Michelle Maddox - Countdown

"If… if you say so. Sure. Okay. I'll go. Um … I'll leave right now."

I frowned. Why did he sound so scared?

I pressed my hand against the back of his neck and concentrated long enough to flex a little.

It was all I needed.

I pulled back from him to look at his face. "What kind of a job did you say you got?"

He smiled, but it was a little shaky. "I'm going to be working with computers."

I nodded slowly, still close in the hug with him.

"What's going on, Kira?" Rogan said from behind me.

"I'm not sure." I slid my fingers into the hair at the back of Colin's head, hoping I wouldn't find what I was looking for.

But there it was.

Colin had a freshly installed implant.

He took a step back from me.

"I'm sorry, Kira," he said.

My throat felt thick. "You're sorry?"

"I'd already had my interview with them before I saw you at the mall. I had no idea you had anything to do with the game. They took me and fitted me with an implant so I could watch." His expression shadowed. "They told me that if I saw you again then I… I had to contact them."

Rogan now stood beside me. "Where have you been for the last few minutes?"

He wouldn't make eye contact with either of us. "They're going to be here in two minutes."

My eyes widened and my heart started pounding hard-a sensation I hadn't had for a little while, but I recognized it well enough. A familiar sensation of fight or flight.

I was voting for "flight."

Another countdown commences.

"I'm sorry," Colin whispered again.

I opened my mouth to say something to him-to scream at him for selling us out-but Rogan took a step toward him first. That was enough. Colin staggered back from him and tripped on a wire. He fell and hit his head against the side of the computer table, managing to knock himself out.

I grabbed Rogan's tense arm.

"What are we supposed to do now?" I managed.

Joe's eyes had grown very large. "They're coming here? Shit. Somebody go up the stairs and lock the damn door."

Without anyone asking me to, I did just that. I thundered up the stairs as fast as I could, still favoring my sore ankle, and turned the dead bolt. I went back downstairs.

"We have no time," Rogan said. "We need the antivirus and we need it now."

Joe's entire body was tense, and I was certain he was going to try to run away. I was equally certain that Rogan wouldn't let him, but we didn't have time for a physical confrontation. Not here. Not now.

Joe finally nodded his head sharply. "Okay. Let me think." He turned and sat down heavily in front of his computer and put his fingers on the keyboard. "I know it's around here somewhere. It's been a while, man, like, over four years. I hope I didn't trash it."

The idea made me feel like throwing up.

"But will an antivirus actually work?" I asked. "I don't know shit about computers, but wouldn't it have progressed too far for that by now? Like, evolved?"

Joe shrugged with one shoulder as he whipped through folder after folder, which appeared and disappeared in flashes of light and color. "That's entirely possible. But you won't know unless you try. If you can get to the main artificial intelligence server, shove the antivirus in, and launch it, then you might be able to do some damage."

Rogan gripped the back of Joe's chair and he watched the scrolling files appear on-screen. "I wish like hell I knew where the AI server was now. It used to be on the second floor, but that was years ago."

"It's in the subbasement," Joe said absently. "It was mentioned in passing during my orientation tour. Some employee told me by mistake, and Gareth changed the subject quickly, so I figured it was a big secret."

"What room?" I asked.

"Shit, I can't find it." The files scrolled down the screen faster than I could read them. "Where the fuck did I put it? I'm so disorganized."

"The room?" I repeated louder. By my estimation we had less than a minute left to get the hell out of there.

"Uh … I thought it was strange at the time, but now I guess it makes perfect sense. It's marked as Gareth's office, even though I know his real office is on the top floor. The room has a computerized lock that only certain employees can access. The only people who are able to get in have a red name tag, if that helps. I remember that because it made me think of blood. My blood. And I didn't want to spill any of it either, then or now."

Just then I heard a bang and I nearly jumped out of my skin. At the top of the stairs somebody was knocking loudly on the outer door.

"It's a strong door." Joe's voice shook a little. "Trust me, paranoia will take you places. Especially dark, well-locked places. We have a minute."

I looked at Rogan, and his expression was strained and bleak. I moved toward him and slid my arm around his waist.

"I'll hold them back for as long as I can," he murmured into my hair after he kissed my forehead. "And you escape. Maybe I can talk some sense into them."

"I don't think they'll be too interested in talking. They'll just try to kill you."

"Don't be so sure. I have a strange feeling that Gareth will want to see me personally. Find out how we beat the system. I'll be questioned before they kill me."

"Rogan …" My throat constricted at the thought.

"Here it is!" Joe shouted, sounding very relieved. "I found it! I just need to put it on a minidisk for you."

He opened a drawer next to him and fumbled through a variety of objects that included a half-eaten banana. He closed his fingers around a small blue plastic disk about the size of a quarter, pushed it into the slot on the side of the computer, and clicked a few keys. After another moment he pulled it out and handed it to Rogan.

'Take this. If you can get into that room-and I don't have any goddamned idea how you're going to do that- put this into the AI server. If it's going to work, that should do it."

Rogan studied the disk with a frown. "How will I know if it worked?"

Joe hesitated. "That's a good fucking question. I figure if it works you'll still be breathing."

"Great," Rogan said dryly. He eyed me, then looked at Joe again. "Is there a back way out of here?"

Joe swallowed hard. "Unfortunately, no. But now that I think of it, that would have been a really good idea. Escape routes, and all that."

The pounding on the front door increased. We were cornered, with only one way out.

I heard the front door begin to splinter open and I held a hand out to Rogan. "Give me the disk."

"What are you going to do with it?"

"I'll hide it in my bra."

He raised an eyebrow. "I didn't even know you were still wearing a bra."

"A lady has her secrets."

With only another moment of hesitation he handed it to me. "And you'll be giving that back to me when?"

"As soon as I can."

He forced a smile. "I just thought of something funny."

"Oh, do share. I could use a laugh right about now."

"I had no idea how I was going to break into Ellis Enterprises without getting caught. Security's pretty tight."

"Yeah, I bet it is." I blinked. "You think that's where they're going to take us?"

"I'm thinking it's a definite possibility."

I was hoping. I really was. I tucked the minidisk into my bra. Rogan took my hand in his, brought it to his mouth, and kissed it.

Then I heard several sets of feet pound down the staircase as Gareth's men came for us.

Ellis Enterprises was a twenty-floor building made of silver and glass that sat in an otherwise empty section of the city like a cold, sparkling gem under the overcast skies. I saw it from the comer of my eye as the car carrying the four men in white coats that had captured Rogan and myself drove toward it.