CHAPTER 19

Unsure of the plan, Kade watched as Amity held out the shotgun and a handful of shells. “Callie, have your shotgun back. Lexi, give me my pistol.” The weapons were exchanged, and Callie stashed the shells into a small pouch on her hip. “It’s better if you return to being unarmed, Lexi. Your aim is terrible.”

“No arguments there.” Lexi shoved her now-empty hands into her pockets. “I’ll just throw myself at them, all rabid and snapping.”

“Good plan. Callie, do you have alcohol?”

Zeke winced. “It’s going to be that bad, huh?”

Callie retrieved a flask from the glovebox. Amity unscrewed it and took a quick sniff. “Is it because you fight better drunk?” said Callie. “Some kind of martial arts thing?”

“Don’t be absurd.” Amity handed the flask to Isaac. “Drink some and spill the rest over yourself. Kade, give him that old blanket from the back.”

Now it made sense. Kade passed the woolen bundle to Isaac, who held it while taking frantic gulps from the flask. No doubt Amity could have told him to drink arsenic and he’d have been intimidated enough to oblige.

“Great plan,” said Lexi. “Can’t go wrong with blankets and booze.”

“Shut up.” Amity pointed to one of the parking level’s gloomy corners. “Isaac, get comfortable over there. You’re a drunk who’s been sheltering here for days. You saw us get out of the van. We all ran through that door.” She indicated the nearest stairwell. “All of us, do you understand? Too many people for you to count.”

“I keep drinking this, that’ll be true,” said Isaac. “They won’t hurt me?”

“They have no cause to. They’re Codists, not cannibals. If they ask more questions, just mumble and feign stupidity.”

“Feign?” Zeke said, and Callie swatted him.

“Okay. I’ll do that.” Isaac stumbled to the corner, lay wrapped in the blanket, and splashed alcohol on himself. With the heady aroma of booze added to his seedy appearance, nobody would think he was anything other than one of the city’s many homeless. Which, of course, he was.

“Happy birthday, Isaac,” said Lexi. “Amity, care to explain?”

“I want them to believe we’ve all kept together,” said Amity. “In truth, Riva and Zeke will be escorted to safety while we prepare an ambush.”

Zeke squealed. “You do know my name!”

“No time for foolishness. Kade, Callie, get them out of here.”

“Quit ordering me around,” said Callie. “Lexi, are you okay with this? I don’t like your chances.”

“I’ll give it a shot,” said Lexi. “But first, I need to talk to the media. Alone.”

Kade followed her away from the group, his apprehension mounting with every step. They stopped and confronted each other. Her face seemed timeless to him, but it was likely Lexi saw him as a stranger—not just because he’d changed, but because her anger being what it was, it would be simpler for her to perceive him that way.

“Don’t let Riva get hurt.” Lexi spoke low and soft, without a trace of irony. “Look after her just like I used to look after you. Promise me.”

Kade nodded. His throat and chest hurt, and the unexpected gentleness in her voice only made it worse. “I promise.”

“Enough of your whispering,” said Amity. “You’ll see each other again shortly. Get moving now and find that overpass Isaac mentioned.”

“Very well,” said Kade. “Callie, cover me. Zeke, Riva, stay close to her.”

His companions fell into step behind him, and they set off across the cement floor. Isaac raised his flask as they passed him.

Kade opened the first door he found. The stairwell beyond was lit, but the aroma of dust and mold suggested it didn’t get a lot of airing.

They filed inside, Callie entering last with her shotgun at the ready. She’d be fine under pressure, but the strain was already showing on Zeke’s and Riva’s pinched faces.

“Let’s go up,” said Kade. “Your footsteps will carry, so walk light.”

He ascended the first step, one hand on the blackened metal rail. “What floor did Isaac say the overpass was on?”

“Third,” said Callie. “You think this is going to work?”

“Never underestimate Amity,” said Riva. “I just hope she isn’t going to gamble with Lexi’s life. We can’t let the Codists have her.”

“You mean you’re worried about her,” said Zeke. “I bet she’s worried sick about you. You ain’t just another girl in her eyes. She don’t watch no fucking sunrise with any random lay.”

Riva blushed. “Yes, I’m worried.”

“Lexi’s scrappy when cornered,” Kade said. “She put me on my ass a few times when we were kids, and she did worse to anyone who tried to pick on me. She may be richer now, but I can’t imagine working for gangsters has allowed her to go soft.”

“Plus she’s got a reflex aug,” said Callie. “I’ve seen cyborgs dodge bullets with those.”

“Has she ever dodged a bullet?” said Riva.

“Lexi? I doubt it. Nobody’s dumb enough to shoot at her. She’s been given special protection by both Vassago and Contessa.”

“Was given protection,” said Zeke. “She can’t rely on those gangland friends no more. They’re all fucking pussies, scared of the shut-ins.” He grinned. “But don’t you worry. She and Amity are gonna kick some ass.”

The next landing featured a sign: Floor 3. Don’t Forget Your Ticket! Kade nudged the door open. Intervals of sunlight and shadow striped a long stretch of cement in front of him. Perhaps twenty meters distant, a low barrier overlooked a view of crumbled rooftops. The chopping sound of the helicopter remained audible, but the skyline was clear.

“You three hang back a second,” Kade said.

“Okay.” Callie hefted her shotgun. “Be careful.”

Kade sprinted to the cover of a ceiling support. Just around the corner, a pedestrian bridge spanned the expanse between the parking lot’s third level and a multi-story shopping mall.

He beckoned to the others, who dashed to join him. “We’re going across.”

“Okay,” said Callie. “But as soon as I can, I’m going back to help out Lexi.”

“Sure. I know how you feel.”

Zeke took the lead, glancing around him as if expecting Codists to crawl over the railings. Kade followed with his pistol ready, and Riva kept close to Callie. When the group had made it halfway across the overpass, the sound of the rotors cut out.

“He’s gone,” said Zeke, staring upward. “Fucker ran away.”

“More like he’s landed,” said Callie. “We’d have seen him flying off.”

“Then a hundred bucks says Amity puts a bullet in his brain. Problem solved. Now can we get off this damn bridge?”

“I’ve never seen so much of Foundation.” Riva stood by the railing, wondering at the westward view. In its prime, those skyscrapers and spires must have been an imposing sight. Now they were nothing but steel bones. “Does every major city look like this?”

Callie joined Riva at the railing. “Port Venn is nicer, at least. It has streets with controlled traffic, a proper power grid and everything. And there’s those new townships built by the republics up north. Too many laws there, though. Easier to live here and steal from the shut-ins.”

“I’d like to explore someday, but I don’t know if I’d be brave enough. How would I survive without Amity and Nikolas?”

“Don’t underestimate yourself,” said Kade. “You seem capable to me.”

“You’ll see more of the world.” Callie touched Riva’s hand. “I promise.”

“Um, friends,” said Zeke. “Comrades. Guys. Can we have this poignant moment later? You know, when nobody is trying to kill us?”

“Yeah.” Kade gave Riva a pat on the back. “Let’s get inside.”

* * *

The mall’s sliding doors had been smashed and the glass swept away. Callie took a cautious step through the frame. “No lights.”

“Uh-huh,” said Kade. At the other end of the darkened hall, a hint of daylight suggested the presence of windows, but the intervening shadows were far from inviting. “Guess we’ll be careful.”

“Or prepared.” Callie took a stubby flashlight from her hip pouch and directed its beam down the hall. The light swept across chipped plastic tiles, exposed wiring and white walls smeared with dust.

“Or both,” said Riva, and Callie giggled and shone the light at her.

One by one, the group ducked through the frame. Zeke entered last, his impatience apparently now eclipsed by his cowardice.

They advanced down the hall, guided by Callie’s light, until they reached a balconied upper floor overlooking an abandoned shopping level. A cracked dome in the ceiling allowed sunlight to steal through the gloom, but it wasn’t quite enough to disperse the darkness.

Storefronts lined the upper floor, opening into dirty, dusty chambers. Many of the signs were intact, from the glitzy facade of Fashion Central to the inert bulbs spelling Game World, but they only added to the place’s mournful quality.

“There have to be stairs somewhere,” said Callie, aiming her flashlight through the store windows. A sinister lump became a mound of sodden paper, and a hulking form turned into an office chair flipped on its side. In one store, broken mannequins were jumbled in the corner. A single plastic torso adorned the empty window display. Creepy.

“You’re so brave, Callie,” said Riva. “You’re holding that light perfectly steady, whereas I can’t stop my hands from shaking.”

Callie gave her a sweet smile. “Trust me, chickadee, you’re doing great.”

“Only because you’re here with me.” Riva pushed aside a fallen light tube with her boot. “Kade, do you think Open Hand will last much longer?”

Kade hesitated mid-step. “Why do you ask?”

“Because of all the fighting lately. You’re friends with Amity and Nikolas. Can’t you convince them to work together?”

Kade studied her. Her appearance was reminiscent of Lexi: a tall, slight woman with angular, androgynous features. But unlike Lexi, who exuded confidence, Riva seemed somehow fragile. She moved self-consciously, as if she kept her head high only by an active effort of will. A shy person determined not to be.

“They’re my friends,” he said. “But they’re tough to talk sense into.”

“I can’t stand to see them fighting. We’re only strong together.”

That was close to home. Those words had been Ash’s perpetual refrain: we’re only strong together. She hadn’t believed in individualism—Lachlan had loved to tease her, calling her a ‘bleeding-heart Codist’—but had unwavering faith in the capacity of a group to transcend any obstacle through unselfish solidarity.

Now that he thought about it, Riva and Ash had plenty in common. Despite being an Open Hand officer, Ash had spent her time working in the kitchens and medical bays. She too would have forgiven Isaac, pleaded with Rusalka, invoked the same arguments about common humanity.

Then again, Riva and Ash were different in one key respect—Ash had always been quick to judgment. She would have had little time for a smuggler like Callie Roux. Even less for a self-interested guy like Zeke…

“Kade?” said Riva. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No.” Kade took a deep breath. “Just thinking.”

The group reached an escalator, which mechanical failure had reduced to nothing more than an ugly set of stairs. The group descended to a dusty ground floor connected to numerous black tunnels. A single shaft of light offered scant illumination.

Zeke stared up at a map of the complex. It was obscured by graffiti. “Don’t they know this stuff has historic value? Fucking tagger scum.”

In the depths of one of the tunnels, something skittered. Callie aimed her shotgun at the opening. “You hear that?”

Zeke shrugged. “Rats. Gotta be. Or mutants. Mutant rats.”

“This isn’t one of those flicks you play in your lounge. I’ve done a lot more urban spelunking than any of you, and I know rats when I hear them. That was something being kicked.”

“Shine the light down there,” said Kade. “Let’s take a look.”

Callie pointed the flashlight. Despite several sweeps of the beam, nothing was revealed but dirty surfaces, broken fixtures, and refuse.

“If somebody’s down there,” Callie said, “you better come out. I’m a bloodthirsty badass, and I don’t like being jerked around.”

A slithering sound issued from a tunnel to Kade’s left. He spun. Again, nothing but shadows. In the gloom, he could make out a sign—Restrooms—and a bulky shape that, hopefully, was nothing more than an old bin.

“It’s just our nerves.” He turned back to Riva and Zeke, who were standing by the illegible map. “Come on, let’s keep—”

Something dark sped across the floor. Callie trained her beam on it, and light gleamed off its metallic surface. With a deafening eruption of sound, the object detonated. An intense flare of light swallowed Kade’s vision, and the air compressed about his head, leaving him reeling.

“Put down your guns,” said a heavily filtered voice.

Kade squinted toward the voice. His eyes stung on exposure to the light, but he forced them to remain open. Within the pink blur of his vision, two shapes formed into human silhouettes.

“On your knees,” said the growling, robotic voice. “Resistance will result in injury.”

“You can suck the shit out of my ass, shut-in,” said Zeke.

A shadow rushed forward. Kade tried to aim, but it was impossible to discern between friend and foe. The crack of a baton striking bone rang out, followed by the sound of Zeke yelping.

“Disarm the other one,” said the unseen Codist.

Something rapid swished through the air, and Kade’s hands stung from a hard impact. He hissed and dropped the pistol.

“You fucker!” said Zeke. “You fucking hit me!”

Kade stumbled forward, fists raised. A heavy weight drove into his chest. He staggered, nausea sloshing in his guts, and Riva screamed.

Hands grabbed his shoulders and forced him to his knees. As he struggled to rise, his assailant struck him across the face. Cheek throbbing and thoughts scattered, he relented.

“Stay there.” The agent looming over him wore a full mask—a standard Codist piece of gear that provided night vision, voice modulation, and environmental protection. Another agent, shorter and slimmer, stood a little further back. Zeke lay motionless at their feet.

Where were the women? Kade turned his head. There was Riva, trembling and isolated, but Callie was nowhere to be seen. Yet she’d been right there when the grenade had rolled in.

“Tell us where Vale is.” The agent kicked Kade’s gun aside. “I’m authorized to break a bone each time you say ‘I don’t know.’”

“I’m Alexis Vale,” said Riva. “Leave my friends alone.”

Shit. What was she thinking? And where the hell was Callie?

The agent inclined his masked face toward Riva. “You don’t look like our photo. Your hair is different.”

“Do you think I’m stupid? The first thing I did was change my hair.”

“Her build seems right,” said the other agent. The modulator on their mask had a subtly different timbre—less robotic growl, more mechanical crunch—and the voice beneath was higher pitched. “But didn’t Vale have a fair complexion? I’m sure—”

Riva grimaced and clutched her temples. “Oh God. My head.”

“Are you harmed?” Not even the voice filter could conceal the panic in the taller agent’s voice. “Describe your pain.”

“That flash of light hurt something in my brain. Maybe my chip, it doesn’t feel right…”

“Oh, fuck!” The agent took a step forward, no longer paying attention to Kade—a mistake on their part.

He jumped to his feet, balled his fist, and drove it hard into the back of the agent’s head. Fresh pain jolted up his arm, but the agonized cry from his target made it all worthwhile.

Drawing upon a second burst of aggressive energy, Kade tackled the agent to the ground. His adversary twisted around to claw for Kade’s shoulder, but Kade grabbed the agent’s arm and slammed it against the cement, pinning it there. “Your turn to stay down, you son of a bitch.”

“Behind you!” said Riva. “Kade, he’s got a gun! He’s—”

A gunshot roared. Kade waited for the pain, the sensation of his insides falling out, the cold creep of death…but no. The shot hadn’t been for him.

A shell tapped against the ground, followed by the hard click of another being rammed home. Callie stepped over the second agent’s body, not glancing down, and pointed the shotgun at the agent in Kade’s grip.

“Are there any more of you?” she said. “Answer quickly.”

The agent remained silent.

“Riva, go check on Zeke. I think he’s alive.”

A muffled groan confirmed the diagnosis. “That ratfucker hit me on the fucking head,” said Zeke, raising his face from the floor. “God fucking damn it. Probably knocked a fucking spike loose.”

Riva knelt beside him and directed the flashlight at his head. From here, it didn’t look like there was any blood. The agents had presumably been using minimal force, not wanting any accidental casualties. Even so, Zeke seemed to be reciting every expletive he knew.

“How’d you get away from the grenade?” said Kade.

“I’m quicker than you,” said Callie. “You looked right at it.”

Kade frowned at the body. “Your first kill.”

“I don’t want to talk about it. He was just a shadow.”

Kade moved to the corpse and removed its mask. Sadness stilled his heart for a second. Far from being a shadow, the dead agent was a girl about Callie’s age, but it would have done Callie no good to tell her so.

“I underestimated Reed,” he said, turning the mask in his hands. “I should have known he’d cover the mall.”

Riva and Zeke stumbled back to join the others, Zeke leaning on Riva’s shoulder for support. “He has a huge bruise on his head,” she said. “But judging from his rate of profanity, he’s fine.”

“I need some ice,” said Zeke. “And a sexy nurse to hold my hand. Who wants to be my sexy nurse? Any of you three would do.”

“Tough it out.” Kade hunkered before the remaining agent. “Mask off.”

The agent unclipped his mask and set it aside. He looked ordinary enough—round face, prominent nose, thinning hair. Riva pointed the beam at him, and he winced beneath the light.

“Is Reed getting all this?” said Kade. “Or are you switched off?”

“He’s hearing it,” said the agent.

“Bet you he’s lying,” Zeke said. “You know, we could really use a mind-reading cyborg right about now.”

“You killed my partner.” The agent’s tone was flat. “Our orders were only to detain you. We don’t execute people, not even murderers. It seems that’s a mercy you uncodified scum don’t bother to return.”

“Don’t take the moral high ground,” said Callie. “Don’t you dare.”

“How can you talk about morality? You animals are the reason Codism exists.” The agent closed his eyes. “She was only twenty-two.”

Callie became very still. “Take the shotgun,” Kade said to Zeke.

Zeke nodded. “Lemme hold that awhile, sweetheart.” He eased the weapon from Callie’s hands while she stared at the body, her face twitching.

“Don’t look.” Riva put an arm around Callie and hugged her close. “You had no choice, Callie.”

“Yes, she did,” said the agent. “She could have complied.”

“And you’d have destroyed her mind,” said Kade. “Tell me how many of you went into the parking complex.”

No answer. “Is there something we can tie him up with?” said Zeke. “I mean, I don’t want to ice the guy.”

“Callie,” said Kade. Callie murmured something inaudible in reply. “You and Riva go upstairs and find some cabling, ropes, wires, whatever it takes to restrain this man. Snap to it.”

“Yeah.” Callie blinked, and some of the strength returned to her voice. “Restrain him. I can do that. Riva, you keep the torch.”

After the women had disappeared up the escalator, Kade shifted closer to his sullen captive. “I’m sorry about your friend,” he said. “You misunderstand what we’re doing. We’re fighting and dying so that you can be the first generation of Codists to enjoy your freedom.”

“We are free. And Codism will never fall.”

“Yes, it will. The man who sent you here understands that as well as anyone. Better, in fact.” Kade rubbed his forehead. The headache had gotten worse, a splinter digging into his brain. “You’re the lucky one in all of this. Your other friends may already be dead.”

That got his attention. “Dead? That’s not possible. How many more of you could have been in that van?”

“It’s not about numbers. You’re up against some of the most dangerous people in Foundation. Nobody short of Lachlan himself stands a chance.”

“What is it that makes this cyborg so special?”

“Trust me.” Kade closed his eyes as fresh pain pulsed through his head. “Whether we win or lose, you’ll find out.”