Extinction

stopping the vessel dead in the water. At the same time, Modules 84 and 85, who stood on the starboard side of the upper deck, tossed a rope toward the concrete wall that formed the right edge of the notch’s U. The Modules looped the rope around an iron cleat embedded in the concrete. Then, aided by Modules 86, 87, and 88, they pulled on the rope until the thin fiberglass hull of the China Explorer touched the wall. Because all the dynamite was loaded on the boat’s starboard side, the sixty tons of high explosive were now just centimeters away from the dam’s concrete backbone. And because Supreme Harmony had incorporated most of the guards stationed in this section of the structure, no one sounded the alarm. The Three Gorges Dam was utterly tranquil until the moment Module 83 pressed the detonator.

Supreme Harmony braced itself for the pain. The six Modules on the China Explorer died instantly, but the Modules serving as guards lived a few seconds longer. The explosion rocked the dam and set off the secondary charges planted in the control shafts. Great billows of flame erupted along the whole length of the structure. A jolt of agony coursed through the network at the instant each Module died, followed by a sickening numbness. But the sacrifice was worthwhile. Although Supreme Harmony lost fourteen of its Modules in less than ten seconds, the loss to the human race would be significantly greater.

One of the survivors was Module 96, formerly known as Xi Keqiang, the commander of the dam’s security force. He stood on a hilltop overlooking the Yangtze River, and through his ocular cameras and retinal implants Supreme Harmony observed the breach. The central section of the dam collapsed first. Huge slabs of fractured concrete broke off the top of the structure and fell to the spillway one hundred and seventy-five meters below. Then the water from the reservoir began to pour through the gap. The breach seemed small at first, just a thin waterfall, but the flow quickly intensified. The concrete crumbled at the edges of the gap, torn from the dam by the pressure of the rushing water, and soon the waterfall became a roaring cascade. Pulled by gravity and current, the trillion-gallon reservoir leaned its full weight against the dam, knocking down the sections on either side of the spillway. A sodden mountain of silt slid over the precipice, and then the water rushed downstream at full force, deluging the docks and roads on the riverbanks.

Supreme Harmony ordered Module 96 to turn his head to the east. Below the dam, the Yangtze passed through the Xiling Gorge, a zigzagging stretch of river bounded on both sides by steep cliffs. The gorge acted like a sluice, funneling the floodwaters into a narrow channel. Supreme Harmony knew what would happen next because it had seen the computer simulations: A wall of water more than fifty meters high would rush downriver, furiously building speed until it reached the eastern end of the gorge, thirty-five kilometers away. Then the flood would release its fury on the first piece of flat ground it encountered, the broad floodplain occupied by the city of Yichang.

FIFTY-SIX

Jim and Kirsten switched seats before their truck reached the front of the line at the police checkpoint. Clambering awkwardly in the cramped cab, Jim slid to the right while Kirsten took the driver’s seat. She tore the bandage off the underside of her chin, then removed her bloodstained blouse, pulling it over her head. Underneath, she wore a black bra with lacy curlicues on the B cups. Jim stared at it for a couple of seconds too long, then raised his eyes to meet Kirsten’s. “Do you want to wear my T-shirt?” he offered.

She shook her head. “No, then they’ll see where the prosthesis attaches to your shoulder. Speaking of which, you better hide your right hand. I can see the metal in your knuckles where the skin scraped off.”

“So you’re, uh, not going to wear anything over the bra?”

She shrugged. “It’s less suspicious than the bloodstains. And take a look at those cops over there. They’re young guys, full of hormones.”

Jim looked at the police officers at the checkpoint. Two of them were talking to the driver of a van at the front of the line. Both cops were in their twenties and had greasy black hair and long sideburns under their officer caps. They clearly weren’t Modules. Four more officers from the Yichang Public Security Bureau leaned against a pair of patrol cars parked on the left shoulder of the road. Three of them seemed to be taking a break, drinking tea from Styrofoam cups, while the fourth—an older, fatter man in a police sergeant’s uniform—appeared to be supervising the operation. These four officers weren’t Modules, either, but Jim noticed that the sergeant was studying a printed flyer in his hand. His eyes darted back and forth, checking the faces of the drivers against the photographs on the flyer.

Jim frowned. “It’s like I said. Supreme Harmony is giving orders to the local police. The Guoanbu probably sent those flyers to every Public Security Bureau in the country.”

“That’s why I’m going shirtless. If those cops have my picture, I want them to look at something besides my face.” She looked down at her chest, then turned back to Jim and smiled. “It worked on you, didn’t it? I saw you staring at my boobs.”

“Well, sure, but I was…”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. It would be better if you pretended to be asleep. Pull down the brim of your cap and slump over in your seat. I’ll take care of this.”

Obediently, Jim leaned to the right and let his head fall forward, tucking his chin into his chest. Then he slipped his right hand between his thighs so the police officers wouldn’t see his mechanical fingers, which were gripping the handle of his Glock. He hoped that Kirsten’s plan worked, but he was ready if it didn’t.

After a couple of minutes they pulled up to the front of the line. Straining his eyes to the left and peeking through his half-closed lids, Jim saw one of the younger cops approach the truck’s driver-side door. Kirsten cheerfully called out a greeting through the open window, “Ni hao!” She spoke the Southwestern Mandarin dialect she’d learned from her parents, who—Jim remembered now—had immigrated from Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province. In other words, she sounded like a local. She talked to the cop in the rapid-fire Hubei patois, and although Jim understood Mandarin pretty well, he could barely keep up with her.

“Hey, this is a surprise!” she said. “I didn’t know you were a cop!”

“Excuse me?” the officer replied.

“What, you don’t remember? It was just two weeks ago! I saw you at the disco, when I came into town with my girlfriends. Come on, you don’t remember?”

The officer shook his head, but he was smiling. “No, I don’t. Why aren’t you wearing a shirt?”

“Oh, you know how it is. It’s so hot already. And this old truck doesn’t have any air-conditioning, of course.” She fanned her hand in front of her face. “Are you sure you don’t remember me? I was wearing a red dress that night. And I had a different pair of glasses.”

Jim was impressed by Kirsten’s performance. She sounded just like a dippy, dopey flirt. The cop bent over, poking his head into the truck’s cab and propping his elbows on the door. “No, I’m sorry,” he said. “But it’s nice to meet you.” He allowed himself a long look at Kirsten’s breasts, and Jim started to get annoyed. Then, as if sensing Jim’s discomfort, the cop pointed at him. “Is that your boyfriend?”

Kirsten laughed. “My boyfriend? Are you crazy? That’s my idiot of a brother who went out drinking with his buddies last night. And who do you think he called at seven o’clock this morning because he was too shitfaced to drive home? Not his wife, oh no. That bitch never wakes up before nine. So that’s why I’m driving his goddamn truck.”

Still smiling, the cop forgot about Jim and resumed staring at Kirsten’s chest. Meanwhile, the other young officer with greasy hair sidled up to the driver-side window. “Hey, what’s going on?” he said. “Did someone forget to get dressed this morning?”

Kirsten laughed again. “Give me a break! It’s like you’ve never seen a girl in a bra before. You policemen don’t get out much, do you?”

The second cop made a face, pretending to be offended. “No, not true! We go out every Saturday night.”

“Oh yeah?” She cocked her head, focusing on the new guy now. “Where do you go?”

“You know Zebra? The club on Yunji Road?”

“Of course I know it!” She nodded enthusiastically. “I was there just two nights ago.”

“It’s a fun place, right? You like to dance?”

“Hey, what about tonight?” the first cop interrupted. “Maybe we can meet there.”