Move a little more and see if they adjust.
She did and they continued in a straight line, passing by a meter to her left on their way to the Membrane.
Can you follow them out? I asked as the first one flashed his card.
No, each person has to press theirs separately or else security’ll stop you on the other side.
I felt dismay creep into Eve’s thoughts and knew that it was my turn to be strong. We’re okay. Just hang tight ‘til you feel the explosion and then start making your way across the Inner Ring to the shuttle bay. Fingers’ll guide you with a tie-in as soon as he can, okay? And if you don’t make it there, we’ll come get you. Whatever happens, I’ll come get you. I swear. Okay?
Don’t worry about me, she thought, her cool returning. You just make sure that bomb goes off.
Okay, okay. I’m gonna go tell people what’s happening—you just hang in there.
Aaron.
Yeah?
That bomb has to go off no matter what. Do you understand?
Yes.
Now set an alarm for forty minutes on your U-dev, because that’s how long you have until the biolab’s sterilization lockdown is finished and they sweep the area . . . that is if they haven’t already realized what’s going on.
I did and then I was back, swinging out of my hammock and bounding over to the fridge for another dose of tie-in fluid. Just as I was about to press the plunger into the syringe, I saw a bright flash and then a burst of red streak across the window. More followed, again and again, until there was a sustained stream crashing against the planet—but there was something bending inward, preventing it from getting all the way to the surface. Sebastian had been right from the start; it was a lightwall.
“Aaron, is it placed?” Pierre asked me as he turned away from the window.
“Yeah, Fin’s got it in the vent.” This would make anyone watching suspicious, as there didn’t seem to be any way I could know anything about Fin, but there wasn’t time to speak in perfect code.
“Okay, Fingers, we’re on. We gotta go now.”
I wanted to tell them about Eve, but I couldn’t betray the fact that I’d tied in with her or the Reds would be on her in seconds. Instead, I resumed the syringe’s trajectory and a few moments later I was with Pierre as he left C3, jogging down the corridor with Fingers.
Hey, I’m tied-in with you.
It didn’t work, he replied.
What didn’t work?
The bomb. Fingers dialed the frequency to set it off but it didn’t react. It’s clear outside so there shouldn’t be any interference . . . He trailed off, but then in an intense burst of thought a few seconds later, God, it’s probably that array. If the colonists built a lightwall channeling the plasma energy from all those storms, the array’s most likely drawing from the same source.
So now that it’s turned on, it’s interfering with the frequency, I thought. Fuck.
It means we’re going to have to get closer to set off the bomb.
Well, that’s a problem, ’cause Eve’s access permit didn’t let her through the Membrane on the way back. She’s still in the Inner Ring.
Jesus.
And if hers isn’t working, it’s likely nobody else’s will either. We’ll have to find another way across.
There is no other way. All the Membranes are guarded . . .
I took a deep breath and thought, By Reds—and their passes are still working. I’ll get a training gun from the Weapons Room and head down to the admin offices. And . . . Thoughts were tumbling out of my head into Pierre’s faster than I could make sense of them. I’ll grab Marquardt and have him get me through while you guys get suited up in the Weapons Room: Devlon, tactical gear, empty Pegasus rifles. Then I’ll bring Marquardt around to the C-side Membrane—that’s close to where Fingers said the armory was, right?
I have no idea where the armory is. And dude, back up a sec. Why wouldn’t we all just go through the main one together?
Now that it was clear that Mars was attacking the planet like we’d thought and violating Confederation law, the paralysis was gone. The haze lifted. And instead of having to run questions through a series of filters challenging every assumption, my mind could reach straight for answers. Because that would look suspicious and we’d get intercepted shooting blanks before we could make it there. If there’s any place in this goddamn station that doesn’t have cameras, it’s Marquardt’s office. That means if we take him discreetly there’s a chance we could make it all the way to the C-side Membrane without anyone taking note. They’re probably watching us closely by now. Fine—doesn’t really matter anymore as long as they don’t send a detail down that gets their first. The good thing—
Aaron, Aaron, slow down. I know we have to move, but let’s think this through. Maybe there’s some way to boost the signal.
I watched Fingers typing away on a lightpanel through Pierre’s eyes. We can’t count on it.
Is there any way Eve can trigger it? Like go back up and—
Not without the program Fingers has on his U-dev.
Because it’s going to get messy if we do anything like what you’re talking about, Pierre thought.
It was weird being the one to push things forward after holding back for so long, but I didn’t have a choice; we were already committed. And we were right to be. This must’ve been how Fingers felt when we’d laid our discoveries out in the Box—he’d just gotten there sooner than we had. It’s already messy.
It’ll be worse, Aaron, and for us to have any chance of getting all the way up to Main Lab C we’re going to need more guys. I’ll have to . . . I’ll have to get as many of the C3s as I can trust together, telling them in a tie-in. And that’s assuming there’s even enough fluid left. I recalled the vat still being an eighth full before I’d tied in, but they’d probably used a lot since then. We’re starting to run really low.
The good thing is most of the station security force is probably aboard those Mars ships for the planetary assault. They gotta be since there doesn’t seem to be that many Reds left. Students starting something on the Outer Ring would be the last thing I’d be thinking about if I were them. We can pull this off.
Pierre ran his fingers through his hair as he paced.
This is the last thing I want to do, too, Pierre. It is. I swear. But we gotta hurry. I followed his gaze out a window to where the energy beam was slamming into the lightwall above the planet’s troposphere. It’s already bending it back: they’re going to get through. We gotta do something.
I know. I know. It’s just that people are going to . . . He fell silent and I imagined him thinking of everything that could go wrong and how the Reds might suspect us, detect us, capture us. There were both perturbation and determination, but I didn’t know which one was stronger.
I nodded and we both took deep breaths. How many C3s do you think you and Brandon can round up?
Ten. Maybe fifteen.
How about twenty? I asked, knowing that if anyone could pull it off, it was him. I don’t think he realized how much credibility he had with the guys.
Any more than ten and it might work against us.
But it’s not like it would matter if they ratted us out at this point. By the time you tell them we’ll already be at the Membrane.
It matters who they point their guns at once we make it to the armory, thought Pierre. C3s are good guys, but it’s been a battle just getting Fin and Simon . . . His thought trailed off and I could feel that he wanted to say “and you,” but he didn’t, continuing, onboard, let alone bringing on anyone else. And that’s another thing; Fin and Simon won’t like this. I don’t think that—
They’ll have to. Look, there’s Simon now and Fin should be back any second. When she is, we should do a tie-in chain and get everyone up to speed.
Pierre looked out the window again and then at Simon and Fingers. You’re not just doing this because Eve’s trapped, are you? I hate asking, but this changes things. And I just want to make s
ure there isn’t any other way.
There isn’t, Pierre, I answered, unsettled that he’d question my motives. I wanted to protect Eve, but it wasn’t the reason I was suggesting this. It couldn’t be. It’s pretty clear that if we can’t set off the bomb remotely, we have to change our proximity. I mean, right?
Yeah. Right. I could feel the reluctance.
Okay, then let’s go. I glanced out the window one last time. And get two Blues to meet me at the main Membrane—guys who are mad enough to make Marquardt believe they’ll actually shoot him. We’ve got to make sure we can get all the way through.
He hesitated again.
You’ve got this, Pierre. People will listen to you. They trust you. I trust you. Now you’ve just got to trust yourself. You’re the best fucking guy here.
As soon as I was disconnected, I grabbed my backpack and headed for the door.
Chapter 60
“Aaron. Good to see you, but the inquest isn’t until next week.”
“That’s what I need to talk to you about, sir.”
“You should make an appointment—”
“I just have a quick question,” I said, noticing a large blank lightwall to the side of the room on which he’d probably just been watching the assault.
Marquardt equivocated for a second before gesturing to the chair opposite his desk. I had a strong suspicion then that he knew—that there were cameras outside and a gun in the desk he was glancing toward.
I made several scans of the room before asking, “Given what happened to Sebastian, it’s clear that there are live bullets floating around the Outer Ring when there shouldn’t be, right, sir?”
“It’s a possibility.”
“And would—”
“But I know that there aren’t any in that gun tucked in your back waistband, if that’s what you’re implying. You can’t bluff someone who knows your hand.”
“Normally I’d agree, but here’s the rub,” I said, taking out the gun and pointing it at his head. “The inquest is a farce. Everyone knows that. If you’d been serious about getting to the bottom of Sebastian’s murder, your guys would’ve taken prints and counted and inventoried the bullets in the chamber—real investigative stuff like that. And then you would’ve realized the gun was two rounds short. I didn’t even mean to keep any, but a couple stuck to my glove.”
“You’re not a very good liar, Aaron.”
“You’re right, I’m not.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out a bullet. “The other one’s inside. Now stand up, hands away from the drawer, and face the wall.”
“You’re making a mistake,” Commander Marquardt said, disbelief materializing almost instantly in his voice.
I tightened my finger around the trigger. “We’ll see.”
“We mapped your subconscious before you even got here. You’re not going to shoot me,” he said, but he turned around.
I opened the drawer and pulled out his Juniper, checking to see that it was loaded. “A lot’s changed since then. Now, walk out casually. I’ll be right behind you.”
“This isn’t going to—”
“Don’t talk, just listen. Head left all the way to the Membrane.”
As nonchalantly as I could manage, we moved down one tube, through the admin offices and then down another.
“I suppose you want me to open this up for you?” he asked as we arrived a couple minutes later.
My stomach dropped. The two Blues Pierre had promised weren’t there. “In a second,” I said. But a second ticked by. And then another. And another. After fifteen, my mind drifted to Eve on the Inner Ring and Pierre on C Block trying to convince people in a minute something it had taken days to persuade Simon and Fin to do. Both of them might already have been captured by now for all I knew. And even if they hadn’t, it was still such a prayer, the entire notion seeming more and more farfetched each moment. Our only hope was that the Mars assault ships showing up and the array attacking the planet would be enough of a corroboration for people to grasp everything. I checked my U-dev: Twenty-one minutes until the biolab reopened.
“Second thoughts?” the commander suggested. “It’s not too late to—”
“Don’t talk.”
Just as I was about to give up and have him open the door anyway, I saw Bluerine and Castor pop around the corner.
“Okay, now.”
He put his finger against the biometric scanner and we both walked through, followed by the two Blues just as the door was closing.
Marquardt looked bewildered.
“They’ll shoot you for sure after what you did to them,” I said as I slipped magazines I’d taken from his office into the Blues’ hands, resubmerging myself into the present. “Now head straight and then right. Move!”
Bluerine and Castor fell in line behind me. There were hardly any Reds, but as soon as we hit the third junction two with security stripes appeared. For a second it looked like they might be veering off to another corridor, but then they changed course straight for us and drew their guns. I drew mine, too, and pulled Marquardt into me. “Get them to back off.” He didn’t say anything, so I jabbed the gun deep into his cheek. “Get them to back off!”
“Do what he says,” Marquardt mumbled, but they were still a ways off and didn’t hear him.
“Say it louder!” I screamed.
“It’s okay. You can stand down, soldiers. Do what he says!”
The security officers lowered their guns and slackened their pace, looking indecisive. We turned a corner and left them behind.
Whoa, I heard.
I spun around, but Bluerine and Castor weren’t looking at me and the voice wasn’t deep enough to be Marquardt’s.
No, I’m inside. You should know the difference by now.
“What do you want, Simon?”
Marquardt tried to look at me but I pressed the gun against him harder.
I didn’t actually think you were going to go through with this. If I had . . . I felt the bitterness underlying the thoughts he aimed at me.
Too late, I responded.
You can still walk this back. We can all walk this back. It won’t be pretty, but—
But nothing. Look outside, Simon. I thought, still trying to keep just as focused on Marquardt and the section of tube ahead of me. And you’ve got to move!
Simon sighed. As far as we know, there could have been a new law increasing quotas for combat ships. Ever think about all the other explanations there are before pulling this?
The Fleet would never do that.
That’d be pretty hard for you to know, considering we’re here. Cut off. We don’t know what the fuck’s going on.
They’re firing on the planet, Simon! How about you start helping and stop thinking up excuses, goddamn it!
Someone has to be thinking! You’re going to get us all killed—just look at this!
You’d already come to terms with things, so if you’re changing your mind now, you’re just doing it because it’s gotten harder. What does that say?
His thoughts blared at me. I never made up my mind! And then he softened, despair and disquiet creeping in. I don’t know what to do. Christ. This is so fucked.
I know, buddy. I know.
Three Reds appeared in a T-junction six or seven meters away.
I’ve got to go.
Seems that way, Simon thought back, and then he was gone.
“Drop your guns now or he fucking gets it, I swear to God!” I shouted. I shook Marquardt and hissed in his ear, “Tell them!”
Marquardt said something, but he was drowned out by Castor and Bluerine, who had their guns drawn and were screaming, too. “All the way down, motherfuckers! All the way to the ground!”
Their aggression was jarring, but I was so sick about Eve and whether my brain was going to start bleeding that it was welcome. It bent my fear onto itself until I felt as free as I’d ever felt before, my body knifing through the air, reacting faster than my mind could keep up with. Just knowing there were peo
ple on my side again made me want to try harder, being as brave as I could possibly be.
The Reds dropped their weapons and both Blues picked them up as we passed, giving them two sidearms apiece. I flipped Marquardt around, walking backward so I could keep an eye on the Reds, while Bluerine faced forward.
As we approached the next junction, Bluerine shouted and I flipped Marquardt again to see two more Reds with guns drawn, barring our way. They reversed as we neared but didn’t lower their weapons. Looking back, I realized that the three we’d recently disarmed had drawn more guns from hidden second holsters and were slowly coming up on our rear. I spun around a third time and took another step forward, pressing the gun harder and harder into the commander’s temple, screaming at the top of my lungs that I would blow his head off.
The Reds backed up and relief washed through me but then, a few moments later, I grasped that they’d only given way so they could lure us into the T-junction, where the first two Reds we’d encountered were waiting. They must have circled around via the bisecting corridor, hemming us in.
A continuous scream sounded. Marquardt tried to elbow me, but I jammed the gun so hard up under his Adam’s apple that he went slack.
I tried to move forward but the Reds in front of us weren’t giving ground and I realized, through rising panic, that they weren’t going to let us any farther into the Inner Ring. A shot rang out and a bit of Castor’s shoulder grazed off in a flash of red. Then it was pandemonium.
I jerked Marquardt back until I was against the wall, exposing as little of myself as I could to the crossfire. Despite the jostling, I fired through his armpit and took down the first Red in the bisecting corridor and then the other before wheeling around and hitting the one behind us. Then I twisted to face the two who were blocking the way forward, but they were already down. Bluerine and Castor were, too, lying awkwardly, motionless. The knowledge that it was my plan that had gotten them shot made me stagger, woozy as I let Marquardt’s bullet-ridden form slide to the floor, pivoting in every direction until I was convinced there wasn’t anyone else coming. This couldn’t actually be happening. I wasn’t even supposed to be here.
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