“Who?” Petal asked.
“The nice man and lady inside.”
Petal felt for Sakura and Hajime. They’d been apart for so long, and even though their minds were fragmented and not fully operational, she knew their uploaded minds were aware. They could still know what it all meant, and now they were apart again. Petal realised that for the safety of everyone, they were better off disconnected forever. Combined, the servers were too much of a temptation for those who wanted to transcend the physical. And what she saw of Elliot Robertson’s madness, she knew they couldn’t allow that to happen again.
The thought of him made her think of James Robertson. The Doc. The Liar. The Betrayer. He remained on the other side of the transporter, sitting with his back turned, working on his slate.
Petal walked across to him, looked down over his shoulder.
“Well?” he said, looking up at her. “I suppose you want me to explain why I lied? Explain my behaviour?”
“No,” Petal said. “I want to you to finish what you’re doing. Get those ‘droids back online so we can drive those mentalists back and make this our home. There’ll be plenty of time for us to have a heart-to-heart later.”
“I’m on it,” he said, turning his attention back to his slate.
While Robertson frantically issued new instructions to the ‘droids, Enna approached Petal, took her arm, and led her down the ramp away from the rest of the group.
“What about Gerry?” Enna said. “Is he still—”
“No. He’s safe. In here.” Petal tapped her head. “But I don’t know in what condition, or how long I can hold him. Can you, you know, download him into a body?” She knew Enna could do it with her transcendents, but they were slightly more evolved AIs that she could swap in and out of various bodies. Gez was something far more complex, and his own body was in terrible shape after his shooting.
“I’m not entirely sure,” Enna said turning her mouth up, scrunching her forehead. “I suppose it’s possible. We know that he survived the transfer to you and to the servers and in some kind of condition. I’d really need to get you to my lab.”
They both looked westward to Enna’s compound in GeoCity-1. But beyond the Dome, the assault continued. Panel by panel, the barrage from the Red Widow’s firepower broke through, creating gaping holes in their protective shell.
Their Jaguars were visible through the spaces as they circled around the structure targeting the weakest parts. It wouldn’t be long before they started to breach it completely.
Enna must have thought the same thing, said. “Look!” She pointed up to one of the Jaguars. It belched black smoke from its left VTOL engine, spun wildly before it tilted and crashed to the ground. A fireball from the explosion lit up the purple-grey dawn sky.
The assault from Red Widow’s army paused, no doubt shocked at losing one of their air support. Petal hoped it took a bunch of the Widows with it.
Robertson stood at the top of the ramp. “It’s working!” he shouted down.
“The ‘droids?” Petal asked.
He nodded with a hopeful grin on his face before racing down the ramp, handing her the slate. “Here, watch the video feed.”
Standing there on the shuttle’s landing pad, Petal watched the feed as sheer chaos erupted a few hundred metres beyond their position, beyond the Dome. The sound of screams and war, partially muted by the Dome’s shell, echoed across the City to accompany the images.
In the middle of the maelstrom stood Criborg’s android combat units. Red Widow hackers thought they had control over them. They’d grown sloppy, come to rely on them. But computers are fickle and owe no allegiance. Robertson’s new instructions saw the squad strike at the heart of their army: their air support.
In split concentrated fire, the squad took each Jaguar down one by one, their accuracy and efficiency a lethal blow. While the dead hunks of metal fell from the sky like lethal bombs, the ‘droids scattered in an almost random formation: the leading ‘droid, whose feed Petal was watching led a team of five others in a wild, arcing assault on a group of Red Widow infantry, quickly cutting them down before they knew what had hit them.
The fanatics tried to respond, but as soon as they shifted into position, other small groups of five and ten androids were on the move, diverting their attention and thinning their numbers. Their fast movements and intricate and accurate firing patterns dominated the battlefield. They twisted Red Widow fighters round and round so that they began to fall from friendly crossfire. In amongst the smoke and dust and blood, Petal saw Natalya, their general shouting and screaming from one of the heavily armoured ATVs.
Before the androids could finish their work, Natalya appeared to gain some kind of order over her vastly decimated and scattered army. No more than a few hundred women gathered in groups and headed for her location. They formed a defensive perimeter around her and, but the ‘droids spread out in a curving line, taking their front and both flanks.
A few Widows tried to fire on the ‘droids, but the latter were too fast and too spread out.
The enemy retreated, and the ‘droids pushed on, stalking them like prey. Sensing all was lost, Natalya dragged a few choice militants onto her vehicle, turned, and sped off into the distance leaving behind her a small band of warriors, their faces in shock at their general’s abandonment.
A few turned to shoot on the line of ‘droids, but within seconds they too were gunned down.
“Wait!” Petal said, staring up at Robertson. “Make them stop.”
“Why? After everything they’ve done to you. They’re animals.”
“Yeah, but we ain’t,” Petal said. “At least most of us ain’t.”
Robertson’s mouth twisted at the remark, but Petal stared him down, and as expected, he backed off. “How do I control them?” she said.
At first he didn’t say anything, but Enna produced a laser pistol from beneath her jacket and held it at his head. “I’ll happily blow your face off for the lies and damage you’ve caused if you don’t answer her truthfully.”
He swallowed, held his hands palm up. “Okay, okay. Let’s not be hasty. You just ... here, let me show you?”
Petal nodded. Enna stepped back allowing him to reach over the slate and show Petal the controls. “Is that it?” Petal asked?
“Yes, you can connect directly via your implant to the lead ‘droid like you would any server.”
She swiped a gesture across the slate. It connected to her personal network. Controlling the slate with her mind, she accessed the main ‘droid. Watching its movements on the feed, it stopped moving in on the fanatics and waited for her orders.
The instructions came from a script of coded declarations. Petal deleted these and created her own set. She also discovered that within the control protocols of the ‘droids she could talk through the lead one’s amplified speaker. She opened a communication channel and addressed the cowering fanatics.
“Hey scumbags!”
As one they turned to stare directly at her through the video feed.
“Now that I have your attention, I would very much appreciate it if you’d drop your weapons, and lay face first on the ground with your hands behind your back and palms open. Failure to do so will result in your quick death. Your choice!”
They huddled together, discussed their next action. Petal ordered the ‘droids to raise, and aim their weapons. One by one, the Red Widow members turned to face the firing squad. It took them a few seconds, but as Petal mentally prepared to give the order to shoot, they dropped the weapons and complied. She breathed out a sigh of relief and ordered the robot army to take their weapons and cuff them.
“Nicely done,” Enna said. “Now what?”
Petal handed the slate back to Robertson. Glared at him while answering Enna’s question. “We’re going to your lab. The Doc here will stay behind and help treat the wounded. Under supervision, of course. I want the Red Widows placed safely in the city’s cells. They’ve suffered enough. Hell, we’ve all suffe
red enough.”
“Petal, please. I can help you and Gerry. Let me make this up to—”
“You had your chance, but you chose to lie to me and Sasha! Now get out of my sight before I do something you’ll regret.” She shoved him out of the way and ascended the ramp.
Addressing the group of people now staring at her she said. “The fight is over, for now at least. I still have something to do, but all of you are free to do whatever you want. We have this city to ourselves now. Free from the tyranny of The Family, and free from the desires of the Red Widows.
“It’s a good time to help the citizens, to rename the city, make it our home. We’ve been given a chance to start new as free people. There’s a lot that needs to be done, however. No doubt the people of this city don’t have a clue as to what to do now they don’t have some all-encompassing power controlling their lives. They’re going to need your help. They’ll need to rebuild. Hell, there’s a whole civilisation of people here ready to take direction and exercise their free will.
“Let’s not waste the lives of those who died for our freedom. Let’s grab this opportunity, and honour them, make their sacrifice worthwhile!”
Jess, Sasha, and the remaining security personnel, clapped and cheered.
Gabe came over to her, hugged her. “Ya’ve done great things, girl.”
“We all did, Gabe. But at what cost?”
“A terrible cost, but there was no other choice. Listen, I ain’t staying here. I’m coming with ya. I can help with this whole Gerry situation, and—”
“And what?”
“Natalya’s still out there. I need to find her. I’ve some unfinished business.”
Before Petal could get into what Gabe meant, a great cheer went up. She dashed out of the transporter to see tens of thousands of City Earth citizens come out of their apartment buildings, houses, and work places. They streamed like a great sea across the parks and the roads, until they surrounded the landing pads and transporters.
Opposite them, and entering the Dome, were the Red Widows, led in a line and cuffed to the group of androids. A member of Cemprom, an elderly lady wearing a smart, black business suit approached Petal. She held out her hand, said. “Thank you. Thank you all for doing what you did. You’ve saved us, have given us everything!” The woman cried and laughed. Petal took her into a hug.
“It’s my pleasure,” Petal said, watching the growing crowd around them.
Silence descended on the place. The Cemprom woman released Petal. Together, as one people, they turned to watch the Red Widows as they were taken towards the cells.
How much of the threat the citizens really knew, Petal couldn’t tell. And she’d certainly not let them know they were minutes away from being nuked. All that mattered was they were free from tyranny.
“What do we do now?” The woman said.
“You live. Take down the AIA network and give your people freedom. Enjoy your lives!”
With that, a huge cheer went up again, and Petal found herself, Enna, Gabe, and the others surrounded by joyous people. But one in particular caught Petal’s eye. For some reason she recognised him. An internal motivation made her focus in on him as he fought his way through the crowd. His body was thin, his face gaunt. He wore an over-sized, ill-fitting suit with the cuff of his right arm torn away. Dried blood surrounded his wrist.
Petal pushed through the jubilant crowd until she stood in front him.
He stopped, looked up to her, confusion in his eyes.
“You are Steven,” Petal said, not understanding initially where that came from, but she soon realised. Gerry. She was experiencing his memories, his thoughts. “You were a friend of Gerry’s?”
Steven looked up at her, nodded. “I, I tried to stop him.”
“Who?”
“Kaden. I saw what he did to Gerry, I tried to stop it all.” He held up his wrist to show a bloodied scar.
“I don’t understand,” Petal said. “What did you try and stop? What happened to you?”
“I cut it out,” Steven said. “The hot-chip, the chip that Kaden said would take me off the grid, save me from the lottery, but there was something, someone, else in it. It tried to get into my head, make me do things.”
She understood then. Understood what made Kaden kill Gerry: Elliot Robertson.
“How many of these chips did this Kaden have?”
“I don’t know, but he was dealing them to people within the city. Must have been doing it for a while. He had his own runners and dealers. It seemed to be a slick operation. Can you help me?” He held up his wrist again, the wound looked rough, jagged. The poor kid must have been in considerable pain. “I’m so sorry,” he added before losing his balance.
Petal caught him. “It’s okay, you tried. Gerry is okay, I think. Let’s get you some medical attention.” Petal cleared a path through the crowd until she reached the transporter. She handed Steven over to Robertson. “Look after him, see to his wounds, okay?”
Robertson didn’t look her in the eye. He helped the boy up the ramp and into his quarter of the transporter. Petal looked out across the City. It was finally free, but a number of questions nagged at her: could she save Gerry? What would happen to him if he couldn’t be downloaded into a body? How many of these chips were in circulation, and how much control did Elliot Robertson have over these people? What of Natalya and Gabe’s unfinished business? And lastly: what of her? Where did she go from here?
Sasha approached, put an arm around her shoulder. “You look as if you have the world on your shoulders. You should be happy. Look at how it’s all turned out! And hey, despite Jimmy being a total douche, we still have each other.”
Petal turned to face her. “You’re right. I’m proud of what you’ve done, what you did for me. But I can’t stay here. There’s still much that needs doing. And he’s still out there.”
“Who do you mean?”
“Elliot Robertson. He must be destroyed.”
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About The Author
Colin F. Barnes is a full-time writer of science fiction and thrillers. He’s a member of both the British Fantasy Society and the British Science Fiction Association. He honed his craft with the London School of Journalism and the Open University (BA, English).
Colin has run a number of tech-based businesses, worked in rat-infested workshops, and scoured the back streets of London looking for characters and stories—which he found in abundance.
You can connect with Colin at the following places:
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Other Titles by Colin F. Barnes
Novels
Code Breakers: Alpha
Code Breakers: Beta
Code Breakers: Gamma
Code Breakers: Delta
Salt: Book 1 of The Last Flotilla
Novellas
The Daedalus Code
Dead Five’s Pass
Acknowledgments
A big thanks to Krista Walsh, Sharon Ring, Dave Robison, Aaron Sikes, Jamie Stonehouse, and my mum for being wonderful and supportive people. You make doing this thing easier
with all you in my corner.
Code Breakers: Beta Page 29
