“Watch out!” Jade shouted.

  A huge boulder careened down the slope, cutting a swath of destruction as it crushed the ore carts lining the siding, squashing them as if they were made from balsa. Colter slammed on the brakes, grinding the metal pads on the wheels. Sparks flew in every direction. The buggy slowed, but they still slammed into the chunk of bedrock. The rear of the vehicle rose in the air, tilted left, and crashed back down with an audible crunch.

  Blinking grit out of his eyes, Eli checked his body for injuries. He appeared unharmed, but he wouldn’t be surprised if he developed whiplash from the sudden stop.

  A foreign sound reached his ears as splinters of metal peppered his cheekbone.

  Crack!

  It was followed by several more strange sounds.

  Pop, pop, pop.

  Eli looked at Colter and Ley, eyebrows raised. Nox barked wildly, his eyes wide in panic. Only Jade seemed to understand what was going on. “Get out!” She shoved Ley out and followed her.

  The strange sounds returned.

  Crack, crack, crack!

  The windscreen shattered into a thousand pieces, showering Eli and Colter as they struggled to extricate themselves from the buggy. Jade shoved Eli to the ground as a new barrage of the sounds rang out, and pieces of the buggy and rock flew into the air.

  “Stay down,” she screamed in his ear. Jade pulled an old-world handgun from a hidden holster in the small of her back and aimed it around the crashed vehicle. She pulled the trigger and fired a three-round burst. The noise was deafening. All of a sudden, it made sense. They were under attack by unseen foes, and they had ballistic weapons.

  Colter touched a hand to his shoulder. When he took his hand away, blood dribbled through his fingers. He winced but indicated he was okay.

  “Keep pressure on it,” Jade instructed. “Stay behind the wheels and the power transmission. Ley, with Colter. Eli, Nox, with me. Understood?”

  Ley nodded and moved into position as another barrage of rounds kept them pinned behind the buggy. Eli held onto Nox’s collar and waited until the firing stopped before joining Jade. He was well trained in armed conflict but had never experienced anything as fast as this. Crossbows and tasers were like snails compared to these old-world weapons. Jade, on the other hand, seemed to take it in her stride. He took a couple of quick, deep breaths to calm his pounding heart and focused on the problem.

  Easy. Unknown number of assailants had them trapped. First rule of engagement: find out how many. And who.

  “Colter. Can you get to Nessie?”

  “Compartment above your head.”

  Eli unlatched the storage unit, pulled out a small metal case the size of a lunch box and slid it to Colter. He had it opened and the gadget airborne in seconds despite his injury. Nessie was a drone, shaped like a tennis ball and painted mottled greys and browns to blend with the mainly rocky terrain. Equipped with thermal imaging and HD cameras, it was one of the Watchers’ best tools. Nox hunched down next to Jade and let out a confused whimper.

  “Stay boy,” Eli said, trying to calm the dog.

  “Eight hostiles. Four on either side. About ten metres up the slope,” Colter said.

  “We’re trapped,” Ley said.

  “Lady obvious over there,” Jade said.

  “Solutions people, not problems,” Eli said. He scrolled through his commpad, hunting for a signal. Something was interfering with it, causing the image on the screen to bend and warp.

  “Signal’s fried. Can’t call for backup.” Eli nudged Jade to get her attention and lowered his voice. “I’m going to try communicating with them; see what they want.”

  “Seems clear to me. The four of us dead.”

  Eli agreed with the mysterious woman. Ballistic weapons had been outlawed decades ago. The risk of them puncturing through airlocks or oxygen scrubbers was too high, the results catastrophic. Unfortunately, they were deep inside a sea mound with tonnes of rock surrounding them. That didn’t help the fact they were surrounded by eight hostiles armed with ballistic weapons. Apart from Jade, they were armed with tasers and crossbows. Hardly even footing.

  “Watchers,” a deep, booming voice called. “Give it up. You suck and we outgun you.”

  Colter switched from infrared to the high-definition camera on Nessie. The speaker had beady eyes, and the shaved head of the Cabal. Like a lot of the gangsters, tribal symbols were tattooed on his neck, starting at his shoulders and wrapping behind his ears.

  “Watchers?” Tattoo said.

  Ley, Colter and Jade looked at Eli expectantly. He shrugged. “I don’t think we have much of a choice, do we?”

  All three shook their heads. There was no use trying to fight from this position. Their attackers had sprung their ambush well.

  “We’re coming out,” Eli shouted.

  “Slow and steady, mate. Got a few itchy trigger fingers up here. Throw your weapons and leash the mutt,” Tattoo ordered.

  The group complied, then raised their hands above their heads.

  Four of the hostiles stepped out from cover and slowly made their way down, keeping their carbines trained on them the whole time.

  When the hostiles were two metres away, Tattoo called out, “Try anything and my snipers won’t hesitate. Ever see what these beauties do to some fuckwit’s head?”

  “Nope,” Eli said.

  “Explode like a motherfucking tomato, mate.”

  Dropping Nox’s leash, Eli stood on it with his foot, whistling softly to calm the dog. The Alsatian wouldn’t attack unless given the command, but Eli wanted him to be ready in case the opportunity arose.

  Once the group was tightly bound and their commpads taken, they were pushed down to sit on one of the rails, legs crossed in front of them. Tattoo and his three snipers came down to stand before them. Tattoo ran his eyes over each of them, lingering on Ley and Jade for uncomfortable moments.

  “Cobb, Fletcher. Move the fucking rocks, you dumb fucks. How we ‘spose to go anywhere?” Tattoo ordered, then turned to the captives. “Bet you Watchers don’t have to put up with such stupid kints banging you in the b-hole.”

  Small electric dozers were brought out of a side tunnel and Cobb and Fletcher went to work.

  Tattoo smirked and pulled out his commpad, scanning each of their faces in turn. “Name’s Cristo. You folks have a bounty. Gonna make me enough to retire.”

  “You know Falcon Legion will track you down, right?” Eli said.

  “Those chumps against these guns?”

  “Since when do Cabal have guns?”

  “Shut it. I never said we was Cabal.”

  “The tattoo on your melon says different,” Ley said.

  “Who is funding you?” Eli said.

  Cristo grinned and made a show of checking the magazine in his rifle. “I said, shut it. On your feet, dickwads.”

  The group were yanked up and spun around to face the side tunnel the ‘dozers had been in. Cristo tied Nox to Eli’s belt and slapped Eli on the arse. “March.”

  Dull orange lights illuminated the tunnel as Eli concentrated on watching his step. The ground was uneven and full of small holes, troublesome enough to roll an ankle on. Nox padded alongside Eli. He kept stopping to look at Eli and Ley before turning and carrying on.

  The silence gave Eli time to think. He had been in the Watcher service for ten years. Never before had he run into so much conflict. Gangs like the Cabal generally steered clear of the authorities. Now, he had been attacked twice in the last twenty-four hours.

  Cristo kept them marching for two hours through the labyrinth of abandoned tunnels. Everywhere Eli looked, he spotted the remnants of the extensive mining operation. Broken ore carts, pushed off the tracks and forgotten. Water pumps and air filtration units the size of rail carriages, sitting idle next to prefab office units. The lodes here may have run dry or been deemed too expensive to extract, but the mining company always left equipment just in case. Part of it was a safety strategy in case of a collapse, fire or — worse — explosion, part for when they returned. Old mines were continuously being reopened. The Echoes’ thirst for raw materials never ended.

  After a while they entered another mine large enough to drive dump trucks through and halted at a massive steel structure used to dam the underground river system. Cristo sounded out a shrill whistle, and a door cut into the dam swung open. Eli flinched, expecting a torrent of heated water to gush out.

  Jade tensed beside him, then shook her head. “Clever,” she mouthed.

  Behind the door, a wide set of stairs rose. The group was ushered to the top through another maze of tunnels, and finally into a furnished room.

  As they were led in, a figure turned. Eli blinked, his sight adjusting to the brighter light, and reeled back in surprise. Sister Martha stood in front of him, hands clasped behind her back.

  “Watchers.”

  “Sister Martha. What is the meaning of this?”

  The nun ignored his question and looked over his shoulder. “Thank you, Cristo.”

  “The credits?”

  “Of course. Gordon has your reward. Take what supplies you need as a little extra.”

  “Their buggy and shit?”

  “Leave them with the quartermaster. They will be needed.”

  After Cristo left, Martha paced in front of the floor-to-ceiling shelving. It was filled with religious artefacts — bibles, paintings and golden buddha statues. A colourful frieze, depicting the Hindu gods, took up the top shelf. Eli recognized Ganesha, the elephant god, and Hanuman, who took the form of a half man, half monkey. But the rest were strange to him. The one with four arms looked evil.

  “I’ve searched for purpose and meaning ever since I was a small girl getting in the way of the nursemaids,” Sister Martha said, turning towards the still-bound group. “As you can see, I collected items from all the religions there once were.”

  “Were?” Colter interrupted. “Still a few Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists around last time I checked.”

  “Yes, were, Colter Stone. On the surface, the Echoes have embraced science as their religion. The old-world faiths are outlawed. Some countries still allow it and will take in religious refugees, but with all that modifying they do up there, they… they lost their faith.” Martha brushed down her habit. Eli saw it as a calming technique.

  “Why are we here, Sister Martha? You’re risking a lot, holding us.”

  “Typical, Miller. Thinking everything is about you,” Martha spat. She gestured with her chin at Jade. “Your new friend is a thief. You, Watcher, blundered into an exchange the other day at the canal.”

  Eli, Ley and Colter stared at Jade. She nodded and mouthed an apology.

  “What is she talking about, Jade?” Eli said.

  Martha unzipped Eli’s backpack and tipped the contents onto the floor. His dried food and med kit clattered, while Stacy Fisher’s journal landed with a thump. Eli stared at it. Everything had suddenly become clear. “Cherry and Glenn were returning the journal to you.”

  “Yes. Before they could, you come storming in like a bloat of hippos.”

  Ley barked out a chuckle. “That’s why Mother Superior went to the party — to clear your name.”

  “Despite what you may think, Watchers, I’m not involved in people smuggling. The council grilled me for hours in Misery Row. What you see here is a mission. I’m just trying to save the souls of the communities that choose to live beyond our borders.”

  It was a lot to take in, and what Sister Martha was saying rang true. The setup was common. A church would often head out into the labyrinth and try to convert the people. Those people, though, went there to get away from the norm. They preferred to live differently.

  Eli didn’t buy it. “Why is some old-world journal so important, then?”

  “It’s been in my family for generations. Not that it concerns you, Watcher.”

  “You just kidnapped us.”

  “I claim religious immunity.”

  “Bullshit. That refers to the freedom to practise any religion you believe in. It does not give you the right to force people who serve Lincoln to be marched about against their will.”

  “We’ll let the council decide. Brodie, check their commpads for anything that could incriminate us,” Martha said to a short man with snow-blond hair, who’d been sitting behind a bank of monitors. He took the devices off each of the Watchers and plugged them into his computer.

  “Sister. Take me but leave them out of this. They had no part in it,” Jade said.

  “That is admirable.” Martha hefted the journal in her hand, testing its weight. She then placed it into a red cloth bag and zipped it closed.

  “C’mon. Do you really want the Lincoln Watcher service to come searching for three missing agents? That is suicide,” Jade said.

  “As I said, religious immunity,” Martha said evenly.

  “Commpads are clean, Sister,” Brodie said.

  “Good. Give them back. Now, Watchers, don’t bother trying to alert your superiors. No service. You’ll be released in a few days after we’ve left. Guards!”

  The nun’s expression was amused as Eli, Ley, Colter, Jade and Nox were taken from the room. Instead of going down the stairs, they were conducted through another maze of tunnels. Some had wooden beam supports and some, thick blue metal that shone in the soft light. Ten minutes later, the group was locked into an empty room without a scrap of furniture. A bed had been chiselled out of the back wall, and a tiny curtained alcove sat on the right. One of the guards unlocked the door and threw a plastic bucket inside before slamming it shut again.

  Colter picked up the bucket and placed it behind the curtain. “Well, this is fun,” he said, plonking down on the bed. Ley shrugged and joined Colter, while Jade sat on the floor with her back against the door. Nox ran around the room sniffing everything until Eli whistled for him to heel. Nox licked his outstretched hand.

  Unzipping his pocket, Eli pulled out a protein bar. He broke it in half and tossed a piece to Ley, then broke the second piece in half again. He gave a chunk to Nox, who wolfed it down in one gulp. On the walk, he had run through hundreds of reasons for the ambush. The journal had never crossed his mind. It just went to show that nothing was as it seemed.

  CHAPTER 16

  Near San Francisco, United Countries of America.

  Kora awoke to an odd feeling of warmth on her face. She kept her eyes closed and played a game in her mind. What was the sensation? Was it a UV light like the wellness clinics in Lincoln had?

  She had always found her two-hour treatments boring, having to lie still and do nothing for all that time. Occasionally, she was fortunate and assigned a stand-up, rotating sunbed. At least then she could read. Giving up trying to figure out what the source of warmth was, Kora snapped open her eyes. She blinked away the grit and waited until she focused. Bright light filtered through the large window that overlooked the garden. She slipped on her sunglasses and kicked the covers back.

  “Morning.”

  “Kora. Good morning.” Doug’s calm voice said.

  Kora still wasn’t used to the AI. No body to go with the voice threw her off-kilter.

  “Shall I serve breakfast?” Doug said.

  “Not yet. I need to take a piss first, dumbass robot.”

  “Not a robot. Very well.”

  After using the bathroom, Kora stretched and stripped off. “Doug. I’m going to meditate.”

  “Of course. I will play some relaxing music.”

  Soft green lights illuminated the small square room adjacent to her bedroom.

  Kora had come to look forward to her daily meditation. For some reason, she focused better without the restrictions of clothes. The technology in this house was amazing. Any wall could become a screen, projecting wonderful scenes of the natural world. Often, Kora would keep her eyes open during her breathing patterns and watch images of mountains with temples, forests of bamboo, and open plains with strange, long-necked animals grazing.

  After her meditation, she ate a breakfast of oatmeal, nuts and fresh fruits while keeping an eye on the slide show.

  “Doug.”

  “Yes, Kora.”

  “These images. Are they real places?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do they still exist? Like, out there somewhere.”

  “Naturally. Would you like me to name them?”

  “Nah. Could I go to them?”

  “With the right visa, it is indeed possible to travel to most places around the world.”

  “For real?”

  “Yes, Kora. Even you could go. Although you would have to be accompanied by a Helstrop, or an employee of theirs.”

  “Why?”

  “The law is the law.”

  Kora frowned, still not understanding.

  The next image that appeared on the wall showed three triangular structures surrounded by a sea of sand.

  “What are those?”

  “The Pyramids of Giza. Up until 2100, the city of Cairo surrounded the ancient structures. Under the guidance of UNESCO, the city was relocated twenty kilometres south and the plateau declared a World Treasure.”

  “Ancient?”

  “Over ten thousand years. Fun fact. Before 2053, scholars believed the pyramids were built by the Pharaoh Khufu only four thousand years ago. Later studies proved them to be much older.”

  Kora stared at the strange structures, marvelling at them. Whoever had constructed them must have been a genius for them to last so long.

  The slideshow ended and, like clockwork, Panna arrived for the daily tests.

  “Kora. Why aren’t you dressed?” Panna asked.

  “Couldn’t be arsed.”

  Panna ignored her and walked over to the wardrobe. She took out a plain white pants and top set and placed it on the bed. “Remember, we are kind and courteous here. Punctuality is a show of respect.”

  “I don’t see the point, when all you’re going to do is make me do more tests.”

  Kora wanted to be disobedient. She stood, unashamed of her nakedness. If the Echoes wanted to test her endlessly, then she would exert any level of rebellion she could.