Gameprey (2000)

by Clancy, Tom - Net Force Explorers 11

  He returned to the Eisenhower Productions site just as Andy’s spacetank was reduced to cybernetic ash. Powering the crashsuit’s jets to the max, Mark streaked into the dreadnought’s finger, following the hollow tube of the arm toward the brain.

  “Stop! Police!”

  Maj experienced a momentary burst of relief as the man in front of her shifted and pointed his weapon at Heavener. But the moment was short-lived. Two shots rang out, one hammer blow on top of another, and the plainclothes policeman flew backward into the door behind him.

  Instant pandemonium spread throughout the convention center. Andy’s earlier gunfire might have been mistaken for gameplay, but the man smashing up against the door with blood on his jacket was too real. Gamers screamed and tried to get away, knocking each other down in their haste.

  Knowing that she’d be the next target if she stopped to help the policeman, Maj shouldered her way through the door, smashing through, hitting the floor and rolling. She caught herself against the far wall of the hallway, feeling the vibration of bullets smacking the tiles to pieces only inches from her.

  “Over here!”

  Instinctively Maj crawled toward the voice, recognizing it as Roarke’s only a second later. The Net Force agent stood in a Weaver’s stance, his pistol resting lightly in both hands.

  Heavener burst through the door first, dropping into a flat slide on her stomach across the tiled floor. Her pistol spat flame as Roarke’s first shot split the air above her head. The agent’s next two rounds caught both men who hurtled through the door after Heavener, punching into them.

  As Maj got to her feet and ran past Roarke, she saw the agent stumble backward, blood spraying from his left shoulder. Even as he went down, Roarke fired again. Then he was hit once more, sprawling backward.

  Horrified, Maj ran on, knowing the Net Force team in the area had to be closing in. The rapid slap of shoes against the tile floor came up behind her. Then an arm went around her waist and a shoulder hit her back. Off-balance, she went down hard, Heavener on top of her.

  “You’re dead, Latke!”

  Heavener’s promise rang in Gaspar’s ears as he stared at the screen showing the hallway where the woman had captured Maj Green. Heavener grabbed a handful of Maj’s hair and held her pistol to the girl’s head.

  “Get up,” Heavener ordered, yanking Maj to her feet. “You’re my ticket out of here.”

  Gaspar logged off the Net. There was no doubt that Heavener had commed instructions to the men where he was being held to kill him. He pushed his way out of the implant chair, his heart thudding in his chest. Weakly, exhausted by lack of sleep and stress, he staggered for the door. He twisted the knob, but it was locked.

  Then the knob turned in his hand. He stepped back, hoping.

  When the door opened, it revealed one of the hard-faced men he’d seen with Heavener. The man raised the pistol in his hand without a word.

  Gaspar closed his eyes when he heard the shot ring out, waiting to feel the bullet smash through his chest. But he didn’t feel anything. Maybe that’s how it feels. He was surprised when he opened his eyes.

  The man in front of him fell, revealing a black-clad warrior with an MP5. “Net Force agent,” the man said. “Down on the floor. On your face. Move it.”

  Gaspar dropped instantly, grateful for the feel of the plastic cuffs pulling tight around his wrists. Bursts of gunfire echoed in other parts of the building. There weren’t any prolonged gun-fights.

  “If you’re who I think you are,” the Net Force agent promised, “we’ll get you out of here.”

  “I know,” Gaspar said, tears running down his face. “I know.” But he felt guilty as well as relieved. He should have warned Maj.

  Mark sped through the dreadnought’s interior. Defensive programs inside the game engine tried to overload the crashsuit’s parameters as well. He fired a phalanx of rockets ahead, clearing the tunnel of the machine guns and lasers that lined the way.

  He wasn’t sure how much time remained before the game launched.

  In the next instant he was through the shoulder and up into the dreadnought’s neck. The central core of the game engine opened to him. It looked like a huge orange gem, twirling madly, showing him countless reflections of the crashsuit.

  Mark raised his hand and strafed the game engine with every nasty bit of programming at his disposal. Fractures ran through the jewel at once, then it went to pieces in a silent, explosive rush.

  “Game over,” Mark said.

  “Get on your feet,” Heavener ordered.

  Pain shot through Maj’s head as the woman yanked her to her feet by the hair. Black spots danced in front of her eyes.

  “Move.” Heavener shoved her down the hallway, keeping the pistol muzzle buried between Maj’s shoulder blades. She shifted her grip from Maj’s hair to one of her wrists, using the hold to pin her arm behind her back.

  “You’re not going to get out of here,” Maj promised. “Net Force has this hotel surrounded.”

  “They won’t hurt one of their own.” Heavener pushed her from behind, almost at a run.

  A group ahead spread across the hallway, freezing in place.

  “Net Force won’t let you get away,” Maj said.

  “Out of the way!” Heavener ordered. When the group didn’t move fast enough, she pointed the pistol and shot one of the men at the front of the group. The rest of the group fled.

  Before Heavener could place her weapon back between Maj’s shoulder blades, Maj dropped to the floor and swept her leg back, knocking her captor’s legs from under her. Heavener tried to maintain her grip on Maj’s wrist, but Maj twisted her wrist toward Heavener’s thumb as she’d been taught. Her hand came free immediately.

  Heavener tried to bring her pistol to bear.

  Maj kicked out, connecting with the woman’s wrist and sending the pistol flying. She tried to get up, but Heavener backhanded her across the face. As Heavener pushed herself up and toward the fallen pistol, Maj grabbed her ankle and tripped her.

  Heavener came down hard, snarling curses. She kicked her foot free of Maj’s hand, then drove it at Maj’s face. Maj caught the kick on her arm, blocking it to the side. She rolled to her feet as Heavener did, placing herself between the woman and the pistol.

  “You can’t take me,” Heavener said, raising her arms.

  “I don’t have to,” Maj replied. “All I have to do is delay you.”

  Heavener attacked without warning, launching a kick at Maj’s head. Maj ducked, then curled an arm up around the ankle. She halted the foot, but slammed her other hand behind Heavener’s knee, breaking the woman’s stance. Heavener leaped, rolling in the air and bringing her other foot around to smash into Maj’s cheek.

  Pain flared in Maj’s head and she released her hold. Concentrating was difficult, but she focused on finding the pistol as Heavener got to her feet. Maj ran across the hallway, dropping to her knees and sliding on them to reach the pistol. She picked it up and pointed it at Heavener, using both hands and keeping her finger out of the trigger guard the way she’d been taught.

  Heavener’s smile curved as sharply as a shark’s. “Are you really going to use that on me, little girl?” She took a step forward.

  Maj’s hands shook. “D—d—don’t move!” Please don’t move! She couldn’t imagine actually pulling the trigger. But maybe Heavener was the only person who could tell them where Peter Griffen was.

  Heavener’s smile stayed in place. “If you want me to believe that you’ll shoot, you’re going to have to do better than that.” Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. She kept coming.

  Maj watched the woman helplessly.

  “How about this, little girl?” Heavener popped the sleeve of her jacket and a short, wide-bladed knife dropped into her hand. “Think this can inspire you?” Light twinkled from the hard metal.

  Maj’s finger curled over the trigger. I can’t do it, I can’t do it!

  “You can’t do it, little girl,” Heaven
er said. “You’re just a child playing at spy. And you’re going to die unless you can take my life first.”

  Maj stared through tear-blurred vision as the woman approached. She had no doubt that Heavener would do exactly what she said.

  “Come on, little girl, shoot me.”

  Suddenly a dozen ruby lights lit up across Heavener’s chest.

  “She doesn’t have to,” a cold voice said. “Take another step and we will.”

  Heavener froze, pulling her arms up at her sides.

  Maj glanced over her shoulder, spotting the Net Force team that had taken up positions in the hallway. Captain Winters stood at their side in holoform.

  One of the agents came forward and plucked the pistol from Maj’s hands. Other agents rushed forward, pushing Heavener facedown on the carpet and handcuffing her.

  Maj stood on trembling legs.

  Winters approached her, his face grim and concerned. “Are you all right?”

  “Now,” Maj whispered. “I’m all right now.”

  EPILOGUE

  “Most of the D’Arnot Industries executives were arrested over the weekend,” Captain Winters said. “We’ll sort through who was and wasn’t actually involved, but it won’t be hard with the information we’re getting. Those people are looking to make a deal to avoid serious prison time.”

  Maj nodded. She was in Captain Winters’s office in holoform the following Monday. The other Explorers had chosen her to debrief them once Winters debriefed her. “What about Peter’s game?” She hated thinking that the young designer would lose the world he’d so painstakingly developed.

  “Once we’re sure all the bleed-over programming is corrected in the game, it can be released. Mark Gridley is helping out with that. I don’t think it’ll be more than a month late.”

  “A month is a long time in the gaming industry,” Maj said defensively.

  Winters smiled. “Maybe for most games, but I don’t think the public’s going to forget this one.”

  Maj knew that was true. Public outcry against the game being pulled was tremendous. The Net was full of supporters wanting it to be released. Peter Griffen stood on the threshold of a fortune. “What about Roarke?”

  “It was touch and go,” Winters admitted. “But Jon’s always been one of the tough guys. Another week or two and he’ll be talking about rehab and getting back out into the field. With the recommendation I’m giving him, he’ll probably get there.”

  “He’s a good agent,” Maj said. “Maybe a little Neanderthal.”

  “Yep, but we still need men like him. And Jon Roarke is one of the best.”

  “And Heavener?”

  Winters’s face clouded. “She’s going to get her day in court. It’s going to be a crapshoot to see who actually throws her in prison first.”

  “That leaves Gaspar Latke.”

  “Mr. Latke has proven to be an interesting young man,” Winters admitted. “He’s been involved in a few operations Net Force didn’t quite get to the bottom of. I think his future may hold a few surprises. But I’m guessing he’ll be okay.”

  After the debriefing was finished and her report filed, Maj returned to the airflight taking her back home. Leif’s dad had paid for first-class seats. She glanced around the cabin. Everyone was asleep, except for Andy, who was online gaming. Somewhere.

  Her foilpack buzzed and she answered it, finding Peter Griffen’s smiling face in the vidscreen.

  “Hey,” he said. “I hope I’m not interrupting.”

  “No,” Maj replied, smiling a little herself.

  “I heard I wasn’t the only one who had an interesting weekend,” Peter said.

  Maj shook her head. “No.”

  “Nobody at Net Force wanted to give me your foilpack number,” Peter said. “I had to do a little digging.”

  “It seems you found it.”

  “I’m good at what I do.”

  “So what can I do for you?” Maj asked.

  “I think you’ve done enough,” he replied. “I just wanted to thank you for your part in my rescue. And in Oscar’s.”

  “My pleasure.”

  Peter seemed kind of stuck for words. “Thanks, doesn’t seem like enough. If it’s okay, I’d like to ask you something.”

  “Sure,” Maj said.

  “Net Force shut down the online launch of Realm of the Bright Water, but your friend Mark Gridley has already debugged a copy I have. They want to experiment with the game for a while, make sure that the fully interfacing game engine I designed doesn’t bleed over anymore, but I have access to this one. I though maybe if you weren’t busy—” He hesitated.

  “You’re asking me if I can come out and play?” Maj laughed.

  “Well, I wasn’t going to put it that way,” Peter responded. “But, yeah. I’ve got a whole world out there, Maj. I’m ready to share it with someone. I’ve been waiting for a long time.”

  “Where can I find you?” After Peter gave her the Net coordinates, Maj leaned back in the implant chair. When she opened her eyes again, she stood on a blue-silver cloud overlooking the world. Peter stood in front of her, clad in his beautiful armor.

  “In the game,” Peter said, “you won’t be able to stand on the clouds. Not unless you know the secrets. But I wanted you to be properly impressed.”

  “I am. I’m looking forward to seeing what else your world holds.”

  Peter held out his hand. “Then join me.”

  Maj took the offered hand. In the next minute the cloud swirled beneath them, quickly becoming the plum-colored dragon, Sahfrell, she’d gotten so acquainted with over the weekend. She felt the dragon’s muscles bunch beneath her as it flew through the sky. “I take it clouds don’t usually become dragons, either,” she said. She took her place in the front of a dual saddle.

  “Not unless I want them to,” Peter told her. “What would you like to do?”

  The wind streamed through Maj’s hair, and she stared at all the beauty beneath her. “I just want to see everything I can.”

  “As you wish,” Peter said, and the dragon dived toward the world waiting below.