Part 24 (1/2)
The road surface was uneven and, when he reached DeKurzak's remains, slippery as well. As he negotiated the puddle of blood, he saw the b.l.o.o.d.y transmitter still in DeKurzak's lifeless fingers. Without breaking step, he picked it up and slid it into his coat pocket.
Then the sound of pursuit came from behind him. Cati's few seconds of confusion had enabled him to reach the base of the maintenance gantry unscathed. A flight of narrow, steeply-inclined steps led upward into shadow.
There was no way he could tell where they went, or how far, but he had no other option. On the flat, open surface of the road, Cati would rapidly overtake him.
He climbed as fast as his aching body would allow, taking three steps at a time. The killer's heavy footfalls made the whole gantry shake. Flakes of rust rained around him as he fled higher. The shrill, unintelligible shouts of Katlya floated after them.
He reached a junction. A walkway leading to the far side of the bridge stretched to his right. Another flight of steps beckoned higher to his left.
He continued upward, pa.s.sing girders, stanchions and cable housings - but nothing to suggest what the gantry had originally been for, years ago.
Maintenance, yes, but of what, [email protected] Could it possibly serve him to any advantage @ He reached another possible change of course. This o.isor;@ a walkway led out of sight behind a ma.s.sive girder. WC4- ducked along it and pressed his back against the MM metal. Cati's booming steps approached [email protected],,, and stopped at the top of the stairs. Roads could almost hear the puzzlement radiating from Cati's unseen figure. Which way? Up, or along the When Cati finally moved, it was toward his hiding place. Roads gritted his teeth and raised the metal bar in readiness to strike.
The killer stopped just before the girder, obviously wary of a trap. Roads waited impatiently, feeling sweat trickle down the back of his neck.
Movement from above broke the tableau. Something X fell onto the walkway by the stairwell, making it shake.
4 Cati grunted with surprise, and took a single heavy step back. A loud thud followed.
Roads risked a quick glimpse around the corner. The Mole was locked in a fierce embrace with the killer, stubbornly resisting Cati's attempts to break its back.
Protecting Roads ... He stole off along the walkway while Cati was distracted.
It led nowhere, ending in a cul-de-sac surrounded by thick, long-dead power cables. Looking around him, he saw the stairwell not far away. Only a few [email protected] gap separated him from safety. Swinging up into the cables, he began to climb across the gap. Far below, he could see the flas.h.i.+ng of torches as Barney and O'Dell ran along the western walkway to where Katiya and DeKurzak's body waited. They were still too far away to be of any real help.
He dropped down into the stairwell as gently as he could, but not gently enough. The battle below changed tempo the instant his boots touched metal.
Hurriedfootsteps from below suggested that the Mole had broken free and was leading Cati away.
No, not away, Roads realised as the stairwell began vibrating around him again. Leading Cati upward, directly for him.
Why? he wondered. The Mole had disposed of DeKurzak easily enough. What prevented it from doing the same to Cati?
There was only one possible theory, and he didn't like it.
He began to climb again, fighting a growing sense of futility. The diversion bad gained him valuable seconds, though, in which he could attempt a second ambush or simply find somewhere to hide.
He reached another junction. This time the walkway led in a straight line across the bridge. No chance of hiding there, although the complex tangle of supports and cables seemed even denser than before. He a.s.sumed he was nearing the top of the bridge. Above him, even through the closely-meshed metal web, Roads could see stars.
The stairs ended at that point and became a series of ladders. Roads climbed as fast as he could, ignoring twinges in his ribs and shoulders. His whole body ached, but he couldn't let the pain slow him down. Not far below him, Caei reached the ladders and also began to climb.
Roads risked a quick glance. Cati was alone. The Mole had disappeared again.
”Barney! Where are you?” ”We've just found DeKurzak. Where the h.e.l.l are youe ”There's a gantry further down that leads into the superstructure. If you took up, you might just be able to see me.
-What on earth - Cati's not far behind me ”Oh, understood.” Barney paused for a few seconds, to relay the information, then returned: ”Is w with you?” ”No. She's not down there?” ”No. ”Phil this is Martin.” O'Dell's voice came clearly ii;i_ the cyberlink. ”Barney's on her way to the gantry, iTR- I'm staying behind. I've brought the laptop with me 4 access PolNet again. From now on, I can tell her sTM happening without her disturbing you.” ”Thanks.” Roads was grateful for that, at least. Not that the feed from his eyes currently made inspiring A viewing - ladders and more ladders, each leading further up into the scaffolding.
But not forever. Barely thirty seconds after O'Dell reopened the link, the ladders came to an end. Roads clambered upward onto a ten-metre-wide metal platform at the very summit of the bridge. He looked arou d, saw bird-droppings and nests, and the dim lights of the city to his right. The ragged remains of an old te t-like structure flapped from one [email protected] The wind was colder, whipping at his clothes like insubstantial hands trying to drag him from his perch. The maintenance platform had no guard-rails.
Curving down and to either side were the ma.s.sive, carbon-fibre suspension cables of the bridge, each wider than his thigh. He considered making his escape along one of them, but decided against it. Even with the killer's greater ma.s.s taken into account, Cati's agility far exceeded his own; he'd have to proceed at a near run just to keep ahead. His sense of balance wasn't up to the task.
It was time to make a stand. Taking a position at the head of the ladder, with the rusty bar gripped in bothhands, he waited for Cati to arrive. Height was his one advantage, and this his only chance.
Then a noise from behind him made him turn. Cati's ma.s.sive head appeared on the other side of the platform, followed by his arms and shoulders. Roads backed away from the ladder's summit, realising that he had been tricked. Cati had obviously antic.i.p.ated the ambush and taken the last few metres by another route. For someone who had proved his climbing ability on the roofs of Kennedy Polis, the detour wouldn't have been too difficult.
Yet ... Roads frowned, momentarily puzzled. The sound of someone climbing the second-to-last ladder came clearly from below. If that wasn't Cati, then it could only have been Katiya - or the Mole.
But as Cati swung himself up onto the platform, another Cati appeared at the top of the ladder.
Backing away from both of them, unsure which was the illusion, he cursed O'Dell and his d.a.m.ned machine.
When the second Cati had climbed completely out of the ladderwell, the first suddenly vanished, sending five small dimples scattering into the darkness.
Roads and the real Cati squared off and circled each other warily. Roads kept the iron bar poised between them, ready for the slightest move. Cati seemed content to wait for the moment, however, balanced between caution and the need to obey orders.
Caution ... or reluctance? Roads didn't want to hurt Cati, but could the reverse really be true?
When the attack came, it almost took Roads by surprise. Cati stepped back onto one leg and lashed out with his other foot to knock the bar aside. Roads ducked as the giant's right hand chopped at his neck. He drove his shoulder upward into Cati's stomach and heard a slight grunt.
Then Cati's elbow hammered down into his back, he rolled aside, riding the blow. A fist followed, glancingly with his shoulder and sent him too'
Both blows had been slower than he had perhaps indicative of Cati's unwillingness to re still the orders of his controller - but they we M. Another kick pushed Roads toward the edge of the grip on the shreds of iuvin, and he scrambled for Mt. Cati followed, reaching down to grab Roads' @outflung arm and tear it free.
Then an invisible force knocked the killer aside, giving Roads barely enough time to regain his footingCati staggered, enveloped by the Mole's whirling fieldeffects, confounded by something he could hardly get a grip on, let alone fight.
While he was busy, Roads scrambled hastily to his feet and ran for the ladder.
Before he could reach it, however, the Mole disengaged from Cati. Roads felt a tentacle of force wrap itself around his waist, tug him irresistibly back to meet Cati, then let go.
The biomodified killer's face displayed open confusion as they faced each other again, back where. they had started.
Roads circled to his left, to where the iron bar had fallen. Cati moved to cut him off, but too late. Roads s.n.a.t.c.hed the bar in one hand before Cati arrived, and swung it upward to strike the killer in the stomach. Knocked off balance, Cati staggered backward. Driving home the minor advantage, Roads delivered a double kick to the killer's stomach and knee.
Instead of falling as he was supposed to, Cati jackknifed down and forward, reaching out and across as he did so to sweep Roads off his feet. The metal barglanced off Cati's hairless skull as Roads fell, making the killer wince but doing little to ease his grip.
Caught in an ungainly tangle, they struck the platform together. With blood beginning to trickle down his face, Cati wrapped an arm around Roads' throat and squeezed.
The platform immediately below them, weakened by the weight pounding at it, abruptly gave way. The buckled metal plategroaned, tipped, then dropped with a loud crash into the superstructure of the bridge.
Roads experienced a moment of terrifying giddiness as both he and Cati scrambled for a hand-hold, the fight temporarily forgotten.
Cati grasped a stanchion with one hand as it went past, arresting his fall with a jerk. Roads' fingers slipped on bird-droppings and lost their grip. The iron bar dropped with a clatter into the blackness below. He too fell unchecked - until something wrapped itself around his hand and yanked him upward.
He rose rapidly through the air, was wrenched sideways, then landed awkwardly on an intact section of the platform. Winded, he clambered onto his hands and knees.
A swirl of energy darted away and disappeared into the background. ”Martin,”