Part 22 (1/2)

”You5re not together?” ”No. Barney's in a squad-van, using the cyberlink you gave her to keep in touch. 15m in one of our [email protected] with a dozen personnel, connected by radio it, the control van. We'll be there in about twenty if we don't get lost along the way.” V ”The rendezvous is scheduled for two minutes.”

6. 4k, thought for a moment. ”I'll go in ahead of you see if I can keep the controller busy until you get ;1, 710.. 41 P here. At the very least, I should be able to find out who .'he is. When I do, I'll let you know. Until then, keep the line clear. Use the PolNet channels Keith has given us to talk to each other, and don't drag your heels. When Cati arrives, if he hasn't already, I'm going to need all the help I can get.” ”Understood,” O'Dell said. ”We're on our way, Phil,” said Barney, her voice gravelly. ”Just don't die or anything before we get there, okay)” ”I'll try not to,” said Roads, and brought the conver- sation to an end.

He slowed to a halt a dozen metres short of a gash in the road, and parked the car in the shelter of a ruined wall. Peering through the window he saw no sign of life, apart from the occasional night-bird or bat wheeling above the water.The suburbs near Patriot, Bridge had been abandoned for ten years. Once it had housed refugees, as had the warehouses in Keith Morrow's jurisdiction; later it had been rebuilt to accommodate the unemployed. Once the population had stabilised, however, most of the area's inhabitants had moved inward, away from the cold damp drifting off the river and closer to the Rosette. Most of the buildings, temporary structures at best, had slumped upon themselves or collapsed entirely. The southern arterial freeway wound for a full kilometre through an uninhabited wasteland of rotten E. coli plastic building materials and concrete before finally coming to a halt at the base of the bridge itself.

There, the tarmac ribbon had been severed with explosives early in the Dissolution, just as the span across the river had been blasted by mines to prevent easy access from the far side of the river. ”This is it?” asked Katiyq from the pa.s.senger seat, her arms crossed across her chest. She had hardly moved throughout the short trip, locked in her personal misery. ”I'm afraid so,” said Roads. ”If you'd prefer to wait in the car -” ”No. I want to come.”

Roads sighed. ”Then keep well back. I'll go first to make sure it's safe.

Don't join me until I call you, okay?”

She shrugged, then nodded. ”Good.” Roads opened the door, swung his leg 's out. ”Wait five minutes before following, and for G.o.d's sake, keep quiet.”

Climbing out of the car proved a painful exercise. Every muscle complained and his head throbbed. A cool breeze brought the smell of a blocked sewer across the wasteland of empty buildings. The erratic, high-pitched squeaking of bats was the only sound. Ahead and up, the rusted spans of the bridge hung clearly visible against the night sky.

his coat tightly about him, Roads started off the road. The bridge had once housed a hundred 4,tn'ore squatters, unofficial entrants to the city unable [email protected];-- foot on Kennedy's banks but stubbornly refusing @[email protected] return to the far side and the ruins it contained.

r,- night vision enabled him to pick out the remains a handful of old habitats in the tangle of metal. Little @[email protected] than sc.r.a.ps of cloth fluttering in the breeze, they ISIMI like flags: a constant reminder of the dispos- who had once lived there. The squatters had been at gun-point or killed outright in the first decade Wv the War, when the bridge had been mined. But the bridge had been made to last, and its pylons 1- 4 more or less intact. Some sections of the road ”NO Still in one piece, and the walkway along one side Mostly complete. He imagined it would be with luck, to cross the river unimpeded. Forgoing the direct route onto the bridge, along the TM =4 freeway, Roads followed an access road to the 'N.1N. of one of the ma.s.sive pylons. A rusty ladder took iill$ to the underside of the bridge. After testing his on the ancient structure, he climbed rapidly With every step, his unease grew.

Gambling his life on a handful or two of corroded metal wasn't his idea of a good time - and it was likely to get worse the further along the bridge he went.

At the top was an unsteady walkway which led to a flight of stairs. The stairs dog-legged up to the western walkway, the one that seemed most complete from the ground. More slowly this time, wincing every tirne the stairs groaned in complaint, he made his way onto the road-level of the bridge.

There, as his head broached the concrete surface, he stopped and checked his internal clock. He was overdue for the rendezvous by three minutes. If Cati and hiscontroller were nearby, then there was a fair chance they had heard him arrive. Holding his breath, he crawled over the final step and rolled behind the nearest cover: a rubbish bin dented on one side.

The breeze was stronger from his higher vantage point. He could hear nothing over it but the occasional creak from the bridge's infrastructure. He moved in a crouch to the walkway, glancing along its length as he did. The metal platform ran parallel to the road with rails at waist height on either side.

Subtle warps not visible from the ground had twisted it like a snake, making it difficult to see very far - which ultimately worked to his advantage.

Breathing shallowly but evenly, he began to move south along the bridge, away from the city and into the darkness.

Barely had he travelled a dozen metres when something clanged behind him. His heart froze. The sound had come from the stairs. Katiya, he presumed, following hard on his heels - and making plenty of noise despite his warning not to. He waited ten seconds for any reaction to the sound, heard none, then continued forward.

He pa.s.sed no-one along the way, and the starlight was too dim to make out footprints; the bridge might have been empty for all he could tell. Part of him wondered if he had been tricked; Morrow's information might have been wrong, or deliberately false. Had the Head wanted Roads out of the way, he could hardly have chosen a better place to send him.

He paused to catch his breath halfway across the bridge. Stretching the aching muscles in his neck and shoulders, he tried to blot out the pain. The small of his back itched mercilessly - although whether from paranoia or a genuine warning he couldn't tell. ”Phil?” O'Dell's voice startled him through the cyberlink. ”We've worked out how to tap PolNet's im f df one transmissions. Can you give me a ee rom your implants?”

7 ”Good idea, Martin.” Roads called up the appropriN(- menus. ”How's that?” f ”Clear as a bell. We'll record it, just in case.” ”Here's hoping.” Roads stood, flexed the muscles of k legs. ”Any news from Mayor's House?” ”Nothing, except a few more shots on the inside. It's ON to tell what's happening from out here.” ”Keep me posted if anything changes.” ”I will.,, Roa s recommenced his awkward crouching run, Silently along the walkway. Silently, that is, until his left foot encountered empty [email protected] where there should have been metal. He lunged forward desperately.

If the gap in the was wider than the reach of his outstretched he had no way of arresting his fall. As he dropped, e had a quick glimpse of dark water rolling far below, and his heart lurched when he realised just how far above the water he was.

H.

f 11 spreadeagled across rusty iron a split-second e e later' landing with a thud solid enough to send that section of the walkway rocking. His feet [email protected] in midair, but his knees quickly found purchase. The gap had been less than a metre across.

Scrambling to his feet he stood up and looked around. Everything was dark; even to his modified eyes, it was hard to make out anything at all.

Then he froze. Twenty metres ahead of him, surprised into motion by the sudden sound, three hot blotches stood out against the cold backdrop of the bridge. One was large and wide, almost certainly Cati. The other two were smaller and unrecognisable, but almost certainly men.Two men? Roads ran forward, uncaring now how much noise he made, mindful only of the surface beneath his feet. Although his fall had given his presence away, he probably hadn't been seen. If the controller wasn't biomodified - which seemed safe to a.s.sume, since he used Cati to do his dirty work - then Roads' indistinct form would make a difficult target through the shadows. He kept his head down anyway, just in case.

A moment later, he was glad he had. A bullet cracked close by, sending sparks flying from the rail to his right. He weaved and ducked lower. As though startled by the gunshot, one of the smaller shadows ducked away to its left and vanished into the indistinct background of metal. The large shape of Caei remained immobile.

The third shadow was the one which had fired the shot. In infra-red, the man stepped backward along the bridge with both hands held before him, the white-hot eye of the pistol scanning in Roads' direction. This time Roads caught the muzzle-flash as a second bullet whizzed past his head. Clearly the person taking aim was either biomodified or wearing night-goggles.

Roads rolled out of sight behind the guard-rail, hands searching for something to throw.

Among the flakes of rust he found a relatively solid chunk of twisted metal narrow enough to fit in his palm: better than nothing.

When he peered over the rail seconds later, however, the figure with the gun had disappeared as well. .Sbit.” Only Cati remained where the three had been, frozen in place much as he had been for an instant while attacking Stedman at Mayor's House. Awaiting orders? Roads wondered again.

He could feel the killer's dark eyes watching him through the darkness, but sensed no immediate threat.

[email protected] other two men he wasn t so sure about. They were Under cover, or else he would be able to see them. the same reasoning, they wouldn't be able see him $14, Unless ... Cati could see in infra-red. The killer could tell the 6: Ir;; where Roads was hiding.

He ducked out of sight behind the guard-rail and 0-IMI along the bridge to his right. Barely had he 11-74. two metres when a noise made him look up. 'There was a fleeting movement in the shadows - a confused flurry, as though someone had stirred the night with a man-sized spoon - then a nebulous shape loomed out of the confusion and lunged for his chest.

He leapt backward before the blow could land. Both hands came up and clutched at the distortion in the air. His fingers met a stiff artificial fabric, ribbed with plastic. He gripped and twisted, and was gratified to hear a hiss of pain. A knife clattered onto the rusted walkway at his feet.

His left knee came up and met flesh, and the arm he was holding tried to pull away.

Roads fought the misleading data gathered by his eyes - which told him he was fighting a liquid shadow, not a man - and groped with one hand for a better grip. It found a neck, and teeth. Roads kicked again, heard something crack, and felt the man go limp.

Without loosening his grip, Roads let the body sag to t e walkway. Then he felt along its back and shoulders until he found a seam, tugged at it until it tore. Instantly the shadowy cloak fell away, revealing a man lying facedown on the road, dressed in a black and grey body-suit with the distinctive markings of the RUSAMC on its sleeves. ”My G.o.d,” said O'Dell, his voice brutally loud in the darkness on the bridge. ”One of yours?” Roads subvocalised back.”One of our nightsuits, anyway. Similar to the Moles camouflage, but designed specifically for night combat.”

Roads studied the suit more closely. From a distance, it might have looked like an ordinary uniform, but close-up the difference was obvious. Bulges at the hips were batteries, he supposed, with wires embedded in the suit's fabric providing the distorting field-effect.

Roads rolled the man over and removed the nightgoggles covering his face. His features were unfamiliar: pale skin, lank brown hair, late-forties. Blood trickled from the man's nose where Roads' wild kick had struck: definitely unconscious. ”The suit was stolen, you think?” he asked O'Dell. ”Keith again?”

”No,” sighed the RUSAMC captain. ”He's one of us.” ”Then what the h.e.l.l's he doing out here?” ”I've no idea. And that's the truth.”

Roads bent to check the unconscious man for weapons. ”Tell me about him, then.

He must be here for a reason.” ”He's not a career soldier,” O'Dell said, ”but an engineer. He was drafted a couple of years ago to give technical advice on Kennedy and Project Cherubim. There's a good chance he won't be armed.” ”There goes that thought.” Indeed, Roads' hands had found nothing under the nightsuit. ”Okay. Hang on and I'll see who else I can find.”

Roads clambered to his feet and looked around. Cati stood several metres away, exactly where he had been before. His black eyes tracked until he caught sight of Roads, then stopped. The controller must still be watching, although there was no sign of anyone apart from Cati. Banking on the fact that the remaining man would have to step into view in order to fire - and that he could move fast enough to avoid being shot - he bent of lit and lifted the unconscious man by the collar nightsuit. A hostage was better than nothing. ”His name, Martin?” ”Lieutenant-Colonel Sam Betheras.”

Roads cleared his throat, making certain the .7irg )IL-ro.I iii.

man was clearly in Cati's line of sight. ”I have Betheras,” he called. ”Put your weapon down, step into view with your hands above your head.” He waited for an answer. Cati didn't move. The only I I Was the whispering of the wind through the rm”MoI& of the bridge. ”Can you hear me?” he called. ”I have Betheras! We *141v what you're planning!” Again nothing. Roads s.h.i.+fted his grip on the RUSAMC officer's neck stepped over the guard-rail. Cati watched him as he so, dark eyes following his every movement. The killer's immobility bothered Roads. The controller had a weapon, so why wasn't he using it? All he had to do was instruct Cati to kill Roads, and that would be the end of it. Bluff called, Roads would lose.

Unless the controller wasn't watching any more. He @might have fled while Roads and Betheras were scuffling, and abandoned Cati, leaving him to follow orders that hadn't yet been countermanded.

But that was unlikely, for if the controller had fled, he would have run headlong into Katiya by now.

A shrill scream abruptly split the night air. Roads turned automatically to face the source of the sound. Cati echoed the movement, swivelling his ma.s.sive torso. The sound came from the direction of the Kennedy sh.o.r.e, not far away.