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stairs into the foyer, walking through the crumbling entrance to the old hotel.   He gave a last look around before walking back out into the rain.
    The Suzuki fired up as he approached, cowl extending from the front.   The lights on the dash blinked at the night as the rain fell harder.   Mason climbed on, kicking the drive into life.
    “You ready?”
    “Do it.”   Mason twisted the throttle on the bike bike, pulling away from the hotel.   He could feel a pressure building in the air, and then —
    Light, bright as a sun, stabbed down through the atmosphere.   Clouds peeled apart, boiling and twisting as ionised atmosphere burned in a pillar of fire.   The beam played across the hotel, fire raging up from the ruins as lightning flickered across the sky.   Bits of concrete were flung into the night sky, leaving burning trails across the night.   The orbital laser continued firing as Mason pulled further away.   He watched in one of the mirrors as a dust cloud spread out from the sight of the strike, rain already pushing it back to earth.
    It probably wouldn’t even be on the news tomorrow.
    Mason twisted the throttle a bit more, ignoring the flicker of red lights on the dash as the machine compensated for the buffeting of the blast.   The front of the bike skipped and pulled up from the ground as he put on more speed.   “Carter?”
    “Yes, Mason.”
    He coughed.   “I need to get in the chair.”
    “Yeah.   Don’t worry about the report.   I said I’d take care of it.   Good night, Mason.”
    “Good night, Carter.”

CHAPTER FIVE

    The Apsel building stretched up to touch the sky, the silvered glass exterior reflecting the clouds that blanketed the city.   The ground, clear and even for a kilometer in every direction, was smooth concrete and neatly trimmed lawns brought into relief by lights scattered across the premises.   Mason looked up at the tower as he approached.   Flight traffic was steady in and out of the tower, air cars taking early execs in — and out.
    He opened a channel when he was five clicks out, still in the streets of the city.   It would be bad to get a case of mistaken identity.   “Mason Floyd.   Specialist Services field operative.   Requesting clearance for entry.”
    “Copy your ident, Mr. Floyd.   We’ve already got you on approach.”   The man on the other end of the link sounded bored.
    “Just a courtesy call.   You can never be too careful.”
    There was a pause, then a slight laugh came down the line.   “You know, that’s true.   Especially after last week.”
    “What happened last week?”
    “Someone wasn’t careful.   You’re clear to use Bay Six.”   The bike’s HUD projected against the inside of its cowl, a map laid out in green and red sparkling into iridescent life.   He ignored it in favor of a mirror of the map that snapped into place on the overlay in his optics.
    “I got it.   Thanks.”   Mason kicked the bike up a gear, picking up speed.   The reactor was barely working, the drive low and quiet.   He opened a different channel.   “Carter.”
    “Mason.”
    “Ah, you’re still up.”
    “I live for the job, Mason.   You know that.”
    “You should get out some.   Put on a dress and some pearls.”
    She snorted.   “I’m not a pearls kind of girl, Mason.   You know it’s 5:30 in the morning?”
    Mason grinned inside his helmet.   “No rest for the wicked, Carter.   Beds aren’t for people like you and me.”
    “Not the way you use them.”
    “Which brings me to—”
    “No.   No it doesn’t.   I’ve woken up Sasha.   She’ll meet you at processing.”
    “She’s going to be grumpy.”
    “Do you want your clean done grumpy or not at all?”
    “I’ll take grumpy.”   Mason was approaching the base of the main tower, bringing the bike in to a wide concrete driveway lined by tall barriers.   The Apsel falcon was etched in relief on the ground, big enough to be seen from the air.   Bay 6 was