vast source of electromagnetic energy in the stairwell. Mellanie let out a shocked gasp as an armor-suited figure pointed a gun at her forehead.
“Do not move,” it said quietly. The voice was male. “Do not shout or attempt to alert anyone that we are here.”
Mellanie manufactured some tears—it wasn’t hard. “Please don’t shoot.” Her legs were shaking. A second armored figure slipped around the first, quickly followed by five more.
If they’re Alessandra’s, she’s really taking no chances.
“Turn around,” the suited man said. “Put your hands behind your back, cross the wrists.”
The armored suits were moving along the corridor. Mellanie had no idea suits that heavy and big could move so quietly. Then a thin plastic cord tightened around her wrists. “Ow!”
“Quiet, or I will use a nervejam.”
She was half sure her inserts could deflect that. But she’d have to activate them—and even if she did get the sequence right, then what? “Sorry,” she whispered.
“In here.” She was pulled into the stairwell.
“Name?”
“Er…Lalage Vere, I’m a nurse in the dermal specialist unit.” She felt something being pressed to her hand.
“The name’s on file, but she doesn’t match the clinic biometric.”
“She wouldn’t,” said a female voice.
Mellanie knew who that belonged to. Even as she let out a long breath of relief she couldn’t help wincing. A hard gauntlet was placed on her shoulder, turning her around. There were about ten more armored people in the stairwell, one of them markedly shorter than the others. “Good evening, Mellanie,” the small suit said.
“Oh, good evening, Investigator Myo. Fancy seeing you here.” It was bravado; she was trying not to sulk at how swiftly Paula had seen past her dark hair and freckles.
“We found the chief janitor downstairs,” Paula said. “He was tied to a bench in the locker room; not that there was any need—he’s got so much narcotic in his blood he doesn’t know which universe he’s in.”
“Really? And they let people like that work here? I’m astonished.”
“I’m more interested why you’re here, Mellanie.”
“Reporting was getting kind of hectic. I fancied a change of profession.”
“Mellanie, people’s lives are at stake here tonight. A lot of lives. I will ask once more, why are you here?”
Mellanie sighed. There really was no way out. “I’ve tracked down the lawyers. All right? It’s not a crime. They’re the criminals, and we both know what they did wrong.”
“You mean Seaton, Daltra, and Pomanskie?”
“Yes.”
“They’re here?”
“Duh. Yes. I just said.”
“When did they arrive?”
“Didn’t you know?” Mellanie said smugly. “They’ve been here receiving treatments more or less since they went on the lam from New York.”
“What sort of treatments? Have they received weapons wetwiring?”
“I’m not sure, you interrupted me. The new DNA thing, I suppose. It wasn’t cheap, whatever they got.”
“Which rooms are they in?”
“One’s in the Nicholas suite, on this floor; the other two are sharing the Fenay suite on the fifth floor.”
“Okay, thank you, we’ll take it from here, Mellanie.”
“What! You can’t just—”
“Grogan, take her down to Renne.”
Gauntlets grabbed her upper arm, metal fingers closing painfully. “Yow! Hey, I found them, you could at least let me cover the arrest for my report.”
“I’d advise against it. This is not a safe environment.”
“I was doing fine until you blundered in.” She paused. If Myo hadn’t known the lawyers were in the clinic, what…?
Grogan pulled her toward the stairs. The suit was too strong for Mellanie to resist. “You’ve got to give me something, Myo.”
“We’ll talk later. A long talk.”
Mellanie didn’t like the sound of that.
“Tactical update,” Paula informed the arrest teams. “We now have three more confirmed hostiles on site in addition to Bernadette. Possible locations: one in the Nicholas suite, two in the Fenay. Be advised, there could be more. This appears to be where Starflyer agents receive their wetwiring.”
The map in her virtual vision displayed the positions of the armor suits. She quickly adapted their interdiction roles, assigning three members to each lawyer.
“Hoshe, can you review the arrays we’ve sequestered? I’d like to confirm what Mellanie told us.”
“We’re working on it now. I didn’t know she was that good.”
“Mellanie is starting to interest me greatly. But we’ll have to deal with the clinic first.”
“Third-floor net shut down,” Hoshe said. “We’re establishing our programs on four and five, preparing to insert on six.”
“That’s good.” Paula examined the map. “Warren, move out into the fourth floor.”
“Acknowledged.”
“Renne, when Mellanie reaches your team I want you to hold her in custody but separate from the rest of the clinic staff; do not let her call anyone. That’s important.”
“Understood.”
“How’s the perimeter?”
“Solid and holding. It looks like half the city police are here.”
“Damn, that’s what I was worried about. Someone up here is going to notice what we’re doing.”
“Confirm the three admissions matching the lawyers,” Hoshe said. “Mellanie was telling the truth.”
“We’ve been exposed,” Warren Halgarth called. “Four staff members, one client walked out in front of us. Can’t contain them all.”
Paula cursed, though they’d got a lot further with their dark incursion than she’d expected. “Everyone, go hot. They know we’re here. Arrest teams move in immediately. And find me Bernadette.” She stood to one side, allowing the rest of the third-floor team to deploy out of the stairwell.
“Shit,” Warren exclaimed. “The client is weapons wetwired. Challenging us.”
“Is it one of the lawyers?” Paula’s map was updating. Teams were deploying along each floor. Matthew Oldfield was leading five officers to the Fenay suite, while John King was closing on the Nicholas. Barely a third of the clinic staff had been taken down to Renne’s team, where they’d be safe.
She heard the dull rumble of an explosion. Small flecks of dust shook free from the pipes running up the concrete stairwell. More explosions began. There were screams. Hoshe used aggressive infiltrators and took complete control of the clinic’s net.
Paula drew her plasma carbines, and moved out into the corridor. People were opening doors, peering out, yelling. Doors were slammed shut. The armor suits kicked them down again, hauling out the terrified staff and clients. John King and his two teammates blew the door to the Nicholas suite. A plasma bolt flew out. The screaming in the corridor reached a crescendo.
“Deactivate your weapons and come out,” John’s suit speaker boomed.
There was a big explosion inside the Nicholas suite. Debris and smoke billowed out into the corridor.
“He blew a hole in the floor,” John called. “Jumped down to the second level.”
“Acknowledged,” Marina called. “We’re deploying.”
John’s team charged through into the suite. Paula was waving the other members of the third-floor team along the corridor as they half carried staff and clients through the miasma. “Do not leave any of them unaccompanied,” she warned. “Medical forensics must clear them first.”
“Visual on Bernadette,” Warren called. “We’re engaging.”
Paula turned and raced back for the stairwell. Another explosion cut the lights. She was seeing the clinic through microradar and infrared. Sprinklers went off, and the fire alarm shrilled. The ceiling bulged down just in front of her, long cracks multiplying down the walls on either side.
“She won’t surrender,” Warren said. “Joined by another hostile. Both wetwired.”
“Can you disable her?” Paula asked.
“Not a chance.”
Paula reached the stairwell as a volley of explosions reverberated around the concrete shaft. Emergency lighting came on, an intense yellow slicing through the cloying gray smog that was swirling down the broad shaft. A long convoy of armor-suited figures was escorting cowering prisoners down the stairs. She pushed past them.
“Two hostiles engaged,” Matthew said. “They were in the Fenay suite.”
“Capture alive if you can,” Paula said.
“Do my best.”
“Got some debris down here,” Renne said. “Glass falling all over the plaza.”
“Any bodies?” Paula asked. “If their force fields are good enough they might try to jump clear.”
“None yet.”
“Watch for it.”
The explosions and sound of plasma shots had ended by the time Paula rushed out onto the clinic’s fourth floor. There were no elegant treatment rooms
