The Girl Who Dared to Think 7: The Girl Who Dared to Fight

“You too,” I replied. “Now get moving, and no turning around. We’re sealing the vent up behind you, so unless you want to get caught in there…”

“I know, I know,” Dinah grumbled, some of her earlier fire returning. It was a good sign, in my mind, but I refrained from commenting and let the woman focus on getting into the shaft. As soon as she was gone, I placed the vent grate back over it, and then looked to the others.

“Hurry up and put Tony’s net back in,” I said to Quess, turning around to present my neck in what I hoped would be the last time I had to do this for the day. “And then let’s get moving. We don’t have a lot of time.”





36





I studied the pad Quess had handed me while he worked on my neck and the others finished using his special spray on their faces to confuse the surveillance system’s facial recognition software, going over the map Dinah had left us. I had already sprayed my face before Quess’s incision and was taking a moment to decide whether we should change our uniforms while the others got ready. To be honest, I felt pretty strongly against the idea, even though there were spare uniforms in the lockers. It was going to take precious time for us all to change, and I wasn’t about to get caught by an Eye with my pants down, should someone wind up walking in on us.

But remaining in uniform was a risk. While the spray kept our faces from being recognizable, there were humans responsible for watching the camera feeds and reporting anything out of the ordinary—like four Knights slinking through the halls armed to the teeth, for example. But I was betting the chance of us being noticed on the feed was pretty slim, not just because there were literally hundreds of camera feeds all over the Core alone, but because I was guessing the Eyes were pretty distracted by whatever story Sadie was feeding them about Scipio’s condition.

It was the Eyes in the halls I was really worried about. They’d definitely notice four Knights and raise the alarm, if we encountered any. According to Dinah’s map, we had to move through a hundred feet of hall to get to the hatch, crossing three other halls on the way and running in a straight line. A hundred feet wasn’t far, but that didn’t work in our favor, either—if a single Eye came around any one of those corners and spotted us, they could have enough time to run and send out a warning. Their nets were still working, so they could easily call for help.

But there wasn’t much choice. If we stayed in one place too long, we’d get caught. And if we didn’t take care of any Eye that we came across quickly and efficiently, we’d be caught.

Quess tapped my shoulder, breaking my concentration. “You’re done,” he said, and I reached out with my mind and was reassured by Tony’s presence.

I did not like that, he declared. Too lonely.

Sorry, I replied, feeling empathy for the AI. He’d had no eyes, or ears, or any ability to contact or communicate with any of us while the net had been out of my head. It must’ve been awful.

I handed the pad back over to Quess with a “Thanks,” and he quickly tucked it into his pocket. “Okay, guys,” I said. “It’s pretty much the first right and then a straight shot down the hall to the T-intersection at the end. Quess, you’ll need to get us in quickly, using the instructions Dinah left, and until we get there, we’ll have to be on the lookout for any Eyes. If they see us and we can’t knock them out or kill them before they can call for help, we’re sunk. I’ll go first, then Eric, then Quess, and finally Maddox.”

“I should go first,” Maddox said as she tucked her black hair into a band. “We need to keep you safe no matter—”

“The time for that has come and gone,” I interrupted. “There’s no need to protect me exclusively now. You all know what’s at stake. If I die, you get down there, stop Sage, and start the New Day protocol. Understood?” I had caught the others up on the way over, so they would all know the plan going in. I had tried desperately to undersell it in an attempt to change their minds, but they hadn’t.

Maddox frowned, but nodded, unable to find a fault in my logic, and I pulled out my baton and gun. I couldn’t fire it—the noise would draw too much attention—but Tony and I could use it to knock people unconscious, and that could be useful.

Exhaling a slow breath to steady my nerves, I hit the button to open the door, and then stuck my head out into the hall, checking both sides. The dark gray corridors were empty, but I knew they wouldn’t be for long, and I stepped out and headed right, toward the first and only real turn. I moved at a light jog, slowing to a cautious pace just at the first intersection. I slid my back against the right-hand side of the wall, focusing on the connecting hallway as more and more of it came into view.

There was no one there, but we had a hundred feet and three more intersections, and anything was possible at this point. I signaled that it was all clear but sped off like a bullet toward the next intersection, already worried about the thirty-odd feet of distance we had to cover, should some Eyes emerge from the cross section.

There were doors on either side of the hall, and I kept a wary eye on them as well, knowing that at any moment one could open, a gray-clad member of the department stepping out to discover us. My nerves itched to check behind me, but I kept my eyes glued to the front, knowing Maddox was watching our tail.

I slowed again as I approached the next junction, pausing several feet from the intersection and taking a moment to listen. We were all doing our best to cover the sounds of our footsteps—which meant I had no problem hearing the two male voices coming from the left hall. Thankfully, they were muffled. I quickly motioned everyone back against that wall, and sidled up to the left wall, stepping gingerly to mask any noise.

Tony slowly started to fill me up again, like water pouring into a container, and I felt him slowing down my heartbeat and regulating my breathing. I sent him a feeling of gratitude as I began to creep up to the corner. The voices were still too low to discern, but they didn’t seem to be moving any closer to us. Or any farther away.

I slowly slid my head out around the corner, exposing just one eye, for fear that any more than that would attract unwanted attention, and peered down the hallway.

Two men were squatting in front of a wall twenty-five feet down. I couldn’t make out what they were looking at—they were facing the wall on my side of the hall—but they were pressed tightly together, and clearly working on something. I studied them for a second, taking in how focused they were on their work, and then retreated back behind the corner, weighing out the options.

If we moved to attack, they could spot us before we were close enough to do anything to them, and call for help. Alternatively, if we tried to dart across the open hall while their backs were to us, we ran the risk of one of them looking up and over his shoulder at the wrong moment and noticing us. I considered both plans, and then decided our best bet was to try to sneak across.

I turned and signaled to the others, using Callivax to explain the situation and the plan. My friends watched my hands closely, and then nodded or flashed an “acknowledged” sign. I put Maddox first in the line, followed by Quess and Eric, and then put away my baton to have both hands on the gun. I didn’t want to use it unless absolutely necessary. The sensors in the Core were undoubtedly working fine, and if I killed someone, the alarms would go off, bringing every Inquisitor on the floor down on us.