The Astral Hacker (Cryptopunk Revolution Book 1) by Brian Terenna (best ebook reader .txt) 📗

dumb for a second, then shakes her head. “Why would I leave?” she asks, indicating the cell around her. “There’s everything I could want here.”

I look around the barren gray cell. What the…oh no. The Evo. Could they be controlling her?

I pull on her arm. “Just come.”

She scowls and pulls back, breaking my grip. “Leave me alone,” she shouts.

Oh hell no.

“Over here,” says a guard from somewhere down the hall.”

I pull Nav’s arm. “Let’s go.”

She hesitates, frowning at Anna, then follows. I make our backs invisible, and we sprint to the exit. We reach the door and push.

It’s locked.

Hell. Hopefully, the outer doors are under the same code as the others. I pour through the code until I find the back door. It’s behind an extra firewall. I go to work on it.

My battery is at four percent…three, but I’m almost there.

“Her cell is open, but she’s here,” says a nearby guard. “The other cells are empty. Get help. I’ll track them.”

Diablo, hurry…. There. “Chim, change line three to open.”

The steel door pops open to reveal the evening sun. We burst outside into the humidity, surrounded by a field of weeds.

My q-link beeps three times, indicating a dead battery. We materialize.

“What the heck. Stop,” says a guard.

There are tall grasses in the distance, but no nearby cover. I push Nav in one direction to take off in another. “Go.”

Nav trips, then slams into the ground. The guard sprints outside and levels his rifle at her.

At this range, she’s dead. Even in Silent City, I’d have no way to save her. Though my mind races too fast for me to grasp a single thought, I’m rooted in place.

The guard sights his shot as Nav stares at him blankly. My stomach drops.

A familiar metal robot leaps out from behind shrubs next to the door. My messenger bag is strapped to his back.

The guard wheels his rifle around.

Sunny extends the stun baton from his arm and slams it into the man’s groin. Arcs of electricity jolt through the guard. He spasms and drops his gun as he crumples to the ground.

I stand there, gaping. Sunny? What?

Sunny picks up the rifle with an extendable arm and runs toward me. I grab him in a big hug.

“I was worried about you,” he says as he pulls back and hands me the rifle and messenger bag.

Although I know he’s not capable of real worry, it warms my heart. “I’m fine. But my q-link is out of power. We’re going to have a hard time getting away.”

He frowns. “That’s never happened before. I brought one, though, in case they took yours.” He hands it to me.

“We have to get out of here. But first…” I take the rifle in two hands. Although I’ve held guns a thousand times in Silent City, it’s entirely different to handle one in the real world. I get a feel for its weight, raise it to my shoulder, and aim it at the guard’s head.

My hand shakes, and my finger doesn’t move. He would have killed us all and still could if he gets help. The last time I was in this circumstance, I didn’t kill the mugger. It almost led to Sunny’s death. I can’t let that happen. I grit my teeth and try to pull the trigger.

My finger still won’t move. Hell. I lower the gun. He’s still passed out at least.

I charge my q-link with the older and slower Xyphotech XR and check on Nav. She’s still on the ground, looking stunned.

I sling the rifle on my back and run over to her. “Come on.”

She rubs a bleeding spot on her head but doesn’t stand.

I glance toward the prison door to see the guard stirring. A sense of urgency rushes through me. Oh hell. “They’re going to kill us. Come on.” I tug her up by the arm, hoping she doesn’t have a concussion.

“I’m alright. I was just dazed.”

Sunny gives Nav a q-link, then motions to us. “This way. I have a car.”

What? I didn’t even know he could hack.

“They’re out here,” shouts the now fully alert guard.

Diablo. I’m going to have to shoot them.

“Cover your ears and run,” says Sunny. He tosses his sonic nauseator into the prison.

A shrill, body-vibrating sound sneaks past my hands, but covering my ears and distance prevents most of the nausea. We sprint into the expansive field. The tall weeds smack into my thighs, and my bag bounces on my shoulder. I don’t slow enough to confirm it, but the retching I hear behind me is enough to know the device worked.

Nav scoops up Sunny, and we pick up our pace.

“How did you find us?” I ask Sunny between breaths. “And what was that explosion?”

“I built a tracking device and put it on your back when we hugged. It’s microscopic, sends out a signal they don’t typically search for, and has a low electronic output, so they couldn’t detect it.”

So that’s why he patted my back.

“The explosion was from a hydrogen fuel cell. I stole it from a vehicle.”

Awww. He stole for me.

“Wow, Sunny, you’re great to have around,” says Nav. “But you’re definitely more dangerous than little Fae let on.”

“Sorry about that,” I say.

“It’s fine. We’d be dead otherwise.”

“Chim, track the area around us,” I say, beginning to breathe heavily. “If any drones power up within a thousand feet of us. Alert me.”

“The car is parked on a street two hundred feet forward,” says Sunny from Nav’s arms.

My q-link beeps and says, “Twenty Trexstar LR7 Defense Drones approaching your location.”

My eyes go wide, fear pulsing through me.

That’s it. We’re dead. I turn around and freeze as I stare at the distant drones.

“Fae! We need to