Asterion Noir: The Complete Collection (Amaranthe Collections Book 4)

by G. S. Jennsen

  He didn’t hesitate in replacing her weapon beneath the lower edge of the shield with his.

  She rose into a crouch. The second dyne was now fully focused on Ava, and also about to trample the woman.

  Spencer rushed forward out of the shadows, grabbed Ava’s non-weaponized arm and began dragging her backwards. A valiant move on his part, but it did little more than make him a target as well.

  Nika launched herself forward into a sprint. When she had flanked the dyne, she pushed off the balls of her feet into the air, extended both blades from her wrists and drove them into the base of its neck on her way down.

  The dyne jerked violently beneath her, but she hung on, throwing her weight around to encourage it to spin away from Ava and Spencer. It began to stumble unevenly, but continued to fire. So on the next spin she used one of her knees to shove the closest appendage up to dyne-chest height, causing it to fire directly on its partner. Unprepared for the friendly fire assault, the other dyne stumbled sideways and ceased firing on the others.

  “Look out!”

  The other dyne’s upper body exploded. Someone had clocked it with a splinter grenade.

  Before she could so much as wonder who, the legs of the dyne she’d attached herself to buckled and it collapsed to the floor, taking her with it.

  She wrenched the blades around a couple of times to make certain it wasn’t going to get back up, then retracted them and fell off the dyne’s frame onto her ass with a winded laugh.

  Dashiel was at her side the next second, and she let him help her up, only to frown in concern once she got a good look at him. “You took a hit.”

  “What?” She indicated his left shoulder, and he peered down at the ragged hole in his formerly white shirt and the blood soaking through it. “Damn. So that’s what hurt.”

  She reached up and touched his cheek. “Welcome to the rebellion.”

  He winced, but wrapped a hand over hers. “Good to be here.”

  The growing din of recovery by the others intruded on the tender moment to remind her of their situation.

  Ava was grumbling loudly as Spencer tried to wrap flexmat around her leg. “Godsdammit, not again. This was the new one, too.”

  “Hold still for one minute, please.” Spencer appeared to have a fair share of blood on his person, but he was moving under his own power.

  Dominic and Adlai leaned against the wall beside the tower d-gates, also covered in blood but upright. Their remaining hunter dyne stood in the center of the room, jagged pieces of metal hanging half off two of its appendages. It seemed everyone had taken damage, but they would all walk, or at least limp, away from the fight.

  She felt over her torso and extremities and didn’t find any holes. Of course, between the attack in the tower, one minor electrical overload and her tussle with the dyne, she sported enough cuts, bruises and scorch marks to add up to several holes worth of damage.

  She reached in her pouch and retrieved some bonding tape, then carefully lifted Dashiel’s shirt away from the wound. It looked like a through-and-through, thankfully, and she gave him a little smile while she sealed the entrance and exit wounds up. “This will stop the bleeding and let you move your arm, but don’t push it.”

  “You won’t have to tell me twice.”

  Satisfied with her work, she checked to make sure Spencer had succeeded in completing some level of triage on Ava, then shouted over the din. “All right, I know everybody’s hurting, but we need to get out of here before we get overrun.”

  Everyone hobbled toward the Mirai d-gate, and Weiss took the lead. He readied his Glaser and stepped forward—

  Nika’s hand shot out and grabbed him by the arm. “Wait!”

  53

  * * *

  MIRAI

  “SURELY THE GUIDES TRIED to find another way.”

  “They never came to me asking for input or contingency plans. She’s right. They’re out of control.”

  Maris rubbed at her temples and doubled-down on patience. The problem with asking a room full of Advisors for their input was, they all gave it.

  Perrin appeared at her side, a new urgency lighting her enchanting blue irises. “Yes, my dear? What is it?”

  “Pull up the feed from the @AltNex_2 channel. Everyone here needs to see what Joaquim’s broadcasting from the Platform. You have the codes to shut off the communications block and door barrier when you’re ready to do so. You’ve got everything well in hand. I’m sorry, Maris, but I have to go.”

  She immediately opened the channel.

  “I am transmitting from a secret chamber within the Guides’ Platform. What you see in front of you is the true face of your Guides.”

  A chill emanated from her most fundamental processes, and she instinctively recoiled from the image before her. This was going to change everything.

  “The man narrating the vid—he’s important to you?”

  “Yes, he is.”

  She squeezed Perrin’s hands. “Then go. Be safe. Be fierce.”

  Morph, mask, kamero filter, defensive shield—they all activated in a series of commands burned indelibly into Perrin’s programming.

  She ran, even though that drastically decreased the kamero filter’s effectiveness. She likely resembled a blurry, wobbly blob to the pedestrians she bolted past on the street, but she didn’t linger to ask them.

  Maris’ loft was in the heart of downtown, which meant Mirai Tower couldn’t be more than five or six blocks away. But the buildings stretched tall in every direction, and there was no horizon upon which to find it.

  She almost tripped over an unexpected shard of burnt metal lying in the middle of the sidewalk. Only then did she realize people weren’t strolling casually as they normally did. Instead they were standing, pointing, scurrying away.

  She rounded the corner at the next intersection and, for a heartbeat, stopped cold. Mirai Tower looked like ground zero of an all-out war zone. The windows of both the ground and top floors were blown out. A burning debris field littered the east lawn. An emergency response squad swarmed across the grounds, while two Justice squads guarded a gutted entrance.

  Her pulse rocketed to liftoff velocity. Horrific images of Joaquim and Nika’s burning bodies blasted fully formed into her mind…Adlai crawling toward them using his elbows, for his legs were burnt off….

  She hunched over and vomited on the sidewalk. Curse her over-vivid imagination!

  She shouldn’t try to contact them; as Joaquim had drilled into her and everyone else countless times, surprise interruptions at the wrong time could ruin a mission’s chance of success.

  From within the labyrinth of downtown buildings, four AEVs cruised in and took up positions circling the apex of Mirai Tower. If the rescue team was already on the Platform, the AEVs were going to be waiting on them when they reemerged through the d-gate!

  Was this the squad Advisor Satair had sent? No, that had to be the debris on the ground. But when the first squad was defeated, as it appeared it had been, reinforcements must have been automatically sent in. They wouldn’t have required Satair’s order to do so if the parameters were set ahead of time.

  But they would respond to his order now.

  She breathed out, commanding her OS to release every panic-countering chemical her body could produce. Until Joaquim and Nika returned, she was the leader of NOIR, and she had to be worthy of it. Time to make a battlefield decision.

  Nika, if you’re on the Platform, do not come back through the d-gate to Mirai Tower. Four AEVs are waiting on you.

  Perrin? What—

  Doesn’t matter, no time, so on. I’ll update you when it’s clear.

  Her gaze settled on the circling aircraft as she pinged Maris.

  Maris, I need you to do something for me.

  THE PLATFORM

  Adlai jumped away from the d-gate at Nika’s order. “What’s wrong?”

  “Perrin says there’s another squad of AEVs waiting for us.”

  “Dammit—wait, how does s
he know? She’s supposed to be at Maris’ place.”

  Joaquim hurried up to them. “What about Perrin? Is she all right?”

  Nika bit back her initial response in favor of a more diplomatic one. “Gentlemen, focus. The crucial information here is that a squad of AEVs is ready to atomize us if we go through the d-gate.”

  Dashiel leaned in over her shoulder, one hand resting on her waist. “Can’t we go to one of the other towers instead? It will take us a while longer to get home, but we’ll be off this orbital prison.”

  Adlai shook his head. “If Satair is behind this, or the Guides themselves, we have to assume AEVs are positioned outside every tower on every world.”

  “So what do we do?”

  Dashiel was responding to the insanity currently engulfing them far better than she’d have expected. “Perrin said to hold on for a minute, and she’d contact me when we were in the clear.”

  Joaquim threw his hands in the air. “How is she going to get rid of a squad of AEVs?”

  “I do not know. But she’s done amazing work these last several days in both our absences. I say we have a little faith in her.”

  MIRAI

  “We are the Advisors of the Asterion Dominion, and we shall never be helpless. Knowing all we now know, when dawn breaks on a new day, what are we going to do? I know what I plan to do, but what say you?”

  Silence answered Maris for several portentous seconds. Everyone was tired, beaten down by too many revelations too fast. She sympathized; her bones and her soul felt weary, and she’d known most of the revelations ahead of time.

  But Advisors were made of sterner stardust, and they had better fucking persevere. “Don’t be shy now. Responsibility came with the honor of our posts.”

  “The Guides must be held accountable, to us and the people. I want to help Dashiel and, if it’s truly her, Nika as well. And you, Maris, I expect.”

  She smiled gratefully. Often, a single voice was all it took to start the dominoes falling. “Thank you, Cameron. You’re an honorable man.”

  Eamon nodded, seemingly to himself, and stepped forward—

  Maris, I need you to do something for me.

  Yes, Perrin? Anything.

  An entire squad of AEVs has staked out Mirai Tower, waiting for Nika and the others to return from the Platform. I need you to convince Advisor Satair to give you his signature and Justice authorization code. I’ll use them to call off the AEVs.

  She drew in a deep breath. Sterner stardust it was.

  Give me three minutes.

  She set her glass on the table. “Selene, as much as it saddens me to do it, can you please remove the gag from Blake’s mouth? I have a question to ask him.”

  Selene checked the secureness of his restraints before unfastening the gag and stepping away.

  “Thank you.” She advanced several steps toward Blake. “Advisor Satair, I need your official signature and Justice authorization code.”

  “Why the hells should I give you anything?”

  “Your AEVs are currently circling Mirai Tower, lying in wait for their prey to reappear. With your credentials, we will call them off.”

  Selene frowned. “I ought to be able to do it.”

  “I suspect Blake has locked all orders to himself alone, if only to prevent Adlai from countermanding them. But please, do try.”

  After a second, Selene sighed and shot Blake a scathing glare. “You really are a snake.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.” He shifted uncomfortably against his restraints. “Remove the comms block, and I’ll recall them myself.”

  “Not a particularly shrewd snake, though, is he?” Maris arched an eyebrow at Selene, then removed the stunner Perrin had given her from the pocket of her pantsuit and closed the remaining distance to Blake’s chair.

  She leaned in close, her lips hovering at his ear, and pressed the stunner to the port at the base of his neck. “Give me the information I have asked for.”

  “Maris!”

  She glanced up at Selene in question. “Would you like to do the honors?”

  “No. I…that’s one step too far for me to go, when there’s still so much we don’t know. But I won’t stop you.” The Justice Advisor gazed pointedly around the room. “And I will stop anyone who tries to interfere.”

  “Thank you, my friend.” Maris returned her attention to Blake. His eyes burned with pure, poisonous hatred, as they should. “Now.” She increased the pressure of the stunner on his port. “Tell me, or I will fry every last circuit in your duplicitous brain. Of course, you’ll get regened eventually. Possibly. I suppose it depends on who wins.”

  “You wouldn’t store me!”

  “Sweetie, if you get my friends killed tonight, you had better hope storing is the worst I do to you.”

  Satair’s signature is αθβΨΞθΨΨαΩ∀. His authorization code is θαβα θβθθα αβαβ θα αθθβαθ.

  You’re a lifesaver, literally. I’ll take it from here.

  A crowd had gathered along the barriers Justice squads had set up around Mirai Tower—barriers Perrin had slipped inside of while they were being formed. Now she lurked in the shadows, doing her best to evade the patrolling dynes.

  She found the darkest, most deserted corner she could, then closed her eyes.

  access nex.Mirai.MiraiOne

  § sysdir.NodeJC

  handshaking

  < Σ → β

  Φ → kernel signature:

  < αθβΨΞθΨΨαΩ∀

  kernel signature → Τ

  handshake complete

  < command.M(n): Ηᴦ(Λ) = (parameters (location(41.22° N, 13.81° W +- 0.5km)))

  Τ → nullOrder.all

  Φ → passcode required:

  < θαβα θβθθα αβαβ θα αθθβαθ

  Τ → passcode accepted

  < exec command.M(n)

  She reopened her eyes in time to see the AEVs retreat from Mirai Tower, pivot and fly off toward wherever they’d come from. On the ground, the squads surrounding the tower lowered their weapons and dispersed toward the perimeter. Several Justice officers glanced around in confusion and tried to order the dynes back to their posts, to no avail.

  Blessed stars, it worked. Her knees nearly buckled beneath a wave of relief-driven adrenaline.

  Nika, you’re clear!

  She ordered her limbs back into compliance, then took off running for the Tower entrance.

  54

  * * *

  MIRAI

  NIKA WAS THE LAST to traverse the d-gate connecting to Mirai Tower. A distinct and welcome lack of active chaos awaited her, but dear gods the room was wrecked.

  Her eyes found everyone in turn, confirming no one had collapsed from their injuries. “We should get to the ground floor and out of the building. The AEVs are gone for now, but we don’t have visibility into what manner of firepower might be headed our way next.”

  Joaquim held up a hand. “Actually, we need to step outside first. This place has a deck, doesn’t it?”

  The memory of the first time she met Dashiel blossomed in her mind. “It does, or did before earlier tonight. I can’t guarantee the scaffolding is secure after the attack.”

  Adlai frowned. “Regardless, I’m not sure we have time.”

  “We have time for this.” Joaquim looked around for the door, then strode outside.

  She wanted to get moving, too, but when Joaquim was properly determined, there wasn’t much anyone could do to dissuade him. She gave Adlai a resigned shrug and followed Joaquim. By the time she reached the door, Dashiel and Adlai had joined her.

  A cool, clear night greeted them on the deck. The breeze washed over her like a cleansing wave, and she breathed in deeply as she joined Joaquim. “Okay, we’re here. What’s up?”

  “Funny how you phrased it that way. The correct question is, ‘what’s not up any longer?’ ”

  He pointed to the night sky and the bright light moving across it more swiftly than any star—
/>
  —an explosion ruptured the heavens, shooting out plumes of red and gold that for a moment consumed all the stars.

  Adlai grabbed Joaquim by the shoulders. “Did you just blow up the Platform?”

  “I did.”

  Beside her, Dashiel grimaced. “That’s what he was doing down below.”

  “But the Guides!”

  Joaquim squared off on Adlai. “The Guides took the love of my life from me. They took my freedom and raped my mind. They took my home. Now, they will never take another godsdamn thing from me.”

  “I should arrest you. What kind of Justice Advisor am I if I don’t?”

  Joaquim peered up at the sky, where debris from the shattered Platform had become flaming meteors streaking through the atmosphere. “Not sure any of you are Advisors any longer. No one left to advise.”

  He was enjoying this way too much, but after the day she’d had and everything that had led to this moment, Nika couldn’t bring herself to be too angry at him.

  “There’s still a Justice Division, and I—”

  Dashiel stepped up and placed a hand on Adlai’s arm. “Let it go. Something had to give if we want to move forward. Better it be the Guides than us. Besides, they must have remote backups of remote backups. No way are they gone.”

  Joaquim groaned. “Probably not. But they’ve been exposed now. Their stronghold is gone, and the people have seen what they really are. They won’t rule us ever again.”

  “True, and true. Still, you’ve kicked up a serious shitstorm now. The people will be afraid. They’ll see the Platform destroyed and they’ll think we’re under attack. They’ll think our government has fallen.”

  Nika took Dashiel’s hand in hers. “We are under attack, and our government has fallen. It’s up to us to save ourselves now.”