Allie's War Season Four (105 page)

I considered arguing with him, thinking about how easy it would be, to sneak up behind that line of guards and knock one of them out with my light. It would be great to have at least one automatic rifle...and maybe whatever sidearm he was carrying. Feeling Revik’s light charge up as this went through my mind, I relented, rubbing his back with a hand.

How much time do we have?
I asked him.

He glanced at his old-fashioned watch.

Forty-two and a half minutes,
he sent.

And Maygar’s with Jon?
I sent.
They got in okay?

Revik nodded, giving me a bare glance.
Jon and Maygar breached downstairs about fifteen minutes ago. Facial rec picked up Maygar. I felt it on Dulgar’s light.

I frowned, nodding. That explained a few things.

We didn’t have time to talk about any of that now, though.

You think Shadow is behind the seers being moved?
I asked him again.

Revik made a noncommital gesture with his free hand.

You think it’s just a coincidence, then?
I pressed.

He shrugged.
No. But maybe not Shadow himself.

What does that mean?
I asked, puzzled.
You think someone else is tracking List seers?

He shrugged again.
The buyer was Arabic...or pretending to be. He was pretty specific though, Allie, whoever he was. I saw him consulting a list of names on his hand-held. He was looking for specific seers...and he only took those on the List.
Giving me a bare glance, he let his light exude a pulse of reassurance.
It may be a coincidence. They’re all highly ranked. And if it was Shadow, they’d be dead already, right?

I nodded, grimacing a little. Pushing my hair out of my face, I clicked under my breath, knowing it wouldn’t be audible in here.

Will you and ‘Dori be able to track them?
I sent.
If we can’t get to Dulgar?

I felt a pulse off him, but couldn’t quite untangle the emotion there.

I don’t know,
he sent.
Whoever’s got them has them under a pretty heavy shield...

I felt a shift in the Barrier and turned.

More soldiers of the Legion of Fire were on their way. I felt some on the stairs, and on the elevators. Balidor’s people would have to hurry if they were going to take control of the terrace.

How far away are the boats?
I asked Revik, thinking of our daughter that time.

When he didn’t answer, I looked back at him.

He was staring at the circuits. Some of their glow leaked onto the lower half of his face in a blue slash, and I could feel him there, once more trying to hack the machine’s consciousness. I was just reaching out my light, wondering if I could help, when he let out a sharper exhale, straightening all at once.

You got it?

I think so...yes.

Even as he said it, the panel in the wall was starting to open.

Orange light flooded the area by the fireplace a second time. When I looked up, I could see Revik again. He smiled at me, motioning me towards the five-foot-tall passage.

You sure we should go without guns?
I sent, smiling back.
That’s so unlike you, husband.

Clicking in mock disapproval, he tapped his temple with a tanned finger.

I smiled back, in spite of myself.
Okay, walking bomb boy...maybe you shouldn’t be pushing me to go first, then.

But I was already moving towards the opening. I felt him behind me as I slid up to the edge of the wall, letting my light snake out lightly ahead. I didn’t feel anything.

Poking my head around the corner, I saw a long, narrow corridor.

It flashed in and out of view, lit by orange emergency lights, which probably kicked in at the same time as the generators. For the first time, it occurred to me that the whole security system, as well as the power, had been tied into the construct I’d cracked. Thinking about that, I clicked briefly into the Barrier, just long enough to feel the mass of infiltrators in the surrounding Barrier space, working frantically to repair the damage I’d done.

Ten minutes had passed. Barely that.

Revik laid a hand on my arm, sending me an impulse to be careful.

I checked our shield, then ventured deeper into the opening in the wall.

A gun went off overhead and I ducked.

From the flare of light in the Barrier, I could tell that Revik deflected the bullet.

That fact didn’t reassure me...especially when I saw the line of soldiers moving towards us, emerging out of the smoke. Lit in front by the orange emergency lights, they held automatic rifles, wearing all black apart from the armbands of the Legion of Fire.

Revik threw up a shield, holding out a hand as they raised their guns.

Grabbing his jacket sleeve, I pulled him the rest of the way into the opening, even as they opened fire. Once I had him inside, I started feeling over the walls with my hands and light, looking for another panel, some way to close it.

I heard violent, loud cracks and winced.

Revik was breaking guns.

I figured better that than spines.

I found the panel, and pinged Revik, who tossed me the cutting tool. Cracking the panel open with the same tool, I shoved my hands into the tendrils the way Revik had, even as I heard another set of small explosions from Revik igniting the bullets inside a least one gun magazine. I peered past the opening again, only to have another guard fire on me for my trouble.

“Stay out of sight, Alyson...jesus,” Revik said, raising his voice against the sound of gunfire. “I’m trying to just scare them off...not kill them all.”

Just knock them out!
I sent.

I would if I could...
he said, pointing up with his hand.

Feeling the military-grade, mobile construct surrounding the infiltrators now stalking us, I nodded, then focused back on the panel.

Once I could feel the organism, I sent an impulse to the organic to close the door.

It complied without protest.

Really, without saying boo.

I flinched, watching in disbelief as the panel began to slide shut. Apparently they put all of the security measures on the outside.

Allie, what did you promise that thing?
Revik joked.

Wouldn’t you like to know?
I grinned at him.

Not really, come to think of it...

My adrenaline spiked as several of the remaining guards lunged towards the opening, right before Revik shoved him back using the telekinesis. Revik was still avoiding killing people, which I was totally good with, of course...even so, I found myself wishing he’d get better at busting kneecaps.

You try it,
he sent, his light holding humor again.
Miss smarty pants...

His light was still humming from the telekinesis, and I let out a short laugh. I tensed again when I saw another of the black-clad guards reappear right at the opening. Two of them reached for it, scrabbling with black gloves on the outside, like I had done, when...

The door closed.

One guard got a final few shots off with a handgun, right before that narrow opening completely vanished. At least one made it through before the edges met, making me duck again, even as my adrenaline briefly spiked.

Then the last of that shot echoed down the corridor, too.

We were left in silence.

I couldn’t even hear the alarm much anymore, I realized. From here it was only a distant hum, like an alarm clock going off in a neighbor’s apartment. We were cut off from the craziness in here pretty much entirely. In fact, I wondered if we could even get out.

“Having second thoughts on this plan of yours, wife?” Revik said humorously.

Giving a faint snort, I looked him over. “Not shot, then, husband?”

“Nope.”

I smiled, clicking at him. “Does Balidor know where we are?”

“He should,” Revik said, tapping the old-fashioned watch.

We’d managed to equip it with an ancient GPS pulse, one that slipped past their sensors, which mostly looked for organics. Still smiling faintly, Revik made an apologetic gesture with one hand.

“Probably wouldn’t hurt to call him anyway, now that the grid’s down,” he added. “I suspect the Legion of Fire figured out by now that we aren’t
actually
here so you can blow their boss while I watch...”

Hearing the genuine irritation in his words, I let out another humorless snort. When Revik motioned in sign language that we needed to hurry, I nodded. We were both walking fast down the narrow corridor and deeper into the building.

Despite his casual demeanor, I could feel he was in full-on military mode.

“Can you feel them?” I asked, my voice quieter. “Or are they already out of range?”

“I feel a shield,” he said, after a pause. “It’s probably them.”

I nodded at the snapshot he sent me.

“They’ve already gone down a few floors,” I muttered. “Elevator?”

“Probably.”

Pulling off one of the jewels on my necklace, I sent an impulse to it, transforming the organic material into an earpiece. I handed a second jewel to Revik even as I fitted the first one into my ear with my free hand.

“I still wish I had a gun,” I grumbled.

Revik chuckled, sending me a pulse of warmth. “I’m a bad influence on you,” he said.

I switched the comm to the frequency Balidor gave me before we left. I didn’t bother with a greeting when I heard him pick up.

“Did I piss you off or something, ‘Dor?” I said, using the subvocals. “Or did you really just let the head of your military arm shoot at us? With a cannon?”

Balidor chuckled. “Is he
my
head then, Esteemed Bridge? You might want to tell him that, if so...preferrably when I’m not around.”

In the background, I heard automatic gunfire.

“Everything cool on your end?” I asked.

“If that was an inquiry after my health, we are all very good here, Esteemed Bridge, thank you for asking.” He added, “Have you spoken to Jon?”

I shook my head. “No. Are they okay? Him and Maygar?” I glanced at Revik. “They know who Maygar is, ‘Dor. Revik felt it on that
dugra-te di aros,
Dulgar...”

Balidor hesitated, and I felt his light hedging slightly.

“We have people heading their way...” he began.

As if feeling my tension ratchet up, Balidor continued without changing tone.

“...He is fine, sister...and well-fortified already. He has most of our best infiltrators with him...including Jorag, Chinja and Hondo.” He hesitated again. “Frankly, we are more worried about there being agents here, and what they might do when Jon starts approaching numbers on the Displacement Lists. I would prefer if he had more backup for that contingency...to protect the humans, in particular...” Pausing, he added, “Where are you and your husband right now, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“In a hidden passageway, northeast corner of the terrace you hit.”

“Erm....why, exactly, Esteemed Bridge?” he said politely.

I rolled my eyes, clicking. “We need Dulgar. We need to know who he sold those seers to. It looks like he sold
all
of them, ‘Dori. Revik thinks they’re headed to the Middle East...”

“So probably Dubai,” Balidor mused.

I heard another cluster of automatic weapon fire.

“All right,” he said. “I see your logic. But come to the casino when you are finished, if you don’t mind...I will do my utmost to meet you there before the clock runs down on our Elaerian brother being out of his cage...”

Glancing at Revik, I gave him an apologetic eye-roll. “Understood,” I said. Remembering the bracelet then, I frowned. “Oh, and, FYI...they could also have more contacts in Hong Kong than Dulgar was saying. Which maybe connects to the Dubai thing, too. Either way, we need to intercept them before they get there. We’re not ready to breach a Shadow city.”