Hammerjack by Marc D. Giller Read Free Book Online Page A

looking for fear—and finding none. Cray knew that if he showed even a glint of hesitation, the agent would make good on his threat. Instead, Cray turned it right back on him, holding his breath as he did.
    The agent backed off, returning to his dig with renewed vigor. “Okay, bitch,” he said, kicking aside the pile of glass and warped metal. “Where
are
you?”
    The pile came alive and answered him.
    Hands shot up to meet the agent’s face, the sudden burst blinding him with pixel dust and a smear of precise motion. Then Zoe appeared—bones broken, every visible patch of skin matted with blood—but she still knew where to strike first. She knocked the rifle off the agent’s shoulder and spun him around, securing the fingers of her left hand around his throat. Her right hand went for the agent’s arm, jerking it behind his back so hard that it popped loose from his shoulder with a painful snap.
    The agent howled.
    Zoe’s breaths came fast, hyperventilating. Her eyes darted back and forth, settling on nothing for more than a quarter of a second before moving on. The muscles of her arms and legs rippled beneath her secondskin as if they were liquid. The speedtecs had saved her life in the crash—but now they were breaking her down.
    “Zoe,” Cray said. “Zoe, look at me.”
    His voice was low, steady, assured. He didn’t care if it saved the agent’s life. Bringing her back was his only concern.
    “Come on, Zoe.”
    It got her attention. She zeroed in on that island of calm, but it did not alter her physical state. Adrenaline was still feeding the speedtecs, her heart dumping the drug into her system too fast for her to control.
    “Good girl,” Cray told her. “I know you’re still up there, but we’re going to bring you down, okay?”
    “You . . .” Zoe forced out in between breaths. “Pretty good. Nobody ever spooked me like that before.”
    “You weren’t easy to find.”
    She found another smile for him.
    “You should have been a hammerjack.”
    “Got any openings?” he asked. “I’m available.”
    Zoe relaxed a bit. She held fast to the agent’s throat, but that frenzied look was draining from her eyes.
    “We got off to a bad start here,” Cray continued. “You know how these guys are. But I promise you—I won’t let that happen again, Zoe.”
    “I know the rules,” Zoe panted. “No deals for runners.”
    “Maybe I can change that,” Cray offered, not certain at all if it was the truth. “Maybe I can’t. But it’s better than dying out here, isn’t it? That flash isn’t worth your life. Trust me on this.”
    That made her laugh. Between her rasping breaths, the sound was alien.
    “If you only knew,” Zoe said.
    Her voice had the tone of resignation, and Cray prepared himself for the worst. Instead, she relaxed her grip on the agent’s neck, allowing him to take a step toward his release.
    As soon as he was loose, it started.
    A coiled spring beneath the agent’s armor released, pushing out two long, jagged blades just above his left hand. He swung his arm around in a tight arc, focusing all his power against the side of Zoe’s head.
    Senses heightened by the speedtecs, Zoe saw the blades well before the blow could land. She ducked, the agent’s arm swiping through open air as he missed his target.
    Zoe closed in.
    She wrapped both of her arms around the agent’s chest, her hands locking together like a vise. With a scream, she started to squeeze—and the agent’s screams joined her own. A hard, cracking sound splintered the air as the protective suit compressed, then a wet snap as the occupant inside was crushed. The agent writhed and contorted, trying to free himself from her grip, but Zoe held on. Even as muscles bubbled through the surface of her skin, she held on.
    They both collapsed into a crimson fugue.
    Blood sprayed into Cray’s eyes. He fell to his knees, clawing his face in a panic, his imagination supplying the images he could not see. When sight