The Rising Sea (NUMA Files 15)

Joe pointed to the corroded remnants of a mounting that jutted out from the edge of the building a grand total of eight inches. “I think it used to be here.”

Kurt shook his head ruefully. “Old photos,” he muttered. “Never rely on old photos.”

Glancing over the edge, Kurt could see a dozen of the warbots heading their way. Others had undoubtedly already entered the building. “Unfortunately, the rest of our plan is working to perfection. The warbots are coming in droves.”

“Now what?” Nagano asked.

Kurt studied the building across from them. The gap was only six feet and the roof of the other building was a half story lower than the one they were standing on. He pointed across the gap with the sword. “We’ve only got one choice.”

The three of them exchanged glances, backed up a few feet and then ran for the edge. They jumped at the last instant, propelling themselves up and across the gap, before dropping down through the darkness.

* * *

• • •

“WARBOT number eight is out of action and off-line,” the controller said.

Gao was staring at a blank screen. “What happened?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Oni said. “The rifle exploded. The barrel must have been damaged by the impact of the concrete block. A man would have known that and avoided firing. So much for your perfect robots.”

“The others will finish them,” Gao said confidently. “There’s no way off that roof.”

Gao switched the video feed to a different machine and they all watched as it passed the damaged warbot and climbed the stairs all the way to the roof. It burst out through the door and scanned every quadrant.

After a brief delay, the controller spoke. “N

o targets in sight.”

“What about the other floors?” Gao asked. “They may have doubled back.”

The controller flicked through the data screens. “We have machines on every level of the building now. No thermal signature on any floor. No sign of movement. We’ve lost them.”

Gao pushed the controller out of the way and looked at the telemetry data himself. “This is impossible. They have to be in the building somewhere.”

That Oni was looking over his shoulder, breathing down his neck, made it all the worse.

“Show me a map of the island,” the assassin requested.

“Why?”

“Indulge me.”

Gao fumed but did as requested. The screen flicked and a wire outline of the island and all its buildings appeared. “Red dots show the positions of the warbots,” Gao explained. “Most of them clustered in the building the Americans and Nagano had been in moments ago.”

It took only a second for Oni to see what he needed. “Do you have something to stop those machines from killing me by mistake if I go out there?”

“An identifier,” Gao said, pointing to a rack of devices hanging on lanyards by the console. “As long as you’re wearing one of those, the machines will recognize you as a friend and they won’t target you.”

Oni looked pleased. He pointed toward Gao with the sword. “Give me one,” he demanded. “And put one on yourself.”

“Me? Why?”

“Because I know where the Americans are going,” he said. “And you’re coming with me.”

54

NAGANO was limping.