Zero (10 page)

All the captain did in response to this was raise one bloody eyebrow.

“Well, not the getting out,” Webb conceded. “But the getting in.”

The captain raised both eyebrows this time.

“Come on, Captain, think about it. Apart from our friend in the booth, did you even see a patrol before we got to the lab? And then they checked the security network and didn't fix it? And the minute we're out in the lab corridor lead is flying and I've got half of Albion Integrated's security force up my ass. If the bikes hadn't been so close we'd be dead by now. Or worse.”

The captain grimaced and his glance slid away.

Webb was already pulling up a map of the immediate area on his wrist panel and shifting back to the bunker entrance before the captain grunted another order to wait. Webb ground his teeth but bit off the retort before it made it out his mouth.

“
Commander,” Hugo repeated, voice stronger. “What's your status?”

“
Huh?”

“
You heard me. I'm relying on you too and you don’t look so good, either. What happened?”

Webb glanced away.
“Urm...I blew myself up.” It might have been the dark but Webb almost swore he saw a twist of humour in the captain's face when he looked back.

“
That's even stupider than jumping out a window.”

“
Debatable,” Webb countered and moved again to leave.

“
Status, commander,” the captain barked.

Webb exhaled and clenched his eyes shut, lowering his walls to allow the pain to seep back into his awareness.
“Burns and scrapes. Superficial. Sprained ankle. Bruised ribs...probably cracked,” he relented as another shoot of red pain rode up through him. “Oh, and dislocated shoulder,” he flashed the captain a quick grin. “But I fixed that. Sit tight, captain. I'll be right back.”

“
Commander “

Webb hauled together his remaining patience and hunkered back down next to Hugo.
“Here, look,” he punched a couple of commands into the captain's and then his own wrist panel. A little green light started blinking in the corner of each. “You have my heartbeat and I have yours. You can monitor me, that will have to do. I'll be back.” He clambered back over the log before the captain could protest further.

He moved west, parallel to but out of sight of the road. He clung to the hope that the security forces were too busy sifting through
Sin
's blast site to worry about extending the search but he also knew what he told the captain was the truth. Breaking in had been too easy, the escape too hard and the pursuit too desperate for Webb to believe that AI would just count their losses and let them slip away without hard proof that they were gone or dead.

It had clouded over, making night draw in quickly, making him feel a little easier about the impact his twisted ankle was having on his ability to move stealthily. When he reached his destination he halted out of sight of the road to allow his pained breathing to calm before he dared to approach the break in the trees.

There was no traffic, no sounds and nothing moving. The tourist car park across the road had four vehicles pulled up in it. It only took a few minutes to break into and hotwire one of the little civilian cars. The engine coughed to life and he offered up silent thanks to the unfortunate tourist and hoped they had comm units with a good range this far up the mountain.

He ignored the panic that rose in him at the sound the engine made as he roared back down the road. He turned a corner and slowed, swallowing as he saw the AI four-by-fours and a couple of motorbikes pulled up on the north side of the road. But there was no one around. He wasted no time in pulling up on the other side and hurrying back down the slope to the bunker.

The captain was slumped against the wall but his eyes snapped open as he scrambled back into the narrow space. “Come on, Hugo. Your ride awaits.”

It took more effort than he cared to admit to help the captain back out of the bunker and up the slope to the waiting car. He outweighed Webb and, though he obviously tried hard to hide it, was struggling to hold himself upright. They paused at the tree line but it still looked as if none of the enemy had returned. Satisfied their luck was holding for now, Webb bundled Hugo into the passenger seat and limped back round to the driver's seat. He coaxed the engine back to life but didn't accelerate too hard until the AI vehicles had disappeared from the rear view. Then he ignored the protests of his ankle and floored it.

“Commander,” Hugo’s warning lost some of its power with the pain that cracked his voice.

“
The town's this way,” Webb said, flinging the car around a corner. “All I need is a system on the solarnet to get a secure connection to the
Zero
to arrange a new rendezvous. Think you can hang on?”

Hugo just grunted.
“Who was that man with Gabor, Commander?”

Webb swallowed.
“Herman Fitzroy.”

“
Aide to Lunar Governor Cho-Jin?” Hugo asked, eyes widening.

“
Officially.”

“
And unofficially?”

Webb flung them around another corner, gritted his teeth.
“He's Lunar Independence League. High up, too.”

“
What?” Hugo “He's
what
?”

“
You heard me right.”

“
That's impossible.”

“
Is it?”

Hugo shook his head.
“The revolutionaries were defeated...LIL was disbanded...”

“
Not all that disbanded, apparently.”

“
How do you know this?” Hugo snapped.

“
Well,” Webb said, flinging them around another corner. “Fitzroy told me.”

“
He told you?”

Webb nodded, shooting him a narrow glance.
“Sought me out. To recruit me.” Hugo was silent. When Webb spared him a glance he was sat stiffly, glowering at him. “Don't worry, Captain. I'm not the revolutionary type. Not enough principles.”

“
Why didn't you tell me before?”

“
The fact that I've been getting recruiting calls from underground insurgent movements is not something I thought would endear me to you on the first day.”

Hugo clenched his good fist and stared out the windscreen again.
“Does this mean that Governor Cho-Jin -?”

“
I ain't touching that one with a ten-foot pole, Captain.”

“
The Lunar Strip won't survive another revolutionist governor...did you report this?”

“
Hell no,” Webb said, glancing again in the rear-view.

“
Not even to the colonel?”

Webb could feel the frustration coming off Hugo in waves. “I got the hell away from Fitzroy before he told me too much. But the Service won't move against the moon without proof and if LIL found I'd ratted them out, I may as well have drifted myself.”

“So the Lunar Governor's aide is LIL. And recruiting. And he's skulking around AI?”

“
You ain't in Kansas no more, Captain.”

“
And there's nothing we can do?”

“
Hell there's nothing,” Webb said. “We can get the fuck out of here is what we can do.”

There was silence for a moment, with only the sound of the car engine, Hugo's ragged breathing and his own blood pounding in his head.

Darkness drew in quickly and he turned on the car's lights, taking the bends fast enough for his stomach to protest. Hugo lapsed into silence punctuated only with hitches of pain and his laboured breathing.

Soon the road straightened out, the trees gave way to buildings and the road was lit by street lights. He forced himself to slow down, aware of the street cameras. It was apparently the local rush hour and the queues made him swear. He peered out the windows looking for quieter side-streets that wouldn’t take them too far off course.

It felt like a long time before he spotted something suitable and pulled the car round with a jerk that had the captain grousing. He crept the car along and scanned the closed-up shops and businesses, ignoring the questioning stare he could feel coming from Hugo. The occasional civilian flyer zoomed overhead though thankfully nothing with flashing lights or sirens, and he allowed himself to breathe normally. Turning another corner he found another street of shut up shops that was even more deserted than the last and decided there wasn’t much else for it but to chance it. He pulled over and cut the engine, trying to avoid the clearest angle on the nearest street camera.

“
Where are we?”

“
No idea. But I think I’ve found what we need. Sit tight.”

“
Wait,” Hugo snapped as Webb opened the door.

“
For fuck's sake, will you just trust me?”

“
Wait, Webb. That's an order.”

Webb had little choice since the captain had used his good hand to lock a death-grip on his sleeve. He swore again, painfully aware of the seconds ticking by, and turned back.

“You look like shit,” Hugo muttered, scowling at him.

“
Yes, I am aware, Captain, now let me go, we don't have time -”

“
No,” Hugo snapped. “I mean...just look.”

Webb followed the captain's gesture and took a proper look at himself in the rear view mirror and grimaced. What little of his face that was not mired with dirt was covered in blood from a cut over his eyebrow. His hair was stiff with more of the same and his clothes were a scorched and bloody mess. Anyone even catching half a glance of him would call the emergency services, either before or after screaming bloody murder.

“Okay. I take your point,” Webb muttered.

Hugo was already trying to work his way out of his coat which, though dusty and dirty, was long and more or less in one piece.

“Here,” Webb said and leant in to help. Hugo threw him a look but didn't argue and Webb managed to untangle him from it with only the minimum of muttered curses. Webb pulled the coat on over his ripped boiler suit then pulled off his hat, scraped back and re-tied his hair then dusted off the cap as best he could before pulling it back on, tugging it low on his face, hoping it would hide most of the blood. Then he scrambled out of the car.

The night air had a bite of chill and he shivered. He pulled the coat
tight around him and ducked his head, moving up the street as sedately as he could manage, all the while forcing himself not to limp. The drug store he had spotted was at a bad angle for the street camera but he still looked up and down the street twice before setting to work on the keypad by the door. It took him longer than it would have done normally to crack the code. The waves of nausea and dizziness washing through him were getting harder to push aside. He cursed as he struggled to focus but eventually the doors hissed open and he let out a shuddering breath, slipping inside. He found the control box to the alarm system near the door and disabled it with less trouble and moved down the rows of shelves to the shop counter.

He muttered another prayer of thanks when he saw that the store's till system was connected to the solarnet, even if it was old and took its time booting up. He resisted the urge to kick it, slumping in a chair and rubbing his eyes. There was a bit of stalling and static, partially
his codes talking their way around the
Zero
's security settings and partly the drug store's ancient connection, and then finally Rami's face flickered into focus.

“
Commander?” Webb saw her trying to fight a smile. “It's good to see you.”

“
Likewise,” Webb replied, feeling a smile spread across his own face.

“
I know how you like to keep us on our toes, Zeek but...” she paused and her brow furrowed as as she took in his appearance. “What happened?”

“
No time to explain,” he sighed, “but please, God, tell me you're not still dirtside?”

“
No. When you weren't at the drop off point we retreated back to orbit.”

“
Thank fuck.”

“
What's going on?”

Webb shook his head.
“Something's not right,” he said. “Maintain comm silence until further notice. We can't get back to the drop off point, it's too close to the base. Is there anywhere else nearby you could come get us?”

She glanced off screen and tapped some keys. He felt his heart sink as her face darkened. “You're in a pretty sticky location. There's civilian monitoring stations everywhere.”

“There must be something.”

He saw her jaw tighten.
“There's an abandoned air field to the north, about sixty miles. We may be able to slip through the monitoring there, if we're quick.”

“
Nothing closer?”

Rami shook her head.
“Only if we risk getting picked up on the local scans.”