Up Against It Part 18

"Where is it?"

"It's supposed to be somewhere near the lifts. If I transmit a location, the feral will likely guess what you're up to."

"All right. I'll figure it out. Who's covering the city interior?"

"Others are on it. Get that demarcation point, or if you have to, disable the xaser itself. It's at the base of the buckyball conduit that carries the city signals up to the surface. Hurry!"

"Confirmed."

He hung up. The police officers had stiffened and were staring at each other in horror. They wore police radios; they must be receiving similar information to what Sean had just gotten. They both stood, knocking their chairs back.

"We've got to get back to our precinct," one said.

"Wait!" Sean said. "I need you. I've got orders to take out transmissions in the Hub."

"Sorry, sir, but our chief's orders take precedence," the other officer replied, "and we've been ordered to hightail it back to the station."

Sean swore. "Give me your radios, then." Communications-even the high-priority access Jane's team had-might fail any minute. Police radios were powerful transmitters, and were a local system, not centralized. They would be harder for a sapient to hack. "You can pick up spares at the precinct."

The two officers looked at each other. Sean had been deputized at a high rank. And he wasn't the kind of man you said no to, not without a really good reason. They handed their radios over, and then bolted.

Sean put in a call to Sh.e.l.ley. As it went through, the city's alarm system sounded. A calm voice on the loudspeakers started repeating a short message, directing people to the life shelters. People at the other tables looked around with confused expressions. The server behind the counter, a tall woman with big earrings and neon tattoos, took off her ap.r.o.n, folded it, and walked out the door. That started a stampede of customers pus.h.i.+ng their way out.

Sean waved his young companions to stay, put in a call to Sh.e.l.ley, and stuck a finger in his unbudded ear. Sh.e.l.ley came on. Her image wavered and the signal crackled.

"Sh.e.l.ley, we've got a feral sapient in our computer systems, and it's attacking the robotics."

"I know. We're under attack up here. I can't stay on."

"Understood. But I need warm bodies. Send me a six-member team. Right away. They should meet me in the Hub. I'll be on a police headset-six-point-five nanometers." As he was speaking, though, Sh.e.l.ley's face faded and the crackling ebbed. SIGNAL LOST SIGNAL LOST appeared in big red letters in his waveface. appeared in big red letters in his waveface.

"Sh.e.l.ley? Sh.e.l.ley? G.o.ddammit! G.o.ddammit!"

He put the police radio headset on, and set it to 36.

"Sh.e.l.ley, do you copy?"

He tried several times. Nothing. He turned. Geoff and his friends were staring at him, wide-eyed. Everyone else had already cleared out. In the street, people were running. The alarm still sounded.

"What do we do?" Geoff asked.

Sean glanced out through the windows. He could grab a couple of adults off the street, but it was very unlikely they would cooperate with his order. And even if they did, how could he count on them having a clue as to how to act in an emergency? Whereas he had seen these four in action. They were young, and had never fought before, but they were smart, fast, and strong. They worked well together. They kept their wits about them. And they were used to taking risks, operating in s.p.a.ce.

He looked at their young, scared faces. There would be h.e.l.l to pay later, even if he managed to get them all through in one piece.

Do what you have to, he thought. he thought. For the sake of the cl.u.s.ter. For the sake of the cl.u.s.ter. He had thought-prayed-that he was done with making those choices. He had thought-prayed-that he was done with making those choices.

"The city is under attack from a feral artificial life form," he told them. "I've been given a mission to stop it from escaping. I need help to do that. It'll be dangerous, but we are all in grave danger while it's in our systems. Will you help me?"

Geoff spoke up. "Count me in."

"I'm in," Amaya said, and Kamal replied, "Of course."

"h.e.l.l, yes!" Ian said.

"Good. Follow me."

They were less than a block from the Nee Spokeway. They headed there at a run, jostling through the crowds. Geoff decided Moriarty had ESP-telekinesis or something. He parted the crowds like Moses parting the Red Sea. More likely he just scared the s.h.i.+t out of everyone.

At the spokeway, Moriarty pulled his revolver, chased people out and commandeered a lift, using his Resource Commission badge and a code on the keypad.

The lifts had been swamped for days. "I want to get me one of those," Amaya said.

They accelerated up the spoke. Meanwhile, the old man briefed them. "Listen up! The feral artificial sapient is in our computer systems, and right now it's creating a copy of itself in Upside-Down's computer systems, up top. From there, it can beam itself anywhere in the solar system. We have to stop it before it finishes that copy.

"Somewhere in the Hub," Moriarty went on, "is the main point of entry that transmits signals up to the surface. Any of you know where it is, or what it looks like?"

Kam raised his hand. "I do, sir. Or at least, I know what a demarc looks like. My dad does hardware support for computer networks, and I've helped him out once or twice."

"All right. I'm told it's near the pharmaceutical plant, but that may be bad intel. Soon as we reach the Hub, you take a good, hard look around and tell me which way we need to go."

Through the lift windows, the Hub opened out before them. They reached the Hub's center. The lift doors opened and Moriarty kicked out, gun drawn. Geoff and the others exchanged nervous glances. They lofted out behind the old man, looking around.

Emergency lighting beams crisscrossed the open s.p.a.ce, casting long, stark shadows. Klaxons sounded. A calm voice urged people to hurry to the nearest life station. Small clots of people scrambled toward life stations amid the ropeworks strung through the Hub. Geoff wished he had a weapon. His mouth was dry.

Moriarty spoke. "All right, Kamal, give us a vector. Which way?"

They looked around. A short distance away were the surface lifts, larger than those of the spokeway they had just exited, and perpendicular to them. In the distance against the bulkheads were the a.s.semblyworks, the pharmaceuticals manufacturing plant, YuanBioPharma, and Yamas.h.i.+ro Memorial Hospital.

"Sir..." Kam looked anxious. "The cable up to the surface is very high bandwidth. We may only have a few more minutes before it's done copying itself. If I guess wrong-"

Moriarty laughed. "Look at it this way. If you guess wrong, we're no worse off than if you make no guess at all."

Kam gave the old guy a look like, you've got a point you've got a point. Then he turned to study the Hub. He seemed to be tracing some power lines that ran from the spokeway lifts to the surface ones. Then he pointed at a small building on the far side of the surface lifts, inside a steel fence. "I'm pretty sure that's it."

"How are we going to get in?" Amaya asked. "It's got all those warning signs and locks and things."

"We'll figure that out when we get there. Let's move!"

But Geoff was looking at the lift-loading machines between here and there. They were decoupling from their dockings.

"Are they supposed to do that?" he asked.

Moriarty scowled. "It's the feral."

The machines, most of them, were gathering at the very place Kamal had just pointed out. There were over a hundred of them, with long grappling arms. A smaller group was headed toward them, spreading out as if to surround them.

"It's on to us," Amaya said.

"I believe you're right. We're not going to get past that many of them. So. Change of plans." Moriarty spoke in a clipped voice. "We'll attack on the exterior instead. Make for the maintenance exits near the a.s.semblyworks." He jerked his head toward the big vats against the bulkhead, about a hundred meters away, and handed Geoff and Amaya each a radio. "You two are buddies"-he pointed at Geoff and Kam-"and so are you two." Ian and Amaya. "Stick with your buddy no matter what. Avoid the a.s.semblyworks itself. It's automated, and you might come under attack from the robotics there. Behind the vats is a maintenance area. Meet me by the dress-out lockers in one minute. If you get there first, grab suits, sticky-boots, and pony bottles and stay out of sight! Got it?"

They all nodded. This is all happening too fast, This is all happening too fast, Geoff thought. He felt disoriented... disconnected from his body. Geoff thought. He felt disoriented... disconnected from his body.

"Check your clocks. Maintenance in one minute. Go!"

Geoff launched himself upward and kicked off one of the big machines as it neared him, then a series of smaller ones that crossed his path, s.n.a.t.c.hing at him, and scrambled into some nearby ropeworks. The machines couldn't go in there; they were too big and would get tangled in the webbing. He caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye: Kam was right behind him.

They two moved swiftly through the netting. Near one edge they paused to catch their breaths. Geoff saw they were already halfway there. Ian and Amaya had taken a different route and had almost reached the a.s.semblyworks. Moriarty was nowhere to be seen. Some of the machines were moving below; they were definitely tracking them.

"I have an idea!" Kamal said. "Follow me."

Kam launched himself at one of the machines-bounded off it, picking up its momentum-and went toward the a.s.semblyworks. Geoff followed suit. They sprang down into the netting, and made their way over the vat racks as fast as they could. An acrid-sweet smell rose around them.

"Look!" Kam pointed. "Machines."

The vats were made of some translucent material, and they could see the contents-the smelly, milky a.s.sembly-bug solution-churning inside. Machines moved between the vats, but their activities seemed innocuous.

"I think we're OK. Hurry!"

Kam alighted on the floor behind the vats, in an area s.h.i.+elded from general view. Geoff alighted. Nearby he spotted a sign for the maintenance shop. Inside, they found Ian and Amaya pulling equipment from the maintenance lockers.

"Where's Moriarty?"

"Here," the old man said, entering. He shut the maintenance door behind him and locked it. He was out of breath, and his forehead had a deep gash. Blood dribbled down his face. He limped over and sat to pull off his shoes.

"What happened?"

"I ran afoul of the machines. I think the feral must recognize me as a particular threat. Maybe my conversation earlier with Jane. So, I took a loader out, and confirmed its suspicions."

While Amaya and Ian lofted over to grab radios, lights, and tools, Geoff and Kamal pulled survival suits, sticky-boots, and pony bottles from the racks. They all rushed through a.s.sembly and checks, b.u.mping around the room like billiards. Meanwhile, Moriarty talked.

"Any of you ever been in the Hollow before?"

They all shook their heads.

"OK. Out on the Hub, where the surface lists and the Klosti Alpha cable leave Zekeston, is a xaser mounted next to the surface lift tracks. That xaser beams the city's network signals through a big conduit, up through the rock to the surface. We are going to take out the power source for that-or, if necessary, the xaser itself.

"Our threat is the fleet of maintenance ROVs out on the city's hull. They're big motherf.u.c.kers, and they have some features that can be used as pretty nasty weapons. But they aren't very fast or smart. You all suited up? Good. With pony bottles to supplement air intake, we'll have a good twenty minutes or more if we need it."

"We're going to ride our ponies?" Kam squeaked. "Out on the city hull hull? Fighting bad guys?"

"Ponies are all we need," Moriarty replied. "Ponies will make us all a lot more agile, and if we can't take out the transmission lines in the next ten to twelve minutes, it'll be too late anyway. Besides which, there's a little air out there. Your mask apparatus will make use of it to extend your pony's life."

"There's air in the Hollow?" Ian repeated.

Amaya said, "No duh. What rock did you grow up on?" Ian made a face at her.

"Wait a minute," Geoff said. "If there's air, how come we need pony bottles, and how come everyone is always worried about the city getting decompressed?"

"Because Hollow pressure is only two hundred eighty millibars, and the temperature is minus ten. It won't kill you right away, but you'll be out of commission-spending all your time getting enough air to keep you alive, and not dying of hypothermia-or getting brained by one of the spin generators-before someone rescues your a.s.s."

Geoff asked, "How many machines are we up against?"

"Three dozen. Like I said, they're big and powerful, but they move pretty slow. They're stored in lockers near the Hub, and run on tracks on the hull. And if we're lucky, they'll be deployed elsewhere on the wheel."

Ian slapped Geoff on the back. "Relax, doof. Just launch yourself into the Hollow, if you have to. We'll reel you in if you spin wry."

"Have y'all used sticky-boots before?" Sean asked. They all shook their heads. "They're electrostatic grips. They work like lizard feet; they'll give you good traction on any surface. Just make sure you put one foot down before lifting the other."

Geoff slapped the latches closed on his boots and pulled on elbow-length gloves, then zipped up the suit. The edges of the gloves and boots sealed themselves to the suit cuffs. Amaya pa.s.sed out utility harnesses and coils of rope. Moriarty was using a grease crayon to sketch the exterior onto the bulkhead.

"The Hollow's major axis is only slightly bigger than the Rim. Out on the Rim, the city's spinning at a hundred seventy klicks. We'll be on the Hub where it'll be spinning a lot slower, but you three may need to take the fight up the spokeways, to draw the machines away from Kam and me, so speak up now if you're p.r.o.ne to motion sickness."

No one spoke.

"Good. Here are your weapons."

He handed them all what looked like guns with meter-long tubes and a dispenser nozzle on the end. Geoff recognized the tubes. Metal disa.s.semblers. His dad worked with them out at the metal refinery. At the sight, an image of Carl sprang into Geoff's mind, lying amid the wreckage of the disa.s.sembled warehouse with gaping wounds on his face and chest. He bent over and put his hands on his knees. He thought he was about to toss.

His friends were looking at him.

"I'm OK," he said. His heart pounded erratically. He took some deep breaths. Calm down, Calm down, he told himself. he told himself. Panicking won't bring Carl back. Nothing will. Panicking won't bring Carl back. Nothing will.

Moriarty was still speaking. "Don't get any of that s.h.i.+t on you, or it won't be long before you're floating half naked in the Hollow without your wavegear."

They tucked the disa.s.sembler dispensers into the pockets of their harnesses. Geoff hefted his disa.s.sembler gun, studying the settings. They seemed straightforward.

Moriarty handed three additional packs to Geoff, Ian, and Amaya. "Standard maintenance toolkit. But it has plenty of other things you can use as weapons to keep the machines busy."

Ian poked around in his kit, and grinned. "Yep, we can do some serious damage with all this."

"Remember, only spray downwind, or you'll disable yourself and maybe your team mates, too."

While they familiarized themselves with the contents of their packs, Moriarty turned back to Kam. "You and I, meanwhile, will be hauling this." He dragged out a cart with welding tanks and gear. "The conduit and housing for the xaser and its power supply are made of buckyb.a.l.l.s and these disa.s.sembler guns don't work for s.h.i.+t on carbon. So you and I are going to have to use a cutting torch on the casing to get inside. From there we can wreak some havoc." He showed Kam the workings, and made him set the k.n.o.bs and light the welding torch, twice. "Good.

"Now, all of you, if you haven't been out there, the wind is d.a.m.n powerful, even at the Hub, due to the city's spin. You're all Upsiders so you don't know much about wind, but let me just put it this way: it's going to be hard for you to stay upright. Your sticky-boots will help, but also use your tethers. Just because the air is mighty thin out there doesn't mean it can't knock you down. Stay sharp. Hang on tight to your tools. Also keep in mind that the distance between the Hub and the Hollow wall is less than ten meters, and the spin generators take up a good meter of that. Don't get cute-I don't want to have to haul y'all back in body bags. Got that?"

Geoff and the others exchanged nervous glances. "Got it." "Yeah." "OK."

"Amaya, give me one of those police radios. Geoff, set yours on frequency six point five. You three stay together, and keep the machines off us and each other. Geoff, you give me regular updates. Got that?"

"Got it!"

"Let's move out."

Geoff checked his watch. Barely five minutes had pa.s.sed since they had been sitting in Tarts. He was scared numb. OK, Carl, maybe I'm about to join you in Never-Never Land. OK, Carl, maybe I'm about to join you in Never-Never Land.