“Come with us,” one of them said. The dark-skinned one he’d never placed. The other one had a third Nexus jammer in his hand, meant for Kade.
Kade shook his head, and a look of impatience flashed across the soldier’s face. He came forward and Kade grabbed a pot from the stove top, swung it at the guard’s head.
The security man caught it, ripped it out of Kade’s hand, then slapped him across the side of his head hard enough that Kade saw stars.
Sam nodded in return, acknowledging Nakamura’s signal.
Then she opened her mind, in receive-mode only. If they were right, the children were on this side of the building, on the west face, on the first or second floor. Once she found them, they could rally them, use the sub and their own skills to misdirect and blind the defenders, clear a path, get them on the vehicles and towards the airfield while Feng and Nakamura retrieved Kade.
Her mind opened and the night was alive with Nexus. Dozens of minds inside the building. Fear and confusion. Panic.
And there. Those minds. The children. All together. It took her breath away to feel them, to feel them like this. It brought it all back to her, all the reasons she’d fallen in love with them and the reason she was here.
Shiva was not going to turn this beauty into horror.
Sam reached out, projected her own thoughts outward towards Sarai and the rest.
I’m here, she sent. I’ve come for you.
And across the link, she felt those young minds rejoice.
Sarai woke to the sound of explosions. Her heart thudded in her chest. Her brothers and sisters had woken to it too. They were all frightened.
The connecting door opened and the five boys flooded in to the room she shared with the three other girls. Aroon was crying, wailing, carried on Kit’s shoulder. Everyone looked to her.
I’m the oldest, she thought. I have to make this right.
She reached out to them, brought them together, sent calming thoughts. They huddled together on the floor, the youngest on the inside, the oldest around them.
She opened herself completely to them, breathed as Sam had taught her, breathed in and out and sent her breath to them and felt for theirs. Then they were falling into a rhythm together and even little Aroon was crying less and she could see, she could hear, she could think. The world slowed down and possibilities expanded.
Someone had come. Someone had come to fight Shiva. And in that fight… they had their best chance of getting away.
There was a boom at the door and it flung itself open in slow motion. One of the men was there. He wore the ball of static around himself. He had a gun with him. He reached out his hand to them.
And they knew. They understood. He would take them somewhere, somewhere the new people couldn’t find them. And that was not what they wanted. Fear struck them.
Then Sam was there, in their minds. And their hearts soared.
“Found them,” Sam’s whispered voice came across the laser link, played to Nakamura’s ears. And now it was time for phase three.
Nakamura pulled down the menu, found the item. He hesitated for just an instant. An image flashed across his mind, three of the missiles veering in mid-flight, as if disrupted by countermeasures. Two of them impacting harmlessly across the island. One smashing into Lane’s room, exploding there, ending the threat.
Then, afterwards. The lie he would tell Sam. That Shiva’s countermeasures had caused it. That it hadn’t been part of the plan. Her inevitable suspicion…
He pushed it out of his thoughts. His duty was clear. No one could have this power.
Kevin Nakamura blinked to activate phase three. And around the island, Moray-class drones fired another salvo of their deadly micromissiles.
Shiva reached the roof as another boom sounded. A giant fireball erupted into the night sky to the east, turning into a mushroom cloud as it rose. The fuel depot.
Who were the attackers? Where were they?
He stretched his mind out again, expanded it through the Nexus repeaters throughout his home, felt the minds of his security team, his scientific staff, pulled at them for understanding. He felt fear and panic from the scientists, grim resolve from his soldiers. Enemy ships were strafing the marina now. Sensors were down. They had no visual on the invaders. His men were rushing into position, unlocking heavy weapons, preparing to meet the invaders with shoulder-mounted anti-ship missiles and high-speed flechette launchers that could mow down hundreds of men at once. Other soldiers were heading for Lane, for the children, to move them to the secure bunker. From there, if necessary, they’d evacuate them via the underground tunnels to the airstrip.
Then he felt the intruder. A mind he’d never touched before. A woman. Her mind was reaching out to the children’s, passing through a wall studded with Nexus-band repeaters as it did. He felt their mutual recognition.
The American woman. Here, now. The one who’d been searching for Nexus children, who’d tried to infiltrate her way into his home, who’d killed one of his men already… Who was she? CIA?
Shiva growled. It didn’t matter. They would not do this. They would not take these children from him, lock them up, dehumanize them, euthanize them.
It was time for another test of the code he’d tricked out of Lane.
Shiva Prasad reached out his thoughts to the American agent’s mind, activated the back door, sent the passcode.
And he was in. She was his to control.
82
FRIENDLY FIRE
Saturday November 3rd
The guard shoved Kade against one wall of the kitchen. The second guard moved in to put the Nexus jammer around his neck.
NO!
[activate: bruce_lee full_auto]
Targeting circles appeared and he dragged one to the Nexus jammer in the guard’s hands, struggling as he did, then forced the mental buttons down, mashed them again and again.
His body twisted and for an instant he was free.
[Bruce_Lee: Escape Succeeded!]
His foot lashed out at the second guard and the man smacked it aside in annoyance.
[Bruce_Lee: Attack Failed L]
Kade’s good left hand used the cover of his kick, lashed out at the guard’s hand and the Nexus jammer in it. He struck the device, sent it flying across the room, into the far wall.
[Bruce_Lee: Attack Succeeded!]
The guard struck him in return. The two of them pushed him up against the wall, pinned him there as Bruce Lee tried vainly to free him.
[Bruce_Lee: Block Failed L]
[Bruce_Lee: Escape Failed L]
Then a sound like thunder filled his senses as something exploded through the apartment. A giant force smashed through the guards in front of him, smashed him back against the wall. Searing heat struck him. And he was falling, falling, falling…
Feng heard the explosion. Too close! Too close! That had struck the building!
“Missiles off course!” Nakamura whispered over their laser link, his voice urgent.
“What?” Feng shot back. Then something dawned on him.
No, no! So stupid! Not to capture Kade. To kill Kade.
All warfare is based on deception, Sun Tzu had written. The CIA man had deceived him.
Feng pointed his assault rifle towards Nakamura.
Sam screamed as the mind invaded hers, screamed in absolute horror. No sound escaped her lips. The invading mind had ruthless control of her body, absolute control. She reached out to issue the command to turn off her Nexus reception, found herself blocked. She tried to wave, to kick away from the wall, to move her eyes to choose a signal from the menu provided by her goggles.
No good.