A pair of forms in ragged hoodies crossed the split almost at the same time he stepped through the raised hatch, turning their heads in nervous surprise.

  “What the hell?” one of them said, raising an arm to point at them.

  “Take them out,” Tsi said without hesitation.

  “What? Wait,” Caleb protested, jumping into the line of fire and reaching for his stunner.

  The two men’s eyes dropped to their guns.

  “Let’s get out of here,” one of them said.

  Caleb whipped the stunner from his hip, firing two quick shots at the men before they could take their first step. The rounds hit them in the side, and both targets convulsed and dropped to the ground.

  “Sergeant Caleb!” Tsi hissed.

  His head snapped back toward Tsi. “You don’t need to kill them.”

  “No witnesses, Sergeant,” she replied. “They saw us.”

  “It may not mean much to you to kill my people, Sergeant,” Caleb hissed back. “It means a hell of a lot to me. I took care of them.”

  “Until they wake up.”

  “We’ll be long gone by then.”

  Tsi didn’t look happy, but she also didn’t protest again. Caleb approached the downed citizens, leaning over them to push their hoods back. They couldn’t have been more than sixteen years old. Just kids.

  “We can use them,” Caleb said. “We can’t walk around here like this anyway.”

  He looked down at one of the boys, thinking about taking a picture of him. The Skin quickly scanned the unconscious teen and then projected his image around Caleb.

  “Awak and I will project that one,” Tsi said. “Riley, Caleb, and Kizi will project the other.”

  They quickly scanned the pair. Afterward, Kizi helped Caleb drag them deeper into the alley, closer to the seal.

  “Is all of your Metro like this?” Tsi asked when they were done, observing the run-down surroundings.

  “No,” Caleb replied. “But the ship wasn’t designed for us to be in space for so long. A lot of components began breaking down. This is the result.”

  “I see. Well, we’re inside. Do you know where the modulator is being kept?”

  “I don’t know where,” Caleb replied. “But I know who has it. I left it with the ship’s Chief Engineer, Joe King.”

  “His name is Joking?” Awak said.

  Caleb was confused until he realized the translator must have combined his first and last names and converted it to a different word in Inahrai. “No. First name Joe. Last name King. Dante told me where he lives, but it’s all the way on the other side of the city. If he isn’t there, he might be in Engineering, which is adjacent to the south seal.”

  “If the Inahri got through the seal…” Tsi said.

  “If he was in Engineering at the time, he’s probably dead,” Caleb finished for her. There was no sound save for the soft hum of the atmospherics above them. “ But I get the feeling the two we dropped weren’t supposed to be out of their cubes. The city sounds like it’s on lockdown.”

  “Which would mean the Inahri are inside,” Tsi said. “We must be more cautious.”

  “Agreed. We can’t be caught walking around looking like this,” Caleb said, motioning to the two pairs of identical projections. “We should split up. Keep heading south until you reach the end of the blocks. The buildings. Watch out for anyone wearing a uniform. If the city’s locked down, they’ll detain you and try to scan your wrist to see where you belong. Since you don’t have identification chips, it won’t end well, and I’d strongly prefer to do this without you killing any of Metro’s citizens.”

  “I’m sorry, Caleb. I don’t want to seem cruel. But this is more important than two of your people.”

  “Caleb and I will form one group. Kizi, Awak, and Riley, you will form the other. We will stay connected through the comm.”

  “We’ll need a third scan,” Riley said, looking at Kizi. They were identical twins. Same clothes sitting the same way on the same frame. Same tired face. Same everything.

  “You can scan the next individual you come across from cover, even from behind,” Tsi replied, “and the system will interpolate.”

  “Roger that.”

  “If you can scan an officer, you can convince them you’re taking two stragglers home,” Caleb suggested.

  “My thought exactly, Card.” Riley sneered at him, “I’m not an idiot.”

  Caleb bit his tongue. This wasn’t the time or place.

  “Riley, you three head down the left split. Caleb and I will go the other way. Contact us immediately if you spot any Inahri. And remember, they may also be projecting their appearance.”

  “Roger,” Riley replied.

  As she headed off with Kizi and Awak in tow, Tsi turned back to Caleb. “Lead the way.”

  Chapter 31

  Caleb and Tsi chose the starboard side of the city to make their way south, navigating the splits and strands a few blocks from the direction of the south seal. On first impression, the city seemed deserted. There was nobody on the strands. Businesses were all closed. Even the cubes rising off the deck were mostly dark. It was as though the colonists knew something bad was happening and they were doing their best to hide from it.

  And maybe that’s precisely what it was. Maybe the colonists knew the Inahri were in the city, and they wanted to stay clear of them. But if that were true, where were the battle-armored soldiers? Where were the signs of fighting?

  Or had Governor Stone simply handed the entire colony over to the Relyeh? Had he surrendered the city without a fight?

  Caleb hated the thought. What he hated more was that it wouldn’t surprise him if it were true.

  “Is this how Earthers live?” Tsi asked, taking in the sight of the city. “In tall boxes with small windows?”

  “You live underground, in small boxes with no windows,” Caleb replied.

  “Not always. You only saw a little of the Seeker. When it is fully operational, it is a beautiful place. You never made it to the gardens.” Her voice lowered, becoming sad. “I’ve heard they were amazing. They’re surely all dead now.”

  “Gardens in the ship? You have a jungle right outside.”

  “My ancestors were prisoners, Caleb. Not allowed to leave the ship. Barely allowed to leave our cells. We only experienced the world outside as testing grounds before Arluthu came.”

  “Why did you turn against Arluthu if he helped set you free?”

  “Free? No, Caleb. From one master to another, but not free.”

  “Then why do the other Inahri still support him?”

  “Some Inahri love power more than they love one another. Don’t tell me Earth is any different.”

  “I can’t tell you that. We were the same way.”

  They stopped talking when the Skin’s sensors captured a pair of bodies coming around the corner up ahead. They quickly ducked into one of the splits, just before the law officers emerged, walking in their direction.

  “I don’t think they saw us,” Caleb said. Their AR overlays appeared through the solid wall of the block, the Skin tracking their movement toward them. Just because the officers hadn’t seen them didn’t mean they weren’t coming to check the split. “This way.”

  They headed deeper into the split, following the dark alley for twenty meters before turning right at the first intersection. They stopped again, watching the marks as they paused at the entrance to the alley.

  “What are they doing?” Tsi asked.

  “I don’t know. We’ll keep heading this way.”

  They followed the split, turning south again at the next intersection. Two more marks appeared ahead.

  “Somebody must have seen us out of a window and called Law,” Caleb said. “They’re trying to round us up.”

  “We could disable them,” Tsi suggested.

  “We could, but they’ll be scheduled to check-in every few minutes. They won’t be missed for long, and then all of Law and the Relyeh will know something’s up.”

  The marks were moving again, closing in on them in the split.

  “Other ideas?” Tsi asked.

  Caleb found an intersection twenty meters down. “Make it there before they do.”

  They ran, sprinting for the intersection. The law officers were getting closer, taking a more steady pace in their general direction. They would never guess the two kids from the upper-blocks had tracking sensors.

  They broke into the junction and turned right, continuing to run toward the port side of the ship only a few seconds ahead of the officers. Another mark appeared down a split ahead and to the right.

  “Keep going,” Caleb said.

  He glanced at the officer as they passed the alley.

  “Stop!” the officer ordered, breaking into a run of his own. Caleb and Tsi didn’t slow, the officer coming out onto the split behind them. “Stop, or I’ll stop you!”

  Caleb glanced back. The officer was pulling his revolver. He also didn’t know these two kids already knew their guns had no bullets, stunning or otherwise.

  They reached the next intersection. Another officer was marked by the Skin as the net continued to tighten around them. The end of the split was up ahead, spilling them out into a strand on Block Fifteen. An officer was approaching that exit, ready to block them in completely.

  “Don’t slow down,” Caleb said.

  Tsi did as he said. They reached the end of the split as the officer came around the corner, weapon already out. Caleb threw his shoulder into the woman, spinning her to the ground as they continued sprinting across the street.

  “Where now?” Tsi asked.

  “Straight.” He pointed toward a pair of open doors on the building ahead.

  “Straight?”

  Caleb and Tsi burst through the open doors, into the lobby of the hospital. There was nobody in the waiting area, but there was an admin behind the help counter. She opened her mouth to yell at them for running, but they were already gone by then, turning right toward the lifts and the emergency stairs.

  Two of the law officers were behind them, still a few seconds out from the hospital and quickly losing ground. Caleb and Tsi reached the door to the stairwell, and Caleb shoved it open, leading her up into the hospital.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “We’ll go up, across, and out on the other side. If we hurry, we can make it before they surround the place.”

  “How do you know where to go?”

  “I’ve been here before. A couple of times.”

  They made it to the third floor at the same time the door at the bottom of the steps opened. Caleb led them out into the hospital proper, still running as he bypassed a pair of nurses chatting in the corner.

  “Wait,” Caleb said, stopping and turning. “Say cheese!” he said, as his Skin scanned the one on the left. Tsi followed his example, quickly scanning the other one. He changed the projection as he ran, noticing she did too.

  They reached the corner and slowed to a walk, taking on the role of the two nurses. Caleb continued across the floor at a more leisurely pace. Even if Law surrounded the building, they were looking for two male hoodlums, not two female nurses.

  He was starting to like the Intellect Skin.

  “We can take the lift back out now,” he said, cutting left at the next corridor. There were rooms on either side of the hallway. Caleb glanced in each of the windows, noting they were all empty.

  Wait. Not all of them. He froze after nearly passing one, stopping and taking a step back. He peered through the window.

  “What is it?” Tsi asked.

  “Give me a minute,” he replied.

  “Caleb, we don’t have time.”

  “This might be worth it.”

  He pushed the door open, entering the room. Doctor Rathbone’s head turned as he entered, and she gave him an angry glare.

  “Celia, what are you doing here? Didn’t I tell you to go home and be with your family?” Her head shifted slightly as Tsi entered behind Caleb. “Donna, you too. Why are you still here?”

  Caleb shifted his attention from the doctor to her patient, lying flat on the bed, eyes open, spittle slipping from her open mouth. She made a soft gurgling moan every couple of seconds like she was terrified of something.

  Caleb turned off the projection. Doctor Rathbone took a step back as if to defend the patient.

  “Rathbone,” he said, grabbing the mantle and pulling it away from his face. “It’s me. Caleb Card.”

  Rathbone’s frightened expression turned into a shocked, joyful one. Her mouth spread into a smile, and she rose up and clasped her hands together. “Sergeant Card. Thank God.”

  “I don’t have a lot of time,” Caleb said. “I need you to tell me what’s been happening here. Quickly. I need you to tell me what happened to her.” He pointed at the patient.

  Beth Stone.

  “Oh, Caleb,” Rathbone replied. “It’s all a mess. The Governor wanted to move outside the city, to show the people there was nothing to be afraid of. Only there is something to be afraid of. We have enemies here.”

  “I know. We have allies too.” Caleb motioned to Tsi, who dropped the projection and pulled back her mantle.

  “What the?” Rathbone said. “Who…uh…what are you?”

  “Tsi,” she said, pointing to herself. “Hello.”

  Caleb glanced at her. Where had she learned that?

  “They’re here for the energy unit,” Caleb said. “We’re here to stop them from getting it. Where’s Joe King?”

  “Oh no,” Rathbone said. “The enemy, they attacked the Governor. They killed dozens of our people. Poor Beth is in shock and I can’t seem to get her stabilized. Between this and losing Orla? It was just too much for her. Too much for the Governor too. The enemy wants something. I guess they want the energy unit, whatever that is. They told him to get it or else they’re going to start killing colonists.”

  “Are they in the city?”

  “No. According to Sheriff Zane, they’re staying in engineering, waiting on Stone to do the hard work. I don’t know, Caleb. I don’t know what’s going to happen if they get it. Are they really going to leave us alone?”

  Tsi said something in Inahrai , forgetting it wouldn’t be translated.

  “I wouldn’t count on it,” Caleb said. “These enemies, they’re the same race as Tsi. Inahri. But they’re allied with another race. The Relyeh. It was the Relyeh that sent the trife to Earth. They’re not a benevolent race. Do you know where Joe is?”

  “No. Nobody does. That’s probably a good thing. His wife. Caleb, Sheriff Zane killed Carol. He shot her. It was an accident. She knocked him a good one too, and when he came to Joe was gone. All of Law has been looking for him for hours. They pulled all but a skeleton crew out of here, and they won’t let anyone leave their cubes. Last I heard they were starting to search door to door. One cube at a time.”

  “Damn it. We can all guess what’s going to happen if they don’t find him.”

  “I don’t want to guess,” Rathbone said. “We…” she trailed off, her eyes shifting past them again.

  “Doc Rathbone, I just got word from HQ,” Sheriff Zane said, coming around the corner and entering the open room. “We chased two kids in here and who the hell are you?”

  Caleb looked back at Zane, who recognized him immediately. The sheriff started reaching for a sidearm that wasn’t there, mouth opening to shout.

  Tsi spun on her toes, hand whipping around and grabbing his neck, momentum carrying him into the door. He hit hard, and she followed it with a quick strike to his temple from her other hand, letting him go as he tumbled to the floor.

  “Ouch,” Caleb said in response to the violent outburst,

  “Caleb,” Tsi said. It was the only word he understood. She pulled her mantle back on, and he did the same. “We’re out of time,” she repeated.

  “Chi za.”

  Caleb turned back to Doctor Rathbone, quickly scanning her. Then he moved to Sheriff Zane and scanned him too.

  “What are you doing?” Rathbone asked.

  “Disguises,” Caleb said, projecting the sheriff. “Tsi, get Beth Stone.”

  Tsi moved to Beth’s bedside and quickly scanned her while Caleb waited at the door.

  “Whatever you’re planning, I hope it works,” Rathbone said.

  “Sit tight,” Caleb replied. “We’ll get this mess cleaned up one way or another.”

  “We’re counting on you, Sergeant.”

  Tsi rejoined Caleb at the door. They switched their projections at the same time, back to the pair of nurses. Then they left the room.

  “The good news is that if Law can’t find Joe, there’s only one place I can think to look,” Caleb said as they walked to the lift. “It’s also the last place Governor Stone wants the Relyeh to know about.” He hit the controls. The lift door opened and he entered the cab, still projecting Beth Stone.

  “What is the bad news?” Tsi asked, changing her projection to Sheriff Zane.

  The lift doors closed.

  “We have to walk right through Law to get there.”

  Chapter 32

  “Sheriff Ortega, report,” Jackson Stone said, glancing nervously at the Relyeh Inahri projecting his silent wife.

  “Governor, we’ve finished sweeps of the splits from Block Thirty to Thirty-five. Sheriffs Johnson and Anali are checking every cube across the city. There’s still no sign of Joe.”

  Jackson’s chest tightened at the news. The Inahri barely reacted, but he could tell the soldier was displeased by the tiny twitch at the corner of the projection’s eye. It was almost spot-on to the same twitch his real wife exhibited when she was upset. Was their technology really that precise?

  “Governor, at this rate it could be days before we find him. It takes at least an hour to search an entire block full of cubes.”

  “I know how long it takes,” Jackson snapped back. His nerves were completely frayed. His confidence shattered. Every minute that passed, every report was leading the colony closer and closer to disaster. “Focus on the upper blocks. He couldn’t have gone that far.”