The Courier (San Angeles) (23 page)

Switching to the new car took only a couple of minutes. I watched as Miller took most of that time cleaning the old car of anything that could be traced back to us or the safe house. It made me feel useless to just be standing around.

When he finished that, he scanned the dark blue four-door for any trackers, making several passes and punching codes on to the scanner touch screen between each one. The car was clean. We got in and drove to the exit.

“So, what’s the plan?”

“I think we’ll skip holing up in a hotel. Right now all I want to do is keep moving. A moving target is harder to find and harder to hit,” Miller said.

“What about ACE? Why don’t you contact them and get some help?”

Miller slowed the car as he exited the garage and merged with traffic. “With the information we have, I have to assume ACE is compromised. Talking to them may be as bad as talking directly to SoCal or Meridian. I think we’re on our own.”

We. Miller had said
we
. It felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I leaned back into the car seat and relaxed a bit. I guess I didn’t realize how much having him around meant to me. His obvious skills might be my only chance of getting out of this. If I was being honest with myself, he was nice to be around.

The black box dug into my back, but instead of being a pain, it had become almost a source of comfort.

“What about this tracker thing in me? Nigel said the power source on the blocker would only last a few days at most. Is this box any better?”

“Worse, and yeah, that’s gonna be a problem.”

The fear I had just managed to push into the background forced its way back to the front. “A problem? I think it’s more than just a problem.” I cringed hearing my voice go up an octave.

“I figure we’ve got one and half, maybe two days before the power source fails. A lot can happen between now and then. Still, it is our priority.”

I sat up again, relieving the pressure the black box put on my back, and looked through the front windows. I didn’t dare look at Miller. “You could just drop me off. I could try to get out of the city.”

I sounded and felt weak.

Miller rested his hand on my knee and I grabbed it, squeezing his fingers tight.

“Look, I’m not going anywhere. Nigel assigned me to protect you, before he was killed. I plan on doing that.”

My heart sank deep into my chest. Is that what it was? Was he just following orders then? Was that the only reason he stayed with me?

I gave myself a mental kick in the pants. It was time to stop acting like a forlorn kid. I felt like getting out of the car and walking away. Instead, I sat still and let go of his hand. Whatever his reason, I was still safer here, at least until the tracker was removed.

Miller gave my knee a hesitant pat, sending shards of pain up my leg, and put his hand back on the steering wheel. “We need to get up to Level 6.”

I could tell by the tone of his voice that he had made a decision.

“ACE has a small medical facility there where we can get the tag modified,” he said.

“I thought you didn’t trust ACE.”

“I don’t, but in this business, you have to trust your favors. One of the docs there owes me a big one. He can block the tag without ACE knowing we’re even there.”

“Will he do it?”

Miller sighed. “I don’t know.”

“Even if he will, I’m not allowed on Level 6.”

“I’ll get you in.” Miller turned into an empty parking lot. The building stood vacant. Broken windows reflected the Ambients, and yawning black doors faced the street.

“What are we doing here?” I didn’t like the look of this place at all.

“We need some privacy, and this is probably the place we’ll find it.”

Miller maneuvered through the piled up garbage and stopped in the dark alleyway behind the building. When he opened the door and got out, the smell reminded me of Level 1: garbage and pee mixed with other, less pleasant things.

“This place used to be a skateboarder hangout, until the police forced them to move down to Level 3. It’s been empty ever since, as far as I know.” He opened the back door of the car and reached a hand in between the bench and the back of the seat, searching with his fingers. His hand stopped moving, and he pushed whatever he had found sideways toward the passenger side of the car. With his other hand he grabbed the front of the seat and pulled. The whole bottom seat section slid out, revealing a box the width of the car. He looked at me and asked, “How are you with small dark places?”

“You want me in there?” I stared at the dirty, tiny cubbyhole. The box was barely wider than my shoulders, and not nearly long enough. What the hell was Miller thinking, that I was a contortionist, or worse yet, a child? The thought rushed into my head, filling it with dread. He thought I was just a kid.

“It’s the only place we have. I’d put you in the trunk, but there’s
no promise they won’t look in there. I can’t bring you in with me. They’ll scan you and wonder why you’re not transmitting; then they’ll find the box. If we remove the box, they
might
let you up with me, but then the corporations will have a lock on you.”

“Can’t we . . .” I racked my brain for a solution other than getting into that coffin. “Can’t we sneak through the service corridors between levels, get in that way?”

Miller shook his head. “There are no service corridors up to 6. Level 5 used to be the top. When SoCal decided to expand, they kept the new system completely separate from the old. They didn’t want anybody to get above Level 5 unless they allowed it.”

“What about—”

“There is no other way Kris. I know you’re not too happy about it, but we’re kinda short on time.”

I stared at the box. It couldn’t be worse than the tunnel on Level 1, could it? “Are you sure I can fit?”

“Climb in and see.”

I opened the side door and took another look at it. The damn thing wasn’t even a coffin, it was just a small wooden box, barely big enough to hold a glass of water. I stepped over the seat bottom and sat on it, one leg in the box and the other one still outside the car. It refused to move.

“I can’t.”

“You have to, Kris. We’re running out of options. You’ll be fine.” He reached across and rested a hand on my shoulder for the last words.

I hauled my other foot into the car and placed it in the box. Sweat dripped down my forehead and my breath was ragged. I slid off the seat and into the box, wiggling down until my feet touched the side wall. By the time I got the rest of myself in, I already felt like I’d pulled a couple of muscles, and my clothes were wet with sweat.

“You’ll have to get a bit lower than that, or the seat won’t latch.”

I looked at him like he was insane. Instead of voicing my thoughts, I angled my hips a little and pushed my shoulders to the bottom. The black box dug in, and my chest hurt from when Frank had hit me.

“Do you have a pillow or a blanket? Something to soften the box?”

“Sorry, no. You’ll have to suffer for a while. I promise I’ll have you out of there in a half hour. Okay?”

Miller’s eyes were filled with concern, and I nodded, barely moving my head. I trusted him. I’d barely known him twenty-four hours, and I trusted him.

“Good. I need to move some stuff from the trunk in with you. If they pop it and see what’s in there, we’ll never get through.”

“In here, with me? Where the hell do you plan to put the stuff, up my ass?”

Miller gave me a quick grin I couldn’t help but return.

“I don’t think we’ll have to go that far,” he said.

By the time he had moved most of the stuff from the trunk to my box, I was so wedged in it felt like a crane would be needed to get me out. I kept my eyes focused on the Ambients through the back windows and slowly counted my breaths.

“How ya doing?” Miller asked.

“Fucking great.”

“Good, I’m gonna put some of this other stuff out here, under the garbage pile. Hopefully no one will find it until I get back.”

He left my limited field of view. I heard some more rummaging around the trunk, followed by the scraping of wood and stone outside, before Miller came back.

“Okay, I’m gonna close you in. No matter what happens, you’ve gotta stay quiet, okay?”

“Yeah, okay,” I promised. I could hear the fear in my own voice, hoping Miller couldn’t. I almost wished he would just get the fucking thing over with.

When the seat was lowered, I wasn’t sure I would be able to keep my promise. My entire world became a black tomb. The box taped to my back seemed to have grown sharper corners that cut into my skin. The other equipment held me in a tight grip, each piece pressing in on me, crushing me.

I let out a little whimper when the car started to move. Some of the equipment settled more tightly against me, and the black box grew steel talons that dug into my back. I couldn’t breathe. I tried to bang the side of the box, but my hands were jammed too tight. Each bump brought new waves of pain, from the pressure on my torn knees to something scraping against the bandage on my neck to the black box. Tears tracked across my temples, dripping into my ears.

When the car finally stopped, I almost laughed with joy. Only Miller’s whispered warning to remain quiet stopped me. Still, the thought of getting out, of seeing the light and feeling the air move against my skin, swept through me. I fought a losing battle until voices came through the seat, muffled and distorted by the thick material.

The car door opened and slammed shut again. I felt more than heard a key slide into the trunk lock and it popped open. A thin line of light pierced the box just to the left of my face. I wanted to shout, to scream.
For god’s sake, let me out. Let me out!
Air rushed into my lungs, ready to explode outward with sound. Instead, I held it, feeling the searching hands of the guard get closer to my little sliver of light.

The sounds of searching stopped, and the trunk slammed shut, throwing me back into my dark piece of hell. A moment later the engine started and I shifted to the back of the box as the car nosed up the ramp to Level 6.

Time became measured in the bumps and turns that tightened the box’s grip on me. For a while, I counted them, before losing track. My world had become six walls that pressed in on me. If I could raise my head, it would scrape against the seat bottom. I forgot how to breathe, forgot how to exist, thinking it would be better if Quincy had gotten me. I pushed the thought from my head, willing myself to breathe in and out. The air grew stale and I was sure each breath would be my last.

I don’t know when the car finally stopped. I couldn’t hear, I couldn’t see, I couldn’t feel. I was helpless. The sky opened up above me and a rush of air and light invaded my senses.

My body reacted immediately, pushing off the bottom of the box, through everything that shifted above me during the drive. I hurled myself from the prison I’d been in, throwing my arms around Miller, pushing my face into his chest, no longer caring if he, if anyone, thought of me as weak or scared. The steady sound of his heart beating calmed me down, and I slowly got myself under control. I realized his arms were wrapped around me, holding me as tight as I held him.

“We made it. You’re okay, we made it,” Miller whispered softly. “Come on, let’s get you out of here.”

He let go of me and pried my arms away, keeping hold of my hands. He backed out of the car door, gently pulling me along with him.

“I’m sorry it took so long, I couldn’t find a place to open the seat.”

I refused to let go of him. “How . . .” I breathed in deep. “How long?”

“About forty minutes, give or take a bit. But we made it. Come on, I’ll close the seat. You get in the front and I’ll be right there.”

I finally let go of Miller and moved around the car. I didn’t want to get in the front seat, didn’t want to be enclosed again away from
the vastness of the parking garage, but I pulled the door open and slid in, closing it behind me.

The feeling of being in a huge open space increased when we left the garage. I leaned forward and gaped out the front window. The ceiling was so far above us, I almost didn’t believe it was there. It was painted a light blue that faded in the distance. The Ambients lay in giant tracks, slowly moving across the huge expanse. As Miller drove through a business section, I counted at least twenty stories in the building that touched the sky.

We stopped at a gated community. Miller typed in an access code and the gates slid open in front of us. The second we were through they slammed shut.

“The doc’s in here,” Miller said. “He works at a small outpatient clinic, does minor surgeries and stuff like that. A couple of years ago I was on a run from the Mars colony back to Earth. One of the guys sitting at my dining room table started choking. The stewards came over and tried to get whatever it was unstuck, but no go. By the time I decided to do something, the guy was already turning blue. I slit open his larynx and stuck a straw in the hole. You shoulda seen it; the cut closed around the straw like it was supposed to be there. The guy started breathing again.

“When we made Earthfall, the doctors came and took him. Turned out a sliver of chicken bone had lodged in his throat. Every time the stewards tried to get it out, they just ended up pushing it in deeper.

“The guy’s father worked for ACE. One of our doctors to boot. When we finally met, he made it pretty clear that he thought he owed me, big time, for saving his son’s life.”

“And you’re using that favor on me?” I asked.

“I gotta keep you safe. With ACE out of reach, and that tracker in ya, I gotta use what I can.”

I tore my eyes away from houses and lawns around us and looked at him, making eye contact and holding it. “Thanks.” I couldn’t remember the last time anyone had done so much for me without expecting something in return.

“No problem.” He paused. “That’s the place.” Miller indicated a small three-story building on the right. The parking lot was half full. “ACE runs it, and SoCal foots the bill. Neat little setup. It looks normal enough. I’ll drive past one more time to make sure.”

Miller drove down a side street and pulled into a driveway, backing out to go the way we had just come. His comm unit started to beep.

“Shit.”

“What?”

“It’s not part of the procedure, calling me like this. If there’s any chance of ACE or one of its operatives being compromised, all communication will cease until proper confirmation of the situation can be made.” It sounded like he was quoting directly from a book.

“They’ve got to realize that ACE is compromised. Losing an AD and having a safe house hit is no simple coincidence,” he said.

“Maybe they caught the guy.”

“Yeah, maybe,” said Miller.

I could hear the doubt in his voice. The comm unit beeped again.

“Are you going to answer it?”

Miller pulled the unit from his pocket, pressed the speakerphone, and laid it down on the dash between us. He raised his finger to his lips, telling me to keep quiet.

“Yeah.”

“Miller? Miller, it’s Devon, from ACE.”

“What can I do for ya?”

“I have an activation code: golf, echo, romeo, alpha, lima, delta, wun, seven, fower.” Devon used the phonetic pronunciation of four.

Miller nodded at me. I guess the code was right. He hesitated before answering.

“Code is a go,” he said.

“All hell’s broken loose here. They figure there is a mole in place. They’re shutting it all down.”

Miller stepped on the brakes and pulled the car over to the side of the road. “Could you repeat that, please?”

“They’re shutting it all down. They’ve got no idea where the leak is, so they’re doing a purge and rebuild. You still got the courier with you?”

“How complete is the shutdown?”

“Umm, hang on.” The comm unit was quiet for a while before Devon came back. “Looks like everything. Several safe houses have already been sold off, the rest are on the market. All couriers and operatives are being told to go into hiding until they’re notified. All ongoing missions are being contacted directly with instructions.”

“Shit.”

“Do you still have the courier with you?” Devon asked again.

“Yeah.”

“Where are you?”

“Level 6, just outside Doc Searls’ offices.”

The line went quiet again for a minute before Devon came back. “His office was told to close a half hour ago. It’s probably empty by now. Are you or the courier hurt? Can you go somewhere else?”

“Nah, we’re fine. I was hoping to get her tracker fixed,” Miller said.

“Unless Searls is still there, that isn’t going to happen,” Devon said.

Miller pulled away from the curb and sped toward the doctor’s office. “I’m gonna check. If the doc’s gone, where else can we go?”

“Nowhere, man. We’re shutting down. You’re to stop your mission and wait for further instructions.”

“Her tag will activate soon.”

“Not our problem. Your mission is aborted. Dump the courier and await further instructions.”

Miller closed the link on his comm unit, put it back in his pocket, and kept his eyes on the road.