Midnight City (49 page)
Still tripods, still lithe and agile, but these had missile batteries next to their plasma cannon, the small warheads gleaming in the sunlight. They looked more heavily armored as well, with thicker, mesh plates, all painted in brilliant green and orange. What looked like an array of optics and sensors sat atop them, and square, armored storage cases of some kind were affixed to their backs.
The new walkers stood tall as they activated, trumpeting affirmatively. But not all of them. Eight rose and activated, but four sat where they were on the ground, lifeless and unpowered.
From the old walkers came a rumbling as bright, wavering fields of energy lifted out of each one. Three crystalline shapes of golden light … and one of something entirely unexpected. The energy field that rose out of the boldly marked walker wasn’t gold … it was a perfect, flickering blend of
green and orange,
like emerald sunlight.
Each floated to one of the new dormant walkers. They hovered above them for a moment, and then sank downward and absorbed into them. As they did, the machines powered up just like the others, coming to life.
The dropships collected the old, damaged walkers, sucking them up into hydraulic racks. When they were finished, their engines roared as they lifted up and away into the sky. Seconds later, their cloaking fields flashed back to life, concealing them from sight as they flew toward the west.
The walkers stared at their leader with anticipation, its new armor marked in the same unique, bold color pattern. Before it could sound its orders, however, a rumbling echoed from the distance.
The Hunters turned in unison, staring to the West, where something moved amid the plains, miles away.
The machines’ optics whirred silently as they zoomed in on the movement and revealed it for what it was.
More Assembly walkers, dozens of them, all moving northward. Familiar kinds—Spiders, Mantises—and others less familiar. Some with five legs, some with six.
But one thing was common among all of them. They had no colors painted on their armor. There was only bare metal. And each of them gleamed in flashes of blindingly bright silver in the afternoon sun.
The boldly marked walker trumpeted with electronic disdain at the sight. More Assembly had arrived to join in the hunt.
The walker trumpeted once more, this time with urgency … and then it and the rest of its Hunters bounded off toward the north, searching for the trail that would lead them to their priceless quarry.
About the Author
J. BARTON MITCHELL is a screenwriter, comic book writer, and author. He studied creative writing at the University of Houston before going on to receive a B.S. in film studies from the University of Texas. After selling screenplays to Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox, Mitchell created and wrote the comic book series
Poe,
published by Boom! Studios in 2009. Mitchell lives and writes in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin’s Press.
MIDNIGHT
CITY.
Copyright © 2012 by J. Barton Mitchell. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
Cover photographs: sky ©
shutterstock.com
; people © Shane Rebenschied; dog ©
shutterstock.com
; city © Colin Anderson / Getty Images; rubble © Christophe Dessaigne / Trevillion Images
ISBN 978-1-250-00907-4 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-01343-9 (e-book)
First Edition: November 2012