They had to take turns at the lock. Moriarty went first with the big welding rig. Then Ian, Kam, and Amaya squeezed in. Geoff went last. The lock opened, he kicked off, and was expelled out onto the Hub in a puff of air.

Moriarty had not been joking about the wind-it buffeted and shrieked at him. He knocked his mask askew, flailing, and missed the handhold. The Hollow smelled of dust, iron, and ozone. Amaya and Ian grabbed his arms as he tumbled past. They pulled him down, and the grips in his boots grabbed the Hub's surface.

He readjusted the mask, and flipped on his lights. The howling dark was itself an enemy: his headlights barely seemed to penetrate it. And it was cold-frost had already formed on the unprotected lower half of his face, and icy drafts seeped under his collar. He shivered. How were they going to fight in this?

They tethered themselves to each other, not to the bulkhead. Just like with ice slinging, they would need to be able to range afield. They did not want to be fixed to one point.

"Where are we?" Geoff asked.

"Halfway to the WeSuzee Spoke," Amaya replied. "On the Hub flat. The lifts are those lights right there."

Geoff squinted at where she pointed: a nearby set of lights crawled up the cable and entered the tunnel that led to Phocaea's surface. It vanished from view. Near the base of that cable they could see two figures wrestling the welding cart into position: Kam's diminutive figure and Moriarty's bulky one.

Amaya squatted and pointed at a structure against the hull. "These must be the ROV tracks."

Geoff bent over, too. "Yeah, and they're laid in a gridwork all across the hull. This must be the power, here. See the warning symbol?"

Ian said, "So, no-touchy the big red stripe, and what's underneath it. Got it."

"Come on." Geoff started crosswind toward the base of the buckyball cable. Walking in sticky-boots was c.u.mbersome, a bit like walking through sand, and he had to lean over at what felt like a forty-five-degree angle to keep from being knocked over by the wind. He fiddled around till he found the right toggle, and brought up the livemap built into his mask. A golden, spidery, shining mesh appeared: a topographic overlay on the dim surroundings.

He clicked on a link Amaya sent him. Their destination appeared in sparkling green, straight ahead. "We're nearing your position," Geoff radioed, and Moriarty acknowledged.

Geoff looked overhead. Moriarty hadn't been joking-the Hollow wall was only five meters away or so-so close he felt he could jump up and touch it. The rocky surface moved past at a brisk pace.

Suddenly they heard a terrible grinding, and felt a lurch underfoot. They swayed and struggled to keep their balance. Geoff could see on the overlay that the Hollow's walls were slowing down. The feral must be reversing the polarity of the spin generators. The city was being decelerated. Here at the Hub, it was not such a big deal, but out at the Rim, the deceleration would be extreme. He, Ian, and Amaya exchanged frightened looks.

Geoff radioed the old man. "What do we do now?"

Moriarty replied, "We've still got our job to do. Stay focused. Keep back about ten meters from me and Kamal, so you have room to maneuver without getting boxed in. If the feral hasn't figured out what we're doing yet, it will when we start cutting."

"Take your suits offline," Kam warned. "You might get hacked."

"Yikes! Good point."

Geoff, Ian, and Amaya spent a couple of seconds trying to figure out how to shut off their suits' waves.p.a.ce connections, while fierce blue sparks from the welder lit up the Hollow, making Kam's and Moriarty's shadows stretch across the Hub and dance on the walls of the Hollow. Smoke swirled, genielike, in the eddying winds.

Amaya said, "I've been thinking. Maybe we can use a kite-catch formation on them." Kite-catch was a three-biker method they sometimes used for netting ice. You tethered yourself to the corners of a net in a big triangle. Two bikers-the anchors-would stabilize two corners while the third-the throw-dragged the net across the ice's trajectory. In this case, they'd be using three tethers. Two of them would loft the third up, who would mount the attack.

Geoff lifted a boot from the surface, and flailed, trying to regain his balance. "We're going to be awfully slow in these-a h.e.l.l of a lot slower than we are on our bikes."

"True... but the machines aren't so fast either," Amaya said. "So the old man says. And the anchors can help the throw build up speed. Like a slingshot. Our big problem is, we'll have to work around the lift cable. It's going to get in our way."

"I guess we can cut tether if we have to," Geoff said thoughtfully, and Ian said, "I'm right there with you, m.u.f.fin."

Amaya sighed, exasperated. She and Geoff exchanged a look. Geoff wasn't sure if she was thinking It's just how he is It's just how he is or or I'm going to kill the f.u.c.ker. I'm going to kill the f.u.c.ker.

"Your idea," Geoff told her. "You call the op."

"All right. I'll be our first throw," Amaya said. "Geoff, you're throw two. Ian, you're three, and we cycle through as needed. Throw calls the target, as always. We'll take turns strafing the machines till we're out of bug juice, and then we'll close in and use flares, or solvents, or whatever else we've got."

"First let's get the tracks," Geoff said, and pulled his disa.s.sembler tube out of his belt. "They can't stop Kam and the old man if they can't reach them."

"Let's work out from one point, so we narrow their range of approach," Ian suggested. "No-start upwind! We don't want them coming at us from upwind-we'd have to fight the wind as well as the machines."

The three of them hurried due upwind of Kam and Moriarty, and began spraying disa.s.sembler onto three of the T-shaped rails that led to the xaser station.

Geoff figured he had better wipe out a good two meters of track in case the machines could roll over the damaged portion. He laid a line of disa.s.sembler. It went on like toothpaste. The metal melted instantly in a cl.u.s.ter of metal blocks that spun away into the winds. Loud pops and sparks sprayed up from exposed circuits as the disa.s.sembler ate through the hidden power line beneath the T-shaped rail. He worried about the hull beneath it, but the bug juice seemed to stop at the surface.

He clumped past Amaya and Ian and began on his second rail. Amaya pa.s.sed him, and next came Ian. He started to head for a third one. But they were out of time.

They heard the machines before they saw them. The bulkhead beneath their feet trembled. Thud! Clank! Thud! Clank! Along the rim of the Hub, maybe three hundred meters away, big rectangles rose up onto wheels and unfolded their arms-several cranelike appendages, with different, nasty-looking fixtures on them. Along the rim of the Hub, maybe three hundred meters away, big rectangles rose up onto wheels and unfolded their arms-several cranelike appendages, with different, nasty-looking fixtures on them.

"Twelve o'clock! Three! Six! Nine!" Amaya called, marking the arms of an imaginary clock.

They had gotten six rails out of commission, out of twelve. That meant, he hoped, they only had to defend against an attack from between two o'clock and eight.

Amaya called her first target, gesturing. "Two-thirty!"

He spotted the nearest of the machines lumbering toward them. They were not as slow as he would have liked-they moved faster than a human could in the d.a.m.n sticky-boots. Geoff, Ian, and Amaya spread out in a tethered triangle between the nearest machine and Kam and Moriarty. Metallic smoke blocked Geoff's view as he crossed downwind of the welding apparatus.

The three teens were tethered to one another. Geoff and Ian pulled taut the tether that joined the two of them, and let out slack on the tether they both shared with Amaya. She pa.s.sed Geoff, running wide in an arc, as she pulled out her disa.s.sembler gun. Then she reeled in her tether with Geoff and yanked hard on Geoff's line, launching herself toward the machine. Geoff braced himself against her pull.

The machine grabbed for her, clumsily. Amaya sliced off its foremost limb with her disa.s.sembler-it tumbled away into the Hollow-and sprayed its casing as she pa.s.sed overhead. The other arms flailed at her-one nearly got her; s.h.i.t, what a reach those arms had!-but she pushed off it with her hand and deflected herself. Then the machine ground to a halt with a terrible noise as the disa.s.sembler worked its way into the casing, and began shooting sparks. Ian reeled Amaya in. She touched down and took up the slack between herself and Geoff.

"I'm up." Geoff chose his target. He did not point; they were dealing with an intelligent enemy, not a lump of ice.

"Twelve o'clock!"

He pulled out his disa.s.sembler tube and crossed between the lumbering machine and Kam and Moriarty's position. It slowed, tracking on him as he approached. He moved around to its side, as Amaya had done. He was crosswind instead of down, and that made it harder. Ian flanked him on the far side of the machine. They reeled out tether and tossed it up over the target machine's reach-it swiped at the cable and missed. Amaya planted herself where she was. When the angles were right, he shoved off hard toward his target.

He did not get the timing quite right-his trajectory wobbled-but Amaya and Ian stabilized him. Then the machine came up, a field of spears and grapplers. The wind was slowing him down. He made an easy target. f.u.c.k. f.u.c.k.

The machine hooked the tether he shared with Amaya and yanked him down into reach of its arms. He tucked, swept the disa.s.sembler across the arm that had his tether-landed on its casing-touched down and spun, spewing more disa.s.sembler. All the arms broke off and tumbled away, one by one. He jumped up again, downwind toward Ian, who gave him a helpful tug. He landed a meter or so away from the machine, and doused it along the side. The wheels began to disintegrate. So did a chunk of rail, which spat sparks.

Geoff checked his disa.s.sembler gauge. "I'm out of bug juice."

Ian checked. "Me, too."

Amaya did not bother to reply; merely tossed hers aside and pulled out her flares. Geoff followed suit.

Ian yelled, "f.u.c.k! Eight o'clock! Eight o'clock!" and started running, yanking out his own flares. Amaya and Geoff turned-a third machine had slipped by them and was bearing down on Kam and the old man. It was mere meters away, and reaching for Moriarty, who had his back turned. The welding had stopped, and Kam was climbing into the hole they had made. Eight o'clock! Eight o'clock!" and started running, yanking out his own flares. Amaya and Geoff turned-a third machine had slipped by them and was bearing down on Kam and the old man. It was mere meters away, and reaching for Moriarty, who had his back turned. The welding had stopped, and Kam was climbing into the hole they had made.

Moriarty turned at Ian's yell, and stumbled back out of the machine's reach just in time. One boot came loose-he flailed, trying to keep out of the attacking robot's reach.

Ian shouted at Geoff and Amaya, "Launch me!"

The three of them did their shuffling, clumping run, as hard as they could.

"Now!" Ian said, and crouched, as Geoff and Amaya came up on either side of him. They slung him into the air. But this time the machine was ready for an airborne attack. It plucked him easily out of the air, sliced through the tethers securing him to Amaya and Geoff, and pulled his right arm off.

Time slowed down for Geoff. A fountain, a red haze-Ian's blood-filled the air and streamed out into the Hollow. He heard someone scream. Maybe Amaya, maybe Ian. Maybe him. Moriarty had gotten both feet back onto the hull and was running at the machine, firing his weapon, loosing a stream of curses. If the bullets were having an effect, Geoff couldn't see it.

"Let's take it!" Geoff told Amaya, but she looked confused. She shook her head and approached the machine, flares at the ready. "Look..."

What the h.e.l.l...?

The machine had ceased its attack on the old man. It lowered Ian carefully to its casing and held him there. With another two appendages, it pulled a medical kit from a cabinet in its side.

"What's it doing?"

"I think... it's trying to help him," Amaya said.

"Bulls.h.i.t! It just ripped his arm off!" It just ripped his arm off!"

Ian was struggling. The machine kept him pinned down. "Help me!" His voice was weak and desperate.

That was too much for Geoff. He rushed the machine. Moriarty attacked at the same time. The machine plucked the old man's gun out of his grasp, tossed it to the winds, and shoved Moriarty back into the xaser station bulkhead. By this time, Geoff had scrambled up onto the machine. He tried to grab Ian's good arm to pull him away, but the machine batted him aside, and he spun out into the dying winds of the Hollow.

Amaya scrambled back, well out of the machine's reach, and reeled Geoff back in. By the time he had alighted on the hull, the machine had applied some sort of compress to Ian's shoulder, and was giving him an injection. Geoff and Amaya were ready to attack again, this time with flares, but Moriarty waved them back.

"Stand down. For whatever reason, it's rendering first aid. We're here, Ian," Moriarty told him. "Stay calm."

"What's it doing to me? Am I going to die?"

"Just relax. That's a smart compress it's putting on you. It's got all kinds of fancy medicine in it to staunch the bleeding till we can get you to a doctor."

Moriarty told Geoff and Amaya, "We'll get him back. I've seen those things save a soldier who was nearly cut in half. Stay alert. Follow my lead. Kurupath! Get the h.e.l.l out here. Now."

Even as he spoke, Kam shouted, "Get back!" and dove out the opening to the xaser station. He went tumbling out into the Hollow as the power generator inside the small building erupted. They all ducked and were peppered with burning sparks.

Geoff shot a tether to Kam, who caught it and hand-over-handed back to the Hub surface. Geoff helped him regain his footing.

The machine seemed oblivious to the explosion. Once it had finished treating Ian, it rolled down toward the main airlock. The rest of them followed. At Moriarty's order they fanned out and brandished flares, alert to any further threatening move. But it showed no hostility.

The airlock door opened automatically as they approached. The machine stopped at the entrance, too large to enter.

"What now?" Geoff asked. The old man shrugged. Then the machine lifted Ian up. He moaned, and Geoff moved to attack it again, but Moriarty said sharply, "Belay that!"

The machine whistled some strange tune. Amaya, Kam, and Geoff exchanged surprised looks, and Geoff turned back to stare at the machine. Its cameras gazed implacably back.

"Get into the airlock," Moriarty ordered them, and when they hesitated, snapped, "Do it now!"

They hurried into the small chamber. Moriarty was whistling back and forth with the machine.

Kam said, "They're speaking Tonal_Z. I think it's telling us to get him to the hospital right away. The old man is asking what injection Ian got."

Kam listened to the machine's response, then shook his head at their querying looks. "I couldn't make it out."

The machine lowered Ian into the old man's waiting arms, and Moriarty stepped back slowly into the airlock. The machine froze in place: it did not lower its arms, nor make any other movement.

"Let's not push our luck," Moriarty said, and punched a b.u.t.ton. The outer airlock door shut. They had to wait a minute or two while the room pressurized. Geoff's ears popped painfully.

Amaya pulled off her mask and came over to Ian, ran her hands over his blood-drenched chest. She grabbed his clothing, shook him, snarled, "Ian, listen to me. You listen, you a.s.shole! Idiot! Don't you dare die."

Geoff came up behind. He tried to avoid staring at his friend's detached arm, which the machine had taped to his body, and his b.l.o.o.d.y, swathed stump. The sight of the amputation made him want to throw up. He called Ian's name, but Moriarty shook his head.

"He's been sedated, and injected with antibiotics and blood-building a.s.semblers. He's lost a lot of blood. He's still in danger. Come on, hustle! The hospital isn't far. Stay alert-the feral could still be out there. This could be some kind of trick."

Weapon drawn, Moriarty led the way out of the airlock as it opened on the Hub's interior.

17.

Jane wrapped up her call to Sean and returned to Tania, whose team was struggling to get all the backup copies of the critical systems ready. Meanwhile, Jane's remote views showed a hundred or more robot arms and craft attacking Zekeston. How many people would die? She thought about Xuan and the clan, and hatred for the feral swept through her. She trembled with the need to attack: to shred its structures to component bits with her own hands.

Then power flickered. Her waveface went dead. The floor lurched sickeningly under her feet and she was lofted into the pitch blackness. She grabbed at the railing-caught it with a foot.

"What's happening?" one of Tania's people asked.

"It's gotten into the spin generation system," Jane replied. A horrible grinding resounded through the walls, confirming this: Jane lost her grip on the railing and smashed against a cubical wall. She flailed in the darkness, crashing into people, cables, debris, unable to stabilize herself. The grinding and shaking continued-she felt and heard others moving as the habitat's momentum slowed and the shaking stopped. Phocaea's gravity became a faint, steady pressure pulling them all toward one wall. Someone swore.

The emergency lighting came on, feeble pools that cast long shadows. Marty propelled over, wild-eyed.

"Report! Has it finished copying itself to Upside-Down's systems yet?"

"Don't know. We're on backup life support," he gasped. "It's got control of the main network!"

"Easy," she said. "Stay cool. Tania will have planned for this. Is the communications network still up?"

"Only partially, and it's swamped with medical calls."

"All right. Stay here and stay on top of communications. Prioritize my calls. Brief Benavidez and the mayors as soon as you can."

Jane sought out Tania. The smaller woman was climbing up across the wall webbing. Her programmers, a.s.sorted objects, wiring, and globules of liquid floated around the room in the air currents, settling slowly toward the wall where Jane and Marty clung.

"Get to your stations!" Tania snapped. "We're out of time. Move your a.s.s, Damian, Perry-you too, Vicki. Wire us up. Now." She spun. "Mbara, report! What was the status on the gateway when we crashed? Open or closed?"

Her people shouted back. Pandemonium reigned, but briefly. A field of a.s.sembler tubes dropped, spinning gold wiring from cl.u.s.ters in the shadows. Jane snagged a wire as it streamed past, and plugged it into the processor at her ear. Her waveface blinked and rebooted: Tania's countdown clock appeared, as did the map of the sapient. The shouts quieted as people's conversations went back online.

Tania's avatar appeared in Jane's waves.p.a.ce. "Are you ready?"

"Let's do it."