System Seven (59 page)

At the far end of the
loading area a doorway opened into a hall. Javier led them to a utility room
with a hatch set in the floor.

“Bingo. Intel’s good
so far.”

He pulled a lever to
unlock the hatch and hefted it open. Cold, moist air flowed upward. A ladder
descended into blackness.

“You still trust the
source?” Austin asked.

“Sometimes faith is
all you have.”

“I’m going first,” Austin
said. “Seriously, I’m fucking invisible.”

“Invisible, not
invincible. You still light up my goggles like a Christmas tree.”

“Really?” A few
seconds later Javier cussed. He’d formed a bubble to hide his heat.

“That’s a neat trick
but what is it costing you? Knock it off until you really need it.”

Austin took to the
ladder. “Where’s this lead?”

“To water.”

“That’s some serious
intel right there, pal. Good to know.”

“Don’t get punchy. I
need you sharp. Watch for cameras, flooring plates, trip wires, everything.”

“Got it.”

“I’m right behind
you.”

The ladder took them
thirty feet down a cored rock shaft before it let them out onto a horizontal
passage. Smooth walls also indicated large-bore drilling but only a third of
the diameter of the main construction tunnel. It lacked any of the
improvements.

“Foot traffic only?”

“Seems like.”

They walked along the
passage using the rifle’s feeder beam to guide their steps. Occasionally Javier
switched to infrared to scan for power sources from cameras or other electric
devices. Ahead a dim outline of the tunnel grew.

“Termination ahead.
Light source. Stay behind me.”

Thirty strides on,
Javier slowed and then stopped to turn off his goggles. Light filtering into
the tunnel created too bright a wash.

“What is it?” Austin
asked, doing the same. His eyes adjusted. What looked like raw cave formations
loomed ahead.

Javier gestured for Austin
to stay. He walked forward to approach the edge of the tunnel.

“I’ve got a bad
feeling about this,” Austin whispered.

“Stop feeling then.”

Javier crouch-walked
to reach the edge. “Holy fuck.”

“What?”

“Come see. Carefully.”

Austin crouched beside
him. “Daaamn.”

Below them, hundreds
of lights illuminated an underground reservoir stretching away into the
distance. Floodlights along the bottom showed a depth of hundreds of feet. The
water was so clear they could see individual rocks and into sinkholes that fed
lower passages. Four columns of rock stood as if placed there by a race of
giants to support the cavern. Smaller ones lay collapsed along the bottom.

“What the hell...”

“Ancient water. All
that the region ever had, looks like. And look there,” Javier pointed. “Past
the second column.” A cluster of lights hung from the cavern’s ceiling. He
pulled the rifle from his shoulder and used the scope. “It’s the bottom of the
Core.”

Austin brought out his
rifle and scoped in.

The structure
protruding from the ceiling was huge. He resolved scale by spotting windows in
the structure. A latticework cord hanging from it contained a pipe that
descended into the water below. Probably a feeder for the Core’s water supply.

“What do you think?”
Javier asked.

He continued to scan
the upper structure. “The lattice has a ladder.”

“So there’s an
entrance.”

“Has to be.” Austin
lowered his rifle.

“How do you feel?”

“Ready.” He felt
strong, capable, and connected to the potential around him. He wanted only the
chance to destroy the council. Whatever it took. Anything between him and that
act was going to have problems. “Ready to take care of business.”

“Good, because this is
the most business I’ve ever seen.”

He thought about it.
“I’d still like to know where all this information is coming from. Who’s
guiding us in and why.”

“So would I.
Segmentation, though. They are protecting the source.”

“But do they even know
the source?”

“No clue.” He pointed
to the Core. “You’ll have to carry me over.”

Austin estimated the
distance, gauging the effort required. Not much, but once they made entry…
reaching the Council would require downing many obstacles, the danger
incalculable. For some reason he thought of Javier’s son, Miguelito. He asked
about him and received a sharp look.

It was there in the
silence, in the glance, something Javier didn’t want to slip, something he
didn’t want to even be. The druid looked away.

“Oh god. They got to
him, didn’t they? That’s why you’re here.”

Javier walled up,
containing whatever raged within.

The world tilted then,
as realization struck. He pulled back the fabric to reveal his head. “Meng,
too. They got to Marcel.” Guilt found a new foothold and kicked viciously. “Oh
my god. They back traced. Fuck. It’s all my fault. Both–”

Javier pinned him with
a stare. “Enough. Stop trippin’ on things that aren’t your doing. You didn’t
lead them. You didn’t know. No one did. Don’t you get it? There’s only one
thing to focus on now. We go up there and we get the council. We take off the
motherfucking head. Whatever the cost. Whatever the price. That’s our job.”

The druid’s intensity
burned through the fog of loss and guilt, reigniting his own anger.

“That’s better. Focus.
You’re what’s left of the Change and this is our last chance. We’re going to
find them and end them. Now, are you ready to fly us over there?”

“I need to know the
plan. We kill their bodies, they just land in others. What’s going to stop them?”

Javier shook his head.
“They won’t tell me and I can’t afford to know.
That’s
all I know. This is the way sometimes, so get used to it.
Now, are you ready?

“You’re sure they have
a plan?”

“That’s all I’m sure
of.”

Austin looked across
the distance to the Core. Faith had never been easy. Nothing about this was
easy, though.

“Alright. Okay.” He
breathed deep. “Let’s see where the trackways take us.”

• • •

Lathrop didn’t like
him drinking it but the tequila helped. Soldado watched his crack program’s
failed efforts climb into the tens of millions. Sitting on his ass digesting
burritos while Johan and Austin risked their lives fucked with his head
something fierce. People were dying out there in numbers, losing their minds
and all hope, and he had nothing to do but tap on a keyboard and run programs.

He caught himself. No,
he’d modified the Booty algorithms three times to keep it hidden on the AI’s
network and was helping monitor for the worst kind of action orders. So it
wasn’t like he hadn’t been doing
something
.
The time in between, though, was what got to him. Limited updates from the
Korda made it all worse. The gold juice helped keep the worried monkeys in his
head quiet.

He tossed back a shot
and followed the burn down his throat. On screen, a yellow square lit in the
corner with the number one. Another unidentified packet type. They’d become
more and more rare as they analyzed and documented traffic. Curious, he brought
the detail up... and sat forward as he read.

“What the...”

A long sequence of
numbers stared back at him. The packet had no transport details and wasn’t
categorized or even encrypted with any of the five known methods. He called for
Lathrop. Twice. The second time became an urgent shout.

The scientist arrived
at a run. “Did you break it?”

“No, no, look at
this.”

Mr. Lathrop peered at
the screen. “Overseer found us?”

“Something has.”

“Pack it up, we’re out
of here,” Lathrop said, heading for the door.

Another yellow packet
came in. “Wait,” he said. “What the mother lovin’ sam fuck is this?”

Lathrop returned to
read.

It’s the encryption
seed for the Core, fuckeredface

Lathrop stared. “What
the hell–”

“Fuckeredface. SlotZero
called me that,” he said, looking up at the scientist. “Johan. Nobody else.
Nobody.”

“They’re drawing you
in. They have him and they’re looking to draw us all in. We’re moving out now,”
Lathrop said and disappeared down the hall.

He flipped back to the
first packet. The sequence was long enough to be the seed.

Use it assbyte. Hurry up.

He shivered at the
thought and ran his hands through his hair. They’d either found him or somehow
Johan was breaking through.

He brought up the
manual entry field and keyed in the sequence but didn’t press Enter. Holding
his breath, he waited for another message, another sign.

Nothing came.

“Fuck hell shit damn
bitch whore.
Fuck!
”

Lathrop hollered to
get moving.

Push it fucker, Austin needs you bad. Push the
damn key.

The message came quickly,
resolving in his mind after it arrived. It felt like Johan. Every bit like
Johan. Johan in a squeeze.

“Fucking voodoo shit.”
His eyes flickered from the screen to the Enter key and back.

“It better be you,
dude. It so better be you.”

He pressed Enter and
froze. His irises dilated and his heart beat.

Every dot turned green
at once. The failure counter halted just shy of thirty one million.

Now get into their security shit. Don’t fuck it
up!

He slapped the table.
“Fucking ghost in the machine, man. You are the ghost in the
machine!
Lathrop!”

• • •

Austin took a solo run
across the reservoir to scout the base of the Core, heat dampened to avoid
sensors. The structure was immense, as big as a football stadium. How far up
did it go? What defenses might lie inside? Potential pounded in his veins along with fear. Keeping them both in
check, he scouted for a full five minutes. In some of the upper windows he saw
people in white uniforms working at consoles. Cameras pointed in every
direction along the exterior. Getting them both in was going to be tricky
alright.

He returned to brief
Javier, whistling softly as he approached.

“What took you so
long?”

He pulled back the
fabric. “Checking things out. I don’t think they’re expecting us.”

“That’s the hope. What
about cameras?”

“Tons of ‘em but I
think I found a safe route across the top of the cavern. We reach the Core and
slide down and under to the access hatch. There’s windows, though, and people
in ‘em.”

“What about the
hatch?”

“Gonna have to bend
some bars to get in the latticework. I can do that once I disable the camera
covering the hatch. Don’t worry, I’ll make it look like it failed.”

“That’s a lot of work
up front. Carrying me around, too.”

“Getting in isn’t what
I’m worried about. It’s what happens after we’re inside.”

“Well I’ve got an
idea. You might not like it, but at this point strategy is one of our only
assets.”

• • •

Javier soared high
above the reservoir and darted among stalactites hanging from the cavern’s
ceiling. In just a few frantic seconds the lights from the Core neared. He
stayed in the shadows, navigating until he reached its black walls. Palming the
smooth surface, he slipped down eight stories, zigzagging around lit windows
to arrive at the bottom of the structure.

Avoiding the cameras
pointing down at the latticework, he flew to a point just behind a solitary
camera aimed at the entrance hatch. A second later, the camera fizzled and
smoked. He latched onto the latticework with a firm grip. The metal bars parted
abruptly, big enough for him to climb through and reach the ladder.

He was right, Austin
did not like his idea at all. All the posturing and pretending was to make them
think he was Austin. “That’s like using you as a minesweeper. I don’t like it.
Think of another plan.” There wasn’t one, despite a few ideas Austin put forth.
They would proceed with the impersonation, preserving stealth to the last
possible moment.

He extended a hand
upwards and the hatch shifted, groaned, then popped open into the room above.
For a moment he imagined actually having the power Austin had. A shiver ran
down his arms.

He waited several
seconds, then flew up and disappeared inside.

• • •

The steel door inside
the compression chamber was locked. An invisible Austin stepped back, guiding
Javier by touch to stand aside. He tried to force it and managed only to bend
the door. A second try wrenched the lock free.