Origin in Death (In Death #21)(106)

Code accepted. Please step to the rear of the unit for retinal scanning.

"How the hell do we get by that?" Eve demanded.

"She did. I'll wager she's done the work for us."

The scan beam shot out of the panel, but it wavered, then pulsed twice.

Welcome, Doctors Icove. Which level do you require?

"That's good." Roarke's voice held quiet admiration. "That's bloody good. I wonder if this Deena would like a job." "Return to previous level," Eve ordered.

Level One is requested.

The doors slid shut.

"Fast work on compromising the scan," Roarke commented. "Smarter than disengaging. Bound to be an alarm trigger for that. This way you skip some steps and add the irony. I could find quite the happy position for Deena."

"Damn it, damn it, the signal's gone. Make sure Feeney has the last coordinates."

She drew her weapon as the computer announced arrival at Level One.

She came out low, with Roarke taking high, into a wide, white corridor. The walls were tiled and glossy, the floors gleaming. The only color was from the large red "1" directly across from the elevator, and from the black eyes of the security cams.

"A bit like the morgue," Roarke commented, but she shook her head.

There was no smell of death here. No smell of human. Just empty air pumped and recycled. They headed west.

There were archways right and left, with codes posted, again in red, on the walls.

"Lost Feeney. We're deep." Roarke looked up. The ceiling was white, too, and curved like a tunnel. "And there's probably security plates to block unauthorized communications."

"Have to know we're here." She lifted her chin toward another camera. "Maybe security's automated."

She strained to hear. Voices, footsteps. But there was nothing but the quiet hum of the air system. The tunnel curved, and she saw the remains of a droid scattered over the white floor.

"I'd say we're on the right track." He crouched to study the pieces. "Bug, equipped with stunners and signals."

Because they looked like mutant spiders, they disgusted her on an innate level. And where there was one, there were bound to be more.

Her theory proved out when she heard the scuttle behind her. She turned, fired, as the bug droid rounded the curve. Three more came behind it.

She dropped to avoid the beam, clipped one, and was rolling to her feet when Roarke obliterated the third. The injured one let out a high-pitched signal before she kicked it, full force, and set it smashing against the wall.

"Damn insects."

"That may be. But in a place like this, I'd say they're the first wave." Anticipating, Roarke drew a second blaster. "We can expect worse."

They hadn't made it another ten feet when they got worse.

They came, front and rear, and at quick march, in perfect formation. Eve counted more than a dozen before her back slapped against Roarke's.

Droids, she hoped they were droids. They were identical: stony faces, hard eyes, bulky muscle under what were outdated military uniforms.

But young, oh Christ, no more than sixteen. Children. Just children.

"This is the police," she shouted out. "This is a sanctioned NYPSD operation. Stop where you are."

They kept coming, and as one entity, drew weapons.

"Take them down!"

She'd barely gotten the words out when the explosion rocked her. She flipped her weapon to full stun, fired first in a sweep, then in quick, focused bursts.

Something seared her left arm, brought a quick shock of pain. Even as she fired into one of the oncoming's face, the one behind him fell on her.

She nearly lost her weapon as the force slammed her to the floor. She smelled blood, ripe and fresh, saw the human in his eyes. And without remorse, jammed her weapon against his throat, and fired on full.

His body jerked, convulsed, and was dead before she shoved him aside. She avoided, narrowly, the combat boot that kicked toward her face. Yanking her knife free she drove it up, into the hard belly.

Chips of tile flew, sliced at her exposed skin as she rolled. There was another jolt of pain, a pinch at her hip. She caught sight of Roarke battling two, hand to hand. And more were coming.

She clamped her knife between her teeth, thumbed to maximum blast, and flipped her clutch piece out of its holster. She somersaulted back, took one of Roarke's opponents out, cursed when she couldn't get a clear shot of the other, then began to fire two-handed, like a mad thing, at what remained standing.

Then Roarke was beside her, kneeling beside her. "Fire in the hole," he said, dead calm, and heaved the miniboomer in his hand.

He grabbed her, shoved her back, and threw his body over hers.

The blast punched at her eardrums. She heard, dimly, shards of tile raining down. Then only her own labored breaths.

"Get off, get off!" If there was panic now, it was for him, so she pushed, shoved, rolled him away, then snatched at him again. He was breathing hard now, and he was bleeding.

A gash at the temple, a slice that had gone through the leather of his coat just above the elbow.

"How bad? How bad?"

"Don't know." He shook his head to clear it. "You? Aw, f**k them," he said, viciously, when he saw the blood running down her arm, seeping through her pants at the hip.