Breakaway Read online

  The stairs were the only alternative to hovers in the Upper Reaches. There were no lifts.

  The Lower Reaches lift she'd used the night she'd saved Leo at The High Flyer only went as high as the Lower Reaches' top floor.

  It was considered too much of a security risk to allow lifts up to the Upper Reaches.

  You used the hovers, or you used the stairs, and the stairs only covered five floors.

  The stairs were only available at all because they made things quicker for office grunts running packages or information between Core Companies, rather than waiting for the hovers. They helped make money, so they were allowed.

  Sofie ran lightly down the one flight she needed to to get to Leo's floor, and as she exited the door, her gaze went to the exec hover platform, to make sure he wasn't already waiting to take one down.

  And there he was.

  She stopped short.

  She wished she didn't feel a zing when she saw him. It was too dangerous. Gave him too much power.

  And yet, she was so glad she was able to feel this much at all since Rach died.

  She realized, belatedly, that he wasn't alone.

  He stood facing a group of people who she immediately pegged as Cores upper management.

  There were two men and a woman, and they had four beefy bodyguards standing behind them.

  Leo had two guards of his own, a man Sofie recognized as Finkle, his head of security, and a woman who'd been Leo's bodyguard on their first date, Dee.

  Leo and the three Cores execs were talking to each other, but their body language made them look like they were walking across Lake Felicitos after an ice snap. Cautious and afraid the ground would give way at any moment.

  They were obviously planning to take an exec hover, standing as they were between the up and down hover platforms.

  She realized with dismay that she couldn't approach Leo now. He was obviously doing a deal.

  A gen-pop hover had come down while she was taking the stairs, and the last of the gen-pop line disappeared inside it. It dropped away, and she noticed an exec hover coming down after it.

  As its roof came into view, Sofie blinked.

  There was a man crouched on the flat silver surface, a laz in his hand.

  She made a sound, some kind of shout perhaps, because Finkle and Dee both glanced at her, then in the direction of her pointed finger.

  But it was too late.

  The assassin on the roof took his first shot, and then pandemonium broke out.

  The four Core guards snapped up their weapons, aiming them at Leo, and Dee and Finkle countered. Finkle also jumped in front of Leo, blocking the assassin's angle, and a Core guard countered his move by edging around to get a better aim at him.

  If the Core guard shot, Finkle was going down, and all of Leo's defenses would go with him.

  Sofie had started running for the platform as soon as she saw the assassin on the roof, and now she put everything she had into it.

  A hover was rising up from below, one of the over-large gen-pop models that took up almost exactly half the circumference of the hoverway. She knew what she had to do--she'd spent her childhood running across the hoverway while Felicitos rose up around her, had seriously talked about hover hopping as a wild teenager--but even so, her heart felt like it was trying to fight itself out of her chest in panic.

  She reached the up platform just as the roof of the gen-pop hover came in line with it and she jumped onto the roof. She took three running leaps across the shortest part of its roof, feeling her shoes slide a bit in the glistening wet, and then used the height it gave her as it lifted up to dock at the platform to fling herself onto the roof of the exec hover that was now stationary, holding itself in place to give the assassin on its roof a good angle to take a shot at Leo.

  The shooter had been concentrating on Leo, trying to find an opening, and she wondered if he'd even noticed her at all.

  He turned at the sound of her landing beside him, laz still pointed in Leo's direction, and his eyes went wide.

  She slid across the roof straight at him, her shoes giving her no grip at all, and she put her hands out and shoved.

  He made a short, sharp sound of surprise and flew off the edge.

  She skittered back, using the push she'd given him as a counterweight to stop herself following him over, then she crouched in the middle of the roof, her hair and clothes sticking to her as they were soaked with falling water, her legs and hands shaking with aftershock.

  Would the shooter be lucky and hit another hover roof on his way down which would break his fall?

  It was a hundred thou from the top of the tethered way station to the ground, but most likely he'd hit a hover before he reached the water tank at the bottom.

  A shout from the platform penetrated her thoughts and she looked across to see what was happening to Leo.

  Everyone at the platform was staring at her.

  Her gaze went to Leo, and he took a step toward her, face slack with surprise.

  At that moment the hover started to move downward, and she didn't know why, but she refused to crouch any more, as if she was afraid.

  She stood and lifted her hand to him in a jaunty salute as she dropped like a stone.

  Chapter 8

  Leo had a lot to say to Muli Vanasta, the head Core manager involved in this little meeting.

  Like whether he knew what was going to happen, and whether his guards had been instructed to make the shooter's job as easy as possible by trying to take down Leo's own people.

  Good thing they'd all been wearing anti-laz layers. Finkle had insisted. He'd felt the first shot the assassin had got off, but it was a glancing blow.

  He didn't have time for questions, though, because Sofie was on the assassin's hover, dropping down into the depths of the hoverway with no weapon, no help.

  He raced to the platform, looking down, and caught a glimpse of her crouched in the middle of the roof, head turned toward the platforms to her right, as if waiting for a chance to jump off.

  It was a long, long way down.

  An imagination-stumping distance.

  His gaze caught on a small maintenance hover just under the lip of the platform, and he sat on the edge, gripped it with both hands, and swung himself down. He scissored his legs, hooked the tiny hover with an ankle, and pulled it toward himself, and dropped in.

  He blinked to get the water out of his eyes, and then switched it on, turned it, and sent it dropping down after Sofie.

  He heard Finkle shout to him from above, but he couldn't risk looking back up.

  He moved around and past a hover stopped at the platform on the floor below, missing it by a hair's breadth, and then hunched over the simple controls, trying to keep track of Sofie and her hover.

  It was dropping fast. Faster than was allowed.

  Twice it slid across into the up stream, also strictly forbidden, and then back into the down steam when it had passed whatever was in its way.

  Leo did the same, but it was easier for him, the maintenance hover was small enough to squeeze between hovers going in both directions.

  Finally, he saw it get stuck.

  Massive gen-pop hovers were docked both in the up and down streams, taking up every available inch, and Sofie's hover slowed to a stop.

  He caught a glimpse of her stepping off the roof's edge onto the rungs of a maintenance ladder fixed to the wall of the hoverway. She pulled herself up cautiously.

  He wondered why she was being so careful, then saw her foot slip on a rung. The falling water was making the going treacherous.

  He was making progress, dropping fast, but she hadn't seen him, her concentration was on the ladder, and the tunnel opening above her head.

  She pulled herself in, and disappeared.

  He'd moved to the outer edge of the hoverway when he saw her grab the ladder, and now he moved as fast as he could to reach the opening.

  A sign on the wall announced the entrance as a maintenance tunnel, an
d his hover fitted through it comfortably, something he hadn't expected. He rode in a little way until a barrier of metal bars forced him to stop.

  He powered down, stepped out, and saw the door set in the grid was open.

  He could hear the patter of water from the hoverway behind him and the noise of the hovers and people at the platforms, but they were almost drowned out by the roar of sound that came from up ahead.

  He pushed through the door and then started after the woman who'd saved his life.

  Again.

  The tunnel was covered in pipes, in places there were so many bracketed to the wall that there was only room for one person to fit through.

  It intersected with other tunnels, and at set intervals there were doors to rooms filled with machinery. Pumps hummed and pipes hammered.

  At every junction, Leo paused, having to make a choice on whether to keep going straight or turn.

  He had a strange feeling of panic, as if he'd get to the end and Sofie would be nowhere to be found, vanished into thin air, a little like his handle on her.

  He reached out again and again, sure he had her measure, only to find his hand empty.

  At the third intersection he heard the sound of footsteps to his right and started down the tunnel cautiously.

  He had seen more than one automaton in the machine rooms, pinchers ready to loosen or tighten valves, but some human intervention would be required.

  He warned himself this might not be Sofie he was following.

  But as he walked around the curve of the tunnel, he caught a glimpse of her just up ahead.

  Then he heard her call out, and his own call of greeting died in his throat.

  He pressed himself up against the wall and edged around and caught sight of Sofie as she threw herself into the arms of a massive man in a maintenance uniform.

  “Sofie-girl.” The man's dark skin gleamed under the harsh tunnel lights as he lifted her up and swung her around. When he set her down, he ran a hand over her wet hair. “How'd you get here?”

  She tipped her head back and laughed. “I flew across the hoverway.”

  He looked at her, waiting, Leo thought, for her to explain the joke, and then he frowned. “What the hell's going on, Sofe?”

  “It's complicated, and I never expected to find you here. When I climbed in the tunnel, I thought the best I would do is find one of the others to pass a message on to you, but finding you in person . . .” She paused a moment, then flung her arms around him again.

  Leo felt a sick lurch in his stomach.

  She let go, stepped back, and pulled something from inside her jacket. “I've been planning on giving this to you for awhile, but things have gotten a little hot. Best you have it now, just in case.”

  “In case what?” The big man folded his arms across a massive chest and stared down at her.

  “In case they get me.” She spoke lightly.

  “And why would they do that, when you cut ties with us a whole year ago?”

  She snorted. “Like that would matter.” She continued to hold whatever was in her hand out to him, and he finally took it, slid it into a pocket without looking at it.

  “This explosive?” He patted the pocket.

  She shrugged. “It's something. Not sure if it's explosive.”

  “And why would they be after you, Sofe? You get sloppy getting this information? Because I can tell you, it doesn't sound worth your life.”

  “I got most of it more than three weeks ago, so no, I don't think I'm in any danger over it.”

  “Then what?” He was still frowning down at her, and then his gaze shifted behind her, hit Leo, and then traveled behind him.

  Leo froze, then felt the cool press of a laz against his neck.

  “What have we here?” The man directly behind him asked conversationally.

  Sofie turned at the sound of his voice, and he watched her eyes widen at the sight of him.

  Then she smiled. It was the same warm welcome she'd given him when he'd come through from her bedroom just two days before.

  “You're okay.”

  He was pushed forward, and rather than look behind him to see who was prodding him, he kept his gaze on her.

  “Thanks to you.”

  The big man she'd been speaking to put a hand on her shoulder. “Sounds like you've got a little explaining to do, Sofe.”

  She angled her head to look back at him, and Leo saw her eyes narrow. “I don't have to explain anything anymore, Zyr. You know that.”

  Zyr frowned back. “You do when you bring strangers into my tunnels.”

  “She didn't bring me, I followed her.” Leo moved toward her, still ignoring the laz at his neck.

  “That's true.” The man behind him with the laz spoke reluctantly. “I was checking up on Sofie like you asked me too. I saw the whole thing. Saw this guy following her.”

  “And who might you be?” Zyr asked Leo, his green eyes shockingly light in his dark face.

  Leo didn't recognize him, but he knew the name Sofie had called him. Zyr was someone he'd wanted to talk to for a long time.

  “This is Leo Gaudier.” Sofie stepped forward, her eyes searching his face as if looking for signs of injury.

  “Oh, hell. Sofie-girl, you've decided to play with the devil?” Zyr's voice was soft. “You want to put a target on your back?”

  She shrugged. “Hi, Sunny.” She gave a little wave, Leo assumed to the man holding a weapon on him. Then she turned to Zyr. “There's a target on his back, not mine. I just keep getting caught up in it.”

  “And instead of walking away, you got involved?” Zyr's voice dripped with annoyance.

  Again she shrugged. “I get to pick my own causes these days. You know that.”

  “Leo Gaudier isn't a cause.”

  Leo lifted his gaze to meet Zyr's. Finally, something they could agree on.

  “She saved lover-boy's life here by jumping across the hoverway.” Sunny's voice took on a strange pitch. “She rode the roofs, man.”

  Zyr went still, shot Sofie a quick look. “That's why you were laughing?” He sounded outraged. “You literally rode the hovers?”

  “We talked about doing it, once. Do you remember?” Her question was soft, ignoring the fear and anger in his tone.

  “We were playing what-if. It was a game.” Zyr's voice softened as well.

  “Well, it wasn't as fun as we thought it would be,” she said. “Or maybe I'm just a more responsible adult now.”

  Her words seemed to snap something in Zyr. He straightened up. “Let's get lover-boy and you somewhere nice and quiet, and we can discuss this without worrying about who's going to come along.”

  She nodded, flicked Leo another glance, as if to check that he was okay with the plan--not that he had any choice, with Sunny's laz pressing into his neck.

  But none of that seemed to matter, because Sunny had called him her lover-boy, and then so had Zyr, and she hadn't once contradicted them.

  Leo followed Sofie as she turned and walked beside Zyr, and decided it was best no one knew how easily he was pleased.

  Chapter 9

  The room Zyr led them to was like those Leo had passed on the way down the tunnel, full of machinery and an automaton.

  This one, though, had a desk with a few drawers, and an old chair that looked like the castoff of a Cores exec.

  If he were to guess, this was Zyr's unofficial office.

  Zyr had been murmuring into his headset since he'd ordered them to follow him, and no sooner had they stepped into the room than a woman in a maintenance overall arrived.

  She glanced at Leo with a degree of hostility, and then flung her arms around Sofie, as if she hadn't seen her in a long time.

  A year, Leo remembered from her conversation with Zyr. She hadn't been part of the resistance for a year.

  It niggled, though.

  She'd known who he was when he'd approached her. So why had she gotten involved with him?

  It seemed she was at least still f
riendly with the members of the resistance, and she may have thought she'd pick up something of interest from him.

  “I don't like the look you're giving my girl, Gaudier.” Zyr's hand came down on his shoulder.

  “What look is that?” Leo shrugged off the hand and turned to face the elusive leader of Tether Town's resistance.

  “Like you're wondering if she got involved with you to pass information to me.” He sent Leo a quick grin. “Not that I'd be sad if she did, but I didn't even know she was seeing you, and the last time she passed me information was four months ago. Even then, it was a favor. She walked away and hasn't been back.”

  “And why is that?”

  “That's hers to tell. I'm assuming from your surprise that you didn't know she used to be one of us.”

  Leo shook his head. “I started to suspect she was more than just an office worker a few nights ago, when she saved my life. I knew it for sure this evening when she saved it again.”

  Zyr whistled. “You don't have good security, do you? I'm surprised.”

  “The first time, my security was bought out by the Cores. Tonight, we were simply overpowered.” At least he had the comfort of knowing Finkle had been prepared to put his life on the line for Leo. He wouldn't have to deal with another betrayal.

  “And you're sure you didn't know who she was? Because I'm betting you chased my girl, not the other way around.”

  “Would you do me a favor?” Leo tried not to snarl. “Would you stop calling her your girl.”

  Zyr grinned again, a quick, joyful flash that reminded Leo of Sofie's own reactions. “She is my girl, because we grew up together. Her sister, Rach, and I, we were a thing, and even when that didn't work out, we were tight. We were family.” Then his expression hardened. “And I don't like the thought of someone trying to use my girl to get to me. So, straight up, did you know who she was?”

  Leo gave him a cool look. “No. But you're right, I have been trying to get in touch with you. How many times have you ignored my messages?”

  Zyr looked down on him. The man was at least three inches taller than Leo, and Leo knew he was well above average.