‘Are you sure you can trust him?’ I asked, standing now too.
He gripped the door handle. ‘I’m only sure of one thing these days, Maggie.’ He flung the door open. ‘If you need me, find Morris.’
I nodded, letting him go, despite the fact that I was dying to ask what the hell that one thing was.
Once the door closed behind him, Gus wrapped his knuckles on the table. ‘The man makes sense, Mags.’
I slumped back into my chair.
‘But I gotta ask you something,’ Gus went on.
I stared at the door, unsure where things had been left between us.
‘Mags!’ Gus said, breaking me from my trance.
‘What?’
‘You asked him if he trusted Morris, but have you stopped to consider if we can trust him? He’s been with his family this past month and they know he knows the truth about what they’re up to. You really played him, Maggie – we both did – and that’s gotta change a guy.’ Gus watched as I absorbed what he was saying.
‘You’re asking if I think there’s any chance he’s switched sides?’
‘Yes,’ he said softly.
I thought of the way Quentin had looked at me. Of the hurt and anger I brought out in him. Of the way he challenged me with his stares and almost enjoyed my discomfort at times. I considered the way he’d asked for every detail of the plan, and even how I’d withheld some of that information instinctively.
I drummed my fingers on the table. Yes, he had changed. ‘I suppose anything’s possible, Gus. But I’m telling you right now, Quentin Mercer is not a murderer. And to play this game, to double-cross us … that would make him something I could never …’ I shook my head. ‘For once, I’m going to put my faith in the system.’
‘Because he’s your true match?’ Gus’s eye twitched slightly.
I nodded.
‘But have you taken a rating with him lately?’
‘True matches don’t go away.’
Gus shrugged. ‘Not that we know of. But you have to admit, your circumstances are pretty freaking unusual. You’ve both changed, Maggie. We all have.’
‘He’s not a killer,’ I gritted out.
Gus raised his hands in defeat. ‘You can’t blame me for asking the question.’
‘No.’ I stood. ‘But don’t ask it again.’ I started to clear away the dishes, pausing as I lifted Gus’s plate. ‘And it might be best to keep me away from Joy in the future.’
‘Noted,’ Gus said. He kept his head down, but I saw the corners of his mouth pull up.
I pressed my lips together and dumped the dishes in the kitchen sink. ‘He was right about going in alone,’ I called out to Gus.
‘And?’ he said from right behind me, causing me to jump.
I turned. ‘And, first Pre-Evo and then we’re going to have to recruit.’
‘Why do I have a feeling this is going to be more like a conscription?’
I smiled. ‘Because you know how I like to get things done.’ I snatched the last piece of toast out of his hand before I stalked towards the living room, pausing briefly to call over my shoulder, ‘And because payback’s a bitch.’
Seven
I was on my way to the meeting with Master Rua’s Pre-Evo contact.
Over the years Gus and I had done our research on Pre-Evo, but we’d never found all that much information. They had offices in Clarendon and Washington DC. They were vocal protestors of the M-Chip and of Phera-tech.
They had made a number of small discoveries – at one point sheltering a neg within their ranks who claimed she’d been treated like an animal at a rehabilitation farm. Unsurprisingly the woman, who had once been a highly sought-after criminal barrister, was killed in a tragic head-on collision before she could tell her full story.
All in all, it was disappointing that with all of their resources – which had to be better than ours – the Pre-Evo’s seemed to have done little more than draw posters and sing chants.
Master Rua and I walked through the parklands of Arlington Cemetery. The sun had set, but I could still smell the afterburn and feel the warmth of it on my skin. I let my fingers widen to feel the gentle breeze as I gazed up at a few stars persistently shining despite the pollution and city lights.
While I was locked in my cell I had dreamed of the sun, bartered with any god who would listen, offering up all I was and could ever be just for one more chance to see the sky and feel the sun. Now, looking at the moon above, I realised the sun alone would never have been enough. The city’s darkness was stunning. Illuminated by the deceptively friendly city lights, it was different to the darkness that had overwhelmed me all those weeks underground. The world, for all our failures, still held wonder and beauty. Even in the dark.
I just hoped that it wouldn’t swallow me whole once again.
‘You said your friend had a connection to the Pre-Evo’s as well?’ Master Rua asked as we made our way towards the Memorial Amphitheatre. It was a weird place to have a meeting, but we weren’t calling the shots.
‘Gus was dating Kelsey. Her brother is the leader of the Pre-Evo’s – and your contact.’
Master Rua absorbed this information with little surprise. ‘Why not go through her, then?’ he asked.
I shrugged. ‘Last time Gus saw her was the night before I was captured. He was leaving town and they’d said their goodbyes. He hasn’t been able to get in contact with her since.’ A problem that had him increasingly worried. Every time he thought I wasn’t paying attention, I knew he was looking for ways to track her down. Given how skilled Gus was at finding things, I was beginning to think he had good reason for his concern.
‘Here we are,’ Master Rua said, gesturing towards the amphitheatre entrance.
‘This is all very Colosseum-like,’ I joked to hide my nerves. But the truth was, I had no idea what lay ahead. I wasn’t controlling any of this and something about the entire set-up had me sweating bullets.
Master Rua grabbed my arm at the top of the stairs, and pointed to his left. ‘This is as far as I can go. You walk left. He said he will find you.’ When I didn’t immediately move, he nodded me on. ‘You want me to wait?’
I did, but I had no idea how long things would take and I couldn’t leave him out there in plain sight. I shook my head. ‘I’ll make my own way back and see you tomorrow night.’
‘It will be okay, Maggie,’ he said, his tone softer than usual.
Swallowing my fear, I stepped into the undercover walkway that encircled the amphitheatre. Each step felt heavy and, despite my rubber boots, made more sound than I was comfortable with.
Shit. I was out of practice. I shook out my jittery hands.
‘Fake it ’til you make it, Maggie,’ I whispered to myself.
I pushed my shoulders back and set my eyes straight ahead. I wasn’t as strong as I once was, but I was a hell of a lot stronger than I had been just over a week ago. If I had to fight, I could. And besides – I patted the pocket of my hoodie, comforted by the feel of my taser and the knowledge that my tranq gun was in my backpack – it would be a shoot-first, ask-questions-later kind of night if needed.
Pep talk concluded, I shifted my attention to my surroundings. There was no denying the deserted amphitheatre had a certain sense of gravity about it. Perhaps because it was surrounded by graves that honoured deaths made in sacrifice. Perhaps because the structure was almost exclusively marble, giving it old-world grandeur while remaining dauntingly Colosseum-like. Or maybe it was something else entirely. A gust of cold air interrupted my thoughts and I bit back a shiver.
Ahead, a figure stepped out from behind one of the pylons. My stride didn’t falter, even if I had stopped breathing.
I fixed my gaze on the figure – clearly a man – and kept my hand inside my pocket.
As I closed in on him, I was able to make out his face. In his mid-twenties, he was tall with dark hair that needed a trim, stubble that needed a shave and friendly eyes that I could instantly imagine lit up with contagi
ous laughter. But this man, in his dark pants and long overcoat, was not laughing. In fact, he didn’t look pleased to see me at all.
‘Keep walking,’ he instructed. ‘We have one full revolution to speak. Say whatever it is you came to say quickly, because that’s all the time you’re getting.’
I bristled, but kept moving, albeit a little slower. One rotation would take five minutes, tops.
‘Alex?’ I confirmed.
He nodded once.
‘I’m Maggie,’ I said.
‘I know.’ He looked ahead, barely acknowledging me. ‘You can take your hand out of your pocket. You won’t need your weapon.’
I shrugged, leaving my hand exactly where it was. ‘You’re Kelsey’s brother?’
‘You’re wasting precious time.’
‘Look,’ I huffed. ‘You guys have been trying to contact me for the past six months. You came sniffing first, so why the cold shoulder?’
Alex continued walking and glanced at me briefly. ‘You should have come to us when we first invited you. But instead, you went out on your own. You got caught. With Quentin Mercer at your side. Now, you’re a liability.’
My eyes narrowed. ‘You know I was captured?’
‘Of course.’
This was news to me. ‘That would mean you know about the tunnels.’
Still walking, he turned his head and stared at me with a flat expression. Clearly he wasn’t going to bother with an answer.
‘If you know, why haven’t you gone public?’
‘Because we need to handle the situation properly. And we need to control the flow of information. There are a lot of lives at stake, not just one.’ I didn’t miss the dig.
We had nearly finished a full circle of the walkway – my time was almost up.
‘Look, I have files. Data that could help you go public. And I have a plan that will make sure the whole world knows the truth. I just … I need your manpower and resources. And we’ll need help to disappear after.’
Alex sighed, as if he pitied my ignorance. ‘Look, Maggie, the best advice I can give you is to run. You’ve sent your family away. You should do the same.’
I clenched my jaw. ‘How do you know about my family?’
He shook his head. ‘You’re not listening.’
‘I came here to see if we could help each other. We both want the same thing.’ My irritation was starting to show.
Alex stopped. We were back to where we’d started. ‘You have no idea what we want, Maggie. And –’
The sound of helicopter blades caused us both to look up.
I listened hard and also picked up the faint noise of sirens in the distance.
Alex pulled a small device out of his pocket and began pressing buttons. It looked like a cross between an old-style smartphone and the M-Band. When he finished, he glanced over his shoulder before looking back at me, moving close and speaking fast.
‘You blew any chance of teaming up with us when they captured you.’ He pulled out a piece of gum and popped it in his mouth. ‘The smartest thing Pre-Evo has ever done is to never become a real threat. Our strength is in our ability to remain inconsequential. You threaten that. That helicopter?’ He jabbed a finger towards the sky. ‘Those sirens? They aren’t coming for me, Maggie.’
‘That’s why I need to stay hidden,’ I pushed, starting to shiver in the cold. ‘Please, Alex. I’ve made mistakes, but I know how to bring them down. I need your help.’
Alex shook his head sharply. ‘We’re not bringing you in. We can’t be sure you haven’t been corrupted. We can’t be sure your files haven’t been altered. And we simply don’t trust you – or the company you keep. Yes, there was an offer on the table before and that’s why I met with you tonight, but that offer has now expired. Don’t contact us again, Maggie. And I beg you to heed my advice and disappear. No good will come of your little “plan”.’
I swallowed hard as I watched him stride away and open the passenger door to an unmarked car. He looked up at me, his eyes flashing, before getting in. ‘And please ask your friend Gus to take a hint and stop calling my sister. It’s pathetic.’
I watched the red tail-lights as the car sped off, even as the sound of the sirens intensified.
They would be there in less than a minute.
‘Shit,’ I whispered.
And then I was moving, sprinting for the tree line that bordered the cemetery.
The first thing to hit me was the helicopter searchlight. I pulled up sharply, slamming my back against a tree to avoid the beams of light. The sound of approaching sirens came in my direction and then I saw them. Two cars – coming from opposite ends of the cemetery. If I could get to one first, maybe I had a chance.
Adjusting my hood to keep my face hidden, I made a run for it.
Arms and legs pumping hard, my ragged breaths confirmed my still-lacking fitness. But I kept going, running straight for one of the approaching vehicles.
I knew the moment they spotted me. The gunfire erupting from the passenger window was a total tip-off.
Dodging the wayward bullets – it’s hard to hit a target from a moving car – I threw myself into another group of trees, panting for breath. The sound of screeching brakes quickly followed. I listened hard. One car door. Two.
I waited.
Then I closed my eyes briefly. Two car doors were better than four.
My eyes darted left then right as I tried to calculate my best mode of attack. The trees were good cover, the trunks thick and easy to hide behind. I looked up, contemplating climbing onto one of the branches. The extra height would be an advantage, but I couldn’t rely on my fitness or risk the noise it could make.
The helicopter disappeared long enough for me to hear the first set of footsteps. He was good, treading carefully, but after my time locked up underground, with nothing but the hum of the ventilation fan to keep me company, my hearing was the one thing that had improved. I tilted my head, concentrating on calming my breathing and listening for the second set. But it didn’t come.
When the first guard – dressed in an M-Corp uniform – passed the tree I was hiding behind, I had little choice. I could either let him walk by and risk the other car arriving, or do something.
Old habits died hard.
The helicopter was back, shining its searchlight in our direction, but we were well covered by the trees. I stepped out behind the guard, quiet as a mouse, and had the taser on his neck before he knew it. He jolted with the current and I kept it on him until he was on the ground. As I crouched over him, I saw the faintest shadow. But it was enough. I dropped and rolled. Just in time to miss the bullet that went straight into the shoulder of the man I’d just tasered.
As he screamed out in pain, I rolled onto my back, noting the second guard’s shocked expression as he stared at his buddy.
Before he had a chance to look away, I rocked into a crouch and kicked out, my foot colliding with his knee, sending him off balance. It gave me the time to jump up and hit him hard across the face. My entire body jolted from the impact of my closed fist against his temple.
Gotta give it to him; the guy was tough and somehow stayed on his feet, even managing to hit out with a quick return jab that made my jaw feel like it was going to fall off. But it didn’t matter. Because for the first time since I’d been imprisoned, I’d hit my groove. Fighting for your life does that, I thought with a grin as I rammed a series of fluid hits into the guard, not stopping when he dropped his gun, not for a second, until he crumpled to the ground.
He was still conscious so I bent over him.
He spat blood at me.
I ignored him and grabbed his gun, pointing it at him while I yanked his radio from his belt. ‘Tell the chopper to back off,’ I instructed, holding it out to him.
When he didn’t do it, I moved the gun to his forehead. ‘I’m not a counter. Do it, or I’ll shoot.’ I held his eyes, daring him.
He snatched the radio and pressed the talk button. ‘Ground Team B to Sky Hawk
7, request you fall back to a half-mile radius while we conduct ground search. Over.’
After a moment, the response sounded. ‘This is Sky Hawk 7, reading Ground Team B’s request to move out to a half-mile radius. We are moving now. Over.’
I let out a breath.
Keeping my knee on the guard’s throat, I wiped my prints from the radio and gun before tossing them both as far as I could. I dug around in my backpack, exchanging my taser for my tranq gun.
‘They’re coming for you,’ he laughed, the sound gurgling as he coughed up more blood.
I smiled cruelly, sinking into the state of mind that had kept me alive since all of this began two years ago. I moved close to his face and spoke low. ‘I bet I find them first.’
He didn’t even see me position the tranq gun at his side. His eyes simply widened after the shot and I waited the few seconds until consciousness faded out.
I pulled up the base of his vest, revealing his hipbone and neg marking. All negs were branded when they were first removed from society. I shook my head, wondering if he’d been a neg to start with, yet knowing after looking into his calculating eyes that he was very much a neg now. Aware that I was losing time, I stumbled to my feet, looking around wildly as I attempted to assess the situation. I’d already heard the second car pull up. Three doors this time, which meant I was probably facing three negs, but there was a chance it could be more.
Both of the guards in front of me were unconscious. The new team would most likely be distracted with them for a few moments, giving me a small window of time.
It only took a few seconds to make up my mind. What I really wanted to do was stay and fight. Now that I’d started, it felt good, and as far as I was concerned, taking out some of my pent-up aggression on M-Corp guards seemed fair. But I couldn’t take that chance. I was on my own now – Alex had made that clear – and if I wanted to keep my family and friends safe and expose M-Corp for what they really were, then I needed to stay alive. And free.
I heard the thump of approaching footsteps. Without another thought I broke into a flat run, dodging trees and staying away from open areas as I circled back to the northern end of the cemetery. I could hear them on my tail. Shouting out orders and then … the pop that coincided with the thump and plume of dirt less than a metre to my right. They had silencers.
Corruption Page 8
