by Jak Koke
That was why his plan was based on speed.
"I'm masking our auras," Lethe said. "And doing my best to make us invisible in the physical as well."
Burnout didn't respond with physical speech, but Lethe seemed to understand his answer. Good.
"When I was here last, she was in her office," Lethe said. "That window, straight ahead. First floor, next to the arboretum."
For the most part, the mansion was a huge red brick structure with a shingled roof, but just ahead, across a short section of groomed lawn, Burnout noticed the elaborate greenhouse. The walls were in style with the rest of the house, but the roof was made of glass or some other clear composite. The glass was held up by the huge limbs of stone trees. Very ornate and beautiful.
And very likely, complex on the inside. A great place for a confrontation.
Burnout scanned left and caught sight of the elf woman, Daviar, through the panes of a tall window straight ahead. It was multi-paned and most likely bullet-proof, but even plexan could be defeated with the right weaponry. Burnout didn't hesitate for a second; he sprang to his feet and launched himself into a full-out run, straight for the window.
In the thirty meters between the hedge and the house, Burnout accelerated to nearly sixty klicks per hour. He pulled the Predators and fired into the window as his legs hurtled the two of them toward the window. And Daviar.
Bullets ricocheted off the glass at first, then they cracked it. Burnout emptied both clips into the clear polymer, forming a nearly perfect circle of cracks. Then he launched himself head first into the house.
The glass exploded in a shower of glittering shards as Burnout burst through and rolled on carpeting, snapped himself up and lunged for a startled Nadja Daviar. She pulled away from him, faster than he expected, nearly reaching the door.
But his ravaged metal body slammed into her, and she crumpled beneath his weight. Alarms sounded throughout the mansion, relentless and annoying. Burnout pushed himself to his feet just as three guards in dark suits and sunglasses rushed through the door.
Burnout lifted the elf, Daviar, holding her in front of him with one large and gruesome hand encircling her neck.
"Back off! Or she dies."
The woman straightened and regained her composure. Remarkably fast. "Please," she said. "Tell us what you want, and I'll make sure you get it."
Burnout allowed himself a smile. "Yes, you will."
"What do you want with me?"
"First, tell these suits to kindly leave the building."
Nadja nodded toward the security team.
"We can't just leave you in here with this thing," said one of the suits.
"You can and you will, Mister," Nadja said, her voice ringing with authority.
The suits retreated, and when they were gone, Burnout turned her toward him. She was the picture of unmarred flesh, so fragile in her unblemished beauty. And he was a tableau of gore-covered metal and bundled Kevlar III fibers.
So very little flesh left, even his outer coating of vatgrown skin had mostly peeled away or rotted off.
Opposites, they stared at each other for a brief moment.
Then Burnout spoke. "There is only one person who can save you, and I suggest you get him here. He must come at once. And he must come alone."
35
Sweat dripped down Ryan's naked chest as he sat in the cold metal chair. As he readied himself for the next few seconds. In the observation mirror, he saw the big troll guard move forward slightly. Ready to pull the trigger.
Ryan tensed his legs and tried to focus. There wasn't any way he could take both the trolls, but he wasn't going to die without taking Knight down with him. He could use his telekinetic thrust to deflect the gun barrel so that the bullets would hit Knight, but timing was going to be crucial.
As the huge man pressed the barrel of the automatic to the side of Ryan's neck, time seemed to slow down. His mind was filled with the image of Dunkelzahn in his natural form. Huge and sinuous, with metallic blue scales. I'm sorry. I've failed you again.
Ryan was just about to make his move when the telecom on the desk came to life.
Knight held up his hand, and the troll stopped, the muzzle of his weapon digging a circular ring just under Ryan's ear. Knight hit the connect and looked at the face on the screen in surprise.
The voice that came over the line was faint, barely audible to Ryan's ears. "Do you have him?"
Knight looked up at Ryan. "It's for you."
Ryan didn't like the look of glee in the old man's eyes.
Knight smiled, and turned the telecom around, and Ryan found himself looking at an extreme close-up of Nadja's face.
Her features filled the entire screen, blocking any clue as to where she was. She looks worried, Ryan thought.
"Hello, dear," said Ryan. "Am I out after my curfew?"
Ryan watched as Nadja shot a glance to her left, then looked back at him. The message was clear, she wasn't alone.
She looks scared.
"Ryan, I need you to come home right now." The panic in her voice sent every muscle in Ryan's body jumping.
He forced himself to be calm. Losing control wouldn't help anyone. With as much nonchalance as he could muster, Ryan looked down at his naked condition, then back up to the screen. "Well, dear, and this might be a tired cliché, but as you can see, I'm a bit tied up right now."
One of the trolls behind Ryan laughed.
Nadja's composure came as close to cracking as Ryan had ever seen. "I'm sorry, Ryan. But it's imperative that you return to the mansion at once."
Knight turned the screen in his direction, "Miss Daviar, how good of you to call. It seems as if you just might have tuned in at a very advantageous time for everyone."
There was something in Knight's tone that bothered Ryan. It was almost as if the man had been expecting her call, as if this was just another step in a very intricate dance.
Ryan couldn't quite hear Nadja's reply, but Knight nodded. "Why, of course I'll send Mister Mercury on his way to you immediately. However, in this world of quid pro quo, I must ask something in return."
Nadja said something, but the only word Ryan could make out was "Bastard."
Knight laughed. "How gracious of you to notice. Still, that's off the subject. What I had in mind has to do with the disposition of your Gavilan stock."
Knight paused, then shook his head. "Something a bit more permanent. In exchange for the hasty return of your pet muscle boy, I thought maybe a two-year non-retractable voting proxy wouldn't be too much to ask."
The strain in Nadja's voice was evident, even if Ryan couldn't make out the words.
Finally, Knight said, "Very wise choice, my dear. This conversation has been notarized, and if you would be so good as to give the code for your retinal scan, we can make it legal and binding."
Knight hit a button, then grinned up at the screen. "My dear, I would suggest refraining from trying to void this agreement by claiming it was made under duress. Not only will I tie you up in corporate court for years, negating your access to the stock, I will also make sure you—"
Knight's grin widened as Nadja spoke. Then, "Well, my dear, I'm glad you see the sense of sticking to the agreement."
Four quiet beeps sounded from the telecom, then Knight looked up at one of the trolls. "Get this trash his clothes and gear, and deposit him at Dunkelzahn's mansion."
As Ryan felt the cuffs being pulled from his wrists, Knight returned his attention to the telecom. "Of course, my dear. We'll have to do this again some time. It's been ever so much more enjoyable than our usual sparring matches."
He cut the connection and turned to Ryan. "Don't even think about reprisals, Mercury. I respect you enough to know how determined and ruthless you can be when given the chance. However, you're in way over your head dealing with Alice and Roxborough. Do yourself a favor and forget them."
Ryan smiled. "We have something in common after all, Knight."
Knight looked offended. "And just
what would that be?"
"We both have a long memory. You really should kill me now, because I'll never forget, and one day, out of the darkness, your worst nightmare will come calling."
Knight laughed softly. "Have a wonderful evening, Mister Mercury. Considering the circumstances I believe you'll find yourself in very soon, I doubt you'll have time to worry about petty vengeance."
Ryan just continued to smile at him until the big trolls led him out of the room. They returned his clothing and his wristphone, then drove him in an armored stepvan to the mansion.
36
Alice looked over at the flesh blob that was Thomas Roxborough. His disease had nearly run its course and his organs were coming apart. If he didn't get help soon, he would die.
Roxborough had other problems as well. His head lay across an elaborate chopping block that was situated on a huge stage surrounded by gardens of white roses and a deck of royal guards. A huge, ugly guard with a hood over his head wielded a gigantic axe.
Alice grinned her Cheshire grin. "So it comes down to this," she said. "Do you have any last words?"
"Alice!" Roxborough bellowed.
The executioner swung the axe behind his head.
"David denies killing Dunkelzahn, and I can't find any concrete evidence that ties him to the explosion."
"He had motive."
"He had some interesting things to say about that, too."
The axe rose in a wide arc over his head.
"Alice!"
"He said you were responsible for the Crash, not Dunkelzahn. Just as I suspected originally. For some reason he was reluctant to tell me."
The axe fell.
"Stop, stop! I admit it. I had something to do with it, but I wasn't alone." .
The blade made a clean cut through Roxborough's neck and struck the wood chopping block with a resounding thunk! Roxborough's head fell onto the wooden planks and rolled over next to the fading cat.
Alice smiled down at him. "I thought you might have more to say."
"I'm still alive," said Roxborough's disembodied head. "I'm still alive."
"Surprise! Now finish your little confession, and I'll let you live a few moments longer."
Roxborough grimaced. "Okay, it begins way back with my corporation, Acquisition Technologies."
"Yes?"
"It was a small corp, but we had a drek-hot programming department. I ran it, and David Gavilan was my top code maestro."
Alice drew breath through her sharp teeth.
"Dunkelzahn had very little to do with the corporation except that he owned a small portion. Until one day, I learned that the wyrm was planning to hire Gavilan away from us. This started a little corporate data war.
"I instructed my programming team to come up with the most deadly computer virus ever constructed. My intention was to destroy the data cores of Dunkelzahn's Gossamer Threads Corporation. Nothing more. Gavilan worked on the project, everyone did."
"I don't believe you."
Roxborough's disembodied face wrinkled into a pained grimace. "Finally, the truth and you don't buy it."
"What happened?"
"We tried a small corp first to see if the virus would work. We unleashed it on Effexx Studios and it destroyed them completely. At first we were overjoyed, but then something happened. It was a complicated program, self-replicating, self-correcting, all that. It got out in the old Internet and infected hundreds of computer systems."
"I remember," said Alice. Perhaps, she thought, this is finally the truth.
"It was an accident, don't you see? We never intended to hurt anyone."
"What happened to David?"
"Dunkelzahn met with him to discuss moving to Gossamer Threads, and he saw the virus in David's mind. Dunkelzahn knew what we had done and he convinced David to quit Acquisition Technologies and go to work for the UCAS government to fight the virus. The rest of us were busy trying to hide our involvement, and with all the computer systems crashing, that wasn't too hard to do."
Alice looked at Roxborough with pity. "You deserve your fate," she said. "You deserve to be a brain in a bottle. But I never did anything wrong. I came in as an innocent . . . "
"Look, I'm very sorry. I helped fund Echo Mirage. We all fought the Crash virus."
"It mutated and grew into something else, did it not?"
"I don't know."
"Is it still out there?" Alice asked.
"Honestly, I don't know."
Alice faded herself out of Wonderland and into the shining city.
Roxborough's cries fell away into the distance. "You can't leave me like this. I'm a disembodied head, for Ghost's sake."
Alice ignored him. He was still alive. He should be thankful.
37
Ryan stood on the street, a chill wind playing through his hair, and looked at the mansion. The Dragon Heart was near, he could sense its power calling out to him.
Nadja, I hope you're all right.
Carla Brooks had arrived a few minutes earlier and had surrounded the perimeter of the mansion grounds with sec troops. She was around the other side now, getting an infiltration plan worked out in case Ryan was unsuccessful.
His wristphone beeped. He looked at the tiny screen to see Alice's liquid blue eyes. "This is not a good time, Alice."
Alice gave him a sad smile. "I'm sorry about circumstances, Ryan," she said. "This won't take long."
"Go ahead."
"I have new information that Damien Knight never thought Dunkelzahn was responsible for the Crash. Knight did not have a long-burning hatred and probably didn't have a strong motive to kill him."
Ryan just shook his head. "Now you tell me."
"I sincerely apologize," she said.
"I'll want to discuss this further," Ryan said. "But now is not the time."
Alice nodded. "Agreed."
Then she was gone and Ryan took a moment to center himself. He remembered his interrogation with Quentin Strapp. Strapp had grilled him, had made it look like Ryan could have killed Dunkelzahn, and Ryan had done the same thing with Knight.
I guess the appearance of guilt doesn't equal culpability.
Ryan took a deep breath and pushed those thoughts from his mind. Time enough for that after Nadja was safe. He keyed in Jane's number, and her familiar icon faded onto the small screen.
"Ryan, about fragging time."
Ryan kept his voice quiet. "Give me the situation report, and this better be good."
The blonde caricature shrugged. "He's got her in the arboretum. She's tied up in the southeast corner, under the last plant table. Almost like he was trying to keep her clear of the action."
Ryan nodded. "What about Dhin and Grind?"
"With the exception of Nadja showing up, everything went just like you thought it would. Dhin is in the Secret Service van, rigging surveillance and assault drones. Grind is high up in the branches of one of the huge redwoods adjacent to the property. He hasn't had a clear shot yet."
Ryan took a deep breath. He thought about the way Nadja had looked during her call, about the hidden fear he'd seen there. He would save her, there was no other choice, but under that realization came another. He would get the Dragon Heart today or he would die trying. For the first time since losing the Heart to Burnout, Ryan had no doubts about his mission.
His indecision was gone, his uncertainty vanished.
There would be no strategic retreat this time, no fighting to a draw. He finally knew where to strike, and he was willing to sacrifice himself if necessary.
"Ryan, your gear is stored just in front of the main entrance. Get going, and we'll switch over to the Phillips tacticom on your signal."
Ryan nodded and cut the connection. He crossed the street, his every nerve on fire, his hyperaware senses going into maximum alert. He found the gear pack just to the side of the front staircase, under a rose bush.
Quickly, and with a minimum of excess movement, he laid out the gear. It consisted of light body armor, a small tactic
om unit, a Vindicator minigun, and a shoulder holster with a Colt Manhunter.
Ryan suited up quickly and checked the load in his weapons. Ready and willing. He pulled the Vindicator's strap over his head, slung the ammo belt, and switched off its safety.
Then he inserted the light earpiece into his left ear and used the mimetic tape to fasten the tiny mic to his throat.
"System up," he subvocalized.
"Check," said Jane in Ryan's ear.
"Check," came Grind's voice.
"Check," said Dhin, and there was an edge of humor in the big ork's voice. "Bossman, thought we'd lost you."
"Not quite. What's your position?"
"You drove past me on the way in. I'm in the black stepvan. Got a Condor II in the air to keep track of our chummer if he happens to come out, plus a Rotodrone with heavy armament package ready to rock and roll on your mark."
"Good. Grind?"
"I'm playing birdy in this fragging tree. Me and my Barret one-two-one. Can't tag him unless you move him into the middle of the room."
Ryan paused, mentally arranging his chess pieces.
"Jane?"
"Copy."
"You got control of the house systems?"
"Stupid question, Ryan, but I guess you had to ask."
"Lay it out for me."
"Quicksilver, he's smart. He's keeping to cover under the third stone tree from the rear exit. That way, he has Daviar between him and that exit, and can cover the other two at his leisure."
Grind came on. "I almost got him when he dumped Daviar under the table, but even with this high-powered scope, the infrastructure of the building is playing havoc with me. I can't get a clear shot at him as long as all those stone branches are in the way."
Ryan nodded again. The arboretum was a huge structure with two gigantic sheets of macroglass for a roof to allow the sunlight in. In the name of artistic decor, the macroglass was supported by ornately carved marble trees.
Eight of them, complete with stone roots and intertwining branches, stretched upward to create a canopy.
"Jane, talk to me about the arboretum. It's got auto sprinklers in case of fire, right?"