by O. J. Lowe
The rail pass was pressed into his hand, Theo’s eye twitched for a moment, the corners of his mouth turning up as if he wished to grin. Maybe he was proud of what he’d done. Maybe he wanted recognition. Pete didn’t know. He’d given up trying to recognise what he was thinking. He didn’t do emotions the way other people did, he’d learned body language reading or at least the basics of it, but Theo didn’t even carry himself like a normal human being sometimes. The only conclusion he could get was the bastard truly was broken inside and that unnerved him.
Should they pass, he wondered as they made their way through the ticket barrier with stolen cards, how long before he was called to bring some restraint to Theo and his like. Men who believed in violence as an answer, who were prone and quick to it almost as easily as they breathed. Combat specialists. Unisco had plenty of them, people who were trained to be able to kill in as swift a manner as possible with all number of different weapons. The only thing the inquisitors had going for them, both Sweeney and Konda had reminded him, was that to apprehend a violent killer, you needed to be capable of even more violence, be even more ready to kill. He didn’t know if that was him, but he wasn’t sure when he’d get the chance to find out.
Their tickets buzzed them through without a hitch, Theo continued to lead the way towards the nearest train and not for the first time, Pete wondered what he had in mind. The whole point of this test was that they couldn’t leave city limits so getting a mag-rail carriage out of here was out of the question. He didn’t know how big the city was, but compared to some around the other kingdoms, most Burykian cities were small affairs, more contained within themselves. You could walk across them in less than a day, even accounting for other factors. The bigger Premesoir cities couldn’t be gotten across by speeder in a day.
Inner-city one then, Pete thought, spying the arrival and departures board. Maybe head to the other side of the city, see how long it takes for them to track us down when they don’t know where we’ve gone.
He doubted it’d be that simple. The hunting team had every advantage afforded to them, they’d been told. They would get all the backup, all the support, whatever they needed for that would be the way in real life circumstances, while those being hunted had nothing but their wits. Pete glanced around, saw too many black eyes high on the walls and the ceilings, video surveillance capable of picking a face out of the crowd with ease.
They’d already know where they were in a case like this. All they could do is keep on running and try to keep one step ahead for as long as possible, try and go where those looming black eyes couldn’t follow them. Hard. Very hard indeed. Ever since Coppinger had arose, over a million new pieces of surveillance equipment had been installed across each kingdom. Cosmin Catarzi had called it a brilliant piece of acumen, at the time, pointing to how they’d be able to have eyes on all manner of new places and react accordingly. Nobody would be able to get away with whatever heinous deeds they had planned, any hint of Coppinger sympathy and they’d be swept up in a manner of violence.
Pete had thought it a huge waste of time. He’d not heard anything about any Coppinger sympathiser being caught on videocam, even with the restricted media at the academy. Any sort of triumph for the system was a triumph for Unisco, those they had heard about. He’d supposed at the time that it had been meant to build their moral, foster a spirit, make them feel a part of this great machine. It had worked at the time as well, he’d felt a sense of pride at that revelation. A moment of togetherness he’d never had before. They were all in it at the same time, they’d win as an organisation or they’d go down fighting in the same way.
“Theo,” he said, jerking his head towards the videocam. “They’re watching us.”
“Don’t point, it draws attention to us.”
“Yeah, I know! I was in the same class as you. Pointing at the cams is a big no-no.” Pete felt a rush of irritation rub through him. he didn’t need Theo stating the obvious to him. He wasn’t stupid, he’d been listening and if it had been good enough for his instructors, it should have been good enough for Theo.
“Just saying!” Now it was his turn to sound aggrieved, like Pete was in the wrong, he fought the urge to poke him in the back of the head. That wouldn’t solve anything, worst case it might bring a reaction of violence and throwing down for a brawl here would be about the dumbest thing they could do.
“Just get on a train,” Pete said, glancing around. He couldn’t see anyone heading for them, anyone pulling blasters. His neck was twitching back and forth, and he knew he was involuntarily doing the thing they’d warned them against in the academy, trying to look in every direction at once. It wasn’t possible, all it achieved was to make the observer look suspicious and to give one a sore neck. Better to keep your head still, the lecturer had said, glance about only when you need to. Sparingly. Less was more. “Any train.”
“You don’t give the orders here,” Theo murmured, looking around at him. “Remember. Partnership.”
“Long as you do first,” Pete shot back. “Do that and we’re fine and dandy.”
The corner of Theo’s mouth twisted up in a scowl of displeasure. He looked like he didn’t appreciate what he’d heard, had chosen to ignore it. “I’m doing this for me, Jacobs,” he said. “If I help you out along the way, that’s just a coincidence that I’ll just have to live with. See if you can keep up with me.”
“Oh I’ll do more than keep up,” Pete said. He saw a mag-rail carriage stood nearby, people already boarding it, he glanced at the readout above it to check for its destination, saw it as Chipaox Square. Huh, he thought. That would mean that they were in Shawzang, if he’d made his guess right. He’d never been here, but the city was legendary as a bastion of prosperity in Burykia. One of those cities where the wealthy got wealthier every day and even the beggars were a little more affluent than their counterparts elsewhere, a social ladder everyone sought to climb, and nobody desired to slip down. When Scott and Jess had come to vacation in Burykia like a year ago, he vaguely remembered they’d come here, at least he thought so. He wasn’t sure. He didn’t care. Those two were long away from each other now. Probably for the better.
They’d slipped onto the mag-rail, flashed their tickets and moved between the throngs of people, looking for a spot out of view of any videocams. Last thing they wanted was to get into a fight in a place like this. Too many innocent bystanders, too many potential have-a-go heroes who might interfere and no easily accessible escape route. Once it started to move, it’d be a difficult thing to get out of it. There was the emergency stop cable, but it didn’t change the fact that once the magnetic rails were engaged, the carriages could float dozens of feet above the ground across a pre-determined track. Jumping out would be suicide, they’d hit the ground hard, both their airloop’s already damaged beyond repair and useless in saving them.
Neither of them chose to look at the other, Theo purposely staring out the window, Pete choosing to focus on the shapely legs of a nearby commuter, he watched her sit studying a data pad, one smooth limb crossed over the other, her heeled shoe almost dangling from the tops of her toes.
He’d long ago decided there must be something in the water that helped make Burykian women that way, at least from the east side of it. They tended to have paler skin than those from the west of the kingdom, the people of Western Burykia were almost as dark as the average Vazaran, albeit dark brown rather than ebony. The women from the east tended to be physically lovely, he’d found, often sensual faces and understated bodies that hinted at so much and rarely disappointed when the clothes came off. His solitary experience with a Burykian whore had been one of the highlights of his sexual life, a list not the length he’d like it to be but otherwise he couldn’t complain. He’d never told anyone he’d had a go with a whore from each kingdom, not even Scott. For an oblivious egomaniac with a barely deserved sense of accomplishment at times, Scott had remarkable success with the ladies. From Jesseka Blake who hadn’t been bad looking and decent betw
een the sheets, but what she’d had in appearance had been marred by her truly atrocious personality, to Mia Arnholt, Pete had often wondered what Scott had going for him that he hadn’t.
“Can you stare at that woman any harder?” Theo muttered in his ear, jerking him from his reverie. He hadn’t been aware it was noticeable, quickly realised she’d put both feet flat on the floor and was glaring at him with stern intent in her eye. She might be a schoolteacher with a look like that, he thought. He’d seen a look like that in the eyes of an educator before.
“Jeez, what’s not worth staying at?” Pete asked.
“You’re drawing attention to us,” Theo growled. “She’s going to remember what you look like.”
“Yeah, she is,” Pete grinned at him. He quickly let it fade as he saw the angry expression flashing across the scrawny features. Oh yeah. Right. He wasn’t with Scott anymore. Scott would have found it exasperatingly funny, would have laughed even as he’d shook his head in disbelief. That sense of kinship wasn’t there between him and Theo, he doubted it ever would be. He’d thought it before, but he couldn’t work out what motivated him to do what he’d do. He didn’t appear to have any hint of fun or joy in him, he didn’t appear to like women, he didn’t drink. What did Theo do? Pete knew he was a spirit caller, a pretty good one given his performance in the Quin-C, he might even have beaten down Scott in the final if the bout had gone on another five minutes. Talking to him about spirit calling felt a little too obvious, beyond the joining of Unisco, it was the one thing they had in common. But how to phrase it? He doubted Theo would want to share techniques with him, there weren’t any bouts on to talk about, not that they’d have seen any.
“Get off the first stop we come to,” Theo said. “That’s the plan. You get off then, I get off at the next one and we meet somewhere in the middle.” Pete saw him looking up, followed his gaze towards the map stencilled on the ceiling. This part of Shawzang was like a rat’s warren, a maze of streets and roads, alleys and back streets that looked like a bowl of flaccid spaghetti had been mashed across the ceiling. Looking at it hurt his eyes, made him want to cover them, walk away and work it out for himself. Theo didn’t appear too bothered by the way it had been designed, ran his eyes across every inch of the map, studied each contour and line before nodding his approval.
“I see it now,” he said. “We’ll meet there, right in the middle. Akata Road, we’ll find a place to shack up. If you can lift a wallet, do it and get us some food. We’ll need supplies and better someone else pays for it.”
“You’re loving this, aren’t you?” Pete said. “We’re supposed to uphold the law, you know? Making sure people don’t do what you’re planning on having us doing so we can survive.”
“I take no pleasure in being hunted like an animal,” Theo said. “If you can’t do what you must to survive, then you don’t deserve life. Let it be granted to those who will fight for it. Wasn’t that what Gilgarus said long ago?”
“Probably. I don’t do scripture.” Privately, Pete hadn’t expected Theo to either, the surprise in his voice had been genuine.
“And these aren’t normal circumstances, Jacobs. They’re hunting us. We won’t graduate unless we get a great score in here. I think we’re doing this the best way we can, you know.” His tone of voice told Pete that he wasn’t happy at having to explain himself, he fought the urge to fold his arm and fix a pointed gaze on him. “Just listen to me, damnit! We can do this if we follow my plan!”
“You came up with a plan like this in all of two minutes!” Pete exclaimed. People around them were starting to look at them now, he found quickly he could care less. They didn’t matter to him. He wouldn’t likely see any of them again, realised all too late they might know him, but he couldn’t help that. Maybe they didn’t speak the same language. Burykia was a proud kingdom and they liked their dialects. They wouldn’t speak anything else unless they had to, foreigners be damned. “Excuse me if I don’t hold a massive amount of faith in your scheme.”
“Jacobs, I’ve been planning things like this for years! Trust me on that, I know what I’m doing.”
“How though?” Pete asked. “Come on, Theo, talk to me. You’re asking me to go a lot on trust.”
“I’m what?”
“You’re asking me to trust you and you’re giving me no reason why I should. I mean, what have you really done recently other than hit me with that bowl. It’s not exactly the foundation for a good relationship.”
“I only hit you with it because you wouldn’t leave stuff well alone!” Theo hissed. “I’m not your buddy, I’m your partner and not by choice. I had you thrust upon me like a giant hairless cock and I’ll be happy once I never see you again. You want me to trust you? I don’t even know who you are, Jacobs.”
“We might be spending a lot of time together very soon,” Pete said. “I get the feeling we’ll be finding out all about each other before long.”
Theo made a face. “Divines, I hope not.”
A little hurtful, Pete thought, but as his mother had always said, it was impossible to change people who didn’t want to be change. Redemption was possible, but you had to work for it and it wasn’t always something that people were willing to put in. He’d long since arrived at the conclusion talking about change was easier than making it truly happen.
“Okay, we’ll go with your plan,” he said. “Seeing as you seem determined to make sure it happens, and you’ve put all this apparent effort in it.” Making air quotes with his fingers would probably have earned him a smack in the mouth the way Theo was looking at him and he couldn’t be bothered with the confrontation. Up in the distance, the first stop was coming up, his according to Theo’s master plan and he needed to get out of it. “We’ll do it then. I’ll see you on Akata Road.”
“Make sure you don’t be late,” Theo said. “Don’t disappoint me with this, Jacobs.”
Chapter Twenty. Out of the Frying Pan…
“Never underestimate John Cyris. The man’s like a rat, he might have gone silent since we pardoned him, but don’t automatically think he’s given up. Wouldn’t surprise me to hear he’s up to something naughty even as we speak.”
Terrence Arnholt in private conversation with high-ranking Unisco officials.
The cool air hit him like a breeze as he stepped out of the carriage amidst the dozens of commuters who worked nearby, he took a moment to relish it, pulled the collar of his jacket around his ears. If there’d been videocams at the main station, there could well be some here, though it wasn’t a certainty, he didn’t like the idea of taking a chance. Maybe the collar around his ears would give him enough of a cover for them to miss him. Maybe.
He glanced back into the carriage as the doors slid shut behind him with a swooshing sound, saw Theo slide into a seat, legs sprawled out in front of him, hands in his pockets. Their eyes briefly met, he saw the faintest hint of a curl of the lips, a barely imperceptible nod and then the mag-rail train tore away into the distance, following the track of magnets on its path across the city.
For a few long moments, he watched it vanish into the distance, eventually moving out of sight around a corner and out of his mind. Pete turned, slumping his body a little to make himself less noticeable with his height and wandered off towards Akata Road. He wondered how this was going to turn out, realised he genuinely didn’t know and that terrified him. How much time had passed while he’d been scared that when it came to this moment, he’d be out of his depth and would fall flat on his face. When you start anything new, the end always felt like such a long way away, it was almost an impossible task to comprehend. Yet here he was. Here they both were.
He’d been wrong, so very wrong, and it felt painful. Mag-rail stations out in the city were built high up to avoid the space that would have been monopolised by stations on the ground, instead they’d been erected atop poles by which the only point of access was a spiral staircase winding around it all the way between top and bottom. Normally, he’d have avoided it li
ke the plague. Not a chance the old Peter Jacobs would have gone in there. Now though, he felt empowered and given the shit going on in recent months, the beatings and the bullying at the academy, it looked like a piece of piss. Plus, he noticed, it was sealed inside a wire cage, so any misstep wouldn’t send him tumbling over the edge like yesterday’s rags. No, he’d be fine. He’d get down there, he’d made his way to Akata Road and he’d try and get Theo to admit he was making it up as he went along.
Not that he needed that, not really, he just wanted to see that stubborn confidence take a bit of a knock. Theobald Jameson had a world class ability to rub anyone up the wrong way, he didn’t know if it came naturally to him or if it were something he’d had to work to develop. Either way, it was a scary thought of him working to develop that level of abrasiveness.
Pete reached the bottom of the stairs, privately glad his descent was complete, anything to mask his thoughts of it as he’d taken them. It wasn’t that he didn’t like heights, more the spiral was one hells of a head trip, walking down it was like twisting into a rainbow abyss, all the sights and sounds of the city swirling around him as he took the steps one at a time. He didn’t normally, always he’d be a two or three at a time sort of guy, here he couldn’t take the chance. Shawzang had seen rain in the last few days, losing his footing might be, if not fatal, then exceptionally embarrassing should anyone catch it on videocam. He didn’t want his reputation ruined before he’d even started.
Okay. Akata Road. He remembered from the map he needed to go west as he hit the ground, he turned left, still hunching his shoulders up, forcing the neck of his coat around his ears, hands crammed into his pockets. Look like any other down and out, don’t focus too heavily on me. He glanced back and forth, twitching his neck furiously on his shoulders as he tried to see if anyone was following him. Satisfied there was nobody he could see, he carried on walking, tried not to think about the ones that he couldn’t see.
