No, that isn’t him. Not anymore.
“Hiro’s like me. Born without reincarnated memories and the Blue Dons froze him to ensure nothing happened to his DNA. I saved him from his captors.”
“And we are just meant to believe all of this?”
“We have no reason to lie.”
“You do if you really are Fitzgerald or blacklisted.”
I glanced at Hiro briefly. He scratched the back of his palm, reddening his skin. Maybe he had intended to draw blood. To prove our innocence. Would they even believe us? The tell of a Soulless, the floating blood of a freak.
“Even if transferring memories worked, there’s no way to carry the print over onto another person’s eyes. Not even with transplants. The scar fades and bots can pick up on the scar tissue on all surgeries.” Jacky made a loud tsk sound. I faced her, annoyed. “Is it really harder to believe we are born printless over some successful memory transplant fairy tale?”
“How many of you are there?” Jacky asked, unbothered by my rising anger.
“Just Hiro and me. My friend is helping us find a more permanent cure, but he is outside of the city.” I swallowed my rage. “How about you guys?”
“You’re looking at the whole group. I’m Jacky, and this is Logan. I can understand taking Fitzgerald’s prints, but why the senator’s?” Jacky asked.
I shrugged. “I didn’t have a choice. However, I know it wasn’t chosen at random. The senator must be able to get us to where we need to be.”
“You must be extremely naïve to allow someone to burn a stranger’s prints onto your eyes without knowing why.” I didn’t say anything. Jacky sat back down. “Well, I hope he is worthy of your trust. It’s best for you to get some shut-eye and rest up. I’ll get my arm reattached and later we can try to find these elusive Elites.”
“That’s it?” Hiro glanced at me anxiously. “You believe us?”
“We’ll see.”
Sleep passed over me. Every time I think I’ve figured out what is what, my belief is shaken again. Not that I could sleep much with the downstairs music shaking the bed across the room. Hiro appeared just as restless as I was, turning every two seconds on the makeshift bed on the floor. I placed my hand on my side where the bullet hole was. Only slight pain pricked at my fingertips.
“Hiro?” I called in a whisper.
“Yeah?”
“I need you to do something for me, okay?”
In the dimness, I heard Hiro shuffle into an upright position. “What is it?”
“Downstairs I noticed a lot of the people had phones. Most are either too high or drunk to notice if one is missing. I need you to steal one, but don’t let anyone know you have it, okay? You know Diesel’s number. Call him if there’s any trouble.”
Silence passed over us. “I don’t understand.”
“This is just in case we get separated.”
“We’re not going to be separated.”
“Hiro.” My voice went stern. “Just, promise me, okay?”
In the silence of the room, I heard Hiro sigh and slump back down onto his bed. We didn’t speak again until I heard the door down the corridor open and close. I welcomed Jacky’s wake-up call as she kicked the side of the doorframe.
“Let’s move.” I quickly kicked back my sheets and met Jacky at the door.
“I think Hiro should stay behind.”
Hiro’s head snapped toward me. “What? Why?”
Jacky’s eyebrow rose suspiciously.
“His imprint has been reported as identity theft. One snap from a camera could set the entire police force on us,” I insisted.
“Nadia!” Hiro grabbed my arm.
I shook him off. “It’s an unnecessary risk. Leave him behind.”
Jacky crossed her arms. “You have a good point. Okay, he stays but you need to come with me.”
“Of course.” She motioned us to move on and I quickly glanced back with an apologetic smile. Hiro’s expression mimicked that of a betrayed spouse. I subtly signalled for him to get the mobile. He huffed and crossed his arms.
The party downstairs raged on without any sign of slowing as Jacky and I simplified our attire to blend in with the mass of the city crowd. Her right arm was reattached, balancing out her body and concealed behind long sleeves and bulky jackets.
“So, where are we going?” I asked as I fell into step behind her. The bustling city moved in currents, sweeping us away with the foot traffic. Cars beeped. Voices clashed in wars of noise. It was easy to get separated. I did my best to keep up, but her longer legs meant a wider stride. Plus, the ache on my side from the gunshot wound didn’t help. The painkillers were a blessing, but every step tugged on the stitching.
“The only way to find an Elite is with an Elite. Unfortunately, McKinnon has been off the radar for decades. However, lucky for you, I do know where Swoon is.”
“The Fundraiser, yeah?”
“No. That’s just a show. He wouldn’t be there. Not in person. I’ll take you to him.”
I sighed with relief. Finally, I was going somewhere. “Thank you. I really appreciate your help!”
“Don’t thank me yet. It’s not going to be easy.” Jacky stepped up to a motorcycle and tossed me a helmet. “You were right about one thing though.”
“What’s that?”
“The senator’s prints weren’t chosen randomly.”
A two-hour bike ride took us to the other side of the city where massive power plants and mining areas stretched behind the congestion of the towers. Mines tunnelled through the earth, kicking up slush in hope of thinning resources while the power plants coughed black smoke, dirtying the sky. Despite the activity, the heavy hum of the construction site was peaceful compared to the metropolitan clatter. Among the enormous, cracked buildings and seesawing water pumps, we stopped at eight identical warehouses wrapped in a high fence. A sign labelled Cryotherapy Chambers hung over the entrance archways with watchtowers armed at each corner. Heavy tolls blocked the driveway with spiked traps spring-loaded beneath the roads. Jacky kicked out the leg stand and slipped off her bike at the front entrance of the central warehouse.
“Okay, you’re up.” She handed me a clean white shirt, a tie and dark blue blazer. “Change. You need to look the part.”
“Where are we exactly?” I quickly took my helmet off and pulled the shirt over my head. I never wore a tie before and the knot lightly choke me where she tightened it. The loose blazer hugged at my midriff, boxing out my figure. Jacky pointed at the sign, and I rolled my eyes at her. “I can read we’re at a Cryotherapy Chamber, but what does that mean?”
She continued onward answering me over her shoulder as I hurried to keep up with her long strides. “Remember what I said about the Cryo-quarantined?”
I slowed and gawked up at the building. “This is where they are held?”
“Yep.”
“Does Swoon own it? Is that how he is so rich?”
Jacky didn’t answer as she jogged up the steps and opened the main doors into a foyer. Security stopped us from walking further in. A large cell gate blocked the entrance into the main building. A man behind the counter waved us forward.
“This is a classified area. Only employees are allowed access. Please state your business.”
Jacky pulled me ahead of her. “I am here with the senator.”
The guard looked at me and pointed at the camera. “Look here, please.” The red laser blinked quickly, scanning my eyes. “Welcome back, Senator Able. It has been a while.”
“Yes. It has,” I answered.
“No weapons are allowed. You need to disarm your body guard.”
“I’m not armed,” Jacky said.
“My metal detectors say otherwise.”
Jacky lifted her sleeve. “Unless you want me to take off my arm, that’s not possible.”
He cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Very well. I’m sure you remember where they are. Nothing fatal.” He nodded and opened the gate. We walked into a white
stretched hallway and down a long, bare corridor. Cameras followed us at every corner, their lenses twitching.
I spoke quietly as we marched toward the end doors. “How did you know I’d get clearance?”
“Swoon isn’t the one who worked here It was the senator.”
“The senator had two jobs?”
“More like a hobby.”
I nervously loosened the tie. “What did he mean by nothing fatal? What’s going to happen?”
Jacky smiled as we walked beyond the curve of the hallway and through the secured double doors out into a large emporium overstaffed with iced coffins. Bodies shelved in pods were stacked in columns up the domed walls, wisps of dry ice sprouting every now and again from the exhausts. Employees worked in large thermal heating suits and carried weapons buckled to their belts. Faces blurred behind the frozen screens, their only identification written on the boards above their caskets. There was no name, not even a date. Just a code.
I stepped closer to one of the frozen windows wondering how long they had been locked up. I wondered if they could dream or even generate thought. I understood the purpose was to freeze their soul to a body, making it impossible for them to return. In its own way, it was as close to a permanent death the world could offer. I lifted my hand and placed it carefully on the glass panel. I thought of Diesel, of his face behind the blue ice. He yearned for an eternal death, and with his violent history, his punishment to the cryotanks was what he desired. Trapped behind darkness. No feeling. No remembering. But, why escape then? If this is where he was meant to be…
“This way.” Jacky prompted me forward. I let my hand slip, believing there must be other factors happening behind the icy stares. We walked further into the belly of the giant catacomb where private pods were separated from the rest of the bulk. Two men operated the doors with guns hitched to their uniforms.
They scanned me on my approach. “Apologies, Senator Able. This area is off limits.”
“The senator is visiting a friend,” Jacky said.
“Well, I wouldn’t say they are up for chatting now would they? The answer is still no. If you have a problem with it, go speak to HQ.”
I glanced at Jacky, catching her small smile. “Very well.” She turned to lead me out but suddenly spun around, swinging her arm out and extending the blade from her wrist. In a fluid twist, she sliced the throats of the armed men. They gurgled and dropped.
“Fuck!” I stumbled back from her. “A little warning next time.”
She pulled a key card from the dead guard’s pocket and handed me his gun. “Quickly, in here!” She opened the doors to a smaller room where six coffins were set up in a Hexagon rotation. The chilled interior warmed in the presence of family photos, personalized suits and a metal plank hung above their heads, detailing their heroics. On one of the boards was the code EL02.
“Swoon?” I stepped up to the coffin, stunned. “He’s Cryo-quarantined?”
“By choice.” Jacky walked over to the control panel sealing the coffin doors and started typing into the keypad. “One good thing about being Mao’s spy is that you learn a lot of things.”
“Why would he choose this? He’s an Elite.”
“Try living through over fifty assassinations and see if your sanity is in working order. In the end, intense paranoia destroyed him. The Elites are just as insane as the drifters.”
“Then who is running the world?”
“Who indeed?” The keypad clicked and suddenly turned off. “Shit!” She smacked the side. “Fine, manual mode it is.”
“I don’t get it... Swoon is no help to us frozen. Why bring me here?”
“We don’t need to unfreeze him to get what we need.” Out of the slit of her wrist, she extended a stunted crowbar and rammed it into the lip of the coffin lid. “Once I pop this open you need to watch the door.”
I nodded and quickly wedged a chair up to the door handle, securing it. Through the small window on the door panel, I watched for incoming guards. “Okay, I’m ready.”
“Okay, in three…two…” She shoved the crowbar in deeper and cracked it backwards, the metal hinges creaking as they started to warp shape. “…One.” With a final jerk, the lid popped open and red lights washed the halls. Sirens blared with a voice alerting to the unauthorized entry.
I pressed my back closer to the wall, waiting for the guards to flock in. Minutes passed when a burning smell tickled my nose. I quickly glanced back to Jacky projecting an open flame directly onto Swoon’s iced face. Yellow fire started to peel back the ice, exposing grey skin. I cringed and tried not to gag. “What the hell? Are you defrosting him?”
“Just a bit.” With her second hand, she armed herself with a serrated blade. I knew immediately what she was after.
“Eww! Gross!”
“Then don’t watch.”
“What are you like a human-size Swiss Army knife?” I turned back to the window. Ten minutes felt like twenty when a team of five armed men approached. “Shit! We have in coming.”
“You have a gun. Use it.”
I shattered the small window and opened fire. I managed to shoot two but the remaining three ducked for cover, using the coffins as protection. My bullets skimmed over the glass, barely denting it. “You nearly done?”
“I’m defrosting as fast as I can!”
More men approached, guns raised and blazing. Rolling clicks deafened my ears. I ducked against the wall again as the ring of bullets rebounded off the metal door. The sound of frozen meat tearing curdled my stomach. I couldn’t watch, but at the corner of my eye I could see the movement of her elbow sawing away. Bullets pelted into the door. I stuck the muzzle of the gun out of the window and fired blindly.
“Now?”
“No,” she shouted over the racket.
By the assault of gunfire, I assumed there were at least eight guards beyond the door. “Finally.” She pinched Swoon’s eye and sliced the tendril connecting it to his brain. She pocketed it in a plastic bag before wrenching the rest of the glass panel off its hinges. The large screen reached three-quarters of her height.
“Stay close.” Holding the door like a shield, Jacky took the lead and charged out first. Bullets splintered the panel and rebounded off.
Their attention shifted to her, and with the distraction, I managed to shoot four guards from behind the wall.
Once in reach, Jacky flicked her steel leg out, the spring recoiling so the sharpened point speared forward. The swift kick cut through the men’s ankles and cleared us a path. The spring then retracted into a flattened sole for her to run on.
I dropped my empty gun and picked up a new one. Jacky tossed the cracked panel aside. “Through the vents. Logan will be waiting for us out the east side. Go! Go!”
We ran down the long, winding platforms, bouncing off the walls and leaping across stairs at a full sprint. She moved faster, whereas I lagged behind thanks to the gunshot wound in my side. Behind us, bullets sprayed across the halls and security barred all exits, trapping us inside the dome. Her speed blurred her movement and I struggled to keep up, inches turning into meters between us. Bullets scattered overhead, scratching the walls.
I tripped and fell through the gaps between the railings. I free-fell from the platform, caught my side on the handrail, flipping me over, and I slammed my shoulder into the grated floor with a thunderous bang one storey below, leaving me winded and sore. My stitched up injury roared with pain. I wheezed and gripped my shoulder. Nothing broken, thank God. It took ten seconds to blink away the pain enough for me to move. From my pocket, I fished out the pills and popped a large handful into my mouth, but I had no time to wait for the painkillers to kick in. I had to move.
Footsteps hurried down the stairs to reach me and I quickly rolled out of sight, shrugging out of the large blazer and wrestling the tie off where it snagged on the pipes behind the pods. Space clamped down around me. With my back pressed to the wall and my chest skimming across the backs of coffins, I sidestepped my way acro
ss the room, only stopping to hide when footsteps rushed past.
On the other side of the room, an air vent stuck out of the wall in a small rectangular box. I ran to it and lifted myself up onto the railings where I balanced on my tiptoes to reach. I caught the edge, tearing the slanted lid off and tossing it over my shoulder, when something stopped me.
Behind my shoulder, there was a pod with the code 1598M499. That’s Diesel’s code. A shadowy figure filled inside the coffin. My focus fixated on the masked stranger. Was that the real 1598M499? Was Diesel never here? I stepped off the railing and approached the pod. Rubbing the foggy glass proved useless. Deep ice settled across the screen, blurring the person’s face. I cupped my hands around my eyes and peered in. Male. Dark skin. Bald. Sliced lip. Sound returned in the rattling of jets. I stepped back. Real code or not, it didn’t matter. I shoved away from the panel when someone suddenly grabbed my arm.
“Oi! This way!” Jacky spun me around and took me to an elevator shaft. A pipe had been jammed into the centre, opening a gap wide enough for us to squeeze through. I slipped through first and Jacky quickly followed, pulling the pipe out so the doors closed. We landed on top of the elevator roof. “Hang on.”
She sliced the thick wires on each corner and the elevator dropped. The two-storey crash shattered the walls, tearing a large crack through the rest of the building. We weaselled through the maintenance hatch into the crumbled body and wedged the doors open. The unguarded basement housed three large generators. Jacky planted three pin-sized clips to each one before electrifying the giant batteries and shutting down the main power. The entire warehouse fell into darkness. “Okay, this way.”
At the other end of the hall, she rammed the door open, leading to a staircase upstairs and out the side warehouse door. Missiles fired from the watchtowers into the sky. As we ran, I glanced over my shoulder, where over the rooftop, a massive jet hovered. It dodged the projectiles by titling its wings left and right.
“Is that Logan?” I shouted and spun back. “Why are we running away from him?”
Soul Finder (The Immortal Gene Book 2) Page 19