Interphase (2 page)

An interminable moment passed, and David blinked, unsure if he may have passed out. The sound of thunder seemed to have faded away. He stumbled to his feet, grasping his burnt arm, and looked over the destruction.

Bits and pieces of race track hung in the air, connected to the two saved arrays like beads of dew on a spider's web. The remainder of the course littered the ground below, black, shimmering and formless. He didn't understand how, but the Crash Storm had reverted the track's substance to base code material, severing it from the program matrix that gave it mass and texture.

Fear and anxiety crept into David's mind. He ran a mental inventory over the tasks he needed to accomplish to complete the module. He checked his wrist computer and noted the time: nine hours.

He had only nine hours before the deadline expired, his freedom was taken, and life as he knew it ended.

Chapter 2

It took David half an hour to restore communication functions to the module. He placed a call to the one person he knew he could count on. "Jessica? Are you awake? Pick up if you're there. It's David."

At first the only reply was silence, and then faint strains of music drifted from the other end of the communicator. "And a good evening to you too," said a pleasant, if slightly drowsy, voice. "You're calling late. I was just about to head to bed."

"I know. I really hate to bother you this late, Jess, but…" David sighed. "I'm in serious trouble. I just got caught in a Crash Storm."

"
What
?" Jessica sounded wide awake now. The music ceased in the background. "David, are you all right?"

David gave a shaky, miserable laugh. "No, not really. It tore through a very important module I've been working on. I absolutely need to have it done by tomorrow morning. Can you come and help me fix it?"

"I'm on my way right now."

"Any chance you could bring a first aid program with you?"

"Oh no, were you hurt?"

David felt a soothing warmth at the concern in Jessica's voice. The throbbing in his shoulder faded briefly. "Well, it's not that bad."

Static crackled from the communicator, and David could feel the pressure of Jessica's unseen glare. "I'll be the judge of that."

A minute passed, and a small panel lit up on the communicator, indicating Jessica had logged into V-Net. "All right, I'm in. Where are you?"

David struggled to reply, nervous about what Jessica's response would be. "It's, uh, a secure module… you'll need the I.D."

Another pause. "Oh."

"Yeah." David grimaced, mentally kicking himself for getting her involved. "Do you still want to help?"

"What's the I.D.?" There was no recrimination or disapproval in her voice. Again, a warm feeling filled him as he gave her the program's identification tag.

David surveyed the wreckage of the module. He had done what he could on his own. Thankfully, the control platform was a compiler function and not part of the module, so it hadn't been destroyed. A full sweep of the program had revealed which subroutines sustained the most damage. He knew what needed to be done; his main concern now was time. Even with Jessica's help, it would be close.

Sleepless night number six, coming right up.

David blinked as Jessica loaded in. He must have caught her just before bed. Her hair, usually tied in golden braids, flowed loosely down to her waist, framing her soft face and light brown eyes in a way that made his heart jump. She noticed him staring, and he looked down with a blush.

She gasped when she saw his shoulder, wincing in sympathy. "We take care of that first," she said.

Happy to oblige, David knelt down. Jessica delicately peeled away the burnt clothing. He struggled to keep a straight face, but the pain elicited a flinch. She gave a final tug, and the cloth came free.

"Oh, David."

"That bad, huh?"

"You're lucky the Storm didn't kill you!" She shook her head and closed her eyes. When she opened them, a roll of white bandages rested in her palm. She removed a large strip and laid it over David's wound. Pain flared on contact, then faded as the cloth dissolved into his skin. The repair programs written into the bandage slowly overcame the code damage from the Storm, and before long the worst of his pain had subsided.

David gave Jessica another smile, and a thousand different words rushed to his lips, but he only managed a whispered, "Thanks."

"Thanks are never necessary." Jessica returned his smile. "Now, you said there was work to be done?"

David nodded and pointed to the control platform. "The Crash Storm tore off a lot of base code. It's scattered across the city floor." He paused in thought. "If you gather it up and bring it back here, I can reformat it and reconnect it to the array spheres."

Jessica considered the platform. "I can do that. Just show me how to fly it."

They worked in relative silence for the first hour. Once the tasks became routine, Jessica started to ask questions. "You said it absolutely needed to be ready by tomorrow," she said through the communicator. "Why is it so important?"

David grimaced. "You don't want to ask. The answer will upset you."

"David…"

He knew the warning wouldn't have been enough. "If it isn't ready by 9 AM, I get jailed again."

"What on Phoenix are you talking about?"

David sighed. Here it comes. "About a week ago, a V-Cop caught me at work, after-hours. I was using the large-scale interface to compile an illegal module."

He consulted the holo-screen and moved a large piece of code material to a separate pile. Jessica knew what he did in his spare time. She didn't really approve, but he wanted to be upfront with her regardless.

"Did he call the bots?" Jessica asked.

"No. He blackmailed me. Told me to build a gaming module to his specifications or he'd make me regret it."

"A V-Cop actually said that to you?"

David paused, surprised at the shock and outrage in Jessica's voice. "More or less."

"You have to tell Roger. That cop could be on his squad. He would want to know." Jessica hesitated. "Maybe he could help."

David snorted bitterly. "He wouldn't do anything when I got nailed the first time. That's not likely to have changed. I figured
this
would be an easier route than giving my step-father yet another reason to be disappointed in me." He slammed a formless lump onto the growing pile. "The Crash Storm apparently had other plans."

Jessica's tone turned grave. "They've been happening more frequently of late. No one knows what's causing them."

David murmured an assent, eager to shift the topic from his own troubles. Looking around the shattered module, he shivered as he thought about how close he'd come to death. Since he was a young child, the Storms had struck randomly across V-Net. No one had found a way to stop them.

"Someone has to do something," David whispered to himself and was surprised when Jessica chuckled.

"If anyone could, I wager it would be you."

They worked feverishly through the night and finished gathering the broken code fragments. Jessica completed her task, bade him good luck and departed. Racing against the clock, he filled the data gaps and ran a single debugging pass before his computer's alarm signaled 9:00 AM.

David smothered a yawn behind clenched jaws and checked his clock for the fifth time in as many minutes. Five past nine. The V-Cop was late. After the all-nighters he'd pulled making sure everything was ready, he wouldn't put it past the scumbag to no-show.

The thought had just entered David's mind when the air above the starting line shimmered, and four men materialized in the module. He scowled; the cop had never mentioned bringing friends.

Even without the uniform, David recognized his blackmailer. Beneath the scraggly black hair and cold gray eyes, the cop wore an arrogant sneer. The others looked like they could be V-Cops as well, a collection of square jaws and hard-packed muscles.

"Well, look who had the balls to show up," the V-Cop said, swaggering up to David. "Did I keep you from your beauty-sleep, butterfly?"

David gritted his teeth and blinked the weariness from his eyes. Rather than answer the jeer, he motioned to the others. "What's with the entourage?"

"You got a problem with me inviting a few friends to test
my
new game?" the cop asked, earning snorts of amusement from his fellows. He gazed about the cityscape with an air of boredom. "So, this is it? I waited a week, and this is all I get?"

Clenching fists at his sides, David struggled to keep a straight face. "What you get," he said, taking a step forward, "is a ride like no V-Net gaming system could ever hope to deliver. A hardcore adrenaline rush well outside VERA-approved limits. That's what you wanted, isn't it?" He glared at the cop. "I'm not surprised a wall-eyed grunt like you can't recognize craftsmanship when you see it."

A tense silence followed, unbroken except for the sighing wind. "Little code-monkey's got fangs," one of the cop's lackeys said.

The V-Cop appraised David, probably trying to decide whether to laugh or punch him. "He doesn't need fangs to race." He stepped forward threateningly. "Time to show your handiwork, Harris. Pray that it's good enough."

David turned his back on the group, accessed the module interface, and hit the launch command.

Light flared over each of them, morphing their clothing to fit the module. David examined his own gray jumpsuit and silver helmet, relieved that the Storm had not interfered with any of the startup settings.

Five color-coded hover-bikes appeared at the start line, their engines humming. David strode to the silver bike, mounted up, and looked to his side. The V-Cop met his gaze squarely and donned a red helmet, while the others inspected their clothing and equipment changes.

"Think you're ready for this?" David challenged.

The V-Cop glared back at him. "Bring it, boy."

The rest took their places, and the thrum of the bike engines climbed. A bar of red light appeared overhead that signaled the riders to prepare. David gripped the handlebars in anticipation; his heart burned with the desire to leave the V-Cop miles behind. A little payback for throwing David's life into chaos.

The bar flashed from red to green, and David slammed the accelerator. His bike tore ahead on the straightaway. The mounting g-forces pulled at him, driving his pulse wild with excitement. He leaned into the first vertical turn thirty feet ahead of the pack, when another bike streaked by him on the left.

Oh no, you don't.

The track spiraled into a wide corkscrew. David took it sharp on the inside, gaining ground, and emerged on another short straightaway neck-and-neck with the V-Cop. The rumble of engines from behind told him the other riders weren't far away, but he ignored them.

At the next vertical turn, he heard the pulse of the guardrails and looked back just in time to see a bike tear through the gravity field and fly off the track. The loser would be sent to the crash box at the finish line. Taking advantage of David's distraction, the other two racers passed him coming out of the turn. He swore to himself and hit his boosters.

He wove between his opponents and chased after the V-Cop. As he approached his nemesis, the accelerator unexpectedly fired and drove him forward. He swerved and barely avoided crashing into the V-Cop.

Dropping back a few feet, David got control of the bike again, his grip knuckle-white on the handlebars. What just happened? He could hear the other two riders on his tail, waiting for an opening to try and pass him.

Gravity drivers within the course propelled them into the first loop at unimaginable speeds. Looking for a way to pass the V-Cop, David slid the bike toward the track's inner edge. At this speed, the slightest mistake would spell disaster.

They exited the loop and David readied his boosters. Suddenly the handlebars locked, and inertia slammed him against the guardrail. A breathless moment passed as the bike slid inexorably toward the abyss below, but the field pulsed again, forcing him back onto the track.

Breathing heavily, David tried to ease off, but his accelerator fired once more. The bike vibrated with increasing speed and shot ahead on the straightaway. He left the V-Cop well behind, but no longer had control. A left turn loomed before him. The bike's boosters ignited.

A sickening thump resonated across the track as David blasted through the guardrail. His bike disappeared beneath him, and for a few exquisite seconds he was flying. Then the side of a skyscraper filled his vision, and the world went black.

Chapter 3