The men glanced at each other uneasily, confirming his suspicion that Duke wasn’t a pleasant man to work for.
“I’m not making it up. Grant has double-crossed your boss. What’s the betting Duke takes it out on you if he can’t get his hands on Grant?”
He wasn’t seriously expecting them to call Duke. He only wanted that second of doubt, of indecision, and when it came, he took his moment. He slammed the chair into the man with the gun, whacking him hard across the arm, sending the weapon flying. He thumped the man twice, taking him down, then went for the gun. He’d only gone a few paces when he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder and knew he’d been knifed. The gun had disappeared under the factory machinery, so it was out of play. He turned, feeling warm blood running down his arm.
“Oh, that was stupid,” he told them, grinning as he felt the adrenaline take over.
The fighting mist descended, time slowed, and now he was in the zone. He loved this feeling. He knew he was invincible as he charged towards the men. He took one out, stealing the knife from his hand as the thug went down. Now there were three.
“Fancy your chances?” he asked one of them casually, and then, without signalling his intent, he charged one of the others, stabbing his arm and sending the man’s knife flying. “Then there were two… that’s a shame, as I’m enjoying this.” He smirked.
When he was in the zone, it was as if he was watching from afar, able to see every move, calculate every action and reaction, and always stay two steps ahead. He feinted left, then came back hard and punched out the man directly in front of him, who went down with a satisfying crunch. Then there was only one left.
The thug wetted his lips with his tongue, circling him, knife at the ready. Josiah could see he was playing for time, hoping some of his comrades would recover enough to return to the fray. Josiah wasn’t about to let that happen. He simply charged towards him, grabbed his knife arm and headbutted him at the same time. The man slipped to the floor, screaming and clutching his broken nose, while Josiah took his knife and tucked it into his pocket.
His way clear, he ran across the room and searched under the machinery for his gun, then sprinted for the door. Some of the men he’d taken down were stirring – he held the gun on them.
“You really should make that call to Duke,” he advised, and then he left, slamming the door shut behind him. There was a key in the lock, which he turned, locking them all in. He found his abandoned holopad lying on the floor outside and grabbed it, then made a run for the exit, calling Reed on the way.
“Where the hell are you? We’ve been searching the Canary Quarter for ages, but there’s no sign of you,” Reed snapped.
“I’ve been locked up inside a croc factory. Long story. I’m in the tallest tower – Cabot territory. Meet me outside.”
It was pitch black when he reached the exit, and the weather was still atrocious, wind and rain battering Canary Quarter with the occasional ominous boom of thunder in the distance. All around were the lights of various watercraft, bobbing in the darkness. It would be impossible to spot Reed in the driving rain.
Then, suddenly, an AV appeared from nowhere out of the gloom, its lights heading straight for him. It wasn’t just any AV, either; it floated inches above the water, sleekly covering the distance in half the time. It was shiny, silver, and elegant, with the Tyler Tech logo on the front andDestinyengraved beneath it. For the first time in his life, Josiah felt a grudging appreciation for a vehicle.
At the last moment, it swerved, coming to an elegant halt beside the landing port, and the hatch opened to reveal Reed’s face, looking as relieved as Josiah felt. Josiah wasted no time in jumping in beside him.
“Where’s your duck?” Reed asked, glancing sideways at him. “We looked all over for it.”
“Long gone, I suspect. I asked a bunch of kids to look after it, but it’s probably been broken down into parts and sold onthe black market by now.” Josiah shrugged, which hurt both his head and his shoulder, making him grimace. “What the hell am I sitting in?” he demanded. “This isn’t an Inquisitus duck.”
“Nope. She’s mine. I was at home when you called, given it was gone midnight, and thought I’d take my own duck as she’s faster.”
“Since when do you own one of these?” Josiah raised an eyebrow.
“I wasn’t going to tell you.” Reed looked desperately embarrassed. “But after I saw Alex’s duck, I had to have one, so I splashed out and treated myself. She’s fast – much faster than a regular duck.”
“Good, we’re going to need some speed.” Josiah filled him in rapidly. “I managed to slip Alex’s chip into his pocket, so we can follow them. Request emergency access to the IS tracker database and let’s get moving.”
“Fuck it, that’s good,” Reed said admiringly. Then he barked out an order to his holopad. Within seconds, a holomap was hovering in front of them, Alex’s chip winking on it, showing his location a few miles away, crossing the lost zone at high speed. Reed swung his duck around to give chase.
“You said ‘we’ back there,” Josiah said.
“Yeah, I brought backup from Inquisitus. They’re behind us. Some of us aren’t stupid enough to go into the Canary Quarter alone.”
“If I’d taken someone with me I’d never have got in, still less found out where Neil was.”
“It was dangerous, and stupid.”
“True.” Josiah grinned. He was high on adrenaline and still in the zone, relishing every second of it.
The Destiny duck was like no vehicle Josiah had ever been in. She sliced across the water like scissors through silk, making short work of the journey, and soon they were gaining on Neil.
“Where the hell is he heading?” Reed asked, glancing at the screen.
“There’s a heliport a few miles down the river, so I’m guessing there, but nothing will be taking off in this weather, and he’s a sitting duck if he waits, so maybe he has another plan.”
