“Hey, Detective,” one of the techs said as Cassidy made a beeline for his roto. The tech had the back of a different vehicle open, working on the motor.

  “Hey, Shawn,” Cassidy replied, the tech’s name flowing effortlessly through Hall’s mind to his imprint. “Another conduit failure?” he asked, pointing at the motor.

  Shawn shook his head. “They don’t make ‘em like they used to, Detective. You were smart to hold onto the Forty-four. I only have to tweak her maybe once a year. The rest of these rotos— two, three times at least.” He shook his head in disgust. “The good old days, eh?”

  “Yeah, the good old days,” Cassidy agreed, moving around to the driver’s side as the doors swung open. “Tell your wife I said hello.”

  “Will do,” Shawn said.

  Cassidy dropped into the driver’s seat, then leaned forward and tapped the controls to close the doors and start the motor. The roto began to hum and then lifted a few inches off the ground. Looking at the control yoke, Cassidy could tell by its unblemished condition that it had hardly ever been used. Hall preferred to let the roto fly itself.

  That ended today.

  He grabbed onto the yoke, pulling back which directed it to rise in place until it was high enough to clear the other vehicles. He touched the accelerator pedal and turned the yoke to rotate the roto in the direction of the open exit. He stepped down on the accelerator before he had fully finished the turn. The engine whined loudly in response to the requested burst, and the whole vehicle slid sideways over Shawn’s head, the steering rotors blowing his hair around before it corrected and shot forward. Cassidy couldn’t hold back his smile as the roto blasted out of the bay, nearly clipping an incoming roto before the automatic safety system corrected his course. He flew a loop around the UDF building, getting a feel for the Forty-four before leveling off and making his way east.

  Starting the mission from headquarters without any immediate solid leads, he could only think of one destination.

  There was no place like home.

  Chapter 10

  Cassidy guided the roto up and over the bulk of the traffic, sticking to the stacked lanes along dense routes through the city. Rain fell in a steady cadence around the vehicle, running down the sides and over the windshield where it was immediately shed off the sides by the amorphous material, keeping his view clear, headlights illuminating the air ahead. It was mid-afternoon, too early for the sun to be down, but the thick cloud cover left a gloomy pall over the city.

  While he was sure most of the millions of residents found the weather depressing, he found enjoyment in the diffusion of colors below him. The white and red lights from thousands of rotos joined the rainbow cacophony of projections beneath them, providing a constant barrage of light for those stuck on the ground.

  Everything looked beautiful from high above, which is why the wealthiest of the city’s residents lived at altitude, in stacked palaces and penthouses. These high-rise mansions ascended from the smaller structures below them like giant spears stabbing up through the earth and into space. Flashing lights along the sides of the monoliths warned rotos away from them even as they guided them upward to the residences above the clouds.

  While he had never been inside any of the tremendous palaces, he had looked up at them as a child and marvelled at their grandeur. And later in life, from shuttles carrying UDF Marines into space, he’d gotten fleeting glimpses through windows to the richness inside. Cassidy could never hope to reach such heights of wealth and luxury, but he had never aspired to a life of wealth. His goal had always been to take care of his family. He had never regretted it.

  He steered his roto around one of the spires, watching his reflection in the glass face as he passed. Even the servants lived in opulence, their quarters generally based just below the main household, still miles above the rank and file. He knew from experience the top-level private security forces were bunkered just below the servants while a second team remained stationed at ground level, both inside the spear and spread out around it.

  Through Hall’s mind, he knew the man had considered a job as top-level security for Richard Chabra, a hedge-fund near-trillionaire based in London. He had ultimately turned down the opportunity in order to stay close to his son.

  He circled over the city once, taking in the overhead view of the massive population center. From his vantage point, hardly anything had changed in the twenty years since he was last thawed. A few new skyscrapers where there had been shorter buildings before. One new palatial spear. That was the extent of it.

  Reaching the massive eighty-foot tall seawall that surrounded the city and prevented the water from flooding the area, he swung the roto around, descending closer to the travel lanes. When he found a gap between rotos he hit the accelerator and swooped in. Warnings blared in the cockpit before he slammed on the brakes, narrowly avoiding a collision before he settled into the slot. Manual flying was less fun at lower altitudes, so he put the roto on auto and set its navigation to deliver him home.

  Settling back in his seat, Cassidy was able to pay more attention to the activity around and below him. Crowds moved through the streets, a sea of hoodies and umbrellas navigating their way through electric scooters, bicycles, rickshaws and an occasional car. Brightly lit storefronts hawked clothing and entertainment along the main streets while holographic signs and advertisements tried to capture the attention of passersby by whatever means possible. Thirty-foot tall women, scantily clad in lingerie, held up mobile devices housing different operating systems, each competitor promising a better performance from their product than the others.

  Veering off from the primary avenues, the roto carried Cassidy over residential highrises. Each apartment was a rectangular block stacked on top of the next, according to space-maximizing algorithms. Even though the rain made outdoor patios hard to utilize, each apartment had a small balcony extending out over the top edge of the apartment below it. Small, round windows lined each unit. Occasionally, they revealed the lives within, just as the dark places between the convenience shops below hinted at the probability of illicit acts taking place in the shadows.

  Twenty years, and that hadn’t changed much either.

  The roto began to climb, the control panel marking the decidedly middle-class building on the left as its landing target. The exterior was somewhat maintained, showing signs of age in the cracks around the stone facade and the faded paint, but lacking the garbage and general sense of downtroddenness of the more economically depressed segments of the city, like Old Town. The truth about the city, and Earth in general, hadn’t changed for as long as Cassidy had been around. The class system was alive and well, the separations between each as distinct as always. Hall had a good, stable, well-paid, long-term job at the UDF, and thanks to a divorce and child support was barely living above the water line.

  Cassidy remembered growing up in the slums along the river, where old Navy warships had been converted to apartments for the poorest of the poor. Dirty, crime-ridden, unsafe and hopeless. The only path out for most who managed to avoid the organized crime and survive the violence went through the UDF Marines. The only path out for his family had come from his acceptance to the Bureau. His mother had to be dead by now. His sisters, probably in an assisted care home, maybe something a step above Hall’s situation. Fifty transfers ensured they would never need to live like this and neither would he.

  Bright blue light that managed to pierce the clouds helped remind him of where he had come from. The plumes came from the rocket engines of transports ferrying Marines to waiting starships where they would be shuttled to the moon or Mars for low gravity training before assignment to bases placed throughout the solar system, prepared to repel an enemy that never seemed to arrive.

  Cassidy didn’t know if the UDF Marines had a real mission, a real purpose, beyond lifting the select few out of poverty and weeding out the even more select few for continued roles within the Space Force. During his five year tour, he had never participated in actual combat, only mock battles and wargames. In the end, it didn’t matter if the threat was real. The training was. And the good he had done as a Shade was undeniable.

  He was jogged out of his memories when the roto touched down on the rooftop of the building, fifty floors up from the surface. He shook his head, chiding himself on his loss of focus and his submission to the past. Nevis had been right; it was impossible for anyone to keep their heads wholly pointed in one direction at all times. At least he had let his mind associate freely, rather than intentionally trying to dredge through history.

  Climbing out of the vehicle, he pulled his hood over his head before tracing his way around dozens of other rotos parked on the rooftop. Most of them were newer than his, a range of sizes and designs that all shared the same general shape. He caught glimpses of his reflection in their windshields, trying to get used to seeing Hall looking back at him. He reached the elevator and stairwell leading into the building, choosing the stairs and descending eighteen floors to thirty-two. The hallway beyond the elevator was quiet and empty, composed of light blue paint and dark blue carpet. He followed the corridor to the end and around the corner, slowing as he approached unit thirty-two-sixty-six. Hall’s apartment.

  The door was already open.

  Chapter 11

  Cassidy didn’t reach for his gun. Not yet. He had encountered similar situations before, and while they usually meant something bad was about to go down, usually wasn’t always. And not when he had only been on the job for thirty minutes. There was no chance anyone connected to Garrett had any idea he had been tasked with bringing the mercenary to justice. There was no obvious reason anyone might be looking for him. None at all.

  Simple breaking and entering then? He didn’t want to blow holes in a run-of-the-mill thief. The needlegun ammo cost too much to waste on a run-of-the-mill burglar.

  He pressed against the wall by the door, tilting his head slightly to look inside. The interior lights were all out, leaving the exterior lamps as the only source of lighting, offering a dim view of the layout. Hall’s place was nothing special. A studio with a small kitchen in the rear, a large wardrobe next to a twin bed and a tiny futon parked in front of a holoviewer. The bathroom was separated by a half wall for privacy.

  There were no pictures on the walls. No knick-knacks or other objects placed randomly about. No dishes in the sink. Probably no old, stale food in the fridge. Hall kept his apartment clean. Almost too clean. It didn’t surprise Cassidy. The detective had always struck him as totally buttoned-up.

  There was also no sign of anyone in the place, and no evidence of tampering.

  The lack of action caused Cassidy to lose his patience. He came around the corner and stepped through the door, pushing it open with enough force to send it banging into the inside wall. Listening for a reaction and coming up empty, he sighed loudly. He swung it closed and tapped the panel next to it to turn on the lights before shrugging out of his raincoat and hanging it on a hook screwed into the wall. Whenever this job ended, he needed to make sure Hall would never sense anything out of place.

  Assuming he survived.

  Considering the nature of his assignment, it was anything but guaranteed, regardless of how highly Captain Nevis seemed to think of him. Forty-nine transfers was a lot. More than most. That didn’t make him superhuman. Maybe he could find a way to get the drop on Garrett. Maybe he could even bring him in alive. If the former Marine was working with the Silver Dragons like he suspected, the trouble wouldn’t end there. Not for him. Not for Hall. Not until the detective was dead.

  He had never known Hall that well, but he liked him and didn’t want to be responsible for the man’s demise. He needed to work this job carefully if he was going to stand any chance of fulfilling both the Bureau’s objective and his own.

  Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out Hall’s ClearPhone, looking down at it as he took a few steps toward the futon. He entered the sequence to switch to the hidden operating system before glancing up when he heard the light scuff of shoes on the floor.

  A young boy stood near the door to the bathroom. Ten years old maybe, dark hair and a small face, dressed in a heavy sweater and pants, both dry.

  “Nicholas,” Cassidy said, recognizing the boy as Hall’s son. “What are you doing here?”

  “Dad,” Nicholas replied. “I know I’m supposed to be with mom right now, but—”

  “How did you get in here?” Cassidy interrupted, still staring at him.

  “Through the front door.”

  “Don’t be a smart ass. Why did you leave it open?”

  “I guess I forgot to close it.”

  Cassidy was about to ask where his coat was or why he wasn’t wet when he recalled that Hall’s ex lived on the twenty-fourth floor. Nicholas hadn’t left the building to get here.

  “It’s not the first time I forgot,” Nicholas said. “You don’t usually care. You always tell me—”

  “The only thing I have of any value lives on the twenty-fourth floor,” Cassidy finished, smiling. “Sorry, kid. It’s been a long day. The question remains. What are you doing here?”

  “I know I’m supposed to be with mom,” Nicholas repeated. “But I needed to come up here and remind you to look into what happened to Dorne.”

  Cassidy froze where he stood, eyes narrowing to stare at the boy. “What did you say?”

  “Find out what happened to Dorne,” Nicholas replied. “That’s what you told me to tell you before you sent me downstairs to Mom this morning. Don’t you remember?”

  Cassidy didn’t want to dig into Hall’s mind, but the kid’s suggestion hadn’t triggered anything. He gave the recall effort only the lightest touch. In his memory, he hadn’t said anything like that to his son before Nicholas had left his place and he had left for the office.

  The Underworld had to scrub the host repo to prep it for imprinting, to help better maintain continuity from the moment the repo was hijacked to the moment they were returned post-extraction. But they hadn’t fully erased the memory, they had changed it. Swapped the unordinary request with a more ordinary goodbye. But if they had scrubbed Hall’s statement, it meant they also knew about it. And for Hall to have prepped his son with the message, it also meant the detective knew he was about to be shadowed, and by whom.

  How?

  “Dad, are you okay?” Nicholas asked.

  Cassidy didn’t answer while he continued working through the problem. Hall had given his son the hint. The Underworld knew about it. They had tried to erase it from Hall’s memory. But scrubbing it from his mind was useless as long as…

  “Loose ends,” he said, closing on an answer.

  “What’s going on?” Nicholas asked.

  “I told you to hide under very specific circumstances, didn’t I?” Cassidy asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “How long ago?”

  “What do you mean? What’s going on?”

  “How long ago did I give you those instructions?”

  “I don’t know. Probably last year sometime.”

  Last year? Cassidy’s heart began to race. “What was the trigger?”

  “Dad, why are you asking me? You told me what to do and when to do it.”

  “I know. But I told you, I had a long day. I need you to remind me.” He could dig for the answer, but it would add a level of unnecessary risk.

  “You said one day you might tell me something that made no sense. And if you told me that and sent me downstairs that I needed to not go see Mom. That I had to find somewhere to hide and keep an eye out for your roto, and when I saw it to meet you here.”

  “That’s right,” Cassidy said, Nicholas’ words triggering the memory. “I did tell you that.” He smiled. “And you did it perfectly. Where did you hide?” Hall had made sure never to ask where Nicholas would go.

  “In Mrs. Gillespie’s roto. She takes me to school sometimes, so she coded my face to the door controls in case I ever need to wait for her. I spotted you coming. Your headlights are different from anyone else’s because your roto’s so old. When I saw them I jumped out of her roto and ran to get down here ahead of you. If you hadn’t come in so low you probably would have seen me.”

  “You’re so smart, Nicky,” Cassidy said. “You did an amazing job.” Nicholas beamed, happy to have pleased his father. “Now I need you to wait here.” He paused. “No. On second thought, come with me.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “I’m taking you back to your mom.”

  “Okay.”

  Cassidy motioned Nicholas out into the hallway ahead of him. He cancelled out of the Unity OS and pocketed the ClearPhone before following the kid out the door, making sure to close it behind him. He stayed close to Nicholas as they made their way back to the elevator.

  “Dad, what’s going on?” Nicholas asked as they entered the cab and began to descend. “You’re acting kind of strange.”

  Cassidy looked down at Hall’s son. He didn’t know what to say that might be comforting. He was discomfited himself. “Just some stuff going on at work.”

  “Who’s Dorne?”

  “A case I’m working on,” Cassidy said. “You did a good job telling me about it, but now it’s time to forget the name. That’s what we do right? To help protect people and keep them safe.”

  Nicholas nodded. “Yeah. I can do that.”

  “I know you can.” The cab arrived on twenty-four. Cassidy put his hand out, holding Nicholas back so he could take the lead. “Just let me go ahead, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  Cassidy knew the way to the apartment through Hall’s memory. Nicholas stayed close behind him as they went left to the corner and then right, around the second corner to the east side of the building. A door opened behind him as he passed it, and he brought his hand up under his jacket, ready to grab the needlegun if necessary. He didn’t think the Bureau was out to kill him. Not when they had seen what Hall had asked his son to do and transferred Cassidy into him anyway. But he wasn’t wholly convinced.