‘OK, Sophie.’
Sophia spoke low to the others. ‘If you take a programmed operative too far, too close to the edge of reality, they will reject it. They’ll reject you. And they’ll reject themselves. When that happens, they become dangerous.’
‘To us or themselves?’ Czarina asked.
‘Both,’ she said. ‘Priya, do you know why there have been a lot of Fifth Column operatives in Eastern Europe recently?’
‘They’re planning,’ Priya said. ‘Like busy bees. It’s a very big operation.’
Czarina and Ieva exchanged a nervous glance.
‘That’s some grim shit,’ Czarina said. ‘How big is she talking?’
Sophia spoke softly. ‘Can you tell us about the operation?’
‘What if I get in trouble?’ Priya asked.
‘You won’t get in trouble anymore, I promise.’
‘Maximum collateral.’ Priya’s words were whispers. She gripped the edge of the bathtub.
The serrated edge of Priya’s pain slashed at Sophia, stealing the breath from her. Her legs weakened and she dropped to one knee.
‘Sophia, you good?’ Czarina called out. ‘You still got this?’
‘I’m in control.’ Sophia moved closer to the bathtub. ‘It’s all right, Priya.’
Priya relaxed her grip and started to breathe slowly again.
‘Where is the operation?’ Sophia murmured.
Priya’s stare was unfocused again. Only this time, she shook her head. Sophia didn’t want to push through those obstacles too hard, but needed to know about this operation before it was too late.
‘What is the location?’ Sophia asked, more firmly than she’d planned. ‘Is there a date for this?’
Priya’s head transitioned from shaking to nodding. Lots of nodding. She was agreeing. But agreeing to what? She muttered to herself in another language Sophia couldn’t understand, then stopped and looked at her. Not through her, at her. For a moment, Priya’s archeopsyche came to the surface.
‘Destiny,’ Priya said.
Czarina took a step forward. ‘She doesn’t know shit. There’s no big operation.’
‘This takes time though, right?’ Ieva asked.
‘It’s all about the right question.’ Sophia leaned in closer. ‘What is the Fifth Column planning to do in Eastern Europe?’
‘I’m sorry, Sophie, I lost the game,’ Priya said.
‘It’s OK.’ Sophia reached out to touch her hand. ‘I’m here now.’
‘No. You lost too.’
Priya launched from the bathtub, her foot clipping Sophia across her head. Sophia recovered, but Priya was running along the concrete floor and leaping through a hole in the radar dome. Czarina drew her pistol.
‘Don’t shoot her!’ Sophia yelled.
‘But she’s trying to escape!’
Sophia jumped through a torn section of the dome. She rolled, came to her feet. Priya was on a flat rooftop, moving for the railing around it.
She wasn’t trying to escape.
‘No!’ Sophia cried.
She ran at Priya and dived, caught hold of the woman as she leapt over the railing. Sophia held onto the collar of her uniform. Pulled the struggling Priya back up, across the metal railing and onto the concrete. Priya tore out of her Navy jacket, kicked Sophia in the ribs and was running again. Sophia pulled herself to her feet. Czarina sprinted across the rooftop, cutting off Priya’s escape.
She had nowhere left to run.
Sophia approached her, close enough to hear Priya whisper, ‘Are you really in control?’
Then she sprinted, back to the radar dome. Sophia gave chase. Pain flared in her ribs, slowing her down.
Ieva ran to cut Priya off, but the woman didn’t even change course. Instead, she sprinted right for one of the torn edges of the radar dome…
And ran her throat into a jagged piece of metal.
The shard nicked an artery. Blood pumped from her neck with the power of a garden hose. Sophia arrived at her side, but it was too late. Covered in Priya’s blood she sensed Czarina and Ieva looking to her for orders, but she didn’t have any. She wasn’t in control.
Pri-Pri bled out.
Chapter Sixteen
Las Vegas, United States
Aviary struggled to keep pace with Nasira and Damien as they moved across the casino floor. The marines hadn’t spotted them yet, but they blocked a potential escape route through the side entrance. Now, a new cluster of marines emerged in the casino center.
‘Got any more tricks?’ Nasira asked.
Aviary’s stomach coiled tightly. ‘I think I’m about to throw up.’
‘Now’s probably not the time.’ Nasira pulled them deeper into the crowd before they were spotted.
‘Wait a second,’ Aviary said. ‘Casinos use servers to program their slot machines, right?’
Nasira glared at her. ‘You asking me?’
While they concealed themselves in the crowd—most of whom were too distracted by slot machines to pay them any attention—Aviary used her smartwatch to comb through the servers in the building until she found the one she was looking for.
‘They’re covering all angles except the plaza outside,’ Damien said.
Nasira’s gaze flickered from one direction to another. ‘Trying to flush us into the open.’
‘Aviary, we need that distraction,’ Nasira muttered. ‘They’re gonna see us any second now.’
‘Working on it.’
‘Call Jay,’ Nasira said.
‘I’m still here.’ Jay spoke through Aviary’s watch. ‘What’s the go?’
Nasira leaned in. ‘We’re coming out the front entrance.’
‘Through the plaza?’ Jay said. ‘You crazy?’
‘Aviary?’ Damien asked.
‘It’s just like your lockpicking,’ Aviary said. ‘Once you’re in, you can go almost anywhere. Especially if their cyber security is basically zero. And it is.’ She tapped her watch. ‘Jackpot.’
Around them, rows of slot machines sang triumphantly. Coins fired from dispensers. People watched in disbelief. Ignoring the marines—whose presence wasn’t that unusual these days—they went for it.
Aviary covered her ears to drown out the discordant slot machine music and people screaming with excitement. Everyone pushed in to the slot machines, clogging the casino floor.
A young man with a septum piercing and an aggressively tailored suit hauled a bucketload of coins in his shirt. An elderly man tripped him with his walking stick. The coins shimmered across the floor; three marines slipped on them and fell. They climbed to their feet again, only to be brutally clotheslined by a rotund lady in a vibrant floral dress.
‘Outta my way!’ she yelled, opening her handbag so coins could pour in from two slot machines at once. ‘It’s pay day.’
‘Go! Go!’ Nasira yelled.
Aviary bolted for the glass doors. Through the frenzied crowd, Aviary saw the marines converging on them.
‘Oh crap,’ Damien said.
Her thoughts exactly.
Jay was yelling something on her watch. ‘Don’t go outside! They have the plaza surrounded!’
‘Damien!’ Aviary yelled.
He kicked the door open and stepped through. Aviary lunged toward him, reaching for his hand, but someone grabbed her ruck, pulling her back into the crowd. A trio of marines secured her, holding her wrists. She tried to relax and twist from their grasp, as she’d been taught, but their grip was already solid and pistols jammed in her face.
Two of the marines forced her wrists together behind her back and wrapped plasticuffs around them, while the third forced her to her knees. He kneed her in her ruck, knocking the air from her and driving her face down onto the floor. As she fell, she turned, wrists wrenching from their grasp. A giddy patron with handfuls of coins tripped over her, showering the marines with money. The marines scrabbled in the confusion, one marine managing to grab her ankle. She kicked him in the face and rolled to her feet, coming face to fa
ce with the guy holding coins.
It was Sonic the Hedgehog.
‘Gotta go,’ she said.
Then she was running. Through the coins. Through the feverish patrons. The marines knocked Sonic aside and gave chase, but the crowd closed between them.
Aviary headed for the entrance, burst through … and skidded to a halt.
‘Well, if it isn’t Miss … Aviary,’ Hal said.
He stood atop a mock Venetian bridge over a mock Venetian canal, arms folded in equally mock impatience. Another man in a suit—ten years younger and minus the scar tissue—stood beside him.
He really does have a partner, Aviary thought.
Flanking the two Fifth Column men, an entire platoon of marines were aiming at her with carbines. Damien and Nasira were already out of play, dozens of weapons trained on them. Aviary pressed the implant in her hand. It was charged enough to trigger again, taking care of the carbines. But then she glanced around and her heart sank.
One marine operated a fold-out tripod topped by a radar dish the size of a buffet tray. It seemed oddly familiar. She thought back to all the files she’d stolen from the Fifth Column but nothing clicked. Nothing like this. It was a threat for which she had no response.
She stepped forward again, purposely in front of Damien, her heart racing.
‘Did you really think you could just run away from us?’ Hal asked.
‘Um, I guess my hands are tied,’ Aviary said.
Behind her back, the plasticuffs pinched around her wrists, and her skin tingled with heat. Just as she’d hoped, Damien was using his thermogenesis to melt the loop. An instant later, the tension in her cuffs disappeared.
‘Hands above your heads,’ Hal said. ‘You will pay for your crimes against humanity.’
‘What about yours?’ Nasira raised her hands. ‘You get a promotion for those?’
Hal turned to the marine wielding the tripod dish. ‘Activate.’
The dish hummed softly, but did nothing else.
‘Hey,’ Nasira said. ‘I think the sperm count’s a bit low on your toy over here.’
‘Don’t say that,’ Damien said.
Aviary’s face and arms grew hotter, but it wasn’t Damien causing it. She got warmer and warmer, the sensation building until it felt like she was on fire. She howled, and behind her, Damien moaned and collapsed. Nasira fell to her knees.
Hal nodded. ‘Give it more juice.’
Suddenly it was like Aviary was falling into the sun itself. She collapsed, too agonized to touch her smartwatch, to see Damien and Nasira writhing beside her, even to scream.
All she could do was lay there as she and her friends burned alive.
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About Helix: Episode 3 (Interceptor)
Sophia was the Fifth Column’s most dangerous weapon.
Now she’s their greatest threat.
Sophia is taking out Fifth Column operatives before they can complete their deadly missions, until a new type of operative tips the balance against her. Ambushed in Eastern Europe, she barely escapes with her life.
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With the rules of engagement changed forever, Sophia is forced onto a collision course with Olesya—a deadly Russian hunter with Sophia in her sights.
They’ve crossed paths once before, but this time only one of them will walk away.
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This is the third episode in the new USA Today bestselling series of cyberpunk thrillers by Australian ex-recon soldier Nathan M. Farrugia. Do you like conspiracies and genetically-enhanced operatives? You’ll love this action-packed cross between Jason Bourne and Altered Carbon. Find out why readers are calling it “the most addictive action series” they’ve read.
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Click here to buy now:
https://nathanmfarrugia.com/novels/helix-episode-3/
By Nathan M. Farrugia
Helix
Episode 1: Helix
Episode 2: Exile
Episode 3: Interceptor
Episode 4: Anomaly
Episode 5: Inversion
Episode 6: Exclave
Episode 7: Purity
Episode 8: Kill Switch
Episode 9: Countervail
The Fifth Column
1. The Chimera Vector
2. The Seraphim Sequence
3. The Phoenix Variant
4. The Phoenix Ascent
About Nathan M. Farrugia
Nathan M. Farrugia is the USA Today bestselling author of the Helix and The Fifth Column cyberpunk thriller series. Nathan is known for placing himself in dangerous situations, including climbing rooftops in Russia and being hunted by special forces trackers in the United States. He studies Systema, a little-known martial art and former secret of Russian special forces.
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Nathan is a former Australian reconnaissance soldier who has trained under USMC, SEAL team, Spetsnaz and Defence Intelligence instructors, and the wilderness and tracking skills of the Chiricahua Apache scouts and Australian Aboriginals.
To stay up to date, follow Nathan here:
https://nathanmfarrugia.com
Credits
Edited by Tara Goedjen
Line edited by Pete Kempshall
Photography by Andrew Maccoll
Cover design by Pat Naoum
Olesya portrayed by Elke Bonner
Sophia portrayed by Haylee Collins
Costume design by Julianne Ting
Costume tailoring by Sam Melika
Hair and makeup by Kim Tavares and Janice Wu.
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Expert beta reading by Neil Hawkins, Jason Martin, Mike Powell and Xavier Waterkeyn.
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Proofreading by Sean Birkner, Fredrik Björk, Liz Charnock, Rachel Collett, Jason Denness, Jim Gabler, Patricia Garner, Patti Holycross, Jessica Jocher, Evie London, Elizabeth Love, Hilton J Mather, Katrina Mickle, Romano Robusto, Laurie Sickles, Eric Vollebregt and Carolyn Walkden.
First published in 2016
This edition published in 2016 by Anomaly Press
Copyright © Nathan M. Farrugia 2016
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
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All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organizations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the author.
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Helix: Episode 2 (Exile)
Print format: 9780995436114
EPUB format: 9781537850962
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To report a typographical error, please visit nathanmfarrugia.com
Exile Page 11