Drift pattern, p.43
Drift Pattern, page 43
Danica takes point and risks a peek over the side of the railing, her fingers spread wide a meter or so from Luci’s face. “I’ll tell you when,” she says. “Here they come.”
Luci’s blood runs cold as Danica lets out a prolonged, “Oh no.”
“What is it?” Luci demands, feeling the sweat on her palms. “What’s wrong? Is he not with them? Have they converted him already?”
“No, he’s fine, but there’s a lot more than six of those things.”
Yuma scoots to the other side of Luci, opposite Danica, and looks over the railing. “Whoa, it’s more like twenty or more.”
Luci’s heart leaps that Ish is still alive—at least for the moment—but the number of cybo escorts send a shiver through to her core. “Do I do it? Do I do it now?” Luci says, looking across at the fear growing in Sari’s eyes.
“Not yet,” Yuma says, holding up a hand. “I’ll tell you when they’re directly below us.”
The waiting is torture as Luci holds her breath. The tiny blue screen shakes in her hands. Will it work?
The sound of the squad scraping their feet grows louder. These creatures were not produced for stealth. She knows that they must stay out of sight for Ish to have any chance of making it through this. She wishes that she had a Viatorio so she could send him a message that everything is going to be all right, to alert him that they are here and that soon this will be over and the two of them can leave Relicus City for good.
Yuma’s signaling hand quivers. Finally, it snaps with a downward motion. “Now! Do it now!”
Luci simultaneously exhales and double pushes the button while picturing Ish’s face.
The sound of footsteps below continue unabated.
Yuma reaches for the inhibitor, but Luci pulls it away.
A flash of fear fills his eyes. “Twice! You have to push it twice!”
“I did,” she argues. “I pressed—”
Danica aggressively shushes them. “Listen! They’ve stopped now.”
Luci scrambles to peer over the railing and gasps at the sight. Almost directly beneath stand two dozen dingy grey figures frozen in place like pieces on a chessboard. In their midst is a thin black man in a bright red jumpsuit—Ish.
At first, he’s as motionless as his immobile captors, and Luci is horrified that the conversion process may have already been initiated. She exhales in relief when he breaks free from their ranks and begins to run.
Her heart skips a beat as if the device she’s holding suspended her mobility too. “Ish!” she yells, though he doesn’t react from below as he races across the courtyard.
The “ground team” members of the group cautiously emerge from their hiding places with churkas drawn. Ish first spots Miguel and spins to run the other way.
“Ish, it’s okay!” Luci yells as Cline begins running to intercept him across the space.
“I told everyone it would work!” Yuma exclaims behind her to Sari.
Luci tears herself away from her perch to head for the stairs with Danica running close behind. A dreamlike feeling envelops her as she races down to the courtyard to reunite with Ish. Luci can’t believe that they’ve pulled this off. She doesn’t care what his involvement may or may not be with L’inversione and Gicul, only that he’s alive. He’s alive and he’s here.
She clutches Yuma’s makeshift controller so tightly that her hand begins to cramp. She doesn’t dare risk dropping it for fear that doing so would reanimate the dead minds of the cybos.
By the time she gets to him, Ish is struggling to break free of Jonn’s one-armed bear-hug grip just a few meters from the cluster of cybos facing the opposite direction. “Ish, it’s okay. They’re with me. You’re safe now.”
Cline mumbles something about how she’s technically with them, but she doesn’t care. The man she loves—yes, she loves him—is alive.
As if he were a marionette whose strings had just been cut, all of his resistance instantly drains from his body. “Luci?” he asks, confused. “Luci, I don’t understand. How did you get here? Who are these people and why are you dressed in that strange outfit?”
She runs to embrace him, and Jonn releases his stranglehold. When he doesn’t put his arms around her, she notices his hands are bound in what looks like a high-tech hand warmer muff. Her momentum nearly knocks him backward as she rushes to put her head against his chest. The sound of his heartbeat is the most beautiful music that she’s ever heard. “I’ll tell you everything on the way back. For now, just kiss me.”
He does, and as they kiss, the entire world and all of its problems don’t exist. It’s impossible, but it feels as if she’s known him for a millennium and they’ve been separated for twice that time.
“We can’t stay here long,” Beaumont says, approaching them. “The second those things went offline, an alert rang out in some security system somewhere in the Spike, and they’ll be sending someone or something to investigate.”
Luci nods and forces her body away from Ish’s, as hard as it is to do so.
Beaumont instructs Yuma, who’s also just arrived, “Can you do anything about his restraints in case there’s a tracker of some sort?”
Luci steps to the side as Ish extends the restraints for his inspection.
“Yeah, shouldn’t be too difficult.”
“Can you do it on the move?” Beaumont asks. “I’d rather not have anything tagging the transport back to where we’re meeting up with everyone.”
Ish addresses his liberators for the first time. “They deactivated my Viatorio, so at least they won’t be able to locate where I am with that.”
There’s a surreal celebratory vibe rippling through the group as the rag-tag squad gathers around Ish. If she had to guess, Luci would say that they haven’t done anything like this in this team configuration before.
Miguel is the only member outside of the circle, his churka scanning for any movement among the statue-like cybos. “Sir!” he shouts over his shoulder to Beaumont. “What do we do with them?”
Beaumont pauses, looks over to Jonn, and then says, “Cook ‘em.”
Everyone with a churka except Yuma, who is busy working on Ish’s restraints, forms a line, shifts off the stun setting on their weapons, and fires into the backs of the incapacitated cybos. After those nearest collapse into smoldering heaps of flesh, the team repeats the act until none of the creatures remain.
The mixed stench of roasted rotting flesh and sulfur forces Luci to cover her nose with her sleeve, but her eyes, having no protection, water from the fumes hovering in the air.
When it’s done, Beaumont slowly lowers his churka and announces in a deadpan voice, “Well, if their security monitors didn’t know something was wrong with the escort, they certainly will now.”
The team travels quickly in a group formation now instead of two-by-two. Beaumont drops back into the center of the pack to speak to Luci. “Keep an eye on that thing,” he says, indicating the controller. “We’re not out of this yet. I want you at the front of the squad with me and Miguel in case that screen turns blue again. Every second counts.”
She looks at Ish. He’s flanked by Sari and Yuma as the teenager struggles to keep time with the bouncing apparatus securing Ish’s wrists. “Don’t jiggle it so much,” Yuma scolds him. “I can’t work like this.”
Ish ignores Yuma and speaks directly to Luci. “I’ll be fine. Do what they say.”
She and Beaumont double-time it to the vanguard position of the group alongside Miguel. While she’s grateful that the need for stealth has been abandoned, she struggles to keep up with the pace set by these two. Even so, she shoots a look at the amber screen in her grip every few steps.
“Ha!” Yuma ecstatically shouts from behind. “Got it.”
Luci looks over her shoulder in time to see Yuma victoriously tossing Ish’s restraint against the alley wall. She steals another frenzied glance back down at the screen. It’s still amber—they’re in the clear.
The two men in front round the corner far ahead of her. It’s the building with the columns again, but there’s no need to hide against them this time.
This marks the halfway point to the transport.
Luci looks over her shoulder to ensure Ish is following. He, Yuma, and Sari move more quickly now he’s free from the restraints.
Luci’s encouraged that it won’t be long until the nine of them are zooming away from this place in the container hauler when she hears a scream—a long scream.
At first, she believes it’s from the building that they’re racing toward, but the second time she hears it, she stops in her tracks. The voice is from where they’ve just come from, and it’s familiar.
“Jonn!” Danica’s voice echoes off the sides of the buildings, sounding as if it’s coming from everywhere at once. This agonizing shriek is followed by a long wail. Luci looks back and realizes the team is split up: Danica, Jonn, and Cline have separated from these six.
Beaumont, who had gained a significant lead, backpedals to Luci, yelling, “Press it! Press the button!”
She does, but the screen glows amber, not blue. “Something’s wrong with it!” Luci shouts in a panic, holding it up for him before realizing he’s too far away to see the small screen.
Yuma converges on her first from behind, scolding, “What are you doing? We’re under attack! Stop the cybos!”
She turns and pushes past the teen, trotting back in the direction of Danica’s scream. If she mashed the button with any more force, she’d sprain her thumb. She calls out as she runs, “I’m coming!”
Ish manages to snag her and forces her against a crate as tall as he is. “Luci, stop and wait a minute. You’re too important to—”
She struggles to free herself from his arms while continuing to mash at the button feverishly. “You don’t understand. She needs my help. Something’s wrong. We must be too far out of range for this to work or something.”
Yuma catches up to her, violently snatching the inhibitor out of her hands. “That’s impossible. We’re well within range of any cybo brainwave signatures if they’re being attacked.” He anxiously examines the device. “What did you do to it?”
Beaumont and Miguel reach the three, but they don’t stop as they race past them to the source of Danica’s wailing. “Run to the alcove on the edge and stay there until we come back,” Beaumont commands. “And fix that damned thing.”
Sari joins Luci’s trio as they duck into the alcove across the way. “I didn’t do anything to it,” Luci insists to Yuma.
Before the boy can reply, Ish points out, “The screaming . . . the screaming from the woman. It’s stopped.”
“What . . . what does that mean?” Sari’s voice cracks. “Do you think she’s alright? Did they get there in time for whatever . . .”
Luci feels sick, but she listens, hoping for another sound to indicate the rest of the team is alright.
Yuma’s preoccupied with his device. “I don’t understand it,” he says in frustration, forcibly shoving Cavazos’s onyx rectangle back into the inhibitor slot. “It looks fine. It should be working.”
“Oh no!” Ish exclaims frantically, his hand shooting to his earlobe. “It’s back on. They turned my Viatorio back on. Red . . . it just went red. I can’t see anything.”
“Oh shit,” Luci says. “What does that mean?” she asks, spinning to face Yuma.
“Totti’s team must have uploaded the holo vid,” Sari offers feebly.
“No,” Yuma argues, shaking his head. “It’s too soon for that. They’re not supposed to do it for another eighteen minutes, allowing us to be clear of this place.”
Luci asks, “Can they track an active Viatorio during a red out?”
Yuma’s answer comes slowly. “Theoretically, if the convergence relays are—”
“Yes or no, Yuma?” Luci cuts him off impatiently. “Does Macer know where we are?” Remembering the incident with Shar, she asks, “Yuma, do you have anything that can cut Ish’s Viatorio off?”
“If it’s removed during a red out, it will blind me permanently,” Ish protests, protectively covering the device with his hand.
“He’s right,” Yuma offers. “Or much worse—do damage to his brain.”
Luci tries not to panic, but answers aren’t coming quickly enough. “Can he be tracked while this red out security thing is happening across the city?”
“They could, but it might not be as easy as that,” Yuma admits in frustration. “I don’t . . . I don’t know how it works when there’s a red out. During normal conditions, yes, but I just don’t know once a citywide alarm is posted.”
She turns to Ish. “We’ve got to get out of here then. If there’s the slightest chance that his Viatorio could be broadcasting our location, we’ve got to leave now. We can’t stay in one place for long.”
“Noah said to stay here,” Sari reminds them in an unsteady voice. “We’re not leaving this spot.”
“I’m telling you that we’ve got to go from here,” Luci says, moving to steady Ish, who’s groping at the air. “If his Viatorio is being tracked, it’s just a matter of time before we’re found.”
“But we don’t know if that can be done during a red out.” Yuma looks at Sari, shaking his head. “No, Sari and I stay like we were told. If we leave, they won’t know where we are and the team may waste valuable time searching.”
“How can you not understand this?” Luci exclaims. “If we stay here, we may die here! Noah said to stay before Ish’s Viatorio was reactivated. Now that it has, that changes everything. Please... if nothing else, make your way to the container transport and wait for us there.”
Sari taps into some courage, hidden up until this point, to defy her. “We stay like Noah said.”
“Suit yourself,” Luci says in aggravation. “But give me one of the churkas. We’re going to find out what happened to Danica and the others.”
“We’re not doing that,” Sari protests.
“We can’t just abandon them if something’s happened. I won’t do that! Give me the churka!” Luci yells as she reaches for the one Yuma has leaned against the wall to “fix” the cybo controller.
“I said I can’t let you take that,” Sari says, sniffling and fixing her own churka on Luci. “Back away or I’ll stun you both.”
“You little bitch,” Luci says, placing herself between the end of the churka and her sightless Ish.
“Why are you doing this?” Ish asks, allowing Luci to take his hand.
“Like the doctor said, things have changed,” Sari answers. “It’s about survival now, and in order to survive, we need both weapons. She already took Yuma’s inhibitor, and by her own admission, she doesn’t know how to fire a churka.”
Another sound of agony rings out, but it’s a lower voice than Danica’s . . . a male voice. All four pause to listen for more, but it’s eerily quiet.
With one of the coveted weapons cradled in his arm, Yuma turns the amber inhibitor screen to Luci for inspection. “It’s not cybos,” he says with a nervous shrug. “Look, we’ll be here when you check out what’s going on with them, and then we’ll all leave together. I left the transport on standby mode.”
Time is running out. Luci considers reminding these two teens that the objective of their mission was to deliver Ish safely to Gicul, but she doesn’t press for fear that they’d hold him hostage and not allow him to leave with her.
Luci runs through a list of unwelcome options she’s faced with. Arguing with these two isn’t getting anywhere. The prospect of fleeing to escape is preposterous to her—where could she go anyway? She decides that she’s been through too much to get here to abandon Ish now, Viatorio tracking or not. The gruesome image of Shar’s severed ear reminds her of the sacrifice that Beaumont’s niece made for her and how he may need her help now.
Luci moves Ish’s hand to the back waist of her pants, lacing his fingers around her belt. “Come on, Ish. Let’s check on the others.”
~ Seven ~
To better facilitate towing Ish behind her, Luci softly utters the word “step” to him each time she steps with her right foot and “pause” when they need to come to a brief halt.
As they continue to backtrack toward the courtyard, she whispers over her shoulder, “We’re nearly to the building with the columns.”
A few steps later, Ish pulls at her belt, announcing in a frenzied whisper, “I smell churka discharge. What do you see?”
Luci slows her pace but doesn’t completely stop as she peers around another corner. “Nothing yet, but I’m sure we’re getting closer.” She listens intently for the noisy, foot-dragging shuffle of cybos, but the area is eerily silent save for her and Ish’s movement.
“I just pray that we’re not walking into a cybo ambush,” she says softly, attempting to steady her breathing.
“I don’t think cybos hunt,” Ish whispers. “I suspect that their programing is too simplistic to employ any cunning skills like that.”
If only his words could convince her. It stills feels like they’re moving toward a trap. “All I know is that I owe it to the others to see if they need our help. Each of them risked their lives to save you.”
Ish doesn’t reply, but Luci feels his snug grip tighten around the back of her belt.
It takes a moment for her to register the scent of something that’s out of place, a new smell that doesn’t belong here. The smell of cooking mixed with the bitter stench of churka discharge on the air is the aroma of cooked meat—roasted flesh, in fact.
She’s wondering how the wind could’ve also carried the smell of cybo slaughter all of this way when they turn the corner. At the end of the alley is what she dreaded. She stops abruptly but forgets to whisper to Ish to pause, so he collides into her.
“What is it?” he asks, wildly waving his free hand out before him.
It’s difficult to convert the gruesomeness of it into words. “They’re . . . dead.” She scans for cybos, but other than the smoldering carcasses at the end of the way, there’s nothing.
“Who’s dead?” Ish asks. “Who is it?”
Her stomach twists into knots at how she mistook this odor for cooked food. The pungent stench of burnt hair compounds the sickening feeling. The strength in her legs wanes as she repeats, “They’re dead—all of them.” As if reciting a macabre roll call, she murmurs the names in order of their proximity to where she and Ish crouch. “Beaumont, and the others . . . they’re dead!”
