“Yeah, but I think we got trouble.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” Danny fired, but the spiderbot was moving too fast, scuttling for cover. He could hear gunfire from the floors below, and wondered how many of the sodding things there were.
“Not those. I think Coyle figured out what we were up to. He just sent the drone out.”
Danny felt a brief flare of panic. If Coyle knew where they were, what had happened to Ro? “Where?”
Olly looked at him. “Here.”
Danny made to speak, when he saw a black shape sweep past the windows. He swung his weapon up and fired, stitching the windows. Olly covered his head as Danny fired. The drone kept moving, banking. There was a crack of thunder and a window exploded, filling the air with glass. Danny staggered back, still firing. Another crack, another window exploded. He concentrated on the drone, trying to predict where it would go, firing as he moved.
“We’ve got to find some cover,” he shouted, as the drone veered away. He heard the clicking of the spiderbot behind him and spun, driving the stock of his ACR down on top of it with a crunch. The machine tried to move away and he fired down at it, destroying it. He turned, looking for Olly. He spotted him crouching behind a berm. “Olly? Up. Let’s move!”
Olly climbed to his feet, eyes on the windows. “If I can just get it in range…”
“It’ll blow a hole in you the size of a football. Come on.”
“Where to?”
“Upstairs,” Danny said. “If he’s figured things out, Ro is in trouble.” He hit the door to the stairs, slamming it open. Olly hurried after him, and Danny kicked it shut. There was a boom even as it closed and the door was all but torn off its hinges, the metal dented inwards by the shot. “Go!” Danny said. Olly nodded and started up, taking the steps two at a time. Danny hesitated. Shouts from below warned him that someone was coming up. He braced himself against the rail and pulled out his last booby trap – a stun grenade.
Danny popped the pin and dropped the grenade straight down. “Grenade out!” He turned away as the charge went off – light and noise filled the stairwell. Danny hurried after Olly, ears ringing.
Olly was waiting on him at the next landing. “I heard shooting,” he said.
Danny shouldered the door open without replying, his thoughts only for Ro. He flinched back as bullets marched up the wall beside the door, filling the air with plastic dust. He fired back blind, and jerked his head towards one of the cubicles that filled the floor. “Go – I’ll cover you.” Without waiting for Olly to reply, he stepped out of the stairwell, still firing. A quick glance told him everything he needed to know – six men, in fatigues and armour opposite him, another man – Coyle – caught in between. And near him, Ro. Hunkered down, trying to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
When the magazine ran dry, he ejected it and slapped in a fresh one without lowering the weapon or slowing down. He only released the trigger when he joined Olly behind a cubicle partition. “Ro’s still in one piece.”
“More than I can say for us,” Olly hissed. “Look!”
Danny looked up and saw a familiar black shape hovering before the windows. “Shit on it,” he growled, and raised the assault rifle.
“Wait,” Olly said. He had his Optik out, aimed at the drone. Danny looked back and forth between them.
“You get it?” he asked.
“Not yet.” Olly hunched forward, engaged in a code-war with the drone. If he slacked up, or mistyped even one number, the drone would follow through with its current programming and blow both him and Danny into a fine red mist. “I need time,” he hissed.
Danny looked at him, and then at the drone. He took a breath and shouted, “Cease! Fire!”
The gunfire stuttered to a drawn-out halt. Silence fell. Torn papers and dust sifted through the air. Danny peered around the edge of the partition. “That you, Sarge?”
No reply. Danny cleared his throat. “I just want to talk.”
“Is that you, Danny?” Faulkner called. “You disappoint me, lad. Thought you had more sense. There’s a good lad, I said–”
“Oh, piss off, Sarge,” Danny replied.
Olly watched Faulkner’s face through the split-screen CCTV feed as he worked. The Albion operative looked angry – more, he looked worried. “That’s no way to talk to your superior officer, Danny.”
“You’re not my superior any more, Sarge. I’m out.”
“You with them DedSec lot now, Danny? Is that the path you want to follow?”
“Better them than you, Sarge.”
Faulkner looked at his men and gestured. Olly showed the feed to Danny, who frowned and nodded. “You’re not planning to try and flank me out are you, Sarge? Because I’ll hear that donkey Mueller coming a click away.”
Faulkner hesitated. Looked up and saw the cameras. Danny laughed at his expression. Faulkner raised his weapon. Olly switched to a secondary view as the shot took out the camera. “I can still see you, Sarge,” Danny taunted.
“As can I,” Coyle called out.
“That you, Coyle?” Faulkner said. “It’s been some time. Croatia, wasn’t it?”
“Zadar. I wondered if you remembered.”
“Hard to forget. Whatever you’re being paid, Albion will double it.”
“In return for what?”
“Kill these DedSec pricks with that fancy toy out there.”
“I have been trying. They’re quite obstreperous.”
“Try harder,” Faulkner said. “Danny – I’m giving you until Coyle here figures out where his interests lie. First one to choose the winning side gets amnesty. The other gets a shallow grave.”
“What about my sister, Sarge? What about Olly here?”
“Sacrifices must be made, Danny. DedSec are terrorists. Can’t let that sort run free.” Faulkner paused. “And your sister is a criminal. But I’ll show some kindness… you lot surrender, you might walk out of here alive.”
Danny looked at Olly, who shook his head. “What about the drone?” Danny murmured. Olly shook his head.
“Need more time,” he grunted.
