Ashley Fox - Ninja Orphan

  Chapter 36 – God Laughs

  At home, in the basement, Ash ransacked the family camping gear. The Metachron-Micronix drew a hard outline against her jeans, stuck in her hip pocket. The setting sun painted the room in orange, pink and purple, highlighting the room form the high windows,

  Geoff's stuff was by far the most useful. He had top-of-the-line survival equipment, stuff built to survive the toughest conditions on earth. Like his father, he had a taste for expensive tools, and he maintained them with much more care than their common areas. The binoculars were in perfect condition.

  Ashley heard a noise from somewhere inside the house, someone moving upstairs. Mono sat up as a pair of booted legs stepped into view at the top of the stairwell. The figure descended toward them.

  Ash grabbed the Detective's weapon and aimed it at the newly promoted and surgically reconstructed Captain David Grey. He raised his hands, but continued down the stairs.

  He stopped at the bottom and wearily sat down. "I'm sorry," he said. "I've had a shitty day." The soldier surveyed at the assembled survival gear. "What're you gonna do, attack?”

  "Whatever I have to," she answered.

  "Rescue the little man, cut and run?”

  "You don't think I can?”

  "No. I'm sure you'll do fine, but what about the rest of them? And the real question is where will you go?" he asked. "You're not coming back here, are you?”

  "No one knows we live here.”

  "Except the cops. And everyone who was invited to the birthday party. That was for you? Sorry about that. But they all know where you live. These people will ask your friends and their parents, and they won't ask nicely.”

  Ash remained silent.

  "I'm sorry about your parents. I’m told I knew your father but I never knew that I knew him, if that makes nay sense?”

  “Not really. You either knew him or you didn’t.”

  “Then I guess I didn’t. But you’ve been through this sort of thing before and you know they won’t give up easy. They will find you. How far will you get, a teen-aged girl and a little boy? Won't be too hard.”

  "You already found me.”

  "Exactly. So why bother running?”

  "So what, get lost in the forest, build a house?" she mumbled.

  "Three weeks, six months, two-years on the road. They will always be there. Anytime you're weak or tired. Soon as you stop to rest.”

  She thought the Captain looked pretty tired himself. He leaned against the side of the stairwell and closed his eyes.

  "You may not know this yet, but they survived," he said. "Dunkirk and the other one, the pathologist, Morgenstern. Got up and walked out of the morgue before the sun came up.”

  "They're fucking vampires?" Ashley asked.

  Grey laughed. "They're not vampires.”

  "You look really sick. And you're blue. Do you know that?”

  "Miracle of modern medicine," he replied. "It'll wear off, so I'm told.”

  Ashley held the gun steady.

  "That's Cole's gun isn't it?” he asked.

  "They shot him.”

  "He's going to be okay,” Grey said. He leaned back against the stairwell. His eyes hardly open, he was no threat to anyone.

  Ashley lowered the gun.

  "The tall one, dressed up like a preacher, he walked out too. Jumped from the hospital rail," Grey said. "This town is full of whack jobs.”

  “The Reverend,” she whispered.

  “Who?” Grey asked.

  "Why are you here?"

  Grey looked at her, squinting one eye. After a moment he closed his eyes again. "I just need to rest for a minute.”

  His eyes closed, he explained, “Morgenstern coughed up a bullet. He carried out the Governor and the Warden. Picked them up and carried them out. The cops got it all on security cams. They're terrified.”

  "Call the national guard," Ash suggested.

  "They did. They're going to drop the whole district down the gravity well. They're gonna set it on fire and flush it out to sea, just drown the whole mess.”

  "What?" she asked. “You’re serious?”

  "Governor Maime and Keller were identified at the scene last night. It made national news. The tops want the whole operation scrubbed. They're going to ice the drives and flush the district out to sea. They'll say fires from the riots caused the malfunctions.”

  "What riots? Why are you telling me this?”

  Grey handed her the envelope Danforth had given him. "My grandfather was a resident there. He wrote this. You should read it. He wanted to change things, but he never got the chance. He eventually became Chief Executive, but he still never had an opportunity, not like the one you have now.”

  "What are you talking about?" she asked.

  Grey's exhaustion was taking its toll. " Listen...." he mumbled.

  “Why should I listen to you?” she asked.

  "Black codec." Grey pointed to the binary strip under his nametag.

  Ashley coughed with surprise and embarrassment. Everyone knew what an all-black codec meant. Considering that only the greatest doctors, surgeons and healers got all, or mostly, white codecs, everyone was well acquainted with what an all black codec signified. The striped-bar signified one's place in society, assigned by a very specific system, all computer-controlled, very precise and detailed. Black was reserved for executioners, swat teams and spec ops wet-workers.

  "What do you want?" she asked him.

  "You have your parent's car?" he asked.

  "I can program it. I know the codes.”

  "Good. I want… Here’s what I want.” The soldier seemed drunk, exhausted, but not confused.

  “Tonight, at one minute before midnight, precisely eleven fifty-nine, you will land on the lowest level parking garage for the bolt, on district thirteen, park on the bottom level of the bolt. If they don't see you pull in, they won't come looking. You need to find the guards before they find you. Create a diversion, something to lead them away from the terminal.”

  "And?" she asked.

  "And then double-back and plug this into one of the ports." Grey handed Ashley a small drive.

  "But they'll see me on the security cameras.”

  "That's okay," Grey laughed. "It'll scare the shit out of them.”

  "Back from the dead?”

  Grey smiled. "Once you get this in a secured terminal, it's lights out. The whole system goes dead.”

  "You're sure?" she asked, holding the small drive.

  "Only one way to find out," Grey answered.

  "Do I have to leave it in, or can I take it with me?”

  "Plug it in, cough to the left, and the whole house comes down. After that, sure, you can take it with you. The cameras will keep rolling but nothing gets recorded. Nothing comes in or goes out.”

  Grey was quiet for a moment.

  "Are you sure you're all right?" she asked the sick officer.

  “Nothing a week in the tropics won’t fix.” He coughed. "After that, get some of the kids to help you. If you can get set up by 3, you'll have 9 hours to collect keys." Grey slurred and mumbled the last sentence. Even sitting, he wobbled on the step.

  "What are you taking about, keys?”

  "To the armory and cars. Get rifles. Get keys.” He leaned back sleepily. "Send the kids to God's Hotel. Keep them safe on God's Hotel.”

  Ashley didn’t understand what he was talking about. She reached out and shook him awake.

  Grey vomited a small pool of syrupy blue on to the unfinished cement floor. He wiped his mouth and sat up, suddenly lucid.

  "The demolition warrant is dated for tomorrow, so the crisis box will go up at midnight. By 12:03, no one gets in or out of the district. Then the charges will be set and at noon tomorrow they will blow, one after another, first the bridges, then the buildings, one at a time.”

  "The gravity drives will drop the district, momentum will carry you out to past the continental shelf. Once out there, the shells will sink into the ocean."
Grey was nodding off again.

  Ashley leaned forward, "We're gonna defuse the charges, right?”

  Grey snapped awake. He sat up and looked at her. He stood up and cracked his neck. He was wide-awake. He slowly sat and looked Ashley in the eyes. "You don't touch the charges. Don't fuck with them.”

  "You can't let them blow up the whole district!”

  "We’re not going to." He looked like he'd just gotten several hours rest, instead of mumbling for thirty seconds.

  "How are you going to stop them?" Ashley asked.

  Grey smiled. "I'm leading the demo team.”

  Ashley grinned. "Think you're up to it?”

  "What I need you to do," he said, as he reached into his pocket, but it was empty. He felt the outside of his pocket and looked over to Ash. She held out the mini-drive. Grey shook his head again.

  "You said just get it in a security terminal, then you lost me.”

  Grey took a breath and swallowed. "Okay. Get it in a terminal, a security terminal. Their network controls will be frozen solid. Get to your friends and get them organized. If there are enough of you, together, you can make the patrols give up their weapons.”

  "The news said they were using rubber bullets.”

  "Yeah. Rubber bullets, ha. Well…”

  "And you said they’re gonna blow District Thirteen out of the sky.”

  "Controlled detonations on the gravity drives. They'll look like power failures and the buildings will fall from elevation. The ground-based structures will provide a cushion, after they've broken apart, but you lose that once you get out over open water. The district will sink and that’s that.” He leaned against the wall.

  Ashley rolled her eyes.

  Grey sat up straight, forcing himself awake. "You need the guns, you need to take the adults hostage. Don't hurt them; just take them hostage. Take all the keys.” He raised a hand, index finger pointed at the ceiling. "The keys." Now he seemed drunk.

  Ashley considered slapping him.

  As though he could read her mind, he sharply narrowed his gaze and sat up again. "We're not going to blow it up," he said. "Not all of it, just some of it. The Old Orphanage, gone. The administration buildings; gone. You can have the athletic complex, the bolt and the terminals to live on.”

  "To live on?”

  "God's Hotel stays where it is. Top Secret.”

  "God's Hotel?”

  "Send any good adults you have out to God's Hotel. Hold the bad ones in a stadium somewhere. Somewhere swat can rescue them without too much trouble, once it's all over.”

  The lieutenant was awake again. "SWAT and ACPD will storm the buildings. Let them land on the admin unit and the old orphanage. You keep the AC, the bolt and the terminals. Move all the cars to those garages. Defend those garages most. Give all the kids keys. Assign them seats in all the cars. The bombs go off at noon, you need to be in full retreat at 11:50. Give everyone enough time. When the shit starts rocking, the cars will be safe; they're built for it. The bubble countermeasures will protect you from anything that could possibly hurt you.”

  "Except water.”

  "Even water," he replied. "Most have sea level sensors, most are airtight. Plus, you can fly out. Fly out if the buildings go under. But they won't go under and SWAT can't chase you.”

  "International waters.”

  "The bombs won't be set on your units. But someone has to get to the controls and fly them out. At noon, you just power down.”

  "And float out of town.”

  "Float out of town, the AC, the Bolt and the Terminals. Ride it out in the cars. You'll be safe in the cars. Bubble wrap," he gestured, referring to the inflatable outdoor safety feature of most vehicles.

  He was fading again. "Get the keys. Get the guns."

  Grey leaned forward and pointed at the weapon in Ashley's hand. "Play the footage on the gun. It proves everything. Broadcast it."

  "How do I contact the press if I freeze the network?”

  "Oh, yeah, damn. You need to get the central router. The drive I gave you will just burn the security network. But to permanently cut off communication, you need the router. And to get the guns, you need to take over the command center. You need a key card for the live ammo in the armory.”

  "You make it sound so easy.”

  Grey tried to focus. "You need the router. That gun records everything it sees or hears. You need to download the gun and broadcast the footage to the news channels, broadcast it to the kids.”

  Ashley looked at the weapon. Earlier she'd found the smooth-covered data-port.

  "Get the router, download the footage. Play it for the news, tell them what is going on. Don't kill the hostages, keep them alive; use them as leverage. Trade them for time. Hold out till noon. Just hold out till noon.”

  Ash sat, considering this, the strangest conversation of her life.

  "Oh, before you go, you should go to a camping store and by some propane torches and some cheap machetes. Get some terillium security-netting and a bunch of military sand bags.”

  "Why sand bags? We're not gonna have time for that.”

  "They're bullet resistant, cut vests for the kids. Hang the security net in the garages. Machetes are always good and they're cheap.”

  "What are the torches for?" Ashley asked.

  "You'll think of something." Grey said, snoozing.

  The Captain spent a couple hours with Ashley, alternately sleeping and detailing her objectives. Soon he was out of time. They summarized the plan, wished each other good luck and he left.

  Ashley didn't know if he'd been drunk, or drugged, but she seriously doubted he'd be much help in his current state. He'd better sober up quick.

  An hour later, Ashley looked up from the terminal. The clock beside her, in her father's study, chimed ten. The order was placed, all she had to do was stop by the surplus shop and pick it up.

  Dressed from head to toe in black, the detective's gun tucked into her belt, Ashley stood and walked over to the glass case.

  Inside, standing upright on its wooden stand, rested a dual-curved samurai sword with no tsuba, or hand guard. Kanji script ran down one side of the smooth, black wooden sheath.

  A brass plate on the exterior of the case bore two small lines of text, two Japanese characters over two English words, Little Dragon.

  Ash had never been allowed to touch the sword. She hesitated for a moment, then opened the case and removed it. She lifted the sword and slid the sheath back a several inches, exposing the blade. It was lightly oiled and razor sharp.

  Ash turned and carried the weapon from the room. The case left ajar, naked and empty.

  In the garage, she triggered the overhead door, spilling dead leaves into the damp and musty space. Ashley threw her bags into the driver's seat as Mono followed her, curious. He hadn’t left her side all day.

  Ashley held the door open and Mono happily climbed into the wagon. He curled up in the backseat, next to a giant bag of food. She smiled and climbed in.

  Ash activated the driver's panel, programmed the surplus shop’s address into the flight computer and strapped herself into the passenger seat. With its plan logged and confirmed, the car fired up its magnetic disks and lifted off.

  Ashley reached back and petted Mono's head. Despite his usual fear of electro-magnetic travel, the big cat was purring.

  Out over international waters, the wagon parked at Big Joe's Twenty-Four-Hour Hunting and Military Surplus Emporium. Ashley explained the situation to Mono, who lowered his head onto his paws.

  She went in and within a few minutes, two employees had helped deliver three carts of stuff to her car. The trunk was completely packed. Mono remained hunkered down in the middle section and they didn’t notice him. For a moment, Ashley was afraid he’d escaped, but then she saw what looked like a thick blanket balled on the floor.

  Ash avoided the guys’ compliments and their eyes, tipped them generously and programmed her route back to the district.

  In Cedric's secret me
dical wing, Colonel Keller scowled at the majors. The back of the colonel's head was bandaged, his face swollen and wrapped in gauze. It was difficult for him to talk. He was too angry to talk, he mumbled and growled, but he made himself heard. "By this time tomorrow night, I want this entire room full of dead motherless fucks.”

  Behind them, spread across dozens of tables, murdered soldiers had been partially pieced back together and reassembled. Cedric wandered from one corpse to the next, his head encased in the scanning equipment, studying the corpses extensively.

  Bobby listened from the hallway, fists clenched tight over his magnetically infected bullets.