The buyers were here to pick up nuclear weapons. They’re handheld, and at least one of them is moving. We need this whole block contained right now.
A terrorist alert went out and began branching down to response teams.
Understood. They’re mobilizing now. Find that missing weapon.
“Are you the buyer?” I asked the woman. She didn’t answer.
Just then a revivor spoke connection opened. I looked around for the source but couldn’t find it. The signal hadn’t come from any of the revivors in the cages.
Someone just opened a connection to a revivor band down here. Any missing from upstairs?
Negative.
It was close. Too close to be from upstairs.
I’ve got a stray down here somewhere.
“How did you know—” the woman started to ask but I held up my hand. She frowned.
I tapped into the signal, listening. The source was close by, somewhere in the room. I did a slow sweep, looking into the dark. No revivor’s signature was showing up, but it had to be there.
I moved past the cages to the edge of the lit area and scanned into the shadows. There was nothing there.
…eral agent here.
The partial message came across the connection. It was a fragment of a text communication.
…should I abort?
No. Upgr …forget the target …the case.
…about the …
Kill her.
The revivors began shaking the cages harder. Something had them riled up. I couldn’t hear anything over the racket.
“Shut up!” the woman snapped. “Just shut—”
Her voice cut out. I looked back at her and she was clutching her throat. Her eyes were wide, and blood had started leaking from in between her fingers. The big revivor was still on its back. I didn’t see anyone near her.
Vesco, one of the prime suspects is down. I need an EMT here, now.
I ran to her as she took her hands away. Her palms were covered in blood. Her face turned white as blood poured from a gash in her throat, and she slid down the desk, onto the floor.
“Hold on,” I told her, easing her onto her back. “Help is coming.” Her eyes lost focus. Her mouth moved, but she couldn’t speak.
The revivor connection cut out. I heard the flutter of fabric next to me, and the case on the desk flickered, then disappeared.
Shit.
The nukes are moving. The target is cloaked. Coordinate with local authorities and initiate a lockdown in a three-block radius.
Leading with the gun, I scanned the room. There were no heat signatures, no heartbeat—nothing.
It’s a revivor…. There was no revivor signature either, though. It was keeping itself well hidden.
I scanned for radiation. It was faint, but I found a concentration of particles a few feet away. They were clustered around an object floating at chest height.
The case. The Light Warping field could bend visible light, but not radiation. The pattern swayed back and forth slightly. The revivor connection opened again.
…about the agent?
…ut don’t ki—
But—
Don’t kill him.
I reestablished the link with Sean.
Wachalowski, what the hell—
Sean, show me all the ways in and out of here.
The case appeared on the concrete floor and I heard something heavy shift its weight. I took a step toward it, and a cold hand clamped down on the back of my neck, hard. It pulled me back onto my heels as another hand grabbed my wrist, slamming my gun hand into a support column. I caught a glimpse of the woman’s face, flecked with blood, as I was dragged away from her.
Nico, what’s happening? Vesco said. I could hear footsteps pounding down the hall in my direction.
Something connected hard with my cheek and I was spun around. One leg went out from under me, and I went facedown on the concrete. When I tried to get up, a boot landed between my shoulder blades and my chest slammed into the floor under it, forcing the wind out of me.
I need backup down here, now. Where the hell was SWAT?
The boot lifted and I heaved myself onto my hands and knees, firing a back kick blindly into something solid. Heavy footsteps staggered back and I swung around, pointing my gun.
Before I could pull the trigger, a sharp pain stabbed into the side of my neck and the strength went out of me. My arms got heavy and fell to my sides. The gun slipped out of my hand and clunked onto the floor. Toxin warnings flashed as I staggered and started to fall.
Smooth material brushed my face as someone darted past me. The case disappeared again, leaving only the radiation signature. The cluster of particles moved away quickly, fading away to nothing as they moved out of range.
It’s doubling back the way I came in. Intercept it.
I went down on my knees, shaking. One of my internal stim packets popped as the JZI tried to cut through the fog. My stomach churned, and I had pins and needles in my legs as the feeling came back. I manually popped two more.
That did the trick. Everything got brighter. My heart pounded as oxygen and adrenaline flooded my bloodstream. I picked my gun back up and pushed myself to my feet, the room spinning around me.
The revivor had gone back down the corridor, but it had too much of a head start. If it left through the closest exit, then it would come out near the loading dock. I made for the freight entrance instead and slapped my palm on the button.
The stim wouldn’t last long, but if I didn’t beat him down there, it wouldn’t matter anyway. The door began to rise on its track and I ducked through the gap, my muscles starting to tighten. It was getting hard to breathe. A cold gust of wind and rain hit me as I crossed the dock and slipped on the steps. People stopped on the sidewalk a few feet away from me and stared. Sirens had begun to wail, and I saw red-and-blue lights flash down the length of the street.
The map put me on the western side of the building. If the revivor made a run for it, it would be through the alley out back. Rain pummeled me as I tacked left past a pile of trash and between the buildings. Water was running down in a stream from a clogged gutter up ahead, and I headed toward it, looking for signs of the radiation signature. It was getting harder to move. The side of the building was veering away. I shook my head, trying to focus. Something splashed in a puddle near a pile of trash bags. I stood there, trying to keep my balance, and watched it.
Where is it?
Every time I took a breath, my chest got tighter. Looking back and forth down the alley, I didn’t see anything.
It’s gone. I missed it.
I watched the rain stream down from the gutter, splashing into a puddle formed around a crack in the pavement. The stims weren’t working anymore. My arms and legs started to get heavy again.
I’m going to need a medic, Sean.
There was no answer. I was still staring at the water kicking up droplets when I realized the words never appeared in the HUD. I hadn’t sent the message. The coupling to the JZI had dropped.
Sean?
The air blurred in front of me. The water was streaming in slow motion, and for just a second I saw it stop about five or six feet above the ground. Water sprayed off something I couldn’t see; then it continued like it never happened.
Sean?
Something moved next to the pile of trash bags; then a dark shape flew toward me. A large plastic bag hit me and tore open, scattering garbage as I heard feet hit the pavement, running for the street.
“Stop!”
I couldn’t get a bead on it. I lunged and felt cloth under my hand. I grabbed a fistful of it, but it slipped through my fingers as the footsteps moved away. My chest burned. When I took a step, my leg crumpled under me and I went down on the wet pavement.