The Burn Zone (30 page)

“
It will heal,
”
he said. He angled the arm closer to the light so I could see better, and when I peered through the skin I could see that already little tendrils had begun to form across the break.

“
How long?
”
I asked him.

“
By morning.
”

He moved his arm away and touched his sleeve again. It closed back up, hiding the injury.

“
I talked to my folks about getting out of Hangfei,
”
Vamp said.
“
You know, just in case.
”

“
Yeah?
”
He nodded.

“
I didn
’
t say anything about the recording, but I convinced them the feed rumors are true. They
’
re making arrangements, and you
’
re in, if you want in.
”

“
Dragan comes with us,
”
I said, taking a swig from the bottle. It was fizzy, and burned going down.

“
If we can find him.
”

“
His message came from
Shiliuyuán
Station,
”
I said.
“
I don
’
t know how that
’
s possible, but that
’
s got to be where he is now.
”

Vamp shrugged.
“
Parts of it could still be there,
”
he said:
“
Since the Impact, no one
’
s been in there to see for sure, and that other name on the recording, Deepwell, fits. I did some digging and Deepwell was the name they gave the site after the station got locked down.
”

I remembered the
story,
or the sanitized schoolroom version anyway. Everyone knew the story of the husband and wife who parted at the station, and how she threw him an apple to eat on the train. It stuck in midair, spinning like a tiny planet. Video of it went viral, and people came from all over to see it, but by summer the site was secured. The entire station was enclosed, and the only people ever to see the inside were killed in the Impact.

“
Could it have survived it somehow?
”
I asked Nix.

“
I wasn
’
t aware of it,
”
he said,
“
though the recording indicates it has, at least in part. That would explain how Sillith has been able to operate in secret, away from both Hangfei and the ship.
”

“
Then he
’
s in the Impact zone,
”
I said to myself.
“
Past the rim.
”

“
Right.
”

I felt hope dwindle away. I tried to hold on to it, but this was a major obstacle. No human had ever gotten through the force field, and to even try you
’
d have to cross the rim to get to it. The ruins were buried in toxic ash, and the few places you could get to were taken over by drug labs and meat farms.

“
Nix, is there even any way to get through the dome?
”
I asked.

“
No.
”

“
None?
How do you get through?
”

“
The only way in or out is through jump space,
”
he said.
“
The routes are carefully controlled. No human has access to them.
”

“
Do you?
”

“
No.
”

“
Great,
”
I muttered.

“
However,
”
Nix said,
“
on the video, your parent clearly traversed a gate.
”

“
So?
”

“
Whatever Sillith is doing, she
’
s acting in secret. It stands to reason that her jump-space routes are not part of our existing network. If she is moving between
Shiliuyuán
Station and the rest of Hangfei, she must have a twistkey that allows her to use the existing gate network as access points.
”

“
Search him. Find the twistkey.
”

“
He doesn
’
t have it.
”

“
They were looking for it,
”
I said.
“
Sillith and the others.
It
’
s the blue key, the one he had in the video.
”

“
Keep it safe for me. I
’
m going to take you someplace safe
...
”

“
He left it with the kid. If we find him, we find the twistkey.... I can get to Dragan, and we turn the kid over and stop the attack too.
”
I thought about it for a minute.
“
Shit, he contacted me. I had him on the damned line.
”

“
Who?
”

“
The kid, the little Pan-Slav shit from the video. Dragan
’
s wet drive synced him to my contact list when I plugged it in. He must have seen my name pop up at some point, and he messaged me.
”

“
Where is he?
”

“
He didn
’
t say, but it means he
’
s still alive, right?
”

“
What did the location tag say?
”

“
It said
‘
Out of range.
’”

Vamp pursed his lips.
“
Out of range,
”
he said to himself.
“
That can mean any location the chat network doesn
’
t have in its database. It doesn
’
t necessarily mean out of range.
”

“
But he
’
s got to be in Hangfei somewhere. How can it not be in the database? Can you track him?
”

Vamp looked a little leery.
“
Through the 3i chat client?
Not easily, if at all.
”

“
Then if eyebot doesn
’
t come through, we
’
ll have to hope he comes back online and see if I can get it out of him. Either way we grab the key, tip security, and while they
’
re busy moving in on him, we
’
ll grab Dragan.
”

Vamp looked uneasy.
“
That means going down there.
”

“
Right.
”

“
To the same place where that woman got squashed into oblivion.
”

“
What do you want to do, then? Leave him down there?
”

“
Let Hwong go in and—
”

“
And what?
Execute him for treason? If we can get
him to Duongroi with us, we
’
ll be out of Hwong
’
s reach until we can get it sorted out.
”

“
Sam, you saw that recording. You know what
’
s down there.
”

“
If you have a better idea, then let
’
s have it.
”

“
I
’
m just saying you don
’
t even know for sure if he
’
s there.
”

“
It
’
s the best lead I
’
ve got,
”
I snapped, holding out my hands and slopping whiskey fizz onto the floor.

“
And what are you going to do when you get there?
”

“
I
’
m not leaving him there!
”
I barked.

Vamp just sighed and crossed his arms.
“
Look,
”
he said.
“
There
’
s more to this.
”

He sent over a message that popped up on the 3i screen. Two stamp-sized holodisplays, each of a man
’
s face with contact info underneath it, appeared in front of me.

“
I don
’
t get it. Who are they?
”

“
Two of the soldiers who raided your apartment.
”

I looked back at the pictures, heat rising into my cheeks.
“
Where are they?
”

“
Dead,
”
he said.
“
Their remains were found earlier today, in different parts of the city.
”

“
Dead?
How?
”

“
They were found in their homes. Their arms and legs were pulled off, Sam.
”

“
Cut off?
”
I grimaced.

“
Not cut off, pulled off.
Twisted off.
The coroner report says they were alive when it happened. That
’
s not some weird coincidence. I was able to isolate three of the four soldiers who took Dragan in from the eyebot data, and at least two of them are dead. I
’
m working on tracking down the other male soldier, but nothing at all so far on the woman.
”

I looked at the images, the men who
’
d help take Dragan from me. They were dead. In my mind I
’
d wished suffering on the people responsible for his abduction, but the thought of being quartered alive left me queasy.

“
She
’
s killing them,
”
I said. I imagined the whine of combat armor as joints were pulled free from their sockets.
“
They know the weapon is here, so she
’
s killing them. She doesn
’
t want it tied back to her.
”

“
Sam, be realistic,
”
Vamp said.
“
Your face is plastered across every channel now. They
’
re calling you a cannibal and a dissident, and they
’
re offering a reward for your capture. If you stay in the city you
’
re going to get
arrested. How do you know you can trust that old man at the desk? He could be collecting on you right now.
”

“
He
’
s not.
”
I let out a long, fumy breath.
“
Look, I know it
’
s bad. I wouldn
’
t blame you if you took off. So if you want out of this, you
’
d better go now.
”