Brainrush 05 - Everlast 02: Ephemeral (16 page)

J
AKE’S
WRISTS WERE BOUND
, guards gripped his arms, and his sense of
hopelessness multiplied with each new face ushered into the room.

First it was Becker, Jonesy, and Tony, their hands
flex-cuffed behind them, their expressions shocked at the sight of him. A huge guard
with a swollen cheek shoved Becker into the iron-barred cell so hard that Becker
tripped and fell onto the stone floor. Jonesy tried to move past the guard to
help his friend, but the guard kicked the back of his knees and Jonesy toppled
next to Becker. When the guard attempted to manhandle Tony in the same fashion,
Jake’s best buddy head-butted him with a crack that sounded like two bowling
balls being swung together. The guard dropped, his eyes glassy. Six other guards
raised their weapons. Tony sniffed and walked into the cell under his own
steam. Becker and Jonesy rose to stand beside him.

They were in the old wing of the barracks that abutted the
remains of the ancient wall. Although the interior had been swept clean and the
pitched roof appeared to have been recently replaced, the expansive space
smelled of mold and age. Other than a lone desk and computer station near the
exit door, a large holding cell stretched the full length of the stone-walled
room. Another door opened to a hallway leading deeper into the building.

The downed guard pushed to his feet. His hand was reaching
for his holstered pistol when one of the other guards whispered something to
him. The big man huffed and glared at Tony. “I will kill you soon enough.”

Tony ignored him. His face was grim. He locked eyes with
Jake and nodded toward the door.

Francesca shuffled into the room, her eyes downcast and her
hands bound at her back. Jake’s lungs stopped working as a guard led her into
the cell. She huddled up to Tony, her head bowed.

Jake twisted free of his guards and lunged toward the bars. “Francesca!”

She looked up, gasped, then lurched toward him. “Jake.”  

He pressed into the bars, rust scraping his cheeks. Her face
was inches away and her eyes danced with fear. He could taste her breath and her
smell washed over him. “Thank God you’re okay,” he said. A hand grabbed his
cuffed wrists, but before the guard could yank him away, Jake whispered, “I
brought friends. Be ready.”

A second guard grabbed his other arm and the two men pulled
him away. Jake’s eyes remained fixed on Francesca’s, waiting to see a glimmer
of hope. But all he saw was despair. And when she looked to the door, he
followed her gaze and stared, unbelieving, as Marshall, Dolphin, Shamer, and Ma
were herded in and shoved into the cell. Marshall nodded to him, and his friend’s
eyes twitched in a way that suggested he hadn’t given up hope. Shamer and
Dolphin looked scared to death, but Ma’s expression burned with hatred.

Jake sagged. Their rescue plan had been obliterated and now
twice as many people were in danger.

He expected Lacey, Pete, and Skylar to be next, and his
stomach churned at the prospect that his children might follow. Instead, the
bastard behind it all sauntered into the room. He carried a tablet in one hand
and was followed by Min, the woman who’d interrogated Jake in Amsterdam. He remembered
the damage she could do with the bobbles that dangled from her long braid. Two
other women slithered in beside her—they must be triplets—and the foursome stood
side by side to face him.

 “He’s not so tall in person,” one of Min’s sisters said.
She clung to Jiaolong’s arm as if she owned him.

Min snickered. The third sister simply glared at Jake. She
had a firm hold on a tote bag strapped across her chest.

“Manners, manners,” Jiaolong said. “We haven’t even
introduced ourselves yet.”

Jake felt a spark of hope when no one else was hauled in. “What
the hell do you want, you son of a bitch?”

Jiaolong ignored the outburst and pointed to the women one
at a time. “This is Lin, Min, and Zhin. My name is Daniel de Vries, though you
may call me Jiaolong.”

“And my name is Jake Bronson, and you can call me judge,
jury, and executioner.” The guards tightened their grips on his arms. He
ignored them, his eyes never breaking contact with Jiaolong’s. “I’m going to
give you one—and only one—chance to let my friends and family go. This is it, pal.
Judgment Day. The next words out of your filthy mouth will decide whether you
die today or live the rest of your worthless lives in a dirty prison cell.”

Min lunged forward, snapping her neck and torso to send her
bobbles whipping toward Jake’s face. But he was ready this time. Despite his deteriorating
senses, his body surged with adrenaline. Using the guards’ grips as a fulcrum,
he ducked forward and lifted his legs from the ground. The guards leaned
forward to manage his dead weight, and the bobbles shot over Jake’s head and
smacked into the left guard’s skull. There was a hollow thunk and the guard
dropped to the floor.

Jake stood back up and grinned. “Nice shot.”

Min’s face burned with anger. Her body was coiled and the
bobbles were back in her outstretched hand. But before she could make another
move, Jiaolong stepped forward and grabbed her arm.

“Steady, sister. He’s trying to provoke you. It’s a lame
attempt by a desperate man. All his well-laid plans just collapsed before his
eyes.”

Min huffed but relaxed her posture. Jiaolong turned back to
Jake.

“And
you
must learn to behave yourself. If not for
your own sake, then for theirs.” He motioned toward the cells. “One big happy
family, right, Mr. Bronson?”

Jake steadied himself. Pete and Skylar and Lacey were still
out there somewhere.

Jiaolong snickered. “Was that…hope I saw in your eyes? I
think so. Well, that won’t do, now will it?” Raising his voice toward the door,
Jiaolong added, “Please show in our guest of honor.”

Jake held his breath, fearing the worst. But when the
weathered peasant woman shuffled in without cuffs or an escort, he had to fight
to control his expression. Skylar’s coolie hat was gone but the gray wig still
held her disguise together. She stepped to one side and bowed to Jiaolong and
his entourage. She appeared every bit the cowed farm woman who’d been summoned
to the warlord.

“You have nothing to fear,” Jiaolong said.

One of the guards translated into Chinese for the “old
woman’s” benefit.

Jiaolong continued. “I asked you here only to honor you.” He
bowed deeply. When he rose, he said, “I regret that your husband was murdered
by this man’s associate.” He pointed to Jake. “And I applaud the manner in
which you ended his miserable existence. You and your family shall be well
rewarded.” Skylar bowed again and kept her head low.

“You bastard,” Jake said, playing along. He didn’t know what
had happened but Skylar sure as hell didn’t kill Pete.

Jiaolong ignored Jake’s comment. He said to Skylar, “I vow
to you that this man will face similar justice.”

Despite the hope that Skylar’s presence instilled, Jake was
still filled with concern for his family and friends. When Jiaolong turned back
to face him, Jake allowed his fear to show. Jiaolong smiled.

“No, I’m not going to
kill
you. That would be far too
easy an escape from the horrors I have planned for the man who murdered my
parents.” He held up the tablet. “Once I hit the
Enter
button, your world will
change forever, and you and your loved ones will feel a pain far worse than
death.”

Jake didn’t like the sound of that one bit. But while his
imagination raced through a multitude of dark possibilities, another part of
him noticed Zhin rolling her eyes.

I can work with that.

“Here’s what I know,” Jake said. “First off, you’re an
idiot. Secondly, Grandpa’s not very happy with you. In fact, he’s ashamed.”

Jiaolong stiffened. Jake pressed on.

“Don’t believe me? Don’t believe he told me about the secrets
embedded in your video game? About Passcode? And why the beta testers happen to
be gatekeepers to the most secure networks on the planet, including your own
government’s?”

Jiaolong paled.

 “Ahh, there we go. Not so smug, now, huh? Well, let me clue
you in, boy. Because your grandfather also told me some things that even you
aren’t aware of. Ever heard the name Wong Huang-Fu?”

Jiaolong didn’t react.

“No? You should have,” Jake said, smiling inwardly as the
triplets shifted uneasily. “You’re nearly family.”

Zhin removed her shoulder bag and set it on the desk. Her
eyes narrowed at Jake. Min moved to one side and Jake readied himself.

Jiaolong sneered. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.
Nor do I care—”

 “You see, while you’ve been caught up in your new-tech
world of secret eyeglass cams and video monitoring equipment, Wong—who happens
to be your grandfather’s most bitter enemy—has stayed true to his old-school
roots as a triad kingpin. He’s been managing you from the shadows for years, gathering
information through well-placed spies, biding his time while you did all the
work. He’s probably watching us as we speak, laughing his ass off at what a
fool you are.”

“Nice try, Mr. Bronson. A last-ditch effort to create doubt
before I push the button. But it won’t work.”

“If you say so. Oh, one last thing. Did I mention that Wong is
your girlfriend’s grandfather?” Jiaolong frowned. “Who’s the puppet master now...
Geppetto
?”

Jiaolong turned to Lin, who seemed totally at ease. She
placed her hands on his cheeks and kissed his mouth. After pulling away, she
said, “The American is nothing if not creative.” She smiled and Jiaolong seemed
to relax.

Jake shook his head. The fool hadn’t seen that Min had
pulled out her phone and speed-dialed a number. “It is time,” she said into the
device. Then she pocketed it and spun around to confront her boss.

***

Jiaolong was startled by the sudden
movement. Min grabbed his arm with both hands and squeezed. He was shocked at her
vise-like grip. She yanked forward and used his momentum to spin him face-first
into the wall, his nose crunching on impact. Blinding pain shot across his
cheekbones and forehead. Furious, he tapped the
Enter
key, discarded the
tablet, and cocked his fist. Zhin rushed forward, grabbed his raised first, and
pulled in the opposite direction. He went with the movement, trusting that Zhin
was there to help, and he noticed sweet Lin drop to her knees in front of him,
her hands buried in her face. But Min wouldn’t let go. Instead, she tightened
her grip and spat at him. Zhin reached behind him, and he felt her grab hold of
Min’s arm. He braced himself for the move that would break Min’s attack.

Then something changed. Both women stilled, as if an
unspoken command had been exchanged between them. Their arms locked together
behind him and their free hands slid down his forearms to hold his wrists
outward. They pressed and suddenly he was on his knees, locked between them. His
struggles to break free sent white-hot pain up his arms.

On her knees in front of him was Lin, her face a picture of revulsion.
She held a long stiletto toward him as if it were an offering, its tip against
his sternum.

“Surprise,” she whispered.

Her lips curled in a hungry smile, her eyes dancing from her
sisters to him. He followed her gaze, looking left, then right, then back to
the woman he loved. Each of the triplets wore the same expression of bitter
disgust and for an instant he couldn’t tell them apart. The realization of
their lie overwhelmed his senses, and he was once again the tormented
chonky
at school whom everyone detested.

The blade pierced his skin and he recoiled from the burning
pain. But the sisters held him fast and Lin’s hand didn’t waver. She slowly
pushed it deeper, angled upward, its tip moving inexorably toward his pounding
heart.

Lin’s face became enraptured by the process, and Jiaolong
died a thousand deaths while his heart made its final beat.

W
E’D
WATCHED IN HORROR
as the scene unfolded on the video monitor. I’d been
proud of the way my father stood up to his captors, but the looks on the sisters’
faces when they murdered de Vries’s grandson had nearly made me throw up.
Sarafina had buried her face in Ahmed’s chest, her shoulders hitched in silent
sobs. Little Star’s fists were clenched at his side. Ahmed was grim faced, but he
nodded to himself as if he was glad the man had been killed. I knew what he was
thinking—the guy deserved it. But I still couldn’t embrace his murder.

De Vries’s thoughts had scattered for a moment, replaced by
a feeling of cold fury. His grandson had been murdered before his eyes,
betrayed by the offspring of the old man’s lifelong enemy. The three women were
pure evil, I thought, and I didn’t need my high IQ to know my parents would be their
next victims.

I had to find a way to help them.

De Vries read my thoughts. “I will help as well,” his voice
said through the loudspeakers.

I heard a soft buzzing sound and saw both wall cameras panning
toward us.

“Hey!” Ahmed said.

“It’s okay,” de Vries said. “I’ve made a few adjustments.
They cannot hear or see you.”

Ahmed moved toward the exit. “Good. We need to get to Mom
and Dad before it’s too late.”

“Wait,” de Vries said. “If you rush ahead blindly, you will
also be taken.”

“He’s right,” Little Star said. “We need a plan.”

“For my part,” de Vries said, “I’ve already begun.”

I sensed streams of code shooting forth from him, spiraling
outward in multiple directions to embrace the network here in the valley plus
the one ten kilometers away, planting a virus that would delete directories,
erase files, and wipe hard drives. The code absorbed it all, including all the
cloud backup files stored on remote servers. When everything was in place, de
Vries’s voice was back in my head. “I’ve placed a timer on the virus. Now,
here’s what you must do before it goes off.”

He outlined his plan and two minutes later we were ready to
leave. De Vries had confirmed that the path between here and the tunnel
entrance was clear. He’d done his part. The rest was up to us.

I reached out to him through my Spider. I needed to keep
this part of our conversation private.
May I help you, too?

Yes, but before I go I’d like to pass along one final
thought. You are a remarkable child. You will make a difference in this world. But
learn this from my life’s lesson. There is beauty in death. I understand that
now. It’s an integral part of our existence, motivating us to sacrifice selfish
aspirations in favor of nurturing our children. Seeking immortality in the
hopes of building a better world is a fool’s errand, because it’s the promise
of death that inspires man to greatness, to make a difference each and every
day of his life.

I burned his words into a special drawer in my mind. They
were words to live by
.

De Vries said,
I’m ready.

I closed my eyes—

“Wait!” de Vries’s voice blared over the loudspeakers.
“Look.”

The scene on the video monitor switched over to a view from an
exterior camera that appeared to be mounted in the jungle. An old road
stretched into the distance, and I could see the tiny outline of the village on
the horizon.

“That’s gotta be four or five miles away,” Ahmed said.

A military caravan streaked into view at the bottom of the
screen, racing toward the village. There were trucks and Jeeps and Humvees with
heavy machine gun turrets. And then a robotic swarm swept past the lens like a
huge flock of angry birds. They were the same as in the video game and we’d
never stand a chance against them. If we stepped into the open, we’d be
discovered within moments of their arrival, and if we resisted, we’d be dead in
less than a thought.

What would Dad do?

 “They’ll be here soon,” de Vries said. “There’s no time to
waste.”

Ahmed was at the door in a second. Little Star and Sarafina
were right behind him. But I hesitated, exchanging a desperate burst of
thoughts with de Vries, asking him to do one final thing for me.

Brilliant,
his mind said as he weaved a quick patch
of code and sent it on its way.

Then I closed my eyes and accepted the electronic tentacles
of the old man’s consciousness. A nanosecond later I swept everything that was
Frederik de Vries back into his failing body. When I opened my eyes, I saw the corner
of his parched lips twitch around the tube that projected from his mouth. He’d
tried to smile.

God bless you, Alex Bronson.

The monitors flatlined.

“Come on!” Ahmed said, holding the door open.

I grabbed my pack and ran.

***

A twig
snapped and Lacey flicked off the safety on her MP5.

She’d been observing the valley from the ridgeline and had
watched desperately as Marshall and the others had been escorted into the
barracks. But then she’d spotted a figure making its way up the trail, so she’d
scrambled back to her hiding spot beneath the brush.

A thick cloud bank had obscured the moonlight, but not so
much that she couldn’t see the shadow moving slowly toward her previous
position on the ridge. Her heart thudded louder and louder. She settled the
red-dot sight of her weapon on the crouching form. He was less than thirty feet
away.

If he takes one step in my direction…

The figure looked left and right. “Lacey?” the man said
softly.

She couldn’t believe her ears. “Pete?”

He turned and hurried toward her, and she knew from his
broad silhouette that it
was
Pete. She lowered her weapon and crawled
from the brush.

“Thank God yer okay, lass. I’ve been worried sick.” His
uniform was covered in blood, and there appeared to be bullet holes in his
chest. He wasn’t carrying a weapon.

She sucked in a breath. “You’re hurt.”

He chuckled. “I’m pleased it looks that way. Otherwise, I’d
be a goner. I was about to get riddled for real when Sky stepped up and shot me
instead. God bless her.”

“Squibs?”

“Yep.”

She sighed. “They took Marshall, too.”

“I know. They passed me on the way down. It looked like they
were headed toward the barracks. They might have also gotten Dolphin, Shamer, and
the woman who took us in. The house was empty. That’s why I headed up here.” He
hesitated before adding, “Any sign of Feng or his buddy?”

Lacey shook her head and Pete’s shoulders sagged. “I figured
as much. The bastards who did this are going to pay.”

“What should we do?”

“We’ve got to save the day, what else? I assume ye followed
procedures and disabled yer phone?”

“Yes. But I still have this.” She unclipped the sat phone
from her belt.

“Did ye use it?”

“I wanted to. Oh, man, did I want to. But I remembered
Jake’s warning about not calling until he had the kids. I was searching for signs
of Jake or them when I spotted you coming up the trail. That’s when I
hightailed it back into the brush. Did you see them?”

“Afraid not.”

They moved to the ridgeline and studied the barracks through
their night-vision scopes.

Pete said, “I got the diversion charges set up but without a
comm link, Jake can’t signal to let me know when to set ’em off.”

“What if he’s been taken, too?”

“Been thinkin’ about that. It amn’t gonna be easy trying to
free the rest of them with just the two of us.”

“Then maybe it’s time to call in the cavalry,” she said.

Pete didn’t answer. He was panning his scope this way and
that. There was a soft rumble in the distance and he swept the scope up the
valley. Lacey raised her scope and saw headlights break from the distant jungle.
A vehicle turned onto the straightaway leading toward the village. Another set
of headlights skipped into view behind it, and the flickers of more lights in
the trees told her there were more behind that one. The clouds shifted and
moonlight slanted down to illuminate the patch of roadway. That’s when she
noticed the pulsing shadow that seemed to float above the military caravan. She
focused her scope on the mass and saw what looked like a flock of birds following
the vehicles. All at once, the flock split into three groups and lined up in
perfect diamond formations.

“That cuts it,” Pete said. “We’ve got to get off this
mountain before that swarm gets here. And we’re gonna need all the help we can
get to save our friends. Make the bloody call!”

She picked up the phone and speed-dialed.

***

Only a few minutes had passed since Jake
watched Jiaolong meet his fate. Now he was locked in the cell with the rest of
them. He wrapped his arms around Francesca and she clung to his chest. The
others stood along either side of them. Jiaolong’s body had been removed from
the room, and the three sisters were huddled at the desk with their cell phones
pressed to their ears.

“Whad’ya think they’re talkin’ about?” Tony whispered.

“No talking!” the big guard said, pointing his pistol at Tony.
The guard—one of the sisters had called him Bingwen—had a huge lump on his
forehead from where Tony had head-butted him, and Jake suspected he’d like
nothing better than to squeeze the trigger. Tony shut up.

The sisters seemed to be doing more nodding than talking; it
had to be Grandfather Wong on the other end of the line. The elder de Vries had
told Jake that Wong’s home base was less than ten clicks away, and the man was
probably on his way over with reinforcements. Not that he needed them. The sisters
had taken quick charge of the situation after killing Jiaolong. It was a
classic coup d’état and the guards had taken it all in stride. Most of them had
exited the barracks to take up stations elsewhere. The two who had stayed back
with Bingwen were watchful but relaxed. They’d moved to the back of the room to
give the sisters privacy. Skylar, still disguised, stood beside the guards, her
head bowed. Zhin had said she wanted to speak with Skylar and asked her to
remain until after the call. Jake waited anxiously for Sky to make her move. He
had no idea what she had planned.

The door flew open and a guard rushed in with his assault
rifle in a ready position. Sweat beaded his brow. A glare from Zhin stopped him
short; she and the sisters were intent on their phone call. The guard bowed, then
shuffled over and whispered something to Bingwen. The brute’s expression
tightened. Bingwen whispered back, keeping his eyes glued on Jake and the
others, looking like he was trying to cover up a swell of anger. His
subordinate gave a subtle nod, shouldered his weapon, and walked casually
toward the other two guards.

“Something’s up,” Becker whispered.

Jake knew the Aussie was right but there was nothing Jake
could do about it. He watched helplessly as the scene unfolded. The sisters
ended their call, Bingwen distracted Skylar with a quick question, then the new
guard grabbed her from behind and held a knife to her throat. The two remaining
guards rushed to grab either of her arms.

Bingwen stormed over to confront her. He watched as his
guards removed her weapons and emptied her pockets. They dropped a pistol,
several spare magazines, two throwing knives, and a cell phone onto a nearby
table. Bingwen scrutinized her face.

“What’s this?” Zhin asked as she and the sisters pocketed
their phones and walked over.

Bingwen placed a meaty palm over Skylar’s face and ripped
off her bulbous prosthetic nose. One of her rubber cheekbones came away with
it, and the white skin beneath stood in sharp contrast to the rest of her
darkened face. Skylar wriggled her nose and glared at Bingwen. He backhanded
her, whipping her head to one side. The guards held her tight and he smacked
her again.

Sky snarled at him. “Is that all you got?”

Bingwen cocked his arm. Tony pounded the bars with his
palms. “Try that with me, asshole!”

“Bingwen, enough,” Zhin said, approaching the big guard.
“How did you know?”

“The man she supposedly killed? His body is missing and the
blood splatter wasn’t really blood.”

Skylar snickered. “He looked pretty dead to me.”

Min rushed forward and grasped her by the chin, her nails
digging into Skylar’s flesh. “I will teach you respect. And then
you
will look
really
dead.” She released her grip. “Throw her in with the others.”
The guards hauled her to the cell, unlocked the door, and pushed her inside.

Zhin turned to Bingwen. “Your new master will be here in a
few minutes and he won’t be pleased if this house isn’t in order. I suggest you
find that man immediately.”

Bingwen pursed his lips and exhaled through his nose like an
angry bull. He pulled his radio and started issuing orders. All he heard in
return was static. The door opened and a man wearing dark slacks and a white
shirt with rolled-up sleeves rushed in. He was out of breath.

“Pak,” Lin said. “What’s wrong?”

“Our communications are down. Wireless, landlines, Internet—everything.
And...and TurboHacker’s online!”

“What?” Zhin asked with a deep frown. She looked at Marshall
in the cell. “Impossible. He’s standing right there.”

Pak moved around the desk and made an entry on the keyboard.
Then he swung the monitor around and showed them lines of code streaming down
the screen. He pointed at the bottom of the display. It was too far away for
Jake to make out the text, but that didn’t matter. He’d heard Alex in the
system earlier, and he knew from his conversations with Marshall that Alex had
been using Marshall’s handle. He felt a flush of pride at his son’s attempt to
help. It also scared the hell out of him.

“See?” Pak said. “Username is TurboHacker. Whoever it is,
he’s taken over our entire network, deleting one file after the next, including
all the linked files at your grandfather’s facility. We can’t break through.
We’re losing everything!”