Revolution 19 (21 page)

“But like Nick said, we don’t know where the mainframe is.”

“Central Admin building,” said Doc. “Most likely.”

“Central Admin building. Third floor,” said Amanda. Everyone looked at her in surprise. “My father works there.”

“Can you get us in?” said Lexi. “Your dad has clearance, right?”

“Yeah, but … no,” said Amanda. “No way.”

“A dummy chip, then,” said Farryn. “I could spoof your father’s identity, hopefully good enough to get in the door, at least. I’d just have to hack through his comm line to get the data I needed.”

“That would work?” asked Nick.

“Well … we can tape it to your neck. You don’t have any other chip, so it should scan properly. I’m kinda just assuming that there won’t be any other type of confirmation at the door … if there’s some sort of other biometrics, like retina scan or even a simple facial recognition, you’ll be out of luck.”

“And the overload device,” said Nick. “You really think it would work?”

“Just give me a few hours to boost the power and increase the resonance sensitivity, and then it’ll work on anything,” said Kevin.

“How fast?” said Lexi. “Faster than with the sphere bot, I hope.”

“Can’t be sure exactly,” said Kevin. “But it should work on anything with a magnetic power supply core, eventually.”

Lexi raised her eyebrow but didn’t reply.

“Amanda,” said Nick. “Will you let us use your father’s identity?”

Amanda said nothing, then nodded. “Yes, what the hell.” She turned to Lexi and smiled. “Guess I’m finally living a little.”

Farryn went home for a dummy chip and tools, and when he returned he and Kevin went off into separate corners of Doc’s living room and began working. In a few hours they were done—Farryn had the identity of Amanda’s father coded onto a chip, and Kevin had tweaked his overload device to his satisfaction.

They all sat in the living room, and Nick reviewed their plans, trying to sound more confident than he felt. “Will I be able to get into the mainframe room?” he asked.

“Probably,” said Amanda. “Maybe. My father has pretty high clearance.”

“So we’re all set,” said Nick.

“What about the checkpoints?” said Lexi. “How about I go with you? I’ll cause some sort of distraction, get the bots’ attention, and then you can slip inside.”

“I’ll come, too,” said Farryn. “We can have an argument in the street, maybe pretend we’re drunk. Get infractions.”

“You don’t need to do that,” said Cass. “Either of you. If you get tagged as part of all this, with your chips, you won’t stand a chance.”

“I’m helping,” said Lexi. “End of argument.”

“And me, too,” said Farryn. “It’ll just be an infraction. Nothing to worry about.”

Nick saw Cass hide a smile. He almost chuckled but held back—she had misjudged Farryn but still couldn’t admit it.

“I’m going inside with you,” said Kevin. “In case something goes wrong with the overload.”

“No, not safe,” said Nick. He didn’t need to be looking after his brother while he was trying to get to the mainframe.

“Nothing about any of this is safe!” said Kevin, slamming his hand down on the table.

“Kevin, you can’t go in there with your dummy chip now,” said Farryn. “Any scan on it and you’ll set off alarms.”

“Look,” said Nick, “I’ve got another stupidly dangerous thing you need to do, all right? While I’m working on the mainframe, you and Cass go to Mom and Dad. When I blow it up, and everything in the City hopefully goes to hell, you get Mom and Dad and meet me at Doc’s.”

“As usual,” said Amanda, raising her hand, “you’re all forgetting about me.”

“I’d assumed you wouldn’t want to be involved,” said Lexi. “You don’t need to get mixed up in this anymore.”

“I’ve already let you steal my father’s identity!” she said. “I’ll come along and stay back—you may need an extra driver, or help from someone who’s not being nailed for an infraction.”

“Thank you,” said Cass.

Doc cleared his throat. “I can’t even count how many holes this plan has in it,” he said.

“Look, Doc …” began Nick. He already knew how crazy the plan was. But what choice did they have?

“But,” Doc continued, “it could work, I suppose. Can I make one suggestion, though? Everyone goes to Central Admin. Amanda and Cass and Kevin hang back while Lexi and Farryn have their drunken infraction, and Nick slips in the door. That way if the dummy chip doesn’t work, or Nick gets caught, Cass and Kevin won’t be stuck out in the City waiting for the mainframe to explode. Once Nick gets in, you all scatter, and then everyone gets back to me.”

Nick thought about it, then nodded. “Makes sense,” he said. “Everyone agreed?”

Everyone nodded.

“This is by far the stupidest thing I’ve ever done,” said Lexi, smiling.

“Agreed to that, too,” said Nick.

CHAPTER 33

THEY WAITED FOR EVENING, AMANDA AND LEXI BOTH IGNORING REPEATED comms from their parents, and then they all climbed onto scoots and headed for the Central Admin. They swung around to the back of the building and parked three blocks away. Down the road they could see that one sphere bot guarded the door, bobbing quietly above the sidewalk.

“Ready?” Nick said to Lexi and Farryn. They nodded. “Okay, you two start walking and get in your argument in the street about a block away from the bot. When the bot is distracted, I’ll go in the door.”

Lexi reached for her comm. “Another message from my father … oh no … he’s reported me missing … and … oh, God … he says he told the bots I’m in danger …” She slid her comm back into her pocket. “Let’s do this, quickly, before I get tracked.”

“Okay then,” said Nick. “This should be simple, right?” He gave Cass a hug. “I’ll see you back at Doc’s,” he said.

“Nick, be careful,” said Cass, returning the hug gently, avoiding his bruised rib.

“Back at Doc’s, with Mom and Dad. Piece of cake,” said Nick.

Kevin reached out his hand to shake Nick’s. Nick ignored his hand and hugged him as well. “Be safe, little brother,” said Nick. He cleared his throat so his voice wouldn’t crack. “I’m proud of you.”

Kevin didn’t say anything; he just nodded.

Nick turned to Lexi. “Lexi, I don’t know how to thank you …”

Lexi cut him off by cupping her hand around the back of his neck and pulling him down into a kiss. Nick froze for a moment, surprised, then wrapped his arms around Lexi’s back. Finally she broke away and stepped back. “Don’t get killed, Nick,” she said.

Despite everything that was about to happen, Nick found himself lingering on the feeling of the kiss—Lexi’s warm, soft lips, her body pressed to his chest, the small of her back against his palms. After a moment he settled back into himself. Lexi was smiling. “Well, then stop distracting me,” said Nick.

Farryn cleared his throat and stuck his hand out. “No kiss from me, sorry. Just a good luck.”

Nick shook his hand. “Thank you, Farryn.”

Farryn and Lexi began walking toward the Central Admin, arguing loudly about who should have paid for dinner. Nick waited tensely on the back of his scoot. He felt the back of his neck, making sure the dummy chip coded with the ID of Amanda’s father was still taped securely.

It was time.

Cass sat on her scoot, watching Farryn and Lexi as they stopped in the middle of the road a block from the Central Admin doorway, continuing to argue. Lexi even gave Farryn a hard shove on the chest. “Nice touch,” Cass muttered.

The sphere bot floated toward them. “CITIZENS, YOU ARE JAYWALKING AND CREATING A DISTURBANCE.” They kept arguing. Then the bot said, “LEXI TANNER, YOU HAVE BEEN REPORTED AS MISSING. YOU ARE IN A HIGH-SECURITY ZONE. YOU WILL BE DETAINED AND QUESTIONED.”

No,
thought Cass.
That will screw up everything
.

Nick began driving, cruising past the sphere bot and the argument, then slowing down briefly near the doorway. He jumped off and hurried toward the door.

And then the doorway opened and two Peteys came sliding out of the back entrance toward Nick. A third Petey and two sphere bots appeared from a side street, behind Amanda, Cass, and Kevin.

Nick skidded to a halt.

“No,” said Cass. “No, no, no!”

Nick began running away from the building, and Lexi sprinted toward him. Down the street, Amanda gunned her scoot, and Cass followed close behind, Kevin hanging on tightly to her. If she could just reach them fast enough, somehow give Nick enough time to get to his scoot … One of the Peteys fired its lase at Nick with a loud crackle and burst of blinding light. The shot missed, but the blast threw Nick off his feet and sent him tumbling. Nick struggled to his feet and stood, exposed. The Peteys raised their lase arms. Cass felt a scream choke her throat. Was she about to watch her brother die?

Lexi reached Nick and threw herself against him, and Amanda jumped off her scoot, letting it skid toward the Peteys, just as the Peteys fired. Both lase shots hit Amanda square in the chest, and she crumpled to the ground. Lexi screamed.

Cass screeched to a halt in front of Nick. “Get out of here!” said Nick, grabbing Cass and Kevin and throwing them off the scoot onto the street just before a Petey fired again, striking the ground in front of the scoot, flinging them backward, melting a piece of the street and crumpling the front half of the scoot into wreckage. Nick pointed wildly down the block. “Go now!” He ran for the back entrance and ducked inside, disappearing into the building.

Lexi bent down to Amanda. “Amanda,” Lexi said. “Amanda, wake up. Amanda!”

Cass crawled over to Lexi and Amanda. There was no blood—the heat of the lases instantly cauterized flesh—but Amanda’s chest was a deep charred hollow. Her eyes stared blankly up at Cass. Just like Samantha, dead on the Freepost dirt next to the bosh field. There was no time. If they stayed any longer, they’d be dead, too. She tried to pull Lexi away from Amanda, but Lexi resisted, and then Farryn and Kevin were there, helping haul Lexi to her feet. “We’ve gotta get out of here!” Farryn yelled.

The four of them took off running. Both sphere bots glided after them, flashing red and repeating “HALT! HALT!” over and over.

CHAPTER 34

NICK SPRINTED DOWN THE HALLWAY TOWARD WHAT HE HOPED WAS A stairway. The whole plan was shot to hell—even if he could get to the mainframe, would it even be accessible now? Still, the doorway had been open, the Peteys distracted. This was his one chance, however remote, to get his family out of the City. The one way he could possibly still help.

Nick’s ribs had been reinjured in the fall on the street, and every time his feet landed on the ground a jolt of fire shot through his torso.

The hallway reminded Nick of the re-education center—it had the same bright white walls and ceiling and gray metallic floor. This hallway was wider, however, and the ceilings higher, and there were more doors. He had almost reached the end of the hall and the last door on the left, which had to be the stairs, when he heard a rumble behind him. He looked over his shoulder and saw that a Petey had entered the long hallway and was rolling toward him. It barely fit—it actually had to hunch forward as it rolled to keep from scraping its head along the ceiling. It raised its lase arm and fired as Nick, hardly slowing down, smashed his shoulder against the door.

The door opened and he stumbled into what was, indeed, the stairway, as the lase shot exploded in the hallway behind him, shattering tiles and buckling the doorframe. Pieces of tile cut into his arms. He ran up the stairs, breathing heavily, holding his hand against his side. The stairway was narrow, as he had hoped. The Petey would never fit. That would buy him a bit of time while the Petey found another way up.

He came out on the third floor. The hallway was empty, but he knew it wouldn’t be for long. He let himself catch his breath for just a moment, then ran toward the only door on the floor, in the middle of the hallway. He slid to a stop in front of the door and reached for the pressure pad on the wall. There was no way, now with the bots on alert, that the dummy chip, still taped to Nick’s neck, would work. He’d have to find some way to break the door down, as impossible as that seemed …

Nick pressed the pad and the door opened. At the far end of the hallway, elevator doors opened and the Petey slid out.

Nick rushed inside. The walls were crammed with vid screens. The side wall, to his left, had a glass partition, beyond which sat a large metal box that ran floor to ceiling. The door closed behind him, and Nick looked around desperately for some way to keep the Petey out. Two long narrow desks, with three chairs, were against the far wall. Nick grabbed a desk and shoved it against the door, stacked the other desk on top of it, then threw two of the chairs onto the pile. That wouldn’t hold long, he knew.

He picked up the third chair and smashed it against the glass partition. The shock of the impact hurt Nick’s ribs so much that his vision tunneled and he almost passed out. The glass held. He took a deep breath and swung the chair again, and this time the glass shattered. He dropped the chair and climbed into the small side room, picking up more cuts on his palms and legs as he crawled over the broken glass.

Nick pulled Kevin’s overload device out of his pocket and tried to turn it on, but the switch was jammed. It must have bent during the fight.

“Goddamn!” He shoved against the switch as hard as he could, ignoring the pain in his wounded thumbs, grunting with the effort, and finally the switch snapped into the on position. He slapped it onto the metal of the mainframe and crawled back over the partition.

He heard a fast-approaching rumble that stopped outside the doorway. The door began to open a few inches, then caught against the edge of a table. Nick backed away to the far corner of the room and looked around for something, anything, to defend himself. There was nothing.

The Petey smashed against the door, and the metal buckled inward but held. Nick was going to die. He knew that beyond a doubt. He focused his thoughts on Kevin’s overload device. Had it been ruined in the fight? Maybe it was never going to work in the first place. The mainframe sat there, nothing happening.
Work, damn you!
he thought.
At least let me help my family before I get lased
.