Ramez Naam - Nexus

The bodyguards looked at their boss, uncertain what to do. Ted Prat-Nung slowly turned his head to look at Narong, stared down the barrel of the gun.

"No," Ted Prat-Nung said. "If you shoot me, you die. You put down your gun."

The expressions on the faces of the bodyguards hardened, turned grim.

I won't let them, Kade had told her.

Narong… Kade looked closer at Narong's mind. There. That wasn't Nexus 3… That was Nexus 5, Kade's technology. Which meant that the ERD had done just what Shu had said they would.

They won't ask your permission , she'd scoffed.

But that also meant that the back doors he and Rangan had installed…

Narong took a step closer to Ted Prat-Nung, brought the gun even closer to his head. "You're all surrounded. Drop your weapons and this can end peacefully. You have three seconds to comply.

"Three…"

No one will use what I've built as a weapon, Kade told himself. Ever.

He sent one of the back door passwords. Narong's mind opened to him.

"Two…"

He reached inside Narong's mind, grasped for the control he needed.

"One."

Kade flexed his will as the word came out of Narong's mouth. A muscle twitched in Ted Prat-Nung's jaw. One of his bodyguards jerked his hand for his weapon.

"No," Kade said.

Narong's eyes rolled into the back of his head. The gun fell from his limp hand. His knees started to buckle.

A burst from a submachine gun tore through Narong's midsection. One of the bodyguards had his weapon out, the barrel practically buried in Narong's stomach. Narong crumpled to the ground. Kade stared in dismay.

Ted Prat-Nung turned to look at Kade. "Who are you?" he asked. All three of his men had their guns out, pointed at Kade now.

The door exploded inwards.

Garrett Nichols watched on the edge of his seat as Jane Kim operated November-1. "You have three seconds to comply." Kim caused the words to come out of November-1's mouth. "Three…"

"Two…"

"One."

Kim issued the command to fire one shot into the target's gut. Nothing happened. Onscreen, the feed from November-1 ceased. Nichols flicked his eyes to the displays from the in-room camera. Gunfire. November-1 was collapsing to the ground, hit. The bodyguards all had their guns out. Everyone was looking at Lane.

"Fuck," Nichols said. "Move in! Move in!"

Teams A and B hit the buttons to blow the doors and burst into the room.

ABORT! CIVILIANS IN DANGER! CIVILIANS IN DANGER!

Someone overrode Sam's command. Fuck. She jumped to her feet. She was unarmed. On her display another friendly asset appeared, just meters from Prat-Nung and from Kade. She hurried into the hallway. Oh no. Mai was there, at the edge of the living room, peering in. Sam had to get the girl away from the danger.

She crept quietly down the hall, reached out with her mind to Mai at the same time. Come here, Mai. Come play with me. She sent it as images, vignettes of them together in the room, safe, playing with the dolls.

Mai turned her head, delightedly, smiled at Sam. She had Monkey in her arms.

The back door at the end of the hall exploded inwards. It knocked Sam off her feet. ERD mercenaries were moving in. The sound of tranq rounds filled the air. Submachine gun fire answered it. Oh, fuck.

The front door exploded inwards. Kade threw himself to the ground, saw Ted Prat-Nung do the same. Someone was shooting from the door, two men in black. Something whizzed above Kade's head. Darts embedded themselves in the bodyguards.

The three bodyguards fired at the doorway, full auto. Muzzle flashes filled the room in gouts of foot-long flame from the tips of the guns. Kade heard a cry of pain. A figure in the doorway toppled, the second ducked back out of sight. Ted Prat-Nung crouched behind a chair. Kade flinched back into a doorway.

• • • •

"Man down!" Bruce Williams called out. "Casualty on Team A. Punched straight through the armor. Tranq rounds ineffective."

Oh shit, Nichols thought. Antibodies. Those fuckers have been inoculated against our tranq.

The tech was evolving too fast. It was getting out too fast. Now people were going to die.

"Switch to lethal rounds," he ordered. "Take those fuckers down."

The bodyguards crouched, spread out, kept their submachine guns trained at the ruined front door. Smoke and dust filled the air. Lalana was on the ground, a bullet in her leg, screaming. Niran picked her up, ran towards the hall with her.

Automatic gunfire burst out from the doorway, cut Niran in half. Bullets passed through him, took one of Prat-Nung's bodyguards in the thigh. The bodyguard fell to one knee, returning fire as he did. The others opened fire on the door. Lalana's head exploded in the crossfire. Kade gasped as her mind winked out.

Ted Prat-Nung pulled a machine pistol from his waist, glanced out from around his chair, a scowl on his face.

Sam shook off the explosion of the door, looked up. Submachine gun fire came from the living room. Mai's smile had turned to terror. She was facing Sam, looking past her, backing away towards the living room and the sounds of fighting.

No!!! Sam sent. No!!!!

Someone grabbed Sam's arm, lifted her up.

"Blackbird, you hit? Where's Canary?"

The voice came out muffled through his facemask. Sam was still staring at Mai, trying to will her back away from the shooting, towards safety.

A trench coated bodyguard came into view, crouched down low, backing into the hallway. He looked behind him, saw the agents coming in, whirled to fire. The merc next to Sam reacted faster, brought his rifle up, pulled the trigger. Muzzle fire erupted from his gun.

NO!!!! Mai was in the line of fire!

Sam threw herself against the soldier, slammed him into the wall. Bullets whizzed past them. Mai screamed, paralyzed, standing upright in the crossfire, horror emanating from her.

The man Sam had slammed was stunned. More fire came from the door behind her. A round grazed her shoulder. Sam acted on instinct, turned the one she'd slammed against the wall, steered him towards the team coming in, covered his hand with hers and pulled the trigger with his finger.

Bullets slammed into the man she held, sent her staggering back with him. She fired wildly at the back door, barely able to aim the assault rifle in the man's hand, held down his finger on the trigger until the clip was empty, saw one of the incoming figures fall.

"What the fuck?" Garrett Nichols yelled.

Bruce Williams shook his head. "Two down in B team, sir. Blackbird just took down two of our own!"

"Tell her to stand the fuck down!" Nichols ordered. "Take her down if you have to. Alive!"

He surveyed the displays. Three of the assault team dead. All the bodyguards down, at least one dead for certain. Ted PratNung unaccounted-for. What a clusterfuck.

"And send in Team C!"

Silence. Sobbing. Sam let go of the man in front of her and he slumped to the ground. She whirled.

Where was Mai?

She saw Prat-Nung's bodyguard first. Dead, a bloody crater where his face had once been. There, Mai. Sam ran, crouched down next to the girl. There was blood all over her. Her eyes were closed. There was pain, pain, pain emanating from her mind. She was hit. Once, twice, three times. Bullets from the incoming ERD mercenaries had lifted her up and thrown her down the hall. Her tiny body had been half ripped apart, her toy Monkey reduced to shreds. Her mind was fading.

NOOOOOO!

Mai opened her eyes, tried to smile up at Sam.

I love you, Sam , her mind seemed to say.

And then she was gone.

Madness descended on Samantha Cataranes.

Someone slammed into her from behind. An agent. Sam rolled with it, threw him off her. There was another burst of gunfire from the living room, a yell of pain. She could hear screaming, sobbing, cries for help. She felt them in her mind. Another agent came at her from the side. She blocked a kick, took him down with a single blow to the face.