Divided Worlds Trilogy 01 - Disconnect (17 page)

Now unmasked, the stubble-headed man squashed Zachary’s shoulder. He was like a taller version of his dad. Neck muscles bulged under a blocky jaw. “Stop dragging your feet. The patrollers will be scanning. Do you want to get caught?”

“You’re not helping, Caine.” The woman eased the brute’s hand off Zachary.

It was an odd pairing. One, tall with strength showcased by a puffed chest, whilst the other, less than an inch taller than Zachary. Although thin, her smooth skin presented her as somebody who didn’t live in Underworld. Zachary rolled his eyes as a memory surfaced. They were the same couple that’d been searching for the android in the bartering camp. Zachary looked back and forth between them. The
rescuers
couldn’t be part of the army, otherwise why would they snatch him from the patrollers? What if Bhavini and Caine were part of the infiltrating Snakes? Maybe Sokolov had ordered them to ensure the Snakes remained a secret.

The tunnel shrank, giving a wider spread of the torch’s beam. Hooks and cross-shaped objects protruded from the thin rucksacks the two rescuers carried.

“Okay, that’ll do.” Bhavini shone the torch on Zachary. “Don’t make a sound.”

Caine’s butch frame loomed over him as he cut the cuffs with pliers. The chafed skin of his wrists was the least cause of Zachary’s anger.

“What the hell were you doing?” He stepped back from their glares, quietening his tone. “Why did you leave her behind? Who sent you to rescue me? Who are you?”

Caine snorted. “Talk about ungrateful. We saved your behind back there.”

“I never asked you to. I’m going back.”

“No, you’re not. We didn’t cross the line up there for nothing. The streets will be swarming.” Caine turned to Bhavini. “I told you he was with her.”

“What?” Zachary shook his hands midair. As if they cared about crossing lines when they’d come down hunting for an android.

Bhavini lowered her torch. “Calm it, Zachary, I’ll explain.”

Their knowledge of his name irked Zachary.

“Caine, backtrack twenty-steps. Keep watch. I can handle him. Go – this will be quicker without your testosterone.”

Bhavini waited until the brute left. “Take slower breaths or you’ll pass out.”

Zachary looked deeper into the tunnel. Could he dart off and gain a head start?

“Don’t even think about it. We’re not the bad guys,” she said, as if reading his mind.

Zachary snorted. “I bet that’s what everybody says.”

“Trust me. Okay, I’ll keep this short. We were told that you’d be in the vicinity of the mall. It’s a good thing you were. Caine wasn’t lying about us putting ourselves on the line for you.”

“Like I said, I never asked you to.”

Bhavini sneered. “Sure, because you had it all in hand. Got to give it to you, though, you’re something else for getting out of Underworld.”

“It wasn’t easy.”

“I’ve heard.” She tipped forward her earlobe, showing an embedded tube. “We intercepted alerts that you’d been spotted. The name change did confuse me.”

“I’m not Snake Seven, Diego or Santos. I lied.”

“Smart move. We lost you outside the mall. Next thing we know, the patrollers are on strict orders to collect somebody entering Assayer. We took a chance and followed. Luckily, you were in the same Sector.”

Bhavini’s heel clicked on the ground. “One part doesn’t fit. What were you doing with that girl?”

Zachary kneaded the strain crushing either side of his head with his hands. “She came here to help me. I should be with her, and if you hadn’t interfered –”

“You’d never see her again, if we hadn’t. And you can forget the heroic drama of going back. We came to collect you. She was never part of the equation.”

Zachary met her gaze. “There wouldn’t have been an equation without her.” He sighed bringing his hands up. “I’m
begging
you. Please, help me.”

Bhavini’s eyebrows arched. “Right now, they’ll be hunting high and low for us, and she’ll be under strict observation because of her link to you.”

“Will they hurt her?”

“Their last order was to bring her in unharmed.”

That didn’t decrease the annoyance soaking his mouth. Zachary kicked out, banging a pipe. “Are you protesters?”

“If you mean ROM, then yes. The Right Order Movement. Pirates, protesters and troublemakers are terms the House of Representatives use to portray us, but it’s not what we stand for. We fight for something bigger.”

Bhavini removed Zachary’s bag from her thin rucksack. She must have clinched it from the patroller. She delved in the bag and held up the Intel-Depository. “We came for this. For months, we’ve been trying to get our hands on something to give us the upper hand, and lo and behold, an Underworlder delivers.”

Caine emerged toward them. “Important thing is if it still works.”

“He would’ve ditched it if it didn’t.” Bhavini fumbled deeper into the bag. “Have you been communicating with that girl?”

Zachary returned her frown. “Yes – why?”

“With this?” She whipped out the Intercom on to the floor.

“
Hey,
” yelped Zachary.

Without hesitation, Bhavini stamped, cracking the Intercom’s upper-shell.

Caine piled onto Zachary’s chest, driving him against the pipe.

“
Stop
,” cried Zachary.

Bhavini flicked the lid off a silver-tube in her hand and poured clear liquid onto the Intercom. Smoke arose from bubbling froth.

“Forget her. She was using you,” said Caine. “It was a well-executed plan to lure you in to where they wanted you. Didn’t you see the way they knocked off her android? They’ll replace her in an instant. You fell for it.”

Zachary grabbed the protester’s padded sweatshirt. “I
needed
that.”

“No – they needed you. She was the bait.”

Standing with her attention fixed on the grey puddle growing under the froth, Bhavini spoke. “Firstly, they can track Intercoms. Secondly, they probably already have, and thirdly, it would’ve made you a liability. ROM doesn’t deal with liabilities.”

Zachary groaned against his sweaty palm. For the second time today, he’d lost a working Intercom. What else could go wrong for him? The protesters had what they wanted. Why did they still need him?

“I’m going back to her,” he said.

“Do we have to go through this again?” grunted Caine.

“Who are you to decide on what I do? I promise I won’t tell them about you.”

Bhavini’s sharp tone cut him. “You’ve seen too much. You have to come with us now. This girl, whatever her name is, she obviously means a lot to you –”

“Everything,” muttered Zachary.

“Maybe we can help you.” She motioned for Caine to remain silent. “If this really is your first time above the midpoint, then you’ll be caught quicker than escaping hydrogen. Someone wants to meet you. Carell, our leader.”

* * *

Vest drenched with sweat, Zachary handed back Bhavini’s water flask after they travelled through a long stretch of hazed humidity. At the end of the torch’s beam lay a door already opening inwards.

One foot in, his skin calmed under cold air. The place was smaller by miles in comparison to the streets of Assayer. Ladders connected the levels above and below the wide platform that Zachary stood on. He struggled to absorb the different nooks and crevices littered with entwining cables. Lights twinkled, almost in tune to the sounds of components moving. Laughing children chasing one another brushed past him. How safe was this place?

Caine left them on the platform. “I’ll let Carell know.”

Zachary’s eyes bounced from the array of pliers, electronic screwdrivers, drill-bits, padded jackets, and circuit boards on shelves. Whoever mingled here would be champions among scavengers. But none of that mattered anymore. Grimacing, he removed his fingers from the displays.

“Is this where you all hide?” he asked.

Bhavini tidied a pile of gloves on a shelf. “We call it the
Gilgamesh Ark
. Like Noah, but without the animals.” Zachary didn’t understand her chuckle. “This is the second incarnation of it. The last one was flattened, eight years ago, so we’re pretty attached to this ark.”

“Will Carell help me?”

“With Rosa? That depends on a few things. ROM isn’t just about protesting against the rules. We want what’s fair for everyone in the Base. There’s stuff going on up there that will blow your mind.”

A flurry of people rushed under the platform to greet a muscular man coming through with a rifle in his hand. He motioned to the crowd to disperse. “Clear the passages. We’ve captured one.”

Zachary bolted to the railings along the platform.

Behind the muscled protester, two others pulled along a white-coated man.

“Let go of me. I’ve done nothing to you,” whimpered the man. Blood oozed from the rear of his head. “I’m a scientist.”

The lead protester rammed the handle of his rifle onto the scientist’s head.

“Stop,” stuttered the scientist. Another harder ram put him to the floor. But he crawled. A third hit stopped him still.

“Take him to recon-bay,” instructed the muscled protester.

Lines of blood followed the resulting drag into a side corridor.

The railing warmed under Zachary’s grip. He was surprised at the calmness of the crowd at the killing. How was that different from the solider that had attacked the Districts?

“He killed a man who didn’t have a weapon,” said Zachary.

Bhavini shook her head. “He was already dead.”

Zachary reversed. “He was alive. I saw him.”

Bhavini’s blank expression shifted beyond him.

Caine had returned. “Carell’s ready for you.”

“Well, I’m not ready for him,” snapped Zachary, raising a finger at Bhavini. “What in Europa happened there?”

“He saw Vincent bring in a Souls,” she said.

Zachary bit on his hand. Souls as in the same Souls that Sokolov deemed suitable for him? Is this how ROM dealt with them?

Caine scratched his chin. “That’s fine, but Carell’s waiting. You can have your moan after you’ve seen him.”

“That’s it?” Zachary’s sarcastic chuckle didn’t have the effect of gaining anything from the frozen glares. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me about Vincent and the Souls.”

Caine loomed over him. “Down the corridor. Carell’s room is at the end.”

“You hardly know me, and you’re going to let me walk to Carell’s room on my own?”

Caine’s spherical shoulders rolled. “Should we fear you?”

“You’ve been summoned. Stop thinking that everyone is out to get you,” said Bhavini. “This isn’t a trap. Nobody will jump you. Take it from me, if Caine’s letting you go alone, he has faith in you.”

“Just a little,” grunted Caine.

Accepting the kind words wasn’t easy. Sticking to the big man’s instructions, Zachary shuffled off the walkway to the opposite corridor. Scraps of metal nailed to the walls reflected the spotlights from above. The route to Carell’s room was bright and cleaner than the previous area of the
Ark
. Zachary reached a door constructed from thick planks.

Inside, white walls were prominent with shiny silver devices arranged along shelves. The chassis of androids and various mechanical components cluttered long tables. A functioning hydraulic arm, rotating from its mounting on the high ceiling, carried a pole surrounded by wires, and welded it to the underside of the balcony. Sparkling streaks rained off the welding into evaporating puffs. A buzzing drone alerted Zachary’s attention to further hydraulic arms shifting in the large room. Was the room alive?

Between pillars covered in screens, he glimpsed a cabinet on the balcony displaying dozens of thin tubes that glowed green.

“Welcome,” said a softly spoken male.

Zachary edged around a pillar to face the centre of the circular room. A man sat upright, cross-legged, on a wide-armed chair. Dressed in a tunic and flared trousers, both plain white, the man appeared the total opposite of the dark clothed protesters.

Zachary gulped. “Carell.”

The white-haired man patted the arms of his chair. “Is that a guess, or are you more informed than we are led to believe?”

“A guess.”

“Indeed, a good guess. I’m Sebastian Carell. Seen by many as the trusted guide to those that dare to rise above the aristocracy of
Galilei
.” His palms rose as if a fanfare would erupt. “You are, I admit, smaller than I thought.” Rather abruptly, he stood up. “Come to me.”

Raising his hand after Carell’s drew close, Zachary felt a firm shake.

“It is exceptional for an unauthorised Underworlder to cross the ceiling of one world to the floor of another, however, I bear witness to seeing three in a matter of hours. If that is not a sign of change, then I don’t know what is.”

Three? There were more?

Carell’s lurid smile hung on. “Caine has told me some of your tale so I know what you have gone through, and that makes your arrival all the more special.”

“You know nothing about me,” retorted Zachary. “Nobody does.”

Carell’s forehead creased as if pondering a question. “Gloomy, isn’t it, when the mighty trample on the weak? You must be boiling with hatred.”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t you want to see
them
punished for tearing down the Districts? Don’t you want to see them burned for sneaking into your streets? Your homes? Your lives?” Carell’s head tilted. “Your life?”

Zachary squirmed at the suffocating aroma leaving the leader’s mouth. “I don’t care why you think I’m special. All I care about is finding my friend.”

“Friend. A strong concept.” Carell’s eyes shrivelled into slits. “I would only cast aside hatred if the outcome favoured the risk.”

The leader stepped away from him. “Earlier, Hadrian Tower ordered five patrolling units to locate Ambassador Kade’s daughter.” He halted. “Oh, you’re surprised that I know of her? You must forgive Bhavini and Caine’s ignorance of politics.”

Zachary puffed through clenched teeth. What else did Carell know?

“One of the units found her with you, who happens to be another person whose alter ego has been posted in every division. Bravo for beating the time it took for me to top the most wanted list.” Carell tapped on his palm. “They now know that you’re both connected to one another. They have her. We have you. By holding onto her, they will bide their time in the hope that you’ll be foolish to go to her. If you go, then all is lost.”