He nodded at the gun. “That’s for personal protection.”
Odin checked to see that it was loaded and set the safety. He handed it to McKinney. “Here. If he tries anything, shoot him.”
McKinney took the gun but shook her head. “I’m not killing anyone.”
“Do you know how to use a pistol?”
She nodded. “Yes, I had a boyfriend who was a cop. He taught-”
“Christ, how many guys have you dated?”
“Oh, you’re going to turn this into a double-standard debate now?”
He held up his hands. “Forget it.”
Evans looked at them both. “What’s the deal with you two? Are you actually a couple?”
Odin grabbed Evans by the shoulder again. “Back exit. Where is it?”
“What do you mean, back exit? What am I, Pablo Escobar? It’s a Florida condo. Look, I can make a call. I can. I promise. I’ll call off the hit. I swear.”
Odin was looking around for anything useful. “You don’t seem to understand, Morty. They’re not going to reward you for turning us in. You know too much now.”
“Oh, come on.”
McKinney stepped between them. “How long do you think we’ve got?”
Odin paced. “Special Operations Command is here in Tampa. These people might have anticipated I’d go there looking for help-which is why I avoided it. But it also means they probably have assets close by.”
Just then Evans’s eyes grew wide as shadows appeared around the window. “What the hell is that?”
McKinney and Odin turned to see a swarm of black dots-like a flock of birds approaching the tall windows.
Evans pointed. “What the fuck is that?”
“It’s the future, Morty. And I don’t think it cares what side you’re on.” He glanced at McKinney. “Do you recognize your algorithm, Professor?”
She studied their behavior as the cloud kept growing outside. “I don’t know yet.”
Evans watched the swarm gathering. “You’re shitting me! That’s what you do? Design swarms of robot birds?”
Suddenly one of the fluttering bots outside bumped against the window glass and exploded with the force of a shotgun shell-blasting the safety glass apart into a million beads that collapsed and spread across the floor, creating a six-foot-wide, twelve-foot-tall opening. A fresh breeze and the buzzing sound of ten thousand beating mechanical plastic wings filled the living room. The creatures spilled through the opening and into the room, blocking the path to the front door.
Evans shouted, “This way!” and motioned for them to follow. He headed down an adjacent hallway, deeper into the cavernous condo, as the swarm continued to pour through the opening. Evans raced down a wood-floored hallway, past expensive-looking but sterile artwork and closed doors. “What the hell are those things?”
Odin pushed McKinney ahead of him as he took rear guard. “They’re a swarming weapon.”
“No kidding-”
“Don’t let them near you. They’re flying handguns. They’ll try to get right on top of you. If they corner you, you’re dead.”
“What the hell have you done to me! I finally had a good situation!”
McKinney pounded Evans in the shoulder as they reached the end of the hallway. “You did this to yourself, Mr. Evans. You were trying to have us killed.”
Evans was struggling with a key ring to get a locked door open. Oddly it had a keyed dead bolt even though it looked to be an internal door.
“Heads up!” Odin aimed his HK pistol and fired at a swarm of bot birds surging into the far end of the hallway. With the suppressor off, the shots should have been deafeningly loud, but McKinney’s adrenaline was pumping her heart so fast, she didn’t even hear it. Several bots shattered without exploding and dropped in pieces to the floor-and only then exploded like a shotgun blast. But the swarm itself continued unaffected.
Evans was still struggling with the door keys.
“Dammit, Morty, get that door open!”
“I’m trying!”
“Try harder! Linda! Shoot!”
She raised the. 45 and used the two-hand grip her ex had taught her. Squeezed the trigger. “Dammit!” She flicked off the safety, and squeezed off several booming shots. It had been a long time since she’d fired a pistol, and she had no idea if she was hitting anything.
The swarm was already halfway down the hall-the droning buzz getting louder.
“Got it!” Evans unlocked the door and pushed inside. McKinney and Odin followed-Odin last, firing off several last shots. Evans slammed the door as he crossed inside what appeared to be a computer lab. It was a server room lined with rack-mounted servers and a dozen large flat-panel monitors above two separate desks. The place was littered with DVDs, technical white papers, and colorful hentai posters involving seminude Japanese schoolgirls and tentacled monsters.
McKinney took the briefest of moments to be disgusted. “God, you’re sick!”
Evans flicked the dead bolt. “We’ve got more pressing problems than my prurient tastes.”
Odin examined the dead-end room. “Dammit, Morty. You trapped us!”
Evans was scurrying about, clattering at keyboards. “Not true. I just need to clear some machines and grab some gear before we bug out.”
“Bug out where?” Odin looked around at the racks lining the walls of the small room. An explosion like a shotgun blast tore through the door, ripping an inch-wide hole in the wood laminate. Odin raised his gun but didn’t fire. “They’re breaking in! Evans, you stupid-”
“Would you give me a moment?” He was still clattering on keyboards.
McKinney could see he appeared to be launching a wipe sequence, and several screens started scrolling progress on a shell script.
Another last punch on an ENTER key and Evans grabbed a laptop bag hung over a chair-back. “Ready to roll!”
“Roll where, asshole?”
There were several popping explosions at the door, and now two foot-wide holes splintered the wood. Odin fired several shots at bot-birds that tried to flutter through.
Evans grabbed McKinney’s shoulder and pulled her to a computer rack. He pulled back on it, and it swung away from the wall on a hinge, revealing a narrow corridor.
McKinney smiled in relief and turned to shout at Odin. “Odin! This way!”
Odin emptied his HK’s clip at the door, blasting apart several more of the artificial birds, but they blasted several more holes in the door as well. He turned and gave Evans an irritated look before diving into the breach on McKinney’s heels. “Why the hell didn’t you say something?”
“Because I knew you’d force me to leave before I was ready.” Evans stopped in the corridor opening. There were already lone bot-birds fluttering around the server room. Evans pulled a round olive-drab canister from a bracket on the wall and pulled a metal pin from it.
McKinney shouted, “What the hell are you doing? Let’s get out of here!”
“Gotta clean up, or I’m going to have some legal issues later on…” He tossed the now smoking canister into the server room, and a blinding white glow began to expand, followed by a wave of broiling heat. Slam. The secret door shut behind them, Evans raced ahead, leading the way. The blinding light showed through a previously unseen gap at the base of the secret door. A furnacelike roar came to their ears.
They raced down the narrow secret corridor, single file, until they reached another hatchway. Evans turned to them and held up a finger for silence.
He whispered, “We hang a left at the laundry room, and that’s the maid’s door. There’s a fire stairwell across the hall.”
Odin nodded. “Pablo Escobar…”
“I was keeping my options open, dammit.”
McKinney and Odin nodded.
