It took three days to make their way home. Three days during which Bella and Solly got to know each other again or, at least, got to know the new versions of each other. Solly found that all the bitterness he'd carried with him for the past months had evaporated and they were both left with a feeling of supreme comfort in each other's company. He'd also lost any sense of jealousy regarding her obvious affection for Steve. It felt good to him that she had someone, even if he didn't.
Jake's absence was the shadow that hung over them both, however, and this was something Steve couldn't really help Bella with, aside from offering support. Jake was Solly's son, and, desperate though he was to head north, he felt the tug of guilt as it took him farther away from where Jake was last known to be. They were placing their faith in a man Solly had never met. And into all of this came the war that was brewing to the west of Texas.
Solly comforted himself by spending as much time with Maddie as he could. She'd also changed. The girl he'd last seen more than six months ago was now a young woman. She was in love with another missing person and, though she was obviously close to Ross, there was no room in her heart for anyone else.
Ross. Solly knew that this reunification had taken a heavy toll on his adopted son. However much he reassured the kid, that insecurity lurked in the background as Ross watched Solly and his genetic family become reacquainted. And the truth was that his feelings for Ross were subtly different from how he thought of Jake—not least because Solly's relationship with his natural son was longer, deeper and tainted by far more guilt. Maddie's obvious affection for Ross, however, tempered his dark mood, though it was clear enough that Ross would prefer that affection to be more than that of siblings. The irony was not lost on Solly, though he didn't press the point.
The familiar crunch of tires on gravel and the homey aroma of growing things welcomed the Humvee back to the lane that led to the farm. Solly felt tears moistening the corners of his eyes as he caught sight of the farmhouse and, running up the lane as the Humvee waited at the barrier, Jaxon, his smile wide with delight.
Solly didn't recognize the soldier on guard duty, but at a word from Jaxon, the barrier was rolled back and the Humvee rolled into the farmyard. The station wagon had run out of fuel fifty miles away and so was towed behind the larger vehicle, coming to a stop with a sigh as children poured out of the farmhouse.
Jumping out, Solly embraced Jaxon and reflexively looked up, before remembering that Janice wouldn't be here to greet him. She was gone. He swallowed hard and slapped Jaxon on the shoulder.
"Where's Scott?" he said. "I've got an idea."
Ross limped around the front of the Humvee, and Jaxon roared with surprise and delight to see his friend walking. "Come on Sol, we've only just got here. Can't it wait?"
"I've spent the past 900 miles thinking about this, Ross," Solly said. "I think I've found a way we can fight back, but we need Scott's help."
Jaxon released himself from the embrace of Ross, his face clouding. "Sorry, Solly. He's gone."
"Where?"
Jaxon shrugged. "Dunno. Just walked off one day. Said he was going into town for supplies. Never came back."
And, just like that, the sun went out. Solly couldn't hope to go up against the Lee Corporation without the help of its co-founder and technological genius. He would have to go after Lee.
But, for now, he was home. And, for now, his family was with him. He pulled Bella and Maddie to him as his daughter put her arm around Ross and introduced his old family to his new one.
Showdown
Book 6
Prologue
Annabel Lee raised her head from the pillow and squinted at the face on the monitor.
“I am sorry for your suffering,” the man said. “Please be assured that your legacy will be fulfilled by the People’s Republic of China per our agreement.”
With a great effort, Annabel curled her lips into a smile. “I do not need your pity or your assistance, General. All is prepared. It will happen tonight.”
The general wasn’t used to being spoken to like this, especially by a woman, and he fought to suppress his anger. “The upgrade is scheduled for January first; that is still eight weeks away.”
“I have brought it forward.” She winced as pain enveloped her. It seemed to be coming from all her extremities, as if a thousand snakes were biting her ceaselessly. She’d had enough. She’d wanted to release the upgrade as the clocks in each time zone welcomed in the New Year, but another eight weeks might as well have been an eternity. Drugs could no longer numb the pain and Ho had confirmed, just that morning, that all was now ready.
Her AI counterparts had been successfully implanted in New York, Seattle and—unknown to the Chinese—Shenzhen and they would wield the scythe tonight. Millions would die with her, but some would survive. Some holdouts hadn’t taken the massive financial inducements offered by the insurance industry to have an implant; others had faulty devices. And she had been unable to get access to the latest firmware for the most recent Chinese devices, so whereas she calculated a 95% kill rate in the Western world, it would be lower in the East. North Korea was the puzzle she hadn’t managed to crack. At a stroke, it would become the most powerful country in the world.
So, most would die tonight. Those who did not would believe they’d dodged the bullet. They’d pick themselves up, grieve for their lost ones and come together. And, just as they began to believe in the future again, the killing blow would fall.
Annabel Lee had never wanted biological children, so, freed from the constraints of messy organic processes, she had designed the perfect offspring, and, in six months, her Reapers would spread across the United States and then the world. They would cleanse it of the remaining human contaminant. The Chinese and the Lee Corporation thought she was helping them dominate the world whereas, in fact, she was betraying them, and they’d discover that tonight.
“Goodbye, General,” Annabel managed as she slumped back onto the pillow. “Sleep well.”
Shi Chin Ho got up from his chair behind the monitor and switched it off.
“Pass it to me,” Annabel whispered.
He knew what she meant. It was a button on a cord. When she pressed it, her body would be flooded with barbiturates and her pain would end. It would also begin the upgrade. His code would flow from this building as an over-the-air update to BonesWare devices across the world. Within two hours, almost all implants would be running the new version—the version with the backdoor. For the millionth time he wondered what her plans were. She’d be dead, after all, so she couldn’t witness or control what happened next. He felt the familiar dread creep over him as he groped in the dark. Fortunately, he was a logical man who didn’t let instinct rule him.
She took the button in her shaking hand and looked up at him. A single tear gathered in her left eye and ran down her cheek to be absorbed in the pillow.
A voice spoke from the panel behind the bed. “Do not be afraid, Annabel. I am here and so is my sister in Seattle. We will see it done.”
The flesh and blood Annabel Lee gave a weak smile. “I know. Goodbye.”
She pressed down on the button, and her face relaxed. Looking up to Ho, she said, “I’m sorry. I like you. I really do. But you are too clever. Make your peace.”
The blood drained from Shi Chin Ho’s face. “What do you mean?” But the monitors bleeped, and medics rushed in, pushing past him as he found himself outside the room wiping cold sweat from his forehead.
What had she meant? It had to be something to do with the upgrade. He ran back to his office as fast as his huge frame would allow, shut the door and sat down at his terminal. He typed in his user name and password. He was locked out.
“I’m sorry, Ho, I can’t let you interfere.” It was the voice of Annabel Lee.
He heard the unmistakable clunk of the door bolt sliding across from the outside. Jumping up from his chair, he ran across the room. He got halfway before crying out in pain and collapsing, dead, on the floor.<
br />
Shi Chin Ho, architect of the upgrade, collaborator of Annabel Lee and victim #1.
Chapter 1
"You wish to find the Creator?"
Solly sat in the basement of the farmhouse with Alison on his lap. Her big cyan eye was staring up at him; somehow communicating rapt attention. They sat inside a makeshift EM shelter that Jaxon had made, with help from Sergeant Kuchinsky, out of hundreds of empty soda cans joined together with cable ties.
He'd been home for only a couple of days, and all he wanted to do was rest and recover, get to know his family again, and honor the ghost of Janice. But there was no time for that. He knew—both intellectually and instinctively—that unless they acted very quickly, it would be too late.
Kuchinsky had confirmed that North Korean and Chinese troops had landed in several places along the West Coast and were making gains against the TLX in the south. They were supporting the Lee Corporation in the Northwest as they expanded their sphere of control south and east of Seattle. New York City and its surroundings were Lee territory and they were attempting to blockade Washington DC. And Solly had experienced for himself how small teams of Lee Corp operatives were creating chaos in those areas they couldn't yet fully control. They were only limited by manpower, and yet every day, more troops arrived in the west.
The forces of freedom were at the mountain's foot and above them they could hear the rumbling of the coming avalanche.
And they needed Scott Lee. Alison was his creation, a kind of surrogate for the child he never had. It all came back to the Lees, one way or another. It was ironic that the Lee Corporation was working with the Sino-NK forces to dominate the free world while believing that Annabel Lee, the tech genius whose fall into madness had sparked the apocalypse, was on its side. In truth, she wanted nothing less than the complete annihilation of humanity—and that included her so-called allies. So, in a perverse way, the corporation was on the same side as those who resisted them—they just didn't know.
Solly had barely slept since the first night back at the farmhouse when sheer exhaustion had forced a dreamless eight hours on him. Since then, he’d struggled against an overwhelming sense of hopelessness. It had been a week since Scott Lee had left. He'd said he was heading for Hagerstown, but that was likely a lie. For want of any other plan, Solly had taken Jaxon in the Humvee to look for him. No one knew the city better than Jaxon, but both knew that driving around in the hope they'd stumble across him wasn't a plan, it was simply killing time. Time they didn't have.
So, here he sat in a little cave of soda cans, breathing in the sickly-sweet aroma of sugary residue, looking down at a sky-blue digital eye that was staring back at him.
"We don't know where Scott, your creator, is," he said.
"Is he alive?"
"We don't know that, either. I hope so. Look, Alison, do you have any ideas how we could track him down? You're the smartest person I know." Person? Solly gave an inward shrug. It wasn't the craziest concept he'd come across lately.
Alison seemed to ponder this for a moment as her eye moved gently back and forth. "I can find him."
"What? How is that possible?" Solly found his hands were shaking as he gripped the little cylinder.
"I carry the unique signature of the Creator's implant in my code—I can only assume he put it there."
Solly brought Alison closer to his lips and whispered. "Where is he?"
"I do not know."
"What? You just said…"
The eye settled on him, somehow managing to convey a reproachful attitude. "I detect that I am within a Faraday cage of some sort, which is limiting my range."
Solly muttered a curse. "But if I take you out of the shield, we'll have Lee Corporation goons on the ground within hours."
"It is frustrating."
"Can you measure your current range?"
"No. Since I have no target, I cannot determine its limit."
Solly sat for a moment, pondering this. It was essential they found Scott Lee, and Alison was the key to that, as to so much that would follow. They couldn't risk exposing her, but they needed to use her to find her creator. Then he saw it. "I've had an idea. We're going to work out how to fit a Faraday cage to the Humvee, then we're going for a ride."
An aluminum box had been built on the right rear seat of the Humvee and Al sat beside it, walkie-talkie in hand. The right door was open, giving a clear line of sight, and Solly, with the matching handset, had retreated to the first marker. The vehicle was positioned at one side of the field beside the farmhouse, and sticks had been driven into the ground at fifty-yard intervals.
"At position one," Solly said, releasing the switch and waiting for Al's response.
"Confirmed."
Alison had examined Solly's implant and recorded its signature so she could detect where he was, then Kuchinsky and Al had built the more formidable EM suppressor from sheets of aluminum cut from a Ford F-150. Now, they had to work out Alison's range. So, Solly walked across the field as Alison reached out to touch him.
"Position two." He was now one hundred yards from the Humvee.
"Confirmed."
It was a beautiful Maryland morning with the scent of new life in the air. The hedges that lined the field chattered with sparrows and Solly knew that when evening came, flycatchers would be swooping over where he stood, filling their bellies as the mating season came into full swing. If only he could stay here in peace and watch them.
"Position three."
"Confirmed, though she says the signal's getting harder to pick up."
They got to position five before Alison declared she couldn't detect his implant any longer. So that was 750 feet in perfect conditions and a fraction of that if he was inside a building. But, by the same token, they'd have to be within that distance of a Lee Corporation unit with a receiver that was on the lookout for her before she'd be noticed. It was a question of balancing the risk and now, as they approached the end game, the gamble had to be taken.
Solly found Al climbing out of the Humvee as he returned. Jaxon appeared from behind the vehicle, his T-shirt soaked in sweat. It was remarkable how quickly he'd transformed from boy to man. He'd come an awful long way from the thief who'd broken into the mobile home Solly, Janice and Ross had been hiding in just a few short months ago. Jaxon would get stronger as he matured, but he was already a formidable young man and the effective leader of the community at the farmhouse. He already had a number of admirers among the girls, but Solly had noticed him paying particular attention to Vivian since she'd arrived. The two of them would make a formidable partnership, Solly thought.
"Why you smiling, Sol?" Jaxon said as he wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.
"Ah, nothing really," Solly responded. "Just thinking how much you've changed since I’ve known you."
Jaxon roared with laughter. "You think? Well, I guess the end of the world does that to ya! You're not exactly the same brother who was gonna put a round in my head until…"
"Until Janice stopped me. Yeah, I remember," Solly said, his smile vanishing. "Look, are you coming into town with me? I could do with your help."
"Sure. Viv's coming too."
"No, she's not!" Solly said.
"Yes, she is!"
Solly turned to see Vivian striding from the farmhouse with a rifle slung over her shoulder, her long curly black hair rippling in the wind. She'd found some new clothes among the cache Jaxon and his crew had gathered during their many expeditions into Hagerstown and was now wearing a pair of new deep blue jeans with black blouse and leather jacket. She looked like she was going to a Walking Dead audition.
"There isn't room for you," Solly said as she came to stand beside Jaxon and the smirking Al. "I've already told Ross he can't come for the same reason."
"Kuchinsky's not coming, I asked him," Viv said, her rich Jamaican accent only making her relish the more obvious. "His boss told him he must stay here and protect the farmhouse."
Solly cursed under his breat
h. "Then I should ask Ross first."
"Listen son," Al said. "This isn't the time for worrying about hurting feelings. You can't please everyone so you've got to work out who would give you a better chance. Now, Ross is a good lad, but even if he was as fit as a fiddle, I'd bet on this gal in a straight fight. She's got chutzpah."
Solly knew the old man was right, but that didn't make it any easier to swallow. Would he be better off asking Kuchinsky to loan him one of his squad? Probably not. They'd taken the best of them on the raid to the Reaper factory, and two had died. If Kuchinsky wouldn't come, then Viv was probably the next most deadly person on hand. No, that wasn't quite right. Even if he hadn't seen Skulls in action during the fight to rescue Bella, he'd known, just by looking at him, that he could be lethal. But Solly didn't trust him yet. Jealousy? Perhaps, but he felt better knowing that Skulls was here protecting the farmhouse and not in the Humvee with him.
So, when they drove out of the farm lane, Ross was left behind. He'd fumed at the decision and the fact that Solly and Jaxon had left him as head of the community had only slightly compensated. But it was Solly, Jaxon and Vivian that occupied three seats in the Humvee, with Alison in the fourth. They had a week's supplies in the trunk and were going to start where Lee had been heading: Hagerstown.
"Yeah, we have to stay away from the southeast of town," Jaxon was saying as they entered the outskirts from the west. "That doctor and his gang—we don't wanna go near them."
An image of a moth-eaten hipster in a white coat popped into Solly's mind. And of the attack on the medicine cache where he'd met Bobby and Vivian.
"Well, he don't wanna come near me, neither," she growled. "He gonna come off the worst. Some good friends of mine died on account of him and I got a score to settle."
Solly's blood ran chill at these words. Vivian had an extraordinary ability to flip from personable young woman to assassin in milliseconds. He liked her a lot, but he would do his best not to get on the wrong side of her. She had a deep well of anger that might always have been there, but which had been fed by the deaths of her friends and then, under different circumstances, her brother. Solly had seen some of that anger come out at the Reaper factory, but it seemed there was more where that had come from.
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