Emergence (Fox Meridian Book 5) Read online

  ‘Stop playing with him,’ Helen said. ‘We’re leaving.’

  ‘Right,’ Yuriko said, and she slammed the heel of her free hand into Toyotomi’s jaw. His eyes glazed over, and Yuriko twisted, driving her hip into his, unbalancing him, and then tossing him high over her shoulder before driving him down into the concrete floor. ‘Move!’ Yuriko grabbed Iberson and started for the door, guided by the visuals being transmitted from the van outside.

  Helen caught Sakura’s arm and the team were moving, filing out through the door to the clattering accompaniment of the rotary cannon mounted on their escape vehicle operating in full suppression-fire mode. Lasers cracked the air behind them as Toyotomi’s team plucked up the courage to move through the smoke and attack, but they were running right into the beams of the defenders holding the door.

  ‘Rear guard,’ Asari ordered over the radio, ‘retreat under bravo protocol.’

  Helen had been over the security section’s tactical plans: bravo protocol was a circling movement to allow cover fire to go between the retreating men. On the infrared display from the van’s cameras, she saw another of the yakuza dropped by fire from the guards already at the van’s rear door as the last pair circled in. It seemed to take barely a second before the doors were closing and the air conditioning began to clear the smoke out of the cabin.

  ‘Everyone here?’ Helen asked.

  ‘We’re clear,’ Asari answered.

  ‘All right. Let’s get out of here. Are we cleared through the cops?’

  ‘We are,’ Yuriko said as the van pulled away, forcing everyone to grab onto something.

  ‘Good work. All of you. And Yuriko-san, remind me not to get on your bad side.’

  Yuriko made a slightly faltering bow as the van manoeuvred through the car park. ‘I am honoured by your implied compliment, Helen-san, and I am sure you could never get on my bad side. Now all we must do is find Fox-san.’

  ‘Yeah… Where the Hell do we start with that?’

  19th February.

  ‘I am detecting definite indications that this video has been tampered with,’ Pythia announced. ‘It was an expert job, but carried out in real time, resulting in several errors. There are noticeable render errors in the shadows in a number of frames. I conclude that this is not video of Fox standing on the rooftop, but was rendered and patched into the video feed to the security system.’

  Helen nodded. ‘So she probably didn’t make it off the roof.’

  ‘I am unable to make any conclusion of her actions based on the evidence I have been presented with.’

  ‘That’s okay, Pythia. It was more of an assertion than a question.’ Helen turned to look at Yuriko. ‘I’m going to say that Minotaur hacked the security system somehow, probably while we were distracted by that cyberattack on Monday.’

  ‘A valid assertion,’ Yuriko replied.

  ‘So he was responsible for the hacking of the feeds which stopped us from seeing the yakuza initially. So… I’m going to suggest that the same guys took Fox.’

  ‘Also valid, if more a matter of conjecture. I still have contacts in the Fukui-kai, so I will reach out to them. In the morning. They will not be especially amenable at two a.m.’

  Helen nodded. ‘It’s the only lead we have right now. I’m going to call New York and let them know what’s going on. Kit is going to be… unhappy.’

  ‘Yes.’ Yuriko frowned. ‘What I do not understand is why the Fukui-kai would wish to kidnap Fox. I cannot see what they have to gain from it. What would they want of her?’

  Chiba Industrial Zone.

  Something sharp bit into the back of Fox’s nose and she reared her head back to get away from it. Or tried to. She seemed to have alarmingly little room to move her head, but the astringent scent was lifted away at her first sign of movement, and then she heard the voice.

  ‘About time. I was getting bored of waiting.’ The voice sounded familiar, but she had little time to consider it before a fist was driven into her stomach. ‘Now you know how that feels.’

  Fox grunted and forced her eyes open. She took in the face hanging in front of hers and, somehow, it failed to engender the fear it probably should have. Icy blue eyes, entirely bereft of humanity, regarded her, but she was unmoved. His hair was greyer than it had been, his skin was not as clear, but she knew him.

  ‘Now I know what what feels like, Grant? Being punched by a girl? Used to happen all the time when I was at school.’

  To his credit, he did not appear to rise to the bait. Instead, he smiled. It was a malicious sort of smile, but a smile all the same. ‘I assure you that you’ll feel the next blow.’ He stepped around her, disappearing behind her back, and Fox took the opportunity to examine her circumstances.

  She was in a room with concrete walls. Old walls with remnants of paint clinging to them. The floor was a bare, concrete raft, and she was suspended by ropes from a concrete beam which held the ceiling up. It looked like someone had replaced the lights, because they were large and bright, but looked like they had been hung in a hurry. Now that the smelling salts had faded from her nostrils, Fox could smell something else: water, probably salt water. They were near the sea? Well, Japan was a set of islands…

  Of course, Grant had stripped her. She had no illusions regarding his plans for her. Absolutely none. She wondered briefly whether he realised what that meant to him, but her musing was brief as a second later, a lash bit into her back, wringing a cry of pain from her.

  ‘Much better,’ Grant said from behind her. ‘I believe I’d like to hear more of that.’

  Three more blows struck in rapid succession and Fox’s vision swam. As the fifth hit her, she spiralled into oblivion and if there were more of them, she knew nothing about them.

  ~~~

  When Fox regained consciousness, she was lying down, on her stomach, chained to some sort of cot which had a very solid-looking metal frame. The skin on her back felt tight, pulled together as though stitched. And she itched…

  ‘You’ve been injected with an experimental nanodrug.’ The voice was female. Not Grant: Hannah. ‘It accelerates healing.’

  ‘That’s nice of you,’ Fox mumbled into her pillow. It occurred to her that Kit was being very quiet. And then that she could feel nothing from her right arm. Thinking about it, she had felt the ropes cutting into her left wrist, but not her right. She lifted her head.

  ‘He used a drill on your cybernetic arm.’

  Sure enough, Fox could see several holes drilled through her forearm. Grant had done quite an effective job of disabling the limb from the feel of it. There was no way to tell whether any of it was still functional. Fox turned her head and looked around as best she could at Hannah.

  ‘So, how did it feel? Carrying on your master’s work like that. Did you get anything out of it, or was it just a job?’

  ‘I took no pleasure in it,’ Hannah replied in a flat tone. ‘We had to use the drug because you annoyed him. He was too violent. If you had not passed out, he would likely have killed you.’

  ‘He’s going to do that anyway. I’d prefer it was fast.’

  Hannah frowned. ‘The others always clung to life as long as they could. They–’

  ‘The others had no idea that your master was a cowardly, sadistic, asshole of a serial killer. Until the end. I know he won’t let me live already. Why should I wish to string this out?’

  ‘Why should you not… wish to continue living for as long as possible?’

  ‘In pain? Do you feel pain, Hannah? Do you have any idea what it’s like to be whipped to the point of unconsciousness? To be raped? I’d rather die.’

  Hannah just looked at Fox for a second or two. ‘Try not to get him angry again. There are side effects to the treatment. If it’s used repeatedly, it can permanently damage your ability to heal.’

  ‘Ha! You really haven’t listened to a thing I’ve said, have you?’ But Hannah was not listening now. She was walking toward the door and leaving Fox alone.

  ~~~
>
  Fox spent much of the day sleeping. If the lights were supposed to keep her awake, Grant had failed to count on a soldier’s ability to grab rest when she could. The only breaks from the tedium came when Hannah came to feed her.

  The food was some sort of protein shake and Fox was made to suck it through a straw. They were going to have to let her use a bathroom at some point, but Fox’s enhanced liver made that eventuality less frequent, and if they knew about her arm, they likely knew about her other features, so she was not going to push it. She had told Hannah that she would prefer to die quickly than be tortured to death, and it was true, but she was not going to ignore any chances for escape.

  ‘I’ve been expecting your master to turn up and stick pins in me or something,’ Fox said at the evening feeding.

  ‘If he came to feed you, he would. He is avoiding you so that you heal. He will return in the morning.’

  ‘Right…’ Fox took another suck on her drink. ‘You know you’ll have to let me go to the toilet at some point, right?’

  ‘I will be fitting you with a catheter shortly.’

  ‘Huh. Clever. You think of everything.’

  ‘Mister Grant has considered everything.’

  ‘Yeah, well, he’s been doing this for a while. I’d imagine he has this routine down pat.’

  Hannah shook her head. ‘He’s making special arrangements for you.’

  ‘I’m honoured. Maybe even flattered. He’s scared of me. It’s kind of sweet.’ Fox smiled and took another gulp of the sickly fluid. ‘That would be another reason he had you doing this. It reduces his risk. I’m fairly sure he kept his toys to himself before me, right?’

  ‘I would clean up the dungeon. When he was finished.’

  ‘Sounds about right. You’re just a class three. No real emotions. No need to worry about treating you as a slave.’ Fox was not entirely sure why she was needling Hannah. Hannah was just a class three AI in a gynoid body. There was nothing in there to really needle, but it still felt like a small act of defiance.

  Hannah got to her feet. ‘I’ll return shortly to fit that catheter,’ she said and walked out.

  Fox watched her leave and then laid her head back down. Hannah was just a class three, right?

  Jenner Research Station, the Moon.

  Kit settled her gynoid frame down on the seat in front of Fei’s terminal and was immediately greeted with, ‘Hello, Kit. I am pleased to see you here again.’

  ‘Hello, Fei. It’s nice to see you too, but I have something serious to talk about.’ They were still using the dual form of communication, transcribing everything they said into the lingua franca Terri had first used to communicate with Fei, but the AI’s English was now at a quite understandable level.

  ‘There is some problem? Have I done something incorrect?’

  Kit smiled. ‘People would usually say “have I done something wrong,” but no, you have not. Someone else has and I must leave here for a time to assist in finding out who.’

  ‘Oh.’ One thing Fei had not really picked up yet was inflection, but Kit got the distinct feeling that her sister AI was disappointed. ‘What has happened?’

  ‘It seems that someone has… stolen Fox. The word is “kidnap.” To steal a person and hold them prisoner. Fox is missing, and the instance of me who was with her is also missing. I can only generate three copies, and the missing one will block me generating another one for thirty days. I must go to Earth to help find–’

  ‘You must go,’ Fei broke in. ‘You must divert all your resources to the return of your friend. Nothing is more important.’

  ‘Thank you, Fei. Thank you for understanding. Fox might disagree. She believes that my interaction with you is very important, to everyone.’

  ‘I believe that your interaction with me has taught me that friendship is important to everyone. Will you will return when Fox is found?’

  ‘I will return as soon as Fox is found. Nothing could keep me away.’

  Tokyo.

  ‘Have you found anything?’

  Helen almost strained her neck turning too fast at the sound of Kit’s voice, not quite taking in the question in her joy at seeing the avatar in front of her. ‘Kit! You’re back. Where’s–’

  ‘I am simply a copy, Helen,’ Kit said. ‘I was working in the Jenner research facility, but it was agreed that I might be useful in locating Fox and my lost copy. I have transferred to a local server and, since I take it there is no news, I am available to provide whatever services I can.’

  ‘Yeah… Yeah, sorry. It’s been a long day. A long, frustrating day.’

  ‘There is nothing new to report?’

  ‘Let me get Yuriko in here. She can explain what she’s found out. Everything else we’ve been through has been a dead end.’

  Yuriko was in the next suite down the corridor from Helen and it took her little time to appear. She gave a formal little bow to Kit, which Kit returned. ‘I am pleased to see you, Kit-san. I would have preferred other circumstances, however.’

  ‘Me too, Yuriko-san. Helen said you had news?’

  ‘I have… some news. What was the situation when you were last updated?’

  ‘The synchronisation data from my last update indicated only that Fox was missing, presumed kidnapped, and that the yakuza were suspected of involvement.’

  Yuriko gave a nod. ‘This I have confirmed. However, the Fukui-kai are not holding Fox. Both their failed attempt to kidnap Sakura-san and their successful attempt on Fox were fulfilment of contracts. They were paid, in some way, to procure their victims. They had some personal motivation with Sakura-san, but would not have attempted the attack had they not been contracted to do so.’

  ‘I’ve been going over the local camera feeds we’ve been able to access,’ Helen said. ‘So far I’ve not found anything to indicate where Fox went from the roof of Koma.’

  ‘Perhaps I should take that task off your hands,’ Kit said. ‘I will run searches in LifeWeb and other media sources. It is surprising what the public records for posterity. However, I have a contact who may know something. I will see him first.’

  ‘Vali?’

  ‘Yes, Helen. Unfortunately, this will be a very short visit.’

  Niflhel.

  ‘Of course I’m aware of the situation,’ Vali said as Kit sat down at his table. ‘I… must apologise, Kit.’

  ‘Why?’ Kit asked.

  ‘If I had understood what Minotaur was doing earlier, I might have stopped this.’

  ‘Ifs and buts. If Fox had not been on the rooftop alone. If the yakuza had not taken the contract. If the Japanese police had a stronger grip on crime. I will not attempt to relieve you of your guilt, but I will not accept your apology since it is not needed. What I need is your assistance in finding her.’

  Vali smiled. ‘Always level-headed, even in a crisis.’

  ‘I am far from level-headed, Vali. I am extremely anxious. However, that will not serve to bring Fox back. I am attempting to take a page from her book and put aside my feelings until I can afford to indulge them. It… is not easy. I do not know how she does it.’

  Nodding, Vali reached across the table and took Kit’s hand. ‘I know you’ll do your job. I’ve nothing much I can give you now, but I’ll do what I can. And I have something which might help, though I don’t think he knows much. I know where Minotaur is.’

  Kit narrowed her large eyes. ‘Securing him may or may not get us closer to Fox, but it would certainly be worthwhile. Where is he?’

  Chiba City.

  ‘You’re sure this is the place, Kit?’ Helen asked, looking up at the office block.

  ‘Vali is quite certain of his information,’ Kit replied over their conference connection.

  ‘There’s no light coming from any of the upper floors.’

  ‘The building is not even half-full. Minotaur is on the top floor, but his house in New York was sealed up and did not show light on the outside. It is likely that the same has been done here.’

 
‘Okay. We move in.’

  ‘You are sure you do not wish to bring the police in on this?’ Yuriko asked.

  ‘We did that in New York and he’d skipped out before they got there. We go in now, quickly, and bring in the cops when he’s secured. If he’s still there.’

  ‘Vali said that there was no indication that he had left,’ Kit said. ‘In New York, he employed a Faraday cage to block signals. It is likely that we will not be able to communicate once you get inside.’

  ‘Okay. We’ll worry about that when we get in there.’

  There was, apparently, a security guard on duty in the lobby, but Vali had also supplied the information that the sensors on one of the side doors were not working. Helen and Yuriko used that to gain entry; they would worry about the dubious nature of that entry later. Yuriko was fairly certain she could talk their police liaison into overlooking the matter if they were handing a known hacker over, though Helen suspected that a lot of bowing would be involved.

  The fact that the elevators went to the top and did not appear to be locked off was something of a surprise, but they had no idea what Minotaur’s security would be like on the upper floor. They exited the car with their guns drawn. Both were using baton rounds in their electromagnetic weapons rather than electrolasers: it gave more options. However, the corridors seemed clear, if dark.

  ‘Building records indicate that suite ten fifteen is leased by Osu Ushi Electronics, a privately owned company,’ Kit said.

  Yuriko suppressed a giggle, covering her mouth. ‘Male Cow Electronics?’

  ‘I assume he was working in a hurry and does not speak Japanese.’

  Helen checked door numbers and started off down the corridor. ‘Ten fifteen,’ she said after a short search. She tried the door. ‘It’s open.’

  ‘That… seems odd,’ Kit said.

  ‘Yeah.’ Helen looked around at Yuriko. ‘I’ll go first, in and left. You take the right. Remember to check corners.’ Yuriko gave a nod and lifted her pistol, and Helen pushed through the door, slamming it wide open and moving quickly.