Hammerjack by Marc D. Giller Read Free Book Online

dome and observation deck that looked upon the city of Singapore. The rest of the floors were devoted to exchange, where you could buy and sell tecs, hard currency, recreational stims—the usual menu of stuff that was only legal inside the Zone. It was filled with tourists and businessmen, who hadn’t yet decided whether to evacuate with the others or close their deals first.
    Cray spotted a dozen or so proctors, who stood guard and watched for looters—but no agents. If the Zone Authority knew what was happening, they hadn’t responded yet. That still only left the one agent for him to deal with.
    Come on, you bastard. Where are you?
    Level two, in front of one of the franchise outlets where Sony hawked experimental neuropatches. Cray caught the glint of his body armor as it morphed from silver to black.
    The agent was doing the same thing he was—searching.
    This one’s smarter than the others,
Cray observed. The agent had given himself the high ground and wasn’t trying to make himself obvious. But his rifle was still out, its barrel moving with his eyes, ready to shoot. It was a given that the agents back in the terminal had relayed him an image of Zoe as soon as they made a positive identification. It was also a given that he knew the rest of his team were dead.
    But where’s Zoe?
    Cray followed the business end of the agent’s weapon, looking across the hub toward the twin glass elevators that rose up to the observation deck. One of them was just stopping on the ground floor, not more than twenty meters away from Cray’s position. Through the transparent wall, he saw the doors open and several riders spill out. Only one person was waiting to take it back up.
    The crowd in between blocked Cray’s view. But when the elevator started to rise, he spotted her.
    Zoe was headed for the top floor. Cray swung back over to the second level to see if the agent had made her—but the man was already on the move, heading for the elevator shaft. When Zoe shot past the second floor, the agent halted and locked his rifle.
    He took aim at the elevator.
    Cray’s fingers clamped down on the MFI in his jacket pocket, but the thing was useless. There was nothing he could do but watch.
    He felt the heat of the beam when the agent fired.
    It was just a single burst, but at full power it was more than sufficient. Raw energy slammed into the lift column that ran the length of the shaft, vaporizing metal and blowing the elevator car loose from its magnetic bonds. Cray caught a glimpse of Zoe grabbing the handrail inside the elevator, holding on while she plummeted toward the floor; but then she disappeared behind a curtain of pulverized glass, shards exploding outward as the car collapsed in on itself.
    The hub fell on an unnatural quiet, as if everyone’s heart had stopped beating at the same time. It was only broken by the voice of the agent, who shouted as he bounded down the stairs.
    “Get out of the way!”
    Nobody offered resistance. They were too stunned to do anything but obey. Cray, transfixed by the destruction, shuffled toward the wreckage. By the time he got there, the agent was pushing aside the heavy debris. He had his kill, and now meant to have his trophy.
    “Back off, Alden,” the agent warned him, not even bothering to look back. “You know the way this works. I don’t get the full contract unless I produce a body.”
    “Just that easy,” Cray seethed, getting his anger back. “So how much did Yin put up for this job, anyway?”
    “More than he’s paying
you.
” The agent shook his head in disgust. “Goddamn Collective spooks. You guys think you know everything.”
    “Yeah? So did your buddies back in the terminal.”
    “
Just keep talking, asshole!
” the agent shouted as he whirled around, assuming a combat stance. “Don’t think I’m going to forget what you did back there. Your bosses may think you’re untouchable, but to me you’re just meat.”
    He locked eyes with Cray for a while longer,