Night Owls by Gay Stephen

Author:Gay, Stephen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-09-01T00:00:00+00:00

14

THE HEIST

Inside the elevator, I walk toward the window and look over a hundred floors down to the ground. Desi joins me.

“Hacking the terminal was easier than I thought,” she tells me. “NIC won’t check the access logs, so hopefully we can justify our actions with some results.”

I stare at the clear ceiling. I know she’s right, but I still feel the guilt of the deception. Then, my eyes catch a formidable sight—a familiar person in an elevator directly across from us, a few floors up.

“What the frak! Bronx is right over there.” I point up toward the far elevator bays.

“What? What’s Bronx doing here?”

We turn our backs to the window as both elevator cars descend. We’re moving quickly, but not as fast as my heart.

“What’s she doing on the executive levels?” I ask. “Those floors are for NIC senior leadership.”

The elevators stop, and the doors open. We’ve pressed ourselves near the front of the elevator so we’re as far away from the windows as we can be. A small robot transport now stands in the doorway, beeping at us in a polite voice. “Excuse me, sir. I am required to enter the elevator.”

I turn toward Bronx’s elevator and meet her eyes. Her face turns a deep, ugly crimson, and she bangs her fists on the glass, shouting unintelligible words.

“Frak!” I whirl around, pushing the transport backward and jamming the close button. “Sorry, this elevator is taken.” The bot beeps indignantly as the doors shut.

“She knows we’re here!” I yell. We start our descent again. Bronx’s elevator is also heading toward the ground floor at the same pace.

Desi stares at me. “What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know!” My foot twitches.

The ground floor isn’t far away, yet it takes an eternity for us to reach it. I try to think of a plan for once we get there—run as fast as we can, obviously.

Loud crunching jerks me out of my hurried thoughts, and I look up to see that Bronx’s elevator has halted. A wash of relief quells my building anxiety, albeit just for a moment.

“Yes! She stopped. We’re going to be okay.” I raise my finger and smile at Bronx. I can see her pounding on the glass as we continue our descent.

“She stopped a few floors up,” I say as we make our way down. “That should buy us a few extra minutes to get out of the building.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t piss her off even more,” Desi tells me.

We arrive at the ground floor, and the doors open. Bronx is coming down fast. We don’t have much time, but we can make it out if we avoid the crowded lobby. Just outside, looking through the main doors, is the crowd of protesters. I grab Desi’s hand and run toward the air lock.

Someone calls my name. “Mr. Keller. Mr. Keller, can you please return your security badges to the front desk.” I spin around and see an agent pointing at me.

“Frak.” I let go of Desi’s hand and point toward the air lock door.

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