by Rayner Ye
A young woman with ebony skin, a red blouse, and perfect teeth smiled at Aedre from behind the desk. “How can I help?”
“I have important information about the human trafficking department.”
The woman raised a well-groomed eyebrow. “Sure. Leave it in the tray. Someone’ll get back to you once they’ve read it.”
“It’s video evidence from my aurashield.”
“Wait a minute.” The woman disappeared under the desk.
Spider said, “Ask to have video evidence of the Yiksaan complex transferred from your aurashield to MIP, not including video footage outside of the complex.”
Aedre gave her intention.
The woman reemerged and walked around to the front of the desk carrying a device. “May I make a copy and pass it along?”
“To who?”
“The person who views evidence handed in by the public.”
“When will they do that?”
“When they have time.”
“Today?”
“Probably not. Everyone’s very busy.”
“But it needs to be viewed now!”
The woman frowned. “Do you know how many people walk through those doors claiming to have important information? Ninety-nine per cent is junk.”
“Look, if someone doesn’t watch this and do something about it today, another slaver will be free.”
The woman sighed, went behind the desk, opened an airSphere the size of an apple, and whispered into the orb.
“It’s no good,” Spider said. “She’s calling security.”
“What should I do?”
“Go directly to whoever is in charge of the human trafficking department.”
“They’ll see me disappear and reappear elsewhere. They'll have CCTV footage. It’s too risky.”
“It’s the only way you’ll get those assholes to take you seriously. They’ll never track you down. Security’s near. Do it!”
“They’ll shoot me if I don’t comply.”
“Come on. You’re not in the Firesnake.”
“So, I can let them escort me out, then do it another way.”
“And what if the lorry stops somewhere and you miss the chance to get Yasmin to safety? What if it stops raining in Giok?”
Two burly men in green uniforms and carrying laser guns strode towards Aedre.
“Take me to whoever’s in charge of MIP’s human trafficking department.”
She sat at a round table topped with exotic dishes. Her sudden appearance between the two old men caused the orange one to drop his chopsticks, and the red one to knock over his tea as he jumped out of his seat. His long earlobes wobbled as he whipped his face around. “What the hell! Security!”
One orange man’s image flickered—a hologram. He glittered and had reflective amber eyes.
The door burst open, and four bodyguards in tight black outfits pointed their guns at Aedre.
She swallowed and held up her hands.
The orange man dabbed his mouth with a napkin. “Another hologram? Or assassin, perhaps. Seize him.”
Aedre showed empty palms. “I’ve got evidence to give you. Just scan my aura for the video of human trafficking in Bamdar’s joint in Rajka, Inarmuzza, the Fire—”
“The Yiksaan Godfather?” the orange man asked.
She nodded.
He faded, then his pixels intensified until he looked solid again. “Scan her, goddamnit. Got an aurashield downloader?”
The red man nodded to his security. “Do what Z’Das has asked. Get the aurashield video downloader.”
A bodyguard left and returned with a device. He scanned her aura and handed it to the red man, who opened his airSphere and flicked the file inside.
They viewed the cage of naked women—Yasmin, Aedre in Bamdar’s body, fucking Jess from behind.
“Shall I just leave?”
“Yes,” Spider said. “I can’t wait to see their faces when you vanish.”
She frowned. The situation put her life at risk and was no laughing matter. She returned to the foul darkness.
Yasmin heaved a sigh and smiled when she saw her. YuFang lay on his side, apparently unconscious.
Not long after, the lorry slowed, manoeuvred and reversed up an incline. The back of the container opened into the starry night, and Aedre crawled over the sodden contents.
A rubbish pit lay twenty feet below.
Her heart thudded as she scrambled back. “How can I save them, Spider?”
No reply.
“Make me a gigantic spider, so I can roll Yasmin and YuFang in my web, carry them out, and stick them to the top of the lorry. Quick!”
The container lifted on one side, and the contents slid towards the gaping hole.
Aedre’s body grew and split into segments. She grabbed Yasmin and YuFang with her arachnid front legs.
“Fucking hell!” YuFang protested, kicking at her. One of his kicks flew into her stomach, and she reeled over, gasping for breath.
“It’s Aedre, idiot!” Yasmin shouted. “She’s helping us. She told you she’s a shape-shifter, and you saw her disappear.”
He lay still.
With a sore midsection, Aedre shot some spiderweb from the four glands in her abdomen and wove YuFang and Yasmin into a bundle of sticky silk, careful not to cover their faces. She tied them to her underside and climbed onto the ceiling of the container so they wouldn’t fall to their death. She made it out onto the container’s roof before the hatch shut.
A full moon and half-moon reflected light onto the pit and their surroundings of rubbish, old furniture, squashed automobiles, and plastic.
“Are you all right?” Spider asked.
“I am now.”
“Sorry I didn’t help. I froze when the whole container opened and tipped.”
“No worries. I got us out. Don’t know what to do now, though. Can’t shift into a car, can I?”
“You shifted into a CCTV camera.”
The lorry’s engine started up, and it drove down the ramp. She gathered her silent bundle and leapt off the vehicle. If anyone saw her, they’d shoot her on the spot, thinking the world was being taken over by giant arachnids.
“I intend to become a useable car.” Nothing.
“Wishful thinking. Rajka’s ring-road isn’t far from where you sit. Say one mile?”
“Can’t see a wheelchair to push YuFang in, can you?”
“Sorry.”
“I give my intention to occupy…” She couldn’t occupy a random driver’s body. She’d crash. She’d never learned to drive. Nerthus hadn’t used diesel-fuel cars for four thousand years. “I want to be a Jerjen man, waiting for the closest taxi from here to pick me up.”
Standing by the road, she flagged down a Redbird taxi. “To the rubbish dump.”
The Native-Red driver swivelled around and pulled a long face. “Ah?” he asked, revealing his bottom teeth. “What you wanna do snooping around there in the middle of the night?”
“My friends phoned me. They were attacked and left there. One’s seriously injured.”
“You want an ambulance, not a cab.”
“Will you help me or not?”
“It’ll cost ya.”
“You can make money. But it’ll vanish when you return to Haunted River. You could’ve thought up a wheelchair too, but this was a better idea.”
She thought up a wad of notes and handed them to the driver. His eyebrows shot up, and he accepted the money.
“After we pick my friends up from the dump, we’ll go to Jerjen town in North Rajka.” Apek, her old feigong master, would surely take them in if she appeared as herself.
When Aedre and the driver hauled YuFang into the taxi, the driver narrowed his eyes at YuFang. He sat back in the driver’s seat, then turned to say something to him, but seemed to change his mind and faced the road ahead. Despite the fact YuFang bled all over the back seat, the driver remained silent throughout the journey. He had a lot of money now, but not for long.
“You’ve lost so much blood,” Aedre said in a deep male voice.
He winced. “I don’t know who the hell you are, but you’re not right. You don’t belong here.”
“I saved you. Those gangsters were about to do something bad to you, and I got you out of there.”
“Yeah, but you’re not real. What the fuck are you?”
“I’ll explain more when we’re safe.”
Two hours later, they pulled onto the main road of her old neighbourhood. The familiar ten-metre-wide open sewer cut through the centre.
She gazed through the window at a restaurant where she and Mosh used to dine, and they passed the language school in which she used to teach. The Feili temple was not far behind. Should she ask the driver to take them all the way there? He might seek revenge if he knew where they were hiding out. “Here’s fine.”
“You sure? It’s only shops and houses along here. I can drive you to your doorstep.”
“Here’ll be fine.”
He pulled over and got out to help YuFang onto the street. YuFang bent over Aedre and the driver’s shoulders but was still unable to walk or stand.
“Lower him here. We’ll call our family for help,” she said.
The driver wrinkled his brow. “Here? It’s filthy.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll clean him up once our family comes for us.”
After the driver left, she gave her intention for a wheelchair, and one appeared. She and Yasmin pulled YuFang into it and pushed him to the temple. Before tapping on the side door, Aedre shape-shifted back into herself.
Yasmin gave her a relieved smile. “Nice to see you again.”
Aedre knocked on the door, and an angry female’s voice shouted from within. “Who is it? So early in the morning!”
“YeLi. It’s me, Aedre. Do you remember?”
The top part of the door swung open, and YeLi squinted in the streetlight. Her hair was still cropped short like a boy’s. She didn’t look her usual cheery self. “Whatever’s going on?”
“We’re in trouble and need your help. We need somewhere to stay.”
“Who are these people?”
Aedre disliked her tone. “These people are my friends.”
“Why does he look so bad?”
“He’s been hurt.”
“Take him to the hospital.”
“I can’t. The Mafia are after him. We need a hideout.”
YeLi crossed her arms. “This is no hideout. It’s a holy temple! No place for hiding away criminals. No, Aedre. I’m sorry.”
A shudder shot through Aedre’s legs, and she went dizzy. She held herself up on the wheelchair handles. “Please, go wake Apek.” Surely Aedre’s old feigong master would help.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“He’s in the hospital himself, and that’s where your friend belongs if you want him to survive. He could die here.”
“What’s wrong with Apek?”
“He’s old.”
“What happened?”
“A virus.”
“Will he make it?”
“Don’t know.”
“Please, YeLi. Can we just come in for half an hour, to get cleaned up and drink some water?”
“Only half an hour. Then you go.”
Aedre sighed as YeLi unbolted the inner door and it swung inwards. YeLi stepped back into the dark corridor, and the three of them followed her in.
How could Aedre encourage YeLi to let them stay? Should she shape-shift into someone who YeLi respected? Appear as the Mother Goddess herself? YeLi was religious—that might change her mind.
Something crashed into Aedre and knocked her breath away. She lay motionless, looking up at the sky. Unable to move, she closed her eyes. Raindrops dripped off jungle trees, and the river gushed around her.
Chapter 3*Akachi
In the air-conditioned cab on the way to Akachi’s apartment, the boy, Maki, played with a toy robot as long as his chubby, little arm.
Akachi understood most of the boy’s Yukanese language. He’d picked it up while living in the capital, Tanjung, for six years before joining the Mayleedian Secret Service and moving to Rajka.
“Pow, pow, pow.” Maki twisted in his seat and held out the robot’s arm, pretending to shoot Akachi and Dav. “Take that, you big, bad monsters!”
Dav seemed to ignore him as he peered out the window. Akachi smirked. Cute kid.
Maki gripped the robot and shook it in both hands. He drew a big breath, and his face went red. “Ahh! No, you won’t. I’ll save them!” He wriggled and snatched at his seatbelt as he tried to swing around more dramatically.
“Maki,” Dav said. “Keep the noise down, will you?”
Maki pouted, then continued playing until he worked his way back up to shouting and screaming.
After the cab pulled in, Akachi led the way to the elevator, which took them to his apartment on the fifty-eighth floor.
Akachi’s insides quivered, and he twisted his watch. If Maki were his son, he’d prefer to discuss it out of the boy’s earshot.
Akachi scurried around his apartment, picking up dirty laundry. Since Velina’s death, he’d let things go. “Sorry about the mess. Please, sit.” He gestured to the settee, then squatted next to Maki. “Want a drink?”
Maki nodded.
“All I got is water or banana juice.”
Maki bounced up and down. “Banana juice, banana juice!”
Akachi smiled. “Beer?” he asked Dav.
“Sure.”
Akachi gave them their drinks and lowered into his armchair. “Been in Rajka long?”
“Since the news.”
“Oh.” Velina’s death was announced two days ago. “I’m sorry.”
Dav took off his baseball cap and combed fingers through his mousy hair, then looked around the open-plan living room and kitchen. “Any VR for the kid to play while we discuss matters?”
“Sure thing.” Akachi’s knees cracked as he stood. He’d use the airSphere he talked to Mom on—private from the MSS and secret from the public. He’d left it in the kitchen after speaking to Mom and Pops this morning.
“Maki”—Akachi waved the airSphere remote—“ever played Rescue Dog (italicise)?”
Maki frowned. “Uh-uh.”
“Here, I’ll show you.”
Akachi squeezed between Dav and Maki on the settee and expanded the airSphere around them.
The scene changed to a park with grass, trees, and flowerbeds where six dogs ran around panting. “Which dog do you wanna be?”
“The sausage dog. He’s so small and cute, and little.”
“Like cute things?”
“Cute dogs. I wish we had one. Mommy won’t let me have one. She’s allergic to them.”
Akachi winced. Hadn’t Dav told him she’d died? “Sorry about that. Well, this dog can be your pet in the game. His name’s Bingo.”
“Ooooh.”
“The object’s to find people who need help, and tell Bingo what to do.”
They played the first part together and collected ten medals, then moved up to the second level in the snowy mountains.
Akachi patted Maki on the back. “You try the next part on your own. Put on these earphones, and shout if you need help.”
“Thanks!”
Dav leaned back on the settee and swigged from his bottle. “You’re good with kids. Can he hear us?”
“No.” Akachi grabbed a beer from the kitchen unit and sat on the armchair opposite. Better get to the point. “Is he mine?”
Dav hesitated. “Yes.”
Skin prickled along Akachi’s spine, and he lowered his head into his hands. “What the fuck? Velina was pregnant with my child when she left me for you?”
Dav looked down at his lap. “We didn’t know if he was mine or yours until after she gave birth. The skin colour and tight curly hair gave it away.”
Pressure built inside Akachi's head. “You tell me now that she’s dead?”
Dav shot Ma
ki a panicked expression, but the boy remained smiling in the orb of blue and green light.
Akachi swallowed. “Was it her idea not to tell me I was a goddamn father? Didn’t she think I had a right to know? I don’t understand. What the fuck did I do to deserve this? It was bad enough she left me for you!”
“She didn’t want you to know about Maki because of your job.”
“So, she decided to work for the Secret Service too? That doesn't make sense.”
“Velina was a bad mom, Akachi. Simple as that.” He tapped the side of his head. “I know it’s bad to speak ill of the dead, but I don’t think she was all there.”
“What?”
“She passed the kid off on all kinds of people, even before she started working for the Secret Service. That’s why I left her.”
“What? She told me you guys were married.”
“We were going through a divorce.”
“And Maki?”
“Took him with me.”
“He’s not even yours.”
“I told you. Velina was unfit.” He drained his beer, got up, and strode to the kitchen where he set down his glass. “Even she admitted it.” Dav eyed the open box of beer bottles. “May I?”
“Sure.”
“Refill?”
“Nah.”
Dav opened a bottle and took it back to the settee. “Velina was looking into adoption before she left homicide. She said someone worthy deserved her gorgeous boy—someone who would love him more.”
“Shit.”
“I refused and took him.”
“So, now what? You want money? You wanna hand him over to his true father?”
“Yes. I want you to take him.”
“My job’s too dangerous. I’ll send you money instead.”
“I can’t cope. I’m having a breakdown here. I can’t bring him up anymore.”
“But you’ve brought him up since he was born.”
“I can’t do it anymore. I can’t take care of him.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“I don’t want him.” Dav sucked in a sharp breath and shuddered as tears streamed down his face. He hid behind his hands.
“Tell me the reason.”
Dav’s eyes focused on the floor.
“Another woman?”
Dav looked away.
