Did you have anything to do—
Anything to do with what? she answered.
You know what I’m talking about.
I have no idea what you’re talking about.
Alexei was there, I sent. He was right there. He could have gotten killed with the rest of them—
Whatever you’re talking about, I wasn’t involved. I’ve been at Dragan’s, you stupid child, you saw me there yourself. I called him in Render’s Strip, from his apartment, most likely while you were standing right there. Now, tell me what happened. Is Alexei okay?
I paused, confused. That was true, wasn’t it? Dragan had taken a call from her as we arrived at Fang’s. She’d spent the night with him, so she couldn’t have…
Dao-Ming, I—
Never mind, she sent. I’ll contact Dragan. Get your facts straight next time, before you go throwing accusations around.
Wait—
She disconnected.
“Sam?” Alexei asked again, and tugged my shirt. I looked down at him. His face had been smeared with soot, and his eyes were wide, and frightened.
“Come on,” I said to him. “We’ve got to hustle.”
He nodded, and followed as I started down the quickest route home.
Chapter Twelve
By the time we got back to downtown Tùzi-wo, every alert screen on every building and signpost showed footage of the blast while news tickers scrolled messages about the attack. They showed the wrecked distribution centers that got caught in the blast, and images of mangled bodies with their scattered gonzo signs.
“…appears to not have been the work of Pan-Slav terrorists, who typically target food and water supplies,” a voice reported as I passed one of the feeds. “Early speculation is that the Reunification Church members themselves may have been the target of the attack, which may have been carried out by the same mysterious dissident responsible for the propaganda cyberattack during the recent incident at Xinzhongzi.”
I glanced over in surprise and saw an image of my head in silhouette, a screen capture of the video we’d made.
What the hell? I thought, but I could see it for myself.
They’re blaming me.
I picked up the pace, Alexei running to keep up while I messaged Vamp to let him know what happened. The bomb had stirred things up. If he still meant to run his test on the power grid tonight, there could be more heat than he expected.
“Sam,” Alexei said, tugging my sleeve. Vamp didn’t pick up so I tried again, then settled on leaving a message.
“Sam…”
“What?”
I looked ahead at my apartment complex, and saw what Alexei had already seen. Through the lobby window I could see three security guys and I stopped short, pulling Alexei off to one side with me to check them out from across the street. Two watched something on the video screen mounted in the corner while the third one tried to flirt with a woman who looked like she was waiting for someone else.
“Shit,” I muttered. “Shit!”
It couldn’t be coincidence. Had they managed to trace the Xinzhongzi feed already? Did they know it had been me on the video, and the media just hadn’t found out yet?
“We can’t go in,” I said.
“Where, then?”
“Hold on.”
I pinged Dragan on the 3i.
Dragan, security’s staked out at my place. Any idea why?
No, but stand by.
His little heart icon beat for what seemed like forever while he checked into it. I began to get antsy, watching the officers in the lobby while Alexei fidgeted next to me.
Sam, they’re there for you.
What do they want?
Looks like a tip came in about a possible connection to the Xinzhongzi recording.
A tip from who?
It doesn’t say. Look, they’re not there to arrest you so that means they don’t know for sure. You’re just a person of interest for right now. Get out of there for now, and we’ll deal with it.
Where should I go?
Don’t go to my place; it’s the first place they’ll look. Vamp’s been flagged too, so don’t go there. I sent him a warning and it looks like he’s not there anyway.
Then where?
Find someplace to hunker down and lie low. Grab a room somewhere. Can you do that?
Yeah, I think so. Thanks, Dragan.
Be careful, Sam.
I will.
“So we aren’t going in?” Alexei asked. I looked back at my apartment, and the security men waiting there.
“No.”
We had to go somewhere no one would think to look. I thought about Wei’s Hotel but after what happened with the dealers I thought I’d better not chance it. On the 3i, I brought up the Hangfei map and looked for someplace else, the kind of place most people would leave as a last resort. Anyplace else would be filling up already anyway. As I sifted through my limited options, one name in particular jumped out.
“I’ve got it.” I told him. “I know where to go.”
“Where?”
“Baishan Park. We can rent a tube there.”
“Where’s that?”
“It’s going to be a haul, but if they turn the gates back on we can…”
That’s when I realized that I didn’t have my Escher tablet with me. I’d left it on the dresser in my bedroom. It had my cash card inside of it. Not only that, but the gate remote, and…
“Shit.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
The tablet also contained the twistkey to the black hole gate in my closet. The space where I’d stashed my computer tablet, full of evidence, as well as the guns, and Dao-Ming’s explosives.
“Sam…?”
I couldn’t leave without it. If they suspected I might be involved in the incident at Xinzhongzi, they’d bust in there and search the place for sure if they hadn’t already. They’d find the tablet, override the field, and they’d find everything. I couldn’t leave it.
“Okay, Alexei, change of plan.”
I fished my keys out of my pocket, then pulled my work twistkey off the ring and handed it to Alexei.
“This won’t work on the regular gate system,” I told him as he took it. “It’s keyed to the maintenance gate at Ginzho tower. We use them to get to the washer rigging, for work. Do you remember where you and Dragan met me that time for lunch? The access gate?”
He nodded.
“Go there,” I told him. “It’s not part of the regular gate network so it should still work. Take the gate up to the rigging, and wait there for me. No one will find you there.”
“You said don’t go off on my own.”
“I know, but this is an emergency. Go straight there. Don’t talk to anyone. Understand?”
He looked down at the twistkey, and then slipped it in his pocket. “Okay.”
“If I don’t show up or contact you in an hour, then go to Dao-Ming’s. Got it?”
He nodded, and took off. When he’d disappeared into the crowd, I crossed the street, and slipped around the apartment building to the side entrance. I used my badge to open it, and then headed down the hall toward the elevators. As I approached, I could hear the TV blaring in the lobby, along with the voices of the security men.
I stepped through the doorway and banked left toward the elevators, wondering if I shouldn’t keep walking and just take the stairs, when a voice called from behind.
“Xiao-Xing?”