by Tony Batton
"You're in no fit state to go anywhere," Lentz said. "Besides, it's not like you even have your abilities. Whereas he has many."
"I have to try." He rolled forward on to his knees.
"Just let them kill each other," Kate said. "The world will be a better place if they do."
Tom shook his head. "I can't let that happen."
"You want to save your father?"
"I didn't say that." Tom slowly began standing. "Besides, he doesn't need saving."
Kate frowned. "You're trying to save her?"
Tom closed his eyes. "I have to help Alex. My father cannot be allowed to win."
"Dominique, you're not going to let him go, are you? He's clearly all messed up."
Lentz shook her head. "I don't think you should go, Tom." She sighed. "But it's your choice."
One Hundred Three
"WHAT DO YOU WANT, ALEX?" Bern said, taking a cautious step away from her.
She stood, staring, her eyes dark pools of oblivion as she assessed him. "I want Tom." She dragged her boot across the deck, scraping an imaginary line between them. "And then I want retribution." She closed her eyes. "I'm not leaving without getting both."
Bern held his breath. He knew Alex was a capable resource. Marron had used her for many of his more difficult operations: the ones Bern had always preferred to know as little about as possible. But something about her had changed. She had always been confident, but now there was an air of invincibility. She didn't appear to be carrying a weapon, yet the bodies of seven of his guards lay around her.
"You weren't expecting me, were you?" he said. "You were certain I was Tom."
Her eyelids fluttered. "Tell me where he is. Now."
"Does he really deserve your wrath?"
Again she looked confused. Then she sighed and rolled her eyes. "I don't want retribution against Tom. I want it against you."
"You think you'll kill me?"
Alex shrugged. "It's what happens when I fight someone. And in the last twelve months I've fought a lot of people. You could call it a bit of a personal quest."
"Maybe I'll be different."
She gave a snort. "Because of your suit?"
Bern blinked. "What do you mean?"
"The CERUS tech you're wearing. It gives you certain advantages, like the erratic invisibility."
Bern swore. "How could you possibly know that?"
Alex folded her arms. "As I said, a lot of things about me might surprise you."
"I'm sure, but they won't be enough."
"Really? Did you bring some weapon that I haven't seen?"
Bern went to take another step back, but checked himself. "What makes you think I need one?"
"Against me you will, and I like everyone to have a fair chance." She looked around her then moved towards a rolled fire hose and a red handled axe behind glass. With a jab from her elbow, she shattered the glass and retrieved the axe. Then, with a smooth motion, she slid it across the deck towards Bern.
He stopped it with his foot. "You want me to use this?"
"Unless you have something better to hand."
Bern reached forward and picked up the axe. "You really are overconfident, aren't you?"
"It's only overconfidence if I'm wrong. Of course you wouldn't have come out here to take me on unless you thought you had a huge advantage." She pointed to the axe. "Shall we find out if you're right?"
One Hundred Four
WITH THE EFFORT OF WALKING, Tom was feeling far worse. He staggered up the metal stairs, tipping from side to side, his legs like heavy wet sacks. Around him people moved quickly out of the way, as if they'd rather not have seen him at all. They knew who he was and they knew he was trouble. He probably looked like he was dying. The pain was becoming almost unbearable, but he had to get to Alex. They had to stop Bern, if that was even possible.
Somehow it had come to this - his only chance to defeat his father was to collaborate with someone else who had tried to kill him. Someone to whom he now had the strangest of connections. He shivered.
Above him the artificial lights were flickering angrily. It made it hard to see and, as he turned a corner, his suit snagged on a broken strut in the handrail. Cursing, he pulled away and a long strip tore off. He looked at the artificial webbing underneath and shuddered as he remembered how Bern had used the suit against him: his salvation and his doom, like the nanites forced upon him a year ago. How could he ever have believed Bern had changed? At least Alex was true to who she was. No lies. No deception. Just an unstoppable force.
Except that would not be true against Bern. Not with him wearing the suit. Tom began to climb again, but even slower. He was still wearing a suit; if he emerged on deck wearing it, what was to stop Bern controlling him again? He had to get out of it.
Reaching behind his head, he found the zip, but it was still jammed. Bern had rigged it that way obviously. Yanking hard, he only succeeded in hurting his neck. Muttering, he looked around for something sharp. Another scientist appeared on the stairs, saw him, went pale and ran away before Tom could speak. The frustration was swept away by a wave of pain and Tom collapsed forward onto his knees. He screamed. At the same moment, all the lights went out.
He had to try and focus: to regain control. He stuck his hand out, feeling for the handrail, and hit something sharp and metallic: the broken railing.
He smiled inwardly then took a deep breath. With eerie timing the lights flickered back on. He nodded to himself and placed the broken strut of the railing against one of the seams of the suit. On the second attempt the strut flexed and snapped off; he picked it up and continued working. Three minutes later, he stepped out of the last shreds of fabric, wearing just undershorts and a t-shirt. He felt exposed, but free. He had removed at least one ace from Bern's deck.
He tucked the broken strut into his waistband, then wearily started climbing the final flights of stairs. At the top, the metal door hung open. He looked across the deck and saw two figures circling each other. He tried to call out but his voice was weak. His legs finally collapsed under him and he fell to his knees.
He fell forward, hitting his head on the deck.
One Hundred Five
BERN COULD SENSE THE NANITES in his suit configuring the Interface, but it was not yet complete. Still, Lentz had provided a great many feature upgrades. Most were untested. He would soon change that.
He hefted the axe and stepped towards Alex, swinging to get the feel of it: to see how she would react. She stepped aside smoothly. He quickly swung again, this time with more intent. He still hit nothing but air.
"Had much combat training?" she asked, looking utterly untroubled.
"A little." He swung a third time. She leaned back as the axe-head sailed inches from her face. "I was on a local fencing team, before I--"
"Got arrested? Not really the same thing, fighting with a cocktail stick. Although I'd have thought you would have learned about fighting in jail."
"They kept me in isolation at a special facility." He jabbed a fake blow, but she didn't even flinch.
"And you've never been one to do your own fighting, have you? Prefer to outsource it."
"I don't think there's any rule against paying someone to do something for you." With a cry he swung the axe in a high arc. It smashed into the deck where she had been a moment before, sparks flying. He struggled to hold onto it as the handle reverberated.
"You're not really trying," she said.
Bern gritted his teeth. "I could say the same. You haven't even struck back."
"I'm waiting for the right moment."
"You have some reason, I assume."
She smiled.
He moved forward again, but this time he activated the suit. Power flowed through the fabric, rippling from nanite particle to nanite particle, reinforcing the acceleration of his movement. The axe blurred and whistled, the blade grazing her arm. A few drops of blood flew onto the deck.
She stepped back and ran her finger along the cut, bring
ing the blood to her lips. Her eyelids flickered momentarily. "That's more like it," she said. "You have something in your suit that I don't."
"I do like to be on the bleeding edge." He nodded at the axe blade. "If you'll pardon the pun."
"Just do it again," she hissed.
Almost without thinking, the instructions reached into the suit and he felt his arms moving faster than was possible. The blade screamed as it made for her neck.
But Alex ducked under it and drove her shoulder into his stomach, launching him back. He fell across the deck, landing heavily, the axe flying from his grasp.
"You're fast," she said. "But there's no subtlety. It's like fighting a wounded bear."
Bern jumped to his feet, ready to fight back. She was already upon him, fists flying, striking his torso. He tried to twist away, but there was nothing he could do to avoid her. The suit hardened to her touch. She looked in irritation at his stomach.
"Apparently a wounded armoured bear. Still, you've no real technique. You're just fast and strong, with a tough shell."
"Qualities that are not undesirable in a fight."
She snorted. "You have nothing to teach me. There's no art to your moves."
"I didn't realise I was here to teach you."
"Everybody is. Until I've learned all I need to." She looked around her. "Now let's see just how impermeable that suit is."
And then Bern realised what she was looking for.
The axe.
Alex was already there. She hooked the weapon with her toe and flipped it into the air, catching it effortlessly and twirling it from one hand to the other. "I can feel you, William. I can feel your life in my hands." She stopped the axe, holding it still. "Do you feel it?"
"You really don't doubt yourself do you?"
"Not ever." And she swung, hard. Bern tried to fall away from the strike, but he was far too slow. The blade hit him square in the stomach. The blow should have cut him in two.
Instead the head of the axe crumpled like it had hit a granite wall. The handle split, the head falling to the ground.
Alex stared at the remains of the handle in her hands. "That's not fair."
Bern snorted. "And you fight fair?"
"Don't confuse me with my father. I take a bit more pride in my craft." She shook her head. "This is going to be tedious if I can't hurt you."
Bern looked at her. "You seem more irritated than surprised by my suit. How do you know so much about it?"
She smiled. "Because I'm wearing one." She ran her hands over the smooth black fabric. "And I have to say it looks better on me." She began to advance on him.
In an instant, Bern knew what he had to do.
One Hundred Six
REEMS STOOD ON THE DECK, staring out at the ocean, trying not to blink. She wasn't sure what she was hoping to see, just that she was looking for something.
Footsteps approached, and Truman handed her a cup of something that smelt a little like coffee. She took it, appreciating the warmth, but did not otherwise acknowledge him. She wasn't ready for that.
"I'm sorry about your people," he said finally.
"I haven't given up on them yet."
"If we were going to detect them, we would have done so by now." Truman sighed. "We've made an initial review of what happened with the jets. The pilots heard my voice: the cockpit recording confirms it. Except, of course, you were with me the whole time and you know I gave no such order."
"And yet how could someone impersonate you, given the level of encryption involved?"
"Not clear."
"But who would have known what was going on to the point that they could interject at exactly the right moment?"
"It's a very short list."
"What did Banetti say?"
Truman hesitated for several moments. "He asked if the situation was secure. I said all the evidence pointed to the destruction of the Accumulator at the site."
"Did you mention Lentz's warning that it had been removed?"
"There's nothing to support that claim."
Reems gripped the handrail tight. "Don't you get it? Once again, Bern showed us what he wanted us to see. With Bern there's always a way out. We just haven't thought of it yet."
"I'll believe it when I see it."
"That's the problem. Maybe you won't."
There was a shout across the deck. Two crewman stood pointing. Reems followed their gaze. In the distance there was a shimmer. And then a ripple. And then something unbelievable appeared out of thin air.
One Hundred Seven
"THIS IS MY SUIT NOW," Alex said, as she continued to advance on Bern.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the remote control then pointed it and pressed. Alex froze where she stood. "Actually, it's very much still mine. Most convenient you should be wearing it."
The sinews in Alex's neck stood out as she strained against the now-rigid fabric. A roar emerged from between frustrated lips.
"I might ask where you got it," Bern said, "but it doesn't really matter."
"Coward," she hissed. "I will not be contained."
"Ah, but you will – just long enough anyway. Now where's another fire axe?" Bern looked around the deck and saw a figure lying near the stairwell. He marched over and crouched beside the slumped form, wearing only a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. With a gentle push, he flipped Tom onto his back, his fingers tingling slightly at the touch. "How the hell did you get up here?"
Tom groaned, his eyelids flickering. "Must stop..." He seemed to focus on Bern. "Am I too late?"
Bern gripped him by the shoulders. "You saw Alex was here? You came to help me?"
Tom blinked rapidly, shaking his head. "Have to stop..." He grimaced. "It hurts..."
Bern felt his son's forehead. He was running a fever, his skin a sickly grey colour. "It's OK, she's just over there. She's incapacitated: no threat to us. Soon to be no threat to anyone. Never mind that for now. Why isn't the Interface working?"
Tom looked at him, confusion on his face. He clutched his head. "After what you did--"
"Yes, yes. I'm sorry about that. But I'm talking about my Interface. I promise to do everything in my power to help you get well again, if you help me with this now."
Tom nodded slowly. "It's hard to describe. You kind of feel the electronics around you and extend your thoughts towards them."
"That's it? And then it just worked?"
"Not at first. I tried all sorts of things. Eventually, I had a moment of great need."
"Well, I need it now. I really want it to work."
Tom shook his head, gritting his teeth. "More than that. A matter of life or death."
Bern turned and glared at where Alex was still standing. "She's been trying to kill me for the last few minutes."
"Apparently you didn't believe it."
Bern swore. "Fine. I'll worry about it later. For now we need to deal with her."
Tom narrowed his eyes. "Why is she here?"
"She said she wanted to see you. Just as well I found her first. Now, would you like the chance to pay her back? Revenge would be sweet, wouldn't it?"
Tom seemed to consider this for several moments. "You mean I get to kill her?"
Bern nodded. He reached down and removed the metal strut from Tom's waistband. "You could use this. It looks sharp enough."
"Are you just getting someone else to do your dirty work for you again?"
"This isn't about my dirty work, Tom. This is about your retribution."
"Why is she just standing there?"
"She got hold of one of my suits. So I froze it like I froze yours."
"It's holding her in place?"
Bern nodded. "No way she can take it off unaided."
"That control works on any of your suits?"
"Any except mine." Bern waved the metal strut. "Now, shall we?"
One Hundred Eight
TOM GRIMACED BUT NODDED. "I'M ready." He stood awkwardly, then walked towards where Alex was standing. Every ste
p sent agony through him. He had none of his abilities and the pain made him all but helpless - and already the biting cold was cutting into his bones. The only factor in his favour was that Bern had made some incorrect assumptions. Tom looked down at Alex.
"Great timing," she said. "Here to rescue me?"
Tom glanced from Bern to her. "What does it look like?"
"It looks like none of us understands exactly what is going on."
Bern stepped forwards and handed Tom the metal strut. "Actually it's very simple. He's here to deal out some justice."
She laughed. "Not something you've ever been keen to face."
"But today is your day. Are you up to this, Tom?"
Tom gripped the metal strut. "Like I said, I'm ready."
Alex's eyes lowered to the strut. "Not exactly an honourable death."
"You're right," Tom said. "I certainly wouldn't do this if you weren't frozen in that suit. And there's no way you can take it off on your own. It would seem you're done for."
She blinked. "Yes, it would."
"You understand what I must do."
"I do."
Bern coughed. "At the edge of the face. It's the weakest point - where the face cover joins the rest of the suit."
Tom nodded. "I need to do this. To make things right."
He struck. The jagged metal tip caught in the collar of her suit, tearing the seam, and he ripped it down, making a great rend in the rubbery fabric. Tom ripped further, cutting down below Alex's waist as Bern lunged at him. Alex stepped from the remnants of her suit as Tom spun, raising the strut in defence. Bern's suit-clad hand gripped it like a vice and yanked it from him.
"Why would you do this?" Bern shouted. "You came up here to save me!"
"I came up here to stop you."
Bern's expression turned to one of rage. He raised the metal strut. Tom saw it crashing down towards him. Nothing was going to stop it.
Except there was a loud tearing sound and a booted foot hit Bern's wrist, knocking the improvised weapon from his hand. Before Bern could react, Alex had somersaulted over him and, gripping the arm that had been holding the metal strut, she continued the motion, flinging him away across the deck, where he sprawled heavily.
