Code Breakers Complete Series: Books 1-4 (93 page)

“Why?”

“I guess being one of the Family had given her an insight into human behaviour and power structures. She could foresee something like this happening and wanted to have a secret, loyal unit within the system’s power centre. Unfortunately she was right. Not long after Fuentes got herself elected and set up the interim government, new orders came down from her.”

“What kind of orders?”

“They were subtle to begin with—the destruction of certain information, classification of things that she suggested terrorists could use against us. The ronin. At first it seemed sensible, and my team and I didn’t suspect anything, but when we saw the murders and the rise of the protestors and chip-users, we could see something else was going on.

“It was because one of our contacts saw you and Sasha poking around the warehouse district that got me interested. Your message when you escaped went directly to Fuentes’ people within the force. Javid over there—” She pointed to a rail-thin, dark-haired man with intense eyes. “—had ingratiated himself with that particular squad and alerted me. Unfortunately we couldn’t get to you in time as Fuentes put into place her next plans, and her squad reached you and Sasha first.”

“You could have sent someone, surely?” Malik knew that sounded harsh, but he couldn’t help it. If they could have got to him and Sasha before Fuentes’ people, she’d still be alive.
 

“We tried,” Elaine said, trying to communicate her sympathy and sincerity. “It’s been crazy here. Trust me. If we could’ve got there sooner, we would have. We needed to ensure we had some way of taking that power-hungry bitch down without having our entire squad executed. We’d be no good locked up or dead. She’s got all the main offices monitored and locked down.”

“So she must know about you now?”

“Yes. As soon as we blew the factory, I think she knew. A mushroom cloud and massive explosion is a bit of a giveaway.”

“You destroyed the chips? The workers?”

“Everything that was in that warehouse is no more.” Now her face grew tense. It was the face he recognised. He’d never say she was a pleasant person, and she was no bundle of laughs to work with, but he had to give her credit: she was loyal and damned good at her job, clearly willing to make tough decisions, even if it meant that Sasha hadn’t survived. But then this was a bigger issue than any one person. He’d have time to grieve for her properly later.

“So what now?” Malik asked, trying to focus on something practical, something he could do to avenge Sasha.

“We go on the attack. We’ve no choice now. Fuentes has activated the ’droids. Here, look.”

She passed him a slate.
 

He took it and watched the live video feed. “Where’s this happening?”
 

“All around the city, even right outside of this place.”

“Where is this place?”

“Gabe and Petal’s second safe house, just beyond the financial district. It’s one of the poorer areas, if there is such a thing in this city. We’re currently under a disused worker’s terrace. One of the buildings created to house those that built the city in the early days.”

Malik watched the video. Heavily armed ’droids in groups of three stalked through the city. No citizens remained on the streets. On one of the huge public address screens, on the side of an apartment building, Fuentes was giving a speech.

“Citizens of Libertas, I’m afraid I have to announce that we’ve been forced by a faction of terrorists to enact a citywide curfew. A number of individuals are at large and extremely dangerous. You’re to remain inside your homes while we root out these men and women who seek to plunge this city back into a state of terror and mayhem.
 

“We’ve all worked hard to build a new, safe city since the Family abandoned us. We thwarted the threat of the Red Widows, and now I’m sad to say that we need to fight once more those who would oppress us and force their ideology on us, take away our hard-won liberty.

“This time, however, they’re attacking from within.
 

“We have discovered the identities of those responsible for the recent murders and the terrorist attack on the warehouse district just an hour ago. If you see any of these people, please inform your local security office or send a secure message to this address.”

An IP address came on screen followed by the photographs of James, Sasha, Petal, Gabe, Malik, Elaine, Enna, and even Jess. The photo slideshow flicked over and filled the screen with portraits of those in Elaine’s squad plus a blurry image of Ghanus and Liza-Marie.

“We’re doing all we can to neutralise this threat. You can do your duty for the freedom of the city by remaining inside and alerting us to any information that could lead to the arrest of these terrorists. We understand that some of these individuals are likely to be a surprise to you. I was as shocked as anyone when I discovered that someone I considered to be a close friend had manipulated me and was a part of this conspiracy from the start.
 

“But that’s not important right now. I’ve given you the facts of the situation, and we’re doing all we can to ensure the safety of this city and you, dear citizens. Help us by following our advice, and together we’ll stop this threat and once more bring safety to this great city.

“Thank you for your time. We’ll update you with information as we get it.”
 

“What I wouldn’t give to put a bullet in that bitch’s skull,” Malik said, disgusted at the lies. “She even dared call Jess a terrorist! Where is the girl, anyway?”

“Upstairs with Omega. We took her out of the situation as soon as we saw it getting out of hand. She’s safe and happy enough. Enna and the others are currently on their way here.” Elaine checked the time on the slate. “They’re due here any minute, actually. They had to spring James from the prison quarter.”

“Where is everyone right now?”

“Gabe and Petal are off the grid. We lost contact with them when they flew out to some hacker/engineer woman in order to fix Alpha—it’s a long story, but it fucked up during the process of downloading Gerry from Petal’s mind. Currently we don’t know their status.”

“And the others?”

“Enna, James, Ghanus, and Liza-Marie are currently on their way here.”

“How are we going to fight back with the ’droids flooding the city?”

“Fuentes might have ’droids and the surface,” Elaine said, the familiar smirk coming back to her face, “but we have Enna and the underground.”

“How are we going to explain Sasha to James? He’ll be devastated.”

Elaine didn’t respond. There was nothing to say.
 

Malik decided it’d be him that broke the bad news. It was the least he could do. He just hoped that it would help focus James’ mind rather than sending him into a pit of despair.

Malik was torn between the two states, but having Elaine’s clinical approach to the job at hand helped him focus on bringing down Fuentes rather than collapsing under the weight of grief.

Chapter 28

Petal found a buggy covered with a desert-camouflaged tarp. The group of boulders sheltered it from view. She got in and pushed the buggy’s throttle to the max.

The passing storm had left clean, fresh air behind, with low winds.
 

She could already see the masts of old boats that signified Xian’s place, they glinted and reflected in the moonlight like beacons in the darkness. The tears hadn’t yet dried on her cheeks as she sped onwards.
 

Her last view of Gabe was his hanging onto the ladder with a dozen or more ronin waiting at the bottom. She heard three gunshots after he slammed the hatch. As much as she tried, she couldn’t get it open.
 

Her fingers still bled with the effort of trying to get back in, and her hands were bruised pulps. It hurt to hold the steering wheel of the ronin’s buggy.

The trade didn’t represent good value: Gabe’s life for transport.
 

She’d rather have stayed and died with him, but the stupid, old bastard had sacrificed himself for her, made her exchange his death for the responsibility of saving Gerry and destroying Elliot.
 

Even with Gerry’s mind now fully integrated with hers, so much so she couldn’t tell if he was even in there anymore, getting to Xian’s to restore Alpha was still a risky plan.

There were no guarantees Xian even had parts. But if he did, she’d try to get him to do the repairs, rather than trying to return to Shelley. Without Gabe she didn’t fancy going back there, and there was the added risk of running into yet more ronin.

Although not inherently dangerous, Xian was fucking crackers at the best of times, insane due to the toxins in his body from the sickly fish that he kept eating. Even if the damned things glowed in the dark with radiation poisoning, he’d still eat them raw, like expensive sushi.
 

That was over a year ago. She couldn’t imagine how nuts he’d be now, if he hadn’t already thought he were a fish and swam off into the ocean. But the fact the old boat masts were still there gave her hope.
 

She tried putting the image of Gabe out of her mind just for a moment, needing to concentrate on the task at hand. She owed him at least that much.
 

Petal steered the buggy around the worst of the divots and potholes across the hard-packed soil. Even the rain from the storm hadn’t softened it. After a further twenty minutes of tense driving, she saw something flap in the breeze. The wind here near the coast was stronger than inland, but nothing like the storm that had just blown through. The devastation was obvious as she approached Xian’s former tent city. City was a generous term. There were only ten tents.
 

She pulled up to the first. It had collapsed under the assault of the storm. Pots, pans, fishing implements, and blankets were strewn across the dirt. She slowed the buggy and weaved in and out of the mess. All of the tents had collapsed; their sheets flapping and billowing in the winds like dying bellows.
 

Amid the debris, she spotted a number of bodies: two of them were ronin, wearing the same Libertas uniforms as the ones in the bunker. It seemed they’d sent out quite a number to hunt down her and Gabe. She doubted it’d be long before those in the bunker caught up with her. Although there were three other buggies under the camouflaged sheet, she’d sabotaged them as best she could, hoping to buy some time.

Throughout the journey she’d kept checking behind her for any sound of engines or clouds of dust. But no one had come.
 

She finally navigated her way through the remaining tents and their strewn contents until she parked at the edge of a jetty made from rusted beams and pieces of iron salvaged from the ships that had grounded on the coast.
 

The jetty led to a group of six old fishing boats, four of which were half sunk and ruined. Two, however, remained afloat and were welded together. This was Xian’s ‘office’. The place he stayed, safely away from the various travellers who came through and made use of his tents.
 

As crazy as he was, he remained generous. Gabe and Petal had stayed in the relative safety of his tent shelter a number of times. He used to run a series of games, mostly combat sports, for betting purposes. He was one of the first to get a computer network running when he salvaged and fixed a microwave transceiver, and survivors would come from miles around.

She walked down the jetty, her slight weight making the metal planks creak and groan. A light glowed from inside the two fused boats. A crude door had been cut into the side of one of the boats. Inside, Petal knew, heavy metal bars locked the door in place, keeping Xian as secure as a barnacle.
 

The hull of his makeshift home wore its rust like foundation, the red rash covering any blemish from its previous paintwork. Petal couldn’t even tell what colour it was originally. She saw a dark shape shift past a porthole, briefly blotting out the light.
 

A face pressed against the aperture, his bulging eyes distorted by the glass. Xian was alive. A small slither of relief rippled across her skin as she heard the grating of metal. A hatch beside the porthole slid back, and those mad eyes stared out.

“What fuck you want?”

“Nice welcome, Xian. It’s me, Petal.” She didn’t have the energy to smile.
 

His attention roamed either side of her. “Where’s big’un?” he said, referring to Gabe. Xian, being barely over five foot when standing up straight, always assumed Gabe, at six foot plus, to be a giant.
 

She ignored the question.
 

“I’m in trouble, Xian. I need your help. Let me in?”

“People looking for you. You bring them here?”

“What? No, I’m alone. You mean the security officers?” She pointed to the two dead bodies mingled in with the tent’s contents.
 

Xian nodded. “They tried extract information. I stop them.”

“Yeah, I can see that. You did well, Xian, they’re real fucking bad news. Please, let me in. I have a deal for you.”

His eyes lit up then. He was a magpie through and through. Petal lifted the box with Alpha’s parts inside. “It’s real old,” she said. “Pre-Cataclysm.”