“More cars out front,” said Gabe. “And another one pulling around in the rear.”
“Can you land safely?”
“Negative.”
We pulled back out of sight. I heard sirens from somewhere.
“Police?” asked Alex.
“Two police cars and an ambulance. They're pulling onto the church grounds now.”
“Okay.”
“And the spider.”
“The what?”
“The thing with the multiple legs from the construction site.”
“That's not good,” Alex said. “Where is it now?”
“Approximately seven and a half kilometers. But coming fast.”
“How long to get here, Gabe?”
“I would say about six minutes.” He sounded worried. “What are you going to do?”
Alex looked across the front of the church, past the altar, to the other exit. “I don't think we can get out over there, either.”
His gaze went back to the marble staircase. It went up and down. “Gabe,” he said, “we have a stairway and an elevator on this side. Can you see where they lead?”
“I can't actually see them, Alex, but they'd have to provide egress to the bell tower.”
“Alex,” I said, “there's no way Gabe can do a pickup out of the tower. The wings won't let him get close enough. Unless we want to try some serious aerial acrobatics.”
“There's an exit directly onto the church roof,” said Gabe.
“That's what we want. Come on,” Alex said, “let's go.”
They were still battering the doors at the front of the church. I pushed a button for the elevator and it opened, but Alex pulled me away. “We'll use the stairway,” he said. “It's safer.”
“Why not ride up?”
He tilted his head at the open elevator. “They might have control of it. If we get in there, we might not be able to get out.”
“You worry too much,” I said.
We started up the stairs.
“Alex,” said Gabe. “A large truck has arrived. It's unloading smaller versions of the spider. Looks like about six of them.”
We climbed four or five flights. I'm not sure now. But we reached a landing with a door and a shoulder-high, foot-wide window covered by a dusty curtain. It looked out across the roof. Alex released a bolt and tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge.
I got my cutter and he stood back to give me room. Below us, we heard a loud bang and the sound of the doors splintering.
“They're into the building,” said Gabe. “Bots.”
I started cutting.
“Okay,” Alex said. “We'll be on the roof in a minute.” The lander was visible through the window. Coming down.
I heard a clicking sound at the bottom of the stairwell. “Hurry,” said Gabe.
Alex looked uneasily down the stairs. “Gabe, what are we dealing with here?”
“The bots appear to be specialized for construction purposes, so they may be equipped with lasers. I assume they can rig explosives. A few are carrying what appear to be blunt instruments. Most are on multiple limbs, but I see three or four that are bipedal.”
“Gabe, can you tell whether they're directed by a single source. Or-?”
“They are part of a network, Alex. But they seem to be individual intelligences.”
“Okay, Gabe. Thanks.”
“And the spider's here, too.” He flashed a picture of the thing. It was striding in off the avenue and, as we watched, it moved swiftly across the lawn among the cars and trucks to the base of the church wall.
And it began to climb toward the cross.
TWENTY
In hoc signo vinces.
“Hurry up,” said Gabe. “Quick!”
I got the door loose, finally, opened it, and looked down the sloping roof toward the front of the church. A traffic jam had formed out on the street. We were close to the peak, in the shadow of the bell tower. Gabe was hovering just above the roof, as close as he could get.
“It's here,” Gabe said. “Too late.”
A pair of grapplers, attached to tentacles, sailed over the edge of the roof, dropped, and took hold. Two stalks rose into view. Each held a flexible lens. An eye.
Alex shouted for me to move, simultaneously pushing me aside and stepping out with his pulser in one hand.
“Get back inside,” said Gabe. “You don't have time.”
The thing clambered smoothly up onto the roof, long, flexible struts and golden lenses and more tentacles. A spade-shaped disk held everything together. Alex fired and one of the tentacles whipped toward us and wrapped around his arm. The pulser went flying. Alex yelped, then screamed at me to go back. It lifted him into the air.
Gabe roared forward, revving his engines, making all the noise he could-which wasn't much. Alex yelled something as he was hauled toward the edge of the roof. But Gabe's charge distracted the thing. I took a desperate swipe at the tentacle with my cutter, got lucky, and sliced through it. Alex came tumbling down. Gabe roared past, just out of its reach, and began to circle back.
Alex half rolled, half scrambled to his feet. And while Gabe continued to distract the thing, we stumbled back inside. “For God's sake, Gabe,” Alex said as we pushed the door shut, “stay out of its reach.”
“Alex,” I said, “you okay?”
“Yes.” He looked shaken.
“I'm glad to hear it. What do we do now?”
“Hide.”
We slid the bolt back in place. Through the window, we could see the spider standing quietly, watching the lander. Gabe was gaining some altitude.
Alex looked around for a weapon and broke a long piece of wood off the doorframe. I had my cutter.
“Alex,” Gabe said, “you might want to warn them before you go ahead with the plan.”
There were sounds at the bottom of the staircase. More clicks. Starting up. Alex tightened his grip on the piece of frame.
“What plan?” I said.
Good idea. He mouthed the words.
“What's a good idea?”
“Follow my lead.”
“Alex, what's a good idea?”
He warned me off with a raised hand. No time for explanations. He spoke into the link: “Chase, I think we're trapped.”
He held it in place for me to use. “I agree.” Dumb, but it was the best I could think of.
