Seeds of Earth (32 page)

Seek out a
vodrun! - the words had come in a kind of blackened whisper.
Undertake a vigil... all will become clear to you ...

A vigil. What might she learn from it? Something to give her investigations an urgency in the eyes of the Institute, perhaps, and to bring a certain measure of fame her way? Perhaps even enough to ensure that Julia and her minions heard about it.

Well, it might not be the healthiest reason for seeking fame and fortune,
she thought as she emerged from the station and made for one of the
trictra
sheds.
But it's the way that makes me feel good!

30

THEO

He was recalling the disaster at High Lochiel as he, Rory and Janssen crouched next to the ground-floor fire escape in a side alley. Sundstrom had been appalled at the casualties and furious at the security lapse, fearing that the media might piece it all together. But since the woman who saw Theo's men had also died in the explosion, there were no witnesses to their involvement beyond that of bystanders. Pyatkov had urged the president to exclude Theo from taking any further part in anti-terror operations, but then Rory had appeared with a lead on a man who was behind a couple of riots and some false flag incidents, inciting antagonistic groups to clash on the streets. Rory's informant said the man, known as Olgren, was taking orders from another staying in his loft apartment in southwest Hammergard.

So, after a hectic cross-town dash, during which Rory made certain that both men were still there, Theo and his men were assigned to secure the fire escape while Pyatkov's other teams took control of all the stairways and the lifts. The building had eight floors and was a mixture of owner-occupier and rented property ... and Theo's anxiety was winding tighter and tighter. What if this was another elaborate setup? - what if Rory's informant had been fooled by another high-tech illusion? Advance reports from the High Lochiel explosion said that a small device, possibly a hologram projector, had been recovered from the charred ruins of the top floor. Could they be sure that they weren't walking into another deadly trap? He stood up.

'Okay, no more waiting,' he said. 'Let's go.' Rory grinned as he got up, but gave Theo a narroweyed glance.

'Thought we wuz waitin' for Pyatkov's order, Major.'

'I want to be sure it's not another pit of spikes we're getting into, Rory.'

'Well, ma boy Vlad says he seen 'em both in the last hour . . . but aye, yer right, don't want tae get our teeth handed tae us again like they did last night.'

'Okay, Janssen - lead the way, and tread lightly.'

It was a nerve-racking climb, trying to use the wooden flights as cover from above while careful to avoid any creaking steps. At last they reached the top landing and crouched outside the emergency exit.

'Rory,' Theo whispered, pointing at the door.

Rory grinned and produced a small device with a plastic dial and a metal tongue which he fitted to the bottom of the door. A minute later they were inside, crouching below the height of the windows in the doors at either end of an empty, white-painted corridor. Theo crept to the one leading to Olgren's apartment, took out a pocket S-scope and peered into it.

What he saw was both alarming and confusing. The apartment was airy and spacious with half-height partitions sectioning off small sleeping areas in both of the far corners. An open-plan kitchen/lounge occupied the centre of the apartment and tall windows with their slatted shutters flung wide let in what remained of the day's sunlight. But in the nearer half of the room sat what looked like automatic gun sentries, low, tripodmounted and positioned to provide deadly crossfire on anyone entering by the main door.

What confused him was the two men, one sitting near the far side, the other standing near him and engaged in a comm call while staring out of the window. Both had shaven heads, and the seated one was looking down at some kind of grey device which was attached to his upper arm.

Just then he felt his own comm vibrate in his jacket pocket. Passing the scope to Janssen, he took out the comm and answered in a low murmur.

'Karlsson.'

'Pyatkov here - we're about to head up. Start your ascent.'

'Word of advice, Pyatkov - don't charge the door to the apartment. There are two autogun sentries guarding it.'

There was a moment of silence. 'You're up there already, aren't you? Damn you, Karlsson, you disobeyed my orders ...'

'And you should be thanking me, but we can argue about that later, yes? When you are in position, we'll move first and try to shut down the autogun on the left, okay, sir?'

'Acknowledged - proceed.'

Rory grinned as Theo put away the comm. 'So, is Mr Pyatkov still on our side?'

'Oh yes, but I don't think we'll be getting a Christmas card this year.'

'Something's wrong,' said Janssen. 'They're agitated.'

Theo grabbed the scope and looked. Both men were now standing over a terminal, one of them tapping on the keyboard. They stared at the screen for a moment then went into a burst of activity, gathering together small satchels and several weapons. The odd grey device went into a green backpack.

'They know someone's coming,' Theo said. 'Sensors on the stairs and in the elevators, maybe ... and one of them is headed this way!' He turned to the other two. 'When he comes through, I'll shoulder through this side going the other way so while he's looking round at me the pair of you bring him down.' He thumbed his comm's quickkey and when Pyatkov answered he said, 'We've only seconds - they're on to you so we're going in!'

Theo just had time to stuff the comm into his jacket and ready his rifle, a Makarov semiautomatic, when the shaven-headed man pushed open the door.

Immediately, Theo charged through the other door. The man cried and whirled, bringing a handgun to bear, but Rory and Janssen kicked away his legs and wrestled him to the floor. The other man looked round and Theo saw him smile just before the nearest autogun opened up. As rounds hammered holes in the walls and floor, Theo dived for cover behind a long display case full of seashells of every kind. He lobbed a concussion grenade round the side of it towards the autogun then ducked his head, covering his ears. The explosion burst apart the display, blew out most of the windows, made the floor lurch underfoot and left his head ringing.

Covered in wood splinters and shell fragments he sneaked a glimpse round the partition corner and saw the second man wearing a backpack and crouching on the ledge of one of the tall windows, now empty of glass. Seeing Theo he laughed and snapped off a shot to make him dodge back. When he chanced another look it was in time to see the man tip sideways and fall out of sight.

'No!' he bellowed and rushed to the window. There was gunfire behind him but he ignored it as he stuck his head out the window - and immediately heard a motorised whine coming from his right. There was a fistsized object mounted on the outside wall more than an arm's reach away, and a taut, vibrating cable was running out of it. He pushed himself a little way out onto the ledge and looked down to see, in the gathering dusk, a figure landing lightly on his feet on the flat roof of an adjacent building. Sparks spat from the winch device and the severed end of the cable fell away. Theo brought up his rifle and squeezed off a couple of shots but the man was off at a zigzagging run, dodging between the cover of venting ducts and outlets. Reaching the other side of the roof he simply rolled over the edge and was gone.

Theo cursed, then noticed that he had cut his arm on the jagged remains of the window and cursed again, wearily this time. Back in the room the two autogun sentries had been reduced to smoking wrecks and Pyatkov was standing before the other man, who was now tied to a chair with Rory and Janssen immediately behind him.

'The second man got away,' Karlsson told Pyatkov.

'He lowered himself with a light cable winch fixed outside the window. He got to the south wall of the next-door building then I lost sight of him.'

Pyatkov nodded wordlessly and issued abrupt commands on a corps-issue handset. Theo glanced at Rory, who was nursing a grazed chin.

'Is this Olgren?' he said.

'Aye, and a right handy lout he is, too. Interesting tats, though.'

Theo regarded the man, who sat there unresponsive and apparently unperturbed. He was wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt, revealing the tattoo patterns which encircled his ankles, upper arms and neck. Pyatkov put away the handset and faced Olgren.

'You're in very serious trouble, Mr Olgren, but you can help yourself by telling me who that other man is and where we can find him.'

Olgren smiled patiently. 'Utlaginn goes where he's needed, sir, resisting the enemies of Darien. All of you should be helping the FDF, not hindering us.'

Theo grimaced - 'Utlaginn' was old Norj for 'outlaw'.

Pyatkov regarded the man with stone-cold eyes for a moment. 'What are those tattoos for?' he said, pointing.

'They symbolise the FDF's unity and purity of purpose.' Olgren shook his head. 'Sir, beyond explaining the Faction's principles, I have nothing to say.'

Pyatkov leaned closer. 'You know, I'm glad that you feel secure and armoured by your beliefs - it means that when you do break you'll give me all of it, without hesitation or resistance. It's just that these tattoos .. . well, in years to come they will only serve to remind you of what you betrayed. Very sad.' He straightened. 'Take him away.'

Olgren gave no trouble as he was led away and at almost the same moment that he disappeared down the main stairs, another figure came up and entered the apartment. Clad in a brown leather town jacket, it was Donny Barbour.

'Mr Pyatkov,' he said, 'I'm on an urgent assignment and require some additional personnel - I wonder if I can borrow Major Karlsson and his men, if that's not inconvenient.'

Pyatkov regarded Barbour coolly for a moment and Theo could almost hear his thoughts -
You're on an assignment and I've not been informed!

'Very well, Mr Barbour, but be sure that they follow orders, yes?'

'Excellent, my thanks ... Major, if you and your men could follow me . . .' Then in a lower voice, once Pyatkov had moved away, 'Sorry for the short notice but we've got a possible lead on the guy that just dived outa yon window and we have to move now!'

Theo glanced at Rory and Janssen, who both nodded.

'Lead the way,' he said.

Rather than wait for the lift, which was already on its way down with Olgren, they took the stairs at a swift pace. Barbour's spinnercar was parked across the road, its motors humming on idle. Theo was about to climb into the front passenger seat when Barbour said, 'I'll need you to drive, Major, while I operate the tracker.'

Once behind the wheel, he checked the controls and instruments then turned to see Barbour hunched over a circular display panel whose raised rim was speckled with mysterious glowing symbols, and had a line of oval, black studs along the bottom edge. Rory poked his head through from the back seat, spotted the strange display and opened his mouth, but Barbour spoke first.

'It's a signal mapper,' he said. 'It can isolate a single comm call within a radius of 100 metres, match its frequency and piggyback it through the switching node network to its destination, which then shows up as a street address. Takes time, though - your boy made a call just before all the fun started but he was only on for twenty to thirty seconds. Needs at least a minute . . .'

'Can ye listen in, like?' Rory said.

'Nah. This wee baby is Imisil tech rush-adapted for use with our somewhat backward comms ...'

Just then the circular screen lit up, showing an odd schematic of radial spikes and funicular shapes that moved around in 3D.

'Is that what I think it is?' Theo said.

Barbour nodded. 'Target's making another call . . . keep talking, you scumsucking dog . . .'

Moments ticked away as Barbour tracked a glowing line through a strange shifting maze of cones, helices and blocks of numbers, occasionally switching to a Hammergard map for a quick look. About a minute and a half later the signal went dead, but Barbour had the address.

'Abercromby Hall on Athole Road - it's a Corps training barracks.'

'Is that off Westerling Street?' Theo said as he engaged the spinner.

Frowning, Barbour nodded. 'Why are they interested in a training barracks?'

'Could be a staging area?' Theo said, heading north. 'Maybe just a meeting place?'

'Could be,' said Barbour, sounding unconvinced.

The even darkness of night had fallen by the time they reached Abercromby Hall, a modest brick building set between a furniture warehouse and a garment manufacturer. Theo and the others waited by the car while Barbour went to speak with the duty officer. Moments later he was back, his face grim as he thumbed the keys on his comm.

'Everyone back in,' he said. 'We've got trouble.'

'What kind of trouble?' Theo said, ducking back inside.

'The worst - there's no trainees or cadets stationed here just now, but last night they were providing temporary accommodation for an escort squad on detachment from the Second Division. This is the squad assigned by the president to guard High Monitor Kuros; Kuros and Ambassador Horst are at Port Gagarin, where the Brolturan ambassador is about to arrive . . . he's the target, has to be.'

'My God,' said Theo. 'You think someone in that unit is collaborating with the FDF?'

'Or our gunman has substituted himself for one of them ...' he snarled, and tossed his comm onto the shelf above the dashboard. 'And Pm not getting through to anybody in Port Gagarin on this thing! Right, let's get moving and drive there ...'

'They've got nearly half an hour's head-start,' Theo said as he swung the spinnercar round in a U-turn and headed for the coast road.

'Maybe we'll get lucky,' Barbour said. 'The Brolturan shuttle might develop a fault and be called back, the weather might have the same effect, or the hitman might already have been caught... or he might miss ...'