The Burn Zone (59 page)

The people queued up at the gate hub were looking at the vehicle now, pointing and taking pictures with their phones as the other two aircars closed in from over the street behind us.

“
Out of the way!
”
Vamp barked.
“
Move!
”

“
Halt!
”
a voice boomed from above.
“
Stop where you are!
”

The crowd backed away as the shit storm closed in, and we ran for the gate. Through the portal, I could see a street somewhere across town, and through the buildings there I saw the distant lights and fanfare of the parade going on only three blocks behind me.

“
Vamp, the twistkey!
”

He dug in his pocket and pulled it out, handing it to me. I found the socket, guided the key in, and turned it.

The air crackled as the view through the gate faded away to nothing. In its place, a dark, interior view appeared where I could make out a grimy floor and
stained,
pitted concrete walls.

“
Freeze!
”

I turned and saw that our pursuers had landed, and Ligong was heading toward us as more soldiers piled up behind her.

“
Now!
”
I said, pulling Vamp
’
s arm.
“
Come on!
”

I stepped through just as the first shot went off behind us.

The sound waves of the shot caught up the second I plowed through the gate, and then the waveform flattened into silence. Out of the corner of my eye, for just a second, I could see a bullet suspended there and then we stumbled out the other side.

The room was dimly lit by the glow of battery-powered lamps, mounted on mold-stained cinder block walls. Two bullets struck the wall ahead, one exploding in a small shower of concrete and the other knocking out one of the lights with a loud pop. I turned around in time to see Vamp come through, and there, through the gate behind him, was Ligong, making a run for it.

Sam, forgive me.

The message from Dragan popped up from the 3i tray just as we came through. I went to stick the twistkey
back in, to collapse the gate before Ligong could reach it, but there was no socket.

“
Change it back!
”
Vamp snapped.

“
I can
’
t!
”
I turned to Nix.
“
She
’
s coming. Shut it off!
”

“
The gates are on a centralized grid,
”
he said.
“
I can
’
t just shut one down. It will revert to its original point of exit once the timer expires, but not before then.
”

Sam, forgive me,
I
—
Another
shot zinged through the air and struck the wall as we scrambled back, away from the doorway. Ligong was closing in fast with her group of soldiers. They were going to make it with time to spare.

“
Back,
”
I said, waving down the corridor behind us.
“
Go!
”

I darted back between them, patting Vamp on the ass as I went. They followed as I bolted down the broken corridor, following the string of lights and trying to keep my footing on the uneven floor. My toe banged into something and I nearly tripped as I passed through a rusted metal hatchway. A heavy door was pinned there under the buckled ceiling above. Farther up ahead, the hall opened up into a dimly lit room.

“
That way!
”
Ligong
’
s voice echoed down the corridor behind us. I risked a glance back. She
’
d put a lock on the gate, holding it open, and more soldiers were moving through.

Nix stopped suddenly, skidding along the floor and then reversing course.

“
Nix, what are you doing?
”
I shouted
,
slowing as Vamp stopped between us.

“
Keep going,
”
Nix called back.

Flashlight beams appeared down at the far end of the corridor as Nix grabbed the edge of the thick metal hatch and braced himself as he began to pull.

“
It
’
s stuck!
”
Vamp called.
“
You
’
ll never-
”

Plaster and concrete rained down from the ceiling as
with a low groan, the door began to move. When he
’
d managed to pull it away from the wall, he repositioned and jammed one shoulder against it. Vamp sprinted back and joined him, putting his back to the door and pushing against the wall with his feet. The hatch caught as the footsteps approached from the other side, but then came free as more rubble sifted down from overhead.

A shot struck Nix, the slug bouncing off the material of his jacket as two more rounds sparked off the metal hatch. The door moved a little farther, coming within a hand
’
s width of being shut before sticking again, this time for good.

“
That
’
s it,
”
Nix said.
“
Go.
”

A body slammed against the other side of the hatch and I heard a grunt as one of the soldiers tried to move it but couldn
’
t. The beam of a flashlight shone through the gap as footsteps pounded on the other side, piling up in front.

“
Out of the way!
”
I heard Ligong snap. Her face appeared in the gap, and when she spotted us she tried to sneak through but couldn
’
t.

“
Go!
”

I turned and made for the end of the hallway, Ligong screaming a string of threats after us that got lost in the racket and echo. I darted through the doorway with Vamp right behind me, then Nix. I slammed the door behind him.

“
Get this thing open!
”
I heard Ligong bellow back in the distance.
“
Now!
”

Sam.

“
He
’
s here,
”
I said, pulling up the chat.

“
That hatch isn
’
t going to hold them long,
”
Vamp said.

I waved him away.
“
Shut up, he
’
s here. Hang on.
”

Dragon?
Dragan, it
’
s me. Where are you?

I couldn
’
t let them do it.

“
Damn it,
”
I muttered.

“
Where is he?
”
Vamp asked.

“
I don
’
t know. I don
’
t think he
’
s picking me up. He
’
s just firing off text, like in a loop.
”

“
He may still be comatose,
”
Nix said,
“
or semiconscious.
”

“
Okay,
”
I said.
“
Okay, then, let
’
s find him fast.
”

“
How are we getting out of here once we get him?
”

“
Nix, can you gate us?
”
I asked.

“
I can form a freestanding gate, with end points at three points in Hangfei.
”

“
What about the ship?
”

“
One on the ship.
”

“
Okay,
”
I said.
“
Let
’
s find them and then let
’
s get out of here.
”

I stepped forward into the shadows, and my foot came down on something that crunched. When I looked down, I saw the floor was covered in black powder that had sifted down into the cracks around old, buckled linoleum tiles. Lying sprawled there facedown was a skeleton with the rotted remains of a lab coat tented over the bones. I
’
d stepped on the bones of the forearm, snapping them under my heel.

I jerked my foot away. There was a second body next to the first one, also
facedown
, and a few feet from where they were I spotted a clipboard partially buried in the black powder.

I shined the flashlight beam through the room. It had been some kind of office at some point, but the walls had crumbled to blackened framework, exposing the surrounding rooms. As I passed the beam through the empty spaces, I saw rows of desks piled with mold-covered computer equipment, wires trailing underneath layers of dust and ash. Some of the desks still had figures slumped over them, mummified bodies fused to their swivel chairs and claw hands still at their keyboards. Pens rattled in a dusty coffee mug as the low vibration hummed through the air.

The 3i tray wobbled at the corner of my eye, the display warping as my hair suddenly stood on end. Particles of dust rose from the floor and hung suspended in the flashlight beam for a few seconds before drifting back down.

“
I
’
m getting major interference,
”
Vamp muttered.

“
It was on the wet drive footage too,
”
I said.
“
Nix, what is that?
”

“
Our power grid extends into the colonies, but it all converges here. The field generators must be above us.
”

“
Is it safe?
”

“
It should be.
”

I shined the flashlight back down at the floor, casting the shadows of old toppled equipment as the beam drifted past. Fresh footprints were tracked through the soot there, shoe and boot tracks overlapping along a path that led through the room.

“
Dragan came through here,
”
I said.
“
It was on the recording.
”

even
for you. I know that you will

Dragan
’
s looped message stopped short as the vibrations swelled, rattling in my chest and causing dust to drift down from the bowed ceiling. It drowned out the sounds from behind us, the hissing of the torch and the sounds of the soldiers, before fading back to a steady hum. The chat window warped, and the connection dropped.

I chewed my lip.
“
He
’
s close.
”

Dust rose around my feet as I pointed the flashlight and followed the footsteps into the gloom.

~ * ~

Chapter Twenty-six

03:28:18 BC

Scaleflies flitted past as we moved deeper into the ruins, forming a small swarm that buzzed toward a set of heavy metal doors up ahead of us. They
’
d clustered over the jagged bits of glass poking from an empty window frame on the right-hand door, while trails of them buzzed in and out. A swath had been cut through the dust and grease at the base of each door as if they
’
d recently been opened, and the footprints stopped in front of them.