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Not all of it got through, and some of her orders were lost in the swarm of voices and threats. But the more civic minded, or cowardly, slunk back.
One of the teenage girls lay sprawled at Eve’s feet, airskates tangled. She was bleeding from the nose and weeping in jerky hiccoughs.
“You’re okay.” Eve nudged her as gently as she could with her foot. “Sit up now.”
The shouts from various sections were gaining strength again. Civic duty and cowardice wouldn’t hold on for long against mob passion.
“Nothing will be resolved until I have order, until I have quiet.”
“This is a guaranteed virus-free zone,” someone shouted. “I want to know what happened. I want to know who’s responsible.”
So, apparently, did a number of other people.
Roarke cleaved his way through the crowd. Like, Eve thought as she watched him, a sleek blade slicing through a jumble of rock.
“A virus was uploaded into the system,” he said softly. “Corrupted the units. All of them, and from all appearances, simultaneously. You’ve got a couple hundred very angry people on your hands.”
“Yeah, I got that part. Get out of here. Call for backup.”
“I’m not leaving you in here, and don’t waste your breath. Let me talk to them while you call in the troops.”
Before she could argue, he began to speak. He didn’t raise his voice. It was a good technique, Eve thought as she slipped out her communicator. A lot of people stopped yelling to try to hear what he was saying.
She could hear him fine, but she didn’t understand half the cyber-speak he was rattling off.
“Lieutenant Dallas. I have a situation at Cyber Perks, Fifth Avenue, and require immediate assistance.”
As she detailed the circumstances, she watched another portion of the mob quiet, slip back to tables. By her head count they were down to about fifty hard cases, spearheaded by the revolutionaries who were blathering about conspiracies and cyber-wars and communication terrorists.
It was time, she decided, to change tactics again. She zeroed in on one man. Black shirt, black jeans, black boots, with a shock of gilded, deliberately disordered hair.
Eve stepped up in his face. “Maybe you didn’t hear me tell you to go back to your table or station.”
“This is a public place. It’s my civil right to stand and speak.”
“And it’s within my authority to deny you that right when you use it to incite a riot. When you or anyone claiming that right is responsible for bodily harm or property damage.” She gestured to the young girl who sat up, still weeping quietly as a friend mopped at the blood on her face. “They look like terrorists to you? Or him?” She jerked a thumb back to where the boy she’d spoken to had his terrified white face pressed against the kiosk glass.
“Pawns are used and discarded.”
“Yeah, and kids get hurt because people like you want to masturbate your ego in public.”
“The NYPSD is nothing but a soiled tool used by the hands of the right-wing bureaucrats and demigods to crush the will and freedom of the common man.”
“Come on, stay on target. Is it communication terrorists and cyber-war or is it bureaucratic demigods? You can’t cover all the bases at one time. Tell you what. You go sit down and I’ll have somebody come over to listen to all your fascinating theories. But right now there are some people in here who require medical assistance. You’re hampering that, and my investigation of what transpired here tonight.”
He smirked at her. Always a mistake. “Why don’t you finish violating my civil rights and arrest me?”
“Okay.” She’d already planned her move, and had him cuffed before he could think to resist. “Next?” she asked, very pleasantly even as backup streamed in the door. He was shouting again as she passed him to a uniform.
“Not bad,” Roarke commented. “For the soiled tool of right-wing demigods.”
“Thanks. I need time to re-establish some order.” She scanned the faces. “He’s not here anymore.”
“No,” Roarke agreed. “He’s not here. I’d say he was out before your uniforms arrived. Why don’t I talk to the data crunchers? See what I can find out for you?”
“Appreciate it.”
She interviewed and released the injured first, then sprang the under-twenty and over-fifty crowd. Out-of-towners came next, then the remaining women. Even as she took data, formed impressions, listed names, she was certain her bird had flown.
