by James Knapp
“How can you—” Osterhagen started, but I cut him off.
“I can’t prove it, but I’m telling you I’m right. It’s affected me as well. I know it’s true. At this rate it will spread beyond the city in hours and we have no idea what it will do. If you destroy that transmitter, you’ll never—”
On Cal’s recording I saw Chen nod, then turn and leave the room. The angle of the feed changed as Fawkes returned his attention to a console in front of him. Data streamed across the screen. His hands, almost skeletal now, moved quickly over the keypad. An image I recognized as a map of satellite positions hung at the top of the screen. He was inputting coordinates.
“What is it?” Osterhagen asked. I checked the time stamp on Cal’s recording.
“Sir, how long would it take The Eye to spool up for another shot?” I asked.
“We predict thirty minutes,” Vaggot said.
According to the time stamp on Cal’s footage, the satellite had to have already been aimed at the CMC Tower and was preparing to fire when it was recorded. That meant that on the recording he was entering in the data for a different target; his next target.
While I watched, a list appeared in Fawkes’s HUD, mapping over the recording. There were several more sets of coordinates there in a column. When I ran them through the GPS, I found the location of the target he’d just entered.
“General, I know what Fawkes’s next target is. He’s going to fire on the UTTC.”
“How—”
“I’m forwarding the data to you now, but get out of that building.”
“Sir,” Vaggot said. “In a worst-case scenario, you have maybe twenty minutes. We will not have control of the satellite by then.”
“The UTTC is under siege at the moment,” Osterhagen said. “We can push our way out but it will be a bloodbath, and it will take hours.”
“Can we destroy The Eye?” I asked.
“Fawkes has threatened to launch if we try.” He looked thoughtful for a minute.
“Sir, I have a contact inside Heinlein Industries,” I told him. “I may be able to take Fawkes out from the inside.”
“We can have a short-range missile in the air in five minutes,” one of the soldiers said, “and destroy that transmitter in seven.”
Osterhagen nodded. He didn’t say anything for several seconds.
“Sir, what do you want us to do?” the soldier asked.
“Ready the missiles,” Osterhagen said, “but don’t launch without my order.”
“Yes, sir.”
“No matter what, you do not fire those missiles without a direct order from me.”
Two men snapped a salute and rushed out of the room.
“Alto Do Mundo is next on the list after the UTTC,” Vaggot said, looking at Cal’s data. “Then a list of major utilities; water, power, and transportation.”
Osterhagen nodded again and met my eye.
“She believes in you,” he said.
“I know.”
“You’ve got five minutes,” he said, and his image winked out.
MacReady, we need to go now.
I understand.
Faye, will you help me?
She didn’t answer right away, but she did answer.
Yes.
I cycled through the list of override codes that Cal pulled from Fawkes’s memory, and queued up Faye’s, just in case.
We’ll have one chance, Faye.
I have shared Fawkes’ security information with Mr. MacReady. He’s found five revivors that can form a chain without leaving their individual security zones, but it won’t take Fawkes long to realize something is wrong.
Understood. Get ready.
I hope you’re doing the right thing, Nico.
Me too.
I pushed down the packages that Calliope had given me over the circuit, and they began to install themselves. Her command spoke back to Fawkes went live, and I saw him try to take control. He tried to issue her override code, but it wasn’t accepted. After that, he began to run a trace on her physical location. It wouldn’t take them long to reach her.
Calliope’s shunt initialized and created the virtual command hub inside Faye’s system. Stealth connections began to open, riding on an unused portion of the command matrix. They made the five connections, and five remote feeds appeared on my JZI. I was inside Heinlein.
The five units I selected form a relay starting in the processing plant and ending in Central Atmosphere Control, MacReady said. Use them to move the Leichenesser payload between zones.
Two of the feeds came from the processing plant; through a set of doors, I could make out rows of bodies that hung from the ceiling. The other three waited outside in different parts of the campus, staring through the snow at the plant in the distance.
I sent the virus, and it replicated over each channel. It dropped into the primary node of each revivor and began to worm its way into their systems. In less than a minute, the mirror-spoke endpoints went active.
I’m taking control of them now.
One by one, I issued the overrides and took remote control of the revivors. Their systems were reflected back, giving me full access.
“Four minutes, Agent,” a voice said.
I scanned the layout of the processing plant and located the Leichenesser stores that MacReady had called out. I sent one unit to retrieve the payload from storage. The automated system responded and retrieved a single crate containing a series of pressurized metal tanks.
One will be enough, MacReady said. The Leichenesser is in liquid form, and highly concentrated.
Understood.
I sent the target revivor the route to take, making sure to keep it inside its designated security zone. I kept the feeds open to monitor them, and waited as the first revivor moved to the storage locker.
None of the others seemed to pay it any notice as its black hand gripped the handle and pulled open the heavy steel door. Mist drifted out of the gap as it slipped through the fog and into the freezer chamber.
The rows were filled with stores of chemicals. The revivor passed by them as it followed the location on the manifest and found a single rack of thin, glossy black canisters. Each one was labeled with multiple warnings and marked with a biohazard trefoil.
The revivor removed a single tank from the container and headed back through the mist toward the freezer door. It pushed it open, and kept an even pace as it headed for the plant’s western exit.
How long will it take the gas to saturate the sublevels? I asked MacReady.
Not long, he said. I’ve shut off the blowers to the lab, but they don’t need to stay that way. The gas won’t affect me.
On the feed, the revivor’s optics isolated a figure through the snow. It waited near a fence at the processing plant’s perimeter. The feed bobbled rhythmically as the revivor began to run the canister over to it.
Agent Wachalowski, I understand your feelings in this matter, MacReady said, but I think it’s time to let her go.
My fingers curled into a fist, tendons crackling.
I know.
It would be safer to—
I know. We still might need her.
Is that the reason?
This has to work, no matter what the cost. But do what you can to save her.
I will.
The revivor on the feed reached the second one in the chain and handed off the canister. I switched over the active feed and watched through its eyes as it turned back to the metal door behind it, where a sign was mounted:
PRATSKY WEST
Over the feed, I saw an incoming call request appear on Faye’s system. It was flagged urgent.
Faye?
That’s Fawkes, she said. He’s looking for me.
Stall him. The payload will be positioned soon. How long will it take once you start the air circulators?
Five minutes to get the Leichenesser into position; another ten for the saturation to reach critical.
MacReady’s estimate would put
me past Osterhagen’s deadline, but still inside the window before The Eye could fire a second shot. If the Leichenesser was already released, I might be able to convince Osterhagen to wait.
The revivor on the tarmac moved quickly as it clutched the canister to its chest. Up ahead, through the snow, the third revivor in the chain waited.
Let me know the second the reaction starts. If we can retake control of the facility and the transmitter, we might still be able to stop this.
Faye’s connection turned from green to red. It went out. The link dropped.
Faye?
“Three minutes, Agent.”
On the tarmac, I saw the revivor stop short in the snow. A second later, the feed went dark.
8
REVENANT
Calliope Flax—Stillwell Corps Base
A door to my right bashed open as they shoved their way into the hall behind me. I picked up speed and put some distance between us, but got stopped at the end of the hall by a metal door with panes of safety glass. I put two slugs into one of them and kicked out a hole, then squeezed through as they rushed in behind me. Palms slammed against the glass, and one grabbed at my boot as I started to run.
Vika, you ready?
Rdy.
It’s going to be close.
Behind me I heard them smash out the rest of the glass. Down the main hall I could see the back exit, with a guard station between walls of bulletproof glass. Past that was the back lot, and outside the bodies were already piling up. They’d mobbed the door, beating on it with their palms and fists.
I’m not getting out this way, kid.
They surged against the wall, and the metal frame squealed on its hinges. Back behind me, they were closing in. I aimed my pistol and put down the two in front, but it didn’t slow them down much.
Kid—
A crash came from the lot, and I turned to see an armored military truck plow into the crowd on its way to the back exit. It didn’t slow down as revivors were smashed against the grille and dragged underneath. Up in the cab, I saw the kid grip the wheel as she braced for the impact.
The glass caved in and the metal frame broke loose from the concrete as the truck smashed through the guard station and into the back lobby. Glass sprayed down the hall and cold air blew through the gap.
The kid revved the engine and waved me in. I fired a couple more rounds into the crowd behind me, then jumped through the wreckage toward the cab. A hand grabbed my boot as I pulled the passenger’s door, and I turned and shot a woman in the face between her black eyes. I threw myself in the seat and slammed the door behind me. There was a rifle propped against the dash inside.
“Can you shoot?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Switch places!”
She squirmed past me and grabbed the rifle as I got behind the wheel. They pulled her door open, and she fired three quick shots. An expended shell burned the back of my hand as bodies fell into the snow, and she pulled the door shut again and pounded the lock.
Gears ground as I slammed the truck into reverse and stomped on the gas. Bodies thumped against the rear of the truck as I cut the wheel and hit the brakes. Outside, one of them smashed a trash can against Vika’s window, but it held. She cracked it open and fired out the slit. Shells trailed smoke as they pinged off the dash and onto the floor.
“Hold on!”
The back lot led to a side street through a short connector, and I aimed for it. Tires spun in the snow, then we lurched forward. Faces flashed in the headlights before they got creamed against the grille and went under.
Metal and glass popped as we clipped a parked car and pushed out onto the street. There were more of them out there, maybe hundreds. They swarmed us, piling up as we smashed through. At the main road, I smashed the nose of a passing car, and bodies tumbled into the street as I hit the brakes.
They climbed over the grille and onto the hood. Vika fired the rifle again as I picked up speed and rolled over them. A few slipped off, but one hung on the driver’s-side mirror. I jerked the wheel, and it was scraped off as I swiped a parked car.
“Shit!”
Horns blared, and I felt the rifle’s muzzle flash on the side of my face. Tires squealed and the truck started to slide. We spun out, and metal and glass crunched as we hit something hard.
“Goddamn it!”
Something hit the driver’s-side window. Bodies slammed against the truck and hands tried to pull the doors open. Another one jumped on the hood and stomped down on the windshield. I punched the gas again and broke out of the snowbank. Bodies thumped under the tires as I gunned it down the street. Soldiers scrambled, firing into the crowd but there were too many of them.
Up ahead, way in the distance, I saw the smoke. The spot where the CMC Tower used to be was nothing but black smoke that rolled down the streets and swallowed up everything. Mobs of people ran to try to get out of the way of it, and more revivors were coming. The CMC was southwest of the Stillwell compound. I pulled up the GPS and plotted a route to the north gate.
“They’ll try and follow,” I said. “I’m going to lead them off the base!”
I cut the wheel again and took a side street toward the compound’s main strip. With the smoke in our rearview mirror I watched as the bodies fell off behind us, still running in our direction.
Faye Dasalia—Heinlein Industries, Test Facility Five
The revivor stood stone still, the metal canister clutched to its body. Wind sheared across the tarmac, whipping its clothes around it.
“Faye, what are you doing?” MacReady asked.
“It wasn’t me,” I said. Someone else was in my head. They’d shunted their way into my command node and put a hold on my communications.
“Faye—”
“I fucking knew it,” a voice said. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ang Chen step through the doorway, a pistol clutched in one hand. His eyes moved from me to MacReady, then back.
MacReady held up his hands and stepped forward, but stopped when Ang pointed the gun at his chest.
“Ang—”
“You were overruled, Bob. You should have stayed out of it.”
“Chen, he destroyed the CMC Tower,” MacReady said. “He’s going to—”
“You don’t know what’s at stake,” Ang said. His voice was still calm, but his eyes had grown wide. The hot mass of his heart thudded in his chest.
“Ang, please,” MacReady said, as he took another step. “Think about—”
The gun boomed as Ang fired a single shot. MacReady staggered back and dropped the electronic pad to the floor. He stared down at his side, where blood had begun to spread through his shirt.
Ang aimed to fire again, and MacReady lunged. Not toward Ang, but toward me. His fingers, warm with blood, touched my neck, and I felt the metal rod slide out of the back of my head. The control lock winked out, and impulses began to flow back down the length of my spine. My system tree reestablished. I could move again.
Ang fired. The bullet shattered through MacReady’s front teeth, then exploded out through the back of his neck. His body fell against the wall behind him, then collapsed onto the floor. Chen stood, still pointing the gun, as smoke drifted slowly out of the barrel.
“I know what’s at stake,” I told him.
Chen’s eyes flicked to me and stared. “Shut up,” he said.
“I know what they did to me—”
“So do I!” he barked. “They got to me too, and I know it now! I know everything! Every goddamned thing!”
The gun shook in his fist as he held it out. The network of veins stood out under his skin, like spiderwebs of warm light, and I knew he was very close to the edge. I realized then that when he said he knew, he meant he really did know; his memories had returned. Somehow, Fawkes had found a way to return them while still leaving him alive.
Whatever happened to him, whatever he’d done and been made to forget, he’d come face-to-face with it. Whatever it was, he couldn’t accept it. Without a rev
ivor’s disconnectedness, he was losing control.
“Fawkes woke you,” I said, and I could see it was true. “How—”
“Shut up!” He stepped forward and stuck the gun in my face. He took two steps toward me, and the end of the barrel pushed into my cheek.
I fired the bayonet and struck Ang’s gun hand with it. The pistol went off near my ear, as blood spurted from the notch cut in his wrist. He staggered back, blood seeping through his shirt cuff. Blood dripped down onto the floor as he clutched his wounded arm. He raised the gun again, but he couldn’t hold it straight.
Suddenly, something forced him out of my head, and the communications block was released. The revivor connections came back online. When he realized what happened, Ang’s eyes widened.
“Who did that?” he whispered. “Who else is helping you?”
Faye? Faye, are you reading me? It was Nico.
I’m here. I checked the revivor feeds and saw the units perk up as the command spokes reformed. They found me.
Ang transferred the gun to his left hand and took aim. He followed me as I circled the table and fired a single shot that went wild. I could sense him digging into my systems, trying to reestablish the override. I pointed my own gun in his direction.
“Drop that connection,” he said.
The remote unit carried the canister across the Pratsky Building, where the last revivor in the chain waited down in a darkened stairwell. I watched them make eye contact with each other, meeting halfway on the stairs. The last unit accepted the canister, then turned and made its way down.