SEVENTEEN

 

Geneva, Switzerland

 

It took a few seconds for Carter to realize that the car had stopped rolling, and another few for her to recognize that she was upright.

Unhurt? That was debatable.

She looked over and saw Fallon, dazed but also uninjured.

“Hey!” she said. “Still with me?”

He mumbled something incoherent.

She tried the door, but it was jammed shut, so she wriggled through the hole where the side window had been. The Aston Martin had come to rest on a grassy patch alongside the road. A crowd of onlookers had gathered, but no one approached. Carter heard sirens in the distance, then a different noise, a high-pitched whine, growing louder.

It was another Stork drone, flying over the road, heading right for them.

She stuck her head inside the car. “Come on. We need to go.”

“Go?” Tanaka asked, as he crawled from the back seat, still clutching his tablet computer. “Go where?”

“Does it matter?” She pointed to the tablet. “Leave that.”

He held it closer, as if fearful that she might try to take it away from him. “I need it to access the satellite.”

“The hacker is using it to track us.” She glanced up at the incoming drone. It wasn’t moving very fast, but it would be on them in a few seconds. “That’s the only reason he didn’t shut you out completely. No electronics.” She tossed her phone aside. “Either leave it behind or stay here with it.”

“She’s right, Ishiro.” Fallon had extricated himself on the opposite side and was circling around the wreck. “We’ll get a clean computer. Leave it.”

Tanaka scowled, but threw the tablet through the open window, into the car, without further protest.

Carter spun on her heel—a mistake, as the abrupt movement sent a throb of pain through her upper torso—and then she ran for the tree line. Fallon and Tanaka followed close behind. As expected, the drone appeared to be homing in on the car or something in it, and just before the three fleeing figures ducked into the woods, the flying robot slammed into the car behind them.

The trees marked the boundary of an urban park, with paths and trails, allowing them to slow to a more discreet walking pace. Carter recognized the place as the Conservatory and Botanical Gardens of Geneva, a repository of rare plant species from all over the world. It was the sort of place in which she might have lost herself under better circumstances, both as a biologist and as a tourist. Unfortunately, there was no time to enjoy the beautiful surroundings. While there was no sign of further pursuit from rogue machines, Carter knew it was only a matter of time before the local authorities started looking for the trio who had fled the accident’s scene. No doubt at least a few of the witnesses had captured their likenesses on video.

“We need to keep moving,” she said.

“And go where?” Fallon shot back.

“You mentioned a radio telescope in France. If we could get there, we could build a new transmitter and shut the Black Knight down, right?”

Tanaka shook his head. “We may have only a few hours before another solar event begins. I don’t see how we could get there in time.”

“It might as well be on the moon,” Fallon added. “Tomorrowland is still our best chance. We need to regain control of the network.”

Carter sighed. “All right. I might be able to help with that.”

She found a pay phone outside the small restaurant at the center of the park, and placed a collect call to Cerberus Group headquarters.

A few seconds later, she heard Dourado’s overjoyed voice. “Thank God, you’re safe.”

“I’m not sure ‘safe’ is the right word.”

“Just hang on. Erik is on his way to meet you.”

“Erik?” Carter’s heart skipped a beat. “You’ve heard from them?”

As Dourado brought her up to date, Carter felt some of her anxiety about the situation slipping away. She wasn’t alone anymore. Her friends were safe, and Lazarus was on his way to help her, while the rest of the team was headed to the Sinai Peninsula.

She wasn’t sure what to make of their working theory about the sun chariot of Helios. That it sounded crazy didn’t faze her. She had seen a lot of crazy things, particularly since coming to work for the Cerberus Group. As she saw it, the real problem was time. Finding the sun chariot, if it still existed at all, might take days. Weeks, even. If Tanaka was right, they might have only hours.

“Erik just left Istanbul,” Dourado went on. “He should be there soon. I’ll arrange a safe house and hire a car to pick you up.”

“Cintia, that’s great, but right now, there’s not a whole lot Erik can do to help.” She hated saying it, but it was true. There wasn’t anyone she’d rather have by her side against a human foe, or even a mutant hybrid monster, but his physical strength wouldn’t be much use against robots and hijacked computer networks.

“What do you need?”

“I’m glad you asked.” Carter grimaced, feeling even worse about what she was about to say next. “How would you like to meet your hero?”