Junkyard Cats - Faith Hunter Page 0,40
her. No money, no usable skills, no temperament for civilian life. Instead of trying to integrate as a citizen, she hit the road. Killed three civilians when a mom-and-pop power station refused to provide free power for her stolen vehicle. Military tracked her, found her, and jailed her in a Class Five disciplinary barracks. That was seven years ago. After less than six months, she busted out, killing a number of guards and destroying a significant section of the prison’s physical structure. There was vid of her taking off with several wounded, kidnapped guards. She was so badly injured that they figured she had died of her wounds. But . . .” Jagger went back to skimming photos.
A Class Five disciplinary barracks meant an underground prison with no access to the surface except through a lot of heavily armed guards and sealed off sectors. Escape-proof. I watched the woman move. There was something odd about her weight transfers and muscle shifts, something controlled, utterly self-assured. Like a spider in the center of her web, waiting for prey. She puffed several more times on the Vape and handed it back to One-Eyed.
“One-Eyed Jack bears a striking resemblance to one of the injured, kidnapped, missing prison guards, Jack Seyer. Makes sense. She had to have inside help. But,”—he shook his head, swiping through more pics, putting some up on the screen—“this attack squad has top of the line military equipment.”
He was just now coming to the same possibilities I had. I asked, “Could she have parlayed her position in the Angels to get government contracts? Say, with someone from before her prison days, someone who didn’t disappear, who moved on up in the military or the Gov.? Maybe she used that shared past to blackmail or forge a relationship? Maybe she got in with General Ervin E. McElvey?”
“Aiming to replace the OMW and contract with the military; a sub-rosa agreement. Made while the Angels also forged an agreement with PRC.” He cursed, a single harsh expletive. “Might explain a lot of things.”
On screen, the Mammoth vehicle pulled the mini-tank and the first of the trapped lightweight Tac-Vs out of the drive. Within minutes, the next two were out of the drive and the entrance was wide open. One-Eyed Jack and Clarisse were standing just out of direct line of fire from the road, around the curve of the armored cement embankments that protected the office.
Closer in, the cats were feasting on the dead humans.
“The office’s fixed array has antitank missiles,” I said to Jagger, knowing I was giving away way too much. “Gomez. Jagger is in the Com seat. He’s my temporary third in command, authorized for the office’s US Allied defensive measures for the next twelve hours.” That order removed Jagger from command of the other weapons in the office but still gave him control of way more than I wanted him to know about. “I’ll be in the yard itself. Jagger is authorized to monitor my suit sensors. Jagger is not authorized for control of or tracking of the warbot or its sensors. Gomez, assess intruders and prepare optional responses for military incursion. Fire upon Jagger’s orders.”
“What about me, Sweetpea?” Jolene asked on a private channel.
“You are reserve forces.”
“Optional responses for military incursion?” Jagger repeated. “What kind of AI and systems do you have in this thing?”
“It’s been heavily retrofitted. If we live through this, I might share,” I lied.
“What are you going to do?” Jagger asked me. “Why will you be in the open?”
“I’m going after Mateo. And I’m going after two intruders at the back of the property, who got in when we weren’t looking.” And I was going to drop the two prisoners who were still hanging under the Grabber. If their brains weren’t totally scrambled, I was going to ask them some pointed and not very nice questions.
“Copy that. Be careful,” Jagger said. “Gomez AI, glad to make your acquaintance.”
“Welcome, Jagger,” Gomez said. “I have prepared four responses, each containing offensive and defensive measures and potential bombardment progressions, all based on the intruders’ armaments we now believe to be in play. We are aware that the intruders may have armaments that differ from our expectations, and therefore, each version has additional options as needed. Please note options one through four on my on-deck screen.”
I could almost feel Jagger’s surprise through the screens and through the cats. No junkyard should have such sophisticated weaponry.
“That AI’s smarter than I thought,” Jolene said into my ear, speaking of Gomez.