“Rami, I swear to God I’ll—”
Rami mutes Cherry’s comm connection. The silence is somehow louder than Cherry’s cursing. “I’ll unmute her in a minute once she gets that out of her system.”
I’m torn, but the only other option is to keep shooting our way through guards and waste time we don’t have. “Give Rami a boost,” I tell Rock.
Rock scoops Rami into his massive arms and hauls them up to stand on his shoulders. “Keep heading for the door,” they say, looking down at me with worry in their eyes. “I’ll clear as many of them out of your way as I can. Sasha…”
I give what I hope is a reassuring nod. “It’s okay, Rami. We’ll be fine. Be careful.”
Rami takes a shaking breath, then scrambles up into the ventilation shaft. Once they disappear from sight, my comm crackles to life. “I’m in. Heading for the hub now.”
“Stay in contact,” I say, starting down the hall again at a fast clip.
Rami laughs. “No Code 900 this time?”
“Why? They already know we’re here.”
Doc snorts, but Elena doesn’t even seem to hear me. She’s a quivering like a pointer on a scent. Once we take the next bend, Rami’s voice filters through the comm again, little more than a whisper. “I’m in. One guard up here…” There’s a thud, then the sound of something heavy hitting the floor. “Make that zero guards. Okay, what’s your name? Hmm.”
There’s another pause, and then a loud male voice comes over the speaker: “This is Security Chief Stanley. Breach in Sector One. I repeat, we have a security breach in Sector One. All available squads report immediately.”
I hear the sound of drumming boots nearby, but they seem to be growing fainter. My suspicions are confirmed when Val says, “There are no more heat signatures ahead, and Rami has opened the next door. You are clear to proceed.”
We all break into a run.
“Thanks, Rami,” I pant. “Can you make it back to us?”
“Sure thing. Let me…” I hear the whirring sound of a haptic interface, and then the shrill buzzing of an alarm. “Oh no.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I…I think I’m stuck in here.”
I stop short and turn around. “We’re coming back.”
“Don’t. Megan planned it this way. She knew I’d sneak in here and get trapped. That bitch.”
I do a double take. It’s the first time Rami’s sworn since I can remember. “Find a place to hide and hunker down, okay?” I wait for a response, but there isn’t one. “Rami?” Still nothing. “Come in, Rami.”
“Something is blocking all remote comm links,” Val says. “I am unable to connect to Rami’s frequency.”
“What about Cherry?
“I am unable to reach her as well.”
“Shit.” My chest clenches.
“Sasha,” Elena says with rising volume. Her eyes dart frantically between me and the hall. “It’s forward or nothing.”
I know she’s right. I just don’t want to admit it.
It takes all the willpower I have to move. My legs don’t want to obey. This is something I have little to no experience with. We occasionally split up on purpose, but in all the missions I’ve run, all the ops I’ve completed, I’ve never had to leave a crewmember behind in an unknown situation. I’m always the first one into every new room and the last one out the door. The one making sure everybody on my crew makes it through safe. This feels all wrong.
They’re doing their jobs, Sasha. Because they love you. You’ve died for them, and they’re willing to die for you too.
But…I don’t want them to die. It’s my job to make sure they don’t die.
Not your call. You either take the time they’re buying and hurry, or you waste it and lose everything.
I can’t keep arguing with myself, because we arrive at the door leading into the third ring. Thanks to Rami, the pressure pad is already green. I pop a fresh magazine into my rifle, then open it. An ocean of light washes out to greet me, and I squint until the dimmer mods in my eyes kick in
When they do, my blood freezes. The glare is coming from a pair of enormous yellow eyes—eyes that are attached to a ten-meter tall mech with arms the size of a person. I take a step back, but it’s too late. The room gets even brighter as, one by one, a dozen more pairs of yellow lights blink on.
Friday, 06-18-65 20:57:02
“SHIT SHIT SHIT!”
ELENA fires her LightningBolt, but the rounds bounce harmlessly off the mech’s chestplate. Damn. Not only is it enormous, it’s plasma resistant too, all thick metal plating and studded greaves. Inside its built-in VIS-R, its scanners rake across us like tongues of flame. The giant mech raises its right arm, and a red glow begins to build at the other end of a long barrel, like something trying to charge. It’s not just a minigun. It’s a giant cannon.
I look for cover, but the only protection nearby is a large stack of metal crates, four high and two deep. It’ll have to do. I dive for them, with the others right on my heels. Behind us, the door hisses shut.
“Val, can you open it?”
A pause, and then, “I cannot. Someone has just removed me from the wireless security network.”
Damn it. Megan again.
“Sasha?” Doc says, her voice rising with fear.
“Look,” Elena says, pointing at the opposite side of the room. There’s an elevator at the far wall, but our path is blocked by a dozen other mechs. They’re smaller than the giant, each about three meters tall, but that’s little comfort as they open fire with their miniguns. The tower of crates weakens under the assault, bits of shrapnel flying everywhere. They’ve blasted through the front half of our cover, and the second row of crates won’t last much longer.
I look for a safer location, but a flash of red blots out my vision. The rattle of gunfire is swallowed by a loud, high-pitched whir. The giant cannon has finished charging. I drop to the ground, throwing my arms over my head. A loud boom shakes the room, and then, suddenly, everything goes silent. When I risk looking up, the rest of the crates are demolished, and there’s a smoking crater two meters deep in the wall behind us.
For a second, I think I’m dead, but we’ve held out just long enough. The noise fades as the smaller mechs stop shooting to cool down their miniguns. But that doesn’t prevent them from lumbering toward us. I whip around, searching desperately for fresh cover. Aside from more crates, there isn’t much. All I can see are a few flimsy-looking workstations and raised one-person platforms, probably used to service the mechs. There’s nothing that’ll hold against the mechs’ barrage for long, let alone the cannon.
“Rock!”
I hear Doc scream and whip my head around. Rock has charged forward and grabbed the mech’s cannon, tilting it up toward the ceiling. The red light pulses as the mech fires again, sending concrete dust showering down on us. Rock jerks the mech’s arm, trying to rip it off, but it’s not giving. Strong as he is, he can’t tear through solid titanium.
The crates seem to be our best option. I retreat behind the nearest stack, firing my rifle to buy Doc and Elena some time to follow me. My rounds barely dent the mechs’ armor. They continue marching toward us, while Rock does battle with their big brother. It’s pushing him back inch by inch, firing booming shots over his shoulder that leave more craters in the wall. My ears ring with the force, and my vision wavers.
I try to calm down and think, but everything’s static in my head. I look toward Rock, trying to think of a plan to help him, but the smaller mechs start firing again. I pull back behind the crates, but not quite fast enough. The edge of a round clips my shoulder, just outside the protection of my tactical vest. Something hot and wet leaks down my arm, seeping through my sleeve.
“Doc,” Elena shouts, crouching by my side. “I need a NervPac over here. Sasha’s hit.”
Doc reaches into her bag and pulls out a fresh patch, tearing my shredded sleeve away to slap it on my arm. “Hold it together, Sasha. We gotta save Rock!”
Doc’s blue eyes widen with excitement behind her VIS-R. “Sasha, I have biogrenades!”
“They don’t work on tech,” Elena says.
“They will if we paint our targets first,” Doc says, glancing at my arm.
That’s when it clicks. “Will that actually work?”
“Yes,” Val says through the comm. She’d been keeping quiet before, just highlighting targets on my VIS-R, but now she offers an opinion. “Once they are thrown, biogrenades explode upon contact with the first organic matter they touch. Blood is organic matter.” She hesitates. “But so are all of you.”
I know what I have to do. “You throw,” I tell Doc and Elena. “Just give me enough time to get out of the way first.” I rip the NervPac off my wound before it stops the bleeding, slinging my rifle across my back. Then I wait, praying the miniguns will overheat again before the last of the crates are in pieces.
When the rattle of gunfire stops, I seize my chance. I burst out from behind the remnants of our cover, sprinting toward the mechs at full speed. They point their arms at me, but the guns are still glowing red-hot, and nothing comes out of the barrels.
“I am highlighting a target for you, Sasha,” Val says in my ear. “If it explodes, it will cause significant collateral damage.” She links back up with my VIS-R’s targeting system, and one of the mechs flashes yellow. I sprint right at the mech she’s highlighted, gritting my teeth and praying I’ll make it before the rest of them shoot me full of holes.
Once I’m close enough, I slap my palm against its plating, smearing a red handprint onto its midsection. “Doc, go!”
“Throwing!” Doc hollers.
I dive out of the way and hit the ground in a roll, stopping behind one of the repair station platforms. I hear a boom, and then the screech of metal being ripped apart and risk a glance over my shoulder. Doc’s biogrenades have blown the mech and two others nearby into a bunch of twisted shrapnel.
“Over here!” Elena shouts from somewhere to my right. She’s left Doc behind, sprinting around to slap mechs with a bloodied left hand. Stubborn idiot. She must have cut it herself. More blinking blue orbs fly through the air, sticking to the blood on the mechs’ bodies. They explode on contact, sending bits and pieces of wire and metal in every direction.
“Sasha,” Doc yells from cover, “get to Rock!”
Rock is off to my left with his back braced to the wall. His muscles are stretched taut like steel cables and steam hisses from his massive arms and legs. But the mech is still firing over his shoulder, and the steel behind him is burnt an ashy black.
I run at full speed, slapping the giant mech’s leg with my bloody hand. Its head does a 180-degree turn, and its face screen flashes. Rock falters just a little, and the mech finally manages to wrench its arm free from his grip. It swivels its giant body, leveling its cannon straight at me.
“Duck!”
I hit the deck as more flashing blue biogrenades fly through the air, barely missing my head. They stick to the mech’s plating, and I curl into a protective ball.
The explosion shakes the entire room. A loud metallic groan drowns out everything else, then dissolves into a crackling, fizzy hiss. When I open my eyes, the giant mech is in pieces. I feel a momentary swell of triumph, but then Doc streaks past me in a blur, shouting Rock’s name. As I clamber to my feet, my stomach drops.
Rock is lying on the ground, surrounded by the mech’s sparking remains and a spreading pool of blood. His skin has been burned off in multiple places, showing the mechanics underneath, but that’s not what terrifies me. A huge piece of shrapnel is embedded in the wall behind him, and on the floor underneath is Rock’s arm, completely severed from his body. This looks bad. Really bad.
Doc crouches beside him, pulling NervPacs and StimPacs out of her bag. “Rock, stay with me. Stay with me, okay? I’m gonna stop the bleeding.”
Rock’s blue eyes are open but glassy, staring at nothing in particular. He struggles to focus on our faces, but after another second, they slip shut. My throat closes up, and my own eyes water.
I put my hand on Doc’s shoulder, but she jerks away. “Go, Sasha,” she says without looking back at me. Her voice is tight, but she’s trying her hardest to sound calm. “The mech was Rock’s. This is…this one’s mine.”
Somehow, Megan planned this. I’m sure of it. Doc’s only real weapons are her sniper rifle and biogrenades. Sealed in a room with a bunch of mechs, without Cherry or Rami to help, and with Rock’s life in danger, she would have been forced to find a way to use them. It would be easy for one of us to get hit by mistake, or get caught in an explosion.
“This isn’t your fault,” I tell her, but Doc doesn’t respond. She’s in medic mode, applying a tourniquet to the stump where Rock’s arm used to be. The blood pooling beneath him has slowed, but his giant chest barely moves as he breathes.
“Technically,” Val says softly, “it is my fault. We are here because Megan wishes to obtain my source code. I am the reason Jacobo was kidnapped, Rami and Cherry are gone, and Rock is injured.”
“Shut up, all of you!” Elena’s voice trembles with emotion and her eyes are bright and hard. “This is Megan’s fault, you hear me? It’s that fucking crazy bitch’s fault and no one else’s. And we’re gonna make her pay for it.”
Val doesn’t respond, but somehow, without even seeing her avatar, I sense that her silence is heavy with guilt. We have to go after Megan. I know it’s our only option, but the mere thought of leaving Rock feels like someone ripping my heart straight out of my chest.
“Hang in there, big guy,” I rasp, swallowing around the lump in my throat. “We’ll be back, okay? I promise.”
“We’ll be here,” Doc says. She removes a rolled-up bag from her belt and shakes it out, putting Rock’s severed arm inside and activating the vacuum seal with the press of a button. The bag deflates, molding to the shape of the arm itself, and a thin layer of liquid blue coolant spreads between the layers of extra-strong plastic.
“I know you will. But Doc…if you can’t save him, take this and run.” I remove my brainbox from my pocket and set it by Doc’s knee. She’s busy with the arm, and her hands are covered in blood, but she meets my eyes briefly. “I want you to live, kid. No matter what. Stay alive, and make sure Megan doesn’t get the key.”
Doc bites her lip, then nods and goes back to work on Rock. Hopefully, she’ll listen to me for once. I turn to Elena and catch her swiping her sleeve across her eyes.
“Come on.”
The two of us jog to the elevator, and Elena touches the sensor with her hand, connecting wirelessly before I can stop her. It flashes green a moment later. “Wasn’t locked,” she says, returning to her body almost instantly.
We share a look. Megan must want us to keep going. In her mind, we’re delivering Val up on a platter—without backup. With four of our other crewmembers missing or trapped or injured or…no. Rock isn’t dead. Neither is Jacobo, but he will be if we don’t move our asses. We take the lift down to the sublevel below. It’s a short ride, and the doors open to reveal an empty corridor. The only exit is another door five meters in front of us. The pressure pad outside is red.
“Val, you still with us?” I ask aloud.
“Yes. I was…grieving.”
Fear shoots through me. “What do you mean?”
“I calculate Rock’s probability of survival at 8.3 percent.”
My stomach lurches. I don’t want to know or think about the odds.
“He’s not dead yet,” Elena says.
“No, he is not. 8.3 percent is a positive number.” Val pauses. “I still cannot regain wireless access to the
intranet system, but the scanners on Sasha’s VIS-R are picking up a living biosignature in the room beyond this door. It is consistent with my records of Jacobo’s profile.”
“When did you profile him?” Elena asks, with some heat.
“I save a profile of every person I interact with, but that is irrelevant to this situation. There are no other organic readings from inside this room or anywhere else. If you plug me in, I will attempt to open the door.”
Elena and I look at each other. I can read her mind through her watery brown eyes. We’ve left Cherry, Rami, and Doc behind, and watched Rock go down. We’re not going to lose another member of our crew. Not if we can help it.
“Not alone you won’t,” Elena says, with her usual frustrating, endearing stubbornness.
I nod. “Not alone.”
“Your physical bodies should be relatively safe. We are clear of the signal interrupters, and there are no potential threats on my scanners.” Even without seeing Val’s avatar, I can tell she’s hesitant. The rest goes unsaid—You will be safe out here. You won’t in there.
I brace myself. “We’re here to get Jacobo back, but I’ll go to hell before I let them take you, Val. You’re one of us.”
“Thank you, Sasha. Please pass me to Elena.”
I hand Elena the box. “Elena, I…” There are hundreds of words unsaid between us, none of them quite right. I want to tell her how afraid I am. How I’m not ready to lose her. How she makes me feel like I’ve found something I didn’t know I was missing. But nothing comes out except, “You ready for this?”
“Yeah.” Elena exhales a slow stream of air. “If I get fried, get Jacobo out of here safe, okay? And the others.”
“I will.” I can’t make that promise, but it’s what Elena needs to hear right now.
Elena plugs Val in behind her ear, then hooks into the port. Just before her eyes go blank, I take her hand in mine and lace our fingers together. I squeeze once, then touch the orange panel with my other palm.
Friday, 06-18-65 21:00:00
NETWORK: AG 21232 . 86734
Lucky 7 Page 26