Beat

by Jared Garrett

“And we destroy the knockout,” Melisa said. “I think we should tell people what happened to the Wanderers, too.”

  “So here’s what we do,” I said. “Melisa and Devera will go to the power utility and find a way to shut down the robot guards. At the same time—”

  “Robot guards?” This was Pol’s voice. “You didn’t say anything about that.”

  “Yes, very freaky. Totally quiet and with weapons that unfold. They seem pretty invincible, so I don’t think we want to try to fight them. We can fight the people, though.” I hoped.

  “I’d rather not fight the people,” Pol said.

  “Me too. If we’re lucky, we won’t have to.” I thought I sounded a lot more confident than I felt. “But they’ll also cut off communications with the outside, except for broadcasting.”

  “That’s gonna be hard,” Koner said.

  “Impossible,” Pol said. “And were you hoping to get into the broadcasting room and send out the proof from there?”

  “Yeah,” I said.

  “Then it’s pointless to try to cut off their power grid but keep broadcasting capability. Prime One’s firewall is fragging strong. You’re better off trying to splice into the line and send a broadcast piggy-backed on their signal.”

  “Piggy-backed?” That was Melisa.

  “I’ve got a hand-held game console in my bag. I could probably use the VidChat on it to . . . “ Pol trailed off. “Between Koner and me, we could figure out how to set it up. I’ve got the tools.”

  “No,” I said. “People have to believe us, not just see us. If we’re sitting in the Speekers chairs, at their desk, and sending the clips out from there and telling the story from there, we have a much better chance.”

  “You’re talking about gaining control of the broadcasting equipment and everything,” Koner said.

  “Yes, but I know where it is. And we’re going to make a distraction to get the Enforsers out of Prime One. I think it’s the only way to make sure people see and believe the truth,” I said.

  “Distraction?” Pol said. “You never said anything about that.”

  “I hadn’t gotten to it yet.” I took a breath and held it tightly. “We need to blow up the Enjineering Dome.”

  “We talked about that before,” Melisa said. “But how do we do it?”

  “The Enjineering Dome?” Pol’s voice got so high it squeaked. “People are in there. People I like.” And my own work station, I heard him not say.

  “Not the whole thing. Just the fuel storage,” I said.

  “Oh,” Pol said, his voice normal again. “So set off an incendiary of some kind?”

  “I was just thinking of using a Keeper to fire a grenade into it,” I said.

  “That’s what I said,” Pol said.

  “That’s dangerous,” Koner said.

  “We can make sure nobody’s in there,” I said. “But that can wait. First, Melisa has a card that can get us into Prime One, but we need the digital signature changed. Is that possible, Pol?”

  “Easy. I just need to add a few pits and as long as I stay within the parameters of the algorithm, it’s like—”

  I cut Pol off. “Okay. So we need to meet really fast so we can deal with Pol and Koner’s Papas and the card thing. Everyone gather at the east edge of Purple Rez. Where H begins. Two minutes.”

  “On our way,” Melisa said.

  I was already there, standing on the corner and trying to give an impression of menacing authority. “I’m already here.”

  “Just a minute,” Koner said.

  Pol didn’t say anything, but he jogged into sight within a few seconds. “Here,” came his voice. When he stopped in front of me, I pulled off my left glove and dug into a pocket in the Enforser jacket. I handed him the tiny pin Melisa had given me. “Use this to take off your Papa.”

  Pol’s eyes widened. “But I got the knockout last night.”

  My heart sank. “Then you need to make sure your heart rate doesn’t go up too high. But there’s a tracker in there and we can’t have them knowing where you are.”

  He stared at me for long seconds, fear in his face. By the time the others arrived, he was working on his Papa.

  I turned to Koner. “You have to take your Papa off so the Admins or anybody else doesn’t know where you are. Did you get the knockout recently?”

  Koner swallowed. “Last night.”

  I exchanged a visor-covered look with Melisa. She hadn’t gotten it in weeks. And it had been months, at least, for me. But Bren and these guys had.

  “You have to be careful with your heart rate, but we won’t be running. You should be okay.”

  “Got it,” Pol said. He held his Papa loosely.

  “This is crazy,” Koner said. He took the pin from Pol, examining it. “Where’d this come from?”

  “Give me the card,” Pol said, digging into his satchel.

  “I made it,” Melisa said to Koner. She pulled out the small green card and handed it to Pol.

  “But what if my heart beat goes too high?” Koner asked.

  “The Bug’s not real anymore,” Devera said, her hand going to his arm. “Don’t be scared.”

  “It’s in my blood if Nik’s right!” Koner said, his voice cracking.

  “I am right, but you can do it,” I said. “Either take it off or you don’t come along.” I stepped away. “Meet at the north entrance of the Dumps in five minutes.”

  I walked quickly back toward the Enjineering Dome, easily seeing Prime One rising above it.

  “When you’re done with the Papa, Koner, find somewhere to hide it. Somewhere you might actually be if you’re not at your shift.”

  “Okay,” Koner said. His voice sounded almost panicky. “I’m taking it off.”

  “Great. Maybe in a park or something,” I said.

  “Nik,” Melisa said. “How are we going to do this? Pol’s got a point about the broadcasting equipment and space. Are we going to piggy-back in?”

  I thought for a moment, feeling alive and clear. This felt amazing, like I was finally making real choices. Like I was finally free. Piggy-back. That was it. “Yes. And no.”

  I told them my idea as I walked. Passing right next to a bush on the edge of the grounds of the Enjineering Dome, I dropped Pol’s Papa into the bush and kept moving, heading south.

  “So we still meet at the Dumps?” Koner asked.

  “Yes. We’ll get into Prime One through the conveyor belt tunnel,” I said. “Are you guys done?”

  “Yeah,” Pol said. “We’re on the move. Melisa’s got Devera. Koner and me have the card.”

  “Koner’s Papa?” I asked.

  “Behind a tree,” Koner said.

  “Great. Two minutes,” I said.

  “Are we sure we’ll be able to get in?”

  “No, but this should work. Everybody should be focused on the fuel explosion,” I said.

  “You keep talking about that. Who’s going to do it?” Melisa asked.

  “Me.” My visor told me the south door of the Enjineering Dome was fifty meters away and that there were no heat signatures behind the wall. This visor was totally cool. As I lifted the Keeper, green words flashed before my eyes. SELECT PROJECTILE AND TARGET. I thumbed at the wide cylinder on the Keeper. GRENADE SELECTED. This was completely nuts. I was completely nuts.

  But the time had come to change things.

  “What?” Melisa said. “You’ll be caught!”

  “I won’t be. One minute.” I fired. The explosion was incredibly loud. I stepped back around the corner of the Enjineering Dome, counted to ten, then aimed and fired again. The door must have been destroyed, because this time the explosion came a second or two later and it was much larger.

  “That was the fuel?” Pol asked.

  I picked myself off the ground and shook the haze away. “Distraction.” I got up, bits of rock and plas-steel tumbling off me. “Go!” I ran.

  CHAPTER 33

  I was at the north entrance to the Dumps a minute later. Getting
knocked down by the fuel storage explosion had twisted a knee, but I could move all right. Smoke billowed into the sky as Pol flashed the card in front of the sensor. We hurried into the small building that served as a worker processing station.

  “What’s going on?” A red-faced man behind the counter stared at us, then at the pillar of smoke that we could easily see through the windows.

  “Some kind of security breach,” Melisa said, her voice lower than usual. “We’re here to investigate.”

  “But this is the Dumps!”

  “Shut up,” Melisa said and fired her Keeper. Electrodes spat into the man’s chest and he convulsed, then fell unconscious to the floor.

  Koner, Pol, and I turned to her, shocked. Devera nodded, a strange look of satisfaction on her face.

  “Let’s go,” Melisa said.

  Our path through the Dumps to the conveyor tunnel for Prime One was unobstructed. Everybody had left their positions and gone to the east entrance building to see what was going on. Nothing like an explosion had ever happened in New Frisko, so it was no surprise that everyone wanted to see. Which was what I was counting on.

  Inside of another minute we were hurrying down the dimly lit tunnel. Koner and Pol were breathing a little hard. “Guys, take slow breaths,” I said. “Keep calm.” I realized what I’d just said and almost burst into laughter. Better calm than dead. In this case it was true.

  Before long, we came to the door I’d tried to jam closed with my zip. Pol opened it.

  “Okay, remember where the broadcasting room is?”

  Melisa nodded. I’d told her as we were walking. “Second floor.”

  “Give Devera a Keeper,” I said. “And first kill the solar panels.”

  Melisa hesitated, but finally took her extra Keeper off her shoulder. “Be careful.”

  Devera grinned. “Now they have to be careful.” For a moment, she didn’t look nine years old.

  “You’ll have to take the stairs, at least part of the way,” I said.

  “We’re good,” Melisa said. “No Bug in us.”

  We stepped through the door. “Go. We’ll IM you in about ten minutes.” We all hurried down the short hallway to the main utility corridor. I pointed. “That’s the stairs.”

  Melisa and Devera took off running.

  “Koner, Pol, let’s go.” I handed my extra Keeper to Koner. “Remember, breathe slowly.”

  We headed out the other direction. We saw nobody as we walked quickly. Just before we came to the elevator, I saw the box I’d seen my first time in this corridor. EMERGENCY POWER.

  I lowered my visor and thumbed the ammunition drum on my Keeper. “Get behind me.” Koner and Pol jumped and I fired. It still hurt my injured right arm, but I could manage it. Besides, this was fun. Bullets tore through the metal casing of the power box, sparks flying and high-pitched whines echoing all around us. When the smoke cleared, what I saw made me smile. The casing of the box was shredded. I thumbed the drum again and fired. Electrodes splattered into the box. More sparks and loud snapping. The lights flickered a few times.

  “That should take care of that,” I said.

  “Dok,” Koner said, his face slack. “Very cool.”

  “Nice. I get to go next,” Pol said.

  “Let’s move.”

  Ten meters from the bend in the hallway, two Enforsers rounded the corner. Despite the fact that I was wearing an Enforser uniform, they reacted faster than I could, raising their Keepers. “Halt!”

  We didn’t halt. “Get back,” I yelled at Koner and Pol. I fired, stepping backward fast.

  Electrodes splattered out of my Keeper, flopping uselessly on the gray stone floor. “Frag!” I ran backward as fast as I could, frantically using my fingers to look for the switch to change my ammo, my eyes glued to the Enforsers.

  Their Keepers lifted a little and I threw myself into a spin, ducking and swerving, bouncing off walls. Koner and Pol had run and found a corner to duck behind.

  Explosions filled the narrow hallway, followed by whines as bullets ricocheted. I felt multiple impacts on my back, flinging me to the floor. Rock chips and dust filled the air. I rolled onto my back, finally finding the ammo knob. I flipped it and squeezed the trigger, clueless about what I was about to fire—

  A massive thump and flash, pressure, and then noise so loud I thought my ears would bleed, slammed into me. If I’d been standing, it probably would have cut me in half.

  Dazed, I pushed to my knees, my ears ringing. My visor showed me multiple heat sources that were fading quickly.

  “Nik!” I heard the voice in my EarCom and in the hallway. Pol’s voice. “Nik, bug me, are you okay?” Hands gripped my biceps.

  “Dok, what the bug did you do?” That was Koner.

  I shook my head, trying to clear it, not entirely sure what I’d just done. “I think it was a grenade.”

  On my feet, I surveyed the smoke-filled hallway. Gashes in the walls, floor, and ceiling; rubble everywhere, two dark forms lying very still. I felt my heart rate spike. I ran to the downed Enforsers, kneeling between them.

  “Nik, we have to go,” Pol said, yanking at me.

  “Wait a minute!” I dropped my Keeper, yanking at the helmet of the nearest Enforser, avoiding looking at the gashes in his torso and legs. The helmet wouldn’t come off, but I got a finger on his neck. A pulse. I let out the breath I’d been holding.

  “Nik, we have to hurry!” Koner yanked at me now. “Who cares if they’re dead?”

  “I do!” I spun to the other Enforser. He had a pulse too. “If we start killing people, we’re no better and we might as well give up.”

  Grabbing my Keeper, I stood. “We’re not here to kill people.” I lifted my visor and stared Koner and Pol down. “We’re not.”

  Pol nodded.

  “Fine,” Koner said. “Let’s just go.”

  I led the way down the hallway, a blaring siren echoing off the walls and red alarm lights flashing and rotating in the dim illumination of emergency lights.

  We were at the lab less than a minute later. Pol got us in. Koner found the computers and got them warming up while Pol and I opened the storage rooms. We used anything we could find—beaker stands, tools, gloves—to jam the doors wide open.

  “I’ll get a sample,” Pol said. He put on a pair of gloves and ducked into one of the rooms.

  “Push the top,” I said.

  “Got it!” His voice sounded a little muffled.

  “Ready over here! I’m in my IM-box and I’ve got the analysis deck set,” Koner called.

  “Pol! Help him out. I’ll take care of the knockout,” I said.

  “Okay,” Pol said, already emerging with a vial in his hand.

  I ducked into each storage room, opening all of the big cylinders. It took me about a minute. As I worked, I thought fast, wanting another way to heat up the knockout faster.

  “Bug me,” Koner’s shout echoed through the lab. “You were right! It’s the Bug too! It probably just knocks you out a little faster than the Bug can get you!”

  “Send it to Melisa,” I called. The cooling units. I pulled my visor down again and blasted the cooling unit in the storage room I was standing in. It screeched and shuddered. A loud clank followed and sparks fizzled out of the vents. It was dead.

  “Nik! What are you doing?” Pol’s high voice called.

  “Making sure,” I yelled back. “I’m not shooting the vials, don’t worry.” I ran to the next storage room. “Melisa? Can you hear me?”

  “We found an elevator.” Melisa said. “We’re on the roof. Wait a second.”

  “They’re sending you the analysis now. Get to broadcasting fast.”

  Melisa’s voice came back, loud crashing noises in the background. “The solars are sliding down the dome as we speak.”

  “Tell him it was fun!” Devera’s voice was easy to hear.

  “Devera says—”

  “I heard her,” I blasted the next cooling unit. “See you in a few minutes.”


  “Okay.”

  I checked my Papa. We’d been in Prime One for five minutes at the most.

  Sixty seconds later, all of the cooling units were destroyed, dripping fluid of some kind on the concrete floor of the storage rooms.

  I still wasn’t done. I wanted to be sure.

  I searched the lab. “Are you finished?”

  “It’s sent,” Koner said.

  “What are you doing now?” Pol asked.

  “Heating units. The Bug will die faster if we make it hotter,” I said. I found one and turned it on.

  “Good idea.” Pol scanned the lab. “Got one here!” He bent over.

  “Koner,” I said. “Get the card and go hold the elevator. We’ll be finished in a minute. Shoot anyone who tries to stop you.” I looked at him long. “With the electrodes.”

  “Or rubber bullets,” Koner said, going over to Pol, taking the card, and walking quickly out.

  “And breathe slowly!”

  Pol appeared again, his face sweaty. “It’s on.”

  “Is it getting warm in here yet?” The Enforser uniform still felt cool.

  “Maybe a little.”

  “Keep looking,” I said. I took the helmet off and set it on a work table. I was tired of looking through the visor; it wasn’t good for this kind of work. I found another heating unit and carried it closer to a storage room, turning it on and setting it on the floor.

  “Got another,” Pol said. He carried it closer to a storage room and turned it on.

  “We have to go.” I headed for the door. Pol followed. We found Koner at the elevator, his foot between the doors.

  “Took you long enough,” Koner said.

  Inside the elevator, Pol flashed the card and hit “2.” The elevator shot up. It felt like only seconds later that the doors slid open. I darted out of the car and scanned the area. It was a small elevator lobby, with a hallway off to the right and left and a reception area ahead of me. Nobody sat behind the desk. A sign on the wall read “BROADCASTING ROOMS” with an arrow pointing right.

  “Okay, let’s go,” I said and dashed down the right hallway. A door ahead of me opened and a tall man stepped out. “Don’t move,” I yelled. He spun to see me, terror on his face. “Get back in there,” I said and followed him. Two more people sat at terminals with multiple skreens. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I need you to cooperate, okay?”