Perilous_Hive Mind

by Janet Edwards

  I felt I was bound to hear a comment or at least a noise from Linnette. I waited, but there was nothing.

  I frowned and continued. “Have I ever told you why I’m scared of heights? It started when I was seven years old. I’d climbed a tree in our local park, and was trying to write my name on the ceiling, when a branch broke under my weight. I fell out of the tree and broke my arm.”

  There was no response from inside the door. Not even another sob. I was getting seriously worried now. Was Linnette all right in there? Had she somehow had an accident? I pictured her lying unconscious on the floor of her room.

  I abandoned the subtle approach, and tried yelling and banging on the door. “Linnette. Say something, or at least make a noise. I need to know that you’re all right.”

  There still wasn’t the faintest sound from the other side of the door.

  “Waste this!” I glared at Linnette’s door, and remembered how Reece had managed to get into my room because I’d chosen such an obvious door code.

  I started punching in some simple door codes, beginning with my own old door code, 54321, then 12345, and moving on to 11111, 22222, and working my way upwards. When I got to 55555, there was a click from the door, and it drifted open a fraction.

  I stared at it in stunned disbelief for a couple of seconds, then grabbed both my lanterns, and elbowed the door wide open. “Linnette, are you …?” I let the words trail off, because the room was empty.

  Chapter Eighteen

  I checked the shower and every storage space in Linnette’s room, even those that were too small to hide a rabbit. She definitely wasn’t in there, and that didn’t make any sense. Reece had said that Linnette had locked herself in this room, Margot had said she’d heard a sobbing sound through the door, and I’d heard what I thought was a sob myself.

  I knew Linnette couldn’t have sneaked out of the room without me seeing her. She couldn’t have gone exploring in the air vent system, because there wasn’t an inspection hatch in this room. She couldn’t have vanished into thin air. That meant she hadn’t locked herself in here at all when Reece scared her, just gone running off into the darkness.

  I could believe Reece had lied about that, afraid how the rest of us would react if he admitted the truth. I was wondering what had made the sobbing noise that had fooled me and Margot, when I heard it again, coming from the shower.

  I went to investigate, and found the shower had been left turned on. Presumably Linnette had either been about to have a shower, or had just finished having one, when the power went off. The shower had stopped working, but the occasional drip of water was still falling from it, making a soft, vaguely musical note when it landed on the floor.

  I turned off the shower, took out my dataview, and tried calling Linnette. There was no answer. I tried calling her twice more, and then took out my communicator.

  “Ruby? Atticus? Is one of you there?”

  “I’m here,” said Ruby’s voice.

  “Me too,” said Atticus. “Have you got Linnette out of her room yet?”

  “I’m afraid I’ve got bad news about that. I managed to guess Linnette’s door code, and got into her room, but she wasn’t there.”

  “You mean Reece deliberately lied about her going in there!” Atticus sounded as if he was about to explode with anger.

  “Yes. Linnette must have run off in terror. I’ve tried calling her dataview, but she doesn’t answer. She must be lost or injured somewhere, so I’m going to look for her.”

  “You can’t do that, Amber,” said Ruby sharply. “You’ll get lost yourself.”

  “No, I won’t. I’ve got two lanterns with me, so I’ll have plenty of light, and I’ll be careful to stay in the area I know well.”

  “We can’t have any more people getting lost,” said Ruby. “I’m your emergency group leader, Amber. I’m ordering you to come to the park, and you have to obey me.”

  I was a dutiful member of the Hive. As a small child, I’d broken a few rules out of ignorance. As a teen, I’d indulged in a few of the accepted minor transgressions, such as riding the handrail. I’d never had more than a scolding from a bored hasty, never had a bad report on my record, and certainly never dreamed of disobeying a direct order from someone in authority.

  Ruby might only be another teen like me, but she was acting emergency group leader, and that put her in a position of authority. I should obey her and go to the park. I wanted to obey her, because I was feeling horribly alone here. I wasn’t going to do it though. Linnette was lost somewhere in a maze of pitch black corridors, Forge was trapped in the vent system, and I was the only person in a position to help either of them.

  I’d openly defy Ruby if I had to, but it was worth trying persuasion first. “It makes sense for me to at least search for Linnette on my way to the park. I can go to the south end of our corridor, and take the route past the accommodation corridors and through the shopping area to reach one of the park side entrances.”

  “There’s a shorter route from the north end of our corridor to the main park entrance,” said Atticus.

  “Yes, but we know Linnette didn’t go that way. When Reece jumped out and scared us all, we were down the north end of the corridor. Everyone turned and ran south until I called to them to stop. Linnette must have failed to hear me, or been too terrified to listen, and kept running south.”

  “All right,” said Ruby. “I’ll agree to you taking the longer route to get to the park, Amber, but you mustn’t go wandering off anywhere else.”

  I made a vague noise that could be interpreted as acceptance, put the communicator back in my pocket, and considered the issue of what to take with me and how best to carry it. I managed to wedge a water bottle and a dozen ration bars into my bag, and slung that on my back. One of the lanterns was starting to flicker, so I wound them both, picked up one in each hand, and headed to the south end of the corridor before stopping.

  I needed to turn east to reach the shopping area, but Linnette could have gone west. It was possible that she hadn’t gone far, and was huddled somewhere close by, too terrified to move. I tried calling her name first, then turned off my lanterns and stood in total darkness, looking for any distant glimmer of light.

  I couldn’t see anything at all. I turned my lanterns on again, called Linnette’s name one last time, and then turned to walk east. When I reached the end of corridor 12, I paused to do the same routine as before, and then repeated it again at the end of each of the other corridors.

  At the end of corridor 15, I saw something lying on the ground. I pounced on it eagerly, thinking Linnette might have dropped it, but then I saw it was a fluffy, white toy rabbit, the sort of thing that would belong to a very young child.

  I picked it up and studied it in bewilderment, wondering what it was doing here on Teen Level. Corridor 15 held fourteen-year-olds. It was just under a year since their families, all dressed in basic clothes to hide their level, had been carrying bags and belongings to these rooms and saying farewell. Was the rabbit a treasured parting gift from a small brother or sister? When I arrived on Teen Level myself, eight-year-old Gregas had only been interested in arguing his case for taking over my old bedroom, but I could imagine other brothers and sisters being more affectionate.

  I put the rabbit over by the wall, where its owner would hopefully find it later, and moved on. There were neatly stacked piles of boxes by the wall between the end of corridor 19 and the end of corridor 20. Those would be for the eighteen-year-olds to pack their possessions before they left for Lottery. A year from now, I’d be packing my things myself, and heading off into an unknown future. The thought gave me a nervous churning in my stomach, but I couldn’t let myself be distracted by thoughts of Lottery now.

  I must have walked this route to the shopping area at least a hundred times during my years on Teen Level, but everything looked confusingly different with the lantern light casting huge, distorted shadows. I reached a crossroads, where I could turn right for a belt system interchange
, or left for the laundry. I needed to go straight on.

  I was passing narrow corridors on either side of me now. Those were all accommodation corridors; 21 to 30 on the left, and 31 to 40 on the right. I paused at the end of each corridor to look for lights and shout Linnette’s name, but without success.

  As I neared the junction with accommodation corridor 30 on one side and 40 on the other, I saw something odd ahead of me. Right at the edge of my lantern light, something too solid to be just shadows was sprawling across my path. I advanced cautiously, and finally worked out that a mass of boxes were strewn across the corridor.

  I’d already passed one neatly stacked mountain of boxes. There must have been a similar mountain here too, but someone had collided with it and sent the boxes tumbling across the corridor floor. Had that person been Linnette, running in blind panic from the hunter of souls?

  I advanced on the boxes, saw one had been crushed and showed the distinct outline of a foot, while several others had been flattened in a way that suggested someone had fallen on them. There was a glint as something reflected the light of my lanterns. I bent down to pick it up. It was a dataview, with a familiar decoration of bright blue and mauve flowers. It belonged to Linnette.

  Chapter Nineteen

  This explained why Linnette hadn’t answered any of our calls. She’d collided with these boxes, fallen, and lost her dataview. Since she wasn’t here, she must have picked herself up and started running again, but had she gone straight on or turned down one of the corridors on either side?

  “Linnette!” I called at the top of my voice. “Linnette, are you there? It’s me, Amber.”

  I turned off my lanterns, but there was only unbroken blackness around me, so I turned them back on again. I walked the length of corridor 30 and back, but there was no hint that Linnette had turned to run down there, no sign of disorder at all. This corridor would hold eighteen-year-olds, and they were probably all at the same event as the eighteen-year-olds in my own corridor group.

  I checked corridor 40 as well, and couldn’t see anything unusual, except that each door had been decorated with a picture. They were all cartoon birds or animals with a hint of human features. I guessed that a budding artist lived on this corridor and had done these pictures of his or her friends.

  Linnette must have run straight on down the main corridor. I moved on myself and reached a crossroads. Turning right or going straight on would take me to more blocks of accommodation corridors. Turning left would take me to the shopping area. I’d walked this way so many times that turning left here was an ingrained habit. Had that same ingrained habit made Linnette turn left as well, or had fear triumphed, sending her running straight on?

  “Linnette!” I yelled.

  I thought I heard an answer, and called again several times, before working out that it was only some oddity of the area sending an echo of my own voice back to me. I hesitated, and then turned left, walking down a short, blank-walled corridor that made one abrupt, ninety-degree turn before reaching the shopping area.

  I was used to this place being filled with the bright lights of competing shop displays. Now it was just a massive black void. I walked straight forward for a minute, then paused to call for Linnette and look round for other lantern lights. I was about to move on, when I realized I wasn’t sure which way I was facing any longer. The pool of light around me didn’t reach far enough for me to see any walls or shops. There was a bench to one side of me, and a structural pillar ahead, but I knew there were a dozen benches and any number of pillars in the shopping area.

  I frowned, walked in what I thought was a forward direction, and found the unmistakable landmark of the upway and downway. The moving stairs were frozen in place, the steps of the downway seeming far steeper than usual, leading down into utter blackness.

  I knew the moving stairs were in the middle of the shopping area. I called Linnette’s name a couple of times, but most of my mind was occupied with working out which way I was facing. I was about to walk on, when I heard a faint sound.

  Was that another echo or a real person? I tried calling again. “Linnette, it’s me, Amber!”

  I heard the sound again. I thought it was a human voice, but it was very quiet and distorted, so I couldn’t make out any words. One thing was obvious though, the sound was coming from the menacing black depths of the downway.

  I groaned, cowardly bought myself a minute of respite by winding up both lanterns, and then forced myself to walk across to the steps and call out. “Linnette!”

  There was an answering cry that could have been saying the word help. Either Linnette or someone else was definitely down there. I moistened my lips, and reminded myself how many times I’d ridden on the moving stairs. These frozen steps would be steep, but nothing like the sheer drop of a lift shaft. I’d be in no danger if I moved slowly and carefully.

  “Linnette, I’m coming!”

  I descended cautiously, taking one step at a time, and found Linnette lying in a crumpled heap. I put my lanterns down, and knelt anxiously beside her. “Linnette, where are you hurt?”

  Her eyes were closed and she didn’t respond.

  “Linnette!” I called in panic.

  There was still no response. I touched her neck, and felt the reassuring beat of her pulse. I was wondering what to do, trying to remember what I’d been taught in the first aid activity sessions, when Linnette’s eyes flickered open. She gave me a confused look, and then moaned in pain.

  “Where are you hurt?” I asked urgently. “Did you hit your head?”

  “No, it’s my leg that hurts. How did you find me, Amber?”

  “First I found your dataview, and then I heard you shouting for help.” I tucked Linnette’s dataview in her pocket.

  “Did I shout for help?” She sounded puzzled. “I remember the hunter of souls attacking us. Everyone was screaming and running.” Her voice abruptly rose in fear. “The hunter of souls hasn’t followed us here, has he?”

  “No, he isn’t here. It wasn’t the real hunter of souls anyway, just Reece dressed in his old Halloween outfit.”

  “Reece.” Linnette was silent for a moment, as if trying to absorb that. “It can’t have been Reece. The hunter of souls was chasing me, and then I ran straight into his demon pack. They all leapt out to attack me.”

  “I think you bumped into a stack of boxes, and they fell on you,” I broke the news as gently as I could. “I can understand you assuming it was the demon pack attacking you, but there was only ever Reece playing a horribly cruel trick. I hope he gets into serious trouble for it.”

  “You’re sure it was just boxes?” Linnette didn’t wait for me to reply. “I thought I saw eyes and teeth, so I kept running and didn’t look back. I didn’t know where I was until I saw the downway ahead of me in the lantern light. I tried to stop, but I was going too fast and fell. I grabbed at the handrail, but missed it, and then there was a dreadful pain in my leg.”

  She paused. “The only thing I can remember after that is the sound of my lantern going clattering down the stairs. I think I must have fainted.”

  “You hurt your leg when you fell? Which one?”

  “My left leg. It’s still hurting a lot. I must have pulled a muscle or …” Linnette tried to sit up, gave a strangled gasp of pain, and then slumped backwards.

  Linnette’s eyes were closed again. She seemed to have fainted from the pain. I peered down at her left leg. Even in the limited light of the lanterns, I could see there was something unnatural about the shape of it.

  I took my dataview from my pocket, and was about to call Emergency Services for help, when there was the chiming sound of an incoming call. I automatically answered it.

  “I heard shouting a few minutes ago,” said Forge. “Was that you, Amber? It sounded like your voice, so I tried shouting back.”

  “Yes, that was me shouting.” I was overwhelmed with relief that Forge had escaped from the vent system. “I heard someone answering me, but the voice was so distorted
I didn’t realize it was you. I’m with Linnette. We’re on the downway between Teen Level 50 and Level 51. Linnette’s fallen and hurt herself, so I need you to come and help us.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t come anywhere,” said Forge. “I’m still stuck in the vent system.”

  “Oh. I assumed you’d somehow got out and …” I groaned my disappointment. I’d thought Forge was safe, and that he’d take over the responsibility for Linnette, but neither of those things were true.

  “I think I’m on Level 53 or 54,” said Forge. “I’m next to an inspection hatch, and heard your voice in the distance.”

  “You must be in an air vent next to the downway, and it’s somehow carrying the sound up to me. That explains why your voice was so muffled and distorted.”

  “Yes,” said Forge. “That steep slope I slipped down must have been where the air vent sloped down beside the downway, but what are you and Linnette doing on the downway? Everyone should be in the park by now.”

  “Reece jumped out and scared everyone. Linnette went running off into the darkness. I went to look for her, and found she’d fallen on the downway. I think she’s broken her leg.”

  “When I get out of here, I’ll make sure Health and Safety deal with Reece.” Forge’s voice held a savagely angry note. “You need to call Emergency Services for help right away.”

  “Yes. When they’ve helped Linnette, I may be able to get them to rescue you as well.”

  “Forget about me,” said Forge. “All that matters is getting help for Linnette. Call Emergency Services now.”

  Forge ended his call, and I tapped at my dataview.

  “This is Emergency Services,” said a female voice.

  “I need urgent medical help for …”

  I let my sentence trail off because the voice was still speaking, obviously a recording rather than a real person.