Chapter 01
The next moment, she was dashing for the emergency exit leading to the stairs. The sound of her heavy boots hitting the floor with each step filled her ears. When she reached the landing, she didn’t even stop, going straight for the upper story in the hope that Alt hadn’t only chosen this place because he needed an anonymous room to operate. Below in the well, the Agent’s voices and the sound of feet clattering on the rusty metal steps seemed to grow louder; they had probably noticed by now that the room targeted by the Corporation’s security program wasn’t the right one, and in a matter of minutes, they would investigate the whole hotel.
Ten seconds.
Jen bolted out of the last landing and stepped in the open. The lukewarm air coming from the recyclers on the ceiling of Level Two caught her off-guard for a brief moment. She was alone; the Corporates couldn’t send their intervention VTOLs that high in a street of the Underworld, and roofs were almost always an appropriate exit when things turned awry. There, a mere thirty meters from her, the parapet faced another building no higher than the hotel itself. The Wizard resumed her stride, running as fast as she could, knowing that behind her, in a matter of seconds, the door would open again, leaving room to a couple of Agents come to secure this part of the building as well. Yet another bet with herself, to know whether she’d manage this jump or would fall helplessly down in the street, missing the other roof by a few inches. She couldn’t take the time to check, not when she would make an ideal suspect, carrying a PPK, two cyber-decks, and Alt’s identity papers, whether these were real or not.
The building was in front of her now. Behind her, a male voice ordered her to stop where she was and not make any move. Jen ignored it, put her right foot on the parapet, and, throwing herself forward, jumped with as much strength as she could muster, landing on the nearby roof where she rolled in the dust, retaining a yell of pain as her shoulder hit the hard concrete. Fighting the sudden dizziness, she forced herself to get back on her hands and knees, casting a brief look to the hotel she had just left. There were two Agents, as expected, wearing the black and white Corporate suits indicating their function, and their raised weapons spoke of their decision to shoot first and talk after only.
She barely managed to dive to the ground again. The bullet impacts against the wall, right above her head, prompted her to go away again, running half-crouched toward the other end of the roof. This very building would be secured as well in the next minutes, and she had too little time left to waste it battling with the lock on the door leading to the staircase.