The tires of the control van shrieked as Rhea threw the vehicle into reverse, backing out of the dark alley near Sector 4. Behind them, the dockyard was alive with the sound of alarms and shouting security guards.
Vikram sat in the passenger seat, holding his left arm. The skin of his shoulder was covered in a layer of thin frost, the cold from Javed's shadow blow still pulsing through his nerves. Rohan sat in the back, checking the charge on their spare halogen batteries.
"Rhea, get us out of here," Rohan said, his voice tense. "The police patrols are blocking the main bridge."
"I'm on it," Rhea said, her eyes locked on the road as she steered the van through the dark, rain-soaked streets. "I've scrambled the port's tracking cameras, but Commissioner Patil's private patrol cars are already converging on this sector."
She turned the van into a narrow alley behind an old fish market, turning off the headlights. A police patrol car sped past the main road, its red and blue lights reflecting off the wet brick walls.
"We need to split up," Vikram said, his breathing returning to normal as he willed his Prana to warm his frozen shoulder. The blue sparks flared briefly under his skin, dissolving the ice. "Rhea, take the van to the safehouse in Dharavi. Hide the servers. Rohan and I will head back to the gym on foot."
"Are you sure?" Rhea asked, looking at Vikram's shoulder.
"The gym has Mr. Desai," Vikram said. "And the Vow doesn't know we have decoded the list yet. We need to stay ahead of them."
"Okay," Rhea said, handing Vikram a small earpiece. "Stay on the local frequency. I'll monitor the police lines."
Vikram and Rohan slipped out of the van, disappearing into the dark, monsoon rain. They walked quickly through the narrow lanes of South Mumbai, avoiding the main roads.
"My dad was right," Rohan said after a long silence, his hood pulled low. "The Vow isn't just a gang. If they activate the complete Grid, the whole city will go dark. And in that dark, there are no laws. Devendra Malhotra will own the politicians, and Javed will own the streets. My dad's gang... we won't last a day."
"We won't let them turn the lights out, Ro," Vikram said.
"How?" Rohan asked, looking at him. "Javed is Band V. You saw what he did back there. He folded the light itself. If you hadn't ignited your Prana..."
"My father fought them," Vikram said, stopping in the shadow of a closed shop. "He knew their weakness. He left a note about the Gateway vault. We need to get inside Patil's head first. He's the one coordinating the police cover-ups. If we can get him to talk, we can find the exact entrance to the vault."
"The Police Commissioner?" Rohan stared at him. "He's guarded by a full squad of armed officers twenty-four hours a day."
"Not when he visits his mistress in Colaba," Vikram said, pulling the leather notebook from his pocket. "The diary lists his schedule. Every Thursday at 4:00 AM, he goes alone. That's in two hours."