Part 40 (1/2)
”Ain't gonna be enough,” says Linehan.
”Shut up and keep moving,” mutters Lynx.
That's the key ingredient of the Operative's plan. Maschler and Riley are holding on for dear life while he pilots the escape s.h.i.+p down a tunnel, dropping ever farther beneath Nansen Station, on the cusp of far and nearside. He and Lynx and Sarmax came down here once in search of the Rain, only to have the Rain blow their base right in their face. He maneuvers through a maze of pa.s.sages, trying to guess which ones have collapsed and which ones haven't.
”Do you know where you're going?” demands Riley.
”Somewhere off the maps.”
”I thought the Praetorians searched this whole place.”
”Doesn't mean they found the good bits.”
Copernicus is history. Radiation's aftermath churns on their screens as they descend through what's left and into the hole that the Righteous Fire-Dragon Righteous Fire-Dragon has bored into the city's bas.e.m.e.nts. The zone beneath the Moon starts to click into Spencer's head. It's not a pretty sight. has bored into the city's bas.e.m.e.nts. The zone beneath the Moon starts to click into Spencer's head. It's not a pretty sight.
The drops.h.i.+p starts maneuvering through the tunnels beneath Nansen. s.p.a.ceCom marines are trying to stop it. They're getting gunned down for their troubles-and hacked too. The software in their skulls is going haywire, shoving their brains over the edge. Velasquez hauls the drops.h.i.+p door open. Sarmax staggers to his feet, joins her there, and they start lacing targets while the s.h.i.+p accelerates.
The last of the doors swing toward her as she closes in on it. She feels all of existence pivot around her-feels time close in like a vise. She feels other minds out there, still trying to reach her even though she can see they're far too late. But Sinclair and Control aren't. They're waiting for her inside. She steps past the final door-steps within- Lynx and Linehan are shredding their way through Congreve's bas.e.m.e.nts. Lynx's hack has the comps so f.u.c.ked they don't even know which way is up. Complete confusion reigns amidst the tunnels. All the more so as it looks like Eurasian forces have already deployed across the lunar surface. The garrison is deserting their posts, fleeing deeper beneath the surface. All too many are getting shot as they flee.
”Still too f.u.c.king slow,” slow,” Lynx mutters. Lynx mutters.
The Operative knows the feeling. This crazy operation's going like clockwork, yet by the time he gets near the Room it'll be way too late. He can f.u.c.king sense sense it, as certain as anything he's ever known. But he's come too far to just give up. So he keeps on forging his way forward, moving back up into the lower reaches of Nansen, letting his mind move out and run hacks that release the restraints on the thousands of convict-miners who work the mines-and who now swarm out and start overwhelming the stunned marines. Beyond, the Operative's catching glimpses of the lunar zone, getting caved in now as the main weight of the Eurasian fleet bombards the Moon at close range. He can see he's got to get deeper fast. it, as certain as anything he's ever known. But he's come too far to just give up. So he keeps on forging his way forward, moving back up into the lower reaches of Nansen, letting his mind move out and run hacks that release the restraints on the thousands of convict-miners who work the mines-and who now swarm out and start overwhelming the stunned marines. Beyond, the Operative's catching glimpses of the lunar zone, getting caved in now as the main weight of the Eurasian fleet bombards the Moon at close range. He can see he's got to get deeper fast.
The war is lost. Jarvin and Spencer take stock while they don new armor and load up at a reserve ammo dump. Glimpses on the zone show Spencer that the American fleet is getting pulverized above the nearside-fighting heroically, but overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Spencer wonders whose r.e.t.a.r.ded idea it was to charge straight toward the Eurasian fleet. Not that there's going to be a court of inquiries this time. There'll be nothing left of the United States within the hour. Eurasian artillery is slamming into what's left of Copernicus at point-blank range. Spencer and Jarvin feel more than a little relieved now that they've got roof above their heads. They move out, getting ever deeper into the lunar capital's subbas.e.m.e.nts.
They're smas.h.i.+ng their way through what's left of Nansen, reducing everything in sight to rubble. The fact that all the convict-miners seem to have somehow slipped their leashes is only adding to the confusion. The drops.h.i.+p roars through several larger caves, Velasquez and Sarmax doing door-gunner duty as they spray fire everywhere. Velasquez puts her helmet up to Sarmax's.
”I'm going to need your mind, too,” she says.
”What the h.e.l.l are you talking about?” he says.
She tells him.
She's in the Room now, and darkness is all around her. She's afraid to use her lights. She's seeing with her mind anyway, and so far that's more than enough. As she steps forward, she can sense abyss on all sides-can sense structures all around her. She's not surprised in the slightest when the floor beneath her shudders, starts moving, folding up around her to become another elevator car, sliding in toward the very core of Room.
They fight their way deeper, moving out of the Congreve subbas.e.m.e.nts and onto the threshold of the larger lunar infrastructure that stretches beneath the farside. Lynx struggles to focus on the zone, but he can't make out much, save for the fact that combat is underway everywhere. It makes him wonder just how far the Eurasian commandos have penetrated. Linehan gets out in front, on point; they start moving downward at speed.
It's good to be back. Even though somehow it's like he never left-like he's been hanging out near Congreve this whole time, still waiting for Lynx to hurry up and figure out a way to get into that city and up to the L2 fleet. Four days have pa.s.sed since, and it seems like it's been only four minutes. It seems like there are only four minutes to go. He can feel everything he's ever been running from coming in to claim him. Ayahuasca's edge is sharpening ever further, rising like a new sun bursting in his mind. He feels like he's almost at the hub of the universe-like maybe it's just below him. He can hardly wait to get there.
And suddenly a mind's sliding straight into the Operative's head. It's one he recognizes. He's been aware of it for many years now, just never in this way. But there's a first time for everything. Even this.
”Leo.”
”The same.”
”You've learned some new tricks, huh?”
”Or just remembered some old ones,” says Sarmax.
”Bulls.h.i.+t. Who took you out of latency?”
”Indigo.”
”You're s.h.i.+tting me.”
”She's right here with me. With her triad-”
”In Nansen.”
”Sure,” says Sarmax.
”She's calling the shots.”
”So what if she is? We need to team up.”
”Heard that one before,” says the Operative.
Spencer and Jarvin put ever more rock between them and the surface. The tunnels beneath Copernicus give them slightly more of a vantage point on zone. Enough to show that it's crumbling everywhere. The bulk of Eurasian forces are still polis.h.i.+ng off the American fleet. But more of the East's shock-troops are hitting the Moon with every minute. Most of the initially vulnerable points are on the nearside. But as the Eurasian flanks envelop the farside, that's starting to change.
”That's where the real action's at anyway,” says Jarvin.
”You think the Eurasians know that?” asks Spencer.
”I think they know the only thing that counts now is getting inside the Room.”
”So aren't we a little too far from the main event?”
”That's the idea,” says Jarvin.
He cut us off,” says Velasquez.
”So?”
”Didn't think he could do that. Thought I was-”
”He's a resourceful man.”
They come out into a cavern far larger than anything they've seen so far. Looks like explosions have torn it nearly apart-the floor and walls are mostly rubble. They ignite their jet-packs, start to move through in tight formation. They've just reached the other side when lights and sensors transfix them from much higher in the cavern.
In the flesh this time,” says the Operative.
”f.u.c.k,” says Sarmax. The Operative's standing on a ledge, flanked by Riley and Maschler. Everybody's got their guns pointed at one another now. says Sarmax. The Operative's standing on a ledge, flanked by Riley and Maschler. Everybody's got their guns pointed at one another now.
”Easy,” says Velasquez.
”You sold me,” says the Operative. ”We do do need to team up.” need to team up.”
There's a pause.
”On my my terms,” he adds. terms,” he adds.