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Marcus let out a whimper of frustration and stumbled a few steps backward in the direction Zoya had indicated. He knew in his heart he would never see her again, and that pained him nearly as much as the fear that was squeezing his throat shut. I’ll never know what happened to her. Without thinking he took another step back, just as the door banged open and the two mobsters piled out. Tavik cradled the back of his head with one hand, his eyes brushing past Marcus without seeming to see him. “There!” he shouted, and took off in the direction Zoya had run. The big man lumbered after him, breathing heavily.

«Let’s get you to the apartment,» Javier said.

Marcus panted and grasped his head in his hands. He couldn’t recall ever running so much in his life. “Aaaaaargh!” he cried, and then jogged after the mobsters.

«What are you doing?» Javier cried.

“I don’t know,” Marcus muttered. “But I can’t leave her.”

Moscow

Sunday, June 8, 2138

7:12 p.m. MSK

Tyoma’s first sight upon opening his eyes was Viktor’s monstrous metallic face grinning down at him. His instinct was to roll out of the chair onto the floor, anything to get away from that evil leer, but his body was groggy from being in virtual so all it managed was a shudder.

“Welcome back,” Viktor said. The hand he pressed into Tyoma’s shoulder was stronger than any he had ever felt. Viktor stood tall and jerked a thumb toward the door. “Now get the fuck out. I’ve got things to do.”

As Viktor stalked off, Tyoma shoved himself to a sitting position and waited for the dizziness to subside. His old ‘pals’ Alexei and Oskar stood near the door, the latter with one hand held out beckoning to him to get a move on.

“I’m coming,” Tyoma mumbled, and slowly stood up from the chair. He nearly fell back but Oskar leapt forward and caught him.

“Lev pulls you under deep, doesn’t he?” the mobster said. “You’ll get your legs back soon enough. Come on.”

“Where we going?” Tyoma asked as Alexei took his other arm and opened the door.

Neither responded. They steered him into the tube lift and Alexei bent toward the speaker and said, “Subbasement six.”

“Basement?” echoed Tyoma. “That doesn’t sound promising. How about we go gamble a bit instead?”

Alexei cuffed him across the cheek. “Keep talking and I’ll start to get rough. Boss says we can play around with you now if we like, long as we don’t break anything important.”

A wisecrack came to mind, but Tyoma stifled it and leaned back against the wall of the tube. Just as the mild voice of the tube announced arrival at the basement level, a call beeped on Tyoma’s slot. The identifier said it was from his work compound. Who would be there this late on a Sunday? Must be Volodya. He nearly gave permission to the link when he remembered the worm and had to pause and consider whether the worm could infect the transmission or not. With his firewall wrecked, Tyoma gave his sentry code the hash pattern of the worm and directed it to protect the transmission.

The tube came to a halt and the two thugs guided him down a corridor with a bare concrete floor. Tyoma accepted the handshake request. Since the wireless on the compound was powerful enough to send an image to a slot interface, a view of the conference room table appeared in his mind. Immediately on the right sat his friend Kostya. To the left but three seats away sat Big Dima, and at the far end of the table was Volodya.

«Tyoma, you all right?» Volodya asked, in English. He leaned forward, a look on his face that Tyoma had never seen before. Concern? Is Volodya becoming human at last? «We can’t see you. We’ve tried to contact you several times but you haven’t been available.»

«I’m not near a screen,» Tyoma said. «I’m being led somewhere by the mobsters that kidnapped you earlier. We’re in the basement level of The Pyramid. Hold on a moment…»

The mobsters stopped before a faux-wood door identical to the others they had passed along the corridor.

“This one empty, you think?” Alexei said.

“I believe so,” Oskar replied and placed his right palm flat on the wall scanner.

The door slid open to reveal a room not much bigger than a closet. The walls and floor were the same concrete as the corridor, and the only furnishings were three wooden stools and a picture on the wall opposite the door. Oskar steered Tyoma onto the nearest stool and said, “Okay, you just sit here awhile and the general will pick you up when he’s ready. You need something to drink?”

Tyoma thought about it. He hadn’t had anything to eat or drink since morning. “Could I please have some water? And something to eat, if you have it?”