‘Looks like that operative I was following, who was captured,’ Aviary said. ‘Same jacket.’
The woman with the carbine moved in step with Sophia, her shoulder pressed against Sophia’s back. They moved as one, covering all angles as a team. Nasira watched them cross between a café and a grid of commuter seating. They opened fire on opposing sides — Sophia punching rounds through her Glock, the other woman with her carbine.
Nasira watched curiously as the woman passed her carbine over Sophia’s back, the barrel aimed at the ceiling to avoid crossing Sophia’s body — very fast, very smooth — as she transitioned quickly from right to left-handed and opened fire again.
‘Operative,’ she said under her breath.
Sophia and her new friend continued from the south to the north wall, both now firing in the same direction. They reached the wall and bounced off again, progressing east along the concourse in a zigzag movement. Always together, always covering.
‘Why does she have a ninja sword?’ Aviary said.
‘Ninja don’t carry swords,’ Nasira said. ‘The more important question is why the fuck is she on point when she’s only got a pea-shooter and an oversized knife. That girl with her is rocking the only stopping power between ’em: she should be on point.’
Aviary shrugged. ‘Well, Sophia does have the Chimera vectors. She can heal faster and take more hits. Their survivability goes up, right? And she’s protecting that operative.’
‘Yeah, real nice of her,’ Nasira said. ‘No good when Sophia cops a round through that fat do-gooder head of hers. Aviary, just hurry up and do what—’
‘Done!’ Aviary said, a grin spreading from ear to ear.
Nasira strode over to inspect Aviary’s screen. It was a map of the subway network and all the operating tunnels. And all the trains.
‘I powered up all the tracks,’ Aviary said. ‘Well, the ones that aren’t flooded — which actually isn’t that many.’
Nasira looked at her. ‘And?’
‘I know where the trains are. We can use the trains,’ she said. ‘We can use all the trains. And I was thinking of growing my hair longer. And other interesting developments.’
‘Great,’ Nasira said.
She heard a voice outside the operations center. Someone was using a loudspeaker to communicate.
‘You’re pinned down and outnumbered,’ the voice boomed. ‘You can walk out now or we can fight this out. One way ends better for you than the other,’ he said. ‘I’ll leave it to you to decide.’
Aviary breathed in and opened her mouth, ready to yell something back, but Nasira planted a hand over her mouth. ‘They’re in the main concourse,’ she said quietly. ‘And they’re not talking to us.’
The voice continued. ‘We have your Peru shipment. You have five minutes to make your decision, Denton. Use your time wisely.’
Nasira noticed the group of masked Blue Berets standing in the main concourse, looking down from the Apple Store mezzanine. One stood in the center, talking on the loudspeaker. He must be their commander, she thought.
‘They don’t know anyone’s in here,’ Nasira said.
‘Are you sure?’ Aviary said.
‘No, I’m not sure,’ Nasira said.
‘Good, just making — oh.’
Chapter 32
Sophia kept moving. If she stopped, she was dead. With Czarina pressed against her back and her bursts of fire making Sophia’s ears ring, Sophia knew she had the support she needed to carve through the distracted clusters of Denton’s Blue Berets. There weren’t many, but they were well trained.
The only reason Sophia and Czarina had made it this far without being torn to ribbons was because Czarina was supposed to be on their side and Sophia was dressed as a Blue Beret — she’d even scavenged a helmet from their first engagement in the dining concourse. Their most effective weapon right now was the element of surprise.
Slave mode scared her.
But right now it was all she had.
Ahead of them, gunfire rattled the concourse and reverberated toward them. It concealed the noise of their footsteps, and for that she was grateful. They moved at the quickest pace they could while glued to each other, which was almost running speed.
Two Blue Berets circled a pillar. They didn’t notice Sophia and Czarina as they crossed behind them. Sophia lashed out with her sword. The Berets turned to see her just as her blade ran across their throats. Two in one. They dropped to their knees, blood shooting from arteries. Czarina aimed her carbine at their chests but held her fire. They continued past, spurting blood showering their legs.
Sophia steered Czarina around the pillar. Ahead, a larger group of Berets appeared to be doing the same thing. They moved forward quickly and aggressively. She presumed they were giving Denton rear support and — given their direction of attention and their reports over the radio — were planning to push past him and take on an opposing force.
This group was four-strong. Since she’d seen them no one had turned to check their rear. An extraordinary oversight for a Special Forces fireteam. Then she realized why. She’d just killed their rear security.
The rearmost pair turned almost as one. They noticed Sophia and Czarina. The pair were probably expecting their own rear security and Sophia was dressed similarly. Except the obvious — blood-slicked sword and the whole being a woman thing.
Their hesitation gave her the fraction of a second she needed to line up the sights on her Glock and punch rounds into the only part of their bodies her rounds could reliably penetrate: their heads.
She emptied her magazine on the move, the slide on her Glock locking to the rear. She’d already released the empty mag and simultaneously picked another from her belt. Her Glock had gotten a workout moving through this concourse and she was already onto her second last magazine. As she released the slide, feeding a fresh round, she noticed her last magazine fall from a torn pouch and skitter across the floor.
She couldn’t go back for it now.
She continued firing, continued moving. Czarina aimed at each Blue Beret and punched a burst into each. The results were devastating. Only one of the highly trained Berets had time to line up his carbine, but he never had the chance to fire.
Sophia and Czarina kept moving, so far without injury. She was surprised she’d made it this far. They reached an octagonal-shaped booth, some sort of information center, with a screen on every face. It provided good concealment, although she wasn’t sure about actual cover. Carbine rounds would slip through without slowing.
Sophia checked her magazine. One goddamn round. And another in the chamber. Czarina was only carrying the carbine and had no pistol mags.
Edging around the south end of the booth, Sophia checked ahead. Gunfire still rang out, filling her already ringing ears. She could make out a circular café in the center, Caffe Pepe Rosso.
And seeking refuge behind it: Denton.
He was alone.
She had two rounds to finish him.
She indicated for Czarina to check the other side for Blue Berets. As she did so, she picked up on movement along the north wall. Czarina saw it too and moved, carbine aimed.
‘Sophia, do you read?’ Nasira’s voice crackled in her ear.
She didn’t have time to respond. She had to make her move now.
Denton would hear the rounds from the north wall while Sophia moved around the south. She crept low, pistol in one hand and sword in the other. She wanted to be sure those rounds would strike his head, and that meant getting a bit closer. He was talking into his microphone and she realized they’d already changed frequencies.
She lip-read him.
‘Stand by, stand by,’ he said.