System Seven (45 page)

• • •

The forty-eight story
Metropolitan Government building towered over the streets of Shinjuku Ward. Two
blocks away, operators ran a Booty machine from a utility truck.
Experimentation had yielded two additional active channels and a third
clarified just as a transmission crossed mentioning a target’s acquisition in
the sky.

Certain it was an
important intercept, they passed it to the bràthair scouring the city for the
nuke. They in turn relayed it to Cathbad and Sean in the basement of Cullstone.

• • •

Johan stood in the
aisle and stared out the train’s windows across the top of an alpine forest.
The snow covered trees stretched away into the haze of a covering storm. Ryota
sat, alternately looking at Johan and out the window.

“Why are we hiding?”
Ryota asked finally. “I want to go home, too.”

The boy was bright and
imbued with a Zen calmness not typical of his age. He was curious, absorbing
everything. Until now he’d remained mostly unruffled; with Kaiya’s absence,
he’d apparently reached his limit. Brown eyes looked back with a profound need
Johan readily connected with... he wanted his mama and his
sofu
. He wanted to be safe again.

“I’m trying to help
you wake up again. Until then, I protect you.”

How much Ryota
understood wasn’t clear until he replied, “Are the bad men still at my house?
If they are I don’t want to wake up.”

“That’s right, we
don’t want that. I’m trying to find out now. I want you to be safe.”
I promised that you would be
. Ryota turned back to the window at the same
moment a strong presence arrived carrying the familiar shade of the Runa Korda.
Johan saw Cathbad’s face in the small window of the door to the adjoining train
car. The door was designed as the only approach to the dream.

Cathbad wasn’t alone.
Two men stood behind him, draped in dark trench coats. Cathbad’s glance
conveyed their purpose as bodyguards. Johan unlocked the door and slid it open.
Cold air and carriage noise filled the car.

“They’ll wait beyond,”
Cathbad said over the din. He stepped in and closed the door. The druid met
Ryota’s curious look but withheld comment. “Austin needs you. He’s over the
city and in grave danger. They have antigravity craft poised to strike but
he’s too wound up for us to warn him. You have to reach him.”

“Antigravity craft?
Fantastic. What more have you withheld?”

“Remember, you rushed
things. Your education is far from complete. Right now it is time to warn Austin.”

“What about the nuke?”
Johan asked.

“We’re working to find
the location. Go and warn Austin.”

They both looked at
the boy.

“Shall I remain here?”
Cathbad asked. A sincere offer but also a measuring of how much Johan trusted
him.

“That’s fine. What do
I tell Austin?”

“To get out of the
sky. The grab for the boy cannot happen now, anyway. There are complications.”

“What kind of
complications?”

“We’re also working on
that. Now go. Go now, please.”

With a glance at the
two men in the next car, Johan shifted free of the dream.

He focused on and
followed the threads that bound him to Austin. Closer in, he encountered the
shield of bràthair protecting Austin. He passed through them and bore the brunt
of their surprise before his identity eased their fears. Austin’s meta vibrated
with an over-strung resonance, discordant and panicked. No wonder they couldn’t
reach him.

He sank in to
synchronize.

They’ve locked onto you with antigravity ships.

Austin’s heart leapt
at the intrusion. A shimmering field of potential rose around him. Another
memory surfaced, more powerful than the others:
They’ll target you if they can.

It was too much. Austin
bolted straight up into the clouds and then shot off blindly through the
darkness.

Stop, Austin!

He ignored Johan’s
command – no half-baked plan was going to cost him his life.

You’re not going to leave.

The hell I’m not.

You’re breaking the deal.

No, the deal wasn’t
about dying – and Kaiya isn’t back.

She’s returned. She’s safe–

Bullshit! I’m not
stupid.

The hell you aren’t–

He tried to block out
the hacker but failed. Kaiya’s voice chimed in.
Owned by a hacker, babe...
anger trailed the memory.

Stop fighting me, it will only get you killed.
Think, then act!

Austin had long ago
learned to recognize the sharp contrast of good advice, even in
a polarized fit of emotion – a hard-received gift from his dad. He slowed.
Johan injected again, this time with knowledge of the handoff of Kaiya to
Amanda. He saw a woman sit up, disoriented, struggling to focus in her new
world.
I delivered her safely. She’s joined with a new host for now. You can’t
reach her because she’s shielded but she’s okay, you have my word. Now I need
you to keep yours. Remove Ryota from the clinic.

Austin pounced on the
imagery and dissected it to feel Kaiya’s essence in the memory. It was her. She
was intact, safe within another’s care. Intense relief drowned out his fear and
he stopped. There was no question now – he needed to help Johan and Ryota.

He imagined life
support systems dangling from an empty bed, a small boy’s lifeless body in his
arms.
No! You will do it quickly, so I
can bring him back.

But there was danger
at the clinic. The understanding of explosives ringing the facility came. The
druids had called in a bomb threat to multiple agencies and the media and made
sure a guard found one of the devices. Evacuations were underway.
They think we’re using local authorities to
save the boy. They won’t be expecting you. If we do this together and you
strike fast, we’ll make it. Go now and pull him free.

“People will see me,” Austin
said aloud. “How do you explain me flying in and tearing a hole in a building?
You can’t explain that away. They’ll be forced to use the nuke.”

No they won’t.
It was dark out. The hole would become the
result of a faulty oxygen delivery system that exploded. Fabrications would
explain away whatever stories did surface. The system would self-heal itself.
Johan laid in more imagery to convey the Comannda’s momentary weakness in
Saoghal – he’d trapped dozens of korjé in an elaborate dream. It was the most opportune
time to act.
Austin, do this for me, now.
Keep your word.

The prophecy implied
they had to work together to succeed, to act to make change happen. Johan had
already come through by extending himself beyond limits to lose the Comannda
and return Kaiya to safety.

He had to try.

I can do this...
his own thought, from a very deep place.

• • •

Thirty-nine Delta
rangers faked out. The target untraceable.

Director Tomov glanced
at the screen. Nine gold dots now. Which meant three were in the Core, watching
locally as the fabric of the mission came apart.

How the dream
construct existed without A2’s presence was both amazing and deeply troubling.
The gold dots stared back from the screen, unblinking. He knew the Executives
contemplated his fate and the fate of millions. The seconds passed, an eternity
of suppressing thoughts of how things could possibly get worse... because it
seemed they might.

The riders sent to investigate
the defense ministry found an operation underway, complete with priests shielding
their operatives. The druids managed to isolate the building from the
automation system and engage emergency locks on elevators and doors. Military
units were due to reach them any moment.

The AGT director
announced the bender had been reacquired. “Fourteen clicks due north, at
nine-thousand feet. Bring your riders in on AGT-3’s beacon. What’s your ETA?”

Ops429 threw up hands
to signal four-five.

Director Tomov
replied, “Forty five seconds.” He tried to sound calm and only half succeeded.
“I need more riders, all priority. I don’t care what it takes, I need more
power in the mesh.”

• • •

Poor Noboru. It should have been me.

He could imagine his
sister Akiko’s voice lamenting his demise. She didn’t know it but her survival
was the rope that bound him to the Sensei. They’d cured her cancer as promised,
the only cost being his continued cooperation. He looked at the two Sensei
huddled around their laptops and tried not to be resentful. This mission would
save “many, many innocent lives”. He chose to believe them.

They’d hacked the
facility’s security module, shutting them in. Any hope of getting out without
incident was dashed with a few keystrokes – forces topside would waste no time
finding a way down. Death was on the table and he decided he really didn’t want
any part of it. He sat against the wall, now prohibited from getting any closer
to them. They were near their goal and could not afford risk of intervention by
anyone.

As if cued, a rattle
sounded from the hallway. The elevator shaft.

“They’re coming,”
Noboru hissed. He laid on the floor in the far corner like a casualty. One of
the Sensei broke away and stood with a view to the elevator doors. Unarmed, he
would surely be the first to fall.

The other Sensei
blurted, “Hai! Look, it’s here, it’s right here. Built into the communications
tower. See there? They just powered up the ignition computer!”

Tower A, looming 220
meters over the city, was a beacon at night seen for miles. Noboru resisted
sitting up and asking what in the tower required starting.

“Isolate the control
stream and jam it.”

“We need more time!”

A dark object tossed
from the hallway clanged when it hit the floor and rolled. The last Noboru saw
was a flash before putrid green smoke exploded into the room. He held his breath
but panic made short work of his air supply. His skin grew hot and painful.
When he could stand it no more, he let out his air.

The first intake of
acrid smoke was his last – he gagged at the burning in his throat and nose. He
opened his eyes and immediately they stung as if on fire. He thrashed in pain
for what seemed an eternity. When the darkness came, he embraced it with all
his being.

• • •

In the misty clouds
over Tokyo, Austin laid out his intentions to his unseen companion. Johan
lurked just above his subconscious, riding the stream, reviewing.

That’s good.
Johan approved of his plan.
Now,
if you’re ready? Before they move him?

Impatience, the
driving force behind everything that Johan did.

Things are changing fast, I feel it.
Austin received Johan’s push and then
understood – the boy could be murdered during the confusion of the evacuation.

“I get it, I’m gone.”

He blew through the
clouds and emerged just below their cover before leveling out at speed. He
scanned continuously while eyeing coordinates. A few moments later he didn’t
need the GPS anymore – dozens of emergency lights flashed far below. He arrived
overhead and saw evacuations of the clinic were underway.

“Let’s do
this...”

INCOMING!

He instantly turtled
inside a hardened field, hoping it would–

Thwak!
The bright grid of the city spun madly.

The quantum field
protected him against the strike, negating the g-forces just as in flight. He
looked for the ship but couldn’t spot it.

Thwak!
Again, the world spun, only this time he’d felt the strike in his
bones. Energy dipped and focus wavered.

“Fuck!” he shouted.
“Where is it? Help me out here!”

At your three o’clock and low. Crap, there’s
two of them.
Abruptly, images
of commandos boarding a train flashed.
Abort!
Get out!
Johan fled in response to a
threat elsewhere, his fierce apology fading as fast as his presence.

“Shit!” Left alone, he
shot downward with the thought of hiding in the city. He braced for what might
be a far worse strike.

It came but not as
expected – he rammed into a disc-shaped craft that suddenly appeared in his
path, the impact stealing focus completely. An electrical current lashed
through his body and numbed every muscle. Worse, it scrambled all sense of meta
and the grid. He lay sprawled on top of the craft, limp and stunned. A glance
outward revealed they were moving. Behind and above, two more black craft flew
into formation. With no tug of centrifugal force, he realized he was in a field
with its own gravity. The lights of the shoreline appeared. They were headed
out to sea.

He willed his legs to
move and with great effort, they did. In slow motion, he began to crawl towards
the edge of the ship. In response, the current increased. His eyes spasmed in
their sockets. Muscles shuddered and failed. Breathing became a struggle.
Realization struck: he’d been captured. Panic roared.