Time Siege (37 page)

Levin cursed under his breath.

“What is it?” Grace asked.

“I'm sitting with an auditor right now. Twelfth of the chain.”

“Can you beat her?”

“With auditor bands, possibly. With chronman ones, I'm not sure. More importantly, I don't know if I want to. I raised her to the chain myself. She's a good person.”

“Did you used to sleep with her?”

“No, Grace. What does that have to do with it?”

“Because that woman is about to haul you back to prison or worse, and all you can think about is what a stand-up individual she is. Pull your head out of your ass and do your space-forsaken job.”

The waitress returned with another of those tiny teacups and offered it to the auditor. She thanked the woman and took a sip. “So what will it be? Come easy and neat, or do I have to break you first?”

Levin chuckled. He remembered catching her practicing saying those words for the first time the night before her first retrieval of a wayward Tier-4 on Luna. “You missed a line.”

She arched an eyebrow. “What?”

Levin put his cup down and leaned back in his chair. “You usually say something else after you give your first line. What is it? I forget. Something about how you could use the exercise.”

Julia stood up and the soft orange hue of her exo surrounding her intensified. “Who are you?”

He dropped his paint job and studied the look of shock on her face. “Hello, Julia. How did you find me?”

It took her only a second to recover. Julia sprouted four orange coils from her exo and looked ready to attack. “The director told me the wastelanders operating in the northeast were salvaging again. We've put a heavier emphasis on tracking illegal jumps and their salvage movements. Of all people, I never thought you would be helping them. I heard you escaped, but I didn't think you would ever betray the Time Laws so brazenly.”

“It's more complicated than that,” he said. Was it? He didn't quite believe his words. “Julia, in all the years you knew me, did I ever betray the agency or act without honor? Can you consider that there is more to all this than you know?”

The auditor didn't waver, but she didn't attack him, either. Levin sensed an opportunity. Julia crossed her arms and leaned back. “Very well then, Levin. Now is your chance to defend yourself. Abyss knows you didn't at your trial. There was a time when I would have scoffed at the charges leveled against you. But, between the facts, witness accounts, and your lack of defense, how could anyone think otherwise? Explain yourself now.”

Levin kept his face neutral, though it pained him that she thought of him this way. Her reasoning was sound. He would think the same if he was in her position. However, the truth would only risk everything he was trying to accomplish. “I cannot. Not right now, at least. I just have to hope that our relationship still carries weight.” It was a poor excuse. One that said nothing and meant even less.

Julia pursed her lips and shook her head. “How the high and noble have fallen. I shall choose to honor my old friend's memory by pretending this wretch before me shares nothing more than his resemblance. The Levin I knew would have never stooped to pulling on my heartstrings. The real Levin always did the right thing. I will give you one last chance to do so. Surrender and release your bands.”

Levin stared at that small cup on the table, its brown milky contents only half-drunk. He paused, tapping the table twice with his fingers. He picked the cup up and threw its contents back. “Should we move to a more isolated place?”

The gesture wasn't lost on Julia. She pondered his suggestion for a few moments and then shook her head. “My handler says this area is as good as any. Once the war starts, this entire part of the city gets wiped out. Whatever ripples we cause here will heal within a day.” In the distance, a siren began to wail.

Levin looked west at the setting sun. She was right. The first of the mountain hulks should be rising out of the ground at any moment. The radar would pick them up and a citywide panic would ensue. “Very well, then. If you agree, we wait until the attack begins before we conclude our affairs.” He gestured to the waitress to order another
café
bonbon anís,
this time asking for triple the alcohol.

He watched the waitress leave to fulfill his order. That was probably the last thing she was ever going to do. Part of him wanted to tell her to go home and hug her loved ones for the last time. Make her peace and say her goodbyes. Levin scowled. Julia was right; he had gone soft. He turned his attention back to the auditor, who was still standing in front of him, exo powered on.

“Put your coils away,” he said. “Sit down before someone notices your exo.”

“I find that ironic coming from someone who has so blatantly disregarded—”

He cut her off. “I've known you for eighteen years, Julia. That's worth something. Give me a few minutes and have a seat. Besides, it's starting to get dark. If someone looks closely, they'll notice your coils. You want to create unnecessary ripples?”

Julia reluctantly sat down and the two stared at each other, waging a contest of wills. She finally spoke. “I was actually happy to hear that you escaped. Most of the auditor chain didn't believe for a second the charges they leveled against you. I had thought you would be smart enough to hole up on some backwater shithole and never show your face again.”

The waitress returned with his order. Levin picked up his cup and saluted Julia with it. “If I was going to hole up in a shithole, I would just stay on Nereid.”

“Instead you're back on Earth running illegal jumps? What the abyss is wrong with you? Have you lost your last shred of decency, or is this some sick way of poking the giant in the eye?” Her eyes narrowed. “No, you were never motivated by wealth, nor by vice. What are you really doing here, Levin?”

He smiled. Julia didn't honestly believe he had gone rogue. She was just telling herself this because it would make their fight easier. He took a sip from his cup and placed it back on the table. “How's your aunt doing? The one you took leave for last year?”

“Nice try, Levin. You won't be able to work on my emotions. She passed away three months ago.”

“I'm sorry to hear that. She was your last relative?”

Julia nodded. “I tried to move her to Luna the last few years, but she wouldn't hear of it. Born on Earth, die on Earth, she said. Stubborn old crone.”

“I met her once. She visited you at the Academy when you were raised to the tier.”

They continued their conversation, not missing a beat even when all the sirens nearby joined the chorus of wails. Minutes later, the news must have spread, because panic took over the streets. The denizens of the city, all thirteen million of them, would try to flee north all at the same time. By this time tomorrow, half of them would be dead. By the time the AI army reached Germany six days later, the attrition rate for Spain would be 97 percent.

The two of them stayed in their seats, even as crowds of people ran past them, screaming and looting. Fights broke out as mobs tried to board the last remaining transports that could fly. The sounds of explosions got closer. The ground rumbled. Large plumes of smoke began to rise from the ground, blackening the sky.

A few minutes later, the first of the gigantic mountain hulks appeared. Large, long metal black bodies with six legs, each as thick as buildings, stomped through the city, heavy coil-charged weapons shooting indiscriminately at anything that moved.

Several formations of defensive crafts buzzed by, shooting streams of light and trails of smoke at the walking fortresses. The first of the planes erupted into balls of fire directly over where they sat, raining debris and flames all around them.

Both Levin and Julia looked up as small specks of fire struck their exos, flickering their shields with each drop. Julia indicated something behind him and Levin turned to see the giant black metal foot of a mountain hulk no farther than a few hundred meters away.

“Is it time?” he asked.

She finished her drink and nodded. “Shall we?”

Her exo flared, and she shot six tightly intertwined coils at his shield, hoping to shatter it in one blast and end the fight quickly. She had a seventh coil that hovered above his head, no doubt anticipating that he'd dodge upward, so it would slow his movement enough the other six would hit their mark.

Levin was ready for this. He knew how Julia operated; he had trained her in exo combat himself. He pushed to the side, juking left. It would do him no good trying to outmuscle or outlast her levels. Auditor bands were superior to chronman bands in nearly every way except for power efficiency. The only thing he could do was outsmart her or catch her completely by surprise.

He launched himself into the air and flew directly at the first mountain hulk. Julia was above him in a second, easily keeping up as she tried to keep him pinned down. She launched coil after coil at him, attempting to lock a hold on him. If she did, she could utilize her superior levels to overwhelm him.

Levin chose to stay low, using his coils to push off the ground and the buildings to make himself more maneuverable. He sped around crumbling buildings and growing piles of rubble, diving into large fires and hiding among columns of smoke.

Their game of cat and mouse continued even as the fighting in Madrid intensified. Several times, her coils narrowly missed connecting with his exo. Several times, she seemed just about to lock him down. Every time, he was just able to squirm away, pushing off in an unexpected direction or jumping through a window.

At the same time, they had to dodge the attacks of the hundreds of guns the mountain hulks had shooting at them. Levin was hit with at least three, and even though they were technologically primitive by present standards, they were large and powerful. The blasts had drained his levels by over 40 percent. He couldn't take too many more direct hits.

He finally found his opening as he maneuvered directly under one of the mountain hulks. The two were flitting quickly back and forth, evading each other and the dozens of guns above.

She had lost him in the thick black smoke, and he had launched himself directly at her, hitting her like a battering ram in the side when she wasn't looking. His exo wasn't powerful enough to actually penetrate her shield, but he struck her at an angle that spun her around and disoriented her just enough for one of the mountain hulk's massive cannons to sight her. Half a dozen other guns exploded against her shield, bouncing her around in the air until her exo finally gave. Julia careened to the side like a wounded bird and leveled a small building as she crashed to the ground.

Levin watched from inside the adjacent building as the auditor picked herself up and staggered to her feet. Her shield had taken the brunt of the damage, but she was injured. Even auditor shields could take only so much before they cracked.

The two of them made eye contact, and then she looked up as a large shadow fell over her. Julia screamed and tried to run out of the way of the mountain hulks gigantic leg.

Levin didn't hesitate. He powered his exo and shot to her side within a second. Her shields shattered as he rammed into her and carried her to safety just as the leg came down once more, creating an eight-meter-wide indentation in the ground. Levin's momentum carried the two through the side of a concrete wall, and they crashed into the basement of a parking structure.

“Levin,” Grace said in his head. “Get out of there. Your levels just hit twenty percent. Remember, you need to survive five more days.”

The auditor struggled against him as he held her down. “Don't move,” he said. He pointed upward and she stilled. A massive boom from the left shook dust and rocks down on them. A moment later, another boom, this time to their right, rained more debris.

After what seemed an eternity, he poked his head up from the crater they had made. It was pitch-black, except for a wide flat red beam scanning the walls. A few seconds later, a small floating ball hovered into view, making a metal clicking sound as it shined its beam around the room.

Levin motioned for Julia to stay still as he laid on top of her. The red beam passed over their crater. The bug was most likely searching for movement and heat signatures. It was a good thing their atmos blocked detection of this type. As the minutes passed, the clicking sounds faded.

After he was sure they were safe, he let go of her and helped her up. “Your levels are low,” he said. “Do you have enough to jump back?”

Her eyes were looking out into the distance; she nodded. “I have a recharge band. I can manage. My jump point is in eight days in Normandy. You?”

“Five days off the Alboran Sea. If you will excuse me, I have a salvage to complete.”

“Why did you save me? I was going to take you in.”

“You're a good auditor. You were just doing the right thing, as was I.” He got up and climbed out of the crater.

“Wait, get back here,” she called. “Levin, this isn't you. What are you doing?”

He stopped and bowed his head. “I honestly don't know anymore. I hope our paths never cross again, Julia Gaenler-Phobos.” Without looking back, he walked to a crack in the concrete wall and hurried toward the medical supply depot.

 

THIRTY-SIX

M
AD
G
ENIUS

Titus 2.3 would never admit it to anyone in the All Galaxy Tower, but he was enjoying himself, at least a lot more than he thought he would when he first came to this little run-down future. He had an inkling things weren't heading in the right direction back in his time. However, no one could have predicted things could ever get this bad. They had and, frankly, Titus was having more fun right now because of it than he had had in over thirty years.

He had spent the tail end of his life on Venus attending stuffy Praetorian parties and working on theoretical science, spending most of his time bored out of his mind. Now, he was living on the edge, in a veritable Wild West. He chuckled at the irony of calling New York City a Wild West. With all the shit going wrong here, things were quite different in this crazy time, and he loved it. He had worked on more interesting things in the last few weeks than he had in the past twenty years.