Kendra tensed. “What’s that?” she asked.
Stevie smiled triumphantly as she reached into her backpack and pulled out the set of goggles that she’d used to see through Archie’s eyes just the night before. She pointed to a green dot on the frame. “They’ve been paired! Archie is nearby.” She took off the souvenir sunglasses and put on the goggles. “It’s dark, but I can see movement. He’s covered by something, maybe a blanket or a tarp.”
Kendra quickly reached into Stevie’s knapsack, pulled out the other pair of goggles, and put them on. “You’re right, it’s some kind of cloth. The second it comes off, we’ll be able to see a door number or a corridor name. We’ll know right where to find him.”
“Until then?” Stevie said impatiently.
“We wait,” Kendra said. She tapped the goggle frames. “We wait and see.”
WEMBLEY STADIUM
PARKING LOT M
Korkil stood at the parking lot’s edge, at a spot that would offer him a prime view of the stadium yet was far enough away tospare him the melee to come. He’d worked too hard to orchestrate all of this from his rented warehouse a few miles away, even though that had been his original plan. No, he wanted to see the panic and breathe the carnage. He’d earned it.
The robot could be controlled from anywhere on earth, of course, but his own special modification relied on the remote control in his pocket. It was time. He pressed the button on his remote that would truly start the ball rolling. He checked the readout.
The countdown had begun.
He walked back to his van, where Bremmer was waiting. The systems that monitored the robot’s progress were there, but at this point, Archie was essentially on autopilot. Nothing could stop him now.
He slowed as he approached the van. Bremmer was sitting upright in the passenger seat, sporting a ridiculous pair of souvenir sunglasses. Where in the hell had he gotten those?
Korkil stopped. Something wasn’t right. Before he could react, he felt a sharp point jab him in his upper back.
“Hello, Vlad. Nice day. Are you enjoying yourself?”
Korkil turned his head. It was Lynch. Dammit! “How . . . ?”
“You can thank that teenage girl you’ve been terrorizing. You were sadly overmatched when you decided to tangle with Stevie Nolan.” Lynch jabbed Korkil with his knife to steer him through the remote lot.
“I took every precaution.” Korkil cursed. “Someone in my organization sold me out, didn’t they?”
Lynch chuckled. “You just can’t admit that you screwed up. Stevie knew you’d have to use Archie’s satellite communications system for any kind of long-distance control or feedback. Sheloaned me her handy-dandy satellite frequency meter to sniff you out. I started in the stadium, but I decided to cast my net in a wider circle. I figured that a sick asshole like you might want a seat for whatever horrible shit you have planned, but maybe not a front-row seat. The meter led me here, and finally to your van. I hate to inform you, but your partner in the van wasn’t very knowledgeable. In fact, he was downright rude. He actually tried to kill me.” Lynch nodded toward Bremmer, who was motionless and propped upright in the passenger seat. He now wore the souvenir hat and sunglasses that many attendees were sporting around the stadium.
“But I expected to also have the pleasure of seeing Cambry here. Where is he?”
“That’s really none of your concern. But I don’t mind telling you that Cambry was too valuable to run the risk of having his reputation compromised with your superiors at Justice. You just killed Professor Dekker at that cave, so I gave Cambry a promotion and I have him standing by to help me when I call on him. Oh, I can tell that doesn’t please you. Too bad. But he’ll be right in position to take you out when I give the word. He’s going to enjoy it enormously. He does dislike you very much.”
“I can’t say that disturbs me. He’s just another obstacle to remove. Now shall we get in your van together, Korkil? It seems the rear door is unlocked. I wonder how that happened?”
Korkil opened the rear door. “What do you think you’re going to accomplish? I can give you a great deal of money. Shall we talk?”
Lynch pushed him inside. “I think you’re going to stop whatever you’re doing here. End it.”
Korkil smiled. “That isn’t possible.”
“Do it!”
Inside the van, Korkil faced a bench with a pair of laptops and a large monitor screen. “We can keep track of Archie’s progress, but we’re not controlling him. That’s the advantage of a robot that can reason and make adjustments on the fly. You’re too late, Mr. Lynch.”
“What’s that in your hand?”
Korkil tossed it to him. “Triggering remote. Keep it as a souvenir. It’s one-way. It activates but doesn’t deactivate. Nothing can do that now.”
Lynch glanced down at the remote’s readout, which was counting down a little more than seven minutes. “Activateswhat?”
Korkil smiled. “Oh, and spoil the surprise?”
