Sucker Punch (9 page)

I don't want to split up.
If she couldn't whine to Joe, she'd whine to Wynken.

Nor do I, but it does mean that there is also a nanite in each pairing.

But I'm stuck with Benson.

As you noted, her girl crush is on the wane.

Vi had to choke down the chuckle. A nanite with a sense of humor.
You're good—well, people, Wynken. I'm sorry about this, but glad to have you along.

Like you, I would rather go down fighting.

“All right.” Vi had to force the words out through teeth that wanted to clench. There wouldn't even be a chance for a kiss before parting. Her gaze held Joe's, hoping he got all she couldn't say from that look. She wasn't hopeful he would. He was a guy. And she had evidence he wasn't fluent in reading looks.

Amidst the debris she found a stick. “Here's basic layout of the park, at least as much as I remember.” She sketched in the outline. X'd in the fixed landmarks. “We're around here. The NOMA is here. It's big. Has rooms. Might be locked down tight like the Pavilion, though. There is more cover that direction. At least, more buildings. We could cover you better if you mess around Storyland and the carousel, but that might be risky. From any of those places, we should be able to,” she added, because there were two of them, “make it to Gormley Stadium and get high enough to get eyes on the Park.”

She tried to remember what she knew about the stadium, but it had been a while since she'd been to a game there. And the date hadn't been that memorable. But it was a stadium. Shouldn't be that hard to get high. She looked at her watch.

“If no one stops us, we should be able to make the stadium in—worst case—thirty. Let's hope for better than that.” If the baddies went airborne, they wouldn't last that long without cover fire. She tapped her com, but it was dead. Or blocked?

Joe looked at his watch. “Once you are in position, we will attempt to draw them out. If—”

“Well, if the party starts without us, we'll join in as soon as we can.” They should be able to move faster if the baddies were distracted. “If it hasn't started, I'll figure out a way to signal you to get it going.”

“Jack and I will move out first.”

“All right. Everyone mark the time.” She met his gaze again. “Good luck.”

“You as well.”

Joe turned, keeping his body close to the edge of the lake and began to belly crawl away from them. From her.

I hope…

As do I.

T
hey were
able to stay in the lake bed almost all the way to the NOMA. Nothing moved, on land or in the sky. Down in the mud, it felt as if things slithered away from them. Joe tried not to think about these things as there was nothing he could do about them, since screaming and jumping up and down would result in death. He'd always hated slithery slide-y creatures.

To distract himself, he and Lurch tried out various theories on each other for why the silence. Neither of them liked any of the theories that much, but they did keep his mind off what was moving in the mud. Hard to postulate when the opposition appeared to be acting without discernible logic. Despite his efforts to stay loose—whatever Lurch meant by that—Joe's muscles tightened and the back of his neck tingled, though that could have been because of the mud. He did not like to think what its component elements might be.

What were their enemies waiting for? Had they failed to draw them away from the women? Were they even now being—

That is not productive.

It wasn't. While he didn't like the internal circling of his thoughts, he was not happy to have them interrupted by having gone as far as they could in the lake bed. Suddenly down in the mud had much appeal, since getting out might result in getting blown to pieces.

Without speaking, they both paused, studied their surroundings, then looked at each other. From their location, both the NOMA and the pavilion that Vi had called Two Sisters, were visible, sitting there like choice A and choice B. Either would result in leaving the mud and moving into the open. Jack didn't appear eager to move, but then Joe had yet to see him exhibit any emotion.

Lurch had provided him with a mental map of the Park. Vi was correct in her assessment. There were more structures if they went left, taking a course parallel to their crash site. Structures in between open spaces where they would be visible to hostile forces. He'd been thinking about something else, but it would be equally…challenging to execute. Possibly more dangerous. “I have this idea….”

Out of his muddy face, Jack regarded Joe with his blank, patient gaze. His eyebrows might have risen in inquiry. It was hard to tell since the mud retained its flexibility.

“If they do have transport, and we have to assume they do, we will be—”

“Sitting, well, moving ducks,” Jack finished for him.

“We won't last long, even covered in mud,” Joe agreed. “I've been thinking about the missile launcher. If it really is mounted,” he paused but Jack didn't speak. “What if it's still there where they left it?”

Jack's eyes widened and a grin broke the muddy expanse of his face. “I like the way you think, sir.”

“Call me Joe.”

Being called “sir” made him feel old. He'd like to achieve old before feeling old.

T
hey made
it to the stadium faster than Vi had figured. Emboldened by the silence, she'd legged it, with Benson a few paces behind. They hadn't spoken at all during the dash. Silence was golden and speech wasn't that possible, even with Wynken helping her out—though it made sure she was enough winded to be believable without being embarrassed in front of the girl. It had a nice attention to detail.

Flattened against the side of the stadium, Vi let her breathing slow naturally and tried to extend her hearing. Not that she needed to strain. The silence was not golden or reassuring. Almost eerie in its depth and breadth. There should have been something to hear, even if it was just birds. She needed to get up where she could see. She needed to have been there ten minutes ago. She looked at Benson—couldn't keep calling her that, she decided.

“You gotta a first name, Benson?”

“Gladys, ma'am.”

That's right. Frank had called her that. She didn't look like a Gladys, but what baby would? “If we're going to die together, we should be on first name basis, don't you think? Save the ma'am for the big
if
we survive.”

“We're going to make it, ma—Vi.”

Vi was glad she was optimistic. Someone should be. “I wonder what they're waiting for?”

“They?”

“The baddies. Why aren't they looking? Shooting?”

“Perhaps Jack and, er, your alien…partner, haven't broken cover yet.”

That was a bit odd. Vi glanced at her. How had she kept that wide-eyed innocent look through training? To call her a baby cop seemed too much, but fetus cop sounded a bit weird. The hairs on the back of her neck rose, jerking her back to threat scanning. Something was wrong, but what? Joe and Jack had a much shorter distance to cover, even if they had to do it on their bellies. And why would the baddies let them scatter and make the search harder? It was crazy. No connecting thread to follow, to plan, and defend against.

“Or…” Benson's voice trailed off, possibly because of a fierce, don't-say-it from Vi. “Where do you think they are then, ma—Vi? Which way do you think they went?”

Vi gazed into the distance, but in her mind she studied her mental map of the park. “If it were me, I'd make for that cluster of buildings by the casino. There's a sanitation station and some other buildings that could give some nice cover. Maybe even provide ops for some crossfire action. Yeah, that's where I'd be.”

Joe would have a better map than she had because he had Lurch. Wynken wasn't as up-to-date, it had said, with a soft
sorry.
So she hoped he'd figured that out. The NOMA was big, but they could get trapped in there. Of course, he'd need to respond to what he could see, too. Because that crossfire could be turned on them if the baddies were using the buildings for cover. She turned, catching an odd expression on Benson's face. There was something different about her, but Vi couldn't put her finger on what. Didn't have time for fingers on stuff anyway.

Perhaps she is afraid.

Vi should have thought of that herself. “It's okay.”

Benson blinked. “What's okay, ma—” She pressed her lips together.

“To be afraid.”

“I am not afeard.” Her tone was defensive, verging on outraged.

Vi blinked this time. “O…kay.”

Benson's cheek flushed. “My grandma used to say that.” She grimaced. “I guess I must be a little nervous. Haven't said that since I was a kid.”

Vi grinned. “No worries.” She eased away from the stadium and scanned it. “Let's see if we can find a way inside this bad boy.”

T
hey were sneaking through Storyland
, on target for the carousel, when Joe heard the sound of a skimmer starting up. He and Jack hit the ground, but its occupants showed no interest in them as it rose from behind something that he believed was the Garden Study, whatever that was. It headed across the great lawn toward the cluster of buildings that Vi had mentioned as possibly offering more cover. He exchanged a puzzled look with Jack, then turned to watch it circle the area. After a couple of circuits, another skimmer rose from the same area and flew that way. But it did not join the vulture-like circling. It settled in an open area, disgorging several armed men who began a systematic—and ruthless search of the buildings. They approached each with the skill of a SWAT team. One guy kicked the door open, another tossed in explosive grenades. It appeared that taking prisoners was not on the agenda for them.

“I am glad we changed the plan,” Jack observed.

“As am I—” Their actions indicated they believed that's where the pair had gone. Why would they demonstrate such certainty— Joe's thoughts slowed, but his mind completed the thought —unless someone in their group was—passing on intel.

But incorrect intel.

The nanite was correct. That appeared to clear Jack.

Appeared. But I agree he is not our mole.

That left—
Benson—

This time Joe's thoughts froze. Ice forming in big, painful chunks in his veins. It hurt to breathe, to think. But…she hadn't tried to manipulate events. Nor had Jack. She hadn't wanted to split up.
Are we bugged? The MITSC?
But why would they want them dead?

Trying to sound casual, Joe asked, “How did you end up getting the call to the MEC?”

“We were already there. Crowd control duty.” Jack's lack of inflection seemed to increase. “Been there all night.”

Benson. It has to be her.

You need to find that launcher. Without its fire power…

It was correct. There was a risk, but…

“If you found a missile launcher, would you know how to fire it?” He was following his gut. This was a surprise, but he felt most strongly that the place he needed to be was where Vi and Wynken were.

The sound of the skimmer firing up helped cover any noise they made breaking inside. Vi kicked or shot her way through each barrier, until they burst into the open field. Above them, the sky was calmly blue, indifferent to their plight. She looked around, trying to get her bearings. The sound of explosive detonations helped her with that. If she hadn't been so worried, she'd have enjoyed the lightness, the lift provided by Wynken. She jumped the barrier, and headed up the bleachers, like she had Wynken-fueled wings. As she closed on the top level, she slowed and crouched, unslinging her long gun. She eased up and stared through her gun sight at the men so ruthlessly clearing the buildings. Smoke drifted out the shattered windows of the buildings they'd already visited.

“They don't stand a chance,” she muttered. She sighted in on one face. One of Afoniki's goons, the “receptionist.” But why would he come after them? She took a breath. It hurt, the next one helped, though this pain was not something Wynken could help with. She used her sight to scan the area, tried to be systematic—was that movement over by Storyland? What had prompted them to head over—her sight picked up a gleam by the carousel. The missile launcher. But only one figure was darting that direction. She could tell by the way he moved it was Jack.

Was Joe trying to draw attention away from him? Where was Joe? Had to love a guy who was both brave and smart. She'd totally forgotten the missile launcher—hold it. Had she just thought the word love? It wasn't that she was
in
love, she explained to herself, but she did, well, love brains. On principle. Did the nanite give a little snort? Vi decided she didn't want to know. Thinking started again, though a bit slow after the sidetrack into, well…Jack had made it to the Wynken, Blynken and Nod ride—
sorry.
Not very tactful of her. She offered a mental apology.

It is okay. We picked the poem from Robert-oh-my-darling's brain for our identities when we were new. It was a metaphor. It is from the poem. We also set sail and 'Never afeard are we.'

Vi stiffened. And for some reason, that aligned her sight on a figure heading their way.
Joe.
Joe was smart. He'd wondered what she should have wondered. How had the baddies known right where to look? The skimmer had started up a minute or so after she told Benson—

“Why aren't you shooting them?” Benson asked from behind her.

Vi heard her take the last two steps and sensed Benson crouching down next to her.

“How did they know to look there?” Vi asked, though she knew the answer. Probably shouldn't have asked it out loud, but she had. She tensed, preparing to bring her weapon around.

“You told me that's where they'd be.”

Vi began her turn, turned but found herself nose-to-nose with Benson's service weapon. Now she knew what had changed. Benson's injury had healed. As Vi stared, her eyes changed. Eerie lights formed around overlarge pupils. Sparks of light, like miniature lightning flashed on her skin.

It is pleased with itself.

Vi was surprised to note that Wynken didn't feel that afeared.

Nod tried to warn us. I was slow. I am sorry.

Nod. Tried to warn us. That means—

It still exists in there somewhere.

Nod isn't dead. We have to—

“They haven't found them yet.” Benson's face creased in a frown, sending sparks of light dancing across the surface of her face. “Oh well. Shoot them.”

“What?”

“Shoot them.”

“Shoot…who?”

“Afoniki's men. Do it now.”

Getting them talking always worked in the vids, so Vi went for it now. She didn't have that much to lose. “Why would you want me to shoot them? They seem to be working for you.”

“They are surplus to requirements now that I have you.” The lights glowed brighter in her…its eyes, a hint of green in there now.

Could it know that Wynken was in her? And if it did, how?

“Why would you want…me?” Seemed like Joe—

“I knew you would not find pleasure in Jimbo. He was an unattractive specimen with dubious hygiene habits. Though he was not as stupid as he looked. He suspected me. Almost got away.” It frowned at the memory.

Jimbo suspected the…dog. He
was
smarter than he'd looked.

“This body is more pleasing. It has many elements of human attraction. Young. Fit. Pleasing to other humans. I observed this at both crime scenes.”

“You picked Benson…for me?”

It seems we were wrong about the girl crush. It has a crush crush.

J
oe was used
to Lurch downloading programs into his head to help him adapt to the different situations in which they'd found themselves, programs that were really people skills acquired from others who had hosted it through many years. Sometimes it asked. Sometimes it acted. This time it was Joe who asked.
I'm going to need a lot more than me to get there in time.
If ‘it' was inhabiting Benson's body, then Vi was in mortal danger. Hopefully the searchers would be distracted—

The skimmer's engine sounds changed.