by Morgan Bell
“Take a look out the window at your handiwork. Thirty dead unnamed citizens, mowed down by HDMP’s finest tech. You will have to agree that this is an infinitesimally small number of casualties for an HDMP ‘community interaction’.“
“Fenwick!” Blaise shouted.
“I’m on it,” Fenwick said, scrambling at a release catch next to a data panel.
“Sorry about the ’Stang, Jericho,” Marshall said, bringing his face closer to the camera. “It was so cherry. Wolinski was up early this morning polishing it and everything.”
“Fenwick -” Blaise started.
“Just a second…” Fenwick said, and then there was a popping sound. The panels blanked out.
“What did you do?” Agent Drake asked
“I disconnected our data connection and rebooted the system. Marshall, or whoever the hell he is, loaded something into our vehicle,” Fenwick replied, climbing beneath the dashboard and into a compartment. “I had taken us off the network and grid monitors just after we left the incident scene. Marshall or his people must have loaded up a virus or override on our system before then.”
“Will the reboot clear it?” Blaise asked.
Fenwick came up from under the console. “No. Which is why I’m switching all the tech to factory spec.”
The interior of the transport darkened for a moment and then the lights flared brightly. The panels all displayed an access screen that was without the HDMP logos or menus. Fenwick entered a series of codes and the images from outside of the transport came back up. “Go ahead and see how it handles for you.”
Blaise engaged the transports’ engines and the vehicle moved forward slowly, rocking slightly as it rolled over the bodies that were blocking their progress down the highway. Soon they were past the bodies and traveling along the highway at speed. The transport was bucking, shaking and rolling violently.
“What is wrong with the suspension?” Blaise asked.
“Without the advanced settings on the system, we are having to use the regular power suspension system,” Fenwick explained.
“You mean this is what Detroit commuters experience every day?” Agent Ganos asked, her teeth being knocked together by a sudden dropping motion in the back of the vehicle.
“Afraid so,” Fenwick said. “And it’s only going to get worse when we get back to street level.”
Fifteen kidney jarring, spine compressing and nerve rattling minutes later, the transport came to a stop before the old Comerica field park. The facilities, long ago abandoned and briefly used as a federal internment camp, were now locked behind a gate with notices of the ongoing federal budget impasse posted around it. Sergeant Rosen was the first one out of the transport and was walking unsteadily for a short distance before he took up a position near a rusting steel fence and an ancient lamp pole.
CHAPTER 20
FORMER FRB EMERGENCY SERVICES CENTER
Ahead poked out of the transport and then agent Drake appeared, closely followed by Ganos. Rosen signaled them and they moved to cross the street toward the fence, behind which the old park, with its two shattered white tiger statues standing guard over the original fence at Witherel and Adams corner, could be seen. Agent Drake stood watch as agent Ganos opened the federal fencing. Nothing happened.
Fenwick stuck his head out and signaled to Rosen, who in turn signaled to Drake and Ganos. The team pulled back, leaving the gate open. They boarded the transport and Blaise drove it around to the open gate.
“We’ve got no activity,” Fenwick announced.
“Let’s hope it stays that way,” Blaise said. “Agents Ganos and Drake, you two stand guard at the gate. I’m going to escort Doc down to the interchange Hub. Fenwick, you hold tight with the transport. Rosen, you’ll come with me and Doc. Everyone load up and be ready for anything. Check your ammo, your armor and your bladders.”
“My bladder was blown out back on the highway,” Rosen smiled.
“I expect there will be somewhere to go inside,” Fenwick said.
“A tree or a curb is good enough for me,” Rosen added.
“Thanks for sharing,” Blaise said. “We go in on three.”
Rosen did a silent count, the vehicle door opened and they went out again. This time with Ganos and Drake taking the lead. Rosen moved ahead and on through the open gate, and then followed Jamie and Blaise.
Jamie looked up at the broken statues that stared out over the entrance of the park. From the flagpoles hung the tattered remains of the Federal Reorganization Bureau flag. On the walls was graffiti from the park’s time as an internment camp; “FRB Go Home!” and “Michigan Not Homeland!” could be seen in faded paint.
“This isn’t the main entrance,” Jamie whispered to Blaise as they moved past the original gates.
“No, it isn’t. Why?” Blaise asked, stooping to scout for any vantage point that might be had.
“The hub isn’t on this side.”
“Nope. It’s about a hundred meters from here. But this was the best way for us to approach,” Blaise said.
Rosen was waiting for them inside. “I heard that the best way in was through the beer hall,” Rosen grinned.
“Doubt there is anything left there. The FRB used this place for the culling. I doubt anything in the way of any alcohol is to be found here.”
Rosen moved out ahead on point and stopped. He made a signal.
Jamie ran his scope along the direction where Rosen was looking. He didn’t see anything.
“Check heat signals,” Blaise whispered.
Jamie changed the setting on his scope and saw them, in the distance, red shading to blue in the dark ahead of them. Blaise signaled Rosen that they would move up through the stands to avoid them. Rosen confirmed this and started up, then stopped. Rosen shook his head. Blaise and Jamie saw it too, three low blue ones, standing.
Rosen drew his knife and went up ahead of them. Jamie saw Rosen slip into the darkness, then heard the sound of a knife being buried in something hard, followed by a grunt and another dull thud. Blaise motioned for Jamie to follow him up into the stands. They found Rosen wiping his knife on the shirt of a body that was stretched out across several seats.
“KV?” Jamie asked.
“No. I think they were KVB. They tried to take my gun. They fought. But they didn’t have a lot of strength,” Rosen said.
Jamie looked at the bodies. “The heat signature and the decay would suggest they’ve been gone a long time. Maybe that’s what happens with KVBs. If they don’t hit an initial target, they wait around.”
Rosen shrugged. “Whatever they are, they aren’t it anymore. Let’s keep moving.”
Rosen walked up the stairs to the level of the second floor arches. Jamie and Blaise followed closely behind.
“Why is it so dark?” Jamie asked.
“FRB covered the stadium seating so that no one would see the culling,” Rosen replied.
“Shh,” Blaise said.
“You mean people sat here waiting to be processed?” Jamie asked.
“Then taken out on to the field and culled,” Rosen said.
“You mean killed,” Jamie corrected.
“Killed, culled. It comes to the same thing. The FRB didn’t want a panic.”
“And people just sat and waited for it to happen?”
“They didn’t know what was happening, now did they?” Rosen said. “They were told they were getting federal emergency services and no one they saw knew otherwise. Thousands of bureaucrats feeding people into the machine and none of them knew what was going on.”
“How is that even possible?” Jamie asked.
“Ever been to an IRS office?” Blaise countered.
Jamie shuddered. “No.”
“Don’t, if you can manage it. After thirty minutes of sitting in the waiting room you will lose the will to live. It’s something to do with the music they play, the color of the office and the chairs,” Blaise advised.
“Shh,” Rosen said.
There was
the sound of someone running. Rosen stepped through the arch, and then stepped back. He signaled to Blaise and Jamie to take up positions around the arch. Jamie stood on the other side of the arch and Blaise stood before the entrance. The three of them trained their weapons on the open doorway. The sound of running feet grew louder.
Jamie saw the heat signatures, three of them. They were mid-red and they were coming fast. There was a flash as Rosen took the lead runner out with a shot through the center of the temple. The other two kept running and Jamie found it unnerving to see that their mouths were open and their eyes were wide in the darkness. Blaise’s shots hit the second and the third runner and they dropped. Rosen looked over to Jamie, wondering why he hadn’t taken the shot on the third one. But realized that Jamie’s weapon was pointed at him. His heat signature scope went dark when the flash happened. Then he heard the thud behind him. Rosen saw the KVB on the floor, its head blown open, its eyes gone.
“Six more coming fast,” Jamie said, still looking through his scope past Rosen.
“No point standing around,” Blaise declared, and rushed through the archway. “Follow me.”
Rosen dropped two of the six and waved Jamie into the darkness behind Blaise.
Jamie heard another two shots behind him. He was now jogging along to keep up with Blaise, who was moving further into the building and toward where the KVBs were coming from. Blaise waved Jamie forward and Rosen joined them.
“It’s just up ahead on the right. Doc will have to hook up the array and transmit from there so that we can get the signal out onto the grid,” Blaise said.
“We’ll have to get past all of that, first,” Rosen pointed out, looking through his scope at a cluster of people whose heat signatures were in the low red range.
“That is where you and me come in,” Blaise added. “I’m going to make my way to that far wall and you are going to flank them. Doc, when you see a break, you run in behind. You’ve got an access pass for the hub. Flash it and it will let you in. Once you are inside you’ll be safe.”
Jamie felt the access pass in his pocket. “Ok. Let’s do this,” he said, bringing his weapon up.
Blaise looked around the corner then ran for the far side of the hall. The bodies moved slightly, but they continued to be gathered around the entrance for the grid hub interchange.
Blaise shot one. It fell, but the bodies continued to stay around the entrance. Blaise fired again, this time hitting one further back in the crowd. The bodies continued to sway. Blaise signaled Rosen. The two of them now started firing and the crowd started to move forward. Unlike the runners that had attacked them in stands, these were moving slowly, deliberately, but they were not making themselves easy targets. For the ones that were shot through the head and were falling were being lifted by the others and carried forward like a shield.
Jamie watched as Rosen and Blaise were forced back. From beneath the wall of KVBs, one would spring forward and run hard at them. Rosen and Blaise managed to hit them before they got too close. But the sheer numbers of the bodies were such that it would only be a matter of time. Then Jamie saw the break. There was a narrow corridor between the KVBs and the entrance to the hub. If he could get over there and get in behind them he could transmit the signal and shut all of this down, now. Jamie took a deep breath, got the pass from his pocket, took one last look and then ran hard.
The distance was little over thirty-five feet between the pillar he’d been hiding behind and the hub entrance. The KVBs that hadn’t joined the surge against Rosen and Blaise were moving slowly forward to fill in the gap left by the others, and Jamie could see the path closing. He didn’t slow down. He ran full force until he nearly collided with the entrance scanner. He waved his pass at the scanner and the high pitched whine of a siren began to chirp. Jamie looked behind him and saw the entire mass of KVBs turn as one to face him. He looked back to the entrance and saw the green light flash. “Hurry up,” he muttered, willing the door to open faster.
The door slid slowly open. Jamie saw the hub access point, and saw half a dozen KVBs were in with the hub and were now moving toward him. He was surrounded.
CHAPTER 21
FRB SERVICE HUB
Outside the stadium, all was quiet. Fenwick was running diagnostics on the transport systems, trying to track down the virus that had been loaded into it. Agents Ganos and Drake remained at their posts near the outside gate. The streets in this section of Detroit were empty and the surrounding buildings were unoccupied.
“What do you know about the FRB?” Drake asked Ganos.
“What?” Agent Ganos asked, looking up the street.
“The FRB, what do you know about them?” Drake asked.
“Is this relevant?” Ganos asked, looking through her sight to see further down the block.
“Humor me,” Drake said.
“I suppose I know what they taught me in middle school. After the collapse, Michigan was placed under federal reorganization. The FRB set up the aid camps and the health facilities and supervised the transition of state businesses into federal businesses,” Agent Ganos told him. “Why?”
“The culling.” Drake looked meaningfully at the stadium.
“Oh. That,” Ganos shrugged and turned her full attention to watching the streets.
“Oh, that? Over a hundred and fifty thousand people were killed.”
“Drake, what is wrong with you?”
Drake turned and looked down the street. “Places have history…memories.”
“Drake, I get it. It was terrible. But it wasn’t new and it will happen again, so stay focused,” Ganos said.
“It’s attitudes like that -” Drake growled.
“You’ve interrogated hundreds of domestic prisoners.”
“So? That means I can’t have a sense of history, of moral outrage?” Drake demanded.
“Drake, if we stopped every time our government killed a few hundred thousand innocent people to express our moral outrage we’d never get anything done,” Agent Ganos said.
“We’ve got activity,” Fenwick broke in, poking his head out of the transport.
“Where?” Drake asked.
“I show low, red heat signatures about two blocks out and closing,” Fenwick reported.
“How many?” Ganos asked.
“No idea.,” Fenwick replied. “There are too many and they are too close together to count. At least a few hundred.”
“What?” Drake asked.
“I’m going to try and bring the transport’s defense systems back online,” Fenwick said, and withdrew into the vehicle.
“Over there!” Ganos yelled as a crowd of several hundred people appeared at the far end of the street.
∞
“Baxter! Get out of there!” Captain Blaise yelled as he saw the KVBs close in on Jamie.
Jamie didn’t hesitate. He ran forward into the hub, letting the door close behind him. He fired a round into the skull of the first KVB and moved forward methodically, clearing them, one after another. He felt something pulling at his belt, and turned to see that a KVB had slipped in behind him and grabbed his knife. Jamie turned to shoot it, but not before it slashed open his left shoulder. Jamie’s first shot was slightly wide of the mark and shattered the KVB’s cheek. It slashed again with the knife and Jamie placed a round through its forehead. Dazed, slightly deafened by the sound of the gun discharging in a closed space and with blood pouring from his left shoulder, Jamie stumbled back into the wall and caught his breath. He holstered his gun and reached to his belt to retrieve a small case he had clipped to it. He pushed himself forward, over the bodies to the hub and set the array in place. It would take ten minutes for the hub to synch up and then Jamie could transmit the signal.
While he waited for the hub to synch up, Jamie went back among the bodies and retrieved his knife. He cut away the sleeve of his shirt and examined the wound. It was a wide gaping wound that had cut deeply into the muscle. He reached to his belt and retrieved the med kit he’d assem
bled at the HDMP substation. There was a tube of closing gel. He took it in his right hand and brought it down hard against a wall, and felt the center crack and the tube grow hotter. He shook it as hard as he could, taking short, fast breaths. He looked at the open wound, brought the edge of the tube forward, pressed the release and felt the hot fluid run across his shoulder. He drew it down slowly from top to bottom, covering the gap in his shoulder. As the heat increased, he closed the tube and let it drop to the floor. He pressed the edges of the wound closer together as the gel fused the tissue. Jamie didn’t swear or grunt, but his eyes watered as the acetone vapors of the surgical sealing gel set. He waited a full minute to open his eyes and inspect the wound. The blood flow had stopped, and where the blood had been flowing when he applied the gel there were now amber crystals beneath the clear seal of the surgical gel. He moved his left shoulder. The pain was lancing, but the seal held. Jamie went back to the array to wait for the synch up.
∞
“They’re scattering!” Agent Ganos yelled, as she fired on the KVBs that were closing in on the entrance of the ancient baseball stadium.
“It doesn’t look like it to me!” Agent Drake yelled back, as another group of KVBs closed in on them from the other side.
“She’s right!” Fenwick yelled.
“What was that?” Agent Ganos asked.
“I said you are right!” Fenwick bellowed. “There are a bunch of them going in other directions.”
“I love it when I’m right,” Ganos grinned, continuing to fire.
“We’ve got a serious problem here!” Fenwick announced.
“That isn’t news,” Drake said, reloading his gun.
“The way they’re moving…it’s the pattern they used to blow out the other hubs.”
∞
“You okay?” Blaise yelled to Rosen.
“Yeah, how about you?”
“I’m good,” Blaise said.
“So what do we do now?” Rosen asked, his gun trained on the wall of bodies that the KVBs had stacked up as they retreated back toward the hub.
“We wait and give Baxter time to transmit the signal.”
