Skybreach (The Reach #3)

by Mark R. Healy

  “Five,” Lazarus corrected.

  Silvestri glanced down at him. “Is your man Murtas there?”

  “No.”

  “Well, if you see him, I want you to stick with the plan. We take the roof first, and then you can do what you need to do.”

  Lazarus said nothing, calmly linking his fingers in his lap as he allowed Morgan to push him forward. Talia wasn’t sure whether Lazarus had acquiesced to Silvestri’s orders, of if he was merely refusing to voice his dissent. Only time would tell.

  She turned back to the Stormgates. The glowing blue portals were only a few steps away.

  Talia’s heart was suddenly thumping in her chest. The moment of truth had arrived so quickly that now she felt unprepared. She felt sure that they’d forgotten something, that some important detail had slipped past and now lay waiting to ensnare them at the worst possible moment. Were Yun’s algorithms correct? Had the process of manufacturing the chips been carried out correctly? Was Lazarus’ disguise going to hold? Was Holger going to say something stupid that would give them all away?

  All of these questions flashed through her mind in an instant, but there were no answers. And now they were so close to the Stormgates that the tiny hairs on her arms were beginning to stand on end.

  Somehow she found herself reaching the gates first. She couldn’t be sure whether the adrenaline pumping through her veins had made her inadvertently walk faster, or if the others had hesitated and fallen behind, but either way she could now feel the energy field pressing against her face, her arms, her belly, like some ethereal sponge that was slowly enveloping her entire body. The odd sensation altered ever so slightly, and she felt resistance. Her momentum slowed, as if the Stormgate had suddenly decided to spurn her, and she felt for sure that the chip in her pocket had failed her. Then the moment passed and the resistance abruptly fell away. The force seemed to switch to her back, and she felt herself being swept forward, as if she were being carried on a gentle current downstream.

  She was through.

  She looked back to see the others following her lead, tentatively stepping forward, their bodies momentarily smothered in blue light as they crossed the threshold.

  Talia glanced around. There were no alarms, no Redmen running at them.

  They work. The chips work!

  Yun hastened forward, beaming like a kid who had just won first prize at the school science fair. He stood beside Talia and offered her a wink, breathing a huge sigh of relief as he did so.

  “Keep it cool,” Silvestri whispered again, and Yun tried to unsuccessfully wipe the grin from his face. Silvestri waited as the others followed through, then nodded. “All present and accounted for. Let’s move.”

  They began to walk toward the elevator in the Atrium’s central column. Its shining chrome doors were inlaid with an ornate pattern that glinted in the spectral glow of the Stormgates. A foolish thought came unbidden to Talia – that this was the doorway to the heavens – and she was forced to brush it away.

  Stay focussed. This isn’t over yet.

  She glanced to the left, where three Redmen were conferring over something as they watched the newcomers make their way forward. They were dressed in what she could only assume was full combat gear – segmented metal suits that were deep red in colour. To say the Crimson Shield were intimidating in that getup was an understatement. She wondered how on earth Holger and his brawlers were going to overpower them after they reached the roof.

  So intent was she on the three Redmen that she did not notice a fourth standing before them until she’d almost collided with him. She reeled backward in shock, and the others came to a halt beside her. The Redman, a dark-skinned fellow who wore a thin beard, stared at them impassively with his pulse rifle held before him in the rest position.

  “Who the fuck are you?” he said to no one in particular. He spoke through a sleek respirator that had been fitted to his face, but his words were clear. There was no chance for misinterpretation.

  “We’re travellers on our way home,” Silvestri said after the briefest hesitation. “We’re part of the Consortium.”

  The Redman glared at each of them in turn. By the look in his eyes Talia figured he wasn’t going to take any shit.

  “The hell you are,” he said. “I’ve never seen any of you in my life.”

  Silvestri shifted uneasily. This wasn’t part of the plan. The Redmen weren’t supposed to ask questions. With all that had happened in recent days, however, she realised that it wasn’t entirely surprising that they had modified their practices, sharpened their security.

  We should have anticipated this, she thought with dread.

  “We’re running late for our ride,” Silvestri said, stepping forward. “Stand aside–”

  “Get back, shithead,” the Redman growled, moving to block Silvestri’s path. “Do you think I’m stupid?” He glanced down at their luggage. “I know what’s in those cases. You’re carrying.”

  Talia’s mouth was dry. She glanced at the pulse rifle in the Redman’s hands as he brought it up and pointed it at Silvestri.

  “Wait a minute,” Silvestri said, placing his case on the ground. He raised his hand placatingly. “Let’s not–”

  “You have exactly three seconds to explain yourself before I reduce your face to a puddle,” the Redman said.

  “I told you,” Silvestri said, “we’re part of–”

  “One.”

  Holger moved forward. “Stand aside, jackass,” he said. “Your little power trip is real cute and all, but we–”

  “Two.”

  Goddammit, Talia. Say something.

  But what?

  The Redman turned the pulse rifle toward Holger and dialled a knob on its side. Talia thought she could hear it begin to hum. Holger reached into his trench coat.

  “Funny,” Talia said loudly, stepping forward, and the Redman turned his rifle in her direction. “I haven’t seen you on Valen’s security council before.”

  The Redman arched an eyebrow at her. “What?”

  “Administrator Valen,” Talia said coolly, even though her hands were shaking and her nerves so raw that her skin prickled. “You know her, right?”

  “Of course.”

  “You weren’t there at the last security council meeting, were you? At least, I don’t remember seeing you.”

  “What’s this bullshit?” the Redman said.

  Talia glanced around conspiratorially. “You don’t know that we’re operatives, do you?” she said. “Valen’s had us out in the field for the last six months.”

  The Redman looked around the group sceptically. “Operatives?”

  “Yeah, we’ve been investigating the insurgents, feeding back information directly to Valen.”

  The Redman guffawed. “Well you did a nice job, operatives,” he drawled. “They only blew up two consulates this week.”

  “We stopped the first six attacks,” Talia said icily. “But we couldn’t hold them off forever. Valen knew that. We bought her some time, and that’s all she asked of us.” She moved across and placed a hand on Lazarus’ shoulder. “Big Jimmy here was hurt in the last explosion. He needs attention. That was when Valen pulled the plug, decided to bring us home.”

  The Redman’s rifle began to dip as he stared at the cowled form of the man in the wheelchair, and for the first time he looked uncertain.

  “I, uh…”

  “How do you think we got through the Stormgates?” Talia said. “Magic?”

  “No, I–”

  “Administrator Valen wants us home for a full debriefing. Tonight. We have critical data that can save a lot of lives. Are you going to explain to her why we didn’t make it?”

  The Redman hesitated for a moment longer, then stepped aside.

  “Get out of here,” he said with an irritated swipe of his hand, clearly rattled.

  “Thank you,” Talia said with a mocking smile, then stormed past him toward the elevator. The others followed, and moments later they had left
the Redman behind.

  Talia pressed the call button on the elevator and the doors opened immediately. They crammed inside.

  As the doors slid shut, Yun let out a bark of laughter that was part joy and part relief. He clapped his hands.

  “That was insane,” Morgan muttered.

  They all turned to Talia.

  “How the hell did you know Valen has a security council?” Holger said to her.

  “I don’t,” Talia admitted. “In fact, she probably doesn’t have one. I was just hoping that he didn’t know that either.”

  The elevator began to ascend, and Silvestri reached across and gave her a quick embrace, placing a kiss on her forehead for good measure.

  “I don’t know whether to be awestruck, or just plain terrified,” he said. “Where did that come from?”

  Talia shrugged and gave him a smile. “When you spend years hanging around Knile Oberend, you pick up a few things along the way.”

  31

  The elevator doors opened, and Talia stood wide-eyed as the roof came into view for the first time. For a moment, no one moved. They all stood there, taking it in with a kind of awed reverence.

  This was as far as the Reach went, the place where the massive tower of steel, alloy and concrete ended.

  It was also where the next part of their journey would begin.

  A narrow pathway led away from them, then opened out into a larger space beyond, upon which were arranged a cluster of blocky, outdated-looking machines with display terminals embedded within. Further afield was a large, segmented assembly of black and grey metal containers, above which stretched the Wire itself, a seemingly infinite thread that tapered into nothingness as it stretched into the evening sky.

  After the initial rush of adrenaline, Talia couldn’t help but feel a little underwhelmed.

  She’d expected the summit of the Reach to be another visual feast, just as the Atrium had been. A thing of wonder, something to fire the imagination. After all, it was the gateway to other worlds, wasn’t it? The place where Heaven kissed against the Earth, the first step on the pathway to a better life.

  And yet, the longer she looked upon it, the more that feeling of wonder and awe waned. The roof did not inspire any sense of grandeur within her. It was far too utilitarian, too functional. The technology here did not seem cutting edge, as she’d imagined it might be. In fact, it seemed altogether outdated, and that did not inspire her with confidence.

  “The railcar isn’t here,” she said, stepping through the doors and onto the foot of the path, Silvestri at her side.

  “It is here,” he corrected.

  “Where?”

  He nodded surreptitiously. “That ungainly-looking contraption at the foot of the Wire.”

  Talia stared, appalled. “That thing? Are you serious?”

  “Quiet!” Yun said, pressing his earpiece tighter against his head. “Iris and the rest of Team Omega are at the final elevator exchange.” He turned to Aksel. “They need Elevator Three unlocked.”

  Aksel punched something into his holophone, and after a few moments he placed it back in his pocket.

  “Done.”

  “Okay, Iris,” Yun said through his comms mic. “You’re clear. Yeah, talk to you again in a few minutes.”

  “Let’s get out of here,” Holger suggested, donning his respirator and starting along the path. “We look like idiots standing around here.”

  They followed his lead, placing the respirators they had brought with them on their faces and moving along the pathway toward the Wire. The Redmen were here, and Talia counted seven of them standing stoically on the platform ahead of them – two more than they’d anticipated. As with the changes in the Atrium, this shouldn’t have been a surprise – the Redmen were bound to reinforce security here on the roof in light of recent events – but Talia was still somewhat disconcerted by the change.

  Their task seemed to be getting more and more difficult with each passing second.

  She glanced at Silvestri, but he remained stony-faced, his attention not wavering from the path before them even for a second.

  There was a sharp shrieking sound from the wheelchair beside her, and Talia looked down to see Lazarus’ hands gripping tightly at the armrests. Although she couldn’t see his face through the bandages, she could see the tension in his body. He looked as though he were about to stand up.

  “Hey,” she hissed, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Sit down.”

  Lazarus seemed to be looking intently at something. “Murtas is here.”

  Talia glanced at the row of Redmen before them, but she had no idea which one Lazarus might be indicating. They stood in a line at the edge of the platform, clad in metal suits and unmoved by the wind. To the uneducated, they seemed indistinguishable from one another.

  “Sit tight and wait,” Talia said. “You get up now and they’ll blow you to pieces – and the rest of us.”

  Lazarus shrugged her hand away and sat, stiff as a board, as Morgan wheeled him forward. Talia expected to be confronted and challenged again by the Redmen, much as they had been in the Atrium, but as they neared, it became apparent that this would not happen. The Redmen stood at attention, their backs stiff and their expressions unreadable behind their full face gas masks. Silvestri passed through first, then Holger, and the Redmen did not so much as glance at them. Talia and the others followed, and then suddenly they were through.

  One step closer, she thought.

  With the railcar much nearer, Talia could make out more details. Black cables snaked between many of the oddly-shaped compartments, and there was steam billowing from one end of the vehicle, accompanied by a faint hissing sound. There were a number of compartments containing transparent egg-shaped bubbles, while others had thick antennae protruding from their edges. None of these embellishments made much sense to Talia, but that wasn’t a huge concern. There were other people in Skybreach who understood how the thing worked, and that was all that mattered.

  Two men in white coats were fussing around the machines that extended above the platform, turning dials and checking readouts and conferring over their findings. Caught up in their work, they were initially unaware of the newcomers in their midst. After a few moments, Silvestri noisily cleared his throat and the closest technician finally looked their way.

  The technician scowled angrily. “What the hell?” He was a plump man with heavy jowls and greying hair, and the way he stared at them over his respirator made Talia think of an overzealous guard dog wearing a muzzle. She glanced back at the Redmen apprehensively, but none of them had reacted to the technician’s outburst.

  “Is there a problem?” Silvestri said calmly as the technician strode over toward them.

  “You’re early,” he snapped glancing around accusingly at the new arrivals. He checked his wristwatch. “Like, an hour early.”

  “My apologies,” Silvestri said. “We must have screwed up the times.”

  The technician seemed to think of something. He turned to glare at his colleague who was still working on the terminal nearby.

  “Harald, you did it again!” he barked.

  Harald looked up from his work, startled. “Mr. Keller?”

  Keller extended a hand toward Silvestri and the others. “You opened the access too early, just like last Thursday. Now we’re going to have twenty passengers standing around cluttering up the place all afternoon.”

  Harald shook his head vehemently. “No way, Mr. Keller.”

  “Fifteen minutes till launch, isn’t that what I told you? No one comes through the Stormgates earlier than that.”

  “I didn’t do it, Mr. Keller. Honest!”

  “Then how the heck do we have these people here early, Harald?”

  “Here,” Harald said, pointing at a terminal screen before him. “Check for yourself.”

  Keller waddled furiously toward the screen and pushed the other man aside as he reached it, then began to read. He tapped a button several times, scrolling through the in
formation, and as he did, his expression began to change from outrage to confusion.

  “We need to cut the comms,” Yun said surreptitiously. “And we need to do it now.”

  “The EMP?” Silvestri said.

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you know where to plant it?”

  “I do,” Yun said, “but unless these techs leave, they’re going to catch me in the act.”

  “We’ll distract them,” Talia suggested.

  Yun nodded, handing his holophone and his earpiece to Silvestri. “Just remember to stay back. The EMP is localised, but if you get too close it will fry your phone or any other electronics you have on you.”

  “Got it,” Silvestri said.

  Keller had taken a step back from the machine and was now conferring quietly with Harald. As Silvestri approached, the technicians turned to face him.

  “We’ve uh… we’ve got some weird shit going on here,” Keller said. “Something’s not right. Hang tight there while we make some calls.”

  “Is it all right if we go and take our places on the railcar while we wait?” Silvestri said, walking past them. “It’s been a long day.”

  “No, it’s not all right,” Keller said crossly, but Silvestri did not slow down. “Hey! Come back here! We still have to scan your luggage, for a start.”

  Talia followed after Silvestri, trying her best to appear like a giddy and excitable traveller who was having trouble containing her enthusiasm.

  “Can’t we at least have a look around?” she gushed. “You said yourself that we have an hour to kill.”

  “Hey, this isn’t a kids’ playground, lady,” Keller said, reaching out and grabbing her by the arm. “This is serious hardware we’re dealing with.”

  Talia glanced quickly over her shoulder and saw Yun skulking around behind the terminals, a perplexed look on his face.

  Plant the damn thing, Yun, she thought. We don’t have much time.

  Beyond the technician, the Redmen had broken from their formation and now stood in a tight circle, as if conferring over something.