28


I handed over the breaching charge to Sergeant Crank. He glared at me, taking the pre-wired bundle without looking at it.
“You're welcome,” I said.
He snorted and went to work. Moments later, he had three explosive packages expertly placed to not only blow the control panel, but force a gap in the door that could be expanded with a mechanical tool.
We stepped back, ignoring the gunfight until he set off the charges with a remote detonator. Stepping through the smoke, I saw his work had been done to near perfection. My image of the man changed.
Until now I thought he was just a hotheaded bully who liked to choke people out on the jujitsu mat. Now I understood he was more complex, as most people were when you got to know them. Crank knew his job and was proud of his work.
Maybe that was why he hated Reapers. He had probably been taught we were a bunch of murderous rogues who needed to be put down like rabid dogs. To someone like Crank, all that mattered was his training. He believed what he was told and executed his missions with bravery and tenacity.
I still didn't like him.
“We need to hold here and wait for the team,” Crank said. “Standard procedure, or have you forgotten?”
“No time for that,” I said.
“If we go now, we would just be rushing to failure. Better to rally the team,” he said.
“True, but I'm still going right now. You can come with me or you can stay, your choice,” I said.
“You need to stay,” he said, implying that he might restrain me if he could.
We both knew how that would end.
“I'm going after Elise,” I said.
“Then get the fuck going,” he snarled, then turned back to the fight that was still raging in the hallway.
I heard him taking shots, covering Briggs and the others as they bounded forward dragging their wounded teammates.
It wasn't long before I found a familiar hallway. I made my way to the library-like cathedral where Mr. Gold ran his criminal enterprise.
He probably could've locked me out and kept his best guards to fight me off, but I sensed he wanted a conversation. There were only three people in the room when I entered: Gold, Thane, and Elise.
“I apologize for my lack of hospitality, but it seems most of my people are repelling invaders at the gate,” Gold said without standing up from the huge chair that he had pushed back slightly from his desk. On his left, Elise sat patiently. Near her, Thane stood silently. He still had his mask on. He held a gun that would make Orlando and Jonji’s squad automatic weapon look tame.
I focused on Gold, assuming he was in charge of this interview. What I didn't understand was Elise. She hadn't been this timid, even with the compliance control drugs Michaels and Olathe had used on her.
“I'd offer you refreshments, but your friends in the Union are becoming quite a nuisance,” Gold said. “They'll never make it this far, you know that.”
“Then what's the rush?” I asked, moving closer to the desk and removing two cigars from a tray.
“I don't take chances. That's why I'm running the place,” Gold said.
There still wasn't a reaction from Thane. He watched my every move but said nothing. Elise closed her eyes. I wasn't sure if she was sleeping, passed out, or suffering from some sort of chemical restraint.
“You really should call back your guards,” I said. It wasn't the smartest thing for me to do but would give Briggs and his crew a chance to survive. With luck, they might even help me. I nodded toward Thane. “I hope you're not expecting him to help you.”
“He's more on my side than he is on yours,” Gold said. “Would you like to know why?”
I had a theory but wanted to hear him say it. “I'm listening.”
“Because I can protect the girl. I think your Reaper friend has a crush on her,” Gold said.
Thane shifted and I thought I saw him clench his fists angrily. He never looked away from me, however.
“No one stands against the Union,” I said.
“Except Reapers who are supposed to be dead,” Gold said.
“He might have you there, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said.
My vision flickered, causing me to wonder why I hadn't had any hardware or nerve-ware attacks during the assault on the assassins' guild headquarters. Thane stood a few strides away, yet I was functioning nearly as well as before I came to Greendale.
X-37 had told me he couldn't activate the ROS device while engaging me in close combat, which made sense in this room, but what about in the hallway or on the stairs?
“What are you doing, Thane?” I asked.
“Playing the long game,” he said.
“Don't talk to him,” Gold interrupted. It was the first time I'd heard him raise his voice and it sounded strange.
I stepped closer to the crime lord, turning my back partially on Thane. Every instinct warned me not to do this. It was like standing with your back to a firing squad.
“What do you want from me, Gold? No one needs two Reapers. If you hadn't stacked the deck against me, I might've taken this one out for you, if that's what you need. But I'm standing here with a half-empty pistol and no armor. He's got all the advantages,” I said.
“You think you're smart,” Gold said. “But you don't understand leverage and assets and how to manage the Union. All I have to do is hide what they want most, and then negotiate. And negotiate. And negotiate some more. And only give them what is to my advantage to give them.”
“Yeah, I'm not sure you are working with the same Union I'm talking about,” I said. “The team breaking down your door now might not get the job done, but there's a lot more where that came from.”
“You’re just a vigilante,” Gold said. “I know what you did on Boyer 5. Now you're here and think you could pull off the same thing. Well, you're going to respect me and do what I say. Just like your Reaper friend. How did he get two mechanical arms when you just got one?”
I ignored his question. “You can't control him.”
“But I can,” he said, then pressed a button. Elise screamed and tumbled out of the chair, weeping in pain.
“I said don't hurt her!” Thane lunged forward, punching Gold out of his chair.
“I'm not sure Mr. Gold's actions had the desired effect,” X-37 said.
“Agreed,” I said.
Gold scrambled backward, holding his bloodied lip. He watched Thane with wild eyes but constantly jerked his attention toward me, because he had probably just realized I was the more rational mass murderer.
“Don't talk to your Reaper AI,” he demanded, struggling to his feet but continuing to back away.
“Limited AI,” X-37 and I said at the same time.
I had a feeling there was a safe room or something he wanted to get to.
Thane seemed to have forgotten me or didn't care I was here. He grabbed Mr. Gold and lifted him off his feet, slamming him against the wall. “I told you not to hurt her. You promised she would go with me and that you would get answers from Cain.”
Four AG guards in heavy armor appeared through a door that had previously been a section of tasteless wall paneling. They aimed HDK rifles with extended magazines at Thane.
“Put him down, now!” the leader shouted.
Thane shifted so that he held Gold between himself and the guards. He grabbed Elise by her hair and dragged her closer to him. She tried to get up, but another shock drove her back to the ground.
Gold breathed heavily, his pride starting to show through. “You're just a kid, Thane. Can't even control your hormones.” He laughed. “You're sweet on her. Which is cute. But it won't be cute when you take her to Fratley. He'll sell her, but not to you.”
Thane grabbed both sides of Gold's head and screamed as he twisted his head around backward. “You're a liar! You're a liar like everyone else!”
I dove toward Elise before the guards opened fire. X-37 was shouting at me. Thane was beating Gold’s corpse. The assassins’ guild guards were advancing, firing until their magazines ran dry and reloading on the move. The sound of their weapons echoed from the high ceiling.
Falling over another person seemed like a simple maneuver, but was surprisingly difficult. Elise twisted and turned, but I noticed something.
She wasn't squealing and crying in pain as she had been when Gold zapped her. It was more like she was trying to break free of my weight.
“Can you get off me!” she hissed between her teeth. “You’re ruining everything.”
“I'm saving your life,” I said.
Thane leapt over us, extending a blade from each of his augmented Reaper fists. Blood spurted across the room as he stabbed the first two guards where their throat plates were weakest.
“You're not rescuing me, you're ruining my escape. Do you have any idea what it was like to get dragged all over the city by that idiot,” she said, then attempted to knee me in the groin.
I heard shouts from the doorway, then saw stun grenades bouncing near us. I rolled off Elise and held up my left arm to protect my eyes. At the same time, I opened my mouth and leaned forward to prevent the overpressure of the explosions from damaging my lungs. These were probably less lethal, but knowing the Union, they were also probably overcharged.
I heard Briggs and Crank yelling orders. I saw more assassins’ guild guards entering from one of their secret doorways.
Elise scrambled toward a floor grate, clearly too confused to execute her escape plan because the grate had solid bolts holding it in place. A heartbeat later, she pushed the entire mechanism aside and dropped into the ventilation system like she'd planned this or something.
I came to my feet but stayed low to avoid getting my face shot off. “X-37, you're fired.”
“I'm not sure what you mean,” X-37 said.
“You should've seen this coming,” I said as I ran, dove, and rolled out of the middle of the gun battle.
“As a limited AI, I did calculate 17,235 possible scenario endings. Would you like me to begin at the beginning or help you with what you're facing now?” X-37 said.
I would've told him to fuck off if I had the time and thought it would do any good.
“I feel it is a good time for me to point out that you are too big to follow Elise,” X-37 said.
I slipped into one of the doorways and drew my .45. I had four rounds left.
“Thanks,” I said. “I figured that out already.”
“I’m hit!” Bane shouted.
Crank rushed toward her, clutching as several bullets hit him. His momentum carried him to the place she was taking cover, but he was clearly hurt badly.
Several things occurred to me in only a few seconds. I wasn't sure what Gunny Bane had been doing, but her medical kit was gone.
I leaned out, fired a round at one of the guards, then darted to Crank’s side.
“Use my tourniquet on her,” Crank demanded.
It was a stupid time and place to argue, so I did what he said, possibly condemning him to death.
It didn't take long to render aid. I'd hoped one of them had some quick clotting powder or patches I could use on Crank, but didn't find any in either of their medical pouches.
“See if you can figure out where Elise will come out of that vent, X,” I said.
Not far from us, there were several downed guards and at least one other Union soldier. I wasn’t sure who it was. I low-crawled to each body until I found an unused medical kit, an HDK carbine, and a cheap lighter, then returned to Bane and Crank.
“I can’t sit here and put this on you, but between the two of you, you should be able to figure it out,” I said.
Crank gazed at me strangely.
“I have to go after Elise,” I said. “Good luck.”
His expression was worried and confused, more emotional than I’d ever seen one of Brigg’s troops. “Why would you help us? We would have died.”
“You’ll still die.” I stared at the thick-necked ruffian. “Don’t overthink it. I’ve saved lots of people I didn’t really like that much. You’re not special.”
He laughed gruffly. “Yeah. That’s no shit. Thanks, Cain. I’ve got your back after this. We’ve bled together.”
“Yeah, great. See you later,” I said, heading for one of the small side doors the guards liked so much.
“I’m coming with you,” Crank said. “I owe you.”
“What about her?” I asked, checking the tourniquet on the gunnery sergeant.
She gave me the middle finger with her good hand.
“Mission first,” Crank said.
“Fine. Don’t get in my way.”
He presented his fist for me to bump. “We’ve bled together. That means something in spec ops, or have you forgotten?”
I bumped his fist with my metal hand, careful not to extend the blade into his knuckles. “Sure. Whatever.”
“Technically, you’re not bleeding,” X-37 said.
“Details,” I responded, leaving the scene behind me. “Tell me something important like where Thane went.”
“It was very confusing when everyone started shooting,” X said.
“Tell me about it.” I fished in my pocket for one of the cigars I’d taken from Gold’s desk.
They were both fakes. “Cheap bastard.”