I watch to make sure they’re really leaving, but Elena’s already heading for the garage. I hurry to catch up. While the others climb into the Eagle, I stare into Elena’s eyes. I know I won’t be able to stop her from getting on the shuttle. She’s half-crazy and wrapped in a wet, bloodstained sheet like some kind of avenging angel, but unless I knock her out and lock her in one of Jento’s closets, she’s going.
“Don’t fuck this up,” I murmur, grasping both of Elena’s shoulders. “Jacobo needs your brain right now, not your feelings. Megan’s light-years faster than you are, and she knows her shit. I’ll do everything I can to give you an edge so you can take her down, but I need you present. Got it?”
Fire flares in Elena’s gaze, but then she takes a shuddering breath and closes her eyes for just a second. “Yeah.” Her voice is raw with pain. “Got it.” She hops into the shuttle and I follow her in, closing the door behind me. A moment later, the Eagle takes off, speeding into the night.
“Rami, got the coordinates?”
“All plugged in, Sasha.”
“What about Val?” Doc asks.
My eyes widen with panic. Last I saw Val, she was still plugged into the terminal.
“Got her,” Cherry says. “Grabbed her on the way out.” She plugs the databox into the Eagle’s console, and Val’s voice filters from the speakers.
“I’m aware of the situation. Estimated time of arrival: forty-seven minutes.”
"Shit," Elena snarls. "Not fast enough. Rami, can’t you give this bird any more juice?"
Rami's sigh is audible from the pilot’s chair. "I'm going as fast as I can while keeping us safe."
"Jacobo isn't safe! Go faster."
I put a steadying hand on Elena’s thigh. Her leg burns my palm through the bedsheet. "Let Rami handle the driving and go get dressed."
Elena glares at me, but sense seems to pierce her fog of anger. She climbs out of her seat, tossing aside the safety harness she didn't bother to fasten. I nod at a storage box bolted to the floor near the weapons rack. Elena opens it, drops the stained sheet, and starts pulling on some fatigues. No one else says anything. They all politely avert their eyes. I deliberately avoid thinking about how the only spares close to Elena’s size are Megan’s.
"So, what's the plan?" Doc asks, with a bit too much bravado in her voice. Her eyes are abnormally wide and her hands are shaking in her lap.
I don't have an answer. We can't plan for a situation we’re walking into blind, and there’s no way Megan hasn’t laid a couple traps. But someone needs to say something, so I speak up with more confidence than I feel. "We go in, get Jacobo, get out as fast as possible. Bringing him home is priority number one. If it comes down to saving him or killing Megan, put him first. Everyone got that?"
Doc and Rock both nod.
Cherry says, "I got you, jefa."
Elena looks over her shoulder at me. She can't force a smile, but she does give me a grateful nod. We spend the rest of the ride in silence. Doc continues fidgeting. Rock stares at nothing, his blocky face set in a scowl. Cherry busies herself by checking her utility belt, making sure the pouches are fully stocked with various explosives and their trigger mechanisms. Rami focuses on piloting the Eagle, and Val doesn't say anything.
Once she’s finished dressing, Elena plops back in the seat next to me, her knee jumping beside mine, fists clenched. When I reach out to touch her hand with one of mine, she doesn't grasp back. She doesn't pull away, either.
It feels like ages before Val says, "Three minutes to arrival."
I look out the window. Everything is dark below us. The sprawling lights of Mexico City are gone, and all I can see is dark, flat water beneath the fuzzy horizon. "Where are we?"
"An unmarked island, somewhere off the coast of southern Mexico." Rami tilts the Eagle’s nose down. If I squint, I can see the faint outline of a beach below us.
"According to my databanks, this is the location of a private Axys Generations artificial intelligence research facility," Val says.
Of course it is. That’s Megan’s area of expertise, after all. "Got anything else? Security level? Guard rotations? An intranet login?"
"I have no further data available at this time." Val sounds disappointed.
"Going ghost." Rami switches on the cloaking shields and circle down toward what should be the shore. On closer inspection, it's a paved landing strip. Glowing safety lights line both sides.
“According to the Eagle’s sensors, we have just crossed an electromagnetic barrier,” Val says. “It pinged my databox and your brainbox, Sasha.”
I scowl. Guess this is Megan’s way of making sure we have the goods with us, even if we have no intention of giving them up. I don’t like the thought of keeping my brainbox on me, but I don’t have much choice. Megan could have more checkpoints set up somewhere around here.
“Sneaky bitch,” Cherry mutters. “See anywhere safe to land, Rami?”
“There are turrets on the fence right below us, but they’re inactive. I suppose Megan doesn’t want to shoot us down before we bring her the keys. Just looking for a somewhat sheltered place to land off-runway so we can conceal the Eagle.”
“Why bother hiding it?” Elena says. "Bitch already knows we’re coming."
“You’re not thinking, Nevares,” I warn her. “The less resistance we encounter, the faster we get to Jacobo.”
Cherry nods in agreement. “Plus, it would be just like her to disable the Eagle so we don't have a way off the island."
Doc shrugs. "That happens, we jack a corp shuttle.”
Elena growls through clenched teeth. "I don't care what the fuck we do as long as we land this thing right now."
Rami touches down to the left of the airstrip, some distance from the ghostly lights of the runway. Before they even shut off the engine, Elena’s up and moving, heading for the doors with her LightningBolt in hand.
I follow her closely so I can mutter in her ear. "Last chance," I tell her, even though I know it's the last thing she wants to hear. "You shouldn’t come along for this. Your head isn't clear enough."
To my surprise, Elena isn't angry when she looks at me. Her brown eyes are burning, but they're full of desperation rather than rage. She’s moved past fury and into fear. "I'm here, okay?" she says, in a voice even I can’t possibly argue with. "So let's do this thing. I've got a fuckton of bullets and only a few minutes to shoot them."
Friday, 06-18-65 20:47:02
A LIGHT RAIN FALLS as we park the Eagle just inside the fence. I blink the droplets away, squinting for a better view. It’s dark enough for my VIS-R’s filters to kick in, but night vision doesn’t offer much new information, just that it’s made of concrete reinforced steel. I’d bet anything that’s what the facility walls are made of, too.
“Look up,” Doc says, gesturing with one hand. “There are the turrets Rami saw. Think she’ll switch them on?”
“No.” I pat the pocket of my tactical vest, where Val’s databox is plugged in and my brainbox is tucked away. “If she tears us to pieces, she risks harming the keys. She’ll have to kill us up close and personal.” And she’ll probably like it that way. She’s not much of a sadist, but she does love feeling superior.
We head for the facility swiftly and silently, with Elena on point against my better judgment. I stay right behind to keep her in check. Rock moderates his long stride to walk beside me, and Cherry and Rami bring up the rear, with Doc sandwiched in the middle. It’s only about a hundred yards, but the air around us is thick and tense. My lungs struggle to breathe it in despite the rapid thundering of my heart.
The building’s walls are slightly thinner than the fence from what I can tell, but made of the same reinforced steel. There are no windows, and there’s no outside lighting either. Everything around us is dark. If I didn’t know better, I’d wonder if the place was abandoned. “See anything, Val?” I ask.
“Yes, Sasha. I have managed to access a local encrypted wireless network. The blueprints
reveal three concentric rings, all on one floor. The point of connection between rings one and two is nearby, but the door from two to three is on the opposite side of the facility. Underneath ring three is a much smaller, reinforced sublevel with a separate intranet security system.”
“That’s where Jacobo and Megan are,” Elena says. “I’d bet anything.”
I don’t disagree with her hunch. “How thick are the walls, Val?”
“Approximately three meters.”
Rami looks at Cherry. “Sorry, babe. I think your cutter will overheat if we try to slice straight through to the middle.”
“Goddamn it,” Cherry grumbles. “I really gotta work on that heat sink.”
“So we work with what we’ve got,” I say. “We use the cutter until it fails, then use the doors.”
“Any clue what’s in the outer rings?” Cherry asks. “My VIS-R won’t show anything.”
Rami shakes their head. “Mine’s jammed too. They must have a radio tower somewhere, because I can’t pick up heat signatures at all.”
“I am able to take readings through the building’s network,” Val says. “Initial alarms disabled—we are hidden from their scanners. There are heat signatures in the first ring, patrolling in groups of seven. There are none within thirty meters of your current location.”
Elena twitches with impatience. “Then let’s go already.”
“Fine.” I nod at Cherry. “Use the cutter. Let’s make it quick and quiet.”
“You got it, jefa.” Cherry fires up the cutter and burns a Rock-sized hole into the wall. The smell of burning plasma fills my nose, and my chest tightens as I squeeze the grip of my rifle. Good thing I’m wearing gloves, because my hands are sweaty and shaking. Just knowing that Megan’s near here gives me the creeps.
Once Cherry’s finished, Rock aims his battering ram of a shoulder at the weak spot. He hits the wall with a grunt, and the chunk of concrete crumbles, giving way to his strength. Sirens begin blaring, and I hear the thud of boots hauling ass toward us.
By the time the first wave of guards reaches the hole, we’re ready for them. The three in front are heavily armored, carrying body shields bigger than they are, but they aren’t expecting Rock. Before they can form a wall, he picks one of them up, swinging him into a second guy and shattering both their shields against the steel.
The third guard decides he isn’t being paid enough to deal with a giant and turns tail, but runs into four more members of his squad bringing up the rear. I have plenty of time to fire at the back of his head while Cherry, Rami, and Elena pick off the others. It’s over in less than twenty seconds.
Elena’s through the hole in a flash, leaping over the massacre so fast that I have to jog to keep up. We enter a curved, narrow hall that stretches in either direction. Two rows of pale ceiling lights give the place an eerie glow, and there are doors off to either side.
“Any other guards coming our way, Val?” I ask.
“The other guards in this ring are remaining in place despite the sirens. I detect more in the facility’s second ring.”
Elena clutches her pistol tighter. “What? Why aren’t they coming?”
“I cannot speculate,” Val says. “Continue left to evade.”
We keep going at a run. The wail of sirens continues, and the hallway grows more and more oppressive, flashing an eerie red every three seconds. Nothing happens until we reach a reinforced steel door with a glowing orange security pad. “The way forward is through this door,” Val says. “The hallway beyond leads to the second ring.”
Doc turns to me. “Are we jacking in or using the cutter again?”
“No jacking until we have to.” If it’s a choice between overheating the cutter and sending Elena in, where she might find Megan waiting for her, I’ll burn through Cherry’s toy first. I’m not sending anyone on my crew except Val into the facility’s intranet system until we have no other choice. “Cut it open, Cherry.”
Cherry aims the plasma cutter at the edge of the door, but as soon as the narrow blue beam makes contact, the walls beside the door and the floor beneath our feet light up with hundreds of crisscrossing red wires. “Oh hell nope,” Cherry says, with a note of alarm in her voice. “This shit is rigged to blow.” The security pad turns red too, and a number flashes on its surface: 00:20:00.
“Guess we found out why the guards let us get to the door,” Doc says. “They were guiding us right into a trap.” Despite her attempt at humor, there’s real fear in her eyes.
“Fuck,” Cherry hisses. “This is for me.”
I look at her in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
Cherry’s face is grim. “Megan. You didn’t think she’d just let us waltz in here, did you? She’s trying to separate us. You know, divide and conquer, all that shit. She knows I can defuse this, but it means my ass is stuck here while I do.”
“We’re almost out of time,” Elena says, looking halfway to panic. “We can’t stay here.”
“Don’t expect you to, chaparrita.” Cherry tosses the plasma cutter to me. “But this son of a bitch is already triggered, so I need to make sure we don’t get blown to high heaven. Go get your hermanito. I’ll catch up.”
“Cherry…” Rami and I say at the same time.
“Vete, jefa. I got this.” Cherry grabs Rami’s shoulders, pulling them in for a short, hard kiss. She brushes a lock of dark hair away from their face, communicating something without words.
“What if more guards come?” Rami says.
Cherry grins, blinking rapidly. “You don’t think I carry all those cherry bombs in my kit just for show, do you? Now let me do my job.” She drops to the floor, studying the wires with a cone of yellow light from her VIS-R.
I don’t want to leave. Cherry will be vulnerable all on her own, but we don’t have much of a choice. I scan the numbers with my VIS-R and they show up in the corner of my eye, ticking down the seconds until the whole place blows.
00:19:13
00:19:12
00:19:11
“Be careful,” I tell Cherry. “Keep us in the loop on your progress.”
“Yeah,” she says without looking at me. Her face is fixed in concentration as she follows the wires with her scanner, sweat glistening around her hairline. “Mess ‘em up, guys.”
I aim the plasma cutter at the edges of the door and press the button. Just as Rami predicted, it gets about halfway through before a few sparks pop in my face. Then the blue light dims out, leaving behind a thin trail of smoke. Damn it. I was hoping it’d hold out a bit longer. “Rock, is the door weak enough for you to get?”
Rock gives the door a push. There’s some resistance, then an awful grating noise as it breaks away from the wall and crashes to the ground. We hurry through, Elena at the front of the pack.
“You really think Cherry can defuse that thing?” Doc asks no one in particular.
Val answers. “Based on the variables I have observed, I calculate her probability of success at 21.07 percent, rounded up. However, there are three heat signatures coming in your direction, and eighteen more beyond at various points along the hall.”
“Shit.” Dealing with that many guards is going to take way longer than nineteen minutes. We need to find the quickest path to the next ring, preferably one that leads us past as few guards as possible? “Which way is the door?”
“To the left, one third of the way around the ring’s circumference, in the direction with more heat signatures.”
We hurry down the curved hall. The lighting is better in this ring, and the sirens are a little fainter. The passage is wider too, big enough for seven security guards in AxysGen uniforms to round the corner in two rows and notice us. The first three put their bodyshields together to form a wall, and the other four duck behind, marching on us in formation.
Rock places himself in front of us, taking the first few shots to his chest without even a flinch. The guards hesitate for a hair of a second, obviously confused that their rounds didn’t w
ork, and that’s all Rock needs. He grabs the middle guard and lifts him off the ground, breaking his neck with a swift snap.
Once their formation’s broken, it’s easy to pick them off. I take out the second shield-bearer with a shot to the top sliver of his head. His shield’s only a few centimeters too low, but it’s enough. Rami vanishes from sight, reappearing behind the last one and firing into the back of his skull. Elena gets off a shot from around Rock’s side, winging an unshielded guard in the gut, but Doc gets the highest numbers. She hits the remaining three with biogrenades, and we all retreat a couple meters while they try to pull the sticky blue orbs off their armor. There’s a muffled splat when they explode. I wince as chunks of gooey pink flesh drip down the walls.
Elena steps through the mess without a hint of squeamishness, leaving bloody bootprints behind. “Fuck, we don’t have time for this! These guys are slowing us down.”
“What about circling back and getting to the door that way?” Rami asks.
“There are several heat signature groupings in that direction as well,” Val informs us. “You would have to engage in more time-consuming and dangerous combat.”
Rami activates their VIS-R again. “There might be another way. See?” I follow their gaze, my own scanner picking up what they’re seeing. Set into the middle of the ceiling is a vent shaft situated between two lights, wide enough for a small person to fit their shoulders through.
Doc squints at it uncertainly. “Rock definitely isn’t fitting through that.”
“He doesn’t have to. I do.”
“This vent is connected to a security hub,” Val says. “If Rami can infiltrate the room successfully, they could access the guards’ comm line and attempt to impersonate their commander.”
“What the fucking shit?” Cherry’s voice crackles over the comm. She’s been quiet up ‘til now, probably concentrating on defusing the bomb, but she sounds pissed. “Rami, don’t you fucking dare.”
“I’ll be fine,” Rami says. “The bomb was for you. This one’s mine.”
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