The Dark Edge Chronicles - Hardwire

Enemy Reinforcements

By the time dawn's first light seeped over the horizon to caress the glass and steel pinnacles of the downtown core, Mordecai and Jeriko were standing in the shadows, staring up at the Brotherhood building, thoughtful expressions painted on their faces. Arms crossed across a barrel chest, Mordecai's eyes were narrowed as he visually examined the face of the skyscraper directly in front of them.

The withdrawal had gone like clockwork; pyroken sealed up the hole they had made in the duct wall after Jeriko had brought down her restraining field that had held the wards back. Then it was back up the shaft, using physical strength to climb the several metres they had dropped down the shaft to begin the penetration. The grating was replaced and then their sliders took them back across the gap between the two buildings, tiny motors allowing them to climb up hill to the higher roof top.

Pausing there for a moment, the two lone gunmen then had worked to remove any trace of their presence before short porting down to the street once more. And, by the total lack of activity he was seeing up on the building now, they were successful in that.

A hand dipped into a storage pouch and the flattened silver box that was Paladin appeared in the big man's grip, it's blue light winking softly from the box's top.

"Paladin, are you online?" he whispered softly as Jeriko stepped deeper into the shadows behind him.

"Online and operating within normal parameters, Mordecai," the familiar voice whispered back and Mordecai nodded in satisfaction.

"And have you been monitoring the penetration?"

"I have, Mordecai. As well as the placement of the psionically active listening devices you planted within the building. In anticipation of your request, I have located each device via their sub-space communication link that you provided them with, and have established connections to each of them."

"Excellent work, Paladin. Now, I want you to actively monitor each device by systematically downloading their memories every fifteen minutes. Scan each data download for the following words: Preacher, Brotherhood, and Renegade. Confirm."

"Parameters accepted, Mordecai," Paladin confirmed in its soft voice. "Uplinking to listening devices now via sub-space com system. First download of memory cores in fifteen minutes from the mark. Mark."

Mordecai returned Paladin to its storage pocket with a tight smile before looking over at the waiting Jeriko.

"We're in business," he noted softly. "Now, all we have to do is wait for something to happen!"

The next three days and nights passed slowly, almost agonizingly so as the two hardwired lone gunmen waited for something significant to trickle out of Mordecai's bugs high up in the Brotherhood's Calgary headquarters. In the meantime, they used Mordecai's probes to locate Brotherhood safe houses throughout the city while they played hide-and-seek with the Brotherhood's bloodhounds.

"Here's your bill, sir," the waitress, Dolores, said in a friendly tone as she put it beside his plate and gave Mordecai a big smile. The man in black had been nothing but friendly to her and always tipped well, as did his stunningly attractive friend, though she wasn't with him this morning. Unconsciously she patted her hair into place when he looked up at her, even though she had been married for almost twenty years and looked it. There was just something about him ...

"Thanks, Dolores. As always, the service has been excellent!" Putting down enough for the bill, plus a twenty-dollar tip, Mordecai stood and, grabbing his jacket in one hand, quickly made his way out onto the street.

To find a frowning Jeriko waiting for him.

"What's up?" he asked as he pulled his jacket on. Without answering, she drew out her personal A.I., Excaliber, which she had linked to Mordecai's Paladin. From Excaliber's top edge, she drew a flat recording crystal, which she then handed to him.