Crystal Keepers (38 page)

“Okay, too much,” Sidekick said. “What is this? Were those video feeds fake?”

“He really is my brother,” Cole said. “He flew me here in a glider. He's coming to take us to Abram Trench's penthouse. If we can get Constance, we're going to lure Roxie outside the city and blow her up. Do you know how to work the harmony bomb?”

“Know how to work it?” Sidekick asked. “Cole, I am the harmony bomb.”

Cole just stared. “What?”

“It's inside of me,” Sidekick said. “Part of me. I can't set it off myself. Nova has to hit me with a massive amount of power.”

“That's the plan,” Nova said.

“You'll be destroyed,” Cole said, suddenly hating the plan.

“Who wouldn't want to go out like that?” Sidekick asked. “Saving the city in a blaze of glory? Taking out an evil supercomputer? It doesn't get any better!”

Cole didn't trust himself to speak.

“Sidekick will save all his data before he goes,” Googol said. “He does it routinely. We can rebuild him, with all elements of his personality intact.”

“Oh,” Cole said, feeling better.

“That kind of reduces the nobility a little,” Sidekick muttered to Googol.

“I thought it might help Cole's peace of mind,” Googol replied.

“Do I get a battle suit too?” Blake asked.

“He has some basic training,” Roulette said.

“You all get battle suits,” Googol said. “We should hurry. You need to be ready when Hunter arrives.”

Cole stood outside with Mira, Dalton, Jace, Joe, Blake, Sidekick, Googol, Nova, Forge, and Roulette. It felt good to have the battle suit on. The mission would be risky, but if Sidekick could dismantle the security system and they could get away with Constance before Roxie returned, they had a real chance of success.

Blake looked like he might puke.

Jace punched him in the shoulder. “Look alive, soldier.”

“It's all on me,” Blake said numbly. “If the dragon comes, and I blow it, everybody dies.”

“Welcome to the Outskirts,” Cole said.

“You've got this,” Dalton told him. “You're the last line of defense. It's like being goalie in soccer. That's your favorite position, right?”

“He was never a very good—” Cole began, but he stopped when Dalton softly kicked his shin.

Blake was nodding.

“So go defend your team,” Dalton said. “If that dragonbot shows up, shape those power crystals and pull the plug.”

“Until it squashes me like a bug,” Blake said, looking pale.

“If it tries to squish you, dodge,” Jace said. “You're not going out there to fail. You're going out there to win.”

Cole's communicator came to life. “I'll land in two minutes,” Hunter said.

“We're ready,” Cole replied.

Blake closed his eyes. “If I don't make it, tell my family I love them. Or at least try.” Tears leaked down his cheeks.

Cole felt bad for him. He remembered the terrible fear before his first sky castle and the despair that preceded his battle with Carnag. Blake was new to this. He hadn't risked his life before. Cole was scared and knew they might die, but compared to Blake, he felt like a veteran.

Cole put an arm around Blake. “You really can do this. You're amazing with crystals. This is what it's like here. We do scary things. We have to save Constance. We can get it done.”

Blake nodded.

Dalton placed a hand on Cole's shoulder. “Come back.”

“Oh!” Cole exclaimed. “I almost forgot to tell you. In case I don't make it, Harmony told me where I could find Jenna. She's in Necronum at a place called the Temple of the Still Water.”

“That's one of the five major temples,” Mira said. “She must be talented.”

“Your mom also told me that Honor and Destiny are
in trouble,” Cole said. “They're in Necronum too. Sorry I didn't mention it earlier.”

“Did she know details?” Mira asked, obviously concerned.

“No,” Cole said. “But she could feel their distress.”

Mira looked to the sky and covered her mouth. “Their markers are up. They're right on top of each other.”

“One catastrophe at a time,” Jace muttered.

Mira whacked him on the arm.

“I mean, next stop, Necronum,” Jace amended.

The glider swooped down and landed. Hunter hopped out, and Roulette helped him into a battle suit.

“I see the family resemblance,” Roulette said. “You two even look the same age.”

“I came here a couple of years ago and aged slowly,” Hunter said. “Is that our bot?”

“Reporting for duty,” Sidekick said.

“Let's put you in the cargo hold,” Hunter said. “It isn't roomy, but you'll fit.”

“And my dreams of adventure are complete,” Sidekick said. “I'm luggage.”

“It'll free us up to dump you where you need to be without landing,” Hunter explained.

“That will be useful,” Sidekick said. “I need you to get me to the roof, but if you bring the glider too close, you could activate the defenses.”

“I like how you think,” Hunter said. “Are we ready?”

“Do you want instructions on the battle suit?” Roulette asked.

“I know the basics,” Hunter said. “Most of the advanced stuff too. Clayton Barnes replicated most of the features, but he could never get the guardcloth quite right, and his suits couldn't jump as high. Let's get in the air.”

Cole hugged his friends good-bye, careful not to hug too tight with the battle suit on. Then he followed his brother into the glider.

C
HAPTER

37

PENTHOUSE

C
onstructed out of dark cement and tinted crystal, the city administration building was not only extremely tall, but broad and thick as well. The cover of night almost made the building and the city around it appear innocent—the lights were on, and there was little activity. But Cole could see the deep gouges where the dragonbot had scaled the side of the building to the penthouse. On the streets below, smashed levcars and motionless bodies evinced additional devastation.

“How far away is Roxie?” Hunter asked into a communicator.

“Our most recent reports have her near Canal Station,” Forge replied. “Tracking her is tricky because we keep losing comms networks.”

“From Canal Station, at the top speed I've seen, Roxie will get here in four or five minutes,” Hunter said. “That seems like enough time to give this a shot.”

“How are you back there, Sidekick?” Cole asked.

“Thanks for remembering the baggage,” the little robot replied. “Are bots allowed to pray?”

“I think so,” Cole said.

“Good,” Sidekick replied. “Otherwise I'm breaking the rules. Open the cargo door and take me over the very top of the penthouse. Do you see the black shed?”

“Yeah,” Hunter replied.

“That's our target,” Sidekick said. “Don't drop too close. We don't want to alert the defenses. I'll be transmitting all my cleaning-bot credentials. I can survive a pretty serious fall. A few more dents might help round me out. Besides, I may not need this body much longer anyhow.”

Cole heard the cargo door opening as Hunter brought the glider around in a slow turn. Peering down at the penthouse, Cole saw that half the rooftop was a terrace with a big lawn, trees, a fountain, hedges, and a garden. The other half rose an additional two stories and featured lots of huge windows. Atop the highest roof sat the shed Sidekick had described.

“See our trajectory, Sidekick?” Hunter asked.

“Looks good,” Sidekick replied. “Just hold steady.”

They were pretty high above the rooftop. Maybe a hundred feet? More? Cole winced when he saw Sidekick falling and heard the clang when he landed.

The glider passed over the building and banked to come back around. Cole craned his neck to see Sidekick, but the little robot was out of view.

“I'm all right,” Sidekick said over the communicator. “Moving to the shed. Breaking in. I'm inside. I wish I could just plug in and do this the fast way. Give me a minute. I
have to remove some crystals and manually shut down certain connections.”

“Brave little guy,” Blake said.

“You feeling better?” Cole asked.

He nodded. “I'll feel best if we fly away before that dragonbot gets here.”

“The system is down,” Sidekick said. “The clock is ticking. If Roxie didn't know already, she knows we're here now.”

Hunter started a digital stopwatch. “We'll be on the ground in thirty seconds.”

“Roxie is on the move,” Forge reported. “Heading your way.”

Diving a little, Hunter tightened their turn and then leveled out just in time to land on the terrace lawn. They all climbed out of the glider and dropped to the grass.

The battle suit helped Cole quickly cross the distance to the terrace. Sidekick had already broken in. The sparse modern furnishings looked expensive. Lamps of diverse forms and sizes illuminated strangely shaped couches and ottomans.

“Split up and find them,” Hunter ordered.

Aware that each passing second brought Roxie closer, Cole ran through a couple of rooms until he reached a locked door. Trusting his battle suit, Cole tried a sharp kick and broke it open.

Inside, Abram Trench sat tied to a chair, guarded by a man-size robot. The robot raised a trapgun, and Cole lunged out of the doorway just in time to avoid the quicktar that splattered against the wall behind him.

“Robot!” Cole called, reaching for a tube of freeze-foam.

The robot came out of the doorway before Cole had the tube ready, so in desperation, he sprang at the guard, aiming to kick it in the chest, hoping the battle suit would lend him enough strength to do some damage. Before Cole reached his target, quicktar splashed against him, covering him completely. He crashed against something, then fell to the ground, unable to see, his hearing muted.

Cole struggled, but even with the help of the battle suit, he remained almost completely immobile, his body stuck in the pose of a flying kick. Lukewarm and slightly elastic, the quicktar coating felt like a cocoon made of thousands of rubber bands. Cole found that with great effort, air filtered through the tar plugging his nostrils, though only a faint trickle. If he couldn't get more air, Cole feared he would soon smother. His panic-fueled attempts to kick and flail resulted in gentle wiggles.

After several arduous, claustrophobic breaths, the quicktar smeared away from his face as warm liquid washed over him. Wherever the liquid went, the quicktar melted away. After wiping the liquid from his eyes, Cole opened them to see Sidekick hosing him down with pink mist. Beyond Sidekick, Cole saw the robot on the ground, tendrils of smoke rising from charred metal.

“Thanks so much,” Cole said, taking eager breaths. “Did you fry him?”

“It's a talent,” Sidekick said.

Hunter walked in and crouched by Cole. “You all right?”

“Yeah,” Cole said. He was wet from the pink mist but otherwise unhurt. “I found Abram.”

Blake entered the room. Hunter helped Cole up, and they ran to Abram Trench, who remained bound to a chair and gagged.

Hunter yanked off the gag. “Where's Constance?” he asked.

“They stuck her in my safe room,” Abram said.

“Who are
they
?” Hunter asked.

“I have two guardbots. Roxie took them over of course. You got one. The other stayed with Constance.”

“Where's the safe room?” Hunter asked.

“Hidden. It'll be faster to show you.”

Hunter produced a knife and slashed through Abram's bindings, then hauled him to his feet. Abram led them through three rooms to a fourth, where he slid aside a false wall to reveal a door of black metal.

“To open it requires a code and a crystal,” Abram said. “I no longer have either.”

“Sidekick?” Hunter prompted.

“I can't plug in and attack the system directly or Roxie will own me,” the little robot said. “I have an energy knife.”

“How long?” Hunter asked.

“A minute or two,” Sidekick replied.

“Do it,” Hunter said. “Blake, go keep watch. Let us know when Roxie is in sight.”

After shooting Cole a worried glance, Blake ran from the room. A long, slender arm with several joints extended from Sidekick. At the end of the arm, a blinding white laser cut into the door, shedding bright showers of sparks.

“We should go,” Abram said. “Leave the girl. Roxie won't hurt her. The rest of us are a different matter.”

“We're here for Constance,” Hunter said.

“When Roxie gets back, nobody leaves,” Abram said.

“She's not back yet,” Hunter said. He checked his stopwatch. “Over four minutes. How much longer, Sidekick?”

“It's a thick door,” Sidekick replied. “At least a minute.”

Cole flexed his fingers and stomped in place. He willed the energy knife to cut faster.

“I see her,” Blake said from the communicator, a tremor in his voice. “She's coming fast.”

“How long?” Hunter asked.

“Less than a minute,” Blake replied. “Maybe thirty seconds.”

Hunter turned to Cole. “I'm going to get the glider ready. Come as soon as you can.”

He ran out of the room. Abram ran off too.

“Nearly there,” Sidekick announced.

“She's almost to the bottom of the building,” Blake reported, terror creeping into his voice.

Cole held down the button on his communicator. “You've got this. Feel her power crystals. Shut them down as fast as you can.”

“Got it,” Sidekick said, trundling aside as the door tipped outward and fell flat against the floor.

Sidekick fired a disk attached to a slender wire that clicked against the robot guard. Electric flashes of energy made the robot twitch and smoke until it toppled over sideways. The sharp tang of burned metal invaded Cole's nostrils. Constance sat tied to a chair.

“She's coming up,” Blake said. “Oh, man, she's enormous!”

Skittering forward, Sidekick cut through Constance's bindings with the energy knife. “I'm shutting down,” Sidekick said. “I don't want her turning me against you.”

The little robot sat down hard and didn't move.

“We have to run,” Cole said, taking Constance's hand and leading her to the terrace.

Cole and Constance stopped in the doorway leading outside.

A pair of huge claws reached over the edge of the terrace, followed by the mechanical head of a dragon atop a serpentine neck. “Who is doing that?” Roxie bellowed. “Stop it at once! How dare you? How
dare
you?”

The dragon heaved her mechanized bulk up onto the terrace, her body covering more than a quarter of the spacious garden. Her eyes blazed like molten rock. Below her metal neck, a dozen whiplike tentacles flailed.

Her sheer size paralyzed Cole, robbing him of all hope of fighting her. It would be like trying to take on a battleship with his bare hands.

Turning toward Cole, the glider started to take off, then crashed to the grass.

“No you don't,” Roxie said.

Cole scooped Constance into his arms, stepped out of the doorway, and jumped, trying to get on top of the highest floor. But before he landed, Roxie's tentacles lashed out and wrapped him up, binding Constance to him. A second tentacle snaked into a hedge and dragged Blake out from under it.

“Hello, Constance,” Roxie said with syrupy delight. “Where did you think you were going?”

The tentacle set Cole and Constance on the lawn. Another tentacle placed Blake beside them.

“Stop it, Roxie!” Constance called. “Don't hurt these people!”

“They were trying to hurt me,” Roxie said.

“They were trying to help me,” Constance replied.

“Stop it, boy!” Roxie snapped. “I can keep changing them back all night, but you're wearing out my patience.”

“How many power crystals?” Cole asked.

“Ten,” Blake replied. “I can't change more than three before she undoes it.”

“Is this what you dreamed of becoming?” Constance shouted. “A horrible monster?”

“I'm only a monster to my enemies,” Roxie said.

“Don't you get it?” Constance cried. “We're all your enemies! You're destroying Zeropolis! You're killing people!”

“I'm stopping oppressors,” Roxie said forcefully. “I will rule a city where man and machine live together respectfully.”

“How does—” Constance began.

“Enough!” Roxie roared. “Tonight involves some ugliness, yes. I don't like employing brutal tactics. You'll understand in time, when you see what rises from the ashes. I can't have dissenters. As a token of goodwill, I will give your rescuers a choice.”

A tentacle wrapped around Cole from his neck to his feet and gave just enough of a squeeze to temporarily force the wind out of him. Another tentacle wrapped up Blake. The head of the dragon came close to Cole, eyes glaring.

“I recognize your voice,” Roxie said. “You piloted one of the drones.”

“That's right,” Cole said.

The head moved over to Blake. “And this one was changing the harmonics of my crystals. I wondered if you'd turn up. I noticed some of your confidential files. It appears you're one of a kind.”

“I guess so,” Blake said.

“Which means you could be uncommonly useful to me . . . or uncommonly dangerous.”

“Maybe,” Blake said.

“Lots of people have tried to harm me tonight,” Roxie said. “You were the only one who made me nervous. Just for a moment, but you got to me. You almost cut my power. Care to try again?”