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  It felt like a long time before he spotted something suitable and pulled the car round with a jerk that had the captain grousing. He crept the car along and scanned the closed-up shops and businesses, ignoring the questioning stare he could feel coming from Hugo. The occasional civilian flyer zoomed overhead though thankfully nothing with flashing lights or sirens, and he allowed himself to breathe normally. Turning another corner he found another street of shut up shops that was even more deserted than the last and decided there wasn’t much else for it but to chance it. He pulled over and cut the engine, trying to avoid the clearest angle on the nearest street camera.

  “Where are we?”

  “No idea. But I think I’ve found what we need. Sit tight.”

  “Wait,” Hugo snapped as Webb opened the door.

  “For fuck's sake, will you just trust me?”

  “Wait, Webb. That's an order.”

  Webb had little choice since the captain had used his good hand to lock a death-grip on his sleeve. He swore again, painfully aware of the seconds ticking by, and turned back.

  “You look like shit,” Hugo muttered, scowling at him.

  “Yes, I am aware, Captain, now let me go, we don't have time -”

  “No,” Hugo snapped. “I mean...just look.”

  Webb followed the captain's gesture and took a proper look at himself in the rear view mirror and grimaced. What little of his face that was not mired with dirt was covered in blood from a cut over his eyebrow. His hair was stiff with more of the same and his clothes were a scorched and bloody mess. Anyone even catching half a glance of him would call the emergency services, either before or after screaming bloody murder.

  “Okay. I take your point,” Webb muttered.

  Hugo was already trying to work his way out of his coat which, though dusty and dirty, was long and more or less in one piece.

  “Here,” Webb said and leant in to help. Hugo threw him a look but didn't argue and Webb managed to untangle him from it with only the minimum of muttered curses. Webb pulled the coat on over his ripped boiler suit then pulled off his hat, scraped back and re-tied his hair then dusted off the cap as best he could before pulling it back on, tugging it low on his face, hoping it would hide most of the blood. Then he scrambled out of the car.

  The night air had a bite of chill and he shivered. He pulled the coat tight around him and ducked his head, moving up the street as sedately as he could manage, all the while forcing himself not to limp. The drug store he had spotted was at a bad angle for the street camera but he still looked up and down the street twice before setting to work on the keypad by the door. It took him longer than it would have done normally to crack the code. The waves of nausea and dizziness washing through him were getting harder to push aside. He cursed as he struggled to focus but eventually the doors hissed open and he let out a shuddering breath, slipping inside. He found the control box to the alarm system near the door and disabled it with less trouble and moved down the rows of shelves to the shop counter.

  He muttered another prayer of thanks when he saw that the store's till system was connected to the solarnet, even if it was old and took its time booting up. He resisted the urge to kick it, slumping in a chair and rubbing his eyes. There was a bit of stalling and static, partially his codes talking their way around the Zero's security settings and partly the drug store's ancient connection, and then finally Rami's face flickered into focus.

  “Commander?” Webb saw her trying to fight a smile. “It's good to see you.”

  “Likewise,” Webb replied, feeling a smile spread across his own face.

  “I know how you like to keep us on our toes, Zeek but...” she paused and her brow furrowed as as she took in his appearance. “What happened?”

  “No time to explain,” he sighed, “but please, God, tell me you're not still dirtside?”

  “No. When you weren't at the drop off point we retreated back to orbit.”

  “Thank fuck.”

  “What's going on?”

  Webb shook his head. “Something's not right,” he said. “Maintain comm silence until further notice. We can't get back to the drop off point, it's too close to the base. Is there anywhere else nearby you could come get us?”

  She glanced off screen and tapped some keys. He felt his heart sink as her face darkened. “You're in a pretty sticky location. There's civilian monitoring stations everywhere.”

  “There must be something.”

  He saw her jaw tighten. “There's an abandoned air field to the north, about sixty miles. We may be able to slip through the monitoring there, if we're quick.”

  “Nothing closer?”

  Rami shook her head. “Only if we risk getting picked up on the local scans.”

  “No,” Webb said, rubbing his eyes. “AI will be monitoring them. Fuck it. We'll be at the airfield in an hour... have the medbay ready.”

  “The captain?”

  Webb shook his head. “Not good. This whole thing stinks, Rami. I think they knew we were coming.” She blanched. “Yeah,” he said, grinding his teeth. “Right. Time to haul ass. Oh, Rami...”

  “Don't worry,” she gave a tight smile. “Already wiping the store's camera banks.”

  “And the street cameras too,” he replied, smiling himself. “See you in an hour.”

  “Better had. Out.”

  The screen went blank. Webb glanced at his wrist panel, with the captain's heartbeat still flashing in the corner. He pulled up the local area map, worked out a route to the airfield, then hauled himself upright.

  He loaded the pockets of the coat and boiler suit with pain killers, bottles of water and energy drinks. He opened and downed one of the bitter drinks as he hobbled back to the doors. The waves of pain coupled with exhaustion were threatening to pull him under. He blinked back the grey tickling at the corners of his vision. All they would need right now would be for him to fall asleep at the wheel.

  The dark street was still deserted. Panic jolted him when he got back to the car and it appeared to be empty, but then saw the captain had laid himself out of sight across the front seats. He started as Webb pulled the door open, pulling himself upright with difficulty. In the thin street light his skin looked grey and he even forgot to scowl.

  “Here,” Webb said, dumping his supplies in the driver's seat and shouldering himself out of the coat. The captain’s lack of protest as he wrapped the coat around his shoulders was more worrying than the colour of his skin. He opened a bottle of water and handed it over. Hugo took it without a word and dutifully sipped, eyes closed.

  “Report,” he croaked as Webb cleared and then clambered back into the driver's seat.

  “We've got a rendezvous an hour to the north.”

  Hugo didn't reply but his gaze slid sideways as Webb swallowed some pain pills. “Status?”

  “Damn site better than you, Captain,” Webb muttered, blinking through the dizziness and opened another energy drink. The car growled to life and they pulled out. Webb concentrated on not going too fast though his pulse was pounding in his ears and his skin was itching with the sensation of being watched. Even when they pulled out onto better lit roads with more traffic and no one paid them any mind, he couldn't entirely shake the feeling.

  He slid another glance at the captain's pale face and switched on the radio, fiddling until he found some loud music.

  “Sorry sir,” he said in response to Hugo's scowl. “But you need to try and stay awake.”

  Webb saw him grit his teeth but he didn't reply. Webb let the music fill him and anchor him, whilst he wove in and out of the traffic, bearing always north. He didn't breathe easily again until they pulled off onto another side street and the traffic diminished. He was just daring to think that maybe they were going to get out of the town unseen when sirens started blaring somewhere behind them and lights began flashing in the rear view. His hands tightened on the wheel and he threw a glance over his shoulder.

  “Shit. Guess that's our luck all up. Buckle up, C
aptain.”

  The captain swore as the car leaped forward. The radio was lost in the roaring of the engine. Webb overtook the little traffic there was at a speed that jerked them about in their seats.

  “Jeeps,” the captain said.

  Webb spared a glance from the road to see the captain had produced some binoculars and was craning to look out the rear windscreen.

  “AI and not local enforcement, then,” Webb gritted. He flung them around a bend in the road just as there was a roaring whine and blinding light as two flyers sped overhead. “Shit, shit, shit.”

  “If they were going to shoot us we'd be dead already,” Hugo said.

  Webb muttered darkly as they hurtled around another bend. The road inclined steadily as they climbed further up the mountain. It was worse than he'd thought from what he'd seen on the maps, twisting and dark. The captain used his binoculars to keep an eye out the back to start with, but Webb soon noticed the knuckles of his good hand were white and he locked his gaze ahead.

  Eventually, even though Webb was the more reckless driver, the fact that the company men knew the roads and were in more powerful vehicles began to show. Their four-by-fours ate the road hungrily and it wasn't long before the headlights were flashing in his rear view again.

  “How much further?”

  “Not far. Hang on, captain,” Webb warned and flung them off the main road and onto a dirt track that had been almost hidden in the trees. The little car jerked and bucked beneath them. The captain grunted and Webb felt a hiss of his own escape his teeth. He blinked past the pain and the tyres bit into the dirt, and they sped off in a cloud of dust and grinding wheels. The flyers did another pass overhead, their lights washing the gaps between the trees in white. Webb cursed again but managed to keep on track. When headlights didn't reappear behind he dared hope they hadn't noticed their change in direction.

  “The flyers will have scanners,” Hugo grunted.

  “We just need to keep ahead a little longer... fuck.”

  “What?”

  “We're early,” Webb said, looking back from his wrist panel out the front.

  “How early?”

  “The Zero's not due for another twenty minutes.”

  Webb didn't hear the captain's reply as the car pitched through a rough part of the track. When the headlight beams levelled out again he slammed on the brakes to stop them ploughing into a pair of metal gates. When the dust cleared he leant forward, seeing the solid iron loom up out of sight into the dark above them. There was wire fencing scattered with signs so old and rusted it was impossible to tell what they had once said.

  “This is it.”

  “What is it?”

  “Our rendezvous site. It's an abandoned airfield. Sit tight.”

  Webb didn't wait for the captain to answer but scrambled out. Above the rasping of his breathing there was nothing beside the low hum of the resting car engine. He strained his ears and picked up the distant, faint whine of flyer engines. He shook himself and limped over to the control panel for the gates. He shed the baseball cap, scraping his stiff hair back from his face and pulled the front off the rusted control box. His heart sank when he saw the state of the wiring underneath, all mildewed and cracked. He pulled off his gloves and wiped his hands on his trousers to try and get rid of the worst of the sweat.

  It was just as he was reaching in to try and start rewiring that he heard the sound of tyres gritting on dirt and engines growling in the distance.

  “Shit.” His heart hammered in his ears and his fingers shook as he pulled and rearranged the wires. “Come on, for fuck's sake. Come on.”

  The wires sparked but nothing happened. He was spitting more curses when he felt a hand on his shoulder and jumped.

  “You're shaking too much. Get ready to drive.”

  Webb let out a breath and obeyed without argument for once. The captain bent to the control panel as Webb scrambled back to the car. He was just shutting the car door and checking it was ready to go when, with a grinding of protesting metal, the gates began to swing inwards.

  “Yes,” Webb crowed, impressed despite himself. “Nice one, Captain. Now get your ass back here.”

  The captain dropped himself back into the passenger seat and Webb was motoring forward before he'd even shut the door. He could see flashes of headlights in the trees behind them. The gates had opened about half way and lumbered to a stop but the gap was just big enough for the civilian vehicle to squeeze through.

  “Fingers crossed it's too narrow for the Jeeps,” he mumbled. The captain grunted. One glance at his wrist panel told him there was no way it would delay them long enough.

  The car sped through a maze of track and crumbled buildings before careening out onto an old runway. All they could see in the glow of the headlights was the ancient stretch of tarmac with grass growing high in clumps in the cracks and darkness beyond.

  “How much longer?”

  “Too damn long.”

  A derelict control tower appeared ahead and Webb made for it. He pulled outside the entrance and killed the car's engine before clambering from the car and moving round to the captain's door. Hugo was already struggling out of the seat. Ignoring the captain's protests and grunts of pain Webb grabbed his good arm and heaved it up over his shoulders. Once they were upright they staggered towards the doors.

  Webb didn't know how they made it but they did. He kicked the door open and they stumbled inside. He attempted to lower the captain to the floor gently but ended up half falling and dumping Hugo onto the concrete. Resting on his knees, he hung his head and clutched his ribs. The sweat dripped from the ends of his hair and he spent a minute fighting the urge to vomit.

  When he blinked himself back into a state where he could focus, he saw the captain had propped himself against the wall, good arm over his abdomen and face screwed up in agony. It wasn't long before the sounds of tyres in the distance filtered through to them and the flashing of approaching headlights appeared on the walls around them.

  His wrist panel told him there was still twelve minutes to go before the Zero showed up.

  “Captain. Captain Hugo?” He had to say it twice before the captain opened his eyes. “I'm gonna draw them off.”

  The captain made an inarticulate noise of protest.

  “We don't have a choice, sir,” Webb replied, gathering together the remnants of his strength to haul himself to his feet. “The Zero will be here in eleven minutes. If I can just keep them off that long -”

  “No, Webb,” the captain croaked. “That's an order.”

  “Sorry sir,” he said and attempted to grin. “You'll have to throw me in the brig when I come back.”

  “Commander,” the captain croaked as Webb half staggered, half fell back towards the door.

  “I'll be back. Trust me.”

  “Webb! Come back, come back now! That's an order! Damn it, Webb!”

  The door swung shut behind Webb, muffling Hugo's shouts. Headlights bobbed in the distance. He took a deep breath and dumped himself back behind the wheel of the car. The engine screamed as he tore it back to life and he threw the wheel round, powering back the way they'd come. He turned the headlights on full beam and was gratified to see the lights of the AI Jeeps turn his way. He actually laughed as he sped across the open space, the enemy gaining all the time but leaving the control tower behind.

  A wire fence loomed ahead. He went at it head on, shutting his eyes at the last minute but not letting up on the accelerator. There was a sickening lurch and a crunch and blackness threatened to take him under, but when his vision returned he saw he was through the fence and powering along another dirt road. Heart in his mouth, he kept moving and felt the track smooth out under him as he hauled the car back out onto the main road and turned it uphill.

  The one working headlight showed the incline steepening. On his right, the sheer cliff face arched up into darkness. On his left, a low iron barrier and then nothingness.

  Even better, he thought. The company men
were bound to take these corners more carefully than him. And sure enough, forcing his awareness above the hammering of his pulse that scoured pain through his limbs, he realised the pursuit was falling back. The flyers still made their passes overhead, trying to blind and confuse him with their sweeping lights, but he pressed on. He just needed a bit more ground.

  He took the next corner so fast that two wheels left the road but then swore when the blinking lights of a road block came into sight up ahead.

  “Fuck it all,” he said and steeled himself. His sensible side made him slow before opening the driver's door and flinging himself out. There was a sickening moment of nothingness then everything was pain, heat, spinning, then it all went black.

  V

  Hugo cursed Webb in every language he knew. He had tried to scramble after him but his good hand had closed on nothing and the momentum tipped him forward onto his face. He landed on his broken arm and for a minute knew only white light. He came to a couple of seconds later, just in time to hear tyres screech and see the lights that had been flashing on the walls turn in another direction and fade away.

  “Damn him, damn him to Hell.” Hugo clung to his anger, fired it and fed it, not wanting to face what was underneath. When he stopped his cursing he realised how quiet it had become. The air was dark and tasted like dust. There was still five minutes until the Zero would arrive and he had to stay awake, had to get his crew scrambled and send them after Webb. He had to get him back safe so he could kick his insubordinate ass.

  Everything swirled in and out of focus and he tried desperately to gather enough energy to watch the little green light still flashing away in the corner of his wrist panel. He breathed in and out, feeling his own pulse racing along with the fevered blinking. Then it went blank. Hugo shook the panel, tapped it with his finger. Still nothing.

  “No,” he ground out. “No...Webb, you bastard!”

  The drone of ship engines filled the air and the lobby was flooded with light. The ground shuddered below him and more dust rained down from above. The door flung open and he didn't even try to deny the relief that flooded him when Sub and Bolt's hulking figures filled the doorway. He saw them cast a glance round, note that he was alone and move forward without a word.