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<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\nWhen the New Gods and the government were after you, paranoia became your way of life.<\/p>\n
Yamamoto led Fox on a long surveillance detection run. Following the textbook, they wound through alleys, stalled at green lights and sped through yellow ones, alternated their speed at random times. Yamamoto went one step further, hopping over rooftops, ducking under elevated highways, and generally violating every minor air traffic rule that didn\u2019t require ascending to an attitude that rendered them visible to Babylon ATC.<\/p>\n
They stopped twice. Once in a multi-story car park to thoroughly inspect their vehicles, switch identities, and message the team. Once more at their destination. Shoreline Park, at the southernmost edge of Babylon, where Babylon River flowed out into the sea.<\/p>\n
Dazzling lights illuminated the adjacent marina, showcasing the private yachts and houseboats moored to the many berths. Dimmer streetlights marked the bicycle and running tracks that snaked through the park. Concealed in the shadows were a dozen benches and rest areas. The shore itself was rough and rocky, blocked off by tall fences. Wooden piers extended out into the waters, all of them empty.<\/p>\n
From here, the Black Watch had many options. Flee across the waters to Moreno Island and hide out in the swamps and farms, or go island-hopping across the smaller inhabited island chains past Moreno. Follow the shore southeast to the neighboring city of Riveria. Hijack a boat and go pirate.<\/p>\n
If all of Nova Babylonia turned against them, this was to be their final rendezvous point. The place where they made their final decision.<\/p>\n
At the pavilion by the parking lots, Fox and Yamamoto set up for the meet. They messaged the team, reloaded their weapons and magazines, kept watch for innocent and not-so-innocent bystanders. He ran a police scanner on his phone, monitoring radio transmissions as he worked. She hauled out her go-bag from her car and pressed fresh rounds into her depleted magazines.<\/p>\n
At midnight, the rest of the Black Watch converged on the park.<\/p>\n
They came from the air, descending on empty parking spaces. As the gravcars made their final approach, the winked their headlights three times.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s only three cars,\u201d Fox said.<\/p>\n
Yamamoto pursed his lips and said nothing.<\/p>\n
The operators retrieved their gear from their trunks, kitting up in full view of Fox. There were only three men. In the semi-darkness she recognized their profiles; as they stepped out into the light, she confirmed their identities.<\/p>\n
James Wood, the team second in command.<\/p>\n
Will Connor, heavy weapons specialist and breacher.<\/p>\n
Karim Mustafa, the team psi and rookie.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere\u2019s Zen?\u201d Mustafa asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Fox said. \u201cI left him a voice mail and sent him a message. No response.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe he\u2019s still sleeping,\u201d Connor said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo way,\u201d Fox said. \u201cTimes like this, he\u2019ll be plugged into his phone 24\/7.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think something happened to him?\u201d Wood asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no news of him on any radio net or database,\u201d Yamamoto said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMight mean they\u2019re keeping it quiet,\u201d Mustafa said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe he\u2019ll pop up later,\u201d Fox said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you tell him about this meet?\u201d Connor asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cNope.\u201d<\/p>\n
Operational security was paramount. Until she received a confirmation from him, she wouldn\u2019t send any more info to his phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, the rest of us are here, and you called the Prairie Fire,\u201d Wood said. \u201cLet\u2019s get down to business.\u201d<\/p>\n
The operators gathered around a table at the pavilion. Fox and Yamamoto briefed them on the night\u2019s events, seamlessly switching back and forth to share each other\u2019s perspective. The newcomers listened for the most part, interrupting only to ask questions.<\/p>\n
At the end of the brief, Wood sighed and shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re saying that you\u2019ve got the Seekers, the PSB and<\/em> Babylon PD after you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot just that,\u201d Fox said grimly. \u201cThe guy I shot in the parking lot? He was a total conversion cyborg. He\u2019s from the Singularity Network.\u201d<\/p>\n Total conversion was the holy grail of human enhancement technologies. Take an ordinary human being, upload his mind into a cyberbrain, then install it in a custom-built chassis. The Singularity Network maintained a total monopoly on mind uploading technologies, and with it, monopoly over the conversion process.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were all<\/em> cyborgs,\u201d Yamamoto added. \u201cAt least, the blocking team was. Had to nail them with grape shots before they went down and stayed down.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe New Gods don\u2019t normally do joint ops,\u201d Wood said. \u201cThis is out of character. For all<\/em> of them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat about BPD?\u201d Mustafa asked. \u201cIf they weren\u2019t working with the New Gods already, they would now that you shot up a bunch of cops.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI shot at<\/em> them,\u201d Yamamoto said. \u201cBut it was suppressive fire only.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat about the last guy?\u201d Fox asked.<\/p>\n \u201cI shot at the wall an inch from his face. He didn\u2019t seem so hot after that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEven so, shooting at cops isn\u2019t the best of ideas to begin with,\u201d Mustafa said reproachfully.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was them or us, and I made sure not to kill anyone who explicitly ID\u2019d themselves as cops. And after what happened to Kayla tonight, we couldn\u2019t be sure if they were actual SWAT or Seekers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhere the Seekers are concerned, there\u2019s no difference,\u201d Connor said. \u201cThey\u2019re going to tell the press that you killed cops tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd all of Babylon will turn against us,\u201d Wood said quietly.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they haven\u2019t already,\u201d Yamamoto said. \u201cDid you guys spot any unusual activity lately?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Liberated were keeping a close eye on me for the past week, but I gave them the slip,\u201d Wood said.<\/p>\n \u201cLiberated? How did you know?\u201d Fox asked.<\/p>\n \u201cLiberated Elect come in two flavors. Extremely beautiful, or extremely weird. I spotted them a mile away.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe they were just the ones you were supposed to see, distracting you from the actual watchers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI considered that. But after losing the surveillance team, I didn\u2019t see any more threats.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou had it easy,\u201d Connor said. \u201cI saw Pantheon priests popping up at my usual hangouts. They were just standing there, preaching away, but it smelled like static surveillance. I went deep underground after that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy contacts reported seeing operatives from the Court of Shadows all around my neighborhood,\u201d Mustafa said. \u201cThey were asking around for me, dropping the names of the Lord and Lady everywhere they went. I evacuated to another safe house.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn my case, the Void Collective and the Guild of the Makers were looking for me,\u201d Yamamoto said.<\/p>\n \u201cHow did you know who they were?\u201d Fox asked.<\/p>\n \u201cThe VC have creepy stares and lifeless expressions everywhere they go. The Guild were more proactive. Like the Court, they canvassed the neighborhood and identified themselves as Guild.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n Yamamoto smiled.<\/p>\n \u201cI let the Guild notice me, then led them to the Zhonghua District, and walked in front of the local Void circle. Once I confirmed both groups were following me, I sneaked into the back alleys and allowed them to run into each other.\u201d<\/p>\n The operators laughed.<\/p>\n \u201cThey wouldn\u2019t forget that<\/em> easily,\u201d Connor said.<\/p>\n \u201cI never managed to ID whoever was following me,\u201d Fox said, \u201cbut after I threatened one of them, they backed off. I thought it was the end of it. Until now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think the New Gods ran joint ops before,\u201d Mustafa said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey never had to face anyone like us before,\u201d Connor said.<\/p>\n \u201cAssuming this is<\/em> a joint op,\u201d Wood said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy wouldn\u2019t it be?\u201d Fox asked.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t have any evidence that it\u2019s a joint operation. Or if it were, any kind of cooperation is superficial at best. The New Gods hate each other\u2019s guts. They wouldn\u2019t let each other take turns to make a run at us, or split up the labor like that. They\u2019d want to keep an eye on everybody else to make sure they hold up their end of the bargain.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat may be true, but if they see us as a common enemy, they may set aside their differences,\u201d Fox said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut why?\u201d Mustafa asked. \u201cThat<\/em> is the question.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe STS has always challenged them,\u201d Yamamoto said. \u201cAfter what we did in Riveria and the Golden Mile, they think we might have obtained damaging information. The kind of information they would kill to protect.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat would explain why the Court of Shadows and the Void Collective are after us,\u201d Wood said, \u201cbut not everybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have a theory,\u201d Fox said. \u201cMake that\u2026 three theories.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s hear them.\u201d<\/p>\n She raised a finger. \u201cFirst theory: they think<\/em> we either have dirt on them, or that we have gone rogue and are willing to take them all on. This is a pre-emptive strike, to take us out before we can do the same to them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s ridiculous,\u201d Connor said. \u201cWhy would we take on the New Gods? We\u2019re barely keeping our heads above water as is.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter how ridiculous we<\/em> think it is, so long as they<\/em> think it isn\u2019t,\u201d Wood replied.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s the second?\u201d Mustafa asked.<\/p>\n She raised her second finger. \u201cThey know we have dirt on the Court of Shadows, and quite likely the VC. Those two groups want their info back. Everybody else wants what we have to gain an advantage over the others.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf that\u2019s true, then we\u2019ll be seeing a free-for-all,\u201d Yamamoto said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey don\u2019t want to spark a war just yet,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re too evenly matched.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey wouldn\u2019t sit back and divide the labor either,\u201d Wood argued. \u201cThey\u2019d be running heavy against us\u2014and each other.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s always the third option,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhich is?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Directors sold us out.\u201d<\/p>\n The men went quiet. The air turned cold.<\/p>\n \u201cGo on,\u201d Yamamoto whispered.<\/p>\n \u201cWe opposed Pearce in Riveria. They must have suspected we raided the Golden Mile. They would have decided we\u2019ve gone rogue. But they won\u2019t dare to send the STS or SWAT after us; we\u2019re too tight, and we don\u2019t turn on each other. So they farmed out their work to the New Gods.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the New Gods would salivate at the chance to grab whatever dirt we have on hand,\u201d Wood said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we don\u2019t have any,\u201d she said. \u201cLast I heard from Zen, he still<\/em> hasn\u2019t cracked any of the data we lifted.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe New Gods have access to far more resources than we do,\u201d Yamamoto said. \u201cWhat we can\u2019t do, they can accomplish easily.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis theory makes the most sense,\u201d Connor declared.<\/p>\n \u201cPersonally, I think it\u2019s all three,\u201d Mustafa said.<\/p>\n \u201cRegardless, we have to assume all of Babylon is after us now,\u201d Yamamoto said. \u201cThe PSB, BPD, the New Gods.\u201d<\/p>\n Connor sighed. \u201cI always knew the New Gods would come for us some day. But the PSB? The PD? We\u2019re supposed to be on the same side, dammit!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe were,\u201d Yamamoto said sadly. \u201cNow we have to make a choice. Do we stay in Babylon and go deep underground? Or do we run?\u201d<\/p>\n The men looked around, waiting for each other to speak.<\/p>\n \u201cNeither,\u201d Fox said.<\/p>\n \u201cOh?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cZen isn\u2019t here. We\u2019re not doing anything without him.\u201d<\/p>\n Yamamoto smiled broadly.<\/p>\n \u201cAgreed.\u201d<\/p>\n Fox\u2019s phone rang. Zen Tan was calling.<\/p>\n \u201cSpeak of the devil\u2026\u201d she muttered, and took the call on loudspeaker.<\/p>\n \u201cHey there,\u201d Tan said. \u201cSorry I missed you. What\u2019s up?\u201d<\/p>\n Her blood ran cold. There was only one instance when he would use \u2018what\u2019s up\u2019 on the phone.<\/p>\n \u201cPrairie Fire,\u201d she said slowly. \u201cWe were attacked twice today. Something\u2019s coming for us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUnderstood. Is there anything I can do?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNegative. Sit tight and wait for further instructions.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRoger. And, uh, make it quick, yeah? Would need to know the plan.\u201d<\/p>\n He slurred \u2018would\u2019, turning it to \u2018we\u2019d\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cUnderstood.\u201d<\/p>\n Fox hung up and took a deep breath.<\/p>\n Silence fell.<\/p>\n \u201cHe used the duress code,\u201d Yamamoto said.<\/p>\n She nodded.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have him.\u201d<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n Enjoy stories of supercops and supervillains? Check out my novel\u00a0HOLLOW CITY<\/a>!<\/p>\n![\"Hollow](\"https:\/\/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com\/images\/I\/51OdFgsAI%2BL.jpg\")
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