by Julian North
“Well met, Nythan Royce.” Alexander said it as if Nythan had offered him a hug rather than an insult. He went back to the emergency controls. The train glided out of the station.
“He’s saving our tails, Nythan. Or would you rather find another way out?” I grabbed a handhold close to where Alexander worked the manual train controls. He was clad in dark enameled body armor, a force pistol holstered at his waist. The sight was jarring—like seeing Aba walking around with a machete. But hadn’t I just broken into Rose-Hart Industries? Hadn’t I been a part of killing Dillion?
“Save us? Him and what army?” Nythan asked.
“The only one I could think of to help us,” I said, my voice quiet with worry.
I hadn’t anticipated California and their professional soldiers being involved. I hadn’t realized the danger when I had brought those most dear into my scheme. But I had been right to trust Alexander. I had doubted him for a time inside the Ziggurat, but here he was.
“You told him about us? Are you insane?” Nythan’s voice trembled with outrage. “Why didn’t you floor him with my magic tooth like you were supposed to?”
I closed my eyes for a fleeting moment. That night at Alexander’s house seemed an eternity ago, the agony of my decisions a mere echo of their former power. But I hadn’t forgotten the image of Alexander drawing close to me. That was seared into my soul. Something inside me had cried out as I bit down on that tooth. Instead of exhaling the foul gas at Alexander, I had whipped my head towards the wall, away from him.
“I decided on something more difficult, Nythan.” Alexander turned from the control panel as I spoke. “I decided I could trust him.”
Nythan’s eyes widened. “Jack me, but why would you of all people do that? He’s as highborn as a person can be. Two rounds of gene sifting to make that mighty specimen.”
My gaze locked with Alexander’s as I answered. “I realized that if we’re going to make a better world, the people who live in this one need to change.” I swallowed hard. “I need to change.”
Nythan shook his head. “I never figured you for an idealist, Daniela. Or a fool.”
“It’s only foolish if she was wrong,” Alexander said, his voice a deep rumble. “She’s not. I’ve not been blind to what is going on. Quite the opposite.”
“He can trill, Nythan. He trusted me enough to share his secret. He did it before he knew about any of this.”
“Does he know what his family is? What they’ve done?” Nythan demanded, looking at me, but he was really speaking to Alexander.
Alexander nodded solemnly. “My father is a man comfortable in the darkness. My mother told me that, a long time ago. I knew he sought…unconventional solutions to the disorder around him. I had not thought he would go so far as genocide. I am sorry for that blindness. It…it is hard to accept such evil, even when it is right in front of you.”
“And your sister?” Nythan pressed.
“She told me what she was, four years ago. She showed me how to tap into what was inside me. But she also told me we were the only ones—chosen in some way. A lie, of course, to serve her own ends, her thirst for power. She is like my father, a master of the game. But something happened between them, my father and Kris. A rift between the aging king and his impatient pupil. Something bad enough that I suspect she may have been responsible for the attempt on his life. His security has been instructed to keep everyone away from the HRZ, where he is ailing. Kris is corrupted by the darkness. Only her outside shines. Inside there is a cancer.”
“If she’s so bad, why did she break you out?” Nythan challenged. “What did you promise her?”
Alexander’s back stiffened. “I promised her nothing. Of course she had plans for me, some scheme that required bringing me into this secret. She’s two years older than me, and I once looked up to her. Loved her. Before she became what she is now. She sought to control me with lies, to have another minion to do her bidding. For a time it worked.” His chin lifted. “I know better than anyone how dangerous she is. You think it is my father who is the greatest danger. You are wrong. It is Kristolan you should fear. For there is nothing she would not do to feed her own hunger to control…everything. The school, the company, that won’t be enough. I finally realize that. And she has the power to do it.”
I shivered, but Nythan’s face was still twisted with disbelief.
“You are willing to turn your back on your highborn family to help us?” Skepticism dripped from his lips.
Alexander was silent for a few moments, his face unreadable. When he spoke, the words came slowly, reluctantly. “I had a mother. She’s gone now. But when I was seven, shortly before she left, she told me…things about my father. Things not meant for a child, but if she didn’t tell me then, there would never have been another chance. Her words live inside me, as she does. She told me that I could choose to be better than the world around me. I’ve spent my life trying to give meaning to those words. She was my family. Not the man who supposedly was my father. Not my sister, not anymore. So I’m turning my back on nothing, Nythan Royce. Rather, I am choosing the path I had always chosen: that of honor.”
Nythan snorted. Blood rushed to my face, anger laced my words.
“Nythan, he just risked his life to save yours. Since the day I met him, he’s done everything he said he would. And he never lied to me.” My glare bored into Nythan. He flushed. “I made the choice to trust him. It wasn’t easy for me, with the life I’ve lived. I know what’s inside him. I can sense it. If I can trust Alexander, why can’t you?”
Nythan’s strangely pale eyes darkened for a moment. He studied Alexander’s face, then mine. “Seeing as he’s at the controls, I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”
“No,” I said.
“In that case, I suppose I’ll give your boy a chance. At least till we’re safely out of here.”
Alexander acknowledged the sentiment with a deep nod.
Nythan grinned. “Thanks for saving our rears, by the way.”
CHAPTER
THIRTY-NINE
The train slowed, then jerked to a stop, bringing us all back to the urgency of the present. We had made it back to the access tunnel, but Rose-Hart’s security wouldn’t be far behind.
The door opened and Mateo’s lieutenant, Inky, stepped inside, dressed in barrio rags, an old projectile pistol in his hand. I recognized Kross as well. He followed in a similar outfit, with a similar weapon, but had a blood-stained bandage on his left shoulder. Seeing it made my throat tighten. Did you really expect no one would get hurt? I’d told Alexander that my brother could help. We’d all planned it. But I hadn’t truly considered the cost until now. I hadn’t counted on the depth of Havelock’s betrayal.
“What’s up Dee?” Inky said, as if we had just met on the street. He raised the barrel of his pistol to the left temple of the Rose-Hart supervisor. “Who’s this turd?”
“I got it,” I told him. “Put the gun down.”
He didn’t. I walked over to the suited Rose-Hart executive. He was babbling to himself—his mind struggling to rid itself of the artificial pathways I had forced upon it. His forehead was bathed in moisture. His eyes darted about.
“Sleep,” I ordered. He lay down in the middle of the floor. “Forget everything you saw today.”
“Nice trick,” Inky said as he watched the man lie down like an obedient puppy. “What else can you make him do? Bark?”
“I’ll tell you about it another time.”
“What about the rest of these jokers?” Inky asked, waving his gun at Nythan, Alissa, and Lara as if it were a finger.
I put a hand on Nythan’s shoulder. “Nythan is on our team. The other two…” I looked at them. Lara’s jaw was grinding. She had a strong will. Her surroundings were no longer consistent with the lie I had placed in her mind. Leaving them here meant they’d be captured. Interrogated. Probably murdered. I turned my attention to Alissa. She had almost been a friend. Almost. Even if it was based on a lie. But she
had been part of Marie-Ann’s murder. I couldn’t trust her, or forgive her.
“Alissa and Lara, head back to the safe house. Get some rest, then go home. Good work today,” I said. Lara continued to look around even as my command took root in her mind.
“Is this our team?” Alissa asked, uncertain.
“You accomplished your objective. Get some rest,” I assured her.
“What is up with them, Dee?” Inky asked. “Those girls look wacked. I always enjoy jacking up some highborn, but this is getting weird. Mateo said this was big, and he’s the boss, but still—”
“Later. Is anyone hurt besides Kross?” I asked. “Where’s Mateo?’
“I’m here,” my brother answered, sticking his head inside the train. He had a bit of blood on the corner of his lip, but otherwise appeared unharmed. “Kross took a grazing shot from one of those damn visers. A few other scrapes. But we got the drop on them. There were only five, including the one who went with you.”
I wrapped my arms around Mateo. “Thanks for coming through. I owe you one.”
“I’ll remember you said that.” My brother flashed a little boy’s smile. He carried a bag of visers from the safe house. Nythan and I grabbed our familiar devices gratefully.
I turned to Alexander. “How did you find us? Or the access to the train? They transferred us to an interior room I didn’t know about. I couldn’t get back to the window to send a message.”
“Your brother improvised.”
I looked expectantly at Mateo.
“When you went a whole day without signaling, we knew something had happened. Those California tough guys, they wouldn’t last ten minutes in the barrio. They had every fancy tech gadget you could think of and some you couldn’t imagine. Seriously, they had stuff to block sensor sweeps, jam comm channels, hide power sources. They had stealth radio links…but they never bothered to worry about some damn simple snoopin’.”
“Snoopin’?” Nythan asked.
“Yeah, smart guy,” Inky said. “It’s when you like…wait till it’s night, then sneak upstairs on your own two legs with your own two ears and a little bitty flashlight. You see one room is empty, but hey, there’s like tracks on the really dirty floor. And the footprints go upstairs. And then, you go next door and stick your little ear up to the wall and listen. No visers, no gadgets, no richie tricks.”
Mateo laughed. “Once we saw you climb into the toilet—loved that by the way—we got the drop on them. They split up and got to work. They were all so focused on their silly screens and visers it was almost easy.”
“Where are they?” I asked.
“What’s left of ’em, they in the garage,” Inky declared proudly.
“You killed them?” I said to Mateo, feeling like I’d been punched in the gut.
“What else we goin’ to do with ’em, Dee?” Inky asked. “The one I tried to reason with gave Kross that thing on his shoulder. Little Jim shot the bastard in the eye.”
“Didn’t really have a choice,” Mateo told me, his eyes serious. “I told you this was for keeps when you and the rich boy asked for help. You said you understood.”
I nodded, knowing this was on me. It was them or us. California would be looking for blood if they ever found out who did this. But I didn’t think they would. Rose-Hart would take the blame.
“What about Havelock?” I asked.
“Not here,” Alexander said. “Lucky or smart, or both. But he’s gone.”
He wouldn’t give up, I knew. And I’d added myself to his list of enemies. But that was a problem for another day. “You got transport?” I asked Mateo. “Nythan’s got the rods and the data. We gotta’ get out of here before Rose-Hart figures out they’ve been hit and turns out the troops.”
“Cars are in the underground garage with the rest of the boys,” he said. “Barrio’s going to be the safest place for a while. No one’s getting into Manhattan because of the jack-A’s Ball, but they don’t really care about anyone leaving. Once the corp reviews their security feeds, they’ll come looking for you, though, even in BC. Corps have got a long memory and a nasty temper.”
Nythan shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. I put a Trojan virus into their security system. A nasty one. Might not be anything for them to see. But let’s not take any chances. Laying low in BC sounds like a good idea. The sooner the better.”
We hurried out of the train, back through the narrow access corridor, then up the ladder that led to the toilet. Mateo led the way. I ran between Alexander and Nythan. The night was cool, the sky clear. No drones. At least, none in the Vision Quad. We jogged across the street, then down the garage ramp on the far side of the beat-up apartment building. My spider-sense started tingling. I grabbed hold of Nythan with one hand, Alexander with the other.
“Something’s wrong,” I called out.
Too late.
CHAPTER
FORTY
A pair of blazing headlights clicked on directly in front of us. For several moments I saw only white as my eyes adjusted to the glare. My instinct told me to run. But I knew it was too late for that. Men in body armor, carrying force rifles, ran out from the light. Two circled around our group. The light made it hard to tell how many more there were.
“Inside, inside, inside,” the men behind us ordered. “Hands on your head. Keep walking, down into the garage.”
I reached for the cold power inside me. I knew Alexander was doing the same. The bastards would have to deal with two trillers. But first we had to know how many we faced. And if any were highborn.
They brought us inside the old parking lot, out of easy view. They kept a distance from us, their weapons poised. The light dimmed to a more comfortable intensity. Little Jim was lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood just in front of a row of sedans. Alissa, Lara, and four more of the Corazones were sitting on the floor not far away, their hands bound in front of them with Authority-grade wires. Their expressions were grim, except for Alissa, who had a bruise on her face, her eyes wide with terror.
“Hands on top of your heads,” ordered a female voice, hard and strong. She had pupils nearly as black as her body armor, her arms thick and toned. “Any of you even flinch and I’ll put a hole in your skull.” She scanned the group, not blinking as her companions came forward to disarm Alexander and the Corazones. They moved with caution and confidence, like panthers on the prowl. I probed their minds with my will. Power radiated back at me. They were highborn.
“Lindra,” Alexander said to the woman. “You’re supposed to be protecting my father. And Nero…Blane. What are you doing here?”
“Welcome, little people,” said another voice. One I recognized. A chill passed through me.
Drake walked out from the shadows, a sadistic grin on his face. He looked like a parody of an Authority stormtrooper in his black getup, a wicked-looking force rifle clutched uneasily in both hands. More of the brave new world. The kids had guns now, even if Drake looked ridiculous with it. Alone, I wouldn’t have been afraid of him. But he wasn’t by himself. The others were professional fighters. Killers.
“Daddy finally bit it, Alexander,” Drake said with mocking delight. “You might say your father’s former employees are looking to the future.”
“Keep a distance, Drake,” Lindra cautioned. “Let us handle this. We don’t know how many of them are highborn.”
“Relax, Lindra,” Drake said. “Only Alexander and the girl are our kind, and I’m faster than either of them. You’ve got your orders and I’ve got mine. Stick to the brawn.” He tapped his head. “I’ve got the juice in here to do what needs to be done.”
“What do you mean looking to the future?” Alexander asked. But I already knew what was coming. There was only one reason Drake would be here.
“Your sister sends her regards. We’re going to deliver you and your lady to her intact. Along with the controlColonies held by that runty ghost over there, and the data you stole. Your sister will have it all: the most valuable asset of Rose-Hart Indus
tries, as well as sole possession of the trilling gene and the Culling data.”
“Powerful leverage against any other contenders for control of the family voting shares—Arik included,” Alexander said.
Drake gave him a pat on the cheek. “You are so smart. Alexander the Great. And you don’t even know the half of it. Your sister has got big plans.” Alexander’s eyes flashed with alarm. Drake turned to me. “Little miss street trash. But hell of a job in there, trasher. Got the rods, and took care of the California cops. But you aren’t really trash, are you? You’re a highborn slumming it.” He laughed. It sounded maniacal. I recalled what Alissa had said about Marie-Ann coming unhinged. Listening to Drake, I believed it. “Kris wants to talk to you as well. She’d like to know how you figured out how to trill.”
“Why would I talk to someone who is going to hurt my friends? Whose goon sent a drone to kill me. And who will probably finish the job once she gets what she wants.”
Drake gave a terrifying chomp of his teeth. They looked like fangs. “I can’t believe you and the ghost boy dodged my drone. You deserved it after what you did to me on the track. But if you play nice, who knows what Kris’ll do for you? She’s the only person with any hope of developing a cure now…And if you don’t…well, Kris thinks of everything. She’s got your blood sister with her too. Kortilla, yeah? So you better be on your best behavior.”
“Kortilla has nothing to do with this.” I struggled to keep the panic from my voice.
Drake’s lips curled in a feral snarl. “Kris is always extra careful. Had a hard time getting that one. You told her to hide out with her bro, huh? Good idea. Except I can trill too. And it’s easy to find out what you want that way. Just like I’m going to do to your motley crew here.”
Rage flooded through my body; my limbs felt like magma. I felt my will struggling to explode out of me. To strike out at Drake. But he was highborn. I gritted my teeth, trying to hold the angry beast inside.
“How did you find us?” Alexander asked.
