Jade Dragon Read Online Free PDF Page B

very different.
    The driver tapped a control and from the front bumper came a clack-hiss
of oiled components. Along the Vector’s prow, the polycarbonate impact
buffer parted to allow a series of hydraulic ram plates to emerge. Each
had a saw tooth look to them, patterned with square spikes like the face
of a tenderising hammer. Volters whined up to capacity, contact triggers
released and ready for an impact.
    “There,” said the Monkey King with a slight incline of his head. Frankie
caught sight of the rear of a silver sedan as it passed around a
shuttlebus and crossed the first archway of the bridge.
    He became aware of Alice watching him. “Was that true?” she asked, with
a very faint hint of distaste. “The things you said to the thief, that
you were once in a gangcult?”
    “It wasn’t a gangcult,” he said automatically. “Not like the Americans
have. Just stupid kids and fast cars.”
    “And yet you made something of yourself.” The words were so bland and
neutral, Frankie could not be sure if she were complimenting or
insulting him.
     
    Ko saw the second Vector coming when the backwash from the bridge
spotlights caught the gunmetal shape in their glow, a silver shark on
dark asphalt. Then he was rumbling over the causeway and on to the
bridge proper. The two kilometre stretch of flyover arced from Ma Wan to
Tsing Yi island over the Lamma Channel, and below Ko could make out the
boxy shapes of cargo submersibles, nosing through the sluggish water
toward the floodlit freight terminal. All he had to do was get down
there, and he’d be golden.
    Feng was standing on the lip of the bridge and pointing into the sky. Ko
sped past him, almost too quick to register the guardsman there with one
hand pressing a smoke to his lips and the other stabbing at the
northwest. Ko looked where he pointed and saw flickers of light moving
toward the bridge, the glint of reflection from the spinning rotors.
Police helo-drones, fast little ducted-rotor aircraft bristling with gun
pods.
    The other Vector was coming up fast. Ko swerved to avoid another slow
mover and boldly cut across the path of the pursuing car. The corp
driver gunned his engine and followed him across the lanes, never once
losing a moment of concentration. The second Merc surged forward and
slammed into the rear of Ko’s car. He heard the rear bumper crack under
the impact, the deep hum of electric discharge.
    Ko had the weapon pallet open already. He didn’t really like dropped
munitions—they always seemed a little unsporting to him—but this wasn’t
a situation he could be friendly about. Ignoring the fans of lasers
sweeping down the bridge toward him from the drones, he tap-tapped the
drop switch and let a cluster of poppers tumble from the rear
compartment as he pulled away. The size of tennis balls, the small
spheres bounced once-twice-three times to arm and then detonated in
loud, bright explosions. More a disorienting, less a destructive weapon,
poppers were designed to baffle a tailgater rather than kill them.
    The second Vector skidded a little as one of the front tyres deflated;
but in the next moment the wheel was refilling itself and the Mercedes
made up the distance again. Ko swore under his breath. The driver of the
other car was now visible in the wing mirror. Was that guy wearing an
opera mask?
    The Vector rammed him again and broke off the rest of the bumper and
number plate, grinding them to shards beneath the Merc’s wheels. Ko
flicked a glance up at the drones. The robot flyers were deploying taser
catapults, ready to fire electro-harpoons into the car’s hood to shock
the computer-controlled engine to death. One hit would turn the Vector
into an expensive roller skate and Ko would coast to a halt, sealed
inside a steel coffin until the APRC came to arrest him.
    “I don’t think so.” Ko thumbed another switch and ignited the one-use
smokescreen canister in the boot. Instantly, a thick cloud of inky blue
haze coughed from the back