The Girl in the Machine (Leah King Book 3) Read online

  The Girl in the Machine

  Leah King Book Three

  Philip Harris

  Contents

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  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Void

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Author’s Note

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  About the Author

  Also by Philip Harris

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  1

  Leah charged along the corridor, her boots thumping against the concrete floor. Her pistol was gripped in one sweaty hand, the rectangular storage module in the other. Behind her, the whine of the Transport drones grew louder.

  The corridor split in two. She let her instincts guide her and turned right. Lights flickered to life in front of her, illuminating a seemingly endless stretch of gray concrete. Quashing the panic the sight instilled in her, she pushed on. She passed half a dozen doors as she ran and ignored them all. They weren’t the way out she was looking for.

  A white sphere hovered into view about a hundred feet farther down the corridor. Leah slid to a halt. The drone hadn’t seen her yet, but it was directly in her path. This wasn’t part of the plan.

  The drone turned and moved down the corridor toward her. Red lights flashed as it swept a laser to and fro. Leah backed away, but there were more drones in that direction. They’d detected her as she’d pulled the storage module from the computer and had been chasing her for what felt like hours but was probably just a couple of minutes.

  She stopped at one of the doors she’d run past. It was marked TN-179. She tried to think back to the maps she’d memorized at Alice’s insistence. A dozen possible rooms presented themselves in her memory. Maintenance rooms. Control rooms. Janitors’ closets. None of them felt right. A dull ache formed at the base of her skull.

  Two more drones swept into sight at the junction a little way ahead. She grabbed the door handle and twisted. It didn’t move.

  She started to move to the next door then saw there was a metal grille set low in the wall nearby and stopped. It was small, maybe three feet square, but she thought she could get through it. She knelt and pulled at it. The metal groaned, then the grille popped free, almost pitching her onto her back.

  There was a crack, and red-hot fire slammed into her shoulder, twisting her sideways. She screamed as pain shot down her arm and across her back. One of the drones had shot her. Another crack rang out, and concrete shards burst from the floor beside her.

  Not daring to look back, she pushed herself into the opening. The surrounding steel cut into her as she forced her way through. The pain in her shoulder deepened. She grabbed a metal post and hauled herself the last couple of feet and began making her way along the maintenance shaft.

  The space was narrow and filled with dozens of colored wires that caught on her clothes and made movement difficult. Leah felt claustrophobia rising inside her. The steel walls seemed to close in. Images crowded her thoughts.

  Waves of blue fire chasing people through the streets of Columbia.

  A village burning as Transport soldiers gunned down the few people able to escape the conflagration.

  Creatures built from cubes of light chasing her through a disintegrating world.

  The scarred face of her father’s killer.

  Red light swept over her, and the whine of the drones reverberated along the tunnel, hauling her back to the real world. She dragged herself forward, using the cables themselves as handholds. Her jacket caught on a metal tether, and she had to rip herself free.

  The maintenance tunnel continued for another thirty feet then turned right at another access grille. Her arm was burning where she’d been shot. The feeling in that hand kept fading in and out. One second, her fingers were numb and clumsy; the next, they were on fire. The ache in the base of her skull had grown to a deep, insistent pain.

  She peered through the grille into a room lit by a dim blue light. The scrape of metal on metal came from behind her and set her heart racing. She wasn’t sure the drones would fit inside the tunnel and didn’t want to wait around to find out.

  She pushed her uninjured shoulder against the grille. It popped free and fell to the ground with a clatter that made her wince. She crawled headfirst out of the tunnel and half fell, half climbed down to the floor. She tried to push the cover back into place to disguise her escape route, but the opening was too high, and she gave up.

  Easing the grille quietly to the floor, she took in her surroundings. She was in a white room, a thirty-foot box. A glossy black cube floated in the middle of the space. It spun slowly, rotating on all three axes, creating the impression it was tumbling through the air. The rest of the room was empty. There were no windows, no doors. The only light came from four softly glowing blue panels set in the ceiling.

  Leah could feel the cube’s power. It pulled at her thoughts and urged her forward. There was something she wanted here. Something important.

  The drones forgotten, she advanced across the room to the cube. Information crackled in her mind—random sequences of letters and numbers that made no sense. Far at the back of her consciousness, a voice whispered that she should leave. Time was running out. She silenced the voice. This was the way out. The cube would give her exactly what she needed to escape the drones.

  She dropped the storage module, and it clattered on the floor.

  Unbidden, Leah’s arm rose, and her fingertips touched the cube.

  2

  Tendrils of pain ran through Leah’s arm. Blood filled her mouth. Blackness swarmed around her. She gasped, trying to drag in a breath. Her lungs caught as iron bands wrapped around her chest. Panic gripped her as she tried to breathe again, and her chest locked solid.

  Pressure on her shoulders.

  “Leah! Look at me. It’s okay.”

  Leah’s eyes widened as she tried to focus on the face swimming in front of her.


  “Try to relax.”

  The tightness in Leah’s chest eased just enough for her to be able to pull in a single shallow breath. The shadows at the edge of her vision faded.

  A hand touched the back of Leah’s neck. There was a sharp tug at the base of her skull, and something warm and wet trickled down her back. Pins and needles brushed across the palms of her hands and then were gone. A wave of nausea washed over her. She rolled sideways and threw up.

  Leah closed her eyes until the nausea passed. Then she wiped her mouth and rolled onto her back again. She was lying on an inclined table. Above her were a gray concrete ceiling and a single fluorescent tube.

  The face reappeared in front of Leah. It was Alice. She lifted Leah’s head and helped her drink from a plastic cup of water.

  “I’m sorry,” said Leah. Her throat was hoarse, and the words came out broken.

  “No, it’s my fault. I pushed you too hard.”

  Leah blinked and took in a deep breath through her nose. The air smelled of vomit and disinfectant. Her stomach churned. She swallowed and pressed her lips together.

  “You did well,” said Alice.

  Memories seeped back into Leah’s mind. Her goal had been to break into a database, grab some information, and bring it out on a storage module. Simple. Apart from the simulation of Transport Authority defenses that TRACE’s techs had built into the training system. “But I failed.”

  “I didn’t expect you to succeed. Not the first time through. The whole point is for you to get some experience in a VR.”

  Leah rubbed her shoulder. It was tender where the drone’s shot had hit her.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I got hit by a drone, and it hurts.”

  Alice pulled Leah’s shirt aside and examined the site of the impact. “It’s a little bruised, but that’s all.”

  “But how did it hurt me? The VR isn’t real.”

  “The interface to the network taps deep into you. In many ways, it is real. Your brain thinks you really were shot. It triggers a lot of the same physical responses.”

  Leah went quiet as she thought of the drones chasing her and what might have happened if they’d caught her. A terrifying idea occurred to her. “Could it have killed me?”

  “No… not the training program.”

  “But the real thing?”

  Alice looked solemn. “The defenses created by Transport are designed to generate feedback loops. The effects vary, but yes, they can kill you. Or close enough, anyway.”

  “Does TRACE use those programs?”

  Leah saw the doubt flicker across Alice’s face before she replied, “No, we don’t.”

  Eager to change the subject, Leah said, “I found a black cube. I thought it would help me, but when I touched it, I ended up back here.”

  “It’s one of Transport’s more sophisticated defenses. A facsimile of one, anyway. They’re called Sirens. They basically lure you in and hold you in the VR until Transport can track you down.”

  “That’s why I got kicked out?”

  “Yes; getting caught by a Siren is one of the endpoints for the simulation.”

  “So… I lost?”

  Alice smiled. “Don’t worry; you’ll know better next time.”

  Leah reached around to the back of her neck. The VR port TRACE had installed to take the place of the BICE chip Leah was missing still felt odd. Alice insisted she’d get used to it, but Leah couldn’t imagine forgetting there was a chunk of electronics wedged into her spine. Her fingers traced across the metal port. The flesh around it felt tender.

  “You should get some rest,” said Alice.

  “No, I promised I’d meet Da Silva and the others in the lounge.”

  “You should be sleeping. Not hanging out with those reprobates.”

  “It’s still early, and anyway, they want to know what Billingham said.”

  Alice grimaced. “Yeah, well, they aren’t going to like it.”

  “The sooner you get it over with, the better.”

  “You sound like my mum used to.”

  “I wouldn’t know.”

  “Oh god, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

  Leah waved Alice away. She hadn’t meant to make her feel guilty; the words had just come out. “It’s okay. I hardly remember her.”

  Before Alice could apologize again, Leah swung her legs off the side of the table and stood. She wavered as they threatened to pitch her onto the floor and then leaned back against the table for support.

  Alice grabbed a wheelchair that was sitting in the corner of the tiny lab and wheeled it over to Leah. “Come on, hop in, and I’ll take you to the lounge.”

  Leah stared at the wheelchair. The idea of making Alice push her seemed unfair. She still walked with a slight limp from the crash at the Transport facility. Leah had caught her rubbing the injury a couple of times.

  “I’ll walk.”

  Alice tapped the wheelchair’s padded back. “I’ve got things to do.”

  Leah laced her voice with anger. “No.”

  She held Alice’s gaze until the sergeant rolled her eyes and pushed the wheelchair back into the corner. “Suit yourself.”

  “I will.”

  Alice gave a little snort, but she was smiling. She held out her arm, and Leah took it.

  They chatted aimlessly as they walked through the power station, and Leah was grateful for the distraction. The pain in her shoulder was already beginning to dull, as though her brain was finally figuring out the damage was imaginary. The chase still felt real in her memories, though. She could still feel the fear. That had been real.

  Rachel Da Silva was waiting for them at the lounge door, looking out into the corridor. As soon as she saw them, she ducked inside. The others were there, too. Hobbs and Doukas sat at a table, laughing as they talked. Wichita stood in the corner of the room, flicking a coin in the air.

  Leah could feel the tension as they entered the room. They’d been stuck in the power station for five weeks. Alice had them working out and practicing drills, but frustrations were starting to boil over.

  Alice closed the door and waited for Leah to sit down. The look on her face told them everything they needed to know.

  “What did Colonel Billingham say?” said Hobbs.

  Alice shook her head. “Command is sending another squad. He wants us to wait until they’re here.”

  “How long will that be?”

  “Eight or nine days.”

  Da Silva got to her feet. Her fists were clenched. “It’s like he wants Transport to find out who Morgan is.”

  The idea had already occurred to Leah. She’d disliked Billingham from the moment she met him.

  Alice cut down that idea before Leah dared voice it. “He’s just being cautious.”

  “We could go anyway,” said Hobbs. “I’m overdue some leave.”

  Alice put on a gravelly, rough voice, a surprisingly good impersonation of Billingham. “Don’t even think about going after him yourself. Any of you step an inch out of line again, and you’ll be cooling your heels in solitary so fast it’ll make your head spin.”

  “So, you got off lucky,” said Doukas.

  The corner of Alice’s mouth turned up in a humorless attempt at a smile.

  Da Silva glared at her. “You agree with him!”

  “No, I don’t. Not really. But I don’t have a strong enough argument against waiting, either. We’ve lost too many people to Transport over the last few months. Jenkins and his team are working on our intelligence streams, looking for confirmation that Morgan’s there. Until we find out who gave us the data or we can be sure he’s really where we think he is, we can’t risk an operation.”

  Da Silva tutted then turned on Wichita. “For god’s sake, put that damned coin away.”

  Wichita raised a single eyebrow. He didn’t speak, but he slipped the coin into his pocket.

  An uneasy silence settled over the room.

  It was Da Silva who spoke first. “So
, we’re just going to sit around and do nothing until this new squad rolls in to take all the credit?”

  “No,” said Alice, “we’re going to continue running simulations until we get the all-clear.”

  Da Silva snorted.

  “Do you have a problem with that, Private?” said Alice, her voice suddenly laden with authority.

  Da Silva pursed her lips but shook her head.

  “Anyone else?”

  Alice turned her gaze on each of them in turn, waiting for them to acknowledge her decision before moving on. Even Hobbs looked cowed.

  “Good. Hobbs, Doukas, Da Silva, go down to the range, and get things set up.”

  Hobbs and Doukas voiced their assent. Da Silva stayed silent.

  Ignoring her, Alice continued. “Wichita, check with maintenance; make sure they’ve got a vehicle ready to roll if we need it.”

  “On it.”

  “Leah, stay here with me for a minute.”

  Leah nodded. She sat while the others filed out of the room. Da Silva didn’t bother waiting until the door had closed before she started complaining about feeling about as useful as a trapdoor in a canoe.

  Once they’d gone, Alice slumped down next to Leah. There were gray smudges under her eyes, and she rubbed her temples with her fingers as though she had a headache.

  “Are you okay?” said Leah.

  Alice removed her hands and gave a grim smile. “Just tired. And frustrated.”

  “With Da Silva?”

  She let out a long breath. “No, she’s right. We’ve already waited too long.”

  “I’m sorry Billingham doesn’t trust me.”

  Alice frowned and shook her head sharply. “It’s not that. You’ve proved yourself. But he doesn’t trust whoever gave us the data, and he’s right not to. It could easily be a trap.”

  Leah watched Alice’s expression. “But you don’t think it is, do you?”

  “No, I don’t. I just can’t prove it.”

  “There’s no other way to convince the colonel?”

  Alice didn’t reply. Instead she said, “I’ve got a new training program for you to try tomorrow—if you’re feeling up to it.”