Danger's Cure: (Holly Danger Book 4)

by Amanda Carlson

  Darby scooted forward. “I don’t know,” he said. “We can certainly try and check it out later. Right now, the most useful thing to us would be a detailed map of the city. This interface is a thousand times better than the one on the pico. I’m not sure if I can integrate the trackers Roman made with this system, but we already know the locations, so if we have access to a detailed map, we can examine the government building we’re looking for. The building itself should be old enough to fit this profile. The military had access to every internal schematic of every building or structure built in the last hundred years. Architects and builders were required to download their plans once a building was complete. It was under the guise of keeping people safe, so the government could monitor and access fire alarms, integrated fire-suppression systems, surveillance, and even lockdown capabilities in case of a terrorist attack. But I think they just wanted a legal way to spy on people.”

  “That sounds about right,” I said.

  Darby said, “The government was riddled with greed. Deals were made, trillions of dollars exchanged, and in the end the military got what it wanted. It’s my belief that, by the time the meteor hit, not one speck of this world was unseen by their eyes.”

  “They had the ultimate power,” Case agreed. “And they didn’t give a shit what the lowly people thought.”

  “Expand map twenty kilometers in every direction,” Darby directed the hologram. Nothing happened. He tried again. “Locate nearest city, micro details.”

  Nothing.

  I addressed Case. “You’re the one who opened it with the right passcode. It’s probably voice sensitive. You ask.”

  “Open hologram map twenty kilometers north,” Case ordered. The pixels dissolved, disintegrating fluidly, joining back together to form a sharp, detailed image of a bustling city. Not only an image—a video.

  People were actually moving, crafts flying, trams shuttling inhabitants around.

  Breath leaving my body, I sat back in my seat, mesmerized. “It’s an old feed.” Seeing our ancestors going about their day-to-day business was humbling and a little overwhelming. There were so many of them.

  Darby reached out, tentatively touching one of the buildings. The pixels under his fingertips turned red, like they had for me. Not only did the map show the outlines of the buildings themselves, but also fully detailed insides, including furniture, utilities, houseplants, and everything else.

  “Are those…are those real people?” Daze asked, his voice barely registering.

  “Yes,” I said, finally coming out of my shock, leaning forward for a better look. “My guess is this was one of their last active feeds before disaster struck.”

  “That’s as good a guess as any,” Darby said. “The hologram software would’ve utilized multiple live satellites at once, which were knocked out of the sky almost immediately. This has to be the last cached data.”

  We were witnessing life as it was sixty-plus years ago, right before most of these people perished. It was a disturbing thought.

  I couldn’t look away.

  Everywhere my eyes focused, it was on something unusual and strange. Women wore outfits in which the skin of their arms and legs showed. Their hairstyles were elaborate, many of them piled on top of their heads. Many were wearing large hats. The men wore two-piece outfits, some colorful, some not. Then there were people wearing a mixture of the two, which was fascinating. Hair colors ranged from mellow to vibrant. Crafts floated by at regular intervals, staggered by height depending on which direction they were moving. Public transportation drifted back and forth, mainly vehicles that people had affectionately called people movers, which were large, standing-room-only crafts that stopped dutifully at almost every intersection. Up higher, scrapers were joined by clear skywalks that featured efficiently moving walkways.

  Darby slowly slid his finger to the right, taking us farther into the city.

  None of us could formulate words, until I finally sputtered, “Do you see how many animals they have?” It struck me as one of the strangest things, never having seen a live animal before. They were everywhere. “They have them hooked to short cables in the streets, and they run freely in the homes. I think our ancestors were animal crazy.”

  “Yes, most everyone had a pet,” Darby said. “They were allowed to take them everywhere. Places called restaurants—where people ordered exotic food—workplaces, homes, schools. They were revered and thought to have soothing qualities. Our ancestors lived high-stress lives. I didn’t really understand it before, but seeing their interactions with the animals here, it seems peaceful and happy.”

  It did.

  “I wish some of them had survived,” Daze said sadly. “I think I would’ve liked having a pet.”

  It was almost too much to take in.

  Darby began moving his fingers precisely, dragging the map farther and farther until he found what he was looking for. Then he used his index finger and thumb on each hand to enlarge the space. “This is the government building that Roman marked in his map,” he said.

  Case and I both moved forward at the same time, our shoulders touching. “This might have been a government building all along,” I said. “Look, there’s a main desk. The people sitting there are wearing uniforms. If it is, that might help us.”

  Darby thrust the building upward, dragging our view down below street level to the basement. “I think this is the room that Roman highlighted.” He tapped the map, leaving three red dots fading in his wake. “I have the pico with me, and I can double-check later. But see that? Here are the same three entry points shown on the 3-D map.” Darby spun the hologram, and sure enough, the room had three entrances. One was up a story, accessed by a set of stairs.

  I squinted, pointing to a darkened area nearby. “That looks like a tunnel to me.”

  Darby dragged the image to the right, and a zoom tunnel popped into view. Dozens of people were riding automated walkways as we watched. It was surreal to see them actually using a place that had mostly been inaccessible for all these years.

  Millions of people a day had accessed zoom tunnels to get to the hypertube stations, which housed the magnetic-levitation trains that shuttled them from place to place beneath the city and beyond.

  “It is a zoom tunnel,” he cautioned, “but there’s a high likelihood that this location is no longer usable, either caved in or filled with water.”

  Daze sputtered excitedly, “Look, that train is going into the airlock. That’s so cool.” Because mag-lev trains were buoyed by strong magnets and operated in a vacuum, there was no friction, which allowed riders to reach their destinations in minutes, or traverse the entire United States in only a few hours.

  “Go back to the room we’re trying to get to,” I instructed Darby. He slid the map back to the basement. “Now go left a few meters.” He did as I asked. “Stop right there.” I leaned in closer, bringing my hand up. Darby dropped his and sat back. I enlarged the image myself, grinning. “Do you see that?” My voice was unchecked in its excitement.

  “What?” Darby squinted, moving forward again. “I see another zoom tunnel with lots of people waiting for a train.”

  “That’s one of our underground spaces,” I said. “I’m sure of it. I know, because we enter from the top. Right here in the maintenance shaft of this building.” I tapped my finger, and the hologram blinked red right over our entrance spot. The broken-down building we used had long since been abandoned, but here it looked perfectly sound. “We come down these steps, then crawl through this area.” I outlined the route with my finger. “To end up here.” I marked it with an X. “It looks like we’re lucky that a mag-lev was parked there when the meteor struck.”

  “It is our place!” Darby exclaimed, tilting his head to examine it more closely, because of course it didn’t look anything like it did now. Not to mention it was challenging to make out the landmarks with people streaming all over the place. “I haven’t been to that one in a while.”

  “No one has. Locklan
d uses the one near The Middle, and I usually use the one near the canals,” I said. “This is too close to Government Square. I hadn’t thought about it before, but look.” Using my other hand, I traced another path toward the government building we were trying to access. “It’s all connected. This network of tunnels leads us to within twenty or so meters of this room.” I tapped the room that hopefully contained the working medi-pod we needed to help Mary and the other seekers.

  “Those underground walking routes were made for commuters once they left the zoom tunnels. But again,” he cautioned, “there’s no guarantee that the areas are passable now.”

  “I know,” I said. “But lucky for us, we have lasers powerful enough to cut through rock. We’re getting through one way or another.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  I paced the entire length of the room for a second time. We’d pored over the hologram map, ogling all the new sights like a bunch of little kids experiencing their first ride in a dronecraft, reiterating our plan to work our way through the old zoom tunnels to get to one of the basement entrances of the government building.

  Getting that medi-pod was within our reach.

  Once we had the beginnings of a plan in place, I realized Bender and Lockland should’ve been back from Port Station. I passed Case, who sat on a stool by the cooling unit. “I’m giving them three more minutes,” I told him. “Then I’m going after them.”

  He nodded. “Lockland specified two hours.”

  “It’s been more than two. Let’s take Seven.” I turned and headed for the main door, not willing to wait any longer. If the Bureau of Truth had found them in Port Station, things could get dangerous fast. I called over my shoulder to Darby and Daze, who were in the back with their heads together, trying to figure out where Dixon could’ve hidden his logs, “We’re going to meet up with Lockland and Bender and see where they are.”

  Daze jumped up, racing toward us. “I want to go, too!” He rushed up so fast, I braced my arms in front of me so he didn’t crash into my torso, toppling us both.

  I shook my head as my hands settled on his shoulders. “Not this time. We’re only going as a precaution. I need you to stay here with Darby and keep searching. We need Dixon’s notes yesterday. If we find them, they’ll likely give us vital information on the Bureau of Truth. That’s the most important thing. Now that we have access to such a detailed, interactive map, we can start to put all the pieces together. It’s a top priority, and you’re just the guy for the job.” The disappointment on his face was apparent. By his reaction, he wasn’t ready for us to be apart again for a lengthy amount of time. I hadn’t realized he’d been holding in his anxiety. I would be more careful next time. I bent over. “Daze, I promise this is going to be a quick run to Port Station. If something went wrong, Bender and Lockland could be in the middle of a fight, and that’s not the place for you. We have to make sure they’re okay. Times are…different now. We have to take extra precautions.” Checking up on Bender and Lockland was new. The heightened risk we faced with the Bureau of Truth, among other things, amplified everything.

  Daze reluctantly took a step back. “Okay.” His voice quavered a little, but not too much. “Darby and I will keep looking for Dixon’s stuff. I’m sure we can find something. There’s lots of hidey-holes around here.”

  “I’m sure you can, too,” I said. “We have to assume Dixon was smart, not like Hutch. You have to think the way he would. I know you can do it.”

  He nodded as Maisie’s voice came out of his pocket. “Intelligence is representative of the ability to gather and retain knowledge,” she said. “The end result is to apply it to a set of skills with success.”

  “Maisie’s right,” I said, turning to leave. “Have her help you. Maybe Dixon left his notes on etch boards or some sort of software she can pick up on.” I turned to Case, who had the door open, waiting. “Did you ever see Dixon using etch boards?”

  He shook his head. “No. But he did speak into a recorder once in a while.” My eyebrows rose, but before I could comment, Case disappeared into the hallway.

  “I’m not sure if Maisie can detect recording software, but we’ll give it a try.” Darby stood behind Daze. “We’ll be fine. Hurry back.”

  “We will.” I left, shutting the door behind me.

  Case was already cranking the lever that opened the main entrance to the barracks. If he didn’t do it right, it would explode. It gave a loud thunk as the dead bolts disengaged, and he heaved it open enough for us to pass through. The sound of the crashing surf thumped against my chest as I headed toward the pilot side. It was a bummer not to have Luce here, but right now I was grateful for Seven’s speed.

  Case didn’t argue when I took my place at the helm, and once we were up and out, heading toward Port Station, I glanced his way. “I’m debating whether we should use the tech phone or not. What you think?” I asked.

  By his expression, he was surprised I’d asked his opinion. “If it was me, I wouldn’t. They have to be listening in,” he said. “If we’re left with no other choice, then maybe, but let’s wait and see.”

  I nodded. “Lockland said something about the outbuildings near the gates as their location for the meet. Do you think it’s the same entrance we used last time we went in on foot to get Luce?”

  “Could be,” Case said. “I found out about that way in from my source, and there’s a possibility we use the same guy. He’s a greedy bastard with no scruples and very little human dignity.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Let’s head there. I’ll park a kilometer out and we’ll walk in.” There was silence between us for a few minutes, but I felt like I had to say something about what we’d uncovered about his past. For the first time since I’d met the outskirt, there might actually be an end to feeling like he was hiding something. “You know, Case, how I see it, there’s no shame in staying with Dixon as long as you did, even if the terms weren’t exactly in your favor. He provided you with resources, freed you from a bad situation, and made sure you were trained and fed. It could’ve been worse.”

  “I’m not ashamed,” Case replied in a monotone.

  “Then why are you acting like you are?” I asked. “Your whole demeanor screams stoic with a side of pissed off. If you’re okay with how things went, why not say so? It doesn’t matter to us. In uncovering what we did, we were just searching for the truth.” And we’re almost there, so don’t ruin it.

  “Ashamed and okay are two separate things,” he muttered, angling his head toward the passenger window. I waited for him to respond, which he finally did after a few moments. “I knew who Dixon was and what he was looking for when he saved me. I filled that role because I felt like it.”

  “A man like Dixon wields power in our world,” I said. “He came in, killed everyone, freed you, provided for you, but that kind of aid usually comes with expectations of repayment. And most of the time, it’s more than the person can afford to pay. I’ve encountered people like Dixon my entire life. They’re a lot like Tandor and Hutch, but with a moral compass slightly skewed in a more positive direction. People like Dixon might be trying to do good, but they can’t fully switch the dial. The need for power is too strong—greed, coin—it all plays a part. I’m glad life with him wasn’t too hard on you.”

  “I didn’t say it wasn’t hard,” Case countered with an edge.

  Dixon had likely kept Case in the dark about his plans, probably threatening to leave him in the wasteland to fend for himself if he didn’t cooperate. A perfect mixture of loyalty and cruelty designed to control a boy who’d had a tumultuous upbringing, never knowing where the next roof or meal might be. It had worked. For a while.

  “You killed him, didn’t you?” I asked, slowing our cruising speed as we approached the outer boundary of Port Station.

  “Yes.”

  “Good.”

  Finally, everything Case had told me up until this point seemed to be in the right order. Maybe if he’d told us from the get-go that he’d killed Dixon
, without first proving we could trust him, we might’ve been too suspicious to allow him into the group. In an odd way, the story needed to come out like it had, with him painting the man as his savior at first.

  “I just want to remind you that we’re not like Dixon,” I said. “Remember that. You’re free to come and go as you please. Our group isn’t ruled by the fist. We run as a democracy, something our ancient ancestors lost track of somewhere along the way.” Thirty years before the meteor strike, the government was run by a large oligarchy made up of rich companies and elite individuals with special interests, not a democracy like it had for hundreds of years prior. “We don’t keep information from each other that can keep us alive. We share it because we want to.”

  Case said nothing, but I didn’t expect him to.

  As we flew closer to Port Station, I recognized the area where Case had set us down when we were here last. Remembering directions and specific locations was important for a salvager. Four trees in a group to the right, one boulder to the left, proximity to a large ditch three meters south.

  I slowed to a stop and eased Seven down on her landing pads.

  Shutting the props off, I leaned forward to glance out the windshield. It was the middle of the day. I’d never approached Port Station in the daytime, which was odd.

  We got out, and I flipped my visor down. “Let’s go.” We began to jog toward the area that would lead us near Daze’s old residence. We ran in silence, until we heard shouting. “That was Bender,” I said as we picked up the pace, racing through a sparse forest of dead trees, our weapons out.

  When a group of broken outbuildings came into view, I caught a glimpse of Bender and then Lockland.

  With relief, I saw they were both fine. They had their weapons trained on a man kneeling in front of them.