I couldn't stay here. And now I couldn't step out of my hiding place without being seen. But more drones would appear, blocking the other end of the street; my only escape route.

  I took a few more measured breaths of air, not quite back to resembling even, but recovered enough to get me going again. I pulled my handgun and quietly checked the chamber. Enough bullets to lay down cover fire, but I'd be out of ammunition by the time I made it to the end of the street.

  If I made it at all.

  Another recheck with the mirror. The drones were investigating the buildings closest to them, moving in a straight line up the street. Nothing yet across the end closest to me, but that wasn't to say they weren't just around the corner.

  I wondered if the street-cams were working. I wondered if Alan had my father's transponder nearby. For a second I wished I'd insisted on carrying it for this operation. But I'd had it last night when I scouted the dock office for intel. It had been Alan's turn tonight.

  I pocketed the mirror, removed the safety off my gun, and said a silent prayer. Then lifted my eyes from the ground and stared across the street, counting down from three in my head.

  I'd made it to one when I saw the frantic hand waving through a gap in the boards covering what would have been a window in the building across the street. I cocked my head, trying to see who was signalling me, but there wasn't enough space between the boards to determine more than just a hand.

  Then the hand pointed to the corner of the building, which was still three buildings shy of the corner of the street. I shifted position and noticed a small alleyway, which I hadn't seen before when I'd plotted my escape route from here.

  I nodded my head, hoping the hand waver could see me, and then took off at a mad run. My gun lifted in my left hand, the one closest to the approaching drones, and firing shot after shot as I sprinted the distance between me and hopefully safety.

  Shouts rose up from the drones, and then the whine of lasers priming. Red lights started to criss-cross over the street, some beams hitting the buildings, making bits of wood and concrete debris fly off in every direction. I panted through each pounding step, each whiz of the laser past my face, each thud of drone feet approaching, and knew I didn't have a chance of escaping this.

  The corner of the building was just a few feet away, but a chunk of paving right in front of me exploded, making me dive to the side to avoid being hit with sharp shards of concrete, which meant the alley was now further away. I screamed when the awning above the building I was approaching suddenly fell to my left. I jumped away just in time to avoid being crushed. Two more steps, trying desperately to reach my goal and my gun clicked; empty.

  I growled, glanced over my shoulder, noting that until then only a couple of drones had been firing back, the rest had been dealing with my wayward bullets. But now those who weren't completely incapacitated were lifting laser guns and pointing to my head.

  A window covered in boards blew up right beside me, slivers of wood digging into the parts of my flesh not covered with a bullet proof vest. Another piece of the awning collapsed, making me roll away, head over feet, to avoid crushing.

  It occurred to me that the drones weren't all firing at my body. Sure, the odd laser beam was buzzing past my head, singeing a hole in my vest, catching a stray strand of flyaway hair behind me. But several of the drones were targeting the buildings. For a split second, I wondered if they were firing at my hand waver, but then another strategically hit piece of the structure was torn off and sent careening towards my face.

  The bastards were trying to hem me in, herd me, corral me. I'd never seen drones behave like this before. Approach a problem in such a systematic and calculated, yet unexpected manner. Even Cardinal controlled drones used to just aim and fire at the offender. This was so... extraordinary.

  I hurled my now useless gun at the closest approaching drone, then dodged another flurry of laser beams, finally skidding around the corner of the building.

  The relief at making my goal was immediately replaced with pure terror.

  The alleyway was small, all right. Narrow, that's why I hadn't seen it from across the street. But it was also a dead end.

  I screamed my frustration at the brick wall before me and was suddenly hauled sideways, a hand on my vest collar, my feet practically leaving the pavement as my saviour drew me into an opening that hadn't been there a second before. The opening was sealed quietly at my back. Darkness engulfed me. I sucked in air to demand what the hell was going on and a meaty hand covered my mouth.

  It smelled of grease and oil and I didn’t want to think what else.

  And then I was gripped around my upper arm and dragged across grit strewn flooring. Barely any light guided our path, but I didn't demand where we were heading; the guy's hand had been removed from my mouth in good faith. And besides, he was human. At this point and time, I was going with human being better than drone.

  My boot hit something solid, but the man just lifted me by my arm off the floor, making me scramble for purchase with my feet, until I stood on what had to be the first tread of a stairwell. My hands came out and touched the walls at my sides. The guy grunted softly and then released my upper arm. In the next instant, I could feel him moving further away. I couldn't see him, it was almost pitch black in here. But I could feel the absence of his heat and rank stench.

  The drones had made the end of the alley and were knocking their metal fists against the walls of the building on either side. I could hear louder thumps for the bangs against our wall, and less distinct ones for those across the narrow alley. I didn't waste any time, I took one step cautiously, and then another, but once I was sure of the depth of the treads, I was off.

  At the top of the long flight of stairs the guy waited. A soft amount of light filtering in through slats in the windows showed me his bulky outline, but no more. He moved off once I made the top of the stairwell and headed further into the abandoned building.

  Broken bits of furniture stood like ragged rock outcroppings in an inhospitable shadowed land. Lights from the drones down at street level sent white beams across the ceiling as they shone through gaps in the window boards, pinpointing damp spots and even a cave-in where the roof hadn't lasted. Dust and debris coated the floor, but the lumbering giant ahead of me didn't make a sound as he stepped through it. His soft soled shoes ideal for navigating the wreckage of an old part of Wánměi most of us ignored.

  I was just as silent at his back; if he appreciated it, he didn't show me.

  We crossed into another building at a hole in the wall; one that had been clearly carved out with sledgehammers. The next building was in even worse repair. The furniture here almost all dust. I glanced around, all the while keeping my ears out for storming drones at our back, but none seemed to be following. The need to cross to one of those gaps in the boarded windows and see what was happening out on the street below was almost too much to bear.

  But the man in front of me was treading in precise locations, evidence of the path he'd possibly taken earlier outlined as big boot prints on the filthy floor. Stepping anywhere he wasn't didn't seem like a good idea.

  Five minutes after escaping the alley we came to set of stairs in the third building, which if my memory and orientation skills allowed, was the last building on this street. We crept up them carefully, the darkness less obvious now, or my eyes had just adjusted enough to make out what the guy was wearing.

  Citizen worker clothes; worn jeans, dark t-shirt, tennis shoes. Which could place him in any number of professions. Or simply disguised enough to blend in. I wouldn't have been shocked if he worked the black market. The way he moved; silently, despite his bulk; swiftly, but with much care; stealthily, as though extremely practised. Made me believe there was more to this man than meets the eye.

  I checked my pockets, finding my sheathed knife. I didn't draw it, but having it close to hand made me feel better. My earpiece buzzed, as though it had been picked up by a receiver; I was thinking coverage out in Geh Dowee was spasmodic. Having it back would aid the "feel better" feeling as well.

  The stairwell came to a door, and darkness encroached again, but when the man turned and held a finger up to his lips to indicate silence, I could still make out the move. I nodded, and he spun back and twisted the handle quietly.

  The heat of Wánměi engulfed me. The sounds of drones marching and the odd laser whine further afield, mixed with Shiloh's High-Anglisc voice offering commands. But none of them were up here; on the roof of a dilapidated building.

  I walked out under the few stars, and usual night time clouds, and took in a vacant space, wondering just what the hell we did now.

  "Lena?" Si's voice suddenly sounded over the earpiece. He'd been very quiet, maybe aware I was working in silence, maybe because he'd not been able to get through.

  I couldn't answer him, though. The huge bulk of a man before me ensured I remained quiet.

  The too nearby sounds of drones backed up that theory.

  I raised my hands in a "What gives?" motion, and the guy nodded to a contraption hanging over the back of the building. I walked towards it and let out a little huff of air.

  "Lena. Talk to me." Trent this time, having heard me, I think. Then when I still didn't reply, "Alan, can you see Lena?"

  "She's not with us," came his succinct and seemingly unemotional reply. At least I knew he hadn't been caught by Shiloh. I just had to hope Tan was the "us" he'd referred to.

  I ignored them both and stared at the rudimentary device before me, following the line it was connected to, to the other side of the street. I smiled. Some sort of flying fox.

  I pointed to the device and then placed a finger to my lips in the silence gesture, then raised my eyebrows in a question.

  The guy nodded his head on its thick neck.

  I guess that meant it was quiet.

  He pushed me forward, tapped the place I had to hold on.

  Here goes nothing.

  And then I was flying.

  It was impossible not to let out a little gasp, which made Trent, Si and Alan start talking all at once. But I remained mute as I flew through the air in the most controlled fashion I had ever managed in my life.

  The street below whizzed past my feet, the odd red glow of a drone's eyes showing me they were stationed at points along the length of the road, mostly hidden in shadows. Waiting to pounce.

  The roof of the opposing building came up faster than I would have liked, instinct making me lift my legs up before me as the edge of the building swished by. I lowered my feet and ran the last few steps, slowing the device down before it hit its anchor.

  Behind me the man landed in soft thumps of his shoes.

  I turned to look at him, seeing more of his features as the clouds had moved, releasing the moon. Anglisc, early forties, over six foot four, at a guess. Auburn hair, grimy square face, but not the fat I'd suspected. His jaw was hard, his brow wide, but it was muscles beneath that t-shirt, straining the fabric, pulling his jeans tight across his bulging thighs.

  He stood straight as I carried out my assessment, then moved in a way that made me suck in a breath of air. As if he wanted to clack his heels in greeting.

  Cardinal, my mind screamed. But my lips remained silent, even as Trent was now yelling in my ear, and the guy was reaching out a large, strong hand, to simply grip my arm. Again.

  Chapter 9

  Bravado

  Trent

  "What the fuck is happening out there?" I demanded.

  Si just shook his head; he'd given up answering the same question after I'd asked it over a dozen times.

  "Lena!" I almost shouted down the mic. Nothing, but we could hear ambient noise. Was it from her earpiece or the others? "Isolate her feed," I instructed Si.

  His hands flew over the keyboard and the sounds fell away. But there was still the whoosh of her breath or the breeze as she moved.

  "She's still with us," Si offered. I just stared at the blank screens.

  Lena had requested the street-cams be blacked out in Geh Dowee. It had made sense. Giving the refugees and our guys a chance to slip into the abandoned buildings and disappear from Overseer, aka Shiloh’s, sight. But now it felt as if we were cut off from everything.

  At least, it felt that way to me.

  The sound of a door closing, or maybe a piece of heavy wood being wrenched back into place, came over the air. Despite my guess being it was done quietly, Lena's earpiece picked up the noise easily, as Si had amplified all sounds.

  So, when she spoke, it crackled out of the speakers in the tech room of our new base and damn near gave us both heart attacks.

  "Who are you?" came Lena's voice. Si fumbled to readjust the levels. Too busy toning down the volumes to register the wariness in Lena's words.

  I forced myself to remain quiet, to not distract her when she was dealing with an unknown opponent. The frustration I'd been feeling grow exponentially bigger over the past two weeks just about exploded out of my skin right then. The need to be out there, close enough to get to her, to offer back-up, was all-fucking-consuming.

  I gritted my teeth, breathed through my nose, and focused on the conversation we were hearing.

  "My name is Marshal Jenkings, the third," a deep voice announced.

  Si looked toward me and raised his barely there blond eyebrows, and then hurriedly hacked iRec to see who this dude was.

  Honourable Marshal Jenkings, Cardinal under General Chew-wen, flashed across the screen, just as Lena guessed at her end, without technology to back her up.

  "A Cardinal." Not a question. A statement, as though she didn't doubt her guess.

  It was one of the things that both infuriated me and amazed me about Lena. That blind confidence that was ingrained in her since birth.

  "A Cardinal in disguise," she added, whether for our benefit or not, I couldn't tell.

  "I am no longer a Cardinal," the guy advised.

  "Lena," Si said softly. "Marshal Jenkings was Cardinal under General Chew-wen. Went AWOL the night of the recent celebration ball. Assumed killed in action by rebels."

  I smirked at that. Then frowned. How many more Cardinals had gone missing when they saw Shiloh take control? How many were out there now, hiding like Marshal Jenkings?

  And which side were they actually on?

  "It would seem," Lena said over the speakers, "that we both do not wish to face the drones."

  The man didn't reply, but I could imagine him nodding his head in agreement.

  "Why did you help me?" she asked.

  "I saw you distract the drone from that mother and child."

  I had no idea what that was all about, but I could just imagine Lena sacrificing herself for someone else. She didn't realise how much of a socialist she actually was. It was hardly surprising that she believed otherwise; raised a superior Elite, lived the life of luxury in the upper echelon of our society. But her father must have done something right. Because Lena was no more an Elitist than I was.

  "So you decided," Lena said, "to do the same?" There was obvious doubt in her tone.

  "I didn't draw their fire," the man replied in a typical Cardinal manner.

  "And yet you risked detection to get me off the street to somewhere safe."

  "Where is that somewhere safe, Lena?" I asked over the mic. Give us something to go on, Zebra.

  "You've made quite a home for yourself," she remarked, the sound of her moving across echoing floors sounded out. "What was this place? It looks like an old chemistry lab. And how do you put up with that smell?"

  Well done. I flicked a glance over Si's shoulders and saw him scrolling through addresses for ancient businesses in Geh Dowee. There were three relating to the manufacturing of oxygen amino compounds. Two we could discard as being too far away from where she would have managed to get in such a short amount of time. One that fit the bill.

  Si opened another channel up and relayed the information to Alan and Tan.

  "It seemed a good place to live," the guy said.

  "Until I came along with a container ship full of drones and wiped Citizens."

  Silence over the airwaves, but it had the feeling of being weighted. God knows how I figured that, maybe because I knew Lena had just given this stranger information that was perhaps better left undisclosed.

  "How many drones?" the Cardinal asked.

  "Thousands," Lena instantly replied.

  "Lena," I warned over the mic. "Careful."

  She'd hate that. I could just imagine her eyes turning that frosted ice blue round about now.

  "And the Citizens? They were for wiping?" Jenkings queried.

  "They had been wiped," Lena corrected.

  "Wiping means death," he countered.

  "Apparently things have changed since you deserted."

  Si whistled low and muttered, "Way to go keeping the Cardinal onside, Lena." I had to agree with him. Why was Lena antagonising this man?

  "You're his fiancée," he said, not addressing her comment which made me feel slightly relieved, only to frown at him mentioning her connection to Chew-wen Wang Chao.

  "No," she replied, Elite all the way and I had to smile.

  "There's probably still a reward for your safe return," the man said, and both Si and I sucked in deep breaths.

  The feeling of inadequacy escalated. I was listening to Lena being threatened and I couldn't do a fucking thing to help her out.

  I scanned the screens, still showing black where Si had jammed the street-cams. Alan's night visions gave us an eerie green image of the back of Tan's head, but little else. And the iRec system showed Marshal Jenkings identity, but not much more of worth. He had no family to hold over his head. Just his rank, position, date of birth and supposed date of death.

  I leaned forward and clicked on his position, wondering where in Chew-wen's warped government he had fit in.

  And took a step backwards when the screen changed and his Cardinal history and various roles over the years lit up.

  "Hardly," Lena was saying. "But, by all means, give it your best try."