‘Guys, what’s going on down here,’ said a male voice.
Unable to see the top of the stairs, Frankie aimed her gun in that direction and moved slowly forward, keeping quiet. She tucked herself into the wall, making herself partially concealed, and waited. A few seconds later, the shadow moved again, quickly this time as a figure walked down a few steps into view and swung his gun out to look into the room.
The operator couldn’t help but notice the debris and aftermath of the explosion that had happened outside the door, and looked on in horror, probably seeing at least part of the one the bodies out there.
‘What the…’ he muttered to himself.
Frankie didn’t wait any longer, and with her sights already lined up on the figure, she simply squeezed the trigger. Her gun barked, and the man on the stairs spun like a top, blood splattering over the rear wall as he tumbled and fell. He bumped down the last few steps of the stairway and settled on the floor at the bottom, his gun still held tightly in his hand.
Frankie was very much aware that she needed to end this as quickly as she could, and stepped up to, and then over this latest casualty before bounding up the stairs in three steps, leaping out of the door to the roof, and landing in a roll. As she came up, she could see four more operators up here, one of them much closer to her than the others and moving towards the door, no doubt wondering what the hell might be going on down there.
He looked positively startled upon seeing her spring from the door, causing him to freeze. Frankie was grateful for this lack of judgement on his part as she took in the rest of the scene and brought her gun to bear.
Behind this closest figure, she could make out three more operators, two of them held guns and were next to the far edge of the roof. One of them was shooting down at the highway below, while the other was shouting orders at the third man who was fumbling to load another Rocket Propelled Grenade into the launcher.
Frankie opened fire on the closest man, putting three shots into him, two in the chest and the final one into his head. Just beyond him and to the right, the man with the RPG looked up at Frankie as she readied her next shot. He looked surprised as she fired again, but this time, she aimed for the large grenade in his hand. Blood exploded from the man's hand as her bullets ripped through it and into the casing of the RPG. A fraction of a second later, it exploded with an almighty bang, obliterating the operator who had been loading the launcher in a shower of flying gore. The building shook, bits of stone or concrete flew everywhere, and the next nearest operator, who had been firing over the side of the building, oblivious to Frankie, got thrown off the edge with a wild yell of pain and fear.
Frankie half laughed as she jumped to her feet and shot forward a few steps with her gun trained on the remaining man.
The final operator looked up at Frankie after having moved to shield himself from that latest explosion. He looked quite sheepish and shocked for a second, but then moved quickly to bring his pistol up to shoot at her. Frankie moved, spinning as she advanced and kicked at his gun, smashing his hand with her unforgiving boot heel, sending the gun skittering across the floor.
‘Aaaagh,’ the man yelled as she moved in again and punched him in the face. She didn’t put her full force into it, pulling the punch at the last moment. It would still have hurt, though. The man dropped to his hands and spat blood on the floor as Frankie grabbed the rifle that had fallen to the floor next to him and threw it away.
She stood there for a second and scanned the rest of the rooftop. No one else was here; they were alone.
‘I’m on the roof. The shooters have been taken care of,’ Frankie sent through her neural link.
‘Copy that, we’re on our way up,’ William said.
‘Now, then,’ she said as she reached down and grabbed the final operator by the scruff of the neck and lifted him up to look at her. ‘Who are you and what the hell are you doing up here?’ she asked.
‘And why should I tell you?’ he asked, defiant.
‘Tell me, or I hack your cyberbrain and dig it out. Either way, I’m finding out,’ she answered him. ‘But the hack will be painful.’
The man was about to speak, but then closed his mouth, apparently weighing up his options before he looked up at Frankie again.
‘I’m an operator with Nano Technic, or at least, I was. We broke away before they could put us under arrest. We needed to save more of us, and once we’d done that, we were put here to cover their escape,’ he said.
‘In other words, you’re expendable. You’re not valuable enough for your superiors to save,’ she said.
‘Call it what you like, it was an honour to serve,’ he replied.
She suddenly sensed movement behind her and twisted to have a look, only to see William and DCI Riley with a few other officers, jog up onto the roof. Frankie relaxed as William approached her.
‘Good job, you even kept one alive,’ he said to her.
‘Figured he could be useful,’ she answered as officers moved in to cuff him. Frankie stepped away with the director to give them space. ‘Looks like a whole group of them got away, though, and if they left these nine here, they must be a fairly sizable force to be able to afford to leave them,’ she said.
‘That is alarming, but not as worrying as what their plan or target might be with such a force,’ William said, concern etched upon his face.
4.03
Frankie lay on her bed in her underwear and a vest top, her hands behind her head with her eyes closed. She’d been back from the escort duty job for a few hours, and after getting changed out of her stealth suit in the armoury, all she’d wanted to do was to have some time alone. She’d left the lights in her room off and was enjoying some peace and quiet.
The escort job had turned out to be a little more action packed than they had expected, but she didn’t mind. It was her job, and she seemed to be quite good at it, thanks to Xenox.
But it was always nice to come back and just relax in the darkness of her room and chill out a bit.
She’d turned off the display in her vision so that she didn’t have to look at those glowing lines and icons with her eyes closed. It helped her to relax and to forget the daily grind. Even so, she couldn’t help but think about who those operators were and why they were in that transport in the first place.
To boil it down, ultimately, she and her team were to blame for it. The Nano Liberation had far reaching side effects that were affecting people throughout the world and almost bringing down some of the biggest Corporations out there. Nano Technic, whom her parents worked for, was almost entirely dependant on the income it got from their Nanobot payment plans. When that fell through, it nearly took the Corporation with it.
She sometimes wondered how the directors of that and the other Corporations felt when they realised that fateful night that the billions they were pulling in from their insurance and payment plans had literally dried up over night?
In Nano Technic’s case, and they weren’t the only ones, the government had stepped in and brokered a deal, a partnership with them to subsidise their work and to keep the Nanobots updated.
She knew this from the reports she had read that William circulated to the team. He’d felt it important to keep everyone informed about developments following their successful mission. They were great to have, but they often omitted details and information on the fallout of these big changes.
She often wondered about her parents. Were they still working at Nano Technic? Did they still have their jobs? Turning over their operators to the authorities seemed like a harsh move for the Corporation, but maybe it was part of the deal with the government? Perhaps, it was to give the impression that the government was cleaning up the Corporations and making them accountable? She didn’t know, and all this was speculation for the time being.
But with a sizable force of former Corporation operatives loose in the city and out for blood, she guessed it would only be a matter of time before she ran into them again.
A
n icon suddenly appeared in her vision, flashing at her from behind her eyelids. She had an incoming call. She accepted it, and the icon changed to indicate that the call was connected. She could see that it was from Kalypso.
‘Frankie, can you come to briefing room 3 in thirty minutes, please?’ she asked.
‘Sure, I’ll be there,’ she said.
‘Great, thanks,’ Kalypso answered and closed the link.
Frankie stretched and sat up on her bed. The work around here never stopped and could happen at any time, it seemed. She’d been called to briefings at all times of the day. She’d been woken up in the middle of the night and called while enjoying a nice relaxing shower and at every other awkward moment. The terrorists and Corporations didn’t care about normal working hours, it seemed.
They were just damned inconsiderate, she thought, smiling to herself.
She took her time, pulling herself out of bed and putting on some jeans and boots before she wandered out of her quarters and made her way over to the communal kitchen. She had her own private one in her quarters, but sometimes she just wanted to see who was about what was going on.
She made herself a steaming cup of coffee and sipped at it. She didn’t need to drink, being a cyborg. But she could still taste the food and drink she occasionally consumed, and her body was still able to process it, so she liked to have a beverage from time to time, simply because she liked them.
Looking out of the kitchen, she spotted Gibson and Veronica walking together, smiling. They seemed to be spending more time together, she thought as they walked closer. Gibson broke off and walked out of the living area, disappearing from view while Veronica walked over and into the kitchen.
‘Hiya,’ Veronica said as she stepped into the room.
‘Hey,’ Frankie answered her. ‘Are you coming to the meeting, too?’ Frankie asked.
‘Yeah. That’s where Gibson just went. It seems like he and Kalypso have called this meeting between them.’
‘Oh, really? Any idea what’s going on?’ Frankie asked.
‘I’m afraid not, he’s kept this pretty close to his chest, so this will be news to me as well. He kept saying he wanted to see how it all panned out before talking to anyone. I guess that William will know, though.’
‘Probably, if he’s using A.C.T. resources,’ Frankie answered.
Veronica poured herself a coffee and held it between her hands. ‘Shall we?’ she asked, gesturing to the way out.
‘Sure thing,’ Frankie said, and led the way, walking out of the living area and over to the elevators. It only took a few moments for them to drop one floor and walk to the briefing room in question. They arrived at the same time as the director and walked inside to find Gibson and Kalypso standing at the head of the table, and Cole already sitting in there. Dion followed moments later, with Xenox being the last to arrive and sit down.
‘Okay, let’s get going, shall we,’ Gibson said, calling the room to order. The casual conversations about the news of the day or what shows they were watching died away and they all focused on Gibson and Kalypso.
‘Thank you for coming,’ Kalypso interjected.
‘Yes, thank you. So, as you all know, recently Psytech took my wife and step child Stephanie into custody, and during recent events, put my wife in harm's way, which resulted in her death. They still have Stephanie, and, even though she’s my step daughter, and we were never that close, I could not in good conscience just leave her to her fate. So, I enlisted the services of Kalypso and her contacts within the intelligence community in an attempt to track Stephanie down. It’s taken some time and work, but we have a lead. It’s tentative, and we’re unsure how recent the intel is, but I’d like to act on it as quickly as possible,’ he said.
‘How quickly?’ Frankie asked.
‘After this meeting would be great,’ Gibson answered her.
‘Whats the intel?’ William asked.
‘We have had reports that Stephanie is, or was, being held at a Pytech R & D facility on the outskirts of town,’ Kalypso said.
‘Is or was? That sounds a little sketchy,’ Frankie said.
‘That’s because it is. We’re sure that she was there at some point very recently, but we don’t know if she’s there now. Finding that out through our contacts could take weeks, and by then, she could be gone again. She might be gone now, but we just don’t know,’ Kalypso said.
‘I want to go there now, while the information is still fresh. Act on it as quickly as possible. We’re sure the information is accurate and genuine. Our contact has given us plenty of correct information in the past, so we have no reason to doubt him this time,’ Gibson said.
‘So, what are you proposing?’ Frankie asked.
‘I’m proposing that we go to the facility now, get in there while it’s night time, and have a look around. Maybe we’ll get lucky,’ Gibson said.
‘And what do we know about this facility?’ Frankie asked.
‘We know that the facility is code-named Chimera and they undertake cybernetic and artificial intelligence research there. Xenox? You have been to this one, right?’ Gibson said.
‘Aaah, yes, I have, but I’ve only seen part of it, and that was a while back. As far as I know, they do a lot of their experimental work there. Everything from Cybernetics to Nanotech to Weapon systems. It’s one of several they have. I was at one of the ones in the city more than this one, but it’s basically a big warehouse on the outskirts of London,’ he said.
‘Any idea of the layout inside?’ Frankie asked.
‘Not really, nothing accurate, anyway,’ Xenox answered her with a shrug.
‘So, you want to go in there now? Tonight?’ Frankie asked.
‘That’s right. The longer we wait, the greater chance we’ve missed her,’ Gibson said.
‘Director?’ Frankie asked, looking to see what his opinion of this mission would be.
‘I don’t see a problem with this; volunteers only, though, I’m not making any of you go,’ he said.
‘Thank you, Sir,’ Gibson said. ‘If you want to help, suit up. I’ll see you in the hanger in thirty.’
With that, he stood and made his way from the room. Frankie looked around the table. Everyone was looking to see what each other would do. Frankie decided to take the lead and stood, with Veronica standing up at the same time. ‘I’ll see you all in the hanger in twenty-nine minutes,’ Frankie said, her voice taking on a commanding tone. William might not want to order the team on this mission, given that it was a personal quest by Gibson, but Frankie felt differently. Gibson had been there for her from the start and had been a loyal and dedicated member of the team, so Frankie thought it only right that they step up to help him. It was what set them apart from the Corporations, after all.
Frankie left the room and made her way to the armoury, seeing Gibson up ahead in the corridor. She sped up and caught him up easily enough.
‘I had no idea you were following this up. Good work,’ she said.
‘Thank Kalypso, not me. Her contacts did the work, really. We just collected it from them and figured out what was happening. I didn’t really get my hands dirty,’ he answered her.
‘You’ve been doing this a while, then?’
‘Since the Liberation. I started by myself, but it soon became clear I needed help, so, I contacted Kalypso, and she’s been helping me ever since. It’s useful having someone from the intelligence community in the A.C.T.. Anyway, I hear you had an action packed escort duty earlier,’ he said.
‘It was more fallout from the Liberation,’ she said as they wandered into the armoury. Frankie moved over to her locker and pulled out her stealth suit. The room doubled as a unisex ready room, where the members of the A.C.T changed into their stealth suits and fitted their webbing and weapons. There were private cubicles for those who wanted them, but they weren’t often used as they were usually changing as quickly as possible to get out into the field. These days, they had done this in front of each other so much that they were
used to it.
When she’d first started working here, she’d been very aware of her own body around the other team members. She’d looked at her reflection in the mirror that was attached to the inside of her locker door and only saw the things she wasn’t as happy with. She looked at the seams in her skin where the different sections of her body had been fitted together. Her skin had fused along those seams, but if she ran her fingers over them, they were clearly indented into her flesh. She had quite a few of them. They ran around her joints and along her limbs, and for a while, she hated them. Now, however, she’d grown more or less indifferent to them. They were a side effect of her body and how it was assembled. So, she’d learnt to accept them and worry about other things. After all, she did actually enjoy many of the benefits that her body brought her.
‘More fall out?’ Gibson asked.
‘Yeah, they were former employees of Nano Technic that had been handed over to the authorities. Seems like they were released by other operators who had not been captured and now they’re on the run somewhere in the city.’
‘Well, I’m sure they will rear their heads again sometime soon, and we’ll be there waiting for them,’ Gibson smiled at her.
‘But of course,’ Frankie smiled back. ‘Have to say, though, I’m still amazed that we’re still getting fallout from the Liberation. How long will this go on for?’ she asked.
‘A while,’ Gibson answered her. ‘What we managed to do was huge. We changed the course of history,’ he said.
‘Hah, I suppose so,’ she laughed as she pulled the fitted stealth suit up her legs and slid her arms inside.
Before long, Frankie was all kitted out and stood in the warehouse waiting for her teammates. One of the A.C.T.’s flyers stood ready beside her, its engines idling as Cole walked from the nearby lifts with the director next to him.
‘Just here to wish you a safe mission,’ William said as Cole fell in beside Frankie, Gibson Veronica, Kalypso, and Dion. ‘I’ll see you once you’re back.’
Prometheus Vengeance (The New Prometheus Book 4) Page 3