Borderline (Hive Mind Book 4)

by Janet Edwards

  Lucas hugged me close against his chest, and carried me towards our apartment, while Buzz and Megan moved into bodyguard formation on either side of us. I saw Megan was aiming a mini scanner at me.

  “There’s no need to carry me, Lucas,” I protested. “I can walk.”

  “Let Lucas enjoy playing hero for once, Amber,” said Buzz.

  “Yes, it’s my turn to play hero,” said Lucas. “You need to focus on fighting off Tobias’s echo. What’s it doing now?”

  “It keeps circling around the fringes of my mind, and tearing at me with its claws,” I said unhappily. “I’ve been trying to contain it, but it’s too strong. I’m in less pain now that I’m back here with you, but my head is still throbbing, and I keep getting hit by waves of outraged fury.”

  “I could give you some painkillers, Amber,” said Megan.

  Buzz shook her head. “Painkillers would only help Amber with physical pain. I think what she’s feeling is an attack on her personality rather than her body. She should feel better once she’s inside the expansion section.”

  “Where’s the door, Megan?” asked Lucas.

  “What door?” asked Megan, in a distracted voice.

  “You said that the new security door was installed earlier this evening. I don’t know where you put the door, and we’ve got a very big apartment.”

  “Oh,” said Megan. “Well we had three possible positions where we could put the door, but security issues ruled out …”

  “Lucas just needs to know where the door is, Megan,” interrupted Buzz, “not the reasons for putting it there.”

  “The door is in the empty room next to the main living room,” said Megan.

  Lucas paused by our apartment door, and I held out a hand to open it.

  “Amber and Lucas should go on alone now,” said Buzz.

  “I have to go with them,” said Megan.

  Buzz spoke in her most imperious voice. “Amber and Lucas must be alone in the expansion section.”

  “Amber and Lucas can’t get into the expansion section without me,” said Megan, in an irritated voice. “We’ve just installed a brand new, palm operated security door, and I’m currently the only person authorized to open it.”

  “Good point,” admitted Buzz. “In that case, we’ll all go as far as the security door.”

  As Lucas carried me on through the apartment, I had a sudden awareness of animal minds nearby. We went past the door to the living room, and arrived in an empty room with a security door in the far wall.

  Lucas finally put me down on my own feet. There was a brief delay while we each put our hands on the door and Megan set us to be authorized users. Then she stabbed a finger in Buzz’s direction.

  “Before you say anything, I’m going to remove myself from the authorized users, but not until Amber and Lucas have checked they can open the door themselves. There’s nothing worse than making an error setting up a security door, and leaving yourself in the situation where no one can open it.”

  I put my hand on the door, it opened, and I walked from the standard lighting of an apartment room into the extra richness of the park sun-effect lights that held the full spectrum of the Truesun itself. There was the usual gentle park breeze, the warm, earthy scent that I associated with newly dug flowerbeds, and the air had the humid taste that meant there’d been a recent spell of pre-programmed rain. This place had the normal sounds of a park as well, with birdsong coming from overhead, but the sight of it bewildered me.

  I was used to parks where groves of trees were scattered among open areas of grass and flowerbeds, but I was standing in what looked like a room with walls made of leaves. My first reaction was disappointment that the animal and bird area was so small, but then I realized that the walls were closely planted bushes and young trees that were well above my head height, but nowhere near as high as the ceiling. There were also gaps between the bushes, where paths led off to other places.

  I followed what was obviously the main path, which led straight on into another, larger room-like space. I paused to admire a picnic table next to trellises covered with pink-flowered creeping plants, then continued to where there was a pool with scattered waterlily leaves floating on the surface, and a single, golden waterlily flower. I heard the crunching of gravel behind me, and turned to smile at Lucas.

  “There are lots of small spaces here.”

  The voice of our unit park keeper spoke on the crystal comms. “The expansion area won’t have any noisy park events or many visitors, so it’s been set up as one of the Hive’s special breeding areas for shy species. Dividing it into small spaces provides a variety of habitats, and good sites for nest boxes or natural nests.”

  “There are a few extra things to make it comfortable for you as well, Amber,” added Megan’s voice.

  I looked at the bench next to the pool, and laughed. “Things like picnic tables and benches.”

  “I can already see how much this place is helping you,” said Lucas. “You just laughed. You aren’t in pain any longer.”

  I gave him a startled look. “You’re right. My head has stopped hurting, and Tobias’s echo seems weaker. No, not actually weaker. It’s as strong as before, but it’s feeling uneasy here.”

  “Amber, I think you and Lucas should leave the crystal comms now,” said Buzz’s voice. “When it starts getting dark, you may want to follow the main path. If you have any problems, or want the suns to stay at full brightness for longer, then just call my dataview.”

  “Thank you, everyone,” I said.

  I took the crystal unit from my ear, turned it off, and dropped it into my pocket, before walking over to the bench and sitting down. Lucas put his crystal unit away too, and came over to sit beside me. He took my hand, and we sat in silence, looking at the pool.

  I knew there weren’t any fish in the pool yet, because Megan had said something about the fish and reptile delivery being delayed until a waterfall was fixed. There was plenty of other wildlife interested in the water though. Five magnificent red and black birds flew down to the edge of the pool to drink, clearly two adults accompanied by their three fluffy offspring. Two tiny monkeys came leaping through the bushes to drink as well, one with an even tinier baby clinging to its back, peeping out from among the fur to look at me with curious eyes. I noticed there were insects too. Two blue butterflies fluttered randomly by, while a green dragonfly skimmed across the pool to hang on the edge of an iris flower.

  Finally, I closed my eyes and focused on Tobias’s echo again. I wasn’t perceiving it as a gargantuan beetle any longer, but as Tobias himself. The two of us were standing and facing each other like duellists.

  “You’re uncomfortable because this place is new and unfamiliar,” I said. “You know it’s been specially designed to help me. You’re aware that you’re on my territory, on my chosen battlefield, and every living creature in this place adds to my strength. Your original has left my unit, and it’s time for you to leave my mind.”

  The Tobias inside my head didn’t speak, but I could feel him broadcasting a mixture of anger and fear. He’d been confident of his dominance over me earlier, but now the power balance between us had changed in my favour. He’d have retreated if he could, but he had nowhere to go. He was only a lingering impression that the real Tobias had left on my consciousness, and couldn’t exist outside my head.

  “You’re far more powerful than any normal echo because your original was one of my Strike team,” I said sadly. “They are my brothers, my friends, my family, and it’s hard for me to let go of one of them, but I have no choice. Your original has grown more destructive with every passing day. Now he’s shot Caleb, there can be no going back for either of us. Tobias is no longer my brother. He is no longer my friend. He is no longer part of my family.”

  The echo of Tobias was growing thin and transparent. When I was searching for a target, I reached out with my telepathic sense, but now I did something that was almost the opposite. Not reaching out at all, but letting my m
ind expand to take in everything around me, the dazzling wonder of Lucas’s cascading thought levels, the soft contented glows of the animals and birds in the expansion area, the anxious emotions of people in my unit, and the vast quietness of Outside above my head.

  As my mind expanded, I felt a corresponding surge of power, and a wild sensation like the storm winds of Outside swept through my head, cleansing me of everything that wasn’t truly Amber. The echo of Tobias clung onto me for a last few desperate seconds, before being swept away, breaking into pieces, and vanishing.

  I felt a moment of pure desolation. Tobias’s echo had been erased, and soon the real Tobias would have his memories of the last year erased too. He’d never think of me again, but I’d always remember the days when he’d risked his life to save mine, and wonder if I could have done something to stop him taking a one-way belt ride to disaster.

  I opened my eyes and discovered Lucas was kneeling in front of me, staring intently at my face. “You’ve cleansed yourself of Tobias’s echo?” he asked.

  I forced myself to speak in a brisk voice. “Yes, he’s gone.”

  “I worked for Keith for three years,” said Lucas. “He doesn’t have to cleanse himself of echoes, because they get wiped away whenever his telepathy stops working. I’ve seen you do this a couple of times before, but had no idea what was happening inside your head. It was fascinating to hear you talking to Tobias’s echo.”

  I blinked. “I hadn’t realized I was talking aloud. That must have sounded … deeply strange, but I find it helps if I visualize what I’m fighting. It’s a way of separating it from myself.”

  Lucas smiled. “I understand what you were doing, Amber. At least, I understand it as much as anyone can who isn’t a telepath.”

  He paused and looked up at the sky. “It’s getting dark now. Would you like to go back to our apartment, call Buzz to ask for the suns to stay on longer, or take her advice to follow the main path?”

  “I think we should message Buzz to say that I’ve dealt with Tobias’s echo, and then follow the main path,” I said. “Buzz’s advice has worked well so far.”

  Lucas stood up. “It’s worked incredibly well. You’ve got rid of Tobias’s echo without leaving the Hive, which is a hugely significant step forward.”

  Chapter Forty-four

  I awoke in the caressing warm air of a sleep field, and lay with my eyes still closed for a moment, confused by the scent of flowers and sound of birdsong. Then my memories came flooding back. Lucas and I had followed the main path through the expansion section, and found …

  Well, I still wasn’t sure how to describe this place. I’d slept in tents Outside. I’d visited buildings at the sea farm called houses. This was something between the two. A one-roomed house, with a glass wall that could be partially opened, or folded away entirely.

  I turned to look at the glass wall. It was closed now, and had changed from plain glass to an abstract design in blue and green, which let the park sunlight through into this room. I rolled over in the sleep field, and saw Lucas was lying next to me, studying his dataview screen.

  “Ah, you’re awake.” He put his dataview aside. “How are you feeling?”

  I considered the question. “There isn’t really a word for how you feel after throwing all the invading influences out of your head. It’s empowering, and there’s a strange sense of clarity. I’m still not sure if that clarity is part of the process of getting rid of echoes, or the result of it succeeding.”

  I shrugged and changed the subject. “Why has the wall changed to blue and green?”

  “Megan’s new deputy, Nora, messaged me an hour or so ago. The planting teams have a lot of work to do, and the animal care teams need to check how the animals and birds are settling in and put out fresh food at the feeding stations.”

  He paused. “I knew that you’d want the animals and birds cared for, but you looked solidly asleep. Rather than wake you up so you could put some clothes on, I closed the wall and set it to picture mode before giving permission for people to start work.”

  I closed my eyes while I scanned the expansion section. “There are two people near us, but most are working down the end nearest the park.”

  “How does their presence affect the feel of this place?” asked Lucas.

  I opened my eyes again. “It changes it to be more like an ordinary park.”

  “So you couldn’t get rid of echoes while they’re here?”

  “No.”

  “The main installation team has already left,” said Lucas, “but the planting and animal care teams will be working here until the New Year festival. After that, there’ll only be two of their people staying to do the routine maintenance until we recruit our own permanent staff. We could easily get them to leave the expansion area if you needed to be alone.”

  “I wouldn’t need people to leave when I’m just relaxing, but I would if I have to deal with echoes.”

  “How do you think you’d feel about Buzz being present?” asked Lucas.

  “However comfortable I am with Buzz, I think I’d need her to leave too. Dealing with echoes is deeply personal. I think Buzz understands that because she didn’t try to come in here with us last night.”

  “But you dealt with the echo of Tobias while I was with you.” Lucas smiled. “I feel incredibly flattered by that.”

  I was oddly embarrassed and hastily pointed at his dataview. “What’s been happening during the night? How is Caleb? Has he had his surgery yet?”

  “Yes, Atticus arrived at about midnight to do the operation. His report said it was straightforward, and Caleb should be back on active duty within two weeks. Since Eli was in charge of your bodyguards, he’d come back to the unit with you, so Atticus could take the opportunity to do his operation as well.”

  “Eli’s had his surgery! Was that straightforward too?”

  “Everything went perfectly. Both Caleb and Eli are recovering in our medical area.”

  “Eli must be so relieved that his surgery is over. Is Atticus still in our unit? I’d like to thank him.”

  “Atticus has already gone back to Morton’s unit. If you want to call him to say thank you, then you’d better wait until this evening, because he’ll be catching up on his sleep. Megan was assisting with the surgery, and is now asleep too, which is why Nora messaged me about the work in the expansion section.”

  I hesitated before asking the next question. “Has Tobias been reset yet?”

  Lucas nodded. “When Buzz got my message saying you’d dealt with his echo, she went to the Therapy Unit to supervise Tobias’s memory reset, and then gave him his first therapy session. He responded as planned, so she handed over his further treatment to the Therapy Unit.”

  I sighed. “It’s sad that I just feel numb when I think about Tobias being reset. I seem to have burnt through all my emotions where he’s concerned, and only care about Caleb getting better.”

  “That’s exactly how you should be feeling,” said Lucas firmly. “Buzz, Rothan and the rest of the Alpha Strike team who were guarding Tobias only arrived back at the unit two hours ago, so I expect they’re some more people who’ll be sleeping now.”

  He gave me a thoughtful look. “I notice that you haven’t asked about Keith.”

  I wrinkled my nose. “There isn’t much point in me asking about Keith, is there? I’m sure you’ve reported the details of Keith releasing Tobias to Gold Commander Melisande by now, but we’ve already established that she and Gaius have no effective way of dealing with Keith.”

  “I’m afraid that’s true. Gold Commander Melisande and Gaius confronted Keith and accused him of sending that release order to the Therapy Unit. Keith just admitted it and laughed.”

  “Of course he’d laugh.” I groaned. “As I’ve said to you before, I’m a telepath, effectively above the law and untouchable, but so is Keith. Do you remember how we hunted Hive Genex’s agent during the last Halloween festival? The Hive wanted to hand Elden over alive to Joint Hive Treaty Enforcem
ent, so Adika ordered the Strike team to shoot him on stun, but I shot Elden on kill setting.”

  “It’s not the sort of thing I could forget,” said Lucas drily.

  “Nobody punished me for killing Elden. Everyone carried on as if it had never happened.” I shook my head. “Even you’ve never said a word to me about it.”

  “I didn’t say a word about it because I knew you’d shot Elden out of compassion, and that nothing I could say would stop you doing the same thing again in similar circumstances.”

  “What amazed me was that Adika didn’t stop me taking a gun on emergency runs.”

  Lucas looked amused. “Adika believed that you’d taken revenge on Elden for what he’d done to you. He wasn’t going to criticize you for doing something he’d wanted to do himself. He certainly wasn’t going to take your gun away when you’d just proved you were capable of taking down a target in a crisis with flawless accuracy.”

  “And what about Gold Commander Melisande?”

  “She wasn’t convinced you’d deliberately killed Elden. She thought it was out of character for such a dutiful telepath to disobey orders. Her theory was that you were inexperienced with guns and had got the setting wrong by accident. Melisande said it was a waste of time pursuing the issue further anyway. Nothing would bring Elden back to life, and it was impossible to punish you when the Hive desperately needed you working.”

  “Which is precisely the point I’m making,” I said. “If one of my Strike team had defied orders and killed Elden, he’d have been demoted to protein vat scrubber. I was a telepath, so I escaped without any consequences at all. Nobody even took away my chocolate crunch cakes.”

  I waved my hands. “Lifts don’t just travel in one direction though. Keith admitted he sent the release order that freed Tobias, but he’ll escape without any consequences too.”

  “There will be some consequences for Keith,” said Lucas. “Remember that Keith used Gaius’s codes on that release order. Gaius is utterly livid about his codes being used to free a wild bee that was a threat to your life. He’s going to be checking every movement of Keith’s Strike team with our unit in future, and ensuring all external calls and messages from Keith’s unit go through a verification process.”