Causality (Quantum Gate Book 5)

by Eric Warren

  Blu followed along diligently while Arista searched her memory for the location. The door had been on her right, and had a small keypad which she’d ignored. She reached out with her artificial hand, dragging it along the wall, until it bumped up against a small box sticking out from the wall. Bingo. “Here,” she said. “Seemed a lot closer when I had the Device counting the feet for me.”

  “It must be weird, not having it anymore,” Blu said.

  “It is and it isn’t. I miss it, but at the same time I don’t feel like I need it. I can get by okay without.” The door beside the keypad was still unlocked from when she’d wrenched it open the first time. Though that time she’d had the hand from Sy; the one designed to sabotage her and eventually kill Arista. A shudder ran up her back.

  “You okay?” Blu asked, causing Arista to jump.

  “Yeah, just…bad memories is all.” She led them down the darkened corridor with its fluorescents still flickering on and off.

  “Seems like a great place for a zombie attack,” Blu said. “Do the machines make zombie movies?”

  Arista smirked. “There’s one that was out…before all this happened. I saw it with Jonn and if there’s one thing husks can’t do, it’s act. Trust me when I say I wasn’t scared, except for how much time I was wasting.” They reached the second door which opened easily, leading them into the HVAC cooling system underneath the tower. They approached the stairs to take them up to the underground entrance.

  “I can’t wait to see it,” Blu said. “They haven’t made any on my side in twenty years. People said they went out of style but I love ‘em.”

  They reached the last door. “Ready?” Arista asked. There was no telling if Jairo and the others knew about this entrance or not, but she couldn’t assume this would be easy. If Peacekeepers loomed on the other side of this door this might get ugly. Arista pressed her finger and thumb together, activating the hand. She didn’t want to kill anyone else, but this was too important. They had to get to the infirmary.

  “Ready,” said Blu, resolute. “Let’s make it happen.”

  THIRTY-FOUR

  “Jill, are you ready?” David asked.

  She’d already set up all the flight vectors and had the birds ready to launch. This was as ready as she was going to get. “When you are, sugar,” she said.

  “Trymian?”

  “I must reiterate, I’m not comfortable dropping the only barrier keeping those husks from attacking the palace,” he said, standing in the middle of the room. David was off to the side, manning the control station he and Jill had cobbled together. She had already placed each one on the roof and returned to the research room.

  “I didn’t see any husks when I was out there; the shield’ll only be down for a few seconds. How much damage can they do?” Jill shrugged.

  “You’d be surprised,” Trymian said. “If they’re waiting out there we won’t be able to drop it for long.”

  “Don’t you worry,” Jill said, thinking about the armory a few floors below them. “If any get in, I’ll take ‘em off your hands.”

  Trymian grimaced. “Very well,” he said, leaning on his cane. “Ready.”

  “Drop it now,” David said, his eyes glued to the control panel.

  “Done,” Trymian replied.

  “Jill, go.”

  She initiated the flight patterns for all the birds, each of the forty different contraptions lighting up on her launch board. “They are up, all forty responding. And they’re away,” she said, watching the live feed from the roof. “Twenty seconds until they clear the shield.”

  “Keep an eye on those vectors, we don’t need them drifting into each other,” David said.

  “I think I know how to keep a flight vector straight,” she replied, rolling her eyes. If they could design and build a couple dozen comm relays in a few hours then she could certainly keep them flying.

  “I’ve got something on one of my cameras,” Trymian said, staring into space. He was connected to the palace feeds internally.

  “I see them,” David replied, “approaching from the north corner. They won’t make it in time.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Trymian asked, worry in his voice.

  “Yes,” he replied, but Jill detected a miniscule waver in the cadence of the word. She couldn’t see what Trymian saw, otherwise she’d be able to calculate the distance as well, but maybe it was better she didn’t. She didn’t need to add to his panic.

  “Five seconds,” David replied.

  “They’re too close!” Trymian said. “I’m raising the shield.”

  “No!” he yelled, with more force than Jill had ever heard from the man. “We’re almost there. Jill?”

  “Clear!” she yelled, as the last of the birds passed the perimeter.

  “Get it back up,” David replied.

  Jill left her station and rushed over to David, checking his feeds. An image of the outside of the northwest corner of the palace was on the screen; a dozen husks charging the gates. “It’s up,” Trymian said.

  The husks smashed into the invisible wall, clambering over each other in a desperate attempt to get inside.

  “He really wants to get to you,” David said.

  “Been like that the past six weeks,” Jill replied. “They’ve been strategically checkin’ the shield for weaknesses. Like a bunch of animals.” She shook her head.

  “Check the birds, where are they?” David asked.

  Jill returned to her station, noting they had all cleared the shield and were hovering silently two thousand feet above surface level. “They’re all up and functionin’.”

  “Good. Initiating comm links now,” he said. “And we’ll see if this works.”

  “Transmission is stable,” Jill said, monitoring the feeds. The wavelengths were right where they should be. “I think we can try for a connection.”

  David furrowed his brow, watching his station. “Are you seeing a problem with thirty-seven?”

  She double-checked her own instruments. He was right, thirty-seven had a fault and had dropped from the net. “It’s gone,” she said. “I’m movin’ the formation to compensate.” She reprogrammed the vectors for each bird and reset the system. “There, try that.”

  “We’re up!” David said. “We have full comm links now.”

  “Can you pick up any transmissions? Is he out there?” Trymian said, taking a few steps forward.

  “Listen for yourself,” David said, tapping his console.

  “The other human is still inside the stronghold!” Charlie’s voice yelled across the speakers.

  “God, I hate that voice,” Trymian said.

  “Their shield is up and cannot be breached,” Charlie said.

  “No matter. Return to position. We will continue the search for the target. Indications from scanning the gate reveal she escaped through the gate. The rogue has been taken care of. Only the traitor remains,” the voice replied, apparently to itself.

  “Continue the search for all human life signs.”

  “Who is the rogue? And who is the traitor?” David asked.

  “He always did have an annoying habit of assigning nicknames to people,” Trymian said, staring at David’s console. “I’m sure he means Frees and Jonn, though I don’t know which is which. The target is obviously Arista.”

  “So, she made it to Japan, but someone out there died in the process. And we have no idea which one,” Jill said. If Jonn was dead then they were no worse for wear. But if it was Frees; if she’d lost him…

  “Can you contact anyone in Osaka? Can you raise ‘em there? Both Jonn and Frees still have their comms workin’, either one should be able to hear us now.”

  David worked on the console for a moment. “I can’t get anything. It looks like Osaka is in a blackout as well, though this one looks different from ours.” He frowned. “The signals aren’t being blocked from the outside, they’re being blocked from the inside,” he replied.

  “Clever,” Trymian replied. “The
y’ve cut all comms so the husks will be disoriented when they enter the area. Then they can pick them off one by one. Hogo-sha would have been proud.”

  “If you can’t raise ‘em we need to go after her,” Jill said.

  “What happened to staying here until we hear otherwise?” David asked.

  “That was before everythin’ went to hell,” Jill said, abandoning her station and heading for the armory.

  David followed swiftly behind.

  ***

  “Ma’am, we’re getting a signal out of Osaka.”

  Frees glanced over to Jessika, rousing herself from her short nap on one of the portable cots they’d brought into the command center. After hunting Frees down, bringing him back to LA and then working on him for close to six or seven hours she’d been exhausted, but she hadn’t wanted to leave the command center. She’d told Frees he was free to go where he wanted, but she was staying here.

  Frees had decided not to leave; it wasn’t as if he had anywhere he needed to go. It was better he stay here and wait for news from either Osaka or London. And try to figure out what to do.

  Jessika rolled off the cot, her hand fumbling for her glasses she’d clipped on the collar of her sweater which fell to the ground as she rolled. “Dammit,” she said under her breath as she picked them up and situated them on her face. “What signal?”

  “It’s her. Whatever was blocking the comm net in Osaka just dropped, and we have a lock on her. She’s close to Hogo-sha’s tower, Umeda prefecture,” the tech reported.

  Jessika’s eyes snapped awake as if she’d been slapped. “Are you sure? What restored communications?”

  “We can’t tell, whatever was blocking it has disappeared.”

  “That means the husks—Charlie will be able to find her now,” Jessika said. She turned to Frees. “You said her Device isn’t working?”

  He stood. “No, it was damaged a few weeks ago. It hasn’t worked since.”

  “That means her dampener isn’t working either. Charlie will be able to see her human life signs.” She focused on the monitors ahead of her. “We’re going after her,” she said after a minute. “I’m not about to leave my daughter out there like a piece of meat.”

  Finally. Frees had enough of this sitting around. Maybe running into an unknown situation wasn’t the best idea, but it beat staying here and doing nothing. Had Arista reached Mitsu and Takai? The tech said she was close to Hogo-sha’s tower which meant she hadn’t made it yet. What could have taken her so long? “Can you tell if there is another human with her?” Frees asked.

  The tech hit a few buttons, examining the information coming through the screen. “Yes, looks like two of them, together.”

  Jessika flashed a look at Frees. “It’s a long story. She found a relative in that other universe,” he said. “She…came back with us.”

  Jessika looked taken aback. “It isn’t me is it? A different version of me?”

  She has no idea how close she is. “No, someone else.” Jessika seemed to relax.

  “Then we need to help them both. They’re easy targets out there. They need refractors at the very least. Maybe I can even fix the defect in her device. But I’m not about to leave them lit up like a beacon to Charlie.”

  “When do we leave?” Frees asked, anxious to get moving.

  “Now,” she replied. “We’ll keep it light, just you and me. We don’t need fifteen targets for the husks out there, even if we do have the refractors to cover them.”

  “Ma’am, you can’t, shouldn’t you discuss this with—” the tech began.

  “She’s my daughter and if you think your or anyone else is going to stop me then you’re sorely mistaken,” she snapped.

  “I’m sorry,” the tech said, backing off. “I only meant you should inform the others of your plans.”

  “You inform them.” Jessika gathered herself and strode past Frees, back to the double doors they’d come through.

  He followed on her heels. Once in the hall she turned toward the stairwell. “Are you going to—?”

  “No,” she said. “I don’t need to sit and argue with Nicole about the dangers of going back out to the gate without an escort. Every minute we waste here is another minute she—they—are exposed.”

  The bottom of the stairwell emptied into what used to be a hospital lobby but had been fortified by the humans. Blockades sat at the ends of the halls and guards stood at each entrance. Though, from the outside it should appear like everything was normal. They’d positioned everything in a way so it didn’t look suspicious to any husks that might pass by.

  “This way,” Jessika said, storming down the hall. Frees had to smile to himself, she was a lot like her daughter, headstrong and stubborn. They even had the same gait, which almost caused him to laugh.

  Inside an adjacent room Frees recognized as what had once been a family waiting room for terminal patients but had now been transformed into a supply depot. Jessika walked over and spoke to the woman on duty in the room. She was young, maybe Arista’s age, with a snake tattoo peeking out from the edge of her left sleeve. The woman nodded, making Jessika sign a digital pad. She then walked over and plucked two refractors off the walls, along with a necrotizer pistol.

  “Do you need a weapon?” Jessika clipped one of the refractors on her sweater and shoved the second in her pocket. The weapon had come with a holster which she affixed around her waist.

  “How many of the husks have them?” Frees asked.

  “We don’t know. We had to leave some behind as we couldn’t carry them all. There could be as many as a hundred weapons out there, though I doubt they’re all in one place.”

  Having no desire to be shot again, Frees nodded. “I’ll take whatever you can give me then.”

  She returned to the snake woman and came back, slapping a drill weapon in his hand. “Let’s get moving.”

  THIRTY-FIVE

  Arista pushed through the door, unsure what to expect as she barreled into the room. But if any Peacekeepers were there to grab her this time they were in for a nasty shock.

  She’d pushed so hard she stumbled into the space, her feet almost failing her until she caught her balance. She was back in the gleaming metal space under the tower, the one connected to the main elevators. To her right stood two Peacekeepers, one male and one female. Both wore business suits, and the woman had short-cropped crimson hair while the man had beady eyes and wore a mask of skepticism upon seeing Arista. Unlike last time they reacted swiftly.

  “Who is—?” the male began.

  “It’s the human, from upstairs,” the female replied, gritting her teeth. “Correction. Humans, with an ‘s’.” Arista glanced behind her to see Blu, in a boxer’s stance and ready for a fight.

  “What do we do?” the male asked. Arista couldn’t tell if they were armed or not.

  “You let us through,” Arista replied, her hand balled into a fist. “I don’t want to hurt either one of you, but we need to get upstairs. And right now, you’re the only thing in my way.”

  The Peacekeepers exchanged looks, the male laughing. “You don’t want to hurt us? What are you going to do, push us out of the way?”

  As she was about to respond the elevator dinged, indicating the arrival of backup. “Damn, that was quick,” she said to Blu.

  “It doesn’t matter, we can still make it,” Blu replied. “Just touch them all if you have to.”

  Arista steeled herself for the endeavor. How many Peacekeepers was she willing to kill to get to the infirmary? This was supposed to be a simple venture, not a blood bath. And how long could they stay there under constant bombardment?

  The doors to the elevator opened, revealing a figure draped in a large cloak. The Peacekeepers relaxed.

  “Jonn?” Arista asked, staying on her guard.

  He made his way into the space, his hands up. “Arista, it’s okay. I’ve made a deal with Jairo. He’s not going to get involved, but he’s allowing me to help you.” She caught the Peacekeepers excha
nge looks behind his back.

  “Jonn, no offense but I don’t believe a word that comes out of your mouth anymore,” she said, clenching her fist tighter.

  His eyes flashed to it then back to her. “I’m telling the truth. I gave him the codes to allow the Peacekeepers to unlock their programming. In exchange he dropped the dampener around the city so I could find you. I didn’t expect you to be so close.”

  Blu walked up beside Arista, keeping her eyes on Jonn. “You’re never going to get anywhere with her until you’re honest,” Blu said. Arista noticed she seemed more relaxed as well.

  “What is she talking about?” Arista could feel her internal body heat rising. More secrets?

  Jonn pulled the hood of the cloak back, revealing all of his face, half of it still missing. “She’s right. I did it again, I betrayed your trust. I should have spoken up for you up there, let Jairo know he could trust you and that you finding Charlie was what was best for all of us. But I saw an opportunity to get out of something and I took it, instead of facing it head-on. I never should have agreed to work with Charlie; I should have let him wipe me or kill me. Either one would be preferable to the guilt.”

  “I don’t need your sob story,” Arista said. “You don’t get to have my pity.”

  “I don’t want it,” Jonn said, his voice firm. “I want to take responsibility for what I did. For my betrayal. I lied before. It was all me, Charlie never did anything to my mind, never made me susceptible. I went along with him because I thought I could stay alive. Because I thought it was what I was supposed to do.” He shrugged. “Turns out a long life isn’t necessarily a good thing.” He gestured to his body under the cloak.

  She had to admit, she hadn’t expected this kind of confession from him. She thought he’d continue to make excuses about what he’d done. “And upstairs?” she asked.

  “When I told you I was willing to sacrifice myself to get Charlie that wasn’t exactly true either,” he said. “I only said that so you and…so you wouldn’t kill me back in the colony. It was cowardly.”