Zero

by J. S. Collyer

  “One,” Hugo said, looking once up into the lines of track lights above him. “Two,” then he looked back down at his gloves clasping the wire. “Three. Go.”

  Hugo shifted his boots with an effort and they started abseiling down the building. He was vaguely aware of Webb on one side and Harvey on the other but concentrated on keeping up the pace. They stepped over one set of darkened windows and then another. He waited for bullets to start flying from below but nothing came.

  One last scramble and his feet connected with the glass of Armin's apartment. He fired and the glass shattered and gave way and they swung inwards, the air reduced to a confused mess of flying glass and gunfire. He landed on his knees, disconnecting the wire and rolled. More shouts and shots rang out. He came up shooting then threw himself behind a couch where Webb was already kneeling and returning fire.

  Hugo got to his knees and began firing as the last of the glass from the windows shattered behind them. There was already a figure slumped over the table near the door and another sprawled on the floor, a bloody mess where one eye had been. There was another Splinter propped against the wall, clutching at his neck and sliding to the floor.

  Someone was shooting from behind a downed book case and someone else from around the corner of a hallway. A light was flashing over the door and a buzzer sounded. Webb shot out out the lights and the control panel. The door jerked open an inch then shuddered shut again.

  A light fixture overhead crashed down next to them, shot down by one of the Splinters, sparks and dust belching into the air. The whole apartment became a swaying jumble of light and dark, dust, blood and shouts. They dropped back down behind the couch to reload, Webb cursing as he did so.

  “There's more of them than we thought,” he muttered.

  “Keep firing,” Hugo said. “We can't let anyone walk away.”

  He leant around the remains of the couch, concentrating his fire on the bookshelf. The Splinter behind it threw herself to the ground and it was a minute before Hugo registered that the firing from both the bookshelf and the hallway had stopped. He climbed back on to his knees beside Webb to peer through the smoke filling the room when there was a movement from the corner and something was flying through the air. He heard Webb swear then the wind was knocked clean out of him as Webb flattened him into the floor.

  “Cover -”

  Webb’s warning was swept away by a gut-wrenching boom that Hugo felt more than heard. It rattled his teeth and ballooned in his innards and was accompanied by a blinding flash. His blood thundered in his head and all he could hear was a warped ringing and his vision swam in and out of focus. He was vaguely aware of Webb's weight being hauled up off him and then rough hands dragging him out from behind the sofa. His body wouldn't obey and the gun fell out of his hands.

  He blinked, trying to claw back his senses and as he was propped up on his knees. His vision returned and he looked up into the skull-like face of Armin as he pulled out earplugs. Muscles like chords stood out in his neck and his eyes looked more than ever like they had been bored out of his head. His mouth was moving but it was a moment before the blaring in Hugo's ears subsided enough for him to make anything out.

  “...I will make you understand.”

  “Bite me,” snapped Webb. His commander was knelt next to him, hands behind his head with a Splinter rifle levelled at his back. There was cold metal pressed against the back of his own neck too. As the last effects of the stun charge wore off, anger began to burn in his gut. He opened his mouth but then Armin pressed the muzzles of his guns against their foreheads, redness rising on the paper-white cheeks.

  “This ends here.”

  “Armin, wait...” Another Splinter came up, eyes wary but jaw set. “The contract said we were to take him alive if we could.”

  Armin's guns never wavered. “They will get the body and be grateful. These black cross fucks are not leaving this building breathing.”

  “Armin, no,” the second Splinter tried to pull him back but Armin span with a wordless cry of fury and stuck him. The gun at Hugo's neck twitched. Realising it was now or never, he reached up and grabbed the Splinter behind him whilst he was distracted, hauling him over his shoulder. The man landed heavily on the floor. As he lay winded, Hugo pulled the rifle from his grasp and came up firing.

  He took out the Splinter still dazed from Armin's blow and then the one behind Webb. Webb rolled out the way of the crumpling body, grabbing a weapon as he did so, coming to his knees and the air was reduced once again to thundering chaos. He was aware on some level of streaks of fire lancing over his shoulder and calf, but he didn't let himself think about it and kept firing.

  When he finally stopped and let the smoke clear there were only bodies around them and a heavy silence that clamoured around the ringing in his ears. Armin was against the wall, hands clutched over his abdomen and both legs a mangled mess. Hugo stepped over the dead and the dying, grabbed a handful of shirt front and hauled the Splinter up against the wall.

  “Who wanted Lunar 1?” Hugo snarled. Armin spat blood in his face. Hugo slammed him against the wall. “Who?”

  A smile that was all blood and teeth split the skull-like face. “Get fucked.”

  “Tell him,” said Harvey who had appeared at his side, pressing her gun to the Splinter’s temple.

  Armin’s smiled widened. “See you in hell, Service-boy,” he whispered, shuddered and then the grin slid off his face and he went limp. Hugo let him go and he slumped to the floor.

  Harvey scowled, face a tight mask under the dirt and boot black. “What’s going on that we don’t know about?”

  Hugo didn’t have time to answer. Shots started to tear the front door apart.

  “Quick,” Webb shouted, gesturing back towards the window. Hugo grabbed Harvey's wrist then clambered back over the debris as Webb sprayed a black cross on the wall over Armin.

  Hugo threw one more glance back at the mess that was all that was left of Armin, then all three of them were grabbing their climbing wires and clambering up the side of the building. Hugo's pulse thundered, his shoulders burned and his wounds throbbing. His ears still buzzed and his breath came in short bursts but he kept climbing.

  The lights were now on in the next apartment up but the terrified couple shrank back from the windows as they climbed past. He just had time to register the man tapping something into a comm unit then they were past the window and making for the roof.

  They were just reaching the railings when there were shouts and firing from below and a bullet went right past his ear. With one last push that he thought would burst his chest right open, he hoisted himself up over the railing and rolled onto the roof. Harvey and Webb were already running.

  The roof sloped upwards and they skidded and scrambled about on the corrugated metal. Webb sat down on the edge up ahead, swung his legs over then cast a glance over his shoulder. As soon as he saw Harvey and Hugo were close behind he pushed himself off and disappeared. There was a clang and Hugo reached the edge and saw Webb had dropped himself onto a metal fire escape a storey below.

  “Come on,” he shouted then he was clambering down the ladder. The rusty structure rattled and squeaked.

  Hugo’s knees jarred as his boots made contact with the metal then he was holding his arms up for Harvey. The short spacer muttered a string of curses as she lowered herself until she was dangling from her fingertips. Hugo reached and took a grip of her waist and helped her down and then they were both scrambling down after Webb.

  There were flashing lights, sirens and more shots starting to ring out from somewhere back the way they'd come and when they reached the pavement at the bottom of the escape, they saw that the main street ahead was a riot of flashing lights and people running. Flyers whined by overhead and the street was flooded with light.

  “This way,” Webb hissed and ran away from the activity. They dodged round mounds of rubbish, boots splashing through puddles until they reached a wire fence. Webb was already scrambling over the ra
zor wire curled round the top. Hugo felt it rip through his clothes and into his skin as he followed.

  Once all three of them were back on the ground, they fell into the all-too-familiar routine of following Webb on a mad scramble through the dark, over walls and under fences, down back streets and behind buildings, a twisting trail that never took them to anywhere with light or traffic, until they made their way back to where they'd hidden the bikes.

  The day-cycle was breaking when they cut the engines of their bikes in the dusty space of an abandoned workshop. They hauled themselves off the saddles with a collective groan, staggered and slumped onto the floor.

  The water from their canteen was the sweetest thing Hugo had ever tasted. He swallowed mouthful after mouthful. When he thought he couldn't swallow any more he passed it on to Webb who tipped his head back and drank deeply. Hugo forced himself to ignore the trembling of the adrenaline crash that was setting into his limbs and made himself take in his crew's condition.

  Webb was sat a bit awkwardly but the only stiffness he could see was from exhaustion and not from any injury. Harvey had clambered to her feet and was splashing her face from a basin on the side without a sign of any wounds, though she was leaning heavily on the workbench.

  As his breathing slowed, he became aware of the wet stickiness on his face and the burning in his shoulder and leg. He staggered over to the workbench and the basin. Harvey blinked up at him through the water and smudged boot black. Her eyes darted about his face then she was tipping the dirty water down a drain and refilling the basin from a groaning tap in the wall. Hugo reached for the water but Harvey smacked his hands away before shrugging herself out of her jacket and picking up a rag. She soaked the rag in the water and reached up and started wiping down his face. Hugo closed his eyes and let her clean away the spit, dirt and blood.

  ø

  Webb winced as he pulled his jacket off. Every breath sent fire through his ribs, his ankle was pulsing and every movement seemed to reawaken the stun charge headache. He shifted his leg out in front of him to try and ease his ankle then pulled their stashed pack out from under a workbench and fished out the computer panel. He encouraged it to boot up with a couple of swearwords and taps on the floor, trying to push back the waves of trembling that were attempting to bring him down.

  He looked up as Harvey helped Hugo out of his jacket then started to pull his shirt off. Even if he hadn't had been too exhausted to make a joke, the stiffness in both their movements and the blood smeared across Hugo's skin would have swamped his humour.

  “You okay, Captain?”

  Hugo looked up blearily, blinked slowly then nodded.

  “Sit,” Harvey ordered and helped Hugo up onto the workbench where she started washing out the gouge on his shoulder.

  The panel finally booted up. Webb activated the motion-sensor hubs they'd placed at the doors and windows of the old workshop. He was just about to try and stream some newsfeeds when he noticed a blinking light in the corner. Heart climbing into his throat he opened up the coded messaging program.

  “What is it, Commander?”

  Webb looked up. The captain's eyes were on him and his scowl was back. “Message from Rami, Captain,” Webb said, skimming the code. “They had a near miss with some bounty hunters on Lunar 5 by the sounds of it.”

  “Anyone hurt?”

  Webb shook his head as he reached the end. “No. But they had to high-tail it out of there pretty quick. Evangeline doesn't mess around.”

  “They need to get out of the Lunar Strip,” Hugo muttered, reaching down and attempting to pull off one of his boots.

  “Sunside?”

  Hugo shook his head. “They need to get out of space. Tell them to go to Earth, Tokyo or somewhere else neutral and lay low until this is over.”

  Webb nodded, rubbing his eyes and setting about typing in a coded reply. He paused as he reached the end, trying to think of something personal to say to Rami, but couldn't. He sent it, then went back to scrolling through news sites. “Well folks...we made the headlines at last,” he mumbled.

  “About fucking time,” Harvey said, throwing the bloody rag back in the basin.

  “Are we still on track?” Hugo asked pulling off his other boot.

  Webb checked a few more forums and reels. “Looks like it. No one knows who's doing it. We must have taken out everyone before they could get word out.”

  “Good,” Hugo said, rolling up his trouser leg to reveal another gash in his calf. He reached for the basin but Harvey pulled it out of his reach.

  “Let me change the water,” she muttered then took the basin back to the tap. She dumped out the bloody water but then just stood leaning against the bench with her head bowed. Her shoulders started to shake.

  “Marilyn?” Webb hauled himself to his feet and limped over to her.

  “I'm fine,” she growled, scrubbing a sleeve over her eyes and turning on the tap. Webb exchanged a glance with Hugo.

  “This isn't your fight, Marilyn,” he said quietly. “We got Armin. Your score is settled. You don't have to stay.”

  “Stow it,” she spat, turning off the tap and not looking at him. “Don't patronise me.” Webb blinked and took a step back. She brought the basin out of the sink and dumped it on the bench beside Hugo, water sloshing out onto the dusty surface. “It's not over,” she said. She looked at him, eyes sharp, without a flicker of fear. She glanced from him to Hugo, who returned her look with a heavy one of his own, then stalked across the workshop to where their blankets were bundled in the corner, curled up in one and turned her face to the wall.

  “You need any help?” Webb said, seeing Hugo bending to clean his leg.

  Hugo shook his head. “Get some sleep, Commander,” he said in a low voice. Webb sighed then nodded. He dug out a medkit from one of the packs and took it to Hugo who nodded his thanks then he went to go to his own blankets, though he doubted very much that he would manage to sleep.

  “Webb…”

  Webb turned back to the captain. He had paused with binding in one hand and a sterilising pad in the other and was gazing off into the distance. “Yes, Captain?”

  “Marlowe's next.”

  Webb felt a shiver run across his skin and stopped himself from showing anything on his face. He managed a nod. Hugo carried on appraising him and Webb wondered what he was seeing. Then he looked away and the moment was gone.

  “You were right about Doll,” Hugo murmured so quietly that Webb barely heard it. “We were right to keep her out of it.”

  Webb didn't know what to say so he didn't say anything. Hugo finished binding his leg then got down from the workbench. “Are you going to wash that off?”

  Webb frowned, then remembered the boot black. He moved over to the sink and turned on the tap. The water spluttered out in fits and starts but he pulled off his gloves and scooped handfuls of it to scrub at his face. When he was done both Harvey and Hugo were curled on the floor in their blankets. Webb checked the motion-sensors' stream one more time then shut the panel down, pulled off his boots and wrapped himself up in his own blanket and lay on the concrete. The workshop was a fractured spread of shadow and scrubbed highlight from the night-cycle track lights bleeding in through the dusty windows. He stared into the shadows for a long time, purposely not thinking about Marlowe.

  Stiffness from sleeping on concrete and the exertion of the night before awoke him just as the day-cycle started to grey outside. The others were still asleep and he crept from his blankets and padded away with the computer panel. Every tendon seemed to be on fire and the shooting across his ribs had faded to a dull but insistent ache. He got himself to the other side of the workshop and worked his way through some stretches in an attempt to loosen himself up then he sat cross-legged on the floor, booted up the panel and started work.

  He wasn't sure if it was the increased volume of his cursing or the brightening day-cycle that woke Hugo, but the captain joined him before long, slumping onto the floor next to him and peering at the
panel.

  “What have you found?”

  “There's only two ways we're going to bring down Marlowe,” Webb muttered, leafing through the schematics of Houston Block for the hundredth time. “And you're not going to like either of them.”

  “What are they?”

  “Option one: we wait for him to leave and take him down in the street.”

  Hugo shook his head. “Not an option. We can't break pattern now. It needs to be in his home.”

  “Well that's Houston Block,” Webb growled. “Fucker has the whole top floor as his own private playground by the looks of it. Half the businesses in the block are his. The other half answer to him, I'd wager.”

  “I couldn't find anything conclusive when I looked.”

  “You didn't know where to look, Captain,” Webb replied dourly. “I wish I didn't. Houston is his domain and he'll have that place tied up tighter than a ship hull, with enough armed personnel to take us down ten times over. Each.”

  “What's the second option?”

  Webb looked up. “We take out the power.”

  Hugo blinked. Once. Slowly. “Take out the power?”

  Webb nodded. “We plunge the whole of Houston Block into the fourteenth century. Only then do we stand a chance of getting past the alarms, locks and men with guns and into level 350.”

  “And what happens after that?”

  “I haven't got that far.”

  Hugo carried on looking at him, but didn't scowl. Webb wondered when it was that Hugo had started listening to him. Then he wondered if that was a good thing.

  “Can it be done?”

  Webb rubbed the back of his neck. “We'd need to disconnect it from the mains and disable the back up generator. And either way I reckon it would only buy us ten or twenty minutes before they re-route the connection. But it's possible...I think.”

  Hugo chewed on that for a moment. “And there's no other way?”

  “Not that I can think of.”

  “Why do I get the feeling I don't want to know what you're talking about?” asked Harvey as she strolled towards the tap with a canteen.