by Andrew Brook
Tabitha turned back to her screen and started reviewing the other files in the listing. Molly went back to her desk. Mike and Ricky went back to the electronics table. Dennis looked at the coffee mug in his hand. It was empty again. With a sigh he walked to the kitchen.
Dennis’s stomach rumbled. He looked up from his screen and saw that night had fallen. The entire team was still in the office and Dennis figured they must be as hungry as he was.
“Hey everyone,” Dennis called out. “Dinner time. What does everyone want? Pizza?”
“Nah, we had pizza two nights ago,” Ricky replied. “Can we get Chinese?”
Dennis looked around the room. Mike shrugged his shoulders and Molly nodded.
“Hey, Tab - do you want Chinese?”
“Sure,” was her monosyllabic reply.
“Ok, Ricky. Why don’t you go pick up some Chinese carryout.”
“Sweet,” Ricky replied and pulled on a bright red hoodie with the Jovian logo on the back. He stepped out the door and Dennis returned to his screen. He didn’t wait long before he was interrupted again.
“Hey, Dennis,” Tabitha called out. “I got it.”
Dennis again walked over to Tabitha’s desk. Tabitha was typing quickly.
“Hang on a sec… ok,” Tabitha muttered. She made few final keystrokes and then looked up at Dennis. Mike set down his soldering iron and looked over at Dennis and Tabitha. Molly also looked up.
“The key checks out,” Tabitha stated with obvious relief. “I’m using it to decrypt the archive of hidden data we found in the checksums now. We should have some answers in a few minutes.”
“That’s really unfortunate.”
Dennis, Tabitha, Molly and Mike looked up to see a tall woman standing at the entrance of the office. She wore black athletic shoes, black lycra jogging tights and a matching black running jacket which all contrasted sharply with her blond hair. Details of the woman’s appearance were rendered insignificant, though, by the sleek pistol she carried in her right hand.
Seventeen
“What. The. Fuck.” Dennis said, slowly, his mouth not quite closing.
“I was hoping I could get here in time to prevent this,” the woman said, ignoring Dennis. “I am afraid things are more complicated now.”
“Who the hell are you?” Molly asked, her voice rising in fear.
“That’s not important,” the woman with the gun said. “What’s important is that you need to delete the data you stole.”
“You’re Anna Ivanov,” Tabitha said calmly. “You work for Excelsior.”
“Yes, very good,” Anna replied. “And you’re Tabitha Chu. I suspect I know more about you than they do.”
Tabitha said nothing. Dennis looked back and forth between Anna and Tabitha.
“What the actual fuck is going on here?” he said after a moment and took a step toward Anna.
Anna raised the pistol a few degrees and Dennis stopped.
“You don’t seem very bright so I will explain it simply. You delete all of the data you stole from us. You satisfy me that all copies have been wiped and are unrecoverable. And I let you live.”
Anna hadn’t precisely pointed the gun at anyone yet, but she motioned the gun in Dennis’s direction as she spoke.
“Is that clear enough for you, Mr. Li?”
Dennis swallowed.
“Oh my god, you guys killed Eddie!” Molly exclaimed.
“Mr. Morton’s death was a tragedy,” Anna replied evenly. “One which I would hate to see repeated.”
Molly’s face drained of all color.
“What the hell are you up to that was worth killing Eddie?” Dennis asked, his voice cracking.
“Eddie stole something. Now he’s dead. You need to pay attention, Mr. Li, or you and your team will end up the same.”
Anna gestured around the room at Mike, Molly, Tabitha and Dennis as she spoke.
“Now, stop fucking around and delete the data.”
Nobody moved for several seconds. The room was silent.
Dennis turned toward Tabitha.
“I… think we had better delete that data, Tab.”
“Why?” Tabitha asked softly. “She’s going to kill us anyway.”
Dennis looked back to Anna.
“What assurance do we have that you won’t just kill us anyway?”
“You don’t. But you don’t have any choice, do you?”
Dennis didn’t answer but Tabitha did.
“Our data is backed up, Anna. You don’t know where or how many copies. If you kill us, how can you know if you’ve deleted it all?”
“That’s a risk I’m willing to take,” Anna replied. “But I see I need to provide motivation. Perhaps I shoot Ms. Owens first?”
Molly let out a small squeak of fear and ducked below her desk as Anna raised her weapon. There was a loud crack and the corner of Molly’s monitor exploded into fragments of plastic and glass.
“Fuck!” Dennis exclaimed and dove behind Tabitha’s desk.
Mike tensed his muscles but he didn’t move from his seat at the electronics table. Tabitha remained motionless and calm.
“Now you see I am serious, no?”
Anna took a step toward Molly’s desk.
“Start deleting files or I shoot her!”
Anna raised the gun again but stopped when a shrill whine pierced the air. She turned her head as a voice came from a shelf next to the conference room.
“Streaming live in 5… 4… 3…”
A small blue quadcopter lifted off from the shelf, tilted forward and flew toward Anna. It slowed to a hover four meters away as its countdown concluded.
“2… 1… And we’re live!” the drone exclaimed.
“What, the hell?” Anna shouted as she turned to face the drone.
Anna raised her gun. The drone dove forward again, passing close to her head. Anna fired twice but the drone was too close and moving too fast. She spun around as the drone reached the entrance to the kitchen, banked sharply and faced her again. Anna could see the small blinking red light on the drone’s belly, just below the lens of a camera.
Anna raised her gun again.
“Ricky! Call the cops, Ricky!” Molly shouted at the drone.
Anna fired just as the drone dipped briefly to one side.
“Fuck!” she grunted.
The drone pitched forward, accelerating toward her, its tiny props making an even louder whine. It covered the few meters to Anna in seconds. She fired again at point blank range and the bullet struck a glancing blow to one of the four short plastic arms that held the motors and props. The arm shattered, severing one of the props and sending the body into a tight spiral.
The small social media drone wasn’t designed to cope with being shot at but it was programmed to deal with motor failures. The onboard microcontroller detected the sudden loss of one prop as well as the rapid rotation. It reversed two of the other props to compensate. Mere milliseconds later the drone had halted its tumble but with only three functioning props it couldn’t slow down in time to avoid a collision.
Part of Anna’s brain realized that a collision was imminent and took action even before she was consciously aware. Electrical impulses flowed to both arms, muscles contracted to pull them back toward her face. Her neck muscles tensed on one side as she started to duck. But like the drone, Anna’s response was too slow to avoid contact. The drone crashed into Anna’s right cheek. One of the tiny plastic props whirling at over ten thousand rotations per minute inflicted a series of shallow cuts, narrowly missing her eye.
“Blyad!” Anna swore in her native Russian as the drone crashed to the ground. She took a step back to regain her balance and looked up just as Mike’s fist narrowly missed her face. Years of training kicked in and she brought her free hand up to grab Mike’s wrist.
“Shit!” Mike swore as Anna redirected the momentum of his attack and sent him stumbling forward. Anna’s pistol fired again and Mike felt a searing pain in his left thigh.
> “No!” Molly screamed as Mike collapsed to the floor.
Dennis opened his mouth but no words came out. Anna raised her right arm and aimed her weapon at Mike’s chest. Blood was already starting to pool on the floor below his wounded leg.
A loud bang rang out in the Jovian Resources office. Mike looked at Anna and blinked. Anna looked down at Mike and blinked. Neither said a word. Then both looked down at Anna’s stomach. The black fabric of her running jacket showed a faint sheen where wetness was spreading across the side of her abdomen.
Anna turned to her left. Jessica stood in the entrance, a thin wisp of smoke rising from the gun in her right hand. Her left hand still held the fashionable purse from which the gun had been drawn. Tony stood behind her holding the door, jaw slack and eyes wide.
Anna grunted in pain and bent over. At first it looked like she was collapsing from her wound but as she fell she turned her shoulder and rolled, returning to her feet in a low crouch, already in motion. Jessica fired a second shot and strode into the office but Anna was already out of her line of sight behind the electronics table. Jessica fired again as Anna dashed toward the entrance of the cleanroom but only succeeded in cracking one of the glass wall panels of the conference room.
Molly started to crawl around her desk toward where Mike lay on the floor. Tabitha went to join her. Dennis climbed to his feet and looked toward Mike and then Jessica. Jessica raced across the room in pursuit of Anna but was forced to duck behind a desk when two shots rang out from the cleanroom, the bullets punching holes in the thin plastic sheeting that formed its walls.
A moment later they heard a loud squeal of rusty metal. Anna had opened the door to the fire escape at the back of the office behind the cleanroom. Jessica hesitated and then stepped into the cleanroom, quickly saw that it was empty and ran to the back.
Like a reset switch being pressed, the sound of the fire escape door being opened a second time finally snapped Dennis out of his shock and he raced to the back of the office. Tony followed closely behind him. They pushed through the door and found Jessica standing on the fire escape platform, looking three stories down into the alley that separated the back of the building from another just like it.
“There!” Tony exclaimed and pointed. A dark figure was running down the alley, ducking behind cars as she went. Jessica aimed and fired twice but Anna was too far away and Jessica’s shots ricocheted off of one of the cars instead. Anna kept running. They heard the sound of a loud engine. Just as Anna reached the end of the alley, a motorcycle appeared. The bike slowed as it passed the alley entrance and Anna climbed onto the back behind the driver. With a roar the motorcycle accelerated down the street and into the night.
Jessica, Tony and Dennis were silent for a moment.
“Damn,” Jessica swore softly. “Nine millimeters are useless.”
Tony started to say something when Dennis interrupted.
“Mike!” he shouted and raced back into the office. Tony and Jessica followed close behind.
Molly, Tabitha and Ricky were crouching next to Mike whose facial expression made clear that he was in great pain. Blood had formed a large pool on the floor and Molly’s hands were crimson.
“We improvised a tourniquet from Ricky’s belt,” Tabitha shouted at Dennis as soon as she saw him, “but we really need to get him to a hospital.”
“Tony, did you call 911 yet?” Jessica asked sharply.
Before Tony could answer, Ricky spoke up.
“I called the cops already, they’re on their way.”
“Good work, Ricky,” Jessica answered. “Now go downstairs and meet them - direct them up here. Tell them the attacker got away but that Mike has a serious gunshot wound and has lost a lot of blood.”
“Got it,” Ricky replied and ran back out the front entrance.
Tabitha turned away from Mike and looked up at Jessica.
“You’re no analyst.”
Jessica looked back down at Tabitha. “I am an analyst.”
“Well, then, you’re not just an analyst,” Tabitha replied evenly.
“You’re right,” Jessica replied. “I also work for the US government.”
There was a pause. Tony looked at Dennis and then at Jessica.
“What the hell is going on here?”
“It’s a long story, darling,” Jessica replied
“Oh, don’t you ‘darling’ me, Jessica!” Tony replied. “You just fucking shot someone!”
“She saved Mike’s life,” Tabitha interjected before Jessica could respond. “And probably the rest of ours, too. That woman was Anna Ivanov. She’s dangerous.”
“Wait, Anna Ivanov from Excelsior?” Tony exclaimed, the shock of recognition spreading across his face.
“Yes - and she killed Eddie,” Molly added. “She practically admitted to it all right here in front of us.”
“It’s seriously fucked up is what it is,” Dennis said. “What the hell are we supposed to do now?”
“The police will be here soon,” Jessica answered. “There are going to be a lot of questions. I don’t know exactly what Excelsior is doing but it’s big, it’s dangerous and it has to be stopped.”
“What could be worth killing Eddie and all of us?” Molly asked.
“I think it’s even worse than that,” Jessica replied. “But I don’t have time to explain now.”
“We have their encryption keys and copies of all of their communications traffic,” Dennis said. “That’s what Anna was after, I think.”
“I’m not going to ask how you got that data,” Jessica replied. “But I’m willing to bet it’ll help us figure out what’s going on.”
Jessica looked at Dennis and then at Tabitha before speaking again.
“I think Excelsior is going to do something really bad and I need your help to stop them. And that means keeping you out for jail. Excelsior’s already filed a police report saying you guys and Eddie conspired to steal Excelsior’s asteroid. There’s evidence that the taxi that blew up and killed Eddie was hired from your account, Dennis. The police were going to be here soon even if you hadn’t called them. I suggest you go.”
“Wait, what?!” Dennis blurted. “I did no such thing!”
“I believe you,” Jessica replied. “But it could take days or weeks to convince the police of that. By that time they’d probably catch on to your other activities. You need to go. Now.”
“What about Mike?” Molly asked.
“Tony and I will stay here,” Jessica replied. “But you, Dennis and Tabitha need to go.”
“Go where?” Dennis asked.
“I can take care of that,” Tabitha said. “I just need to do a few things.”
Tabitha returned to her workstation and started typing rapidly.
Tony looked at Jessica. Jessica looked at Dennis.
“Whatever shady shit Jovian was up to, Dennis and Tony, it’s over. You all have a new mission. Do you understand that?”
“Hey, now!” Tony blurted.
“We’re just an asteroid mining company,” Dennis started to say but Jessica cut him off.
“Cut the crap, Dennis. There isn’t time for that. Like I said, whatever you were really doing, forget about it. Stopping Excelsior is what matters.”
Dennis looked at Tony and then at Jessica. He opened his mouth to say something and then reconsidered. He swept his gaze across the room. His company. His coworkers - no, his friends. Molly looked up from the floor where she was squatting next to Mike but said nothing. Tabitha’s fingers flew over her keyboard. Dennis took in the sight of Molly’s shattered monitor and Mike’s blood on the floor. He looked at Tony and Tony nodded slightly. Finally he returned to look at Jessica and sighed.
“Ok.”
“Good,” Jessica replied. “Now get out of here before the cops get here.”
As if on cue, the wail of a siren because audible and rapidly grew in intensity.
“Molly? Tab?” Dennis asked.
“Ready, Dennis,” Molly responded. S
he squeezed Mike’s hand one last time and stood up.
“Just about…” Tabitha muttered. “... got it.” She retrieved one USB drive from a slot on the burner PC and a second from her main workstation. “Let’s go!”
“Be careful, Denny,” Tony said as he clasped Dennis’s hand. Dennis simply nodded in reply.
“This way!” Tabitha shouted and headed to the back door. Molly and Dennis turned to follow when Mike spoke up.
“Kick their asses for me, guys!”
Dennis forced a grin onto his face and shouted “You got it, Mike!” Then he and Molly followed Tabitha out the back door.
Eighteen
Tabitha was the first to descend the rusty old fire escape ladder to the street followed closely by Molly. By the time Dennis’s Converse sneakers were on the pavement the two women had already reached the end of the alley and were moving at a fast walk. Dennis had to jog to catch up.
“What’s the plan, Tab?” Dennis asked, huffing to catch his breath.
“Shush!” Tabitha replied in a harsh whisper. “Just follow me. Move fast but don’t run and try to stay quiet.”
Dennis looked at Molly who shrugged her shoulders. He considered arguing but Tabitha had already set off on a brisk pace down the street and Molly was following her so Dennis did the same.
Tabitha led them down a second alley and then along a narrow street with parked cars on one side and a high chain link fence on the other. On the far side of the fence were docks, warehouses, pipelines and other industrial infrastructure. Beyond that lay the East River, glimmering with the reflected lights of Lower Manhattan.
“Through here,” Tabitha motioned and pulled on a section of fence with hinges - a crude gate made to allow trucks to enter a warehouse. The gate was locked shut with a chain but there was plenty of room for them to squeeze through.
Tabitha motioned for Molly and Dennis to follow as she walked around the side of the warehouse. The potholed asphalt was soon replaced with wooden planks and Dennis realized the warehouse was built out over the river on a pier. He caught glimpses of water through gaps between planks. It was dark and moving swiftly.
