He swayed unsteadily for half a second, as he’d been lying there immobile for untold hours, but combat routines kicked in to heighten both his reflexes and his stability.
On the off chance that whatever data his captors had copied out from his mind was stored here in the room’s server, he went over to the module, yanked a panel off, placed one hand inside and sent out another powerful pulse of electricity.
The skin covering his fingertips came back seared an ugly charcoal, but the satisfaction he gained from the act made a little charring worth it.
The door to his cell opened as he approached it. Not even locked? So his kidnappers were arrogant. If he had anything to say about it, their conceit would be their downfall.
A wide, curving hallway greeted him. Every twenty meters, a door. Additional cells?
If Perrin had been stupid and tried to save him instead of running, or had run but not fast enough, she could be in one of the cells. Escape was promptly put on hold.
He activated his kamero filter, again marveling at the arrogance evident in the lack of an interference field preventing him from doing so, and opened the first door down the hall to his right. Empty. And the next.
The sound of footfalls echoed from around the curve, so faintly he wouldn’t have heard it if not for the tomb-like silence of the hallway. Kamero filter or not, he flattened himself against the inner wall of the empty room and waited.
A dyne made its way down the hall. It resembled a customized security dyne, sort of. He’d never seen a model like it.
As it passed the room, Joaquim spun out behind it, extended his blade and thrust it into the critical junction point above its torso, severing the operational signals to its limbs. The dyne collapsed to the floor, and he leapt on top of it and forced his blade under the casing that protected its primary neural core. When the casing finally bent up and out of the way, he ground the tip of the blade across the CPU housing.
Satisfied the dyne was permanently shut down, he retrieved its Glaser from the built-in holster and stuck it in the waist of his pants, as his kidnappers had confiscated his tactical belt.
The next cell was empty as well, but the door to the fourth opened to reveal a man restrained on a slab in a manner identical to his earlier circumstances.
The cell was otherwise empty, but he remained cautious as he stepped inside and approached the slab and its occupant—
“Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me.”
The man’s eyes jerked open to dart around his limited field of vision. “What? Who’s there?”
Joaquim deactivated the kamero filter and stepped up beside the slab. “How the fuck did you manage to get yourself strapped down in here?”
Recognition dawned in Dashiel Ridani’s eyes. “The gallant but stupid way. You?”
“Was Nika captured? Is she all right?”
“She wasn’t with me. The last time I saw her, she was on our ship. So, um…unfasten me?”
Joaquim’s brow furrowed in contemplation.
“You’re not seriously considering leaving me here. You’re a first-class prick, but you’re not sadistic or heartless or outright evil. You can’t be, or Nika would never have trusted you with NOIR.”
He sighed audibly and went around to the module at the head of the slab. “For the record, I’m only rescuing you for her sake.”
“Works for me.”
The temptation to pulse the table with electricity and watch Ridani’s hair and skin burn—just a touch—was strong, but he resisted. Quite noble of him, really. He disabled the slab’s control system properly, then grabbed the closest wrist restraint with both hands and wrested it upward. Before he could reach for the other one, Ridani had yanked his arm out of it and was grasping at the head strap.
Joaquim happily stepped back and let the man get himself out of the rest of the restraints.
Ridani eased onto the floor, then frowned at Joaquim. “What happened to your fingers? And your hair?”
“I didn’t have anyone to help me get free. I had to do it the hard way.”
“Fair enough. What’s the plan?”
“We need to check the other cells, in case more people are being held here. Then we need to find a way out of…wherever we are.”
Ridani stepped toward the door until it slid open and peeked out. “The Platform, I think. I’ve never been in this section, but the architecture matches.”
“So we’re in space?”
“Seems so, in which case there’s only one way out that offers breathable air on the other side: the d-gates to the towers on each Axis World.”
“There could be a hangar bay, ships.”
“As if the Guides would allow anyone to dock on the Platform. I highly doubt it.”
“Whatever. D-gates work fine. I don’t suppose you have a kamero filter installed?”
Ridani smirked. “Actually, I do. Nika’s been teaching me a few tricks of your trade.”
“Is shooting one of them?”
“Yes.”
Joaquim sighed again and handed him the Glaser he’d confiscated from the dyne. “I have other weapons, so take this. Don’t make me regret giving it to you.”
“I won’t.” After surveying his clothes briefly, Ridani mimicked what Joaquim had done and stuck the Glaser in his waistband. “But I will…” he gestured to the hallway “…follow your lead.”
49
* * *
MIRAI
“YOU’RE CERTAIN THEY'LL FOLLOW your orders, even if it means firing on other Justice dynes?”
“They’re machines. They obey their programming, and their programming tells them to obey me.” Weiss tilted his head in Spencer’s direction. “Or, in this case, Spencer.”
Nika circled the four hunter dynes in an attempt at a critical assessment. They stood nearly three meters tall and were encased in thick, reinforced shells that supported multiple weapons. She’d never had the opportunity to examine one up close before. In every previous encounter, she’d have found herself flat on her back and likely in pieces if she’d tried to get within ten meters of one.
She ran a fingertip along the smooth metal of an appendage that appeared to be a dedicated rocket launcher; the dyne didn’t flinch. “I don’t suppose you can add me to the list of people who can give them orders?”
Weiss cringed and glanced at the street outside the small Justice depot station. “I can, but it will delay us another fifteen minutes.”
“Nope. We’ve burned up too much time as it is. We need to move. Besides, I’ve never needed a dyne to do my shooting for me.”
Behind her, Ava snorted. “You and me both. But be glad Ryan isn’t here. You might have hurt his feelings saying that.”
She wished Ryan was here. Not so much for his pets, though they would absolutely come in handy, but for his own slicing and combat skills. She’d taken twenty minutes to get her shoulder fixed earlier, but it was going to take another eight hours to fully patch up the damage Ryan had suffered during the attack on The Chalet, and they definitely couldn’t wait that long.
As things were, she had Ava and Dominic. She hadn’t been kidding when she’d said she was down people. Everyone else, other than Perrin, with reasonable combat experience had either taken significant damage in the attack…or was a corpse beneath the tonnes of rubble that had once been their home.
Justice wasn’t doing much better, either. Spencer appeared to be the only field officer Weiss trusted, and thus the only field officer he was bringing. Between Ava and the four dynes, they were nevertheless packing plenty of firepower. As for manpower, the five of them would have to be enough.
Mirai Tower loomed above them like a shining obelisk in the night. A chill rippled across Nika’s skin as she stared up at it; her last visit here hadn’t gone so well. But this one would go better, because this time, she was prepared.
This time, her eyes were open.
Weiss indicated for them to hold outside the entrance while he and Spencer secured the lobby. She
monitored the interaction on the mission channel.
“Justice Advisor Adlai Weiss. We have a security situation inside Mirai Tower. I’m bringing in a squad to address the situation. Once they are inside, I’m placing the Tower on lockdown. No one else is to be allowed inside until I lift the lockdown. Do you understand my orders?”
“Permission requested to alert Mirai Tower security squads and—”
“Negative. Mirai Tower security systems and squads may have been compromised. Lock all entrances and exits other than the Platform d-gate, but otherwise take no action. Do you understand my orders?”
“Affirmat—negative. Override issued.”
Shit. “Get inside!”
She, Ava and Dominic sprinted past the hunter dynes, who continued to wait for proper orders, and through the doors.
“Unauthorized entry detected. Disarm and—”
The lobby security dynes were already on the ground by the time they arrived. Weiss’ and Spencer’s Glasers were raised as they swept the room for additional threats.
Ava scoffed. “Looks like we’ll be doing this the hard way.”
“We usually do.” Nika gestured toward the entrance. “Might want to order your dynes to come along.”
Spencer nodded. “I’ll get them.”
Weiss went over to the command console behind the security station, straddling one of the disabled dynes to reach it. His fingers flew across the panes for several seconds, then he stepped away and dragged a hand through his hair. “And I’m officially locked out. Dammit!”
A loud racket erupted from the entrance. Three of the hunter dynes had made it inside, but the doors slammed shut on the final one. It was made of tough material, as she’d earlier observed, and it struggled valiantly against the powered force of the doors.
“Squad One, keep those doors open.”
The other three dynes responded instantly to Spencer’s order, returning to the doors, grabbing the edges and dragging them open a few additional centimeters. The trapped dyne stumbled forward into the lobby. Other than two minor dents in its torso casing, it looked none the worse for wear.
“Release the doors.”
The instant the dynes let go, the sliding doors slammed shut, sealing them all inside.
Nika gestured to the lift. “Nowhere to go but up.”
“I’m working on it, but….”
“In a lockdown, the internal security squads have to be able to move through the building, don’t they?”
“Yes.”
She rolled her eyes at Weiss. “So stop trying to Advisor your way into the system and start impersonating internal Mirai Tower security.”
“But—never mind. That makes sense.” He tapped in a new code, and on the back wall of the lobby a panel slid open to reveal a spacious if unadorned lift. “Maintenance lift. Let’s go.”
Their four hunter dynes took up three-fourths of the space. The five of them squeezed into one corner, and they began ascending.
The shifting pitch of sirens whooshed by as they rose past floor after floor. Building security was now on high alert, which meant they would face armed opposition every step of the way.
Still, for these few moments of calm, Nika couldn’t help but contemplate the history, the secrets, stored in the data vaults they sped past. The story of a civilization’s achievements, and its sins. Somewhere, on one of the many floors, there was even an office she’d once called her own.
“We can expect resistance in the d-gate room, so we’ll have to come out shooting.”
“We can clear the way a bit first.” Nika retrieved a stun grenade from her belt and adjusted the strength level. “On this setting, the grenade will pack enough of a punch to knock any dynes and drones out for a few seconds, but it shouldn’t take out the power—because we need the power to be on to use the d-gate. Oh, and I assume it goes without saying to make sure your defensive shields are set to max so you don’t get stunned as well.”
Adlai arched an eyebrow. “Something tells me you’ve done this before.”
She smiled. “Not in the d-gate room at the top of Mirai Tower, specifically.”
He stared at her oddly. “For a second there, your expression…you looked exactly like….”
“Let me guess: Nika Kirumase.” She shrugged. “It happens.”
The lift began to slow, and all levity evaporated. “Get ready. NOIR people take the left, Justice people and dynes, the right.”
“But we—”
The lift passed the floor of the top level. “Now!”
Nika lobbed the grenade softly toward the center of the room.
The security dynes inside pivoted toward the lift, raising their weapons.
She leapt up the remaining half-meter onto the floor.
The grenade detonated, ionizing the air with a sharp hiss and scattered pops.
She crouched low and sprinted toward the left-most security dyne. She sensed Dominic veer to the right behind her; focused on her target as she was, she couldn’t say where Ava, Spencer or Weiss had moved. The floor rumbled as all four of their hunter dynes advanced at once; subtle, they were not.
When she’d closed to a single meter away, her target jerked twice as it began to recover from the stun. Too late. She grabbed it by the neck and thrust one of her wrist blades into the base until her wrist met metal casing, then yanked it out and leapt away to let the dyne fall in a crumpled heap to the floor.
Next, she dropped low and checked the room. Amid a fair bit of chaos and the smoke of fried circuitry, a blaze of plasma energy melted four drones in a single pass.
From her position in front of the lift, weaponized arm extended, Ava cackled in delight. “New upgrades.”
Their dynes had disabled the last two security units, and Weiss and Spencer were both staring at Ava, mouths agape. Weiss frowned. “Are those augments legal?”
Ava blinked at him incredulously, then glanced at Nika. “Is this fucker serious?”
“I’m honestly not sure—”
The windows on the west side of the room shattered beneath a barrage of laser fire. From outside.
Nika dove forward, knocking Dominic down beneath her. He was somewhat new at this, and she expected a half-second delay in his response time.
Adlai: “AEVs on the west perimeter. Squad One, all firepower is authorized.”
Nika and Dominic scrambled around the security station as the lasers swept across the circular room, trying to stay ahead of the fire. Her visual filters jolted and flickered as they tried to make sense of the scene in a useful way.
The outline of their hunter dynes stood tall as they tracked the source of the attack then fired four rockets from their mechanized appendages. The lasers honed in on them at the same instant.
The rockets found their targets. Every surface in the room convulsed as the shock wave from two explosions crashed through to hurtle spears of debris in their direction.
The silence that should have fallen in the aftermath was interrupted by the roar of distant crashes as the remains of the AEVs smashed into the ground far below.
Finally there was only smoke and the crackle of shorted electronics.
She crawled back to Dominic, who was leaning against the security station holding his left arm gingerly across his chest. “What’s the damage? Let me see.”
He nodded, and she carefully lifted his arm away from his chest. A gash seven centimeters long ran up from the crease of his elbow. Blood flowed freely from it, and the skin had been torn open all the way to the bone, exposing the soft glow of kyoseil-infused veins, including one vein that was sheared in two.
“Ouch. Okay, I’m not Perrin, but I can staunch the bleeding, I think.”
“That would be a great start.”
She dug around in the pack at her hip, where she’d stuffed a few minimal repair supplies, and retrieved some foam and a roll of flexmat. She quickly squeezed foam into the wound, then wrapped the flexmat around his arm. The ‘skin’ it formed would be minimal and hav
e to be redone later, but it would seal the wound better than bonding tape.
Spencer came over as she was pressing the edges of the flexmat together. “How are we doing?”
Dominic straightened up slightly. “Don’t ask me to dual wield, but otherwise I’m good.”
Nika peered at him suspiciously. “I’d tell you to stay put, but it’s too risky for you to stay here alone. I appreciate the spirit, but take it easy and let us weather the brunt of the opposition.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She took his right hand and helped him up to standing, then surveyed the others. Ava was patrolling the perimeter of the room, eyes on the horizon for new arrivals. Weiss was bent over the primary control pane. She hadn’t known him long this time around, but he didn’t look happy.
“How bad is it?”
Spencer frowned. “We’re down two dynes, and a third is down one weapon. A lot of the equipment in here is damaged. It’s just a question of how badly.”
Broken piles of metal were all that remained of the two fallen dynes. “I had my doubts, but the dynes got the job done. We’d have been toast without them.” She exhaled and started picking her way through the debris toward Weiss. “But there’s no reason to think more AEVs aren’t incoming as we speak, so we need to get through the d-gate. Advisor?”
Weiss shook his head. “The controls are dead.”
She walked up to the d-gate and studied it. It looked undamaged, but given how the devices wrent open the fabric of space-time, they were not fragile creations; they couldn’t be. “It’s running on a separate power feed from the control equipment, so that’s good.” She felt along the rim of the frame, but found no interactive pad similar to the ones on the doors they used to access The Chalet. Had used, because The Chalet was gone.
Nevertheless, it received an access code somehow. And she possessed that access code, a gift from Delacrai. She simply needed to get the code to the d-gate.
She strode back to the primary control pane and nudged Weiss out of the way, then crouched down and wrenched off the cover of the module beneath it. “Here’s the problem. The power conduit feeding the signal generator overloaded and burnt out a length of fiber.”
Asterion Noir: The Complete Collection (Amaranthe Collections Book 4) Page 58