‘That doesn’t have the range,’ Sophia said.
Denton smiled. ‘No,’ he said. ‘But the antenna in the master tower does.’
She returned the smile. ‘Then you should have no problems blowing up your own meteorite,’ she said. ‘Four thousand degrees? That’s hot enough to fuse the meteorite to thermate, mixing it with molten iron.’
Denton’s face paled. He fished out his touchscreen GPS, checking the location of the meteorite.
‘If your precious Phoenix virus doesn’t last long in warm climates then I doubt—’
‘Oh shut up,’ Denton said. ‘I can already read your mind, I don’t need to hear your jokes twice.’
Sophia smiled. ‘Double the fun.’
Denton was breathing heavily now. ‘You brought it—’ his words barely reached his lips ‘—here.’
Sophia blinked. ‘Isn’t that where you wanted? I was just doing as you told. You know, following instructions.’
Denton pursed his lips. ‘You have no further use,’ he said. ‘I can kill you right now.’
Sophia holstered her empty Glock on her hip. ‘Then why don’t you?’
Denton must have read her mind again because his face paled yet another shade. ‘Because he’s pointing his stupid pistol at me, isn’t he?’
‘Yep,’ Sophia said. ‘He is.’
Off to her left, out of Denton’s field of vision, the Commander was sighting Denton with his pistol, an old Colt .45. She could see the Commander’s tactical vest was shiny, and not from the rain. He was losing blood. She didn’t know how much longer he’d be standing.
She could feel the Commander’s emotions wash over her, strong enough to eclipse Denton’s burning rage. She felt his exhaustion, pain, and something re-opening to hurt inside him. He was different from his son.
With Denton’s attention diverted, she let her thoughts free. Where was Czarina? She couldn’t see her from the corner of her vision. Was she armed? Was she even OK?
‘Sidney,’ the Commander said. ‘It’s over.’
Denton turned slightly, keeping his aim on Sophia. ‘I’m Gabriel now.’
‘New York City’s open,’ the Commander said. ‘The army has this place surrounded.’
‘I should kill you now.’
The voice came from somewhere unexpected. It wasn’t the Commander. It wasn’t Denton.
Czarina moved to the top of the stairs. She wasn’t carrying the carbine any longer. Through the edge of her vision, Sophia thought she might be carrying a pistol.
It was a knife.
The blade trembled in her grasp.
She seemed only a heartbeat from charging Denton.
‘Czarina,’ Sophia said. ‘Stand down.’
She didn’t know who would shoot Czarina first, if she made her move. Denton or the Commander.
Denton’s nostrils flared. ‘I can smell your fear,’ he said to the Commander. ‘That’s smart.’
‘Drop your weapon,’ the Commander said.
‘No,’ Denton said. ‘Give in. Do it. Take it all.’
‘Command acknowledged,’ Czarina said.
‘No!’ Sophia yelled.
Czarina’s trembling subsided. Her gaze seared through Denton.
‘Who pays the piper,’ Czarina said. ‘Calls the tune.’
‘Czarina!’ Sophia shouted.
Czarina threw the knife.
Denton leaned to one side. The blade slipped past him.
The Commander opened fire on Czarina. She dropped to her knees, confused.
‘No!’ Sophia yelled.
Denton drew his pistol to his chest, pivoted, punched out. He lined his sights on the Commander.
The Commander, arms still extended, shifted his aim to Denton.
Denton fired.
The Commander fired.
Sophia sprinted for Denton. Closed the gap quickly. Targeted his pistol. She saw it leave his fingers. A round punched through Denton’s cheek. His cheek rippled. Fragments of tooth moved like confetti.
Another round disappeared into the Commander’s vest. He collapsed.
Denton was the last man standing.
He faltered, gargled something incomprehensible. Then growled. It echoed through the main concourse, sounded primal.
Sophia reached him. The pistol hit the ground. She moved in low, grasped for it.
Denton’s elbow connected with her forehead. She fell, sliding past Denton. Starbursts exploded across her vision. She couldn’t feel her head for a moment, then it came trickling back.
‘I saw that coming a mile off,’ Denton said, slurring his words through fractured teeth.
Chapter 53
The tiny red dot on the sensor winked out.
Fraction by fraction, Aviary withdrew one hand. And then the other. She knew if she fucked this up, both Jay and Nasira would die. And then Nasira would probably haunt her as a ghost to remind her eternally that she wasn’t an operative and should’ve stayed away.
Sweat ran down her nose. She moved her remaining hand through the barrier and then slowly started her retreat.
One sensor down, one more to go.
She retreated, pushed herself off the carriage roof and landed back on the platform. Her entire face itched with sweat. She wiped it all away with the back of her hand.
‘Quickly!’ Damien said.
‘Going as fast as I can,’ she said.
She shoved the multitool in her jeans pocket and jumped onto the other train. She clung to the edge and hurled herself up to the roof. Her arms were trembling. But she didn’t need to move slowly until she moved closer to the sensor. She reached for her multitool. The sensors on the sides of the platform, boxing Damien in on his left and right, were still monitoring invisible barriers just along the outside of the train carriages. This prevented Damien from smashing a train window and bailing out the side. Or on top. Or underneath. Really, the only way he had out was to burrow through the platform or fly through the ceiling — neither of which was an option right now.
With her multitool poised before the sensor, she slowed right down again.
Aviary popped the panel and started cutting the wires. With that done, she pried the end of her multitool knife into the edge of the battery. Fraction by fraction, she pushed further. Sweat itched her face, collecting on her upper lip and eyebrows.
‘To laugh at death and show we’re not afraid,’ Aviary whispered.
She pushed a little more. The blade levered the battery out. It sprang from its receptacle. Aviary’s other hand was covering it, ready to grab it. The battery bounced into the palm of her hand. Her hand concealed its motion from the sensor on the other side. The battery — warm enough to trigger a sensor — bounced off the palm of her hand and back into the sensor’s panel.
The tiny red dot faded.
She breathed. Her body relaxed so quickly she almost collapsed on the carriage roof.
With barely the energy to speak, she said, ‘I did it.’
Damien was staring at her. He looked like someone had paused him in mid-sentence, his mouth open, eyebrows high.
‘I can walk through?’ Damien said.
Aviary pocketed her multitool and climbed down. ‘The sensors are dead. Batteries removed.’
‘And no explosion,’ Damien said.
She grinned. ‘I totally just saved an operative.’
She watched him tentatively step forward, across the imaginary line. He moved slowly at first, then once he was through the barrier he started to collect speed. She thought he was going to break into a run and move down the platform but he changed direction and moved to hug her. She returned the embrace but was too slow. He already had his phone out and was asking her how to find which platform Jay was on. He was swiping through the camera feeds.
‘I don’t know which one,’ Aviary said. ‘But when I was on top of that train I saw another one train just down that way.’ She pointed.