Double Helix Ch. 20

I was panting, my heart racing in my chest. A spray of steam was coming from the front of the truck, flowing over the windshield. I realized suddenly that I had missed the last several seconds of what was happening over the comm.

"That's three of them down," Nonna said. "Don't go for center of mass. Headshots, people. Somebody help me get Stanley into the car."

"I think they're breaking off," Nock said. "They're retreating north up Boren."

"They're getting out of the line of your fire," Nonna said. "Keep putting pressure on them. I'm about to get us the hell out of here. We gotta be quick, though. These bastards move way too fast."

An image suddenly flashed through my mind. One of the attackers I had seen had turned to look right at me. His eyes had glowed from reflected light.

"Whoa," Nock said. "One of their vehicles just took off across James. I think they're going after Norm and Tilly."

I mashed the accelerator down harder without even thinking, weaving around the sparse traffic heading east.

"Nock, you should probably move," Nonna said. "We'll have someone pick you up, but right now just get as far away as you can on foot. We're leaving the scene now, but that other vehicle is likely coming after us."

A thought suddenly struck me. "Where's Nissi?" I asked over the comm.

"Chaser one, report!" Nonna said. There was a few seconds of silence, and then she repeated the command.

Fear twisted my gut. Nissi had followed the escort cars, staying close enough to ensure that her jammer would keep them from getting a warning out while their cars careened through the city. "Sam," I said. "Are those escort cars still being jammed?"

"Oh," he said. "Oh my, no. I am able to contact them through dispatch again. They are still moving, heading north about three miles away."

"That means that Nissi isn't with them anymore," I said. The jammers were potent, but get outside about a quarter mile, maybe less, and wireless communications would start to leak through.

"Hold on," Nock said. "I just repositioned and I think I see her. About a half mile up Boren. And there's...shit! She's on the ground. She's not moving, and her helmet is off. Her bike looks wrecked."

"Norm!" Tilly said, gripping my arm.

I gritted my teeth. "I know." I turned left at the next intersection, taking us north. I keyed my mike. "Nonna, we have to go after Nissi. If we both circle back, we can-"

"No, Norm, we can't!" Nonna said. "I've got three wounded people here and that other car is on our tail. Stanley took a hit on the neck. Mike thinks we can save him, but I need to lose our pursuit before we can stop to patch him up."

I hadn't realized that Nonna's group had been hit so hard. Things had happened so quickly, and during the firefight, I had been more focused on staying out of sight. "Alright. Tilly and I are getting her. Maybe Alice can-"

"No, you will not!" Nonna nearly shouted. "And Mobile 2, you need to move out if you haven't already. Get back to base."

"Copy that, control," Alice said.

Nonna continued. "There could be more of...whoever those men were. Mobile 1, you need to get to safety."

"We're not leaving her," Tilly said, speaking only to me.

"No, we aren't," I answered. I hit the comma again. "If she's still alive and we leave her behind, they'll interrogate her. They'll find out where the farm is. We can't that happen."

Nonna was silent for a moment. "Eagle Eye, are you still on top of that parking garage?"

"Yes, ma'am," Nock said.

"Can you tell if she is still alive?"

There was a long moment of silence. "No. She's not moving and I can't tell if she's breathing. She looks pretty banged up."

There was silence for two seconds before Nonna came back. "I am sorry to say this, but she is probably dead. If she broke her neck-"

"To hell with that!" I said.

Before I could say more, Nock broke in. "Hold on, an ambulance just turned down Boren. I think they're heading her way."

"There," Nonna said. "They'll take her to the hospital. We can regroup and come up with a plan to get her out."

I had a sudden realization, a moment of clarity, if you will. I had given Nonna command of this mission, but that didn't give me the right to abrogate my own obligations. I made my voice hard, no longer trying to persuade. "Nonna, we may have put you in charge of this rescue, but I am responsible for the safety of my people. Tilly and I are going to get Nissi. If you have a problem with that, I'll gladly remove you from command. As soon as you are safe and can deal with your wounded, I expect you to report back to me in case we need your help."

I waited a few seconds. "Understood," Nonna said in a flat tone.

"Uh, control," Alice said. "I realize that shit got real over there, but I think you should know that Gena just took off with the spare bike."

"Fuck!" I swore. Could things get any worse? I hit my mike and tried to speak in a level tone. "Sharon, what are you doing?"

"Someone had to go back for Nock," Sharon said. "I didn't feel like arguing, so I took our spare motorcycle."

"Wendy," I said. "I need a channel to Sam."

There was a pause of about three seconds. "Okay, you're private, go ahead."

"Sam," I said. "Are you tracking that motorcycle?"

"Of course," the monotonic voice responded. "It is heading back towards the intersection of James and Boren."

Tilly touched my shoulder. "Norm, she won't betray us. I know it."

I looked over at her, watching me solemnly. "You're probably right, but I can't risk it." I hit the button again. "Sam, if she deviates from that course, you lock that bike down and let me know, okay?"

"You got it, chief."

"Okay," I breathed. "Wendy, put me back in the main channel."

"You're live," she said.

"Nock, what's the nearest cross street to where Nissi is?"

Nock sucked in a breath. "Uh, Seneca, I think."

Tilly put the location into the GPS and it directed us to take the next left. We were still about two minutes away.

"Did you get a good look at any of the people attacking us?" I asked Tilly.

She shook her head. "I was too busy running away."

"One of them had reflective eyes, just like Nock. And Nonna said they were very fast. I think they must be genemods, but that makes no sense."

Tilly had no response to that. She was gripping her shotgun so hard that her hands were shaking.

We turned from Seneca onto Boren going north and saw the ambulance just up ahead. They had pulled into the right lane just past Nissi and the wreck of her bike. The two paramedics were rolling a stretcher over to her as we pulled up alongside. Tilly dropped from the truck, still wearing the balaclava, shotgun held at the ready. I could only imagine what the men were thinking as they froze in place.

"Get back in your vehicle, and drive away!" Tilly shouted. "Now!"

The pair ran to do as she said, leaving the stretcher behind, and Tilly slung her gun, then bent her knees, looking Nissi over. Suddenly, she turned to me. "Norm, look out!"

I looked forward to see headlights bearing down on me, going the wrong way in my lane. I gunned the engine and spun the wheel left, and the oncoming car, a black SUV, clipped my rear fender instead of plowing into me head-on. It threw the truck's rear out to the left, though, and I barely got it back under control to avoid crashing into the wall of a high-rise apartment building. As soon as I was able, I flipped sharply left, bumping up onto the sidewalk of the opposite side of the street as I reversed direction.

The SUV had skidded to a stop fifty yards away after it struck me. Two men had gotten out and were readying guns, a stubby carbine for each. I pushed the accelerator to the floor and angled across the center line of the road, aiming to run down both of them. The two men seemed to blur into motion, splitting to either side of the truck. Bullets spattered across the tailgate with a sound like hail and sent shards of glass spraying into the cabin as I swerved to try to throw off their aim. Behind me, Tilly's shotgun roared to full-auto life with a boom-boom-boom rhythm.

The SUV had flipped around as I fled the gunfire, and now it rumbled past me going the opposite direction, heading for where Tilly crouched over Nissi, still firing at the two men on foot. "No," I breathed, spinning the wheel to follow, helpless to stop the ton of metal that was bearing down on them. Tilly moved so quickly that my eyes could barely follow her in the dark, cutting across the road, the SUV adjusting course to follow.

I realized instantly that Tilly was drawing the car away from Nissi. She leaped just before it reached her, one foot coming down to touch the roof of the vehicle and push off as it passed beneath her. I swerved to avoid her as she touched down in the middle of the road, rolling once and coming back to her feet.

The driver of the SUV slowed and began to turn, obviously preparing to come back for another pass, not realizing that I was right on his tail. I slammed into the back left quarter of the vehicle doing at least fifty right when it was in the middle of its turn, caving in the body and spraying glass from the rear windows in a glittering shower. The vehicle tipped as it spun, then rolled completely over two times, coming to rest on its back.

I hit the brakes and came to a stop with the other vehicle some thirty feet away. I was panting as though I had just run a sprint as I watched the other vehicle for signs of life, but the driver's side was on the other side. The rattle of automatic fire behind me prodded me into action.

I turned to look through the back window, so riddled with cracks that the only space I could see through was a large hole that made me wonder how the bullet that had made it hadn't gone right through my head. Nissi was still lying in the ground, and the occasional boom of the shotgun and a brilliant muzzle flash showed Tilly to be running rapidly up the street, playing accompaniment to the pops of suppressed rifles from our genemodded attackers.

The AA-12 had a drum magazine that held 20 rounds. Tilly was conserving ammo now, firing off just one slug at a time, but she must have gone through more than half that already. When she ran out, the two men would get the chance to fire at her without danger to themselves.

"Nock," I said over the radio. "Can you get a shot?"

"Already tried. They're moving too goddamned fast, Norm. You're half a mile away and they're all over the place. By the time a bullet reaches them, they've had a full second to move somewhere else."

"Well, keep trying," I said. The steam coming from the hood of Tilly's Ford had gone from a cloud to a wisp and the dashboard's check engine light was flashing. Cursing, I put the truck in reverse and made a three-point turn. Tilly had drawn off our attackers, and I took advantage of her distraction to pull up next to Nissi, facing south in the lane next to her. I put the truck in park and slapped the hazard lights on.

Once I got out, I just stared for a few seconds upon catching my first glimpse of the extent of Nissi's injuries. Her leather riding jacket and leggings glistened with blood on her left arm and leg, and in a spot low on her torso. Her right palm was covered in blood, gashed and scraped raw from the road, as was her jaw on the left side.

I dropped to my knees next to her and felt for a pulse. My breath went out in what was almost a laugh at finding it. I checked her over quickly for other injuries. Besides the wounds to her face and limbs, I saw several bullet impacts on her armor. A quick glance at her bike, ten feet away, showed bullet holes in its frame, and one that had blown out the front tire. The bastards must have encountered her coming up the road in pursuit of the escort cars, realized something was up, and shot her and her bike all to hell. Given the circumstances, there was a good chance that she had damaged her spine as well.

There was no time to find a way to immobilize her. I carefully slid my arms beneath her shoulders and knees and lifted. She felt light in my arms, her elf-thin frame little more of a burden than Wendy. I put her carefully into the truck's middle seat and pulled the seatbelt over her, heedless of the blood that quickly soaked into my clothes and smeared the surfaces of the truck. I clicked off the jammer as an afterthought. It obviously wasn't doing us any good, and might give away our position to pursuers.

I turned and dropped into my own seat, reaching for the open door, but a hand clamped onto my left arm and pulled. I felt an excruciating wrenching as ligaments tore and my shoulder popped free of its socket, and then I was tumbling through the air. I hit the ground on my right hip, followed the next instant by my head striking the curb. Stars exploded in my vision. Too shocked and dazed to move, I immediately felt my grip on consciousness begin to slip. The pain of my injuries was distant, numb. I didn't feel the cold anymore. I could just close my eyes and slip into this nice, warm darkness...

I forced my eyes open. My vision swam out of focus for an instant, but snapped back. My attacker stood over me. She was brunette, tall, with an athletic figure, and she wore black body armor that hugged her body. The right side of her face had flawless skin and perfect geometry. The other side was a bruised and bloody mess. She stood above me a moment, looking me over. Then she turned and headed back toward the truck.

"Command, this is unit six," she said. "I have a Nissi and a man that may be human, both disabled for the moment. What are my orders?"

"Ngth," I said. My tongue felt thick in my mouth. My finger slipped off the transmit button at my belt and I struggled to find it again.

"Acknowledged. I'll bring her in for conditioning, command," the woman said. "What about the human?" She paused for a moment. "Acknowledged." She reached into Tilly's truck and came out with my rifle. She walked back to me casually, looking at me as though I were something she might have scraped off her shoe. She ejected the magazine into her hand, gave it a glance and slammed it back home in a smooth motion that took less than a second.

This can't be happening, I thought. I couldn't die here.

"No," I tried to say, but it sounded more like a groan. "Please." The woman lifted the rifle calmly, sighting on my forehead from two feet away. She thumbed off the safety. I thought of the Colt in its concealed holster at my back. Under my body. There was simply no way I could reach it in time.

There was a hard crack in the air, and the woman staggered. The gun in her grip went off, giving off its own loud but well short of deafening snap as the suppressor stopped most of the noise. The shot missed my head by inches, peppering the side of my face with stinging bits of asphalt. It took a few seconds to register that I was still alive, and another few to piece together what had happened as my gun dropped from the woman's shaking fingers.

The fabric on the front of her armor was ripped in an area as wide as my hand, and bulged out as though the armor plate insert had been punched from the other side. Dark rivulets of red flowed down her armor and dripped onto the street. She looked more surprised than anything as she fell to her knees. Her gaze fell on me and rage contorted her features for just a moment. Then she collapsed to the street, as though her strings had been cut, and I saw the ragged hole that had been torn through her back, just below her neck.

"Nog," I said, and tried again. "Nock. That you?"

"Yeah, I got your message. That one stayed still long enough for me to put a 50 cal through her back. Their armor is good, but not that good. It looked like you took a bad hit on the head. You okay?"

"Never better," I lied. I started to sit up, but my head swam and stars flashed in my vision again.

"You'd better get to Tilly," he said. "Those two keep trying to flank her. She's down a side street now. I can't track her anymore."

I finished raising myself upright and slowly got to my knees. The top of my head was awash in pain, punctuated by a pounding that went in time to my heartbeat, and the back of my neck was slick with blood. "I'm not sure what I can do," I said. "It feels a lot like that time I got drunk and kicked your ass." Sure enough, the contents of my stomach decided that now was the perfect time to get reacquainted, and I spent the next several seconds heaving my dinner onto the street.

"I think your wits are a little addled there, boss," Nock said. "You have that backwards."

"You would say that," I said, putting one unsteady foot under me. I pushed upward through the pain and stumble-stepped up onto two legs. That was the moment that I realized that my gun was still on the ground. I hate to admit it, but I came very close to just leaving it there. Instead, I crouched, enduring another roiling bout of dizziness, and then a stab of agony as I tried to reach out and my left arm helpfully reminded me of its injury, making me hiss and cradle it with my other hand. Cursing, I reached with my right hand and scooped up the weapon, then limped to the truck, lesser pains shooting up my right leg every time I put weight on it.

"Almost there, boss," Nock said. "You're doing great."

"Fuck you, you fucking fucker,' I said through clenched teeth, and chuckled at my impressive display of vocabulary.

"Norm," Mike broke in. "You're slurring. You've probably got a concussion. I don't recommend you attempt to drive."

I climbed into the truck. "That's fine," I said thickly. "Truck, take me south on whatever street this is."

"This vehicle has sustained severe damage and cannot be operated safely," the Ford's automated navigation system intoned. "Would you like to call for a towing service?"

"Fuck that," I said, and put the truck in gear. Only, when I hit the gas, the engine revved, but it barely moved.

"I think you're in neutral," Nock said. "One more notch back."

"I knew that," I said, and pulled the gear shift one more click to drive. The vehicle, still revving, lurched forward, shuddering, but didn't stall. I angled the truck across the center line and into the southbound lane.

"Okay," Nock said. "You're doing fine. Now straighten out. Left. No, left!" I turned the wheel sharply the other way, somehow having forgotten for a moment which way was which.

"This windshield is all fucked up," I said, straining to see through the network of thousands of cracks and inch-wide holes. The steam billowing up out of the engine compartment certainly didn't help.

"I could shoot it out for you," Nock said. "But I might take off your head."

"At least then it might quit pounding," I said.

Nissi bumped limply up against my shoulder and I looked over at her. Seeing her injuries once more made my stomach clench in worry and sympathetic pain, but Tilly needed me.

"Norm!" Nock shouted. "Go right!"

I jerked the wheel to the right, guiding the truck out of the path of oncoming traffic. "Sorry, got distracted," I mumbled.

"Keep it together, boss. Take that next right. That's where I saw them go." I turned where I thought the street was, taking out a bush when I jumped the curb at the corner. I slowed on the narrower street, still struggling to see through the shattered glass and my doubled vision.

Nonna came on over the comm. "We managed to lose our pursuit, though I'm not sure how. We're stopped now so Mike can see to Stanley. Norm, have you given any thought to what you're actually going to do when you catch up to Tilly?"

"Nope," I admitted. My head was still clouded, but Nonna's question had gotten me to focus. I didn't feel as confused as I had a moment ago. "I'm seeing double and my left arm is mostly useless. Anyone got any ideas?"

"Distract them until Tilly can get a shot off?" Stansy said.