There was too much on the line.
Almost immediately, rows and rows of text popped onto the screen, scrolling so fast none of us could keep up. We all leaned in closer. I squinted because the font was tiny and hard to read.
After a moment, I realized it wasn’t standard text. It was numbers. Lots and lots of complex equations flying by, a page a second.
After a full minute, the data stopped scrolling. The cursor blinked on the bottom right, indicating the screen had stopped populating.
I met Case’s confused expression. I was certain it mirrored my own. “Are those what I think they are?” I asked. “Did you see all the graphics?” Among the icons I saw flashing across the screen, mostly in the upper left corner, were those of Bliss Corp, SensiTouch, and the standard government seal, which consisted of a square blue background, a white circle with sixty-three red stars inside, and a red, white, and blue ribbon running through it.
Case answered, “Those were formulas.”
I exhaled as my mind raced. “That stuff at the beginning had ‘Top Secret’ seals attached.” I sat back. “How in the world did someone like Tandor get this information?” According to what we’d just seen and based on the companies involved, it seemed the government might’ve been aware of—or even been involved with—procuring a cure for Plush addiction. But I wasn’t a mathematician or an engineer, so I didn’t know for sure.
“I have no idea how a guy from a small tribe in the South would have access to something like this,” Case answered. “When I asked around, I couldn’t find any background on him. Nobody was willing to talk.”
I stared at the screen. “This could change everything.”
“What? What’s going to change?” Daze asked.
I traced my finger across two logos at the top of the screen. “Do you see these names? Bliss Corp and SensiTouch? What’s on this drive came from these companies. They worked together on enhancing Plush, after Bliss Corp initially put out the drug. Then, whatever they did to tweak the formula, it went bad, and people started reacting, and they became the seekers we see today. They were both trillion-dollar companies with lots and lots of power.”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “So?”
“Because the government was clearly involved, and it was top secret, this might be data for a cure. It would’ve been a priority for the government to find something to help infected people and hold these companies accountable.” I stood. “But, honestly, Darby is the only one who can make sense of all this. The first thing we have to do is get this information to him.”
Case headed toward the door. “Let’s go.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
I piloted Luce in silence. We were on the way to drop Case off to retrieve Seven. The three of us had left the barracks shortly after discovering what was on the quantum drive.
Case sat in the passenger seat, Daze in the back.
My backseat had taken a hit, as I’d been forced to dump a bunch of stuff and leave it at the barracks so the kid would fit. Backseats in most crafts were cramped, and mine was no exception. But my penchant for storing stuff had made it impossible for anyone to squeeze in—even if they had the body size and type of an eight-year-old.
I hadn’t handled the task in a completely adultlike fashion. There’d been grumbling and complaining, some swearing, but it hadn’t killed me, so that was a bonus.
Daze, who was normally chatty, was quiet.
It was fine by me, as I was anxious to talk to my crew, and we were running late. I’d told them three hours, but it was going to be more like four, and we weren’t close enough to the city for me to check in yet.
“Set her down in a kilometer,” Case said.
His request surprised me, and I directed my brain back on task. “We’re too far out. It’ll take you all day to walk in.”
He shook his head. “It’s too risky to fly any closer. If the guards are smart, they’ll be monitoring the skies.”
“I know. That’s why I’m flying low.” The bottom of Luce was almost scraping the treetops, I was so low.
“Set her down. I’ll walk.”
I shrugged. “Okay, whatever you want.” Who was I to argue? It didn’t matter to me where he got out. I found the next patch of open ground and landed, keeping her running while Case exited.
We’d agreed to part ways for the time being.
I’d take Daze back for treatment at the barracks sometime tomorrow. Case said he’d be there, but I could open the barracks myself if I needed to. There was nothing more to say. He gave me a three-finger salute and loped off in search of his craft. If she wasn’t where we’d left her, he’d have to figure it out.
I lofted us back into the sky as Daze climbed into the front seat, his arms immediately punching through the harness straps. Smart man. “What are Bender and Lockland going to think about what’s on the quantum drive?” he asked once he was situated. His voice held a fair amount of trepidation. I knew he was worried to see them again.
“They’re going to think it’s a pretty big deal,” I said. “Darby is going to be crazy excited.” I hoped to hell Darby was still with them. “He’s going to know how to read all those complex formulas and numbers, and best of all, he’ll be able to do something about it.”
“Where are we going to go after I’m done using the medi-pod?” Daze asked, his tone soft and measured. He was worried about something.
“I’m not sure,” I answered, keeping my voice light. Well, as light as it got, anyway. “That depends on what’s happening in the city. We don’t know if Darby spilled any information about my residence in the canals to the bad guys or the government. If he didn’t, once we take care of the rest of Tandor’s men, we can head to there. If not, I’m going to have to hunt for a new place to live.” The scope of setting up a brand-new residence made my head hurt. The amount of effort and goods it took to make a place habitable was staggering. “We can use my unit in Government Square until we figure it out. It’ll be a tight fit, but we can make it work.” I gave him a look. “You’re not nervous, are you?”
“No,” he replied quickly. The kid’s face was so full of relief it was almost comical. I wondered what was going through that brain of his.
“You know, Daze, you’re not getting rid of me that easily. But if you want, I can talk to Case. I’m sure he’d be okay if you stayed in the barracks with him for a while. That is, until I set up a new, suitable unit.” I watched his reaction carefully.
“No.” His tone was rushed. “I don’t want to do that. At least…not if you’re not going to be there. I like it there. It’s safe. But I don’t want to…” He fidgeted with his hands.
I let him off the hook. “No problem. Together it is. We’ll figure it out.” I changed the subject. “You know, after we figure out all the stuff with Plush, and everything else, maybe we should take a vacation.” I was only half joking. Nobody around here took a vacation. It was unheard of. But a scouting mission was not.
If I’d learned anything from Case, it was that the world was a lot bigger than inside the city limits, the gorge, and Port Station. If the barracks existed—which I’d never thought possible—then what else was out there? The possibilities were vast. If we packed up enough supplies and had ample battery and hydrogen power, we could go out for a few weeks, no problem. It actually sounded fun.
A concept I wasn’t well acquainted with.
The kid brightened instantly. “Really? I’ve never been anywhere. Well, except, you know, the places we’ve been together.”
“It’s pretty wild out there. We’d be taking our lives into our own hands. Are you sure you’re up for something that huge?”
“Totally. I was born ready.” He jutted his chin out as his thumbs expanded the straps of the harness in front of him, his chest puffing.
I tilted my head back and laughed. “Kid, you crack me up.” We were closing in on the city limits. I decided it would be best to go in stealthily, so I was heading to the entrance Daze and I had first used, on
the west side. It was our most secure location. That way, Lockland could monitor our process if necessary. “I’m sure we’ll have this all figured out in no time. Then we’ll plan an expedition.”
“Cool.”
* * *
“Jerry, it’s Ella.” Static. “We’re still waiting on that green light.” Daze and I were in the craft, hovering in the old parking ramp, waiting for Lockland to turn the light green and open the wall.
We’d been waiting not so patiently for twenty minutes.
Something was wrong.
Crackling finally came over the line. “Change of plans.” Lockland’s voice was labored. Static. “Meet at six.” Then nothing. He’d turned off his phone.
“Shit.” I levered Luce into reverse, backing her speedily down the ramp, efficiently spinning her one hundred and eighty degrees, heading back the way we’d come.
“What does ‘six’ mean?” Daze asked.
“Remember that first night?” I said as I engaged the landing gear and set her down, the wall closing seamlessly behind us. “I parked in here because I was taking you to six, but then we ran into Darby and headed to my residence instead? Six is one of our safe houses, and it happens to be a few buildings over.” It was one of our bigger places. It slept four.
“Are we going to have to walk over that beam again?” Daze’s voice wavered at the end.
“Yep,” I said as I powered the craft off. “But it’s going to be easy, because everything we do is easy, remember?”
“What about seekers?”
“I’m sure Lockland has secured the place back up.” When we’d been there last, we’d encountered seekers, and it’d been harrowing. We’d had to make a quick exit through the floor. I wasn’t really sure Lockland had been here, but we were about to find out. It was unlikely Lockland would send us here if it hadn’t been secured. At least, I didn’t think he would. It was possible he forgot what had gone down a few days ago, but that wasn’t likely. “We’ll go slow and be careful.”
We got out, each of us donning our helmets.
Daze didn’t complain about his being too big or smelly this time. We quickly made our way out the door and up the stairs without incident. On twelve, I placed my ear to the door and listened. When I was sure it was clear, I eased it open, and we slipped into the hallway.
There were no seekers and no sounds of anyone moving around.
It was eerily quiet.
For the second day in a row, the drizzle had been incredibly light, so even the rain wasn’t making its usual racket. Any more days like this, and we’d have to start wearing our air masks. When the rain cleared, on those few sporadic days, the iron dust made it hard to breathe, and no one wanted that crap to settle in their lungs.
“It’s all clear. Let’s go,” I told Daze, who’d stuck behind me, no more than a meter between us.
We made it to the beam. There was leftover damage from the seekers in the form of holes in the walls and more debris than usual kicked around, along with a bit of blood smeared on the walls, but nothing major had been disrupted. Daze grabbed on to the bottom of my vest without being asked, and I stepped out onto the steel girder that would take us to the next building, my hands rising above my head to cling to the rope strung above for this very reason.
Twenty-three steps and we were on the other side.
Before I jumped down, I stopped at the edge, removing my helmet to listen. This was where we’d run into Darby. He’d been in the area, lured here by Tandor’s men to work on a cure for Plush. Darby hadn’t divulged the exact location of the lab to me, but it was close. I didn’t hear any telltale noises. No scuffling and no other movement.
I jumped off the beam, turning to grab Daze’s arm to steady him as he followed me down. Then I placed my helmet back on my head and drew out my Gem. Just to be on the safe side, I gestured for Daze to stick behind me. He didn’t make a peep.
We passed the room I’d hauled the kid into when I’d heard the noise that turned out to be Darby, and continued to the other end. The stairwell that led to the roof, which, in turn, led to my residence in the canals, was on the right. We continued by without stopping and came to another open window and another beam.
Once again, Daze held on to my waist, no questions asked. This one was longer. I harnessed my Gem, because I would need both hands to grip the line.
Thirty-four steps and we were across.
We traversed one more rafter before we hit the final building. The one that housed six. I hadn’t been in this particular area in a while, so I took it slow. Once on the ground, I slid off my helmet, this time setting it on the floor and tucking it under the entrance to the beam. If all went well, I wouldn’t need it until we exited, which would take us back this way.
I helped Daze down, and he deposited his helmet next to mine. Reaching into my vest, I took out my chromes. I needed to see. Once I’d withdrawn my Gem again, we began to creep down the hallway, Daze at my back, my free hand angled behind me, making contact with his shoulder in case I had to grab him and scurry him to safety.
This building was significantly bigger than the last two. It’d been one of the original megascrapers, the second to be built in the city. The base flared wider than subsequent scrapers built in the following years, taking up four city blocks. The floor we were on had held industry and offices. Ten stories above us, around the twenty-second floor, the residences would’ve begun. But this building had been sheared off at twenty stories, so all of the residences had been decimated.
It would’ve been interesting to see what they had looked like in one of the original megascrapers. But, unfortunately, we’d never get that chance.
Six was at the other end, two flights up.
After what seemed like an incredibly long hallway—which it was, since it was at least half a block long—we made it to the stairwell. Normally, if Lockland had been monitoring us, there would’ve been a light telling us if all was clear.
But he was currently indisposed.
I pressed my finger to my lips, indicating to Daze that he should be extra quiet, even though it wasn’t needed. The kid had an impressive ability to keep quiet. It was a skill set not everyone had.
I knew he was fearful of what was to come. Hell, I was fearful. If Tandor’s men had the ability to blow up my residence, there was no reason why they couldn’t blow up this building with us standing in it.
Leaning forward, I angled my ear toward the stairwell.
Before I could detect if it was safe or not, the door jerked open. I sprang back, knocking Daze to the ground. My finger almost engaged the trigger of my Gem when I recognized the familiar shape and the grunts that came next. I dropped my arms. “What the fuck, Bender? I almost killed you!”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
I stood, huffing and puffing, my back against the wall, still recovering from almost killing my friend. Daze stumbled to his feet and came to stand by my side. I ran a shaky hand through my hair. My fingers got irritatingly stuck. I yanked them away, cursing. “Seriously,” I cried, “what were you thinking? Why would you just yank open the door like that? Nobody does that.”
“I was coming to find you. It was getting late,” he answered gruffly. He knew how close he’d just come to getting a hole blasted straight through his abdomen. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not dead. I survived. Stop wasting time. Let’s go.” He braced the door open so we could pass through.
Pushing off the wall shakily, I followed Bender up the two flights that would take us to six, Daze trailing us.
“What’s going on?” I asked when I finally found my composure. “Where did you guys go? I’ve been worried sick.”
“I’ll tell you everything once you get inside.” Over his shoulder, he grumbled, “We’re being hunted.”
“I know,” I replied. “They came after me, too.” Lockland and Bender likely didn’t know that one of my residences had literally been blown apart.
Bender held the door open, and Daze and I entered the hallway. Six wa
s down on the right. Bender led the way. We were almost to the door when it sprang open.
It was good I didn’t have my Gem drawn this time.
“Darby!” I surprised us both by drawing him into a quick embrace. It took him a second to hug me back, the sensation new for both of us. I wasn’t a hugger. Like, really not. But it was so damn good to see him.
After about three seconds, I pushed him out to arm’s length. His clothing was slightly askew. “What in the hell happened to you?” I asked. “How did the government get their hands on you? And don’t ever open a door like that again! I could’ve blown your face off.”
From behind, Bender growled, “Get inside, and we’ll tell you the rest.”
I walked into the room, hoping to see Claire, but it was empty. This particular room had no outside windows and was lit by a handful of small yellow lights mounted on the walls. There were four sleeping pallets, a cooling unit, and a few other essentials, including a door that led into a makeshift waste room, which had been a storage closet once upon a time. It was enough to survive, but calling it comfortable was a stretch.
“Where’s Lockland?” I asked as Bender shut and secured the door. This was a fairly defensible location, with an escape hatch through the waste room floor, but it wasn’t incredibly secure. Staying here for a long period of time wouldn’t be advisable. “How come we’re here instead of a level-three hold?” Which basically meant underground.
“Most of our locations have been compromised,” Bender answered with a growl.
My gaze shot to Darby, who was busy staring at the floor. “I didn’t mean to divulge everything, I swear.” He shuffled his feet. “The Babble dose they gave me was strong. I had no choice.”
I headed over to one of the three chairs and sat. This was going to be a lengthy discussion. Daze followed, opting to make do on the pallet next to me. “I thought the person who received Babble didn’t know what they confessed.”
Darby looked miserable as he took his own seat. He set his head in his hands. “They recorded it,” he groaned. “Then gleefully played it back for me. Partly to terrorize me and partly to get more answers.” He lifted his head. “But that was good, I guess. That way I knew exactly what I’d told them and what I didn’t. I didn’t say anything about this location, because they didn’t ask specifically. Anything they asked about, I babbled. That stuff plays for keeps. Listening to myself saying all those things was awful. It was like some other guy posing as me.” He shuddered. “I didn’t even know they’d been giving it to me. That’s the worst part. I’d go to the lab, then go home never knowing anything had happened.”
Danger’s Vice Page 12