Chapter 24 #2
“I don’t want to stay here any longer than I have to. I’ll eat on the way back to Kynan Kade’s,” I said as I dumped in pasta and sauce. The carryout sporks were at least covered in a compostable wrap, so I decided that was an improvement to my fingers.
Excellent decision. The taxi is ready, and I’ve already programmed in the address.
Once the container was as filled as it could get, I sealed it and took another long drink from the jug before putting it back, nearly empty. I looked around for carryout beverage containers and found none, so I grabbed a fresh jug.
“All right, I’m all set. Let’s go.”
I was surprised no one “greeted” me when I got to the apartment building, since the last time I was here, Kynan Kade had guards stationed pretty much everywhere.
That surprise turned to dread when Byte hacked the keypad, and we found the apartment empty.
I made my way through the secret passage and down to the computer room, only to find it cleared out.
Screens were still on, even the newsfeed on the far wall, which made me think they’d left in a hurry.
“Byte, are we about to have enforcers busting through every door?”
I don’t detect any heightened network activity in the vicinity.
“Then where did everyone go?”
That’s an excellent question. The network in here seems offline. We need to physically access a computer.
I did, only to find each and every computer had been wiped. Even the commands Byte fed me did nothing to undelete whatever had been removed. I checked several of the systems, all with the same result.
“They might’ve left in a hurry, but not so much of a hurry that they didn’t get a chance to clean up after themselves.” I stood in the empty room, and it gave me a sinking feeling in my gut. “Whatever the reason, I don’t feel safe sticking around here.”
Not that I’d felt safe coming here, knowing Kade’s intentions. But, as they always say, the enemy of my enemy is my frenemy.
Sweeping my gaze over the room one last time, the video on the wall screen caught my eye.
I recognized the location of the news drone immediately.
Hundreds of enforcers and twice as many drones were in the tunnels, rounding up what looked like every man—and most women—between the ages of eighteen and forty.
And they were being brutal about it. Anyone who didn’t get down on their knees right away got shocked.
It looked like a warzone with all the shots the drones were firing.
The screen was muted, and I didn’t turn up the volume.
I could see a mother holding a toddler, both in ragged clothes and both screaming.
That was something I didn’t need to hear.
The subtitles were saying the enforcers were there to take out a terrorist faction, which in typical news story fashion, was bullshit.
If I were a betting amp, I’d say this story has a correlation to the currently missing resistance members.
“I wouldn’t take that bet. It looks like the enforcers are hitting the Crawl with everything they’ve got. I go on a spirit walk for one whole day, and Dreswick starts falling apart.”
I leaned against a desk. “If I was a cocky, rich guy with a serious hero complex, where would I be when the tunnels were getting hit like this?” As soon as I voiced the question aloud, the answer was clear.
“I bet he was in the Crawl even before the enforcers showed up, grabbing as many people, weapons, computers, and other stuff as he could before the enforcers could get to them. Makes sense—I was wondering why we didn’t see his people scouring the area for me.
He had his hands full already.” I nodded to myself, convinced.
“Yeah, I’d bet everything I own on Kade, Lyra, and the others going to the Crawl. ”
You own very little.
“Making it worth a lot more to me. Believe me.” I gestured to the screen.
“Look at how organized that raid is. This isn’t some quick reaction based on something Kade might’ve just done in the last twenty-four hours.
No, the enforcers have been planning this for some time.
And Kade’s got Locke… Key… whatever. What I mean is that he’s got smart people, so I bet he saw some chatter beforehand. ”
If I knew of an impending raid, I would use that as cover for my own operation.
I considered it. “That would be pretty smart, but the resistance is saving up for their grand finale. Shoot, most of the reason they’d even risk going underground is to make sure they don’t lose resources they need to carry out that plan.
Whatever happens, they aren’t going to jeopardize ‘the plan.’”
Unless they have identified a secondary plan.
I was confident about that. “At minimum, they need us, you, whatever, to breach the system. Besides, you read his armlet. Was there a backup plan?”
There was not a plan on his portable computer, but he may have something detailed on another device.
We should remain here. Ninety-five percent of the enforcement division is currently clearing the tunnels.
The likelihood of them sending a squad to this location for the next seven hours is two-point-one percent.
I could deploy a minor upgrade during that time.
I shook my head. “Hold off on the upgrade. You saw that lab; you saw what Softbiotics is doing. Nolan doesn’t have time for me to wait.”
You can’t possibly think to run the rescue operation on your own. We have covered the logistics multiple times.
“I’ll do what I have to in order to get my buddy out of the place I put him in,” I said, then added, “But I’m also not stupid. That’s why we’re going to connect with Kade and Lyra. Byte, I need you to no longer tweak my armlet locator.” I began typing out a message to Lyra.
The alarms sounded all around us, nearly giving me a heart attack. Every computer screen came to life, displaying the same countdown sequence.
It looks like that two-point-one percent was low. There is a squad of enforcers breaching the street-side entrance as we speak. But it seems there are explosives set in these rooms. They will detonate in?—
“Ninety-two seconds?” I interrupted, watching the timers.
Yes. We should evacuate.
“Can I reach the taxi in time?”
If you run.
Running was something I’d become really good at.