Daniel Suarez - Influx

Alexa pulled out her positron pistol and aimed it at the q-link array.

Alcot shouted, “There are more q-links for the satellite in their vault! Destroying those would accomplish nothing!”

Varuna’s voice again. “Alexa and Mr. Grady, I am afraid we have run out of time.”

Behind them, in the gallery overlooking the lab, the diamond doors slid aside as dozens of armored soldiers in black diamondoid armor, aiming gravity projectors and weapons, rushed in. More poured in from side entrances.

Suddenly Grady and Alexa were both caught in a gravity field and they fell upward several meters off the ground—then floated in the air, helpless.

Alexa tried to twist around and aim the positron pistol back behind her, but dozens of laser dots appeared on her body.

Grady shouted, “Don’t shoot her! If you don’t shoot, I’ll cooperate. Don’t shoot her!” He turned to Alexa. “Drop the pistol, Alexa. Drop it, please. There’s no point.”

She looked at him and then at the armored soldiers filling the lab. Alexa tossed the gun aside, and a soldier caught it before it hit the floor.

“We have her weapon, sir.”

There were now nearly fifty soldiers in the Gravitics Research Lab, their black oval faces looking up at their prey, hovering helpless above them. One of them pushed through to the front, and his visor hissed open.

Alexa saw Morrison’s weathered face scowling back at her.

“I’m amazed you made it this far, but don’t worry, we’ll find the traitors who helped you.” He gestured to the exit. “Disarm them, collar them, and take them to the director. And I want Alexa guarded by a dozen men at all times—she’s extremely dangerous in close quarters.”

Alcot watched the guards aiming their gravity projectors as they took Grady and Alexa away.

Morrison picked up the q-link relay that was still sitting on the console.

“You lied to me about Hibernity, Mr. Morrison.”

Morrison looked up at Alcot with disdain. “I don’t know who you think you’re kidding, Professor. You believed what you wanted to believe.” Morrison started walking away.

“Mr. Morrison.”

Morrison turned.

“You’ve got the real crystal in your hand. Their relay is in the array.”

Morrison frowned. “Bullshit.”

“They told me to switch them… and I switched them. They gave me no choice.”

Kulkarni stepped back away from Alcot.

Morrison glared. “You mean, someone off-site can currently take control of Kratos?” Morrison looked to the ceiling. “Varuna, is Professor Alcot telling the truth?”

There was a pause. “Yes, Mr. Morrison, Professor Alcot appears genuine.”

Alcot looked up at the ceiling and nodded appreciatively—and then looked toward Grady and Alexa being moved through the security doors.

Morrison shoved Alcot toward the q-link array. “Goddamnit, you should have told us that immediately.” He gestured to the panel. “Pull it now! Go! Go!”

Alcot leaned down to the open access panel and pressed his hand onto a scanner. The nearest q-link casing opened, and he removed the crystal that was already there.

Morrison motioned for Alcot to step away.

Alcot did so, looking at the replacement crystal in Morrison’s gauntleted hand. Morrison inserted the new crystal then resealed the q-link array. He then aimed an armored finger at Alcot. The tip began to glow with an intense white light.

“You know, Doctor Alcot, now that we have Mr. Grady in custody, your lapses of judgment and lack of progress have become quite intolerable.”

Alcot nodded as he turned to face Grady, who was disappearing down the corridor amid heavy guard. “Yes. I would agree.”

There was a tearing sound and a flash of light as a wave of fire started to consume Alcot. But he didn’t scream. Instead, he just nodded toward Grady as he disappeared in a cloud of ash.

Jon Grady and Alexa stoodbefore Graham Hedrick in his palatial office. Behind Hedrick, his multistory office window was filled with a broad view of Paris at night, looking down the tree-lined Champs-Élysées.

Grady and Alexa both stood stock-still, their bodies held in place by corticospinal collars, divorcing them from their bodies as they stood mere heads on poles before the BTC director, Mr. Morrison, and a dozen other armed guards. Grady felt a deep loss as he realized there was no possible escape. He didn’t even have a body to escape with.

Hedrick sat on the edge of his desk, examining the black spike of Alexa’s positron pistol. He shook his head sadly and looked up at her. “How could you betray my trust like this?”

Her lapis lazuli eyes seemed just as divorced from the proceedings as her body, which stood stock straight.

“We’ve been colleagues for decades. I risked everything to protect you.” He looked down at the pistol again. “This was a symbol of my trust in you. Perhaps the only weapon that could have truly harmed us—or, in the right hands, protected us.”

She said nothing.

Mr. Morrison was unbuckling his armor and sighing in relief as he listened to Hedrick. The diamondoid suit was obviously tight on him.

Hedrick ignored Morrison’s grunting, remaining focused on Alexa. “And now… now we’ve got two breaches in our surface wall. Our facade is down—and pictures of it are already showing up all over the public media. The fire. The…” His voice trailed off. “You have caused us lasting damage. And it means we must be more forceful with the public now—because of you and Mr. Grady. We can’t allow people to openly speculate about what it is we do here. We can’t allow the outside world to continue as it is.”

Grady met Hedrick’s gaze. “Now that they know about you, they’ll fight you.”

Hedrick turned with mock surprise toward Grady. “Oh, but that’s why you’re so important to me, because their consent will not be necessary. You’re going to help me—for real this time. You are going to help us develop gravity generation—and you will make progress.”

“I’ll never help you.”

“I’ll give you an incentive.” Hedrick walked up to Alexa. “My dear, you were so curious about Hibernity, I think it’s high time you went.”

Grady felt dread. “No. Don’t do that to her.”

“Why not? Just think how much progress you’ll make knowing that every hour you delay is another hour that an interrogatory AI is picking apart her mind.”

“Don’t do that, Hedrick.”

Hedrick was right up in Alexa’s face.

She spat into his spiteful smile.

Hedrick did nothing immediately to wipe it off. He just turned away and walked toward his desk, getting a handkerchief from a drawer. He then calmly wiped his face clean. “Well, that’s the most intimate contact we’ve ever had, Alexa.”

She glared. “No matter what you do to me, it’ll never change how much I hate you.”

“Hate. I’m starting not to care so much what you think of me.” Hedrick placed the positron pistol on his desk. “Neither am I particularly concerned what others think about me, Mr. Grady. Not even my subordinates within the BTC.” He sat on the edge of his desk again. “You see, we have internal controls that help us look for treacherous activities. And enforced honesty really makes things much easier.” He looked up at the ceiling. “Varuna.”

“Yes, Mr. Director.”

“Repeat this back to me, please…” Hedrick held a card up and read from it. “S-3-2-E-W-9-3-A-Q-H-1-0-B-V-E-3-4.”

“S-3-2-E-W-9-3-A-Q-H-1-0-B-V-E-3-4.”

At which point there was suddenly a chime sound, and a completely new female voice spoke: “Emergency system override activated. Please confirm your identity at the prompt.”