Metak Fatigue Part 12

He shook his head. "I can't. I still have work to do." She sighed. "Look, Phil, be straight with me, okay?" He opened his mouth to cut her off, but she talked right over him, the words flowing in a sudden rush. "I can tell that you're unsure about this. I am too, if you want the truth. But I don't invite strange men into my house a good reason, and I think I've reason enough 11 the years we've worked together. If you don't we sh ould take our relations.h.i.+p any further, then SO."

stare d at her, stunned into silence by her RON&, He had avoided romantic involvement by "M for five years after that distant night in Sydney, _'F '"WL of necessity for the rest of his life. The habit A ingrained. t' not that," he said finally, not entirely certain s U it was true.

you sure? Don't make me use the 'I'm a big girl; io- handle it' line."

[email protected]* My heart. You've just taken me by surprise, all."

Her eyes searched his. -Keally." Lowering his voice until it was barely Wlt;; and speaking directly into her ear, he added: "If weren't being followed, I'd be in like a shot." She managed to stop herself looking over her "Followed?"

she echoed. "How can you tell?" "A hunch; the same hunch I had before Blindeye, and what happened then." He shrugged, prepared to 45M that he still might be wrong. "I'll just duck back [email protected] see. If there is someone, I'll come back after I've <4o them.="" i="">

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" she whispered back, [email protected] lips hardly moving.

One hand touched his chest.

you want me to come with you?" "No. It's harder to follow one than two.

Besides, you need the rest." The crow's-feet around her eyes . but he wouldn't change his mind. He didn't ,want Barney involved, if he could avoid it - not because she wasn't capable, but because it wasn't her problem. ,.Don't worry, Barney. I'll be back before you know it."

9fil"I hope so." Before he could pull away, she kissed him firmly on the lips.

With a tight smile, she added: "You f.u.c.king heroes. . ."

He watched her go into her house, waited until she had locked the door, then headed back the way they had come. The street was, as far as he could tell, completely empty - yet a sixth sense still told him that there was someone nearby. Until he was certain whether the sensation was illusory, or not, he wasn't prepared to take any chances.

He had ignored the itch at least once before when it had proved to be right, when it had warned of Cati's presence in the KCU grounds prior to Blindeye. He couldn't afford to take the chance that the itch was wrong this time.

Turning left off the main access road between B and C rings, he headed for his own home. No footsteps followed him; no shadows moved in the yellow halflight - ahead, behind or above him. The night was perfectly still. Only the occasional streetlight broke the darkness.

Without breaking step, he lit a cigarette with his left hand. Beneath his overcoat, through a hole in the pocket, his right hand unclipped the holster of his gun and lifted the weapon free. He gripped it tightly without allowing it to be seen. If Cati was following him again, he, vowed not to be the easy tail he had been before.

Five minutes after leaving Barney's doorstep, he reached the corner leading to his building. Instead of turning into his street, however, he continued past.

A hundred metres on lay a narrow alley that led to the entrance to an old restaurant, long abandoned. The ground floor was empty, apart from dust and spiders; an external fire exit linked the second floor to the rear of his building, hidden from the front. He had prepared the 631IN years ago as a means of making a hasty but knew that it would work just as well the y. 4. .Ti4, he reached the alleyway, he stopped to light ,,4 cigarette and study the street. Still no sign. He 4to five, then dropped the cigarette at his feet.

[email protected]

into the alley, he brought the pistol out of Tz, The first twenty metres, until he reached the MV4-1 of the restaurant, were the most dangerous.

7 in by damp, brick walls, he was acutely @161 141M Of his inability to dodge. The entrance to the bored like a giant eye into his retreating back. MIA41 he reached the restaurant, he ran inside, u checked. The darkness was complete, but he n r IV hesitate, hurrying up the stairs, along a corridor and into what had once been an A door on the far wall had a sign saying "Fire" in -1-74 letters upon it.

'There he stopped, breathing deeply and evenly.

he listened. rorn far away came the sound of a siren, the sigh of and a whisper that might have been someone I IL But no breathing, no brush of fabric on skin, no boards. Nothing. No-one was following him. He allowed himself to relax slightly, and crossed to or;; door. To a casual glance, the lock appeared intact a quick tug on the rusty metal had it open. The door sighed softly inward.

Still cautious, he waited a moment tMot;- looking through it.

A metal walkway connected the restaurant's building 71 with his. A flight of narrow steps led down to street- level. Six metres below, the floor of another alley was littered with old crates. Behind a pile of rubble - 90.3He froze. Behind the rubble were two men watching the entrance to the alley.

From the angle of their heads, he could guess why they were there: anyone trying to sneak into his building either along the alley or across the walkway would be seen immediately.

He retreated back into the building, thanking his sixth sense for making him cautious - even though, in essence, it appeared to have been wrong about the details. He wasn't being followed at all; the a.s.sa.s.sins had been waiting for him to come home.

He had two choices: to make his escape, or to continue onward, somehow. If he fled, then the a.s.sa.s.sins would simply try again at another time, or even track him down to Barney's. He would have solved nothing. But if he kept going, he could get what he wanted from his home and possibly even learn who had put the price on his head as well.

Deciding quickly, he scrabbled through the detritus on the floor of the office until he found a piece of plastic building material about the length of his forearm. Hefting it, he returned to the doorway.

Opening the fire exit a second time - and praying that neither man would choose that moment to glance upward - he threw the stick as far as he could along the alley.

It clattered to the ground, horribly loud in the silence. The heads of the two men turned to face the sudden noise. One crept out of the shadows to investigate.

Roads ran swiftly across the metal walkway. A voice whispered behind and below him, thick with static. The words were faint, barely intelligible: "Everything okay back there?"

Roads carefully opened the fire exit of his building and eased through it.

clear," replied one of the men. "Just a f.u.c.king radio fell silent. ik held his breath in the darkness of his building, to Will his heart quiet. It had been a long time #T.-- had done this sort of thing, but not long enough w-- forgotten the excitement of physical danger and sl(** surge of adrenalin it prompted. He had to himself to take it slowly, to remember that this -as simple as Blindeye had been. There were two in the alley behind him, plus, he a.s.sumed, an @,IA-Ovjf- number watching the front - and no security a.s.sembled en ma.s.se to cover his back. He had to every step as slowly as possible; one mistake could he was ready, he stalled a second longer to 41+1-- his contact lenses. The difference was slight, but T-1 every advantage he could get. *M rooms were one floor down. As he crossed to the he noticed footprints in the dust. They didn't 0, his own, and appeared to have been left by bare Thu, last time he had checked his emergency exit been three days earlier, and it had been clear.

:ci; felt safe to a.s.sume that his mystery caller had since Blindeye, or even more recently. Perhaps 4ts the last few hours; perhaps he was still in the -Gripping the gun tightly, he descended the stairs one one until he reached his floor. From there, he could Irm see the building's main entrance - but not Charlie. M k- cursed his luck. A call for attention was too risky. IR; would have to warn the elderly guard on the way if there was time. The door to his apartment swung open when he IT-W it: unlocked. The hallway beyond was dark andsilent, and smelled slightly of dust. Someone had definitely been inside within the last few hours.

He entered the first room in a running crouch, ready for anything.

The room was in turmoil; books lay on the desk with their spines broken; data fiches had been scattered on the floor alongside the frames of ripped paintings. The next room, his bedroom, was similar. The kitchen had also been ransacked.

But the apartment was empty. Whoever was responsible for the break-in had left some time ago.

The a.s.sa.s.sins, he wondered, or the man with bare feet? Or were they one and the same, as strange as that seemed?

Ignoring the mystery for the moment, he bolstered the gun and went back into the bedroom. In the dusty darkness under the bed was a loose floorboard; he felt for it and lifted it free. From the shallow airs.p.a.ce below the floor he pulled a slim, leather case and put it on the bed.

A sports bag lay in the ruins of the cupboard. He put the case into it, followed by a change of clothes and a few other necessities.

Barely had he finished when he heard a door open downstairs. He ducked through the apartment with the bag in one hand and his gun in the other, and peered down the stairwell.

Charlie had opened the door to let someone in. The streetlight cast a dull glow across the man's back and head, but a shadow across his face. The elderly guard said something that sounded like, "Evening," and the man turned to nod in reply.

Moustache, receding brown hair, snub nose: The Mole. Roads crept up the stairwell and back to the second floor, thinking furiously as he went. The thief had sonated Roads, and Charlie had let him in. That med how the Mole had been able to gain access to oms so often in the past. But why had he come The only possible explanation was that the Mole been following Roads - that his first instincts had right after all. the fire exit, he paused and slipped the bag onto shoulder. Opening the door an inch, he listened fully for movement outside.

ight," said the voice on the radio. "He's in. Get to positions." The two men in the alley below moved, their feet ling through the rubbish. The fire escape creaked as y climbed it.

sank quickly back into the room: the a.s.sa.s.sins "..like Charlie - obviously thought the Mole was him, I7_1d that their wait was over.

The two en stopped just outside the fire exit, their athing faint but clear. A minute pa.s.sed. Roads could ink of no other exit from the building apart from rough a window. He felt his ribs; the pain was better, ,51ut he didn't trust them to withstand the impact of a twenty-foot fall.

The voice on the radio spoke again. "We're on. You get inside and keep an eye on the back while the rest of us deal with the old fart."

Roads' stomach turned to ice. Caught as he was between the Mole and the a.s.sa.s.sins, he could do little to warn Charlie of what was about to happen.

The fire exit opened, and Roads. .h.i.t the first man in the face with a clenched fist. The second man - a short caucasian with long, blond hair - gaped as his partner went down. Before Long-Hair could yell for help, Roads punched him in the throat and pushed him back through the exit.

207A door slammed open. two floors below; then came the sound of a brief scuffle, followed by a single gunshot. Roads winced.

The first man stirred, and Roads struck him on the side of the skull with the b.u.t.t of his gun. Feeling through the Man's coat pockets, he hunted for the radio. It wasn't there. Acutely conscious that an unknown number of men were prowling through the darkness on the floor below, he opened the fire exit.

Long-Hair was sitting up on the walkway, clutching his neck. Roads pushed him onto his back and rum- maged through his pockets until he found the transmitter. With his foot on Long-Hair's chest, he leaned close and hissed: "What's your friend's name?"

Long-Hair spat weakly in defiance, and Roads pushed the barrel of the gun against his nose until he felt the cartilage snap. The youth gasped in pain and tried to roll free. Roads turned him over, planted his foot into the small of his back and grabbed a fistful of hair. "Tell me, you little f.u.c.k. I haven't got all night." "Andy," gasped Long-Hair, his vocal chords ragged. "His name is Andy."

"Who pays you?" "f.u.c.k you -"

Roads pressed his heel harder, and Long-Hair gasped with pain. "I said, f.u.c.k Roads clubbed him unconscious and ran back to the restaurant. He couldn't afford to waste any more time.

Right on cue, the radio buzzed. "He's not here, dammit. Have you two seen him?" Roads raised the transmitter and attempted what he hoped was a credible impersonation of Long-Hair's voice.

just went past - looks like he's heading for the here are you now?" Bowing him - he took out Andy on the way on't worry about Andy; we'll get him out of the 'Ing in time. just keep after Roads. We're on our e radio clicked off and Roads reached the exit to ,restaurant. He padded silently through the old office @down the stairs until he reached the exit to the alley. re, he stopped. Again he was faced with the possibility of an easy e, and again he turned it down. He needed to who the ringleader was and, if possible, who had 4, d him. Then there was Charlie's probable death to nge. And, besides, he was curious: The voice on the radio had a.s.sured Long-Hair that tiv would be removed from the building "in time". mething significant was about to happen.

crept along the street from shadow to shadow til he reached his corner. When he was sure no-one s watching, he ducked across the intersection. A rrow lane wound its way between the buildings his. He slipped into it, running on his toes 'to 'keep quiet. Every ten metres or so, a crack between ildings afforded him a glimpse of the street; he opped when he reached the one that faced his building. Five floors up, figures too small to be identified 11P,moved on the roof. Within moments, they had searched thoroughly and realised Roads' ploy. "You motherf.u.c.ker," said the radio. Roads didn't ive them the satisfaction of a reply, and the voice, ,a.s.suming that he had made his escape, continued: "Josh, he's gone. He got by Andy and Johns.

He's ,"probably blocks away by now.""What do you want me to do?" asked another voice. "Keep working. We'll be down in a minute." "Will do, but I can't see the -" The voice of josh cut off in mid-sentence. Roads could see wild movement on the first floor, but was unable to distinguish what was going on.

There was a pause, then: "Josh? What the f.u.c.k's going on down there?" The men on the roof vanished. A minute later, someone screamed. Gunfire rattled.

Muzzle-flashes flickered erratically on the first and ground floors as the a.s.sa.s.sins retreated from something Roads couldn't see.

Then three men suddenly issued from the building and headed for his hiding s.p.a.ce, firing to cover their backs. The first was Danny Chong, the skinny bountyhunter that Roads and Barney had seen at Morrow's bar.

Roads retreated back to the lane and ducked out of sight into a shallow alcove.

The three men entered the narrow pa.s.sage. Whatever had attacked them in the building followed, judging by the sound of continued gunfire. Ricochets whined, followed by a sickening thud and a noise that sounded like someone trying to yell through a gag.

Chong was the only one to reach safety. He turned with a look of horror on his face and started to run along the lane.

As he went past the alcove, Roads tripped him. Chong went down hard and slid for a metre on his stomach. Screaming, he tried to crawl away on his hands and knees.

Roads followed, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and pinned him against a wall. Chong fought with inhuman strength, empowered by fear. It took an armlock and all of Roads' weight to keep him still.

is not going to kill you, Roads hissed, but it _make any difference. Chong writhed, bent his His eyes were wide, almost completely [email protected], shook him. "What the f.u.c.k happened in, Chong produced a knife from his sleeve, ,[email protected] an arm free and stabbed Roads deep in the right f 11 back, gasping with pain. The pistol slipped e I.

numbed grasp and discharged, throwing sparks lk, wall to wall as the slug ricocheted along the lane.

kicked him in the stomach, and he fell to his then Chong turned and fled the way he had hesitating only to pick up the gun he had Roads staggered to his feet and ran after him. sx4e he reached the crack down which Chong had Roads stopped and stared in horror. NsT;; concrete path before him was slick with gore.

bodies lay tangled together against one wall as IRS, torn apart by a wild animal. One severed arm TiM, for him in a mute plea for help. His gorge rose, and he fought it desperately. Then a bullet whined past his ear, and he ducked by Chong was standing in the middle of the street, the gun in Roads' general direction. His face was mask of absolute terror. "What are you?" screamed the bounty-hunter, an edge raw in his voice. "What the f.u.c.k are Chong fired a second time and Roads pressed himself Fv against the wall of the building. The a.s.sa.s.sin's aim was wild - the bullet went high and to his right - but it was only a matter of time before another found itsmark. He was about to make a dash for it when something caught his eye.

Behind Chong, on the other side of the street, the solid line of his building bent, as though a heat-haze had pa.s.sed in front of it.

Chong turned just as the dimple in the air reached him. It swirled with half-seen motion - like a soapbubble warping in a breath of wind. Chong screamed and fired at it, then turned to flee.

Too late. The back of his head blossomed as something punched through his face. He flew backward through the air, a futile motor-reflex making his feet kick. He hit the road with a sodden thump.

Then, with a flash as bright as the noon-day sun, Roads' building erupted into flame. For a split-second, the plastic composite that normally kept bad weather at bay held the facade together. Then the composite disintegrated, and a fiery shockwave sent fragments of gla.s.s and brick hurtling across the street, into Roads' narrow shelter.

He dropped to the blood-stained concrete with his hands over his ears, screaming inaudibly through the noise. The shockwave buffeted him, scorched his skin. Shattered bricks rattled around him, making him flinch. One fragment struck a glancing blow to the back of his head as he turned to crawl for shelter.

The last thing he saw was a ghostly shape silhouetted against the fire: an eerily translucent cloud of grey, with five s.h.i.+ning points arrayed in a rough pentagon at its centre.

Then it too burst into flame, like a new-born star, and he pa.s.sed out.

PART TWO: THOU SHALT NOT KILLINTERLUDE.

Tuesday, 18 September, 12:1S a.m.

The fire in Roads' building burned for two hours before the entire structure collapsed. With a roar of tumbling masonry, it fell outward and across the road, narrowly missing the Emergency Services vehicles a.s.sembled around the site. Peripheral fires lapped at the buildings to either side, but barely attained a foothold before powerf .ul jets of water forced them back. None made it as far as the building directly across the road, where one red-skinned gargoyle larger than those around it crouched on the roof, watching.

In infra-red, the scene was a nightmare of colour. Orange and yellow heat blazed from the remains of the central fire, casting a furnace's breath along the street, reflecting off buildings, fences and the road. The generators of fire engines, ambulances, and police vehicles burned brightly in neon blue.

Tiny green point-sources were people, scurrying to and fro like luminous ants, almost lost among the rest.

He switched to the visual spectrum and watched with detached interest as they cleaned away the bodies. He knew they would find more once the fire was out.

Twelve people had entered the building after Roads, but only three had emerged.

Why they had died, why they had sought to kill Roads, and why the tbing had killed them ... did not hi . He was beyond caring what happened to IR440 im people, the ones who would find him wanting 117M11 him down, if they only knew who he was.

the one called Lucifer had told him to hide - 0, out Of the way. With what had happened to him IT- arbour the previous night still fresh in his in h ind, ,*v happy to obey for once. It had been foolish to volved in the first place - although he was oisx;@ in Whether he liked it or not. He had become [email protected] in a series,of events that threatened both his j-rq,, and his life.

Roads' apartment had been risky, but [email protected] in putting his mind at ease on one score.

enough, the policeman did not appear to W -he was. Perhaps it was not too late, after all, ho return to the life he had known - free from his 6, Roads and the tbing. Angry heat ebbed slowly from the street below. As the t eated, a swarm of police searched the area. A r Of ash-flecked officers combed the roof of his but did not find him. He lay curled in the s.p.a.ces of a ventilation shaft, obeying orders. Hide, his controller had said, so he did just that. [email protected] was a sense of security to be gained from the act concealment, an illusion of safety, however short- it was exactly what he had been doing for more Jg,3*, than he could number.

When the police officers were gone, he remained in -is.v coc.o.o.n of metal. For the first time in two days, he - slept.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

2:45 a.m.

Barney paced the length of her study, unable to rest. Alternating between hope and despair, and with one word turning constantly through her mind, she stopped to make herself a cup of herbal tea, going through the familiar motions automatically, hoping against hope that a retreat into routine might ease her disquiet and allow her to sleep.

It didn't. Outside, a sudden change brought rain to the city. It flurried at the kitchen window like a thousand tiny fists, beating to be let in.

The word was metamale. Her hands were shaking. The call from HQ had come two hours earlier, three hours after she had returned home from RSD. When the terminal had bleeped, she had rushed to answer it, only half-hearing sirens wailing in the distance as she did. The call hadn't been Roads, as she had half-expected, to apologise for his lateness. The reality had been far worse.

Emergency Services had been called to Roads' home in response to reports of an explosion shortly after nine o'clock. The building had been totally gutted, and had later collapsed. A number of bodies - four, at last count been found near the scene; the genetic fingerprint h had produced a match with the RSD datapool: y Chong, Ingrid Toffler, Jamie Bazz, and Mark I All were known criminals wanted on old charges rder; two of them - Chong and Bazz - were on the Wanted list. A preliminary search of the wreckage Iound two more bodies, as yet unidentified. Of himself, or of his body, there had been no sign. argaret Chappel had then called Barney personally, g her to stay at home. @There's nothing you can do, Barney. Emergency has ,hand; you'd only get in the way. I suggest you try to @wme sleep instead." "But I want to help," she protested. "I want to know happened." @"You'll know as soon as we do, I promise. I'll make you're the first to be told."

"Stay there, Barney. How else will we know where to P you?" -She almost cried then, and hated herself for holding it k. She needed to do something. If Roads was dead, n part of her would always blame herself for not ng with him, until she found a suitable scapegoat-. ,.,"Who?" she asked, the lump in her chest half- gling her. "Who would do this?" ;Chappel shook her head, and told her about rrow's warning. He knew?" Barney couldn't believe it. Roads had own that he was in real danger but had still gone after a.s.sa.s.sins on his own. It was exactly the same brand heroics that had robbed her of her father, years ago. She found herself reliving the painful months llowing her father's death. The last berserker Kennedy lis saw had systematically hunted down over a 917hundred and forty-five people before RSD had cornered it in an old downtown building, where it held a woman hostage. Nothing had driven it out, and the, four volunteers who had offered to go in after it had been killed.