Hacking the Sun - The Re-Remake

Chapter 16 Everyone Agreed To Be Cool Part 2/2

Raptor's scowled. "What are you doing?"

"Getting my vectors." Lullabied by quick beats, Jessica pondered the state of traffic as she mumbled, "A-polar-signal-could-be-redistributed-through-a-small-slit-in-the-command-console." Upon constructing the scenario in her head, the next series of events played before they happened. "Babel, on!" said Jessica. The Vambrace illuminated and wrapped around her arm.

Valerie jumped back in her seat. "The hell is that?"

"That's what I would like to know," said Raptor.

Hyper-focused, her fingers dialed the interface. "Babel, I need you to latch onto New Sumer's GPS; reroute and synch the command with this vehicle's processor while I mask the outbound data—"

"Raptor." Monarch reentered the channel, a terrible cadence. 

Shannon only glanced at her friends before her face, too, turned dour. 

"Whatever happens next, Raptor, you keep going."

"Fuck!" stammered Valerie.

One backward glance and Raptor slammed his fist on the dashboard. "The Azareans are going to check the cargo!"

"No," they're not," Jessica assured.

And then Beelz spoke. "Elsa will not freeze our assets. Standby..."

1...

An Azarean officer stepped to the passenger's side of Beelz's truck. His partner approached the cargo hold.

2...

Dexter's car slowly hovered next to the Enforcer.

Raptor watched. "Dexter, stay—"

3...

A sound of thunder. 

Jessica violently flinched at the explosive shockwave from the skylane– An Enforcer came crashing down. Despite the blow to her eardrums, she couldn't bring herself to look away. The HUD pinpointed Dexter's car near the billowing smoke.

"Neutralized," said Ike.

"Neutralized," said Beelz. Over by her truck, the Azarean officers had disappeared. 

Frightened and curious bystanders hopped out of their vehicles to inspect the kindling wreckage beneath the sky traffic. Black smoke over the superhighway, hands over mouths agape, and many more reached for their phones.

A shadow immediately skirted over the asphalt wreck. Dexter and Ike's vehicle had broken away from Skylane 15, officially on the run, and a sore thumb in the sprawl. Hope collided with reality when precise gunfire penetrated the car, sparked an engine rupture, and brought it crashing to Superhighway 220 in a smoke heap. 

Time stopped.

Shannon almost veered off the road. "What the hell is happening?"

"Ike's car is out of commission!" said Valerie.

"Shannon, just get us out of here," Raptor ordered.

Jessica's head jerked back. Disbelief sank down her throat and boiled into fury. She predicted that Beelz and Dexter would eliminate the Enforcers, but Raptor was doing the opposite of what she expected.

"How the hell can you just leave him!"

"He's my brother. I don't want to leave him!"

Sweat dribbled down Shannon's temples, toiling around the eyes. Hers were hesitation. Jittery foot on the gas pedal, she kept a vice grip on the steering wheel.