The fragile, profound sanctuary of our embrace on the viaduct was shattered by the rhythmic, deafening thwump-thwump-thwump of heavy rotary blades cutting through the morning fog.
I didn't need to look up to know what it was. The Syndicate was not going to let their prize slip away so easily. The extraction team I had just dismantled was merely the vanguard.
I pushed Elara gently but firmly against the concrete barrier, shielding her body with my own as a high-velocity, armor-piercing caliber round sparked off the pavement exactly where we had been standing a microsecond before.
"Gunship," I yelled over the deafening roar of the approaching helicopter. I grabbed her hand, my grip absolute. "We need hard cover! Now!"
Through the dissipating fog, the massive, rusted silhouette of the Eas
