by Bob Blink
The sharp crack that marked John's shot set things in motion as planned. Luke Morales had shown a bit too much of himself after more than three hours in his hide, and John had made him pay for his mistake. Sammi watched as the gunman slumped back, the rifle falling hard on the concrete rooftop next to him.
Down at ground level, both teams were in motion. To the north, Lee and Burke were in the lead, with J-Bot almost ten feet behind them, but no one had a shot and they closed on the building, hugging as close to the dark concrete as they made for the rear end. They could hear other shooting as the defenders fired at something, perhaps just the flashes from John Morrison's shooting.
To the south, Rodriguez was in the lead, with Harper and Don coming up behind. First wasn't best in this case, as Mark Savage, probably Walker's best shot had come alert at John's shot, and was searching for a target. He spotted the three rapidly moving Cyborgs, and chanced a longer lead than he would have normally allowed, and fired a carefully aimed shot, and then knowing he wouldn't have time for another carefully aimed shot, fired four more in rapid succession. One of the five shots hit something solid, and he watched with satisfaction as his target slowed quickly, stumbled, and dropped to the ground.
"Rodriguez is down," Harper reported across the Cyborg net. He couldn't stop to check on the other's status for fear of being hit himself. He'd have to hope the hit simply immobilized the cop, and they would be able to help him afterwards. He checked quickly behind him and saw that Don Russell was on his heels.
John cursed when he saw the second sniper cut loose with his shots. He'd been too focused on Morales, and hadn't been able to shift to the second target fast enough. He tried to get a bead on the man, but some instinct had warned Savage that he would be a target, and he'd pulled back and was behind a solid pillar that protected him from John.
"He's there," Sammi said, but he's playing it safe for the moment. Damn it," she cursed, realizing that as their attention had been on Savage, someone had run out from the back-side of the roof, and had grabbed the rifle Luke had dropped. That person was running for safety when his movement had caught her peripheral vision. Quickly she shifted her point of aim, and sent a series of shots after him, all poorly aimed because the runner was almost to safety. She watched as the man stumbled, and she knew at least one had connected, but not solidly enough as he was able to make it inside the door he'd been trying for. She thought he stumbled and fell as he passed through the entrance, but she couldn't be certain. She couldn't afford to watch any longer, for John's rifle fired behind her, and moments later a shot struck the concrete wall just a half foot away. John and Savage had exchanged shots, but neither had struck their target.
Harper and Don made it to the rear of the building unscathed, and now checked the twenty-foot gap that separated the two buildings. On the second level there was a ramp connection that joined the two buildings, but Harper guessed correctly that it would be too exposed to the gunfire from those on the second level of the main building.
"Twenty feet more," he said to Don. "Use the ramp to provide a bit of a shield against those on the upper level who might be watching."
Eyeing the door they needed to get through, Harper prepared himself, then with the maximum speed he could draw from the Cyborg body, flashed across the short gap and safely passed the edge of the building so he was protected from any gun fire. No one had shot at him, but Don wasn't as lucky. A couple of pistol shots followed him across the short gap, one striking Don in the back of the leg before he could reach the security of the structure.
"Are you alright?" Harper asked.
Don checked the leg.
"Something is in the mechanism, but it still works," he replied.
Harper nodded.
"Let's go," he urged, and together they plunged through the door into the building.
On the opposite side of the building, the team of Lee, Burke, and J-Bot had made it to their door uncontested. They entered the building just ahead of the one-man short team of Harper and Don.
"Upper level," Lee transmitted over their Cyborg channel. It was very useful to be able to communicate without making sounds others could pick up. They had already learned that Rodriguez was down, condition unknown, but looking grim.
Sammi heard the footsteps coming up behind them.
Not again, she cursed. This was just like back in the Sim. There was no way she was going to let John get shot again. Turning, she crawled away from the edge of the roof, and then rolled over to face where the attacker would have to appear. The first one through the door received two high power rounds through the chest for his lack of stealth. Sammi had to sit up to get a shot at the second attacker, who was carrying a rifle and therefore a real threat. Her shot was true, and the man stumbled and crashed to the ground, dead before he hit the concrete. John was safe, she thought, pleased with herself.
Unfortunately, her shift in position had exposed her to Mark Savage, who had been watching through a slit on the roof. His well-placed shot caught Sammi in the upper back, the bullet passing into the brain case of her Cyborg, causing an almost instantaneous shutdown of her functions. She momentarily felt as if her awareness was becoming less detailed as the mental function deserted her as various parts of the electronic brain memory failed in rapid sequence. Then all went dark. She didn't hear the shot John fired that took out Mark Savage. She was already gone before he pulled the trigger.
John heard her fall.
"Sammi, no!" he bellowed.
Setting his rifle down he hurried over by her side. For a moment he didn't know how to check, then he recalled what Sam had showed him about the chest status plate. He pushed aside the protective cover to discover what he feared.
System failure, the display read. He knew enough to know it meant Sammi was gone.
"Bastards!" he cursed.
He picked up Sammi's rifle and the one from the second of the attackers she had killed. It was similar to theirs, but not exactly identical. Then he crawled back over to his own rifle, carrying the three weapons with him. There was going to be some serious killing now. Within three minutes he had taken out two more of the defenders who had been foolish enough to allow themselves to be seen through the windows of the opposite building.
The defender's had apparently momentarily lost track of the attacking Cyborgs, allowing Don and Harper to reach the second level before anyone realized they were so close. Harper was ready, and was able to shoot Steve Miller before Walker's man could react to his presence. A series of pistol shots peppered them as they pulled back behind a wall, considering how to deal with the numerous defenders. Harper was focused on the rifle that lay beside Miller's body. He needed to reach that and disable it before they left the scene or someone managed to get their hands on it.
At the other end of the building, Lee, Burke, and J-Bot were having trouble making it up the stairs. Their flight toward the back structure had been noted, and several gun men were waiting to engage them, and now shots were being fired their way every time one of them so much as showed themselves.
"Walker's probably upstairs," Lee pointed out. "We've got to get up there."
They could hear the infrequent sound of John Morrison's shots from across the way, and guessed he was engaged with one of the snipers on the upper level.
"We were told that the handguns can't stop us," Burke said. "Let's find out. I'll charge through this group. You and J-Bot follow after me. The whole reason we were installed in these machine bodies was to get Walker. Our real selves are out there safe, right?"
Burke didn't voice what the others knew. They already saw themselves as independent entities, twin brothers or sisters to their alternate selves. Bravely, before anyone could speak, Burke charged out, killing the first attacker who attempted to shoot him with one of the handguns. Charging up the stairs, shooting any target foolish enough to present itself, Burke was peppered with multiple handgun rounds. Fortunately there was no sense of pain, but his sensors were informing him of multiple hits.
Then the defenders got smart. Two of them focused their shots on his visual sensors. Multiple rounds struck his 'eyes' in a matter of seconds and suddenly all visual imput was shut down.
"I'm blind," he warned Lee and J-Bot as he stumbled onto the upper level. Tom, one of Walker's recent additions, waited with one of Walker's five rifles, and quickly shot the vision impaired Burke twice in the torso. One of the shots struck something critical in the power supply, short-circuiting the unit, and Burke shutdown nearly instantly.
Lee had been coming up the stairs immediately behind the mortally wounded Cyborg, and before his teammate had hit the ground, Lee had dispatched the shooter. He grabbed the rifle and used his Cyborg strength to wrench the action making it unusable.
"Burke's down," J-Bot alerted the others to their loss.
"Walker and Kurt Gunner remain to be located," Lee summarized the situation for all. "We have eyes on four of the five long guns we believe they controlled. One unaccounted for, almost certainly with our missing pair. Don and J-Bot will secure the stairs, keeping anyone from leaving the floor, while Harper and I move through the floor searching them out. They are the primary targets we need to engage, Walker in particular. This can't end until we control him."
Moving carefully and systematically, Harper and Lee moved down the hall, coming from opposite directions and clearing each room before moving on. Several times each encountered handgun fire, which they quickly subdued. Two of the defenders surrendered, throwing down their ineffective handguns and raising their hands to show they were no longer a threat. They were sent out to be watched by J-Bot, while the search continued. In the last room on that level, they found Carl, hiding in the back, unarmed.
"I've had enough," he whined. "I surrender. I didn't think it would be like this."
"Where's Walker?" Lee asked, realizing their primary target had somehow eluded them.
He and Gunner left a while ago," Carl replied.
"How could they get out? We have the buildings under watch," Harper said.
"There's a connection between this building and the one across the way. Down in the basement. Nothing formal, but an old section of a cave someone discovered a long time ago. It's not on any of the drawings for the complex, which is why Walker liked this place. They had Walker's car parked there. They left when they realized you had found us here."
Harper realized that must be how the shooters had managed to sneak up on John and Sammi.
"So the cowards ran away," Lee said. "Where did they go?" he asked, frustrated this hadn't ended yet.
"They didn't run away," Carl corrected. "They have the car loaded with explosives. They went to blow up the Ring."
Chapter 59
Sequoia Facility
"Walker is apparently planning on blowing up the power to the Chicago and Los Angeles nodes," Lee reported. "They left some time ago using the electric vehicle which we have been informed was loaded with explosives the night before." Lee was speaking to Raobot via the secure net, and Raobot was using his built in speaker Public Address system to play it so the others in the bunker could listen in. The Cyborgs also had the capability of holding a conversation over the net with no audible sound being heard by those around them when they wished.
"Where would they get the necessary explosives?" Jessica asked.
"Apparently someone around here is the source of their weapons, and also whatever kind of explosive they ran off with. That's something we'll have to follow up with later. For now, John and Harper are on their way to the Chicago site, and J-Bot is heading toward the LA site. We need Greg and Ray to meet her there. They are closer than the rest of you."
"I can get there as fast as they can," Raobot objected.
"We agreed that all of you should remain in the bunker. It needs to be defended, and Walker may have mislead Carl and the others as to his real intention. He and Kurt could just as well be heading your way for a touch of revenge."
Rao was already on the communicator calling Ray and Greg, and he'd seen Jessica charging out of the door. Despite the directions of Mike Lee, she was on her way to the Los Angeles node. She wanted to be there when Walker got his just dues. Meanwhile, Lee was bringing Raobot and the others up to date, explaining their losses and the prisoners they had taken.
Don and I were both damaged by gunfire," Lee explained. "Neither of us is in any danger, but both of us are limited on how quickly we can move. Don is in better shape than I, but it seemed better for the two of us to deal with the situation here while those still fully functional and able to move at full speed head toward the Ring."
"Hold on," Raobot interrupted as Rao stepped in with his communicator in his hand.
"I got Ray and Greg. Both are on their way to the LA node. I think Jessica is headed there as well, so you should alert J-Bot she will have a number of friendlies there when she arrives."
Greg had been closest to the node and was the first to arrive. He was in the process of trying to make a stealthy approach. Unfortunately the land out here was far too open, and there was far too little to hide behind, unless one got close to the Reactor or Node building, and then there was a lot of cabling and support structure that could conceal one's presence. His potential enemy had all the advantages. Greg couldn't see any sign of the vehicle, nor of any people. Perhaps they hadn't gotten here yet, or the indicated destination was wrong. If so, maybe he could be in position to surprise them when they arrived.
Each node was powered by a pair of independent reactors clearly labeled "A" and "B". Greg had checked as he left the Command Center, and every one of the nodes was on the "A" reactor except for Miami, which had been switched over to the "B" unit just over four hundred years ago when the primary was acting strange. After repairs, it had never been switched back. If something was planned, then the operational reactor would be the likely candidate, and Greg had been mostly focusing on the area of that unit as he tried to approach without being seen.
Then he saw Jessica coming from the direction of the bunker. He also saw movement near the "B" reactor. It had been her that was spotted, not him. He could see now that it wasn't Walker, so it must be the other one, Gunner. The man was standing in a shadow and taking aim at the unsuspecting woman as she ran at full speed toward the node.
"Jessica," he yelled as loud as he could. He had no choice but to warn her, even if it would alert the man to his presence.
The shot that hit him came as a complete surprise. As the bullet spun him around, causing him to fall clumsily to the ground, Greg realized that Gunner had pivoted quickly at his shout, and fired a snap offhand shot. He must be one hell of a rifleman. Greg knew he'd screwed up. He should have coordinated with Ray, and they could have made the approach together. An experienced cop who was used to this business, he wasn't. Greg tried to reach for the rifle that had spun out of his hands as the bullet struck, but while his fingers could reach the stock, he couldn't seem to apply any strength to move the heavy piece of metal and plastic. His vision was growing dark as he glanced up to see if his adversary was targeting him for another shot, or whether he was now trying to take out Jessica as well.
He was surprised to see Jessica had shifted her approach, and used the diversion to come at Gunner from the side. Before the shooter could react, she fired nearly point blank into his body, knocking him back, causing him to lose the rifle that had been used so effectively moments before. That was all Greg saw before he passed out.
Jessica pumped another round in the chamber of the combat shotgun, and approached the man she had just shot.
"Crap!" she mumbled. It wasn't Walker. This must be Kurt Gunner.
Moving so her back was protected and no one could sneak up on her, she watched the man she had shot. He was still alive. She could see him breathing.
"Any moves, and I'll shoot you again," she warned.
"That's not necessary," a tense voice replied. "I think the one shot will do the intended job. At the rate I'm bleeding, I won't last much longer."
&nb
sp; It was true that there was a lot of blood, but Jessica wasn't certain that he was being truthful, and kept the shotgun ready. While she watched him, she heard a noise and was startled to see her Cyborg counterpart approaching.
"Did you find the explosives?" she asked, then added, "Greg's dead."
"I haven't looked for them," she replied. "I just got here a moment ago and saw him shoot Greg."
"What about Walker?" J-Bot asked.
"I hoped this was him, but I think this is Gunner. I haven't seen anyone else."
"Walker's gone," Gunner managed to get out.
"Gone where?" J-Bot demanded.
"We set the charges at the Chicago node, and he dropped me here to do the same at this one. You'll be pleased to know I had just gotten started, and haven't hooked them up yet. Then he took off for the exit tunnel."
"The exit? To the surface?" Jessica asked.
"Yeah," Gunner groaned.
"Why is he going there?"
"I'd guess he wants to die his own way. Said he wanted to see the surface once again. Wanted to see the real world before he goes. I'm guessing he's going through the airlocks to spend his last minutes out there somewhere. You've won. You ruined everything."
J-Bot had been looking around while the dying Gunner talked.
"I don't see any explosives here," she said.
"Other reactor," Gunner said, clearly fading.
"Why only one? That won't do anything but cause a switch over."
"Wrong. Zack mucked with the code. If any power unit fails the code now calls a shutdown of all power sources to that node, not a switchover."
"Watch him," J-Bot directed.
She ran over to the other reactor and verified that Gunner was being truthful. Two large satchels of explosive were laid out, but nothing appeared to have been connected to the power output lines. Just in case she grabbed the satchels and tossed them far away from the buildings where they could cause any damage.