“And it’s mostly empty, since the crash,” Olly said, tapping at the screen of his Optik. “Of the forty-one floors, over half are currently unoccupied. This guy Coyle is renting one of the uppermost storeys. Claims it’s a business, lot of equipment moving up, but nothing beyond that.”
“He’s probably been here a few weeks,” Danny said. “Checking the lay of the land, making sure he had access to the right equipment. These guys – operators – they’re like fucking ghosts. Nobody knows they’re there until they do the job.”
“Met many of them then?” Ro asked. She meant it to come out curious, but it sounded acidic. Danny frowned.
“Not for sure. But… you hear things.”
Ro leaned back, arms crossed. Impatience brewed in her gut. She wanted to do something, to hit something, but so far they’d just sat in the back of a van parked a few hundred metres from the Pinnacle’s entrance on St Mary Axe. Around them, from what Ro could tell, the city was tearing itself apart.
Spontaneous protests were springing up everywhere, mostly in the form of flash mobs and street parties. Albion and the Met were doing their best to disperse these gatherings, but for every one they stamped on, two more sprouted elsewhere. Olly had implied that DedSec was behind some of these, but Ro suspected he was just putting on a brave front. He didn’t know for sure any more than she did.
Danny and Olly kept talking, chewing over the problem. Ro closed her eyes, tuning them out. She wondered what she would do next, if they made through the next few hours in one piece. She couldn’t go back to the Kelleys, even if she’d been inclined to do so. Faulkner had never gotten around to debriefing her, but that didn’t mean much where Mary Kelley was concerned. She and Billy would assume Ro had talked, and they’d top her if they got the chance. Maybe Danny was right and they should leave.
But not forever. Just long enough. Then she’d come back and settle up. She owed Billy Bricks a slap, and Mary Kelley as well. And Faulkner, come to that. She glanced at Olly and wondered if DedSec were looking for new members. She wasn’t any good with computers, but she could learn. And she could fight. Something told her they were going to need fighters soon.
Danny snapped his fingers in front of her face, startling her. “Oi, you listening?”
“Yeah,” she said, swatting his hand aside. “You two are talking bollocks, when we should be going in there. Building is empty right now, yeah?”
“Yeah,” Olly said. “Most everything inside closed early today. Might be some people in the offices, security, that sort of thing though…”
Ro shrugged. “Nothing we can’t handle. We know where we’re going. Let’s go.”
Danny shook his head. “And do what?”
“Punch the fucker in the bonce, what else?” Ro said.
“And then what?” he pressed. She made to retort, but realised he had a point. She settled back with an impatient grunt.
“We grab him,” she said, after a moment.
Olly stiffened. “Not him. The drone.” He looked at them. “We need the drone. Think. It’s like Colin’s van, it’s got a GPS. That thing will have a record of everywhere it’s been, everything it’s done. If we take the drone, we’ve got him.”
“And we keep him from using it again,” Ro said, nodding. She gestured to the Optik in Olly’s hand. “So do it.”
He frowned. “I need to be close to do it. In sight of the damn thing. And even then, it’s not certain. Especially if its shooting at me.” He looked at Danny. “If we could get to the floor below him, I might be able to do it. But we’d need to distract him. If he sees what I’m up to, he’ll just send the damn thing after us.”
“I can do that,” Ro said.
“Do what?” Danny said, staring at her. “You’re not going in there.”
“Fuck that noise. You want him distracted? I’ll distract him. Come to that, I’ll take him down.” She leaned forward, eager now. “He’s using a drone to do his dirty work. How tough can he be?”
Danny looked at Olly. Olly shrugged. “I mean… you got a better plan?”
Danny sagged. “No. And we’ve got no time to come up with one. Faulkner is probably already on the way.” He looked at Olly. “If it comes to it, I’ll keep them off of you as long as possible. But if they show up before we get out, I can’t promise we’ll walk out of there. If Faulkner knows what he’s dealing with, he’ll come in shooting.”
“That might make it easier for us,” Ro said. She saw the look on Danny’s face and smiled. “Cheer up, bruv. Maybe you’ll get to tell Faulkner what you really think of him.”
Danny snorted and looked at Olly. “Think you can get us in the building?”
Olly nodded. “We need to go now though.”
“Then let’s do it,” Ro said, standing and throwing open the back of the van. She looked around. The narrow street was mostly empty, except for a few parked cars, but in the distance she could hear sirens and the faint crackle of loudspeakers. Riot drones swept by overhead, racing towards some unseen confrontation.
Danny checked his radio as they crossed the street towards the diamond shaped archway that hung over the front entrance. Glazed glass made a shadowy mass of the interior, and the revolving doors were shut. “Nothing on the frequency yet. Too much going on. But if they’re not already on the way, they will be soon.”
“We’ll be quick.” Olly had his Optik out as they reached the doors. He brushed his fingers across the screen, doing what Ro couldn’t tell. Some hacker bullshit that might as well be magic as far as she was concerned. “Doors are on a timer. The mechanisms automatically lock when they shut it down for the day. But… ah. Give it a push.”
Ro pushed
