Element Zero

issuing the command.

I sent Faye’s override code over the command spoke and her system tree appeared in front of me. In seconds, direct control of everything was switched over to me.

Nico, what—

Her message was cut short as the override completed. All she could do now was watch. Her targeting system called out the carotid arteries on either side of Fawkes’s neck and the nodes clustered at the base of his skull. I triggered the attack, and her POV feed lurched as she swung.

Fawkes was just fast enough; he got his own blade in the path of the strike, and the two crashed together an inch from his neck. The feed jerked again as he shoved her back.

An alert flashed in my own display. The Eye was almost ready. In minutes, we’d lose our window to sever the connection to it.

Fawkes, stop, goddamn it—

The screen in front of me flickered and Osterhagen’s face appeared.

“Agent Wachalowski, what is our status?” he asked.

Fawkes, they’re going to destroy the transmitter if you try to fire, I told him. Don’t do it—

Is that supposed to be a threat? Fawkes asked. If they don’t destroy it then, before this is over, I will.

“Agent Wachalowski,” Osterhagen said again, “what is our status?”

I threw Faye at Fawkes again. Her second blade deployed as she closed in on him again and thrust it toward the middle of his chest. He managed to deflect the strike, and instead it thudded into his shoulder. Black blood came out in a glut as she jerked out the blade.

Two guard revivors closed in, and in the chaos of movement I began to lose track of where they all were. Faye’s POV spun around as warnings began to spill past indicating trauma to her torso and right leg. Muzzle flashes lit up the room, and I saw sparks fly from a console in front of her.

“Wachalowski, answer me!”

One of the revivors appeared to Faye’s right, and I sent the bayonet flying. I caught a glimpse of a gray, waxy face tilting off at an unnatural angle as the edge of the blade chopped deep into the flesh of its neck. Several more figures scrambled past; then the computer isolated Fawkes ahead in the fray. I sent her after him again. Another body stepped in front of him. On the feed, I saw Fawkes duck back out the way he’d come in as the remaining guards mobbed Faye. I couldn’t get her past them.

“Damn it!”

Faye, did he move into the dispersion area?

The sublevels aren’t completely saturated. He’s still active. I can’t tell where he went.

I’m too late, I thought. Fawkes had escaped. Osterhagen was going to order the missile strike. We’d lost everything.

“General—” I started.

“Were you successful or not?” he asked.

On Faye’s feed, I saw a splash of black appear on the wall to her left. Through the struggling bodies in front of her, I saw someone appear in the doorway for just a second. A severe-looking, dark-skinned woman. It was Dulari Shaddrah. There was a gun in her hand.

I turned to answer the general, when the image on the screen warped. A second later, it went dark.

“Get him back on the line,” a voice said.

“There’s too much interference,” another voice answered. “Let me try—”

“Fire the missiles,” someone snapped.

“Not without authorization from the general,” Vaggot said.

“The general could be dead!”

“You don’t know that,” I said. The faces in the room turned to me. “Who here knows the name Motoko Ai?”

Most of them looked confused, including Vaggot. One woman on the team met my eye and signaled with one hand.

“Do whatever you have to do to contact her,” I told her. “Tell her Nico Wachalowski said not to fire those missiles. She’ll know who I am.”

She nodded.

“Don’t let anyone here initiate the launch until you’ve given her that message. Can you stop them from doing that?”

“I can.”

“Can you get me to Heinlein Industries?”

“Key monorail routes are being kept active to move military personnel only. The southern sector of the base is still secure. You can access the rail from there.”

“Do it. In the meantime, hold the base and wait.”

“And if Ai asks why we shouldn’t launch, what am I supposed to tell her?”

A route to the bases’ monorail platform appeared on my HUD as I pushed my way past the soldiers and toward the door.

“That her prediction was right,” I said. “Tell her I’m going to kill Fawkes.”

Calliope Flax—Avenida De Luz

Helicopters swarmed around the base far behind us when I saw a small light appear up in the sky behind the clouds. The way ahead was blocked by cars stuck on the main drag, and there were too many people moving in between them to just bash my way through. The light disappeared behind a building as I ducked down a narrow side road.

Tires and hydraulics squealed as I punched the brakes and slowed down, and people turned and scrambled to get out of the way. I took us over the sidewalk and squeezed down the strip, blaring the horn. Hands pawed at the truck. Bloody fingers pulled at the door and left greasy smears along the jagged edge of the missing window. Alerts had begun to pour in over the JZI as the clouds overhead started to move.

“What the hell is that?” Vika asked. The light in the sky had come back into view, and it was getting brighter.

Cal, this is Nico. The satellite is going to fire again. The target is the UTTC. How close are you?

I couldn’t see the tower from where I was, but it wasn’t more than ten blocks away.

Closer than I want to be, but out of the blast zone, I said. Where are you?

I’m headed toward Heinlein. Find a metro stop. The military has control of the railways. They’re shut down to civilians, but they’re moving military personnel. You need to get off the street.

Something thumped into the door on my side and I jumped. Bodies were shoving their way between the stuck vehicles as people scattered. One had reached the truck and had its hands on the edge of the open window.

“Goddamn it!”

I took aim and pulled the trigger. The jack stumbled back and went down on the ground. Another one crunched under the front wheel as I lurched forward, and I heard one climb up on top of the truck. I hit a parked car and set the alarm off while the revivor fell down onto the hood.

Two military helicopters blew by overhead. A second later, something exploded on the sidewalk off to our right, and the pavement shook underneath us. Glass and debris blew over the street and banged off the side of the truck. Something bashed through the back windshield of a parked car. I checked the mirrors and saw the shadows of the revivors fade behind us.