Frags Read online

  "How long will we have to fly?" asked Mouse.

  A map appeared flying along side them. Gabby ran a quick calculation based on their speeds and the semi-torturous route of the river.

  "About four hours," she said.

  Mouse's head lay into Gabby's back while her arm cinched around the waist. Gabby wished for goggles to keep her eyes from watering.

  An hour after they'd left the tower, a red warning light blinked in her interface. It came only minutes after they'd flown by a massive elk drinking at the water's edge. Frost tipped its rack and great plumes of frozen breath ejected from its nostrils.

  The light was an indicator her system was being attacked. She'd given up the LifeGame program and taken a system the Frags had made when she joined them. Milton had promised her it was intrusion proof.

  The guards obviously hadn't found the hack Mouse had downloaded into their system, but they had traced her link through the hovercraft and were trying to break in. The slow blinking indicated they hadn't progressed far, but there was another three hours of flight time.

  Gabby knocked the hair from her eyes with a forearm. It hurt to touch her face. She wondered if her hands and face were developing frostbite. They certainly would if they were plunged into the river below.

  Goggles and a mask were details she hadn't thought of when she conceived her plan. Nor had she thought to find non-lethal weapons in case they had to defend themselves. The hollow crack of the man's skull still echoed in her ears. Those details now seemed like the most important ones.

  The plan was mine.

  Gabby blinked away the wind-blown tears and tried not to look at the slow pulsing red light or Mouse's bloody sleeve. It was going to be a long three hours.

  Chapter Two

  When Gabby had been a little girl, she'd played games with the other children in the woods behind the school. Not all the games were a part of LifeGame. These were the times before Zaela had come to town and caused the split between Gabby and Avony.

  They kept a bucket in the underbrush of the fallen tree they called The Bucket Club. To earn membership, Avony required the other kids to pass an endurance test. They would fill the bucket with ice water and the kid would have to hold their hand in the water longer than another member of the club. If they liked the kid, it wouldn't take long to pass. If they didn't, Avony would be the one they had to beat.

  No one had ever beaten her until Gabby joined The Bucket Club. Gabby remembered her hand feeling like it was being jabbed with thousands of needles, but she kept it submerged. When Avony finally yanked her hand from the water, the other kids had cheered.

  Avony made a show of her generosity once the contest had been over, as if she'd let Gabby into The Bucket Club, rather than her earning it. The calculating glance she'd received from Avony at the time should have been clue enough for what would happen later.

  Gabby's hands, clutched onto the guide ropes, felt like they were submerged in a bucket of ice cold water. The pulsing red light had increased its insistence, but Gabby could hardly care.

  If we crash, I'll never be able to swim to shore. My hands are useless. And Mouse is still bleeding. She'd probably die, too.

  She shook off the self-defeating thoughts, determined to make it back to the other Frags and concentrated on speed. Mouse squirmed behind her.

  But Avony had helped her in the end. She'd told her about Zaela so she could rescue her. It hadn't worked out as planned, nothing had, in fact, but Avony had tried.

  Gabby eyed the blinking red light suspiciously, it appeared to be accelerating. After checking the map, Gabby brought the hovercraft back over the trees. The river wouldn't curl away from them toward the lake for another thirty minutes, but they needed speed, not safety. If she pushed the craft, she could get back before they cut her connection. Mouse's arm didn't look great either. The soaking had reached the forearm.

  Mouse sensed the change and fidgeted behind her. The girl pointed back toward the river, but Gabby shook her off. They needed speed and there was no time for debate.

  The plan was mine.

  That was the problem with her relationship with Avony. They'd both been leaders. Avony recognized it instantly and wanted to end Gabby's challenge right off. But Gabby had never wanted to be a leader.

  The man she'd probably killed and Mouse's gunshot wound were reasons why. It was hard enough to make the right choices for yourself, let alone others. And why would others even listen? The other Frags had chosen her plan over Milton's and Milton hadn't forgiven her.

  The sudden change in the warmth on her back alerted Gabby to the problem. Mouse had stopped clutching her waist. Gabby grabbed her arm and held her tight. Mouse fell to the side, so Gabby let go of the ropes and grabbed her leg before Mouse slid off the hovercraft backwards.

  "Mouse! Mouse!" Gabby shouted. "Song Ling! Wake up!"

  Gabby felt the wetness of the sleeve when she captured the other arm and pulled Mouse up. The girl's eyes fluttered. Only the white could be seen.

  Gabby corralled the ropes again and with Mouse's arms held tightly to her chest, she willed the hovercraft to faster speeds. The vehicle shuddered beneath her. It wasn't meant to go this fast with two passengers.

  On the map they were only minutes away. The red light had nearly gone solid. Once it did, the Coders would have control and could cut her connection. It was a race back to the camp.

  Gabby could see the Caterpillar when they broke over the clearing. Drogan had made modifications to the monstrous vehicle. A huge steel canopy hung over the passenger area in two sections. Each half angled above the seats, but not directly above them. The driver section was completely sealed off beneath a steel box.

  Gabby broke their communications black-out to send a message to Drogan. Milton was standing in the field waving at them with a walking stick in his hand.

 

  Drogan hopped off the back of the Caterpillar as Gabby brought the hovercraft low. Gabby barely got her heels set to keep from sliding off frontways when she stopped. Drogan ran up and received Mouse's lifeless form when Gabby released her. Gabby cut power and leapt from the hovercraft, running to Milton.

  Gabby ripped the walking stick out of his hands and ran back to the grounded flying craft. The light went completely red. The rotors were spinning up to speed. As the craft lifted off the ground, Gabby shoved the walking stick into the rotor nearest her.

  The wood exploded shards over her. A piece stuck into her brow near her eye as Gabby threw herself to the ground. The hovercraft wheeled away and slammed into the frozen ground. The articulating rotors ate a nearby thorn bush and then bounced up into the air before crashing again. One of the rotor axles bent and the craft began spinning around on the ground like a drunken top. Eventually it came to a complete stop. Gabby grabbed an axe off the back of the Caterpillar and swung it into the control panel.

  With the turncoat hovercraft disabled, Gabby ran back to Mouse. Gabby stripped off Mouse's jacket and backpack. Her underlayers were soaked.

  "What happened?"

  "She got shot. Give me your knife," Gabby commanded.

  Gabby cut away the bloody clothing after Milton opened it for her. Her hands were too frozen for fine work. She kept cutting until she could see the wound. The bullet had ripped through the muscle in her arm. Little bits of sense-web stuck from the mangled flesh like loose threads. Milton handed her a torn piece of cloth and Gabby covered the wound. Then using her already bloody scarf, she wrapped Mouse's arm.

  "She's lost a lot of blood, but I think she'll be okay," said Gabby. "Any sign of Michael and Celia?"

  Milton shook his head. The brother and sister had gone north to disable the guard tower in that direction. They would be returning on a motorcycle Drogan had fixed up.

  "We need to get ready to go. As soon as they get back we need to leave," she said.

  "The Caterpillar's not ready," said Milton. "We had a problem with the engines on a test circuit."

&nbs
p; Gabby sighed. It was my plan.

  "Get working on it. I'll put Mouse in the back and find her a comfortable spot."

  Drogan carried Mouse to the back of the Caterpillar. The monstrous vehicle had been cobbled together from a bulldozer and a school bus. Mouse came around enough to drink. Gabby piled blankets on Mouse after feeding her water.

  When Gabby climbed off the back of the vehicle, Drogan was huddled by the back wheel rubbing his arms and rocking on his heels. Gabby had never noticed the big redhead being affected by the cold so she put her hand on his shoulder. He flinched, but only slightly.

  "Cradle will fall. Cradle will fall," Drogan mumbled to himself.

  "She'll be fine, Drogan," said Gabby. "She just needs rest and to make that little trip we've been planning on."

  "Cradle will fall."

  "Do you want to help?" she asked.

  Drogan nodded enthusiastically. "Cradle will fall?"

  Gabby patted him on the shoulder. "We need the Caterpillar to run. Can you go around front and help Milton make the engine go?"

  Drogan nodded, but didn't move from his spot. Gabby grabbed his hand and led him to the front like a teacher leading a student to class. Once he saw Milton leaning under the hood, Drogan climbed under and began making adjustments. Gabby couldn't understand why the GSA could never take into account Drogan's differences. It reminded her of why she was escaping the government that created LifeGame.

  After finding a pair of replacement gloves, Gabby stared into the forest willing Michael to come bursting through the trees on his motorcycle. She paced for a while before checking on the engine. The boys were making progress.

  Antsy from the waiting, Gabby hauled the hovercraft over to the back of the Caterpillar. Using the tools they'd brought she excised the GSA's connections to the flying craft. Curiously, she found unfamiliar manufacturing stamps on the chips. The symbol was a hammer crossed with a sword. Once she was certain the craft was safe, she winched it onto the back of the Caterpillar.

  Gabby went to check on the boys when the distant rumble of an engine startled her. She shared a worried glance with Milton while Drogan was busy humming to himself. When the motorcycle burst through the trees with Michael and his sister Celia on it, Gabby breathed a sigh of relief.

  Michael got off the bike and brushed past Gabby to climb onto the Caterpillar. His eyes were swollen and red, probably from the lack of goggles. Gabby cinched her arms around her chest and followed him.

  "Is she okay?" asked Michael and when she was about to ask, "Milton sent me an update."

  "She's fine. Just needs rest is all. Totally debuffed," said Gabby.

  Michael ran his hand along Mouse's forehead, brushing the lustrous black hair aside. Mouse's eyes drifted open.

  "Hey, Michael," she whispered.

  "Hey, Song," he said.

  "She's fine, Michael," Gabby said, more forcefully than she wanted. "We need to get moving. New hovercraft could be on the way. They know exactly where we are now."

  Michael speared her with his stark blue eyes. Her heart did a back flip. "Didn't you take out the tower?"

  "We had problems, why else did you think Mouse got shot?"

  Michael shook his head and put his hand to his forehead. Gabby could feel the disgust leaking from his flared nostrils. "If one of them catches us in the open, we're dead meat!"

  "We'll be fine if we go now," she said.

  Michael wouldn't meet her gaze. He kept looking at Mouse and then glancing back to the front. "It feels like a bad idea. We should abort and try again another time."

  A burst of rage filled her chest. "Abort? Mouse about died back there and I barely got that flying oil slick back here without falling off. And even if we do, they know we're here. Our normal tricks won't work now." Gabby crossed her arms, hoping to contain her emotions. "Now is the time, Michael."

  Gabby put a hand on his arm. His gaze flickered to her and then back to Mouse. She moved in to give him a hug but he ducked under the steel canopy and ran back to the motorcycle. Gabby thought he was going to get on and ride away, but he grabbed the handlebars and began leading it to the back of the Caterpillar.

  Gabby was about to check on Milton and Drogan when she found Celia blocking her way. Gabby imagined the horde of insect-sensors from Celia's M.A.S.S. system hovering around her and monitoring every change in her body, even though she couldn't see any.

  Despite the heavy winter clothing, Celia still appeared to be a wisp of a girl. A crimson scarf covered Celia's eyes and the color reminded Gabby of Mouse's injury.

  Celia had to know what Gabby thought of Michael. Gabby's face felt flush with his nearness. Even a normal person without the extrasensory equipment could see she had feelings for him. But clearly Celia had never said anything to him. But why?

  Gabby expected Celia to speak, but she turned and went to help her brother. At another time, Gabby would have followed her to the back to find out what was going on.

  "How's progress?" she asked Milton.

  "He hasn't said 'Cradle will fall' in at least five minutes." Milton rolled his eyes.

  "Funny, Milton. We're in danger of dying and you're making jokes."

  Milton shrugged. "Better to die laughing."

  "Better not to die at all," said Gabby. "But at least you're not making crude jokes."

  Milton smirked. "Would you find it ironic that we fixed the engine by lubing the shaft?"

  Gabby threw her arms around him. "It's fixed? Oh, thank you. I don't care if you stroked the shaft to fix it, just as long as you fixed it."

  "Well...now that you mention it, we did have to apply the lube generously..." Milton spread his hands.

  When Drogan started up the Caterpillar, Gabby expected him to move to the back and let Celia take over driving. She was their best driver because her sensors could see things the others couldn't.

  Gabby checked the back to find Celia sitting two seats ahead of Mouse and Michael. He was giving Mouse a drink. It appeared Michael was speaking based on his animated head gestures.

  "Celia, why aren't you in Drogan's place?" she asked.

  When Celia said nothing, Milton spoke up. "She's not strong enough to pilot it with all this extra weight."

  "I thought you guys were going to solve that problem while we were gone." She tried to hide the exasperation in her voice, but when she saw Milton narrow his gaze, she knew he'd gotten the message.

  "I did, but not in the way you wanted."

  "What about that he can't see out from that metal box makes you think that'll work? Celia's the only one that can pilot like that since she doesn't need to see. And once the shooting starts, there's no way he'll stay behind the wheel. Don't you remember we even talked about knocking him out with drugs just to get him down the mountain?" Gabby tried not to shout, but the engine noise made it hard not to.

  "Look. I didn't do it your way. I did it mine. Yours didn't work," he said.

  Gabby took a deep breath. Her face felt prickly with heat.

  "Drogan won't even know he's driving," Milton explained. "I made an alternate reality for him. Right now he's seeing a soap bubble world. He'll just be driving through giant colorful soap bubbles and listening to nursery rhymes on repeat. Celia can guide him by creating the soap bubbles for him during the difficult spots."

  "Really? I don't know, Milton."

  Milton threw his hands up and the blotches on his face bloomed brighter red. "I'll be there the whole time in case something goes wrong. We've been practicing while you guys were gone." He paused. "Do you really think I'd subject myself to any more 'Cradle will fall' than I have to?"

  Gabby put a hand to her forehead. It was my plan. "Okay. We need to get moving and I don't have a better idea. We need to make it to the other side of the valley before the other hovercraft get here." Gabby turned back to Celia. "How long do we have?"

  Celia shrugged. "We might make it." The girl's high willowy voice lacked a trace of concern. She might have well been saying 'The sky has clouds.'r />
  The Caterpillar lurched forward knocking Gabby in her seat. She shot Milton a glance, but he was too busy conducting his bubbles for Drogan. Gabby copied his files and viewed the bubble world for herself.

  A flowery road stretched over the hill with bubbles hovering lazily like tethered balloons in a subtle breeze. An oompah-band played a rolling melody that Gabby knew would get stuck in her head. Drogan's favorite nursery songs were sung in a goofy voice over the track. Drogan steered the massive vehicle into the bubbles, giggling with glee as each one popped. It was a scene only Drogan could love, and Zaela maybe.

  Thinking about her best friend made her heart ache. She didn't know if Zaela was alive or dead. Milton had promised they'd help her track down Zaela once they escaped the GSA, but that promise was meaningless without a lead on how to find her.

  To clear her mind of painful thoughts, Gabby glanced around to see what else the landscape held. Her vision blurred slightly, giving her a headache, but it went away when she faced straight forward. Gabby nodded agreeably. Milton's solution had been quite clever and surprisingly lacking in sexual innuendo.

  "I can't believe it," said Michael.

  Gabby turned off the bubble world. Michael met her gaze again and she found herself worrying about what he would say.

  "We're leaving the GSA. Win or lose, we'll be free of their control. No more worries about getting shot every time we go to sleep. No more worries about Coders tracing our hacks. No more GSA," he said in a certain grim tone.

  Gabby tried to give him a reassuring smile, but it came across weak and unsure, because in truth, it was how she felt. Win or lose, they would be free. But it was that lose part that bothered her because they had one more major hurdle to pass before they could finally say they were free.

  Chapter Three

  The Caterpillar had been camped near the valley with the frozen lake. The last time Gabby had been there, she'd been worried about Final Raid in LifeGame. In the last few months since she'd joined the Frags, she'd often wondered what life would be like had she never met them.