The Burn Zone (46 page)

Ligong turned back to the bedroom, where, to my surprise, the old man sat up, peeling the sweat-soaked blanket off and dropping it onto the bed beside him. He looked up at the soldier.

“
Are you okay, sir?
”
the soldier asked. He still looked
a little confused. The old man nodded. He looked to the little girl, who managed a weak smile.

I met Vamp
’
s eye and he shook his head, not sure what to make of it either. I
’
d sworn he was dead.

“
Get him dressed,
”
she called in.
“
Take both of them back to central.
”

The soldier nodded. He swatted a scalefly on his neck and approached the bed as the old man fussed with something underneath it.

“
What
’
s happening?
”
I asked again as they helped the old man to his feet.
“
Are we being arrested?
”

A shadow passed over the window, and the whistle of an airship got louder as the curtains flapped at either side of the TV screen beneath the sill.

The lead soldier took out a scanner and aimed it down at Vamp. He swept it up and down him, then did me and Nix, frowning at the display. As one of the men helped the old man out into the hallway, he clipped the reader back on his belt.

“
Okay,
”
he said to me,
“
we know you know where the kid is.
Talk.
”

Realization set in, and I frowned.
“
Kang.
”

Sillith hadn
’
t sent these guys; Kang had. She was tailing us too, and might even be nearby watching, but if she was she couldn
’
t move now. Ligong pushed past the soldier and looked me square in the eye.

“
Tell us where—
”

“
How
’
d he do it?
”
I forgot myself, and interrupted her. Anger flashed in her eyes, but she kept her voice even as she spoke.

“
He spiked your drink with a tracker isotope,
”
she said. I shook my head, my face burning.

“
Son of a bitch...
”

“
He might have just saved our entire country,
”
she said.
“
Show some respect. Now, where
’
s the kid?
”

“
Listen, please, there
’
s more to the story,
”
I said.
“
A
group of soldiers were conspiring with a haan. My father, Specialist Shao ... he
’
s loyal. He tried to blow the whistle on them and so they pinned that charge on him. Please, I need to—
”

“
We got him!
”
a voice boomed from the kitchen.
“
It
’
s the kid!
”

“
What in the hell is that smell?
”
another voice said in an aside to the first.

Ligong peered through the kitchen doorway to get a look at Alexei, who was still cowered in the closet.
“
Get him out here with the rest!
”

She spoke into her wrist radio again.

“
We
’
ve got him,
”
she said.

“
Ow
!
”
the voice grunted from the kitchen.
“
He fucking bit me!
”

“
Soldier, secure that kid and get him in here now!
”

There was a struggle, and then Alexei began babbling in Pan-Slav as the soldier hauled him back into the living room by one wrist.

“
Alexei Drugov?
”
Ligong asked. Alexei
nodded,
his face pale.

“
Shit,
”
a soldier spat from back through the doorway. He coughed, and flies buzzed.

“
What is it?
”
Ligong asked.

The soldier stepped back into the living room, his face twisted into a grimace. What looked like a bloody towel hung from the barrel of his rifle, and I realized it was the remains I
’
d seen in the trash bin under the sink. I caught a glimpse of what looked like limp, rubbery skin and matted hair before I turned away from it. The little girl looked over at the old man, who looked back.

“
What the hell is that?
”
Ligong asked. She crossed past us, and the other soldiers followed. For a moment, they stood around whatever he
’
d found, their backs to us, and Alexei, forgotten for a moment, off to one side. I looked at him, and our eyes met.

“
Damn it!
”
one of the soldiers spat, slapping his neck to swat a
scalefly
.

They were as distracted as they were going to get. I crooked my head, hearts scrolling across the 3i display until I saw the one for Nix and grabbed it.

Nix, can you gate us back to the ship?

He turned, looking back at me.
Yes, but they
’
ll send us straight back when they—

We
’
ll have to take our chances.

“
Vamp, change of plans,
”
I whispered.

“
Sam, what the—
”

You take the girl,
I sent over the 3i.

I grabbed Alexei by the wrist and dragged him along after me as I bolted toward the window. Vamp, a beat later, scooped the girl up in his arms and started after me.

“
Stop them!
”
Ligong barked. She raised her weapon toward me and fired just as Nix rose to his feet, fanning his suit out in front of us. I heard the round hit it, then two more as she fired again.

The slugs clattered to the floor as I hauled Alexei out the window with me, Vamp hot on my heels. I scrambled down the stairs toward the next floor as Nix came through the window after us and put the girl down on the landing. Through the grate, I could see that the street below was full of security vehicles, and armed soldiers that were clustered around them.

A shot from above glanced off the building face next to me, pelting me with brick powder. Back on the landing, Nix covered Vamp as the two headed down after me.

“
Nix, do it now! Open it!
”

An airship glided out from behind the building and descended above the street to our level. A pattern of red lasers blinked flashed on the wall overhead and began to glide toward us as the wind sent my clothes flapping around my body. The lasers drifted down past me and I saw a turret follow them to take aim at the stairwell and
landing below. I stopped short, causing Nix, Vamp, and the girl to pile up behind me.

The gun spun up and began to fire, bullets sparking off the fire escape and thumping into the brick face where it was mounted. We couldn
’
t go down
the stairs without walking right into the line of fire. I looked up and saw Ligong climbing out the window after us. Over the rail was a several-story drop.

“
Stop where you are,
”
a voice boomed from the airship
’
s bullhorn.

“
Nix!
”

The turret was winding up again, and the spinning barrel angled toward us. Down through the grate I saw soldiers assembling, ready to either come up after us or secure the mess when it fell. We weren
’
t going to make it.

The turret open fired as Ligong closed in from above. Nix reached into his coat for something as the fire escape below us broke loose and dropped a few feet before catching again as glass and rubble showered down onto the sidewalk below.

Nix manipulated something in his hand and a bright white point appeared in the air above the street, just over the metal railing.

“
He
’
s opening a gate!
”
Ligong shouted.

The point of light got brighter and brighter until it suddenly expanded into a hexagonal opening with a thin white edge that floated a half story down. On the other side, I could make out dim light and a black surface.

“
Jump!
”
Nix called.

Several shots went off and I saw Nix
’
s head jerk, a honeycomb pattern flashing brightly as a round glanced off the inertial dampener. He was trying to move away when suddenly he staggered, clamping one hand down on the railing for support.

I looked back and saw Ligong was headed down the
steps toward us, a graviton gun trained on Nix. She adjusted the field, and he crashed down onto his knees.

“
That dampening field won
’
t stop the turrets!
”
she yelled.
“
I
’
d rather have you alive, but you
’
re not using that gate! Close it now!
”

The airship banked around, and I squinted as the red laser flashed in my eyes. They
’
d realized what we were going to do, and were targeting us for real. Nix struggled to pull free of the graviton beam but could barely lift his head.

“
They can contain it!
”
I called back.
“
On the ship, they can contain it!
”

Ligong kept the pistol trained on Nix as she drew a stun gun from behind her back and fired.

“
They can—
”

I felt a jab in my neck, slapping one hand over a metal prong that trailed a thin wire.

“
Sam!
”
Vamp shouted. He moved toward me, reaching for the needle as the wire went hot and the lights went out.

~ * ~

Chapter Seventeen

06:39:41 BC

“
...
message
will repeat indefinitely as long as we can maintain the signal,
”
a voice said in the dark. It was faint, and tinny, like it was bleeding over the 3i
’
s audio
tap
.

My head pounded, throbbing in time with the 3i contact hearts, which had begun to fade back into view.

“
...
have somehow managed to alter your—
“

The voice cut out as I snapped fully awake. I was lying on something soft, something plush and cool. My ears were filled with the rush of air and the low thrum of a graviton engine, and I reached out and felt smooth plastic as a chat window popped up in the dark.

S
am,
are you okay?
Vamp.

Yeah.
You?

Yeah.

I opened my eyes and saw I was in the backseat of a posh
aircar.The
inside was beautiful, with a big crescent-shaped seat that was soft and smelled great. There was a table in front of me, and on the other side of it was another seat where Pei Ligong sat, looking idly out the window. Next to her
was ...