13
The streets of downtown San Francisco were so bustling with activity, you’d think there was a festival going on. And in a certain sense, there was; as we ran down block after block, I caught brief glimpses of the main event: Phoebe, gliding across the water to where Coeus, shrouded in fog, waited for her off in the distance.
Tens of thousands had flocked to San Francisco to bear witness to this landmark event, the first ever face-to-face interaction between two Titans in history. They were all so eager to see what might occur, like visitors peering into an enclosure at the local zoo. They were all being utterly foolish, I thought. Anyone with half a brain would want to be as far away from here as possible right now, just to be safe. No one knew what might occur when two Titans collided. Even a tiny error, or a sudden change of opinion on the part of either Titan could wipe this entire city off the map. Yet instead of fleeing for their lives, humanity had gathered in anticipation. Perhaps there was some normalcy bias at play; perhaps they thought there was no way something bad could ever happen to them.
But I knew the real reason.
Everyone had complete faith in Titan.
They truly believed, deep down, that no member of the network that had raised them could ever do them harm. And I was no different; if anything, my interactions with Coeus had only given me more faith in the network’s abilities and genuine good nature. They would never betray humanity’s trust in them—as long as the UNDP didn’t try anything shady, that is. A few security phalanges rushed past us, all sounding their alarms, heading as fast as they could in the direction from which we came.
“Looks like the old man’s doin’ a good job drawing away their attention,” Lei said through haggard breaths. I could see an enormous number of red dots moving about on the holofield map he had open at his fingertips. “Most of the security forces for this area are being diverted straight over to him. We can totally slip through.”
“Where are we headed?” I asked.
“The marina,” Narain answered. “I’ve got a boat waiting for us in the East Harbor.”
“What? Why do we need a boat?”
“Didn’t I just say?” Lei interjected. “We’ll be safe at either end of the spectrum.”
Finally, I connected the dots. There actually was an area nearby that was more or less “off the grid” as far as the network’s agents were concerned. One that was directly adjacent to the city proper: the bay.
“I’m sure they’ll send security boats after us right away, but hey, at least it’ll be an easier getaway than staying here on land,” Lei went on. “We can buy ourselves some time running them around in circles until the meeting’s over, then take the boat right over to where Coeus is at and link back up with him, and boom, donezo.”
I nodded, then turned to face forward once again. I was struggling to keep pace with Narain, who was leading the pack. The sidewalks were packed with pedestrians, but most were on zoomboards which automatically swerved out of the way when we drew near. I did still bump elbows with a few people who were going on foot, and apologized as profusely as I could without slowing my pace. After about five minutes of running down streets of nothing but tall buildings, the view opened up dramatically, and I could see all the way over to the mouth of the San Francisco Bay at the Golden Gate. I could also see our destination. The East Harbor was a small wharf with a fair few personal vessels parking along its docks. A large crowd of spectators had gathered along the coast of the bay for an unobstructed view of the meeting about to take place.
“How’s security looking?” Narain asked Lei.
“All good. They’re still not coming over this way. Once we make it out onto the water, we’re home free.”
I continued to follow Narain’s lead as we hurried down toward the docks. He pointed at a small cabin cruiser moored at the far end of a dock that looked about as ancient from the outside as the classic car we’d just ridden in. It appeared to be a personal vessel, presumably ideal for hobby fishermen, that could comfortably seat about four people on its deck, but not much more. Narain rushed down the stairs to the docks, and I hurried after him, but only upon reaching the bottom did I turn around and notice that Lei was no longer with us. Squinting my eyes, I saw that he was being accosted by one of the nearby sightseers. A man who for whatever reason was grabbing him tightly by the arm.
“Mr. Lei Yougen, sir?” said the man.
“You got a problem, pal?” said Lei, clearly distraught and confused.
Now Narain had noticed too, and stopped to turn around and look. I was similarly puzzled as to how this man could possibly know Lei. He was garbed in a warm-looking overcoat and looked to be in his early thirties.
“Wait a sec…” said Lei. Then, a moment later, he cried out: “Run for it, Narain! You guys gotta go without me!”
The man immediately jumped into action and pinned Lei down to the ground. I had no idea what was going on, and my body seized up as I watched Lei’s face hit the sidewalk.
“This dude ain’t human!” he screamed. “He’s with the UNDP! Those bastards are violating the CFI!”
My mind went completely blank. I understood the words he was saying, but my brain refused to register the reality of what was taking place right in front of me. This man, who looked just like any other human, and who was now holding Lei pinned to the ground…was a phalange?
“And he’s got friends, too! You guys gotta go!” Lei screamed, and I finally snapped out of it. He was right—there were a number of similarly cloaked individuals now making their way down toward us from out of the crowd. They were men and women both, all of them looking completely indistinguishable from young, robust human beings. “What are you waiting for, doc? Get going, already!”
I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to accept the fact that there was nothing I could do to help Lei. And if I let them capture me as well, this all would have been for nothing. We had to leave him behind. We had to get out of here, and fast. As I turned on my heel to run, Lei shouted at us, “And tell Coeus to bust me outta jail, will ya?”
I dashed off, taking Lei’s parting message to heart. I pushed my legs as fast as I could toward the end of the dock where Narain stood waiting. But I could already hear that the footsteps behind me were far faster than my own, and I knew I had no chance of shaking off someone far stronger than me if one of the pursuers managed to grab hold of me.
As I approached, Narain lifted one arm up to shoulder height. Then, a momentary burst of light, and an explosive sound that nearly ruptured my eardrums. I heard someone howling in pain behind me, but just kept on running all the way to the end of the dock, whereupon I immediately tumbled down into the rear deck of the boat. A second deafening bang rang out, then a third. When I turned to look up at Narain still standing on the docks, I couldn’t believe my eyes, for what he held in his hand was something that should by rights have been impossible.
It was a gun.