Metal Fatigue

by Sean Williams

  Roads opened his mouth, then shut it.

  "Barney," he subvocalised, "now!"

  Instantly, the sound of sirens disturbed the stillness of the night, cutting across the surface of the river and to their position on the bridge. The liaison officer backed away, startled, and looked toward the shore.

  A string of RSD and RUSAMC vehicles had pulled to a halt at the end of the freeway. Even without magnification, their headlights were clearly visible.

  "What the — ?" whispered DeKurzak, backing away to view the sight from the walkway. Betheras stared at the lights with mute shock. Neither man was paying full attention to their captives.

  Roads ducked under the line of DeKurzak's pistol and behind Cati. Before DeKurzak could react, he dragged Katiya after him, into the shadow of Cati's bulk, then emerged to grab Betheras about the neck.

  The RUSAMC officer hissed and tried to pull away, but Roads tightened his grip.

  DeKurzak watched furiously, unable to find a clear line of fire.

  "Put down the gun, DeKurzak," Roads warned. "They know everything."

  "No. I refuse to believe that. I interrupted PolNet myself; there's no way you could have told them."

  "Then why are they here?"

  "Chance." DeKurzak raised the barrel of the gun. "Maybe they're after you, not me."

  Betheras stiffened as DeKurzak aimed the pistol. "No, wait — " he gasped.

  Roads pushed the RUSAMC officer towards DeKurzak. They collided, and the pistol cracked loudly. Katiya screamed. Betheras crumpled to the ground. DeKurzak backed away, brushing blood from his clothes. Before Roads could reach cover the gun was on him again.

  He froze, cursing his luck. He hadn't expected DeKurzak to shoot Betheras. And from the fleeting look of shock on his face, DeKurzak hadn't expected it, either.

  "I don't want any evidence left behind," DeKurzak was saying into the microphone of a small radio transmitter he had pulled out of his pocket. "When RSD arrives, put up a fight and make sure they see you, then throw yourself off the bridge. We don't have time for games any more."

  Beside them, Cati nodded.

  "Good," the MSA officer continued. "Before you do that, though, there's one other task you have to perform. Roads is a traitor, a threat to the security of the United States of America, and this is his accomplice. I want you to kill them both — Roads first and then the girl. Do it now, before either of them tries anything. Understood?"

  Katiya stared despairingly at Cati as he nodded. His enormous frame stirred into life and he took a step forward.

  "I'm in trouble," Roads said into the cyberlink. "Barney, Martin — how far away are you?"

  "Not far. The area is secure. A couple of minutes."

  "Shit." Too long. He ducked away to his right, trying to put as much distance as possible between him and the assassin. Cati's movements were slow, almost sluggish, but he knew how quickly that could change if the killer's resistance crumbled. DeKurzak's well-timed order had saved him before; now, he would have no such rescue. Despite Katiya's attempts to hold him back, the giant frame turned to face him.

  "We'll be cut off from your feed for the next few minutes, while we're moving on foot," said O'Dell. "You'll have to tell us what's going on via the cyberlink alone, if you can."

  Roads didn't break his concentration to reply. He backed away until he reached the walkway on the west side of the bridge. His searching fingers found a length of rusty iron behind him — part of the guide-rail skirting the road. Flexing every enhanced muscle in his shoulders and back, he wrenched it free.

  With a diffident shrug of his right arm, Cati tossed Katiya aside. Pausing only to rip the RUSAMC battle-harness from his shoulders and to throw the headset away, he assumed an open-armed stance, ready to attack.

  "Interesting," said DeKurzak, watching Cati's actions with a crooked smile, "if a little primal. I'd stay and watch the rest, but for RSD's untimely arrival. I'll have to get back into the city by the far bank in time to head off the Mayor. Don't want him going off half-cocked until the final scores are in — although I have no doubts how it will look: you, your friend and an officer of the Reunited States Army, an unholy alliance in life and death."

  "Don't be too sure about that, DeKurzak," Roads muttered, setting his implants to record. He had only one chance left to test if his hunch about DeKurzak's true motive was correct. "The game's not over yet."

  "No? I stand by what I said: they can't possibly know what I've done."

  "And what would that be, exactly? Helped the Mayor sell out the city just to keep his precious power base?" Roads paused for effect, then added: "Or been part of Betheras' little scheme to sell Kennedy to the New Mexican Alliance?"

  DeKurzak paled and raised the pistol. For a moment, Roads thought he was about to shoot. Then, without replying, the liaison officer turned and hurried towards the safety of the far side of the river.

  Roads likewise readied himself for a sudden dash. Twenty metres in the same direction DeKurzak was heading, a maintenance gantry led into the canopy of girders and cable above. If he could get past Cati and to DeKurzak, then there was a chance he could use the MSA officer as a body-shield and stay alive long enough for Barney to reach them.

  Barely had DeKurzak gone fifteen steps, however, when something flashed down from the bridge's superstructure and alighted upon his shoulders.

  DeKurzak's surprised cry brought a sudden halt to Cati's slow approach. Roads glanced up just in time to see the shape on DeKurzak's shoulders shift as it folded its transparent wings, absorbed them into its body, and changed shape.

  DeKurzak stumbled, flailed in vain to shift the thing on his back. He raised the pistol to ward it off, but the gun was snatched away and hurled into the night. Five rotating balls of light darted around the liaison officer's head for an instant as incomprehensible forces twisted. The beginning of a scream was cut off at his neck, severed in a spray of blood that reached two metres into the air. DeKurzak's legs spasmed once then went limp. For an instant, only whirlpooling field-effects kept his body upright.

  Then the five silver balls ceased their furious dance, and DeKurzak's headless corpse fell limp to the road. Blood formed a pool of hot darkness spreading across the roadway.

  The balls floated toward the three stunned observers, assuming a familiar five-pointed arrangement as they did so. Half-visible planes of force softened, curved, assumed colour and definition. A faint mist of blood hissed away from its "skin" as the transformation reached its final stages.

  Roads gaped open-mouthed, horrified, as his mirror-image stared silently back at him. There was no way of telling if it recognised him, or cared that he recognised it. Its eyes were empty, and its face was dead.

  A shiver of ice crept down Roads' spine at the true realisation that within the facade of humanity was nothing but air, and five silver balls. Knowing the principles behind Project Cherubim was nothing compared to seeing it in action. He was facing a modern ghost, a phantom made of caged energy.

  A phantom that could kill, he reminded himself. It had done so in front of him twice now.

  Roads hefted the rusty bar in his right hand. Katiya had turned away at the sight of DeKurzak's death and retched noisily. Cati stood between them and the Mole, apparently frozen by indecision. The Mole itself — standing with its "hands" deep inside the "pockets" of its "coat" — still didn't move.

  "Barney," Roads subvocalised through the cyberlink. "I don't know where you are, but be careful. Something's going on. Something weird."

  "What?" Barney's voice was thick between rapid breaths.

  "The Mole's arrived," he explained. "It just killed DeKurzak, and now it's not doing anything at all."

  "The Mole?" O'Dell's voice came over the line, openly surprised. "What the hell — ?"

  "Where's Cati?" broke in Barney.

  "Right here. He's not doing anything either. He's just staring at the Mole and me and ..." Roads broke off as realisation suddenly dawned. "Oh Christ, the Mole must have f
ollowed me here from Old North Street. It either killed DeKurzak because he ordered Cati to kill me, or simply because he was Cati's controller and therefore breaking the Humanity Laws. Now it's confused Cati by showing him two of me when there should only be one." Roads shook his head: the killer didn't know which of him to attack. "Cati doesn't want to obey the orders anyway, so he's not fighting too hard to work it out."

  Stalemate.

  "But DeKurzak's dead," protested Barney. "Surely that makes Cati's orders invalid?"

  "Why should it? Orders are orders. Depending on how Cati views the world, the actual person who issues them might be irrelevant. Only the control code followed by the words themselves matter."

  Roads stopped as Cati moved. The massive head turned from side to side, looking from Roads to the Mole and back again. The killer's broad, eerie face displayed no animation whatsoever.

  Katiya joined Roads' corner of the frozen tableau. "Cati? Can you hear me?" she said. "Please, Cati — you don't have to do this!"

  Cati's black, impenetrable eyes regarded her solemnly. Then his hands began to move, chopping at the air in short, sharp strokes. When he stopped and glanced away again, the woman bit back a sob of frustration.

  "What did he say?" Roads asked the woman.

  She shook her head. "He won't listen to me," she said. "But he knows what he's doing is wrong. He just doesn't have any choice ..."

  "Hold on a little longer, Phil," Barney said via the cyberlink. "We're on our way."

  Roads gripped the metal bar tightly and counted the seconds. The sound of distant feet pounding along the walkway insinuated itself into the distance. So close, but still too far away. If he could hear it, then the Mole could as well. And if O'Dell was right about the heart of the AI's confusion —

  Before he could complete the thought, the Mole broke the stalemate.

  A lightning flash high in the infra-red spectrum split the night in two. Blinded, Roads staggered backward, raising a hand to shield his eyes. He clearly heard Katiya's puzzled gasp but could not see what had prompted it.

  Squinting, Roads tried to see through the haze in his eyes. Tiny artificial irises slowly adjusted until he could dimly make out his immediate surroundings: Katiya, Cati, also dazzled by the bright flash, and ...

  "Where's it gone?" the woman asked him.

  Roads realised next. Either his eyes were less sensitive than Cati's or the flash had been directed more in the killer's direction.

  The Mole had disappeared.

  Cati looked first at Roads, then where the Mole had been standing a second ago. Seeing only empty air, the killer glanced around him, but the Mole was nowhere nearby. Finally, his eyes returned to Roads — and stayed there.

  By the time Cati reached the obvious conclusion, Roads was already running.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  1:05 a.m.

  The road surface was uneven and, when he reached DeKurzak's remains, slippery as well. As he negotiated the puddle of blood, he saw the bloody transmitter still in DeKurzak's lifeless fingers. Without breaking step, he picked it up and slid it into his coat pocket.

  Then the sound of pursuit came from behind him. Cati's few seconds of confusion had enabled him to reach the base of the maintenance gantry unscathed. A flight of narrow, steeply-inclined steps led upward into shadow. There was no way he could tell where they went, or how far, but he had no other option. On the flat, open surface of the road, Cati would rapidly overtake him.

  He climbed as fast as his aching body would allow, taking three steps at a time. The killer's heavy footfalls made the whole gantry shake. Flakes of rust rained around him as he fled higher. The shrill, unintelligible shouts of Katiya floated after them.

  He reached a junction. A walkway leading to the far side of the bridge stretched to his right. Another flight of steps beckoned higher to his left. He continued upward, passing girders, stanchions and cable housings — but nothing to suggest what the gantry had originally been for, years ago. Maintenance, yes, but of what, exactly? Could it possibly serve him to any advantage?

  He reached another possible change of course. This time a walkway led out of sight behind a massive girder. He ducked along it and pressed his back against the weathered metal. Cati's booming steps approached rapidly, and stopped at the top of the stairs.

  Roads could almost hear the puzzlement radiating from Cati's unseen figure. Which way? Up, or along the walkway?

  When Cati finally moved, it was toward his hiding place. Roads gritted his teeth and raised the metal bar in readiness to strike.

  The killer stopped just before the girder, obviously wary of a trap. Roads waited impatiently, feeling sweat trickle down the back of his neck.

  Movement from above broke the tableau. Something fell onto the walkway by the stairwell, making it shake. Cati grunted with surprise, and took a single heavy step back. A loud thud followed.

  Roads risked a quick glimpse around the corner. The Mole was locked in a fierce embrace with the killer, stubbornly resisting Cati's attempts to break its back.

  Protecting Roads ...

  He stole off along the walkway while Cati was distracted. It led nowhere, ending in a cul-de-sac surrounded by thick, long-dead power cables. Looking around him, he saw the stairwell not far away. Only a few metres' gap separated him from safety. Swinging up into the cables, he began to climb across the gap. Far below, he could see the flashing of torches as Barney and O'Dell ran along the western walkway to where Katiya and DeKurzak's body waited. They were still too far away to be of any real help.

  He dropped down into the stairwell as gently as he could, but not gently enough. The battle below changed tempo the instant his boots touched metal. Hurried footsteps from below suggested that the Mole had broken free and was leading Cati away.

  No, not away, Roads realised as the stairwell began vibrating around him again. Leading Cati upward, directly for him.

  Why? he wondered. The Mole had disposed of DeKurzak easily enough. What prevented it from doing the same to Cati?

  There was only one possible theory, and he didn't like it.

  He began to climb again, fighting a growing sense of futility. The diversion had gained him valuable seconds, though, in which he could attempt a second ambush or simply find somewhere to hide.

  He reached another junction. This time the walkway led in a straight line across the bridge. No chance of hiding there, although the complex tangle of supports and cables seemed even denser than before. He assumed he was nearing the top of the bridge. Above him, even through the closely-meshed metal web, Roads could see stars.

  The stairs ended at that point and became a series of ladders. Roads climbed as fast as he could, ignoring twinges in his ribs and shoulders. His whole body ached, but he couldn't let the pain slow him down. Not far below him, Cati reached the ladders and also began to climb.

  Roads risked a quick glance. Cati was alone. The Mole had disappeared again.

  "Barney! Where are you?"

  "We've just found DeKurzak. Where the hell are you?"

  "There's a gantry further down that leads into the superstructure. If you look up, you might just be able to see me."

  "What on earth — ?"

  "Cati's not far behind me."

  "Oh, understood." Barney paused for a few seconds, presumably to relay the information, then returned: "Is Katiya with you?"

  "No. She's not down there?"

  "No."

  "Phil, this is Martin." O'Dell's voice came clearly over the cyberlink. "Barney's on her way to the gantry, but I'm staying behind. I've brought the laptop with me to access PolNet again. From now on, I can tell her what's happening without her disturbing you."

  "Thanks." Roads was grateful for that, at least. Not that the feed from his eyes currently made inspiring viewing — ladders and more ladders, each leading further up into the scaffolding.

  But not forever. Barely thirty seconds after O'Dell reopened the link, the ladders came to an end. Roads clambered upward o
nto a ten-metre-wide metal platform at the very summit of the bridge. He looked around, saw bird-droppings and nests, and the dim lights of the city to his right. The ragged remains of an old tent-like structure flapped from one edge. The wind was colder, whipping at his clothes like insubstantial hands trying to drag him from his perch. The maintenance platform had no guard-rails.

  Curving down and to either side were the massive, carbon-fibre suspension cables of the bridge, each wider than his thigh. He considered making his escape along one of them, but decided against it. Even with the killer's greater mass taken into account, Cati's agility far exceeded his own; he'd have to proceed at a near run just to keep ahead. His sense of balance wasn't up to the task.

  It was time to make a stand. Taking a position at the head of the ladder, with the rusty bar gripped in both hands, he waited for Cati to arrive. Height was his one advantage, and this his only chance.

  Then a noise from behind him made him turn. Cati's massive head appeared on the other side of the platform, followed by his arms and shoulders. Roads backed away from the ladder's summit, realising that he had been tricked. Cati had obviously anticipated the ambush and taken the last few metres by another route. For someone who had proved his climbing ability on the roofs of Kennedy Polis, the detour wouldn't have been too difficult.

  Yet ... Roads frowned, momentarily puzzled. The sound of someone climbing the second-to-last ladder came clearly from below. If that wasn't Cati, then it could only have been Katiya — or the Mole.

  But as Cati swung himself up onto the platform, another Cati appeared at the top of the ladder.

  Backing away from both of them, unsure which was the illusion, he cursed O'Dell and his damned machine.

  When the second Cati had climbed completely out of the ladderwell, the first suddenly vanished, sending five small dimples scattering into the darkness.

  Roads and the real Cati squared off and circled each other warily. Roads kept the iron bar poised between them, ready for the slightest move. Cati seemed content to wait for the moment, however, balanced between caution and the need to obey orders.