shot off down the empty street. As they sped onwards, Rad noticed the cone of green light in front of them was off-center: one of the headlamps had been smashed. So, the car wasn’t indestructible after all.
“Dammit.”
Rad looked up. On their left, another group of robots came out of a side alley, another ragtag bunch of shapes and sizes and in varying stages of deconstruction. Jennifer dodged them as they stepped out into the road, but looking back Rad could see more coming out of a street opposite. Perhaps they were attracted to the sound of the car, knowing that it meant the King was out and about, saying hello to his loyal subjects, maybe choosing the lucky ones who would come back to the theater and be saved.
Kane righted himself in the back, and grabbed the top of Rad’s seat to pull himself forward. “They’re coming out of everywhere. How many are there?”
Jennifer kept her eyes on the road, but she shook her head as she drove. “Who knows how many the King had waiting. My guess is Harlem is full of them.”
Rad frowned. “And that’s not counting the warehouses downtown. The King has thousands of robots – a whole army – hidden across the city.”
Jennifer turned her golden face to him, and Rad raised an eyebrow. He could see her eyes through the slots in the mask.
Rad said, “The Harlem robots, they’re the refugees, gathering around the King of 125th Street, waiting for him to get to work, turning them back into people.”
“Yes,” said Jennifer. “Only he isn’t. He’s finishing the job, converting them fully into robots.”
“Then shipping them downtown, putting them in storage–”
“But keeping a few active, like Cliff, to look after them until they’re ready.”
Rad whistled. “And in the meantime, Cliff and the others like him, they’re organized, working to a plan. They pull crimes, stealing equipment, materials, that the King needs to keep working. The robot gangs. Now it makes sense.”
Kane shook his head. “Robot gangs? Sorry, I’ve been out of town.”
Rad grimaced. “Don’t sweat it. We just need to get out of here first.” He turned to Jennifer. “What happened to that gun of yours?”
She glanced over her shoulder, into the backseat. “Actually, it might be in here.”
Kane ducked down. “Bingo,” he said after a moment. Then he bobbed back up and passed the weapon to Rad.
Rad turned it over in his hands. “How do I check the ammo?”
“You don’t,” said Jennifer. “But it should be charged. It’s good for one shot and one shot only, remember?”
“OK,” said Rad, adjusting his grip on the gun, getting used to the awkward weight of it. “Last resort only.” He turned around to Kane. “You remember anything about your dreams?”
Kane sighed and sat back. “A little. There’s a woman, a woman with blue eyes. And movement, lots of movement.”
Jennifer glanced at Rad. “Dreams?”
Rad nodded. “As well as powering the King’s operation, seems the star reporter here can see the future. The King thinks Kane’s dream is about an army invading the Empire State from New York.”
“An army of what?”
“Guess,” said Rad.
Jennifer sighed. “So that’s why the King is building his own force?”
“Got it in one.”
Nobody in the car spoke for a while. The road ahead was clear.
“Agent Jones,” said Rad eventually, “what did the Corsair mean when he said you hadn’t told us?”
Jennifer didn’t say anything.
“You were on the trail of the robot gangs before you called me. What else were you looking for?”
Jennifer shook her head, and then said: “I’m looking for my brother.”
Rad whistled and drew breath to ask the next question when the car slid on the icy road as Jennifer yanked the wheel, hard.
She swore, leaning against Rad as the car turned. Looking out his window he saw the road slide past sideways as the car spun around. Ahead, the road was blocked by a huge group of robots, much larger than the pack they’d charged near the theater. These robots were silver, uniform, marching in a slow step in perfect time. In the Harlem night dozens of red eyes shone like coals.
Rad clung to the handle above his door as Jennifer pushed the huge vehicle to its limit. They shot down a side street, the side mirror on Rad’s side clipping the iced brick of the building on the corner. Then Jennifer pulled left, heading south via a different route. But it was no good; there were more of the warehouse robots blocking the road. Jennifer swore again and took the next