“He’s not the most predictable man,” she said, cutting off my protests. “It’s tonight or never.”
My stomach seemed to drop through the floor and dizziness gripped my head. This had turned too real too quickly and I wanted out, but looking at Pamela and her bruised but healing eye, turning back stopped being an option.
My lips were dry and my throat scratchy, but I said, “Okay, what do I do now?”
She spoke fast and I followed her directions, summoning a car, but not yet setting a final destination. Pamela warned me that Eddie watched all approaching traffic. Any car with his locale as a destination set off an alarm, and she advised covering our tracks by starting out from some place other than the theater. The car arrived and I climbed in.
As I sped through the city, the dead of night made the deserted outer districts dark and foreboding. I tried not to think about what lay ahead, but instead concentrated on Pamela. The car slowed and stopped in front of the Administrative complex. Pamela darted out from the shadows. I opened the door and she scurried in as I sealed up the car behind her. Her wounded eye looked better, but the bruise remained visible.
“I didn’t have a chance to divert the Security drones,” she explained, breathing hard and fast from her sprint. “But I think we’re okay.”
She tapped her slate and the car started up, a destination in an outer district clearly marked on its screen.
I looked behind us at the Administrative complex, which was lit in the colony’s pale yellow streetlights.
“Was that a good idea? Work brings me here all the time. It wouldn’t be very hard to connect—”
She put a finger to my lips.
“It’s one of the busiest places in the city. Day or night a car departing here is unremarkable. Eddie will look at this and think you’re a careful man.” She kissed me quick. “Which you are, but please, you have to trust me.”
I nodded and started to slip an arm around her shoulder, but she gently refused it.
“Not now, we’ve got things to do.”
She gave me a crash course in black-market etiquette, including the sort of prophylactics people got from Eddie. Apparently he made a tidy sum subverting Nocturnia’s efforts at a population boom.
“And not just condoms,” Pamela explained, “medications and drugs too. Eddie, thanks to Forge, can make it all and not one report gets back to Security.”
She paused and then opened her bag. “He’ll do anything to keep his empire, Jason, anything.”
With her small delicate hands she pulled out first one pistol and then another, laying the second on my lap. It was a dense, deadly device that weighed more than I expected.
“Go ahead,” she said. “Pick it up.”
I gave her one look and then turned my attention back to the gun. Slowly, carefully, I gripped it with one hand and lifted it.
“Keep your finger off the trigger.”
With a jerk I pulled my forefinger back.
“The safety’s on,” she said, wearing a faint smile. “But never put your finger on the trigger until you’re ready to shoot.”
I twisted my hand, turning the gun and looking at it from different sides.
“These are use-once-and-recycle,” she said.
“One shot?”
“No, each has 13 rounds, but the gun can’t be reloaded.”
She turned hers over and showed me the underside of the grip.
“See? No magazine.”
I did the same, examining the underside closely. It was a single printed piece. With a finger Pamela nudged the barrel away from her general direction.
“With luck we’ll never fire these.”
I simply nodded, scared and excited at the same time. My life, once boring and predictable, had suddenly turned frightening.
“Afterward, once Forge is set up and running, we’ll recycle them and no one will ever know that they existed.”
Again I could only nod. I searched for a way to fit the pistol into my overcoat pocket, but Pamela shook her head.
“They’ll search you. I told you he’s paranoid.”
“Then how will…”
She smiled. In the passenger compartment’s half-light the expression looked cruel and vicious.
“He’s not paranoid enough. They won’t search me.”
She took the gun back, and put them away in her bag. It took a moment for the plural to penetrate the adrenaline and fear.
“They?”
“Stewart and Phil.” She shrugged. “They don’t come upstairs unless he sends for them. Mostly they’re there to make him look tough and scare people.”
“I’m already plenty scared.”
Pamela leaned over and pulled me into a warm, tight hug.
“Me too, but without you, Jason, I wouldn’t have the courage for this. If it weren’t for you I’d be his slut forever.”
A spark of pride ignited. I thought about Pamela, scared and alone with this brute, and my pride merged with anger. After tonight he’d be the one scared, he’d be the one on the run, and without Forge colonial security would be after Eddie fast.
The car slowed, turned, and then circled a block twice. I peered up at the central building. No light burned in the windows and it eclipsed the stars with a black void.
“That’s not it. He’s ordered the car to do this. He’s watching.”
She pointed to another darkened tower. “In a minute we’ll head over there. Once he’s certain he’s safe.”
“He must have lots of enemies.”
Turning away from Eddie’s tower, she looked at me, a contemplative expression crossing her face.
“None I’ve ever actually heard of. Forge has things pretty well locked down.” She looked toward the tower. “Eddie’s just careful.”
True to her prediction, the car stopped circling and drove directly for Eddie’s tower. A ramp led down to a sheltered door that rolled open as we approached. Soon we were under the tower and once the door closed behind us a small utility light came on, providing dim, shadowy illumination.
This was no vast car storage area like I had seen in so many films. Network-controlled cars made such inefficiencies unnecessary on Nocturnia, where cars zoomed from task to task, only stopping for recharging and maintenance. Pamela and I had entered a loading and unloading area for crowds, like on Founders’ Day when nearly everyone turned up at the park for the holiday. Our doors popped open and I followed her out of the car.
Ahead a faint glow reflected out of a recessed doorway. Pamela strode like a general approaching a checkpoint and I followed close behind. Two large men stood at the door, beefy and well-muscled. Both wore dark blue suits printed to accentuate their broad chests and wide shoulders.
“Hey, Pammy,” one said. “That shiner’s looking better.”
“Phil, Stewart,” she said nodding to each in turn, her tone light and flirty. “Bringing a new customer.”
They looked me over, their faces betraying no emotion other than scorn.
“We have to search him,” Phil said.
“Of course.”
She stepped to one side and added, “But have I ever brought anyone that didn’t pay off?”
Stewart smiled but said nothing, instead stepping in my direction.
Close up, he towered over me. With quick and pretty much bored hands he patted me up one side and down the other; he turned out my pockets, and flipped through a few screens on my slate. He shrugged to Phil and then handed back everything. Neither even hinted at searching Pamela.
She smiled, the kind that usually made my knees turn to water, and nodded toward me. After shoving everything back into my overcoat pockets, I hurried up to her and through the door. It closed behind us with a click.
She put a finger to her lips and I stayed quiet as we walked down a hallway to an elevator. Once inside the lift I figured we must be well-ensconced in the tower’s interior and any lights here wouldn’t be visible to the rest of the colony. I didn’t like the look of Phil and Stewart and I just hoped Pamela was right about another exit.
“Showtime.” Her voice was low and soft.
She opened her bag and pulled out one of the guns, handing it to me. I slid it into my overcoat pocket as the elevator slowed.
My foot started tapping fast on the floor.
It was time to meet Eddie.
* * *
We stepped out of the elevator and into opulence. The walls of several apartment suites had been knocked out and the open space that greeted us felt massive. Gold and silver trim accentuated the lighting and fine art hung on the walls, creating a general impression of beauty and somehow power.
Pamela led me across the floor, her heels clicking in tiny sharp reports against the hard flooring, past several divans and other pieces of furniture that promised decadent luxury. A light floral scent permeated the air. Off to one side I spotted a dining area with a kitchen beyond. Real fruits from tower farms were piled high on the counters. We stopped before an impressive door that was printed with a richly detailed wood grain and purely mechanical locks. She gave me an encouraging smile and then rapped sharply on the door.
A moment passed before a surprisingly jovial voice called, “Come in!”
Pamela reached for the doorknob, gave me a nod and a grim expression and then opened the door. A large office waited on the other side. In the center a rug, fabricated to mimic a freshly skinned tiger, dominated the floor, and beyond loomed a large desk with a massive chair.
The man in the chair seemed sized to fit this expansive space. When he rose he stood more than six feet tall and was well-muscled, with broad shoulders and a barrel chest that tapered sharply. He wore no coat, vest, or tie, but was dressed in a form-fitting pullover shirt and slacks so tight I could imagine him nicknamed ‘Captain Tight-pants’.
Eddie came from behind the desk, reaching out with an equally large hand, and took mine with a too-tight squeeze.
“Why, hello, good to see you.”
He slapped me on the back, but the friendly gesture took on an ominous color when his arm went about my shoulder and he pulled me in, directing me to a chair before his desk. My opinion didn’t matter. Eddie sat me where he wanted me.
“Pammy,” he said in her direction as he circled back to his seat, “you’re always bringing me the best customers.”
With a flirty tone she said, “I aim to please.”
He leered at her, fanning my growing anger, and said, “No one pleases me like you, babe.”
He cocked his head to one side, studying her face. “You should have never—”
“That’s old business.” Her voice held a snap. She nodded toward me. “This is new.”
He turned his attention to me and despite his smile and despite his ‘aw shucks’ manner I sensed a menace coiled under that square face with its slightly bent nose.
“Pammy tells me you have a list of—”
His eyes turned from me to Pamela and widened with surprise. I followed his gaze and Pamela had her pistol out, holding it level and steady.
I jumped up, knocking my chair over, and clumsily pulled my own gun. With the massive desk between us I was already out of Eddie’s reach, but I still took a protective step backward.
“Greedy girl,” he said, in an almost melancholy voice.
“Shut up, Eddie.” She turned to me and nodded to a far door. “Forge is through there.”
I hesitated, looking to her and back to Eddie. “Should he be tied—?”
“Forge first. Disconnect it like I showed you, bag it, and then we’ll deal with Eddie.”
I started toward the door
“That would be a mistake, Pammy. You don’t—”
“Say another word and I’ll shoot you.”
The tone in her voice chilled me and I hesitated, turning back to look.
Smirking yet with a careful tone in his voice Eddie said to me, “She’s a real piece of work, our Pammy.”
Pamela stretched out her arm, the gun’s muzzle steady and level with his chest.
“Get it,” she ordered. “He won’t cause any trouble.”
“No,” Eddie agreed. “That’s coming all by itself.”
I went through the door and found Forge sitting on a desk just as Pamela had described. It presented a display with a few controls on its top, and aside from a power cable only one cord connected it directly to the colonial network. I disconnected the network connection first, switched off the main power, and as I reached for the power cord gunshots rang out.
I dashed into the office; Pamela took a cool step backward as Eddie, up and beside the desk, reached out toward her with one hand, blood spreading across his wide chest. Her gun fired again. A fragment of my mind noted how soft the shot sounded, not what I had expected. Eddie jerked, his face went slack, and then he toppled face-first, bounced off the desk and hit the floor with a dull, wet smack.
Pamela’s eyes turned toward to me and she flew into my arms.
“He came at me,” she sobbed into my ear. “I had to do it.”
I looked down at Eddie on the floor, a pool of blood spreading from the body.
“I didn’t want to,” she continued as I held her, stroking her like a child.
What the hell do we do now?
“We’ve got to get out of here,” I said. “Before anyone comes looking.”
The gunshot was so soft that I doubted anyone outside of the suite heard a thing.
“Is Forge disconnected?”
“Almost.”
I released her and started back toward the other room. She grabbed my hand and pulled my attention to her.
“Not yet. We can use it to get rid of Eddie,” she said.
“You already did that.”
“No, I mean his body. We can’t have anyone finding it. Not while we’re still trying to escape.”
I looked past her to Eddie, face-down and unmoving.
“Forge?”
“Eddie’s done it before,” she explained. “Forge fabricates some sort of enzyme stuff that just dissolves bodies.”
My stomach flipped and threatened to empty itself. She was starting toward the other room when Eddie moaned.
She stopped and we both stared at him. A finger twitched but other than that he didn’t move. I stepped one pace closer and studied him. His back moved as he breathed short shallow breaths. Pamela moved around me and knelt next to Eddie, pointing her gun at his head.
“No!”
I rushed over and grabbed the pistol, pulling it out of line. She fought me for a moment and then let me point the gun harmlessly toward a wall. I tried to look her in the eye, but she stared at Eddie with intense, burning hatred.
I said, “We can’t just kill him.”
“It’s only finishing what we started.”
I managed to walk her a step or two away from Eddie, carefully avoiding the growing pool of blood.
“Defending yourself is one thing,” I explained. “Shooting him in the head, when he’s wounded and helpless, is plain murder.”
“He’s dangerous.” She tore her eyes away from Eddie and looked at me. “You have no idea. If you did, if you knew half the things he’s done, you’d shoot.”
“I hope not.” Again I moved her a bit farther away. “He can’t hurt us. Nothing has changed. We take Forge, we cover our tracks, and he can’t find us.”
Her face turned hard and grim and for a moment I expected her to throw a punch at me, but then she sighed and her shoulders dropped.
“He’s probably going to die anyway.”
She was right. We couldn’t risk calling any of his people for help. Maybe they’d find him in time, maybe they wouldn’t. Either way I wanted to get out of there without becoming a murderer.
“Help me with Forge,” I said and pulled her toward the other room. Pamela had acquiesced but I wouldn’t have bet that her anger had run its course. She gave Eddie one last glare and followed me.
Quickly we disconnected Forge and slipped it into a bag. I was hefting it over one shoulder when an alarm sounded. Pamela, moving faster than me, hurried to the desk and snatched up Eddie’s slate.
She cursed and yelled, “More customers coming!”
Teetering under Forge’s weight, I hurried to her side. The slate announced Phil and Stewart had already cleared new arrivals. A bright red icon flashed as the elevator climbed the building.
“This way.”
Pamela led me through several rooms, including Eddie’s bedroom, a gaudy, tasteless affair. We emerged from the powered and occupied parts of the floor into dark deserted hallways.
“No way can we get to the other elevator,” she said, keeping her voice to a whisper. “So we have to use the stairs. Can you do it?”
I nodded and we were off.
* * *
We used our slates as lights, and even then only switching them on here and there, frightened about possibly drawing attention. The unfinished hallways were a maze of support studs, exposed piping, and wiring without any signage. We made several wrong turns and then doubled back to search for the stairwell. Once we entered an exterior suite and through the darkened window I saw Nocturnia laid out, the bright buildings appearing like some fabled mirage.
I stopped and pulled out my slate. Covering the face with one hand I activated it, casting a faint glow into the hallway.
“We’re never going to find that stairwell.” I kept my voice low, though we had yet to see anyone else. “We have to get to that other elevator.”
Pamela leaned against a post, a shadow in the gloom.
“That’s never going to work. They’ve found Eddie by now and if they’re not searching for us they will be.”
The gun in my pocket seemed to pull down on my overcoat with more force than its weight justified. What if they found us? Would there be a gunfight in the dark? I looked at the unfinished wall and exposed cables dangling behind Pamela.
“Can we hook up Forge?” I asked. “Maybe get a map or some kind of help?”
She turned and followed my gaze, then smiled. “Let’s find a more secluded spot.”
Keeping one slate turned down low and pointed at the floor, we set off again. We found a room where the walls on all sides sheltered us from sight, and quickly slipped inside. I set Forge down, my shoulder aching from the bag’s strap, and Pamela pulled out the device.
I watched closely as she connected a network cable.
“Is there power out here?” I asked.
“Forge has an internal supply, but God knows how long it’s good for.”
“Forge reporting ready.” The almost-natural voice sounded loud in the shadowy room and Pamela hurriedly lowered the volume.
“Establish a connection,” she ordered.
“A fully operative interface requires independent power and 4,357 seconds to establish,” Forge replied.
“All we need is a map,” I whispered.
“We don’t need to fake anything right now, Forge. Just establish a standard connection.”
“Security directives forbid direct connections that are not fully operative.”
Pamela’s voice turned hard and unforgiving. “Forge, we need that connection.”
“Security directives forbid direct connections that are not fully operative.”
She turned to me. “This is no good.”
I started to answer when the soft sound of footsteps echoed through the hallway. I moved to the door and waved for Pamela to switch off her slate. I turned off my own and then pulled the door open an inch.
Light reflected off a wall at a junction in the hallway and voices joined the footsteps. The light grew brighter and the footsteps louder. Stewart and Phil turned the corner. Phil carried a light and a pistol, while Stewart had only a gun. They stopped at the intersection, flashing their light down the corridor. I threw myself back from the door, certain they’d seen me. Our room was dark save for the very faint light coming from Forge’s main display.
Moving an ear to the barely open door, I listened. Their voices were low and indistinct, making it impossible for me to understand anything. The footsteps grew louder and the flashlight’s beam jumped about in wild arcs.
“Nothing down here,” Stewart said.
“They had this planned. They’re long gone.”
The footsteps stopped and now their voices sounded clear and strong. In the dim light from Forge’s main display Pamela’s face looked lean, mean, and feral. She crouched next to the device, one hand gripping her pistol.
“They didn’t take the elevator,” Stewart argued.
“If she took Forge, you think she couldn’t hack the elevators?”
I listened as they turned around and their footsteps receded. I waited several moments, blood rushing in my ears and my heart pounding in my chest. Finally I moved over to Pamela.
“It sounds like they left.”
Her gun hand didn’t relax as she continued gripping the pistol tight. I put a hand on hers and gently lowered the pistol.
“It’s okay,” I said. “They’ve left.”
I looked down at Forge. “They think you’ve hacked the elevators.”
“I did, but only the back one.” She put the pistol away. “He didn’t say he had more customers, the idiot!”
“I take it we can’t get to that elevator?”
She shook her head, her black hair nearly invisible in the faint light. “We can’t go back into Eddie’s apartment. Not now.”
“So we still need to find those stairs. And you’ve never taken them?”
“Ten flights? Hardly.”
We fell silent and the seconds passed without any more signs of searching. Pamela was reaching for Forge’s controls when an idea blossomed. I touched her hand, keeping Forge powered a bit longer.
“Maybe Forge doesn’t need a connection to help us. See if it has a building map stored locally.”
She checked and a few moments later we had a full map in our slates. We de-powered Forge and packed it back into the bag.
“Next time we pull a heist let’s get that map first,” I said as I shouldered the bag. Despite the attempt at humor my stomach remained in a tight cramp and my heart was beating fast and strong.
Pamela took the lead and we left the room. This time finding the stairs presented no trouble; in fact we had passed that unmarked door at least twice. With the door closed behind us, we both switched our slates to full illumination and began a downstairs march.
Ten flights of stairs carrying at least 25 pounds quickly tired me. We slowed as my gait became unstable and I used the railing, afraid of tumbling. Neither of us spoke. I don’t think our silence was from fear of discovery. The terrible memory of murder made me mute. In every shadow I saw Eddie with his ruined chest covered in blood.
I had never seen anyone die, and certainly not murdered. When the Administration found him what would they do? I assumed that with Forge’s help Eddie had vanished from the colonial databases, becoming an invisible man. I imagined panic would run through Security. Not only had an invisible man existed but their utter ignorance of his existence could only terrify the government. Trouble was coming for everyone. For Pamela and me only Forge provided safety.
My calves screamed with pain. I was leaning heavily on the rail, barely able to walk, when we reached the ground floor. Pamela held one finger up and I stayed quiet while she opened the door. The night air, still carrying a hint of the far-off bay, blew in, cooling me with an almost sensual delight. She nodded, then left, and I hobbled after her.
Outside stars filled the sky except where Companion’s massive bulk presented its dim glowing sphere. We switched off our slates and moved along the street guided only by Companion’s light. Pamela knew where she wanted to go and we hurried along until we had crossed an intersection and followed a ramp down into another decommissioned loading area. A small door was unlocked and we entered.
Inside several lights burned bright and my eyes watered in the sudden brilliance. Pamela stopped short and I nearly ran into her.
“Shit!”
She turned and looked around the loading bay, but I couldn’t see what she was searching for.
“What is it?”
“Eddie’s car.”
She stalked over to one spot and threw up her hands in frustration. “He keeps one right here, for emergencies.”
Looking down at the spot where the car was supposed to be, she fell silent and squatted down. She touched the hard surface and brought up a bloody finger.
“They’ve taken him.” She looked at me hard. “If he were dead they wouldn’t have done that.”
“Well, we’re not going to become murderers, Pammy.”
She stood, pulling herself up to her full height. “Don’t ever call me that.”
“Sorry,” I muttered, ashamed at throwing Eddie and his abuse into her face. “Let’s figure a way out of this.”
She nodded and came back close to me.
“We can’t take the streets,” she said, sitting on the ground. I set down the bag and joined her. My legs trembled and quaked in relief. Pain, like a thousand slender daggers, probed my muscles. I breathed heavily, scared, tired, and confused.
Pamela turned my attention to the business at hand.
“There are no drone patrols around this building but, thanks to Forge, Security thinks there are. If we go more than a few blocks we’d be in danger of getting spotted.”
I nodded but said nothing. We couldn’t stay here. Maybe in the morning Pamela wouldn’t be reported missing, but I would be, and in Nocturnia few people went missing. Unless I showed up there’d be trouble.
She moved close to me and snuggled under my arm.
“I’m sorry for snapping,” she said. “This is too much for me.”
We sat illuminated by the one light, the bag with Forge just behind me, Pamela in my arms, feeling trapped. If only we had some place to hide for a couple of hours with power and network connections. My apartment had both but it was too far away. Eddie’s place was just a block away but I doubted we’d get a friendly reception. The rest of the district, unfinished and unpopulated, presented us with places to hide, but if we breached a building that would only bring Security down on our heads.
“Maybe we could sneak back into Eddie’s tower and hide out on another floor, then connect Forge and when it’s fully operative secure transportation?”
Pamela shook her head. “The only floor with working power is Eddie’s.”
“It makes sense.”
Of course Eddie wouldn’t have powered up the entire building. Covering that much usage would have just made Forge’s task that much harder, not to mention with so much of the building unfinished there would be a lot of physical work involved just wiring the power. A thought tickled at the back of my mind. Something about the wiring, but I couldn’t make it appear.
I stood up. The short rest had helped but I quickly sat back down, my legs protesting the exertion. Wiring, the answer was in the wiring, I knew it. The solution popped into my head and with it adrenaline that banished my fatigue.
“Eddie can cover tracks in the network, but to get his little headquarters set up he had to physically get the power connected, from the main trunk line.”
She nodded, following along.
“He couldn’t have done it with Security watching, so that means the main lines running his building have had their monitors hacked. If we can get down there, Forge would have everything it needs, time, power, and network access.”
We hugged and kissed longer than was advisable, then I scooped up the bag and we headed back toward the street. Staying close to the shadows, we moved down the block, back toward Eddie’s tower. Pain ran through my calves, but hope and excitement pushed me onward.
“How many people does Eddie have in there?” I kept my voice to a whisper.
“Not a lot. Most of the people working for him live in the city center.”
The building and driveway ramp to the loading area looked dark. We stood there, our backs against the neighboring tower, working up our courage to go back into Eddie’s den. Time was not on our side. We had the building map from Forge and I had already located the main trunk access in the basement, but how long would it take to get there and how long to find the right place to plug in and connect? I didn’t know any of the answers and this night wouldn’t last. Finally I took her hand in mine and we dashed across the street.
Pamela used her slate to light our way as we hurried down the ramp. All the lights were out. We found the door and pushed it open. Evidently in their hurry to get Eddie to a doctor they hadn’t bothered to lock up.
Once we were inside I consulted the map and headed toward a basement stairwell. If the access there was locked I could only hope that between the two of us we might be able to break it down. The building seemed silent and dead as we hurried along the hallways and I couldn’t help but wonder – just where had they taken Eddie? If he showed up at a hospital that would also blow open the entire ‘invisible man’ issue, but I imagined given the choice between dying and being exposed, Eddie wanted to live.
I was surprised that the basement door was unsecured. No matter the reason it was a godsend to us that night. It didn’t take long to find the main trunk hatch, but it did take the both of us to lift it. Once we did a ladder descended into a tunnel filled with cables and piping. I went first and Pamela lowered the bag to me before she followed. We wasted another 25 minutes searching for a network access nodule and only then were we able to connect Forge.
* * *
Few lamps lit the tunnel, leaving us to sit in gloom and shadow as we waited. In the dark, in the silence, my mind replayed the evening’s horrific events: Eddie flinching with each bullet, falling to the floor, blood splattering everywhere. He had been an evil man who had forced Pamela into sexual slavery, but still each bullet strike, each fountain of blood provoked sympathy. I tried to tell myself he had brought this down upon himself, and he deserved it, but murder, even in self-defense, came with terrible guilt.
In the shadow and darkness Pamela’s face looked long, thin, and gaunt. With her eyes unfocused, she sat absorbed in her thoughts. My guilt increased. I had only watched the shooting, while Pamela now had to live having killed him. I slid over to her and put an arm around her shoulders. She tensed and I almost pulled away, but then she relaxed and nestled against me. We said nothing. There seemed to be no words for the moment, so we waited in silence.
In that deserted tunnel the hour and a half seemed like days but finally Forge signaled its readiness. Pamela started to summon a car, but I put a hand on hers.
“Wait.”
Her head snapped in my direction and fierce anger burned in her eyes.
“I’ve waited down here long enough.” Her voice cracked and she shot hard angry stares at me.
“They –” I gestured to the tower above us, “– may have come back. I don’t think we should go back up the way we came. Have Forge get us a car, but several blocks away, and make sure we’re not seen.”
She smiled, but much of her body remained taut, her muscles tense.
“You’re right.” She brushed her long hair from her face and added, “I’m not very good at this.”
“Neither of us is, but together we’ll do okay.”
She finished making arrangements for a car, obtained a map of the main trunk tunnels, and had Forge unlock a nearby access. Once everything was in place we disconnected Forge, bagged it up, and I slung it over my shoulder. My legs shook and nearly buckled. Pamela slipped under my arm and supported me like a crutch. Following the map, in about 20 minutes we reached the access, a recessed doorway located on a smaller side tunnel.
I tested the door and it opened easily. We stepped out into a drainage channel, climbed a set of steps, and emerged onto a deserted street where a car waited. The door popped open as we approached and with my muscles trembling from exhaustion and stress, I collapsed into the seat. Pamela shoved and helped me across until she could climb in. The door sealed behind her.
She fell heavily into my arms. I held her as tight as my exhaustion allowed, trying to soothe away her fears, but she quivered all the way to the theater. Finally away from the deserted outer district, finally back in familiar surroundings, finally safe, we fell into bed together and, fully clothed, slept.