by Mel Odom
“We can also take advantage of the chaos,” Is0bel pointed out. “It may cover our approach in case someone is trying to stop us.”
Josephine Tsang hadn’t been far from my mind, either.
“Good idea.” Duncan finished making the adjustments to the body armor he’d wrapped Raymond in. “We should split up, too. Keep Raymond back. Out of harm’s way.”
Gobbet snorted. “Look around, Gun Show. This whole place is in harm’s way.”
“It’ll be safe if we split up,” Duncan insisted. “Some of us can clear the way to the machine. Auntie’s men can follow with the rest of us and escort Raymond once the way is secure.”
“I agree,” I said.
Duncan and I said our goodbyes to Raymond, then with Gobbet and Is0bel at our heels, we went forward to clear a path to the dark goddess who wanted to destroy us all.
Chapter 93
Madness
Gale-force winds and the hard, driving rain hammered the sprawl as soon as we stepped through the gate into the Walled City. I knew the Queen With a Thousand Teeth was probably behind it, and the show of power was intimidating. She meant it that way.
But we ran through the shadows, loaded with weapons and barely in control of the fear filling us. If we’d thought there was any other way to end this thing and live, we would have taken it. If there had been a way out, I know we would have at least been tempted.
Duncan kept watch along the rooftops, and I watched the area ahead of us. Every step we took that plunged us deeper into the Walled City also brought an invisible burden of despair that weighed heavier and heavier on us.
We came upon a group of people huddled around a fire in a barrel under overhanging eaves that kept most of the rain away. The downpour hissed and smoked when it hit the flames. The men and women eyed us suspiciously, but they made no move to pursue as we trotted past. Of course, the many weapons we carried might have had something to do with that.
I checked our progress against the GPS marker Is0bel had dropped, and found we were rapidly closing the distance. We hadn’t been into the Walled City this far before.
“Look,” Duncan said as we trotted down an alley. He scratched at the wall, pulling paint away from the duraplast. “This is part of the original city. And there’s this.” He scratched deeper, revealing a faded stamp there as well.
It was for Tsang Mechanical Services.
“We’re getting close,” he said.
I nodded, and we kept going. I checked in with Racter and the Yellow Lotus leader to make sure they were good. They commed back immediately, and I couldn’t help wonder if we were successful so far, or if we were just being toyed with, being set up for a final, crushing defeat. To make matters worse, I didn’t know if those doubts were my own, or if they were inspired by the Queen.
Ahead, a light glowed in the rainstorm, revealing a group of Yellow Lotus 49ers standing in front of some canvas tents somehow still standing against the high winds. One of them, a dumpy elf with chipped teeth and a bouffant hairdo, stumbled toward us and brandished her SMG as a warning.
“You!” she yelled. “All of you drop your guns and get down on the ground!” She shook her head, like she couldn’t keep it still. Her bloodshot eyes caught the light and looked crimson. “Drop everything, or we’ll gut you like pigs!”
I stopped near a pile of rubbish I could use as cover. Duncan, Gobbet, and Is0bel fanned out around me, taking up defensible support positions.
“You’re from the Lotus Den, aren’t you?” I asked. “Strangler Bao is backing this play.”
“Bao? Bao?” She snorted and spat. A thin stream of blood trickled from her left nostril. “His time is done! Our new Queen has shown us the way!” Lowering her weapon, she started firing as she rushed at me.
Duncan dropped her with a single shot from his heavy-caliber sniper rifle. The battle only lasted a few seconds. We took cover, but the gangers acted like they were invincible, charging at us like they were high on kamikaze. That street drug made you feel bulletproof, but you weren’t.
When the shooting stopped, we walked over their corpses as the rain sluiced away their blood. I wondered if the Queen was feeding on the deaths, not caring who died that night, just as long as someone did.
We climbed a fire escape and found a suitable rooftop that led to the upper floors, then followed a makeshift bridge over a narrow alley into a taller structure and plunged into a narrow hallway that let out onto yet another rooftop made accessible by another shaky bridge. If not for my PDA and Is0bel’s marker, I would have been lost. I hated being up here because we were more vulnerable to the storm. It felt like the lightning and thunder were going off just above my head.
“Down!” Duncan commanded as he planted a big hand in the center of my back and shoved me to the wet roof.
I hit the ground and rolled, coming back up to my knees and bringing up my Ingram as a brief burst of heavy-caliber autofire dug divots out of the rooftop where I’d just been standing.
I tracked the muzzle flashes to a gun turret on the building ahead of us a second before Duncan took it out with his rifle. “Close call,” he said, peering ahead.
I agreed.
On a nearby wall, Is0bel cut into a jackpoint and slipped away from us for a moment. When she came back, she said, “There were more turrets ahead of us. I shut them down. I’m getting used to shutting down Tsang Mechanical.”
“They put the turrets there?” Gobbet asked.
“It was their software,” she said. “After everything I’ve cracked today, I’d know it anywhere.”
Rounding another building, we came upon a commando contingent wearing Tsang colors in front of a sec door on a building behind them. We stopped and got ready to fight, but I let my group know I wanted to try and reason with them first.
“Whoa!” A commando held up a hand. Lightning flared overhead, revealing seamed scars on his face. “Hold on there. Tsang Corporation has limited inner city access to Tsang personnel only. No pedestrians. So if you don’t take kindly to the idea of an early death, I suggest you hightail it outta here. Nothing but hell past this point anyway.”
“We’re a contract team,” I shouted back with all the authority I could muster. “Tsang Corp hired us to assist the teams farther in. Let us through.”
The lie was believable. After all the confusion we’d caused at Tsang, and our liberation of Raymond, it stood to reason that Josephine Tsang would be hiring temporary muscle.
The commando looked at me like I was crazy. They didn’t want to go into the building. “I might’ve heard something about that. Let me clear it with the others.” He held his commlink up to his face. “Team Three, this is barrier reinforcement leader Ngai. I’ve got some contractors here requesting access to support our squads. They cleared?”
Gunfire and the voices of shouting men came from the other end, loud enough that I could hear it from where I was standing, despite the storm.
“Damn it, man!” Duncan roared in his best Lone Star voice. “Let us in! You heard that as clear as we did! They need backup, and they need it now!”
For a moment, Ngai held his ground, torn because he didn’t have clear orders. Finally, he made up his mind. “No more time to lose. The squads need you. Go, go!” He waved us forward and one of his men opened the sec door. “And watch your back!”
I ran through the open door, listening to how the storm sounded even more threatening in the emptiness around us. Ahead, I heard gunfire and shouting, fearful men dying.
Chapter 94
The Shadows Have Teeth!
My commlink buzzed, and the screen showed Raymond’s worried face. I answered, but kept my eyes on the hallway ahead of me.
“What is your status?” he asked.
“We’re almost at the center of the Walled City.” I went wide around a corner, sweeping the darkness with my cybereyes, alert for the slightest movement. Nothing was there, but the shadows looked like they were in motion. “Had some opposition from Tsang security. T
hey’re all over this place.”
“Tsang security? How did you get through?”
“Bluffed our way past.” I stopped briefly at another door, opened it and peered beyond to see nothing, and moved through.
“Good.” Raymond sounded relieved. “Too much bloodshed already. We must prevent as much as we can.” He took a breath. “You need to be careful. The nearer you draw to the Fortune Engine, the worse the astral disruptions will become. And make sure when you reach—”
Whatever he was saying was lost in a sudden, harsh blast of thunder. The signal faded and dropped.
“No, no, no!” Duncan growled. “Did that sound important to you? Because that sounded absolutely fucking necessary to me.”
I agreed and kept moving. We didn’t have a choice.
Around another turn in the maze of hallways, walkways, and rubbish-covered roofs, we spotted a Tsang commando unit blocking a group of citizens, menacing them with their weapons. A man lay dead at the commandos’ feet, nearly decapitated from a close-range shotgun blast. The people wailed in fear, begging to be allowed to pass the cordon.
A commando wearing sergeant’s chevrons fired above the crowd, stitching a line of bullets across the stucco wall. The citizens ducked and yelped in terror, nearly driven insane from the fear assailing them.
That panic was working on me, too. It was everything I could do to focus on what I needed to do.
“Back away!” the sergeant roared. “Back the fuck away!” He waved his weapon threateningly. “I’m warning you! Clear the area now!”
The people didn’t retreat, though. It was obvious they feared whatever was behind them more than the commandos. The holding effort wasn’t going to last long.
“Please!” an old woman called out. “Please! We cannot stay here!”
“This is for your own good!” the sergeant yelled. “We are here to protect you!” He waved his SMG again. “You can’t be here! Back away! This is your last warning!”
We held up, not wanting to add to the confusion. I wondered if I could bluff again and get the sergeant to stand down. He didn’t sound all that rational, either. He was just as scared as the people in front of him.
Before I could do anything, the sergeant opened fired and dropped the old woman. I didn’t hesitate then, just shot him without warning, hoping to prevent further murders. Duncan fired immediately, too, putting another commando down. Gobbet threw a fireball into the other two commandos, covering them in flames just before Duncan and I put them down.
Realizing we weren’t going to harm them, the people ran past us. A couple picked up the commandos’ weapons, but no one appeared interested in us.
“Did you see that?” Gobbet asked. Her face was ashen.
“See what?” Duncan asked.
“That—thing. That thing standing behind the commandos.”
I searched the shadows, but didn’t see anything. I shook my head. “Nothing’s there.”
“There was something there. I saw it. It was…horrible. There were teeth everywhere. And I felt it—it radiated menace and hatred.” She paused. “I think it was what caused these men to go crazy like they did.”
“I believe you,” I said. “Maybe it was in astral space and you could see it, but we couldn’t.” Thinking about it, I realized I’d felt that old, familiar vibe I got every time I encountered the astral.
“We can’t hang around here,” Duncan said. “Somebody may come looking for these guys.”
I took the lead and we ran through the door. Dead bodies littered the hallways, some of them days or weeks old. They’d been killed by guns and knives and fire. Some of them had been torn to shreds. More gunfire cracked in staccato bursts ahead of us.
Another group of commandos blocked a hallway, all of them with weapons pointed at each other.
“She’s here for us!” one of them screamed. “I’ve seen her in my dreams!”
Duncan cursed as we took cover along the walls, hiding in the shadows.
“What is here?” another commando shouted. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, damn it!”
The first speaker faced me, but he didn’t see me. His eyes were wide and blood oozed from his tear ducts. He shook his head, like something had crawled inside and was causing him pain. He reached over and pulled a female commando to him, surprising her.
“I know how to keep us safe!” the man said. “I saw how to do it.” He pulled a multi-tool from his belt and held the woman tightly. “Open your mouth!”
She pushed against his chest, then beat on him when he didn’t release her. “You’re crazy! Keep away from me!” Finally breaking free, she drew her sidearm and shouted at the other man with them. “Get backup! Hu has gone insane!”
The third commando ran down the hallway away from us. Hu stepped toward the woman.
“This is for the best, Yang,” he said. “Trust me! I’ll do you first, and then I’ll do me! By the time I’m done, she won’t be able to hurt us anymore!” He moved faster than I’d anticipated, catching the woman before she could shoot him. Or maybe she held back because she didn’t want to hurt him. He sank his multi-tool into her throat right before Duncan put a round through his skull.
Both of them dropped to the floor. The woman bled out before we reached her, eyes glazing over as her pupils turned into black pools.
Leaving the two dead commandos where they lay, we went on. A terrifying buzz filled my head now, and I didn’t know how much longer I could withstand it.
The hallway let out onto a rooftop where a dozen commandos had collected. They milled around, hands clutching their heads. A wailing keening echoed around us, and I didn’t think the storm was causing it. To one side, I caught a glimpse of something stirring in the shadows. As I turned to face it, that itch I always got around the astral scraped my nerves raw.
It had fangs, dozens of long, gleaming things that ended in sharp points. The thing was tall, slender, and writhed like it was boneless. Just as I was about to pull the trigger, it vanished.
The snarl of gunfire sent me to the ground hunting cover. Out on the rooftop, the commandos shot each other till no one was left alive.
Two buildings further on, a man stood in the hallway in front of us. From his clothes, I assumed he was one of the locals. Dead bodies—some of them still bleeding—lay around him.
He looked at us and backed away fearfully. “Leave me alone! Go away!” While he was screaming, blood dripped from his torn gums. Half of his teeth were gone, looking like they’d just been ripped out.
“Can’t let them find me!” the man howled. “Can’t let them catch me! Have to hide from them! From her! Can’t get free! Can’t get clean! When my eyes close, I see them there, twitching, shaking like broken things!” He reached for me, blood dripping from his fingers. “Please! Please help me!”
“Don’t,” Gobbet said. “Something’s scrambled his brains. Might’ve been the Queen or her servants, or maybe just the stress. Either way, there isn’t much we can do.”
I nodded and ran past him, followed by the others, wondering if any of us—or all of us—were going to end up like that.
The farther we ran, the more the citizens of the Walled City ran past us in waves of madness and fear. We were lucky none of them had weapons. Those that attacked us, we put down hard so we could continue, but we tried to leave them alive when possible.
Is0bel’s marker was only a dozen or so meters ahead now. We were about to face whatever was causing all of this.
Chapter 95
Networked
I tried my commlink over and over as we ran, and had the others try theirs, but none of us had any luck contacting Raymond or the others. It was as if we’d been dropped into another world.
Thinking about the link to astral space the Fortune Engine was supposed to have established, I knew it was possible. I tried not to think about it, just kept my eyes open, the Ingram ready, and concentrated on believing we could defeat whatever lay ahead of us.
As we ne
ared our destination, I spotted the thick electrical cables snaking across the cracked walls. The hum of energy vibrated everywhere, right through me, echoed by the storm pounding the sprawl around us. The cables led to a steel-reinforced wall ahead.
Inside the next room, computer equipment sat on shelves. LEDs glowed, throwing out pools of light in a rainbow of colors. All around us was the thrum of the machine, unmistakable now.
“This is it,” Duncan said. Rainwater dripped from his chin. “Prosperity. Just like in our dreams.” He scowled as he looked around. “The Fortune Engine has to be somewhere in this complex.”
I nodded. “We find the machine and secure it until Raymond arrives.”
It sounded simple enough. I tried to believe it.
We followed the cables through the buildings out onto a rooftop that fronted a massive steel wall. Computers sat all around, somehow still working in spite of the falling rain. I worried that we might all get electrocuted, but we couldn’t go back now.
Uneasy, I halted at the edge and looked back at Is0bel. “What is this?”
She shook her head. “Something big. Powerful. It’s all networked.” She paused. “That’s all I can tell you. None of this makes sense to me.”
Warily, I crossed the rooftop to the massive door set in the steel wall. I scanned it, trying to divine its secret. “The door’s been sealed. It looks like it’s been shut for quite a while.”
“There’s got to be some way to get this door open.” Duncan banged on the door with the shotgun’s stock.
“There’s a control back here,” Is0bel called. She stood at a computer console with streams of data trailing across it. “It’s still drawing power. That’s promising.” She stared at the screen. “Thing isn’t even password-locked. The display looks corrupted, though. Lots of garbled text and gibberish.”
“As long as we can open the door with it,” Duncan said, “we’re good. We don’t need it for anything else.”
“See what you can do,” I said, stepping back from the door and bringing the Ingram up as I looked over her shoulder.