He glanced back and saw that she was right. The beam of ultraviolet psi was pursuing them down the corridor at sled speed.
'We've got a lead on them,' he said. 'We should be able to maintain it. With luck, we may even be able to lose them in the catacombs.'
'Can't they track us with one of those new amber-rez locaters?'
'Yes, but I know a few tricks that can fool a locater.'
'I thought those things were supposed to be foolproof.'
'The Guilds like to keep a few secrets.'
'Remind me to ask you about that later,' she said.
'A Guild boss is always happy to grant interviews to members of the press.'
He was halfway around the curve in the tunnel when his over-rezzed senses picked up another blast of alien psi. The low growl to his right told him that Elvis had sensed it, too.
'I think we've got another ultraviolet ghost coming up ahead,' he said.
She gripped the edge of the seat. 'Ambush.'
'I take back everything I said about how no one else could possibly know about my private escape route.' He did a quick survey of the curving tunnel in front of them. 'A million intersecting hallways down here, but never one nearby when you need one. Probably why they chose this section. Okay, we've run out of options. I'm going to have to de-rez one of these monsters.'
'Which one?'
'The one up ahead. No point going back the way we just came, because even if we make it through, there's still the problem of dealing with whoever will be guarding the warehouse exit. By the time we get there, I'll be only half conscious.'
'So we go forward.'
'There's a shovel in the back. Get it.'
She looked at him, startled. 'Why?'
'It's the closest thing we've got to a weapon besides the jungle knife under the seat. Better dig that out, too. If we make it past that energy barrier, we're going to have to face whoever rezzed it.'
Without another word she turned in the seat and reached back. Elvis scrambled off her shoulder and bounded up onto the dashboard where he had an excellent view.
There was a clang and a couple of thuds from the rear of the sled. A few seconds later, Sierra turned around. She gripped the long handle of the shovel.
'If you have to use it, think of it as a lance,' he said. 'If it gets snagged on the other vehicle or if someone tries to pull it out of your hand, let it go immediately. Otherwise you'll be yanked out of the sled.'
'Okay.'
'Don't forget the knife.'
Obediently she reached under the seat and came up with the jungle knife. She slid the long, heavy blade out of its sheath and placed it on the dashboard next to Elvis.
She was pale and tense, but he could literally feel the hot force field of determination that blazed invisibly around her. A strange thrill flared deep inside him. He was torn between the need to protect her and a soul- stirring pride in her courage. His woman, his wife.
The ultraviolet waterfall was waiting for them when they came out of the curve. He slowed the sled a little and started summoning dark light, as much as he could pull.
A whirlpool of pulsing midnight swirled into existence in the passageway ahead of the sled. He had intended to try to tackle the monster by attacking its tightly whirling core. That was standard practice for dealing with UDEMs, both the kind that floated at random through the tunnels and those that were human-generated.
But the energy barrier did not have an obvious core. The intricately churning psi looked as strong and tight at the outer edges as it did at the center. He aimed his flaring vortex of dark energy at the side of the waterfall.
Dark light slammed into ultraviolet near the point where the energy veil met the tunnel wall. There was an explosive sound not unlike a burst of fireworks.
'Look,' Sierra said. 'You sliced off a piece of the ghost.'
His first salvo had taken a big bite out of the monster. But the gap disappeared almost instantly. Within seconds the veil repaired itself.
He could punch through it, but the hole would not last long enough for them to slip through the opening.
'I've got an idea,' he said. 'Move closer to me, as far away from the edge of the sled as possible.'
She didn't ask any questions, just slid across the bench seat until she was only a couple of inches away from him. There was so much psi in the atmosphere now that her hair swirled around her face as though she were swimming in a pool of invisible water. Impatiently she pushed a few tendrils out of her eyes and held the shovel at the ready.
The moving dam of energy behind them was getting close. He didn't have to look back to know it was there. He could feel the stuff coming toward them like a tsunami. Time had run out.
'Looks like we do this now,' he said.
He pulled more midnight energy, more than he had ever summoned in his life. The waves of darkness pulsed and churned. When they were big enough, he threw everything he had through his amber and divided the night ghost at its core. Two whirlpools of highly volatile night fire appeared directly in front of the sled.
Instead of using the twin ghosts as battering rams, he positioned one on the front of the sled and the other against the passenger side of the vehicle. He had to maintain exquisite control. The slightest brush would sear their psychic senses. He might make it because he had some natural immunity, but with this much energy involved, he would likely be a candidate for a nice quiet parapsych ward afterward. He doubted that Sierra would survive. As for Elvis, who knew? Dust bunny paraphysiology was a mystery.
He drove toward the ultraviolet waterfall, aiming to get as close to the tunnel wall as possible.
Light and colors from across the spectrum flashed and flared as the churning night in front of the sled smashed into the ultraviolet beam. An opening just large enough to accommodate the sled appeared.
He floored the accelerator. Metal screamed when the left fender of the sled scraped against the tunnel wall. Ultraviolet energy surged, seeking to plug the opening, but the whirlpool of darkness that he had stationed on the right-hand side of the sled held the beam at bay for the seconds they needed to get through.
And then they were on the other side.
He saw another sled. A man in a motorcycle helmet, visor raised, sat in the front of the vehicle. He held a small device in both hands. There was no way he could swivel the gadget around, because the action would cause the ultraviolet beam to sweep over his two companions who stood beside the sled.
'They made it,' one of the Riders yelled. 'Turn this thing around and follow them.'
'Shit, here come the others,' the man inside the sled shouted. Panic lanced through his words. 'They can't see us through that beam they're generating. They'll run right over us. We'll be fried.'
The second man outside the vehicle ignored him. He jerked a long-bladed knife out of a belt sheath and lunged forward. His trajectory took him straight toward Sierra's side of the sled. He managed to grab the edge of the door opening, clearly intent on vaulting up into the cab.
Sierra aimed the shovel at his chest and shoved. The attacker screamed, lost his grip, and fell back onto the floor of the runnel.
Fontana checked the locater and took a hard left. The shouts and curses of the men faded quickly into the distance behind them.
Chapter 23
'WE CAN OUTRUN THEM, RIGHT?' SIERRA ASKED.
She felt strangely, unnaturally calm now that there was a genuine reason to panic. Either her overcharged senses had finally succumbed to the stress and burned out altogether or else being chased by a bunch of guys who
