The Seven (31 page)

If the alarms were going off and he and Kenny hadn't tripped them, then it meant that Indigo and Holly were spotted, or Sarah or Andy was doing something stupid. Either way, it greatly affected John's plans and complicated his life to a degree he had hoped to avoid.

In moments, John had broken from the forest edge and saw Indigo crouched behind a bush watching for him. She shrugged and pointed at the base. John stopped running and looked over at the walls. The alarm was still blaring and he could see soldiers mobilizing.

John gestured for her to stay where she was. He made the break across the open field toward the hill and sprinted to the top.

"We didn't do a thing!" Indigo said.

"It's got to be Andy or Sarah then. We've got to move fast. Where's Holly?"

"She's off gathering creatures like you told her to. She said there wasn't anything near the base. She had to go off into the woods and the fields around town here. She's been gone about five minutes."

"We can't wait for her. You and I will have to do this ourselves."

"What do we do then?"

John held up the gun. "I'll go hit it as hard as I can through the front door. You stay down until I tell you to come. If you see me go down, don't be a hero: I want you to get out of Dodge like the devil is after you. Go blend in somewhere and hide. Have a normal life."

"Seriously?"

"As normal as you can make it. If you have to go, try to use your powers as little as possible. Just do what you have to do to get by."

John sprinted down the hill as fast as he could. It was roughly two hundred yards to the guard post by the front gates. There were two soldiers guarding the entrance with rifles. They were facing away from the entrance, though, looking in toward the center of the complex instead. They didn't see John coming. It only took him fifteen seconds to close the gap from the hill to the entrance. His footsteps were so light and so quick that by the time one of the guards heard him coming, John was already airborne with a flying kick. He buried his foot into the neck of the first guard while he reached out with his hands and ripped the rifle from the hands of the second guard before he could pull the trigger. John landed lightly and swept the butt of the gun up and into the guard's chin. Both men were unconscious.

John slung the rifle across his back. He gestured to Indigo and she made her way down the hill quickly. The two of them slipped into the compound and sprinted for the nearest cover: a jeep just inside the entrance. They slid underneath the vehicle and Indigo rolled under the rear axle. John slipped the rifle off and handed it to her.

"I won't kill, John."

"I know. Wait here. If anyone spots you, blow out their kneecaps."

"I hate guns."

"You didn't mind the handgun I gave you last night."

"That was before I had to look into the eyes of the two men I killed. Now I hate guns."

"You hate dying more, right?"

"I suppose."

"Shoot 'em in the kneecaps. If they're still idiot enough to pull a sidearm, shoot them in the hands, too."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to find Andy and Sarah."

A jeep suddenly burst into view from behind the edge of a building. It was flying end-over-end through the air and smashed into the ground sending bits of metal and asphalt flying.

Indigo looked at John with wide eyes. "That'd be Andy, I'm guessing."

"Stay alert," said John. He pulled himself out from beneath the jeep and headed toward the sounds of battle.

Kenny made his way down the rocky terrain as best he could, though it felt like he was crawling instead of running. He accessed his power slightly, searching for signals. The familiar tickle of data processing through his brain was euphoric. He wanted to sit and indulge it. He let a few websites crawl through his brain before he could stop himself, and then had to refocus to find the source of the alarm signal. It was coming from a small, square building in the most remote corner of the compound. The data stream from the building was like a flashing arrow pointing out its location. His brain reveled in the flow of information. Kenny didn't want to stop the data streams and it took him several seconds to push it out of his mind. The instant he did, a dull ache began at his temples, reminding him of the price he had to pay for using his ability.

Kenny came to the edge of a small cliff. He sat on the edge and pushed himself down the steep incline. He had intended to drop to a foothold and slow his descent, but the speed of his fall was too great. He missed the jutting rock he'd intended to grab and slid the length of the steep, sandstone cliff, slamming into the ground at the bottom. He felt something pop in his ankle. It was slight, only a sprain, but it still hurt like crazy and hampered him even more.

He stood on one leg for a moment, shaking his injured foot to take away the sting. Then, half-hopping, half-limping, he angled for the communications center as quickly as he could. Each time his right leg touched the ground, pain shot up his leg. The expanse of ground between the cliff and the communications building was wide open but exposed to the guard post at the north end of the complex. Kenny checked the tower. There was a guard in there, but he appeared to be sighting down his rifle at some sort of activity in the compound. Too lucky, Kenny thought. He limped to the nearest door and put his hand on the card reader on the wall. He discharged a data stream and the light on the door blinked from red to green. Kenny slipped inside unnoticed.

Once inside, the central control almost screamed his name. The flow of electricity and signal practically illuminated the path to the computer core of the base like neon road signs. Kenny tip-toed down a hallway toward a metal blast door. The door was locked with a computer-controlled lock. Kenny put his hand over the control pad and separated the lock with his powers. Sweat burst on his forehead and the pain in his head became intense. He felt weak in the knees. The doors opened and Kenny almost fell into the room beyond. A single guard manning a computer turned and saw him. The soldier leapt to his feet, sending his flimsy chair flying.

"Stand down!" the guard yelled, fumbling for a weapon on his belt.

Kenny slipped his hand into the waist of his jeans and pulled the Beretta. "You stand down."

The guard froze, and then slowly raised his hands. "Don't do anything stupid, kid. Face facts---you ain't getting out of her alive, you know. Might as well just lay down the gun and give up."

The gun in Kenny's hand felt like it weighed fifty pounds. His arm was straining just to hold it level. "Get on the ground. Put your face to the floor," Kenny said. He was trying to remember all the dialogue he'd ever heard in cop movies and TV shows. The guard slowly got to his knees and laid face-down on the ground. "Which of these controls the security around this place?"

"As if I'd tell you."

"Good point. Then I guess I don't need you," said Kenny. He cocked the pistol and aimed it at the guard.

"You wouldn't. Look at how you're shaking," the guard said. He pushed himself up on one elbow. "You don't got the stones, kid."

Kenny lowered the pistol. "You're probably right. I'm not a killer."

The guard started to slide a hand slowly toward the holster at his side. "Just lay down, kid. It's over."

"I'm not a killer," Kenny repeated. "But, I think I might be a kicker." He swept his leg forward and put the toe of his shoe into the guard's teeth. The guard rolled with the kick, spinning away but spitting blood and teeth. He started to pull his weapon but Kenny was faster, following up with a second kick to his wrist, sending the pistol sliding across the room and under a cart laden with servers.

"You little bastard!" The guard spat a thick glob of blood and saliva. He had a gap in his mouth where several teeth used to be. "I'm gonna tear you apart with my bare hands!"

Kenny swung his leg again, intending to connect a toe to the man's temple. The soldier was ready this time. He caught Kenny's ankle and yanked, toppling Kenny's balance and dragging him to the ground. Kenny kicked away from the soldier's grip and tried to get back to his feet, but his sprained ankle buckled under him and he fell back to the ground. The soldier was on him in an instant. The man was much, much stronger than Kenny and he was better trained than Kenny. Kenny felt a fist slam into his lower back; he felt a sharp, stabbing pain. The soldier dropped another heavy fist into Kenny's lower back on the opposite side. This time, the stabbing pain was across his whole lower back, as if both of his kidneys had ruptured. It knocked the wind from his chest.

Kenny turned over onto his back just in time to catch another fist full in the stomach. The soldier hit him again, this time on the underside of his ribs. Kenny felt like his lung was collapsing. Another fist connected with his side and there was a roar of thunder. The soldier groaned and then slumped across Kenny's chest. Blood splatters dotted Kenny's face and a hole in the soldier's chest poured blood over Kenny's torso, warm and slick.

Kenny gasped for breath. His right ear was ringing. His hand and wrist ached from the kickback of the gun. He let the weapon fall from his hand and it clattered loudly off the metal floor. He felt frozen in place. A dead man was laying on him. He'd been the one holding the gun that killed him. He hadn't meant to pull the trigger. He didn't even remember pulling the trigger, but the blood was evidence enough.

Kenny pushed the soldier off of him. He dragged himself back to a standing position. He'd seen the men that Indigo had killed the night before, but this was different. He knew why Indigo had broken down and cried. He fought the urge to run screaming from the room. The computer array beckoned. He took his eyes off the dead man and summoned up all his will power to concentrate on the task at hand.

Kenny dropped to his knees in front of the server stacks and tried to regulate his breathing. This was a super-system, a huge interlinked array of computers. This wasn't like busting through Cormair's firewalls on the tiny computer he had in the Home. This was going to cost him. He knew he was going to hurt after this hack. He knew he'd probably loose consciousness. He extended his hands and began a tentative data hack. The sudden, surging, pulsating rush of signal almost swallowed his mind, as if he was being swept away by rapids. The base ran a
massive
network. Kenny waded into the data streams and started to pick his way through the jumbles of controls. He found the security systems and shut them down piece by piece, disabling each piece as he did. He found the gate controls and threw them open. He disabled the fire alarms and emergency safety systems. He hacked into their closed-circuit cameras and filled every monitor he could with static. He deleted every file and folder he came across. He wanted to stay in the stream and keep hacking, raze the entire network to the ground and make certain the Trust would have a nearly impossible time picking up the pieces and starting again, but the stress of the hack was taking its toll. His brain was screaming. Reluctantly, he withdrew from the hack and fell back into his physical body, drained. He collapsed on the floor and gritted his teeth as the headaches roiled through his brain and his body convulsed in pain.

"Good job, Subject Five," the brusque voice of General Tucker made Kenny's eyes snap open. The general stood above him, holding the Beretta. Tucker continued, "The second the alarms went down, I knew you were here, and I knew right where you'd be. I'm glad to see all the research and equipment we spent on you didn't go to waste. You're everything we hoped you would be. I think this display of your abilities is all the end data research that I need. You were an amazing achievement. However, I'm certain that Psiber 2.0 will be a much better operating system."

Waves of stark, bleak pain ripped through Kenny's body. Agony mixed with adrenaline and he struggled to fight his way to his feet.

"Subject Five, like all technology eventually becomes, you are now obsolete." General Tucker squeezed off two quick rounds. The first one hit Kenny in the upper chest above his heart, the second tore into Kenny's guts.

Kenny never heard the gun. The bullets seemed to hit him in slow motion. He stumbled backward into the server rack and slowly slid to the floor. His vision began to tunnel, a dark void on the edges of his sight illuminated by a brilliant gold light. Kenny felt his breath rattle in his chest. His vision went dark and then he felt nothing at all.

Powerless would be the only way to describe what Indigo was feeling. She lay motionless under a jeep, trying to blend into the grass as best she could. She was sweating, partially because of the heat, partially from fear. Fear churned in her gut like surf crashing on a rocky shoal. The fear generated power, though. She could feel the skittery, crawling sensation of emotion in her brain that fueled her telekinesis. And that scared her just as much as the prospect of death.

She would not kill again. She didn't even want to injure. She had always thought that she could handle death, she had thought that it wouldn't bother her, but it had more than she ever imagined it would. It was worse than anything she'd seen in any movie. She wanted to swear off violence. No death, no pain. She didn't have the stomach for it. So when it came down to fighting, what good was she? She was a liability.

Indigo could hear the sounds of battle. Wrenching metal, the screams of men, and the staccato bursts of gunfire filled the air. She couldn't see John or Andy. Occasionally she saw a blur of color whip past the open space between the buildings and she knew it was Sarah. More soldiers were running into the battle from the main gate. The off-duty soldiers from the town must have been mobilized. There seemed to be dozens of men with guns running by her hiding spot. She felt exposed, as if one of them would look over and spot her at any second.