It had taken Volkov and his investors three years to get this city up and running. Tempest destroyed it in under an hour.
I watched him trudge through the centre of the city as I made my way across the bridge. He was proud of himself; I could tell by the way he thrust his chest out, challenging anyone to come take his kills away from him. The bridge trembled beneath me with every step Tempest took, even as far away as he was. He still circled Volkov building. Every now and then I’d see him thrust his claws down, probably crushing anyone trying to flee the building. He was big, but he was quick, and it seemed his eyesight was keen.
A little red light flashed in the sky, just above Volkov building. A helicopter’s running light. As Tempest turned his back on his circuit around the building, the chopper began to rise.
Tempest’s head snapped around and his massive arm shot out. The chopper swerved, evasive manoeuvers, but Tempest’s claws closed on it, catching it like Mr Miyagi catches flies. Tempest roared, then brought the chopper up to his face, examining it.
He’s looking for Volkov, I realised. Tempest turned the helicopter back and forth in his claws. Then, growing suddenly uninterested, he tossed it casually into the city ruins. The chopper spun end over end and disappeared out of my sight behind a half-demolished apartment building.
My head was finally clearing. I’d used the supplies in my meagre first aid kit to bandage my bitten hand. Now I was halfway across the bridge, staying in the shadow of the pylons. With every step, Tempest appeared to grow bigger, and the destruction ahead of me seemed worse. I could hear the crackle of the fires spreading through the ruins of the city, out to the suburbs that hadn’t been as badly damaged.
I brought the walkie up. “You still there, Lindsey?”
“Yeah. But I’m starting to wonder why. We’ve taken shelter in Jiger Street Station. Chiaki’s passed out. We got her patched up a bit, but she’s not looking great.”
“I know this is hard,” I said. “It’s not exactly a bag of laughs over here either. But I need you on your game. Su-jin, too.”
Lindsey was silent for a minute. When she came back through the static, I thought I heard a faint sobbing somewhere in the background. “What do you need?”
“Before Tempest broke impulse control, a witness placed Priya Dasari at the scene the night Yllia died.”
“You think Yllia’s own handler killed her?”
“Maybe.”
“Where is she now?” Lindsey said.
“That’s the thing. She was with Healy when Tempest broke free. When I found him, she was gone. I saw footsteps leading away. So my guess is she’s alive. And you’re going to find her.”
“Great. Searching an entire destroyed city for one little Indian girl. What was that you were saying about a bucket of laughs?”
I approached a company sedan sitting abandoned on the bridge, its driver’s door wide open. I peeked inside. Keys in the ignition. I got in and closed the door.
“There’s a chance she went back to Psi Division,” I said. “But I doubt it. She knows she can’t hide there. She must know I’m after her. And if we don’t find her, Tempest will come and take out Psi Division sooner or later. I think she’s going to try to make a run for it. You hear if the airstrip’s still running?”
“Word is Tempest flattened it on his way to the city.”
That was about what I’d figured. “Then my guess is Dasari will head to the port. We’ll have to stop her before she gets on a boat.”
“I don’t know about that, Boss.”
“What’s the problem?” I turned the key and brought the car to life. It was risky, taking a car into the city, and I’d probably have to abandon it when the roads became impassable. But we were operating on borrowed time.
“Maybe she’s scared,” Lindsey said. “Maybe she’s planning to run. But I don’t think she’ll go alone.”
Of course. I should’ve thought of that. “You’re right. Her family. Is the hospital still intact?” The hospital was outside the central city. There was a chance Tempest hadn’t crushed it yet.
“Last I heard. We could also do with getting Chiaki some treatment.”
“All right,” I said as I put the car in drive and started driving towards the city. Tempest loomed large ahead of me. “You take Chiaki to the hospital. I’ll meet you there. Put Su-jin on for a minute.”
“Sure.” The static returned for a moment, then Su-jin’s voice came on.
“Mr Escobar,” Su-jin said.
“How are you holding up?”
“We are not in a safe place. I don’t think the station will remain intact if Tempest comes back this way.”
I approached the end of the bridge and pulled off onto a side road, trying to keep as many buildings between myself and Tempest as possible. I drove carefully, slowly, so I didn’t attract his attention.
“You won’t be there long,” I said. “I take it you didn’t stop to let our favourite thug out of the tank before you evacuated?”
“Should I have?”
“To hell with him,” I said. “I thought I’d let you know Cunningham’s dead.”
“That’s…unfortunate.”
“How do you figure?”
“I think the prisoner recognised him.”
I scratched my beard. “Could be he’d been around when Cunningham was doing his story on the MPF.”
“It’s possible,” Su-jin said. “But I believe there was something else. I got the impression that Cunningham was deliberately conducting the interrogation in a way that would not produce any useful information. If Cunningham was still alive, perhaps we could find out why. And what he knew.”
“Shit,” I said. “Well, that’s a dead end now. Did you find out anything else from him or the thug before Tempest attacked?”
“The man was not talkative, even without Cunningham’s influence. I don’t believe he knew much more. But he let one thing slip. He and the one you shot, they worked on the loading docks. That was their cover. But the third man worked in Psi Division, one of the support teams. I was pulling the records when we had to evacuate.”
“You’re thinking the third man might know a little bit more about what they were doing.”
“Yes. He was still unconscious in the hospital when Tempest attacked.”
“Well, maybe we’ll have to go wake him up.”
“Do you want me to interrogate him?” she asked.
“No. Lindsey and I are on our way to the hospital anyway. I need you on something else. Head to Bio, or what’s left of it. Find out who’s alive and what they know. Gordon was supposed to be watching them, but who knows if he’s still alive. We need to find out what killed Yllia and if we can do the same thing to Tempest.” A thought occurred to me. “And if Dr Russell’s alive, I’m going to want to talk to her. She worked with Volkov during the war. Maybe she can shed some light on this fiasco.”
“I think we need to talk to Volkov himself.”
I glanced out the window. As I drove, Tempest’s massive form came into view in the gaps between apartment blocks. He bared his teeth at Volkov Tower, steam rising off his scaled body.
“You’re welcome to try,” I said. “Maybe the Alliance will send in a force in a day or so. If we’re still alive by then, maybe Tempest will be distracted long enough for us to get into the building and ask Volkov some hard questions.”
Su-jin was quiet for so long I thought something must be interfering with the transmission.
“Su-jin?” I asked.
“There may be another way we can distract him,” she said carefully. “We would have to be careful. It may risk more civilian casualties.”
“Come on, spill it.”
“Is Psi Division still intact?”
“As far as I….” Something clicked in my head. I slammed on the brakes. I knew what she was getting at. She was right. It was stupid, dangerous. If it went wrong, it would go very wrong very fast. But it could be the key. It could end up saving what was left of the city, and it might distract Tempest long enough for me to get some alone time with Volkov. I pulled to the side of the road and brought the car around in a squealing U-turn. I didn’t care how much attention I drew now.
“Tell Lindsey she’ll have to go to the hospital without me. Keep me informed. And find Dr Russell.”
I tossed the walkie onto the passenger seat and put my foot down, heading back towards the bridge. Tempest had stomped through the city completely unopposed. He’d killed my colleagues, he’d burned and crushed and eaten his way across the island and we couldn’t do a damn thing to stop him.
Well, maybe it was time he fought someone his own size.
~~~
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