I kept up my steady breathing as Kate and I jogged up the last flight of stairs and stepped into the office. It was standard fare, cheap, cold and corporatised. Kate's eyes flashed blue as she accessed the cameras again. While she did that, I jogged over to the corner cubicle.
Dragging the table to one side, I climbed on top and looked out the window.
Perfect. It gave us a ace view of our target, as we had hoped from our scouting yesterday. The warehouse was mostly in shadows by now, with only a few lights on inside. The rest of the business park it was attached to was the same. Although I could clearly see the well-lit security booth on the east side.
I cracked the window open. I'd already disabled the security for it and the rest of the building. From my pocket I pulled out a wire cutter and snipped the cable stopping the window from swinging fully open.
'In position.' I said over our shared call. 'Diving.'
I positioned myself so I had a clear line of sight to my entry point and detailed pinged. With the entry point found, I dived in. Although I didn’t like how little my Pathfinder was telling me.
The comfortable world of cyberspace filled my vision. We had chosen this office carefully. I was distantly aware of the first reason as Kate set up next to me, her rifle resting against the window pane, but not visible from outside.
It gave us clear sight of the warehouse and the large open space before it and would be able to hopefully cover Jess. Nat was positioned on the far side of a rooftop for a similar reason.
The second was the security was far lower than most of the surrounding buildings, and most importantly, it gave me a great place from cover to breach our target.
'Copy. Let us know when I can enter.' Jess said from her hiding spot, tension, but mostly excitement in her voice.
With the way the warehouse was positioned the only feasible entry point meant crossing the large park below us. It had enough cover with walls, bushes and trees, so there should be limited risks when I took out the cameras. But her being in the open had me antsy.
The pharma compound cyberspace looked like a greenhouse, with large amounts of pixilated vegetation growing everywhere. Ignoring that I moved to the datawall, chewing my lip as I did. I could already tell the wall was strong.
Maybe too strong.
The warehouse was on its own network, as were most of the buildings.
I rezed my programs and moved to the code gate. Without much hope I tried to bypass the password, but it did fuck all. Not surprising, but still, it would have been nice. With no other choice I sent my [termites] to breach. They slammed into the datawall and did little else.
I stood there for a few seconds, even if it felt like hours; actions were quick in the net. Just as I was about to terminate the program I noticed the smallest gap in the datawall. Good, it was making progress. I released a small sigh and let the others know this would take a while.
The [Termite] ground through the wall and 5 minutes later I was in. As soon as I entered I knew it was a stacked net, which might be a good thing… maybe.
I wasn’t sure what I had been expecting, but entering the first node and seeing a [Pit Bull] wasn’t it. I had hoped to be able to sneak through as I had done on many other occasions. As such, my deck was centred around that, but that was straight up out now. [Pit Bull] was one of the most advanced versions of the watchdog ICE and if that was what they had on the door, I was expecting a similar quality the rest of the way through.
More to the point, I wasn’t 100% sure I would be able to take it down with what I had.
For a moment I was tempted to go ahead anyway, destroying it and hoping I could keep progressing, but decided against it. Better to do it right the first time. Leaving the net, I pulled my deck from the rucksack and set about changing my programs, reorganising my deck to be far more aggressive.
For example I would no longer be needing [Invisibility] and [Misty Steps], so could swap that out for another attack program. 20 minutes later and my deck changed and safely stored back in the rucksack alongside my ChipVault, I dived back in.
This time I didn’t hesitate. Using my termite, I burrowed back through the datawall and then stepped into the first node. My 2 [Killer III]s stomped forward whilst the smoky shadow clamped the ICE mouth shut, stopping it from sounding the alarm.
As they [Killer III]s advanced, my [Flak] flashed around the node, disorientating the ICE and I used that opportunity to attack. [Stun] wasn’t a potent program but it was cheap and effective—exactly what I needed. The blue flame flashed across the room, striking the [Pull Bull] on the nose moments before the [Killer III]s reached it, slicing out with their red-glowing katanas.
They made short work of it and we advanced to the next node. Like the one before it, it contained nothing of note, just ICE. A [Watchdog] and [Cerebus]. A potent combination. I was moving forward, ready to use [Muffle] on the watchdog when something caught my eye. It wasn’t obvious at first, but there was just something wrong with the ICE. Pausing, I squinted at it, trying to see what had set my instincts off. Then I saw it, a tiny ripple in the code and once I noticed that, it was as if the shell collapsed around it, revealing the [Killer IV] underneath. A dangerous trap for anyone expecting to fight a watchdog. But now I knew and with no alarms to worry about, I advanced with confidence. My [Killer III]s stomping alongside me.
I used [Flak] and sent my [Killer III]s forward one each. They wouldn’t be able to hold their own against either ICE but with my help [Smokescreen], we had it. As the smoke filled the node helping me slip the ICEs notice, my [Stun] splashed into the [Killer IV]s side.
[Stun] did exactly what it said on the tin, freezing the target momentarily. The length it froze the target depended on a number of factors, including the skill and strength of the ICE. In this case it was only for a moment but that was all my [Killer III] needed to strike several times.
Not enough to destroy it by any means, but it had the upper hand which allowed me to throw a [Stun] on the [Cerebus]. This time it only stuttered, but it bought time and disrupted its attack, which had been a fireball. [Cerebus] was a nasty ICE that could use [Hellbolts]. I carried on this dance, weaving between the 2 programs, my [Smokescreen] covering me, until they crumbled.
I took a moment to rerez my programs before advancing once more. The next node looked more promising, with a flower bed of all things, with what looked like mini camera plants sprouting from it. Turning my attention from the somewhat disturbing sight, I focused on the far more normal ICE. The [Bulldog] and the top-end [Eradicator].
With the [Bulldog] muffled, it was a relatively straightforward battle and the ICE quickly collapsed, although not before one of my [Killers] joined them.
With the node to myself, I interfaced with the plant bed, and as I had hoped, I gained control over the cameras for the warehouse, including the security booth near its entrance. But that wasn’t the only obstacle, so leaving my [Cystal Ball] in control of the cameras, I advanced to the next node. I still needed to take control over the sensors. Otherwise, breaking in would be all she wrote.
I expected the same again and stepped into it with confidence. That faltered as the node came into sight. A demon pacing the centre of it. It was only an [Afreet] so could carry three programs. But unlike the other ICE, it was far more sophisticated and adaptive.
This was not going to be easy, but I knew I could take them. I just needed to approach it right.
I didn’t have time to waste because as soon as I entered the node, the demon noticed me and reacted. A [Killer IV] appeared beside it at the same time a swarm of red orbs flashed from it to splash into my circular shield that shifted to intercept the ICE. Judging by the damage, I was going to say a [Data dart]. A variant of the [Hellbolt] that was weaker individually but fired more than the classic program.
Either way, it was more than enough to shatter it and carry on to crack into my armour, thankfully not breaching that. Although cracks formed where they hit. Not something I want it to be able to do again.
I shifted behind my [Killer III] and sent them forward. At the same time, the familiar flashing lights and smoke filled the room. The [Killer]s clashed in the centre of the room, the enemy ICE holding its own and even pushing mine back with the demon's help.
But by then the smoke had filled the room enough for it to be unable to track me. Stalking right, I circled the demon and launched [Stun]s at it and the [Killer IV]. I quickly learned my lesson on directing them at the demon, as anything I flung at it was swiftly reflected back at me. I couldn't be sure but I assumed it had [Reflector], which could reflect [Stun]s and [Hellbolts] back at their attacker.
Even so, we were able to first wear the [Killer IV] down before focusing on the demon. It was almost a disaster when one of my [Killer III]s caught a [Data Dart] to the face and shattered, onto for the demon to rerez its [Killer IV] moments later. Almost taking down the remaining [Killer].
I was pretty sure the only reason it survived was the [Smokescreen] and [Flak] made them miss a few attacks. But when my other Killer was rerezed and rejoined the fray, we could finish them off, taking control over the node.
With the sensors now under control, I left the [Genie] in control over them and moved back up to the cameras and asserted control over them manually.
Fighting to keep the satisfaction from my voice, I said over agent. 'Okay, you can begin.'
With one eye in both worlds, I watched as Jess moved swiftly up to the warehouse wall and shimmied up to the 1st floor window. The window didn’t open so she carefully smashed it, trying to be as quiet as possible. It still sounded deafening in the silence.
I checked the cameras again. No guards were near. 'Clear.'
There should still be 30 minutes before security started their next walk-through.
She climbed through and dropped catlike to the floor. Moving quickly but silently, she ran through the large shelves laden with goods, only slowing when she neared our target. There was enough light that her cybereyes could pick out the labels as she hurried past them.
'Found it.' Jess said. Stopping before a large, solid grey crate. It was pushed up against the wall at the bottom of the shelf. Of course it couldn’t be easy. The crate swung open upwards, so was blocked by the shelves above it. Now we just had to hope Jess's strength training paid off.
It looked chunky.
'Good.' Nat said. 'I have some gonks in the park but otherwise quiet my side. Sound off.'
'Still clear on our side.' Kate said.
'Ditto.' I said, once again cycling through the cameras. The guards were still kicked back in the booth. Which I was glad about. They might have looked lax, and maybe they were. But they were stacked. Fuck messing with them.
The container was slowly dragged out from the shelf; Jess's grunting and the scraping of metal on concrete the only sounds in the otherwise deserted warehouse. Popping the lid, icy mist seeped out onto the floor around her. From a secure pocket she pulled out a small packet containing six capsules. Reaching into the box she pulled out the first vat, about the size of a football. She took a few seconds to pop the lid off revealing the liquid inside. We didn’t know what was inside them; it wasn’t needed for the gig, but it looked like liquid gold. She dropped the first capsule in and before she had the lid sealed, it had already dissolved, contaminating the liquid.
One down, six to go.
Jess was on the third jar when I noticed movement in the security booth. 'The guards are beginning their patrols.'
'Copy. Moving onto the 4th.'
'Should we retreat?' Kate asked.
'Jess?' Nat asked.
'No they will notice the glass and we won't get another opportunity.'
'Copy. But I want you pulling back as soon as they get close.'
'Got it.'
The fourth and the fifth sealed jars passed in tense silence. Just as Jess was sealing the 5th vat, a side door I hadn't paid attention to opened.
The creaking door clearly echoed across the otherwise silent room.
'Shit.' Jess breathed.
Shit was fucking right. Where the hell had that wasteman come from?
'What?' Nat said.
'Someone's in here. Aden?'
I was already flicking through the cameras but couldn’t find a clear angle of the door. As for the room itself, it wasn’t covered at all.
As the guard stepped into the room, I could finally get a clear picture of him walking down the aisles, hands in his pockets. A pistol strapped to his thigh and a submachine gun hanging from his shoulder on a strap. It was harder to make out, but I could see the slight bulge of body armour covering his chest and back.
'One guard patrolling. He isn't aware of us yet. He's approaching from your 4 o'clock.' I said, marking his position on the map we had, care of Kate's investigation. It was only 2D with a rough floor plan, but it was more than enough for our purposes.
'Can you retreat?' Nat asked, her voice steady.
'Nope.' Jess said, popping her P. 'He'd spot me pronto. I'm gonna croak him.'
I wanted her to back out anyway, but she was right. He was already walking along the back wall and would soon be under the broken window. I checked the progress of the other guards. None were close, so it should work.
My vision shimmered as meat space came into focus, only for a moment. Just long enough to glance at Kate to check she was set up and then shifting my assault rifle into a more active position, as opposed to where it was resting before.
Back in the warehouse, I made sure the guards' location was up to date and followed Jess's progress. Jess skulked through the shadows to the best place to ambush him she could find on short notice—a few paces before he would be directly under the windows.
It would have been better further away so he wouldn’t notice the broken glass on the floor, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. Jess crouched, lying in wait in the shadows.
The lights blinked on around him before shutting off again as he left the area. Why that was done, I had no idea. Seemed stupid to me. May as well dance in place shouting where he was. I’d made sure it hadn’t happened for Jess thanks to the sensors I controlled. But I was sure there was a perfectly stupid reason the corpos did it.
Probably to save power or something.
'10 metres.'
'Take the shot.' Nat said.
'No. Too noisy. I want to do the last one.'
'5.' I said, before falling silent.
She would need to concentrate and she could properly hear his boots on the rough concrete floor. She'd already drawn her combat knife, sharpened to a razor edge. It should be with the amount of time she spent sharpening it.
A few paces from her hiding spot, he slowed, hand drifting to his gun. He had spotted the glass scattered across the floor.
A shadow blurred forward as Jess darted from her hiding spot between crates. The guard moved with lightning-fast reflexes, able to grab his iron and swing it up to bear. A few paces more and it would have been enough. But he wasn’t.
Jess crashed into him, sliding her blade into his side. Even from the camera, I could see it was perfectly placed. Exactly where Daniel and Avery had taught us.
The blade vanished to the hilt and the man twitched. Jess's momentum carried them both down to the floor, Jess landing on his chest, hand still clutching the dagger. He opened his mouth to shout but was losing strength fast.
Not fast enough.
The submachine gun fire cut through the silence as it emptied its magazine. Thankfully, with Jess so close to him she was unharmed. But the jig was up. Bouncing to the other cameras I could see the security swarming. Where before they wandered through the corridors, now they were running for the noise, guns drawn.
A red light flicked on overhead, pulsing in time with the claxon.
Fucking shit.
"Out now." Nat commanded.
'One mo. Last one.' Jess said, already springing back to the still-open crate.
This girl. I was going to put her over my knee when we got home.
'1 minute.' I said. Still tracking the guards. It might be possible, but it would be close.
From my left eye I could see the compound light up as more security poured out of the other buildings. I squeezed my hands into fists as they tried to shake from the nerves before relaxing them.
Stay calm Aden. That’s how we get out of this.
'30 seconds.'
'Nearly there.' Jess whispered, frantically sealing up the last jar and slotting it back into the protective foam. 6 cylons were moments away from the far-end warehouse doors. Jess slammed the crate shut and shoved it against the wall.
Good. No one should know what we were after. I mean they would know we had been there. A body was a pretty big clue, but they shouldn’t know exactly what we had done, which was an important part of the gig. It would have been better to be unnoticed with a bonus if we had, but as long as we all got out. That would be enough for me.
She sprinted for the window and safety, just as the far door slammed open. The lights of the entire warehouse snapped on, bathing everything in harsh white light. Like she had practised hundreds of times before, she bounded on a crate and sprang up to the window, levering herself through.
I breathed slightly easier with her outside. At least we could help her now.
'Eyes on.' Nat said.
I was watching the progress of the guards as they spread out and searched. They had just found their zeroed man when the sensors vanished from my control.
It took me longer to realise than it should have done. There was only one reason for the sensors to be removed from my control. I felt my heart sink. Another fucking challenge. This job was going from bad to worse.
'Another runner in the net. Retreating.' I said, wasting no time to do exactly that.
I was moving up to the next level of the architecture when the netrunners icon flickered into view, rapidly forming one pixel at a time at the far side of the node. Any temptation to fight him vanished when a demon appeared right behind him.
Yeah, that was about how things were going. Time to delta the fuck out.
I had just enough time to take the icon in and then I was running across the 2nd layer of the net. The netrunner avatar was a mannequin in a neon pinstriped suit. Incredibly detailed and lifelike, normally a sign of a skilled runner and yet they moved oddly, sort of stilted. So maybe they weren't as skilled as they looked. Either way I wanted no part of fighting them, particularly because of the huge male figure in futuristic black armour beside them. A [Balron] demon able to command 4 strong programs.
I was halfway across the node when the runner appeared again. Fuck me he was fast.
I sent my already rezed [Killer]s at them. I had the presence of mind to move it to cover my retreat. It was good I had. A heavy turret sprang up behind the netrunner and rained fire on my retreating figure. A fucking [Bolt Cluster]. I had only heard of them. I glanced back as I jumped up to the exit floor and saw the netrunner was closer. At least the demon wasn’t close yet, having only just appeared at the far end.
I only got a few paces when the deckhead appeared. Nothing for it. I had always wanted to test myself. I span to face him, rezing new programmes as I retreated. I just needed to get out and then I could disconnect.
Carrying on with my fighting retreat, I sent my newly rezed [Killer]s forward supported by my customary smokescreen and flak. They clashed in the centre with the opposing netrunners' programs. Even though his [Killer VI] were impressive, they were not operating at the level I was expecting.
So much so I managed to manoeuvre them so I could block the runner from targeting me with his ICE just as he unleashed another [Bolt Cluster], wasting the program and buying myself even more time. A quick [Stun] allowed my [Killer]s to gang up on one of the [Killer VI]s.
They couldn’t destroy it in the time they had, but they damaged it badly enough that it messed with the program's effectiveness. But... I was winning? Another stun disrupted a combo. Alongside my smoke, I managed to disrupt the deckhead again, breaking his next summoning of [Bolt Cluster].
I actually slowed my retreat as I found my footing and felt my confidence rising. I was holding my own. His programs were better, significantly so, but I was just more effective. That came crashing down as the [Balron] stepped into the node. Its ICE summoned around it.
Spotting the [Hellhound] and the other Black ICE, I noped the fuck out. It did more than that. It distracted me, allowing the runner to fire off another round of [Bolt Clusters].
I dived through the exit, moving my shield to block the shot. It wasn’t enough. The first few rounds shattered the shield and then my armour and datawalls. Thankfully the rest missed or that could have been the end of me right there.
But I was out. I disconnected from the net and real space came into focus. Down in the park I could see Jess sprinting across it, about halfway to safety. I had to blink my eyes to clear the tears and rubbed my forehead. I could feel the tension headache forming, but that was a small price to pay. It could have been so much worse.
Now I no longer needed line of sight of the warehouse I backed away from the window slightly, shifting my rucksack so it sat comfortably on my back once more and raised my Enfield.
"You okay?" Kate asked, glancing at me before staring down her scope once more.
"Yeah." I muttered, panning my red dot across the park. "Closer than I would have liked."
A crack of a gun cut the silence, freezing my heart with it.
Jess hit the deck hard. My breath was stuck in my chest. No it… oh, thank god. She rolled and started crawling forward.
'Jess?' Nat said, trying to sound calm and in control. But I knew her too well for that.
'I'm okay. I think the armour caught it.' Jess said, voice tight with pain.
'Where was the shot from. Does anyone have eyes on it?' I asked, desperately scanning the surroundings for any sight of the shooter. I pressed the butt of the gun tightly into my shoulder to keep it steady.
'Didn’t see it… wait the warehouse window.' Kate asked.
Sure enough a cylon climbed through, pistol in hand. We were just lucky it was a pistol, even if the pistol in question looked like a hand cannon.
'Got company. Jess get to cover.' Nat said.
'No shit.' Jess muttered, having already crawled behind a wall for cover and was still moving away.
It was good she did. Dust and dirt were kicked up as the area she fell was peppered with shots. 2 more cylons dropped to the ground having come out of the warehouse windows, their rifles barking, lighting up the area around them with flashes of light.
'More coming from around the right side of the compound.' Nat warned. 'On my mark, open fire.'
Glancing over, and sure enough, another dozen cylons were running around the edge of the business park.
The 3 already in the open and advancing professionally, each covering the other and suppressing the area around Jess. It was good she kept moving as the brick walls did little to protect against the heavy fire.
Movement from the warehouse window caught my attention as 3 more guards started to climb through.
'I have the window.' Kate muttered.
'Got it.' I said. Panning back to the 3 cylons out in the open.
Ahh thank you. They had lined up nicely for me. They were professionals and used the walls for cover but from my angle I had a perfect shot up the line of them. I controlled my breathing and lined up my first shot on the closest gonk's head. Satisfaction washed through me as I did. The bastard who shot Jess was about to get what he deserved.
'3, 2, 1. Now!'
The 3 of us fired simultaneously. Nats' heavy machine gun ripped open, lighting up the rooftop around her as her stream of bullets slammed into the advancing wasteman to the right of the compound. Several were hit and the rest scattered for cover.
Kate's burst caught the guards as they climbed from the window, killing one and sending the others diving back inside for cover.
I braced and pulled the trigger, leaning into the gun as I did. The rifle bucked in my hands, but ready for it; I controlled the spray. My first few rounds croaked the bastard, his head vanishing in a puff of red mist and I raked my fully automatic fire up the line.
I caught the second guard 3 times, the leg arm and chest, sending her to the deck. The last dove for cover but he had no idea where I was. I nailed him too. One of my bullets catching his head and he went down. With the last down I tried to release the trigger but my bionic fingers were slow to respond and the mag clicked dry. I flicked it to burst fire as I reloaded, pushing the annoyance to one side for now.
Out of my peripheral vision I could see Jess already up and making a break for it.
I panned over the dead guards, or almost dead. The second was alive and she had crawled for cover. Can't be having that and a short burst finished her off. I was targeting the warehouse window when a glint flickered out the corner of my eye.
'Down!' I said, throwing myself back, arm outstretched, taking Kate with me as I did.
Not a moment too soon, as our window was lit up. Glass and dust showered us.
We crawled out of the cubicle. "Let's move." I said, taking the lead and heading for the exit, reloading as I did. We ducked into a new cubicle a few along. I threw a table under the window and climbed on it to get the right angle, Kate joining me. Jess was nearly at Nat but I could see the guards gaining ground.
They were peppering the area Nat had shot from, forcing her down. She wasn’t hit; she had already moved like we planned, but we needed to slow them some more.
"3, 2, 1, now." I said, flicking my rifle to full auto again and spraying. I didn’t aim for anyone, unconcerned about hitting them. We just needed to slow them down a little bit more.
As my mag clicked dry, I ducked back for cover, Kate not a second behind me. We were already running for the door when windows all along our floor shattered, scattering glass everywhere. The bullets continued, thudding into the ceiling, sending sparks and plasterboard raining to the floor.
By the time the firing stopped, a fine powder hung in the air. We were done here. On our open channel I told Nat and Jess we were retreating. As I jogged for the exit, I reloaded my next mag, my second-to-last one.
I slammed into the door to the stairs at speed, shouldering it open, and pounded down them, jumping the last 6 steps, spinning as I did. Bouncing off the wall, I charged down the next set. I let my rifle hang by my side and drew my pistol. It would be more useful in the tight corridors.
We reached the second floor when Kate gasped. "They're inside. We'll need to use the secondary exit."
I nodded and changed directions. I'd already hacked the cameras with Kate in control of them. Instead of heading further down, I hangered left and ran through the office. A small time accounting firm by the looks of it.
Reaching the far end I poked my head out of the window. "Coast is clear." I whispered.
I could hear the pounding of feet up the stairs now, seemingly in time with the pounding of blood in my ears. We were just lucky they hadn't taken control of the cameras.
Sheathing my pistol, I pulled out the cable cutters and snipped the wire, allowing the window to swing wide open. Moving to the side I helped Kate climb out and drop to the floor a story below. I grinned slightly as she rolled out of it, reminding me again that I really needed to get her dance lessons.
Levering myself out, I hung off the ledge and pushed the window shut and then dropped, grunting as I hit the ground.
Accepting Kate's hand, I stood, the wind knocked out of me and we set off at a sprint. I made sure Kate was a step or two in front of me and kept up her pace. Glancing back, I didn’t see any cylons chasing us. At least not yet.
Following the secondary escape route, Kate cut across the road and jumped a brick wall. 2 gardens and fences later, we dropped onto the next street. With still no sign of pursuers, we slowed to a fast but steady jog.
'Sitrep?' Nat asked.
'Blue, you?' I said. I didn’t bother explaining where we were. We had linked our agents so we could see each other on the same map. Nat and Jess's dot were together and moving steadily towards us. Kate and I should reach the alley we had set as the meeting point first by the looks of it.
'Blue.' Good they were okay as well.
Falling silent, I focused on my steady breathing and the empty streets around us. The entire borough was quiet, with none of the normal gonks moving about. It was actually unnerving not seeing anyone walking around, with few if any cars or lorries on the road. Not to mention homeless or druggies lining the streets.
It felt like a ghost town.
But as we moved away from the area directly around the compound—that started to change. After 2 more streets and under a railway bridge the area had livened up. In which I meant there were now the occasional other person on the street, although they ducked away when they caught sight of us.
It was times like this that I was glad we had kept up our cardio because even at our brutal pace, Kate and I were still breathing steadily.
We were close. I pulled up the map again, appearing in the upper corner of my vision. It was one of the most useful functions of connecting my agent to my cybereyes.
One of many.
We crossed a final road, a busier one, having to wait for several lorries to pass and entered the rondeau point. Stepping into the shadows, we set up back to back, covering both entrances. I unzipped my jacket and let my rifle hang by my side, partially covered by the jacket.
Behind me, I could hear Kate doing the same and then leant against the wall, in a pose that any lookout would recognise. One that looked casual and allowed people's eyes to pass over us without drawing attention, but still ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.
Even relaxed my hand was resting against my pistol.
I tensed at the scraping of boots on the tarmac, drawing my pistol, only to relax as Jess and Nat jogged around the corner.
I looked over them critically. Nat was fine so I focused on Jess. She looked okay. I couldn’t see any blood. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t hit.
As they reached us, I squeezed her arm. "You okay?"
Nat took my place as I started to fuss over Jess.
"I'm fine." she replied. "It didn’t penetrate."
I nodded, leaving it for now, but I would be properly checking her over later. No doubt about that.
Together we set off at a brisk jog for the other end of the alleyway, towards the bus stop. We would move a bit further before catching one, but they were the best way to get around London if you were heavily armed. Tubes were a no-no.
We were just stepping back when Kate, who was out in front, threw herself back. "Back, back, back!"
I poked my head over the others as we pressed ourselves into the wall and the shadows. Just in time to see a black 4x4 roll past, I could just make out the Rayfield badge but otherwise had no idea of the model. It passed the entrance to the alley without stopping, but a few moments later its brake lights flared and reversed.
"Shit, they know." Kate said.
"How—" I started to ask
"Never mind." Nat said. "Head for the station." Grabbing Jess and pushing us out in front.
I could feel the adrenaline pumping through me again as we ran for the other entrance. Jess and Kate out in front with Nat bringing up the rear.
Reaching it, we turned left, heading for our 3rd escape route. A nearby station that led to the Labyrinth.
As we left, I saw the squad of incredibly heavily armed corporate security sprinting at the other end.
Even as I ran, I couldn’t help but turn the problem over in my head. How had they found us? It should have been impossible. If they got lucky okay. But they seemed to know.
So how could that be… unless… unless… shit. I slowed slightly, Nat almost running into me.
"What?"
"One sec. Need to check something." I said, already digging into my agent. Fuck, yes there. "Everyone, turn off your agent. They're tracking them."
How or even when the deckhead had done that, I had no idea. Even as I shut it down, I checked the other functions and was relieved to see they only had our GPS location compromised and nothing else. If it had our contacts and internal files, we would be in a world of hurt.
The others slowed as they shut their off as well, not questioning me and that done, we picked up speed once more.
"Next left." Nat said.
"But that isn't the—" Kate started to ask.
"No time." Nat said.
She was right. I could hear the shouting behind me and risked a glance. The cylons had exited the alley and were closing on us. Thankfully they paused until they had spotted us, but were now chasing after us and they were much faster.
Before they could open fire we ducked into the new alley. Halfway down this, we turned onto an even smaller path, the street narrowing until it was barely shoulder-width wide. Almost tripping, I steadied myself on the wall, slick with slime.
Rubbish and refuse coated the floor. We leapt over several objects that I only realised afterwards were bodies. They didn’t even stir so who knew if they were alive or not. The last one was at least, as he stirred when Jess bounced past him, his eyes glassy and unseeing.
His face was gaunt and he mumbled, but didn’t stop us. Which was something going our way—he could have woken up from his drug-fuelled sleep in a rage which would have slowed us down.
We burst out of the narrow path onto a cobbled street and crossed it. Jumping the wall, we landed on the railway tracks. Slowing slightly, I listened out, but didn’t hear one approaching. Until suddenly we heard gunfire behind us.
Sorry mate. That was probably the dorph dead. Didn’t deserve it but I couldn’t find it in myself to care. Better him than us.
Sprinting along them, we entered a tunnel and jumped up onto the concrete service ramp running alongside the railway. Here, covered in gang markings, we found safety. We slid down the steep wet slope into the tunnels below, the darkness consuming us.
Even here we didn’t slow.
Sticking to the smaller tunnels, we jogged for another good 30 minutes before finally coming to a stop. There was no way they would be able to track us now. Or not quickly anyway—there was some crazy cyberware out there.
As we came to a stop in a dry and relatively clean tunnel, I slumped against the wall. Desperately pulling in deep, gasping breaths. I forced myself to stay upright, trying to force more air into my lungs, which were on fire.
With the adrenaline wearing off, I felt like going to be sick and the last of my energy seemed to desert me.
Kate collapsed to the floor, as tired as I was. Of course Nat and Jess seemed none the worse for wear, still breathing as easily as they started, the jammy little shits. Although Jess was looking a bit pale.
As soon as I caught my breath, I marched over to her. "Jacket off. Let me see."
She rolled her eyes but didn’t fight me and unzipped her jacket and loosened her soft type 3 body armour. Reaching around her, I ran my hand up her back, under the plates. My heart almost stopped when it felt wet, but pulling my hand back, it was just sweat. Ignoring that, I carried on searching, running my hand gently up and down her back.
I knew I found the right spot when she almost jumped through the ceiling. I was sure she would have a cracking bruise but, like she said, it didn’t look like it penetrated. I could feel the bulge in the armour plating where it had trapped the bullet.
We were just lucky it was a pistol round. A rifle, and it might have passed straight through.
I nodded to the others. Nat had set up looking over the tunnel we had come from, because of course she had. While her mask stayed the same, I could see the tension drop from her shoulders. Kate let out a relieved smile, still too out of breath to talk.
I tightened up Jess's body armour again and 5 minutes later we were heading for home.
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