NOVGO.NET Chapter 76: All Screens Bleed
Chapter 76: All Screens Bleed
"Pull the master optical cable from the mainframe bay, Maya, don’t leave them a mirror."
A shower of sparks cascaded from the server racks as the high-voltage breaker severed the platform’s primary power feed.
"I am pulling the hardware drives first, Fin, because physical glass plates cannot be rewritten by a remote wipe signal."
"How many drives are in the rack?"
"Four optical arrays, holding every transaction ledger from the last eighteen months."
"Does it have the offshore transfer vouchers?"
"It has the vouchers, the destination bank routing numbers, and the digital signatures of three sitting municipal councilmen."
’The bitter taste of ozone hung thick in the air, scraping against the back of my throat with every shallow breath.’
[ Stamina: 20/100 ]
[ Mana: 20/40 ]
"Ruby, keep that blast door wedged open with your shield boss."
"It is wedged, kid, but the frame is buckling under the hydraulic strain."
"How much time before the patrol cutters establish firing arcs?"
"About nine minutes, maybe eight if their forward diesel turbines are pushed past the safety redline."
"They are already hailing the platform again on the tactical channel."
"What do they want, Nila?"
"The usual bureaucratic garbage... unconditional surrender, custody of all personnel, and immediate delivery of all data storage units."
"Tell them the storage units had an unfortunate accident involving three pounds of thermite."
"Do not tell them that, Nila, tell them nothing at all."
Maya slid a heavy steel drive cartridge into a foam-lined ballistic case and snapped the latches shut.
"Silence is louder anyway, it makes politicians panic and scramble for their private jets."
"Maya, are the network mirrors ready?"
"Six independent civilian news nodes and twelve decentralized data vaults across District Four and District Nine."
"Can the Association censor the broadcast?"
"They can pull the central towers down, but they cannot shut off twelve pirate relays simultaneously."
"Good, push the upload now."
A sharp ping sounded from Maya’s portable transceiver as the packet stream began to transmit across the open waves.
"First burst is through the firewall, eighty megabytes of decrypted invoices and patient intake logs."
"Look at the harbor authority’s public monitoring screen on the wall."
"What is happening to it?"
"The main terminal just froze, Fin... the text is cycling backwards."
The cracked glass of the wall monitor flickered erratically from green to blazing white.
"The public feed is overriding their administrative lock, every terminal in the central transit hub is displaying the manifest."
"Look at that name right there at the top of the header."
"Councilman Malan’s private foundation seal, stamped in gold digital foil."
"He authorized the transfer of forty-two children under the label of specialized bio-material."
"Specialized bio-material... the bastard wrote it down like he was ordering bulk timber."
"He thought he was protected by ocean water and three layers of dummy corporations."
"Not anymore, his face is on every billboard in District Seven right now."
A muffled boom echoed from the eastern water as the patrol cutters fired a warning shot across their bow.
"That was a twenty-millimeter tracer round, fifty yards off our port railing."
"They are getting nervous, Fin, which makes them sloppy."
"Medics, how is the transport loading going?"
A field nurse in a blood-spattered apron jogged into the server vestibule carrying a portable oxygen canister.
"Both ferries have cast off lines and cleared the main pilings, heading for the shallow reef channel where the cruisers cannot follow."
"Good, get yourselves onto the Vanguard Four right now."
"Not until we strap a compression bandage around your ribs, young man."
"I told you, I am walking under my own power."
"You are spitting flecks of blood every time you cough, so sit your stubborn rear end on that bench."
’The nurse didn’t wait for my permission, tearing open a packet of bio-reactive thermal gauze and slapping it hard against my side.’
A sharp sting tore through Fin’s torso as the active medicinal enzymes bound to his bruised muscle fibers.
"Take slow breaths, in through your nose and out through your mouth."
"How long do I have to sit here?"
"At least twenty minutes if you want the coagulant to form a stable lattice over the hairline fracture."
"We don’t have twenty minutes, nurse."
"You have twenty minutes because the Vanguard’s auxiliary engine is still warming up its fuel injectors."
"She has you pinned, Fin, so just take the medicine and shut up for once."
"Ruby, I don’t like sitting while the patrol boats are closing distance."
"Nobody likes it, but you are running on empty fumes and you know it."
Fin closed his eyes and let the warmth of the medical compound seep deep into his bruised bone and torn tendons.
[ Recovery In Progress: Active Field Treatment ]
[ Elapsed Time: 22 Minutes ]
[ Stamina: 20 → 60/100 ]
[ Mana: 20 → 30/40 ]
The dull, grinding ache in his midsection softened into a manageable stiffness that let him draw a full, steady breath.
"My ribs feel tighter, the burning is mostly gone."
"That is because the clotting gel set properly, now don’t go swinging your axe like an idiot."
"I never swing like an idiot, nurse, my swings are very precise."
"Tell that to the door frame you dented earlier."
"That door frame was trying to lock us in."
Maya snapped her laptop shut and secured the waterproof canvas straps around her shoulder.
"The secondary broadcast just cleared the overseas press wires, Fin."
"Did the Association headquarters release a statement yet?"
"The central director’s office issued a blanket denial ten minutes ago, but the provincial inspector just revoked Malan’s administrative credentials."
"A revocation isn’t an arrest, Maya."
"It cuts his access to the security forces, which means he cannot order the harbor patrol to sink us without a court martial."
"Look at the patrol cruisers, they are slowing their approach speed."
The two grey warships drifted in the choppy swell three miles out, their gun turrets drooping to neutral bearing.
"They received the general order to hold fire, their captains don’t want to hang for treason."
"That leaves only the Chairman’s personal loyalists on the platform."
[ Evidence Milestone Achieved: Operation Platform Tartarus ]
[ Command Signatures and Supply Records Disseminated ]
[ EXP: +49,000 ]
[ Total EXP: 2,284,700 / 2,500,000 ]
’A second pulse of heat radiated through my chest as the ledger settled another chunk of progress into my core.’
"Fin, did you hear that high-pitched whine overhead?"
"What whine?"
"Listen to the wind above the crane tower."
A shrill, whistling roar tore through the low cloud ceiling, growing louder with every passing second.
"That is not an artillery shell, it is too slow and heavy."
"It is a launch capsule, look at the stabilizer fins burning red through the mist!"
A cylindrical steel capsule smashed into the concrete loading apron thirty yards away, throwing fractured slabs of stone into the dark waves.
"Get behind the bulkhead, everyone down!"
The pneumatic doors of the capsule blew outward with a concussive blast of white chemical smoke.
"Look at the size of that thing stepping out of the smoke."
A four-legged monstrosity plated in jagged obsidian chitin dragged itself forward, its jaw split into four needle-lined mandibles.
"That is a Genesis drop-pod war-beast, imported directly from the offshore breeding pits."
"They dropped it right beside our boarding gangway to cut off our retreat."
"Ruby, take the left flank and keep its claws off the boat’s mooring cables."
"I am on it, kid, just make sure you don’t break those fresh ribs."
"Nila, prepare your suppression thrusts, we take this beast down before it touches the gangway."