“I told you to go,” Zoya said, her voice flat.
“This isn’t like you, Zoya.” Ira looked like she would collapse until Marcus put an arm around her shoulders.
“It is now,” Zoya replied. “They made me like this.” She knelt and fished the card from the dead man’s pocket, snapped it back in her slot. She searched him and found two more ammo clips.
“What now?” Marcus whispered.
Zoya stood up. “Like I said before, get in the car. Your father can control it, I assume?”
Marcus nodded, then supported Ira while he half-dragged her toward the gangster’s air car.
Getting into the back seat of the air car was a blur to Marcus. His body trembled from utter exhaustion. He opened a link to his father and asked him to grant them rights to the car. Once his father complied, Marcus said, «Papa, you betrayed us. What could you possibly be thinking?»
«You left me little choice. I keep trying to extricate you from this mess and you seem intent on getting yourself killed for this girl. Don’t you know I’d kill everyone on this planet for you if I had to?»
«You’re not helping your case. And…and this was the second time you’ve done this! You made it sound reasonable at the time, but you betrayed us to these guys earlier as well. I don’t…I don’t even know who you are!»
«All that matters is getting you home safe,» Javier replied. «Then we can talk and you’ll see this was for the best. If it’s girls you’re interested in now, well we can find one for you—»
Marcus slammed a fist into the car seat. «Are you this callous? Zoya is a human being. You act as if you care so much about life that you want a body back? Well Zoya is real. You aren’t seeming very human to me right now.»
«Idealism is an indulgence of the young. You’ll find out once you mature just how ridiculous it is. Family is what matters. You and I are family, and despite what your hormones may be telling you, she isn’t.»
«You’re a soulless bastard.» Marcus severed the link.
“This has been one fucked up day, hasn’t it, Bunny?” The injured man had found a small toilet behind a wooden door off the main room and was dabbing blood off his face with a wet paper towel.
Tyoma still couldn’t trust his mouth to work, so he whispered a small prayer in his mind and dropped the dead cat in the trash beneath the sink. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and shuddered. Frankenstein’s monster looked kind next to me. I can’t believe I got stuck in this body.
“I thought you were gonna keep it as a pet,” the man said, tossing the bloody wad of paper in after the cat. “Look, I’ve called for my car and it should be here soon. There’s no need for you to stick around. The bitch got me good and I don’t imagine she’s stupid enough to let me catch her again. Why don’t you go on home?”
Tyoma was glad the man wasn’t forcing him to speak. He shrugged his massive shoulders and turned to lumber off toward the exit door.
The man’s voice trailed after him. “Yeah, uh, I guess I’ll just see you tomorrow, eh?”
Tyoma shoved the door open. He was finally finding it easier to move in this shambling mountain of a body, though he imagined it would be a long time before anything became easy for him. Outside he found a dark parking lot with a silver sky cycle. The sun had recently set and downtown Moscow glittered with thousands of lights. Off to his left he recognized the gleaming claw-shape of The Pyramid’s hotel towers, and he suddenly knew where he was. He looked across the river at the city center again, trying to pick out his apartment building. If only I could get into it.
He checked the time and date on his slot and was surprised. His last memory was from Friday evening, and that was only two days ago. For some reason he had assumed it was much further in the future.
He sighed. Time to call Kostya. He accessed his contact list, found Kostya, and sent out a link request. It was answered immediately.
«Tyoma! You’re okay! We’ve been worried sick about you.»
«I don’t know what has happened to me.»
«Did he get you out of The Pyramid?»
Tyoma looked over at the brilliantly lit towers of The Pyramid again. «Did who get me out? What are you talking about? Do you know what’s happened to me?»
«Dr. Saenz. He’s been helping you, hasn’t he?»
Tyoma’s head was beginning to hurt again. «I don’t know anything about a Dr. Saenz. Look, I’m in trouble here. Can you come pick me up, please?»
«Sure, of course. Find a good place to hide out and send me your coordinates. I’ll be there as soon as I can. You sound odd, though. Dr. Saenz told us he was helping you.»
“What you doing standing out here, Bunny?”
Tyoma turned to see that the injured man had joined him. «Kostya? Here’s my coordinates. I’m in a parking lot outside some building. Please get here soon, all right?»
«Of course, buddy. Maybe thirty minutes, okay?»
«Yeah.» Tyoma cut the connection. A long air car whooshed in overhead and began settling down toward the parking lot.
“There’s my ride,” the man said. “That what you waiting for? It wasn’t what I had in mind, but what the hell. I’ll drop you off at The Pyramid, but I’m not in the mood to see Viktor right now. Tell him I’ll see him tomorrow.” He waved a hand at his face. “Tell him what happened to me…only don’t tell him a girl did it. Make something up that sounds decent, all right? What you waiting for? Get in.”
Tyoma shook his head slightly and stood his ground. He wasn’t sure what his relationship was with this man, though it sounded like they were colleagues. If they worked together in The Pyramid then they were probably bad news.
“Christ! I don’t got all night. You coming or you just gonna stand there?”
Tyoma didn’t know if he should be frightened of this man or not. He wavered between getting into the car or just doing nothing and hoping the man would go away.
The man shrugged and climbed into the car. A window lowered. “You’re a real nutcase, you know that? Yeah, whatever, see you tomorrow.” The air car rose into the air and Tyoma breathed a sigh of relief.
Come on, Kostya. Hurry up and help me figure out this mess.
Moscow
Sunday, June 8, 2138
10:20 p.m. MSK
A memory of pain. Tyoma snapped his eyes open and the faint echo of pain died away, replaced by a feeling of utter calm. By the painting on the wall he realized he was in his cell in The Pyramid, but he was lying on a gurney that hadn’t been in the room before. No one was in the room with him, but three bots were there going about different chores. The two little round ones were cleaning bots, scouring the last of the blood from the floor. Near Tyoma’s left knee hovered a blocky med bot, checking the tightness of the bulky bandage.
Ah, God! Tyoma thought. Bastard blew my knee off. He vividly remembered the flying shards of bone, the horrific image of his knee seeming to explode. He watched the med bot, grateful not to be feeling any pain.
«You’re back with us,» Javier said. «I was worried when you so suddenly dropped offline.»
«They blew my goddamned knee off!» Tyoma mentally shouted.
«I’m sorry. I told you there weren’t enough cameras on this level for me to be certain you were safe.»
«I’ll never get out of here now.»
«You know, I think it’s for the best,» Javier said. «Let the general’s men take you. I can handle the general. You have nothing to worry about.»
Tyoma couldn’t help but laugh. The situation I’m in and he tells me there’s nothing to worry about! A faint twinge of pain shot from his knee, and Tyoma coughed into his fist several times to stop the laughter. «You know…I’ve spent a very long life working on science…mathematics, coding. Never imagined in my craziest dreams that I would ever become involved with mobsters. I don’t think anyone can ever seriously tell me there is nothing to worry about anymore.»