The Plague Forge [ARC] (36 page)

“Our chariot awaits,” Prumble added.

She retied the ropes and pulled the ends tight. The object weighed less than she remembered, but it still required both hands to move. An ache began to seep into her biceps by the time she reached the massive round door.

The others were already turning to leave, except Kelly, who stood staring vaguely toward the floor with one finger pressed to her ear. Sam hadn’t seen it before, but there was a small headset there, skin-pink in color. “There’s a problem,” Kelly said.

Sam set the heavy parcel on the floor and waited as her friend—how good it felt to use that word again—as her friend’s eyes danced left and right. Sam started to ask but Kelly held a finger up.

“Something’s …” She started to talk, then listened more. “I don’t … something’s wrong at Aura’s Edge.”

Sam’s stomach lurched.

“What does that mean?” Prumble asked.

Kelly was shaking her head. “I can’t … too many of them talking at once. Everyone’s in a panic.”

“Sounds like a good diversion to me,” Skadz said. “Let’s move; we still need to find—”

“Oh my God,” Kelly whispered. “Subhumans. Dozens of them, maybe more. Yes, a lot more. It sounds … God, I wish some of these idiots would shut up, I can’t hear anything. It sounds like they’re rushing the barricade. Some are in as far as the Gardens.”

Sam glanced down at the object by her feet. “Did it start when I picked that up?”

Kelly frowned, shook her head. “There was chatter before that, while we were dealing with these blokes. I was ignoring it.”

“Where’d they all come from?” Skadz asked. “I mean, the Purge—”

“Ancient history,” Prumble replied. “The survivors have been encroaching on the city ever since. You’ve been outside; you’ve seen them. “

Skadz gave a grudging nod. “Spread out, though. To come in all at once and reap havoc …”

“They’ve done it before,” Sam said. “Recently. When the aura was faltering. A new breed.” Her last word hung in the air.

“We have to leave,” Kelly said. “Now. They aren’t just wreaking havoc, they’re rushing toward Nightcliff. Toward us.”

Sam stood on the second-to-last step of the stairs that led back to the lobby, right behind Kelly. She held an unfamiliar rifle in her hands, borrowed from one of the dead guards below. Skadz had mercifully offered to carry the alien artifact, at least for the time being.

“Wait here,” Kelly whispered. Then she darted out beyond the shadowed space. The stairs on which Samantha stood were concealed somewhat by the lobby’s design. Two huge mirror-image stairwells curved up and around the slightly tilted column that protected the Elevator cord, which came up from somewhere below. This stairwell was tucked under and behind the two grand ones above, and Sam felt grateful for that. Unlike earlier, the lobby seemed to be buzzing with activity. People were shouting, barking orders. Booted feet clacked on the hard floors.

Kelly stood at the corner and studied the scene beyond, then ducked back and returned.

“The look on your face,” Prumble said, “implies we are screwed.”

“We’re screwed.”

Sam winced. “Tell us.”

After a sharp, deep breath, Kelly said, “They’ve sealed off the building, a line of guards just outside. Your aircraft lifted off already, the pilot spooked apparently—”

“What the fuck?” Skadz asked, speaking to himself. “He couldn’t wait five fucking minutes? He just left her?”

“The girl is not our concern anymore, Skadz,” Prumble said.

“Like hell she isn’t. We’ll bring her with us.”

“Forget it. Arkin made his choice. I’m sure he had his reasons.”

“Maybe they found her while we were in the vault,” Sam said.

Skadz replied through clenched teeth. “That’s bullshit and you know it. I’ll find her even if you guys won’t help.”

Prumble whirled on him, their faces centimeters apart. “You heard what Kelly said. The situation has changed. We need another way out of here or we’re all dead.”

The two men stared at each other for a long moment, Skadz biting down on his lower lip. Sam could see the titanic struggle going on behind his eyes. In the end he said nothing.

“Can we just make a run for it?” Sam asked.

Kelly shook her head apologetically. “Subs are already within sight of the gate at Ryland Square. The streets are in chaos.”

Sam leaned against the wall, mind reeling. “So close already?” Assuming the lump of alien shit that Skadz now carried had somehow called them, they would have had to hitch a ride on a bullet train to get here so quickly. The animals must have started earlier, but how?
What could have triggered them? Our arrival? Doubtful
. She’d been here before. So had Skadz, and Prumble for that matter.

Then she recalled the tremor, the rattling deep vibration that had shot up and down the Elevator cord as if it had been twanged like a guitar string. That had been thirty minutes ago, roughly. Enough time for the single-minded monsters, at least those already lurking in the dark places near Aura’s Edge, to rush toward the source of humanity’s survival. Why now, though? She couldn’t fathom what could trigger—

Yes, she realized. She could. “All five objects are in play,” she said.

The others were all looking at her. Kelly, confused. Skadz, quizzical. Prumble, eyes thoughtful and narrow.

Sam pointed at the bundle Skadz carried. “They’ve now all been removed from their landing sites, and somehow that’s signaled the subs to come. We felt the effect when we were coming in. That must have been Skyler, or Tania. The last one, picked up.”

“If that’s true,” Skadz said, “every sub in … well, shit, I don’t know, every sub—period—is coming for this. For us.”

“Don’t forget Skyler. And Tania.”

Prumble made a hush sound. “Fascinating, but now what?”

Worry flashed across Kelly’s face. She shook it off. “Everything’s been sealed up tight, and anyone who can carry a gun is out there, watching. Shooting already from the sound of it.”

“What do we do?”

Kelly opened her mouth, closed it. She held up her hands and shook her head, out of ideas. “It’s only a matter of time before Grillo realizes I haven’t checked in, and sends someone down to check on our little ambush. He may have already … 
shit
.”

“What now?”

Kelly ripped the tiny radio from her ear and tossed it. “That answers that. I’ve been cut off. Grillo must suspect, or at least he thinks I failed and that radio might be in your hands.”

Skadz laughed, incredulous. “We’re sitting ducks here.”

“What’s plan B?” Sam asked.

“This was plan B, Sammy.”

“Fine. Plan fucking C then. Just … a plan. Anything.”

An excruciating silence followed. Four seconds, then Prumble spoke.

“We go up,” he said.

Kelly shook her head. “Nothing upstairs except offices, control, and the climber port.”

“The climber port, exactly. We go
up
.” Under their combined stares he seemed to transform. His face hardened. His posture, which on any other day would have involved a slight stoop and a walking cane, made him seem like a wall despite being one step below Samantha. “No time to argue about it. That thing needs to get to space and we’ve got that capability right above our heads. Besides, my fancy suit we spent all that time on is in the aircraft. I’ve got no other choice.”

“They’ll just stop the climber—assuming we can even find one heading up—and turn it around.”

Prumble shook his head. “There’ll be one. The city is under siege. I guarantee there are at least a handful of people who have a sudden urge to move to higher ground. As for stopping us, we bluff. We pretend Kelly’s our hostage and when that starts to lose its effectiveness we use that alien cube as our hostage.”

The book, too,
Sam thought. Grillo might at least hesitate if he knew they had it.

“Mental,” Skadz said under his breath.

For her part, Kelly seemed to be considering the idea. She looked to Sam, who could think of no other option and shrugged. “If we can get inside Gateway, we can pull that same trick that Skyler used to get to Anchor.”

“Too many things have to go just right—”

“If you have a better idea,” Prumble said, “then go for it. But pick one now because we need to get off this damnable stairwell.”

Kelly kept her eyes on Sam, eyebrows raised, and Sam realized she needed assurance not that the plan was worthy but that Prumble was someone she could trust. Prumble, who’d been nothing to Sam for years except the big man who served as fence to Skadz, and later Skyler. She’d always found him mildly disgusting. How he must sweat under that ridiculous duster, how he always spoke as if on a theater stage. Yet he’d shown a remarkable sense of loyalty, or at least partnership, with Skyler and Skadz. A kinship.

She’d also always thought of him as something of a coward, hiding down in that dingy garage. She’d assumed he’d never left the dark confines of that musty place, but he’d shown incredible knowledge of the city and its people over the last few weeks. And he’d killed. Killed with surprising efficiency for an overweight Kiwi locksmith.

Sam nodded to her friend. “Let’s go up.”

“Okay then,” Kelly said. “On my signal.”

And just like that, she crept back to the corner that looked out on the rest of the lobby. She spent perhaps a second taking in the scene beyond, then held up a hand instructing the rest of the party to wait before she vanished from view.

Sam swallowed hard, and studied the unfamiliar rifle in her hands once again, double-checking that the safety was indeed off. When she glanced back up, Kelly had returned. She wheeled one hand about rapidly, the look on her face matching the urgency of the motion.

Turning, Sam motioned for Skadz to go next. “Are you okay? Are you with us?” she asked him when he’d come to her step.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m an old hand at letting people down.”

“Don’t. It’s not like that.…”

“It is to me.” He softened then, a little. “Look, I’m just pissed-off, okay? It blows my fucking mind that Arkin lit out at the first sign of trouble.”

“Me, too, but it’s not our problem now. We have to look out for each other, first, and get the fuck out of here.”

“I know, I know. Doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.” With that he continued up the steps.

Sam followed him after Prumble nodded to her his intention to come last. Around the corner she glanced briefly at the bank of windows and glass doors that fronted the lobby of the climber port. Guards, some in Jacobite regalia and some in the classic Nightcliff fashion of mismatched uniforms and maroon-painted helmets, stood in clumps near the entrances. Others ran toward, or back from, the fortress wall some distance away. Some stood casually; others were hunkered down behind makeshift barricades. It all looked very sloppy and confused to Sam, but clearly it would be suicide to make a run for it, especially once word of the theft got out.

Kelly strode purposefully up the stairs, Skadz on her heels. Sam followed a few steps behind, wishing she’d snatched a Jacobite shift off one of the bodies in the vault’s antechamber. Still, everyone seemed to be either outside standing guard against the vague threat of riled subs, or busy in other places. Only a few people moved about in the vast lobby, but they paid Kelly and her followers no heed.

A second wide flight of stairs led up to what must have once been a luxurious waiting area for passengers about to embark on the journey to space. A long window overlooked the northern portion of Nightcliff and the sea beyond. The room jutted out over a portion of the yard below, and Sam noted discolored portions of the floor where she guessed couches or chairs must have once been bolted down.

As Prumble had predicted, there were plenty of people milling about, crowded around the double doors that led to the climber boarding area. Someone Sam couldn’t see through the crowd was speaking in calming tones, urging those gathered to be patient while a climber was prepped.

Kelly rushed past all this, eschewing the main doors for an unmarked side exit. Inside was a narrow, plain hallway with smudged white walls and a dull green floor. Exposed pipes lined the ceiling and darted out at odd places through flanged rings that showed hints of rust under their white paint.

There were two side doors along the hall, and one at the end, which Kelly raced toward.

Sam watched her burst through the door, rifle raised and barking commands of “Stand down!” at whoever lurked within.

Skadz pressed himself against the hallway wall so that Samantha could push past him. She did so, bringing her own gun up as she stepped into the room. Terrified eyes stared back at her from startled operators. Some stood by, a few hurling cries of surprise or even “betrayer” at Kelly. Others still sat ashen-faced at desks supporting wide terminal displays and slate data entry devices propped up on the flat areas. All this faced in on a giant screen that showed on one half what Sam knew to be a map of the cargo yard, and on the other half a chart of the space stations along the Elevator cord. Little icons moved about on the digital version of the thread.

“Everyone stay calm,” Kelly said. Then she aimed at one of the terrified desk jockeys. “You. Mark a car on the next climber reserved, then lead us to it. We’ll take two of you as hostage.”

Sam reached for the nearest technician and balled the collar of his shirt into her fist. She was about to hoist him from his chair when she noticed a familiar face at the back of the room. A rugged, handsome, slightly askew face. Vaughn locked eyes with her and the corner of his mouth twitched. The slightest of movements, the only hint she needed.

“You,” she barked at him. “Come over here. Slowly. Hands off that billy club, eh?”

Vaughn almost cracked a smile. She could see it in the sparkle of his eyes, the slight tuck of his lower lip. He caught himself and glanced down as he crossed the suddenly silent room. When he’d come to stand in front of her she took him by the upper arm and twirled him to face away from her, then liberally frisked him. She double-checked his hindquarters just in case. “Can’t be too careful,” she said in a low voice.

“Uh huh.”