Page 138 of Coldwire
“I was saying,” Nik tries again, “that Blare has to stay behind to continue decrypting the drives. There’s no more remote access past this point, so it shouldn’t be a problem. As long as you’re able to handle inserting the credentials.”
“Yes,” I say. “Yes, I can handle that.”
Once we’ve infiltrated Kunlun and obtained the final file, there will be no going back. It’s not only Nik accessing the program. Project Wit.That’swhat NileCorp is trying to swoop out from under him.
My first, selfish thought is that the company won’t need me anymore. This is going to alter the landscape of the world. Why hire private forceswhen there’s a system that can access anything from anyone? Why dole out human security when that system can stop any conflict before it happens?
Under any regular person, it’s a terrifying weapon that can be used to incite vast change.
Under NileCorp, it will make them unstoppable.
I shiver, trying to draw my jacket tighter.
“Here.” Nik hands me a printout. A piece of paper with two columns. The log-ins. “Just follow me closely. I’ve got the route mapped. Offron’s facility is the most complex of all of them.”
I nod my understanding, scanning the printout. The van bumps. While Nik and Miz pack their equipment, I duck to look out the windshield, but there’s not much to see in Offron. The main roads are less places of living and more routes to get deeper into the city, where streets will branch off into pathways, and pathways extend a long, long route before reaching separate houses, protected by their own walls and turrets. Offron’s population count isn’t high enough to justify taller buildings. There are a few that house government facilities, towers where military officials live for a better view over their bases in the distance.
“Hey.” Miz hands me a ski mask, the holes for the eyes cut as small as possible and the opening for a mouth no larger than a slit. “Wear this. Facial recognition will log you instantly otherwise.”
I slip it on. The material is tight, scratchy, but I don’t complain. Nik says something softly to Miz, and then she takes the bag he gives her, nodding. The armored van must be parking, finding a spot at the side of the road. The moment we come to a full stop, Miz doesn’t waste a second. She palms the handle of the back doors and runs out. The wind is howling. An enormous gust swirls into the van before the doors shut again, securing with a click.
“Wait,” I exclaim. My voice comes out muffled under the ski mask. I have missed more than I thought in my daze. “Where is she going?”
“Planting bombs,” Nik answers candidly. He tugs his own covering on. His appears looser, but that’s likely because it’s been so often used. “Theonly way we’re getting in is if another part of the facility is being attacked at the same time.”
He pulls his bag onto his shoulders. The clanking inside tells me he’s carrying the Claws. I mirror his stance, and for the first time during this entire endeavor that Nik Grant has dragged me on, I am sickeningly out of my depth, scrambling to keep my head above water. It is only him and me entering the City in the Cloud, then. Only two credentials out of the twenty.
The printout crinkles in my pocket when I put it away. I meet Nik’s eyes.
“Remember that you insisted knowing the details wouldn’t impact your participation,” he says.
Except I was wrong, clearly. What we finish retrieving in Kunlun will set incomprehensible technology loose on the world. It’ll change Atahua; it’ll change the cold war. It’ll give NileCorp the all-access power to do whatever it wants. How can I allow that?
“I can see you thinking,” Nik goes on. “Cut it out. Don’t do that.”
I try to sneer, but my mask restricts all my movement. “Nice one.Don’t think.”
“I mean it.”
Before I can offer another retort, there’s a series of booms, far louder than I was expecting. I almost want to stop and take cover, but then Nik is opening the back doors, yelling, “All right. Move it!”
“Good luck!” Blare calls.
My breath stuck in my throat, I follow Nik out, braced for the worst. There’s nothing on fire yet, though the wind has taken on a furious intensity. The Outer Frontier National Data Center is made of multiple wings across a large rocky space. There is smoke to the west, but night is setting in fast, tamping down the appearance of trouble. Nik is already cutting through a chain-link fence. He’s quick to lift the corner, signaling for me to go.
Gunfire, off by the west side of the facility. Nik catches up quickly and brushes my elbow when he passes, tilting his head to indicate we’re goingaround the second building that comes within view. We make quick work following the curved walls. At its rear, Nik places a small pouch onto the locked door panel, balancing it on the handle. He glances over his shoulder, counting a few seconds after there is shouting at the other end of the facility. As though he’s cued them into action, another series of explosions rocket from west to east, the sounds piercing my eardrums.
Nik hurries to cup his hands around a lighter, protecting the flame from the wind. It wavers a few times before latching on to the pouch, licking up the side of its plastic. With a sudden spark, the pouch burns into the handle and drops to the ground, having eaten a path through the lock panel. Nik kicks the door open.
As instructed, I stay close behind him, mimicking his steps. I pin my eyes to Nik in the dark, making no attempt to memorize our way through or mark my bearings. There’s only the sound of our breathing here, irregularly matched to the clatter of our steps. Nik pauses for a moment at a corridor split.
The booms have stopped.
Nik inclines his head, and then he’s running again, taking the left. We dash quickly through the facility, on and on until two right turns bring us to an atrium that ends with a large steel door. I’m tentative when I stop, but the atrium is entirely still. Nik settles another pouch on the lock and performs the same maneuver, flicking his lighter.
“Close your eyes.”
I follow his instructions, turning my face away from the flash. He’s on the move before I know to open my eyes, and instead of wasting time telling me, Nik only grabs my wrist, urging me into the narrow stairwell.
