by Jay Aspen
‘I can see her point.’ I readjust my safety strap. Twice.
I’m starting to understand why Alis wanted an apartment with a convenient park instead of solid buildings directly outside the hangar entrance. I examine the console in front of me, hoping for a set of dual controls. Not that I’d have a clue what to do with them.
‘How come the seats are back to back?’
‘Check in front of you. There’s a screen for you to look forwards and a window with a set of crosshairs to look behind. I’ve got a mirror-set here at the front. They show you how to target, then you select water or foam for fire, sedative for riots, tranc darts if that doesn’t work and bullets if really desperate. Emergency resuscitation kit in the compartment above the console. These things get borrowed by whichever emergency service happens to need them so they have to be adaptable.’
I snatch my hand back from the controls at the mention of bullets.
‘What! Guns are supposed to be illegal!’
‘Don’t panic, guns and darts are security-locked and won’t budge without high-level clearance. Which according to Alis, hasn’t been needed since the civil war.’
‘For how much longer?’
His voice becomes serious. ‘I don’t know. If it’s bad enough for Alis to let me loose with her precious wasp, she must think we’re running out of time.’
4
I’m impressed by how quickly the tall white towers of the university appear in front of us. And I’m relieved to find there are no repeats of rolls and back-flips in Severin’s flying style. He hovers over the small parking area. It’s full.
‘Hmm. No spaces. Most staff and students walk to get here so there’s not much parking allocated. Only a few elderly professors travel by land-car.’ He takes a perverse delight in dropping the wasp behind the principal’s private parking, blocking him in.
I hop out of the cramped seat with an anxious twinge at his choice of venue.
‘Is that a good idea?’
‘Couldn’t resist.’ He grins as he grasps the hood, ready to close it. ‘Not when I have the chance to claim it’s in the interests of national security.’ He takes in my worried look and relents. ‘Only joking. I’m going to take the wasp round the side of the tower so I can keep an eye on your meeting with Deron.’
He touches the controls and the wasp lifts off again, hugging the side of the tall tower and following me high above my route, the camouflage-paint of the craft blending glossy white and grey as it goes in and out of shadows on the wall. As soon as he’s in the best spot to watch over the meeting place he settles the wasp tight onto the side of the building, an almost invisible matching bump on the sheer abali-coated facade.
I wait for a few minutes outside the tutorial room, feeling both anxious that Deron might not show, yet at the same time relieved that I might not have to go through a tense and awkward interview after all. Just as I’m about to walk away Deron appears from one of the doorways, almost as if he’s been watching me, waiting until my nerves are on edge.
‘I hope you’ve got the payment. Don’t want any more of my time wasted.’
‘I hope your information is worth it.’
‘Payment first.’ He holds out his card, his face set in a stony expression that gives little away.
I sigh resignedly, trying to suppress my nervousness. It’s difficult to judge the right balance between keeping the dialogue going and showing too much eagerness that might make Deron suspicious. I press the edge of my card over the contact point until I hear it click into place, then press my thumbprint on the payment key. He clicks ready to receive and watches while I tap in the amount and press confirm.
‘And I want the other fifty tonight.’
‘I’ll have it by then. Now give me the information you promised.
Something is wrong and I’m struggling to keep my voice steady. I can’t decipher the thought fragments I’m picking up from Deron but his mood has changed drastically from our previous meeting only an hour earlier.
Agitation, impatience, resentment, fear. He’s learned something new since we last spoke.
It’s as if the layer of deception that has been concealing the real nature of Deron’s mind has vanished to reveal a sly, ambitious, greedy, yet calculating character who is temporarily unsure what to do.
‘Follow me. I’ve got some pictures to show you. They’re in the tutorial room. They’ll tell you everything you want to know.’ He steps behind me and waves me towards the doorway he’s just come from. I start to walk ahead of him and suddenly pick up a clear image of a man’s face together with a fresh surge of Deron’s impatience.
He’s waiting for this person! He has to stop me leaving before the guy arrives––
Suddenly I know that if I go inside that building I won’t be coming out again. Not free and in undamaged condition anyhow. I’m not sure how much Severin can help from where he’s perched watching me, the wasp a slender shadow stuck on the vertical white wall, but his help will be a clear zero if I go inside and out of sight.
I step hastily away from Deron. ‘You don’t have any information do you? This whole ploy was a game to get me to pay you two-fifty for absolutely nothing!’
I feel the stab of anxiety that runs through him as he sees me about to walk off in a huff. If I needed any confirmation that his intention is to trap me in the building rather than hand over the information I’ve already paid for, this is it. Which is why my combat-trained reactions are ready for him when he grabs my arm and starts dragging me towards the door.
I drop to the ground and roll hard against his legs, hitting his left knee heavily from the side. There’s a dull crunch and Deron collapses on the paving, clutching his leg and screaming. I’m back on my feet in an instant, shifting my weight as I move towards him, aiming a kick at exactly the right spot on the side of his head.
The screaming stops and Deron’s pale skinny body goes limp and unconscious on the ground. I catch a blur of movement out of the corner of my eye and duck just in time for the heavy stick that would have knocked me unconscious to only graze the side of my forehead. I roll clear, catching a whiff of soporific from the rag in the attacker’s other hand as he lurches towards me. I scrabble back away from him, looking frantically for a gap in his intended movements that might offer a chance to escape.
And then he drops to the ground with the end of a dart protruding from between his shoulder blades. The wasp lands beside me a few seconds later and Severin pushes back the hood.
‘Get in!’
I need no further encouragement. I scramble into the close-fitting seat as Severin takes off again.
‘Severin? I assume it was you brought that thug down? I thought you said wasp-darts needed security clearance?’
Severin banks and turns away from the campus.
‘You didn’t think I’d leave it to chance after what happened to you in Karesh did you? Alis was on standby the whole time. As soon as I saw Deron grab you I knew there was trouble and got the clearance code from her in a couple of seconds.’
‘Does Alis know who the grunt is who tried to kidnap me?’
‘Not yet, but the wasp’s gun camera relayed the pic back to her and she’ll be scanning the database for a match. And before you ask, one of her low-level police contacts is on his way to pick up Deron and the unfriendly gorilla before they come round.’
‘I thought Alis wanted to avoid arresting Deron?’
‘She can’t be certain any of her contacts here can be trusted until we find out who is at the top of the conspiracy, so she’s used the story that you made a complaint about him swindling you out of two hundred and fifty credits and then trying to drag you into an empty tutorial room. He’ll be persuaded to hand back the money and you’ll drop the complaint. With luck, his role in the gang will simply be to make another attempt at kidnapping you on the assumption that you stole his precious merchandise. I don’t like the idea of you being bait but jailing Deron would probably only make it worse, seeing as he’s
not the deadly muscle in this set-up. Alis and I are going to make sure you’re kept well out of harm’s way.’
‘So what now? We hand over to the police?’ I feel a huge twinge of disappointment. It sounds like I’m going to be grounded after all.
Severin seems to have lost some of his earlier enthusiasm for finishing the case.
‘Part of me wishes we could. I don’t think I could bear watching you walk into that kind of danger again. But there are only a few personal friends Alis can be sure to trust right now because this goes too far into the administration. I think we’re going to have to keep going a while longer.’
That’s encouraging. I’m already scouring my memories of the meeting with Deron, annoyed I’ve not learned anything significant in exchange for two hundred and fifty credits and a rather sore cut on my forehead.
‘By the way, here’s your dart. I thought it might raise too many questions if I left it stuck in the kidnapper.’ I pass it back to Severin.
‘Quick thinking. You’re getting good at all this.’
‘Wish I was better at figuring out where to look next. If I have developed a gestalt ability it could do with manifesting a bit quicker. I think Deron had just been told the news about the debacle in Karesh and had been ordered to keep me there until I could be collected. Like you say, they probably want to interrogate me in hope of getting their illegal stuff back.’ I think for a moment. ‘In which case they may soon catch up with Vander. I think we should check on him next. His apartment is on Oceanside.’
Severin changes course by a few degrees. ‘You sure you want to go in on your own again? Let me come with you this time. Please?’
It’s so tempting. I feel far more confident with Severin at my side and long to say yes. Courage and commonsense finally win the argument.
‘You protected me more efficiently by staying out of sight at the university and spotting the kidnapper before I did. Besides, if you’re in there with me Vander’s thoughts will be distracted, wondering who you are and what you want. This might be my last chance to use the ayan effect.’
‘All right, but put this on.’ Severin passes a strange-looking backpack over his shoulder.
‘What is it?’ I turn it over a few times, awkward in the cramped space.
‘It looks like a very slim flat daypack, but the fabric is bulletproof and it has pockets for things like your holo-com. If you have to run or fight, you don’t want an ordinary day bag flapping round your shoulders.’
I somehow manage to wriggle into the thing and transfer my rolled holo into the slender pocket at the front, wondering vaguely if the bullet-proofing can protect it enough to keep functioning if it takes a direct hit. Further exploration of the wrap-around straps reveals a few more carefully-shaped pockets.
‘Um, these other bits look like they’re designed for knives, guns, and darts?’
Severin had been wearing one of these when he’d found me in the Karesh forest and his pockets had been well-stocked with an impressive array of weapons.
His answer suggests he’s been using this sort of gear for some time. ‘I’ve got a dart-gun for you as well, soon as I’ve a chance to train you in how to use it without shooting yourself in the foot.’
I shudder. ‘Let’s hope that time won’t arrive. Vander may be a dishonest rat but I don’t think he’ll try to hurt me. I think this visit will be verbal rather than physical.’ I hope the tone of my last comment makes it clear that Vander probably isn’t going to enjoy this meeting very much.
Severin still sounds worried. ‘There’s a hunting knife in there right now. I assume you’ve had plenty of practice with one of those.’
I check where it is, hoping I won’t find myself desperate enough to use it on anyone.
Severin sets the wasp down on the Oceanside road just long enough for me to jump out.
‘Take this.’ He pushes something small and black into my hand. ‘It’s an alarm beacon. You’ll need it if you’re inside and out of sight. I’ll keep the wasp stuck to the wall right outside the apartment. Clip the beacon onto your watch strap and press it if you get in trouble again.’
I let out a little gasp of surprise as a wave of his anxiety breaks into my ayan-enhanced awareness. Severin isn’t just taking habitual precautions, he really cares about me. He catches the look in my eyes and knows I’ve picked up on his feelings. Self-conscious, he almost looks away, then decides to own the connection and squeezes my hand.
‘And don’t take any risks, you hear?’ He gives me an encouraging grin and for a distracting moment I’m lost in his deep blue eyes and the wave of reassurance he’s sending in my direction.
I take the tiny disc, clipping it onto the strap as I run down the narrow alley and round to the street entrance, the heady rush of sensing Severin’s feelings for me colliding with my fears about this meeting.
There’s no response when I press the buzzer for the apartment. I look around, wondering what could be the reason. It’s unlikely that Vander is out trading when he has nothing to trade right now.
Just as I’m working through a complicated list of what to do next, a woman walks out of the entrance and I barely manage to catch the door and slip through into the lobby.
I run up the stairs, my enhanced senses reaching out ahead into the resonance of the place, telling me that something has already gone horribly wrong.
5
The door to Vander’s apartment is open a crack. Cautiously, I push it a little wider. There is no sound within but the slow beat of a dripping tap. I step inside, every sense prickling alert and cold sweat chilling my back.
I see the pool of blood first. It has run across the floor at the kitchen end of the spacious open-plan room. I don’t see Vander till I move further inside and get a better line of sight past the tall storage cupboard.
They have tied his feet to one of the fancy light fittings on the kitchen ceiling and left him hanging upside down from it with his arms flopped limp and helpless, suspended above the floor.
The dripping is coming from the fingers of his left hand, pooling underneath him and feeding the widening rivulet I saw when I first came in. His fingers have been crushed to a bloody pulp. Whatever screaming Vander might have done has been rendered silent by a rag stuffed in his mouth.
I don’t hesitate. I pull out the rag, drag the hover-couch across the room, draw my knife, then climb up and cut the cord binding his ankles.
He drops onto the couch with a strangled groan that proves he’s still alive. I examine his mangled hand.
‘Is this the only damage?’ There’s blood in his dark hair and on one side of his face.
Vander glares at me with undisguised fury.
‘What did you do with my merchandise, you treacherous little bitch? You almost got me killed!’
I recoil at the mental flash of pain and anger he suddenly projects in my direction, all the furious and indignant things I want to yell back at him competing for first place in my head. I control them with difficulty. Whoever has done this to him could come back at any moment and it’s dangerous to waste time with a pointless slanging match.
‘I need to get you to hospital or your fingers will be too far gone to repair.’
His anger is instantly replaced by alarm.
‘No! No hospital. They warned me. No police or hospital or they’ll take Ravan hostage.’
I don’t know what to say for a moment. I hadn’t expected that kind of loyalty from someone like Vander.
‘You mean they’re watching this place?’
‘I don’t know. But they have spies in the police. And probably the hospital as well.’
‘Who are they?’
Alis was right not to trust anyone outside her close friends until she knows more.
Vander tries to sit up, holding his damaged hand away from his body in a futile effort to lessen the pain. He manages it after a couple of attempts but it takes him a few moments before he can speak again.
‘I don’t know who they are. Th
ey told me my trading contacts in Karesh are all dead. They want my ayan shipment as well as the guns you took down there to pay for it. Or they’ll kill both of us. And our families.’
‘What? You gave them my name? What were you thinking of?’
He scowls at me, the handsome lines of his face twisted in pain, his self-obsessiveness no longer so cleverly hidden.
‘What was I supposed to do? Let them smash my other hand? Why didn’t you deliver everything like you said you would?’
I glare at him in disbelief. ‘Because you lied to me. Tricked me into breaking the law. What did you expect me to do if I found out?’ I stop myself. This is exactly the kind of time-wasting recrimination I have to avoid––
And then I pick up his response.
Talaya. Smiling, persuasive, supportive, loyal...
Maybe Vander assumes every girl who falls for him will be equally desperate to help him build his business empire, whatever it takes. I try to sharpen my focus and learn more but Vander is in too much pain and the images are starting to fragment again.
‘I’ll get you something to fix your hand. Stay here and lock the door. Where’s your spare key?’
‘Fourth thermo-cup on the shelf.’ Vander slumps back on the hover-couch and closes his eyes as if trying to shut out the reality surrounding him.
I run out of the apartment and through the narrow side street to Oceanside, pressing the emergency beacon on my wrist as I go.
Severin has the wasp on the ground by the time I reach the road. His eyes open wide with alarm when he sees the blood on my clothes. I silence his protests before they can start.
‘Not me. Vander’s been tortured. I’m going round to my support-mother’s place to get help. But you have to stay here in case you can spot anyone coming back for another go. And please tell Alis to get some additional protection sorted for my sister Safi and the kids. Vander told them who I am and they’re using threats. I’ll ask Janna to find somewhere safe for my parents.’
I don’t need ayan enhancement to read the look on Severin’s face. In the unlikely event that Vander survives the next few days he’ll find himself painfully answerable for what he’s done.
