‘I’m sorry it has to be this way, but I can’t let you leave here,’ Frankie said.
‘You’re not the one who should be apologising. I brought this on myself. I deserve everything I get,’ Alana said, perhaps regretting her choices.
An engine roared behind her. Frankie looked over her shoulder to see the APC come barrelling into the park with Cole at the wheel. The cannon on top, which was now being remotely controlled by Cole, opened fire. It was locked in a forwards position, but it didn’t matter. Cole aimed the APC at the flyer so that the gun could spit fiery death at it.
The flyer’s engines roared as it rose and backed away, trailing the zip wires the troops had used to exit it.
The APC veered left and parked itself between Frankie, her allies and the Corporate forces. As it stopped, Cole jumped out and went to help Animus with Karla.
Kalypso stood up next to Frankie. ‘You bringing her with us?’
Franke stood up also, pulled her gun and fired it twice, once into the forehead of Alana, and then again into her throat where her Cyber Brain was located in her vertebrae. ‘No, she can stay here,’ she said and moved to the APC.
Everyone climbed into the back as Cole jumped back into the driver’s seat and floored the accelerator.
As they pulled away, the APC was peppered with small arms fire from the Corporation C-SWAT operators who opened fire on them.
Frankie climbed into the front passenger seat from the back. ‘Good thinking, Cole,’ she said.
‘Did you get what you needed?’ Cole asked, nodding to acknowledge the compliment.
‘I think so, but let’s find out, shall we?’ she said. ‘Animus, I need to link with you,’ she called to him.
‘Sure,’ he said and instantly accepted her link request.
‘I’m calling Janus,’ she sent through the link. ‘You might need to talk to him, you ready?’
‘Go for it,’ he sent back to her.
Frankie nodded and sent a call request to the number that Alana had hidden in her mind.
The call went through and buzzed in her mind as she waited for Janus to answer. It took a few seconds, but it connected with a click after a few rings.
‘Hello?’ said a voice on the other side.
‘Janus?’
‘Who is this?’
‘Listen to me, you’re in danger. Corporate forces are on the way to you. I’m a friend of Animus, he’s on the line with me,’ she said.
‘Hi, Janus. I’m here; we need to meet you,’ Animus said.
‘When?’
‘Now,’ Animus answered him.
‘Oh, well, maybe…’ he said when she heard the sudden and distinctive sound of gunfire on the other end of the line, which then suddenly disconnected.
‘Shit,’ Frankie hissed.
Had the Corporations found him, she wondered?
2.12
‘What happened?’ Animus said in Frankie’s mind through their link.
‘He was cut off,’ she said. ‘I’m trying again.’ She sent through the call once more, but it was immediately rejected.
‘Your call cannot be connected’ said the message on the line.
‘Any ideas?’ she said to Animus as she opened up the folder she had copied from Alana’s mind, hoping to find something of use.
Before she really got anywhere though, her messages icon blinked and the number 1 appeared next to it.
‘Hold on,’ she said to Animus, as she opened up the message.
- Corp forces here. Meet me at mine, now. -
A short message that went on to list an address at the end.
‘We got an address,’ Frankie said out loud and started to direct Cole. ‘But it looks like he’s been found by the Corps, so weapons ready, guys,’ she said.
‘I’ll man the turret,’ Gibson said as he opened the hatch in the roof and climbed up into the gunner’s position.
‘We’re nearly there,’ Frankie said. ‘Go left here, Cole. There, the van, you see it?’ she asked, pointing to a black van parked outside a block of apartments. As they approached, she could make out the distinctive appearance of Corporation personal in their black tactical gear close to the vehicle. Some of them noticed their approach and turned to aim at them.
Another message appeared in her vision, so Frankie quickly opened it up to see another one from Janus.
“I’m in the lobby,” it said.
Frankie felt a little surprised. There was gunfire on the line when she had spoken to him, which meant he either escaped the Corporation forces in his apartment or he took them out himself. There was another option, though, which was always a possibility. He could be compromised. He could be working for the Corps. But, if that were the case, they were going to an awful lot of trouble to make them think he was not working for them.
That didn’t make much sense, though. The Corporations, as far as Frankie was aware, didn’t know that the A.C.T. existed, and they had yet to do anything that serious against the Corporations that should attract this kind of attention. No, if Frankie were to bet on anything, it was that the Corporations merely wanted Janus dead.
Cole brought the APC to a halt just as Gibson opened fire on the van. Huge bullet holes appeared in the vehicle's armour as the C-SWAT men ran for cover. Frankie dropped out of her door and used the APC as cover while she aimed at where the Corporation forces had been. She heard a gunshot from the other side of the APC, and as she was moving forward, saw one of the men in black drop to the floor. Another appeared around the side of the van on Frankie’s side. She adjusted her aim and fired a single shot. The man fell to the floor and out of sight.
Suddenly, the van exploded in a ball of fire as Gibson’s gunfire ignited the fuel tanks. Everyone stopped shooting as the scene went quiet, apart from the crackling of the fire.
Frankie moved forward and edged around the van, but saw only dead or incapacitated bodies. Happy they were safe for now, Frankie sent a message to Janus.
“Come out now”, she wrote and sent it.
Moments later, a figure appeared in the doorway with a backpack and a gun in his hand.
Frankie raised her gun and pointed it at him. ‘Name?’ she asked.
‘You know me as Janus,’ he said, raising his hands, still holding the gun, but by the barrel, so, it was evident he wasn’t going to shoot it.
‘Animus, is this Janus?’ she sent through her link.
Frankie heard movement behind her. She glanced back and saw Animus step out of the APC. He spotted Janus, and then looked at her and nodded before retreating back into the van.
Frankie lowered her gun and relaxed. ‘Sorry for that,’ she said. ‘We’ve already had a fairly severe issue with someone double-crossing us,’ she said.
‘Alana, by any chance?’ Janus asked.
Frankie frowned. ‘How did you know that?’ she asked, curious.
‘I suspected something had changed with her. She’s never been so keen to meet up with me before. Phone call after phone call she would press me to meet with her. I sensed something was off, that something was wrong, so I resisted. I always trust my gut, and if something feels off, I leave. Simple as that,’ he said.
‘Well, you were right this time, but it looks like they found you anyway. Come on, we’d better go; the Corps will be here soon enough,’ she said and led him to the APC. ‘Introductions can come later. For now, we need to get back to the Clearfield Airforce Base.’
‘I can help with that,’ Kalypso said. ‘I have a flyer on call and ready. It’s not armed or anything, but it should get us out of the city.’
‘Make the call,’ Frankie said. ‘Everyone back in. Let’s not stay here any longer than we need to,’ she said, and climbed back into the front passenger seat.
‘Is that woman dead?’ Janus said as he got in the back.
Frankie looked back into the rear of the APC. It looked like someone had been murdered in here there was so much blood on the floor.
‘I… I think so,’ Animus said.
‘Aah, shit, I’m sorry, man,’ Janus said.
‘Gibson?’ Frankie asked.
He was already checking her pulse, and looked up to shake his head at her. She was gone.
Frankie sighed, another one lost, she thought.
The APC accelerated away from the apartment block and back onto the main streets, rounding another corner as Kalypso moved closer to Frankie.
‘My doll is suggesting they can land on the roof of the Church of the Latter Day Saints. It’s just up here on the right,’ she said.
‘A church roof?’ Frankie said, feeling very sceptical of the idea.
‘I know it,’ Kalypso said. ‘It’s big and flat with steps up to it. It’s perfect,’ she said.
‘Okay, if you say so. Let’s get there,’ Frankie said.
‘Where do I go?’ Cole asked.
‘It’s close, up there, on the right,’ Kalypso said. ‘See those stairs?’
Frankie followed Kalypso’s pointed finger and saw some steps going up the side of a huge, but squat building. Its sides were tiered and were now covered with bushes and trees that had been left to grow unchecked. The steps themselves were wide, shallow, and seemed to climb all the way up to the top, which also looked very overgrown. Creepers had spilt over the edge of the roof and were hanging down the once pristine white walls.
‘Hold on,’ Cole said and took a wide sweeping turn in towards the base of the stairs, mounting the kerb and not slowing down much.
Frankie, suddenly realising that he was going to try and get the APC as far up those stairs as he could, braced herself for the ride to come.
‘Hold on everyone, this is going to get bumpy,’ she called out.
The massive tyres of the APC mounted the kerb easily with a thud, then, seconds later, they reached the stairs and started to climb. Cole revved the engine, giving it more power and forcing it to drag itself up the incline. It bounced up over a landing and then ascended the next flight of stairs as well. Cole brought the APC to a halt at the top of that flight, though, as the stairs doubled back to continue up and there was no way the APC would make that turn.
‘Everyone out; we’re on foot from here,’ Frankie said and climbed into the back. Gibson had already opened the door, and everyone was jumping out, all apart from Animus, who sat with Karla in the APC.
Frankie crouched next to him. ‘Are you coming?’
Animus looked up at her, he was clearly upset. ‘I don’t think so. I wouldn’t want to leave the frontline, anyway. This is where I need to be, this is where I can be the most help, and I want to make sure Karla gets the burial she deserves,’ he said.
‘Okay, I doubt the Corporations will be after you, anyway. They’re more focused on Janus at the moment.’
‘I know. I’ve called in the DU military; they’ll be here soon. Hopefully, Corps won’t bother us then.’
Frankie wasn’t so sure the military bothered the Corporations much, but maybe he was right. ‘Thank you for everything you’ve done. You’ve been invaluable,’ she said.
‘Thanks, but I don’t think I did much, really. It’s me who should be thanking you anyway for putting your lives on the line for me. Look, get going, you can’t sit here chatting to me. Go on, go. I’ll be fine,’ he said.
Frankie nodded and climbed out the van. ‘Catch you later,’ she said and moved away from the APC with a final wink.
Her friends were already making their way up the stairs, so Frankie started to run, taking several steps at once and soon caught them up as they reached the roof.
‘Flyer inbound,’ Cole called, looking left.
‘That’s mine,’ Kalypso said. ‘I’ll get it to make a quick landing so we can get moving,’ she said.
‘Sounds good,’ Frankie called out, but frowned as she listened to the drone from the flyer’s engines. It sounded odd as if it were coming from two different directions. Frankie looked around, and sure enough, she spotted another flyer, further out than Kalypso’s, but also heading their way. Frankie zoomed in, and sure enough, her suspicions were confirmed as she recognised the shape of it. It was the flyer from the park, the Corporation aircraft.
‘Second flyer inbound, from the south,’ Frankie called out. ‘Corporation aircraft. The same one from the park.’
‘Change of plan,’ Kalypso said. ‘Run for it. Follow me; we’ll have to jump,’ she said and started to sprint west over the huge church roof.
Everyone followed Kalypso’s lead, trusting that she knew what she was doing. Frankie followed suit and thought she could guess roughly what was about to happen. Frankie heard what sounded like popcorn popping, but knew it was something far deadlier. Small puffs of dirt and concrete exploded all about them as the bullets from the Corporate flyer tried in vain to hit them.
With a roar, Kalypso’s flyer passed overhead, low enough that Frankie could almost touch it as the backwash from the rotors sent a powerful wind over the group. The flyer dropped down, nearly to the rooftop as its rear hatch levered open, becoming a ramp up into the hold before the flyer started to slow its forward momentum. Kalypso, leading them, jumped up onto the ramp and took a second to regain her balance before reaching back and offering her hand. Frankie kept to the back, urging her friends forward, encouraging them to jump for the flyer. Gibson, Veronica, Dion, Janus, and Cole all jumped and climbed aboard. Frankie went to make a final sprint, only for the Corporation flyer behind them to fire again, peppering the area in front of Frankie with gunfire.
Frankie slowed for a moment, dodging the bullets, before forcing herself forward again, running for her one hope of escape. The edge of the church roof loomed up ahead. The flyer slowed as it passed beyond the edge while Frankie gave everything she had in a final push and leapt from the brink of the rooftop.
She landed on the ramp, but only just and was about to fall backwards before she caught Kalypso’s hand and pulled herself inside.
The engines of the flyer roared as the pilot fed power to them, forcing the aircraft higher and accelerating forward as well. Frankie looked back, having taken hold of a strap as a hand grip to keep herself steady. The Corporation flyer dropped into view as it fell in behind them, a huge black ominous machine that would likely follow them the whole way to the Airforce base.
The cannon on the Corporate flyer started to flash and issue its staccato barks as it opened fire on them.
The doll pilot banked left, avoiding the stream of bullets that could pluck them from the sky. Keeping hold of her hand grip, Frankie pulled her gun and aimed at the Corporate flyer. Kalypso, Gibson, Cole, and Veronica all followed suit, firing on the aircraft.
The occasional spark flashed as their bullets hit the armoured flyer, but their pursuers seemed unconcerned about their retaliation.
The outskirts of the city, followed by countryside with a few roads and houses dotted about, zipped by beneath them as Kalypso’s flyer banked left and then right and back again, using all the evasive manoeuvres it could to keep from getting hit.
Frankie noticed Kalypso concentrate for a moment, getting a message through her neural net before she moved back into the hold.
‘One moment,’ she said.
What now? thought Frankie.
2.13
Frankie looked back into the flyer and, a few seconds later, saw Kalypso handing out parachutes to everyone. Janus and Dion helped her pass them out once theirs were on.
One was given to Frankie, which she slipped her arms into as quickly as she could before she returned to shooting at the Corporate flyer.
Kalypso moved up next to her to resume her shooting as well.
‘Why hand these out?’ she shouted to be heard over the noise of the wind and gunfire.
‘The pilot asked me to do it. I think it’s got something planned,’ she said.
‘Oh, right,’ Frankie said. She looked down at the straps and wondered how the chute would fair carrying a cyborg to the ground.
Frankie suddenly sensed something had changed and looked around her. T
he flyer they were in was gaining altitude, rising up, higher and higher.
‘We’re going to jump,’ Kalypso shouted to them all. ‘When the pilot gives me the signal, follow me and don’t pull that cord until I do, got it?’
Frankie and her friends nodded, shouting, ‘yes,’ at her over the noise.
The flyer started to tip back, pointing its nose up into the air. As they watched, the Corporation flyer followed suit, chasing it down as it continued to fire at it in sporadic bursts.
Up and up the flyer climbed, getting ever closer to vertical while also slowing down, reeling in the Corporation aircraft. Finally, when it felt like their flyer had lost all forward momentum, Kalypso shouted.
‘Jump!’ she called and leapt from the hold. Frankie hung on for a second or so longer, making sure everyone had jumped before finally following them and dropping from the rear of the flyer. She zipped past the Corporation craft and oriented herself so she was falling backwards, looking up at the aircraft above.
Kalypso’s flyer stalled and fell back, dropping into the Corporation flyer that was, by that point, too close to dodge out of the way.
The two huge aircraft collided, and, after a moment of stillness, exploded in a huge fireball.
She felt the shockwave surge past her, pushing her down and away from the collision. Satisfied that the Corporation flyer was no longer a worry, Frankie turned back to face the earth and tucked her arms and legs in to drop a little faster, reducing the drag she was generating. She soon caught up with her friends, and as they closed in on the ground, they opened their chutes and glided down the rest of the way. Frankie wasn’t sure if she fell a little harder than her friends due to her much heavier body, but she landed just fine without any drama.
‘Well, that was dramatic,’ Frankie said.
‘Wouldn’t be a mission with you if there wasn’t some drama, though, would it?’ Gibson smiled.
‘Hey, is this one of yours?’ Kalypso said, raising her gun at something behind Frankie.
Spinning around Frankie saw a van approaching at speed. ‘Don’t know, be ready,’ she said, drawing her gun again.
Promethean Files 2: The Prometheus Gambit Page 14