Destiny: Quantic Dreams Book 3 by Elizabeth McLaughlin (dark books to read txt) 📕

out more forcefully than it should have. Dad caught his tone and softened his voice. “No. The man that Gabriel possessed was a friend of mine. It pains me to this day that I was forced to end his life. The only justification I can offer is that he had every intention of ending mine. Gabriel attempted to take control of the shelter in a bid to force everyone back into the virtual world. When his attempts failed, he became increasingly desperate to the point of making an attempt on my life. At a crucial moment, Gabriel cornered me in a secluded hallway and told me that I wasn’t leaving the shelter alive.”

More muted speaking from the androids. Perhaps they could understand having a hatred of humans, but taking over someone else’s body was taboo to the idea of sentient life. Suddenly, an alarm sounded in the building. The androids jumped to their feet and left the chamber. All except Tenzen and Zohei who defended from their platform to take Dad by the arms. He fought, twisting one way and the other until he realized the androids were trying to take him out of the chamber, not kill him. “Take him to a cell!” Eleanor shouted before running through the doors to the auditorium. Marcus hopped from one foot to the other, the instinct to protect his grandfather warring with the knowledge that there was nothing he could do to help him.

“Let’s go.” I grabbed Marcus by his hand and we high-tailed it out of there. Rather than return to the building we were housed, we found a viewing point atop a set of stairs abutting a green space. The sentinel guns we had been warned about came alive and swiveled toward a point in the sky. Whatever had gotten the androids attention, it wasn’t god. “Get down and stay down,” I hissed to Marcus and Eliza. My ears picked up the sound of engines. The noise rapidly grew louder until it was a roar in my ears. An aircraft, too small to be manned, screamed overhead. The sentinel guns strafed its path with bullets but they were either too slow or the plane was made of bulletproof material. The machine made one sweep past the machine city and banked away. As soon as it cleared the airspace near the city, the guns stood down. The three of us waited where we lay, waiting for androids to take us into custody, or worse. No one came. We waited until we couldn’t anymore. It must have been over an hour because my legs started cramping up. Marcus helped both of us to our feet.

“What the hell was that?” Eliza kept her head low and her eyes darted as she looked for the continuing threat.

“An airplane.” I could hardly believe my own eyes. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d ever see a real live aircraft. The fly by made no sense. Clearly the plane wasn’t machine in origin, otherwise their sentinel guns wouldn’t have armed themselves. The only other option was that it had been deployed by a human. That didn’t make sense either. The androids already told us that all the other shelters were lost. It might have been possible that the group on the way back to the colony ran across some long abandoned military equipment, but that aircraft had looked brand new. Whatever it was, it bought my father another few hours of life.

Our plans would have to move forward sooner than I thought.

Chapter Twenty

We packed only the essentials. A day’s worth of food and water, our utility knives, and cool weather gear. In the case that we had to make a hasty exit—as if there were any other kind of exit from a place like this—we would have enough supplies to last long enough to find aid. The rest of our possessions we left. We wouldn’t need them.

I kept expecting an android to show up at the door to throw us in a cell, or worse, but nothing happened. It was tempting to stay where we were, but it wasn’t an option. We checked the remaining ammunition in the few weapons we had. About a dozen rounds each. Not nearly enough to blow our way into a guarded cell, but maybe enough to take a few out with us if necessary. “All right, you’re the only one who hasn’t done a lot of shooting, Mom.” Marcus clapped me on the shoulder. “You’ll take the middle position between the two of us. You only shoot at the last resort. If Momma or I go down, you keep moving. You understand?” I cursed the dozen and a half times I had refused to go to the gun range with the two of them when we still lived in the virtual world. What I wouldn’t give for some firearms training now.

“Understood. But you’re not going to go down, otherwise I’ll have to kick your ass.” I cracked a smile. I’d say one thing for the real world, it hadn’t been boring for a single second. Perhaps I was starting to go a little crazy myself. The Fiona of two years ago wouldn’t have picked up a weapon, never mind looking forward to assaulting a fortified compound. We waited until the onset of twilight before heading out. Since the unmanned plane flew overhead, the city was crawling with androids. We stuck to the shadows as best we could, but the androids didn’t seem concerned with our presence, if they detected us at all. We found ourselves in front of the building where the trial was held. The building was deserted. It must not have been tactically necessary. Marcus breached the doors and swept his gun through the large atrium, but no one was to be found. We traced our path back through the auditorium and followed the path of the androids who had dragged Dad away.

Their path led to a winding, narrow corridor lined with panels of metal.