Borderline (Hive Mind Book 4)

by Janet Edwards

  … have to call for help before …

  “If you don’t give me my dataview right away,” she whispered aggressively, “I’ll take it by force. I don’t want to hurt your arm, but our lives are at stake.”

  “You have to obey my orders,” said the wounded person. “Remember that you’re only a Lieutenant. I’m a Captain and your commanding officer on this mission.”

  I frowned. “Lucas, could the bystanders have come out of the last Lottery, been assigned to Hive Defence, and be taking part in a training exercise? The wounded boy just said he’s a Captain and the commanding officer on this mission. The girl he’s been arguing with is a Lieutenant.”

  “The bystanders can’t be on a Hive Defence training exercise,” Lucas sounded as puzzled as me. “If they were members of Hive Defence then they’d have immediately reported an injury.”

  “If they were members of Hive Defence then no one would have been injured,” said Adika. “They’d have easily overpowered the wild bee.”

  I was hearing Lucas and Adika’s words through my ear crystal, and the words of the bystanders’ conversation through my target’s ears, struggling to follow both at once.

  “Just think how many Blue Upway points we’re getting for this,” gloated the Captain. “We’ve already earned enough points to get promoted, and we’re getting more every time I send another report.”

  “We can’t get promoted if we’re dead,” said the Lieutenant fiercely.

  “The bystanders must be on a Hive Defence training exercise,” I said in bewilderment. “The Captain is talking about getting Blue Upway points and promotions.”

  The chorus of groans, both on the crystal comms and from the bodyguards physically standing next to me, increased my confusion.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “The three bystanders aren’t on a Hive Defence training exercise,” said Lucas, in a resigned voice. “They’re a Blue Upway game group.”

  “What’s a Blue Zone game group doing in the heart of Orange Zone?” asked Adika.

  “Law Enforcement’s Game Control group sent out warnings months ago that Blue Upway had broken the usual zone boundaries and was expanding Hivewide,” said Lucas. “There wasn’t anything especially worrying about that, because Blue Upway is a well-behaved game, but we were bound to stumble across one of its game groups eventually.”

  “I’ve still no idea what you’re talking about,” I said.

  “Our three bystanders are a group taking part in a Teen Game called Blue Upway,” explained Lucas. “Players earn points and status by daring acts like trespassing. This group must have been aiming to earn high bonus points for both hazards and darkness by entering Level Zero, but then they stumbled across our wild bee.”

  I was stunned. “I never heard about anything like this when I lived on Teen Level.”

  “The Hive allows minor acts of rebellion by teens during the difficult years leading up to Lottery,” said Lucas. “Teen Games are the highest level of that rebellion. They’re tolerated by the Hive so long as the player challenges stay within reasonable limits, because they provide an outlet for teens who would otherwise end up having major clashes with authority.”

  He laughed. “The community centres on Teen Level hold activity sessions to allow teens to gain experience of a variety of work in the Hive. Those experiences help the teens establish their individual capabilities, likes, and dislikes before they enter Lottery, so the testing process can allocate them their perfect professions. Teen Games are effectively the activity sessions for combat roles in Hive Defence or Hive Security. The fact that they’re technically illegal adds an important extra dimension of risk to the experience.”

  “You mean that Teen Games are like the Ramblers Association?” I asked. “The Hive wants most of its citizens to be afraid of Outside, so the Ramblers Association is technically classed as a non-conformist group. It actually benefits the Hive though, because it provides a pool of people that Lottery can imprint for necessary work Outside.”

  “Exactly,” said Lucas. “If the Hive permits something illegal to exist, it’s for a good reason.”

  “The Hive knows best,” I muttered.

  “There are normally multiple Teen Games running in each zone of the Hive,” said Lucas. “The reason you’ve never heard of them before, Amber, is that Teen Game recruiters are looking for rebellious and risk-addicted teens. None of them would have approached a teen like you, a model citizen of the Hive, whose only rule-breaking was the socially accepted act of riding the handrail of the moving stairs.”

  “Lucas, if the bystanders are playing a Teen Game then we’ll have huge problems covering up this incident,” said Nicole anxiously. “Players constantly take images to send to their Game Commander, to prove where they’ve been and claim their points. We could reset the bystanders’ memories back to yesterday, invent an accidental cause for the knife wound, and remove their images from their dataviews, but we’ve no way to stop the Game Commander sharing the information.”

  “Why not?” I asked.

  “Because we’ve no way to find the Game Commander,” said Lucas. “The game group won’t know who is running Blue Upway, because everyone involved in Teen Games hides their real identity behind game names and anonymous dataview identification numbers. Precisely what did the Captain say about points?”

  I was starting to realize just how bad this situation could be. It was essential to cover up incidents like this, so no one was tempted to copy the actions of wild bees.

  “The Captain said they’d already earned enough points to get promoted,” I said, “and they were getting more every time he sends another report.”

  “That means the Captain has already reported full details of this incident to the Game Commander,” said Lucas. “He’s probably sent details of something this exciting to other teens involved in the Game as well, and they won’t have been able to resist sharing it with their friends in turn. If the Game Commander is spreading the news too, then half the teens in the Hive must already know there’s a man with a knife stabbing people on Level Zero.”

  “So what do we do?” I asked.

  “We have to accept we’ve failed to contain this incident,” said Lucas, “and use the last resort explanation. Amber, we need the dataview identification number of one of those bystanders. I understand that’s difficult because people rarely think of …”

  “No, it isn’t difficult this time,” I interrupted him. “My current target is the Lieutenant. She’s planning to make a call to Hive Emergency Services, and thinking through what she’ll say to them, so there’s an associated thought train with her dataview identification number.”

  I waited until my target’s thought train reached the right point, and gabbled numbers and letters.

  “Nicole, set up a sound only call from my dataview to the bystanders, and patch it into the crystal comms on receive only,” said Lucas. “I want everyone on our comms to be able to hear the conversation, but the game group should only be able to hear me.”

  I was still linked to the Lieutenant’s mind. She heard some distinctive chimes and spoke eagerly. “That’s my dataview. You have to let me answer the call before the man with the knife hears the chimes.”

  “I’m rejecting the call,” said the Captain. “This is exactly why I took your dataviews at the start of this mission. I can’t have group members being distracted by calls, or dataview chimes giving away our location.”

  “They’ve rejected the call,” said Nicole.

  “Keep trying until someone answers,” said Lucas.

  My target heard the distinctive chimes again. “I don’t know who could be calling me, but they aren’t giving up. You have to let me answer the call.”

  “I’ll just keep rejecting it,” said the Captain.

  … he’s got fewer brain cells than a rabbit. No, that’s unfair to rabbits. He’s got fewer brain cells than protein scum or …

  “You can’t keep rejecting the call,” my target
hissed savagely. “Whoever it is will keep calling, and the dataview will keep chiming. Eventually, the man with the knife will hear it, and he’ll come and find us.”

  “I’ll answer it myself then,” said the Captain.

  A moment later, I heard the Captain speaking both through my target’s ears and on the crystal comms. “You’ll have to call back later. She can’t answer her dataview now.”

  “I’m the Tactical Commander of a Hive Security Unit,” said Lucas briskly. “An enemy agent was detected entering our Hive. We evacuated this area of both Level Zero and Level 1 to avoid any risk of Hive citizens being injured when we moved in to arrest the enemy agent, but our nosies have informed us that your game group is trespassing in the danger zone.”

  My target’s thoughts accelerated to a speed that meant I could barely read them.

  … man’s an enemy agent! That explains everything. He was trying to get through that air vent cover into …

  “Your nosies have made a mistake,” said the Captain. “You’ve called the wrong …”

  “Shut up!” My target snatched the dataview from his hand and spoke into it herself. “Yes, we caught the enemy agent trying to get through an air vent into Level 1. He attacked us with a knife, so we ran away and hid.”

  “The nosies tell me there are three of you hiding on top of a tank, and your Captain was stabbed in the arm,” said Lucas. “We have a team of four men on their way to protect you and provide medical treatment. There’s no need for you to be alarmed by their arrival. Do you understand?”

  “We understand,” said my target breathlessly. “I can give you directions to where we saw the enemy agent.”

  “The nosies are keeping me informed of the enemy agent’s movements,” said Lucas. “We would have already apprehended him, but we had to delay while we got people into position to protect you.”

  Lucas paused. “Red group, you can move now.”

  My target heard a scraping noise from overhead, looked up, and saw a light area appear in the ceiling above her. A moment later, four figures came sliding down on ropes. The leading man landed neatly in front of her, his wristset light illuminating his face, and she gazed at his blue eyes in stunned adoration.

  “High up!” she gasped.

  “Red group are in position to defend bystanders,” said Rothan.

  “I need to end this call now,” said Lucas. “Please co-operate fully with the instructions of red group leader while we apprehend the enemy agent.”

  “Yes,” said the Lieutenant. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

  “Call ended,” said Nicole.

  “I assume I was talking to the Lieutenant,” said Lucas. “She seemed convinced by my call.”

  “She isn’t just convinced,” I said, “she’s developed an instant crush on our red group leader as well. The Lieutenant has just turned eighteen, so she’ll be going into the next Lottery. She’s dreaming of being assigned to Hive Defence, and Rothan is the living embodiment of all her dreams, as well as being male and extremely good looking.”

  There was an embarrassed cough on the comms. “Bystander’s injury is significant,” said Rothan. “Requesting medical guidance.”

  “Patching red group into a separate channel with our medical staff,” said Nicole.

  “I’ll check what the Captain is thinking.” I moved to a mind where pain warred with emotion. “The Captain is deeply frustrated. He’s another one that’s going into the next Lottery and dreaming of joining Hive Defence. He wants to be capturing the enemy agent himself rather than being rescued.”

  “Lottery won’t allocate the Captain to a combat role,” said Adika. “He’s tough, with a high pain threshold, but he’s incapable of rethinking his plans in a crisis. The Lieutenant is a very different matter. She’s unarmed and untrained, but she still took down a wild bee for long enough to get two teammates, one panicking and the other injured, to a safe hiding place.”

  “Yes,” said Lucas. “That was definitely a defining experience for her.”

  “What’s a defining experience?” I asked.

  “An experience that will define her life,” said Lucas. “This is exactly why the Hive permits the existence of Teen Games. The Lieutenant has been dreaming of joining Hive Defence for years. It shouldn’t have happened in such dangerous circumstances, but her actions today have proved she’s suited to a command combat role.”

  His voice took on an oddly emotional note. “We’ve realized that, and far more importantly, the Lieutenant must have realized that herself. Every time she remembers what happened today, that realization will be reinforced, and her self-knowledge will impact all her results in Lottery. Unless the testing process discovers she’s also suited to some other more vitally needed position in the Hive, she will have her dream.”

  His voice returned to its usual tones. “Rothan, allow the Captain to send a final report to his Game Commander and his friends, so the enemy agent story spreads around Teen Level. That report can include a recording of my call, and images of you arriving, but nothing after that point. Once it’s been sent, confiscate all three dataviews. We’ll want to wipe all the information about this incident before giving them back to their owners.”

  “Understood,” said Rothan.

  “Now the bystanders are secure, we can focus on dealing with Alvin,” said Lucas. “We want to capture him alive if possible. There’s every chance that proper treatment can restore him to being a productive member of the Hive. Amber, please check Alvin’s location now.”

  I pulled out of the Captain’s mind and searched for Alvin. “He’s still one cor west of me, but he’s climbing a ladder now. He’s failed to find the bystanders hiding at floor level, so he’s decided they must have managed to get the wounded man up a ladder to the top of a tank. He’s thinking that he’ll have a massive advantage fighting them in the darkness. He knows his way around the aerial walkways. They don’t.”

  “Alvin will have a massive advantage over us in the darkness too,” said Adika grimly.

  “I’m not sending men chasing a target along treacherous aerial walkways with just wristset lights,” said Lucas. “Where are your blue group members now?”

  “In lifts ready to enter Level Zero,” said Adika. “Half at floor level. Half up by one of the aerial walkways.”

  “Do you have anyone positioned near the light controls?” asked Lucas.

  “I’m by the controls,” said Eli’s gloomy voice. “Again! Why is it always me that has to work out how to use strange control systems?”

  “Because you’re good at it,” said Lucas. “Eli, at my mark you’ll turn all the lights on, and then I’ll call the main strike.”

  He paused. “Mark!”

  Alvin had just reached the top of his ladder when lights blazed from the ceiling. “Alvin’s shocked and dazzled by the lights,” I said.

  “Strike time!” snapped Lucas.

  Chapter Four

  “Going circuit.” I left Alvin’s mind and stared at the right-hand list of names on the screen of my dataview. I began chanting each name in turn, briefly linking to the person’s thoughts to check they were safe, and then tapping their name to send it to the bottom of the list.

  “Adika.” I sprinted out of the lift onto a broad platform, blinked at the brightness of the lights, and took the metal walkway heading straight ahead. Thankfully these were safer walkways than many, with metal mesh sides that reached to above head height. We could safely stun our target without worrying about him falling to his death or …

  “Rothan.” The medical staff were studying the view of the Captain’s arm from my camera. I hoped they wouldn’t ask me to …

  “Eli.” I stood impatiently next to the light controls. Adika had said I should wait for sixty seconds before moving, in case they needed any lights adjusting, but …

  “Jalen.” I was climbing my ladder at top speed, but I knew I was still lagging behind the others. I wasn’t as experienced, as fast, or as strong as them, and I couldn’
t use the excuse that I’d only just been moved from the Beta team to the Alpha team to defend myself. Strike team members should never make excuses for …

  “Dhiren.” Rothan and Rafael were busy giving medical treatment to the Captain, while Caleb and I were on guard duty. There were five standard routes our target could use to reach this tank – three walkways and two ladders – but it might be possible to …

  “Kaden.” I could see Alvin ahead of me, but he was out of my reach on a walkway that crossed the sheer drop between two other tanks. The mesh sides of the walkway blocked me from shooting him and …

  “Warwick.” I arrived at the top of my ladder, stepped forward onto a tank, and saw Alvin running along a walkway. I’d never attracted Adika’s attention for being especially good or bad at anything, but my best skill was marksmanship. I finally had the chance to impress him.

  Alvin reached the end of the walkway and stepped clear of its protective mesh sides. I had my gun aimed ready to shoot him on stun, but he seemed to vanish at the crucial moment. I sprinted forward to the edge of my tank and peered downwards. Alvin was standing on a small platform that was plummeting towards floor level. There was far too much equipment between us for me to get a successful shot at him.

  “Target is using some sort of small lift to reach floor level,” I, Warwick, said.

  “What?” yelled Adika on the crystal comms. “How? The plans don’t show any lifts by the tanks.”

  “It’s probably one of the hoist arrangements used to lift heavy tools and materials up to the top of the tanks,” said Nicole. “They aren’t intended for human use, but a small man could ride one.”

  “Level Zero.” Adika’s tone of voice made the words into an obscenity. “Lucas, we’re all stuck up on the walkways. It will take us time to catch up with Alvin.”

  “We have a target breakaway,” said Lucas calmly. “Amber, abandon circuit and link to Alvin again.”