Czarina screwed her face up in protest. ‘Fine. I’ll do it.’
Sophia handed her the scalpel and stepped away. She couldn’t pick up on any hostile pheromones from Czarina, but she kept a safe distance to be sure.
‘Once you’ve thrown the implant out the window, we move to the next station,’ Sophia said. ‘I need to get above ground so I can get in touch with everyone.’
Czarina made the incision over the RFID implant in her forearm. ‘And then what happens?’
‘I’m working on that,’ Sophia said.
‘Can I ask you something?’ Czarina said. ‘What’s it like?’
‘What’s what like?’ Sophia said.
‘Not being an operative.’
Sophia shook her head. ‘Ask me later,’ she said. ‘Just get rid of that implant first.’
Chapter 35
Jay checked his pink iPhone. No missed calls or messages. Damien was to take the Marauder north, away from Hurricane Isaias. The north end of Manhattan was their best chance of escape, across the Harlem River to the Bronx. The Harlem wasn’t actually a river but a tidal channel and estuary. Even in Jay’s condition, he figured he could swim it if he had to.
But instead of going north, Damien had taken the Marauder in the opposite direction: right into the hurricane as it shattered downtown. With the rear doors finally closed and one of its wheels ripped and dislocated, the Marauder somehow managed to continue at top speed. Jay had strapped himself into the seat nearest the driver’s cabin. While there was glass between them, he could still speak to Damien and Damien could still constantly check on him to make sure he hadn’t passed out or whatever. Which he hadn’t. At least as far as he knew.
The rain was lighter than he expected, drumming against Damien’s windscreen. Around them, cars were fractured wrecks, streetlamps bent and twisted, storefronts obliterated. And Damien was moving even further into the epicenter. The Marauder could withstand the most powerful of land mines and explosives, but Jay wasn’t sure it had been tested against a Category 5 hurricane. Despite its weight, it shuddered under the pressure of the wind.
Jay had lost track of how far south Damien had taken them but he recognized the wrought-iron fences of the square park. During his short stay a couple of years back he had gone there a lot, with and without Damien. He remembered the dogs always outnumbered the owners. He’d never had a dog, but there were plenty of strays around where he grew up.
This park stuck in his memory though. He used to grab a takeout mac ‘n’ cheese — mostly because he didn’t want to be seen eating alone in the restaurant — and instead be seen eating it alone in the park, picking at a cardboard box with a plastic fork. He’d order the gluten free version — mostly because Damien would guilt him into at least partially keeping within the operative diet — but he made sure to get three types of meat and a fair shake of Tabasco.
Now, the park was empty. The many dogs and their owners were long gone. Damien turned right and worked his way around the perimeter, dodging collapsed streetlights. Jay figured he was trying for Williamsburg Bridge. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that.
He’d urged Damien to search the dead driver next to him for a radio but the masked Blue Berets had switched frequencies already.
‘What’s the plan?’ Jay said, knocking on the glass.
They made it as far as a shuttered-up flowers and fruit market before Jay noticed something strange ahead. It was hazy, indistinct.
‘Get out of range,’ Damien said. ‘Which unfortunately means—’
‘That?’ Jay said, staring ahead of them.
‘Shit,’ Damien said.
Water rushed toward them. An angry surge of white foam whipped up by the hurricane wind. Damien couldn’t do anything about it. The Marauder was a slow stopper and a slow starter, and its turning circle was pretty shit too. Damien did the only thing he could do.
He went straight through.
The wave hit the Marauder with a thud. It was louder than Jay expected and for a moment he thought the armored vehicle would be ripped apart. The windows were filled with fierce white. He couldn’t see anything else, but he held on as the Marauder bucked and shuddered through the collision.
The Marauder lifted off the road and tumbled — only to land violently on the road again. Jay gripped his seat and the handrail above, elbows and knees bent. He braced himself. The white cleared from the water. It became a dark, almost impenetrable color. He could hear — and feel — the water surging over them, around them.
Damien’s eyes were wide. He looked unnerved. Jay relaxed his hands and knocked on the glass.
‘Hey,’ he said. ‘You OK?’
Damien took a moment to snap out of it. ‘I don’t know.’
‘It’s fine, the water will drop,’ Jay said. ‘OK?’
Damien nodded, not convinced.
The Marauder was back on the road, at a standstill.
Around them, the water’s surface lapped past the Marauder, past the side windows. The wave was gone and the water dropped below the windows, below Jay, below his legs, and found its level somewhere around ankle-height.
‘That might make it difficult for them,’ Jay said.
Damien was back to normal now. He tried to start the vehicle again. It didn’t sound promising.
‘Engine block’s flooded,’ Damien said.
Damien’s phone started vibrating. He put it on speaker. Jay could hear Sophia’s voice.
‘Do you have the meteorite?’ Sophia asked.
‘We’re doing great, thanks,’ Jay called out through the partition glass. ‘We have your rock too, by the way.’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ Sophia said. ‘Denton only needs one more rock and the masked Blue Berets have it. I’ll need your help to—’
‘We’re having enough trouble keeping their hands off this one!’ Jay said through the glass partition.
There was a pause.
‘Who?’ Sophia said. ‘Who is trying to track you?’
‘Fuck me,’ Jay said, ‘Who isn’t? The masked dudes, the operatives—’
‘That doesn’t make any sense,’ Sophia said. ‘How long since the operatives were chasing you?’
‘They almost got us near Grand Central,’ Jay said. ‘You’re tracking them, take a look for yourself,’ Jay said.
There was a short pause.
‘Every operative on the island is moving in your direction,’ Sophia said. ‘They’re not too close yet but that doesn’t make any — shit.’
‘You there?’ Damien said.
‘Denton’s misdirecting us,’ Sophia said. ‘He doesn’t want the meteorite from Peru at all. He wants the meteorite from the museum. The one you have. Aviary, are you there?’
Aviary’s voice came through the channel. ‘Yeah, we’re here.’
‘Good. Damien, Jay, where are you now?’ Sophia said.
‘East Village,’ Damien said. ‘But we have a problem.’
‘No, we have multiple goddamn problems,’ Sophia said. She didn’t sound happy. ‘What’s this one?’
‘Jay’s hurt,’ Damien said.
‘How badly?’ Nasira called out, her voice tinny as she spoke from somewhere near Aviary.
‘Took a round through the stomach,’ Damien said. ‘Look, it’s OK. He’s healing but he can’t really—’
‘Move,’ Sophia said. ‘I understand.’
‘Hey guys, I need you to hit the location button on your screen,’ Aviary said. ‘Right now.’
Jay peered over and saw that Damien was on a conference call with two people — one was Sophia and the other he figured was Aviary. They were labeled with the first letters of their names and they lit up whenever they spoke.