Chapter Thirty-Six

“Got it! Hold this position!”

Aura activated her grav-boots and gloves to hold on as she prepared to make for the tower.

Alex raised his rifle, scoped in on an advancing drone, then shot.

“Down. He must have had an EMP-NegaTex to get through Joel’s blast.”

The safety line from the dropship still hinged on her back, now hanging from the zip-line—she released her boots, pushing herself into the void.

“Pull back and up a bit; tighten the line!” she called. Aura released herself from the safety, as it was becoming too cumbersome to keep attached as she sped away from their ship, gliding down the cable toward her target.

“Nixx, Engage arm thrusters.”

“Affirmative.”

“I’m right behind you, Aura,” Alex confirmed.

Once she was far enough along the zip-line to prevent damage to her tech, Joel fired the central EMP charge over a large radius around them, instantly knocking down the last drones. But while avoiding another volley of swarm missiles, he had maneuvered too far. The line supporting Aura and Alex had stretched beyond its limits and finally snapped with a terrific, loud ping.

* * *

At Halikkon headquarters, Chief Security Officer Eneco had received the warning of the system-wide lockdown and attack on his computer.

The room was filled with the blaring of alarms and alerts. He raced to Edmund’s office, bumping into some workers.

Without as much as a knock, he pushed open the door, informing Edmund of the attack before even trying to catch a breath. He explained that all personnel had evacuated TITAN, and the command centers were jettisoned.

Edmund rose from his seat instantly.

He could not let this happen. The bloody Argosys team had gone too far this time. Releasing classified information to the press was one thing, but taking over a worldwide project as big as TITAN was another.

“Call the strike team 202. Take those bastards down. I want none of them coming anywhere near the TITAN Collective,” Edmund cried out, “Shit!”

Eneco raced out of the office again, walking briskly. His foot barely touched the ground before he lifted the next. He reentered the control room, pulling the emergency pin, which automatically dialed the strike team.

“Strike team, Alpha 202, in orbit,” a deep masculine voice called from the other end of the phone.

“Alpha 202, there’s been a breach on TITAN. Proceed with caution,” Eneco said.

He paused for a minute before saying, “Kill them all if capture proves futile.”

“Copy that! We are dispatched per Sec-11 protocol. Already in route, on orders from the president,” the voice said. Suddenly, the line went cold.

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As the blue blip appeared on the screen, showing the strike team’s position, Eneco pulled up the video footage of the project. He stared at the blip and immediately recognized Aura’s ID. Bloody hell! he thought as he watched the video of Aura suited up, falling toward TITAN.

Eneco rushed back to Edmund’s office, pulling the com earpiece on as he made his way. He pushed the door open again, finding Edmund on a call.

“Sir, I am afraid two of them are already in proximity, approaching Tower Nine. They have also dropped some of the drones. TITAN is vulnerable until 202 arrives.”

“You are telling me that TITAN is defenseless with some skanky-ass hackers aboard it?” Edmund said, fearing everything was going from bad to worse.

“Sir, not just any hackers.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s… One of them. It’s Aura. She’s, like I said, on the outside of TITAN, at the tower. Tower Nine.”

“What? Bloody hell! Get 202 to their position immediately!” he responded before Eneco could finish the words.

The red line rang.

“What’s going on there, Ed?” the voice on the other end of the phone asked.

It was then Eneco knew who was speaking.

He could not help but worry about his friend Aura, now that he knew she was there, and he was afraid for what the president might say next.

She might have betrayed their trust, and it was easier to handle with Edmund. But he instantly knew they all sealed their fate with the president.

There was no forgiving Aura, even if whatever she was up to was right and just in her mind. She had become a traitor and terrorist. She would pay the ultimate penalty for her betrayal.

“Mr. President. I have everything under control,” Edmund said calmly.

“So, let me get this straight. You have everything under control? Okay, bye-bye then,” he said. The president turned his head and spoke away from his phone, but was still overheard by Edmund and Eneco. “That stupid shit says he ‘has everything under control’… get Dark Snare up there right now and take every one of those bastards out!” he ordered, then hung up on Edmund.

“Damn it!” Edmund cursed, slamming his fist against the table. He instantly realized he was still in the presence of a subordinate and tried to gather his composure again.

“Eneco, our Aura is becoming a real pain in my ass,” he snapped. It was not a statement that required an affirmation, but the words doubled by his intense gaze, forcing the geeky man to nod.

“Let’s end this charade once and for all. She is at her end. It is over.”

“202. Kill shot authorized. Copy?”

“Confirmed, already on it. We are approaching sniper range.”

Edmund dismissed Eneco, buttoned his blazer, and stormed out of the office.

* * *

Aura felt the sudden freedom associated with a free fall as the line snapped in two and flung her toward the anchor point.

“Nixx, course correct thruster trajectory to tracking target, compensate seven degrees,” she commanded her AI.

Alex’s trajectory flung him off course, in a long arc, headed far to the left of the antenna, as he yelled, “Nooo, no no no! Liv, full thrust, seventy degrees X by Y! Get me… Target the—”

Gravity arrived as an unwelcome guest of Alex’s, one that had no intention of becoming a stranger anytime soon. As Alex began a slow spiral from his final thrust, he had the most breathtaking view of Earth as he fell.

“Alex! No, Alex!”

His comms distorted and crackled as he descended out of range toward Earth. He said quietly, “Aura, save them. Please, please. Save my family. Please, Aura.”

Weightlessness took over the pit of her stomach as she continued toward the tower, her arms lifted above her head.

It reminded her of her first roller coaster and how the ride's excitement, thrill, and fear made it an experience of a lifetime.

Then all the weight suddenly came piling back on as she went crashing onto the tower base.

Fortunately, her momentum along the zip-line had already placed her on the path to her target, only requiring minor thrust adjustments from her AI, Nixx. She landed against the metallic body of the structure, banging the side of her helmet against it.

She glanced and began to float away from the structure, but she quickly reactivated gravity on her gloves and boots.

Just as she reached the edge of the antenna frame, her glove’s gravity field came online, snapping her hand to its surface. She exhaled, catching her breath for a few moments with her eyes closed. Then, as she opened them, she saw the 202 fighter ships approaching.

The strike teams, she thought.

Aura immediately jolted back to life, climbing up the framework. She raced for the control unit, placed two micro-charges on the hidden panel, and blew it open.