Back | Next
Contents

CHAPTER VI

SHATTERED PIECES

I rode the glass-enclosed lift down the side of the co-op, enjoying the glow of sunlight that filled the car. It took me from the twentieth floor to the ground, offering a glorious view of the surrounding parks. Nestled among the trees and paths, a small café offered round tables and wicker chairs. Even from so far away, I could see that Xira had already arrived, taking her seat at the table where we always met. It was hard to believe more than three years had passed since the last time we got together. I so looked forward to seeing her. Thinking about it, I felt relaxed for the first time since I’d arrived on Parthonia yesterday. The lift reached the ground and I stepped out into the sunshine—

A huge force hurled me forward while thunder roared. I sailed through the air and slammed into the ground so hard that the world darkened around me.

Combat mode toggled, Max thought.

My internal libraries took over, controlling the bio-hydraulics in my body even though I was only half-conscious. I scrambled to my feet and sprinted away from whatever had just happened. All around me, people shouted and alarms screamed.

As my head cleared, I gulped in air and slowed down, turning to walk backward. People all over were also backing away, gaping at the co-op. In my heightened mode, everyone seemed to move in slow motion. Only ruins remained of the building I’d just left. Its left side had exploded, leaving no more than a bare framework standing, the reinforced beams that supported the structure.

Max, what the hell happened?

I think a bomb went off inside the co-op.

People are in there! We have to go back, get them out. I swung around, looking toward the bistro, searching for Xira, but too many people blocked my view.

The rest of the building is about to collapse, Max thought. You can’t go back.

Chaos surrounded me. Chunks of casecrete and the blunted shards of supposedly shatterproof windows lay everywhere like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle strewn across the ground. Dust swirled, filling the day with an acrid, scorched stench and turning the sunlight gray. People called out names of friends or loved ones, shouted for help, checked their wristbands.

A flyer wheeled over the crumbling remains of the building. “Clear the area,” an amplified voice boomed. “Move away from the building.”

As people scattered, the flyer set down in a nearby plaza. The wail of sirens vibrated in the air. Several hovercars whirred into view from behind buildings and settled in a park near the co-op.

“Bhaaj!” a woman yelled.

I turned to see Xira standing outside the barrier the rescue workers were setting up. I closed my eyes, hit with a relief so intense it felt visceral. Looking again, I waved and shouted, “I’m fine.”

“You aren’t fine,” Max said. “You’re in combat mode, so you can’t feel your injuries because your nanomeds are pumping you with stimulants and painkillers.”

I took a breath, trying to steady my pulse. “Did I take any serious damage?”

“I don’t believe so. But you should get checked by a medic.”

“Can you reach Highcloud?”

Max paused, and that in itself answered my question. After a moment, he said, “I’m sorry.”

I bit my lip, telling myself copies of Highcloud existed. Then I remembered: we kept the server that did backups in the basement of the co-op, which right now lay in ruins. I’d been meaning to back up Highcloud elsewhere, too, but I’d been gone for years, so I hadn’t gotten around to it yet.

“Damn,” I whispered.

“Help, please!” The faint shout barely reached even my enhanced hearing.

“Max, that came from inside the detonation zone.” I walked around the perimeter of the worst debris, searching for the source of the cry.

“Help!” The call came from up ahead, deeper within the wreckage.

“Ma’am, you have to leave,” a woman said at my side. “You must get behind the perimeter set up by our emergency response teams.”

I turned with a start, my adrenaline jumping. A woman in an ER suit was walking at my side.

“You must go now,” she repeated, her expression firm behind the clear screen of her hood.

Combat mode off. I didn’t want my reflexes to kick me into an attack. Send her my ID.

To the woman, I said, “I’m trained to assist in emergencies. Major Bhaajan, retired, Pharaoh’s Army. Can I help here?” I motioned toward the debris. “Someone in there is calling for help. I have biomech sensors that will help locate them.”

“I’m verifying your ID.” Her gaze took on the inwardly directed look people got when they accessed their EI. She wore full tech-mech gauntlets similar to mine and carried herself with a reassuring sense of authority. Gray streaked her curly brown hair, creating a distinguished look, and she had smooth, flawless skin with just a few lines of age. It looked natural, not the too-perfect creation of bodysculpting or overzealous nanomeds. I liked her straightforward attitude, so refreshing after the politics I’d dealt with recently.

The lieutenant was also giving me the once over, taking in my gauntlets and clothes. “You look like you got blasted with dust from the collapse.”

“I was on the edge of the explosion.” I actually wasn’t sure about that, but I’d survived, so I couldn’t have been much closer. Thank the saints no one else rode down with me in the lift. Someone without biomech and combat training wouldn’t have walked away from that blast.

“You have solid credentials, Major.” She considered me. “Normally we don’t involve civilians unconnected with our units. With something this bad and this sudden, though, we could use qualified help. My CO is checking—yes, she says you’re cleared.” She nodded to me. “Welcome to the team.”

“Whatever I can do.” The full emotional impact of the explosion hadn’t yet registered on my brain. I needed to move, to help, to do something to handle the swell of shock and disbelief.

She pulled a packet off her belt and shook it until the square expanded into a reinforced helmet with a face screen. Handing it to me, she said, “Wear this at all times. And you have on smart clothes, yes? They look combat ready, in fact.” She raised her eyebrows. “That’s a high level of protection for someone walking in a residential area.”

“I’m on a case.” She’d know from my ID that I worked as a PI, which would explain why I wore clothes with reinforced intelligent cloth.

“I’m Lieutenant René Silvers.” She looked out over the wreckage. “Where did you hear the calls for help?”

I donned the helmet, then motioned toward an area where none of the building remained. “Over there.”

We walked forward, picking our way through jagged chunks of casecrete. We probably weren’t close enough to the remains of the co-op to get hit if more debris fell, but we couldn’t take anything for granted. In the more unstable areas, they’d bring machines to do the clearing.

Max, ramp up my hearing, sight, and reflexes. Not full combat mode, though. Keep the battle libraries in standby. I don’t want to attack anyone.

Done.

My hearing amplified, picking up the whisper of dust particles blowing across the rubble. We neared a wall of the building that still stood, about one story high, its broken edges jagged against the sky. I could hear the low groans of stressed materials, but no human voice.

I stopped. “That wall up ahead isn’t stable. I can hear it creaking.”

Silvers nodded as I moved back. “Can you still hear the calls for help?”

I strained to catch the sound. Nothing.

I’m getting life signs ahead to the left. Max sent me coordinates. The signals are weak but steady.

“Something is there.” I motioned toward where the lift had formerly exited the co-op. Nothing of the building there remained standing. Wind blew eerily across the wreckage, stirring gray and blue swirls of dust. It looked like something in a horror holo-vid, where ghostly creatures might coalesce out of the gritty haze.

“It’s ahead by about four meters,” I said. “And to the left.” No creaks or groans came from the debris there, either structural or supernatural. Nothing remained of the building to moan.

Silvers flicked her fingers across her gauntlet. “I’m not getting a warning for that area. If that changes, we move away fast. Got it?”

I nodded. “Understood.”

We made our way through mounds of rubble heaped in what used to be a plaza fronting the co-op. I stepped over a long bar, some half-melted beam that had once supported a wall. I couldn’t take it in yet, that only moments ago, I’d walked through a graceful exit arch here into sunshine.

“Please . . .” The voice faded into a whisper.

“There.” I motioned to a heap of rubble a few meters ahead, where debris had piled into a hill taller than either of us. “Can you hear us?” I yelled. “Can you speak?”

No answer.

“Heya!” Silvers shouted. “Call out so we can find you.” As we picked our way toward the heap of blasted rubble, she spoke to me in a low voice. “If that fell on someone, I don’t see how they survived.”

“You never know what people have in their body. My enhanced skeletal structure can endure far more weight than a normal body.” I raised my voice and shouted, “Call out if you can!”

Silvers walked around the mound, scrutinizing the jagged casecrete and wood. A scatter of debris rattled down the pile and clattered across the ground. Breezes stirred our hair, and dust blew against my face screen, which cleaned away the dirt.

“I’m here.” The voice came a little more strongly this time, with a hint of hope.

“I hear you!” I called. “But I can’t see you.” I didn’t dare move the wreckage, not without equipment to stop the mound from shifting or collapsing. “Can you call out again?”

“Here . . .” The voice faded.

Silvers came up next to me. “They’re inside all that rubble. If we try to dig them out, it could collapse and crush them. And us.” She spoke into her gauntlet comm. “Silvers here. We have someone buried under an unstable load of debris. We need nets, safety-rails, and hazard drills.”

“All the equipment on site is already in use,” a voice answered. “We have more on the way. I’ll send it over as soon as it arrives. Keep your gauntlet beacon active.”

“Will do,” Silvers said.

Max thought, Bhaaj, the life signs from whoever is under that debris are weakening.

“I don’t think we have time to wait,” I told Silvers.

She studied the rubble, her gauntlets flickering. “Maybe we could move the larger blocks.”

“The pile will collapse if you move the wrong pieces,” Max said.

Silvers started. “Who is that?”

“My EI,” I said. “I’ve been communicating with him via neural threads. He probably spoke so we could both hear his updates.”

“Yes,” Max said. “I am analyzing the debris for points of stability.”

“Good.” Silvers walked to the right around the mound, and I went in the other direction.

“Are you there?” I called.

No answer.

“Max, what vitals are you getting?” I asked.

“Not much. I’m not sure they’re breathing anymore.”

Silvers rounded the pile and came over, her face creased with strain. “I can’t see them.”

“We need to start digging,” I said. “Whoever is in there will die if we don’t.”

“I’m pretty sure they’re closer to the other side.”

I went with her to the place she believed placed us nearest to the survivor. “Max?” I asked. “Can we get any closer?”

“A few steps to the left, but according to my scans, the wreckage is less stable there.”

I looked at Silvers. She looked back at me. “We’ll try here,” she said.

We started to dig, so very, very carefully. I took large pieces from higher on the pile, since the lower parts supported the upper sections. As soon as we removed even a few boulders, however, the pile shifted.

“We need supports.” She tapped her comm. “Silvers, here. Can you get any equipment over here at all? Anything that could support unstable debris?”

“Sorry, ma’am,” a man said. “Not yet. It should only be a few more minutes, though.”

“Gloves out,” I said in a low voice. “Activate spikes.”

Gloves snapped out of my gauntlets and molded around my hands, strong and flexible. They extruded their spikes that glinted in the dusty light. I braced my shoulder under an edge in the rubble, with the hill above pressing down on me. My muscles strained as I took the weight of casecrete chunks onto my arms and shoulders.

I regarded Silvers. “Now you have a support beam.”

“What? No.” She scowled at me. “You can’t support that much weight. You’ll be crushed.”

“Got biomech,” I grunted. “Enhanced skeleton and muscles. I’ve supported worse.” Not much, but I’d manage. Max, monitor my biomech. Let me know if you get any danger signs.

You’re fine for now. I’d suggest you move your support slightly to your left.

I edged over, using the spikes from my gloves to anchor my body more firmly into the pile. “Go,” I told Silvers. “Dig under me.”

“You’ve got guts, I’ll say that.” She went to work, moving with care. The pile shifted, and I held up the blocks, supporting them as Silvers cleared a cavity beneath my body. The rubble slid on my body, then caught as my smart clothes changed texture, creating more friction.

“I see someone!” Silvers called. She kept going, with excruciating care.

I said nothing, concentrating on the debris I was holding. It shifted, and I pushed against it, leaning so I could bear the weight of a large piece on my back.

“Can you hear me?” Silvers asked, most of her body under mine as she cleared more blocks.

I didn’t answer. She wasn’t talking to me. I gritted my teeth, straining to keep the debris from shifting again. If I lost control now, it could smash all three of us.

“Here,” Silvers said, her voice muffled. “I’ve cleared a tunnel. You need to crawl out.”

A groan came from under the rubble, followed by the scrape of stone against stone. More debris shifted, and I gasped as a heavy chunk dug into my shoulder.

Bhaaj, you can’t do this for much longer, Max said. Your shoulders could break.

“Silvers,” I rasped. “I’m just about done.”

“Almost there.” Debris scraped under me. “Come on,” she coaxed. “Only a little more.

The casecrete felt like drills bearing into my shoulders. My arms burned. I leaned into the weight, bending over, protecting whatever was happening below me. I didn’t dare look; the slightest wrong movement and I’d lose control of the pile.

“That’s it,” Silvers said. More scraping, and in my side vision I saw her pulling a youth out of the ruins, supporting his neck.

“You free yet?” I grunted.

“Almost,” Silvers said.

In the same instant Max said, You have to get out! I groaned and gave a great shove, heaving debris away from Silvers while I stumbled back. As soon as I lost my grip, chunks of casecrete thundered down, their collapse like the bark of a gun. It knocked me to my knees, and I threw myself forward, aiming for Silvers and her rescued patient, protecting my head with my arms. I landed on the two of them as rocks fell around us, pounding my legs. Something large tumbled across my back like a freight car that had plunged off its track.

Smaller chunks rained down, rattling on the broken ground.

More pebbles fell, scattering.

Silence.

After a moment, when nothing else happened, I muttered, “Gods almighty. Are we alive?”

“Major?” That came from someone beneath me, Silvers it sounded like. “Can you move?”

I shifted my weight, edging out from under the block that lay across my back. It rolled off and thumped across the ground.

“Ah!” That groan came from someone else.

With great care, I turned onto my side, checking my surroundings as I moved. Both Silvers and a young man lay next to me. Debris had fallen all around us and half the mound had collapsed.

“Ungh,” I said, ever articulate.

Silvers lifted her head to look at her patient. “We have to get him medical help.”

“And fast,” Max said. “His life signs are faltering.”

I struggled to my knees, slow and cautious, aware of the unstable debris. “We need to get away from this stuff.”

With her body braced on her palms, Silvers looked down at the youth she’d saved from the wreckage. He lay on his back, his eyes closed, his face pale, dust covering his body and hair. Blood stained his clothes everywhere, particularly his torso and limbs.

“Can you hear me?” Silvers asked the youth. “We’re bringing help.”

He opened his eyes to look at her. That was enough. He still lived.

“Ho, Lieutenant Silvers!” That shout came from out in the plaza. “We’ve got nets for you.” A flyer hummed above us, and a net fell across my back. We managed to wrap it around the young man, fastening him into the smart web of the mesh. It shifted, making its best estimate for how it needed to cradle his body. Silvers grabbed a hook that came down with the net, so as the flyer lifted out the survivor, it pulled her upward as well.

I didn’t try to hold on; I doubted it could hoist all three of us out without bouncing around the boy. Instead, I crawled away from what remained of the pile, aware of debris shifting. When I deemed it safe, I jumped up and sprinted away, jumping over blocks of casecrete, headed for the clear areas beyond the main collapse. Behind me, the mound thundered as the rest of it collapsed.

Advise deactivating combat mode, Max thought. It’s straining your body, especially where you held up that pile of casecrete.

I slowed down, heaving in deep breaths. Toggle me out.

Done.

As my adrenaline eased, I realized I’d reached the edge of the plaza. Although I’d left the most dangerous area, rubble and shards of glass lay all around. Dust caked my entire body.

Two people ran toward me, a woman and a man in ER uniforms. “Are you all right?” the man asked as they reached me. The round patch of a medic showed on the sleeve of his uniform.

“That rescue was incredible,” the woman said. “I’m surprised you held all that weight.”

“Got training.” I didn’t have energy for more than the terse Undercity dialect.

“How is your back?” The medic ran a scanner over my body.

“Fine.” I had no idea if that was true, but I hadn’t heard or felt anything crack, and I’d walked over here.

“Why did you do that?” the woman asked. “We were sending for more equipment.”

“That boy would have died by the time the equipment arrived.” I took a ragged breath, aware now of the wind blowing across my face, of ER workers all across the scene, of voices calling and crying. “We could help, so we did.”

The doctor finished his scan. “You’ve got one hell of a lot of biomech.”

“Army officer,” I said. “Retired.” I’d also upgraded my biomech after I retired. “Am I fit to keep working on the ER crew?”

He studied the data on his gauntlet. “It looks like you’ve stressed your augmented skeletal structure. I know it’s self-repairing, but only to a certain extent. You should have a biomech adept look at it. For now, you can keep working, but I’d advise against using your augmentation until you get that checkup.” He looked up at me. “If you’re up to it. No one would criticize you for leaving.”

“I’m good.” I motioned to the chaos around us. “I can still help.”

The woman nodded to me, her face creased with sweat and grime. “I haven’t seen a disaster this bad in years. We could use all the help we can get.”

So I went to work.

They put me on a crew checking the perimeter for survivors while other crews deployed cranes and smart bots to remove wreckage, a far safer method than what Silvers and I had used. For many of the people caught in the collapse, however, our efforts came too late. Many died, either on impact or because no one reached them in time.

The day had faded into evening when I took a break, sitting on a large block of casecrete a bot had rolled to one side of the plaza. I closed my eyes, giving in to the exhaustion. ER crews and hazard bots had shored up the south wall, keeping it from collapse while they searched for survivors—or bodies. As the dust cleared from the air, sensors worked better, making it easier to locate people. The day had taken its toll, but at least my help here did a small part in honoring those lost to the destruction.

I opened my eyes to see a police officer approaching through the sunset light. Ho! Chief Hadar. He sat next to me on the block, which was plenty big enough for two people.

“I heard you were helping out down here,” Hadar said. “Thank you.”

“Least I could do.”

“The least you could have done way was walk away. A lot of people would have.” He looked me over. “You’re covered in cuts and bruises.”

I grimaced. “It’s been a rough day.”

“We’ve taken reports from all the witnesses.” He spoke quietly. “Except one.”

“Who’d you miss?”

“You. Several witnesses reported seeing a woman who fits your description hurled through the air.” He shook his head. “I found the footage, Major. The city security records show you being thrown from the building by the explosion. Most people couldn’t have even stood up after what happened to you, let alone run back toward the wreckage.”

“It was part of my army training. That’s one reason we have biomech.” Bitterly I added, “Makes us better soldiers. Hell, we’re not that different from the battle drones.” As a grunt, I hadn’t thought much about the way they used us interchangeably with drones. I expected to fight. I’d done it all my life. As I worked my way into the officer ranks, my view changed. Yah, people reacted with better intelligence than drones, or at least some did, but using people that way felt wrong. I’d worked on introducing changes, but I had to balance those efforts with the political necessities of keeping my position and what small influence I’d gained. Yet another reason I hated politics.

Hadar was tapping on his gauntlet, setting up a recording unit. “I can take your statement.”

I nodded, grateful he’d waited until I had a break. With people dying even as we struggled to reach them, I hadn’t wanted to stop. “The building blew up.”

“And?”

“And it blew up.”

He spoke wryly. “I was hoping you might have more to add.”

“I don’t really. Your recordings probably show more than I could tell you.”

“You were fortunate you were leaving. Even a few seconds earlier and the blast would have caught you inside the lift shaft. Its collapse probably would have killed you.”

I grunted my agreement. I had no idea what had caused the explosion. Why target this co-op in particular? I didn’t want to think it had anything to do with my living there, but given my link to this case, I couldn’t ignore the possibility.

“Did you notice anything unusual before the explosion?” he asked.

I thought back to that moment, which seemed like eons ago. “Nothing. A few strange things have happened since I arrived in Selei City yesterday, though.” I told him about Greyjan’s, the cyclist, Max’s suspicion I’d been followed other times, and my problems contacting the Majdas.

He stared at me. “That’s what you call a few strange things? Why didn’t you report it to us?”

I gave him a dour look. “How do I know the police aren’t involved?”

“Why would you think that?”

I felt too wound up for courtesy. “Someone leaked my coming here to the press even though I specifically requested no announcements. That leak compromised the investigation and possibly my safety. Mostly only your people knew.”

“I don’t know how your involvement got out,” he said. “But I vouch for my people.”

I shifted my weight, trying to let go of the tension that had driven me all day. “Chief Hadar, I lived in this co-op. My friend Xira witnessed the explosion from the bistro outside the plaza. She says the blast came from the first floor.”

“Directly below your apartment,” Max added.

Chief Hadar started, and I held up my hand. “That was my EI.”

“I’ve mapped the detonation based on the blast pattern,” Max said. “Your floor, number twenty, only has two units. The rest have three. No apartment lay directly below yours.”

“What’s your implication?” Hadar asked. “That Major Bhaajan was the target?”

I scowled. “If someone wanted to blow me up, easier methods exist and most don’t involve killing other people.” If they didn’t care about that kind of collateral damage, it said a lot about the bomber, all of it uglier than sin.

“I don’t like coincidences,” Max said.

Neither did I. I also didn’t know how I would handle my guilt if it turned out the bomber chose the co-op because I lived there.

“We don’t know who they targeted.” Hadar motioned toward the ruins. “They probably placed the bomb on the first floor because it has marginally less security than the tower.”

I met his gaze. “To plant a bomb even on the ground floor would mean the killer knew how to manipulate building security. That’s impossible without access to city systems at a high level.”

“Making you suspicious of anyone connected at that level.” Hadar spoke dryly. “Like me.”

I exhaled. “I don’t know who to trust.”

“If it helps to know,” he said, “we’ve made progress on the tip you gave us about that game, Power Meld. The other two murder victims also chatted with PowerPlayer13.”

I sat up straighter. “Can you identify who uses that name?”

“We’re doing a trace to find their identity.” Hadar inclined his head to me. “You may have broken in the case, Major, ferreting out a Trader plot.”

“Yah. I suppose.”

“I thought you’d be more excited,” Hadar said. “Only one day and you found a clue the rest of us missed.”

“That’s just it.” I shook my head. “It’s too easy. Of course it looks like the Traders. The three targets had military funding, and now we find this link that implies a Trader agent.” I tried to focus my doubt. “Captain, I’m a problem solver. I investigate. My forte in the army was studying covert Trader operations. I had to think how they thought, put my mind into theirs. So yah, I figured out the business with the game players.”

His forehead creased. “I don’t see why that bothers you.”

“Because I did that ten years ago. Back then, a mole with a name like PowerPlayer13 was new. Not anymore. People know the Traders tried to infiltrate Skolian accounts with fake players.”

Hadar shrugged. “Lots of people still do it. Or at least, they try.”

“Yah, a lot of people, Eubian, Skolian, Allied.” This clue felt more wrong by the moment. “That’s why so many verifications exist now to ensure players are real. And where is this PowerPlayer13? They had real-time chats with at least four people, counting me and the victims. To do that, either they’re on-planet or they’re using the Kyle mesh. Who uses an expensive interstellar network to play a game you can get anywhere? Even if it didn’t break the law, which it does big time, it would draw too much attention. If this mole exists, they’re probably here on Parthonia.”

“You think Traders infiltrated Parthonia?” Hadar frowned. “The military has found nothing so far, but this new lead might help.”

“Or it could waste their time.” The whole thing seemed too clumsy. “I find it hard to believe the Traders could have an operation so sophisticated that they managed to plant an agent on Parthonia, evading our massive planetary defenses, yet they operate using such a dated technique.”

“I’ll forward your concerns to our ISC contacts.” Hadar spoke grimly. “We’ll find who—or what—caused this. They won’t get away with it.”

Damn right. When they attacked my home and my community, they’d made it personal.


Back | Next
Framed