Disassemble: Book Two of the Divided Worlds Trilogy by Siddiq Imran

Author:Siddiq, Imran [Siddiq, Imran]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Flickimp Publishing
Published: 2013-07-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14 - Triple Team

The slope of the immediate corridor caught Zachary by surprise. Bouncing off the lit wall, he pulled the rifle’s strap over his shoulder, and pounded up.

An intact Rosa; what did that mean?

Was there another copy in the Kade household? Was this Intact Copy an exact replica of Rosa, as she was now, or was it in the form of a nine-year-old? That was the age she’d been when she’d become an android. He felt pangs tightening his stomach. Had the Intact Copy activated the moment that Rosa had been damaged in the Tower? He couldn’t bring himself to think it, yet it never left his mind. How did Alice switch herself on? Automatically? By remote control? Had Alice switched on as a brand new android? Was there another Rosa living in Overworld? Would she know him?

The injections rattled inside his pocket. How could her backup function without the tube that contained Rosa’s RNA? And why did Sokolov want the Intact Copy? Did he want to infect each copy present to wipe out every trace of her?

Zachary scratched downward on the skin of his face. Gripping the handle of the rifle, with his finger ready next to the trigger, he charged. If Sokolov had a need for an Intact Copy then Rosa could be in an even worse state than when he’d left her.

He was at the top of the slope. Everything appeared wider and different with beams of light. A tall shadow moved across Zachary’s path. Moving into a crouch, he aimed with the muzzle balanced beneath his chin. Releasing a shot here would echo an alarm to the other soldiers expecting Trent to return. From the limping movement apparent in the shadow, and the mumbles coming from behind a curved pipe, the figure didn’t match the wheezing, armoured frame of a soldier. Knowing every second to be crucial, Zachary leaped forward.

“Don’t shoot,” yelped a white-bearded man in brown overalls. “I done nothing.”

Zachary kept the rifle up. “Who are you?”

The man’s teeth chattered. “Alfredo Alonso. Pipe inspector.” The accent wasn’t that far off the husky tone that Diego had used.

“You inspect pipes?”

“Yes,” replied Alfredo slowly.

Zachary lifted the rifle higher, causing the man’s shifty head-to-toe glance to freeze. “You can be my eyes. I need to get to the top, underneath Hadrian Tower.”

Alfredo squinted. “Your eyes not work?”

“Walk ahead of me, no silly moves. If there are any soldiers, warn me.”

Alfredo’s fingers wiggled over his bald head. “I have checks to do. Pipes leaking. If leak, I get trouble. I don’t want trouble.”

Zachary advanced on him. “You’ll have more than trouble if you don’t listen to me. Have you ever loved anybody so much that you’d do anything to reach them?”

The tangled state of the long beard twitched with a tremble of the jaw. “Hadrian very dangerous. Your confidence high, but one gun not good.”

Zachary eyed the grated steps to their left. “Did you ever fail someone?”

A film of water surfaced over the baggy eyes. “Once.”

“I don’t want to fail.

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