by Eliza Green
Emile said restrictions would be lifted, yelled one in his mind.
Emile is not in charge here. I am.
Pierre was a better leader than you. That snipe came from one of the older first-gen Indigenes.
Indigene minds poked at his inner defensive wall, trying to get past it to access his secrets. Stephen pushed against the intrusion. A warm feeling emanated from Serena beside him as she tried to influence the room.
Stephen switched to his voice. To use telepathy while his mind was under attack would be too risky. ‘Pierre is not here and he trusted me to lead you.’
‘So remove the draconian rules and let us hunt as we wish.’
‘The peace treaty does not allow—’
‘We did not vote for the peace treaty. You did. We won’t have any further part of it. Emile has shown us a different way to live.’
He saw Anton at the back of the room, a worried look on his face. Emile, Marie, Maxime and Clara had gathered off to the side. Three wore indifferent looks. One wore a smug look—Emile.
That only hardened Stephen’s resolve. ‘As well as hunting, new restrictions will be placed on the use of the Nexus.’
Serena’s influence dropped away. Why?
A feeling.
She nodded her understanding, but given the array of murky colours before him, the charges didn’t agree.
‘What restrictions?’
‘You will be permitted to use the Nexus once a week. That restriction will remain in place until I’m satisfied it is safe to use.’
No! came the unsurprising answers.
Emile strutted forward, placing a hand on several Indigene shoulders. The group scattered as though he controlled their limbs. Stephen made two fists. His contempt for this elder surprised him. It reminded him of how he’d felt when he’d confronted Pierre, after Elise had died. But this time and this situation were different. Emile was interfering; Pierre had been grieving.
Emile reached the podium that Stephen stood upon.
‘I don’t need your help, Emile.’
The elder ignored him and climbed up to share the box barely big enough for two. ‘It appears that you do.’
Emile faced the irate group and smiled at them. Shades of blue muted their angry red and mistrusting grey auras.
‘Stephen is only doing what his predecessors did. The other elders and I are here to smooth his transition from charge to leader.’
Smooth? He’d been leader for eight years.
‘Emile, my restrictions stand,’ Stephen snarled.
Emile locked eyes with him. ‘And my rules override your decisions. You’ve played fast and loose with your charges’ lives. Your interaction with the humans has led to an almost catastrophic event here. You not only risk our lives but those of all the districts.’
He touched Stephen’s shoulder. Stephen shucked him off.
‘I am relieving you of duties, effective immediately.’
The silent approval almost deafened him. Loud choruses rang inside his head.
The crowd pushed forward to the podium. They surrounded Emile and pulled Stephen off the box. He stumbled back as the surge forced him to the exit. Serena grabbed his arm, pulling him to safety.
‘We can fix this,’ she said.
He stared at her. ‘Maybe I don’t want to.’
‘You don’t mean that.’
For the first time in his leadership, he did. He was done with it all.
23
Laura watched the scene between Stephen and Emile play out. Emile was a good showman—almost as good as Daphne Gilchrist had been, but not quite as good as Charles Deighton. She wondered what job he’d done in his life. Emile revelled in the praise of District Three’s charges for a while, eventually excusing himself and saying he needed to use the Nexus. That announcement went against Stephen’s rules and brought loud cheers to the Core. She followed him, hoping to gain some insight into this elder who used to be human once.
Emile moved fast for an elder, but Laura had no trouble keeping up with him. She slid the neurosensor out of her pocket and pressed it to the side of her head, in a spot hidden by her hair.
‘Excuse me, Emile?’ she said, fixing her hair into place.
The elder startled, then stopped. Turning sharply, his cool eyes assessed her. Gone was the smile for the group of Indigenes in the Core. ‘What is it, child?’
She’d hardly call herself a child, despite there being nearly sixty years between them.
‘I was wondering how long the new arrangement will be in place?’
She clasped her hands to the front, to soften her stance and to appear curious. Emile didn’t know anything about her, or about her skill.
She felt him rummage around in her mind. That move only strengthened her blockade. This elder would not get to read her thoughts.
With a small huff, he said, ‘Perhaps you should ask yourself that question.’
Laura startled at his honesty. It ripped open a wound not yet healed. She hadn’t thought about how long she’d stay in the district, and her recent chat with Bill had brought up some old resentments. She wasn’t ready to answer that.
‘I don’t know.’ It was the truth.
Emile nodded, his lips drawn thin and white. ‘That is my answer too. Now, if you’ll excuse me...’
Emile turned and walked on.
‘Wait!’ Laura steadied her thrumming heart as she prepared to put her skill into use.
Emile coughed into his fist once. ‘What now? I must use the Nexus.’
The elder looked pale, but Laura couldn’t tell if it was just his normal Indigene skin. ‘Are you feeling okay?’
‘Never better, why?’
A dark shadow shifted violently from Emile before it snapped back into place. The neurosensor tickled her skin, both inside and out.
It surprised her enough that the elder narrowed his eyes at her. ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’
Laura shook away her surprise. ‘I’m sorry. I’m still not used to being in the presence of an elder.’
Emile didn’t look convinced. She continued her questions in the hope she could attract the ghost again.
‘Won’t your charges from District One miss you and Marie?’
His answer came too fast. ‘I have appointed others to take care of matters in my absence.’
There was no reaction from his ghost.
‘Were you and Pierre friends?’
Emile glared at her. ‘What an odd question. Why do you want to know?’
‘I, uh, this place must remind you of him.’
Emile’s hard expression softened a little. ‘Yes, we were friends.’
His ghost jerked away from him.
‘Do the other elders miss him?’
‘Why so sentimental...’ Emile huffed. ‘Yes, yes, they do. Now may I leave?’
His ghost separated fully from his form, an action that surprised her.
‘Just one more question, if you don’t mind. I rarely get an opportunity to speak with elders.’
Emile waved his hand. But she sensed he enjoyed the attention. To her glee, his black-shadow ghost remained separate from him.
‘What did you do before you were changed?’
Emile’s expression switched from irritated to angry. ‘What business is that of yours?’
‘I, uh...’
Laura didn’t know what else to ask. His ghost whispered something to her that she couldn’t hear just as Emile looked ready to leave.
She blurted out, ‘My old job, Earth Security Centre. I was almost destined for this life.’
Serena with her blonde hair and blue eyes came to mind, a combination that had been genetically targeted for alteration. Her own blonde-hair-green-eyed mix had saved her from that same fate.
To her surprise and relief, Emile’s expression relaxed. ‘I was a project manager for a technology company in downtown New York.’
Emile’s ghost whispered to her again. She struggled to hear what it said. The neurose
nsor continued to tickle her skin.
‘What?’ she asked the ghost.
Emile grew angry. ‘I said I was a project manager. Now, if we’re done talking...’
The ghost snapped back to Emile’s physical form, but not before delivering a chilling message.
Emile walked away from her. A breath rushed out of her.
Three words: Don’t trust him.
Laura’s legs wobbled enough that she had to use the tunnel wall to steady herself. The neurosensor attracted new shadows to the space; they decorated the tunnel she was in. She peeled off the neurosensor and placed it back in her pocket, forgetting about the box it came in. The shadows lessened, but didn’t vanish.
Needing out of this space, she hurried back to her quarters and closed the door. Her stomach danced at her awkward conversation with Emile. She’d sensed there was something up with him. In the darkness, she replayed the message from Emile’s ghost.
Shit, shit.
Telling Stephen would be a mistake. He’d go on the warpath and kick Emile and the others out. To do so while his charges trusted Emile would only make things worse here. Stephen would be ousted as leader, democracy would collapse, and the Indigenes would turn rogue. She and Bill had seen evidence of that over the last year, but the rogue numbers had been too small for them to worry about.
No, she had to keep this from him and Serena—she would only tell her mate. Anton and Arianna were too loyal to Stephen, and Clement, well, this wasn’t his district.
Bill came to mind. She’d called him four days ago to tell him about Margaux’s condition. He’d called her back, but she’d been less than supportive about his plans to involve Harvey. Things had changed between them and their civility towards each other never lasted long.
Maybe calling Bill would be a mistake. The last thing she needed was a hothead storming into the district to stir up trouble. Emile was already uncomfortable around her, but the elder’s issue appeared to have more to do with Stephen’s alliance with the humans than with her. How would the elder react to Bill’s presence?
Laura huffed. She didn’t care what Emile thought. Stephen would always have her and Bill’s support.
She picked up the DPad and pulled up Bill’s private number. A few seconds later, she tossed the device away. She couldn’t run to Bill every time she had an issue. Plus, he’d kicked her out. Laura had left their old life with a sense of relief that she would finally get to confront her Indigene side. She’d accept that her moving out meant her marriage was over.
Tears fell, staining her beige tunic. Laura dried her eyes with the back of her hand. She would figure out what to do about Emile alone.
24
‘Harvey’s an asshole.’
Ben made the declaration in the seat next to Bill. The automated car drove them back to the ITF after visiting the hospital where they’d just met with Harvey and Jameson.
‘What?’
‘I said, Harvey’s a piece of work.’ Ben glanced at him sideways. ‘You’re trusting that dick with one of your clinics?’
He huffed out a breath. ‘I agree with you, but I need him.’
‘And Jameson? He’s okay, but he’s a bit of a doormat.’
Ben’s summation of the pair intrigued him. ‘What brought you to that conclusion?’
‘Seen it before in the orphanage. A lot of the criminals running Waverley were like them. False bravado.’ Waverley neighbourhood was where Ben had lived before returning home to Exilon 5. ‘Did you see the way Jameson got flustered every time you asked him about the Elite and their health?’
‘Jameson rubbed his hands together. What about it?’
It was a nervous habit of the doctor’s, but Bill didn’t see anything odd about his behaviour.
‘Nope.’ Ben tapped his ear. ‘It twitches. Not all the time, just when you asked him about the Elite. I think he’s stalling.’
The car bumped over rocky ground. Bill grabbed the door handle to steady himself. ‘Why?’
Ben locked eyes with him. ‘My guess is it bothers him you’re keeping them alive. He was their doctor, yeah?’ Bill nodded. ‘Well, maybe he’d prefer if they were dead.’
Bill hadn’t considered that to be one of Jameson’s motives. He’d come out of hiding and volunteered to help.
‘What would he have to gain from that?’
‘Maybe his freedom. Maybe he wants to make sure the Elite never wake up.’
Perhaps the Elite had some kind of hold over him. Bill sat back in the seat. How had he not picked up on that? He’d been a profiler once. He’d been good at reading people. Living on Exilon 5 had made him soft.
The car pulled up to the kerb outside the ITF. The Actigen Bill had taken last night was reaching its peak. His hands shook more than they had the day before. This was usually when the buzz wore off and the slide into lethargy began. This was usually when he popped another pill. Eight years ago, he’d have squeezed days out of one, but now he was lucky to get twenty-four hours.
He yawned into his fist as they passed through the security scanner. Climbing the stairs winded him, but Bill’s heart kicked into overdrive as he neared the first-floor door. Ever since Julie had turned up at his apartment, he’d been avoiding her.
Ben glanced at him. ‘What’s wrong?’
Bill tightened his jaw, hoping to disguise his nervous energy. ‘Harvey and Jameson will be sending their findings over by encrypted channel. I want you to liaise with Greyson on it, be his point person. Can you do that?’
Ben gave a sharp nod.
He opened the door. ‘Give me a minute. I need to speak to Julie, get you set up on a different monitor. Wait at your desk.’
Ben walked on. Julie stood over one of the men in the open-plan room. Her eyes lifted and met Bill’s, but her lips continued to move as she carried on with her conversation. He nodded at the conference room. Julie lifted her brows, then pointed to the room at the back—Laura’s old office—but Bill shook his head. He didn’t think he would step inside there ever again.
He steadied his breathing as he waited inside the quiet, glass-walled space. The sound of beeping had disappeared the second he closed the heavy door. Julie opened the door briefly and the sounds returned before they vanished again.
A nervous Julie tucked her hair behind her ear. Her eyes settled on Bill’s chest. ‘I, uh, wanted to apologise for my behaviour. I don’t know what—’
He cut her off. ‘That’s fine.’
Her eyes lifted to his. ‘Really?’
She had her back to the main room, leaving Bill in full view. He kept his expression as neutral as possible.
‘It is. We were both drunk. I was missing Laura. It wasn’t fair of me to take advantage of you.’
Julie laughed; the sound lifted the tension between them. ‘I think it may have been the other way around. I called over unannounced, remember?’
Despite his surliness that day, the company had been nice. He cracked a smile. ‘I appreciated that you did. I thought I needed to be alone, but I liked having you there.’
Julie looked up at him through lashes, then down at his chest. ‘I’m glad. I don’t have many friends and I’m always busy working.’
The statement hit him hard in the chest. He could be talking to the old Laura, the one he’d met in the back alley in Sydney. She’d said the same thing to him then. Something about her admission drew him to the blonde-haired woman seeking a friend. Maybe they could help each other get over their loneliness together? The occasional drink or dinner wouldn’t hurt.
He suggested the idea to her.
Her eyes brightened. With a nod, she said softly, ‘That would be nice.’
Bill’s gaze flashed past her to the floor beyond. Ben was watching their interaction. As soon as Bill caught him, he looked away.
He cleared his throat. ‘I called you in because Ben’s going to be working with me on another project. I hope you can spare him.’
‘Yeah, that’s no problem. There’s very little chatter goi
ng on. I was going to suggest we get the underground team busy on some new recon.’
Bill folded his arms. ‘What were you thinking?’
‘Checking the movements of Ollie Patterson, for one. I know he was a person of interest recently.’
Bill didn’t see how it could hurt. Harvey was where he wanted him right now.
‘Do it. And ask them to watch Jameson when I’m not there. I want to know if he leaves the premises.’
He already had tabs on Harvey, thanks to his signature handing over the rights to the warehouse. When he’d accepted ownership, the DPad had inserted a tiny tracker in his thumb. It would log all the times he signed in and out of the warehouse, or accessed any other property using the same method.
‘Thanks,’ said Bill. ‘Could you set him up on a private channel with the same access as me?’
‘I’ll do it now. Does he need privacy?’ She thumbed at Laura’s office. ‘I could set him up in there?’
‘Are you sure you don’t want to use it?’
He refused to say Laura would not be coming back.
Julie shrugged. ‘I’m out on the floor mostly.’
‘Okay, do it.’
Julie left the room first and walked over to Ben. Bill followed her out and gave the teen a quick nod before he exited the floor to return to the sixth.
The second floor had monitoring stations covering the main pressure areas around the city, from water supplies to power. The third to the fifth floor held the AI systems that made the interstellar wave and other sentient programs around the city possible. On the fifth was also the IT team, on hand to troubleshoot hardware issues and to make sure the AI operated within behavioural parameters. But there was also a private area with its own entrance at the back of five where the underground operatives would meet with Bill. He hadn’t spoken to them since Laura had left, leaving the details of their operations to Julie. His head hadn’t been in it, but soon he would need to accept Laura wasn’t returning and do his job again.
Bill entered the sixth floor and headed for his office. The data Harvey and Jameson had been ordered to send was waiting for him.
He opened the files filled with medical jargon that hurt his head to read. Moments later, a message from Julie flashed up to say Ben was online. She included his code. Bill entered the sixteen-digit code and sent the files to Ben, with a reminder to get the files to Greyson.