The dead body of one of his officers fell to the ground next to him.

The young man’s head flopped on one shoulder.

More screams followed, and more bodies hit the ground. The struggle lasted no more than ten seconds. His squad lay in tatters.

“What the hell?” Malik mouthed as he pushed a body away from him and looked up.

With the scant moonlight, he could just make out a bald-headed woman dressed in a tight black suit standing with her back to him, her arms held out by the sides of her lithe body. Blades that extended from her hands dripped with blood.

Malik ran his hands around the floor, trying to find the pistol.

He brushed the grip of it and realised it was beneath a dead officer.

The woman turned to him. Dark blood on her face contrasted starkly against the whites of her wide eyes and sick grin.

She stepped closer, slow, and deliberate, a spider approaching its cocooned prey.

Malik tried to yank the pistol free, but it snagged on an officer’s jacket, catching against a strap. The woman bore closer to him, still wearing that wide grin. She had the look of madness in her eyes. It was then he realised she was one of James’ clones. The similarity to Sasha shined through the madness and death mask.

She swung her left hand down, burying the blade deep into his good leg.

He screamed out, tightening his fists. The clone twisted the blade, making his back arch with the pain. His screams broke, tearing his vocal cords so that with each twist he could only tense and attempt to breathe. His head swam with the agony.

The clone brought her face close to his. She traced her left-hand blade across his cheek, cutting it so very finely at first he didn’t feel it against the overwhelming pain in his leg.

“Finish him,” a voice from behind him said. He heard the click-clack of stiletto heels walk away down the corridor.

“Fuentes... you... fucking... bi—” The clone dug her blade deeper, cutting off his words.

The pain motivated him. With all his remaining strength, he pulled the pistol free from beneath the dead officer. Running purely on adrenaline and instinct, he brought the pistol up and fired off four wild shots. She collapsed against him, the weight of her body driving the blade deeper into his leg. The other blade fell safely wide of his shoulder. Clenching his jaw, he heaved her body over.

He lifted his face up off the tiles. At the end of the corridor he saw Fuentes running. He stretched his arms out and aimed. His hands trembled. He had just one bullet left. He could barely make out her form in the darkness. His vision tunnelled and was shrinking by the millisecond like a camera aperture closing, bringing with it his final darkness.

His heart stopped. Fuentes had reached the end of the corridor and was just about to turn when, with his last breath, he squeezed the trigger.

Fuentes skidded, her heel slipping as she made to turn out of the corridor, her haste overbalancing her. As she recovered her footing, she briefly looked back.

Malik pulled the trigger completely.

The bullet fired, striking Fuentes in the face.

The pistol dropped out of his hands. The last image he saw was Fuentes’ legs slipping out from beneath her, sending her limp body sliding to the floor.