IGMS Issue 29 (7 page)

"I know. I just want to make him work for it."

"Okay," breathed Alec. He had no idea what Taylor was up to, but the man was moving. Which was better than standing still and getting slaughtered. Alec forced himself away from the wall and started to follow Taylor, but he stopped to look back at Lucy. "C'mon."

"He hates us, y'know," Lucy said. "Cause we're not real soldiers. Not like he was."

"It doesn't matter," Alec said. "We're real soldiers now."

Taylor lead them towards the mess, Alec close behind, Lucy riding his back, Bodi behind her. Eyes were focused on the ducts above, so no one caught the bot coming in low until it was too late.

Alec had just moved past the conference room, trying to ignore the thick blood smell, when Bodi howled. Alec whipped around and saw the big man falling, the bot a slashing blur around his leg. Alec froze as the thing carved Bodi's calf to ribbons, terrified it would turn and stare at him, its mouth gaping open.

But Lucy moved.

She launched herself forward, foot slamming into the drywall and propelling her body up and over the heaving battle and into the conference room. The bot paused its claws to watch her sail by, then turned back to rake bloody trails down Bodi's thigh. The maddening laughter began to spill forth again.

Through the noise, Taylor shouted, "The mouth, Bodi, the mouth!"

The chairs in the conference room were heavy, laminate things, and Alec wouldn't have guessed Lucy could have picked one up. But when she stepped back into the hall, she held one over her head and smashed it down like a baseball bat.

The fake wood slammed into the bot, smacking it down. If the strike hadn't also fallen on Bodi's kicking legs, it might have done serious damage. As it was, the bot shook itself, limping slightly as it scrabbled to the side, and lined Lucy up as she swung the broken chair at it. It ducked, spit, and a dark blossom bloomed on Lucy's chest. Without a sound she crumpled bonelessly to the floor.

"Damn you," Alec screamed, and now he could move, jerking forward to charge the thing. It turned its head towards him, and he could see the barrel of its dart gun. Alec knew he was going to die. But crimson flared, Bodi rising up, raging. Bellowing curses, the big man wrapped himself around the bot, trying to tear it apart with his hands.

"Go," Taylor grabbed Alec's collar and yanked him back. "Go!"

Alec looked from Taylor to Bodi, who was beginning to jerk and scream as the bot tore into his belly. "Now!"

Alec went, running with Taylor away from the slaughter. Away from the sight of Bodi's blood, splashing across Lucy's unblinking eyes.

The pantry was in the kitchen, a small room lined with shelves of food and cleaning supplies. Taylor slammed the door shut behind them, trapping them in its narrow confines.

"What the hell are you doing?" Alec shook with fear and adrenalin and shame. "Why do you keep running?"
Why am I running too?

"Tactics." Taylor dipped into his pockets and pulled out a handful of memory keys. "Tactics in service of strategy. Know your enemy."

"What are you talking about?"

"Syracuse Securities is under attack. Since I've signed myself to the company, it's my job to defend them. Right now, that means I have to let them know who their enemy is. Give me a soda."

Alec stared at him, uncomprehending. "What kind?"

"Surprise me."

He took the purple can Alec handed him, cracked it open and popped a memory key into his mouth, chasing it with a long swallow. Then he gave the can back and held up another key. "Your turn."

Alec eyed the key, the soda trembling in his hand. "First you're going to need to tell me what the hell you're doing."

"I know who's riding the signal out there. I know who moves like that when he's in a bot, because I've watched him before. That's Jackson Clay stalking us out there."

"Jackson. The one you decked? The one that works for Syracuse?"

"Inside job, right?" Taylor waved the key he held. "Swallow it. They'll find it on autopsy. I encoded a file explaining what I think is going on and copied it to these keys. If I'm lucky, Jackson won't even know I'm hiding them."

"But the Maria thing -" Alec began, reaching for the key.

"Distraction. This is all about money, I'm betting. Wonder who bought him? Bet it's those pricks at APD. I don't know if they set us up with Santa Maria or if Jackson just took advantage of an opportunity to get himself kicked out of my squad. Worked for them either way. "

Taylor worked quickly, searching the shelves for food containers where he could hide the remaining keys. He seemed focused, almost happy. Alec found it strangely calming.

"He'll kill us, and then Syracuse will try to cover it up. But whoever's paying him will be sure to leak it, probably with playback from that bot. Syracuse will lose its best team, have to explain a major security breach to its clients, and have a giant PR disaster with the Santa Maria thing. They may shut down signal operations altogether. And Jackson will skate away and sign on with his new company, non-compete clause gone and a handsome bonus tucked away in some grey-market data vault. Nice plan. Care to dick with it?" He smiled again, a ragged old wolf's smile.

"Sure. Got nothing better to do, do we?" Alec forced a smile, and felt his courage grow, just a little. Survival might be a fading hope, but revenge seemed possible with Taylor in the lead. He placed the key in his mouth, tasted its plastic case, then raised the soda can and drained it.

"Simple plan. This pantry is the only room in the Hole without a drop ceiling or duct work. He can't sneak in here. He'll either have to wait for us, or he'll have to drive us out." Taylor pointed at the door. "When we think he's out there, I'll go first. Let him think you're going to try to hide it out."

"Why you?"

"I don't think he'll dart me. He'll want to take his time with me. Like with Hastings. Jackson hated to be told what to do."

It made sense. If Jackson had been smart at all, he would have shot the old man first.

"I'll go and try to dance with him a bit. I'll try to block his darts, like Bodi, but I'd rather not use my belly. I'll try this instead."

Alec watched his squad leader reach into a bin and pull out a piece of red-skinned fruit. "Your plan is to get into a wrestling match with an infiltration bot and then shove an apple in its mouth."

"Yes."

"An apple."

The manic light in Taylor's eyes dulled. "Alec. We've been ambushed. We're trapped with no weapons, no tools, nothing except pajamas and snack foods. We have a state-of-the-art military bot hunting us, run by someone who knows this place as well as we do. We only have a few minutes before he decides to take us out. We're going to die."

He paused, and Alec wondered if Taylor was waiting for him to deny it.

"So we wait," Alec said.

"We wait," Taylor repeated. "Then we fight."

"Like Lucy and Bodi."

In the corner, a mop rested in a yellow washtub and Alec reached for its handle.

"Lucy thought you hated her," Alec said. "Hated all of us. Thought we weren't real soldiers."

"I did." Taylor turned the apple in his hands. "This RC merc stuff. We're too safe to be soldiers. I've worked with this squad five years. We were good, but we were never a team. We could work together, but at the end of the day we went our separate ways and never looked back."

"It didn't use to be like that?"

"No. I've worked with people who make this group look like a knitting club." He shook his head. "Soldiers can be a rough bunch. But when it was your ass on the line, when you knew your life was in the hands of your squad-mates, it created something. Something like a family. War was the worst thing I ever saw and I could never decide if it was worth it. It hurts too much, even for the winners. But the trust, the strength, that could be built out of that horror. The way a squad could change from a group of punks to this thing, this working, functioning whole. It's like alchemy. The signal and the bots took all that away, and we're left with just the shit."

Alec's hands turned until the mop handle squeaked free of its socket. "Okay." He hefted the handle, now a badly balanced staff, in his hands. "I get that. Gotta tell you though, I kind of liked the safety."

"Yeah. Safety has its nice points." Outside, metal rattled in the kitchen. "You ready?"

"Taylor." Alec wiped the sweat from his palms. "Taylor, I've never . . ." He felt his face flush, hot with shame for the words he was saying, for the quaver he couldn't keep out of them. "I've never fought, for real. I'm . . ."

"Terrified." Low laughter sounded outside and something thumped against the door. "That happens. Try not to let it slow you down." Taylor reached out, rested a hand on Alec's shoulder and stared him in the eye. "Truth is, you don't have much of a chance. But it's your only shot, and I want you to take it. Because personally, I can't stand the idea of that bastard getting away with this. I'd appreciate it if you survived and kicked his ass. Can you do that for me?"

"I can try, sir."

"Trying's for civilians. Do or die, soldier."

"Do," Alec said grimly.

"There you go." Taylor dropped his hand, turned, and grabbed the door handle. "On spot."

Taylor opened the door and stepped out. Alec waited a second, then slid silently to the door, listening. Through it, the awful laughter bubbled.

"Cut the crap." Taylor sounded calm as ever. "Let's go." There was the slither of metal on metal, and then a crash and a grunt of pain.

Alec gripped the door knob, white knuckled.
What if he calls and I can't go? What if I just stay stuck here, pissing myself, until that bot slits my sorry throat? What if -
Beyond the door, a scream echoed and the bot's laughter shrieked like storm winds.

Then Taylor roared, "Now!" and without thinking Alec slammed out the door.

Taylor and the bot thrashed together on the floor. Blood painted the old soldier, his arms and face licked with the crimson marks of steel claws, but he held grimly on to one shoulder of the bot while his other hand ground the apple into mush against its jaw.

Alec rushed forward and the bot saw him. Its claws danced across the inside of Taylor's arm, releasing a fountain of blood. Taylor's hand spasmed open and the bot twisted its face toward Alec, mouth gaping. Alec pulled the staff back, too slow, and then Taylor swung his shredded arm around. The blow was nothing, weak and uncoordinated, but the blood pulsing like a fountain from the old soldier's severed artery splashed across the hideous monkey face, coating its optics.

Alec spun on his feet, swinging the handle, its momentum helping him twist as the blinded bot spat. The dart whispered through the air where Alec had been. Then the staff struck, smashing across the machine's mouth and sending the bot crunching into the wall. Alec hit the floor hard beside Taylor. The old soldier's eyes were on him, bright for a moment, then gone, rolling up and vanishing as the man's life poured out his veins.

No time, and Alec sprang up, staff spinning. The half-blind bot crouched on the floor, still howling its insane laugh. It pointed its ruined jaw at him and Alec felt his body lock, waiting for death to take him.

But no black dart sprang from the wreckage of the little bot's mouth. Alec's whole body eased, and he swung the mop handle up into ready position.

"Right," he said. "Let's go."

Howling, the bot flung itself at him.

Alec timed the leap, slipping to the side just enough to dodge the reaching claws, then slapped out with the staff. The mop handle's end caught one of the bot's rear legs and sent it spinning through the air. Momentum carried the staff though, cracking it against the stainless steel edge of a counter. The cheap wood splintered.

"Too bad, monkey-man." The bot's voice, high-pitched as its laughter, drilled through Alec's head as he backed away. "You almost made it."

Alec shifted the broken staff in his hands, snapped it over his knee, finishing its breaking. Now he held two splintery short sticks, not nearly as good as the crappy makeshift staff they'd been.

"Almost?" he said. "You haven't touched me yet."