Free Hammerjack by Marc D. Giller

wouldn’t be able to resist the chance to go up against that, and used it to lure him into making the intercept. It had been bait, pure and simple.
    “So Heretic is working for the
Inru
now,” Cray mused. “I can buy that. But that doesn’t explain why they would be interested in GenTec.”
    “Ordinary terrorism,” Yin said, heading back to the bar and pouring another drink. “Their founding principle is the destruction of modern technology. What better way to do that than by attacking technology at its source?”
    “This was sabotage.”
    “Incredible, but effective. Heretic was extremely thorough with our records. After downloading the virtual models of the new flash, he destroyed all research materials related to the project. The flash Zoe carried was the only surviving prototype. I had to make sure we got it back.”
    It made a twisted kind of sense—but then the politics of extremism always seemed twisted to Cray. The
Inru
had started out as a small enough group, a reactionary movement to the Collective displacement of world government. But since then, its message had become more apocalyptic. Their leadership began to see advancing science as the enemy of mankind, and technology as the tool of its enslavement. It didn’t take long for the faithful to turn that belief into dogma and the
Inru
into a religious cult. The corporate media portrayed them as little more than a fringe group—but there was no way of knowing what their real numbers were. And not knowing was what scared the Collective the most.
    Cray was silent for a time while he sorted it all out. He noticed Yin watching him closely during those moments. “My GME showed me some of the new flash,” he finally announced. “If Zoe had lived long enough, its characteristics would have torn her up on a cellular level. Was that just an oversight or part of the design?”
    “I told you,” Yin said without missing a beat. “It’s still in the experimental phase. But to answer your question, the flash was not designed to be compatible with a living system. The applications we have in mind are strictly
ex vitro
.”
    “So by assimilating it, she was handing herself a death sentence.”
    “Eventually, yes.”
    Cray shook his head in disbelief. “Jesus Christ.”
    The fiber link on Yin’s desk interrupted the conversation. Yin passed his hand over a flat monitor in the face of the marble desktop, then inserted an earpiece so Cray wouldn’t hear the other side of the conversation. The communication was brief. Cray had to settle for reading Yin’s reactions, which were few and cryptic.
    “Yes,” Yin replied to the caller, nodding his head. “I understand. Dr. Alden is here with me right now. I’ve explained the current situation to him.” A few more moments passed while the caller did the talking, then Yin ended it by adding, “It will be done immediately.”
    The light from the monitor drained away from Yin’s features. He sat down.
    “Bad news?” Cray asked.
    “That was the General Secretary of the Collective Assembly,” Yin told him. “A matter of some urgency has arisen.”
    “What’s the matter?” Cray remarked. “Your bosses want to chat with you about this?”
    “No,” Yin answered. “They want to see
you
.”
    Cray blinked out of sheer surprise.
    “The Assembly has convened an emergency session,” Yin explained. “The secretary was short on details, but was very clear that I put you on the next SOT to Vienna. It seems they want to ask you a few questions.”
    “What the hell for?” Up until now, Cray had been certain that the
real
power had never even heard his name. “I don’t have dealings with those people.”
    “You never ask why, Cray.” Yin hit the intercom switch on his fiber link, calling on his personal secretary. Most executives used a virtual assistant, but Yin still enjoyed having his whims catered to by an actual human being. “Kayla, I need you to book a first-class passage for Dr. Alden—Kuala Lumpur