Divided Worlds Trilogy 01 - Disconnect (21 page)

A soldier, with one functioning blue eye, limped out of a cloud of grey smoke. In one motion, he unhooked and aimed forward.

Zachary fired twice. The soldier’s chest and neck shattered. Red blood gushed onto the white road. Nausea crippled Zachary as he struggled to justify this kill. He had to do it. The soldier would have killed him. His stomach churned.

“We’ve got movers,” wheezed a voice within the grey smoke. “Check it out.”

Charging into the smoke, Zachary thumbed the switch from single to multiple, then pushed the trigger. The rapid fire of his rifle staggered him. Four blue-eyes collapsed. Zachary kneeled beside the protester moaning on the ground between the soldiers. It was Bhavini.

“I’m not hit,” she said pressing above her chest.

“Where is everybody?” Zachary cried, examining her frame for leaking blood.

“Divided. The army were waiting for us. I don’t know who’s still alive. The lead gangs have been battered.” Bhavini showed a double-tube device clipped to her inner vest. “Carell’s message. I’ve got a copy. It’s up to us.”

Zachary gasped. “You’re going to contact the Confederation.”

Gun cocked, Bhavini growled. “You want Rosa, you get me to the Tower.”

A protester ran past them. “
Move! Move! Move!
”

Twice as tall as a Haulage-404, the Rock-Walker appeared. The top half of its legs, thick and round, revolved with ease as the Rock-Walker made light work of the rubble on the road. Both its arms snapped open, changing from cannon nozzles to a long gun attachment. The driver of the murderous machine had seen them.

They had seconds. Was there any point in firing?

The Rock-Walker skidded with a quick twist to face the other way. It jumped backwards, then several feet up into the air. The machine’s cockpit screeched across the road as it tumbled over. Something had floored it. With no hesitation, the Rock-Walker’s legs counteracted to upright itself. It grabbed something and threw it overhead.

Patch landed on his feet with no cannons in hand.

“I’m going to rip you apart,” wheezed the Rock-Walker’s driver.

Patch pushed off the road to shoulder-barge the machine. The Rock-Walker unleashed bullets into the Haulage-404. Sparks burst outward. An arm panel spun off Patch, exposing his circuitry.

Clawing underneath the Rock-Walker, the Haulage-404’s carrying ability showed. He lifted the machine up even though fire poured over him.

“Is that all you got?” snarled the driver.

The pistons on Patch’s left leg bent. Leaping up, he bashed the machine down. The Rock-Walker’s left arm reformed into a grappling hand of three claws. It crunched through the droid’s chest. Patch shoved his fist through the cockpit.

A fireball erupted between the two at war.

Zachary covered himself in the cloud of smoke that followed.

Limping away from the decimated Rock-Walker, Patch shrugged. “I win.”

All of a sudden, the road below the Haulage-404 droid exploded.

In the air, Zachary’s body wobbled out of place. A high-pitched ring deafened his flight, before he crashed to the flame-ridden ground. Bhavini pulled him away from the crater.

“No!” he cried, reaching for the three metal fingers visible from the crater.

“He’s gone,” she said. “Did you mess around with that droid’s core?”

Zachary slumped against her. “I can’t do this without Patch.”

Bhavini caught his flailing hand. “Zachary. Look at me. Can you hear that? Can you hear the bullets? Soon, there’ll be nobody left. Now, suck it up, and help me reach the Tower.” She handed him his rifle back. “You might not be a ROM, but you’re a fighter. Now fight.”

Both of them raised their weapons at the six-wheeled truck braking across the street. Caine kicked open the passenger door. “Do you still have your module?”

“Yeah. Got yours?” asked Bhavini.

“The patrollers had me. They took it. They know what we’re planning. Get in; this is our ticket to the Tower.”

Zachary assisted Bhavini into the truck before Caine drove on. The truck rumbled over debris. The large arched supports of Hadrian Tower appeared. Plumes of smoke billowed out from some of the windows.

Biting his lips, Zachary prayed that Rosa was safe.

“Get down,” said Caine as they mounted steps between the arches.

Cannon-fire hit the truck.

Bhavini’s hand embraced Zachary’s.

“ROM!” shouted Caine.

An explosion jerked Zachary’s heart. Bright light enveloped him. Something hard clipped his leg. Particles scraped past him faster than he could imagine. An object collided with him, or he with it? He lay still for a moment, before shuffling to see beams hanging by thick-coils above him. A cloud of heated energy burst across his line of sight. Everything felt warm. Crumbled walls lay on top of desks with burnt bodies scattered about. Was it possible that he had survived another near-death experience? How many more did fate have in store for him?

Zachary crawled to the front of the truck’s cabin, which was covered by fallen metal pillars. Even if the protesters were still alive, the imminent cave-in of the tower’s entrance posed a risk.

A light brown hand moved inside a small hole within a pillar.

Zachary touched the index finger. “Bhavini?”

Her finger pulled away into darkness then returned holding the module.

“Take this.” She sounded weak. “It’s up to you now.”

“I don’t know what to do,” stuttered Zachary, taking the module. For a small object it felt heavy in his charred palm.

“Communications Level.” Bhavini panted. “Load it into the Comms-Hub.”

“What does it look like?” Zachary drove his finger into the hole. “Bhavini?”

“You’ll know … It’s protected. Do it … for ….” She stopped.

“For who?”

No reply.

“Bhavini?”

Lips quivering, Zachary inched his wrist back to his mouth. Bhavini couldn’t be dead. He was meant to help her, but not like this. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t a member of ROM; their problem had become his. Punishing the House had to happen. Zachary pushed the module into his pocket. He had two prizes gnawing at his scavenger mind now: Rosa and the message.

Rifle in hand, Zachary climbed over the debris in the room. An open lift lay waiting: perfect. Inside, he glared at his strange reflection of a scruffy boy in a dusty padded vest. It reminded him of the sixteen-year-old scavenger who’d uncovered a wired box in the Wastelands, but there was a difference. That boy never had responsibilities thrust onto him that he had to perform. Lives never relied upon his action. A protective layer had washed off inside the Disinfector. Now, the dirt had returned. It was the skin he’d grown up with. Sure, there wasn’t support, and the fate of ROM lay in his pocket, but it wasn’t so different from being a lone scavenger.

Zachary gripped the rifle. He wasn’t a boy anymore. An aim trembled his jaw: Rosa Kade, and he intended to find her.

Images booted up onto a wall-mounted screen in the lift. Exclamation marks glittered around a hatched image of the Tower with its fifteen levels. On the fourth level of the Tower was the Communications Level. Zachary’s eyes widened at the comment flashing alongside it. “Urgent Support required for Ambassador Kade.”

Zachary punched the select button to the fourth level.

The lift bounced, stopping at the chosen level.

Zachary stepped out into a small, smoky room.

“Mister Kade,” he said aloud.

There was nobody present, or as far as he could tell. Something rumbled above him. If Carell thought the modules were lost, did it make sense for him to order the protesters to bring down the Tower? There was no better time than now that Zachary wished he had an Intercom.

Beeps sounded as the lift door shut. Zachary huffed at the red lines crossing over the door to indicate a malfunction.

A closed door stood opposite him. Fingers jammed into a thin space down the centre, he separated the panels. White smoke rushed onto his face. Zachary crawled into the next room. Electrical sparks sprinkled from a crack in the ceiling onto toppled cabinets. A lake of red surrounded a group of soldiers crushed under beams. Zachary checked the ammunition count on his rifle. Ten bullets.

He listened for sounds of movement beyond the crackles. Like a scavenger preparing for a grab-and-dash attempt, Zachary made slow steps in silence.

Within the smoke, a tall shadow stirred, making frantic arm movements.

“You
must
help me,” cried a man.

“They are not my problem,” grunted a Russian voice. “I have no time for this.” Masim Sokolov walked through the smoke, unflinching at the sparks trickling into the room.

Jordan Kade caught the General’s arm. “You owe me.”

“I owe you nothing. You did your job. Now, let me do mine. I will not let the weak win this battle.”

“Forget the battle. You
must
help me to release them.”

Cowering behind a table, Zachary looked beyond the two men to a semi-transparent panel that stretched from floor to ceiling. Someone was behind them.

“I can’t,” rasped Sokolov pushing off Jordan’s second grasp. “The commands to revoke are burnt out.” His right fist smashed a screen. “Nothing can get to the hubs now.”

Jordan’s unbuttoned shirt flapped. “You’re meant to be the one that controls everything.”

“I still am. Once we are out of here, I will send units to recover them.”

“Recover them?” Jordan’s posture straightened. “That’s my wife and daughter you’re talking about.”

Zachary almost dropped his rifle. There was no way to reach the panels without passing Jordan and the General.

“You know there are ways to heal the suffering,” said Sokolov.

“Don’t you dare,” growled Jordan.

“Dare? It was your idea in the first place.”

Rosa’s father blinked several times. “If you don’t help, Alice will release every God-damn file I have on you and the House.”

“Your android has been destroyed,” said Sokolov.

“One android was. You see, Rosa’s a clever girl. She told Alice to make a backup of her cognition-drive. The moment your men destroyed her, she awoke in a new body. Yes – you’ve forgotten that I have a few.” Jordan showed a silver clip under his shirt collar. “If Alice doesn’t hear from me within the hour, she’ll release everything.”

Hatred filled the General’s face. “It won’t just be me that suffers.”

“I’ll handle that later.”

“Fine.” Sokolov walked past Jordan toward the panels.

Staying in a crouch, Zachary followed them. With each step, the silhouettes moving behind the panel became clearer. A figure in red beat her palms against the panel. It had to be Rosa.

“Structural integrity at thirty-two percent,” rustled a mechanical voice within the room. “Please vacate immediately.”

Sokolov typed on a desk-mounted keypad. “Revoke protection on level four.”

“Negative,” replied the mechanical voice. “Integrity reaching critical state. Protocols do not permit reversal of protection until all threats have been eliminated. Structural integrity at twenty-nine percent. Please vacate immediately.”

Sokolov bashed the keyboard. The panel in front of the trapped people rose by several inches.

“Father!” shouted Rosa, pushing her hand under the panel.

Zachary inched closer. He could see Rosa, and also Amelia Kade, who was pressing her hands together in prayer.

“I will get you out,” cried Jordan, dropping to his knees.

“This is not working. We must leave,” said Sokolov. Keeping his face forward, he reached to a loose pole leaning against the table. “I’m sorry, Jordan. My time with your family comes to an end here.”

“
NO!
” Finger on trigger, Zachary jumped up. “Put the pole down.”

Rosa’s eyes glistened.

“What is this? Who are you?” Sokolov’s eyes narrowed with a sideways wobble. “
You
. The sneaky Underworlder that tricked us.”

“Connor,” muttered Jordan.

Zachary locked eyes with the man who’d scorned him and ordered him to stay away from his daughter. Did Jordan still hate him for being here? Zachary reacted late to Sokolov’s hasty removal of a revolver from his rear pocket. Pain lanced into Zachary’s thigh with a bullet. Flipping backward, he hit his head. Grinding stings tore through him. Grasping his bleeding leg with one hand, he reached for his rifle with the other.

A black boot stamped on his hand.

Sokolov seized Zachary’s throat. “You’re the reason for everything that’s happening. If you hadn’t spoken to Rosa, then nobody would have known. ROM wouldn’t be here. You should have stayed in your gutter.”

Zachary grappled with the choking hands. “You should have stayed out of my gutter.”

“
Father
, stop him!” shrieked Rosa.

Sokolov released his grip, giving Jordan a look. The General wrestled open every pocket on Zachary’s padded vest. He snatched the module. “A viral feed. Ah, Carell’s trying to checkmate me.”

“Structural integrity at twenty percent. Please vacate immediately.”

“Leave him alone,” shouted Rosa. “Let him go. He’s been through enough.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Zachary swayed to stand. His leg shuddered. “I came here for you.”

“Structural integrity at sixteen percent. Please vacate immediately.”

“Do you hear that?” sneered Sokolov. “Time is running out. Inform your android to destroy all evidence, or I will kill the gutter-boy. Would you let that happen in your daughter’s presence?”

Rosa punched the panel. “Don’t!”

“How can I be sure that you won’t kill us all?” demanded Jordan.

“Call off your android,” warned Sokolov.

Zachary watched Jordan press on his collar.

“Alice, delete the files marked
zloy
. All of them. Just do it.”

“And the backups,” said Sokolov.

Jordan squinted. “There are none. Now. My family.”

“Structural integ-gr-gr-grity … twelve p-p-p,” stuttered the mechanical voice.

Now!

Zachary jumped to the rifle, sucking in the sting of his fall. A slap knocked the air from his lungs before he could rotate to take aim. On the floor, he gazed into the barrel of Sokolov’s revolver. Jordan whacked the gun upward. It fired, splitting an overhead beam that fell.