Rhea nodded; glad the drone had made it.
As she stepped forward, she heard the high-pitched buzz of rotors, coming from beyond a broken window. She ducked behind a desk for cover, and the others likewise found suitable hiding places beside her.
She tapped into Gizmo’s feed, but it promptly cut out, no doubt to avoid detection. She did catch a glimpse of several security drones traveling between the buildings.
She carefully peered past the edge of her hiding place, toward the closest window, and saw the drones swiftly pass by a moment later. Thankfully none of them stopped, and the lot of them continued east at speed, no doubt intending to investigate the retreating SUV.
When the security forces were gone, she waited several moments until Gizmo’s feed kicked back in. The drone was scanning the four horizons, but there was nothing more out there.
When she was satisfied that no more Aradne drones were coming, she stood.
“I had you in my sniper sites so many times,” a familiar voice came from the far side of the room, near one of the broken windows.
Rhea dropped immediately and withdrew her pistol.
“Yet you keep moving,” the voice continued. “Forcing me to come close with you to finish the job. I suppose it’s only fitting. I want you to look in my eyes when you meet your end. I want you to beg for a mercy that will never come.”
She aimed her pistol past the edge of the desk until she spotted the source of the voice.
Wearing a thick, black robe with the hood raised, the Scorpion stood next to a broken window. His long, metallic tail was curled toward her. The tip was no longer equipped with a blade, but instead it was glowing, as if preparing to fire.
12
Rhea ducked again. A bright flash filled the room, and a large circular hole appeared in the desk above her.
Beside her, Chuck looked like he was about to stand to return fire.
“Don’t leave cover!” Rhea told the man. “He’s a cyborg. He’ll mow you down with his energy weapon before you can react! Leave him to me!”
“And me,” Horatio said.
Rhea glanced at the robot and nodded.
She flattened herself on the ground. Above her, another blow ate into the desk, almost disintegrating it entirely.
Rhea low-crawled, moving behind the dividing partition of a nearby cubicle. Beside her, an aisle provided a route between the desks and cubicles, but it was in plain view of the Scorpion. Instead, she used her pistol to melt gaps in the partitions in front of her, making her own path.
Across from her, Horatio mirrored her course, following along on the other side of the aisle, also drilling holes as necessary into the dividers that blocked the advance.
She glanced at Gizmo’s feed in the upper right of her vision: Will had repositioned the drone to give a better view of the building, and she could see the Scorpion still lingering next to the same broken window. He moved away as she watched, vanishing from view.
Rhea resisted the urge to bring the drone closer, as it wouldn’t take much for the Scorpion to shoot it down.
Ahead of her, holes began to appear in different partitions as her adversary began firing randomly into the different cubicles around him, creating viewports as he searched for her.
Rhea rolled to the side when one appeared directly ahead.
“There you are!” The Scorpion said.
She retreated rapidly, retracing her steps until she had placed two more desks between herself and the Scorpion.
She glanced at the overhead map. Horatio remained on the left side of the aisle, three meters ahead of her. The Scorpion showed up as a red dot on that map, which indicated his last known position.
Horatio, she sent on the mental channel. Can you give some kind of diversion? Without dying?
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Horatio replied sarcastically. And yes, I can.
She waited.
Several moments passed. More holes appeared in the surrounding desks. She was about to press Horatio again, when she heard her voice coming from across the room.
“Hey Scorpion,” Horatio said, mimicking the pitch and timbre of her voice exactly. The robot had added a seductive quality to it. “Whatcha doing over there, Big Boy?”
Rhea smiled; holding her pistol before her, she stood up.
Except it hadn’t been Horatio mimicking her, but the Scorpion.
That tail swung its aim toward her.
Rhea dove to the side, and a steam of plasma cut through the desks beside her. The energy beam struck the nearby window as well, cutting through the glass. The wind gusted in from outside, swinging the blinds.
“Ugh!” the Scorpion said.
She risked a glance past the edge of the closest desk. The Scorpion was holding his chest, where apparently Horatio had scored a blow. As she watched, the robot ducked from view inside what looked like a kitchen.
The Scorpion fired at the entrance to that area, striking the doorframe.
Rhea aimed her pistol at the tail and squeezed the trigger.
The energy bolts struck, tearing into the weapon at the tip.
The Scorpion spun toward her, and she ducked once more. But no more holes appeared around her. Had she knocked the weapon out of commission?
She spared a tentative glance past the top of her cover.
The Scorpion was stalking toward her. His smoldering tail trailed behind him.
Apparently, she had scored a deactivating blow after all.
She released several more shots, targeting her foe’s power cell. She burned holes into the robes, but otherwise her shots seemed to have no effect on the cyborg whatsoever. It continued toward her without stopping. She stood up, and that tail swung forward, thwacking the weapon from her grasp.
She leaped backward, landing on top of a nearby desk, and activating the X2-59. Sparks of plasma shot up and down the weapon.
“Try that again,” Rhea said.
The cyborg stopped. That aristocratic face grinned with amusement, and he lowered his hood. The skin that covered his face ended on the sides of his
