 
## RED SHIFT: SPECTRUM

## Jerib Robertson

##

## Copyright 2016 Jerib Robertson

## Smashwords Edition

##

##

## This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

### Chapter 1

Looking from the edge, the city was a kaleidoscope of blurred colour. Normally the old city was a shit-box not worth looking at, but for one night a year the grey turned to bursts of red, green, and everything in-between.

It was giving Jack a headache. If he was honest, he forgot about the celebration, and was just getting away from the noise for a few hours. The irony wasn't lost on him, as dozens of vehicles started rolling into the lookout carpark.

A lot of things had changed in the city since he was a kid himself. Hell, a lot of things had changed in the last few years. One thing hadn't changed though; young louts were still young louts. Between the odd music he couldn't relate to, and the scantily clad women that he could, he figured it was time to get going.

He took one last look over the city. The sharp edges of the pyrotechnic display were dulled by the bright lights of what seemed like an armada of cars. He stood up, turned to the carpark and within a few steps knew his night of relaxation was about to get pissed on. The group of young men around his bike pretty much confirmed that.

He walked up, and a few of them moved aside to let him through. He quickly counted six of them directly in front of Betty, but no doubt there were more straggler associated with them. Plan A was just get on, get the fuck out, and avoid any hassle.

"Cute bike, bro", one of the onlookers said, staring right at Jack.

"Thanks."

There were a few sniggers from the group, as they took confidence from what must have been the leaders remarks.

"Can I ride it?"

Jack stopped, looked around, and saw the guy standing there, holding his helmet.

"Sorry, Government issue." Jack paused, reminding himself to just quell the situation, save the drama.

The leader looked at the helmet, then at Jack. "Yeah right, as if a fucking G-man would ride a bike like this. Don't be a cunt, give me a ride." The leader tossed the helmet to one of his accomplices, and took a few steps towards Jack.

"I'm not in the mood for bullshit, sunshine. Give me my helmet, and you can all walk out of here tonight."

"Fuck you, bitch!", a shout came from behind him. Jack dipped his should and pivoted around, catching the hip of the attacker from behind him. A skinny goth-looking "boy" stumbled to the ground.

Before Jack could fully regain balance, the leader and one of the others jumped at him with kicks and punches. The Tac-suit absorbed almost all of the impact until he got a hit in the face. As he went down to a knee, he saw the legs of both of the attackers coming in. He swept hard in a low arc, catching both of them at once.

As he rose, he grabbed the leader who was now off balance, and head butted him twice straight in the face. Blood splattered out, some of it back at Jack. As always, the amount of blood from the hit in the face looked far worse than it was. It had the desired effect, with the remaining people taking a step back.

Jack pulled his Timmy and trained it on the one with his helmet. Jack said calmly, "My helmet, please."

With a shaky arm, the now trembling youth passed the helmet out in front of him. Jack holstered the Timmy, and slid the helmet on. Betty immediately started and the dart-tubes opened. What few of the mob that were left around the bike now got the idea, and backed right away. Jack straddled the bike and brought up Halo. He wasn't going to wait for round two, he didn't fancy some young dick-head getting himself killed.

"Sin, you still up?"

"Still up? I just got up!"

"Good. You remember that runner I intercepted last week in the 3rd?"

"Johnny? Didn't like the look of him, Jack"

"He contacted me. Said he had intel on the new tech. Apparently another Clan is trying their hand at something other than mid-tier couriers. I'm going down to meet him"

"Be careful, hun. There is a lot of chatter around on the waves this week. Shit's going to go down somewhere."

The road swept down the hill, but was no more or less interesting than the last twenty times Jack had travelled it this month. He found himself on the hill most nights these days. It wasn't for lack of company; in fact the team had gelled into quite a force over the last few months. He had no idea why, he made a mental note to ask his shrink. He made another note, to get a shrink.

The third quadrant was looking about as inviting as it ever had. Jack figured that it was Satan's little piece of Hell on Earth. The East coast was steadily dipping into the Pacific, and this part of town couldn't disappear soon enough. In the last year the shoreline had advanced nearly half a block, with the scientists saying it was due to stop "anytime soon."

The trip to the warehouse was decidedly uneventful, which wasn't common around these parts. Well, in Jacks experience at least. The roller door was up on 135 Hammer St, as Jack passed through he dropped a proximity sensor at the entry. It was an expansive warehouse, probably most of the block by the look of it, but completely empty. There was a mezzanine floor over a third of it, and the odd pile of "somethings" with dusty covers.

"Seems pretty quiet down there, Jack. You've got one person at the far corner of the warehouse."

"I think I see him. It's dark in here, I'll down HALO and use my lights. Wait out."

As Jack got off Betty in the middle of the warehouse, a shaky voice shouted from across the room, "Stop right there Mister. Who are you?"

"It's me, Jack. You called me", Jack shouted back.

"Called about what?" The man sounded like he was either scared shitless, or wired up on more of the snorty stuff than a pusher on High St.

"C'mon mate, I don't have all night to fuck around. Either you can help me or you can't."

"OK, come this way. But no monkey business."

As Jack walked towards him, a light turned on behind the man. He was standing in the corner with a gun under his chin, and a small box on the floor. It was the weirdest thing Jack had seen for a while, and that was saying something, because in the last few months he had seen shit that would make most people turn white.

The man flicked the box across the floor towards Jack. "That, Jack, is proof that the Vixens are shifting dodgy tech. DNA manipulation, fucked up organs."

"That's some pretty heavy shit. How did you come across this?"

"I'm a biotechnologist. And I got it from my brother."

This was starting to sound like a pretty shitty day at the office. Although he was out for intel, it just wasn't a nice Sunday to be balls deep in some fucking renegade runner gang of psychotic chicks. That was more of a Thursday thing.

"OK, so you have proof. How? Did you ask someone to take their heart out? How do I know you're not the one behind this?"

"Because, it's my brothers' heart."

Well that's a quick way to kill a conversation, Jack thought, as he wished his brain was as fast as his wit.

"Tony heard a rumour about this new tech. so he went to see what it was about. He signed up, but didn't expect to go through with it. He thought there was an operation, and that the vitamins he was given were just a booster to help with the integration. He was wrong, they were changing his DNA from the first pill."

"How did he get onto it?", Jack asked, keeping the conversation going as fast as he could. Jack wasn't too sure how long his new friends twitch on the trigger was going to last before he quit.

"He heard about the tech, some new "missing link" between electronic and biological systems."

"Shit", Jack interrupted. Someone else is developing Biotronics too. Unlikely they came from scratch, and if it's runners, Loach is probably nearby.

"What do you mean by 'shit'?"

"Ah, nothing. Just sounds like something else I heard last week, but ignored. I'll try and find that contact again after this", it was the best spot-bullshit he could come up with. He could tell by the raised eyebrow he got in reply, that it wasn't believable.

"So anyway, he was told the process would last him over 100 years. He had suspected that a crime syndicate was behind it, and that post-surgery there would be some kind of extortion attempt. The whole thing was a set-up though, they were onto him from the start."

"How long has thins been going for?"

"Only a month. He was suspicious straight away and started digging. He got a whiff of some high-level organisation behind the scenes. Within a week he came to me saying he was told he had one day to live, and there was nothing he could do."

There was a loud crash from the other side of the building. It sounded like a door caving in, but the echo made it sound like a herd of elephants joining the party.

"Sin, what the fuck is going on?"

"Sorry Jack, I'm blind in there."

Jack looked around but only saw a group of shifting shadows and the odd laser splash. He ran for Betty and slid across the ground as shots whipped past him. He grabbed his helmet as he slid past, pulling it on as he half-rolled to get to his feet. TLM immediately blazed into life, and Jack brought through the weapons systems.

"Johnny, run!" Jack screamed. He had hoped he didn't need to tell him, but sometimes when people are scared shitless they need a voice to kick the brain into motion.

Jack needed no such thing, the rounds buzzing around him like mid-summer flies had him in top gear already. He slid behind a covered object near Betty and drew his Timmy. It was definitely his favourite weapon, small, light, and could cut a small army in two in seconds. His admiration of his baby was cut short as TLM warned movement to his right.

"Jack, where are you." Johnny was shouting, the fucking idiot was about to lose his head.

Jack heard a couple of dull thuds, then something fell against the side of the cover. He didn't need to be told it was Johnny's body. A quick round-up made his objectives clear, get the box, get Betty, get the fuck out of dodge.

At that moment, Betty lit up, Jack slid out from the cover and made a run for the corner where the box was. The display on his visor rolled over to infrared, bringing two bright red blurs about ten metres in front of him. He lit up both targets with rounds from the Timmy on full auto, making it sound more like a kitchen blender than gun.

Betty targeted and laced up two target at the entry with darts, dropping them instantly. Right at that time the shooting stopped. Jack started walking towards Betty, stopping as flood lights from above lit up the interior. He swiped his visor, but kept the helmet on, looking around for targets. It was a waste of time, as he couldn't count that high.

A woman walked from around the corner, slowly clapping her hands. As she entered the building Jack got a full view of her. He didn't know her, but figured everyone else at the party did, lowering their guns as the woman and her escort walked near the middle of the room.

Jack trained his gun on the woman, as the other thirty or so guns in the room instantly trained onto him. It was a fucked up situation he wanted to get out of as soon as possible.

"Sin, I'm in a bit of a fucking bind here", he muttered into his comm. No reply.

"I wouldn't worry about contacting you team, Jack, it's just us in this room, no distractions."

"All those fucking guns are pretty distracting, sweetheart." He glanced around the room, the dart chutes on Betty whizzing as they rotated to match his movements.

"Don't worry about trying to take them all out, even this beautiful machine won't be fast enough to stop them all before one gets a shot at your head.

Jack stopped, and looked around a little harder. The gunmen around him, were actually gun-women. "Fuck, Vixen's. Great."

"I'm flattered, Jack. You've heard of us." The woman had a slight smile.

"Don't be, I hear you're a bitch." His words spoken down the end of his gun, never leaving the target.

He looked her up and down. She was around 5'10", and well built. Not butch at all, slightly muscular, but well proportioned. Her long dark hair was a little scruffy, but intentionally that way by the look of it. She was wearing combat boots and pants, but a tank-top. He figured it was all image, but didn't want to spar with her nonetheless, the reputation of the Vixens had grown rapidly, in a bad way.

"So, you know my name, what's yours?"

"I am Carrey, and this is Twist." She turned to her escort and stroked the back of her hand gently over her face. "Beautiful, isn't she?"

"Ask me when I'm not feeling like I'm about to become a piece of Swiss cheese."

"Jack, if that was my plan, you'd already be a bloody pulp on the floor. I only come to give you a message."

"Yeah, what's that, fifty credits for a lap dance?", he grinned at his wit, but no-one could see through the helmet, which he thought about for longer than he probably should have.

"Honey, if I were to give you a lap dance, it would cost you a shit load more than that. Probably cost you your heart."

"I lost my heart long ago. As fun as this is, do you have a fucking point?"

Carrey turned to Jack, then walked over to Betty. She straddled the bike, but didn't touch it, instead looking over to Jack.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't actually touch her, you never know what might happen if I get involved with her." She raised her eyebrow, then nodded to Twist. "Pass her the box, we will leave, and you will live. It's not a bargain, offer, or negotiation, just a statement."

Twist walked over, and Jack kicked the box her way. "I'll be seeing you." He looked at Twist, but didn't move his Timmy off Carrey for a second.

She picked up the box and walked towards Jack, getting between his Timmy and Carrey. She moved her head right past his arm and to his neck, and whispered in his ear, "I hope so."

She licked the bottom of his earlobe and turned away, not looking back. Jack was instantly aroused. The thought of the guns around the warehouse disappeared, and he decided at that second he needed a hooker. Seriously, the most fucked up situation he had been in for weeks, quite probably about to die, and he was thinking about Carrey and Twist riding him like a Texas cowboy.

Carrey swung her leg off Betty and blew her a kiss, "See you soon, sweetheart."

She looked back at Jack as she started to walk out. "This is my only deal Jack, stay away from the Vixens, and stay alive. I don't have time to fuck around with some vigilante who's bent on righting his wrongs by fucking with Runners."

He felt a hot poke in the back of his neck, then passed out. When he came to a few minutes later, the place was empty. He slowly stood up and saw a boy moving through the entry. As his reflexes came to, he raised his Timmy.

"Yo, it's Blake. Take it easy mate."

"Fuck", he said slightly groggy, "What the fuck happened?"

"I had hoped you would tell us buddy, we were comms-down. They had some kind of jammer, Ping recons it was Loach."

Jack stood up, pulled off his helmet, and looked at Blake like he had just told him his sister wasn't a virgin.

"Loach? With the Vixens?"

"Only a theory, but it makes sense. If he is getting higher-order links, he'd be running through the new big players on the circuit."

Jack mounted Betty and spun around to face the entry, whipping up a dust wave in the process. Pulling out onto the street the place was a ghost town, of course, but it felt more-so now. Just as Jack had finally been getting a grip on what was going on, another curve-ball had been thrown in. It was time for the team to redefine their goals. If there was going to be a new street war, there is no way they were going be on the defensive side of the fight, they needed ammunition in more ways than one.

He must have been daydreaming as he was riding, as he was pulling into the driveway before he had even realised he left the 3rd. It was weird, but he put it down t to the tranquilizer the tramps gave him earlier. He hadn't convinced himself that was right, but wasn't about to bother anyone else with it, they were in a groove and he didn't see any reason to distract the team from that groove.

### Chapter 2

As he arrived at the off-road to the property, he barely slowed for the turn. Vortexes of leaves swirled behind Betty. The sun was struggling to get through the trees, but failing. As the evening drew in, the feeling of isolation of the house was not lost on Jack. Sure, they had an ally in Sophie, but she couldn't openly associate with them. To the outside world they were vigilantes, their good deeds unknown, and unknowable.

These thoughts didn't usually bother Jack at all, and fuck knows why he was feeling them now. Perhaps it was the bullets that grazed his skin a few hours earlier, but that wasn't an uncommon feeling these days. Perhaps it was Twist. Perhaps.

The workshop seemed to be a living beast of its own. Pulling in, there seemed to be a growing number of shiny new machines and cables. The only thing that wasn't new, was Ping sitting in the corner moving around like a spastic dog.

"What the fuck are you doing now, Ping?"

"New augmentation algorithm, old man. The Biotronics interface Sin and I have been working on can recognise complete motion in real time. It doesn't even need fucking cameras anymore."

"What, so you just wriggle around in front of your monitor like a pole-dancer, and the computer makes shit happen?"

"Well, yes, I guess that is an adequate description. For a Neanderthal.", Pings rolled eyes suggested Jack was so far of the mark, he might as well go and get a beer and make himself useful.

As Jack turned for the door, Cindy walked through, slowly striding towards Jack, trying to be seductive. "What he means, sunshine, is that we now have the Biotronics systems around the workshop reading their environment so accurately, they can detect minute sounds, echoes, changes in light, and changes in air pressure. Angel receives the info in real time, and with some Biotronics enhancements, is able to translate that data into a real-time three dimensional array of the surroundings."

"I like Pings version better."

"Neanderthal!", Cindy said in disgust as she walked past to Ping.

Jack headed to the kitchen, where Blake was getting a beer from the fridge. Jack went to the table and sat down. "Your shout, G-man."

"So you got your ass handed to you by a bunch of chicks. Hope your ego didn't take too much of a hit."

"You ever seen that crew?"

"Nope. I don't even know if they existed when I was on the force. They seem to be kicking up a fuss now though."

"They're organised, Blake. I just hope that little shit Loach isn't fully backing them. I think he's stripped a lot more resource from Wing 'Tan and Tyrol than we gave him credit for."

Blake sat down and handed Jack a beer. They both took a long draw and sat in silence for a moment.

"We seem to be on a good stance though. Know what I mean?"

Blake's tone was very subdued, almost as if he was searching for confirmation, more than shooting the shit about how good they were. Jack had been thinking the same thing, but the walls around his world were still pretty high.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. We seem to be getting our shit together." Jack glanced over at Blake for a moment and tipped his bottle in a salute.

"We could be a lot worse, Jacky boy. A low-rent soldier, ousted G-man, and two underground hackers. Doesn't sound like a lot of elite crime-fighting squads I've heard of lately."

"I haven't heard of any lately, Blake. That's the problem."

"It IS a problem."

The both sat in silence again. Jack had been watching the shadows draw long on the trees across the valley; the end of another day. For the first time in a while, Jack was thinking that it wasn't the beginning of darkness, but the close of another small chapter. Dawn couldn't come if it wasn't preceded by night. Dark and light. Ying and Yang. He hadn't been looking for balance for a long time.

"You know what, G-man. I'm not out to fix the world."

"Neither am I."

"But, I think we can help to balance the scales a little. The underworld really has had a grip on the whole Eastern seaboard for a long time, I just haven't really been looking at it. I haven't cared."

"And do you care now?"

"I think I do. Not many people care to stand up and be counted. But looking at the devotion of those two fucking mega-geeks downstairs, I finally think we can."

More silence. Jack wasn't sure if Blake cared about what he said, or about who he was. Jack certainly hadn't been giving any of them a reason to want to follow him anywhere. He decided that he needed to be better than that. His father was, and perhaps he could honour his fathers' life, by being the person he father would have respected.

Blake looked over to Jack and tipped his bottle forward, "Have you seen the shit the geeks have been doing downstairs?"

"I don't understand half of it."

"Well you get more than me. Looks like they're picking all the best genetic traits of all of the best predators, and making a Frankenstein sensor of it."

"Something like that."

"Hope they have that shit under control."

"I guess we'll find out soon enough. Has Sin got the Beast jacked into TLM properly yet?"

"They're running diagnostics now, taking her for a spin tomorrow. Going up-coast to Brizzy to see that Energy Trader, Gustav What's-his-name. Want to come for a run?"

"Yeah, I better. Who knows, Sin may have come to her senses and set TLM to fry your brain."

Jack looked to Blake and pretended to shake his head while letting his tongue droop out of his mouth. He had a chuckle at his hilarious joke, skulled the rest of his beer, and got up to leave the room.

As Jack walked out, Blake called after him, "Good to finally have you on board, asshole."

The shower was steaming up the room fast. Jack couldn't see his hand in front of his face. The heat still didn't manage to dull his senses enough, the Vixens got the jump on him today, and it shouldn't have happened. He needed to be sharper than that. THEY needed to be sharper than that.

The next morning Blake and Jack headed North. It was a sunny day, the haze in the sky was minimal, and there wasn't a lot of traffic on the highway. Ping had scanned the route, and there were no patrols due, and if they did come across anything, TLM would jam them up.

The mercury was rising, and the Beast had minimal climate control. Jack must have dozed off at some stage, and woke to a muffle. He looked over with groggy eyes to see Blake trying to speak. Looking down, he could see him trying to pull his hands from the wheel. Jack grabbed one and pulled, but it wouldn't budge.

He let go, and saw an array of thin tendons stretching from the wheel onto Blake's hands. Looking up, Blake was wide eyed and panicked. He managed to stomp on the brake, and the Beast slammed to a halt.

Jack looked at his eyes and could see them starting to glaze over and the tendons stretched up Blake's arms. Jack started hitting the door, trying to open it, but it wouldn't budge. He hit the window area hard, the pain was instant.

Jack shot up out of bed, his heart pounding, and his head aching. "For fucks sake", he muttered in a raspy voice, "I'm getting sick of this shit."

He got out of bed, slipping a pull-over on. The concrete floor was cold on his feet, but he left his shoes, he wanted to be awake now, those fucking dreams were giving him the shits. As he walked down to the kitchen, his surroundings were now familiar, warmer.

He entered the main room, but didn't bother to turn on the light. He could see the silhouette of Ping sitting at the table.

"Can't sleep?"

"Nah. I don't sleep a lot. Seems to be a waste of time."

"I dunno how you do it. If I look at a screen for more than an hour, my eyelids feel like lead bricks."

"Conditioned to it, I guess. I also had supplement enhancements when I was a kid for a vision defect I had at birth. It fixed me up so good, I never get eye fatigue. I think that's what allowed me to spend so much time in front of displays as I was growing up."

"Well, that turned out to be quite handy then, didn't it."

"Quite."

"What else do I need to know about you, Ping? You're not the most forthcoming with your life and history. It wasn't that long ago we were fighting on opposite sides. You seemed to make a pretty easy transition to the other side of the fence."

"I was held captive, asshole, and you know it."

"Well, you say you were."

"Hey, fuck you. You met Jay, you heard the story from him as well as me. I may be no fan of the law, but I fucking hate Wing 'Tan, and everything they stood for."

Ping was almost shouting at this stage, and started to get up from the table to leave. Jack stood too, shook his head, and put his finger to his lips.

"Shhhhhh, people are sleeping. Sit down."

"Fuck you, why should I?"

"Because I needed to see your reaction to my accusation. I can read people pretty well, but it's been an emotional time. I wanted to make sure I wasn't just searching for an excuse to like you."

Ping sat down, still visibly tense. This was a good thing for Jack, he hadn't really seen Ping stressed before. It was nice to know he was human. Ping slowly eased, then slumped back into his seat.

"So, Jack, happy now?"

"Not really Ping. I got jumped by a bunch of chicks yesterday. Fuck knows why they let me go, but they did. What I want to know is how they did it."

"Well, you lost your comms once inside that building. It was almost like you had disappeared, from a signal point of view."

"And who could do that? You and Sin seem to be pretty much on-point when it comes to this shit."

Ping paused for a minute. It was something he had been going over himself, but wasn't sure whether or not to come out with his theory. Hell, he wasn't sure if he wanted to hear himself say it at all. Still, he needed someone to toss ideas around with, and Jack seemed to come out with all the left-field shit.

"It's gotta be Loach. But there is far too much work for him to be able to do that alone. He's good, but not Superman. I dunno Jack, the whole thing has a kind of 'edge' to it that I don't really like the feel of."

Jack started thinking. It was time they paid Sophie a visit and reassessed their arrangement. Things were fine between them, but if inroads were to be made towards uncovering this mystery group that call themselves The Ordained, they would need more resources.

The thought bounced around in his head a bit, he stated thinking about the fight at the 3rd, Tyrol, Ox, Solice, and all the shit that went down. He still couldn't believe Ox pulled the wool over everyone's eyes for so long. They were smart people he conned. Much smarter than him. The world is a much safer place with him gone.

"Jack, where are we going from here?"

"I dunno kiddo. Looks like there is a bit of work to do, but I'm going nowhere else in a hurry, you?"

"Jay was my last living relative. This place couldn't be defined as home any more vividly than it is right now."

"Good. If you're not sleeping, go over the diagnostics on the Beast before we head out tomorrow. I'm not a hundred percent comfortable with all that shit loaded into such a powerful weapon."

"You're not comfortable with ANY tech being on ANYTHING, Jack!", Ping replied. He wriggled his fingers above his head like some kind of voodoo sign.

"Well, it's your job to convince me otherwise, so get to it. For all I know TLM is slowly frying my brain every time I ride."

"We would have noticed by now, Jack. You don't have a lot of brain to fry."

Ping laughed, and got up from the table, grabbing a Coke from the fridge as he left the room. Jack watched him leave, his shadow drawing longer, until he was gone. His focus then turned back to the vista. It was hardly a vista during the night, but the hazy glow of the stars was enough to push the shadows of the trees into the room. He watched them sway for a while, in a melancholic chant. Shadows rarely brought joy or satisfaction, their very nature burdened them to a life of solitude.

His thoughts were broken by a fast moving shadow across the floor. He looked up to catch what looked like a person crashing to the river below. He ran to the window and saw a glisten amongst the shadows, it went as quick as it came.

Jack ran to his room, tapping Blake's door as he passed. He went to his room and pulled the Timmy from under his pillow. As he entered the corridor again, he saw Blake standing at the door, pants on and no top.

"C'mon G-man", Jack whispered, "Someone's outside, and I don't think they're lost."

"I'll go down through the basement, you go around the back", Blake pulled his pistol from the small of his back and flicked the safety. "Which way did they go?"

Jack looked at him for a moment, "Do you sleep with that fucking thing in your pants?", he waved his pistol towards Blake's.

"Never used to, but being around you seems to attract all sorts of looneys. Better safe, y'know?"

Jack rolled his eyes, "Fucking Boy Scouts. Came from the river, probably staying in the shadow of the balcony. I'll take left flank and loop around from the top." He whispered as he made way to the front door.

As Blake neared the workshop, he stayed in the corridor shadow just out of sight from the window. He made a low sound and held his finger to his lips. Ping turned and saw him, Blake raised his gun to his him and nodded upstairs.

Ping turned and tapped in front of the screen for a moment, then walked out of the room, turning off the light as he went. Blake whispered to him as he walked past, "Possible intruder. Get a weapon, go to Sin. Stay there until Jack and I give the all clear."

As Ping scooted up the stairs, Blake entered the room. He stayed low, and hard against the wall, hoping like hell the sensors in the room knew it was him. A few seconds later he was beside the large high-level window. He waited a few seconds, listening. Nothing.

Moving across the workshop, Blake entered the service room, and slowly opened the exterior vent. It was full height, so although it was easy to get out, it was a big fucking thing to have moving into the path of an intruder. Once it was open enough, he slowly looked out.

In the shadows to the far end of the building, he could see a silhouette of a person making way around the corner. It was the same way Jack was coming from, so he decided to wait until he got around the corner before moving out.

Jack was moving along the front of the building, slowly, listening. He didn't like the idea of his position, too much open ground, too much light from the full moon. He decided he would get to the corner of the house, check, then go across into the tree-line and make his way around.

As he got to the corner he stopped and listened. There was a sound of shuffling feet. He stopped and crouched low, waiting to see the body move across the corner. Most people look high first when rounding a corner, Jack was hoping his crouched position would give him the split second he needed to get the advantage.

There was a gentle rustle in the trees, making the shadows dance on the building, beginning that lazy melancholic sway Jack was beginning to relate to. At that moment, he saw a weapon just edge past the end of the building, then go back. It wasn't Blake's.

Jack waited a few seconds anticipating the attacker. He steadied his body and as he saw the gun tip move again, launched upwards as hard as he could. His shoulder connected with the torso of the attacker and he heard a grunt as they both left the ground for a moment.

As Jack hit the ground, he saw a flash, followed by a near deafening noise. He rolled towards the attacker and saw a bright blue flash of an arm swinging towards him. He quickly jabbed at the attacker's fist, knocking the gun away.

He started to rise, but as he did, he noticed the face was that of a woman. His slight hesitation allowed the attacker to spin and get to her feet first. She reached behind her back, but was stopped mid-movement.

"That's close enough, bitch", Blake's voice came from behind her, quiet, and menacing. It almost gave Jack chills. Or, maybe, it was just that it was the middle of the night and he was running around in his underwear.

Jack stepped over to her and hit her hard in the jaw with a short left cross; she collapsed immediately, and Jack picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.

As they started walking to the entrance, Blake couldn't help himself. "That's twice the girls got the better of you, Jacky boy."

"Fuck you", he muttered under his breath.

"Hey just making an observation." Blake shrugged his shoulders as though he didn't get the fuss.

"Observe this", Jack lifted his free hand and held up his middle finger. "We need to get this bitch tied, then do a full recce of the area. There could be more of her lot out here."

"Did you see the tattoo on her neck? What is it?"

"It's the same as one I noticed on one of the Vixens at the warehouse. Must be their Runner-mark. I just want to know how the fuck she found us."

Jack dropped the woman's body on the floor in one of the rooms, and tied her hands behind her back with plasti-cuffs, then her feet. Even after a hundred years, they were still an effective way of restraining someone.

He looked over her, almost lifeless. He felt a certain compassion for her, but cut himself from the thought. At the moment, she and the Vixens were the enemy. They would find out why the hell she was there, and who else knew where she was.

### Chapter 3

Looking out onto the main floor, it was a struggle to remember what things were like a few months back. All of the little issues that seemed to be dealt with by others were now starting to load on Sophie's shoulders. It was far easier when she wasn't the one everyone looked towards to cut a way through the forest of bureaucracy and politics.

Still, she can't have been doing too bad, the PM had called her in to congratulate her twice this last month. And none of her team had caused a mutiny yet, another bonus. Perhaps Jules Oricks didn't have the same sway over the team that she feared he may have.

Jules, the goddam Ox. Her blood still boiled when she thought about him. The cell he had downtown was too good for the man that betrayed them. Betrayed her. She had been as close to loving someone outside of an intimate relationship as she had ever been. She let herself get too close to him, and couldn't see what was unfolding under her.

"Sophie." The voice was loud and assertive, and startled her from her daydream. She turned quickly to see Mo standing at the door way.

"Sorry, Mo. Come in." Her voice was a little broken, her throat was dry.

"You alright there, ma'am?"

For a moment Sophie just looked at him. He was very tall, with a fairly slight build, certainly not athletic on the outside. But, it was his skin that got her, she just couldn't place her finger on the region he was from. It was too light to be subcontinent, too grey to be Mediterranean. She hadn't thought about it much until that moment. It was odd, as his file said he was from the UK, going back 3 generations, but that wasn't obviously his origin. Her thoughts were wandering again.

She took the glass of water from her desk and drank the whole thing, then looked toward Mo, presenting a seat across from her desk. "Mo, I've told you not to call me Ma'am. I know that's how they trained you in Military School, and I know you're my two IC, but I'm not your mother."

"Yes, sorry Ma...... Sophie."

"Now, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Mo sat forward in his chair and placed a file on her desk. It had more stamps on the cover than a kids scrap-book. All government and Military issues. This file had done the rounds, that's for sure.

"It's a review of Osiris, with a focus on Oricks. It was started when he was still in charge, by the Government oversight in charge of covert ops."

"Tulley?"

"Yes, I believe Senator Malcolm Tulley headed the programme."

"He was killed a few months ago. Why is this here now?"

"Well, Oversight thought you better have a look through it, a direct request from the PM. You're the best psych there is, and they figured you'd know if it was bullshit or not."

Sophie looked up at him and raised her eyebrow. Mo didn't know if it was because he said bullshit, or because of the first line she read on the summary sheet.

"It appears that Jules Oricks may not actually be captive. The detail of the report outlines the intel gathered from his Mil days, but he may have a twin."

"How could that have passed the scanners?" Sophie was both inquiring and doubting the statement, which didn't faze Mo. He had asked the same thing we he was briefed by the PM's deputy a few hours earlier.

"It seems he may have been on a team developing cloning technology. As you know it's illegal to clone a person, but technically not to clone specific attributes. What he has done, is tweak the varied DNA strands in his brother that differentiate them, and pulled them to align with his. Some retina sculpting, and lasering of the fingerprints, and you've got an identical copy of yourself."

"How could he have done all of that, without anyone knowing?"

"He apparently knew some people in finance, who let a lot of his expenditure slide, for favours in return. The report states on of those guys were flipped, and that was how they got a lead."

"Do you think this is legit?" Sophie closed the file and sat back in her chair. Mo observed her for a moment, and could see the tension building in her.

"Soph, no-one had a clue about this. Not one single person anticipated a move like this. No-one. Not even you."

"But I have talked with him, in-depth. Well, his brother. How could I have not noticed one single divergence or slip. They must have been there."

"Because you weren't looking for them. None of us were."

"So, what next?" Sophie was visibly shaken by the revelation, her dry throat now felt like a desert, but was about to be irrigated with bile. She did all she could to hold back, but Mo could see her starting to sweat.

"PM wants you to interrogate the brother and get information from him, then find Oricks. She said you can use any measure necessary, the brother technically hasn't existed for a decade." Mo stood to leave the room, and paused. "Well get the fucker Soph. We'll get him."

"I hope so Mo, before it's too late."

Mo left the room, closing the door gently behind him. As he walked to floor towards the analyst hub, he thought about Sophie and the situation she was in. He had never seen her wound up like that before, and he was pleased to see that she could be. It wasn't that he wanted her to fail, quite the opposite in-fact. Many of the team had been muttering that she was becoming the Iron Lady, and to Mo, that wasn't her style. He decided the others didn't need to know about Oricks until Soph was ready to tell them.

The bright energized room in front of her seemed a little greyer right now. Sophie nursed her glass of water back in front of the window she was at ten minutes ago, but the view had changed. HER view had changed. She knew that not all of the team had gelled as quick as she had liked, and she believed a lot of that was to do with the legacy of their previous leader betraying them, or even sympathy towards him, by some at least. She wasn't going to let this out right now, and hoped that it would not be her undoing.

First she needed answers, and help getting them. She sat back at the desk, a little slouched which was uncommon, but surprisingly comfortable, and got on the comm.

Her relationship with the crew (as she called them) was going well. At first she was a little unsure about how to approach the situation, being the head of Osiris and dealing with what was officially known as a "fringe" team was risky business. Inside the Government it was common practice, and fairly overt, however it wasn't something she wanted the general public to align with Osiris.

She felt a little dirty about those thoughts, almost like she was using them, but she felt she knew them well enough that they would understand. Well, Blake at least. Her thoughts were interrupted when he answered the line.

"You free?"

"Always free for the Iron Lady", the chuckle meaning to keep the comment light.

"Is that what they call me now, Blake?"

"It's what the Runners call you, and probably the Alphas, with the fuck-over you've been throwing at them I'd say that was the kinder title."

Sophie cut him short before he got started to ramble, "That may change soon. Can you come in?"

There was a pause for a moment. Sophie wasn't sure he was still on the line.

"You there Blake?"

"Uh, yeah, sure. Just me? I hope you're not going to try and re-recruit me. I'm not a G-man anymore."

"No nothing like that. I'd rather just brief you first, then you can share with the team."

Blake got off the comm, and the other in the workshop were staring daggers right through him from every direction. He knew he had to tell the truth, there was still a little trust to be gained.

"Sophie wants me to go in to be briefed on a mission."

"What the fuck. Why go in, and why only you?" The words were as accusing and flat as Jack could muster without shouting.

"Dunno slugger. She was adamant."

"And what if we say no?"

"Then I won't go."

There was a silence, as Blake and Jack stared at each other. The others in the room stayed silent and didn't move. The tension was rising, but Jack broke it.

"All good, G-man. Would hate to keep the Iron Lady waiting." He stepped aside and waved Blake past.

As Blake walked out, Jack shouted behind him, "Come back honey, we already miss you." Blake hoped like hell that was sarcasm.

Blake had mixed feelings about going back to Osiris HQ. It hadn't been long, in the greater scheme of things, since his defection. And although it had all been verified and signed off by the secretary as legit, he didn't know what he would walk into. The place had been pretty fucked-over by Ox, and he could only image the depths of mistrust and anxiety about the presence of non-core personnel.

Driving through the streets toward Osiris, Blake was already getting anxious. He wasn't sure if it was the fact that he was going back, alone, or if it was just the city. Being out at Sin's place in the country was surprisingly calming. Coming back in here, not on a mission, gave him time to look around and see what things really looked like.

There was a bright flash in the sky as the lighting tore through the heavens. The rumble that followed was enough to rattle the signs on the road. Things seemed to be getting worse by the day. Perhaps their efforts to clean up the city were a waste of time, maybe Mother Nature was going to just level the place and save them some hassle.

His day-dream wander into the oblivion was broken by a loud horn. He had been sitting at a green light for a few seconds too long, and was being reminded audibly, and then visually as his new friend flipped the bird while bursting past. Blake turned into a carpark building, at the opposite end of the block from Osiris, and went down three levels to a dimly lit parking level with only a few parks available.

As was the usual custom, he walked to the stairwell and swiped his card, going down three more floors. He was now on the level with the lift access to Osiris. He used his bio-marker on the hidden scanner, then tapped the ground floor. The lift stopped one floor short, and a false panel opened on the side of the lift, just enough for him to slide through.

The corridor was dimly lit, but enough for him to see clearly where he was going. A small light appeared suspended from the ceiling as he walked, and tracked with his movement. He was being scanned and tracked in case he wasn't alone. The company emergency egress wasn't supposed to be used this way, but Sophie insisted the techies modified it in case she needed to get to the facility incognito. She didn't mention others may also do this.

"Please stand still", the voice from the computer was a calming English accent. The following burst of air wasn't. Blake never asked what it did, figuring it was best not to know.

"Proceed."

The doors opened, and Blake was greeted by Sophie standing in front of him. Blake stepped through the door towards Sophie, but she didn't move. He was barely a pace from her, when she stepped right to him and whispered in his ear. He was momentarily distracted by her perfume.

"I need you to see something, and I need you to keep quiet. Don't talk to the prisoner, just walk past to the viewing room."

He walked the short distance to the cell. As Blake walked past he saw Ox sitting in the corner, but no-one else, what was she on about? He looked around the cell (which wasn't that big), and saw no-one else. Ox didn't even return so much as a stare.

Once inside the room, Blake closed the door, moving over to Sophie's side he watched Ox through the one-way screen. Her perfume was intoxicating, what was it? He glanced over at her, watching her un-waived focus on Ox. This was becoming un-nerving.

"So Soph, it's good to see you again, but why bring me down here? Ox is hardly my Man of the Year, what with him trying to kill me and all."

"He looks like he's relaxed doesn't he. Almost like he has no idea what Osiris can, and probably will, do to him."

Blake looked toward her again. Her voice was soft and focussed. He knew there was a punch line, he could see the throbbing in her neck, a dead give-away to rising tension.

"Maybe he's resigned to his fate?"

"Oh I'm sure of that. He has been preparing for this a very long time. He is to become a martyr to his kind."

"A martyr? Ox? Everyone I've met who knows him can't wait to see him dead, or whatever worse punishment you can think of."

"I wish it were that easy", her eyes not going from Ox for a minute. "There is only one problem."

"What? Not bloody human rights fucking agencies I hope."

"No, nobody knows he's here."

Blake stepped back and looked at her, but she still didn't take her eyes off the screen. It was starting to give Blake the shits, he didn't like seeing her like this at all.

"OK Soph, enough of this. We have Ox, he's fucked. We're getting a handle on how the Runners are organised, and shredding their links with the Alpha's to pieces. Ox's legacy is fucked. Isn't it?"

"Not really. You're looking at his legacy."

"What, you mean this is his twin brother or something?"

"No don't be ridiculous, we would have picked that up long ago. No, this is his clone, his genetic copy."

The room suddenly got much smaller and darker. Blake heard the words Sophie had made, but they seemed incoherent. It had become one of those moments where you relived all of the shock truths that changed your world view as a child. No more Santa, no more Easter Bunny. Sophie hadn't just told him there were issues, her words amounted to an ass-raping that would have made a porn star flinch.

"How could this be, Sophie? He was with me most of the time through the fire-fight at the 3rd Quadrant. There was no way they swapped in the middle of that."

"Oricks never went. I was this guy all along. Nobody really talked to him, right? He didn't need to know a hell of a lot, but probably does. He would have spent enough time with Oricks to learn his mannerisms, get a bit of recent history."

"Enough to keep everyone guessing until Oricks made his get-away. But what about this guy?"

"He's the Martyr. He hasn't said a hell of a lot; I can see he's resigned himself to his fate. Whether Oricks brainwashed him, or he did it voluntarily, he's practically useless to us."

"Then why not get rid of him?"

"I said practically, not totally. Oricks may decide he wants him back, and try to get him. Even the mighty Jules Oricks won't get back into this place. Well, he may get in, but he won't get out."

They stood in silence for a moment longer. Blake had too much going on in his head to think, so he just looked at the imposter. One thing he did know, they needed a new game plan. Having Oricks-version-two did have some potential angles, they just needed time to work through them. It certainly wasn't a 'here and now' answer, he needed computing time.

"Blake, can I ask you an honest question, to which I expect an honest answer?"

"Sophie, I've tried lying to you, it doesn't work."

"Can I trust you and your team?"

There was a pause for a moment. Blake hadn't thought of it as "his" team, but he realised Sophie was speaking of them collectively, not from a hierarchical point of view.

"I think so. I haven't been with these guys for long, but I've never seen a group of people become so committed and synced up so quick. They all have a reason for doing what they are doing, and they all see each other as family, there is no-one else. Everyone came together from different directions, but we are all on the trip together now."

"And what about you? Do you see yourself as part of their family? I mean, you just said 'we'. It's a big move from a G-man to a vigilante, Blake. You sure it's the right decision?"

There was another pause. Blake had been thinking the same thing a lot lately. It was the reason he had so little sleep, and the reason he came to Osiris in person, alone.

"I'm sure, Soph. I have faith in you, but not in the system, not right now. There has been too much sway towards corporate control, no balance. Where I am now, I can do good things without needing a thousand papers signed along the way. We just get on with it."

Sophie turned to him, smiled, then walked past and opened the door. She welcomed him through, and as he passed her he felt an almost magnetic attraction to her. He tried to make light of the situation in his own head, and figured it was because he hadn't had sex for months.

They walked the corridor to the hidden passage. When they got to the door Sophie stopped and turned to him. Looking him right in the eyes, she paused for a moment.

"Be careful Blake. There are reasons we have checks and balances on this side. It ensures there is a balanced view before life changing decisions are made. Please work with your team and make sure they maintain their balance."

"Will do Soph. Look after yourself."

Blake turned to the panel, which opened as he neared it. That was it. Possibly the last chance he had to get back in the G-team. The drive home would be consumed by his analysis of that decision, and whether it was the right one. But he wasn't second-guessing, he was only reinforcing his resolve.

It was almost like everything that had come before now didn't matter. They were now at day-zero. They needed to re-evaluate what they thought they knew, and recalibrate. They also needed to find more allies. It wasn't as though the four of them were ever going to take down all crime on the Eastern seaboard by themselves. It was something they all knew, but none of them ever talked about. Blake decided it was time for them to talk.

### Chapter 4

Cindy was sitting at her computer, as usual, when Jack interrupted. As usual.

"Hey Sin, why do you think Sophie wanted to meet Blake face to face?"

"Dunno. Working."

"Why didn't she want any of us to be there too?"

There was a momentary pause. "Dunno. Still working."

"Yeah, well I'm not happy about it."

Cindy threw her hands to her face, looked up from the computer to the ceiling, then turned to Jack.

"Hun, you're never happy. You're not happy when we stop the Wing 'Tan, you're not happy when we stop Tyrol. Now you're not happy because we have a liaison with the most powerful policing organisation in the country, probably the world."

Jack stopped for a moment, and looked directly at Cindy, seeing the frustration in her eyes, he looked away. "So, what's your point?"

"Jack, Hun, I love you. You're the only family I have. But, lighten the fuck up will you! The world isn't yours to fix. We've done good things. BLAKE, has done good things. He's a part of us, and I'm getting a little pissed at you always ragging on him. OK?"

By the end of her rant, Cindy had realised she was standing toe-to-toe with Jack, and had been loud enough to stop Ping dead in his tracks. The ensuing silence was broken when Jack managed to process Cindy's comments.

"OK, I get it. No problem. I can see you're tired, and probably need some sleep. We can talk later."

With that, Jack turned and walked towards the door.

"Jack!"

Jack stopped at the door and turned to Cindy. She didn't say anything, she just raised her middle finger and gritted her teeth.

"You're always right Sin." Jack turned and walked out of the room, shouting behind him, "You're always right."

Of course she was right. As Jack pulled a beer from the fridge and went to the couch, he thought back over the last few months. Blake had been a rock. Jack knew he was jealous of Blake, always had been. Why not? He was everything Jack was supposed to be. They were actually quite similar, except for the fact that Jack was a little less "disciplined" when it came to diplomacy and negotiation.

The shadows of the trees began to dance across the floor again. It was a rhythm Jack was becoming accustomed to, and it was soothing. As his blinking drew slower, he watched the movement of the trees subdue him into submission. Before long, he was no longer watching the trees, but becoming a part of them.

Jack was moving his consciousness between trees, sweeping like the wind, observing everything around him, at one with his environment. It was HIS environment now. The Biotronics had opened a new world to him. It was no longer a world he tried to understand. That was not necessary.

He "felt" the world around him. The wind blew and he sailed with its current. He grew strength from the heat of the sun, and stealth from the shadows. He did not move himself, he was moved. Whatever he needed from around him to achieve his objective, was presented to him in some way.

He saw his daughter below, sitting at the school. He knew he needed to get there, and swept across, but the winds blew away the wrong direction. He focussed on the energy from the sun, but clouds rolled over. Shouting to her was no use, she could only hear the wind above.

Looking at her watch, she looked around, and could not see him. Fighting, Jack pushed to get to her, everything he fought his surroundings with was met with equal measure. He watched hopelessly as she walked to the road, and crossed. She didn't see the bus coming, she had no chance.

Jack bolted upright, eyes wide open, dropping his beer in the process. His body was tense, and he was sweating like he was three days into the Simpson with no water. His head had a dull throb, but he couldn't quite pick where it was centred.

The throb was replaced by the hum of the Beast pulling into the workshop. Jack got up, rinsed his face in the sink, and went down to see what was what. He made a mental note to give Blake some space. Give him some respect. If only a little, for Sin.

As Jack went to the fridge the others all came upstairs, milling around the kitchen they were ready for Blake's download. And there was a lot to download. They listened as Blake began to explain the situation.

"So, the Ox is alive and kicking, on the fucking OUTSIDE?" It was the last news Cindy had wanted to hear.

"According to Soph."

"How the hell did that happen, Blake? I thought this guy was locked down hard." Cindy had gone to the table and sat down, looking a little deflated. The other joined her there.

"It seems as though Oricks has a double, a clone, of sorts. It's not exactly a clone in the classical sense, but close enough."

"Holy shit Blake, I didn't think that was possible."

"C'mon Jack, with all the shit you've seen around here lately, is there ANYTHING you can imagine not being possible."

"Guess not, gives me the shits though."

"You're not the only one. The PM is throwing a fit at the moment. Oricks went from being a nightmare to a catastrophe is about five minutes flat. The Government don't want word to get out that he's loose, so are trying to keep a lid on things."

"Seems Sophie has already failed that one, telling us."

"She trusts me, Jack. I think now she realises that we rally can do things she can't."

"Awwww, how sweet. I'm all warm and fuzzy on the inside now. So, what does this have to do with us?" Jack was getting the feeling he wasn't going to like the next part.

"Part of them not having leaks, is not involving their own teams, they want us onto it."

"Wait a minute, so the PM requested a bunch of crooks to help out the Government?" Jack's concern over the PM knowing wanting in on their operations wasn't lost on anyone.

"Not exactly. Sophie used some poetic license there. They have teams scouring the cities for more involvement with the Biotronics tech, but we're going specifically for Oricks, and anyone with him."

The team all sat silently for a moment, absorbing the information, deciding what to do. There was a lot going on at the moment, and they had all previously agreed they would only take on jobs that they all agreed on.

Ping broke the silence, "Well I don't know about the rest of you, but I really don't want that asshole running around town messing with Biotronics tech." He looked around the table, and everyone nodded. "So, we know the Vixens are involved with the Tech, likely to be with Loach. I'm picking as since Loach was working for Tyrol, Oricks probably has a link there."

"It's all feasible Ping", Jack interjected, "But we need to agree on the job before we start pushing forward with a strategy."

"I looked around the table, everyone nodded, thought we were sweet."

Ping shrugged his shoulders and went back to his drink. Jack looked around, the others nodded again. He looked back at Ping, who was smiling.

"See!"

"Well we also have to deal with the meat-sack that's cuffed down the hall. Dunno about you guys, but I'm no cold-blooded killer. At the same time I'm not about to send her off to tell everyone about our operation."

"Leave that one to me, Jack, I'll look after her." Ping winked as though his intentions weren't entirely 'pure'.

"And what on God's green earth are you planning on doing to her? I don't want to know what ideas you get off those virtual worlds you live in!"

"I wish", Ping said a little quicker than he realised he should have. "Nah, I'm going to spend the next few days feeding her a cocktail of drugs to wipe her short-term memory, and make her feel like she's in the middle of a bad dream."

"Oh", replied Cindy, "Well that sounds a LOT less creepy" She made a screwed up face and shuffled her chair away from Ping.

"Hey, if anyone else has a better idea, throw it up, otherwise the bunny is getting a batch of Ping's magic carrots." He grinned at his witty remark.

"Uh, yeah, Ping, still creepy." Blake shuffled his chair away too.

"Ah, fuck you guys." Ping got up and walked out of the room.

"What's up with him?" Jack asked the others.

"Dunno Jack, maybe he just needs a break. Maybe we all do."

"No rest for the wicked, G-man, and I ain't rested for a loooong time." Jack got up and went down the hall to help Ping sort out their 'guest'.

After they had relocated her to an isolated room, they discussed the idea of using truth-serum. In the end they decided against it, as the least direct contact they had with her the better. Interrogation was one thing, but not at the risk of giving up their location, or anything that might help her to find it again later.

Once they had completed their task, Jack and Ping went back upstairs. They had a fairly limited window to get maximum leverage against Oricks. The longer he had to extend his tendrils, the more recruits he would amass, and backers he would gain. He was nothing if not an effective manipulator, he had proven that well and truly.

The obvious thing to do next was for them to head back out to the streets and start snooping. They decided against attacking the Vixens directly, as they didn't know what their connections were yet, and weren't desperate enough to risk spreading word of what they were up to. There were plenty of other gangs around to work on, and Jack figured they should start with the Aleutians. They were footing it with the Wing 'Tan for deals with the Alphas, so probably knew of anything going on. However, they weren't the best communicators, so they would need to find a way in.

Cindy and Ping were going to get to work on tracking down Loach. Wherever he was now, he was getting geared up again, and they needed to try and slow that progress. If he really was pushing out preliminary Biotronics technology, he couldn't be left to develop it fully. Even though reverse engineering any of the tech was near impossible, sooner or later someone would manage it, and those small odds were far too large, considering the potential risks.

### Chapter 5

The room was surprisingly bright, considering all of the rather macabre sculptures and paintings adorning the floor and walls. Streams of light brought a sense of reality to some of the sculptures near the picture window. As Jules stepped to one that stood about six feet tall, he could start to see the detail of the engraving. The figure was of a partly naked woman in Egyptian garb, holding a knife in one hand, and the head of a strange animal in the other, its spine and entrails draping to the floor. It was when he looked at the headdress he realised it was Isis.

The Irony was not lost on Jules at all. Here he was, the man who betrayed Osiris, admiring a statue of the woman who would have his head. He looked closely at the face of the statue, made up with carving of dozens of serpent-like swirls and shapes. It looked nothing like Sophie.

The door at the back of the room shut, echoing around the space. Jules turned quickly to see the shadow emerge into the light. "You look a little startled, my friend."

"Let's just say that not many people I've encountered lately have been too pleased to see me."

"I am aware, Jules, you're keeping our Sweepers busy downtown, and we've lost a handful of Runners at the same time."

"Collateral damage, Gindobe. I really do need to cover my tracks until the cat is out of the bag. The more supply lines we can establish now, the easier it will be to dominate the market in the future."

"Dominate the market? We ARE the market."

Jules could sense his associate was getting aggravated by the current direction of the conversation. "Listen Gindobe, let's have a drink, it's been a long day."

Jules moved over to the bar at the balcony and sat, opening his hands out for Gindobe to join him. As Gindobe walked over, Jules could see him almost glide. It was an elegant stride of a man born into high society, which of course he was. Ox doubted any real stresses of the modern day world entered this mans' mind. His show of anxiety or stress would be part of the charade. He was obviously out of reach. Period.

As they sat, Jules passed him a slender glass, filled with a bright green liquid that shimmered on the surface. Jules raised his glass and took a drink. The two of them sat in silence for a moment, before Gindobe spoke.

"Jules, although we have known each other for some time now, there are still many matters we need to discuss to progress our relationship to the next level. Not least of which being your current activities around town."

Jules moved to speak, but he was cut short. "Just listen, Jules. You must understand that in order for our organisation to prosper, we need to maintain a certain level of separation from many of our activities. This includes a few recent links being murmured in the underground about your resurrection."

"Gindobe, they're just rumours, I'm covering my tracks well."

"Nonetheless, rumours have a habit of becoming known as fact. And to this end, we have decided you must die." Gindobe paused for a moment, enjoying the clear discomfort of his visitor. "Of course we're not going to actually kill you, Jules."

"I should hope not, I'm not one to be crossed."

"Yes, yes, enough of the threats. If you are to become part of the organization there will be no need for aggression, that will lead to mistakes."

"So then what are we doing?"

Gindobe took a long draw from his glass, and sat back into his chair. Obviously the effects of the drink were starting to make their presence. He continued for the next ten minutes outlining how they would move to the next stage of the plan. Moves had to be carefully thought out, and impeccably timed. The organisation was weary of Sophie, now in charge of Osiris, and also the group of renegades that had started to make an impact on their minor activities.

"Yes, timing is crucial, Jules. For now, we move in the shadows, but it won't be long until we have control over all of the remaining technological industries in existence. Then we will have unbridled control of the population."

The final sentence left the room in silence, but its essence reverberated around the room as though there was a perpetual echo. Even for Jules, the goals of the Ordained seemed 'borderline'. He finished his drink with Gindobe, then headed back to his 'home'.

He had a few loose ends to work on before he took his next step with the Ordained. One of them was to make sure he had all of his bases covered in-case they turned on him. He may be on the inside now, but he knew it would be years before he would be fully accepted, and in the meantime there would be many others who would as easily use him as a scapegoat as an ally. He had work to do.

### Chapter 6

"You are an amazing man, Jules."

There was no response, except for the light hum of the engine through the cabin. Of course, he didn't expect a response as he was travelling alone, but he needed the reassurance he was on the right path. Surprisingly, hearing the words, even from his own mouth, was surprisingly empowering.

He had concern over his place in the plan, but now felt The Ordained had no choice but to accept him. He was, after-all, breaching every aspect of the Government's security agencies single-handed. Sure, there were a few hiccups, but on an operation of this profile, it was inevitable.

He had made a conscious decision to leave his brother at Osiris indefinitely. It wasn't an act of cruelty they had discussed this potential outcome from the beginning, in fact, it was Shey who suggested it. He used that fact as his fall-back any time he started to get self-doubt over throwing family to the dogs. It may have been semantics, being a clone not naturally born, but nonetheless, he was still of the same stock.

Jules needed some clear space to get perspective on the situation, he also needed information. There was one person he knew that would readily give him both of these, and he was going to see her now. She certainly was an odd character, at the same time both charming and frightening. She wasn't menacing or anything so extreme, but her knowledge of human emotion and control was astounding.

The drive seemed shorter than usual, he must have been deeper in thought than he originally realized. Nonetheless, he was there now, and she was waiting on the porch. He got out of the car and walked up, being captivated by her almost ear-to-ear smile.

"Good to see you, Jules. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Olive, I'm hurt, do you think I need a reason to come to see you?"

Olive smiled. "Jules, you forget, I can read you like a book. So, less bullshit, more business."

She was still smiling as Jules hugged her, before walking inside.

"You are too good, Olive. You know that, right?"

"Of course I do. I have removed all of the Alpha from my life, there is just enough ego to keep me going."

"Speaking of Alpha's."

"And there we have it. I tell you what, Jules. Before I help you, I need you to help me."

Jules turned to see Olive smiling and almost jumping for joy as he slowly nodded, not know what he was getting himself into.

Even though his nickname was 'The Ox', Jules had a few fears. One of them, seemingly childish, was claustrophobia. Admittedly it was only in extreme circumstances, but a Sensory Deprivation tank pretty much nailed that category. He had no idea why the fuck he agreed to do it. It may have been Olive's charm, she certainly had that. It was more likely his desire to show he had no fear, outwardly at least. And besides, she promised to help him with some of her brother's contact details after he indulged her by being her experiment.

"So what is this stuff I'm swimming in Olive?"

"It's a solution of my own making, my friend" Her voice came back clear as day, even though there was an inch of steel between them.

"And how come you can talk to me, I thought this blocked out everything."

"I have a Temporal Frequency Receiver built into the node I attached to your forehead. The tank is designed to allow frequencies of a very small range to transmit through. The nett gain of energy into the tank is marginally larger than that of a photon, so negligible. It's not ideal, but I need feedback on the tanks operation, so necessary."

Jules didn't even hear the end of her spiel, he was already asleep. He didn't admit it later, but when he came out he felt more refreshed than he had felt in years. It was as if he had been soaking in the elixir of life itself.

After giving Olive the low-down on the experience, which didn't take long, they sat down and had a drink. After the usual pleasantries, Olive began asking about what had happened with Tyrol. She had told him that Tyrol visited her not long before he died, and didn't seem himself.

"What was, or is, going on Jules, do I need to be worried?"

"No Olive, you will be fine. After you moved up here the Alpha's pretty much moved on without you."

"I hate that term. It is such a disgusting reminder of the gaping chasm between the classes in the City."

"Sorry if I offended you Olive, I know you came here to live a peaceful life, away from the chaos and drama."

"It was more than that Jules. After the experiments were confirmed as a cu-de-gras on the city, I couldn't bear to see the collapse of the remnants of our once vibrant society. Until that point I honestly had hope/"

"But the society continues."

"I hope you are not referring to that monstrosity they scarred the hills with to the West. All part of the plan, I assume."

"I'm not sure about that Olive. I don't really know who was a plan with this. But, I do have some leads on your brother's killer. It seems to be an out of town job."

"How far out of town?"

Jules picked up on the rise in tone of Olives question. He had picked that she would know something, but needed the right angle.

"What have you heard Olive? There is a lot of static out there over this one."

"Well, well, well. I thought you Government intelligence types had the whole world at your fingertips. All the technology in the world, and you are stumped?"

"I wouldn't say stumped, Olive, but we are trying to find the perpetrator soon, to bring matters to a close, for all of us."

Olive paused for a moment, Jules could tell she was considering whether or not to talk to him, which meant what she was going to give up was a big deal. Even though she had effectively become a recluse, he knew that she kept tabs on family matters, even if she didn't want to admit it.

"You might have to look a fair way out of town for this one Jules. What do you know about the Aleutians?"

"A lot. But not enough. I know they have some pretty high profile contacts in the city, for a start."

"That is an understatement. But, it's also not their greatest achievement. Have you heard of the black-spots in Melbourne? Information voids and inaccessible regions?"

"Sure, everyone has. A lot of scare mongering and urban legends though, it has been checked out."

"By who Jules? I can tell you now, the stories are true, and it's where the Aleutians base themselves. Now, what do you think about that?"

Olive had a big grin. She knew that Oricks had no idea about this revelation. She also knew that it would take him some time to process what she was telling him. For a generation, any political or economic activity that mattered happened in Sydney. The remaining settlements in the other regions were so inactive, people had genuinely forgotten about them.

"Well, Olive, aren't you just full of surprises. So tell me, how do you know this?"

"I have an old friend, don't ask how we met, that is a close.... Associate, of the Aleutians. I visited him a few months ago, and he confided in me about their dealings with the Alpha's. I think he was trying to curry favour with me, to try and get me in Tyrol's ear about his importance and value."

"Did it work?"

"Jules, anyone would have to try a lot harder than giving me a few words to get in favour." She raised her eyebrow, and reached for another drink.

It was a shame she couldn't be left alone at the house. Jules had started to grow fond of her, but loose ends are loose ends. What he had gleaned from their conversation was that Olive was still involved with the Alpha's on a high enough level that she was dangerous. She had definitely lost her cold edge that they were famous for, which meant that someone else may be able to get to her. This was not going to happen, so as he carefully searched the house for any evidence of Alpha activity he put the muffled whimpers in the closet as collateral damage.

### Chapter 7

As they all headed off to their own rooms for the evening, Ping passed Blake in the corridor. "Hey Blake, you reckon Jack is OK?"

"Define OK."

"Slightly more messed up than the rest of us, but not losing the plot."

Blake paused for a minute, then looked at Ping with concern. "I don't like talking about people behind their backs, Ping."

"No, no. It's not like that. I'm a bit worried about him. He spends a lot of time hooked up directly to the Biotronics system through the helmet. He's getting his senses barraged and probed more than any human ever has."

"I hope you haven't worded things like that to him, you're making him sound like fucking Frankenstein!"

"Nah, I haven't talked to him, didn't want him to flip out at me. It's just I don't know how he was before, so I have no idea if all the shit around him is messing with him. No base-line."

"All this shit around him is messing with all of us Ping. But, I take what you're saying, don't worry, I've got his back."

Blake put his hand on Ping's shoulder and gave it a tap as he moved past him. As he was getting undressed in his en-suite, his mind ran through the last few weeks with Jack. There was definitely a little something different about him, but it wasn't necessarily bad. He was a bit edgy at times, to if he was honest, Jack seemed to be managing things better than himself.

Looking into the mirror, Blake was losing track of who he was. The man who once looked back at him was a focussed and talented Federal Agent, top of class, to become a Director one day. Now, he was unshaven, hadn't cut his hair in two months, and doubted everything his training had drilled into him. Conformity to The Man was such an alien concept to him now, he felt disgusted that he was so deep in the system.

The things he had learnt recently showed him that the system was nothing more than a ruse, filled with charlatans. Cindy, for all of her edgy mannerisms, had presented him with so much evidence of how the country had been manipulated by an elite few, that he was a little surprised he hadn't had a glimpse of it before. But, like most people, he had been baffled with bullshit by the very best.

Down the other end of the hall, Jack was dozing off. He had his fingers crossed, literally, that he wouldn't have any dreams tonight. The goddam dreams. They were becoming a permanent fixture of his life now, and it was killing him. Not literally of course, not yet. He made himself a promise, as he slowly drifted out of consciousness. If I can't make one night without waking up whimpering like a little girl, I'm taking to Sin. Only Sin.

Jack's thoughts were broken by a dull thud in the lounge. He took a moment to register it, then quietly slipped out of bed, grabbing his blade from behind the bed-head as he got up. There was another dull thud, which he almost swore was a report from a silenced gun.

Swiftly moving down the hall, he eased Ping's door open, no-one there. He moved down to Blake's room, then Cindy. No-one was in their room. What the fuck is going on, Jack's mind was racing. Moving quickly to the living room now he paused at the entrance. There was a shadow standing against the window. He quickly moved along the wall using the dividing wall to the dining room as cover.

It was still dark, and as he moved he tripped on something. Looking down, it was Ping's body. He was about to check his pulse when he saw his throat was slit. The instant adrenaline rush flushed the room with bright blue and red flashes. An instant later everything came into focus and he could see clearly what was going on. There were to more bodies on the floor in the living room near the shadow.

Jack mentally prepared himself for the next few movements. He was going to use his vision to full effect by sweeping around the back of the dining room and hitting the window blinds to put the room into total darkness, then double back and attack the shadow from his original position.

As he was about to move, he heard a voice. "Hello, Jack. Long time, huh?" His vision suddenly dropped back to normal, the lights came on. It was his old commanding officer. This wasn't possible, the sudden shock of the voice made him feel weak and nauseous.

"So, Jacko, first you didn't protect your daughter, not you don't protect your crew. Guess you're still a pussy little soft-cock huh? No wonder your wife wanted a real man."

Jack shouted out and bolted upright in bed. Goddam it, I've had enough of this crap. He got up to have a cold shower and go talk to Sin. It was the middle of the night, but things were getting ridiculous. As he got up he saw Cindy at the door.

"Anything you want to talk about, hun?" Jack dipped his head and went to the ensuite. "I'll get the brew going, you clean yourself up."

For the next hour Jack spilled his guts about the nightmares, how vivid they were, and how it didn't really seem to tie in together. It was like the worst parts of his life experiences were pulped together into a repetitive enactment of life's misery.

"I am a little worried Jack. We have you plugged into TLM a lot, and I think that it may be having trouble discerning what is part of your conscious presence, and what are memories and your imagination."

"How could that happen, I thought it was only receiving signals. How could it have any effect on me. You mean it is now transmitting signals to my fucking head?"

Jack's voice was beginning to raise, and Cindy could clearly see he was agitated. Of course she completely understood his fear, what they were messing with was uncharted territory. There had been so many experimental screw ups in the past, that the Government put a halt on all neural augmentation decades ago.

"Jack, stop, take a breath. I am not saying that at all, believe me when I tell you we know for a fact TLM can't do anything like that." She stopped and put her hand over his, looking at him as he raised his head to see her. "Jack, I care about you. You know I would never do anything that could hurt you."

"Then what is it?"

"I'm not 100% sure, but what I think is happening is that the heightened activity by TLM's almost instant response to your thoughts has made you kind of 'wired', if you know what I mean."

"Oh, so now I'm just a borderline sociopath with anger issues, that is also neurotic?"

Cindy grabbed his hand tight and ruffled his hair with her other hand. "Exactly, that is why I love you!"

Cindy got up from the table and kissed him on the head before heading for the corridor.

"I'm awake now Jack, so I'm going to the lab. You're off patrol duty, at least with Betty, until Ping and I give you the all clear. No arguments, no sneaking out, just do as you're told."

Jack got up from the table scraping the chair as he did. He looked down the end of the room to see Cindy raise her hand behind her.

"Stay there Jack, grab a coffee or something, I have geek shit to do before we can start."

### Chapter 8

As he entered the room, there was complete darkness, with the exception of one large leather chair. The chair on its own was of little worth, it was the insignia in the headrest that held the real value. For generations the Ordained had worked in the shadows to build their power. And even though it would soon be their time to take full control of the region, they still would not show their hand. This was the way of the order.

And so, even though he was about to be present with his collaborators, Gindobe would still be alone. If not for the sound of his footsteps, his thoughts may have become loud enough to echo in the chamber. He was a measured man, of careful consideration in all things, which was not a trait shared by some of the Order. This was to soon be rectified.

Sitting down, he felt the coolness of the leather wrap around him. He sat back and closed his eyes, pushing his head back against the sensors in the headrest. In a few moments, the room began to slowly illuminate. He could now see the other members sitting around the table, amid a garden surrounded by trees. There was complete silence as they acknowledged each other's presence with a nod of the head.

"Gentlemen", Gindobe began in his usual calm tone. "Thank you for being here for this meeting. We are all busy, but I feel there are some issues we need to address. So, for a moment please indulge me as I convey my concerns."

He looked around the room and saw that the other twelve members gave their complete attention. There had been enough rumblings lately of a sea-change, all puns excused, that they were anxious to get moving. The usual pace of The Ordained was enough to drive most men to boredom, but it was a necessary element of the ongoing operations. Trends, activity, patterns of movement, these were the things that attracted the attention of the authorities. They had control over a lot of the political hierarchy, but the last thing they needed was for the general public to get wind of their existence.

"Everything we have done to date will pale in comparison to the next phase of our Destiny. We all know this, but I am not sure we all hold the same conviction."

He paused, partly for his love of theatrics, but more-so to gauge the reaction of the others. A few were obviously uncomfortable, which is how he liked it. The attempted coup on his position was months-gone now, but it would not be forgotten so soon.

"Gindobe, this Oricks person you have engaged in the operations. He seems.... Reckless, unpredictable, even."

Gindobe looked at Leucha for a moment, then the others.

"Yes, he is reckless, but he is in no way unpredictable. Believe me when I tell you, I have anticipated every move he has made. Some may have been at the... sharp... end of what we may deem acceptable, but this is what we need now. The more obscure we can make our tie to him, the easier it is to make progress."

"And what of Oricks when he is no longer useful, or caught?"

"I don't expect either to happen, but should fate turn on him, he will be... undone. We do not dice with the devil, we calculate his moves and ensure we are ahead of him. The Ordained do not fear."

Gindobe let the last word hang. He wanted his compatriots to be sure of his intention in regards to the outsider. Although he was fond of Oricks, there was no place for errors with The Ordained. He would either succeed in his role, or he would be erased from existence. Gindobe did not often take risks, he was quite risk averse, but even so, he would not admit for one minute to the others in this room that he was anything but certain of their success. His position demanded obedience, and he commanded it.

"Now, gentlemen, I'm sure you all know that we are at a critical point in our work. We have spent the last generation moulding our future, and another generation was given by our forebears in the planning. Everything has gone as planned, and will. We are being guided through faith and understanding of our place."

He paused and looked around the room. The others nodded in agreement, and there was a clear lifting of spirits present.

"Now is the time when we will show ourselves to the world. Not for power, we need no more. Not for financial gain, money is irrelevant. But, my friends, for immortality. Some have argued that most of the world's population has been lost, but it has not. If something has been lost, it was once wanted, and those that grovel in the filth of daily life have never been wanted by the true sons of humanity."

The member clapped unanimously and loudly as Gindobe rose to his feet. His voice grew in strength and conviction as he reached his crescendo.

"Once the world sees our ultimate power, they will choose to obey and provide, or they will be no longer. The world will not continue wasting energy on those that cannot understand it. We are the future of humanity, and nothing stands in our way."

Gindobe raised his hands and looked to the ceiling, feeling the power flow through him. The exhilaration of the moment was a reminder to him of who he was, who they were. He felt the veils of secrecy stripping from him, and it felt as though he was born again.

### Chapter 9

Blake and Jack were sitting at the dining table when Cindy and Ping walked in. It was the usual scene late in the afternoon, beer out, smack talk well underway, and Jack's sense of musical taste under scrutiny. The pair at the table stopped laughing as Cindy sat down and looked to her.

"What?", she said in a defensive manner.

"You gonna tell us or what, Doc? I got ten credits says Jack is more fried than a 3rd Quad crack addict."

He looked to Jack, please with his quip, but only got a middle finger in reply.

"Well, the short answer is that we are not completely sure. All of the tests come up negative."

"The kind I like", Jack interrupted. Laughing at his humour.

"Aaanyway, smart arse comments aside, we don't know what it might be. It's just as likely to be stress as anything else."

"So we don't have to put him down then?" Blake was more pleased with his joke than Jack was earlier.

"No, unfortunately we have to keep him. Although, a fairly short leash may be on the cards, so stay off TLM for a bit, Jack."

"Hey, fine by me, Betty and I can go out old-school for a while."

"Ummm, no, not really."

"Why the fuck not, it's my bike, and you ain't my mamma."

"I'm the closest you have to one, so for now you're riding shotgun."

Jack was clearly displeased with Cindy's demand and made a mental note to "discuss" it with her later. Of course, he knew she was probably right, and he trusted her more than anyone, but nonetheless, he didn't appreciate a dressing-down in front of the guys.

Blake could sense a little tension so decided to change-up the conversation. The had a good lead after a bit of a drought in their search for Loach.

"We may have a lead to follow up on the whereabouts of Loach."

Everyone looked at Blake as though he was about to drop down a chimney and place wrapped gifts under a tree.

"I've been in touch with Sophie; she reckons her new two-I-C dug some dirt on Tyrol. It wasn't massive, but apparently he has a sister that went all reclusive up the coast."

"So what, lots of people have family. Well, aside from the ones at this table!" Jack laughed a little too hard, again. But his point was noted by Blake with a subtle head nod.

"You're right Jack, expect this one isn't as reclusive as she has let on. The word on the Net is that she knows, or knew, members of the Aleutians, and that she may have been in touch as recent as a month ago."

"Why the hell would an Alpha be messing with Aleutians. Those guys aren't even operating around the East Coast, are they?"

Ping showed how little he really knew of the Clans and Runner syndicates, but nobody cared to grind him on it, he was a genius and the streets were Jack and Blake's domain. Jack explained to Ping that the Aleutians weren't into Autohacking, but carried out private contract jobs for the Alpha's from time to time. It was almost always tech related, and so far under the radar few knew they were still in existence.

"Believe me, Ping, those guys are alive and kicking, and make Wing' Tan look like a bunch of disorganized kids."

"So anything this sister may have on them could be valuable."

"Without a doubt. Blake, do we have an address on her?"

"Of sorts. Soph gave me a general area. We should go up there and find her. Osiris is pretty secure now, but you never know if they're going to pop a leak. There are a few pretty skittish folk over there."

"I thought you said Sophie had it under control now?"

"She does, I guess I just spend a lot of time reading between the lines. Oricks really fucked them over with his stunt."

"I think you're understating what happened Blake. If it was a stunt, he was Evil mother fucking Knievel!"

"Maybe so, but remember, he's still at large, so whether those inside Osiris know it or not, they may be working for him. That is all I mean."

They all sat silent at the table for a moment. Between them, there was enough skill and experience to take down almost anyone, anywhere. But, if Oricks had proved nothing else, it was that regardless of your credentials and gut-feel, life is in a constant state of flux, and anything can flip the table at any time.

"Right, Jack, you're with me. We'll take the Beast up the coast and find this woman. Ping and Cindy, we still need to find Loach. Do what you can and get us some names."

As they left the room Jack spun around and headed to the fridge. He pulled out a couple of beers, opened one, and put the other in his jacket pocket. Blake raised his arms and scowled.

"What. If I can't ride my fucking bike I might as well have a drink."

"Yeah, and what's the other one for then, Jack?"

"The second half of the trip, you're a slow-ass driver."

Blake knocked Jack's arm as he walked past, spilling beer on Jack's shirt. Ping looked at them leave, then looked at Cindy.

"And I thought I was the kid!"

"They may be children Ping, but Blake is right, we need to get some more leads. Loach is an evasive little shit, so we need to find associates."

"I have a theory on that Sin. You know how we have our quantum algorithms for analysing TLM on the fly, well, I was thinking about the signal path for that, and how it's tagged to the latent radiation emitted by TLM's interaction with the environment."

"Yeah, so how does that help us?"

"Well, TLM is just the interface for our Biotronics systems. We've never thought of trying to trace the origin of other Biotronics systems by using the radiation signal."

"That's because TLM boosts that radiation signature during transmission. The signal on its own from raw Biotronics material is pretty weak, Ping."

"Yeah, but it's there. And that is my point. If it is somewhere, we may be able to tag it."

"Jack would literally have to be standing over the person or object to detect it, which kind of misses the point, doesn't it?"

"Not necessarily. What if we were to fabricate a signal relay unit that specifically searched out Biotronics signatures. Then when it did, boosted that signal enough for our detectors to pick it up."

Cindy thought for a minute. The kid was definitely in a league of his own, well, almost. She was still weary of his emotional state. When he got in the zone, like now, he was brilliant, but when the heat settled down he often became incoherent and started rambling about Jay. She put it down to his relative youth, and all the crap Wing' Tan had no doubt put him through.

"Good work, kiddo. I think you may be on to something here."

Ping had a grin big enough to fill the room. He must have become aware of it, as he quickly put on his game face.

"So, we don't want the relays to be too big, in signal or physical size."

"Right, if they leak out too much, Loach or anyone he has brought up to speed will be able to detect it, or at least detect something is wrong with the emission fields in the area."

"But if it's too weak, we won't get enough information to discern where it is, or what it's coming from.

The both thought about the problem for a moment. This stuff really was balancing the strength of their tech on a knife edge. If Loach did find any of these relays, or any other tech that even smelled like Ping or Cindy, he would be in the wind. They needed him to think he was two steps ahead of them. Which of course he presently was, but that was about to change.

"So this is what we are going to do Ping. We make the device small enough to fit in a public comm device. We will have enough of them to had a solid overlay of the lower city, with a weak enough signal that any overlap is still in the margin of error for most scanners."

"That would be at least forty units Sin, kind of a tall order."

"Not with the Biotronics modelling unit we made. They could be printed in a few days."

"After we design them. And test them."

"Exactly. Jesus Ping, get your fucking happy face on, this is a good idea." Cindy could see that he was flailing in his enthusiasm all of a sudden. She was starting to get tired of the preschool teacher routine. "Look, Ping, get to work on the design, I'll get the modeller primed. This will work, trust me."

"We still have the problem of the weak signal at a distance."

"I know. I think Jack is going to have to literally comb the streets and download the data as he goes. For now we will have to analyse it here and track any movement or clustered location of the tech. After this is up and running, you and I can work on a mobile decrypter that is small enough to fit on Betty."

The two of them sat silent for a moment, before Ping added "You know, Sin, if we can make this work, we will literally have a map of any and all Biotronics tech active in the city, in real time."

"I know. It's gonna be fucking cool!"

She smiled and headed down the hall to have a hot shower. It had been a long-ass morning, and she was feeling like the day wasn't going to be any shorter for it. Sharing a house with three other men didn't give her a lot of personal time. The shower was one place she knew she had to herself.

### Chapter 10

As the hills gave way to the open highway below, Blake opened the throttle on the Beast. Although it was an ugly bastard, and twice the mass of most vehicles on the road, it handled like a dream. Blake put it down to the work Ping and Cindy had been pumping in to get it up to scratch. He took a corner far too fast and got a bit twisted up on the controls. Looking over at Jack he could see him grip his side-bar a little.

His comm flashed up, it was Sophie. "Blake, we need to talk."

"So talk Sophie, what's on your mind?"

"When you are in private, Blake."

Blake looked over at Jack. "No dice honey. Jack is part of our team, what you can say to me, you can say to him. I'd only tell him anyway."

"Very well then." There was a slight anger in her voice, but was faintly covered. "As you know, Osiris isn't running by the standard rules. Now, we have Oversight, which keeps a bit of a tab on us, but they're politicians, they don't want their hands too dirty."

"So what does this mean to us?" Blake sensed he was about to get shafted, but felt he was owed a break by Karma. Probably him more than Jack, that is.

"It means, Blake, that I want your lot on our side."

Blake looked over to Jack, who had his eyebrows raised so high he looked like a circus clown. Jack shrugged his shoulders. "Why us, Sophie?"

"A few reasons. You have some good contacts in the under-world, and no-one has tied you to us as far as we know. Also, there are some jobs we may need doing that even Osiris won't touch. You would be compensated, of course."

"Who says you don't just set us up to get the Biotronics as soon as you can."

"Blake, I could have already done that. Truth is, while it's with you, I know it's safe. Give me a reason to doubt that trust, and I'll squeeze your nuts so hard they'll pop."

There was a silence for a moment. Most of it was both Jack and Blake imagining their good bits being made into chopped-liver. "I'll talk to the team. There will be terms."

"On our end too, Blake. Just look after that tech. Every man and his dog wants it, and you can bet they're already starting to develop systems from scratch." Sophie cut her comm.

"So, what do you think, Jack?"

"I think she's a politician herself, but I like her voice."

"But do you trust her voice?"

"I don't trust much about women these days. How are the new enhancements on the Beast treating you?"

"Fucking great, the sensors Ping implanted in me don't hurt anymore, and the vehicle is responding to some of my thought-input already."

"Good, now don't hit the corners too hard, I'm fucked; taking a nap."

With that, Jack rolled his head over and was asleep in an instant. A few minutes later he heard a grumbling noise from beside him. He looked over with groggy eyes to see Blake trying to speak. Looking down, he could see him trying to pull his hands from the wheel. Jack grabbed one and pulled, but it wouldn't budge.

He let go, and saw an array of thin tendons stretching from the wheel onto Blake's hands. Looking up, Blake was wide eyed and panicked. He managed to stomp on the brake, and the Beast slammed to a halt.

Jack looked at his eyes and could see them starting to glaze over, as the tendons stretched up Blake's arms. Jack started hitting the door, trying to open it, but it wouldn't budge. He hit the window area hard, the pain was instant, he awoke startled.

Blake swerved across the road, and back into his lane. "What the fuck, Jack!" he shouted.

Jack was puffing hard. "Fuck, sorry man. Bad dream."

"Jesus Christ, Jack, I nearly turned us into road-kill. What was that about?'

"Never mind. Just a fucked up dream. I need some downtime."

"Yeah, well we ain't gonna get much time for that, sunshine. Sophie already has a job for us. We need to have a briefing with Sin and Ping, see if we're in."

"Doesn't fuck around, does she?"

"Not part of Sophie's M.O., I'm afraid."

As they approached the brow of the hill, Jack could see the setting sun slowly creep over to greet them. He suddenly felt like he was a character in an old-fashioned Western, riding off into the sunset with his trusty sidekick. He imagined Blake with a head of feathers. It didn't work.

### Chapter 11

"So tell me Jack, what do you think about riding in a REAL machine?"

"Meh, it's OK. The chauffeur is a bit of a douche though."

"Touché."

They sat in silence for a minute. Jack finished his second beer and tossed it on the floor.

"Hey, don't make a mess in my ride, asshole."

"How can you tell I'm making a mess with all the other shit floating around in here? I swear, for a guy who's built like an athlete, you pack some utter shit into your stomach."

"Meh, I'm a growing boy."

"Keep eating all this shit and you will be. Did Sin get a better location for us to search?"

"Nope."

"It's a pretty fucking big country, we just gonna start door knocking?"

"I hope not. We're not far from the area she is supposed to be, I guess we'll just find a few locals and do some old-fashioned detective work."

"Can I be the bad cop?", Jack replied in a sarcastic tone.

"No worries, in fact, I think you'd make a fucking terrible one."

They both sat there smiling. Now that Blake had pulled the gigantic stick out of his arse, he was turning out alright. For a Fed. Well, an ex-Fed.

The barren waste land they had been driving through began to give way to glimpses of coast and a few scattered trees. The old road cut through the hills ahead like a winding snake. The abandoned wind turbines across the top looked more like a scene from an apocalyptic movie than a beacon of an energy efficient and environmentally balanced future. Most people gave up on the idea saving the planet when they found out it was likely going to send waves lapping on their doorstep one day soon.

There were a few houses scattered among the hills as they drove through, but on the first pass they didn't see anything that shouted out 'Alpha town'.

"You happy there is no action now, Blake. We need to get in to some of these places, it's the only way."

As Jack was about to tell Blake to stop being a pussy, Blake jumped on the brakes. Jack was about to give him a sarcastic safe-driving lecture when Blake put his arm over Jacks chest, pointing out the window.

"Bingo!"

There was some smoke coming for a house at the end of a small valley. There was a short access road to the house, lined with trees. The front fence was made of old stone, with rustic gates part-open.

"You reckon? Bloody hope not, the place looks crispy."

"This is the place, look at the carving on the gate."

Jack hadn't noticed it at first, but the insignia was there alright. It was the same one on Tyrol's property back in the hills, their family crest. They both looked at each other, before Blake pulled back and turned into the driveway. Jack was instinctively going to get out of the car to walk up, but Blake shook his head slowly.

"Believe me Jack, if we are moving into an ambush or over an EID, this is exactly where we want to be. We ain't on a 200kg motorbike now."

Blake slowly crept up the drive as they both tried to peer through the smoke around the house, the approaching sunset wasn't making visibility any easier. It was obvious it had been burning for some time, it was mostly hot embers around the window openings now, the surrounding concrete walls swept with black soot.

"This does NOT look good Blake. You reckon someone is still in there?"

"No idea Jack. It might have been arson, but then again, it might have been a lightning strike. Too soon to make assumptions buddy."

"They're not assumptions, Blake, it's profiling. Remember? First thing a bad cop does at a crime scene." Jack made a pistol hand and fired a shot at Blake. He was a little pissed that Blake ignored him, but then noticed he was staring intently out front.

"No, fucking, way." Jack was about to get out, but Blake stopped him.

"We need Sin to check this out first."

Blake got on the comm to Cindy. He told her what they had, and she told them to wait-out while she picked up the signal to relay through to the cabin.

"OK boys, here you go."

The cabin darkened, with a holo spearing in front of the windscreen. It was a relay of what was at the front door of the house, but it wasn't a woman giving the message, it was a man. It was Oricks.

The message was a loop of the same sentence, "Sorry, Olive and I have left for a holiday, and won't be back in the foreseeable future. Please accept our apology for our lack of presence, but rest-assured, we are both going to a better place."

The two of them sat in silence for a minute, watching the loop roll around again and again. Blake broke the silence.

"I fucking hate that guy's face. I wish I had have put a bullet in it a year ago."

"Ohhhh, is that right. So now who is the violent and immature one, huh?" Jack savoured the moment, for once he timed his quip perfectly. "But, you're right, would have saved us a lot of headaches."

"Instead, we're back to square fucking one."

They both sat silent for a minute, before Cindy disrupted them. "Maybe not boys. This chick was an Alpha remember. Even if she wanted to stay off the grid, it doesn't mean Tyrol wouldn't keep tabs on her. He was nothing if not obsessive."

"So you guys can start searching, while we check this place out. It's not likely Oricks would leave any trace, but everyone makes mistakes."

It wasn't an ideal situation, but at least they knew they were on to something now. There is no way Oricks would have risked having his face being shown to anyone unless he knew they were coming. Blake was thinking this through when it hit him like a bolt of lightning.

"Fuck, I need to get hold of Soph."

Jack looked at him, puzzled. "What, now?"

"Think about it Jack. Oricks is dead, as far as the outside world knows. It is the way we want it to appear, and with this clone shit, looks like the way Oricks wants it too. So, if he is serious about keeping his identity covered, why the hell would he leave a holo with his signature all over it."

Jack paused for a moment, but not because he didn't know the answer, because he was pissed that Oricks was a step ahead of them, again.

"So Osiris has a mole, and we were lead here by Oricks. Damn, you should have put a bullet in that ugly prick's head!"

Cindy was still on the comm, "I'll give her a heads-up Blake. You boys need to look around there first. Once we leave, we can't go back, Feds and Alpha's will be all over it pretty soon."

They both knew now that there would be nothing at the house, but needed to take a look regardless. Blake brought up the scanners and surveyed the area. There were no signals or chemicals in the vicinity that would suggest a bomb or IED, so they got out. Blake sent a couple of drones ahead, just in case. They were back within 30 seconds, no life in the house.

As they moved towards the front door, Jack waved his hand through the holo of Oricks, middle finger out, before getting out his knife and prying the emitter from the porch. With any luck that would be the second to last time he saw Jules Oricks.

The first pass through the door almost made Jack choke. Whatever she was growing in this place was potent, it overpowered everything including the charred framing. The pair of them carefully moved across the kitchen floor, stepping around burnt framing and furniture. Looking up Jack could see the sky through the wisps of smoke being drawn up through the large hole.

"This place doesn't look so stable Blake, we better find something and get out of here. Besides, I think I'm getting wasted off whatever is in the air, and I like it!"

Blake looked over to leer at him but noticed something flash just past Jack's shoulder, it flashed back. He dove at Jack, grabbing his arm as he stumbled past. There was no report, just a sold thud as the round hit the table beside them. In a moment the room was echoing with Ricochets as bullets filled the room like flies.

"Where the fuck as that coming from?" Jack shouted as he scrambled behind the counter to Blake.

Jack was peering around the corner while drawing his Timmy, catching glimpses of movement between puffs of smoke and dust. "Fuck it Blake, talk to me!"

Jack looked over and saw a blood smear on the side of the cabinet. He looked up to Blake who was half smiling, half wincing. There was a smear of blood across his arm, which was resting on his hip.

"Fuck Blake, what have you done now?"

"I'll be fine, just don't feel like talking much." He winced again as he twisted on the spot. "Seriously, just grab the trauma pack out of my packet and shoot whoever the fuck shot me."

Jack grabbed the pack out and ripped open the zip. There was an intense burst of gunfire, with shells shattering the bench all around them. He blocked it out for a moment, pulling out the pack of sedatives and popping a handful into Blake's mouth. His military training was in full swing now, as he shoved the rest of the packet into Blake's hand.

He winked at Blake, "I'll be right back sweetheart."

Scrambling to the other side of the cabinet, he peered around the corner. There were two targets outside the large window. Before they got to pull on him he had hit both of them. He got up and ran for the hallway, seeing two red blurs move past the window, he slid past the doorway, tripping on the broken door. He used his momentum and rolled past, back into his half-sprint. He saw another red blur through the window on the other side, and ducked as shells ricocheted from the other side. That was four attackers, plus any snipers.

Jack's play was easy, draw them away from Blake, get a line on them, say goodnight. He didn't think past that because he knew he didn't need to, between his training and enhancements, it was now one big reflex action.

He got to the end of the house, with the last room being a rumpus room of sorts. There was a large tank in the corner, among smouldering wires and tubes. He didn't even want to know what creepy shit Olive was into.

The door to the outside was blown out. He quickly moved to it and peered around. There was one attacker who spun around as Jack stepped on broken glass. Jack didn't hesitate and put three rounds in his chest. He moved quickly to the other side of the house and saw two more running back. There were ten metres of clear ground to a rock formation, and thirty metres to the approaching gunmen. He made a run for the rocks.

He made it to the rocks, diving over them and half-rolling to get a line. He heard the attackers shouting and running towards him. At least he knew now these guys weren't pro's, he could hear tell exactly where they were, even without them dumping a clip each into the rocks.

He spun past the rocks and shot them both at near point blank. He didn't check to see if they were dead, he just ran to the house for cover. The gun shots had stopped, but he was cautious making his way back to the front of the house. Turning to the kitchen he saw a figure standing over Blake. Jack quickly trained his gun, just as the attacker turn to him.

"Can you shoot before I kill your friend?" The voice was cool and calm. They may not be trained, but this wasn't his first gunfight.

"What do you want?"

"I want to know why you killed Olive."

Jack looked at him for a moment, wishing he was close enough to slap the stupid out of him.

"You dumb mother fucker. We're here trying to find her killer, believe me if we had have done this the place would have been a crater."

"So what the fuck do you want here?"

"Answers."

"You'll get none from me."

Jack looked at him for a moment, then the blood smear on the bench. This conversation was going nowhere fast, and he needed to get Blake out of there.

"Look, neither of us have answers, and my friend is hurt. What say we swap numbers and sort this out later?"

The attacker looked at him, then Blake. Without taking his gun from Blake's focus, he pulled up his sleeve.

"Oh for fuck's sake, Aleutians. No wonder you are pissed."

"Why do you say that?"

"Our source says you lot had an allegiance of sorts."

The attacker looked surprised. "And what else did you source say about us?"

"Nothing, today. We're getting the fuck out of here. Kill either of us, and that fuck-off looking tank outside will fill anything within a hundred metres full of big-ass holes. So, stalemate."

The attacker looked at both of them, then holstered his gun. He casually walked past Jack. "3rd Quadrant, Hanger 18. 3am two days from now. You want answers, we want answers. You will not see us after then, or before."

Jack watched him walk past before holstering the Timmy and moving over to Blake. He pulled his arm over his shoulder and scrambled to the car. He heaved Blake into the passenger seat, copping abuse for being rough as an outback waitress.

"Sin, you there?"

"Yeah Jack, what the fuck is going on? The Beast scanners just went haywire with bio-warnings for Blake."

"We got in a gunfight with some Aleutians. Long story but Blake got snapped. I'm coming back with the bloody afterburners and any other burner this thing has going, so make sure the Doc is ready and prepped. It ain't life threatening, but he doesn't look to happy about it."

"Got it Jack, don't fuck around."

He looked over at Blake who was conscious but looking like shit. "Blake, Sin said we should stop for ice-cream, you cool with that?"

Blake slowly lifted his middle finger as the car spun through the gate onto the road.

### Chapter 12

Mo was clearly agitated. He paced outside the office never taking his eyes off Blake. Who the hell did this guy think he was, locking him out, then flicking him the bird. Of all the childish things, and Sophie just letting it go. He wasn't going to stand for this.

Banging on the door, both Sophie and Blake couldn't help but be distracted.

"Sounds like your poodle is a bit upset, Soph!"

"Oh, really? Maybe it was because of your little stunt earlier. I'm not sure whether to put that down to your general alpha male complex, or... jealousy."

She blushed immediately after saying it, but didn't regret it. Sophie wasn't a flirt, but she was a woman, and although she and Blake had a long history together she couldn't help but be attracted to him now. Of course, it was the whole bad-boy renegade thing, she was well aware of this, but nonetheless, bad was definitely a good colour on him.

"Well, he had it coming. The kid is barely ever three feet from your side. I don't get it; do you have puppy treats in your pocket or something?"

Sophie laughed quietly. "No, silly, he is just the person you were a year ago. I guess you have just forgotten that you were once a wide-eyed rookie too. Mo is actually an excellent operator."

"Do you enjoy his company?"

Sophie gave Blake a flat stare, "We are NOT going there sunshine. Besides, I like my men a little rougher around the edges." She winked as she walked past to go and open the door.

As she opened the door, Mo rushed through. He was about to let out a tirade of abuse at Blake about respect and how this was his house, but he stopped in his tracks when Sophie coughed loudly. As Mo turned around, she raised her index finger and shook it at him.

"Mo", she stated in a flat tone. "You may be upset, and fair enough, but now is not the time for dick swinging."

Mo was about to protest, but Sophie looked straight at him and shook her head.

"Have a seat Mo, we have much to discuss."

Mo pulled his chair from beside Blake nearer to Sophie's side of the desk, and poured himself a glass of water.

"So, Mo, are you working for Oricks?"

Mo leapt out of his chair and took a swing at Blake, but there was no way Blake was going to get hit. Even if he did, Mo looked all of about a hundred pounds, about as much as Blake's jaw. Blake flinched hard as he moved to the side, getting a sharp reminder that he had fresh stitches in his side thanks to those bloody Aleutians.

Sophie lumped out of her seat. "STOP!"

Mo and Blake both looked at Sophie. Mo was fired up, but now felt more embarrassed than angry. Sophie always told him that emotion was vital to any operative's ability to perform well, but so was control. He sat down again, his heart still pounding, and finished his glass of water.

"Sorry about that tiger, didn't mean to upset you." Blake winked at Mo.

"Shut up Blake, and stop being an arsehole."

Blake didn't often hear Sophie swear, but whenever he did it always took him by surprise. He wasn't sure why, but she didn't look like the swearing type.

"Now, Blake, I'm sure in your secret cave, or wherever the hell you hide out, being a bully and talking smack is a daily ritual, but here it isn't. You're in my house now, and I will only tolerate so much from you before I kick your arse out of here. Get it?"

Even though he knew she was doing this more for Mo's benefit, he could hear the sincerity in her voice. He realised he was not casting her authority in a good light, so decided to tone it down and get back on track.

"Sure Soph, sorry about that. Hey, Mo, no hard feelings mate? It's been a bit tense lately and sometimes I gob off. Holes and shit in me from gunfights, you know how it is."

Blake put his hand out, but got no reception. Mo looked at him and shrugged his shoulders in indifference. It was all he could do in the situation, and didn't want to antagonize Sophie any further.

"OK Sophie, better bring the rookie up to speed."

Sophie began in a calm voice, "Mo, there is no easy way to say this, but we have a mole and they are actively relaying information to Oricks."

Mo was silent for a moment. It was everyone's worst nightmare at Osiris. Since the fiasco with Oricks double crossing them, the agency had been under near continuous political assault. It was all they could do to keep operating, and everyone knew that another front-page story about an internal failing would spell the end of them.

"Shit."

"That about sums it up really. We don't know who it is, but need to start sweeping the office. Mo, I can't tell you how important it is that we remain on a 'business as usual' footing outside of this office."

"Yeah, I figured that."

"Go and come up with a good bullshit memo for everyone. We can suggest we are running an internal audit on our profiling and network protocols. That should give you scope for questions relating to both security holes, and relationships. We can start filtering from there."

Mo stood and gave Sophie a nod. Blake got no such courtesy, just a sideways glance as he walked past. After Mo left the room, there was a moment of silence as Blake and Sophie looked at each other.

"Admiring, or shrinking?", Blake finally spouted.

"A little of both I guess. God, did I just say that?"

Blake said nothing just raised an eyebrow and nodded. Sophie suddenly felt like a school girl, except this time she wasn't the nerdy kid with pigtails and glasses, and Blake certainly wasn't the snotty-nosed geek of the class. This is not where the conversation was supposed to go today, she needed to snap out of it.

"So, anyway, back to business."

Blake picked up that she felt a little uncomfortable. Regardless of whether or not he wanted things to go anywhere, they had a job to do. Soph was nothing short of phenomenal, and he was going to make sure she succeeded with Osiris. He owed her that at least, after walking out on them at a time they probably needed him most.

"OK, so firstly, what about Mo?"

Sophie was about to yell at him again, but stopped short when she realised he was talking about the security breach.

"No, like I have said before, he is solid. Don't worry, I have my eyes wide open after Oricks and have made my own checks and investigation on him. Off the books, that is."

"Good, we will probably need more help later. I don't want Osiris too close to us, but you are overexposed yourself with the amount of direct involvement."

"You are probably right, but I do enjoy our rendezvous..."

"Once all this crap is over we can have a drink or two and talk about those."

"I'll hold you to that, Blake."

"Good. Now, I need to check in with the team, contact me as soon as you have something, even if it's not-much-of-something. Jack needs something to chase, he's chewing on the slippers again out of boredom."

Sophie got up and showed Blake to the door. He touched her hand as he left, leaving no doubt he would make good on that drink. She didn't look directly at him for fear of losing control and jumping on him in front of the staff.

A few of the staff stared at Blake as he walked past. They knew who he was, everyone at Osiris did, but they didn't know why he was there. As far as the cover story went, it was an ex-employee catching up with his old colleague, but everyone saw through that. Sophie just hoped that they didn't place him with Jack or Cindy. They were good at covering their tracks, but they weren't ghosts.

Walking past the organic and classical computers, Sophie started thinking about how the leak could have occurred. There is no doubt the information came from someone on the floor, but how did it leave the building? She went over to Mo's station and sat on the desk next to him.

"Tell me something Mo", she asked in a low voice. "If there can be no hardware getting out, and we have signal scramblers on the entire floor, how else can the leak get out?"

Mo pondered the question for a minute. It was something that had been nagging at him too. It was one thing to find a person leaking info, but finding the path out of the office might actually be the easier route. The building was full of trained spies, so they were going to be tough to trip through an interview process.

"Well, let's think about it. Like you said, this floor is probably the most secure space on the planet, without exaggeration. But there are other places in the building."

"What else do we have? There is reception, which is on the other side of the scanners."

"And the basement!" They both said at the same time.

They realised they had said it a little too loud, getting glances over the office from the other stations. They both stood and walked to Sophie's office before continuing the conversation. Once inside, Sophie wasted no time getting into theories that could explain how their prisoner could not only get information, but relay it.

"Supernatural events aside, it's not likely he could get a lot of info out."

"Right, but he doesn't need to get much, Oricks is well connected and probably has a lot of low-jack gear by now, if he didn't already have it."

"So the idea is to get information down to the clone, then trickle it out. That means Oricks has at least one person on the inside that is willing to work with him."

"I guess the question is, do we shut the leak down now, or find the associate and try to turn them and give him misinformation."

Sophie thought about this for a minute, but decided it was too risky.

"We need to cap it. We can't afford anyone else to catch on that there is a leak, and I'm pretty sure the accomplice isn't going to speak up. That means we shut it down now. First thing is to jam anything going out of there at all, I mean complete black-out."

"This is going to be hard if we don't know what type of signal we are dealing with."

"Drop an EMP near the cell, near field only, I don't want the residual charge coming up on our sensors up here. Then throw a wide-field static signal across the whole area. If anything gets through that it will be hard as hell for them to decode it, not to mention it will take a while."

Sophie paused for a minute to have a drink of water and contemplate her next step. She needed to make sure Mo was on board with it, as it was going to be off the books, but as Blake said, they needed another pair of hands on the project.

"After that, we are going to talk to our friend downstairs. I am bringing in contractors, Mo, and I need to know that you are with me on this."

"Why contractors, why not us?"

"Because, the methods required to get the information we need aren't going to be able to be achieved through regular methods."

The two sat silent for a moment. Mo knew exactly what she was talking about. He was standing on the edge of a very thin line now, but trusted Sophie completely. She knew what needed to be done, and he wasn't about to stop them catching the asshole that nearly brought Osiris to its knees.

"OK. Let's get this over with."

### Chapter 13

Mo left Sophie's office and went to the Ops cache, getting what he needed. He had full operational clearance from Sophie from now on, so didn't need to check anything out officially. As he walked down the corridor to the lift, he wondered who it was that they were going to bring in for the interrogation, that is what it would be after all. He stopped himself short, knowing that Sophie had Blake lined up for the job all along.

The walk from the lift to the Ops cache seemed to take forever. Mo had so much going through his head it was almost starting to become incoherent. He centred himself and began running through the task at hand. Most importantly, he needed to make sure the prisoner did not work out what they were about to do ahead of time. They still didn't know if he had a form of instant communication, or if there was some kind of relay, be in electronic or human. Having any additional time was going to give them an edge over Oricks, and they sorely needed it.

As Mo approached the door to the cache, he passed the Security Clerk.

"Gidday Mo."

"Hi Dune. How are you today?"

"Good thanks, sir. Nice of you to ask. Don't see you down here often."

"Ahhh, just picking up some kit for a few surveillance Ops."

"Oh yeah, anything interesting?"

Mo looked over to Dune and tilted his head, giving him a slightly concerned frown.

"Yeah, yeah, I know Mo, top secret security stuff. Just keeping you on your toes."

Dune winked at Mo. Mo knew that he was one of the smartest ones out of the lot of them. The only thing he could never figure out is why he insisted on his current detail. Perhaps he got tired of listening to all the bullshit going on upstairs. Mo was beginning to see the value in that idea.

After passing the automated security checks, Mo entered the armoury, or as they called it 'The Vault'. The room was like a candy shop for spies. If he was completely honest, he wasn't sure what half of the kit was actually used for. Of course he knew what it did technically, but not how it related to real world situations. The lack of field work had kept half of the world dark to Mo, and it frustrated him at times. He got fast-tracked to Osiris, and was thankful for it, but sometimes felt like he might have enjoyed a bit of action in the field.

He grabbed the kit he needed and shoved it into a field rucksack. Upon leaving the Vault he walked back past Dune, giving him a nod as he headed back for the lift.

"Have a good day, Mo."

"You too Dune."

Once inside the lift Mo pressed the "L5" and "B1" buttons together. A small panel slide across, with a palm and retina scanner folding out with a low mechanical whir. After going through the formalities, the lift began to descend. The ride down made Mo wonder how any signal would get out of the bunker, but then realised he was surrounded by disused rail tubes. Most of them were flooded now, but there were no doubt a few pockets that could be accessed.

The lift stopped with a soft bump. The doors opened and the corridor lighting sequentially lit to the end. The light was harsh after being around the bio-lighting of the upper floors. But this wasn't a holiday resort, in fact there was nowhere it would be listed, making it all the more important they found Oricks. Who knows what secrets about Osiris he was sharing, or selling.

As Mo neared the cell, there was something wrong. The silent alarm had been tripped, but it wasn't reporting to the system. If it was, Mo would have received an alert on his comm device. He drew down his pistol and scanned the corridor, it was empty and open on all surfaces, there was no-one there.

As he neared the cell against the opposite wall, he couldn't see in, the internal lights had been disabled. He pulled his flashlight and shone it through the viewing pane, the prisoner was on the floor, foam coming from his mouth.

Mo quickly opened the door and swept the room, there was no-one in there. He ran over to the prisoner and checked his pulse by placing his fingers on his neck. Nothing. He pulled his comm device and flicked it to Medic mode. Nothing, no pulse, no brain activity.

"Fuck, fuck. Fuck!" Mo shouted.

He ran out of the cell and scrambled to the lift. Taking it straight to the main floor, he paced quickly to Sophie's office. He closed the door, out of breath, and waited for Sophie to close the comm. She did straight away, whoever it was, Mo knew they would have to wait, his eyes said it all.

"He's dead."

"What the hell. How?"

"Dunno. Had foam from his mouth, must have been poisoned."

"Any trace of entry."

"No."

"Any objects, weapons, anything?"

"No."

Sophie paused for a moment. It had been less than half an hour from when Sophie and Mo left his station to meet in the office and discuss the situation. Whoever gave the prisoner a heads up was in the building now. She turned to her screen and checked if anyone had left the zone they are currently in, for any reason. The report was negative.

"Mo, no-one has gone anywhere. How the hell could he have known someone was coming down."

Mo thought for a minute. There was definitely something missing, and in an instant it came to him.

"Sophie, the silent alarm had been tripped, and the lighting in the cell was down. Now how could that happen without us being advised?"

"It couldn't, unless..."

"Oricks had this planned well before his attack. He knew all along he would use his clone, right?"

"Right, so he builds these overrides into the system, and leaves a signal tunnel so the prisoner can access the system from the cell."

"Which he then uses to access the scanner and recorders on the floor."

"Exactly."

"But how the hell did the prisoner manage to do all of this, he doesn't have anything one him, he was well searched."

"Because he IS the device. Oricks must have found a way to integrate the hardware into the clone's body, and tweak our systems to overlook any irregularities in its unique signal."

Sophie thought about it for a minute. Mo was smart no doubt there, but she knew there was another issue, which Mo knew nothing about. It was not an issue of the tech being on the prisoner, it was that the tech was almost certainly Biotronics technology, and THAT was a bigger problem.

"Nice work, Mo. Go down to the cell and sweep it. Do it yourself, bag anything you need to. I will send a team later to take the clone to be cryo'd."

Sophie waited for Mo to leave the office before getting Blake on the comm. She didn't know whether to be excited or scared shitless. At the moment it was definitely a coin toss.

"Hey Soph, what do you know?"

"I know Oricks is as goddam slippery as they come."

"Didn't need a phone call to know that, Soph."

"You but do you need one to know that he probably has Biotronics tech, and in a form ready for human integration?"

The line went silent for a moment.

"Well, yeah, that is certainly a thing, ain't it."

"Ain't it."

"We have a bigger problem though; the clone is dead. It wasn't by us, we have a theory at the moment, but it's only a theory, we need Cindy and Ping down here, now."

"OK. I'll give them a heads-up and we'll be back in touch soon."

Blake dropped the line and went to find the others. If Sophie was correct, this was a monumental fucking problem. Not only because Ping and Cindy were having trouble keeping any form of Biotronics stable enough to integrate directly with humans, but also because if Oricks had it, there was no doubt he was in league with Loach, and they had major-league backing.

"Sin, Ping, Jack!" Blake was almost shouting as his skipped down the stairs to the basement. "Hey, everyone, we have a situation."

Blake turned into the room to find it empty. He looked around but saw nothing outside of the usual piles of tech and the Beast. As he turned towards to door he heard a gun report from the back. He drew down and ran for the hallway, ducking into the vent column that led to the back. Moving to the corner he heard a muffled voice, before another shot fired.

Blake slowly peered around the corner, catching movement to the left. He got ready to rush, then heard Jack laughing. There was no other sound like Jack laughing, Blake was convinced it was a cross between a Kookaburra screeching, and Dingoes mating. He paced over to them, gun still drawn. HE holstered it when he saw what they were doing.

"What the FUCK are you lot doing then?"

The three of them spun around with big grins, and Ping holding Jack's Timmy. Blake looked pissed, and the smiles soon wore down.

"Sorry Blake, just letting off a little steam." Jack patted Ping on the head. "Junior here was busy telling me that with all the fruit on my weapon, it practically shot itself. He is now attempting to prove that any idiot can shoot it."

"Apparently he is a special kind of idiot", Cindy interjected. "He missed every target I threw out, but just caught a blackbird on a ricochet."

They all started laughing again, but Blake remained staunch. "Yeah, well I'd hate to wipe those smiles off you slackers, but the stress levels are about to go back up. We need to go inside, shit just went down."

Blake spent the next few minutes sharing what Sophie had told him. The three others shared more than a few concerned stares. Blake finished and they sat there for a minute, processing the information.

Ping spoke out first. "You know, there is another possibility for the death. We haven't been able to maintain a stable merge with human tissue on a cellular level for any length of time. Contact is fine, in fact it's the basis of the TLM interface for Jack, but there is a fucking gulf of development between sharing information and merging it."

"Right." Cindy followed up. "But where are you going with this, Ping?"

"Well, perhaps, he just ran out of juice. It may just be a coincidence, kind of a big one, but we can't overlook it."

"But", Blake interjected. "It doesn't help the fact that it looks like he may have a working prototype of an integrated system."

"It ain't working now!" Jack added, making a hanging shape with his arm while poking his tongue out the side of his mouth.

"Riiiight, so anyway, Ping and Sin can go down to Osiris now. Jack, you and I need to sort out these Aleutians. For all we know, they are involved in this."

"I wouldn't be surprised. If they are operating around here, they will have their fingers in all the tasty pies."

### Chapter 14

"So, Jules, what of the clone you have made. How did the integration process go with the new 'equipment'?"

Marek made the last word sound as though Shae was a piece of meat, and not a human being.

"It worked well, at first, but unfortunately we lost Shae. And a loss it is, he was far more than a piece of 'equipment'. He was a friend, and a valuable asset."

"Sure, sure, Jules, whatever helps you sleep at night."

Jules was trying to keep his cool as best he could, the Aleutians had a reputation after-all, however, if this little prick antagonised him any further, he was going to split his skull against the fucking wall behind him.

"Well, Johan, we have work to do. So let's just get on with it, shall we?"

"Sure."

"What do you know about progress in the second phase? There has not been much chatter about, I hope you are not dropping the ball."

"Hey, sunshine, the Aleutians never drop a ball, Melbourne is in full operation. We expect deployment of the device very shortly. Don't worry, you can tell your boss we will deliver. We always deliver."

Jules hid his excitement, barely. His bluff worked and now he knew where they were operating from. He knew that Gindobe was hiding things from him, a lot of things, and now he knew where to look for them. He trusted The Ordained less than he trusted the Aleutians, and who knew how long their arrangement would last? Regardless, it was always best to have a good insurance policy.

"It was sad to hear of Tyrol's demise, he was a good man, taken too early."

"I dunno, Jules, he seemed to have a fair few skeletons. But then what Alpha doesn't."

"Too true. I guess it's all about which ones you can trust the most, huh?"

"I don't really trust any of them."

"Still, they're not all too far gone. Well, the smart ones left town. I haven't seen a lot of the out of towners lately though."

"I try not to mix things up with the families."

"Good advice. Olive is one of the good ones though. Did you ever meet her?"

Johan went silent for a moment. It looked as though he was about to turn and leave, but looked Jules in the eyes.

"Funny, she never mentioned you."

"Well, like you said, some Alpha's can't be trusted, and neither can some of their associates."

Jules raised an eyebrow at Johan, the dance was coming around full circle.

"If there were any of them I would fall on a sword for, it would be her."

"Good, because she is one of the good ones."

Jules gave a slight smile, trying to soften the mood a little further, he needed to know more about Melbourne and it looked like this guy was going to let it go. He thanked Osiris and the Feds for all of the training they gave him over the years, it went well with his profound understanding of human emotion, as he believed it.

"We need to keep moving Johan, last time I talked to Olive she said she was aware of an accelerated plan. Of course she didn't know details, she never wanted to, but she seemed a little anxious."

"Hey, we're all part in the dark on this, it's how they operate, and I don't really care, as long as we're getting paid."

"There has never been a problem there."

"Not at all. You'd think with the opening of the entire heavy-transport system again; they would have just kept everything at Sydney. I..."

Johan stopped talking, realising he was talking beyond his level of comfort. Jules let the silence sit for a moment, before stepping in. He could see Johan's poise stiffen and his posture shifting into a defensive angle. It was time to wrap this up.

"We have almost completed our preparation this side, we will make sure that you have a clear run up the coast."

"Don't worry about that, we have it sorted." Johan was now talking with an air of defiance.

"Oh really? So you feel your own protection detail is more effective than that of myself and my associates?"

"Probably. You have been a little sloppy lately." Johan place his thumb on a nostril and cleared the other on the path beside Jules.

Jules could take a fair bit of antagonizing, when he wanted to keep his emotions covered, but now was not one of those times. Those bloody Aleutians were like a bunch of schizophrenic dogs. It was time for a lesson.

"Tell me, Johan, do you know how I got my nickname?" Jules replied in a calm and steady voice.

Johan looked at him for a moment, not knowing whether there was a joke coming out of this or not.

"I don't even know your nickname, I"

Before he could finish his sentence Jules head-butted him right on the nose, blood instantly spurted out everywhere, with Johan looking dazed and confused. Jules followed it up with a left elbow across his cheek, splitting the skin as the jaw dislocated. Johan fell to the ground, scrambling to try and regain his balance.

Jules drew his gun and trained it on him, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe the blood from his face.

"Well Johan," he continued in a flat tone. "The Ox is a powerful animal, and once it starts moving it's damn hard to stop, hence me being above you, and you in a bloody mess on the ground."

Jules gave him a moment to get up. He could see the fire in Johan's eyes but didn't care, there was no way Johan could pull a weapon before Jules squeezed the trigger. Jules paused for a moment before holstering his gun.

Johan immediately pulled a gun, but Jules didn't flinch. Before Johan could speak, Jules continued.

"The other thing you should know about the Ox is that they travel in a group, a large group feared by most other animals. My group, for instance, is part of the most powerful organization in the world."

Jules paused to wipe the blood from his hand.

"Now, you can shoot me, but I'm afraid that would lead to the massacre of your entire Clan. You may be a useful asset at the moment, but believe me when I tell you this, our organization fear no-one, and take demands, and for what it's worth, bullshit, from no-one."

He paused again, this time more for dramatic effect. He was starting to enjoy his little monologue, but knew the longer he hung around this nut job, the more chance there was of rounds going off.

"Now, put that toy away, go back and clean yourself up, and get ready for my fucking detail to arrange the convoy."

Johan didn't move, gun still trained on Jules. He wanted to shoot him right in the face now, then cut off his hand and send it to those fucking Alphas. But he knew better. Contrary to what most people thought, the Aleutians were loyal to their leaders, it was their way. He wasn't sanctioned to kill Jules, so he wouldn't. But, he would remember. And a time would come.

Backing away, Johan holstered his weapon and moved around the corner of the building. This meeting turned out to be a fucking mess from start to finish. He needed to think it through before he talked to the others. Something wasn't right.

Jules had to move fast now. No doubt that The Ordained would be told of the incident, Even if the Aleutians hadn't been formally advised of their ultimate employer, no-one else had the resources to carry out an operation like this. One way or another, word would get back. At the moment, Jules could bank on their support based on the fact that the Aleutians are unstable, but that story wouldn't hold legs if anyone caught wind of Jules' next move.

### Chapter 15

The night was uncharacteristically still, which made Blake even more on edge than he normally was. He ran through the scenario a dozen times in his head, with most of them ending in a gun fight. He put that down to the fact that he was there with Jack, who seemed to attract bullets.

Even though they had Ping and Cindy on full support, they both felt a little more than exposed out there. It was a pretty standard play for skittish players like the Aleutians to arrange open-ground meetings, but nonetheless it felt a little more than odd that this was the location that was chosen. Being in eye-sight on the MDC facility on open-ground was not a picnic for Jack.

"You alright there partner, you look a little on edge?"

"Fuck off, Blake. You know that building over there?" He nudged his head towards the MDC building.

"Of course I do, dickhead, everybody knows that building."

"Yeah, well want in on a little secret?"

Blake looked at Jack as though he was treating him as a school kid. Of course, he was, and enjoying every second of it. Simple minds and all.

"Go on."

"Well, do you remember when you were a suit, there was a suicide there of a high-ranking scientist?"

"Oh fuck, Jack. Don't tell me you killed him."

"What the hell, Blake, I'm not a goddam mercenary."

"Well, I didn't know where you were going with it, did I."

"Anyway, we were carrying out our own freelance Op. Espionage of sorts. The things is, that scientist was our mole. Those guys were up to some weird shit in there, and Cindy and I had a chance to blow a hole right through it."

"Wait a minute, you ran Autohacking calls with Cindy? I knew it, she stone-cold lied to my face."

"When you were a cop? And she was a criminal? She lied to you? Are you sure?"

The sarcasm was oozing from every sentence Jack finished, he added a little dramatic pause after each one for comedic effect.

"Fuck you Jack. I knew she was messing with you, that bloody trouble maker on the black Panagale. I just had no idea you guys were causing THAT much trouble."

"Yeah, well, surprise! So we had a solid 'in' with this guy, then right when we started pulling data, we saw the headline. Let me tell you one thing, it wasn't a suicide."

"Good luck trying to prove that."

"I did try, that shit kind of messed me up a bit."

Blake was about to make another wise-crack, but stopped short. He could see it was something Jack had genuine trouble dealing with. He would wait 'till later to rip into him. They both needed their heads screwed on for the next half hour.

"3 o'clock mate, you reckon they're gonna show?"

"I hope so, I ain't rescheduling for these fuckers."

There was a rustle of branches to their left, and then dead ahead. It looked like it was show time.

Cindy came over their comms, "OK boys, wakey wakey. You have two coming from the Nor-West, and another one hanging back due-North."

Neither of them answered or acknowledged the message to each other. They both knew they were getting the relays, and the less the Aleutians knew about their support, the better. They waited until their company was in sight before announcing themselves, keeping their hands in the open.

There were two coming towards them, as Cindy advised, one male and one female. The female looked like she had the bigger balls. Jack wondered if there were any women in this city that WEREN'T bigger than him.

"That will be close enough, friends." Blake looked at the two of them, never taking his eyes off theirs.

The female spoke first. "Relax, friend, if we wanted you dead, that already would have happened."

"Don't count in it, honey."

"Yes, well, you do have a reputation for being slippery ones."

"Oh, your reputation precedes you, also."

Jack could see the conversation was going nowhere, so butted in. "Hey, kids, can we get down to some brass-tacks soon. I don't know about you, but the less time we have to spend together, the better it will be for all of us."

The male Aleutian had his turn now. "Ah yes, the soldier. Always action. Action, action, action. Right, so, what do you have for us?"

"We know Olive had connections with you, and we know who killed her."

The two Aleutians looked at each other, but said nothing. Jack knew this is what they were after, but wasn't giving it up so easy.

"But tell us, what do you know about the situation? I mean, we're all donkey deep in this now, so might as well spill the beans."

"Soon, soon. Let's talk more about Olive."

"Didn't know her. The other day was going to be our first meet."

"Any why did you want to meet her."

"To find about more about what Tyrol was doing. C'mon, you guys are big on getting dirty secrets, and there aren't any bigger ones than the inner workings of the Alphas."

"OK, maybe we believe your story, it doesn't really seem like your M.O. to kill innocent people. Maybe, just maybe, the Aleutians have a common enemy here. So then, tell me, do you have a name for us?"

"Right after you tell us why you're doing a big job for the Alphas. You guys don't normally poke your heads above the parapet, so it's something big, doesn't take a rocket scientist to work that out. But you're not working here, we know that much. All we want to know, is where your contract is based, and what it is for."

"You are getting ahead of yourself, soldier, you need to find pieces to your puzzle, but we will not give you all of them. The Aleutians do not ply their trade by rolling over on their backs and giving away all they hold. But, some things we can share, after-all, if we are going to be friends we need to share. We have a contract with MDC, not the Alpha's. And yes, we are out of town, but we will not give up the location. For all we know you will try and attack it."

"Now why would we do that? The Aleutians have a formidable reputation. Besides, we just want to upset a few certain individuals. We think this might be backed by The Ordained."

Jack let the revelation hang. He knew it was a revelation, because their new friends both went silent when he mentioned The Ordained. Not many people had even heard of the group, and those that had heard of them knew to keep their mouths shut and their eyes looking the other way. Of course Jack was bluffing about knowing of their involvement, but he needed something to push them.

"Ordained, huh?" The female Aleutian was talking again. "Well ain't that a thing."

"It is a thing. And now that we gave you that thing, we want to know why the hell you guys are working for MDC, they're corporate, you're not."

"Because of you, Jack."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the Autohacking community has a lot of chatter going around about you. Not least of which is that you were behind the death of the scientist in that building right behind you. Why else do you think we arranged the meeting here?"

Jack suddenly felt a rush of emotion. He was more pissed off at himself for not seeing this, than anything else. His heart rate was elevating, and the surrounding were starting to shift into hues of red.

Cindy knew what was going on and got on the comm. "Jack, just stay calm. There has been no movement from their other man, and nothing else is around. They are just pushing your buttons."

Jack turned to the Aleutian male. "So, you guys know people on the streets, who the fuck doesn't. Still doesn't explain being out here."

"It is symbolic, Jack. You had huge balls taking on MDC, no doubt about that. Yes, we are working for them, but we do not take orders from them. We take on jobs for credit or power, nothing else. We are not owned by MDC, we still haven't decided if we will make good on our deal yet. They have 'issues', not the least of which being certain individuals that are hell bent on crossing them the minute they get a chance."

"Oricks." Blake replied without hesitation. He was through with the charades and wanted to get out of there. They had enough to start some serious digging.

"The former head of Osiris. What of him?"

"He is the man you want."

The two Aleutians looked at each other again, before turning back to Jack and Blake. They gave a subtle nod, and turned to leave.

"They are clear, Jack, the third one is already on the way out. Still no other activity in the area." Cindy wanted to make sure Jack and Blake knew they didn't need to run, hide, or fight their way home.

Jack didn't reply yet. He wanted to be sure they were clear. Waiting another half minute, he let out a deep breath. "Well, thank fuck that is over."

"Agreed. But why did you give up Oricks? If they find him before us they will kill him, on sight most likely."

"Most likely. There was something odd about their reaction when I dropped his name. The female raised her eye at her partner when I mentioned him, and he knew Oricks was the head of Osiris."

"Not exactly uncommon knowledge."

"No, but it just seemed as though they knew more about him than they needed to."

"So what is our next play?"

"We get Cindy's Biotronics sensors around the city and see what flashes up. Ping, you there?"

"Yeah, Jack."

"We need tabs on those three. If they are moving around the city, they will have informants they need to contact about Oricks. If we can beat them to him, it will be another card in our deck."

"We gonna trade Oricks for MDC?"

"Maybe, we will make it look like that, at least. Sin, we need to know where these guys are. Start snooping, fast. I heard a rumour once they were holed-up in Melbourne, but it was one of those 'derros talking around the bin-fire' situation. Still, that's where the best stories come from."

"I'll take your word for that, Jack."

"Yeah, well it sounds like whatever they are doing, is nearly done. We either need Oricks, or the location of their operations."

Jack and Blake had now walked to the other side of the field, to their vehicles.

"See you back at the house, Jack."

"Yeah, I'm gonna take the scenic route, got some thinking to do."

Blake didn't know where Jack's head-space was, but couldn't help but feel concerned.

"You good?"

"Yeah mate, just that my thoughts don't move as fast as yours."

Blake was going to make another smart-arse comment, but could see that Jack had real concern. About something.

As Jack saddled-up, he shut down most of the non-essential systems on TLM, and turned off the HALO system. He needed to clear his head, and all of the Biotronics wizardry that made most of his decisions now were starting to feel like a noose around his neck.

Soldiers always relished to opportunity to get their hands on new kit, anything that made their missions easier on the body was always welcome. He figured that was why he jumped at anything Ping and Cindy threw at him, but now wasn't so sure. It wasn't that he didn't trust them; he did, with his life. But, like all things, it was more complicated with that. For one thing, they admitted they don't know everything it does both ways. This may be a problem.

When Jack was connected to his kit, and used TLM and HALO in full assault mode, the combination became a formidable force. He felt like the bike and weapons were an extension of him, and he was an extension of them. Combined with his own visual enhancements, the world looked like a very different place, it looked like a battlefield, and Jack was a General looking down on it, shuffling pawns. On the last assault, he could swear he was starting to sense the signals coming from the comm devices the Aleutians had on them. It was something Ping or Cindy had never mentioned before, but it made sense. Some of the interfaces on TLM were designed to warn if signal jammers were being used, and also if targeting devices were nearby. It was just another unexpected side-effect, and they were becoming common. Very common.

He knew what Cindy would say. She would say that there are physical barriers between TLM being able to directly control neural activity, and that it was only a feedback-array that offered suggestions for action, and that it was Jack's own sub-conscious that was making the decisions, at a rate far higher than he would have been able to do at a conscious level. She would remind him that in the post-op analysis, his synaptic activity had generally increased its baseline performance, with no negative effect on other brain functions.

It still gave him the shits. He knew he was a grunt. Sure, a slightly-above-average one, but a grunt nonetheless. He always knew he was never going to be a General, and he was fine with that. In-fact, it was why he was so sure the optical enhancement by his father were a good idea. It made him better at being average. But TLM was fucking all of that up. He was above average now, his engagement results showed that. He was able to anticipate attackers moves, direct the engagement to suit his strengths, and generally control the situation. His relative lack of failures seemed to be what was concerning him. Which sounded ridiculous when he thought about it.

A crack of electrical discharge snapped Jack out of his thought. He was half way up the coast road now, and he watched as the discharges started striking the ground. It was definitely a new effect for him, it seemed mother nature was a little pissed at what they had done to her. Jack brought up all of the systems, and TLM started flashing red warnings all around him. He brought up the magnetic shielding and spun Betty around.

The entire area seemed like a massive node for the Van Allan belt. There were strikes slamming into the road, sparking and through up debris. This was quickly turning into a shitty morning out.

"Sin, you there."

"Uh, huh. Was about to take a shower."

"Put that on hold. The weather is doing some fucking weird shit up here, I need to know how wide it is, and another way home, if possible."

"Hang on."

Jack found a building on the edge of the road, and pulled under the canopy. It was an old petrol station, but looked like it had been abandoned for some time. He kept Betty running, ready to move fast if he needed to.

"You there, Jack?"

"No, I decided to go for a 4am swim."

"Funny. Well, I wouldn't advise that if it was on your list of things to do. The electrical discharges in the area are off the chart. I mean, we're taking vaporize small elephant scale."

"Where the fuck did this one come from?"

"No idea. It's weird, like it's localised only in our region, and not moving with the other current flows."

"Sounds messed up."

As Jack finished his sentence, a huge bolt hit a tree across the road. The old Gum exploded on the impact, leaving a three metre high stump. Chips of wood landed on the roof, clattering like hail.

"What should I do Sin? I don't fancy taking on one of these bolts, magnetic shielding or not."

"The bike will protect you to a point, but to be honest your best bet is to lay low, literally, and hope it passes. Is there any cover nearby?"

"I'm under the canopy of an old servo."

"Get close to the building and stay there. Either wait on Betty, or right beside her. You will at least be less of a target for stray bolts."

"Fuck, Great."

"Don't worry hun, I'll stay on the comm."

"Nah, don't worry about it Sin, there is nothing you can do from there. Go take your shower, I'll check in later."

"If you're sure."

"I'm sure."

Jack sat on Betty for a half hour, the discharges seemed to be getting far less frequent. He dismounted and slumped down beside her. It had been an exhausting day, and the sun hadn't even risen yet. He found his thoughts drifting. He started to think about his wiring again and drifted off to sleep.

He suddenly woke to a huge crack and flash of light. He opened his eyes expecting to see another tree gone, but it wasn't, it was the roof caving in. Before he could think about it, Betty started up, while TLM brought up the ideal path out of the now collapsing roof. He jumped on and accelerated hard. As he did, the bike slid, but self-corrected before he dropped it.

A moment later, warnings were flashing about IED's on the road, the next few hundred metres looked more like a murder scene than a road with all of the red splashes. Spinning Betty around, two unknown targets showed up on the right side of the road. TLM picked up low-level radiation; plasma charges. Jack quickly launched darts at both targets, neutralizing them almost instantly.

Three drones were picked up on the on-board scanners. The HUD picked up being 300m out, mil-spec and armed. Jack accelerated hard and without thinking launched an EMP grenade from the front drop-out. As it rose, he fired a dart, detonating it mid-air and disrupting the drones. He watched as they dropped to the ground like a trio of swatted flies.

There was another bright flash. Jack sat bolt-upright, opening his eyes to see another tree get the business, but this time it was only powerful enough to burn through a few branches. The last ten minutes had been a dream. The thing is, he wasn't sure if it was all him, or TLM showing him that he was better off being connected. He knew that was fantasy-land stuff, but still.

"Hey, Jackie. You there?"

"Yeah Sin. I'm here."

"My scanners show the fireworks should nearly be over. If you're going to make a run for it, now is the time."

"OK, I'm heading out now. You figure out what it was?"

"Not yet. I can tell you one thing though. It was unique. We haven't seen anything like the data that we collected in the last hour."

"Geo-engineering experiments back up?"

"Maybe."

### Chapter 16

Moments of calmness seemed to be few and far between these days. Not just physically, Jack was thinking more from a philosophical perspective than he had for a while now. He figured that it was a case of laying off the drugs that got in the way of his creativity. But regardless of how those moments became lost, the more time he spent here, the more he felt in touch with the very thing they were supposed to be fighting for. Peace.

Of course, it didn't hurt that he was on his fifth beer, and that he was sitting at the top of the waterfall watching the sun set. Compared to the last few weeks in the Old City, this was pretty much paradise. It wouldn't last, he knew that, but got a stiff reminder when he heard Ping yelling at him from the deck.

"Hey, Jack, get up here."

Jack looked over his shoulder, then turned back to the sunset. He figured the hills were a few hundred k's away. If he jumped on betty now, he would be there in under an hour, and a lot further away from the drama that Ping was going to drop on him.

"Jack, get the fuck up here man. We got a thing."

Jack reluctantly got up, waved goodbye to the sun, and walked back to the house. The short walk up the hill was another metaphor for him. Always going uphill, always walking into drama.

Once he got inside, everyone was around the table. Ping was damn near bouncing off the walls with excitement.

"Hey, Jack, you know how we didn't get any hits from our sensors down town."

"Uh yeah. I remember because I was the one fucking around in the rain for two nights straight, waiting for the hits."

"Right, so putting your issues aside, we had an idea. Well I did. Perhaps Oricks is nowhere near the Old City, because that is the place we know best. I mean it's easy to hide, but he would look more out of place there than most."

"Yeah, I guess. So where then?"

"The New City."

Jack looked at the others, all focused on Pings idea. Jack was beginning to think he hadn't had enough beer for this conversation.

"So, dickheads, you do realize that the New City is covered in sensors, right?"

"Yep", ping replied enthusiastically.

"And you think he hasn't been seen yet?"

"Nope."

"OK smart arse, how do you figure."

"Well, firstly, he wouldn't be noticed because he wouldn't be out a lot, that is a given. Also, when he does it's amazing what a pair of shades and a hat can do for a disguise."

"OK, so plebs won't see him. The sensors would still pick him up. I mean he has to speak or touch something sooner or later."

"Exactly. But, what we may have overlooked, is if he is using Biotronics tech, he may have been able to synthesise material to mask his voice, even change his finger prints. It actually wouldn't be that hard."

Jack sat quiet for a minute. He soon realized that Ping was on the money. The tech had made such a rapid leap in development, literally daily, that they could easily have been taking it on a different path to Oricks and Loach. Hell, half of the strings Ping and Cindy were working on now hadn't even been thought of last month.

"So everyone on board with this?"

"Fuck yeah!" Cindy replied, excited about there being something juicy for her to get her teeth into.

"Blake?"

"It makes sense, Jack. We are in wonderland at the moment with the research side of the tech, but our focus has been on fabricating equipment for integrating with vehicles, weapons, etc. To be honest I'm a little concerned we didn't consider the personal-enhancement angle sooner."

"It's because we're not animals, Blake." Cindy sounded more than a little defensive. Blake wasn't sure if it was because he suggested Loach had the jump on them again, or that they should have been involved with human experimentation earlier.

"Fair call Sin, we're not like him, but we need to think like him if we are going to get the jump. Maybe our mind-set is too focussed on our own use, and not what other can, or are, doing with it right now."

Sin was about to fire another strong retort, but thought better of it. She needed to put her focus on how to track Oricks now, ego aside.

"So, Jack, fancy a trip to the New City?"

"I dunno, Sin. It's kind of sterile up there. Smells funny, like rich people."

"Stop being a pussy, Jack. We need those sensors up and running ASAP. Ping will upload the locations for placement to get the optimal signal spread."

They discussed the details of the Op. It was the only real option to cast a net over Oricks, so they need as many wheels on the ground as they could. Ping was to stay back at the house to monitor and direct, while Jack, Blake, and Cindy would go to the city and set up the equipment. The three of them would look out of place there pretty quick, well their vehicles at least, so it was hopefully going to be a "smash and grab." All going to plan.

The trip to the New City was uneventful. In fact, compared to their activities of late, it was downright boring. It did, however, give Cindy a chance to look at the scenery. She never really did that anymore. She had been so absorbed in the development of the Biotronics tech, and supporting the team on missions, the natural beauty around her had become a distant memory. She wondered what things must have been like a hundred years ago, imagining all of the plants and animals that had long since left or been destroyed. Still, the country was beautiful now, in its own kind of way.

Before long they were in town, each coming in from a different direction. As they moved around the city they were in constant communication with each other. Aside from getting the sensors set up, they needed to be ready to get out if they attracted too much attention from the authorities. It was for that reason Cindy and Blake left their vehicles at the edge of town and used vehicles provided by a former associate of Blake's.

"Hey guys, how are you enjoying those marvels of modern machinery?"

Jack was enjoying the fact that he was on Betty, and they were in old petrol sedans.

"Oh, just peachy Jack, thanks for asking." Cindy was hitting the limiter with her sarcasm today. "The best thing is the company, no snotty nosed gun slingers stinking up the cabin."

She went from sarcasm to childish in about three seconds flat, reminding her to spend less time talking to those boys; she felt less mature just thinking about them.

"So, job at hand, anyone feel weird about the distinct lack of cops?"

"It is kind of strange, I'm used to hearing them on your arse."

"Me too. Sterile, told you."

"How many more do you have to place, Blake?"

"I'm on my last one now."

"Good, that should be us then. You two take those god-awful things back to the motoring hell they appeared from, and I'll cut a few laps of town so Ping can set up the grid."

Jack decided to grab a quick drink while the others headed out of town. It seemed the right thing to do considering he was a visitor to the town, and damn thirsty. There weren't a lot of watering holes in the New City. It was most likely because all of the people in the place were anal-retentive douche bags. Or so Jack mused as he passed a couple of teenagers.

Pulling in to the carpark, he couldn't help but notice there was only a few vehicles there. Walking into the bar was worse, there must have been five people in the whole place. It showed off the shiny sterile floor even more. That sterile floor that extended to the sterile bar, and the sterile leaner.

He definitely needed a drink, he was far too cynical for 10am. Thankfully the barman was a bar woman, and she wasn't too shabby.

"Hey hun. Whiskey on the rocks."

Jack pulled up at the leaner as she pulled the bottle from the top shelf. It looked to have dust on it. What the hell was wrong with people here? Who leaves an opened bottle long enough to gather dust?

"Not a popular drink, huh?"

"You kidding? No-one drinks whiskey anymore." She poured his glass, and a shot. She picked up the shot and slid his glass over. "Well, no-one but us."

She raised the shot glass to him in a salute and downed it in one. Jack was impressed, and a little aroused.

"So, can I guess you're not from around here?"

"Oh no, I'm New City raised."

Jack looked at her then down at the shot glass.

"Hey, don't worry, not all of us are born with sticks up our arse."

"Well, who knew I could learn something at a bar."

"You could learn a bit more, if you wanted."

She raised an eyebrow as she poured herself another shot. Jack made her as being a poor little rich kid who wanted to get back at daddy for selling her pony. What better way than shagging a slightly undesirable biker from out of town?

"So, I'm Jack. What's your name?"

"Jan, and I know who you are, Jack."

Jack stopped mid-sip. Fuck, was this a set up? He looked around to the others at the bar, his vision started to blur already, but they weren't moving.

"Don't worry hun, they don't know who you are."

Jack looked back to her, she was smiling and leaning back on the bar.

"So, Jan, what do you know about me then?"

"Well, I'm not sure if you know, sweetie, but you have quite the underground fan club here in the New City. Of course I didn't know your name, but that bike is pretty hard to miss, if you appreciate a beautiful machine."

As she drew out the last word, she popped her top button. Jack gave her his full attention, in so many ways. She seemed young, but looking closer was probably nearer his age, somewhere in her thirties. Was life really so boring for middle-class grown women that they needed to fantasise about renegade bikers?

"I see. So, what do you know?"

"I know you're a bad mother fucker."

"Honey, language!"

"C'mon, the only thing that precedes your reputation as a fighter is your loose lips."

She winked at him, he thought about how he would like to show her those loose lips a little closer.

"I'd like to explore those."

Holy crap, thought Jack, can these people read minds now?

"Kind of forward, aren't you?"

"Well when you actually meet the guy who's exploits you have been following for three years, it's a kind of other-worldly experience."

Jack always wondered what it was like for those people that had groupies, now he knew. It was a little un-nerving.

"So, where are your crew, Jack?"

"Dunno what you mean."

"C'mon, we know you don't work alone. Oh crap, I have so many questions, this is nuts!"

"Sure is."

Right at that moment, Ping got on the comm. "Yo, Jack, where are you?"

"Lubricating."

"Fuck me. Most important Op of the month, and you're on the piss."

"Nope, just networking."

"Is that your team?" Jan interrupted as she leaned over the bar.

"Who was that, Jack?"

"That was Jan."

"Lubricating, huh?"

Ping was more than a little jealous, but wasn't sure why. He had been out of the social circles for so long, he didn't remember what lubricating was anymore.

"Anyway, we got spikes already popping up, and the thing is, there are more than one. We need you out there, now."

Ping dropped the comm, leaving Jack to think for a moment. How the hell were there multiple readings, and so soon after setting the sensors? They must be wrong.

"Sorry Jan." He looked up to his new crush. "Gotta go."

"Well, make sure you come back. My friends and I are VERY connected. If you need anything local, I can get it for you."

"I'm sure."

"And I'm serious. Sexual desire aside, we're not on the outside, we know the local area and the who's who of the New City."

Jan reached behind the counter and grabbed a pen, she scribbled a number on a piece of paper and handed it to him. He took it and looked at her with half a frown.

"Seriously, Jack, I may have gotten a little carried away with actually meeting you, but there are people in this town that believe in what you are doing. We see the inequality every day and it's fucked."

"So why don't you do something yourself."

"We aren't soldiers, Jack. "

Jack nodded and turned to leave the bar. The others in the place didn't even so much as lift their heads. Of all the weird situations Jack has gotten himself into in a bar, this one was right up there.

Heading out onto the street he saw a few youths standing around his bike.

"Awww, for fucks-sake, not this crap again. This is ridiculous!" He was speaking out loud, but was too far away for them to hear him.

He didn't even give them a chance to say anything, he just drew his Timmy as he neared and held it by his side. The kids scattered instantly, nearly screaming as they ran. Apparently they weren't from the same gang as the other lot. Apparently, Jack also had quite a few things he didn't know about this city, by the way his day had gone so far.

"OK Ping, point the way."

"Go any direction you want, Jack. I have my screens lighting up like the fucking fourth of July."

"Well, kid, looking around here all I see are pedestrians and their poodles. I'm going for a lap of town to see if your scanners sort themselves out."

"Go for it, but I tell you now, there is nothing wrong with my kit."

Jack headed down the main street, then turned up the hill towards the main residential area. The roads got a bit of getting used to, the electronic delineators, or 'splitters' as the locals called them, everywhere were bloody unnerving. He knew how it all worked, but it was like being on another planet.

"Shit!"

"What, Jack?"

"Nearly pancaked a pedestrian. I fucking hate these roads."

"Can't get the hang of the splitters, huh?"

"Who ever thought colour changing paving was a good idea for traffic management is an idiot."

"I think the idiot is probably the guy on two wheels doing 80 in a 40 zone."

"40? Jesus H Chris, how does anyone ever actually get anywhere in this town."

"They don't, it's societies very own black hole of hope, Jack."

"I thought that was the Old City."

"Nah, the New City is a mess, I spent a few years there. They excel when it comes to denial and self-doubt, they just mask it better than you."

"I'm an open book, kid."

"More like a magazine."

Jack was starting to like Ping a little more. Now that he wasn't so shit scared of the world, he was getting a bit of personality, and a sense of humour. Well, one that Jack could finally understand.

"OK, Jack, slow down. I'm getting pings off every third or fourth house."

"But I'm in suburban hell. There is no way these plebs are all working for Oricks."

Ping thought about it for a minute. He was about to speak when Blake jumped on the comm.

"Maybe they are working for him, but don't know it."

"I don't get it, what do you mean?"

"He's into the whole direct-integration thing right now, yeah?"

"Sure."

"Well what if he doesn't need to actually have any surgical procedure to integrate the Biotronics tech he is developing. What if he has found a way to get it into people passively?"

"What, like in the water?"

The was silence for a minute.

"I don't think so." Cindy chimed in. "For a start you would most likely need a massive dose in the water system to give off readings like we're getting. Even if it didn't activate until it was in the body, it would most likely be giving reading from every person, and it's not that concentrated yet."

"It could be placed in some of the food sources." Blake added.

"So, everybody, you basically have no fucking idea how this shit is circulating around town, that about it?"

"Geez, Jack. What's up your nose?" Cindy had a soft giggle.

"He's just pissed he doesn't know how to drive on the roads."

"Fuck you, Ping."

"All right, all right." Blake pulled them all in. "We need to get on the ground to find out what is going on."

"And how do we do that? Knock door to door?"

"Save your shoes, Blake, I may have someone."

"Who?"

"Just someone I bumped into earlier. I don't know if it's a good lead, but she reckons she is connected."

"She?" Cindy chirped up.

"Oh yeah, Jack was scamming on some poor unsuspecting girl earlier. Apparently they were lubricating."

"Too much fucking information, Ping!"

"Fuck you all. Blake and Sin, keep on the limits, I may need back-up if this chick is setting me up."

Jack headed back towards the bar. He didn't even try and kid himself into thinking it was purely for the mission. There was something about this woman that made his day a little brighter. He just hoped she knew something about what was going on.

### Chapter 17

As much as Jules wanted to get out of Sydney, he knew that this is where the actions was, and he needed to be at the front of it. Any information going through the city had to go through him, or he would miss his window. Still, at least he was in the New City again, aside from living in an abandoned water control facility, it was quite pleasant. Of course the facility itself wasn't bad either, it helped having Gindobe arrange for the creature-comforts to be installed prior to his arrival.

There were a few gaping holes in his strategy at the moment, but he was closing them at pace now. Getting Loach on board wasn't hard, they kid was wanted by every authority there was, so a guarantee of a safe passage from Sydney and enough credit to last a lifetime went down a treat.

"So, Loach, have trouble getting here?"

"Nah, easy enough with the half-asleep idiots that run this place. I'm surprised the city can move at all."

If only he knew how close he was to the truth, Jules thought. Depending on how the city reacts to his demands after the acquisition was complete, there may be no city left at all.

"That work you did on the DNA-mask was pretty impressive."

"Yeah it was." Loach was never one to shy away from a little self-congratulation. "Tell me, what is it for?"

"You tell me and we'll both know, kid."

Jules wasn't about to tell Loach the tech had been atomised and placed into vitamin pills. Hell, he almost didn't want to know what that was for himself. But, he did manage to secure a few boxes of them for himself, on the side. If shit went sideways with The Ordained, he wasn't going to be left out on a limb.

"It's pretty cool stuff. You could just about integrate with any DNA, living or not. It doesn't fuck it, it just creates a kind of hologram around the structure, leaving it to function normally."

"You lost me, kid."

"OK. Do you know what meta-materials are?"

"Sure, mostly."

"Right, well they are inorganic in their composition, but can do similar things. Say you want to bend light, you can make a meta that refract light around its surface that will effectively distort light, with the same kind of effect that stars do with gravitational lensing."

"OK. But how do you do it with DNA?"

"That is the amazing part, since we started messing with Biotronics, we found that on a cellular level, there is enough electromagnetic energy available to create changes in an atoms quantum state. With the right elements and energy gates, you can make living tissue do just about anything you want."

Jules already knew most of this, but he was never sure of Loach. The kids seemed to be a drop kick loser, and he just couldn't understand how he managed to work all of this stuff largely unassisted. Well, if unassisted doesn't count the billions The Ordained had pumped into their facilities.

"What do you mean 'we', Loach."

"Huh?"

"Before, you said 'we' started researching."

"Ping, of course."

Jules tensed at the sound of his name. That little shit was throwing spanners in the works everywhere.

"And what of him now, Loach, any luck finding him?"

Loach paused for a minute. He didn't really know Jules Oricks well, be knew of his reputation. He decided he had better be a lot more careful with what he said.

"Still zip. He's a sneaky one, I'll give him that."

"Yes, well, sneaky isn't good for me. We need to find him and the others, and get them out of the way. Now that phase one is complete, we need to get onto phase two."

"And what, exactly, is phase two."

"It is exactly what I say it is."

Jules was winging it now. He needed to get the location of the Melbourne facility, and needed to get into it, but couldn't let Loach know he was operating outside the brief. He was never completely sure of Gindobe but willing to work with him, however the latest revelations of him being kept in the dark were untenable, and forced a need to accelerate his plans.

Loach would help him to get the weapon, which he would then use for blackmail, or, if required, a demonstration of power. He would need a team to pull it off, but he knew enough people outside the loop to make it happen. After all, that is what he did, made things happen.

Of course there were assumptions there, he didn't actually know what the Aleutians were going to be transporting, but he did know it was developed by MDC, and needed a heavy rail network to get it up the coast. That in itself was enough to know if probably made a very big boom.

It did bother him that he was so in the dark about the development of the weapon. He prided himself on reading people, yet Gindobe gave away nothing regarding the next phase. He made a mental note to review the development of their relationship. It may have been desperation at the time of the Osiris breach that allowed him to be so easily lead.

"I'm going to Melbourne to head up the start of the next phase. I need you to carry out a full survey of Melbourne, and find the production facility. And I need it before I get there."

"What? You don't know where it is?"

"Of course I do, but, if you can find it, so can they. I need to know how accurate you can pin the location, what signals are getting through, and what support structures are in a significant tactical radius."

"You really think they are onto it?"

"I have to assume they are, Loach. They are smart, and the biggest mistake you can make is to underestimate your enemy. This has been a significant project, run over a very long time. The last thing we want now is to have those fucking turkeys throwing a spanner in the works at the eleventh hour."

"OK, OK, calm down. Jeez, you look like you're gonna pop a vessel or something."

"The only thing I will pop is your neck if you don't get this sorted. I have a stop on the way, so will be there in twelve hours, I want your data feed in ten."

"You're the boss, boss."

Damn fucking straight I am, Jules thought to himself.

### Chapter 18

"Blake, you with us?"

Blake was staring at a picture on the table. He knew her, but it must have been a mistake. She must have been 6 foot tall, fairly light skin, athletic build, but must have needed a solid sports bra when she ran. He put that thought out of his head fast, it was her eyes. Even though he hadn't seen them for thirty years, he would never forget those eyes.

"Yo, Blake, what the fuck, man!" Jack was getting a little annoyed with his lack of attention.

"Yeah Blake, you getting a hard-on or what?" Ping looked to Jack for approval, but Jack was focussed on Blake.

Blake looked up, "I think I know this woman. I think she is my sister"

The table fell silent. Jack grabbed the picture back and had a good long look at it. He cringed just a little, it was a cheesy picture, but he needed to get a solid pic of her so Ping and Cindy could run through her history and make sure she was clean.

"Blake, hun, you never said anything about a sister."

Blake didn't reply, he was thinking things through. If it were true, it had been one hell of a cover up.

"I never said anything about a lot of things."

"Then how about you shed some light. We are taking a risk with this new contact, and we need to know if you are sure. We have run her background, and she seems pretty clean"

"How far back can you go?"

"Far enough. To about four or five years old."

"That was about when it happened. I must have been about 10. We were out camping, and I got separated from my family. Long story short, they disappeared, and I ended up getting fostered. I looked for them for years, but they were never found. It's the reason I became a detective, to find out, but by the time I could get access to any decent archive data, every trail was stone cold."

"That makes sense." Jack replied.

Cindy was about to fire into Jack for being an insensitive prick, but could see he was acting very sombre.

"Why so, Jack?"

"Well, she was trying to convince me she was legit. She said she grew up in the New City, but wasn't from there. She got adopted as a kid, but couldn't really remember her childhood before then. Her psych told her it was memory regression from an early traumatic experience."

The table went silent. There weren't many things said around that table that didn't end in a smart-arse comment, or verbal gunfight, but this was an odd moment, for all of them. Blake finally opened up, if only a little, and Jack showed he had skills outside of emptying clips.

Blake was the one to break the silence this time. "Well, it seems like we have another 'thing' to look at."

"It does."

"But, we have a lot of 'things' at the moment, and right now we have a mission. Jack, Jan told you these 'vitamins' have been around for about three months, right?"

"Yeah, she gave be a bottle. It seems that the product Johnny was onto has made it into circulation."

Jack tossed a small green bottle on the table. Ping picked it up and read the label. There wasn't a huge amount of information. He read it out loud, line by line.

Revolution Synthetics

Vitamin based cellular reinforcement and regeneration enhancement

Self-targeting Nano-structure architecture

Take once daily for effective deceleration of ageing

Ping stopped and looked up to the others. "This shit sounds fucking horrific! How in the hell are people gonna read that label and think it's a good thing to chug down this crap?"

"They think it stops them ageing. It's the one thing technology has never been able to do, until now apparently."

"Yeah, well I can guaran-damn-tee you it doesn't do any of that shit."

"Guarantee?"

"Yep. The Biotronics tech can do a lot of things, but cellular degeneration is as certain as day and night. We're not talking about just tagging a few enzymes with a new compound, or splicing in a new thread here, it's about changing the very way DNA works, and THAT ain't gonna happen."

"So, what DOES it do?"

"That is what I will find out while you are in Melbourne. Look."

Ping tossed Jack the bottle. Jack read over what Ping had already read, then turned the bottle.

"Who are 'Multicorp?"

"An Alpha-run company based in Melbourne. We thought they were dead, along with the rest of the city, but apparently not."

"I don't get it. Why would they advertise the company on the bottle?"

"Because they are arrogant fucking Alphas, and also, because the company disappeared almost thirty years ago. I guessed they figured no-one would know about them."

"So how do you know?"

"Uncle Jay and I used to snoop through Alpha historical links. He stumbled across them a few years back. Well covered tracks, but there is always a trail, you just have to brush a few leaves aside to see it sometimes."

"Well, start brushing boy-scout. Sin, you and Blake come with me, it's roady time. Blake, you still got your wits about you?"

"You mean, Jan?"

"What the fuck else have we been talking about? Yes, Jan."

"It's all good, really. The possibility has hit a nerve, but I've been dealing with this for my whole life, another few days really makes no difference."

"Great, walls. Best thing a man can have, Blake, build those fuckers high."

Jack got up and slapped Blake on the back before heading to the garage. Cindy looked over to Blake.

"You sure you're OK, hun?"

"I'll be fine as long as Jack didn't do anything other than talk to her!"

"Assuming it is her, of course."

"Assuming."

They all got up from the table and headed to the workshop. Surprisingly, they didn't have a lot of prep work to do before heading out. Aside from Blake getting air-conditioned at Olives house, things had been fairly quiet around the house.

They really needed a clean lead to get back on track, and it looked like Jan may have given them that. Cindy was going to keep a close tab on Blake this trip. The last thing any of them needed was for Blake to have a mental break amid a gunfight.

As they headed out into the country, Jack and Cindy pulled away from Blake. Aside from the fact that there was no way the Beast could keep with Betty or the Ferrari, he was there to provide firepower, not speed. It wasn't like the Beast didn't have pace, he was sitting on 250 most of the way, but that wasn't near enough to keep up.

They agreed to stop and re-group in Canberra. It was still far enough out of Melbourne that they wouldn't arouse any suspicion, and it was also a hot-bed of activity for those that preferred to fly under the radar. Hopefully they would find someone willing to squeak about what was going on.

"Hey Sin, what do you think, should we open it up a bit?"

"You just hit 365 on that last straight, how much more is there to open?"

"A bit."

"Enjoying the open road, are we?"

"Nothing like it Sin. The perfect remedy for all that ails ya'!"

"I thought ale WAS the perfect remedy. For you."

"Depends on the situation."

Jack paused to take a tight corner. The g's nearly throwing him clean off.

"Well that was close."

"You're telling me. I think I need to change my suit at the next stop."

Cindy laughed. "Sorry hun, it's the only Tac-suit we have for you. Unless you can convince Blake to give you his."

"Nah, I prefer the smell of my own piss to his."

"Jack, do you know how disgusting you are sometimes?"

"Yeah well."

He paused to take another corner, this time slipping on some loos metal and nearly drifting off the road.

"Sin, can we talk about this at Canberra?"

"Rather not, Jack. See you soon."

Jack dropped the comm and brought up the local maps on his HUD. He was only twenty minutes out of Canberra, and still had some work to do. He buttoned back on the speed and started running through Betty's diagnostics. The bike was fine, but something didn't feel right. He queried TLM, and Ping came on the comm.

"What's the problem, Jack?"

"Dunno."

"You just ran a diagnostic on Betty, and now you're running a scan on TLM. Something must be wrong."

"In the last few minutes, it feels like a bit of the power has dropped, just doesn't feel right."

There was a pause for a moment, before Ping replied.

"It's just TLM compensating for your riding. It picked up two near wash-outs in the last half hour, and it looks like it's anticipating some more shit riding on your part."

"Shit riding? What the fuck!"

"Hey, you're the one pushing her too hard. The system is designed to keep you alive, Jack. It's still learning from you, and it's dynamic, constantly evolving and adjusting to your style."

"Well fuck me. How long will it do that for?"

"No idea. We have all of the interfaces, but you have to remember, it's a form of biological entity in itself. It continually adapts to the environment, and gives that information to TLM to process. As long as the environment around it is changing, it is adapting."

"So what about the weapons system, will it override me on that, too?"

"Nah, we put fuck all control over that for TLM. Aside from protecting our team, it's up to you what to do with it. Regardless of how fast the system is, it's still only a mechanical system, it has no emotion so can't reliably assess a human threat."

"Hell, neither can I half the time."

"Yeah, but you have compassion."

"Depends on the threat. I'm at Canberra, checking out."

Jack pulled into town. There wasn't a lot going on, at all. From what he remembered, the only area there was any action was down at the old parliament building. It got converted into a hotel many years ago, then became a pub for all of the local undesirables. He hoped like hell it was still a pub, he was thirsty.

Pulling into the lot out front, the building looked as miserable as ever. A generation of neglect doesn't look good on any building, but with the added graffiti, and occasional shell round carving out the façade, it looked like a pile of rubble in disguise.

As Jack walked towards the entry, he noted that there were only half a dozen cars and 4 bikes out front. Must be a slow day in the underworld today, he thought. Walking through the entry, he realized he wasn't wrong. There were no more than twenty people, most of them turning to have a nosy at the latest patron.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?"

Jack turned to his left to see Twist walking over from the table nearest the entry. He quickly pulled his Timmy and backed against the wall. His vision blurring for an instant before the room became a burst of high contrast iridescent figures.

"Whoa there cowboy, calm down."

The voice came from his right. He looked to the right, but it was a feint. As he turned his head, he threw himself to the left, getting low and behind Twist. He was up at her right flank, Timmy in her ribs, before she had a chance to move. He knew he was quick, but the girls weren't responding at all to his move.

"Yo, Jack!" It was Carrey. "Calm the fuck down, boy. We aren't here to fight."

Jack paused for a moment.

"C'mon, you're Vixens, you always fight."

"No,no,no, my dear. Sometimes we love."

Twist grabbed his crotch from behind, but it had no effect due to the suit Jack was still wearing.

Twist whispered over her shoulder. "Aw, baby, when are you going to let me get you off?"

Jack turned and broke her grip with his thigh, taking a step back. "When you lot stop pointing guns at me."

Carrey looked over to the other side of the room and nodded her head. The other two Vixens lowered their guns and sat back down at the table, continuing their conversation as if nothing had happened.

"There, all civilized again. Now, Jack, why don't you go grab a drink, on me, and come and sit with us. We would LOVE to know what you are doing down this way."

Carrey turned and walked towards the other two. Twist followed, slapping Jack on the butt as she walked past.

Jack tapped on his comm and told Cindy briefly to wait on the outskirts of town.

"Who was that, Jack, your team?"

"Nah, just mum telling me there is casserole for dinner."

Carrey gave him a half frown, but turned back to the other girls. They stood up as Carrey sat down, but it didn't look like an act of subordination, the way they looked at her there was genuine respect.

"Well, Jack, here we are."

"Here we are."

"But, why are we here?"

"I was hoping you would tell me."

Jack sat back and took a sip of his drink. He really wanted to knock the whole thing back and order another few, but today was not one of those days.

"I tell you what, Jack, let's play a little tit-for-tat."

"Sure, sounds fun. You got the tit, so you start."

"Fair enough, Jack. As I said before, we are primarily business women. Oh sure, we like a little scuffle, who doesn't? But, fighting doesn't pay the bills, Alpha's do."

"I already know you are Autohackers, Carrey. Pretty good ones too."

"Yes, I'm sure you know a lot of things. Your crew are quite the resourceful ones, aren't they?"

"Didn't stop you getting the jump on me at the warehouse."

Carrey paused for a moment. She looked at him, with more than a touch of admiration. What he didn't know was that they had planned that raid on the warehouse for a week, and with support from Jules Oricks. Of course Oricks would not get mentioned, not least because the filthy prick swiped the contract from them shortly after that raid, and gave it to those fucking Aleutians.

She could feel herself getting would up, and didn't want to let the situation get out of hand again. Aside from being genuinely interested in Jack, as a person, she still had a job to do, and maybe Jack and his team would help.

"So, as I was saying, your team seem resourceful, and as you know, we all need resources these days."

"Sorry Carrey, I don't need psycho biker-chick resources."

"Jack, I'm shocked." Carrey started in a sarcastic tone. "Psycho? Please, we are ladies!"

The others at the table laughed. Jack had a glance around the table. If he didn't think he was about to get stabbed, he would have laid out a few lines on them. The Vixens certainly were a good looking crew.

"Besides, none of us are actually psycho." Carrey leaned in towards Jack, near whispering now. "We just have this front to scare away the pussies."

Jack could smell her perfume. What kind of biker chick wears perfume? Of course his next thought was that he needed to get out of there, these girls knew their stuff when it came to coercion.

"OK, Carrey, let's have a little barter, then I'm off. Don't have all day to fuck around."

Carrey sat back in her seat smiling.

"Of course. So, were both here because it's on the way to Melbourne, that is a given, neither of us are idiots. It's also where the Aleutians are, or were, based. Now, it seems we would both be interested in them, as we are both on the Autohacking circuit. So, why do you want them?"

"They have big guns."

"So do you, but let's keep the conversation on track. Here is my side of the barter. When we last met, we had a contract to supply a product into the new city. This product faced being struck due to a certain loud-mouth we both met. After we dealt with that situation, the contract got taken off us and given to the Aleutians. We are looking for a little pay-back.

"Who gave the contract?"

"Can't say."

"Can't or won't?"

"Pick one. Now, your turn."

"Fair enough. We heard the Aleutians had contracted a certain Tech genius, that we have a score to settle. Rumour round the water cooler was that he was headed this way with an entourage, of sorts, to make some kind of deal with the Aleutians. So, we're going to intercept him and lift him."

"I think I know this Tech you're talking about."

"I think you do to. He was the only one who could have blocked our signals at the warehouse."

Carrey paused for a moment. This was certainly interesting. If Loach was heading down, Oricks wouldn't be far off. They might be able to pull off the trifecta if they play this right.

"Thanks for that, Jack. Tell you what, in the name of continued relations, I have a couple of other things to give you."

She leaned in towards him. Jack leaned forward slightly, being sure not to lose peripheral sight of the other girls.

"We know what they are building. It is a weapon designed to take out a LOT of people. It's not a bomb, it's some sort of whizz-bang smart weapon."

Jack didn't trust the Vixens as far as he could throw them. But, that was based on reputation, and out of all of the clans he had come across, they seemed to be the most stable of the lot. More of a sisterhood, than cult.

"And the other thing?"

Carrey leaned right in to him and kissed him hard on the lips, grabbing his neck as she did to stop him pulling back. Her lips were so soft Jack thought they would melt into his, her hand touched his thigh making him instantly aroused. She slowly pulled her mouth away, closing her eyes as she let out a soft groan.

"That, was long overdue." She said, winking at him.

She stood up, with the other following suit.

"Were heading out to set up, Jack. Call your people, we leave in thirty minutes. If you want to come." She paused for a moment. "Tell your crew we are on recon, but they better be locked and loaded. The Aleutians don't fuck around."

Jack watched them leave, giving himself a few minutes before he turned from the table. It was going to be a long afternoon, and he needed to make sure he had everything clear in his head. The Vixens had definitely thrown another dimension into the mission, but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. The value of a true soldier was to be adaptable; respond to a rapidly changing situation.

By his reckoning, Jack was now leading a tactical group, not a recon group, regardless of what shade of bullshit Carrey put on it. The key would be controlling them so they didn't go off half-cocked and screw everything up. The likely had the element of surprise as there was no reason for the Aleutians to expect today was different from any other. This is where the advantage would be.

Jack went out and pulled Carrey aside. The discussion was amiable, much to the surprise of both of them on reflection. They both let their guards down a bit more when they didn't have any show to put on for their people. Carrey reminded Jack that the Vixens had business that was going to be finished, one way or another, and Jack reminded Carrey that he was the veteran soldier, and made the calls on the mission. They both agreed that they would get their people on board.

Walking back to Betty, Jack was concerned more about Oricks and his unpredictability, than that of the Vixens. The more he was around them, the more he 'got' them. He didn't allow him to go so far as trust them, but he certainly had respect now, not out of fear, but out of a realization that they had structure and rules.

### Chapter 19

Gindobe seemed to spend more and more time in the conference room. He had mixed feelings about this. Although it meant the plan was moving ahead a good speed, it also meant he had to travel, and he did not take to travelling well. It was necessary of course, as their entire method of operating was based on the segmentation and isolation of all information.

He pondered this as he changed his seating position. There was no way in hell he was travelling to Europe. Coming down to the Old City was far enough. If they needed a face to face, they would have to come to him.

"Gentlemen, I appreciate your offer to host me, however I am not in a position to travel to Switzerland at present. Should you find it imperative that we do meet, I will be more than happy to host you here. Rest assured, we have service and hospitality that is without rival."

The three men at the other end of the conversation were talking in soft tones, before one of them turned to Gindobe.

"That is a most gracious offer, Sir. We will consider the opportunity, but first we must all be clear what we are discussing."

Gindobe always had trouble understanding their accents. It was not often people on opposite sides of the world talked anymore, the destruction of global trade a generation ago put an end to that.

"Of course. You can speak openly here, we have the best signal scrambling available, above quantum-level."

"Very impressive, but that is not why we are restrained in our openness. To date, you have not actually shown us the capability of your weapon. We have proved our tech in the field, which you have observed first-hand."

"Indeed. But, just to make things clear gentlemen, I do not take to condescension. At all. You know who I represent, and you WILL respect that."

There was a pause at the other end as the men talked amongst themselves again.

"Yes, Gindobe, of course we meant no such thing, and offer our sincere apologies if our words were taken as aggressive."

Gindobe took his place on the high ground again, where he wanted to be.

"Good. Now. Our need for you is not in the completion of the weapon, believe me that is near, it is for population management. I assume your present tech is scalable?"

"Absolutely, and in continual development. We project that in the next year we will have completed a new system that integrates all of our surgical and external-tissue devices in one management system."

"Impressive. And there is little damage to the subjects?"

"None, unless we decide there should be."

The three foreigners smiled, as did Gindobe. He was pleased with this news, and looked forward to getting hold of it to integrate with their emerging technology. He was still concerned about Oricks and his development of the new technology they had. He was trying to balance keeping Oricks at arms-length in case he had to cut him, with his personal interest in the technology.

"Well, we will host you very soon indeed then. We are currently completing a working prototype of our weapon."

"A prototype, you are only at prototype stage?"

Gindobe was instantly fired-up again, but reminded himself not to be led by their ignorance.

"Our prototype has an effective radius of ten kilometres."

There was silence at the other end again. But they were not talking amongst themselves, they were staring at the screen dumbstruck.

"Five, kilometres, you say?"

"That is correct."

"And it is a prototype?"

"As I said."

"Well, Gindobe, that is most impressive. We look forward to seeing this soon."

"My people will make the arrangements."

Gindobe cut the conversation and turned to Haleon.

"So what do you think?"

"I think they are impressed."

"As they should be."

"Gindobe, do you think we need their involvement at all?"

"Yes Haleon, for a few reasons. We have our own people working on new technology, it's quite revolutionary in fact, but it is taking time, and is still quite unreliable."

"So why don't we put more resources to them?"

"It is not a resource issue, Haledon, you should know better than that. Our new technology is right on the edge of discovery. There are only a few people in the world who even know about it, and now more than a handful that know how to work with it."

"And we have them?"

"Most of them."

Haleon frowned at the less than satisfactory response. Gindobe didn't want to get into this now, but could see that he wasn't going to let it go.

"Haleon, you understand that I am head of operations, don't you?"

"Of course. Please don't take this as an aggression. I am simply, curious."

"I have Oricks acquiring the other Techs involved. This is his brief, and this is why we need him."

"Why did you not just explain this to the rest of the group."

"You know why, because there is dissention."

"Are you sure, I have not seen it."

"Because you are my strongest supporter, and they know it."

Haleon paused for a moment,

"Aeron."

Gindobe slowly nodded.

"I am sorry, Gindobe, I should have seen it."

"Do not worry, Haleon, it is of no real consequence. These little power struggles have existed as long as the Ordained. It is really not a concern I am willing to entertain. My actions in this present phase will ensure I remain in control of operations."

"And should he challenge you?"

"I will respond. There are clear protocols on these matters, and we all abide by them willingly. As I stated, it is not a concern, merely an observation. Aeron will not do anything to actively disrupt the plan, he is as invested as all of us are."

"He just wants the kudos when the final arrangements are made."

"Now you are getting it."

"We have almost completed preparations now for the test. All civic bodies have been briefed on a future strategy for dealing with large-scale unpredicted events. They believe it is to deal with effects of a catastrophic collapse of the atmosphere, or other similar global-scale events.

"Good. Everything is proceeding as expected."

"I know I am not briefed on the final plan, but I must say, the execution to date has been exciting."

"Yes it is. Remember, my friend, we have been planning this for generations. It is the only way the future can be, there is little room for diversity."

"I remember my studies. Diversity was praised at the end of the last millennium."

"The fools thought diversity would ensure prosperity of humanity. They didn't realize it only worked to weaken all of us. Strength is in uniformity. Reputation of action to become efficient."

"With the exception of us, of course."

"To a point, Haleon, you are right. We are the keepers of history and culture; however we have also succumbed to a level of uniformity."

"A necessity, however we may personally feel about it."

"Indeed. Now, I have matters to tend to, good day."

Haleon gave Gindobe a subtle nod, and left the room. Gindobe sat back and poured himself a drink. He had put a lot of trust in Haleon. It was still a developing relationship, a decade was hardly enough time to really know someone, but he was staunch. He appreciated the importance of the plan, and his sincerity was obvious in its transparency.

These were all good qualities, becoming of a true leader of society, however they also needed more direct weapons. It was time to see where Jules Oricks was placed with the recovery of their tech. He was on a long leash, and recent events were starting to unsettle Gindobe. The plan was almost complete, but it was his legacy that Gindobe was now working towards, and full compliance and support by Oricks was essential.

### Chapter 20

Cindy and Blake were not too happy about their current arrangement, opinion they made loud and clear to Jack before they left. They were travelling to Melbourne at a slow pace. It was agreed that from a tactical point of view, they needed to get in scanner range of the first group of Aleutians, and assess the final plan from there.

As the Vixens weaved in and out of the lanes in front of them, they continued the debate with Jack. He was adamant they needed the support, and after all, it was what they stopped in Canberra for in the first place.

"Yeah, but Jack, we didn't expect the fucking Women of the Amazon."

"Do I sense a little insecurity, Sin?"

"Oh please, they are little more than Neanderthals with guns."

"There was a time you liked that type."

"Yeah, but who would have known you would change into the idiot we now know, huh?"

Blake laughed, always enjoying hearing Sin rip Jack down to size.

"Jack, are you sure about them?"

"No, they are Autohackers after all, I'm not saying drop our guard and bring them to the house. But, they are organized, almost military-level organized. They have good structure, know how to fight, and hate the Aleutians more than we do. That is a solid combination on my book."

"They know how to fight, but there are only four of them. Hardly an army."

"Don't speak too soon, Blake." Cindy cut into the conversation. "We have a small swarm of ants coming up on my scanners."

Blake looked in the rear-view monitor and saw at least two dozen bikes coming up fast. As the bikes got to them, they all slowed down to the same pace. They weaved past Blake and Cindy, working their way to the front. Jack looked over to Carrey, turning his head back for a moment. Carrey looked at him and twisted the throttle, lifting the front wheel off the ground. Every other Vixen bike did the same thing immediately after.

"I'm starting to fucking like these guys."

"Calm down Jack, you need as much blood in your little brain as you can fit, don't want to black out."

"Fair call, Blake. So, tactical. We now have twenty-odd strong. I can't see us staying covert for long if we roll in to town like this."

"Agreed. We need to split into groups of no more than five. If recon is their true intention, only one group should make the first pass of the Aleutian facility. We are still blind on their capability, but those boys aren't idiots."

"I'm calling it like this. We split ourselves up, with a few bikes each. We will go into town from the East, West, and South. Carrey said their site is at the old downtown area, which means some roads will be blocked from the sea. The last two groups of bikes will hang back on the main roads out in-case there is a break and we need flanking support."

"Right. Ping, can you get the current Sat maps of the downtown area, and peg all of the blocked roads on our live maps."

"Sure Sin, on it. By the way, I have been looking at the maps already, and there are no large facilities where Carrey pinned their op."

Jack thought for a minute.

"They are underground. I bet the fuckers have sealed the rail network, pumped it clear of water, and set up there."

"Makes sense. That would make it hard to pick up any signal from outside, and explain why no-one knew about them."

"It also means they have limited detection hardware. Anything too big will leak signal trace around town."

Jack thought about this for another minute. If they could take out any spotters around town, they might actually have a chance to not only get Loach, but find out what exactly they are doing down there.

Cindy got on the comm. "OK guys, we have some weak signal coming from twenty k's up. Looks like some low-rent scanners across two roads.

Jack put his hand up and moved over to a side road. It was time to bring the Vixens up with the play, and sort out the details. He hoped Carrey would be on board, but didn't think he would have much trouble. She seemed to respect his military knowledge, so it made sense he would take point.

The assembled on both sides, off the main highway. A few of the Vixens immediately spread out in a loose circle. Jack was impressed, again, but couldn't help but feel it was due to the fact they were all too quick to fight. Ironic that this concern came from him.

Jack, Blake, and Cindy met with Carrey and Twist to discuss the option. The road was quiet, but there wasn't time to much about. There was little cover to hide them from discovery. Plenty of scrub for cover if guns came out, but Jack wasn't planning on that.

"Right, Carrey, we have our scanners picking up some low-rent tracking gear not too far ahead. We are still a bit out of town, so are going to assume they have an effective radius around the city."

"Sounds right, they have been here a while, probably know most of the roads."

"Exactly, which is why we are going in first, to clear the way. Any scanners they have must be low-boost types or we would have picked them up on Sat intel. They will be daisy-chaining their messages to get back to the HQ."

"So what, we hang back here and miss the party?"

"On the contrary. We need half of you to back track and loop around the far side of Melbourne. There are a lot of k's to cover, and it will have to be done fast."

"And the rest of us?"

"You will follow us in ten minutes. By then we will have carved a path."

Carry thought about it. It seemed reasonable, unless they planned on sneaking through and leaving her crew to hit the perimeter. She liked the idea of keeping Jack close.

"Tell you what. Since we are all such good friends now, Twist and I are going to be your chaperones. We will hang back a little, but you will be in our sights."

"Looking out for us?"

"Sure. That and we don't want to miss our chance at taking the Aleutians."

"Only once what we get what we need."

"Sure."

Jack had no doubt Carrey would keep her word, he just wasn't sure how loose she would let the chain on the rest of her crew. Still, he had gone into battle with less support before, and the stakes were high. If Loach was here, they needed to get him, anything else was a bonus.

Jack looked at Blake and Cindy, then turned to Carrey and Twist.

"Their operation is based in the old rail tubes under the city. We have detailed network data of what roads are operating, and what areas of the tunnel are accessible from the surface."

"There wouldn't be many now, downtown is a harbour peppered with buildings."

"Yes, but there are a few points that have been built up. It's rudimentary, not part of the original city building. We think they have made them to get into the areas they want."

"So they will be heavily guarded."

"Yes, hence the 'recon' part of the trip. Take this as gospel ladies; if you think a few dozen of us will roll up to their HQ, flash our guns, and get given the royal tour, you are sorely mistaken."

The ladies looked at each other, clearly disappointed. Not likely because they had been told they couldn't do something, but because they knew Jack was right.

"So, what the fuck are we doing here?" Twist replied, almost spitting.

"We are going to get close, close enough to see what they are doing, and let them know someone is around. Once we rattle their cage, we are sure they will flick Oricks and Loach and bolt the door. We will also know exactly where to get in, and can work out how. Then, we come back later. Recon."

Carrey looked at Jack, slouching her hand on her hip, while pouting. "Can we have Oricks to play with for a while?"

"Hey, I you can catch him, you can have your time, but he needs to stay alive."

"Alive yes, but probably neutered."

Twist laughed at that.

"What is your beef anyway?"

"Just business stuff. And what else are you going to give us for all of this help?"

"What do you want?"

Carrey walked over to Cindy and stroked her hair with the back of her hand. Cindy pulled back, swatting Carrey hand away.

"Oooh, feisty one. You know hun, you would be a good fit with the Vixens."

"Forget it, bitch."

"Ouch. That hurts."

Jack needed to get things moving. They had already spent too much time on the side of the road talking shit.

"OK Carrey, c'mon, we have to move."

"We want tech." She looked at Cindy. "We want HER tech."

Cindy looked at Carrey, "Once again, forget it, bitch."

"Fine, then we head off and do our own thing. Good luck trying to throw a net over downtown with the three of you."

Carrey turned to walk away. Jack stepped in front of her.

"Wait, Carrey, we can offer you signal scrubbers, that's it."

"We don't need toys, we need weapons, Jack, forget it."

"Oh, believe me, you want these. Sin, show her what we got."

Cindy looked at Jack with a thousand-yard stare. How dare he offer her tech without discussing it. He was right though, if they had to give something, defensive hardware was better than offensive.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a hemispherical object a little larger than her palm. She held it in her hand and it expanded to about twice its original size, with a small buzz a holographic shape formed the rest of the sphere. It was an iridescent blue, with red and green splotches on it.

"Your signal jammers are these red marks, ours are green."

"Why different colours?"

"Because I don't want to deactivate ours."

Cindy tapped the red marks one at a time and they turned yellow. Jack pulled out his comm device and pressed a few buttons. They could all hear two of the Vixens discussing the finer points of their pistols. He switched to a different channel and could hear another two talking about hair colouring. He looked over to Carrey and frowned.

"What, we're still women, dickhead."

"So, what do you reckon?"

"I reckon we have a deal. For six of them."

Cindy laughed. "Hun, these take four weeks each to make, and use some of the rarest material on earth. Hell, there aren't even six of them in existence."

Jack put his hand out, Cindy handed the device to him. He turned to Carrey and held it out, pulling it back as she reached out.

"You get this one, right after we get handed Oricks."

Carrey looked to Twist, then looked back. "I get that one now, and another when I hand over Oricks."

Jack thought about it for a minute. "You get two later, only if he is alive and able to talk. I'm fucking serious on that, play with him, vent your anger, but if we can't use him, you get squat."

"Deal"

Carrey put her hand out to shake. As Jack reached out, she grabbed his hand and stuck his finger in her mouth. She slowly drew it out, looking at Cindy the whole time. Cindy let out a grunt of disapproval and turned back to the car.

Once they were one the road Cindy called the orders. It was her show now.

"Right, Blake, you stay right in behind me, the Beast is a big bitch to hide. Jack, Carrey, and Twist, you guys need to flank me. Nobody can be more than twenty metres away if my jammer is going to shield you."

They all acknowledged her instruction.

"Cindy?"

"Yeah Twist."

"What if they have one of those doo-dacky's you have and open us up?"

"No chance. They're my own design, originals, besides, the skin of my car is skin is integrated with Biotr...." She stopped herself short of telling them about the Biotronics. She had to stop showing off. "I can jam down to sub-microwave levels. They will need some major hardware to try and break through, and we would have seen that from space."

"Oh, OK. But, how big is your gun?"

"About as big as your balls."

They all laughed. Jack liked this. He was on edge almost constantly lately, and being part of a large crew again brought back memories of being in service. Camaraderie was something he had distanced himself from, and made a decision there to work on that. He had kept himself on the outside for long enough.

As they came up on the first checkpoint, Jack moved ahead. The feed from Cindy's scanner showed on his HALO exactly where the targets were. He waited until the last moment then accelerated hard. By the time they realised it was an aggressor, Betty had her dart tubes open and locked on.

There were two men on bikes, one each side of the road through some light scrub. They both fell towards the road as the group swept past.

"I thought this was a recon mission, soldier boy."

"It is, Carrey, but sometimes even recon missions have collateral damage. BY the time they get out here to find out what happened to their spotters, we should be long gone."

"Hey Twist, we might have found the right escorts, what do you think?"

"Jury is still out, haven't seen anything too impressive yet."

"Wow!", Jack interrupted. "Tough crowd."

"Tougher than you, pumpkin."

The group were nearing the edge of the inner-city now, so started looking for spotters by eye.

"Remember, they may not have electronic comms at all, so don't rely on Cindy's whiz-bangery to do your job."

"What the hell else would they have, Jack, smoke signals?"

"I wouldn't rule it out, they have spent a fair bit of time down here flying under the radar, whatever they have isn't to be underestimated."

Jack and the others made it to the old Eastern Freeway. It looked like a scene from an apocalypse, with more weeds than pavement now. They didn't like to use the road, it left them exposed, but it was the quickest way to get to the East side, which is where the expected inlet points were still operating.

"Hey, Jack?"

"Carrey."

"We got a thing. One of my girls says they just saw two black unmarked heavy-duty vehicles coming in fast from the North."

"Were they seen?"

"Negative. They were static looking for spotters through their bino's when they heard them coming. It's gotta be Loach and Oricks."

"Wait up Carey, how do you figure that?"

"Because Frankie said one of the drivers was a scrawny looking kid, and she didn't see the other face, but it was a big fella."

"Well, I guess you could draw a long bow on that one, assuming the Aleutians don't have any fat or skinny people."

"Stop fucking with me Jack. If it's Oricks, we're taking him. I'm sending Twist to intercept."

"No you're not."

"Twist, break off and find those cars, I want ID."

There was silence for a moment before Jack spoke through obviously gritted teeth. "Fucking Vixens."

"Yo, Jack, your comm is still on, asshole."

"I know."

"Well cheer up sweetheart, because I see your fox-hole. One click up, 11 o'clock, dark building with no windows on the upper floor."

"You sure?"

"Positive, there is a spotter standing in one of the broken windows."

"Fuck!"

Jack screeched to a halt, pulling his Timmy out of his saddle holster while grabbing the rifle extension from the cowl. As he clicked the extension in, a stock drew out from the rear of the grip. He pulled it up, helmet still on, and got a clear visual through his lens. There were two dots on his screen, a red circle for his target, which TLM intuitively picked up when he saw it, and the other was an orange triangle.

The target was half a kilometre away, but the visor had focussed on the target, which was now reaching for something in his pocket. Jack didn't hesitate to take the shot, a three-round burst which was hardly audible. Half a second later the target dropped, and Jack swept his vision over the rest of the floor for a moment. There was no other movement.

"Well, looks like our covert mission just went overt. We are not engaging, we are doing a lap and getting the fuck out, everybody understand?"

"Yep."

"Yes."

"Roger."

"Right, Blake, you stick with Sin and go around to Footscray, if you see nothing else, break North and loop back towards Sydney. Carrey and I are going to double back and sweep down the East side of the bay."

"Jack, Twist has confirmation of Oricks. They aren't going to the base though, they just changed direction."

"Shit, looks like they got warned."

"I'm going after him."

"NO! Leave Twist and the other to do that. If these guys have a fucking smart bomb, or worse, having Oricks won't mean shit when they level the Old City."

"I'm not a hero Jack, I just want revenge."

"Me too, we will both get it. I need back-up, that was the deal."

There was silence for a minute, then Carrey came back on.

"Alright, I've sent all of my girls after them, wait a minute." There was another pause. "One of the vehicles has changed course and is under fire from the Aleutians, maybe they think they are with us."

"Maybe. Don't go in there. Your girls will get turned to Swiss cheese if the Aleutians have an ambush set up."

"We are pursuing the other vehicle. Looks like it's Oricks."

"Good, remember, he must be kept alive."

"Deals a deal, Jack."

Jack braked hard and turned left. The road ahead was completely washed out, almost taking Carrey over a barricade. They turned down the hill and accelerated, they didn't want to be here right now, there were a lot of high buildings, and not a lot of cover.

"Carrey, we need to get out of this."

"No shit, what does wonder-boy suggest?"

Jack had to pause for a minute, before he realized she was talking about Ping. He got on the comm and asked Ping to load up a map to the East side.

"Quick Ping, I don't want to get made, Betty isn't exactly a hard vehicle to pick out of a crowd."

"On it Jack. You should have it in a moment. You have to cross a few sections of the old tunnel lines, so keep your head up."

"Yup."

The map overlay came up a few seconds later. "Carrey, stay close, we not going to have a Sunday drive, it's time to get the fuck out of here."

"OK hun, no seaside stroll then?"

"Maybe some other time."

As Jack started twisting through the streets, Ping had two satellite feeds coming through with live data. He updated the maps as he needed to, in order to avoid obvious choke points or likely sniper fields. It made the trip slow, but a lot safer than running a straight line.

As they came up on an intersection, Jack saw a couple of riders sitting on the grass verge across the other side. Betty targeted them immediately and opened the dart tubes. He was about to launch when he saw the riders. They were kids, no more than 13 years old. He dropped the targets and kept moving through.

"Going soft Jack?"

"Kids."

"They might be with the Aleutians."

"Still kids."

"You are so damn hard to get a read on, Jack. Did you know that?"

"Well, everyone keeps telling me I'm fucking impossible to understand, that what you mean?"

"Sure. I guess."

Carrey couldn't help but be drawn to Jack. She wasn't sure if it was his bike, gun, or boyish charm, but either way, he was growing on her. She checked herself on it, of all of the possible relationships she could have in the world, that one would without doubt be a Molotov cocktail in the making.

Just as she was thinking of talking to him about his life, her rear tire exploded. She fishtailed across the road, trying to stay upright. It was no use, the bike slid out so she pushed it away as she fell. At first she slid along the road, but then got here foot caught and rolled into a tumble. She hit the grass verge and hit her helmet on the ground.

Almost immediately there were plumes of dirt spraying up around her. She scrambled for an old electrical transformer, crawling behind it and tucking her back into the panels. The shooting stopped, but she knew they were trained on the transformer.

She heard a whir from Jack's direction, then a small explosion in the distance. Jack pulled up next to Carrey on the grass on dismounted, rolling into Carrey.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, just bruised. What the fuck was that?"

"There are three shooters out there. I just took out two of them with a rocket. There is one left in the building across the road. Rooftop position, full coverage of this location."

"So why the fuck are you here?"

"You looked lonely."

Carrey lifted her visor. "Asshole, we need to get out of here."

"We'll I have a bike, you can either be nicer and get a ride, or keep being a bitch and push your one home."

Carrey punch Jack on the arm, hard. "Seriously, were being shot at by a sniper, and all you can do is make jokes?"

"Firstly, he's not a sniper, he's a punk runner with a gun on a roof. Secondly, I need him to get settled in so he thinks he will have a solid line. If he's moving, I can't shoot him. Watch and learn honey."

Jack reached to the cowling of the bike and slid on the rifle extension again. TLM immediately put his visor into sniper mode and brought up the circle and triangle. The circle was roaming his visor, not fixing on anything in particular. He got into a prone position and braced himself. He took a split second glance around the corner and came back. No shots fired, the shooter was looking at the other side of the transformer. Good.

His screen went into a translucent display, with the transformer a subtle shadow on the screen. There was a solid red circle now, right where Jack wanted to be. He lined up the Timmy, then moved six inches to the right. He took a slow deep breath, then in one fluid motion moved his shoulder out and squeezed the trigger.

Jack waited a few seconds then spoke. "Thanks Ping." He swiped his visor and gave Carrey a wink before scrambling up and picking up the bike.

"Very not bad, Jack, very not bad."

"Here, take this." He passed her the Timmy. "Get on the back."

As Carrey sat on the bike, a pillion bar raised up behind her. She leaned forward and whispered in his ear. "Even your bike gets up for me."

Jack smiled to himself. "You ain't seen nothing yet. Hold on, we're not fucking around now, Ping says there are Aleutians spilling out of two tunnels, one not far from here. I hope you don't get motion sickness."

Before Carrey could reply, Jack accelerated hard. It was like nothing she had felt before, the nearest thing to being in a fighter jet as far as she knew. They approached a tight bend, moving too fast to make it around. Carrey quickly dropped the Timmy into the saddle holster and grabbed hold of Jack tight. They swept low and hard into the corner, barely slowing down.

"Told you to hold on."

The adrenaline had every part of Carrey's body tingling. "Uh huh." She replied, barely above a whisper.

They were still stuck with a decision to make, either shoot to the freeway and hope there were no ambush points, or stay suburban, using the building for cover and direction changes to confuse them. Jack went for the latter. He rode straight past the freeway onramp and carried on down a service road.

"You missed the freeway." Carrey was near yelling.

"Intentional. Too open. We need cover and diversion now. Ping, you got good coverage of my location?"

"Average. What do you want?"

"Find me a stadium."

"Easy. MDC Arena, twenty clicks North East of your current. The place is abandoned. I think I know what you're up to, back-up coming."

"Thanks."

Jack made a few sweeping lane changes and moved around to the East-facing roads. There was a main arterial that led direct to the Arena. As he got onto it, he slowed down enough for the Aleutians to be in his rear-view. They were shooting while riding, but there was no chance of them hitting from the distance away they were.

"What are you doing, Jack?"

"Making sure our friends know where we are going."

"And where is that?"

"There." He nodded his head up, to the massive Arena in the distance.

Accelerating hard again, he pulled into the carpark and kept riding straight ahead, through the service gate and into the main field. He dropped charges as he passed the bottle-neck of the access ramp.

At the other side of the field, he spun Betty around and got off, pulling Carrey off as he scrambled to the ground. They both lay still for a moment, nothing happened.

"Maybe they knew it was a trap."

"Don't think so Carrey. They will be waiting for a bit of back up."

"That isn't good, we should get out of here."

"If Ping is doing his job, this is the safest place in Melbourne right now."

As he spoke, the bikes started to enter the arena. The charges didn't detonate.

"What happened, why didn't they go off?"

"They aren't live, yet. Just wait and be ready to get on Betty when I say, we won't be fucking around."

Jack had the Aleutians number; they moved in very cautiously, keeping their distance on the opposite side of the field. They would almost certainly have heard of the midnight black bike that diced up men like a blender. They would wait until they had enough numbers, then rush him.

Carrey was getting twitchy, about to get up.

"Not yet. Trust me."

"You better not fuck this up, Jack."

As she spoke, another half dozen bikes came in. There were a dozen now, and it looked like they were ready to go.

"Ping, how are you going?"

"Ready when you are, Jack. I got two of them en-route, ten seconds out."

Jack tapped Carrey on the should and got up into a crouch. When he heard the whine come from above, he jumped on Betty, all systems being online the moment he started moving. Carrey wasted no time following suit, jumping on behind him and holding on tight.

As he accelerated, the HUD flashed up with targets. Jack ignored it, leaving the work to TLM. There were a few heavy thuds to his left as the drones swept down in a strafing run. Jack watched as the Aleutians panicked, not knowing whether to look at Jack or the drones. It made no difference, in a few seconds Jack was heading down the ramp and out of the tunnel at speed.

Jack had Betty on full defensive mode now, so any potential target was getting the good news with darts. As they burst into the carpark, at least a half dozen vehicles were waiting, of all different shapes and sizes. One of the drones swept over and collided with a small car, exploding into the windshield. The others all turned to chase, firing mainly ballistic weapons.

Jack dropped his EMP rounds and kept his head down. There was no point getting into a scuffle with them, it was time to leave. He figured they wouldn't send all of their forces, they still had to protect their base. The vehicles they sent were going to be it, and there was nothing in that group that would be even close to keeping up with Betty.

"Nice work, Tiger."

"Thanks. Hold on, we have some miles to cover."

"Believe me, sweetheart, I'll hold on to whatever you want, for as long as you want."

"You just don't give up, do you?"

"Nope. Family trait."

"Remind me not to meet them any time soon."

Carrey just laughed as they hit the city limits and the countryside began to expand in front of them. Of all of the places she saw herself this afternoon, going for a ride in the country with Jack didn't even make the list. The world definitely had gone mad.

### Chapter 21

There was a tension in the room that felt thick in the air. Although no-one was armed, the group was certainly an explosive mixture. Osiris had in front of them some of the most wanted Autohackers in the city, whom had in their possession the most wanted man in the country.

Carrey had insisted the meeting be held in the 3rd Quadrant, which was a problem for Sophie. She reluctantly agreed, but made plans prior to travelling to cover her and her crew. The Clans may have spotters all over the city on the ground, but the Government still controlled the air. She had five drones with eyes on their entry, and another Deployment Vehicle with a dozen Strike Darts ready to launch should negotiations fail.

"You OK Soph? You look nervous?"

"C'mon Blake, you know this is about the worst place in the city for the Director of Osiris to be right now."

"In a negotiation?"

"Cut it out, smart arse. Tensions are high down here at the moment. We've taken a lot of gangs out of business this year."

"In no small part due to us, remember. Trust me Soph, our crew have this situation under control. I can't say as much for Mo though. He looks like he is about to pop!"

Sophie laughed quietly. "Yeah, first time in the field."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "You brought a greenhorn to a meeting like this? I'm glad he isn't packing, I think right now he would shoot himself in the hip."

Sophie laughed again, this time a bit louder. "So, Blake, this Clan always late?"

"They're cautious. Believe me Sophie, they are far more concerned about you, than you are of them."

"I'll take your word for that."

Sophie smiled, and sat back a little in her chair. She looked around the room and saw two doors, with no windows. Mo was in one corner, with Jack in the opposite one. Jack looked cool as a cucumber, but Mo was visibly agitated, chewing his nails. If they didn't arrive soon, Sophie was concerned he would remove his shoes and start on his toes.

"OK Blake, Sin says they are entering now. Three of them, no entourage, but there are a dozen other that broke off four blocks back, in a wide perimeter."

"Thanks Jack. See Sin, no problem, just the three of them, as agreed."

Sophie gave a subtle smile before adjusting herself in her seat. She began to focus and centre herself. Blake looked at her and could see her take a few slow deep breaths and close her eyes. The door clicked open a moment later, and Sophie opened her eyes slowly, appearing completely calm.

Three women entered, removing their helmets as they walked through the door. It was Carrey, Twist, and a Vixen that Jack didn't recognise.

"Hey Carrey, who's the new chick?"

Carrey placed her helmet on the table and sat down, the others following suit.

"The 'chick', as you so graciously labelled her, is Dune, and like the rest of us she is a woman, not a chick."

Carrey looked at him with a frown, as if to tell him to give her a break, especially in front of her people. He took it as a compliment, considering a few weeks ago she would likely have had a swing at him.

"Yeah, sorry about that, old habits and all."

"No problem, honey, as long as you know the ground rules."

"Oh, I'm learning, don't worry about that." He gave her a cheeky wink.

"So, Sophie." Carrey turned to face her on the other side of the table. "I assume you know who I am, and I certainly know who you are. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"And you, Carrey, it has been too long in the making."

"Yes, well, I'm glad it is on peaceful terms. I'm not sure I would want to meet you as an adversary."

"Well, we're not quite friends yet, but I appreciate the acknowledgement."

"Ouch, so frosty!"

"Sorry, Carrey, but you're hardly a pin-up girl for law and order."

Carrey paused for a moment, looking around the room. She wasn't sure which way this would go, and the start of the conversation wasn't promising. Jack had given his assurance it would be a clean meeting, and although she wasn't sure why, she trusted him.

She looked over to Jack. "So, Jack, what do you think? Am I a pin-up girl."

Jack went through the few hundred possible immediate smart-arse remarks, but realized this was probably not the situation.

"You're many things, Carrey, but I can't see anyone pinning you up."

"Good answer." She turned back to Sophie. "I may not respect your Government, Sophie, but I am an honest and honourable person. We just follow different rules."

Sophie thought about the response for a moment. Carrey was clearly pointing at her end of the deal being held up, a soft acknowledgement that she would hand over Oricks. Maybe he was starting to be a handful for them.

"I can appreciate that, on some level. After all, I am sitting next to a renegade agent myself, and trust in him completely. We live in different times, Carey, don't we?"

"There has always been movements against the establishment, and even the odd revolution."

"That is true, but the problem with a revolution is that it keeps moving beyond the objectives of the executers, eventually turning those that created the revolution into the very people they fought against."

It was Carrey's time for a pause. She could spend all day talking to a woman who appreciated the philosophy of power in society, but the longer they were there, the more they were at risk.

"Well, Sophie, it appears we may have much to talk about, at a future meeting, but for now we have the situation of your former boss to discuss."

"Oricks."

"Who else."

"Is he still alive?"

"Of course, I promised that to Jack."

"And you are going to hand him over?"

"Well, we made a deal with your friends." She looked towards Blake and Jack, smiling. "However, I also need something else."

"And what is that?"

"I need a clear run for my girls, no Government intervention."

"That wasn't part of the deal, Carrey." Blake interrupted, clearly agitated at the change of heart from Carrey.

"Hold on a minute, Blake. We took a big risk with you guys, and now we are handing over the man that could earn us a LOT of credit elsewhere. On what planet do you think a few gadgets makes that a fair trade?"

"You should have discussed this with us earlier."

"But it is not for you to call, only Sophie can make this happen."

Carrey turned to Sophie, giving her a very subtle smile. Sophie knew this was always what the deal was about. She also knew it was a big ask, and there was no way she could give them a complete free run, they would create havoc.

"I can't give you a complete free run, Carrey, Sorry."

"Well then, it looks like this is the serious part of the negotiation. Dune, show them."

Dune pulled out a map of the region, New City and Old City. There were circles and scribbles all over the tattered map. It looked more like a battle plan than anything else. Which wasn't far from the truth, it was a map of the areas different Clans operated in.

"We want to have control of the New City, I'm sure no-one in this room is surprised by that."

"Not in the least." Blake replied.

"Well, we can't do that while the Fanboys have the freeway, and Wing' Tan still control the lower limit of the New City."

Jack cringed, "Wing' Tan, they're fucked now, their base got levelled. Or, so I heard."

"Don't worry, Jack, we know it was you guys that hit them, and thanks for that, it made life so much easier for us. But, what I am saying is right now you have a bunch of Clans competing for turf, and things are a little 'uneasy' at the moment."

"And you want to make our life easy?"

"In a matter of speaking." Dune turned to Sophie. "Wouldn't it be easier if you knew exactly where all of the Clans and Autohacker groups were operating?"

"Perhaps, but not if it meant one of them could do anything they wanted."

"So what if we draw a line then?"

"Keep talking."

"Anything between us and the other Clans stays between us, no Government intervention. As long as we keep it clean and there is no collateral damage, you keep out of the way."

Sophie thought about it for a minute. It certainly was an interesting proposition. The Vixens had a reputation for being aggressive and growing in influence, however, they rarely interacted with the general population, it was what made it so damn hard to track them.

"There will be limits to what we can turn a blind eye to."

"Such as?"

"Murder, for a start. It doesn't matter what rules I impose on Osiris, that will be reported and investigated."

"Fair call."

"Also, any attack against a Government agency, be it physical or cyber."

"Geez, taking all our fun. But again, agreed."

Dune reached over the table and held her hand out. Sophie took at and shook. Dune sat back smiling, as did Carrey and Twist.

"So, now that our business is done, we will leave, and you can have your prize. Please, open the door to the end of the room." Carrey nodded to the corner nearest Jack.

The Vixens got up and left the room. Jack was surprised it all went so well, and ended so amicably. He could have sworn he would need to use his Timmy. He reached under the chair beside him and pulled it from the underside, peeling the tape off it before holstering it.

"Fuck, Jack. Did you put that in here while we weren't looking? They said no weapons."

"And you lot can listen to them all you want, but trust comes a little harder to me. Now, let's look behind door number one and see if the meat sack is still breathing before the girls get too far away."

Jack turned and opened the door, and sure enough, Oricks as sitting in the corner of the large closet, hog-tied and gagged. He was making muffled noises, but they were temporarily drowned out by the sound of the Vixens bikes leaving the warehouse.

"Well, Ox, I didn't think I ever wanted to see your face again, but looking at it the way it is, I stand corrected. I hope you enjoyed your time with the girls, and aren't too uncomfortable."

Oricks grunted, clearly struggling physically and emotionally.

"Alright Jack, better get a look at him and take him back to the shop. Last thing we want is a passer-by poking their nose in here."

Blake walked in and took the gag off Oricks' mouth. He took a deep breath, before coughing and dribbling a little blood.

"Wow, they really did a number on you, huh?"

Oricks sputtered a hoarse string of barely audible curses at Blake, before Blake reached over and cut the tie between his arms and feet. Oricks immediately stretched out, but didn't try to fight or escape. Even he knew this round went to Osiris.

Blake pulled him up and started guiding him to the door. Oricks stumbled a few times but eventually made it to the Government-issue car waiting in the warehouse. He was cuffed to the restraints built into the seat, before Blake closed the door.

As they drove off, Jack turned to Sophie. Her eyes were fixed on the car until it disappeared from view.

"He looks like shit, but to be honest I expected him to be worse. The girls were talking about Neutering, so I guess he should be thankful we wanted him more than they did."

"Well, Jack, I guess they aren't quite the animals we though they were."

"Hey, Chickens and eggs. Soph. it's still early days and I'm not convinced they can be trusted."

"Oh, I know they can't be, they are Autohackers, after all." She looked at Jack and tilted her head a little. "Tough lot to pick, those hackers."

"Yep. But some of us are good cunts."

"I think the jury is still out on that. But, there is something about Carrey, isn't there. I think beneath the tough Amazon Warrior façade there is a reasonable person. I just hope she can keep a leash on those women of hers."

"You and me both. They still give me the shits."

### Chapter 22

As they walked through the main floor there was a standing ovation with cheers from the entire division. In the last hour everybody had heard the news, it was an intelligence agency after-all, and the place was packed. They watched as Jules Oricks, former head of Osiris, now traitor and murderer, was lead to the rear corridor. The scene was exactly what Sophie wanted, and why they made such an open passage to the cells.

In the last few months Osiris had suffered serious morale issues. The repeated failure to complete contracts, mostly at the hands of Oricks, and open political pressure for greater oversight, meant they needed a huge break. None came bigger than Jules Oricks.

As he entered the cell, Oricks saw the irony in his situation. Just days ago he had his clone in there, willingly it must be added, on a one-way mission to gather intelligence to take down Osiris. Now it seemed Oricks was also on a one-way trip, but there was no mission, just the hollow emptiness of the unknown.

"So, Jules, how is it being home?"

"This isn't home, asshole."

"Sure it is. Well, at least until we find some deep dark hole to throw you in."

"Bring it on pretty boy."

"You know Oricks, you talk big right now, but there are a hundred people above you that would love nothing more than to see you suffer for eternity. And you know what? We are going to help them with that."

Blake stared at Oricks. It wasn't a menacing stare, he knew better than to try and physically intimidate the Ox, it was the stare of a man who was seeing a deer in his headlights. He needed Oricks to see those headlights and want the car to swerve.

"What do you want, Corten, I don't have any hookers to give you."

"Well, neither do I now, thanks to you. But, there is something you can do. You can tell me what the Alpha's are planning to do with the weapon, and when."

Oricks burst into laughter. "And why the flying fuck would I bother telling you that, boy?"

"Because, I don't think you are ready to die yet. If you don't tell me, I will hand you to Aeron, with a note that you were most helpful in assisting with our enquiries into the activities of the Alphas.

Oricks went silent. He wasn't sure if Blake was bluffing or not, but he did use Aeron's name, so it meant he had more intelligence than he should have. Also, there was only one thing worse than death, and that was being handed to the Alpha's as a traitor. Either way he was fucked, so he might as well try and get through the soft way.

"I want a cell at Townsville Max, solitary confinement, outdoor access daily, and I want it signed by the PM before I say a word."

"Deal. But, the outdoor access will be fully escorted, with instructions for the guards to shoot on sight at any abnormal activity. You even sneeze while outside the walls, and they will have full authority to kill you."

"Deal. It makes no difference, I no longer have any friend I can turn to, you lot made sure of that when you leaked my capture."

"Yeah, kind of handy that, huh?"

Blake pulled a table over from the other side of the room, sitting on the chair beside it. He pulled out his note book and pen. Glancing at Oricks to begin.

"So, we intercepted you on the way to see the Aleutians. What are they building?"

"Correction, those bitches intercepted me."

"Ah yes, of course, semantics. Keep this up Oricks, I have all day, and night. Not that you can tell the difference down here."

"They are building a device that targets DNA causing massive cellular disruption. Think of it as a Neutron bomb for flesh."

Blake stopped writing for a moment. That was well beyond anything the team had been anticipating. They must have advanced tech support for that.

"So, Loach is helping them then."

"Yes."

"With what?"

"Biotronics of course. C'mon Corten, get to the fucking gritty stuff. You can fill in these blanks later, and I want to get the hell out of this dungeon."

Oricks was getting clearly agitated. It was unusual for him, but Blake liked it. It was going to make it easier to get the information if he had his guard down. It also meant it was less likely the would need to torture him. Blake was pleased with this also, as he hated torture, even on an asshole as deserving as Jules Oricks.

"OK, so, the Alphas are going to bomb the Old City and clear the bottom feeders. Is that the plan?"

"Fucked if I'd know what they are hitting. My job was to secure the weapon and deliver it to The Ordained, not...."

He stopped dead in in tracks, knowing he fucked up. Dammit, how could he be so stupid. Maybe he should reconsider staying in the dungeon.

"The Ordained. What the fuck do they have to do with this?"

Fuck it, thought Oricks, there was no way out of here now anyhow.

"It was always them, from the start. You idiots have no idea who you are messing with. Do you even know who the ordained are?"

"We know of them."

"But you don't. Nobody does. They are the Alphas of the Alphas, generations old, and more powerful than this entire country."

"We will see."

"Oh will we. Well, I guess I should hope you succeed in taking them down, because if you don't, I'm next week's burger mince, one limb at a time."

"Then talk."

"You really don't get it do you. I've told you everything I know. They compartmentalise every part of their operation, of their existence."

"You know about the weapon though."

"Not as much as Loach. I'm just a transport agent."

"Look, for fucks sake Corten, I don't know enough for it to matter."

"When is the weapon due to ship?"

"Any day."

"On the heavy transport link from Melbourne to Sydney?"

"Yes."

"And Loach is there?"

"If they haven't killed him yet."

"Why would they do that?"

"Because he is an annoying little shit."

"And who did you deal with at The Ordained."

"Fuck that."

"Tell me and I'll get that transfer tomorrow."

Oricks looked at Blake. Blake shrugged hands out. It was a submissive pose, but Jules knew there was no submission coming from Osiris. He was about to seal his own fate, but no longer cared.

"Gindobe."

"Is that it?"

"It is until I see a sunrise."

Blake put the chair to the side and left the room. Oricks heard the door shut, leaving an echo that seemed to resonate for an eternity. In the lift however, the echoes were of the name Gindobe, and The Ordained. It would be a useful ruse by Oricks to divert attention towards The Ordained, it would take months of investigation to find the truth of his claims, and even then the organization was so shrouded in secrecy, they would likely never be completely sure they had uncovered the truth.

As Blake moved from the lift to Sophie's office, there was still a lot of excited chatter on the floor. He expected that it would continue for days, if not weeks. It was as though there was nothing else happening on the planet at that moment.

"You think they will ever get back to work?"

"Close the door Blake, and give them a break, it is a much needed celebration."

Blake closed the door and walked over to the empty chair opposite Sophie.

"Brought to you by a bunch of criminals and vigilantes."

"Yes, well, we are trained to use any resource around us, no matter it's origin."

"That is true."

"And what of you, Blake. How have you been lately? I almost forget to ask with everything that is going on. I'm fine. In-fact we are all fine."

"Good. But, please, don't forget your role in this. You are a keystone, and we need you."

There was a pause as Sophie leaned across the table to speak even quieter. Blake couldn't help but see down her blouse. She was wearing dark lace lingerie, and he had a full view of her ample breasts. He looked up at her, embarrassed that he had stared. HE had been spending too much tie with Jack.

"Blake, I need you. You really are a rock for me at the moment."

"Yeah. I know."

She slowly leaned back into her chair. "So, what did Oricks share? Anything interesting?"

"You're not going to believe this. Hell, I'm not sure if I do."

### Chapter 23

The afternoon was calm, barely a breath of wind in the air. The setting sun was now little more than a quivering haze near the horizon. The distortion was clearly apparent, with the shimmering clouds throwing out the odd electrical arc. It felt as though the calm before the storm, and it was, Gindobe knew it.

Most of the general population of the world looked to the sky and lamented their foolishness in trying to control the climate. They were told it would work, that it would save humanity, and they believed. When the first experiments failed and the atmosphere began to change, they were told the effects were temporary, part of the overall process, and the believed. And by the time their endearing hope of saviour in a rocket faded, the last of the experiments sealed their fate.

To Gindobe, it was such a carefully crafted operation he could barely believe it were possible. But then he wasn't even alive when it began, he never saw the mass panic growing over the encroaching oceans, and receding arable land. His forefathers saw an opportunity and took it, leaving a legacy that could only be rivalled in a movie script.

He turned to his guests. Between the five men and two women, there was hardly an ounce of power between them. Of course they controlled the only other industrial powerhouse in the world, but he felt that would not last much longer. Their time was coming, but for now, they were friends. For now.

"So, my good people, it is an honour to have you in my home."

One of the women replied. She was tall and slender, with jet black hair shaped into and elaborate wave. Her hair contrasted her ice-white dress and shoes. She was attractive in a way Gindobe had not known for a long time, and her thick accent gave her an air of royalty.

"Thank you Gindobe, it has been a long trip, but your hospitality is exceptional. Well done."

"Well Siniale, it was the least I could do for you."

"You flatter me Gindobe, but I have a feeling this is your regular setting, no?"

"I guess you are right, Siniale, perhaps it just feels elevated with my present guests."

He took a long draw of his liqueur, not taking his eyes off her.

"So, everybody, let us sit and discuss the next phase of our plan. I believe there is still some trepidation among you regarding the success of our device."

"I would not say trepidation, Gindobe, more a desire to see some tangible results, to ease our concern."

"Well, Juco, I must first ask that you respect my position, and all that my title holds."

"Of course, Gindobe." His answer was immediate. "We would never doubt your ability."

"But you do. The very fact that you are here signifies that there is, on some level at least, doubt over my ability to complete the task at hand."

"Gindobe, Sir." Juco continued in a flat and calm tone, "We have nothing but the utmost respect for The Ordained, and the Leadership. It is merely a situation of ourselves being situation on the other side of the world, and to be honest, being out of the loop on developments."

"Juco, relax. The Ordained have everything in hand, and as we have discussed for years, are committed to our alliance with Europe. Your concerns will be allayed in due course. I have received confirmation this very afternoon that the weapon is now nearby, and ready for deployment."

The guests looked at each other, concerned about Gindobe's last statement.

"You mean, nearby as in somewhere in Australia?"

"No, I mean nearby as in I could point it out down in the valley below us."

The guests were now clearly agitated, moving on their seats and clearing their throats.

"But, my friends, do not panic. I realize your concern is regarding our own safety with such a powerful weapon nearby, but you need not be worried. I will explain to you how this device works."

"Please." Replied Siniale, in a soft voice.

"Are you all familiar with DNA modification?"

They all looked at each other, muttering the occasional 'sure', or 'in a way'.

"Well, let me elaborate. We now possess technology that allows us to manipulate DNA on an atomic level. The technology uses a form of electrical field manipulation that mimics the charges in living cells. The finer details are beyond me, but it effectively allows us to create a bridge between electronic and biological cells and compounds."

"Why have we never heard of this before?" Juco sounded in part inquisitive, and also challenging.

"To be honest Juco, we have only come into possession of the technology in the last year or so. Even then, the applications for its use are developing so fast, it leaves me in disbelief."

"And who has the technology?"

"We do." Gindobe was not about tell them about the renegades that also had the technology. "We also have the only Tech that is capable of manipulating it. His work is phenomenal, albeit a little slow."

"Why do you not train more people?"

"I don't think you understand. This technology is so advanced, the equipment to design, analyse, and produce the materials are being developed together. Our Tech stretches ahead of everyone that tries to keep up at every turn."

"Well, that is truly exciting. I hope you keep him close."

"But of course."

Gindobe sat back and took another swill of his drink. He hoped like hell that Oricks had Loach in hand, and nearby. He hadn't been in contact for some time, but the delivery of the device meant he had done his job, for now. He made a mental note to get the kid once he disposed of Oricks. Loach was certainly worth his weight in gold, assuming the device worked.

"Gindobe, you still haven't told us what the weapon does."

"Ah yes, well, the device itself does not alter DNA, that is done through a compound we have created. We have marketed it as a pill to help slow ageing. The device has a pulse discharge that sends high energy waves to the surrounding area, that in turn switches off the modified DNA chains."

"And this pulse, does it affect all DNA?"

"No, that is the beauty of it. It is specifically calibrated to only affect our modified DNA."

There was silence in the room as his guests took all of this in. What he was describing was effectively a nuclear bomb, without the collateral damage.

"Could it be tuned to work the other way around. I mean, to attack regular DNA?"

"No. The DNA manipulation is actually a primary energy field that surrounds the DNA. It allows the DNA to perform as normal when first taken, but the secondary energy field introduced by the device effectively kills the DNA inside the primary field."

"Fuck me."

Gindobe looked at Siniale for a moment. The thought had crossed his mind more than once, but today would not be that day.

"Well, it will certainly fuck somebody. In fact, a lot of people."

"So, who are the targets."

"Most of the population of the New City."

There was another silence. Gindobe was enjoying providing these revelations to his guests. It was like giving children gifts at Christmas, each one better than the last.

"Why would you target the people of the New City. Surely you would want to clean out the Old City, once and for all."

"On the contrary. The New City population are educated, fairly well resourced, and feel a level of empowerment. They are a possible threat, albeit minimal I admit, to our way of life. Should there be an uprising of course."

"Whereas the Old City is disjointed, generally fearful, and easily manipulated."

"Now you see. We need workers, naturally, we do not need managers. Once the residents of the Old City see the power we wield, they will be forever compliant and obedient. The perfect work force."

"And what of those in the New City that have not taken the drug?"

"Our current intel suggest that eighty percent of the local population take it. Any left after the attack will not know what has happened to their people."

"And what if the survivors start asking questions, and digging for answers?"

"We already have a contingency in place. Our security force is presently numbered in the hundreds, with many more in training. They will ensure any resistance is met with swift and decisive action."

"Well, my friend, I do believe this calls for a toast."

Gindobe looked down at his watch. It was almost time.

"Soon my friends. First, please join me on the balcony."

The all got out of their chairs and walked out to the balcony. It was now dark, with the shimmering stars providing a subtle backdrop. The lights of the New City were clearly visible below them, and in the distance the Old City was little more than a glowing haze.

Gindobe pursed his finger to his lips as he turned to face his guests. They all stopped chattering and waited for him to speak. He didn't say a word, the silence was broken by the sound of a siren in the background, followed by another, and another. Within a minute there was a low but clear crescendo of sirens and bells.

It was done.

### Chapter 24

The table was quiet, to the point of disturbance. The problem was, none of them had any idea what the link was between the vitamins and the weapon. There had to be a link, The Ordained had put a huge amount of resource into incorporating Biotronics technology into thousands of people.

"Well they didn't do it out of the goodness of their hearts, that's for sure. Ping, you figured out exactly what it does yet?"

"No. It's odd."

"What, that you haven't figured it out?"

"Well, yeah. Everything we have been doing involved external stimulation of the compounds to create a reaction. Now, I have put almost every type of condition I can think of on this stuff, but it just sits there."

"Sits there doing what?"

"Nothing. It's starting to piss me off.

"Well you don't need me to tell you we don't have a lot of time. We need to get back to Melbourne now, but without knowing what it does, we won't know how to stop it."

"Yes, Jack, Captain mother fucking Obvious. You can feel free to jump on the diagnostics."

Jack let it slide. He knew Ping was working his arse off, and he also knew he shouldn't ride him so hard, but, life is life, and they needed answers. Jack looked over to Blake who was furiously tapping on his comm.

"Yo, Blake, what's up?"

"It's Soph. First reports coming in. We got trouble."

Cindy grabbed her scanner and started flicking frequencies. She stopped and broadcast it to the screen in front of them. There were scenes of the New City, and it was chaos. At first they couldn't figure out what they were looking at, there were vehicles with flashing lights everywhere, but there was no explosion, no damage to buildings.

As the cameras panned they could see bodies in the street. There was no blood, just dead bodies on the ground. It was an almost surreal scene, with medics going from body to body, never stopping for more than a few seconds.

"Are they all.... Dead?"

"Looks like it Sin. I'm afraid we are too late."

"Fuuuuuuuck." Cindy's voice was barely a whisper as she scrolled through frequencies, every one giving scenes like the first. "How many people do you think?"

"Impossible to say. Sophie is getting reports that 'a majority' of the people have collapsed."

"Do they know what did it?"

"No, and she isn't giving anyone a heads up about the device, for obvious reasons. Which is all the more reason to get on the road now."

They all got up from the table. Cindy looked to Ping. "Ping, you stay here. Whatever the weapon is, it must have some residual energy signature. You can't make carnage like this without leaving a trail."

"Got it. I have a theory about how this happened. I'm going to run a test now, I'll contact you en-route."

The team were on the road in minutes. None of them spoke for a while, they were focussed on getting over to the city as soon as they could. Jack was, of course, leading the pack. He was going to stay with the others, but figured speed was of the essence. They didn't know if the device was being recharged, or if it had already been set up to relocate.

As he approached the city he could see the effects of the hit. There were more vehicles leaving town than he had seen, and none going in. They were driving as fast as they could, it appeared, with him having to swerve heavily to avoid collisions as they were sometimes two or three abreast. The people of the New City seemed to sense an apocalypse had arrived.

"Sin, Blake, there is heavy traffic up here, and they're all fucking lunatics. Watch yourself. I'm coming up on a roadblock, hang on."

Jack was still well over two hundred as he came around the long curve leading to the city-proper. The roadblock was more of a checkpoint. They had a few delineators set up, and the road was black. It seemed that for some reason the traffic control systems were down. He slowed enough to weaved between the delineators, but didn't accelerate when he was on the other side. It was chaos.

"Uh, guys, this place is a fucking mess. People and cars all over the show. Better make your way in slow, I nearly hit a few human speed bumps already and I'm not even in town yet."

"OK Jack I'm getting feeds from Ping. It looks like we may have a lock on the device, and it's not moving."

"I'm not surprised. It would stick out like dogs balls if anyone tried to move a transporter around the city at the moment."

"We should have a location soon."

"Get it through as soon as you can. I'm going to head across the other side of town."

Jack slowed to barely more than running pace. There was so much data streaming on the HALO it was bordering on ridiculous. Jack closed his eyes for a moment and focussed. These people were not threats, he didn't need weapons or guidance systems online. When he opened his eyes most of the blips were gone.

As he slowed to survey the area, a young woman ran over to him screaming. Jack pulled up Betty and stopped, looking at the fear in her eyes.

"Are you here to help?"

"Ah, what?"

"You're going to help us, right. Help us. Come with me, please!"

The woman was tugging his arm, pulling him towards a house. He went with her, helmet still on.

"Please, please, my family, they're not moving."

As they entered the house, there was a low flashing light permeating every room. Jack was about to take off his helmet, when TLM brought up a pile of diagnostic information about the room. It was showing relatively high levels of microwave radiation. Not enough to be dangerous, but it showed they were five times higher than normal, although dissipating fast.

"Here, here they area."

The woman pulled him into the dining room. Her family were sitting around the dining table, all slumped in their chairs. It was a surreal scene, and hard not to get choked up about.

"I'm, I'm sorry lady."

"But you can help them? Please?"

"No, I can't."

Jack put his hand on her shoulder and she turned, burying her head in his chest, almost convulsing with tears. It was a hard scene to deal with, even as a battle-hardened soldier. Jack looked around the room and saw something on the counter.

"Hey, hey. Look at me for a minute."

The woman looked up, sobbing.

"Those pills on the counter. Did you take those?"

She looked around, confused by the question. She looked back to him, almost talking as though she were in a trance.

"Those? No. I hate artificial meds. But, my family." She looked at them and burst into tears again.

Jack put his arm back around her and led her to the couch. He sat her down and lifted his visor.

"An officer will be here for you in a minute. Please, stay here, there is no danger for you now, this is the safest place you can be right now."

Jack stood up and made for the door. Cindy was feeding through the probable location of the device, and it was only five blocks from Jack's current location. As he walked outside the scene that awaited was somehow more chaotic than when he went in a few minutes earlier.

"Sin, Blake, I'm on my way there now. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Don't touch anything until we get there."

"Aw, Blake, are you worried I'll hurt myself with the electrical thingy-ma-bobby?"

"This is no time for sarcasm, Jack. The device needs to be secured."

"OK, how about we take it down a notch with the orders. I know what I'm doing." Jack dropped the comm before he belted out a line of expletives describing Blake's apparent rise to authority.

As Jack weaved between the cars and pedestrians scattering over the street, he noticed there was less noise as the minutes passed. The body count hadn't changed; it was that the people were literally fleeing like rats from a sinking ship.

He fully expected the device to be under armed guard, but didn't slow down. It was time for some shock and awe, he thought as he rose over the hill to the building. But as he crested the hill there was nothing except a building standing in the middle of a well maintained lawn. No guards, no sniper fire, nothing coming up on HALO.

He stopped behind the building and pulled his Timmy. Quickly moving around the building, the exterior was clear. He turned the handle to the door, it opened, and inside was a device sitting in the middle of the floor, nothing else.

He stopped for a minute thinking it was probably booby-trapped, but then thought again. He figured whoever was collecting the device wouldn't want to muck around with traps, and it was most likely the Aleutians doing the pick up anyway. They probably didn't have any volunteers to guard it, as it looked like something from a Sci-Fi movie, probably giving anyone within fifty metres instant sterilization.

After thoroughly convincing himself he was right, ignoring his conscience telling him he was just trying to make himself feel better, Jack stepped to the machine. It had cables, tubes, and panels all over it. As he walked around it he saw what looked like a control panel. Flicking the panel open, there were a series of ceramic glass chips in slots. He pulled them out and shoved them in his pocket, hoping they were important.

"I'm here guys, it's unguarded and I'm in the building."

"Good Jack, what are we dealing with?"

"I dunno Sin, looks like a damn rocket engine."

"Any radiation there?"

"Nope, it's clean as a whistle."

"Amazing."

"Tell me all about why later on. It's too big to fit on the Beast, what are we going to do?"

"Wait until we get there. We can seal the building up and set some traps to hold off whoever comes back. Then we need to get hold of a transporter."

"I'll take care of that." Blake immediately replied.

"Hold out, I can hear vehicles. Bikes." Jack went to the door and looked out. "Shit, looks like Aleutians. I'm a fish in a barrel here guys."

"Don't worry, we can see them. Blake, you take the high road, I'm going straight through."

Before Blake had a chance to argue Cindy accelerated hard over the hill. As she crested, her on board systems picked up half a dozen signatures, one of them with heavy signal jammers.

"Shit, I think they have Loach with them."

As she spoke gunfire started ricocheting off the car. She spun to a stop and waited for a moment. It was only small arms fire, no heavy weapons detected. With any luck her decoy move kept their attention away from Jack. It seemed to as now all but one of them was shooting at Cindy's car.

Jack was about to make a run for his bike when the door swung open. It was Loach. He obviously wasn't expecting to see anyone, as when he looked up to Jack, he seemed confused. The confusion quickly gave way to fear as he realized it was Jack, who was now only a few steps away from him.

The force of the hit knocked Loach clean off his feet and into the door, slamming it shut. He crumpled to the floor, coughing and out of breath. Jack was already over the top of him with his gun at Loach's head.

"Well, well, well. Lookey what we have here. Nice to see you kid."

Loach didn't reply, just coughed and looked at the floor.

"You have no time to hesitate, pause, or otherwise bullshit me, or I WILL put a bullet in your head. Is this thing still armed?"

"No."

"Can you recharge it?"

"No. Not here."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"Recovering it. It's recorded the process in data chips which I'm going to analyse."

Jack pointed the Timmy at the panel he had just been into and fired a short burst.

"Fuck. What the fuck did you do that for?"

"Satisfaction."

Jack lifted his gun and whipped it across Loach's face, knocking him out. As he slumped to the floor, Jack pulled him away from the door. He didn't like the little shit, but he needed him alive to tell his story.

Outside, Cindy and Blake had the upper hand. Being on the high ground, Blake was easily picking off Aleutians, and Cindy had the whole area jammed from any signal or communications. There was only one of them left, evading Blake's shots and diving through the door of the building. There was a muffled gunshot.

Jack looked left and right through the door, there was no movement in the area except Cindy's door lifting as she stepped out on the lawn. There were at least half a dozen bikes on the ground, with their riders scattered around the lawn.

"What the hell were you doing in there Jack, taking a nap?"

"Something like that. I tell you who else is." He walked inside and came back out, dragging Loach behind him. "Bring the Beast down, Blake, we need to get this turd back to the house and figure out what the hell is going on."

Blake drove down. This was turning out to be an unbelievable success. Not only did they have the weapon, which only got used once, thankfully, but they also had the Tech guru that had almost brought down Osiris. The sun was starting to shine. One thing Blake knew, after seeing the sheer power of the destruction, was that the weapon had to be secured immediately, and Loach had to disappear.

### Chapter 25

"So," Gindobe began in a calm even voice, what do you think?"

There was yet more silence. His guests had barely spoken a word for the last thirty minutes, just listening to the chaos below.

"I think that I am pleased to be your partner, Gindobe. After being stuck in numbers for so long, it is exhilarating to finally see what you are creating."

"Ah, but, Siniale, it is what WE are creating. Let us not forget that this is not just about Sydney, but a new way of life for all of us."

"Well, a new way of life for THEM, at least." She gave a wry smile.

"Indeed."

Gindobe walked into the living room and brought out a tray with glasses topped with ice and more alcohol. He would keep it coming if it kept Siniale engaged. For the remainder of their visit, Gindobe was now at leisure. He had earnt it.

"Well, Gindobe, you had our interest before we came, now you have our commitment."

"So Europe will come under the leadership of The Ordained."

"Yes. Our board will remain intact, with your Directorship entrusted with the power of veto over operational decisions. We will also activate our initiative to engage consultants for The Ordained with the highest levels of access."

"And together we will reshape the world as we know it. The people want equality, and now THEY shall have it."

"So Gindobe, please tell me." Siniale moved closer to him. HE could smell her perfume and almost see his reflection in her big, brown eyes. "How many people were just sacrificed?"

"Well, we have managed to engage almost eighty percent of the population in our vitamin programme in the last 3 months. Accounting for those that were outside of the blast radius or out of town, around thirty percent of the population."

"Outstanding! So based on the most recent data, that would mean almost half a million people."

"Yes. And we expect from the immediate exodus, and subsequent attrition through those that feel generally unsafe, there will only be around thirty percent of the original New City population remaining by the end of the year."

"And how is the event being explained?"

"We already have propaganda being distributed. There was a freak discharge of radiation from the atmosphere that seemed to have had a direct effect on certain individuals. Based on the randomness of the deaths in the immediate area, it looks like it could be related to immune deficiency or other similar environment-affected personal conditions."

"I am assuming it will take some time to find the cause of that?" Siniale's smile grew and she became excited about the story Gindobe was weaving.

"Some time indeed, my dear. In the meantime, we recommend that people take our vitamins, to ensure they have the best possible chance against future events."

"Beautiful."

Gindobe looked at her, his eyes starting to glaze with the alcohol. "Indeed."

Siniale gave a girlish giggle and sat on the bench near the balustrade. The static discharges from the clouds shimmered across her hair, giving her the appearance of a being emanating energy. And she was exactly that to Gindobe, a being of stunning beauty.

"So tell me, when will the device be used again?"

"Oh, it won't."

His comment caught the attention of the group. They had al assumed the devices would already be in production for placement across the globe.

"Then, what is to happen next."

"Trust me my friends, this was only the prototype. You need to think larger than a few people in the cities around us. Did you know that we can now synthesise food sufficient for complete human nourishment without needing to grow one single plant?"

"I have heard of development, but never seen it in place."

"Well, now you have. You have been eating and drinking it all night."

The group stopped and looked at their drinks and food on the table. It all looked, and more importantly tasted, perfectly normal. In fact better than normal, it was the most succulent food most of them had experienced.

"But how have you managed this?"

"Simple problem solving. The atmosphere has been altered, which we make no apologies for, as it ensured our harvesting and enrichment processes could thrive. You see, The Ordained now have the ONLY high-grade mineral and vitamin extraction and synthesis facility on the planet."

He paused for a moment, in part for dramatic effect, but also in part to examine Siniale. Exceptional.

"We take raw material and effectively carry out the same processes that plants do in nature, only under the careful management of our synthesising machines. It is surprisingly easy once you understand molecular biology to the extent we do today. The problem has always been having the resource to manufacture machines to the tolerances required for exact reproduction. The Ordained have been refining this process for years."

"So what is the next step?"

"Now, my Clans will spread the word that the New City is free to anyone who wants to work, and of course take an 'immunisation' shot before they enter."

"Beautiful."

"Everything we produce will have multiple levels of potency. The workers, of course, will only get the low-grade material. This ensures they are under-nourished, to a point, and keeps them compliant. The higher up the food chain you are, the better the quality, which is pretty much how life is already."

"Well Gindobe, this caviar certainly is delectable. I am truly surprised it is synthetic."

"It was one of the first products we experimented with, for our own gratification of course. A toast, to our continued improvement."

Gindobe raised his glass, the others following suit. They all drank before retiring to the lounge. Gindobe could see they were getting weary, the events of the day must have taken their toll, but there was still business to discuss before he would let them go.

"Now, as you all know the plan, there is one thing you must agree to before we can wrap up the evening."

They looked at each other, slightly concerned.

"I can see you are concerned, please, don't be. I can assure you that you are now in the safest place you will ever be. You are with The Ordained."

"We appreciate everything you are doing Gindobe. So, what is this you need from us?"

"Juco, what I need, is the names and full details of everyone in your Government."

"Surely you already have this?"

"You would be surprised how much gets lost in translation across the other side of the world. Much of our communication system has degraded, which we are working on, but in the meantime we would prefer the information the old fashioned way, on paper."

"Why so?"

"For our own insurance." He looked at all of them. "Now, I'm sure we are all tired from the events of the day, we shall retire for the evening. Juliette will show you to your rooms."

Everybody stood, following Juliette, but Siniale stopped mid-way to the door. Gindobe walked over to her.

"Everything OK, Siniale?"

"Yes. I was just waiting for you to show me the way to your room."

Gindobe slowly looked her up and down.

"Perfect."

As she leaned in to kiss him, he placed his finger on her lips. "Soon, my love. I have a few quick things to tend to, and then I shall tend to you. Antione here will take you to my room and help get you comfortable."

The tall slender woman who had been standing silently at the door for their entire evenings activities walked across and took Siniale's hand, leading her to the corridor. Gindobe watched them leave, becoming more than a little aroused.

He walked across to his study and contacted Haleon on the comm.

"Good evening, Gindobe. I take it the meeting went well?"

"It is ongoing, but, they are on board."

"Now that we have their resources we will move to full production. Get the word out through the network, any Autohacker and their associates that anyone who wants to move to the New City can do so at the end of the month. Ensure you have the entire network on this, I want to see a bit of 'competition' among the Clans."

"Very good, Gindobe. We have already begun the acquisition programme. Many of the locals have already left town and are selling for next to nothing, the others will follow suit in the coming days as word gets around."

"That is far quicker than anticipated."

"I guess we underestimated the power of a fear of the unknown."

"A welcome effect. Now, I have other matters to tend to, I look forward to an update at the end of the week."

"Very good, Gindobe."

As Gindobe left the study, he reflected on how efficient and effortless the plan was proceeding. Of course, he should have expected nothing else, it had been developing and building for over a generation. He was grateful for the work that had been carried out before him, and decided it was time to get Aeron back in. An attempted coup at this stage of his tenure would be unacceptable.

### Chapter 26

Jack was swearing on a whole new level as they entered town.

"What the fuck do you mean you're not taking Loach to the house?"

"I'm saying, he will be better at Osiris."

"And who he FUCK gets to make that call, Blake? Certainly not you!"

"Yeah, well I have him in my car, and I'm nearly at Osiris."

"Blake, this wasn't what we discussed."

"Sorry Sin, neither of you can change my mind."

"You know what, Blake?"

"What Jack."

"Fuck you, I'm going to find you and rip your fucking head off."

"Not today, Jack."

"Sin, lock his position for me."

"Can't Jack, he's turned off all tracking and enabled the signal jammers."

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!"

Jack brought up the city grid on TLM and found Blake's planned route. He swerved between vehicles to change to the other side of the highway. He was only three minutes out and could head Blake off. He didn't like where this was going one bit. Loach was theirs, they needed to get him to Ping so they could get ahead of The Ordained. If Loach went to Osiris, he would be buried in a mountain of bureaucracy.

As Jack swerved through the last corner, he had to double-correct, just missing two Fed squad cars. They had blocked the roads, lights flashing. Jack didn't stop, he accelerated hard and blew through the middle of the second set of cars. Here was only one reason those cars were there.

"What the FUCK was that, Blake?"

"Sorry Jack, I can't let you take Loach."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"He is now in Osiris custody."

"What, are you a fucking G-man again or something." Jack was joking, of course, but he shouldn't have been.

"I always was, Jack. I just spent the last year trying to deny it."

There was silence for a moment.

"Jack, Osiris is the best place for the Biotronics technology, you know it, we all know it."

"Blake, what the fuck is going on?"

"Sorry Cindy."

"I believe, Sin, that Blake is in the middle of fucking us."

"Both of you, listen. It's not about us versus them. Today just proved we don't have the resources. After I have dropped off Loach, I'm coming back to the house so we can sort this out."

Jack was so enraged his TLM data was scrambling all over the place. He couldn't believe he has been so gullible as to think Blake was with them, that they were friends.

"Blake, you got one thing wrong."

"What's that, Jack?"

"You keep saying 'we'. There is no 'we' anymore."

Jack switched off his comm and headed out of the city. He needed to get to the house, but had to make a stop on the way, kind of on the way, at least. He knew Blake would be a few hours with Loach at Osiris HQ, which would be all the time they would have to get packed.

"Ping, did you hear any of that?"

"Yeah Sin. What a cunt."

"My thoughts exactly. We need to pack down as fast as we can, we're moving shop."

"OK, I'm on it. But where to?"

"We'll wait till we are together to sort that, but I have an idea."

As Blake entered the carpark at Osiris, he considered if he was doing the right thing. Whether he was there under false pretences or not, he had made a bond with the others over the months. But, he reminded himself that it was the security of the country that was the priority. They would be pissed at him, but they would come around. Besides, Sophie had guaranteed that they would be involved with the programme, on some level.

Pulling up beside the lift, Sophie and two agents were waiting. He got out of the Beast and went to the other door to get Loach out.

"Nice ride." One of the agents said, admiring the hardware Blake arrived in.

"Thanks."

"Get good mileage?"

"Horrible."

"How does she handle?"

"Like a pig."

"Then why do you drive her?"

"She has a nice rack." Blake nodded over the small arms cache mounted on each side of the external armour.

"Regular one man army, huh?"

"Something like that."

Blake pulled Loach out of the car. He hadn't said a work since coming-to on the way back. Blake figured that once he was inside Osiris he would come around quick. The kid has soft hands and the frame of a stick insect, a few threats of throwing inside a Super-max with the general population would have him singing like a canary.

The five of them went to the lift and straight to the dungeon. They took Loach to a cell and closed it, not saying a word, before heading upstairs. Blake and Sophie went to her office, while the agents went back to their stations.

As Blake sat down across the desk, Sophie handed him a drink.

"You did good work today, Blake."

"I know. Doesn't feel so good though."

"C'mon Blake, you always knew it was going to end like this."

"Yeah, I did. I guess."

"So what is the problem?"

"You remember when Oricks double crossed us?"

"Blake, this is nothing like that situation. For Christ's sake, Oricks is still down in a cell now, rotting for all I care. Do you really want to go and see him and remind yourself that he is the reason we are even doing this?"

Blake was silent. He knew she was right. If he was completely honest with himself, he probably would admit he didn't feel as bad as he would have liked to. Besides, they had some work to do now, he could mend bridges later.

"OK, so, are we going to interrogate him now?"

"Yes. I want to keep the momentum up."

"And what about Oricks?"

"He has been worked on constantly. He either knows nothing else, or is on a death wish, either way he is useless now. We are sending him to prison."

"Are you sure that is safe?"

"No, but it's that or kill him. Trust me, the only way he will be getting out of there is in a body bag."

"I still don't like it; I would rather have him in one now."

"Yes, but we are not like 'them', Blake. We are the law."

Blake considered a rebuttal about the ineffectiveness of the law at times, but thought better of it. Sophie seemed a little unsure of his commitment at the moment, and he didn't want to fuel that.

"OK, well, let's go and see what we can get out of Loach. If we want to head this thing off, we're running out of time."

Blake and Sophie entered the lift alone. They were acquiring sensitive information, and for the time being, everyone else was on the outside. Now that they knew for certain The Ordained were at the head of this, no-one else could be trusted.

"So, Blake, how have you been holding up, honestly."

"Honestly?" Blake turned to look at Sophie, "It's been a lot of fun. I shouldn't say that, I know, but being aside from the constraints of policy really does make life easy."

Sophie looked at him. It wasn't the response she expected, but wasn't entirely unreasonable. Compared to the rest of the UTF, Osiris had a pretty free reign, but still, there were guidelines and duties. There were always guidelines and duties.

"I hope I'm not losing you, Blake."

"You haven't had me yet." Blake's response was fast and flat. He let a sly grin grow. Sophie looked hard at him.

"You, Mr Corten, have been spending far too much time with that Jack character." She reached over and put her hand on his shoulder. "But, I'm glad you are back. I need you."

"I know you do."

The lift stopped, doors opening into the dark corridor. As they walked out the lights began to glow in front of them. It was the same path as always, but felt different today. Today was possibly their best chance to get the upper hand on this situation and stop The Ordained. There was a very tall mountain in front of them, but from what they knew, they now had the lead henchman and top Tech for The Ordained. As far as head-starts go, this was a good one.

They approached Loach's cell. As the room lit up, Blake could see Loach hunched in the corner. He looked like a scared little mouse, oh, cracking him was going to be easy.

"Gidday Loach, how's tricks?"

Blake pulled up a chair and swung it around backwards. He sat leaning over the back of the chair, with a big smile that was only partly exaggerated.

"Looks like you got yourself into a spot of trouble, boy. Actually," Blake turned to look at Sophie, who was leaning against the pack wall watching on. "You got yourself into a big ole pile of trouble, haven't you?"

Loach just sat silently, not saying a word.

"I bet you wish you were in Ping's place right now, huh?"

Loach scowled at Blake. "The fuck would you know, huh? Fucking ass-hat G-man. Don't worry, they will get me out."

"Riiight. The only problem is that they don't know you are. You see the only eye witnesses were the Aleutians you were travelling with. I took them out, and your signals were blocked so we know you didn't get an S.O.S. out."

"Shows what you know."

"Well, yes, it does. You see right now we are securing your device. Now, if The Ordained had have known about your capture, they would have been all over it. But, no, I'm afraid it's just you, me, and a whole lot of pain to come."

Blake leaned back and grinned. He would draw this discussion out for a while, if need be. He wanted Loach to know without a shred of doubt, that there was no way he was ever seeing daylight again, without their help.

"So, Loach, we will get your device back, analyse it, and understand how to track other devices like it. Your little baby is now about as helpful as an empty baked bean can."

"Shows what you know, G-man."

"I'll admit, it will take a little time to reverse-engineer what you have done. You know, there is one way you can find your way to seeing at least a slither of daylight. Show our engineers what you know."

"Firstly, asshole, trying to show your punk-ass engineers how the device works would be like trying to explain astro-physics to a fucking toddler. I bet it would take them six months just to work out how it is powered. Secondly, shit face, you keep trying to intimidate me, and there is NO way you will get anything from me."

Blake didn't wait to see if he had any more pearls of wisdom. In one swift movement he spun off his chair, stepped across the room, and spun into a sidekick. It connected with Loach's rib cage compressing him into a heap on the ground. Loach let out a screech, and couched hard.

"C'mon big boy, I held back on that one. You want to carry on calling me a, what was it, shit face?"

"Blake!" Sophie shouted from across the room.

Blake turned and walked over to Sophie. He was completely calm as he approached.

"Soph, let me deal with this."

"He's worth nothing to us dead, Blake."

"Well, I'm going to leave his worth up to him to decide."

Blake looked over his shoulder at Loach, and looked back to Sophie. He winked at her and turned back to Loach, who was pulling himself up on the bench.

"You, you can't do this shit. I have rights man."

"No, no, no, no. Stop, and listen, carefully. I told you before, you are not here, you are nowhere. I can use you as my little piñata all day long if I want. If it gets too much for my supervisor, she can leave. If it gets too much for you, you can feel free to pass out. Or die. To be honest I'm so sick of the shit you guys have started, I'm kind of losing it a bit. My patience went first, and my control is following close behind."

Blake sat back on his chair. He didn't say a word, or move after that, just sat there. After a few minutes he could see Loach getting agitated. After a few more minutes he couldn't take the silence.

"Hey, can I go for a piss, man. I need a piss."

"Then go."

"Where?"

"Your choice, but if you get any on me, I'll kill you. If you get any one my floor, I'll kill you. In fact, you might as well drink it, because if it goes anywhere else...."

"Yeah, I get it. Look, what the fuck do you want man?"

"I want what you know."

"And what do I get?"

"For a start, I won't kill you."

"I'm serious man. If I talk you may not kill me, but there are plenty of people out there who will."

"What do you want?"

"A ticket to a place far away from here. Anywhere."

"Something like that depends a lot on the quality of information I get Loach. You have to remember, we already know a lot, and we have Oricks."

Loach's eyes opened wider. He was going to call him on it, but he knew he was telling the truth. He hadn't heard from Oricks since the mess in Melbourne, but had assumed he was dead. He may well be, but fuck him, if he wasn't Loach wasn't going to let him make the deal first.

"You guarantee me a trip to New Zealand, and I'll tell you anything you want."

"Why New Zealand?"

"Because no cunt wants to go there. Seems as good a place as any to hide."

"Fine."

"Blake." Cindy interrupted them. "No information is worth letting him go."

"I believe there is. And if Loach wants his trip, he can prove it, right now."

Blake wasn't bluffing. New Zealand was notoriously difficult to get out of these days, especially to Australia. Loach was a resourceful one, but if he did indeed provide information against The Ordained, he would be laying very low, for a very long time. If he said nothing and made it to prison, which was possible, it was likely The Ordained would get him out.

"So, Loach, tell me, what don't I know about your device?"

"You don't know it's a fucking brick now."

"A brick?"

"Yeah, you know, like, useless. The only data stored on it got shot by your asshole mate, and it was only designed to be used once."

"Looks like an extravagant machine for a one time use. Even The Ordained don't have the resources to mass produce those."

"Who said anything about mass production, it was just a prototype."

"So there are other devices being made."

"Kind of."

"Listen, Loach, you can hear by my voice that I am calm and measured right now. That is because you are co-operating. So, let's stop with the theatrics and just get on with it, because, very soon my calm attitude towards you will be replaced with a foot."

"OK, ok. Man. Geez. This shit is hard man. I'm a fucking Tech, not some secret agent spy."

"Well, it's not hard to talk Loach, you have a rep for it, so, keep going."

"This is all I have, after that, I want my flight. Deal?"

"Depends on what you have Loach, you certainly haven't so far."

"Then brace yourself, G-man. The device was a prototype to test the viability of the compound introduced to the subjects to receive the incoming signal. It was placed near a dense population to ensure clear boundaries could be drawn. The test was a complete success, so phase two is to calibrate an MDC designed satellite and launch it, to allow targets to be acquired across the globe. The satellite is a new generation ZeroK variant, so is impossible to detect once launched."

The room was silent. What Loach just told them, if true, changed everything. They would need full Government support, including the PM, to take down The ordained before they could strike. But, all they had now was the word of a Tech, that to be honest, was flaky at best.

Blake knew he was telling the truth, but didn't know timeframe, individuals involved, a location for manufacture of the satellite, or any number of other data points they would need to even talk to the PM about it. The Ordained had a formidable reputation for being connected at the highest levels of Government, hell for all Blake knew the PM was the leader.

"Hey Soph. I think our kid may have earnt his ticket."

Blake looked at Loach who gave a subtle grin.

"But, boy, we're not quite done with you yet."

"Hey, that wasn't the deal."

"Sorry kid, we have to verify your claim first. I'm sure you understand we can't just let you go without know you were being honest."

"But," Sophie added, "We will arrange a hot shower, a hot meal, and somewhere to sleep."

"Gee. Thanks"

"Be thankful you're not sleeping in your own shit like your mate next door."

Sophie closed the entry and headed to the lift with Blake.

"That went well."

"Until you think about the implications of what he just said."

"Well, get your team up to speed so they can try and find this production facility, then, get back to your old friends and ensure they come in."

"That's going to be tough."

"Then take a squad."

"Can't. Cindy has the place wired up harder than this place. If I take a crew within fifty clicks of the house she will know, they will be gone, and the place will be ash."

"Is that a touch of admiration in your voice?"

"A touch. They have next-level commitment Soph."

"Well use that. Convince them that we need them, but that the Biotronics research needs to be here. They weren't suppose dot be holding onto it this long anyway."

"I know, but you know that without them we would never have got this far."

"And so we come full circle. They didn't have the resource to stop the attack on the New City, and you be damn sure they won't have the resource to take on MDC and The Ordained."

"I agree with you Soph, I'm just saying they will be hard to convince. I'm not sure even I am that good."

"You are."

Sophie leaned over and kissed Blake on the side of his mouth. She pressed her forehead against the side of his, not know why she did it, or if she should have.

Blake wanted nothing more than to return the favour, with interest, but of all the times for this to come out, right now was the worst fucking timing of all. Instead he turned to her and hugged her.

"Soon" He whispered in her ear.

He let go just before the lift door opened. Turning out to the floor he waved over his team and headed to the Situation Room.

### Chapter 27

The road into the house was now so familiar that Jack knew where every bump and pothole was. As he dodged and weaved his way through the last stretch, his anger grew. He hadn't stayed in any one place long enough pick up that level of detail since he was with his wife and daughter. But this wold be the last time he travelled on this road, and it was all due to that fucking asshole.

Jack found himself hoping that Blake had a plan, that he was still with them. Perhaps he knew something about Osiris that meant he had no choice, but couldn't talk about it yet. For every possibility that arose for his actions, the truth was clear and punching its way through his chest, he, no they, had been duped. Like sheep they got led to the green pasture, their desire to have recognition for their work overriding any natural instinct they may have had about Blake.

It wasn't like Blake was evil, hell he was actually working for the good guys, apparently. But that was just it, if he could stab them in the back, what would stop him doing it to Osiris? And regardless, he was there for almost every conversation they had. He knew they were the team to get this job done, they were effective and didn't need a pile of paperwork to show that, they had results.

Jack pulled up to the house to what looked like a trucker's convention. There were six rigs there, with a dozen cars in front of them. Cindy was standing out front talking to a few heavily tattooed men. He got off his bike and put the helmet on the tank.

"Niiiice bike buddy. Anything original on it?"

"Just the rider, mate."

The man raised an eyebrow and looked at Cindy.

"See, Joe, told you he was full of himself." Cindy turned to Jack and winked, "Hey there slugger, you look stressed. What's up."

Jack looked back at her. This was about the calmest he had seen her for a week, and it was probably the most difficult situation they were in of their life.

"Well, let's see, you DO realise we have the fucking Feds on their way to take our kit, and probably us, don't you? Kind of wrong time for a block party."

Cindy and Joe laughed.

"Hey, Jack, it's all under control. Come inside, I didn't want to talk to you over the airwaves. Who knows what Osiris can do now that they have Loach."

Jack looked at Joe and back to Cindy. "You sure we should be talking about this here?"

"Don't worry about Joe, Jack, he is rock fucking solid, as you would put it."

Joe slapped Jack on the back as he walked past. "Don't worry buddy, we have this in hand. Go talk to your girl."

Once Jack entered the house he could see what was happening. Everything was being disconnected, packed, and loaded onto pallets. There must have been thirty mean and women scurrying around the house.

"Where the fuck did this lot come from Sin? I mean, I took the longer route back, but hell I wasn't gone that long."

"Yeah, where did you go?"

"I think I have our new safe-house, but I'm not sure if you will like the location."

"Okayyyyy."

"It's in the New City."

Cindy looked at Jack, waiting for a change in expression.

"Jack, we don't have all day, what is the punchline?"

"There is none."

"Oh no. I was hoping this wouldn't happen. Jack, look at me and concentrate." She held both of his hands. "Honey, you are having a nervous breakdown."

Jack pushed Cindy's hands away. "Fuck off Sin, I'm fine. Well, I will be once I shoot that fucking G-man. Look, this makes perfect tactical sense. They will expect us to run, not stay anywhere near. Also, we have an ally there."

"Who? That chick you met at the bar?"

"Well, all sarcastic tones aside, yeah. That was where I just went, and you wouldn't believe it. The town is half empty, most of the civil management sensors and detectors are fried, or have been vandalized. We can take care of the rest, I doubt the local law are hanging around by the look of it."

Cindy thought for a minute. It did actually make a lot of sense. They would have to stay low key with regards to the kit for now, trucks arriving in town during the day might look odd. Unless, of course, they were MDC trucks.

"You know what, hun? Sometimes, very occasionally I might add, you are a genius."

She leaned over the table and gave Jack a big kiss on the lips. After the last few hours of tension and anger, it was as contrasting as black on white. Jack almost forgot about the drama for a moment, before Cindy broke off and headed to the font.

She started barking orders at people, who were now almost running around the house. Ping was marking things with an orange spray can as he walked past Jack.

"Hey Jack."

'Hey Ping. Having fun?"

"Just marking all the shit we don't need."

He was about to spray the dining table, but Jack grabbed his arm. "Don't. We will need this. A lot of thinking was done around this table."

Ping looked at him. "Yeah, and a lot of double crossing."

Jack picked up one of the chairs and threw it at the window. The window shattered, getting everyone's attention for a moment.

"There, that was Blake's chair. The rest, we keep."

Ping shrugged his shoulders and kept walking around. Jack looked at the buzz of activity around him and reached for the fridge door. It was packed full of beer. How the hell does Cindy make a booze stop on the way home from this gang-fuck of a day? Mind you, she knew how to make a call to action. It almost felt like a field de-mob.

As he walked to the front, Cindy was talking to Joe again, pointing between the trucks and cars. As he got nearer he could hear they were discussing which route the vehicles would take. Seeing in the back of the trucks, Jack could now see only two of them were being loaded, the rest had nothing at all.

Jack got a bump from behind as a woman walked past holding large rolls of plastic in her arms. He could see part of what looked like the MDC logo.

"Hey, Sin, what's this?"

Cindy stopped talking and saw the woman walking past.

"This is Tulley, and Tulley is an expert at vehicle impersonation. If we are going to the New City, we need a disguise. This is our disguise."

"A few stickers aren't going to fool anyone."

"Not on their own, but I have a catalogue of MDC contractors, and a few of them use standard civilian vehicles, for their clandestine operations I assume. These trucks will get a quick spray this afternoon, a few stickers on the side and a jacked transponder code for the Sats, and we're golden."

"Won't they pick up the transponder codes and be able to track the vehicles."

"Maybe, but it won't matter. The codes are all from written off vehicles that are still on the register, and we will be cycling them every fifteen minutes. The trucks will look like flies zapping over a dining table to anyone trying to go back on tracking data."

"By the way, speaking of dining tables, we're keeping ours. Don't worry, I got rid of Blake's bit."

Cindy walked over towards Jack and grabbed his beer, taking a swig and holding it.

"What are we going to do about Blake, Jack? You're not really going to kill him, are you?"

"Every bone in my body wants to, but no. We can deal with a little heat on us, but not the kind of heat a dead Fed brings."

"So what then?"

"I don't know yet. We need them to realize they aren't getting the Biotronics, but we will have to start giving them something, there is no doubt there. But, from now on, we don't trust Feds, we never should have."

"I agree with you there, my dear."

"So anyway, how did all this happen?"

Jack waved his hand around before grabbing his beer back.

"This happened because today the number of people that don't trust the Government vastly outnumber the people that do. I met most of these guys over the years, giving them intel, a few toys, a few laughs."

"They look organized."

"A lot of them are ex-military, the others just love a good cause."

"I've been called many things, Sin, but a good cause wasn't on any of those lists."

"Stop doing that."

"What?"

"Your whole self-deprecation thing, it's not a good look on you."

"It seems appropriate though."

Cindy stopped and looked at him, before taking the beer back.

"Bullshit. Jack, you are one of the most loyal, caring people I have met. You just got lost there for a while. It's OK though, we're back now. Look at this as a new beginning."

"Perhaps. One thing is for sure though, I have unfinished business with that asshole."

"We will be loaded up and gone in ten minutes. The full trucks are going for their paint work, the others will scatter around and make a nuisance of themselves. The cars are gone in five minutes to clear the path."

"Ping can stay back here with me."

"What? What the hell for?"

"I'm getting our car back. Ping can drive it."

"Who says he would drive it here?"

"Oh, he has lied about a great many things, but Blake likes the Beast. I think it's compensation for his lack of girth in other areas!"

Cindy let out a giggle. "Wouldn't know, Cowboy. How was he?"

"In a little less pain than he will be shortly."

"I'm sending the boys the long way round. We'll play a little cat and mouse before we settle, besides, we need to check out these new 'friends' of ours. Did you get their credentials?"

"Yep. There are three of them."

Jack passed over his comm device. Cindy tapped on the screen and flicked through the pictures and details Jack had obtained. She let out a slight grunt.

"What's up?"

"I know this lot."

"Oh yeah? How?"

"They are light-weight activists. Really just new-age plebs looking for a cause. They're quite harmless really, I've bumped into them from time to time on the waves."

"Have they had Fed activity?"

"Nah, they just like talking it up, the inequality, having coffee evenings and what have you. Kind of cute really."

Jack took his comm back. He was pleased they checked out. Blake knew he met someone in the New City, but it was such a passing comment around the table there is no way he would put her on the check list. There was little chance they would even search the New City, outside of the odd additional patrol.

One thing was for sure, when they got the Beast back they needed to keep the vehicles hidden, during the day at least. The New City was many things, but colourful wasn't one of them, and in a vanilla city, their cars were like signal flares. At least the safe-house was a big tick, with clear visuals all around, and three exit routes from the city. Still, there were more pressing matters to tend to right now, Cindy was leaving, and Jack needed to gather his wits.

He walked into the house as the last people left. Ping was standing by the kitchen bench with a handful of devices scattered across the surface.

"You ready for this, Ping?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"Right. When I run out the door, you lock down the car. Don't release the door until I say, and whatever you do, leave all of the jammers UP. Last thing we need is Blake calling for reinforcements."

"What if he has them already?"

"Cindy would have picked them up. I just hope he doesn't pass them after he gets to the turnoff. He won't put the pieces together if he passes a truck or two on the highway, but nobody comes down this road without a reason."

They sat there in silence for a few minutes. It wasn't an awkward silence; they just didn't have a lot to say at that time. Or perhaps, it was there was too much to say. Ping had a million questions, but knew most of them wouldn't be answered.

"Hey Jack?"

"Yeah Ping."

"Why do you reckon he did it. Why would he double-cross us?"

"I've been thinking about that all day, little man. I really don't know. I guess he's just too indoctrinated into the G way of life."

"Yeah, but he seemed to be getting into it. You know, going on missions and shit."

"Uh huh."

"You were always suspicious though."

"Not at the end mate. He got me too, don't worry about that."

"Gonna get him back?"

Jack looked at Ping and grinned. No words were needed, Ping knew the answer.

"So, IF he does have, or get, backup, what are we doing?"

After you jam him up and sort me out, head to the shop. Betty is down there prepped and ready. If shit goes sideways I'll be down and we'll get the fuck out of dodge."

"What if you get taken?"

"Then we are both in trouble."

"Reassuring."

"This ain't a holiday club sunshine, grow a pair."

Ping went to the fridge and grabbed a couple of beers. He was about to hand one to Jack when the proximity sensors started sounding.

"What have we got Ping?"

"Ahhh, looks like one vehicle, nothing else around. Signature says it's the Beast. Well, fuck me, you were right after all."

Jack just winked at Ping and moved over in front of the door.

"Remember, wait until I'm over the car before you release the door."

Ping nodded.

"OK, he's nearly out front, shut it down."

As Jack opened the door, Blake looked up through the windscreen. He saw Jack running, weapon up. He pushed the door release, but nothing happened. He leaned over the other side, same thing. As he tried to start the car again, he realised he had been locked down. As he reached for his holstered gun, the door released. The split second between Blake looking at his dash, and the door opening was enough for Jack to shoot.

One clean shot, straight through the one inch gap between the rising door and the sill was enough for a slug to get through and penetrate Blake's leg. He yelled in pain, then almost instantly gather himself and continued to try and draw his gun.

"Don't fucking touch that jacket, Blake."

"You fucking shot me, Jack, what the hell!"

"I hit your leg on purpose, the next one goes in your skull. You're quick, but now you're sitting in your seat, with a hole in your leg that looks like it needs some filler soon."

Blake placed his hands on the steering wheel, wincing at the pain from the hit. He was beat, and he knew it. The door was fully open now, and Jack was back on his feet, close enough for Blake to smell his breath. The next move was Jack's.

"Right, asshole, I have cuffs in my hand. I'm going to put them on you with one hand, the other will be on my Timmy, which will be firmly embedded in your crotch. If you so much as fart, you'll get an instant sex change. Got it?"

Blake just looked at Jack with indignation. He was going to give him a break, let him keep operating, on some level at least. Hell, given enough time, Jack may have even been given his own crew. How could he be so fucking pig-headed about this.

The cuffs clicked on, Jack made sure they were tight before pulling Blake out of the car by his arm. As he got out he stumbled as the weight went on his injured leg. Jack spun behind him and kicked the other leg out making him fall to the ground.

"Don't try any shit, asshole. My trigger finger is damn itchy today."

"I'm shot, fuck it. Help me up."

"Help yourself up, and get in the damn house. Now!"

Jack screamed the last word, which was particularly gratifying. He had spent so much time controlling himself lately, it was nice to let out for a change.

Blake got to his feet from all fours, and limped slowly to the house. Once inside he leaned against the column at the entrance to the kitchen and slid down it to a sitting position. Jack had a length of rope on the bench, which he grabbed. Moving behind Blake, gun trained on him the whole time, he crouched down and pulled the rope around the column, trying it through Blake's arms.

"Now, Blake, as you can see, Ping has a gun on you. He hates you almost as much as I do right now, you broke up his family, so, if you swing one of those big old legs of your while I'm sorting your wound, he will shoot you in the stomach, and we will leave you to bleed out."

"I'm not the enemy Jack."

"You must have redefined enemy then."

"Fuck it, Jack. This is how it was always going to end."

"NO!" He pointed to Blake's leg, "THIS is how it was going to end."

"I'm trying to help you."

"Bullshit."

"You don't have the resources, Jack, you know that."

"What I know." He paused to inject Blake's leg with the filler. "What I know, is that you fucked us Blake. The Government can't have the Biotronics."

"It's not safe with you."

"No, it's not safe with YOU. The Government have a history of fucking up technology development. Hell, they let the sky get fucked up."

"That was an elaborate plan, probably crafted over generations, by people with power."

"So is the Government."

Ping laughed. He liked that one.

"Ping, you must know this is wrong, surely."

"Hey man, you're preaching to the wrong guy. I've spent my life either dodging or getting fucked over by the Government. Hell, before you fucked me, this was the best gig I ever had."

"But at Osiris you would have almost unlimited access to tech and labs. Surely that would all you to do more than." He paused to look around. "This."

"That is your problem, Blake. You look around and see an empty house. I see the end of an era, and the beginning of another. It will be a cold day in hell before I become the Government's bitch."

"Then that is it."

"Yes, Blake. That is it."

Jack took Blake's gun and comm. He crouched down so he was eye to eye with him and looked at him for a minute.

"Blake, I'm going away now. Ping and Cindy are my family, so if you come after me, or them, I will kill you. We are not bad people, we know we are on the edge, but we also know that we have a cause. It is up to Osiris if that cause is to be shared, or diluted by wasting resources chasing us. You won't find us, and The Ordained will complete their mission."

"It's not that simple, Jack."

Jack thrust his palm across Blake's forehead, knocking him out cold. As he left the house he looked back. End of an era. Perhaps.

### Chapter 28

The last few weeks were trying for all of them. It was a constant game of cat and mouse, with Jack and Cindy travelling to all parts of the country, being seen, but always keeping enough distance that they wouldn't be tracked for long. It was exhausting but necessary, nobody just disappears, so as long as Osiris were looking in the wrong place, they wouldn't accidentally stumble on them in their back yard.

Ping had set up a new workshop in the old mansion on the edge of the New City. It was a large place, with more than a little TLC required, but, it was far enough from the population that their activity would not raise much interest. In actual fact, it was probably better than Cindy's house, although Ping would never say that.

The first task was to get all of their equipment back, which was proving more difficult than expected. Due to the chaos of the attack, there was a small military presence in the area. It wasn't as large as it could have been, in part due to there being very few people staying in the city. There had already been a few vagrants moving in to the area, which was a good thing as it took attention and resources away from any attention the team may have aroused.

Ping had enough gear at the house to get underway, so he got straight into cracking the data Jack had pulled from the device. It wasn't difficult, as it was locked with a code that he had created while he was with Wing' Tan. Ping pondered whether this was because Loach was lazy, or leaving something behind as an olive branch, or at least half of one. Ping discounted the latter after remembering the events that happened at Wing' Tan HQ.

"Ping, you there?"

"Yeah, Jack. What's up?"

"We're heading back towards the mansion now. Did you get all of the sensors in place?"

"Yep. Not only that, I managed to find a few military sentinel drones that I have set to deploy should we get any trespassers."

"What the fuck? Ping, where the hell did you 'find' those?"

"Oh, Hi Sin. Ummm, yeah, probably better off you don't know that."

"And why is that?"

"Well, I don't want you getting upset. Let's just say that I hope there are no 'terrorist' attacks on the old military barracks on the South Shore."

"Bloody hell Ping, you've been hanging around with Jack far too long."

Jack cut back in on the conversation. "But to the point, Ping, you have any luck with that chip thingy we nicked?"

"Yeah, it's downloading now. There is some good shit on it, but I can't see the whole picture yet. It's taking a while, I have it on a stand-alone device in-case Loach loaded a signal screacher into the system."

"I have no idea what that is."

"You don't want to, nasty shit, we used to sabotage other Clan's systems with it, makes a hell of a mess."

"We're an hour out."

"OK. Hey, Jack, you heard anything from Jan? I haven't seen or heard from her since we got here."

"And you want. I told her she wasn't to have anything to do with us, and that I would contact her at the bar if and when we needed help."

"And she accepted that?"

"She knows our business is none of her business."

"Well aside from the fact that it is her family house, abandoned though it may be."

"Yeah, but she has more than an inkling what we are doing here. She may support our cause, but she is in no way ready for a fight. She hasn't even told her friends about us, for fear of them gobbing around town."

"And you sure she is safe?"

"Nope, but it's all we got at the moment. Besides, Sin has been scanning every part of her activity for the last week, she is squeaky clean. Besides, I think she likes the idea of being a clandestine operative. Gives her a kick, not to"

"Sorry Jack, gotta butt in. You guys need to get here now."

"I'm hammer down, there soon."

Ping didn't even acknowledge the last comment, being mesmerized by the data coming from the chip. It was both exciting and terrifying at the same time, but more the latter. He ran more diagnostics to make sure the data was clean, and not a mosaic. He thought about the mosaic concept while the data was streaming.

He and Loach had come up with the idea that you can rearrange coherent data into a different format that becomes like scattered images, forming the mosaic, but is actually a simple jigsaw puzzle to put back together. People looking at the mosaic see one thing, but really it is something completely different. Of course, the practical workings of the concept were extraordinarily complex to break down, even for him, but he knew what to look for. He was certain it wasn't there, and Loach was in fact being the arrogant, lazy person he was.

"Knock, knock."

A voice echoed down the hall. The Mansion was certainly not short of its large, open spaces, and the echoes coming through, usually from Pigeons, was at times unnerving.

"Down the back, Jack."

As Jack walked down the hall, he looked at the pictures on the wall. They were Jan's family history, portraits mainly, going back several generations. He asked her more than once if she wanted them packed up, but she said she had no care for them. Her father moved them to the top end of town when she was young, and she lost any connection she had with the house. Apparently she wanted to move on, her previous life as a socialite now disgusted her, or so she said.

"Hey, Ping. What you got for us?"

"We'll wait for Cindy, she's not far from here. Grab me a beer from the fridge will you?"

Jack looked at him, about to give him a serve, but saw Ping was buried nose-deep in the monitors. Whatever he had going was keeping his attention and focus, so Jack let it be.

"So, we heading for the apocalypse, or what?"

Jack had a little chuckle at his comment, expecting to get some response from Ping. All he got was a muted "maybe". Jack put the cold beer on the table next to Ping and went for a walk around the building. It was filthy, no doubt about that, but there would be time to clean the place up. As he walked from the main foyer, he skipped up the stairs to the upper landing. The large winding staircase was open to the ceiling above, which in turn had an atrium that extended to the glazed roof. He stood on the upper balcony for a moment, leaning on the balustrade and looking over the inner space. He imagined Jan's grandparents, or someone, hosting a party with their closest hundred friends, suits and ball gowns of course, as was the fashion of the day. His daydream was broken by the sound of the Ferrari pulling into the garage.

As Jack walked back down the stairs, he made a note to discuss with the other about bringing Jan in. It wasn't that he had a thing for her, although he kind of did, but they did need new support. None of them knew the New City particularly well, and they would need a lot of supplies and resources. It made sense that they used someone who could move freely around the city.

When he got back to Ping, Cindy was already there, staring over Ping's shoulder at the screens while ping pointed all over the place. Jack could already feel the headache coming on, having to sit through another technical lesson on the relationship Biotronics mitochondria have with their electron based interface. It was worse than hearing Ping sing, which was an experience in itself.

"Hey Sin, get stuck in traffic?"

Cindy ignored him.

"Yo, Cindy, what's new?"

"Apocalypse, I think."

Jack laughed for a moment, before realizing the others weren't. He walked over beside Cindy to see what all the fuss was about. All he saw was a few screens of code and graphs. Didn't look too apocalyptic to him.

"OK, guy, I get that I'm the bone-head, but can one of you fucking say SOMETHING? Shit, I've had better conversations with this beer than I have with you lot in the last half hour."

Ping looked up to Jack, still not smiling. He got up from the table and grabbed his untouched beer. He took a long draw and leaned back against the table, stretching his shoulders back before looking at Cindy.

"It's a long story Jack, you need another beer?"

"Thought you'd never ask, Sin."

Cindy went to the fridge and grabbed two beers. Jack took his before finishing the last of his other beer. The three of them were now standing in a semi-circle looking at the screens.

"OK, Jack, I know you don't understand any of the code here, but you will definitely understand what he effects of it are when I explain it."

"OK. Game face on."

"So, you know how I said they were monitoring the effects on the atmosphere with exceptional accuracy?"

"Yeah, it's why we think they knew it was coming."

"Well, this data says they didn't know it was coming, they created it. It wasn't a series of mistakes, it was a series of intentional actions, with precisely spaced durations, and latent periods to allow certain feedback loops to develop."

"OK, I got most of that. The Ordained fucked the world."

"Pretty much."

"But why?"

"That is what I am still working through, but it looks like they set everything up to create a certain balance of environmental conditions. I mean they are tracking daylight, wind flow, pressure variance, air temperature, sea temperature, plasma shifts, cloud ionization, and wait for it...."

"Microwave radiation?"

"Ten points for the soldier."

"So what is the point some kind of 'perfect storm' scenario?"

"Exactly!"

"So if they fuck the place up just right, their weapons can work anywhere?"

There was a silence for a moment, before Jack spoke again.

"You know we have to talk to Sophie and Blake about this, right."

"Yeah Jack, we know. As much as I think that asshole deserves a bullet for crossing us, this is some pretty messed up shit."

"Couldn't have put it better myself, Ping. But, this time we stay fully off-grid. We need to take every precaution we can, because if that little shit Loach is with them, he may well try and track us down to cut a deal, or just do it out of spite."

"I agree. We need an intermediary."

"We have one."

Cindy stepped in, "You mean Jan?"

"Why not?"

"Because we agreed she was to stay on the outside."

"That was before we found out the fucking Ordained were planning on destroying the fucking world."

"Calm your farm, Jack, I'm not the enemy."

Jack paused for a moment, taking a swig of his beer. "Yeah sorry about that. It's been a pretty emotional few minutes."

"Uh, huh."

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing. Just you seem to have taken a shine to her."

"Who, Jan? C'mon Sin, I'm not a school kid."

"No, but you have been a little, excitable, lately."

"Hey, what can I say, Life is exciting. Anyway, my personal issues aside, are we all in agreement we need a middle-man?"

Everyone nodded.

"It is going to be tricky for us to deal with Osiris from now on, but I think we have to. The only other option is to become complete outlaws, which I don't think we are now. But, Osiris have painted us as such."

"You're right Jack, of course, I'm just not convinced she is the right choice."

"Then let's get her in and find out. Put her through the grinder."

"No, not here at least, we will meet at a neutral location. If she has managed to scam you, I don't want her seeing our shit. For all we know she is a molecular biologist who found out about our tech."

"OK, I'll organize the meet now, we will go straight away to give her less time to prepare. Her bar is always empty."

As Jack headed out, he thought more about what Cindy had said. He was already weary of his judgement, Blake took care of that. But what else could they do? There was no way they could walk away from this now, they were in too deep. Of course, he was now advocating that they drag another person into their fucked up world.

He knew Jan would be in, he just wasn't sure if it was because of the fantasy of being a renegade, or she really felt what they were doing mattered. This is what they would find out now, and they weren't about to be nice about it. They had dealt with some heavy shit over the last year, but all had history that helped them deal with it. As far as Jack knew, Jan's silver spoon was still partially lodged in her arse.

"Hey Jack, you notice anything odd?"

"Aside from the tumbleweeds?"

"Yeah, there are a lot of south-siders up here."

"I guess they heard there was a town not being used at the moment."

"I guess so. Still looks weird."

"What? Seeing lots of people with shitty clothes on? Snobby bitch!"

Ping laughed as they pulled into the rear carpark. Jack was sitting there leaning against his bike, having a puff. Cindy and Ping got out to join him.

"I told her we needed to see her urgently. She kicked her only customer out and is closing the place up now. We'll have privacy."

"Good, because I got a hell of a lot of eyes on me coming in here."

"Yeah, but they just like your pretty smile, hun!"

Cindy flicked Jack the bird as the rear door opened. They didn't wait for a greeting, just moved inside quickly, with Jan shutting the door behind them.

She had a table set waiting, with a round of beers, and a bottle of whiskey sitting in the middle. Jack made himself at home and poured a half glass of whiskey, while the other grabbed beers. Looking around, he could see Jan had tried to take the 'New City' out of the place. There were some old items of memorabilia from what must have been the 2030's, or near then. There was also a distinct lack of electronic technology in the place. Jack hadn't noticed before, but it made the place feel a little more welcoming.

"So, Jan." Jack started the conversation, "These are my friends Cindy and Ping. If they look grumpy, it's because they don't want to be here. They think you are a security risk."

Jan looked at the two of them before speaking. She was nervous, but not as much as she thought she would be.

"Well, everyone, I'm sure you have run my background, so all I can give you now is my word. I know I have come from a privileged background, but with that came education. I'm not talking about just school, I learnt about the real world, about our history, and about our leaders. I knew from a young age there was something wrong with our society, and everything I have feared has come to be."

"Slow your row, hun." Cindy interrupted, "None of that negates you being a fighter. In fact, if you know about what is going on and participate in it by inactivity aside from a little rant every now and then, you're a hypocrite."

"You don't need another fighter, you need a politician. You need someone that understands the enemy and can fight with words. I am a proficient negotiator, and understand the Alpha's more than most in the city, including the Government."

Cindy thought about her reply for a moment. She was good, no doubt, completely avoiding the attack on her personality and driving the discussion back to her strengths.

"Back yourself then?"

"Absolutely. My grandfather was of the same generation as the Alpha's, we very nearly joined them, but he could see the inequality spiralling out of control, and much more."

"You were his protégé?"

"Of sorts."

"So what can you do for us. As the grand-daughter of an almost-Alpha,

"Like I said to Jack, I will be your eyes, ears, and mouth on the ground in the New City. There is far more going on here than anyone realizes. I know for a fact that The Ordained are involved in all of this."

Her mention of The Ordained got the attention of all of them. Cindy realized she may have more to offer than a pretty face. She tried to put her prejudice, and if she was honest insecurity, to the side for a minute.

"Jan, you have to realize that if we decide to try and trust you, and that is a big 'if', there will be no turning back. We can't share everything, for our own security, but you will know enough to land you in a deep and very dark hole, should the Feds realize you are harbouring us."

"The benefit of my knowledge of the system, is that I know safe channels for communication. I have friends in most areas of the Government, both local and national. Don't let this bar fool you; I do this to keep myself centred. But, I've been avoiding my true responsibility for too long."

Cindy looked at her again for a minute, softening her poise ever so slightly. She was intense, that's for sure, but the pressure wasn't on yet, not even close. It was time to test her claims of being connected.

"We will be in touch. In the meantime, we need you to find out about someone. Tell us who Gindobe is, and who he is connected with, and then we'll see how things go."

"I know of the name. That shouldn't take me too long."

"Remember, nobody can know what you are looking for, and certainly not WHO it is for. You are now playing a game of life and death, whether you believe it or not."

Cindy looked at her for a moment to reinforce the gravity of the situation. She stood and walked for the exit. Even though she knew this woman was connected, she wouldn't be letting her guard completely down for a long time yet.

Jack and Ping finished their drinks and stood up too. Jack thought it went a LOT better than it could have. Cindy was pretty wound up about all of this. Jack knew why, and it wasn't jealousy. She had a pretty soft spot for Blake, and she wasn't one to trust people easily. Even though she didn't always show it, Cindy was pretty emotional, and he managed to get under her skin. But, Jan was different, he knew that already.

"See ya, Jan. Good luck with your task. Remember, keep your head fucking low. To the rest of the world you were a bar owner this morning, and you still need to be one this evening."

### Chapter 29

Gindobe had almost forgotten what Aeron's property looked like, he hadn't been there for a number of years. Of course, there was no need to, his own home was more than necessary to accommodate any meetings or functions The Ordained had hosted over the years.

Aeron came to the foyer to greet Gindobe, sending his servant to organise tea. He walked over slowly, cautiously. He wasn't used to surprises, of any kind, much less a visit to his residence from Gindobe.

"Gindobe, this is an unexpected visit."

"Yes, I know. I just realised how long it has been since I have been here."

"It has been a while."

"Well, I have decided we need to fix that, brother. I have not given you the respect you deserve of late."

"I'm sure you have been busy."

"And so have you. I know you are unhappy with some of my activities, other have said."

"Gindobe." Aeron was immediately defensive, looking concerned someone had spoked out.

"No, Aeron, please." Gindobe placed his hand on Aeron's shoulder. "You are my brother, and I have disrespected you by leaving you on the side. I am here now to rectify this."

Aeron looked at Gindobe. Over the months he had started to grow a resentment for his older brother. It was a slow growth, like a cancer. He knew he shouldn't have been following the path, but he was drawn to it. This moment was an enormous relief, as his plans had started to form a path he wasn't sure he wanted to go down.

"Let's talk then, brother."

Aeron waved his hand through the foyer to the courtyard. As they walked through Gindobe admired the portraits of their family. Aeron had many paintings and photographs that Gindobe had not seen for a long time. It warmed him to see them again.

As they entered the courtyard, the servants scurried about preparing the morning tea. Aeron was always one for formalities, almost singlehandedly carrying on the traditions of their culture. Another consideration to his worth, Gindobe thought as they sat.

They both took tea, before Aeron spoke. "So, Gindobe, as I said, it has been a long time."

"Yes, I seem to have let myself get carried away with work."

"Well, nonetheless, it is good to have you."

"I was not sure what sort of reception I would get."

"Oh?"

"Aeron, I know of your activities, I have for some time. I am almost embarrassed that I waited for it to get to this before I came to see you."

"So, you're not angered?"

"I was, but I have realized that our empire was not built for me, and I have not completed the plan on my own. We are strong, Aeron, because of who we are. And we are, first and foremost, family."

They sat silently for a few minutes, sipping their tea. Aeron was enjoying the morning, it was unexpected, but the visit and the enjoyment.

"Gindobe, I must apologize."

"That isn't necessary."

"No, it is. I lost faith in our cause. I lost faith in you."

"If I had have kept you close, you would have had no need to."

"So what are we doing now?"

"Now, we are finishing the plan, together. Believe it or not, although we are on the cusp of complete success, we are also close to complete failure. We are riding a knife edge, and every step we take now will prove our greatness."

"Where is the plan going, Gindobe? I know we are all part of the machine, and all have our strength and value, but I'm not sure I understand fully."

"You need to step back and look at our entire purpose from a purist point of view, Aeron. Since the creation of the Roman empire there has been a hierarchy in our culture. It has, however, changed in its form over the generations, watering down the essence of the system."

"Which is?"

"Control. There are those worthy of deciding the fate of the people and those who are not. Those that don't have education, culture, and history, cannot possibly make decisions that affect all of the people. Over the generations, those in power have tried to sedate the masses by allowing some to ascend, to a point. They have given them a taste of power."

"And over time those very people have eroded the authority of those of true status, those that understand the purpose of society."

"Exactly. There is no grey space. The whole reason society began to collapse was due to compromise. People who rose up from the slums thought they understood what was required, but they had neither the strength nor the conviction to make decisions that would keep the collective in harmony."

"It isn't equality that makes us strong, the structure and formality of the social hierarchy ensure those that don't have capacity are not given positions of authority."

"And now you understand why it is, why we must do what we are doing. The entire 'middle echelon' of our current system do not have the understanding to keep control, but now that they have a taste of what power is like, will not give it back."

"So it must be taken."

"Exactly. A little chaos creates a lot of fear, and fear is a strong motivator. In fact, it has always been the key to any successful society."

"So what now?"

"Now we correct the errors of the past."

Gindobe spent time disclosing the full detail of the next stage of the plan. It had been in place since before either of them were born, and it was being played out exactly as it had been foretold. The gentle nudges in policy, commerce, and even the arts, had been carefully scripted.

The role Gindobe played in the last phase was to ensure the progression of climatic changes were monitored and controlled to ensure they were fast enough to prevent a disruption to the process from outsiders, but slow enough to allow other phases to be implemented. They were at a point, until a few days ago, where the general public had accepted the environmental changes were permanent, and went about their lives. They misunderstood the effects completely.

Now that the crops were failing, the major Governments had fallen, and the people had been segregated, it was easy to crush the middle class. The hopeful's had not become the fearful's. They were abandoning all they had worked for, seeking security in hiding, leaving the cities, leaving civilization.

Now, those without hope, without education, were to be given everything they could see but never touch. Of course, they were giving away more than they knew. Even in the most desperate, there was still an element of control over ones destiny. That is what The Ordained would take, and that is what would make their subjects follow without question. The true path to power was not in gaining knowledge, it was denying knowledge to others. Ignorance breeds complacency, and the complacent can be controlled with ease.

It was well into the day by the time Gindobe had finished his discussions with Aeron. He felt a sense of accomplishment over his day. The shadow feud with his brother had been a distraction. He was not without blame, but Gindobe knew he was the one who had to broker the truce. He was sure that this had now been done, and that any cracks that had formed in The Ordained were now well and truly mended.

Aeron stood to shake Gindobe's hand, but instead Gindobe took him in his arms and hugged him. It was unexpected, but Aeron felt a rush of emotion with the gesture.

"From this day forward, brother, we stand side by side. It is the dawn of a new era, and we will walk the path to the rising sun together."

Aeron watched Gindobe leave the house and turned to the portraits of his family. They had a glorious past, but for a long time Aeron didn't realise the value in the connections they all shared. Today was a reminder that they would prevail and create their own future, and their combined strength and power would stop any who crossed their path.

### Chapter 30

The transporter seemed to be darker than the cell he had spent the previous week in. This was almost hard to believe, considering most of that previous week Jules could barely see his hand in front of his face. It was difficult for him to reconcile his current situation. There was no sense in him being incarcerated, he was in control of his destiny, not Sophie, nor Blake.

Just thinking of their names made his blood boil. It was near inconceivable that he allowed himself to get captured by them. It was made all the more sour by the fact that he was now stripped of his identity. His only saving grace was that he would soon be among those that the system did not care about. And he had much work to do.

His thoughts were broken by a thud, as the transporters brakes locked into position. Jules heard a few muffled voices, before the rear door opened. The wash of sunlight was blinding, he could feel the sun searing through his retina. As he blinked, trying to gain focus, he felt a sharp knock to the side of his head, then nothing.

Jules came-to sometime later. He wasn't sure how long it had been, but when he woke he was in different clothing, and was sitting on a seat in an office. He slowly looked around, gaining focus over a few seconds. The office was sparsely decorated, and cold. He imagined it as an office of a post-apocalyptic dictator. He probably wasn't far off.

As he gathered himself, he took his tie, playing on it a little so he could get himself as clear as possible. Whatever the little man in front of him was about to say would be worth listening to. Not because it would help him on the inside, but because it may give a few hints to complete his plan on how to get out.

The Government had changed their policy on Maximum Security prisons over the years. These days they were little more than holding pens for the forgotten, the trash. There were still rules, and many of them, but for the most part the rules that mattered were the unspoken ones. There was an entire system within the system, and Jules had spent as much time as he could studying it.

"All right Oricks, this is the one and only time we will have a discussion. If you are in this building again, it will be for me to check your toe-tag before they incinerate your worthless carcass."

Jules looked at the man across the desk, as he rubbed his head. He may have been putting it on a little, but he had only come-to few minutes before. The little fat man was nothing more than a fucking worthless piece of shit. The only thing worse than a public service employee, was one that thought they had power.

"You hear me, Oricks?"

"Yeah?"

"Good. Now, you may not last long in here, a few of the inmates might already know who you are, but, from this point forward, you are now inmate 'SMX75 Delta'. Delta is your wing; you will not leave that wing unless escorted. Understood."

"Yeah."

"You will learn the rules as you go. My guards have authority to kill you if they feel threatened. Understood?"

"Yeah."

"You will have one hour of designated outdoor time per day. That is courtesy of your girlfriend at Osiris. Fuck knows why she would give you anything."

"We go back."

"I expect it's more so that you try and escape, which you might think is a viable option. But, rest assured, and let me make this perfectly clear, NOBODY escapes my prison. The only way you leave here is in a puff of smoke. Understood?"

"Yeah."

"Any questions?"

"No."

"That would be 'no, sir'."

"No. Sir."

The warden looked at the guard by the door and gave him a nod. The guard walked to Jules, who stood, waiting for another beating. It didn't come, the guard instead showed his hand to the door. Jules walked to the corridor, followed by the guard.

The corridor was well lit, with concrete on the walls, ceiling, and floor. The floor had bio lighting that glowed green just in front of Jules. It appeared to be a moving puddle of dim light, enough to see where he was going, but not a lot else.

"Inmate, that green path is the one you follow. There is a tracking implant in your skull that is connected to the main servers. At any time, if you are not in you cell, you follow the path, got it."

"Sure."

"Oh yeah, in case you feel like getting fresh with me or one of the boys, don't. If any one of the guards are attacked, every inmate within a ten metre radius will instantly receive a ten thousand volt shock from the integrated security system all around us. Don't matter if it's your fault or not, we don't care."

"Death?"

"If you're lucky. Some survive, but not always completely intact. And believe me, you want all of your wits about you in here. A good ass-raping is the least painful thing that will happen to you if you're caught out."

"Not your problem, I guess?"

"On the contrary, the paperwork sucks, hence why I'm giving you a heads-up now. I'm not your friend, I'd just as soon kick your ass as I would talk to you, but I hate being home late for supper, and filling out forms for assholes that don't know how to keep their eyes open takes a while."

"What other rules are there I need to know?"

"You'll find them out as you go. Have fun asshole."

The guard turned down a corridor to the left. The green light was going ahead. Jules knew to take his time. He wasn't going to get anyone's attention, now or later. He didn't manage to get to Director of Osiris by making rash decisions. As he walked down the corridors, he paid careful attention to any detail he could; distance to corners, sensor locations, distances between doors, anything he may need later. The lights stopped a few metres in front of him, this was his stop.

As he entered his cell, there was no door to close. The lights had dimmed on the floor, and the cell was lit to a low level by some source he could not see yet. He waved his hand near the entrance and felt a tingling. He figured that was the warning to stay in, and was in no mood to see he strong the tingle got if he tried to walk through.

His cell was small, but had enough room for a cot, toilet, and basin. There was no toilet paper, of course. His guess was that was an item he would have to barter for from other inmates. So would a pillow and blanket. None of that bothered him, he was in no mood to sleep at any rate. He had work to do. Although he never expected to be caught himself, he always made sure he knew everything he could about any potential environment he would have to enter. This, thankfully, had been no exception.

### Chapter 31

Mo was nervous, Sophie could see it from a mile away. She was not often wrong about her character profiles, but was starting to doubt herself with his selection. He had all of the credentials on paper, and interviewed well, but there were things that just didn't gel with him.

It was a dicey situation, and too many variables. Mo knew they had to act on the information Loach was providing, but he didn't know why they needed to do it personally. There were a dozen armed agents at the rendezvous, more than enough to grab a few stray Aleutians. The whole deal just seemed like a risk not worth taking for the Osiris executive.

"You alright, Mo?"

"Yeah, of course. We're just picking up a couple of runners, no big deal."

"Well, we will leave it to the agents to grab them, we're just here to overview operations. I don't want you getting into anything you are not ready for."

"What does that mean?"

"You're a bit high strung at the moment, Mo. Just observe, learn, and take in what you can for the debrief."

Mo was going to protest her claims, but he knew Sophie was right.

As he looked around the street it was very quiet, not what he expected for the 3rd Quadrant. One thing was for sure, it was every bit as derelict as he expected; there were crumbling buildings everywhere, and those that weren't crumbling were rotting. They were on the edge of the quadrant, and he could see down the slopes of the embankment to the streets below.

It was kind-of unworldly seeing rows of empty buildings either side of canals that used to be streets. It was clear they were in an old industrial area by the militant-looking concrete buildings that lined the roads, most burnt-out and covered top to bottom in graffiti. He tried to imagine a time that this wasn't a disaster zone, but couldn't.

There was a noise from behind, Mo turned to see down the street and picked up two bikes. They were moving slowly, as if they were looking for something.

"Copy that Omega Four, wait until they are past Point Three before closing in."

Sophie turned to Mo. "The scouts identified the bikes, these are our boys."

"And you're sure we need them?"

"Loach is. He assured me that these two knew the exact location and layout of the Aleutian Headquarters. We know they are behind all of this, and they know who is paying the bills."

"What's to say he isn't lying?"

"It would serve him no purpose. We told him we weren't going to move him anywhere until he started co-operating. Besides, I don't think he....."

"What is it?"

"Omega three has more activity to the East."

Mo started getting twitchy. He checked his pistol was in its holster. He slid his jacket to the side ready to draw-down. He was looking at Sophie, but she was listening on her comm, not taking her eyes off the street. It was then that Mo realized he didn't have his comm on. He casually reached up to his ear and tapped it, trying not to be noticed. Of course Sophie already knew, otherwise she wouldn't have had to relay the messages.

There was a lot of chatter from the agents around the area, and more activity was being picked up by the minute. There were apparently now four targets, the two they could see, and another two coming in on what seemed like a flank. This didn't feel right to Mo, even with his limited experience, he could pick a co-ordinated engagement.

"Soph, I know you think I'm paranoid, but this feels wrong."

"Mo, it's just your nerves, stay focussed on...."

Sophie's sentence was broken but gunfire. It had come from up high on a building across the street.

"Omega Four, what was that?"

There was more gunfire now. It appeared to be coming from the roof of an adjacent building.

"We're under fire from snipers, Director. We can't pinpoint their location. The riders are scattering, we are losing them."

"Hold your positions, get drones out there now, I want to know what is going on. This is now a contact operation, Lieutenant. The floor is yours."

"Yes ma'am. Omega, you heard the Director, our priority is now ensuring the security of the Directorate, secondary is acquiring the targets. Taka, Reilly, and March will assist the Director, I'm taking Jester and Click to pick up the snipers, the rest of you make a perimeter and tag the stragglers. Keep 'em if you can, kill 'em if you need to."

There was a round of confirmation from the agents amid an increasing echo of gunfire. Mo now had his gun drawn but was scattering his focus like a jack rabbit. Sophie was no field operative, but she did know the key to survival in any contact situation was being aware of your surroundings, and focus on your objective. Right now that was getting to cover and waiting for Taka and his crew to arrive.

The building they were currently sided against was not an ideal location. There were high buildings across the street, and a number of burnt out vehicles scattered around, providing perfect cover for anyone making a move on them. She wanted clear vision and high ground.

"Mo, we need to get out of here. We are going into this building and moving up the stairs."

"How will Taka find us?"

"Don't worry, he will. If we stay here we are sniper fodder, especially if they realize who we are."

Sophie got on the comm, "Taka, we are going up, building South of our current."

"Negative Ma'am, stay where you are."

"Can't do that Taka, we are too exposed now."

Sophie turned the handle of the building, it was locked. Mo moved her aside and kick the door open. The lock offered little resistance, opening into an expansive room. It was an old production floor of some kind, with dust covered machinery around the place. As they entered Sophie saw a stairwell to the right. It went up to a fly-bridge that crossed to an office suspended over the middle of the floor. It wasn't ideal, but would have to do. If they weren't seen going in they would be safe enough.

Sophie pointed to the room, and started moving to the stairs, with Mo in pursuit. The metal treads of the stairs seemed to echo louder than a church bell. Sophie knew it was her heightened senses due to the adrenaline, but that didn't stop her fear growing. It didn't help that she now felt Mo was about half of a boy-scout, on a good day, when she needed a solider.

"Taka, where are you."

The comm was silent.

"Omega Four."

"Ma'am."

"Where is Taka?"

"No eyes. We're under heavy fire. We got one sniper, but there are two others we can't get a good angle on."

"Taka, come in."

"Oh, sorry lady. I guess this is Taka's comm."

"Who is this?"

"The fucker that killed Taka."

The voice started laughing hysterically, before drowning out the mic with close-range gunfire. Sophie dropped her comm and stood on it. She then grabbed Mo's and did the same.

"What the hell did you do that for, Sophie?"

"If they have a comm, they may be able to locate us."

"Impossible."

"They had Loach for a while, Mo, nothing is impossible."

"So that's it. Cornered, no contact, no exit."

Sophie looked hard at Mo. She was just getting pissed off now.

"Mo, harden the fuck up, for Christ's sake. If our number is up, it's up, but don't be a fucking whiney bitch on your last moment."

Mo was stunned, he had never heard Sophie so harsh and aggressive. He realized at that moment that he knew far less about her than he thought. She had seen action before, whether she was going to tell him or not.

"Now, you have the North and East entrances, I'll take West and South. Don't shoot or move unless you absolutely have to, we don't want to give our position away unnecessarily. Don't run for the gang-way, you will be a sitting duck."

Mo didn't say a word, he turned to his side and squatted down, gun to his side. Now that he had a moment to look around properly, the situation was worse than he thought. The floor had to be fifty metres each way, and they were in a box ten metres in the air. There were dozens of machines scattered around the floor, with dead-spots all over the place. If they could have picked a worse place to hole-up, he was hard-pressed to think of one.

The light was shining through the broken glass on the perimeter, dancing on the machines and floor like a drunk at 3am. The random movement of the shadows had Mo looking in every direction, it was starting to do his head in.

"Soph, how long we gonna stay here? I mean maybe they have gone."

"Not likely. They moved in too quick. It was either a planned ambush, or dumb luck. Either way, they were too ready."

"You think Loach stitched us up?"

"Probably."

"Wait, I hear something."

They both stopped talking and remained still. Two people entered the same door Sophie and Mo had gone through, both armed with pistols. Sophie took solace in the fact that they had short-arm weapons. If either of them had rifles, they would have been in a whole heap of trouble.

Mo slowly tapped Sophie's shoulder. She turned around as he pointed to a crack in the wall lining. From the opposite end of the building two more entered. Sophie's moment of comfort ended when she saw they both had rifles, one with a scope. She pursed her finger to her lips and lay down on the floor. There was no way their weapons would get through the solid steel floor of the booth, but the walls were glorified tinfoil, so their best bet was to stay low and unseen.

Sophie reckoned they would have at least five minutes before the men made it to the stairwell. They would check around each machine first, so as not to leave themselves exposed. That would give her at least a little time to come up with a plan. She assumed Mo wouldn't have one.

The next few minutes seemed like an eternity. She heard them making the odd call to each other, but most of it was garbled slang. None of them had mentioned the stairs yet, but it was only a matter of time. She heard another noise from the far corner of the building, where the rifle carrying men came through. She peered over as much as she could while keeping a low profile, but couldn't see anything.

"Slim, you hear that?"

"What?"

"I think we have company, go check the door we came in."

"Hang on, I see someone."

The two headed back to the entry, weapons drawn. As they passed the machines into the open ground they both had a single man in their sights. He was in a dull black riding suit, with a motorcycle helmet on. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the two gunmen.

"You, stop the fuck there! Who are you?"

The man didn't speak, just stepped to the side of the door.

"Oi, asshole, I said who are you? Take off your helmet before I shoot the fucking thing off!"

Slim raised his gun and trained it on the helmet, catching a glimpse of something through the doorway. By the time he had re-focussed on the object in the distance it was too late. Darts shot from the bike hitting him in the chest. His brother fired a shot, but Jack was already moving and easily avoided him. Before the Aleutian was able to move two darts pierced his chest, shattering his ribcage.

At the other end of the warehouse the remaining two Aleutians heard the gunfire, looked at each other, and quickly split to each side of the building. One of them saw the entrance to the stairs to the booth. He had reasonable cover, so carefully made his way there. It was exposed, but would give him a good viewing position if he could get up quietly.

Jack knew there were others in the building. Cindy had picked up two bodies in the middle, which he now knew would be in the booth. By his count that left two Aleutians to deal with, assuming there were no others on the outside that hadn't been taken care of. It was only by chance they picked up on the signal traffic in the 3rd, but as soon as they heard Osiris were down there, they knew there was something worth investigating.

"Sin, you got me."

"Yeah Jack, but there is a lot of interference in the building, I'm not picking up any kind of detail. You're going to have to feel your way through this one."

"Got it."

Jack removed his helmet and placed it on the ground. He needed his full peripheral vision for this, assuming their hunch was right, the Aleutians sent their best hitmen once they found out Osiris agents were heading down. He drew his Timmy and set it to burst mode, checking there was still plenty of charge. He took a moment to admire his piece, the tweaks Ping recently made to it made it even sexier than it was before.

Moving around the machinery, Jack could see there would be no easy way to get an angle on the enemy. He would have to try and keep it close, relying on his reflexes to get the drop on them. By now they would have split up, which made his job easier. One at a time would be no problem, they may be Aleutians, but their aggression was not tempered with training. Jack was made for this.

There was a sound from the right. Mako moved around a large machine near the side wall and saw a flash of movement. He fired three shots, two of them hit the wall, another ricocheted off the machine. He ran around the other side and was about to shoot again when there was a hard thump on his arm, knocking his gun to the ground. Jack lost his balance slightly and needed to correct himself.

"You're fucked now, asshole."

Jack didn't reply, just holstered his Timmy and stood ready. Mako didn't hesitate, launching at him with a high spinning kick followed by a roundhouse. Jack dropped under the high kick and moved in as the roundhouse came. He parried the roundhouse with his shin, while throwing a palm strike to the cheek. The impact was severe, knocking Mako to the ground.

He was dazed, but shook it off. Mako leapt to his feet ready to attack again, but was looking down the barrel of the strangest pistol he had ever seen. His attacker spun the weapon and struck him across the face, everything went black.

As Jack moved towards the middle of the building, he could hear a clattering sound of boots on metal. The last Aleutian must have been making a run for the booth. He quickly moved between the machinery, being sure to stay out of direct line of sight. There were a lot of machines, he was starting to lose his bearings.

Mo tapped Cindy on the shoulder. They had heard the gunfire over to the left of the building, and Sophie could just see what looked like two bodies on the ground by the North entrance. She raised three fingers to let Mo know she was sure three Aleutians had been taken out.

Mo took the signal as being the room was clear, and stood up, weapon to his side. He opened the door but saw the Aleutian a moment too late. The attacker had made the top of the stairs and was half way along the bridge when he fired a shot at Mo. It connected with his shoulder knocking him to the ground, partially landing on Sophie.

Sophie's gun was knocked from her hand. She saw the attacker nearing the door as it swung shut again. She quickly pushed Mo off and scrambled for her gun. As she reached it she rolled over just as the door opened. There was a flurry of gunshot, but Sophie saw a look of surprise in the attacker's eyes. He coughed, blood spurting out onto the door, before collapsing in a heap.

Sophie lay half leaning on the side wall, motionless, gun drawn. For a moment she had lost all coherence, were they all down? Had she been hit? Then she heard footsteps at the base of the stairs.

"Sophie, it's Jack. If you are armed, don't shoot, I'm coming up."

"Are there any others in here?" Sophie shouted back.

"No, the place is clear."

Sophie quickly dropped her gun and leaned over to Mo. He was still conscious, but barely. She saw the wound, it wasn't good.

"Jack, I need a medi-kit here, now!"

Jack ran back to his bike, weapon still drawn. Pulling up his seat, there was a full military field kit, which he grabbed before heading back into the building. He saw movement to the right, and instinctively dove into a roll. There was a gunshot, but Jack already had the Aleutian in his sights before he had completed the move. One shot hit the attacker in the head, dropping him on the spot.

When he got to the top of the stairs he could see Sophie holding Mo in an upright sitting position. He didn't waste time holstering his Timmy before opening the kit. The kid had some shattered bone, and would feel like crap for a while, but there were no arteries hit. Jack stopped the bleeding and pumped in some filler, making Mo wince hard and groan. He would live.

He slung Mo over his shoulder and carried him down the stairs to the entry opposite Betty. He lay Mo against the wall, and left him with Cindy, making sure the back-up was on the way. As the agents came around the corner, Jack made his way back into the building and back to his bike. He had no problem leaving the 3rd, assuming Sophie had made sure the way was paved clear for him.

Later at the mansion, Jack was giving Cindy and Ping a debrief of his account of the afternoon. There was a lot for them to talk about. Although they didn't plan on making amends with Osiris so quickly, or possibly at all, it made sense to co-operate, just to get the heat off them. Either way, there was no doubt now that they had earnt Sophie's trust.

"So Jack, you're telling me they actually want to give us Loach?"

"Well, not exactly. He would be escorted at all times, and we would have to meet at an Osiris safe-house."

"Sounds like a trap."

"It does, but you didn't see her when I was patching up her side-kick. She actually said she knew we were the good guys. I put it down to shock at first, but she is a very capable chick, Blake said she has more degrees than a thermometer, so I figure she had been looking for an 'out' of this stalemate for a while."

"Not good for business?"

"Think about it. She knows there is fuck all chance they could ever actually catch us, and if they do, they can't parade us around as most of what we have been involved with is so top secret even half the Government doesn't know what we are into."

"So what, now we're mates again?"

"Dunno about that, Sin. But I do know that the heat is off us, in a formal capacity at least."

"What about Blake?"

"What about him?"

"Is he back in?"

"I told Sophie that if we ever saw him again, he had better book a dentist appointment. There is one catch. We have to share the Biotronics tech now, no arguments."

Jack found himself facing two blank stares. He was getting tired of all of the conversations that were broken up with silence lately. It seemed everything that was said was either a shock or revelation, and it was starting to piss him off.

"Look, guys, you know I'd normally be the last one to want anything to do with the G's, but we really are pushing shit up-hill with a chopstick at the moment."

"But Jack, you know they will use Loach to exploit it."

"Is that really any different to what we are doing, Sin? Besides, we're not handing over everything, it's supposed to be more of a collaboration."

"Do you just have a morbid fascination with being ass-fucked or what. You know it's going to end in tears."

"Well, Cindy, aside from your colourful choice of euphemisms you may not be far off the mark, which is why we need to be two steps ahead of them all the time. Give them some threads that steer away from where we are working, even if it's stuff we did six months ago. Fuck, I don't know, you guys are the boffins."

"What say we give them the middle finger?"

"Then we are in the same place we were a year ago, except Ping doesn't have his Uncle, we don't have Blake's resources, and we have another half a dozen agencies after us. Oh, and in case you didn't remember, you lost your fucking house too."

Jack's turn for a stare didn't last any more than a second, as Cindy was now on the offensive.

"Because of Osiris."

"No because of Blake."

"Who works for Osiris."

"For fucks sake Sin, we can play semantics all day, but we need to move forward, and I kind of like the idea of doing it without a noose around our necks."

"So that's it?"

"No. The three of us are a team. I'm don't have the power of veto over any decision, we make the decisions together. But, I have a feeling that dumbing-down Biotronics tech, and giving them a few worn-out machines will be a hell of a lot less painful than spending the rest of our lives looking over our shoulders."

"Speak for yourself."

"I just did. Sin, I know you're an outsider when it comes to the Government, but seriously, you used to have anonymity, now they know exactly who you are. Where you came from."

The was another annoying silence.

"Fuck it, Jack, I'm in."

"Good, Ping." They both looked at Cindy. "Well, Sin? What do you reckon?"

"I reckon if they want anything from me, they better open an official investigation into the abduction of my grandparents."

"Sounds fair enough. Ping, you want anything?"

"Sophie in black lace lingerie."

"That will be a little harder to swing than Cindy's request."

Ping sat back smiling. "I can live in hope, bro."

They all sat silent, yet again. It was a fucking day of silences, that's for sure, but Jack felt better about this one. He had spent so long on the other side of the fence, he almost forgot what it was like to be almost legitimate.

The only thing left to agree on, was what they were going to give Osiris, and how they were going to package it. They had the distinct advantage of knowing far more than Osiris about the tech, so as far as bad deals went, this was one of the better ones. That was the way Cindy was selling it to herself anyway.

In a strange kind of way, she actually felt better abut Jack after this. He had taken charge and made some decisions. He had also taken them all to task, and didn't back down. She could see the passion starting to come back into his action, which could only be a good thing for his mental state. Hopefully it ended his nightmares, so she could start getting decent sleep again.

### Chapter 32

The hour was late, and they were all thinking about sleep, but there was still some work to do, and they knew they were running out of time.

"So how is this going to work, Jack? I mean, do we get desks at Osiris HQ or what?"

"Sorry Ping, but no. Technically we are still on the outside, there is no official recognition of our alliance."

"So it's only Sophie's word then?"

"No, there will be dark papers that outline our freedom and all APB's relating to us and what we do will be nullified."

"Sweet, anyone keen for a GTA?"

"Don't be a dick, Ping. You know what I mean."

"Yeah, pity. So where is this Jan chick anyway? It's fucking late."

"She said she would be here."

Just then a car pulled up into the carpark, it was Jan. She got out and hurried to the back door.

"Sorry guys, I thought I was being followed by a Fed."

Jack rolled his eyes to the others. She was really getting into this spy business.

"Yeah, about that. We're kind of legit now."

"So no more sneaking around?"

"Oh no, we are still doing that, we're just not getting shot on sight anymore. We can only do what we do if the authorities know as little as possible. We have a truce, I guess you could call it."

"Oh, OK. Sounds weird."

"Tell me about it." Cindy chimed in as she pushed past Jack to get through the door.

They went and sat at the same table, and Jan got a round of drinks. The fresh air outside seemed to have woken everyone up a bit. It was a good thing, as Jan had a lot to share. She sat at the table and passed the drinks around.

"So," she began. "I guess you all know that Gindobe is part of The Ordained, that bit was a test I assumed. But, did you know that he is THE MAN. I mean, I can't find anyone higher than him, and the bits I could dig out about him go back twenty years."

"That's interesting." Cindy replied.

"That's not even the start of it. His companies are about as diverse as you can get. His family line have interests in property, mining, tech, industrial chemicals, you name it. The prick probably owns half of Sydney."

"OK, so you have done your homework then. What does it mean?"

"I'm not completely sure yet, but a business that has a tie to him is buying up a LOT of houses in the New City. Since the event, people have either been just walking out, or flicking them for a tiny fraction of their worth."

"Free market."

"Yeah, but the thing is, alpha's don't land-bank. They use all of their resources to the most effective capacity at the time of investment."

"So?"

"So, there is no resale value on these, and the rental would be shit. Besides, the properties they buy are mega towers, or entire industrial districts. The places are being occupied by people from the Old City. I doubt any of them would have money, much less a job. It just doesn't make sense."

"Unless it is housing for his minions." Jack added.

Jan looked at him, she was about to shut down his idea, but then thought about it. "You know, Jack, you might be onto something there."

"What?"

"Well, almost everyone is ditching the city, right? Now, who is going to run the factories, amenities, utilities, and what have you?"

"No idea."

"Well if it was a grateful bunch of derro's that would accept next to no pay, and do whatever you asked, doing business would be a lot easier, wouldn't it."

"I guess so."

"There is something else."

"What?"

"I think I have a location for him."

"Who? Gindobe?"

"Yeah. He apparently has an office in the Old City that he usually goes to every few weeks. But my source tells me he has been there almost every day lately."

The three others looked at each other. This is what they had been waiting for, the break of all breaks. Now was their opportunity to get Gindobe and finish this once and for all.

"You know we can't bring them in on this, Jack."

"I know, Cindy."

"Who are we talking about?" Jan enquired.

"Doesn't matter, Jan. Thanks for the intel, you're a star."

"Anything for the cause, guys. How is the house treating you?"

"Better than a cave, but about as cold as one."

"Yeah, I remember it getting cold in Winter. Need some help warming up?"

"Oh god, save me!" Cindy got up from the table, finished her drink and headed for the door. "Come on boys, we have work to do."

Jack looked over the Jan. "Sorry hun, the boss is grinding me. Rain check maybe."

"I'll hold you to that!" Jan called after Jack as he was heading to the door.

The mansion was cold, but fortunately Ping had fashioned a pretty effective passive heating system for the main living room and kitchen using some of his experimental biotech material. They were now well into the early hours of the morning, but the excitement of potentially catching Gindobe was intoxicating. Everything they had been going through in recent times was caused, one way or the other, by the actions of this man.

They all knew if they got a chance, Gindobe would be killed. He was an evil man, and given the opportunity would no doubt end all of them, and anyone they knew. Besides, the only thing less conceivable than an Alpha in Government custody would be an Alpha that were there for more than a few hours. Of all of the parts of the plan they needed to discuss, this was the one part they knew without saying.

"So, the only question that remains is when."

"I think we need to do some recon first, to make sure Jan has good intel, and also to see what sort of entourage he has."

"Right. I have a feeling he will have a low-profile presence on his trip, I have never heard Runners talking about an Alpha moving around town, so he is good enough to stay off the radar, it's likely he keeps a wide perimeter with his security in transit."

"OK Jack, well you're the military strategist."

"Hey, it's what I'd do if I were protecting him. Too much attention is never a good thing when you are dealing with half-crazy, wired Runners. "

"Relax, Jack, I wasn't having a go. When it comes to the action side of things, I'm not going to roll your decisions. Ping and I will get some drones out there, and get as many eyes on the building as we can. I know we don't have much time, but we still need to take a day or so to scope the place. People like Gindobe don't live their lives by being sloppy, and the fact that he comes to town a lot means he is probably more connected than we know."

"Right, I wouldn't be surprised if he had Feds in his pocket. In fact, I'd guarantee it now that I think about it."

"Osiris?"

"I doubt it, but possible. Not likely to be Sophie, she seems to be one of the good ones, but I reckon there are more than a few people on the floor that get their pockets lined by Gindobe's minders."

"Oh great, so we are likely to not only have Gindobe's security on us, but also loose Runners and Fed agents?"

"It's possible, Ping, This guy is for all intents and purposes one of the most powerful people in the world. It's just dumb luck he lives in the same place we do."

"I guess I had better get to work evening the odds then?"

"Good boy."

Ping got up and left the table, ignoring Jack's 'boy' comment. It wouldn't take him long to get a Sat watching the city, after that it was all about intel. He had been working on a group of Firefly micro-drones that were going to get their debut on this Op.

His latest concept was ingenious, if he did say so himself. A swarm of his Firefly's would cover an area up to two kilometres in every direction. Although they were only the size of a coin, the Biotronics system he was able to employ was powerful enough to mimic the flight characteristics of insects. The actual motion varied depending on the conditions they were flying in, but he had to pick a name and Firefly definitely sounded bad-ass.

The micro-drones were going to keep constant surveillance around the building, being too small on their own to be detected by monitoring systems. All going well, they would know how many people were in and around the building, as Ping got busy tagging bio-signatures from people during the afternoon, they would start whittling down the low-priority personnel.

There weren't many times Ping felt stuck in his life. It wasn't about the development of the tech, that was the easy part for him. He wondered more and more what the point of all this was. The easy answer was to 'stop the bad guys', but really, stopping the bad guys was just a milestone. They needed to do more than just stop someone, they needed to actually start making a difference. Ping wasn't one to be charitable or philanthropic, hell he never had anything to give, until now.

His thoughts were broken by the door closing as Cindy walked in. He jerked into an upright position.

"Whoa, you gave me a fright there."

"Uh huh," Cindy muffled. "You looked deep in though. Care to share?"

Ping turned to fully face Cindy, waiting until she sat down at her station.

"Why are we doing this Cindy?"

"What do you mean? This Op? To stop that asshole Gindobe from screwing up the world, I guess."

"There has to be more to what we do."

Cindy looked at him with a slight concern. "Are you alright, Ping?"

"Yeah, I've just been thinking a lot lately."

"I can tell."

"Since Uncle Jay died, I have no-one left. Well, I have you guys of course."

"Thank you."

"But what I mean is, aside from our missions, there is no life or future for me."

"So what do you want?"

"I want to do something meaningful. We have the most amazing technology ever discovered here in our lab, and we're making weapons and assault vehicles with it."

"There are bad people that need to be stopped, Ping."

"There always are, Sin. You can go back to WW2 if you want, the justification for making fucking nukes was to be the first so bad men could be stopped. Throughout the ages there has always been a reason why bigger, faster, nastier weapons had to be invented, all in the name of freedom."

Cindy paused for a moment. She could see that Ping was pretty emotional about all of this, which was fair enough, he was a kid after-all. But, this type of discussion needed to be had when they were in clear space, not on the eve of a mission.

"Tell you what Ping, we get this thing out of the way tomorrow, and assuming we live, you, Jack, and myself will decide together where we go next. Thirds each way, all cards on the table."

"You serious?"

"Are you?"

"Never more."

"OK, well I guess we can't go on being renegades for the rest of our lives. In the meantime we have a lot of work to do."

"Yeah."

Ping discussed his plan with the Firefly surveillance, which Cindy jumped in on to get the last diagnostics away. She didn't even know he was working on this project, it really was quite ingenious. She realized he was serious about the move when he outlined to her what they were originally designed for. They are going to be deployed ahead of exploration teams to monitor the conditions of the land. Once the drones have found an area that has suitable conditions for cultivation, the establishment teams will convert land and allow settlers to migrate.

Upstairs, Jack was talking to Jan on the comm. He spent a fair bit of time doing that lately, convincing himself it was for the mission. Well, almost convincing himself.

"You sure about this, Jan?"

"Yeah, all the land is being bought up by two companies, and both have solid connections to this Gindobe joker."

"Oh, I think he is anything but a joker."

"I think you are right. A few of my contacts went very quiet when I brought up his name."

"You better be careful."

"Don't worry about me, Jack, I'm tougher than I look. Besides, people are used to me snooping around, it's pretty much what I do. Most don't mind, I share with them, they share with me."

"Sounds cosy."

"I keep asking you to come try it."

"Give me a rain-check, again, I need to go save the world."

Jack cut the comm. It still didn't make sense to him why the Alpha's were buying up all of the land. It wasn't like they needed investment, and he couldn't imagine them popping around for a property inspection any time. He decided he would do a recon around town that night, to see first-hand what was going on.

The afternoon dragged on, it was driving Jack nuts. He had already cleaned Betty, twice. He had taken a tour of the entire house, trying to find something of interest, but there was little. Jan's family was, for all intents and purposes, boring as hell. Perhaps that was why she does what she does, and why she gets so giddy around him. The pieces were finally falling together.

It was time to go.

"Yo! Sin!"

"Still down here, Jack."

He walked down to the workshop. As he walked in both Cindy and Ping turned to face him. They were surrounded by a swarm of the strangest looking insects.

"What the fuck are those"

"Fireflies."

"They look more like butterflies."

"Yeah but that doesn't sound as cool, Jack."

"OK, whatever. I'm going for a recce around town."

"You sure that is a good idea?"

"No, but there is some shit going down, and I think it's all linked. I just want to see what is happening to get a clearer picture."

"Keep your comms up."

Jack waved behind as he walked out. Cindy worried too much, it was just a ride.

A Jack left the property, everything seemed darker than usual. He realized a lot of the building had no lights on at all, and half of the industrial buildings he passed on the way to town were dead. He had to wonder why the Alpha's would want this, what were they trying to achieve. Then, as he rode the crest into the first housing estate, he caught a glimpse of what it was. Chaos.

What used to be a modern strip of multiplex houses was now becoming what could only be described as a zoo. There was rubbish strewn everywhere, tagging on any fence that wasn't broken. It wasn't a riot, but the new locals didn't waste any time making the place home.

He rode slowly through the street, before he came across his next kick. There was a shop at the end of the street that he hadn't noticed before. As he got nearer he could see a queue outside. The sign out the front said 'Mandatory Immunization for Keys'. He stopped and flipped his visor, looking at the nearest person in the queue.

"Hey, mate, what is this all about?"

"Haven't you heard? If you get an immunization booster and register here, they give you keys to you own house. Better than that, anyone registered is guaranteed a job."

Jack realized at that moment what was happening. Gindobe had created his perfect city. There was no law, but once the excitement among the new residents had settled, they would start to obey. The hope in that man's eyes showed it all. Gindobe would be their saviour, their hero, and he would have masses of compliant workers or soldiers to do whatever he wanted.

"Hey buddy, I wouldn't take that jab."

"I have to, for my daughter."

"Trust me, the best thing you can do for her is leave town."

Jack flipped his visor and left. He was going to do a sweep of town to see if there were any more of these places, when he caught a flash out of the corner of his eye. He swerved just in time to miss the pick-up sweeping past his bike. As he looked over, he saw an MDC logo on the door.

The vehicle swerved across the median knocking down a small tree, and skidding into the kerb across the road. Jack looked ahead, the road was clear. He leaned forward and accelerated hard. He was a hundred metres from the freeway entrance when another truck pulled out, blocking the road. Jack hit the brakes hard, pulling into a full drifting slide. He saw everything coming up blue and was about to ditch Betty when the bike regained traction. He flicked around, almost going over the front, but the bike compensated and lurched forward.

Jack was now stuck between the two vehicles, but saw a flood water run-off to the right. He flicked the bike around and headed for the edge. The gate was locked, but his TLM anticipated his move and fire a series of darts, one ramming into the lock. As he hit the gate the lock smashed apart, his momentum nudging Betty through the opening.

The other side was a grass slope, which he had no hope of controlling. He dropped Betty and slid down the hill. Near the bottom he caught a root and fell into a tumble. As he neared the bottom of the twenty foot bank, he could see the wall of the canal. He stomped his foot out just as he got to it, and regained control before jumping the last six feet to solid ground.

He was disoriented for a moment as he assessed his surroundings. The canal was dark, and there was now little sound except for squealing heels above. He quickly rushed back to Betty, thanking Cindy for the Tac suit. He pulled up the bike, it looked hardly scratched, which Jack put down to Ping's work with the Biotronics. He looked closer and could see a crack in the front cowling mending itself. Fucking amazing.

There was a voice for the other side of the bridge.

"You, there. What the hell are you doing?"

Jack drew his Timmy and trained it on the silhouette. The man walked out with his hands up. It was the man from the store.

"Hey, buddy, I'm not here to hurt you."

Jack kept his Timmy trained on the man. "What do you want?"

"You said to leave town. Why?"

"Because bad things are happening here."

"I know, that is why we are up here. All of the New City folk have left. They are giving the city to anyone who wants it now."

"No, mate, they are creating a perfect workforce of compliant, hopeless, and desperate individuals they can manipulate and threated. Those jabs they are giving out are their means of control."

"Oh shit!"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Get your daughter and leave. Don't go to the old City, find your way to any place but Sydney."

"Why are you telling me this."

"I had a daughter too, once."

Jack slipped the Timmy to the side and fired. The man fell into a crouch, covering his head. He looked up again, then turned around. There was a body in a suit laying behind him. The man looked back at Jack. Jack didn't have any more time to spare.

"Get out of here, while you can. Go back the way you came, I have some more business to deal with."

The stranger looked at him for a moment before heading down the path under the bridge. Jack turned the other way, he assumed there was at least one other attacker out there, possibly more. He could have used some of those Firefly's Ping had right about now.

Jack got to the edge of the cover from the bridge. His next target was likely eyeing up Betty, she was almost 20m out in the open. He checked her vitals, the bike was good to go. There was no way he could get the automatic weapons on target, the bike was facing the wrong direction, but, he could do just about everything else, so decided to chance a dash. At the same time as he started running, Betty fired up. Jack heard a high-powered rifle shoot as he was nearby. He slid behind Betty when another one echoed, ricocheting on the concrete and hitting the front cowl.

As Jack got to Betty, he jumped, but not to get on, he went right over and scrambled back behind the bike. It was dark and he knew that with little to no light, and him in a black suit behind a black bike, they would be taking pot-shots. He didn't want to wait to see if they would get lucky, so brought up the IR filter. Sure enough there were two marks, one at each end of the bridge. They were only semi-covered, they must have assumed he wouldn't be able to see shit from that far away.

"Once chance!", Jack shouted over the back of the bike.

His answer was a shot hitting the rear light of the bike. He took a quick glance and moved back. TLM brought up the wireframe overlay showing exactly where both of them were. Jack rolled out past the front of the bike and in one motion fired two bursts. He scrambled for the cover of the canal wall but needn't have bothered, he saw the diagonal target leaning over the rail, and the nearest tumbled off the bank, landing a dozen metres in front of him.

After a few seconds he started moving to the man in front of him, keeping low in case there was another attacker that held back. After a minute he figured there wasn't, so went over to check the body. The man he had shot turned out a woman. Jack shuffled her body and padded her down looking for ID, finding a wallet which he took, but nothing else was on her.

By the time Jack got back to the road from the canal, there was quite a crowd gathering. He decided against stopping, but did want to get the ID's from the two trucks that cornered him. As he weaved through the group he could see the vehicles had gone, what's more, so were his attackers, leaving behind a generous share of their blood. Who ever wanted Jack gone didn't want him to know who did it, but, the options were fairly obvious these days. He quickly dismissed Osiris pulling a double cross, which left The Ordained or the Aleutians. The fucking Aleutians, he almost forgot about those assholes, but wouldn't put it past them being in the New City creating havoc, especially since their Melbourne operation was now known about, although not yet destroyed.

"Sin you there?"

"Yeah Jack. What the hell happened?"

"Not sure yet. Long story either way. I'll fill you in when I get back. Is everything still online?"

"Mostly, there are a few loose links, but it looks like the system is working around it now."

"Good. I'm going to go for a bit more of a look around the city. There is some weird shit going on."

"OK, well take care."

"Sure."

"I mean it Jack. Obviously someone out there doesn't like your snooping."

"They're gonna fucking hate what we are going to do next then. See you soon."

### Chapter 33

Oricks always figured the Super-max would be far more violent than this. It was bordering on boring, but he figured his day was about to brighten up. He had only been in a few days but got the word out he wanted to meet with the Aleutians, making sure they knew who he was. It was a double edged sword, as there were as many people in there that wanted to kill Jules Oricks from Osiris as there were supporters of Ox, the man that brought the Aleutians to The Ordained, and to wealth.

Today seemed to be his lucky day, however, as the guard unlocked his cell, telling him to go to laundry duty. The first thing he learnt inside was that the Aleutians controlled the laundry. It wasn't ideal, as he needed to get to the morgue, however at least he knew he would be able to work with the Aleutians to barter.

As he walked the dimly lit corridor, his footsteps echoed louder and louder. His senses were heightened, as they had been almost since he arrived. He didn't want to show it, but there was always an element of fear around, especially as this place was about as predictable as a swarm of bees.

The arrows led to a set of doors that slid apart as he turned. Walking into the room the first thing he noticed was the scent of lavender. 'Cute' he thought, a prison full of murderers and rapists, and the system still cares about how their clothes smell. His thoughts were broken by a deep voice.

"Jules, mother fucking, Oricks. Now how the hell did we manage to be graced with your presence?"

"Who is that?"

Jules peered through the distance but couldn't make out the person behind the commercial dryer. The shadow moved into the light and a tall Olive-skinned man beamed a wide smile.

"I wonder," he started. "What the mighty Jules Oricks did to get himself here?"

"You already know, that I am sure of."

"On the contrary. I know what you did to Osiris, of course. But, by all reckoning that should have earnt you a long walk off a short cliff. But, here we are, still walking and talking."

"I guess I'm just a hard nut to crack."

"Or Sophie still has a soft spot for you."

"I see you know more than most. You seem a little off on your intel though, I guarantee she holds no spot for me of any kind. Not any more at least."

"You have a flame you would like to rekindle?"

"No, I have a bonfire I want to ignite, right under the foundation of Osiris."

"And how, my friend, are you going to do this in here?"

The man looked around the room, waving his hand towards the machines as though they were going to open up a portal to the outside.

"I have a plan."

The man walked close to Jules, barely a few feet away. As he approached at least six other men came out from behind the machines, spreading in an arc around them.

"As do I. My plan is to auction you off to the other inmates, piece, by, piece. I think, however, your head would make a great ornament on the mantle in my cell."

There were a few chuckles and grunts from the man's associates. Jules had to talk fast now, he wouldn't get another chance to make this work.

"We have never worked together, but I have worked with your associates. You must know that I helped create the relationship between the Aleutians and The Ordained, and you must also know that I have considerable connection to the Alpha's."

"Neither of which mean shit on this side of the wall."

"Well, I'm not planning on being here for long, and I can take a few of you with me."

The man looked at Jules inquisitively.

"And how, Mr Oricks, are you planning on doing this?"

"It's a long story, but to prevent my head being removed in the next two minutes, let me just say that one of the perks to being in the top spy agency is having access to all Government documents, including the plans to this prison."

The man looked at Jules again, trying to work out if this was a bluff to save his own skin. If it was, it would only be a stay of execution. The man thrust his hand out.

"Lieutenant Steel. My friends call me Sir."

Jules shook his hand. "Well, Sir, it is a good thing we met."

"Assuming we have a reason to stay together." The man held onto Jules' hand. "You are in my house, after all."

"For a short time, Sir. I suggest you get your affairs in order, assuming you are intending on leaving."

Steel let go of Jules' hand and signalled to his crew. They walked out of the laundry without saying another word. It was now time for Jules to get the final pieces together for his plan. There wouldn't be a lot of time before the prison found out he was making contact with the Aleutians, and even an idiot of a Warden would work out that wasn't a good thing for them.

The escape plan itself was actually deceptively easy. What Jules realized when he started investigating the prison, was that most of the emphasis these days was on the security of the technology systems, even more-so than the security of alternative pathways. Granted, it would still be a coin toss over whether they made it, but trying to negotiate any form of corruption or diversion of the electronic systems was near impossible.

He checked the back of the drying unit. It had been installed to the manufacturers requirements, which was good. Assuming the ducts vented to the service yard as they should, that was half the job done. He would get Steel's men to check the rest of the existing structure for him; he didn't want to be seen near any of those areas until they made their move.

As Jules got to the door, the corridor lit up green again. It seemed Steel did actually trust Jules. Well, enough to give him a chance to explain his plan. The walk back to his cell seemed almost pleasant, although he wouldn't admit it by virtue of hubris, Jules felt like he had lost control of his life for a time. But he was back now, with information and power, and soon enough, freedom.

The next few weeks were slow going in the cells. Jules would get the occasional snip of information about the building, the surroundings, and the systems. It was all exactly as he had researched, probably due to the fact that in thirty years not one person had even come close to escaping. The saying goes 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it', well Jules was about to tear it apart.

The solitary gave him plenty of time to reflect on the events of the last few years. He tried at times to pinpoint the moment when he decided he would no longer follow the path of the 'right', but could never put his finger on it. He allowed himself to admit that many times Sophie almost pulled him back, but he managed to fend her off. She was a remarkable woman, and if he could have a regret, it was that he would not get the opportunity to be with her.

He often found himself drifting towards thoughts of her, but consciously cut them off by ending every daydream of their sexual encounters with him choking her to death, listening to her last breath, and finally being free. More than once he chuckled out loud afterwards about how she would have a field day shrinking that little fantasy.

Among other things, he also found himself missing the outside. He knew this was intentional in prison system. Once you have your rights removed, you shift towards compliance, in the hope of the rewards of freedom, even if it were only for a few hours. He kept his nose clean, and any time he did get outside, he spent in quiet contemplation.

Jules Oricks, above all else, was a master of manipulation. He enjoyed his fiery explosions of aggression, they were a release, but they were always tempered in the right situation. To most it would be considered the methods of a sociopath, but they were wrong. A sociopath lives within a society, but is psychologically removed from the effects of their actions. Jules lived above society, and he relished the effects of his actions. Perhaps he was actually a psychopath, he could never understand the difference. He added it to the list of things he would discuss with Sophie if they ever met again.

It was on a day he pondered these ideas when his door opened. Jules got up, but as he did a guard entered the room. His body instantly tensed, ready for the overdue beating, but it didn't come. The guard sat on Jules' bunk and patted the space next to him. Jules sat, tense and ready to react.

"We have a mutual friend, Jules."

The man rolled up his sleeve to his bicep where Jules could faintly make out the mark of the Aleutians.

"I am surprised, this facility has the strongest vetting of any Government agency, how did you get in?"

"Let's just say I had my eyes opened while in uniform."

The guard smiled slightly. Jules couldn't read if the man was being rewarded or blackmailed to work with the Aleutians. He didn't put if past them to use either method.

"Steel has advised that it is time to go. He will meet with you only once, and then the plan needs to be acted upon. There is a threat to the Aleutians on the outside that needs your special experience."

"What would that be?"

"Jack Prince."

Jules took a moment to process this, it was almost too good to be true. Not only were the Aleutians going to help get him out, they were going to back him with support to take out the four biggest pains in his ass he ever had. It was almost too much to ask for.

"OK, so when do we do this?"

"Tomorrow, during the morning session in the laundry. We have you on detail, and the machine is already sabotaged. By the time you get there, it will be time to brief the others and leave." The guard stood up and looked down at Jules. "I hope you know what you are doing. If you get out, and that is a pretty big IF, you will be shot on the spot by anyone who cares to recognise you."

"Don't worry about me kid, you just make sure they are ready."

The guard left, leaving Jules' cell in silence. This was the time he should get some rest, but there was no way that was happening. He kept going over the plan in his head, even though there was not a lot to do, the timing had to be perfect. There was also the small issue of a ton of luck going their way, but he wasn't going to let something so trivial get in the way of the Aleutians helping him. Some things were best kept to yourself.

As expected, the door to Jules' cell opening right on 9am. This was it, no turning back now. Not that he ever wanted to. He walked out into the corridor and followed the green glow. He was almost going to miss it, well not really, but he was looking for some kind of hallmark moment to remember his very short stay in the can.

As he walked into the laundry, prisoners were already working on loads. It was far busier than normal in the room, with hardly any space to move. Jules assumed this was part of the plan, to help disguise their movement.

"Welcome, prisoner."

Jules turned to see Steel standing a few feet away. It was so busy he missed him.

"Good morning. Sir. Lovely day for a bit of cleaning."

"Indeed. Will you show me how it's done?"

Jules leant over to Steel and guided him to the dryer. He outlined the plan, which took all of a minute. Steel stood in contemplation for a moment, then challenged Jules.

"This plan of yours, it seems too simple."

"And that is why it will work. I am a big fan of Occam's Razor, I just use it to create a problem, not solve one. There are only a few moving parts, therefore only a few opportunities for errors, and the simplicity ensures the concept is completely overlooked by the administration. Trust me."

"If we make it out of this, Jules, I just might."

He nodded toward the duct and two of Steel's men removed it. They wasted no time climbing inside, when it was put back in place a moment later, presumably by Steel's behind-crew. Jules wasted no time crawling on all fours along the duct, covering his overalls in dust and lint. It was all he could do not to cough his lungs out.

The approached a junction which turned down a larger duct. It was like a network of ducts, some smelling better than others; the ablutions extract connected to the same network. It took about ten minutes to get to the collection chamber. He climbed through and stretched out, waiting for the others. There was no point in looking around for anyone, if the guards knew of their disappearance before they broke the next section, they were dead.

"Right, first bit was the easy bit. We are still in signal range so if we get caught or missed now, we're still dead."

Steel guided his hand past Jules to show the way. Jules looked around the room for a moment, there were three levels, joined with catwalks and ladders. To get out they needed to go down. He made his way to the first ladder and started descending. The echoes of their footsteps sounded like a herd of wild elephants, but speed was the key now.

When they reached the bottom, there was a grate covering a lower pipe. He lifted the grate and turned to the others as the last man got down.

"This is the hard bit. We are going to drop into the sewer now and there is a good chance it will be flooded., you won't see anything. You need to go with the current but feel your way to the third inlet, stop and push yourself in, and follow it to the end. You will be under water and shit for nearly a minute, so if you can't hold your breath you better go back now."

"What if we miss the inlet?"

"You die. We will wait ten seconds between each person to ensure we don't get tangled up on the exit. Got it?"

There were cautious nods all around. Jules looked at Steel and then the hole.

"Care to go first?"

"After you."

Jules jumped in. He had thought previously of giving them bad directions and killing them off, but he figured getting them out would get them more kudos with the Aleutians on the outside. His thoughts were broken as he hit the bottom, instantly feeling the viscous goop that was most definitely low in the water content and high in the other stuff.

He wasted no time dragging himself through the tube. He carefully skimmed the edges so as not to miss the inlet. He just grabbed it in time, and quickly pulled himself in. As he got ten metres or so in, he felt his head come clear of the surface. He thrust himself up into the venting chamber and took a deep breath, instantly gaging and dry reaching. He made a note not to breathe through his nose again.

The space was only a few metres wide, but had a ladder on the side of the concrete chamber leading up. He wasted no time climbing and got to the service door a few moments later. By the time he was there, Steel was already on the ladder, and one of his associates was braking through. The associate took a deep breath, and vomited hard into the liquid around him. He looked up, then vomited again.

"Do you have the Code Scrambler?"

"Of course!"

Steel passed the device to Jules. As soon as it had engaged with the door lock, the door clicked. He looked at Steel and smiled.

"Home free."

Steel grabbed his arm. "Wait, if we leave the site won't our chips self-destruct?"

"Nope, they only work if they are in the signal field for the prison, and we are a good thirty metres past that boundary now."

"But where exactly are we?"

Jules pushed the door open into an expansive empty warehouse.

"Here, in the original fabrication warehouse for the construction of the first stage of the prison. They forgot to seal this door after they made the changes to the new ventilation duct we climbed through."

"Amazing."

"I guess originally it would have been a four hundred metre crawl through shit pipes to get to where we got to. They didn't need to worry about people crawling through. It's just lucky for us they always use the cheapest contractor to carry out the building work; that one grate they didn't seal off after construction was the key link in the chain."

"Well, Mr Oricks, I suggest we stop fucking around and get out of here."

"I agree. You need a shower. Sir"

"It's just Steel now."

"In that case, it's just Ox."

"Well done Ox. Now, let's get to our ride and get these chips out of us. They may not pick us up at the prison, but it won't be long before they send out the drones."

### Chapter 34

Gindobe would never admit it, but he quietly enjoyed the journey to the building. Aside from it being an unnecessary reminder of how well he lived compared to anyone else, it was satisfying to see so much of his work coming to fruition. It was like a story coming to life, and being EXACTLY as it had been envisaged.

But, as nostalgic as he may be at this moment, his time here had come to an end. There were only so many resources at his disposal in Australia, and there was also the mundane task of rebuilding the region to the specification of The Ordained. These were issues he did not need to endure, Haleon was more than capable. Besides, he had unfinished business with Siniale, and her intrigue was growing in her absence.

Once inside the building, the guards escorted Gindobe to the penthouse suite. The trip had been as it was any other day, perhaps the rumour of terrorist activity in the area was exaggerated. Nonetheless, he was in his office, and there was much work to do. Haleon was already sitting in the lounge with a glass in his hand. The boy liked to drink, that was for sure.

"Haleon, I see you are still having breakfast."

Haleon stood, giving Gindobe a subtle bow and taking his hand. "Well my friend, it is after 10 am."

"You never cease to amaze be Haleon," Gindobe sat on the lounger, Haleon sitting across from him. "which is why it is time for you to take the reins on this continent."

Haleon looked across at him, waiting for the punchline.

"Oh, I know you are waiting for the 'but', my friend, well there is none. You have proven yourself to me, and to The Ordained, so I am leaving you to take charge of all local affairs."

Haleon was stunned. "But, what about Aeron?"

"Don't worry about Aeron, he will be joining me in time, once he has you up to speed with operations. This is not an unplanned action, Haleon. We had our eye on you for a long time, it is why I am your mentor. We couldn't discuss it until now as we needed to know your intentions were purely for the cause, and not driven by a desire for ascension."

"My only desire is to ensure the strength and longevity of The Ordained."

"Spoken like a true brother. You will do a fine job, Haleon, I'm sure of it. If I were to be completely honest, you probably already do most of it."

"It is your vision that guides us, Gindobe."

"And that of our forebears."

Gindobe raised his glass in a salute, and they both drank.

"Now, onto business. Tell me how we are going with the repatriation programme"

"The latest report confirms seventy five percent of the original inhabitants have left the New City. Our propaganda regarding unusually high levels of radiation was well received. We have removed all trace of these communications to the Old City residents now entering the city."

"And the inoculation rate?"

"Almost one hundred percent of the new entrants to the city are taking the shot. Any reports of it being related to the deaths are being buried immediately, along with the reporters."

Haleon smiled at his last comment, enjoying his wit.

"Good, Haleon. So you are still expecting to have our synthesised food production at full capacity by the end of the year?"

"If not before. The analysis of the atmospheric stabilization suggests that our catalyst is nearly twice as receptive to the existing conditions as expected."

"This is a good thing."

"Indeed."

"Tell me, are we still able to control the present variations?"

"With minute accuracy."

"In that case, there is little left for me to do her, Haleon."

"How are final preparations of the satellite going?"

"By all accounts, everything is going well. However, as the MDC factory is in Southern Europe, I feel I need to be with our counterparts to ensure there are no last minute problems."

"I'm sure they will relish the opportunity to work along-side you, my friend."

"I expect they will, my"

Gindobe's sentence was broken by a dull thud, followed by the power going out to the floor. He looked at Haleon who shrugged his shoulders. Gindobe got on his comm.

"Security, what is going on?"

"Not sure, Sir. Maybe a technical glitch. We're going down to check out the service room now."

Gindobe looked at Haleon, before stroking the edge of his chair. "Sorry my friend, it looks like I have left her requiring a little TLC."

There was another thud, then the distinct sound of a gun report.

"It appears it is time to leave, Haleon."

Gindobe got up and grabbed a case next to his desk. He led Haleon to the bookshelf and pushed a panel to the side. The bookshelf spun around, leading to a dull and dark corridor.

"I thought these things were only in old fashioned movies."

"That's where the idea came from."

They entered, with dim lighting illuminating the entire space. The area was less than a metre wide, and appeared to be completely lined with metal. Gindobe noticed Haleon touching the walls.

"Everything is lead lined, double lead lined actually. The only signatures coming from this space are too small for any known detectors. We could wait it out here, but I think our guests may find their way to this floor, assuming it is who I think it is. We should make our way to the ground floor."

"This corridor goes all the way down?"

"Indeed. We have a few thousand steps ahead of us, so I hope you didn't have too much to drink for breakfast."

The first thud Gindobe heard was a seismic ram hitting the floor outside the security door in the basement. Jack and Cindy had made it to the basement of the building next door without being detected, thanks to Ping's Firefly drones keeping a look-out. The city schematics showed a redundant service corridor lead to the sub-floor area of Gindobe's building. A few mechanical locks later, and they were outside the door they were after.

"Are you sure this will work, Jack?"

"Yeah, we used to do this to get into safe-houses in the Middle East. The shock will crack the slab and bounce the door right off its hinges."

"Won't it raise the alarm?"

"Not immediately. It's not an explosive charge, so doesn't trip chemical sensors, and to anyone in the building it will feel like a small earthquake or a vehicle hitting the building. When the guards come out to check this malfunctioning door, we will take them out, and over-run the control room."

"I know this; you have told me the plan. Just sounds a bit flakey."

"It's a six hour plan, Sin, gim'me a break."

"OK, get on with it. Ping says the drones are in place and have Gindobe on the top floor with one other."

Jack placed the device on the ground, stretching as he stood up. It was a heavy device, and he was glad to have it grounded. He pressed the engagement switch and three prongs extended and punched into the wall next to the door. He flicked the next switch and the whole device started to draw back from the wall. It looked to Cindy like a three legged spider stretching its legs out.

Jack moved back, pulling Cindy back with him. He turned around and put his hands over his ears, Cindy followed suit. She could see him counting down, then nothing. A moment later there was an almighty shudder, followed by a few chips of concrete hitting them in the back. Jack immediately turned to look at the damage.

The device had worked perfectly, the door was completely broken from its lower hinge, and had rotated barely hanging from the top hinge. He drew his weapon and quickly squeezed through the gap. Cindy waited a few seconds then followed. On the other side the corridor had a dim glow with a flashing light at the end. Jack moved towards the light at a jog, he had forty metres to cover and not a lot of time.

"Jack, where is it?"

"On this corner."

He spoke as he got to the corner. He dropped to his belly sliding across the last few metres of floor, already training his gun towards the turn. Predictably there were two guards rushing down the corridor. By the time the saw him sliding out, he had hit both of them. Jack got up and kept jogging, passing the bodies and putting a round in each for luck.

The control room door was partly open, apparently they didn't get visitors often. Jack stopped at the door and held his hand up for Cindy to stop where she was. He quickly glanced around the corner and back, narrowly avoiding three rounds that hit the door across from him.

He knew the guard would be trigger happy, so pulled a recharge clip from his pocket and tossed it through the doorway. It landed on the ground and almost got hit by a few more rounds, stopping under the desk he was going to go for. He leaned across and tapped the door with his foot. The movement caused another three shots, but he moved as soon as he heard them. He knew the guard would take a moment to assess whether the moving door had been a threat or decoy, and that was all the time he needed.

Diving through the door, Jack saw the guard moving his now blue arm up into shooting position again. He waited until he was about to hit the ground, and fired a burst into the leg of the guard. As the guard crumpled, he fired a last shot at his crown as he hit the floor.

He waited for a moment; there was no more sound, no movement. Quickly getting to a crouch, he scrambled around the small room. That was the sole guard left in the room. Gindobe must have been pretty confident of his secrecy. Either that or his army was waiting in the lobby above them.

"Sin, it's clear."

Cindy entered the room and saw the guard, she looked away. Although she knew they had to do it, she hated the fact that they killed people. She quickly moved to the control panels and hooked up her interface. Within seconds she had full control of the building, as far as she could see.

"Right. All entry's and exits locked, all comms blocked, and Pings drones are sending a direct feed. You've got the run of the building."

"OK, get me to the express lift and get it to the top. We're not giving those fuckers time to figure this out."

Jack left the room and followed Cindy's directions to the lift block. He got in the open one, reloading his Timmy as the doors shut. So far everything was going to plan, but he needed to get a clearer picture of the Penthouse.

"Ping, you got a good picture of that floor?"

"Yeah, but it's the strangest thing, Jack. Two of the bio-sigs just disappeared."

"What the fuck. What do you mean?"

"I mean, they were in the building, now they're not."

"Well how did they get off the Penthouse of a fucking mega-tower without opening a door?"

"Got me man. I can only tell you what I see."

"Faulty drones?"

"Maybe one or two, but there are a hundred or so out there and they all say the same thing."

"Well what DO I have there?"

"Still getting three sigs. Two are directly across from the lift door, the other is further back in the room, around a few bends on the East side."

"Sin, when we get to the top, wait until I say 'go' before you open the door."

"Got it."

Jack was nearing the top now. He jumped up and popped the service panel from the lift ceiling. He didn't go all the way through; just held the edge, keeping his body horizontal. He was now facing the door feet first, with his Timmy on his chest. He was still clear of the door head, so they would have no line on him. The door stopped, he waited a few seconds.

"Go", he grunted.

The doors started opening, and the gunfire began filling the car immediately. Jack waited until the doors were fully open and dropped. As he let go he grabbed his Timmy, and in one fluid motion shot the guard on the right side of the lift three times. He hit the floor hard, but his Tac suit took the brunt of the impact.

The other guard was still out of his line of sight so he quickly turned himself on his back, legs crouched against the wall. He heaved himself hard off the wall, sliding across the floor. He started shooting before he even got clear of the door, not giving the second guard any time to realise the shooting was coming from the ground. He fell instantly, Jack not waiting to see if he was dead, there was no need.

Getting to his feet, Jack braced himself against the control panel. He waited but there was no sound. He whispered for a position update; Ping told him there was no change in the position of the other Guard. Jack quickly peered around the corner and pulled back. Nothing.

He moved out of the lift and moved quickly to the location Ping had noted, being sure to cover his angles and he passed furniture are walls. He spun around the corner, gun up, but pulled back. There was a girl standing there in what looked like a school uniform; short cut skirt, white blouse, and flat shoes. He holstered his Timmy and looked at her.

"You alright?"

She didn't answer. He looked at her again, and realized she wasn't scared, or at least didn't show it. He put it down to shock and reached out to take her hand. As he did she pulled a blade and in one swift motion cut across his wrist.

He was lucky his Tac-Suit took the hit, with the blade glancing off, but she swiped back immediately towards his face with a back-hand. Jack stepped back, then drove forward hard with his shoulder. The girl anticipated the move and easily spun around him, kicking him in his back of the head on the way through. Jack fell to the ground.

"Wait!", he shouted.

"What is it, little man?", the girl replied as she stepped towards him.

"You don't need to do this."

"But I get paid so much for it."

She anticipated it was a stall tactic and lunged at Jack, but he was too fast this time, spinning on his knee and punching her hard in the pelvis. The force knocked he off balance, and knocked the knife out of her hand. Jack wasted no time capitalising on the chance, and launched into a volley of punches and strikes. She parried and evaded most, but a few got through, with the last being an uppercut that knocked her clear off her feet. She didn't move.

"Ping?" Jack was panting hard, trying to get a sentence together. "What's going on?"

"Still the same situation. Cindy is working her ass off blocking the attempts to break through her encryption, but it won't last forever. Did you find the others?"

"I'm telling you Ping, there is no-one else in here."

"Well is there a door anywhere?"

"Just the lift and stair, Ping."

"What else is there?"

"Fuck, I don't know, tables, lounge suites, a bar, shit like that."

"What is that on the East wall?"

"A big-ass bookshelf."

"Stand right against it."

Jack stood with his back to the bookshelf. "Yeah, what?"

"How deep is it Jack?"

"Do I look like a fucking builder to you? I dunno, forty centimetres."

"Fuck."

"What?"

"The outside wall is over a metre away from you. There is a blank space there. It must be a passage."

"Fuck, fuck, fuck. Sin, get it open."

"I can't see it Jack, must not be on the network."

"Well holy fuck my days. Isn't this just a fucking wholesale day of sur-fucking-prises."

"Hang on Jack, I'm coming up."

"No, it's not safe."

"Jack, I can see they are starting to shut my walls down. If I don't get out of here soon, they will have me. Now I either fuck off the way I came, and probably get shot in the street, or get to you and maybe find that entrance."

"Fuck it. See you soon."

Cindy set a cypher scrambler on the main console with a two minute timer. If she wasn't at the penthouse by the she was fucked. If she made it, they wouldn't get up there for hours.

She looked out the doorway, there was no noise or movement. She assumed that the basement entrance had not been breached yet, they were probably still trying to figure out what was going on with the building, blaming MDC for their shitty building management systems going on the blip again.

She quickly made for the lifts, not looking back. When she got there the lift she has selected wasn't open. She was about to turn and run back to the console when she heard voices from the corridor; they had found their entry point. It would only be a few moments before the hall was flooded.

Cindy was about to draw down her weapon, for what it was worth, when two heavily armed soldiers rounded the corner, weapons up. The started shouting to Cindy to lay face down on the floor, edging closer as they did. She knew she was fucked now, so complied, wishing she had Jack's skills to disable them.

The soldiers were about twenty metres from Cindy when she heard a loud buzzing sound from behind the men. They turned and started shouting to each other, stepping back and firing their weapons. Cindy had no idea what they were doing until one of them fell and she could see dozens of insects swarming around their heads.

"You there, Sin?"

"Ping?"

"Turns out I have another use for my Fireflies. Now get on that fucking lift, the building is surrounded by agents and soldiers."

"We'll work on this secret doorway, you come up with some way to get us clear if we manage to get back to the basement."

The door to the lift opened, finally, and Cindy hurried in. It was set to go the Penthouse, so she stood at the back and checked her pistol.

"Jack, you there?"

There was a garbled reply.

"Jack?"

No reply.

"Shit, Ping, you got Jack?"

"Had him but just lost him."

"What do you mean?"

"He was there, then not. I think he found the secret room, his movement wasn't like a struggle."

Cindy wasn't taking chances. She stood back to the console and waited for the door to open. She kept running through her head the lessons Jack had been teaching her in close quarters combat; covering angles, looking ahead for cover, changing elevation, all of the things that were once clear but now melded in a big pile of sludge.

The doors opened, she looked out slowly. There were two bodies on the floor, and she saw another at the end of the room. None of them were moving.

"Jack?", her voice was quiet. Probably too quiet as there was no response.

She moved into the room, trying to be a smooth with her movements as possible, checking each corner before she moved around. She could see the bookshelf Jack was talking about, and it looked like one section of it was rotated with books wedged under it to stop it closing.

Cindy immediately moved towards it, but caught a flash of movement from the corner of her eye. She turned to see the other body getting up, it was a school girl. Cindy immediately raised her pistol and trained it on her.

"Don't move."

"Or what?" The girl replied, slowly getting to her feet.

"I don't want to shoot you."

"Then don't." The girl replied, lunging at her.

Two shots fired and the girl tumbled to the ground. Cindy looked down then heard a noise from her side. She spun to see Jack, weapon raised.

"Don't hesitate, Sin."

"She was a fucking school girl."

"No, she was a fucking lunatic assassin dressed in a school girl's uniform. C'mon, I found the space, it's a corridor with a stairwell."

"Ping, we're going in, we'll be out of contact. Fuck knows where we will end up. BE ready."

"Yup."

Jack led Cindy into the space. She looked over her shoulder at the dead girl, before turning back to the open space now in front of her. It was other-worldly, being surrounded by dull metal as though they were in a 1980's science fiction movie. The space was surprisingly well-lit, but she couldn't pick where the light was coming from. The linings all around them were definitely metal, cold to the touch; it was lead.

"So, that's why there are no signals in here, must be at least a few layers of lead."

"Yep. And it looks like it goes down to a hell of a lot of stairs."

"Hopefully all the way to the basement."

"Let's find out."

They started moving cautiously towards the stairs, but before long were both practically running down. By Jack's count they were over ten minutes behind Gindobe, if he left when they first broke the door. That would put him over half way down. They were going to have to move fast if they hoped to catch him.

The stairs would have a switch-back landing every forty metres. Jack figured it ran down the entire East façade of the building. He had considered there may be traps along the way, but if there were they would have to deal with it. It would be unlikely, as this was a rapid exit passage, and Gindobe wouldn't want to muck around with resetting traps on the way down.

After nearly ten minutes Jack was around three floors ahead of Cindy. He heard muffled noises coming from somewhere, they must have been near the end of the passage. Jack drew down hoping like hell that they didn't come out in the main foyer. He could see a brighter light at the end of the last turn. He slowed to a walk, weapon drawn.

As Jack got to the end of the corridor, he could see the door was ajar. He decided to wait for Cindy in case it was trapped. He could hear her labouring down the last few flights.

"Sin, c'mon we have to move, he's already out."

She rounded the corner using her shoulder to bounce off the side wall into the last corridor.

"Oh, my, dear, god. Thank, fuck, for, that."

"Keep it down and get over here. I need to know if this door is trapped."

Cindy walked over, still huffing, and pulled a device from her pocket. She placed it near the door.

"It's clear."

Jack immediately moved to the door and swept left and right. It was a basement carpark, their basement carpark.

"Ping, you there?"

"Of course."

"Can those bugs of yours tell me if we have anyone at our entry door."

"Fireflies are still in the corridor. Feedback says there are guards, but not at the door, they are covering the angles though, in case you were planning on getting back in."

"Nah, I just want my bike. Do they have access to the systems yet?"

"Almost."

"You still in?"

"Yep"

"Set off every alarm you can find, and any fire suppression systems. I want the place fucking going off like a Christmas party."

"It will open all doors."

"And create a little chaos, hopefully enough for us to slip past."

"OK, got it."

Blake looked at Cindy, she was still out of breath.

"Got one more dash in you?"

"What about Gindobe?"

"He's dust. Probably just walked back into the building half a minute before us. He would have seen the door so there will be guards here any second."

She nodded and moved beside him. Jack didn't hesitate and made a run for Betty. Cindy was right behind and split off for her car. Jack saw the door lift on the Coffin as he grabbed his helmet. As soon as he pulled it down Betty started, and full weapons came on display. Jack wasted no time spinning around and heading for the ramp.

"Ping, I think we're gonna need a decoy."

"Already ahead of you mate, you have a decent window to get out. Make a hard left and get straight across town. You should both have a route now."

"Got that, Sin?"

"Yeah Jack, just don't lose me."

"Never gonna happen."

Jack hit the top of the ramp and took and glance left and right. As he turned left he was distracted by something happening in the rear view. He realized it was Ping's decoy.

"Where the fuck did you find another Raven?"

"It turns out the military have these things everywhere. Did I tell you how much I love these things?"

"Yeah, Ping. You did."

"I'm gonna keep this one."

"Stop fucking around and get rid of it Ping, we are clear."

"Fine. I'll hide it and get it later then."

Jack could have sworn that was Ping actually pouting like a kid who just had his favourite dump truck taken off him.

"Sin, we good?"

"Yeah. Everyone is pouring over the building like a bunch of nutters. I don't think we were even detected, I'm getting nothing on any of the scanners."

"Good."

That was the last thing that was said on the long trip back. Neither of them sped, and they made sure they took the very scenic route, to be as 'grey' as they could while travelling back to the Mansion. The whole day was a wash, and no-one was happy about it. Jack least of all.

Jack used the time to think, he realized he should have done more of that before the OP. They were so confident they were going to get in and grab Gindobe that they barely even considered Plan-B. Jack put it down to the fact that he was always going to put a bullet in Gindobe's skull the minute he saw him. He didn't talk to the others about this; it was just what was going to happen.

The most annoying thing about the failed Op for Jack was his arrogance. He should have taken the time, even if it meant missing this chance. You never go into a tactical situation without assessing the odds, and going through the scenarios. It was a game of probability and risk, and today Jack didn't just check that at the door, he fucking well smothered it with kerosene and lit a match. As far as he was concerned, this was on him.

### Chapter 35

Back at the mansion the team were sombre. The three sat at the table, Jack cleaning up his knuckles, Ping shuffling around his Firefly's like pebbles, and Cindy chewing through what was left of her fingernails.

They had the right plan, hell the execution was near perfect, so how the hell did he slip through? There was a lot of analysis needed on the signals management. That must be where it started, Gindobe must have gotten a whisk of information that made him skittish. Cindy couldn't see any other clear reasoning.

"Jack, there is something Ping and I need to talk about with you."

"I'd say there are a lot of things we fucking need to talk about, Sin. That Op went to shit quicker than fuck knows what. But it was on me. I should have looked at all of the angles, and didn't. I didn't take the time."

"That's just it. We need them. There will never be enough time with just the three of us."

"Who?"

"Osiris, Jack. We need to work with them."

Jack looked at her, then Ping. They were both sitting at the table staring solemnly at him.

"Guys, that was us taking a long-shot against the fucking Ordained. It was never a guarantee. Like I said; better planning."

"But if we had more resources, next time, it just might be a sure thing." Ping spoke quietly, in an almost apologetic tone.

"Jack, it's not just that. We're a great team, believe me, I would never say that unless I truly believed it. But, you and I both know it's only a matter of time before one of us gets seriously hurt, I mean bad, and then what will we do?"

Jack was about to snap back, it was always his first reaction; win the fight. But he stopped himself and looked at them again. He was a soldier, and capable of being on covert missions for weeks or months at a time. They were a pair of civvies, with little to no combat experience. He needed to bring it back and slow things down, for their sake if nothing else.

"So what do you want? To be G-men, like Blake?"

"We have all of the cards at the moment. They want our tech badly. I say we give it to them like we discussed, but on the condition that Ping is given full control of the development."

"As far as they know we haven't changed the agreement anyway. But, what says in a few months they don't just make Ping disappear? I mean, maybe they decide they don't want a hacker leading their charge."

"We're too smart for that, Jack, and they know it. We will still get autonomy on our ops, but get their intel and field resources to do what we need to do."

Jack thought about it for a minute."

"You in on this, Ping?"

Ping looked up. "Yeah man. I'm tired of sleeping with one eye open, and having nightmares when I close them."

"You think Osiris will make that go away. Because once you are on the inside, it's damn hard to get back out."

Ping looked at Jack, now with more confidence in his voice. "I spent my life cracking and jacking Government systems, told at every step that the Government were the bad guys. But after the shit I have seen with these fucking Alpha's and The Ordained, I know who we should be fighting with."

"I was never against them, Ping. I just don't think they have the guts or resources to get the job done."

"So, let's give it to them."

Jack sat there in silence. This wasn't going to go away, he knew that. He also knew that he had little regard for authority since the incident with his CO. It wasn't the only reason he was apprehensive about going full circle, there was a shopping list of reasons he didn't want to be all the way in, but if he was honest, most of them were selfish and pretty minor.

He could see Cindy and Ping were waiting for a response, the only response they would accept as it appeared. There was one thing for sure; if this was going to happen, it would be on their terms, and Jack wanted to eye-ball Sophie.

"OK."

"OK?"

"Yeah, Sin. OK. I need your list on conditions. If I'm going to take this to Osiris, I need to know exactly what you want, and what you aren't willing to move on. I didn't see this coming, so I obviously don't quite know you well enough to make that assumption."

"That's bullshit, Jack. You know us better than anyone."

"Nonetheless, we need to know exactly where our lines are going to be drawn. This is more than just a casual agreement; this is a line you can't easily cross back."

They sat for the rest of the afternoon going over how they thought it would be able to work with Osiris. One thing was for sure, they were going to have a lot more restriction on what they could do. They all decided, however, that at times their actions would need to be masked. Regardless of the resources of Osiris, they still reported to the Government, and not everything the team got up to was anywhere near above board.

When they all retired for the evening, there seemed to be an emptiness about the world. Jack put it down to the botched Op, and the fact that they didn't have the house anymore, and maybe also that Blake's betrayal was still a bit raw. Fuck, Blake. Jack hadn't even thought about him for the last few days. He still couldn't believe Blake flipped back so easily. He didn't really believe Blake was always scamming them, it was just an easy focus for his venting about the situation.

Jack had trouble sleeping, it seemed that every minute on the pillow felt like a month, the night just wasn't going to end. After a while of nearly drifting off the got up and went for a walk around to mansion. He heard a noise downstairs and walked down to see what it was. As he wandered around he felt a growing comfort, as though the place was welcoming him. He came to the door to the drawing room, he was sure that was where the noise came from. Bracing himself, he eased the door open and flicked on the light. The room was empty.

The drawing room had been one of the rooms in the mansion that Jack hadn't been back in since the original check. He sat at the desk, leaning back in the large leather chair. Looking around the room there were bookshelves covering most of the walls, with the exception of the large screen on the wall opposite the entry door; even a place as old and grand as this could not escape technology completely.

He looked down at the desk and saw a series of small drawers. He tried to open them but they were locked, which only peaked his interest more. Pulling out his knife, he pried a drawer open, but it was empty. Working his way along, he got to the last drawer where he found a sealed envelope. There was no way he wasn't going to open it. When he did, he found a letter addressed to 'Senator Kobeur', which must have been her grandfather. The contents of the letter sent a chill down his spine.

As Jack paced the kitchen waiting for Cindy and Ping to come down, he wondered if Jan even knew who her grandfather really was. Jack knew, but only because his father spoke of the late Senator, who must have been related to the Kobeur they were involved with at MDC.

"So, Jack, what is it that can't wait until the morning?"

Cindy was walking to the coffee machine, while Ping just slumped himself on the kitchen table, his head dropping into his folded arms.

"You remember Dr Kobeur from MDC?"

"How could I forget. That was one huge fuck up."

"Well Jan's grandfather was Senator Kobeur."

"Holy shit. How the hell did we miss that on our sweep of her?"

"I don't know. Dr Kobeur must have wiped his links to the Senator years ago, but fuck knows why."

"So if they are related, what does that mean to us?"

"Not sure yet, but we need to get hold of Jan and find out what she knows. The Senator was one of the leading scientists in the fight against the effects of the atmospheric change, and also the architect of the New City. My father used to talk about his legacy often."

"Do you think he knew anything about The Ordained and their plan at the time?"

"Unlikely, he was assassinated and all fingers pointed towards what we now know as the Alpha's. It was a trigger that allowed them to pursue their own agenda's, and isolate themselves from the rest of society."

"But it would make sense that Kobeur used his family connections to get into MDC."

"Either that or they coerced him in, knowing he might find family secrets."

"He did seem uncomfortable with MDC. For a man that spent most of his life there, he wasn't too phased when we pointed towards corruption in the organization."

"The question is, does Jan know anything about this, and what side is she really on?" Jack looked up at the others who were focussed on him intently. "I know it's clear I have a soft spot for her, but maybe that's the way she works."

"She certainly seemed to have worked her charms on you, Jack."

"Yeah. I think we should return the favour."

Jack got up from the table and sent a message to Jan that they needed to meet urgently. The three of them kitted up and headed to the bar. It was only a short trip, especially now that they didn't need to cover their movements too closely.

Jan was already there when they arrived. Jack was beginning to wonder if she lived at the place.

"Oh, I see you are all here." Jan spoke in a quiet voice, almost sounding disappointed.

As they walked past her into the bar, Jack could smell the perfume on her. Why would anyone wear perfume at this hour? Then the penny dropped, she was hoping for a rendezvous. This would actually work in Jack's favour, as he would be more likely to catch her off guard.

Thy all sat at the table, there were no drinks offered this time. Jan was looking between them all, skipping from person to person. Jack could see the nervousness building in her.

"So, guys, what is this about?"

Jack looked at her for a moment. He let her words hang, setting the tempo of the conversation at his own pace.

"Well, Jan, we're not sure you have been completely honest with us."

Jan now looked visibly tense. "What, What do you mean?"

"I mean, you haven't told us everything about yourself, well more specifically, about your family. In fact, you or someone else in your family, have gone to great lengths to ensure your history is a tangled mess of dead ends."

"How? I mean, what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you being an adept agent of information and misinformation, and you know exactly what I am talking about. So, in light of this, I am going to give you some quick numbers to work on. Cindy has one hundred percent of this space blocked from all outgoing signals, there are three of us here with four guns between us, and zero patience. You have one chance to be straight up here, or wind up in a gutter."

Jack had a cold stare, not flinching or looking away for a moment. Jan's sat up straight, losing all appearance of fear or concern.

"Fair enough. OK, let's get on the level then. My grandfather was Senator Kobeur, the leader of the city and one of the greatest scientific minds of his time. His son was the recently departed Dr Kobeur, a former employee of MDC, the most corrupt Government contractor in the country. A couple of outlaws were involved on some level with the death of him, and I believe that was you and Cindy."

"And so that means what now? Why are you helping us? Or is this all a ruse?"

"It is no ruse. MDC have destroyed far more than any other company, both in our culture, economy, and freedom. My father betrayed our family by going to them, and so from that point he meant nothing to me. My grandfather would spit on his grave."

"So you are doing this out of spite?"

"I'm doing this to honour my Grandfather, and everything he stood for."

They all sat quietly at the table. Jack felt like the biggest prick in town, but he couldn't see any other way to have approached this. They were about to leave for a mission that they weren't prepared for, and the last thing they needed was a loose end here fucking the whole show.

"OK, I believe you." Jack looked at Jan, and then to Cindy and Ping who both nodded back. "We need to know everything though, not just the bits you don't want to hide. If Sin and Ping can't patch together the mess you made of your past, you're out."

'I'll do it. Believe me, I have more vested in this cause than any one of you. I have been waiting for someone else to step up to the plate for a long time."

"Good, because we need to know everything your grandfather told you about The Ordained; where they came from, who the key players were, what their political and industrial connections were, the lot."

"Why is this so urgent now?"

"We're going to Europe, after The Ordained."

"Aren't you still wanted felons?"

"Not quite anymore."

"But you did attack Gindobe's building?"

"Maybe."

"And he is the one on the way to Europe. That makes sense, there is a group over there with close ties to The Ordained."

The three others at the table all looked at each other. There was no doubt they had well and truly underestimated Jan Kobeur, as they now knew her as.

"Jan, how would you like to come to the mansion?"

"I've been there."

"No, permanently. It seems you may have more to offer than we first assumed."

"Jack!" Cindy sounded concerned.

"C'mon Sin. We need someone on this side when we go over, and it will be a hell of a lot easier if we don't have to make collect calls to a payphone. Besides, she already knows where we are based, we might as well have a house sitter."

"Gee, thanks." Jan frowned.

"I'm just saying, Sin, we literally have nothing to lose."

"If this happens, our tech will be moved to a secure location."

"I already have that sorted." Jack winked at Cindy and turned back to Jan.

"You sure you're ready for this?"

"I've been ready all my life."

"That's it then, done. We'll see you tomorrow afternoon and give you the rundown, in the meantime Sin and Ping are going to need that info, just in case."

Jack headed off to the mansion to get things in order for their trip. He liked the idea of leaving Jan with Cindy. There was no doubt Cindy had little love for Jan, so she would either make or break her. The fact of the matter was, they had left their guard down a bit with Jan, using her for detailed intel without having her fully checked out. But that was then, and this is now. One thing was for sure, Jan was going to stay as far away from Osiris as they could keep her.

Back at the bar, Cindy knew it was a good idea to have Jan at the mansion, she just didn't like the way Jack seemed to have started leaping into trusting people; she preferred it when he was a devout cautious sceptic. Nonetheless, Jan had a legitimate reason for being there as far as the outside world was concerned, it was her place after-all. In the meantime, Cindy was going to lay down the rules.

"Jan, it seems we may have underestimated you on some levels, but on others I know we are bang-on. You are a rookie in this world, you know that, right?"

"I'm getting that idea."

"Well pick up the fucking pace, getting somewhere won't help when shit hits the fan, we need you there."

"Is it going to go that way?"

"Honey, whenever Jack is involved with something, shit hits the fan. The guy is a fucking target for drama."

Cindy was laying it on thick, partly to see if Jan crinkled, partly to turn her off Jack. It didn't seem to be working on the latter tack.

"So does Jack lead the Op then?"

"He has point on the ground, but I take signals, and Ping has surveillance and support."

"Kind of small team isn't it?"

"That's what makes us so effective. But, for this Op we will have Osiris support."

"How did you pull that?"

"We are going to make a deal with them, tech trading and what have you. We already have an agreement not to pursue each other, but it is time to take that to the next level. What we need from you, is to tail any political links to Osiris, and find what the chatter is on the ground. They are tracking an old adversary of ours, and we need to make sure there is little political interference."

"You want me to pull the boys on the hill into line?"

"I want you to keep your fucking head down. At the same time, make sure we know who is interested in Osiris Ops, and who is mucking around with Autohacking."

"That landscape is changing almost daily now, what with the elimination of Wing' Tan, and the Aleutians seemingly rising from the ashes."

"We need more than a few euphemisms, Jan. We may be heading to Europe, but whatever happens here affects the world,"

"You don't need to tell me that!"

"Well I am anyway." Cindy kept a flat, no nonsense tone. "We will be contacting you for regular updates."

""And how do I contact you. You know, if there is an emergency?"

"You don't, you just deal with it. Here, take this, it's a secure comm device, global link, set only to receive from one of us."

Cindy handed her the device. It was about the size of a writing pen, and had no visual display to speak of. "Don't leave that lying around, even the military don't have shit like that yet."

Jan placed it in her pocket. "OK, so what else? I just move back into the mansion and hang around?"

"Pretty much, but there won't be a lot of hanging around to do. We expect to be in and out within two weeks, and there is a lot of work to do in the meantime. Just stay out of anywhere you shouldn't be."

"How will I know where to stay out of?"

"If I know Jack, and I do, there will be explosive charges on any room he wants you to stay out of. If anyone is smart enough to disable them, there will no doubt be triggers inside the room linked to other charges."

"So if I, or anyone else, touches anything, we die?"

"Go boom like the fourth of July!" Cindy had a big grin. She was enjoying to look of concern on Jan's face. "If the place gets raided, just get out."

"Is that likely?"

"Not if Osiris hold their end of the bargain. No-one should even know about the place, It's pretty well cranked to the hilt with signal jammers and diversions. But, nothing is ever perfect."

Cindy stood up, Ping followed suit. They both gave Jan a quick smile and left the building. Jan found herself sitting at the table alone, with barely a whisper of noise in the neighbourhood. Everything started to get very real, but the longer she sat there, the more she would think about it. It was time to move.

### Chapter 36

"So, Jack, were you down in the Old City a few days ago? There was some kind of scuffle in a building know to accommodate Alpha's from time to time."

"Not me, Sophie. Don't go down there often these days."

"Hmmm, that's funny because there were multiple reports of a black bike that seemed to move as fast as a plane, and fired rockets."

"Holy shit. You mean someone copied my bike design. The bastards!"

"Sarcasm aside, Jack, I thought we had an understanding."

"Yeah, well we do. You understand that sometimes we do things you can't. Don't worry, it won't happen again."

"How do I know that?"

"Faith, Sophie. Faith!"

"Well, let's just pretend I do have faith, and that we can move on to a serious relationship. What are you bringing to the table?"

"We are bringing ourselves. You have seen how effective we are, hell we achieved more in the last year that you guys have in the previous five."

"Yet the real villains are still at large, and to a point you helped them achieve that."

"Oh, you wanna' have a dick-swinging competition?"

Jack was getting fired up, it didn't take a psychologist to see that. Sophie quickly brought the tempo back down to earth.

"Not at all. I'm sure yours is much bigger than mine. But, I'm sure it could use some massaging. Osiris can help with that."

Sophie felt dirty just saying it, but it was kind of exciting at the same time. She didn't know where it came from, but her blushing gave away that she was more than a little embarrassed by it.

"What the fuck. Are we still talking about Ops, or after hours?"

"Ops. Definitely Ops." Sophie shuffled some papers on her desk, not looking up. "We have the support you need to get the job done. We've got all the best kit, and the best trained operatives in the Government. Blake should be testament to that."

"Don't start about that fucker, Sophie. Where the fuck is he anyway?"

"Out of the office, I made sure of it."

"Probably the smartest thing you did today."

"It was a hard decision for him, Jack. To come back. You must know that."

"I know I trusted him, that's what I know. Anyway, fuck it, I have his car."

"Indeed."

"So we already know about the plan for The Ordained to use satellite-based technology to wreak havoc, and based on the information we have, things are getting pretty close to ready for them to use it. But, we have no idea where."

"Osiris has been working on that. Our best analysts are picking they will use it to first wipe out the remnants of the old city, once they have the people they want, and then start holding smaller nations to ransom."

"To what end?"

"Mineral extraction and stockpiling. We feel they want to control all of the world's resources, and eradicate any purpose or power of the remaining Governments of the world."

"Fuck, sounds serious. How did they deduce that?"

"They are good at getting in people head, Jack. I know, I trained them."

"So if that is their end game, why aren't you on your way to Europe? That is where they are going aren't they?"

"How could you pick that?"

"We have smart people too Sophie. Besides, it's the second largest economic centre left, so it was either that or stay here."

"Very good. Very good indeed. Well, we still have a threat here."

"What?"

"This doesn't leave the room."

"OK."

"Jules Oricks broke out of Super-max."

"Holy fuck."

"That's exactly what I said. It gets worse. He broke out with a high ranking Aleutian, so we can pretty much guarantee he is working with them now."

"If not leading them."

"It's most likely."

"But isn't a glorified Autohacking clan a bit low-brow for Oricks?"

"The first thing I thought. But, they are experts at staying off the grid, and have a lot deeper connections than we had first thought. How else would they get a contract with a high-level Alpha?"

"I guess so. They're still fucking animals."

"Can't disagree with you."

"So what, these guys need to be stopped before Europe gets taken down?"

"Not quite. I figured you would want in, so I decided to split our resources and hit both fronts at the same time."

"Great, so do you have any leads on Oricks?"

"Yes, but you won't need them."

Jack looked at Sophie, a little confused, and a little threatened.

"What's going on Sophie?"

"Europe is a priority, but if we send Osiris there they will get a sniff of it, that is undoubtable. However a small team, perhaps no more than three, will be able to get in with ease."

Jack sat back for a minute. His first thought was to tell her to stuff it, and go after Oricks on his own, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense that they chase Gindobe. They already had the strongest intel on him, they were a step ahead of Osiris on that one.

"If we do this, we will need resources."

"You will have them."

"And what about when we return."

"Jack, this is completely black. At the moment there are only two people that know if this arrangement. Hopefully by the end of the day there will be four. Any resources we commit from here will be untraceable to Osiris, and anyone involved with your Op will not know your identity."

"So we need code names? Cool!"

"Sure, Jack. If that will make you feel better, you can have code names. Now go sort this with your team, we believe Gindobe will be moving any day, and we want you on his tail."

"We have a few other conditions."

Jack pulled a piece of paper from his pocket, it was this list he made with the team. He rattled through the items in quick order, barely stopped for a breath. When he finished he looked up at Sophie. She wasn't fazed by the requests, or at least if she was it wasn't showing.

"And that's it?"

"I guess so, we're not a needy bunch."

"Apparently." Sophie replied in a flat tone. "So basically you want access to all of our resources with no repercussion for the effects of its use, and complete immunity from prosecution from any action taken during an Op with Osiris backing?"

"Well, when you put it like that, it does sound kind of needy."

"Kind of."

"We want Ping to get his development team as soon as this Op is over. It is a passion of his, and we need it to keep him going."

"We are already working on Environmental Management, Jack."

"Yeah, but he is talking about other shit. Trust me, with what he can do with Biotronics, your team will make leaps forward."

"Fine. But, you cannot act above the law Jack, there are limits to what you can do."

"I know. I just haven't found them yet." He winked at Sophie.

"OK, we're done. Get the others in here and we can make this happen. Jack, this isn't optional. I want to work with you, but it requires the complete co-operation of your team."

"And yours."

Sophie nodded as Jack stood. He left the office and walked back to the front with his visitors pass. He couldn't wait to get out of the monkey suit and back into something respectable. He looked like an ad for a hair treatment programme.

As he travelled to the end of town in the cab, he pondered their situation. Personally, he would rather keep going it alone, but the agreement with Osiris did bring up some interesting developments. For a start they didn't need to sneak around town anymore, unless they wanted to. They also had Jan up their sleeve, more-so now that they were legit. He felt they hadn't used her to potential yet, they still had a lot to learn about how the Aleutians managed to get such high level contacts for a start.

Cindy was waiting in the carpark across from the store. Jack got out of the cab and walked over, the passenger door opening as he neared. His side of the car was full of screens and panels, but as the door opened they started sliding and flipping away. By the time the door was open all that remained was a seat and a few panels in front of him.

"Hey Sin."

"C'mon cowboy, get in."

Jack get in the car and Cindy immediately pulled out heading towards the mansion.

"Wow!"

"Wow what?"

"You don't scrub up half bad, Jack."

"Can't wait to get out of this thing."

"If the trip takes much longer, I may have to pull over and get you out of it myself."

Cindy looked over and raised an eyebrow.

"I'll put that down to some kind of Post-traumatic Stress from the other day, shall I?"

Cindy just laughed. She was half taking the piss, half serious. The enigma that was Jack Prince just got new layers every day.

Back at the house, Jack got the two of them together in the kitchen. He ran through everything he had discussed with Sophie, with a few pauses to let it sink it. The three of them had been through a lot over the last few months, and it didn't seem like the pace was going to slow any time soon. But there was another problem, one that they all knew of, but didn't bring it up. Until now.

"Jack, if we are going to make an Op like this work, we have one problem."

"Numbers."

"Yeah. It worked well with the four of us, we had two on the ground and two support. If we hit Europe, you can guarantee we will have a bunch of new tech issues to deal with, so that will be Ping and I out."

"So my workload just doubled."

"You know better than anyone it doesn't work like this."

"Yeah, but I don't want to bring in anyone I don't know, not this close to an Op."

"So what about someone you do know?"

"Blake? I don't know him. Apparently."

"Jack, just leave your ego at the door for a minute and think about the last few weeks."

Jack was angry, but he paused. It was kind of ironic, that Blake flipped because he felt the tech needed to be with Osiris, and they couldn't keep operating without oversight. Now, Jack had just made a deal to hand over the Biotronics to Osiris, well as much as they felt they needed to in order to continue operating, and they now had some level of oversight from Osiris.

It was still a kick in the guts the way it ended, but again, most of it was ego. If he HAD to be honest, Jack knew Blake didn't really double cross them. Blake was "in" with the team for quite a while, and did make a serious contribution to the success of their operations. Hell, he may have even made a difference with the hit on Gindobe.

"So, what do we do then?" Jack looked back and forth between Cindy and Ping.

"We meet with Sophie and Blake, clear the air. If there is any sense of things not fitting, he's out, but otherwise we let bygones be bygones and build a bridge. We will also need some intel on the ground, so Osiris needs to bring us up to speed on the protocols for engaging in-country agents and squeaks."

"Sounds like you know a bit about this stuff, Sin."

"More than you know, Jack. Remember, I spent years looking for my family, all over the world."

"Well if you still have some friendly contacts in that hemisphere, make an initial contact. Just keep it between us though."

"You think Osiris are going to fuck us?"

"No, but when shit goes down, I'd rather not wait to receive the signed triplicate copy of the support register before we pulled in some guns."

"OK, I'll put the feelers out."

"Ping, you're awful quiet."

"Yeah, haven't been involved in too many international global-figure assassinations, Jack."

"Well I have been on a few, trust me, with you two involved we are better equipped than most military operations."

"But I hate flying."

"Want to take a boat?"

Ping countered Jack's chuckle with a middle finger.

"Ping, we need you on Satellite tracking. Sophie has some nifty shit already for that, but we are going to be looking for a needle in a hay-stack."

"If the Sat hasn't launched it will be easy to find upon launch."

"But we can't wait for that to happen, we have no idea when that may be, how long it is to operation, and apparently it's some kind of stealth model."

"A ZeroK?"

"Fuck I dunno, maybe that's what she said."

Cindy and Ping looked at each other. Cindy turned to Jack.

"Jack, if it is a ZeroK, and it's already in orbit, we either have to be up there and physically see the thing, or find the control centre for it. It's by all accounts untraceable, but due to the security requirements, has a sole dedicated device to manage it."

"Meaning either way, we need to find Gindobe to get rid of it."

"Pretty much. I have a few other ideas, so will go over them with Ping and he can start doing the leg-work. In the meantime, we better go and meet our new boss."

"Yeah, guess so. I'll arrange the meet. I assume Sophie will have a safe-house lined up for the meet. As soon as I get an address you guys can scout it and get your equipment in place."

Cindy and Ping nodded as Jack got up from the table. Ping seemed to be a little more at ease now, perhaps it was constant movement he needed, Jack was still trying to figure that one out.

### Chapter 37

When Sophie heard from Jack about the meet, she immediately called Blake to the office. She wasn't sure how Blake was going to deal with this, and needed to see him face to face to ensure he was on the level.

He assured her that he was, and also that he wanted to make amends with the team. Sophie just hoped that everyone could stay mature about the situation. She figured it was all going to come down to Jack and Blake, so reminded Blake on the trip over to the safe-house that it was the mission that mattered, and not any past indiscretions or actions.

When they arrived at the house, Jack, Cindy and Ping were already there. The vehicles were parked out the front of the house, and as Blake walked past the Beast, Ping kissed his fingers and touched the bonnet. Blake felt himself tensing up a little, but then let it go. The kid could have his moment.

The discussion was robust, but surprising amicable as far as Sophie was concerned. She was most impressed with the analytical and tactical prowess the team showed towards dealing with the variable considerations and issues they would be facing. They seemed to be an anomaly when it came to collective skills, a one-off, for sure.

Sophie sat back in her chair. Everything she had been trained for said this was not the right way to go, but then, everything she had been trained for was probably orchestrated by The Ordained at some level, not to mention also created Jules Oricks. She was on an unmarked road now, and for the first time in a while it felt right. She looked to the others.

"So Sophie, just to make sure we are all on the same page, the day before yesterday we were outlaws, yesterday we were strictly black-ops, and today we are agents?"

"As of now, you are officially recognised contractors to Osiris. There will be oversight," she looked to Jack and raised an eyebrow. "However Osiris will not interfere directly with your lawful activity. You now have the official communications and some of the resources of Osiris at your disposal."

Jack, Cindy, and Ping looked at each other. Jack wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry right now.

"So why are you so ready to put your ass on the line for us now? I mean, what has changed lately for you?"

"Lately, you four have been making all the headway. The agency is still stuck with the legacy of Jules Oricks, and the ever-sharpening eye of the media and politicians. You may be on the books, but it's only a one liner, in the back of a very large document. I am hoping you will fly under the radar, and stay there."

"Fair enough. So Oricks fucked you over good, huh?"

Sophie looked at him, trying to gauge whether he was looking for a rise, or an acknowledgement that they were all together. She figured the latter; Jack didn't seem to have a lot of bends in his track, always going straight for the target.

"Yes, Jack, he did. He fucked all of us, but there is no doubt it shook up all of Osiris. The team are being pulled in all directions at the moment, which is why we are struggling to make solid headway. Hence, you lot being here now."

"Fair enough. Hey, if we're agents now shouldn't we have a call-sign or something?"

Sophie sat back in her chair with a smile. Trust Jack to focus on the important issues. But, she had already thought of this, just for Jack's benefit.

"You and your team will now be known as 'Spectrum'. Now go and make the world right."

Sophie stood up and shook their hands, before making for the door. Blake stayed behind, he had some things to sort out that Sophie didn't need to hear. She looked over her shoulder as she opened the front door, but decided against saying anything.

Blake waited for the door to shut before speaking. "So...."

"So? That it?"

"C'mon Jack, what the fuck do you want me to say?"

"That you're a cunt."

"Fine. I'm a cunt. Better."

Jack looked directly at Blake, before leaning back in his chair. "Yeah, surprisingly."

Everyone sat quiet for a moment, but Ping was the next to speak up.

"Why did you do it, man?"

"Because it was the right thing to do."

"Not the right thing by us. You tried to fuck us, man."

"I would never have let you guys get hurt, but how would it have gone down if I had have just sat around the table with you and said it was time to hand ourselves in? I went in, I took some serious heat, and I made sure there were guarantees none of you would be hurt."

"Still doesn't make it right."

"Well that's what I'm here to do now. Look, I wasn't double crossing you, I really believed in what we were doing, hell, I still do. Why else would I be here?"

"Well we had things under control."

"No, we didn't. It was only a matter of time before the whole thing blew up and we got ourselves killed, or worse lost the tech to the fucking Alpha's. I KNOW now that they are corrupt, I KNOW now that Osiris can only do so much. Fuck, when Sophie mentioned bringing you guys in, I was the first on board."

"Jack wanted to shoot you."

"He probably still does." Blake looked over to him and got a raised eyebrow in return. "You guys have thought through this by now, I wanted the tech turned in to Osiris so it could be protected, not exploited. I wanted you guys in the loop still. Five minutes later, this is exactly where we are, but this time you made the call not me."

They all sat quietly. No one looked at the other at first, they were all processing, deciding, pondering. Jack got up from the chair and walked out of the room. He came back in a minute later with a six pack of beer and placed them in the middle of the table, before grabbing one and popping the top.

"Courtesy of Osiris." He leaned back and necked three quarters of the bottle before letting out a huge burp.

"This us then?"

"Yes, Blake, this is us."

"Do I get my car back?"

"Ask Ping, I gave it to him."

Blake looked over the Ping and turned his hands out. Ping grabbed a beer and sat back in his chair taking a swig.

"For the next week, you call me 'Sir', okay?"

Blake leaned in and grabbed a beer himself. He leaned back and looked at Ping, taking a swig himself. "Yes. Sir."

Ping liked this. He had his family back, and got to be called 'Sir'. Not a bad day at all.

"So, I have my boys back. Now that we have hugged and made up, can we sort this fucking plan out? We are more than likely walking into the lion's den here, and have three fifths of fuck all quality intel."

"Let's do this back at the bar."

"Is that where you live now?" Blake looked more inquisitive than judgemental.

"No, sorry Blake, we ain't taking you home just yet."

"Still don't trust me, Jack?"

"Baby steps, Blake. Five minutes ago I was going to shoot you. I'd call that progress."

Blake shrugged his shoulders and got up, the others followed. When they got outside, Sophie was leaning against her car.

"Ready to go, Blake?"

"I'm gonna catch a ride with these guys. I'll see you back at the office later."

Sophie gave him a warm smile before getting into her car and leaving. Blake walked over to the Beast, about to get into the driver's side.

"Not so quick, Blake."

Ping made his way over to the door and climbed in.

"I thought we had a deal?"

"Last drive, Blake, then she's yours."

On the ride over, Blake wasn't sure if Ping was intentionally hitting every kerb and bush he could find, or if he really couldn't drive the car. When they got there, Blake got out shaking his head. Cindy was standing at the back door of the bar,

"Looks like you had a fun ride, Blake?"

"More like a rollercoaster!"

Cindy smiled. She hadn't heard his voice for a while, and realized she missed it. "C'mon, Jack is already inside with Jan."

"Jan?"

"She's the proprietor of this fine establishment."

They walked in, seeing Jack and Jan at their regular table, with the regular array of drinks already there. They sat down and Jan passed Blake a beer. He raised his hand.

"Better not, I'm on duty."

Jan looked him up and down. "Ohhhhh, you are the asshole Fed Jack told me about." She looked him up and down again. "He didn't tell me you were cute."

"I'm pretty sure I'm not Jack's type."

"Either way, you're having a beer. Hopefully it will loosen up that giant carrot up your arse."

Jack laughed, before holding his beer over the table to toast with Blake. Blake clinked his bottle, took a decent swig, and sat down.

"So Jan, where do you fit into all this?"

"I keep these guys lubricated. That's about it."

"Jack tell you to say that?"

"Oh no, I can assure you I am more than capable of speaking for myself."

"OK, whatever. Well, Jan the bar-owner, how long have you known this lot?"

"A little while. They are rowdier than most of my patrons." She looked around the empty room and back to Blake, giving a little laugh. "Well, I guess even the flies are. Nonetheless, they tell me they are into charity work and industrial liberation, which is nice."

Blake frowned and looked at all of them.

"OK, I get it, G-man in the room, seal the lips. Hey, I don't mind, I have all the time in the world to convince you guys I'm on the level."

Cindy stood up and walked over to Blake. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed the side of his face.

"You don't need to hun, they are just busting your balls. We already cleared the air on this. Besides, we don't have all the time in the world. In fact, we have very little time indeed."

Jack looked over to Jan. "Hey Jan, can you go busy yourself out back for a bit? We have a few things to discuss that you're better off not hearing."

Jan looked a little disappointed, but complied nonetheless and disappeared out the back. Blake looked over to Jack.

"She seems like a smart woman, Jack. I hope you're not getting her in over her head."

"Believe me, Blake, wild horses couldn't stop her getting where she wants to go. But, she's not heavily involved, however she is a very resourceful woman."

Blake nodded and made a note to do some digging on her. He knew that Sin and Ping would have done far more than he could do, but he needed to tick the boxes on his weekly report to Sophie.

"If we are going in, we will need to take a Government jet, commercial will be too easy for anyone snooping to pick us up on, and they have shit security."

"You can deal with that Blake, just make sure that the passenger mano doesn't get logged until the last minute, we want to keep this well under the radar. We will also need plenty of secure cargo space for Sin and Ping's kit, as well as Betty."

"You serious? You're taking the bike?"

"Was there ever any fucking doubt? I'd have us taking the coffin and the Beast too if you could get us a heavy-lift craft."

"Yeah, no chance on that. There are fuck all left in commission now, no real point for them since Asia can't support military infrastructure anymore."

"Still, worth asking. Sin, how soon can you have your hardware packed down and ready to go?"

"If we can get some half decent kit from the Osiris contacts on the other side, we can be ready to move in 24 hours."

"OK, in the meantime, Ping can start securing Sats on that side of the planet."

Ping interrupted, "Already got three."

"Okay, that was quick. I'll go through the ordinance list with Blake and see what is worth taking with us. We will regroup at 7am for a sit-rep and hopefully have some better intel from Sophie."

As they got up to leave, Jan intercepted Jack. "Hey, can you wait back a minute."

Jack looked to Blake and nodded him on. "I'll see you at the Osiris basement."

Blake raised his eyebrows and rolled his eyes as he turned to the door. When he got outside he saw Ping getting into the passenger side of the Coffin. Ping looked over to Blake, then the car, and smiled.

Back in the bar, Jan sat back down at the table they were just at. She looked a little concerned, and Jack thought he knew what it was.

"Hey, don't worry Jan, Blake is alright. I mean, I'm still a bit pissed at him, but he's in for the cause."

"It's not that, Jack."

"What then?"

"How do you know Carrey?"

Jack sat upright, looking at Jan. "How do you know that name?"

"She was here earlier today. She had seen your bike here the other day and was asking about you."

"Did she threaten you?"

"No more than usual."

"What do you mean by that?"

"She is my sister. Well, half-sister."

Jack looked at her and muttered in a low voice, "Fuuuck, meeee!"

"I was surprised she knew you, I mean more because she said you had worked together before."

"I'd hardly say we worked together, more like they helped us on a recon mission."

"That went to shit. She told me. She also told me you saved her life, so thank you for that."

"What else did she tell you?"

"Not a lot, But, I can tell she is sweet on you."

Jack could see that Jan was more than a little disappointed by this, but he needed to keep her on track.

"So, how is she your half-sister? You guys don't really seem like you'd come from the same stock, if you know what I'm saying."

Jan let out a girlish giggle. "Why Jack, was that your version of flirting?"

"Nah, Jan. I can't do that shit. I mean I can do, you know, but not be subtle, or whatever."

Jan frowned. "Yeah, Jack I gathered that. Our father had an 'indiscretion' a few years before I was born with one of his staff. My mother dealt with it well, apparently, and so she was born. But, she never lived with us, in fact, I never even knew she existed until I was in my teens."

"What happened to her?"

"Apparently she was adopted by an up and coming family in the New City, but it turns out her foster father was corrupt in more ways than one. When she found out where she was from, on her father's side, she tried to make contact but was swept under the rug."

"That explains her hatred for authority and the system. But only to a point, I mean, I could imagine someone going through her life just flipping and going complete psycho."

"Believe me, she was nearly there, I mean that is how the whole Vixen thing started in the first place."

"Anarchy against the system."

"Indeed. But after the initial shock, hatred, and all of the other emotions, we started to keep in regular contact. To be honest, she was probably an inspiration for me to fight for the people."

"I bet she was a good source of intel too?"

"Sometimes, but you know as well as I do that most of the chatter on the street is bullshit. You have to know how to sift through it."

"Much like what you get from the politicians."

"Of course. It's all the same game, Jack, just some people wear suits and think they are better at it than others."

"So what does that mean for us moving forward, I mean now that Carrey knows we have a connection."

"Yeah, she is a bit jealous of that."

"Jan, c'mon, you know what I mean."

Jan looked at jack for a moment. She could see that he was a little concerned, but more than that, he needed reassurance that she was on the level, and not a risk.

"Well, Jack, Carrey is not quite as reckless as she makes out. In fact, she is one of the most careful and calculated people you will come across, her whole façade is in place to create deception. She knows what you are doing, and why."

"So, we're good then?"

"Yeah, Jack you're good. In fact I'd go so far as to say that if and when you need the Vixens, they will be there in force."

"That is good to know Jan. When we get back we may need that help."

"Well I think she is hedging her bets. The way you guys are going in a few years the Alpha's will be out and Autohacking will disappear."

"Vixens going legit?"

"Wouldn't that be a hoot. Now, about that date you owe me."

"Need to give a rain-check. I have work to do."

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

Jack got up and gave Jan a kiss on the top of her head before making his way for the door. The weather outside had turned, there was a large electrical storm sweeping in from the East, with some massive discharges already striking over the ocean. As he mounted up, the rain started driving in, making the crackling lightning shimmer through the sky.

The more he learnt about the Government, Alphas, and Clans, the more it seemed he had yet to learn. He was definitely on an ass-first slide down the rabbit hole, and he passed Alice long ago. It wasn't all bad though; at least they had another ally, albeit on a fairly thin strand at the moment. He imagined Cindy would take more than a fair while to warm up to the idea of shacking up with the Vixens. She always did seem to be the sensible one.

### Chapter 38

As he rode up the street it was all-but abandoned. Even though half of the town was now overtaken by derelicts and transients, the place seemed to be calm. They had most likely gotten tired of trashing things, and realized they were shitting in their own nest. He still couldn't believe how fast the old residents had cleared out and the new ones moved in. It was practically overnight, but then if he didn't have to be there, he probably would have shipped out himself.

Jack's thoughts brought him full circle to the centre of the problem, and their current mission. The Ordained had conspired and created one of the biggest social engineering feats ever accomplished. He wasn't thinking of sending them a bouquet, but wondered how deep the Government had been penetrated. Australia had always prided itself on its' neutral stance on industrialization, well, since the first major crash in 2020 that is. Since then the politicians realized it was the people that would get them out of the shit, and put less and less emphasis on supporting big business.

As with all things, when a gap forms, something comes in to fill it, and it appears that this was where The Ordained had arisen. Over the next few generations there were only a few major economic focusses, and a few companies doing it. They became much larger than any previous group of organizations, and were at the time hailed for the saviour of the Australian economy, and the rise of global power of the country. But, that power now belonged to the few remaining corporations, not the Government, and so not the people. Still, everyone felt safe and saved, and accepted the dichotomy of the Alpha's as though it was a fait accompli.

Jack didn't derive these conclusions on his own of course, he had Jan to thank for that, but it was compelling. For an organization to evolve and enact a plan that was generations deep, there must have been some heavy motivation and dedication. This posed to problem Jack was struggling with. If they really were that committed, how could the Team really bring it all down? The more he thought about it, the more he felt uncomfortable with their current mission. It was extremely high risk, with the possibility of limited reward. He had a feeling there was more than one arm to the group, and they had only seen a small part of the picture. He hoped he was wrong.

Pulling into the Mansion garage, Jack could see the Coffin parked up, and a bunch of crates half full on the middle of the floor. Cindy walked in with some kind of device and placed it in a crate.

"Hey Jack, glad you decided to grace us with your presence."

"I'm not here for long, meeting Blake in an hour."

"That's long enough to help us with this stuff. You can lift the heavy bits."

Jack looked in the boxes as he walked past. "Bloody hell Sin, you taking everything in the house?"

"Far from it. Most of this stuff is the back-up gear, and we're not taking any of the new Biotronics kit that Ping is working on."

"Think Osiris is going to keep all this kit when we get back?"

"Wouldn't put it past them. It doesn't really matter, a lot of this will be new to them, but we're a few years beyond this on their development timeline."

"Isn't it risky taking old gear, I mean if The Ordained are as geared-up as we think, we could be up for a fight."

"You, Jack, will be up for a fight. I have seen where they are at with tech, and Sophie has briefed me on what Loach shared. Trust me, by all accounts they are an archaic organization living in yester-year. I think that is why they are so desperate to get the Biotronics, they need a platform to boost them ahead."

"Well they have plenty of political and industrial connections, so don't discount them just yet."

"I'm not, I'm just telling you that my side of the ledger is fine, you are the one that's going to need to bring all you can. They will most likely have a small army over there."

"Armies I understand, all this shit", Jack waved his hand around the crates. "This stuff I can't get my head around."

"That's why you have me, hun."

Cindy kissed Jack quickly on the lips and headed back towards the workshop. Jack followed wondering the whole way there why all the women in his life seemed to be arousing him. He put it down in the end to him not getting enough of the other kind of action, and tried to convince himself that he would actually follow through on his date with Jan. Fuck it, what harm could it do.

"Jack, Yo, Jack!"

Jack looked over to Ping.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"You with us man?"

"Ahhh, yeah, just thinking about tactical shit."

"Uh huh. Well take this."

Ping tossed Jack a small packet, about the size of a hip flask.

"What is it?"

"They are tablets I developed that have a combination of chemicals that will peak your adrenaline and beta waves. Take one and it should almost instantly kick in your vision, and increase the stability of your link with TLM."

Jack looked at the packet again.

"Nice work, but I don't really have a big problem with either of those things."

"Yeah, but when we are over there we can't instant fix things, this will allow you to go stronger for longer. Also, TLM is forming a pretty complex interaction with your neural system now, way beyond what I thought it could do. You may need them to maintain the level of activity TLM demands."

"Sounds dangerous."

"Not at all. It's pretty amazing actually. Kind of like evolution, but without the generations to wait."

"And it's not hurting me?"

"Hurting? Fuck no, it's making you into a fucking walking weapon. Your brain will actually never degenerate if my calculations are right."

"Wow! That's a thing!"

"Yeah it is. After this shit is over, I'm going to follow it through at Osiris. This could be the end of dementia, permanently."

"Bugger, I was kind of looking forward to losing my marbles."

"You need to worry more about losing your head, Jack."

Jack turned to Cindy. "Don't worry about my head, Sin, I plan on keeping it firmly attached. We will have clear intel from Sophie en-route to Europe, and I am going to make sure we lighten the Osiris armoury as much as we can."

Jack waved Ping and Cindy off and headed back to the garage. He wasn't going to tell them about Jan and Carrey yet, now was not the time for everyone to lose their focus. Besides, Carrey was obviously all about discretion, or she would have busted in on one of their meetings before. No, for now the connection with Carrey had to be left under the bed. He just hoped Jan had the sense not to tell Carrey about the Mansion, or one of her troops would likely trip a detonator and blow the whole place into next month.

As Jack headed out, the weather seemed to be clearing. It was amazing the news service even bothered with forecasting these days, it seemed to be swinging by the minute. The starlight was bouncing off the rooves and roads as he wound his way down the hill. He passed more than one house with flickering holo-trees, bloody derro's couldn't even keep an electronic tree alive.

As he neared the Osiris locality, he dumped his lights and made sure TLM had him masked as much as possible. They may have been taken in by Osiris, but he still liked to keep his profile low, that and he preferred riding without the lights now. It was only when he turned them off that he realized how much more comfortable it actually was. He put it down to his implants being refined by the on-board systems when he was riding.

The carpark was empty, as usual. Jack started to wonder if it had ever been in service, or was always a front for the covert entrance to Osiris. His thoughts were broken by Blake entering the carpark from the far side. Jack pulled up next to the Beast and dismounted.

"You ready to raid the pantry, Jack."

"Sure, I figure Osiris owe us a lot since they took my best wing-man."

Blake looked at Jack for a minute, trying to work out if he was about to lose it, or laugh.

"Don't you mean ONLY wing-man?"

"I guess so. Still, she owes me, so I'm taking it out in hardware."

"You know we have to bring this stuff back, right?"

Jack raised an eyebrow at Blake. "h huh, sure. Maybe a few items will get lost on the plane."

"I didn't hear that."

Jack walked past Blake into the corridor and the two went through the usual process of access to the lower levels through the security and elevator. It was a quiet and eventless trip, as always, Jack often wondered if they were the ONLY ones who ever went down there, but then he realized Sophie would have had the area locked off so they could prepare uninterrupted.

As they walked past the unoccupied security booth, Jack realized Sophie was taking their present anonymity pretty seriously. It also got him thinking about something else that had been bugging him lately.

"Hey, Blake, where is Loach?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"In a deep hole, I hope."

"Pretty accurate description actually."

"I hope you have him tagged."

"Oh believe me, we have a leash so far up his arse he is choking on it,"

Jack took far too great of a visualization and quickly tried to block it out. Blake opened the door to the Vault, which did the job nicely.

"Daaaamn" Jack turned to Blake and smiled, "We're gonna have some fun in here alright!"

Blake waved him through and cleared the lay-out table, before going for the duffle bags and cases. Jack went straight for the biggest weapon he could find, a J5 Raptor.

"Jack, what the fuck do we need that for?"

"We may need to level a small town, or something."

Jack shrugged his shoulders before laying the plasma launcher on the table, before seeing some interesting grenades and charges on the opposite wall.

Blake knew that technically they were all okay now, but hated the tension that was still there with Jack. It reminded him of the first few months they were together as a team.

"So Jack, what do you think about Spectrum?"

"Still deciding."

"On what?"

"On whether we have too many in the crew."

"What do I have to do Jack. C'mon man, I'm trying to make shit right with us."

"Fine, in future don't forget the golden rule."

"Golden rule?"

"Bro's before ho's mate, bro's before ho's."

"Never heard that one, cute. Where does that leave Cindy?"

"Oh, she's definitely a Bro."

"And Jan?"

"I'll get back to you on that."

Blake raised an eyebrow as Jack turned around, before heading over to the far rack. He picked up a long pistol, flicking a switch on the side. It immediately extended a holo-display with motion sensitive fields. He waved it across the room then tossed it to Jack.

"Check this one out. It kind of does what your eyes can do."

Jack moved it around as Blake headed back to the rack. Jack flicked the switch and put it on the table.

"Shit definition though."

"It makes up for it in firepower." Blake replied over his shoulder. "two hundred round clip, supersonic micro-darts. Goes through soft tissue like a surgical instrument, and shatters bone like it's chalk."

Jack looked at the gun again, then carefully put it down on the table. The weapon wrangling was a nice distraction from the present troubles. The Ordained, ironically, weren't the problem to Jack, it was the continually fluctuating state of his crew, and their allies. He was never good at managing people, that was probably the understatement of the year for anyone that knew him. He could manage rapidly changing situations in combat because the enemy, to a large part, were predictable. A group can be manipulated, but individuals were far more unpredictable, especially if their motives weren't well known.

For the time being, Jack kept his focus on the task at hand. He actually felt comfortable sorting weapons and ammunition with Blake, they didn't talk, just sorted kit and got themselves mentally prepared for the impending hunt. Jack made a mental note at that time to shelf any thoughts of Jan and Carrey, they would be approached upon their return. For now, it was the team, and only the team. Although 'Spectrum' seemed like a fitting moniker for who they were and what they did, Jack still felt a bit odd calling themselves by that name. It was a cool name though, Sophie nailed that at least.

"How are we looking, Jack? Got enough here to work with?"

Jack and Blake both stepped back from the table. Jack poised his hand, stroking the stubble on his chin, and admiring the impressive array of kit they now had in front of them. Blake was just trying to remember where they put the dolly-trolley so they could actually get the few hundred kilograms of gear out of the room.

"You know what, Blake, I think we're good."

"Thank god for that."

"No, thank Sophie."

Jack winked at Blake and paused for a moment. Blake wasn't sure if it was Jack egging him on about his obvious affection for her, or the fact that Jack was most likely going to try and nick most of the gear and stash it before it could get put back in the Vault.

"Right, let's load out and meet up with the others. Sophie has a stack of intel on Europe, and the recent activities of a couple of the key conglomerates we think are closely tied to The Ordained."

They loaded the kit onto the trolley, which was buried under a pile of gear they had discarded. Blake put the unwanted gear on the floor, figuring someone else could tidy that up. Within a minute they were on their way back to the beast to load up.

After the Beast was loaded, Jack left Blake behind and headed back to the mansion. Blake was finalizing the flight schedule with Sophie, then heading over to the rendezvous point at the air field. They were scheduled to depart in four hours, which would be just enough time to clean up the mansion and get the kit loaded into the jet.

### Chapter 39

Jules was sitting at the kitchen table when Steel entered the room, short on breath. He saw Jules eating bacon and eggs, wondering if they were synthesized or the real deal. He grabbed a piece of bacon and shoved it in his mouth, it tasted real enough.

"Hello Steel, please take a seat, eat my breakfast."

He pushed his plate over, hoping the sarcasm in his voice got his breakfast pushed back. It didn't, Steel started eating it, talked through mouthfuls of half chewed food.

"You know what, Jules. This ain't bad."

"Glad you're enjoying it. Tell me, did you only barge in to eat my food, or was there something else?"

Steel stopped chewing and put down the knife and fork. He leaned over the table, slowly chewing the rest of his food. When he finished he leaned further over, almost touching Jules.

"Listen here, Ox, the only reason you are still alive is because of me. But, try any of that lip in front of my crew, and I'll have your mouth sewn shut."

He sat back in his seat and continued to eat. Jules wondered if he should jump over the table now and stab him with the knife, or wait and see what was next. HE decided to wait.

Steel continued. "Now, since you have shared your breakfast, I will share something with you. There is an unscheduled flight leaving a secure airstrip in around four hours' time. My operative says they followed an unmarked vehicle from near Osiris HQ out to the strip, and a jet landed shortly after."

"Have you checked the official flight schedules for the area?"

"Yeah, a bit of software Loach left us does that. There is nothing. No scheduled incoming or outgoing flights from that area."

"And you are sure the vehicle came from Osiris?"

"Yeah, we have had Autohackers chasing them around town for months. You know there are multiple entry and exit points to the underground parking, but coincidence only happens once or twice, we know their vehicles now."

"How big is the jet?"

"Big enough to have a cargo hold and passenger compartment."

Jules thought for a minute. If Gindobe was out of the country, it would make sense that Osiris chased him. They wouldn't want him to get too far away or any possible trail would go cold and he would be gone for good. This was good news, whoever was going after him would have a pile of gear, and Jules saw no reason the Aleutians shouldn't have that kit themselves.

"We're going to hit the airfield. No rockets, we want the kit. If it is Osiris, there will be some gear in there we could use in our struggle for liberation."

"Now that's the smartest thing you have said all week, Ox."

Steel pushed the plate back over the Jules and left the room. Jules wasn't touching anything that had been near Steel's mouth, his appetite was gone. He was, however, in a mood for a bit of revenge, and what could be better than killing some Osiris agents and taking a pile of weapons?

He started thinking about standard operating procedures, and went to the main room to get maps of the area. The Aleutians unfortunately didn't have the same level of technology as Osiris, which was one thing Jules missed. But what they lacked in technology they made up for in sheer aggression and numbers. This was going to be guerrilla warfare, not a surgical strike.

Steel entered the room with a couple of his lieutenants. "You got a plan yet, Ox?"

"Only just got in here Steel, but I can tell you for a start, we are going to be in for a bit of a fight here, I hope you are rallying the troops."

"Don't worry about weapons on the ground Ox, we have that covered. We just need you to tell us how they are likely to have their perimeter and tactical units set up."

"Well if Osiris are anything, they are predictable. I established most of their defensive strategies, and developed most of the operatives there. Unless they have had a radical change in training, we will be all over them."

Steel grinned and walked back out, leaving the other two with Jules. He spent the next fifteen minutes showing them where all of the likely entry and exit points would be, how far out scouting positions would be placed, and the ideal locations for defensive sniper lay-ups. The two Aleutians didn't seem phased by any of the jargon, which made Jules feel they had reasonably extensive military training at some stage. This made him feel all the better.

"So, you boys seen a lot of action?"

The two men looked at each other. The larger of the two spoke.

"More than you, White-collar."

Jules raised an eye. "Really? Indulge me."

"I've done three tours in Asia with the Red-backs on dark missions, and Smiley over here had just got back from a year hunting Throwbacks in the Swiss Alps before he joined us,"

"Sounds like you are well trained, why join the Aleutians?"

"It turns out that the powers-that-be didn't really take to some of the less conventional methods either of us used in our tactical assaults."

Smiley let out a hoarse cackle, showing all three of his teeth. It was a grin only his mother could have loved. Jules smiled back before turning back to the maps.

"Oi, c'mon then White-collar, have you ever seen the pointy end of a gun?"

Jules just grinned, but Smiley took offence and swept the maps off the table in front of him. At the same time in one fluid motion, Jules pulled a butterfly knife from his hip pocket and flicked it around, hitting Smiley in the side of the face with the butt, before switching hands and stopping the blade a centimetre from Smiley's throat.

"Three tours in Europe, black ops. Two years in the outback as a ranger, five years tactical deployment in the Asian Wars. More scars than medals, and no time for bullshit."

Jules never took his eyes off Smiley, waiting for his move. He had the other one in his peripheral vision, but neither of them were moving. A few tense moments passed before Smiley broke into another grin. He stepped back and put his hand out.

"Well fuck me dead, the old fart isn't such an uptight cunt after all." He looked over his shoulder. "See Gravy, I told you he was alright."

Jules took Smileys hand, and Gravy followed suit. Jules showed off with a few flicks and rolls of the knife, before folding and tucking it back in his pants again.

"Does this mean I get a secret club badge now?"

Gravy laughed. "No, don't have any. But, I promise I won't shoot you after the Op now."

"You're all heart."

"So, the plan is to rush them, take out the jet, engines and cockpit only, and eliminate anything moving that doesn't look like us."

"Or me."

"Anything moving that doesn't look like us or you. That it?"

"Pretty much."

Jules marked on the maps where he needed teams, and the sequence for engagement, and fall-back positions should they start losing numbers. They would have two exit roads well covered with Aleutians, with either being used after the raid.

For the next hour Jules and Steel checked all of the gear and crew were ready. Steel knew which ones were expendable, so ensured they were in the "Pawn" row, as Jules called it. They had a few good snipers, with a few good weapons, who were sent out immediately so they could start working their way into position. Within half an hour they were sending back reports of activity.

Jules was pleased with progress, the snipers advised there were no drones in the air. He had figured that would be the case, as any drone activity was logged, and whoever was taking this trip was going in dark. He entertained himself with the thought that Sophie would be there, making a mental note to get to her fast if she was. He could accept her as a casualty, but would rather have her as a future associate, or play thing if necessary.

The Aleutians broke out in quick fashion. Jules was genuinely impressed with their organization skills for an Op like this. Their reputation as a pack of animals was exaggerated, unless of course that pack were wolves. He enjoyed the thought of them going on a hunt, it was invigorating, empowering. It also helped him to rationalize his decision to fall in with an Autohacking Clan, an act that once would not have been on his top hundred list of things to do not so long ago.

Back at the mansion, Jack, Cindy, and Ping were getting ready to head out. The truck had collected their gear, emblazoned with the fake MDC signage Jack was now familiar with. The last of their gear was going into the second truck, which would take Cindy and Ping to the airstrip. The Coffin was being left at the house, so Cindy could use it as a live relay for quick access to their systems.

"You guys ready for this?"

"Fuck Jack, you know I hate flying."

"You'll be fine Ping, trust me. Just think about those cute European girls."

"I have a feeling the only ones I will meet, will have guns pointed at me.'

"I'm getting hard just thinking about it."

Cindy didn't even enter the conversation, she just went to the truck and took shot-gun. She tapped on her comm device through the windscreen.

"Mum is calling you, Ping. See you there."

Ping gave a salute to Jack and headed for the truck. Jack was going to wait behind until Jan arrived, then meet up with them. He would be no more than five minutes behind them, so it was no problem that Jan was a bit late.

Jack was in the kitchen when he heard the front door open. He walked into the corridor to see Jan in the entry, dressed in a sleek black dress, with her hair tied in a bun. As she walked to the kitchen Jack couldn't help but stare.

"You OK cowboy?"

"Uhhh, yeah, sure. You expecting company?"

"Something like that."

As she walked past Jack in the doorway she stopped and grabbed Jacks hand, pulling it around against her butt. She pressed her thigh into his groin and gave a little moan. Leaning forward she buried her forehead against his neck, sweeping her other arm around him.

Jack was instantly aroused, but tried to push back for a moment. "You don't want this."

Jan moved back slightly and looked up at Jack, closing her eyes she moved into him again and whispered, "I've never wanted anything more."

Jack leaned forward to lift her up, but she pushed him back, sliding her hands down his chest as she moved down his body. It was driving him crazy, and she knew it. She was savouring the moment, but the anticipation was too much now. She wanted him more than she could bear, so she let him take control, and control he took.

There is a saying "I'm here for a good time, not a long time", which Jack couldn't get out of his head. Jan seemed to be on the same page as within a few minutes the sound of her climax was enough to rattle the windows. Or at least that was how Jack was going to tell the story later, anyway. There was little time for intimacy, but Jan seemed to be expecting that, pulling her dress back down and giving Jack a hug.

"Go get 'em, Tiger."

As Jack pulled out onto the road, he realized he was now running late. He would be able to make up the time, but the other road users wouldn't be happy. As the road signalling began to blur, Cindy came on the comm.

"Where are you Jack? We are fifteen minutes from wheels-up, just about hitting the outer tarmac now."

"I'll be ten minutes behind you."

"What did you stop for ice cream?"

"Something like that. The mansion is secure, and Jan has everything under control."

"I hope you're sure about that."

"Positive, she knows exactly what to do."

"Don't be too long, Ping is looking nervous."

Cindy looked over to Ping, who was holding up his middle finger. Right at that moment there was a thud, before the back of the truck swerved wildly. The truck bounced off the kerb and skipped half onto the tarmac. The driver was pulling hard on the wheel to regain control, and did so just as the truck squared-up on the end of the runway.

Cindy was looking out of every window to see what happened, she saw a motorbike pull onto the tarmac near them, but it wasn't Jack. The truck driver let his foot off the accelerator to slow down.

"No, don't. It's an ambush."

The driver looked at Cindy surprised, then looked to the right and saw the bike. He put his head down and his foot on the gas. The truck lurched forward, but was never going to outrun a bike.

"Head for the jet, it's our only cover."

The driver turned to the right, they could see them a kilometre away, there were three black Osiris van's there, all under-fire from every angle. A bullet shattered the driver's window, making the driver swerve away.

Cindy got on her comm. "Jack I don't know where the fuck you are, but we need you now, we're under attack."

"I'm five minutes out, hold tight."

As Cindy looked around for a safe place to hide, she realized the whole reason they chose this location was because it was open, supposedly giving the Osiris scouts and snipers good coverage. Obviously someone knew their SOP and took out the snipers.

"Mack, can you detach the trailer while we are moving?"

"You'd need to override the safety protocol on the main board."

Cindy looked back to Ping, who was shaken but still with them.

"Already on it, Sin."

Ping was tapping on a holo-device on his wrist. A few seconds later there was a crash. Cindy looked back and saw the trailer detach from the rear window. It skidding down the tarmac swerving to the right and smashing into the bike rider that was frantically trying to clear away. Cindy saw the bike disappear under the front bar.

"Well, that wasn't so hard, huh?"

There was a loud thud, then three more. Cindy turned to see what it was and saw daylight through the side of the rear compartment of the truck. She spun to the right and saw Ping smiling. He lifted his hand from his waist and showed her the blood.

"Fuck, Ping, what the fuck are you doing?"

Cindy unclipped herself and slid between the seats to the rear section. She pulled Ping's hand back away, but couldn't make out what had happened through the piles of torn bloody clothes. She looked up at Ping again, but his eyes were vacant.

"Fuck no, no, no. Ping, what the fuck!" Cindy was shouting, confused about what was going on. There was no way it was ending like this.

"Hey, what's happening back there, I don't think this thing is going to make it to the jet." The driver sounded just as confused.

"Ping got shot, he's dead." Cindy was almost sobbing, completely unaware of her present surroundings, or the situation beyond the cabin.

There was a violent thud, then a screech as the truck lurched hard to the right. Cindy saw the jet sweep past her vision in the windscreen, then felt herself lift off the seat, before feeling a hard thud in the side of the head, then nothing.

"Hey Sin, you there. Fuck Sin, where the fuck are you?"

Jack was shouting into his comm as he pulled onto the entry road to the strip. He had just passed a dead Osiris sniper, and had HALO going full-stream. There was a screed of information scrolling down the sides of the visor, with none of it making sense. There were too many people, too many vehicles, and not enough chatter in the area.

Jack closed his eyes for a brief moment and cleared his head. The data stream went blank, and Jack brought up weapons, environment survey, and ordinance detection. He realized he was about twenty seconds from a hell of a shit fight. Two blips came up on the right side of his vision, he targeted the darts without even looking for confirmation it was an attacker. All he had to do now was get to Cindy and Ping.

"Sin, I'm on the end of the runway, I can see the jet, it's under-fire, but can't see your truck. Sin, where the fuck are you?"

He waited a moment as he straightened up on the runway. A tracer round zipped past Jack's shoulder, causing him to swerve. He took a wide sweep and looked around, picking up three target. He had shit angles on all of them, but suddenly they moved position. Jack was about to deploy darts when he saw at least a dozen bikes bust through the scrub and onto the runway. There was no more shooting from behind, and Jack instantly recognized the bikes; it was the Vixens.

Jack swept around them and saw Carrey wave him on. He didn't need the motivation, and accelerated as hard as Betty would push him. The traction on the tarmac was fantastic, and jack was up to near full output in less than three seconds. His adrenaline was spiking so high the G's were no problem, but he found another one to deal with. There were at least a dozen targets in a loose but barricaded formation around the Osiris vehicles, and Jack didn't have a clean shot at any of them, especially at his speed.

"Jack, you there?" It was Cindy on the comm, barely whispering.

"Fuck, Sin, where are you?"

"Rolled, truck. North of jet."

Jack just caught a glimpse of it, fifteen hundred metres away. He was only a few seconds from the melee at the jet, and decided to blow past it. Osiris would have to wait for the Vixens to help. As he approached what looked like the warzone, his impact and target sensors filled his vision. He swerved past, with Betty releasing all of the explosive charges as they went through. He was travelling too fast to be shot, but that didn't stop a few of the aggressors from trying.

Jack saw the upturned truck, with three people approaching, weapons up. Jack decelerated hard, targeting all three at the same time. The dart tubes released and the target dropped. As he slowed, less than a hundred metres out, a flurry of projectiles zipped past him from the bush to the right. They all seemed to miss as he dropped the bike behind the truck. He wasted no time setting the bike to sentry mode, and jumping through the hole where the passenger door used to be.

Cindy was in the back of the truck, huddled up holding a pistol. She was next to Ping who was now almost beyond recognition. He grabbed Cindy's arm and checked her over quickly, she never spoke.

"Hey Sin, how you going?"

"Pretty fucked up."

"Yeah? You look good to me." Jack gave a little smile. "We gotta go Sin. You ready to make a run for it?"

"I think so."

She was still talking barely above a whisper, with absolutely no confidence. Jack needed to clear the area; she wasn't going to move fast enough if they had guns on them.

"I'm going out to sort out a few assholes, and I'll be right back for you. Be ready to jump on the back of Betty as soon as I turn around."

"Don't leave me, Jack."

Jack looked at her for a moment as he pulled his Timmy out.

"I never would."

He was still wearing his helmet, so had full control of Betty. TLM told him where the targets were, they were close, and they were closing in. He jumped out of the truck onto his side, shooting under the chassis as he landed. The attackers scattered, meaning they were probably inexperienced, a good thing. Jack didn't have a lot of chance hitting from that perspective and any seasoned soldier would know that. It did, however, give him time to get to his feet and get around the back of the truck.

He took a quick look down the runway. From what he could see, the Vixens were the help Osiris needed, as the few remaining attackers on the tarmac were attempting a retreat. Carrey and her crew were giving them no such chance.

Jack took a quick look around the side of the truck and copped some ricocheting rounds off the tarmac and back of the truck. Who-ever had eyes on him had a clear shot. He decided his best bet was on the bike, so he scrambled back around. As he was mounting Cindy made a dive from the truck next to the bike, nearly knocking Jack over in the process.

As soon as Cindy had his waist he accelerated, Timmy raised. Between the gun on full auto, and Betty launching darts at anything moving, they took out three target before their victims even realised the bike was moving again. The snipers were still around, but Jack couldn't get a clear fix on them. He decided to get Cindy to safety first and headed back towards the Jet.

As they neared he could see the shooting had stopped. Blake was attempting emergency medical assistance to a couple of Osiris agents that looked like shredded cheese, and the Vixens were playing football with a few heavily wounded strangers. On a closer look Jack took them as Aleutians, they couldn't be anyone else. Then it dawned on him.

He stopped and flipped his visor. "Blake, they're Aleutians."

"I know."

"You think Oricks is here?"

"The thought crossed my mind, but I'm kind of busy here." Blake was still shouting even though the gunfire had stopped.

"We'll I'm no medic, so I'm going after the cunt.'

Jack tapped his helmet and the visor formed back, giving him a much clearer read-out of the environment than he had earlier. There were only a few unaccounted bodies in the area, one of them had to be Oricks. He wouldn't stage a plan like this and not be there to see it through.

As Jack swung the bike around, Jules kept his eye on him. The plan had been going perfectly to plan until that little shit turned up. Now he was effectively marooned, with Jack and a dozen biker chicks now looping around the runway. He had no clear line to the jet, and by his count there may have only been one or two Aleutians left, but he couldn't see them.

Jules Oricks was many things, but a quitter was not one of them. The raid for the weapons cache may be a wash, but he would be fucked if he was going to let Jack goddam Prince go again. Moving back up the rise, still under heavy scrub, he checked his signal-jammer. It was still functioning, despite the beat up look of it, so there was little chance he had been marked.

From the higher ground Jules saw two Aleutians pinned down behind low mounds, with no clear way out. He thought about covering them so they could get up to his position, but then thought better of it, they looked like pretty good bait from his perspective.

He watched the scene unfold as Jack sped up the tarmac on the opposite side of Jules' location. He passed the wreckage of the truck and made what looked like an impossible turn. One of the Aleutians stood up to run, but the bike was pointing directly to him. Jules saw a wisp of smoke appear from holes in the front of the cowling, and the target collapsed. That was fast, damn fast.

Jack pulled the bike up facing the hill. Jules didn't like the idea of that, as he figured there was some sort of targeting system in Jack's helmet. As he slowly moved himself into the prone position, he watched as Jack methodically shifted between cover, making his way closer to the other Aleutian. He was only fifty metres from his target now, and barely a hundred metres from himself. He decided to wait until Jack took out his target, when his focus would be in the one place.

The sweat was pouring off Jules' head as he adjusted his scope. It still wasn't a completely clear shot, and he only hoped Jack kept moving forward to take his own kill. Jack did exactly that, and moved into an almost perfect position for the kill. Jules was ready to squeeze the trigger when he heard a high-pitch whine from above and behind him. He turned his head to see a military scram-jet sweeping across the planes, directly at him. He turned back to see Jack shoot and look up the hill.

The next few milliseconds were the longest moments of Jules' life. As he squeezed the trigger, he saw jack was already turning back to his bike and knew he would likely miss his shot. He quickly switched to full auto, and tracked Jack who was moving fast to the bike. There were some thuds on the ground in front of Jules, he rolled quickly but got clipped by a dart, the searing pain almost instant as it tore through his forearm. He didn't waste any more time and sprayed rounds all over the area of Jack's bike.

As a round hit jack on the hip, he spun off balance and fell to the ground. The force of the hit was tremendous, but it seemed the angle of deflection and the fact he was wearing the Tac-suit, managed to keep him in one piece. He wasn't sure another hit would end the same.

Jules stood now, getting a clear line of sight, but it was too late. The wind rushed past him and he felt a moment of warmth, then nothing. From Jack's perspective, all he saw was a jet sweeping over the hill, and Jules Oricks body disintegrating from the waist-down. He turned to avoid the dust trail from the jet and saw Betty, or what was left of her. His bike had been nearly sawn in half by the rounds from Jules' weapon.

As he tried to get his bearing on the surrounding area, he saw the Vixens approaching. They rallied around Jack and his bike and dismounted. Twist was first to take off her helmet and go to Jack. He swiped his visor and removed his own helmet.

"You OK, slugger?"

"I feel like all kinds of fucked up, but I'll live."

"Good to hear. I think Carrey would miss you." Twist smiled and gave him a wink.

Carry removed her helmet and walked over. She had the gait of a woman in charge, but when she spoke her voice was soft.

"Cindy will be fine, Jack. I'm sorry about Ping, he seemed like a good kid."

"Yeah, he was."

"The crew have the area secure now, but it looks like there is a small battalion of Feds on the way, so we might bug-out." She gave him a warm smile.

"See you round, then."

Carrey turned and started walking back to her bike.

"Not if I see you first, tiger."

Jack slumped himself against the remains of Betty. He need a few minutes before he got up again, the impact from the round he took in the hip was starting to make itself well-known to his nervous system now, and it was a bitch. For the first time since he got to the runway, he did a mental stocktake of the day. It was a shit feeling, so he thought about a cold beer instead.

In a few minutes Fed vehicles swarmed the runway, drones began circling the area, and although there were no more enemies to deal with, it felt like a scene of chaos again. Jack had a medic and soldiers near him on point, when Blake walked up. He sat next to Jack, and leaned back against the bike. He pulled out a flask, opened it, and handed it to Jack. Jack took a swig and handed it back.

"Should you be drinking on duty, mate?"

Blake looked at Jack, who had a weak but sly grin.

"I figure we earnt it."

"What we earnt ain't gonna fit in one flask mate."

"I think that bird of yours with the bar is due a visit, you reckon."

"Fuck, now you're talking. What about the paperwork though?"

"Been thinking about that."

"Yeah."

"I don't like it anymore."

"Sin OK?"

"Yeah. Bit beat up, but just superficial stuff."

"Well I dunno about you, but I think we should grab her and get the fuck out of here."

"I'm pretty sure Osiris will want a debrief."

"This was their fuck up, they can wait 'till we're ready."

Blake looked over to Jack and saw him wincing. He was a tough pain in the arse, that was for sure.

"Tell you what Jack. You help Sin to the hospital, I'll do the paperwork, then we can all meet up for a pint in Ping's name. Good?"

Jack looked back at Blake, realizing for maybe the first time that regardless of the company he worked for, or the company he kept, he would be around for them, and that was enough for Jack.

"Good."

### Chapter 40

As he crossed the Alps, Gindobe couldn't help but feel like he was in another world. It had been so long since he had been out of Sydney, he almost forgot there was so much diversity in the world. As much as he admired it, he loathed it. He could almost feel the chill of the wind when the doors opened. The beauty of the snow covered land below suddenly seemed a little grey.

Even though the effects were stronger than originally calculated, the contrast in the environments was serving its purpose well. The seasons globally were becoming less predictable, which made crop growing difficult. In years gone by, scientists advised of the impending wholesale devastation of plant life, and therefore shortly after, animal life. However, the rapid adaption of the flora to the changing environments was nothing short of remarkable. The food crops didn't fear so well, which of course was the target. Over the generations the corporations had made the crops so susceptible to disease, it didn't take long before entire regions were no longer suitable for farming. The general reduction in human population in recent years was bringing things into balance, of sorts, however there was still a much needed cull, and The Ordained were going to manage the process.

These musings gave Gindobe a name for their monstrosity of a scheme. From now on, the project was to be known as 'The Cull'. It was a fitting title to the project, considering those they were elimination were little more than animals. Once they had the populations at a manageable level, they would bring their synthetic food production to full capacity. For now, however, it would remain for the consumption of The Ordained and their closest allies.

His thoughts seemed to have been deeper than expected; before he knew it, he had arrived in Switzerland, and was on his way to the former Presidential Palace. It was one of the few things he remembered about Europe. It intrigued Gindobe, that the group to eventually take control of the continent kept the name Europe. The catastrophic failure of the European Union nearly a century ago meant most that remained in the region refused to even acknowledge the association between the countries. Perhaps they enjoyed tormenting the population.

The drive through the mountains certainly portrayed a majestic palette of colour and contrast; snow peaked mountains with slate-grey bases, wrapped in a low band of forest trees. The highway cut around and through mountains as though they were playing an intricate game of cat and mouse, the road finding a way through no matter what nature would throw at it. There were sections of old power cables and towers scattered around the place, long abandoned with the adaption of much more efficient locally sourced generators.

As they arrived at the gates, Gindobe almost missed the journey, until he saw Siniale standing at the top of the stairs. She easily out-shone the polished marble columns that stood behind her like towering guards. The rest of the buildings' façade was an unusual combination of history and technology. He looked at all corners as he climbed the stairs, not sure whether to be in awe or disgust of the building before him.

"Well, do you like it, Gindobe?"

"The building?"

"What else?"

Gindobe just smiled and took her hand, giving it a kiss before gently placing it back by her side. Siniale blushed and welcomed him into the residence with a hand gesture. As Gindobe walked past the columns, he saw the sentinel drones hovering behind each one, rotating as he walked past.

"Big on security here."

"Always."

"But we're in the middle of nowhere."

'You would be surprised what levels the dissenters will go to here to try and take what isn't theirs."

"Well it seems like I am in good hands then."

Siniale stopped and turned to Gindobe, touching his shoulder. "That, my dear, I can guarantee."

In that moment the hassle of travel and cold breeze at the entry seemed to fade away. This woman was not helping his focus at all, and he was sure she knew it. He was smart enough not to get unknowingly taken advantage of, but perhaps, he would let himself get just a little off guard. Just a little.

But first, there was business. As he entered the formal banquet room, the thirty foot long table was magnificent, made from solid marble, and gilded with gold and silver. There were at least twenty chairs around the table, with most of them occupied. As they neared the table the others stood and bowed lightly to Gindobe, before sitting again.

Gindobe nodded and sat down. A stunning waitress dressed in a sleek black gown approached and handed Gindobe a drink. He sat back in his seat and took a long slow sip. It was absolutely divine, like nothing he had tasted before.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for being here today."

A short and frail looking man from the other end of the table stood. His voice was commanding, and anything but frail.

"Good afternoon Gindobe. On behalf of Europe, I welcome you."

Chapter 41

"It seems, lady and gentlemen, that you have far more to offer than anyone myside of the line have given you credit for. You held your ground last week, and stopped what would have no doubt been the end of your lives, and the loss of enough hardware into enemy hands, that many more lives would have been taken after."

"They took enough."

"I agree, Jack. I am sorry that Ping cannot get an official burial, but I understand you have decided to handle his proceedings yourself."

"Yeah."

"Well, if there is anything I can do to help, and I don't mean by the agency, please just call me."

"Thanks."

"Now onto the matter at hand."

"Which is what?" Cindy interjected.

Sophie looked at her bruised and stitched face. She felt immediate sympathy for her.

"Osiris have decided that having you as a covert team is not going to work."

"You're binning us? That was quick."

"No, quite the contrary. We're offering you full status as agents with Osiris, commencing immediately if you agree. There are conditions, of course, but I think you will find that our resources are substantial, and useful for your endeavours."

Jack looked at Blake, who shrugged his shoulders. "First I've heard of this."

"Yes Blake, it is. That is because this is the first it has been spoken of. Under section 66 of the Manifesto, the director can take immediate and decisive measures to enable protection of our division and country."

Jack looked at the others, then turned back to Sophie. "So, you think we're gonna protect the country now?"

"You already have been, Jack, we're just never acknowledged it before."

"This is a thing. I mean a big thing. We need to talk about it."

"Of course. Take a few days, I know it's been a shit week. But, I'd like to add that in my opinion the last Op failed because we weren't working close enough together, and we under-resourced it in order to keep your names out of the books. I won't let that happen again, we lost good men too."

"So it's this or nothing?"

Sophie nodded. "In the politest possible way."

Jack gave a subtle nod, and got out of the chair. Cindy and Blake followed. As Blake got to the door he turned to Sophie. She closed her eyes and nodded, knowing Blake now had a sense of duty to the others that was stronger than the agency. She only hoped she would get him back soon.

They had decided to go to the bar instead of the mansion. Jack had spent a few nights with Jan, which Cindy seemed surprisingly good about. Jack felt pretty good about it too, feeling good about having another piece in his jigsaw of humanity replaced. There were only two things he found himself missing; Ping and Betty. Sophie had assured him that the Osiris techs would put every effort into reconstructing her, but Cindy insisted on doing it herself.

"Well, here's to Ping."

The others cheered and they all tapped drinks. Jan had joined them at the table and closed the bar for the day. It seemed odd without Ping there.

"You know what?"

"What Jack?"

"I think I miss the little cunt."

"Me too Jack. We all do."

"You know what else?"

"What Jack?"

"I think he would have tipped his hat to joining Osiris." He paused and looked at the others for a moment. "I know it sounds fucking nuts coming from me, but there could be something in it."

"We're hardly Fed material, hun." Cindy noted.

"Sophie thinks we are." Blake added.

"Do you want that leash up your arse?"

Jack looked at Jan. "Not sure, Jan, but to be honest, I think I am guilty of avoiding the issue out of spite."

"There would need to be some fucking heavy rider's tagged into the contract, Jack. I'm not giving up all my tech for them."

"I know Sin, and I'm not giving up my lifestyle. They would have to accept that Spectrum are a rough-neck unit and give us space accordingly."

"You reckon Sophie would go for that, Blake?"

They all turned to look at Blake, who was looking at his beer bottle, turning it on the table.

"I reckon she would go for just about anything right now. Without us, Oricks would still be alive, probably busy being the most powerful terrorist in the country. Without us, Gindobe and his cronies will most likely take out what is left of our economy."

"Without us, they're fucked then."

"Exactly. Which gives us all of the bargaining power."

Jan looked at the three of them. Although she had been with them for five minutes, she felt like she had been with them for years. They were fighting for everything she believed in, everything her grandfather had shown her to be the truth.

"You know, if we go legit, I will be able to bring in a lot more political sway. I know it's not big on your agenda, but when we have removed The Ordained, the politicians will be back in power, and we want to make sure we aren't making nooses for our own necks."

"So everyone has something to gain, and it looks like we don't have a lot to lose."

The others all looked at Jack and nodded.

"Well I don't know about you, but I can't think without a hang-over, so my call is we spend the night toasting to Ping, and talking shit about all the dumb-ass things he used to say."

They all raised their glasses and saluted.

The End
