‘A fair distance for him to go to the Ghetto, to sit outside and play with toy soldiers.’ Anton paused long enough for a smile to swell on his face. He drummed his pudgy fingers on Kau’s shoulder. ‘What if something happens to Kau? Does Chandra – I know he’s working with you – still follow his orders?’
‘Don’t you dare touch my son!’ Jun said, pulling Kau’s hand and his body with it.
In reflex, the security guards spread out from the door; one stood next to Wei and Markov – their gloating faces subsided – and a couple stood either side of Anton; two stayed by the door. Jun felt for the phone in her pocket. If she wanted the Ghettoites to help her, she needed to press the button now to give them any chance of reaching her in time.
Kodi noticed first and tugged at Jun’s arm. At the sight of him, a numbness swept through Jun’s body like an ice cube sliding down her back.
He pushed through the security guards, waving his wrist and chip at them. He tried to appear casual, but Jun knew from his tight shoulders and drawn face, Fan was unnerved.
A crooked sneer leaked across Markov’s face; he could barely contain his glee at what was unfolding. Wei tottered to a chair beside the wheeled table and mini-Interface and eased himself down. The bluster crimped out of his body.
Anton began to laugh. ‘I might’ve known you’d show up. What is it about the Lis? They insist on involving themselves in everything, but complain very loudly about doing so?’
Fan looked at both Jun and Kau, but his eyes lingered on Jun, trying to tell her something, perhaps. Just as she thought she was deciphering it, he turned his attention to Anton.
‘How many times have you reeled me into your messes? How many times have I saved you? I won’t let you threaten my family.’
Anton snorted. ‘I could say the same about you. How many times have I saved your ass? Don’t try and use our history as some bargaining chip. The UA comes before anything.’
‘Does it come before a fall? Or is that pride?’ Jun shouted.
‘Silence,’ Wei’s voice scraped like fingernails down a board, his body collapsed on the chair like a bag of bones. ‘She,’ he nodded at Jun, ‘isn’t going to stop this and neither are you,’ he barked at Fan.
‘And what are you going to do, Wei?’ Anton gave him a dismissive hand flick, ‘That’s why we always get called in. And we’re still clearing up your crap twenty-five years later.’
‘The question is,’ Jun stepped forward, ‘do you want to be responsible for the world learning how the UA treats its citizens? The corruption? How would the Global Governance Alliance feel about it? Would you still keep all those cushy contracts, or would they be forced to investigate?’ She felt Fan’s uneasiness as she spoke.
Anton cursed under his breath, and his bulk seemed to shrink.
The dynamic shifted; it was a long way to victory, but Jun felt the pendulum had swung in her direction, though she didn’t dare indulge herself claiming an advantage. What power did her husband have over Anton? She remembered Kau’s supper. Fan had drunkenly mentioned the skeletons in Anton’s closet. She’d thought it was metaphorical at the time.
‘You murdered my parents.’ Kodi walked towards Anton, her small frame unafraid of his huge one. ‘I saw you that night. You might not have got your hands dirty, but you knew what was happening. You gave the order.’ Her face shook with rage. ‘I heard you talk about Odgerel. I knew you were responsible in some way…’
Anton shifted his weight from one foot to the other, an indelicate dance, his body a reluctant participant. ‘Kid, I don’t know what you thought you saw and heard, but Odgerel was nothing to do with me.’
Bile rose in Jun’s throat.
‘My parents? So you admit it!’ Kodi said.
‘We all have our part to play, and I’m playing mine,’ Anton said and took a few steps closer to Jun and Kodi.
In response, Kau and Fan both edged themselves nearer to her.
Jun steadied her breath, and her thumb found itself over the phone’s button in her pocket to send the signal.
‘I do find it curious, Jun,’ Anton said. ‘How much you seem to despise the UA, yet your husband is a long-standing member, and now, so is your son. Not to mention you yourself worked for them at one time. For someone who claims to hate what we stand for, your family is synonymous with us.’ He gave a meaty laugh and Fan a derisive look. The two men stared at each other and for once Fan, who would usually acquiesce, held firm.
‘But what do I know of analysing inconsistencies?’ Anton’s eyes reluctantly moved to Wei and Markov. ‘I’ll leave that to the scientists.’
‘My family is none of your business-’ Jun said.
‘I disagree – your family is my business.’ Anton’s voice boomed around the room. ‘Enough of this! The kid,’ he edged closer to Jun, ‘is staying here.’ He thrust his finger at the floor.
Jun pushed her thumb down with such a force; her hand shook around the phone. She prayed the Ghettoites would come quickly.
Anton, standing a crosshair away from her, undid the top few buttons of his shirt. ‘Hand over the files,’ he said casually, outstretching his hand as though it was inevitable, and that these silly charades were tiresome.
Jun knew then that she had left it too late to press the button. The ten or so minutes it would take them to arrive would be too long. What could she do to stall time?
She put her hand on Kodi’s exposed scalp and felt the bumps beneath it. She wouldn’t let them do to Kodi what they’d done to Odgerel. Over her dead body, if needs be. ‘I might have been happy to be ignorant once, but not anymore, and neither will the world. Have it your way – I’ll release the files, and everyone will see what kind of people are in control.’
Anton looked down his nose at her. ‘You honestly think we give a shit about that? We can bury that in a second,’ he laughed.
Jun’s mind tripped back to Kau’s inaugural dinner; Anton’s wife, Helena, was producer of Channel RC1 news and the Weekly Adaptive Affairs show. It all made sense now, the phoney exclusives and the insinuation that Kodi was to blame for her family’s death.
Wei’s eyeballs leapt on stalks. The sneer on Markov’s face slid away. They had seen what none of the others had – Solo had swept into the room and left two of the guards Immobilised on the floor in her wake. The one by Wei and the other two that flanked Anton rushed toward her. Like a Samurai wielding a twin sword head, and with arms propelling like rotor blades, Solo had Immobilised them before Jun had drawn breath.
Anton’s bulk seemingly diminished. Markov and Wei stood aghast by the mini-Interface; colour drained from Fan’s face, and a mixture of horror and a smile spread over Kau’s.
Before Jun realised what was happening, Solo had thrown an Immobiliser to her. She caught it clumsily. Its pearled casing slipped between her sweaty fingers. With its ability to render its victims powerless for the best part of an hour, it felt like a lightning rod in her hand.
Solo moved quickly, bundling the guards together. Dribble spilt down their chins spotting the floor as she toyed with them like a cat playing with its prey.
Jun aimed the Immobiliser at Anton and sliced the air back and forth between Wei and Markov. She felt like an imposter but relished the power of seeing their harrowed faces as she waved the Immobiliser between them.
Fan dared to edge himself closer to her. Kau watched on in disbelief.
‘Jun, what are you doing? This situation is out of hand,’ Fan beseeched her.
Jun didn’t recognise the person wielding the Immobiliser either, but irrational circumstances could make the most rational people respond accordingly. Markov, Wei, Anton and the UA had created this situation, but she was finishing it.
Solo had deftly tied the security guards together with cable, and her eyes darted around eager for her next kill.
Jun wasn’t sure if the Ghettoites were coming or not, so assumed it was just Solo and her. With the Immobilisers in their hands, they had the better odds. But, likely, as soon
as the guards were hit, their bodypacks notified the security desk, or worse, contacted the UA. She wasn’t sure how much time they had.
Anton’s face relaxed, and he broke out into a condescending laugh; his chin wobbled, his shoulders rocked. ‘Is this the part when you try and take us-?’
Anton’s last words hung in the air, as his body convulsed, limbs trying to squirm free from their body. His mouth craned wide like he was possessed, and his eyes turned into themselves. He finally collapsed in a heap on the floor, with only the rising and falling of his mammoth chest, signalling that he was alive.
‘We’re taking Kodi,’ Jun commanded, as Anton’s mouth secreted a slick of drool on to the floor.
Solo unceremoniously bound Anton hands and ankles, as she had with the others.
‘It’ll take one call. Just one, and you’ll wish-!’ Wei hissed.
‘You want to end up like him?’ Jun gestured to Anton. Wei, for once, had no response. ‘I’m not finished. I have a few more requests. I want Zaye’s body to bury her – you can’t need it anymore – and her files.’
‘You’re assuming that we still have her body,’ Wei spat. ‘I would rather swallow blades than give anything to you.’
Jun pointed the Immobiliser at him. Her finger stroked the button, teasing her to press it again, and watch Wei and his cellulose-encased bag of bones, knock and writhe in the air. Penance for Odgerel and Kodi, penance for his years of torment against her, Delphine, junior Doctors and the tech Ai-ssistants. But Wei’s body might not survive it. Though he was deplorable, she didn’t want to kill him.
Wei slunk back onto the chair.
‘Jun, please, you can’t be serious,’ Markov said, his usual angles had blunted. ‘There was a time when you and I were working for the same things. I can’t believe neuroscience no longer means anything to you.’ He pulled the table with the mini-Interface over to her. ‘Look,’ he said, pointing to the screens.
Jun recognised some SRT test and nerve conduction results. They were, from memory, exceptional. But it didn’t provoke the same reaction that it once had.
‘We need her. There’s been no one since Subject Zaye. In any Province,’ Markov said.
‘We’re leaving with Kodi, Odgerel’s body and files,’ Jun said. ‘Make it happen.’
Solo pounced on Wei and tied him up; his scrawny body was no match for her strength and agility.
Jun looked down at Kodi and dared a smile, and then to Kau, whose face looked sorrowful and confused; whatever he had done, she’d already forgiven him.
‘It seems I’m outnumbered,’ Markov snorted. Then, collecting himself said, ‘Are you sure you’re through with ignorance, Jun?’
His crooked smile appeared again. ‘Be careful what you wish for.’
* * *
Markov had switched on the air conditioner, but it still made pacing through the corridor-tunnels heavy work, like stirring syrup in a jar. Their breathing was shallow, and sweat beads gathered on foreheads and in the crooks of their backs, but each second counted, and had been slipping through Jun’s fingers.
They snaked down the narrow corridors to the archive chamber, where Odgerel’s body had been kept in the Cryopreserve. Jun barely dared to breathe; it was as though the walls were closing in on her with every step, and the strip light’s harsh beams produced a metallic taste in her mouth. The only thought that reassured her was that Batz, Lucas and the others had finally joined them, and there was an easier exit through the secret passageway. It appeared that Solo had stormed in regardless of Jun’s alarm, and it had been lucky that she had, though she wasn’t sure Batz felt the same way. When the others had found them, it had taken every bit of Batz’s resolve, Jun could tell, not to lose his temper and precious time.
Fan had attempted to pull Jun to one side to talk ‘sense’ into her, but she’d batted him away.
‘I meant what I said earlier,’ she had said, as they ran down the rarely used stairs to the archive chambers. ‘Don’t try and stop me.’ Earlier, they’d left each other with a lot unsaid, but now wasn’t the time to talk about it. Actions spoke louder than words. She was on one side, where was he? But it gave her some comfort that if this didn’t end how she wanted, at least Fan could protect Kau.
Kau’s thudding footsteps brought her mind back to the corridor. Solo and Kodi were behind, lioness and cub, stalking their way through. Markov and Fan acted as both bow and stern, and the five Ghettoites in between.
They came to the door of the archive room and filed inside. The walls were no longer compacting, the ceiling no longer pushing down. There was still the oppressive fluoro-metallic lighting, but the space meant, finally, Jun could breathe. There was a starch lemon scent, but it couldn’t mask the dankness of years of uncirculated air. Markov switched on the air conditioner and walked the twenty paces to the other side of the room to fumble around with something by the desk. Batz and one of the other Ghettoites followed Markov; Lucas and the others stood by the door.
Jun turned to look for Kodi and bumped into Fan who was behind her.
‘Sorry,’ Fan mumbled as if he’d walked into a stranger and backed into a wall of man-sized cupboards with shelves above. They held hard and paperback books, and old awards dating from when the world was separatist.
‘We’ve archived items that go back to forty years ago when the department first opened. We need to keep these things either from legislation by the Counsel and UA, or for posterity. Or, like Cryopreserved Subjects, for something else entirely.’ Markov laughed, it bounced flatly against the walls.
‘Solo, perhaps you’d like to take Kodi out to the car?’ Jun felt uncomfortable them both witnessing this.
Kodi planted her feet. ‘We should stay together.’
Solo shook her head. ‘I’m not leaving without my mother’s body.’
Markov clapped his hands and rubbed them together. ‘The body,’ he said with a whine, relishing his role as cadaver keeper, dramatising a Dr Frankenstein fantasy, ‘is in here.’ He pointed to a wall of capsule-doors. Jun put her arm around Kodi.
‘Don’t forget the files – and do it quickly!’ Jun said and waved an Immobiliser at Markov. His lumbering progress was probably trying to stall them.
‘I won’t,’ Markov said, ‘but first, we need to get you some mobile-cryo carriers. We don’t want you leaking protectants, and it’ll help keep the body in a fit state till you make the necessary arrangements.’
‘What can I do to help?’ Kau said and moved about on his feet. ‘Where are the carriers?’
Markov laughed again. ‘I like your gumption, Kau. I can see why the UA is keen to harness your talents,’ he said and looked to Jun. ‘Open cupboard number 3, that’s where the carriers are kept. I’ll begin de-cryogenisation. It will only take a few minutes.’
There were numbered cupboards on the wall near Fan; green doors with brass plates denoting numbers that had long tarnished.
Kau pushed cupboard number 3 to release it, and a small light automatically switched on. Jun had expected stacks of yellow carriers, but instead saw the robust silhouette of a tech Ai-ssistant with the familiar faux-lab coat exterior.
‘What’s this?’ Kau said, lifting one of the arms stiff from its years of standing still.
When she had worked at the lab, they always rebooted tech Ai-ssistants, and if one was beyond repair, they returned it to the manufacturer for recycling. It was odd that it was stashed here.
Jun took another step closer to see its identifying plate; it looked familiar.
‘What was I thinking? They aren’t in there at all,’ Markov said. ‘Don’t mind Delun, Kau. Try cupboard 8…’ Markov walked over to them.
‘This is Delun?’ Jun said, looking at her old tech Ai-ssistant. Something wasn’t right. She looked to Fan. His eyes darted between Jun and Markov; a rabbit caught in the headlights.
The pieces began to slot into place. ‘Why would Delun be here?’ Jun asked both Markov and Fan. ‘From the motion memory and what we talked earlier,
I thought I brought Delun back to our house,’ Jun said, focusing on Fan. ‘For safekeeping and protection. You were going to take Delun to Pav, and they would go on to the Ghetto. Correct?’
Fan licked his bottom lip nervously. He didn’t respond.
Kodi felt for Jun’s hand and parcelled hers around it.
‘Correct?’ Jun’s voice trembled. She brought a hand to her temple. If Fan brought Delun to the lab, that could only mean one thing.
Kodi’s hand squeezed hers, and the other arm wrapped around Jun’s waist.
Jun’s mind jolted thinking about their life before and after that moment. Fan forever with his phone, working, and his trips away. The pieces slowly came together and formed a picture of a man she had never known. ‘What have you done?’ Her body wouldn’t stop shaking.
Markov put a hand on her shoulder. ‘What he’s been doing for years,’ he said.
‘All the time, you were working with them?’ Jun said in barely a whisper.
Fan’s mouth pursed as he was prone to when he was losing control.
‘You thought you were living with a geologist,’ Markov said. ‘He was – some time ago – but since before you were married, he’s been working in the wider Adaptive Strategies department. The one he recruited your dear son to join. The one Dr Wei and I eventually became a part of.’
Kau looked at him in disbelief. ‘How have I never seen you in the department? It isn’t possible,’ he said and shook his head.
Fan remained silent.
‘Fan was one of the founding members. It was his and Anton’s vision to marry all the scientific disciplines to evolve and keep our race alive, through any means necessary.
‘Do jump in at any point, Fan, to clarify your position to your family,’ Markov said, his face revelling in what was unfolding.
Fan turned away from everyone.
‘You always were gutless,’ Markov dismissed.
Jun tried to think of clues, times she had been suspicious, but her memories all faded and blurred, she couldn’t make anything out. ‘The whole time you were lying? Working against me, behind my back?’
Adaptive Consequences Page 20