Exodus

by Farrell, Lisa

  One of the megastar’s pop songs played as Randi emerged with the same bulky collar around her neck as the canine clone that lay at her feet. “Just take me,” the megaceleb’s prerecorded voice shrilled over the crowd. She was wearing a short white dress and someone had cleaned her up, removed any traces of wear or fatigue. She looked ready for a performance. In contrast, the snout of the Hachi-Inu was muzzled, its clawed hands bound tightly. It looked drugged, eyes open but breathing slowly. Express was no expert, but it had to be defective for Maria to get hold of it, and he feared for Randi’s safety if the drugs wore off.

  “It’s not too late…”

  Randi smiled dazzlingly at the cheering crowd, and Express wasn’t sure it really was her, after all. She had no reason to smile, unless it was her conditioning taking over. Maria moved to stand beside her, put her hands on Randi’s shoulders, scarlet nails bright against her skin. Express watched red nails and metal wires pinching as the woman talked, but Randi betrayed no discomfort.

  “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Maria said, the song fading out as she spoke. “But you’ll need to be careful with her if you win. Bid at your own risk!”

  Express sprinted back to the nearest terminal as bidders scrambled onto the podiums.

  “Big risk, big reward!” Maria shouted over the noise, and the words brought Express to a stop. A man barged past him and leapt up to bid.

  Big risk, big reward. It was something Li11ith had said to him the last time he saw her, and numerous times before that. He had thought it was her mantra for him, but it must have been just something she said, part of her spiel.

  It couldn’t be a coincidence. Maybe Maria had recognized him, and was taunting him. He looked back at the stage, and Randi caught his eye.

  It was her. It didn’t matter about Li11ith or Maria or Jinteki or any of the bidders in his way. When someone dropped out, he would take that person’s place. He would win her with phantom creds that would disappear from Maria’s account before she’d had a chance to spend them.

  Express stood motionless and listened to the bidding, but they were bidding for the canine clone first. He had time. He had only to wait. He watched Randi, but she did not look at him again. It might have drawn unwanted attention, he supposed. Maria stayed near her, a grin on her face, fingering her choker as though it was as uncomfortable as the clone collars.

  Then Maria’s expression changed; the grin disappeared. She hurried off the stage and grabbed the secguard Express had noticed earlier, sending him off on some errand. She remained near the stage, glancing nervously about. Express repositioned himself so she wouldn’t see him if she looked his way.

  The Hachi-Inu sold, and the winner stepped down from the nearest terminal, other buyers patting him on the back. Express elbowed his way forward and leapt up to take his place. He was exposed now, in danger if it was him Maria was worried about, but he had made his choice.

  Express had been right about the terminal: it was part of a closed system. He put his ticket and credstick in the appropriate slots to verify his bids, and a holodial appeared for him to select and confirm amounts. He was the first bidder. No one cheered him on; the crowd preferred bidders who appeared in person. From his new vantage, he counted four exits, and then his eyes met Randi’s again. Her gaze lingered briefly before she lowered her eyes.

  Someone screamed.

  “Policía! Alto ahí!”

  “Get down!”

  More screams rose from the crowd, and some tried to run while others dropped to the floor. Shots fired at the ceiling disappeared into the swirling display. Express jumped from the terminal toward the stage, making for Randi, pushing aside panicking risties and dodging Maria’s goons as they drew their weapons. Randi stood, swaying slightly, like she’d been shot. She dropped to her knees and reached for him, the collar keeping her on the stage. There was no blood. He reached for her hands as more shots rang out, and someone grabbed him by the shirt.

  “I’m confiscating you,” the cop said at his ear. Express twisted in his grasp, trying to break free, then stopped struggling as cold metal pressed against the small of his back.

  “I thought you were dead,” Express shouted over the chaos, turning his head to catch a glimpse of the cop’s face in his lenses. It must have been close; the man’s sunken eyes were bloodshot and his skin had a greyish tinge.

  “Get down!” the detective commanded as he crouched with Express beside the stage and a spray of bullets exploded above them.

  “Randi!” Express jerked away and managed to raise his head above the edge of the stage before the detective pulled him back down. Randi was lying face down, but he had seen no blood.

  “Let me get her down off the stage,” Express begged, “or she’ll die up there.”

  The cop shot the bouncer once with his pistol, and the big man fell from the terminal he’d perched on, landing with his FM44 underneath him. A man with a shotgun took aim but was taken out by a green-uniformed cop as he ran.

  “Detective Tomson!” the local cop shouted. “One of ours alerted them when we arrived!”

  “Where’s my partner?”

  The man opened his mouth to answer as he reached them, but his body jerked with an impact to his back, and he fell forward. A woman tripped over him, screamed, and fell beside him, blood blossoming over her pink uniform jacket. Bruce spotted a man with a shotgun standing behind a terminal even as Express pointed him out, and took him out with a single shot.

  “Look around you,” Express said. “It’s not me you want.”

  Bruce said nothing; he had his hand at his ear, gun pointing up in the air, trying to hear something over the echoing shots and screams and general chaos.

  Express tried to rise, but the cop wouldn’t release his grip.

  “You can get her collar off?” Bruce asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Then I’ll let you up, if you free the dog first.”

  “What?”

  “Trust me. They obey cops, and I could use its help.”

  Express didn’t argue. The cop released him, and he clambered up onto the stage. Randi had her hands over her head and was shaking.

  “Hold on,” he said. The Hachi-Inu was sitting up beside her, round blue eyes open, the drugs wearing off. Express hoped the cop knew what he was doing. He connected his PAD to its collar. He might not have Net access, but he had a few programs he could transfer that would have to be enough.

  Express tried to ignore the firefight as he worked, the reverberating noise threatening to deafen him. He ducked as a bullet whizzed over his head, and the collar finally unlocked. He twisted it open with a crunch and tossed it aside. The bindings around the canine’s clawed, humanlike hands were just awkward, tightly knotted. He began to work them loose. The clone’s fur was fuzzy and stiff, rubbing the skin of his fingers quickly raw.

  “Here, I’ve got it,” the cop said, joining him. He took a knife to the cords, and Express left him as Bruce started on the muzzle.

  Randi’s collar was already unlocked; Express’s program had disabled all those on the same system, and he had it off in seconds. It gave the other clones a chance, but they would have to take it themselves. He pulled Randi from the stage and she surprised him by grabbing a pistol from the hands of the nearest corpse.

  “Let’s get out of here,” she said.

  She was right; they had to move. The crowd was in turmoil around them, but someone had opened one of the doors and people were running for the exit, thinning the mass of bodies. Express took Randi’s free hand.

  “Keep close,” he said.

  He dragged her by the hand and forced himself through the crowd. They would be safer in the middle. The auction’s guests were moving in one mass now, scrambling for escape as the Tulpiales cops and Maria’s goons killed each other, stepping over the bodies on the floor.

  Their progress was too slow, and Express couldn’t see the exit for the people. He looked over his shoulder, to see if there was another way out
. He saw Maria at the back of the crowd, smiling at him, a pistol in her hand. He pulled Randi down and the shot hit someone else he couldn’t see because of the screaming, the frantic pushing. Some people broke from the mass and ran back into the room.

  Express pulled Randi on toward the exit, and it appeared, an open doorway. Maria’s secguard stood pressed to the wall beside it, holding a pistol up, as though protecting Maria’s customers as they passed through. He lowered his pistol toward Express, the crowd parting as he moved toward them, people backing away from the gun. Express tried to hold Randi back as she raised her weapon.

  He heard Randi gasp as Maria appeared and wrapped her hands tightly around Randi’s throat, the metal wires of her glove digging into the clone’s flesh. Randi dropped the pistol and Maria kicked it away into the crowd.

  “Funny, I didn’t think you were on the guest list,” Maria sneered, pulling Randi away.

  “Don’t try anything,” the secguard said, driving Express back toward the stage with the gun pressed to the side of his head. Express moved slowly, looking for an opening, aware of Randi’s eyes on him as her hands grasped at Maria’s in vain.

  “How does it feel?” he heard Maria taunt Randi. “You marked me with that shoelace. Do you think you’re so valuable you won’t die for that?”

  Express stopped, hearing the hatred in Maria’s tone, afraid she might mean it.

  “Move it, or I’ll shoot,” said the secguard beside him.

  He stood still. His eyes were on Randi. Maria grinned with malice as Randi gasped for air, her eyes on him, wide, desperate. He tensed, ready to run.

  “Bad choice,” warned the secguard.

  A Synap shrieked, and the secguard shook, misfiring up over Express’s head as his body jerked, caught in the flickering blue energy. It engulfed him for a moment before flickering out. His body fell heavily to the floor, revealing Detective Nisei standing behind him. Maria let go of Randi to pull her gun on the detective, but Express had been waiting for his chance. He transferred a program he’d readied for her and watched as her metallic glove overloaded, burning her hand and sending a surge of energy through her body. The smell of cooked meat filled the air. Randi backed away as Maria screamed and convulsed, lost her footing, and fell, gagging on her tongue.

  “I cannot let you leave,” the detective said, pointing her pistol at Express.

  A piercing, inhuman screech made them pause.

  “Caprice!” Randi shouted, pointing. Caprice ran to Bruce. Her partner was on the ground, wrestling with the Hachi-Inu as the frenzied creature clawed at his face. Express knew the Synap pistol wouldn’t do them much good. He bent down, pulled the secguard’s gun from his twitching hand, and fired at the canine clone twice. No hesitation.

  The cop threw the dog aside, and Express didn’t wait for the detectives to give him permission. He saw the exit was finally clear, grabbed Randi’s hand, and ran.

  Chapter 11

  Bruce’s wounded face was already looking better when they reached the local police station, thanks to a quick injection, and he was smiling. He had asked Caprice not to tell the commissioner about his miscalculation with the Hachi-Inu, but she’d pointed out the mistake hurt no one but him. Besides, the presence of their prisoner soothed his hurt pride. Maria Webb was half conscious, mumbling to herself in the back of the hopper. Caprice had ensured that Webb received emergency medical treatment when the backup arrived, but the detective wasn’t willing to let the woman out of her sight. Webb was working for someone, and Caprice wanted to know whom, but until the woman regained her senses it was going to be nearly impossible to find out.

  “Are you sure you are up to this?” Caprice asked her partner as the hopper landed.

  “Wouldn’t want to miss it,” he said. “I know I made a bit of a mess of things in there, Caprice, but we did good in the end.”

  “The Tenma escaped.”

  “In the face of all this, does that really matter? We’ve uncovered something a whole lot bigger than one rogue clone. Besides,” he paused, grinning at her. “Off the record, I’m glad they got away.”

  “You are?” He was telling the truth, she could feel it, but why?

  “Let’s just say, working with you has had me thinking a lot about clones. I’m glad those two have a chance at a happy ending, that’s all.”

  Caprice returned his smile. Someone or something had disabled the collars keeping the clones prisoner, and more than a few had fled the scene by the end. Both detectives had deliberately turned their attention elsewhere. They were more alike than she’d allowed herself to think. Given time, they might become good friends. Or perhaps they already had.

  Behind them, their prisoner groaned.

  “Let’s get her inside,” Bruce said.

  As they stepped from the hopper, Caprice’s PAD vibrated.

  “It’s Jinteki,” she said.

  “I got this,” Bruce smirked, pulling Webb from the hopper with his bandaged hands. “I promise not to take all the credit.”

  Caprice sat back in the hopper to make the connection. Toshiyuki would not be pleased she had disobeyed him, and she would have to be careful not to provoke him further.

  “Senior Director,” she said. “How can I help you?”

  “You found the Tenma, Caprice?”

  She paused. She was used to Toshiyuki knowing her business, but he must have been keeping a close watch on her to respond so quickly. “I tracked him down,” she said.

  “I told you he was no longer a concern.” His voice was carefully neutral, and she wondered if he was playing with her. She expected him to be furious, but if he was, he was hiding it well.

  “My partner was not willing to give up the chase,” she said, “and I felt compelled to accompany him, to protect Jinteki’s interests.”

  “I see.”

  “We followed him to an illegal auction of Jinteki products: discontinued clone lines and defective clones believed to have been recycled. The Tenma escaped, but we have a woman in custody, one Maria Webb, who was working with her cousin Elizabeth Webb.”

  “You followed your instincts, Caprice, and it paid off. This operation you uncovered was unfortunate. I congratulate you for your part in its exposure.”

  There was nothing congratulatory in his tone, and his facial muscles were tight, as they were when he was displeased. She had been sure her decision to accompany Bruce to Tulpiales would have unpleasant consequences.

  “Commissioner Dawn is satisfied with our work,” Caprice said.

  “As is Jinteki,” he said. “What of the stolen property?”

  “I’m afraid we were unable to recover it.”

  “What will you put in your report?”

  “As little as possible,” she promised.

  A shadow moved past the window, and Caprice glanced up.

  “I’m sorry, I have to go,” she said, breaking the connection without waiting for permission.

  Something was wrong. She relaxed her hold on her psi and gasped as fear washed over her, chilling her. She exited the hopper and drew her Synap, trying to hold it steady, but her hands were shaking.

  She glimpsed a dark figure at the end of the street, but it was gone before she took a step. Caprice ran for the station door, saw the blood splattered across the transplas. She opened her psi until the pain was too much and she had to close it down again.

  The door slid open and she forced herself to step through, but she already knew what she would find.

  Maria Webb wouldn’t be answering any of her questions, and Bruce Tomson wouldn’t be able to accompany her back to NA. Caprice sank to her knees.

  Randi watched Express as he watched the Tulpiales police take turns posing on his new Qianju. They had officially commandeered it, but they hadn’t yet figured out how to bypass Express’s security measures and actually get the thing moving. His knuckles were white as he gripped the edge of the carboconcrete wall, his expression furious as he peered over it at the cops.

  Randi knelt b
eside him, wondering if it would be dangerous to suggest they take a different vehicle. She wanted to get out of Tulpiales, wanted to get back on the road. Her PAD was back in her pocket, its weight comforting, her connection to the world restored. Express had seemed so proud to be able to give it back to her, like it mattered more than getting her away from that horrible woman. She hoped the burning glove had really hurt Maria. She hoped the woman’s hand would never heal.

  “When I say run,” Express whispered, interrupting her thoughts, “run for the ramp there. Not the bike, that ramp there, okay?”

  “Got it,” Randi nodded.

  The whine of the electromagnetic engine startled the cops, and they laughed nervously at each other. The one in the seat threw his arms out, thumbs up. Randi watched, poised to run, her fingers tingling with nervous energy. The sensies were lies, really; there was no way of replicating the excitement of a life-or-death struggle. This was real.

  “Run!”

  She ran. The Qianju flew down the ramp, the unwelcome passenger flying from the seat. Express got to it first and leapt on, hoisted her up behind him, and took the controls as it performed a bootleg turn. Randi’s body jerked back but she gripped the bike between her thighs and threw her arms around Express. The cops were still scrambling for their guns as the hopperbike swooped out through the open exit on the level below them. Randi let out a whoop of excitement like she remembered Express doing once.

  “Won’t they chase us?” she shouted as they rose above the town.

  “Let them!” he called back. “They can follow us all the way to Brazil if they want—they’ll never catch us.”

  “What about ChiLo?”

  “You’ll be just as free in Brazil.”

  “Thinking beyond the job,” she said.

  Express turned his head to flash a smile. Behind him, she saw the flow of traffic heading east.