I was deeply relieved that Adika had decided not to say the crude version of that in front of his telepath.
It seemed to take Rothan a moment to absorb what Adika had said. “Really?”
“Really.” Adika grinned at him, and then jumped down from the table.
I glowered at him. “I wish you’d stop hurling these tests at Rothan. Making him think he’s going to get fired is bad for his nerves.”
“A future Strike team leader has to act in the interests of the Hive whatever the consequences for himself, and learn to control his nerves in all possible situations,” said Adika. “In my second year as a deputy Strike team leader for Morton, my Strike team leader, Katelyn, put me through the fake public firing ritual. It was a character-building experience.”
I expressed my opinion of that in a single explosive sound. “Hah!”
“I’ve been concerned that Rothan’s leadership style was a little too quiet,” added Adika, “but it clearly works. His men are so loyal to him that they were prepared to stand and support him against my anger. I’m impressed. Of course, that won’t stop me from pushing him to do even better.”
I groaned, climbed on the picnic table, and started speaking. “The New Year is the festival for families. I’ll be spending it with my parents and brother, but you are all my family too. I appreciate how much you’ve all done to support me, and I’m deeply grateful. I especially want to thank Megan and Buzz for their work on the expansion section. Being able to clear my mind of the echoes of wild bees without going Outside will make a huge difference in the coming months.”
I smiled. “I’ve already messaged you all to say that anyone who has no plans to celebrate with other family is invited to come and celebrate with me in area 510/6120 Level 27. This is an open invitation. If you go to attend celebrations elsewhere and things don’t go well, then you can come and join us at any time.”
Lucas climbed up to join me on the table. “The southbound express belts will slow down across the Hive for the coming of the New Year. If you’re caught at the northern end of the Hive by that slowdown, and want to get south quickly to reach us, then remember there will still be some southbound express belts running at full speed on Teen Level.”
He paused. “Since most teens go to other levels to celebrate with their families, only the Teen Level express belt 500 southbound, running through the zone centre points, will slow down for the coming of the New Year. Teens without families gather along that to celebrate the festival together.”
Lucas’s voice was shaking as he said that last sentence, and I knew his fears of the New Year festival were starting to attack him. I wondered what he’d done at the New Year festival when he lived on Teen Level. Had he gone to join the teens gathering along that central express belt, or just huddled away in his room? There wouldn’t have been a problem during the three years he worked in Keith’s unit. Keith obviously wouldn’t want to celebrate the New Year festival with his family, so his unit would surely have kept working through the festival.
Lucas had lapsed into silence now, so I spoke again myself. “We’ll be going to the southern end of the park first, moving to the nearest express belt for the coming of the New Year, and then returning to the southern end of the park. If you have any problems finding us, call me to find out exactly where we are.”
I turned to look at Beckett. “You’re sure that you want to stay here alone?”
He nodded. “I’ll enjoy the peace of having the whole unit to myself at the New Year.”
“I understand.” I clapped my hands. “All those coming with me should move to lift 2 now. I wish the rest of you New Year fortune.”
“New Year fortune,” everyone chorused the words.
Lucas and I headed for the lifts. When we arrived in lift 2, I found a few more people had followed us than I’d expected. That wasn’t a problem. There was plenty of room in lift 2 because it was designed to take the combined Alpha and Beta Strike teams in an emergency. There’d be plenty of room in my parents’ local park too.
Lucas went to the lift controls. “We’ll travel on the less crowded Level 1 express belts to area 510/6120, and then take a lift down to Level 27.”
Two minutes later, our group was riding a southbound express belt. I knew most people had joined Lucas and me because they didn’t have anywhere else to go, but two cases were worrying me.
Adika was standing right next to me, so I spoke to him first. “Adika, we agreed that only Strike team members without family commitments would be acting as my bodyguards during the festival. There are enough of them that you can go and celebrate the New Year with Megan.”
“Since Megan is expecting her husband’s twin babies, she felt she should spend a last New Year festival with his parents. I don’t think they’d welcome my presence.”
I could see his point. “Shouldn’t you be with your own parents or your brother then?”
“My family assumed I’d be spending the festival with Megan. It was simpler to say I was on duty than to explain why I wasn’t with her.”
That seemed to mean that Adika’s family didn’t know Megan was expecting her husband’s twins. Why hadn’t he told them about that? Adika was perfectly open about the situation to people in our unit. Was he planning to tell his parents and brother later, or let them think Megan’s babies were his?
I wasn’t going to ask that question aloud. I wasn’t going to read Adika’s mind to find out the answer either. I could already feel the headache sensation that I got every time I tried to understand Adika and Megan’s relationship. Buzz had said that Adika and Megan were very different people to me, and wanted very different things from their relationship than I wanted from my relationship with Lucas. She’d advised me to just accept their decisions without worrying about them. I was doing my best.
I moved along the belt to where Buzz was standing, resplendent in a red festival dress. “I’m grateful for how much you’ve done to help me, Buzz. You don’t need to give up spending the New Year festival with your parents as well. Gregas seems to have adjusted to what he’s learned about himself and me. He keeps calling me to ask new questions, but only because he’s curious about how things work.”
“You never have to thank me for helping you, Amber,” said Buzz. “I know precisely how important your work is. I witnessed a quarrel as a small child. My abilities were triggered, and a moment of intuition told me to run before the murder actually happened, but I still only survived because a telepath sent his Strike team to protect me.”
She paused. “I’m not here because I think you need my help, Amber. I’m here because I don’t want to celebrate the New Year festival with my parents. I’m dumping them.”
“What? Why?”
“Adika and Megan enjoy a certain amount of conflict in their relationship,” said Buzz. “My parents take that to an extreme. Every time I visit them, I get hit by disturbing insights, and react by abandoning any relationship I’m in. If I spend the New Year festival with my parents, then I’ll split up with Forge the way I’ve split up with dozens of other boys. I can’t have a whole succession of relationships in your unit the way I did on Teen Level, and …”
Buzz waved her hands. “This isn’t a casual decision, Amber. I’ve been thinking about this for months now. I need to break with my parents so I can work out what I want to do with my life.”
“I accept that,” I said. “If you need to talk about it at any time …”
She laughed. “Then I’ll ask the telepath to counsel her counsellor.”
I laughed too, but then I felt an itch deep inside my mind. Someone was in trouble, and I knew exactly who it was.
“I need to get back to Lucas now. He’s panicking that I’ve left him.”
Buzz nodded.
I turned and hastily squeezed past people to reach Lucas. He was standing rigidly still and shaking slightly. When I took his right hand, he turned towards me and gave me an odd look, as if he wasn’t sure whether I was real or not.
“I’m here with you,” I said. “I’m staying with you.”
I kept holding Lucas’s hand as we travelled on through the Hive. We were riding a southbound belt, so some people were already starting to gather beside it. Adults in spectacular Level 1 festival clothes mingled with lower level relatives in more restrained outfits. There were a lot of teens in cheap, colourful sequinned clothes, while the smaller children wore the traditional white outfits of New Year and were squealing in excitement.
As we entered Blue Zone, a thought occurred to me. “Lucas, can you cope with me letting go of your hand for just a moment? Buzz has come with us rather than going to celebrate with her parents. I don’t think she’s told Forge about her plans, so I feel I should send him a message. He may want to be with Buzz when the New Year arrives.”
“Forge may be too far away to get here in time.”
Lucas was clearly so deep in fear that his brain wasn’t working properly. I explained the obvious. “Forge and I had rooms on the same corridor on Teen Level. That was because our parents lived in the same area, just on different levels of the Hive. Forge would only need to take a lift ride to join us.”
“Oh, yes,” said Lucas vaguely.
I sent my message, and then it was time for us to leave the express belt. It wasn’t long before we reached area 510/6120, and took the lift down. I’d expected my mother and father to be waiting inside their apartment, but they were in the corridor outside it. My mother was chatting with her parents while eagerly looking out for us.
I saw the look of relief on my mother’s face as she saw us arriving, and realized she’d been worried we wouldn’t make it. Well, she was bound to be worried. I’d had to cancel so many arrangements in the past.
My mother hurried up to admire the outfits Lucas and I were wearing, and then I hugged my grandparents who looked rather shy of so many Level 1 people. There was a babble of conversation after that, while Lucas stood totally silent.
“Where is Gregas?” I asked at last.
“He’s already gone to the park,” said my father. “He wanted to be there as soon as the food arrived.”
I laughed. “We’d better go and join him then.”
We moved on to the park. There would be crowds gathering around tables of food and drink at several points around the park, but my family always went to the ones near the children’s play area. There was something surreal about standing with members of my unit, watching small children play where I’d spent so much time myself as a child. I was especially amused by one little girl who was earnestly digging in the sand-filled area, oblivious to the damage she was doing to her white festival dress.
“I brought you a chocolate crunch cake, Amber.” Gregas appeared, holding out the crunch cake towards me.
I kept a tight hold of Lucas with one hand and accepted the crunch cake with the other. “What do you want, Gregas?”
He gave me a wounded look. “I don’t know what you mean. I just saw some of your favourite crunch cakes and thought I’d bring you one.”
I shook my head sorrowfully. “We must have been through the crunch cake ritual a hundred times before, Gregas. Just tell me what you want.”
“Well, I would like you to do me a small favour,” Gregas admitted. “I’ve decided to follow Buzz’s advice and move to a room in one of the Law Enforcement areas of Teen Level. I’m not sure how to explain the move to our parents, and you know our father feels that it’s a mistake for teens to request room changes, but if you tell them you think it’s a good idea …”
Gregas gave me a pleading look and pointed across at where my parents were choosing some food from the array on the tables. “You could go and talk to them now.”
I laughed. “You don’t need me to explain this to our parents, Gregas. Just tell them that after what happened with the seagull, you decided you should move further away from Wesley and make some more responsible friends.”
“That could work,” said Gregas thoughtfully, “but if they still argue against me moving room?”
“Then I promise I’ll talk them into it,” I said, “but that will have to wait until after the coming of the New Year. Right now, I need to stay with Lucas.”
Gregas gave a worried look at Lucas, and lowered his voice before whispering to me. “There’s something dreadfully wrong with Lucas. I just got a cold, bleak insight from him.”
I generally avoided using my telepathy when I was with my family, but this time I risked checking Lucas’s mind. I found his usual glittering rapid thought chains were tinged with grey and limping along shrouded in a fog of despair. I could only spare a moment to study them before pulling back into my own head, but that moment was enough to answer the question of what Lucas had done on Teen Level.
The last time Lucas had been to an express belt for the coming of the New Year, he’d been six years old and his father had rejected him. Now he was facing his old ghosts, and his subconscious was screaming at him that this time would end just as disastrously as the last.
No, this time wouldn’t be just as disastrous, but even worse. Last time, Lucas had just lost his father. This time, he’d lose both me and the work that he loved. We would go to the express belt, I would reject him as the New Year was coming, and then I would close the doors of my unit against him.
I knew there was no way for me to reason with Lucas’s subconscious. I was tempted to drag Lucas off somewhere private, and tell him there was no need to put himself through this ordeal to be with me at the New Year. We didn’t have to go to the express belt. We didn’t have to celebrate with my family. We could hide out together and ignore the entire festival.
But Lucas wasn’t here just for me. Buzz and Adika had chosen to join my family celebrations for their own reasons, and so had Lucas. He’d decided it was time to face his old ghosts, and I needed to support him through this rather than undermine his efforts.
I whispered back to Gregas. “You saw me having problems after an emergency run. You had problems yourself from the flurry of insights you had then. Lucas is having a problem at the moment, but he’ll be perfectly fine as soon as the New Year arrives.”
Gregas pulled a dubious face. “Whatever is wrong with him, he can’t possibly recover that fast.”
“Lucas processes both information and emotions at superhuman speed,” I said.
Gregas shrugged. “Well, you’re the true telepath, so I suppose you’re right.”
I watched him walk away to join our parents, and gave a bemused shake of my head. The casual way that Gregas had said that, told me he’d accepted both his abilities and my own. How had he managed to do that so quickly, when it had taken me months of agonizing to adjust to being a telepath?
An ominous thought occurred to me. My brother had chosen to play a Teen Game. He’d defended himself from a wild bee in a way that even impressed Adika. He’d learned some shattering news about both himself and me, and he’d bounced straight back from it.
No, I refused to worry about what Lottery would do with a borderline telepath who had that list of qualities. Gregas wouldn’t be going through Lottery for years, and I needed to focus on Lucas.
I ate my crunch cake, and kept holding Lucas’s hand as the suns slowly dimmed to moon brightness everywhere in the park except around the points with food tables. As the shadows deepened, the New Year decorations were turned on, so the park trees were festive with white lights in the shape of dancing children.
Finally, the remaining suns flared red three times, as a signal that the New Year was approaching Blue Zone. Our group gathered together, and we headed for the nearest southbound express belt. We were walking past a bank of lifts, when the doors of one opened and Forge stepped out. Buzz frowned, but he gave her a look of surprised innocence.
“What are you doing here, Buzz?” he asked.
“I decided I’d spend the New Year festival with Amber.”
“That’s a happy coincidence,” said Forge. “My parents live straight above here on Level 14, so I though
t I’d come down in the lift to wish Amber New Year fortune.”
“Another happy coincidence is that my festival outfit is red, while yours is red and black,” said Buzz suspiciously.
“I’ve a tradition of wearing Halloween colours at the other Hive festivals,” said Forge.
“That’s right,” I said. “Last Carnival, Forge wasn’t just wearing a red and black costume, but a Halloween mask as well. Shanna had hand painted Carnival masks for every teen on our corridor, and was furious about Forge wearing a Halloween mask instead.”
“I should have told Shanna to go waste herself,” said Forge, “but it didn’t seem worth having a quarrel when Lottery was about to divide us forever. I just said that I had to be my own person.”
Buzz nodded. “Everyone has to be their own person.”
We moved on to join the line of people next to where the express, medium, and slow belts were all running at matching speed. Lucas was a silent statue at my side, but everyone else kept talking until the overhead sign above the belts flashed three times. The chattering abruptly stopped, and everyone turned to look to the north.
In the expectant stillness, the thrilled cry of a small child rang out. “New Year coming!”
There was a burst of laughter, another minute of waiting, then the sound of applause and cheering coming from along the corridor to the north. A white-robed figure was riding the belt towards us. A man, his undoubtedly fake long hair and beard as white as his flowing garments. The silver hourglass in his right hand was emblazoned with the number 2533.
People started clapping, their attention alternating between the coming New Year and watching the number on the overhead sign. As the figure of the New Year passed beneath it, the number changed from 2532 to 2533, and everyone cheered. “New Year fortune!”
“New Year fortune!” I joined in the cry, and Lucas’s frozen figure suddenly came to life, turned to face me, and gave me a smile of delight.
“New Year fortune,” he echoed my words.
I checked his mind for the briefest of seconds. The fog of despair was being swept away, and his thoughts were returning to their normal speed and brightness. I was reminded of how I’d cleansed myself of the echo of Tobias. Lucas was cleansing himself of the echoes of his own past.
Borderline (Hive Mind Book 4) Page 48
