| |
There was no time to argue. I slipped the field suit over my clothes and shrugged on the poncho. The militia model, fitted with side vents and a large front pouch, made it easy to conceal both the MBL and retracted naginata, while providing me with easy access when I needed them. It also covered the telltale hole with scorched edges over one chest pocket on the field jumpsuit. The only thing missing from my new ensemble was a wristlet. I'd noticed that Jo and Kim were wearing them. "You wouldn't happen to have an extra one of those, would you?" I asked Jo, hoping I wouldn't have to scavenge one from a corpse.
"Take this one. Umeji won't be needing it any time soon." Tetsuo fished one out of the pocket of his fatigues.
Black strap, cracked face: where had I seen that before? It seemed some things just never changed. "What's his access code I?" scowled at the buttons that studded the sides of its green monitor.
"I nullified it, so you're good to go."
Outside, freight-shifters began to purr and then, another engine roared to life. As I turned, Kim coasted into view on a large TerraCycle. Though the sight of its mud-splattered chassis produced twinges of envy, this model, much like the one I'd found on my first night away from New Edo, would have proved far too unwieldy for me to handle. I missed the one I'd ridden to Sawagi. It'd taken some getting used to, but once I did, I loved the roar of its motor, the wind in my hair, and the feeling of utter freedom it conveyed. A TerraCycle could push through places that were too tight for either freight-shifters and fighter pods, and could outrun even the fastest Kufugaki. One of those would be my reward for finishing Mazawa, I promised myself.
Jo pulled a carton out from beneath the stairs and hefted it carefully. "All set, Tetsuo."
"Once you're in, just give the signal and we'll light it up from outside."
"I want to find Juno and Ito first," said Jo.
"Let me worry about them. You just concentrate on finding Mazawa. Come on you two, pull it in." He opened his arms. "All together now: Shori! Shori! Shori!"
Kim soon joined our huddle, adding his voice to our battle cry. Even the Sweepers Eki and Kentaro chimed in, until the rafters shook with the clamoring of a single repeated word: Victory! Victory! Victory!
After a final group bear hug, Tetsuo set out for his ship. As Jo and I squeezed into the cab of the second freight-shifter, he handed me the carton with strict instructions to place it between my feet to keep it from jostling about—and under no circumstances open it.
"This wouldn't be the leftover NX-7, by any chance?"
"Mm-hmm...a nasty surprise for some overly curious soldier. For now, let's call it Phase Two of Operation Infiltration."
Great. I go to sleep for a few hours and he leaves camp, takes down a Sweeper Team, changes our attack plan, and even gives it a name. It made me wonder what else he and the others had cooked up on their unscheduled, boys' night out. "Are you sure you know how to pilot one of these things? I could always—"
"They haven't changed much since my enlistment days," he said with a chuckle. "Besides, I've been practicing."
"All right, we're on a tight schedule. Let's see how fast these babies can cruise over ground," Kim called to the Sweepers. After Jo's signal, with Kim scouting in the lead and thunder rumbling at our backs, we headed out.
For someone who hadn't driven anything in over two decades, Jo's navigational skills still left mine in the dust. When the street ended in a deep crater, we glided across its wide maw without a hitch; when our path stretched into a forest, he easily traversed its obstacle course of thorny saplings and boulders; and once we hit open ground, he coaxed the cumbersome vehicle into a pace so smooth and rapid, the swish the grass parting around us sounded like waves. Of course, he wasn't piloting in the dead of night with a pair of uncooperative dead bodies aboard. His cargo, covered and lashed down tight, never budged. Even when the skies opened with a vengeance, flinging rock-sized hailstones and juddering our transport with deafening thunderclaps, the storm didn't seem to deter him.
By the time we caught up to the Kufugaki, torrential rain had replaced the hail barrage, along with an unrelenting humidity. While lowering the small side vents that served as windows helped clear the fog from the cab's interior, the spray of angry droplets doing so allowed inside hardly made it worthwhile. Rain sluiced over the cab, rendering everything outside a bleary wavering mass.
When Kim waved us around their bedraggled, blank-faced numbers, I felt sorry for those mud-soaked men and women. The only one wearing protective clothing of any kind was the lead soldier, the one wearing Jo's old coat. The others, barefoot and clad only in thin shirts and pants were at the mercy of the elements.
Jo must've been thinking the same thing. As we passed the Kufugaki, I saw his grip tighten on the freight-shifter's steering mechanism. He hadn't been very chatty since we'd left the village; I still didn't know what we were going to do, once we were inside the holodome.
No time like the present.
"How is 'Operation Infiltration' going to work without Umeji? Mazawa expects him to deliver the Idoron. You could've just told him that you'd intercepted a Shinu and were holding him for further questioning."
"We considered it, but decided that posing as soldiers was the best way to catch him off guard."
"And when they demand to see our identification, what then?"
"I doubt that will happen, especially since we're already late for an operation. They'll probably rush us through, so we can restock. It wouldn't surprise me if fresh transports and supplies weren't already waiting for us."
Some plan. I slumped back against the seat. "If we posed as scientists—ecologists with samples—their hazmat suits would be a much better disguise," I began.
"Ultimately, no." Jo turned to me. "Don't you think we interrogated these guys after their dusting, Renata? Even with their hazmat suits and respirators, those workers still have to undergo ID verification, as well as decontamination, after every collection."
"Did the ones you dusted have any idea where Mazawa might be holding Juno and Ito?"
"The question drew a blank, at first. The operatives have very little contact with the holodome when executing their field duties. Their best guesses were either the quarantine rooms in something called the Saisei Detention Center or one of the nearby lab complexes. The upper floors are off limits to all but the highest-ranking scientific officials, but the lowest level is a warehouse. It's where they go to replenish all their field supplies. According to them, it's one of the largest buildings in New Edo—"
"The Spire Lab. Kei said that Mazawa had repurposed it," I said, lips twisting in disgust. I peered out at our miniature horde of Kufugaki. Only Mazawa would turn a disease research facility into a manufacturing center for poisons and mind-altering chemicals. There were probably entire floors dedicated to viral mutations, psyche scrambler permutations and gods only knew what else! Of course, trials for all of those sick creations of his would require test subjects. Human ones. Animals or pure theory wouldn't be enough for the deranged bastard. I cast my thoughts back to Noriko and her horse-faced companion, all those poor, deluded women who'd unknowingly sacrificed their unborn and themselves to fulfil Mazawa’s dark vision, his insatiable desire for ultimate power.
"When he’s not at home, they said Mazawa spends most of his time there," Jo said. "It shouldn't be hard to find; but first, however, we have to get inside."
We rode in silence until we'd reached the crest of a hill. Here, our caravan parted company with the Kufugaki, the soldier leading them down to hill and to the south, while Kim rode alongside the lead freight-shifter.
"Are you sure the NX-7 will last in this rain?"
"Its effects last up to twelve hours," Jo said. "Monsoon, snow, rain of toads: whatever the sky throws at us, we'll be fine."
After conversing with Eki and Kentaro, Kim fell back to speak with Jo. "They're taking us in through something called the Matsudo Corridor. It's a paralaunch on the eastern side of the holodome near the tsunami gates."
"How many guards are there?" I asked.
"Not many. At this time of year, Mazawa's forces are always spread pretty thin."
"Excellent!" Grinning, Jo wiped the fog from the windshield. "By the time they realize what's happening, it'll be too late."
Dark hulks reared through the rain and mist. Massive objects that towered over the ragged Kufugaki and studded the landscape like black metallic skeletons. When I saw them, every hair on my nape prickled, my heart skipped a beat, and my palms started to itch.
We'd reached New Edo's Solar Fields.