Fall of the Core: Netcast 01 (The Frontiers Saga) (4 page)

“No, no, you’re right,” Brent agreed. “We have to step up our game here. There is too much going on. We’ll broadcast hourly updates. Fifteen minutes of headlines, followed by fifteen minutes of on-the-scene reports. Thirty minutes total per broadcast. Hanna will be lead, and we’ll bring in Constance, Jonas, and… what’s that guy’s name, the one that works the Asian division?”

“Lee Kwong?”

“Yeah, that guy. He’s got a trustworthy face.”

“You think Jonas has a trustworthy face?” someone said doubtfully.

“No, but the ladies love him,” Brent replied. “That gives us the strong female, the stylish female, the trustworthy male, and the ladies man. That should cover everyone, right?”

“Even with four anchors, you’re talking six broadcasts per day per anchor,” Arielle said, finally joining the conversation.

“We need at least one more to rotate in now and then.”

“Fine,” Brent agreed. “What are we missing?”

“How about a fatherly type?” one of the staffers suggested.

“Bob Ludlow!” someone yelled.

“Is he still working?” Brent wondered.

“At a local desk in Chicago, I think.”

“Great, then get him here, pronto,” Brent directed.

“I thought we would be in the field?” Hanna said.

“Sorry,” Brent replied. “This thing is moving too fast. I mean, four million infected, and four hundred thousand dead? In what, twenty hours?”

“It might be a good idea to send our anchors out into the field on a regular basis,” someone suggested.

“Make them look more involved, increase their credibility.” another person agreed.

“We’ll need a couple more anchors,” the operations director said. “Maybe hourly broadcasts might be too much?”

“No,” Brent disagreed. “It’s got to be hourly. We’re the only ones that can pull it off. Within a few days, the entire world will be watching Netcast News World, every hour, on the hour, and no one else. If there is still a world to broadcast to when this is over, we’ll be the only ones left standing.”

Graham leaned forward from his chair behind Arielle and Hanna, whispering in their ears. “So much for that ‘do the right thing’, speech.”

* * *

Hanna stared out the window of the shuttle as it flew in low over the buildings. From above, she could see the entire scope of the chaos. From street level, it had been terrifying, to the point that she would rather be back at her anchor desk in New York than live her dream of being a Netcast News World field reporter.

The streets below seemed barren for this time of day, with only small groups of people scurrying about. Citizens had already started moving in small packs for protection, trying to avoid commercial districts where most of the disturbances had occurred over the first thirty hours.

Above street level, police drones zipped back and forth, occasionally pausing to hover as they monitored events on the ground and relayed live images back to command. Large fire-suppression drones blasted by, racing to combat the numerous building fires caused by careless looters.

The shuttle suddenly banked left, dipping lower as it changed course.

“Why are we turning?” Hanna called out toward the cockpit. “I thought we were going back to headquarters?”

“Troops are using stunners on rioters in Brooklyn,” the pilot yelled back to her. “Dispatch wants aerials and voice-over.”

“Don’t they have anyone on the ground there?” Arielle asked.

“It’s not on the ground,” the pilot replied, “it’s on the upper decks.”

“How are we going to get the shot?” Hanna wondered. “We can’t fly low enough, can we?”

“We don’t need to,” Graham insisted as he opened up his pack. “Just get us within a hundred meters or so. I’ll pop the door and toss out a dozen orbs. We’ll get the whole damn thing in full immersion!”

“The military will neutralize those orbs, and you’ll lose them!” the pilot warned.

“Maybe,” Graham admitted. “Or maybe they’ll be too busy to notice. Either way, we’ll at least get a few seconds of FI. It’ll scare the shit out of the viewers!”

“Let’s do it!” Arielle agreed excitedly.

“As if the viewers aren’t already scared enough,” the pilot commented as he brought the shuttle even lower and turned the corner around the next building.

Graham pulled his orb case out from below his seat and opened the lid. One by one, he tapped each of the twelve orbs to power them up. “Just hover near the incident, and I’ll do the rest,” he called out as he flipped open his controller and powered it up, placing it on the bench seat next to him.

“We’ll be over the site in thirty seconds,” the pilot reported. The shuttle continued to descend as its forward motion decreased.

“Grab the porta-cam and get an establishing shot of Hanna!” Graham ordered.

Arielle picked up the portable camera from the floor of the shuttle and raised it to eye level. “What do I do?”

“You never used a porta-cam?”

“No!”

Graham shook his head and reached over to turn it on for her.

“Fifteen seconds,” the pilot shouted.

“It’s set for full auto,” Graham explained. “Just point and shoot. Press the red button to start or stop recording.”

“Five seconds.”

“Hell, just keep it on Hanna and let it run, after the first few seconds, all I need is audio.”

“Dispatch, shuttle two-five alpha is on scene, hovering at one five zero meters.”

“Popping the door!” Graham announced. He pressed the door control pad, causing the side door to slide back into the wall. He picked up his orb case and immediately dumped the contents out the door, tossing the empty case back onto the floor. “Ready?” he asked Hanna and Arielle.

Arielle pressed the button and activated the porta cam.

Graham pulled his control pad onto his lap and watched the screen as the image feed from the porta-cam filled his main screen. He pointed at Hanna, signaling her to start talking.

“This is Hanna Bohl, reporting from the commercial district in downtown Brooklyn, where federal soldiers are attempting to control a riot that has broken out at one of Mercer Industries’ implant service clinics. NCN World has received unconfirmed reports that troops have resorted to using stunners to control… Wait, I’m told we’re getting live footage from full immersion gear on site just above the incident.”

Graham reached out with his left hand and flipped down a twenty-centimeter wide view screen from the underside of the porta-cam that Arielle was operating. The screen showed a standard image from one of Graham’s dozen camera orbs as it floated only a few meters above the heads of the crowds. There was a sudden flash of light on the screen.

“…Oh my God,” Hanna mumbled without thinking, as dozens of rioters fell to the ground at once.

Arielle flashed a menacing look at Hanna from behind the camera. Had Hanna’s implant been active, she was quite sure that Arielle would be sending her a text telling her to pull herself together.

Hanna watched in amazement as another flash filled the screen. The point of view switched to yet another orb as more people fell to the ground. It shifted again as Hanna continued to speak. “Yes, we have seen two, now three stunner flashes,” she reported. “At least fifty people have fallen.” She watched the small view screen as those who were not stunned rushed to aid the fallen. The orb zoomed in on a woman picking up an unconscious man, blood streaming from his head. “It appears that some people have received injuries, possibly due to uncontrolled falls after instantly being rendered unconscious by the stunners.”

The view screen flashed red several times. Hanna could see red, needle-like beams streaking across the screen as the orb zoomed out to capture the events.

“We’re seeing weapons fire,” Hanna reported. The image shifted to another orb, then another, and another, as a full-on firefight erupted on the elevated decks below them. People ran in every direction seeking cover while federal troops holstered their stunners and reached for their own energy weapons. Personal shields flickered to life as the soldiers attempted to protect themselves from the incoming fire, but several of them were too late, taking energy blasts directly. Fellow soldiers dropped to their knees in front of their fallen comrades, taking the incoming fire with their own shielding to protect the wounded. Then it happened.

“Oh dear God,” Hanna exclaimed. On the view screen, federal soldiers protected by personal energy shields stepped forward through the ranks, lowered their weapons, and opened fire. Powerful bolts of yellow-orange energy tore through the protesters, cutting them down mercilessly. The barrage only lasted a few seconds, after which the scene fell eerily still. “Federal troops have just opened fire on the crowd, after receiving incoming fire from unknown assailants. Dozens of protesters are wounded, possibly dead…”

There was another flash of light, this time a reddish yellow. The image from the orb broke up and disappeared.

“I just lost an orb,” Graham yelled as the shuttle shook violently. “Fuck, I lost three of them, no, four!”

“Was it the military?” Arielle asked. “Did they disable them?”

“No, look!” Hanna pointed out the shuttle window. A plume of smoke rose to the left of the hovering shuttle, not more than a few meters away.

“Bomb!” the pilot shouted. “Hang on!”

Another flash of reddish yellow light, this time to their right, shook the shuttle again.

“I’m climbing!” the pilot yelled as the buildings began to fall away.

“Shit!” Graham grabbed hold of the overhead rail to steady himself. His orb case slid across the floor toward the open side door, but he managed to stick his foot in its path at the last moment.

The image feed from one of the orbs came back up on the porta-cam’s prompter view screen. Federal troops were firing like mad into the crowd as explosions went off all around them. Those that were not firing were dragging their wounded back from the crowd.

“Someone in the crowd is throwing explosive devices…” Hanna began.

“Those are incendiary grenades!” Graham shouted.

“…possibly incendiary grenades at the federal troops. Soldiers are returning fire with heavy energy weapons. Both sides appear to be retreating, but loss of life is undoubtedly heavy…”

They heard another explosion, this one closer than the last.

“This is bullshit!” the pilot exclaimed. “I’m getting us the fuck out of here, now!”

“…for both sides…”

The image on the porta-cam’s prompter view screen went dead, replaced a moment later by an image of Hanna’s face.

“I’ve lost them all,” Graham sunk into his chair, defeated.

Hanna let loose her hold on the side rail, adjusting her jacket and flipping her hair out of her face. She looked at the porta-cam and began speaking in shaky voice. “I’ve been told by our pilot that it is no longer safe for us to remain over the incident. This is Hanna Bohl, reporting to you live from downtown Brooklyn New York, where federal troops have just opened fire on protesters. Back to you.”

* * *

“Good morning, I’m Hanna Bohl. In the headlines this hour- Victim counts increase as the bio-digital plague continues to spread around the globe. World governments are beginning to shut down public transportation. Most major nations are imposing Martial law as rioting and looting continues unabated. Waiting times for removal of neuro-digital implants increase as technicians refuse to come to work for fear of infection or attack, and markets plummet as the global economy comes to a screeching halt. These stories and more, on your Netcast News World hourly update.”

The red light on the center camera went out and Hanna instinctively turned to face the one to her left, focusing her attention into another lens.

“As the third day of the Bio-Digital plague dawns, the number of those infected or killed by the Klaria virus continues to rise at an alarming rate. Latest reports from the GDCO show the number infected is now at fifty million, with the number of lives claimed at just over twenty-seven million. We go now to Milos Kuriatt, standing by at Global Disease Control Organization headquarters in Montreal.”

“
Thank you, Hanna. Not since the bubonic plague more than a millennia ago, have so many people perished as the result of a single pandemic. At the current rate, the GDCO fears that the number of people infected by the Klaria virus could reach up to a billion. With incubation times of the current strain of Klaria being less than a day, the number of lives lost continues to multiply at a rapid rate. Earlier today, an epidemiologist who preferred to remain unidentified, remarked that it was ‘like someone turned on a switch and everyone got sick at once.’
”

“Milos, has anyone at the GDCO confirmed that the Klaria virus was, in fact, delivered by the Twister digital virus via the neuro-digital implants?” Hanna asked.

“
Hanna, that has been the primary question on everyone’s minds at the thrice-daily briefings here, unfortunately, the GDCO continues to assert that, although all indications seem to confirm that suspicion, it is still too early to draw any definite conclusions. However, they agree with Mercer Industries, manufacturers of the neuro-digital implants and the health nanites used by more than seventy percent of the Earth’s population, in recommending that everyone power off their implants and keep them off until the crisis has passed.
”

“Thank you, Milos,” Hanna replied, turning to the next camera. “Today, Australia became the twenty-seventh nation to declare Martial law, as the general population continues to ignore the government’s pleas to remain in their homes and shelter-in-place. In every major country on Earth, frightened citizens are still roaming the streets, looking to gather whatever resources they can beg, borrow, or steal, often with disastrous consequences. In the American Federation, movement in most metropolitan areas has been severely restricted, with armed troops checking citizens for identification, weapons, and other contraband at various checkpoints across the continent. Authorities are urging people not to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary. Meanwhile, people find themselves unprepared for the crisis, with insufficient resources on hand. Officials in most countries are requesting citizens to hang a white towel or large cloth from their door if they are in need of food, water, or medical assistance. Although first responders are overwhelmed in most areas, relief agencies are preparing to circulate through populated areas to bring needed resources to those sheltering in place. However, officials warn that it may take days, possibly even weeks, for relief workers to reach everyone.”