Borderline (Hive Mind Book 4)

by Janet Edwards

  Adika slapped him on the back, glanced warily at where Megan was standing, and lowered his voice. “I have to keep pushing you, Rothan. Statistics show that the Strike team role with the highest risk of death is the Strike team leader. Our current contingency plan is to bring in someone experienced from outside the unit to replace me, but that would be a difficult adjustment for both the Strike team and Amber. You need to progress as fast as possible, so we can switch to the contingency plan of you taking over from me.”

  “However fast I progress, the rule is that I need two years’ experience as a deputy before I can be considered for a Strike team leader position,” said Rothan.

  “And we both know that Amber could and would override that rule if she and Lucas believed you were ready,” said Adika.

  “Perhaps,” said Rothan, “but do me a favour and try not to get killed for a few years anyway. Now, I’m thinking that we should dodge the issue of sprint speed by using the new recruits on bodyguard duty.”

  “And what happens if we need to evacuate Amber from a dangerous situation?”

  “We make sure that we always have one of our existing men leading the bodyguards. In an evacuation situation, it’s the leader’s job to carry the telepath away at full speed. The rest of the team have to fight a rear-guard action, and Claire’s men would be ideal for that. They’ve decades of experience in every form of combat.”

  “I agree,” said Adika. “We just need Amber’s approval and …”

  I left Adika, moved on to a group of four strange minds, and touched one at random.

  … feels good to be wearing body armour again. I …

  … still stunned by the chance of serving another telepath. Nervous too. It would be a huge honour, but after so many years serving Claire …

  That thought train abruptly merged with one nearer the subconscious.

  … last time I was in this park, our Strike team leader was scattering Claire’s ashes to release her spirit back to the Hive. Has all of you left this place to be reborn as a baby, Claire, or is part of you watching over us now? Do we have your consent for this or …?

  I, he, was swamped by a wave of emotion. I turned away from my old friends, pretending a sudden interest in a nearby tree as I fought off tears. Ridiculous to be feeling so guilty, and wondering if Claire would see me working for Amber as a betrayal. Claire was a Hiveist like me. She’d served the Hive to her dying breath, and would surely rejoice to think of her Strike team members helping a new telepath perform her duties.

  Amber! The mention of my own name helped me escape from the churning emotions of my target. Reading this man’s mind had told me why I’d been disconcerted by the idea of having Claire’s men on my Strike team.

  Claire had been a devoted Hiveist. I knew that she hadn’t insisted on everyone in her unit sharing her beliefs, because Gideon had told me how he and Claire enjoyed arguing about whether or not there was life after death. Strike team members were chosen to be both physically and mentally compatible with their telepath though, so Claire’s Strike team was bound to include a lot of Hiveists.

  Claire’s unit had been based here for the last ten years of her life. How would her Hiveist Strike team members feel training daily in the park where her ashes had been scattered? I had some superstitious ideas about Claire’s presence lingering here myself, and I wasn’t sure I could cope with their thoughts about her as well.

  I gave myself a moment longer to recover from the first encounter, before moving on to the next new mind.

  … it’s no use. I can’t keep standing here thinking this and not saying the words aloud. I have to …

  “Am I the only one that’s wondering if there’s any truth in the alternative Lottery doctrine of Hiveism?” My current target asked the question that had been nagging at him ever since he got the message asking him to come here.

  One of the two men facing him groaned. “It’s just like the old days, with Osric discussing some obscure bit of Hiveist doctrine that the rest of us have never heard about.”

  “I admit this is a lesser-known area of doctrine,” said Osric. “It states that the spirit of a devout Hiveist may choose not to be immediately reborn as a new baby, but instead linger a while to inspire a suitable candidate in Lottery. It’s supposed to be the reason the verdicts of Lottery are so unpredictable. It’s not just the sheer complexity of the automated decision process. It’s the fact that some candidates are aided by the lingering guardian spirits of devout Hiveists. They enter the candidate to share the accumulated wisdom of their last lifetime, assisting them to serve the Hive beyond normal human abilities.”

  My previous target had still been staring at the tree trunk. Now he turned to look at me, at Osric, with a shocked expression. “You’re suggesting that Claire could have remained here to act as Amber’s guardian spirit?”

  Osric waved his hands. “I’m just raising the possibility. Claire knew the Hive would be in desperate trouble without her. Would she really choose to be reborn as a baby that wouldn’t be able to help the Hive for eighteen years? Isn’t it more likely that she’d linger to be the guardian spirit of the next telepath to come out of Lottery, especially when that telepath would be working here in her old unit?”

  The part of me that was Amber was finding this hard to cope with. I moved mind again and found myself frowning.

  … startling theory, but it does fit the facts. People say that Amber went through her training at staggering speed. Claire fought her way back from that first heart attack to keep serving the Hive for twelve more years. It would be typical of her to continue serving the Hive as Amber’s guardian spirit, and …

  I hastily moved on to the fourth mind, which was filled with laughter.

  … always amazed by the ridiculous Hiveist theories. I can understand why they’re eagerly grabbing at this idea though. We’ve got the fundamental problem that we loved Claire, and we desperately want her permission to serve another telepath, but she isn’t here to give it. We need to focus on reality and …

  He spoke aloud in a grim voice. “You all know that I don’t believe in Hiveism, but I do believe in my duty to serve the Hive. We’ve been asked here because this Telepath Unit urgently needs help. Morton’s unit is going to shut down for several months after the New Year festival to allow him to have major surgery, so the remaining four Telepath Units will be under tremendous pressure.”

  The other three gasped. “Are you sure about this, Vance?” asked Osric.

  “My son moved to Morton’s unit last year, so I’m perfectly sure,” said Vance. “Amber’s unit can’t have been operational for much more than six months. They’ll still be building the experience of their Strike teams, and they need us to help bring their Alpha Strike team up to full strength.”

  … time to hit the Hiveists with an argument that they can’t resist.

  “If you want to be reassured that Claire would approve of us serving Amber, then there’s no need to resort to obscure Hiveist doctrines about guardian spirits. We have the equivalent of overhead signs on an express belt telling us that we’re going in the right direction. Stop and think about the fact this unit is called Light Angel.”

  “That’s true,” said Osric sharply. “Claire would be bound to approve of us serving the Hive as part of a unit named after the light angel of the Light and Dark pageants.”

  I skimmed back around the other three minds, and saw that Vance’s argument had worked. They were convinced Claire would be fiercely in favour of them joining my unit.

  If there were still a few background thoughts about Claire’s benevolent spirit watching over our unit, then I could cope with them. It was the idea of Claire’s spirit actually entering into me that I’d found unnerving. Anyone who thought I was some sort of reborn Claire was going to be bitterly disappointed when I failed to live up to her legend.

  I drifted on to find two other strange minds. These had to be Megan’s candidates for the deputy Liaison and Admin positions. I touched the first mind, an
d found the woman was sitting on a bench, watching her husband and his friends. I used the opportunity to consider the four men’s appearance. They’d come out of Lottery decades ago, selected to match Claire’s preferences not mine, but …

  Well, Rothan had said something about giving orders to his grandfather. That was a gross exaggeration of these men’s age, because they were only in their mid-forties. They had the same blue eyes and light brown hair as Rothan though, so really did look as if they could be older relatives of his. Megan’s message had said their names were Vance, Osric, Dex, and Kris. I still wasn’t sure which one was Dex and which was Kris, but that didn’t affect my decision.

  I finally focused on the minds of the two women, Akiko and Nora, and rapidly decided there was no issue with either of them. When I pulled back into my own head and opened my eyes, I found Lucas was sitting opposite me, studying my face.

  “You seemed worried at one point,” he said. “Is there a problem?”

  “It was the Hiveism issue,” I said. “Claire was a Hiveist. Three of the four Strike team candidates Adika has chosen are Hiveists too, and they were discussing whether Claire’s spirit could have entered into me in Lottery.”

  “We’d better get Adika to choose some non-Hiveist candidates then,” said Lucas. “It would be extremely disturbing for you to keep encountering thoughts about you being Claire incarnate.”

  I shook my head. “Fortunately, the men have moved on from that idea to thinking Claire’s benevolent spirit may be watching over our unit in general, which I find rather reassuring. There’s no problem at all with the two wives being Hiveists, because I’ll rarely need to read their minds.”

  “How do you think you’ll react when these men bodyguard you?” asked Lucas. “You’re used to having bodyguards who are your own age.”

  “Adika often bodyguards me himself,” I said, “and the fact he’s almost twice my age has never been a problem. In some ways, it makes things simpler. The Strike team members who came out of Lottery with me are conscious of me being their telepath, but also aware that I’m a girl of their own age, and find me attractive to varying degrees. Adika is primarily aware of me as his telepath, and the focus of his duty to the Hive.”

  Lucas blinked. “What you’re telling me is that you pick up the emotions of your bodyguards when they defend you. That means you aren’t reacting to their age or physical appearance at all, but to how they feel about you.”

  “I suppose that’s what’s happening. Shall we go and tell the new arrivals that I’m happy to have them in my unit?”

  “I think we should let the Strike team candidates do a trial run acting as your bodyguards before making a final decision,” said Lucas. “There are a couple of questions I’d like to ask before you confirm them as Strike team members anyway. Let’s go and talk to Adika about it.”

  We stood up and walked through the park to where Adika and Rothan were standing. When Megan saw me, she came hurrying over to join us as well.

  “Are you ready to check the minds of the Strike team candidates, Amber?” she asked.

  “I’ve already checked the minds of all six candidates,” I said. “I just want to do a trial run with the four Strike team candidates acting as my bodyguards before …”

  My words were interrupted by an insistent chiming sound. Lucas took out his dataview and scowled at it.

  “I’m sorry, but I need to answer this at once. It’s a priority call from Keith’s Tactical Commander.”

  Lucas moved a few paces away to stand by a structural pillar, then tapped at his dataview. An image of Gaius appeared on the side of the pillar, and he started speaking at high speed. I couldn’t hear what was being said, but I saw Lucas’s face twist in distress. I instinctively linked to his mind to find out what was wrong, and was hit by a swirling cloud of pain, anger, and love.

  “Keith was in one of those moods where it was impossible to reason with him,” said Gaius, in a despairing voice. “Keith dragged Beckett out of his apartment, yelled at him, and shoved him into the lift. He wouldn’t let Beckett arrange for an assisted journey, or even get his headset and glasses. All I could do was tell Beckett to head for Amber’s unit, and say that you and Megan would take care of him.”

  “You mean that Beckett is trying to reach our unit during peak evening travel time on the belt system, and he doesn’t have either his noise-cancelling headset or his customized glasses with him?” Lucas’s voice was shaking.

  Gaius grimaced. “Yes. Beckett took the lift down to Teen Level. I’ve tried calling his dataview since then, but he isn’t answering.”

  “Beckett must be too deep in sensory overload to answer his dataview,” said Lucas. “Please tell me that Cee Cee is with him. If Keith’s thrown Beckett out of his unit without Cee Cee, then I’m going to …”

  “I’ve put up with some outrageous behaviour from Keith for the sake of the Hive,” said Gaius, “but there’s a breaking point for everyone. I wouldn’t have let Keith take Cee Cee away from Beckett.”

  Lucas turned to me. “Amber, Keith’s furious with me for refusing to allow him to borrow Buzz. He’s found out about Beckett acting as coordinator for the pattern analysis of Blue Upway, and used that as an excuse to throw him out of his unit. Keith knows that hurting Beckett will hurt me, and …”

  “Yes,” I interrupted Lucas to save time. “The answer is yes to everything.”

  I’d known Lucas had a deep respect and admiration for Gaius. I’d known that Gaius hadn’t just been Lucas’s team leader, but his mentor as well, and had chosen the clothes he should wear for his Tactical Commander position. Now I knew what Lucas had never put into words, even in his own mind.

  Lucas’s father had abandoned him when he was six years old and left a void in his life. Gaius had filled that void, while Beckett and Cee Cee … Well, Beckett wasn’t just the best pattern specialist in the Hive, but someone Lucas cared about deeply, and he was in trouble. I’d never heard Cee Cee mentioned before, but they must be in trouble too.

  “Beckett and Cee Cee are welcome to join our unit,” I said. “We’ll take the Alpha Strike team to find them and bring them home.”

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Lucas ended his call with Gaius, and then tapped at his dataview before talking into it again. This time his words were echoed from loudspeakers up in the park sky.

  “Unit alert. We have a rescue mission involving a provisional unit member in distress. We expect that unit member to be on Teen Level, somewhere north of our unit. Operational teams to stations. Alpha Strike team, we’ll want you blending in with the teens travelling on the belts, so dress in your old teen clothes and head to lift 2. Tactical team, I’ll be going on this run with Amber, so Emili will be in charge here.”

  Megan was looking almost as upset as Lucas. “I’ll go on the run with you as well. Beckett will need people he knows.”

  Lucas dropped his dataview into his pocket. “You can help Beckett more by staying here to make arrangements for his arrival.”

  “I suppose that’s true.” Megan frowned in thought. “Beckett will need a quiet room next to your Tactical office, and an apartment as similar as possible to the one he had in Keith’s unit. Ideally, we’ll want to bring the furniture from Beckett’s old apartment in Keith’s unit, but I doubt that Keith will allow us to have it.”

  “I’m perfectly sure he won’t,” said Lucas.

  “If Amber wants to do a trial run with the Strike team candidates bodyguarding her,” said Adika, “then I suggest we take them with us now.”

  “Good idea,” said Lucas.

  Adika waved at the four Strike team candidates, and they ran over to join us.

  “We’re taking you along on this run to help bodyguard Amber,” said Adika.

  They exchanged stunned looks. “We’re not going to make very convincing teens,” said Vance.

  “The clothes you and Adika are wearing will work for you acting the part of sports activity leaders,” said Lucas. “Ask Liaison if they
have any suitable tops or other accessories in their costume store. Amber and I need to get equipped for the run now.”

  I automatically reacted to Lucas’s words by turning to run across the grass, leaping over the stream, and then weaving my way between the trees.

  “I can tell that you often run this way,” gasped Lucas’s voice from behind me. “There’s a lot of matching footprints in the muddy patch by the stream.”

  A minute or two later, we were running through our apartment to our bedroom. I took a random set of my old teen clothes out of the bedroom storage wall, and stepped aside to let Lucas search for his old clothes as well.

  I yanked off my current outfit, and pulled my body armour on, but wrinkled my nose when I tried putting my teen clothes on over the top of it. I must have got used to wearing high level fabrics, because I felt hot and itchy, and the old teen top was too tight across my breasts.

  I hesitated, then noticed my beach dress was still hanging on the wall after our failed shopping trip. “Could I wear my beach dress for this trip?” I asked. “It’s Level 67, but …”

  Lucas turned to face me. He was wearing his mesh body armour too, and holding a battered teen outfit with a top that I could believe had once been orange, but had faded to a nondescript beige.

  “Yes. It’s simple and colourful enough to pass as a Teen Level beach dress.”

  I swapped my teen outfit for the beach dress and felt far more comfortable. I’d obviously need my ear crystal as usual, and my wristset light might be useful, but I didn’t see any reason for me to take my gun on this trip.

  Lucas was in his teen clothes now. He glanced at me to check I was ready and started running for lift 2. As I chased after him, I couldn’t help noticing that either his teen outfit had shrunk in the three years since he’d left Teen Level, or he’d gained a few muscles. When we arrived at lift 2, I saw most of my Strike team members had the same problem.

  “We’re just waiting for Liaison to deliver some oddments,” said Adika.