Skyfall

by Anthony Eaton

  ‘Possible, but highly unlikely. The chances of either the girl or her baby surviving even a C-meth birth were almost nil. The chances of them surviving an unassisted natural in the underworld are so negligible as to be nonexistent.’

  Janil said nothing. He wasn’t convinced, Dernan Mann knew, but hopefully he’d at least realise the futility of his initial suggestion.

  ‘So you understand why I’m hesitant to simply impregnate this new subject. The chances are that any pregnancy would go exactly the same way and we’d end up losing both mother and child. Our best bet is gene-mapping and systematic comparison against our own makeup to determine the source of the evolutionary changes that have taken place.’

  Janil nodded. ‘Of course, Father. Naturally.’

  ‘And as far as your brother is concerned …’

  Dernan Mann didn’t get to finish his sentence. At that moment the whole DGAP building shuddered and a muffled thud echoed through the walls. The two men stared at each other in silent incomprehension.

  Janil was the first to find his voice. ‘What in the Sky was that?’

  ‘I’m not sure. It sounded like an explosion.’

  ‘Here? In DGAP?’

  ‘No.’ Dernan Mann shook his head. ‘Not that close. But nearby. Definitely somewhere in Central.’

  Janil stood up. ‘I’ll see what I can find out.’

  ‘Janil…’ His son stopped and turned in the doorway. ‘See if you can find your brother.’

  ‘Of course.’

  Lari ran. Blinking back tears, he emerged into the small forecourt immediately outside the DGAP building. It was late second shift, and people were leaving the various buildings of Port North Central and making their way towards hubs or to the massive dome’s rec facilities. People threw curious looks at him as he shoved across the forecourt and plunged down one of the narrow walkways towards the enormous common.

  Lari didn’t notice the stares. His mind whirled and for a brief moment he caught himself wishing instinctively, as he had so many times before, that his mother was there to tell him it would all be okay. He choked back that impulse. It was her fault in the first place. He’d never wish for her again.

  ‘Watch it, kid!’

  Lari stumbled against a man wearing the orange coveralls of a lower-level waste reclamation worker, then quickly regained his balance and continued his flight, turning a corner into a less crowded alleyway between two mixed-use buildings. The bottom floors were all commerce and artisan, and people were arriving home to their small apartments, mixie ones like Kesra’s, and getting ready for their evening meal, chatting about their day, about school, about their shifts that afternoon. Living normal lives. Lives like he’d never have, thanks to his mother’s obsession.

  Finally Lari stopped, folding almost in half across the low box of a network junction and retching as his stomach heaved. He thought about the girl. Compared with her he had nothing to complain about. At least he still had a home and a future, even if he didn’t have any say in it.

  Gradually, his breathing returned to normal and he straightened up.

  High above him, the sky, seen through the web of support trusses that held the giant dome aloft, was already deep indigo, with the first stars flickering into life. They looked so cold, so distant.

  A little way ahead, the central common thronged with activity, and after a quick glance back towards DGAP to make certain nobody was following, Lari headed towards it.

  Because of its size, Port North Central was supported on not one but six stems, each meeting the underside of the dome a long way out from the centre, and so there was no hub in the middle of the common. An enormous expanse of grassland stretched for perhaps a thousand metres, gently undulating with plants, and there were small lakes in which children could play. Groups strolled together, enjoying the early evening. Couples wandered arm in arm and kids chased each other around in incomprehensible games.

  It was so normal, so perfect. Lari stood and looked across the scene, wondering what the girl in the white room would make of it. It was so different from that dead, hard land his father and brother had shown him.

  And it was all going to end. All of it. The grasslands, the lovers huddled on the benches with their heads close, the families enjoying an evening walk before heading back to their cramped two-bedroom apartments, the people eating and drinking in the refs and restaurants that lined the edges of the common. All of it, and a whole lot more besides, doomed to chaos, doomed by the inexorable clutch of the universe.

  Watching them, Lari wanted to scream, to yell and warn them and to keep on shouting until they listened. Until they did something …

  He sighed. It wouldn’t do any good, he knew. Nobody would listen, and even if they did the Prelate would soon put a stop to anything he had to say.

  Slowly, Lari wandered onto the grassy common and meandered towards the centre, picking his way around a couple of lakes, following a path across the lawns. His head pounded and finally he collapsed onto a low bench, which looked across a small stream towards a ref a few hundred metres away. The stim-shop, flanked by a restaurant on one side and a bar on the other, was packed with people – people laughing, people eating, people drinking. People with lives. People without older brothers.

  ‘Shi,’ Lari muttered, thinking not about the people in the ref but about his family. Neither his father nor his brother had even tried to follow him. He wasn’t sure whether he was relieved or whether that made it worse.

  ‘Are you okay, mate?’

  A man stood over him wearing the blue armour and helmet of security division.

  ‘Yeah. I’m fine.’

  ‘You sure? You look a bit stressed.’

  ‘I … a fight with my girlfriend, okay?’

  ‘Ah.’ The security man nodded. ‘Woman troubles.’

  ‘Yeah.’ Lari looked away, hoping the man would take the hint.

  ‘Don’t worry. It’ll sort itself out.’ The guard started to turn away, but then stopped. ‘What’s your name, kid? Do I know you from somewhere?’

  ‘No.’ Lari shook his head. ‘People tell me I have a common face, though.’

  ‘Right. And your name?’

  ‘Dariand.’ The name just leapt into his head. Lari couldn’t even place where he’d heard it before.

  ‘Strange name.’

  ‘I have strange parents.’

  The security man offered no further comment, but his eyes narrowed slightly. Finally he nodded. ‘You take care, buddy. Hope things work out with your girl.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  The guard walked away.

  Lari turned to watch him, and at that moment the ref exploded, the blast ripping across the common in a hot, concussive wave that tore the breath from his lungs and sent him flying backwards. For a moment he was in midair, suspended in a maelstrom of glass and plascrete and metal shards. Then the ground came up and Lari slammed into it, redness creeping into the corners of his vision.

  For some time – he wasn’t sure how long – he lay dazed. Somewhere beyond the ringing in his ears people were screaming, and above him the refracted light of stars through the plascrete was dimmed by billows of smoke and dust, but it was all so … distant.

  Slowly, every muscle and joint in his body screaming, Lari sat up, heaving breath back into his aching lungs as he did so.

  The first thing to penetrate was the smell. Choking, acrid waves of dark smoke washed across the common, filling the air with soot so that the inside of the dome seemed misty. Over near the ref, bright flames roared where just a few moments earlier people had been enjoying their dinner. A few metres away a blackened figure lay face down on the grass, hideous groans coming from it. As his wits returned, Lari’s first thought was that it must have been the security officer, but the voice was female, and young.

  ‘Help me! Somebody, please help me!’

  The voice finally galvanised him into action. As if picking his way through some kind of dream, Lari crawled towards the shape lying on
the lawn.

  ‘Mum?’

  ‘No. It’s …’ Lari’s voice choked against the fumes. ‘I’m Lari.’ He had to stifle a gasp of horror. The girl lay on her side, unable to move and burned beyond recognition.

  ‘Where’s Mum?’

  ‘Shh.’ He reached towards her, but stopped, not sure what to do. He was not even certain that he should touch that blackened flesh. His stomach heaved again. She smelt … cooked. ‘Don’t move. Stay still, okay?’

  ‘I want Mum.’ The girl began to sob quietly.

  ‘It’ll be okay,’ Lari told her. ‘I’ll go find your Mum, okay? You just …’

  But the girl breathed out an enormous sigh, her body relaxed and Lari knew she’d gone. Suddenly he wished he’d touched her.

  Standing, he plunged towards the alleyway back to DGAP. If he could get there, he’d be safe. Other people had the same idea, though – to get as far from the explosion as fast as they could. The families and couples who’d been strolling and playing were now stampeding towards the far side, a crowded press of people moving without sense or reason.

  Though the murk ahead, Lari saw a young woman fall, and before she could get back to her feet three or four other people rushed over the top of her. He saw a foot come down on her forearm with a sickening ‘crack’ that echoed even over the screams and the roar of the flames.

  The entrances to the streets and alleyways were bottlenecked with people. Lari slowed down, realising that there was no way he’d get back to DGAP. Not through that crush. A few metres away, the woman who’d fallen had managed to crawl behind the safety of a fixed bench and she lay there, cradling her ruined arm and whimpering.

  Turning again, Lari was almost knocked down himself by a large man who came barrelling out of the common, shoving people aside.

  ‘Look out, kid!’

  Lari ducked as the man’s fist whizzed past his ear. Then he was gone, drawing a string of angry curses in his wake.

  Angling away from the flow of people, Lari picked his way back towards the explosion, not sure where he was going.

  Suddenly he was flung forward off his feet again. The second explosion ripped from somewhere in the middle of the crowd behind him and blasted along one of the alleyways, through the throng of people trying to escape.

  This time, though, Lari missed the worst of the concussion and quickly stumbled back to his feet. The panicking crowd heaved and stumbled around him and Lari put his head down and ran back towards the open ground in the middle of the common. Behind, fresh screams of terror echoed from the dark, smouldering alleyway where the second blast had occurred.

  Ahead, an artificial lake barred the way and the crowd plunged into it, wading across in the waist-deep water. Lari saw people lose their footing and fall, then struggle desperately to get upright again before the rush forced them back under the water. He tried to angle away from the lake, but the push of bodies around him was inexorable and before he knew it he was stumbling into the water.

  A few metres out a boy, younger than Lari, floundered up to his armpits, while further on his father tried in vain to get back to him.

  ‘Dad!’

  ‘Jerem!’

  ‘Here!’ Lari offered a hand and the boy flung himself at it, clinging desperately.

  Jerem’s father was a little way ahead, still fighting just to stay in place, while Lari dragged the boy through the water.

  ‘Dad!’

  ‘Hang on, mate!’

  Reaching the father, Lari gave the boy one last heave and passed him over with relief.

  ‘Thanks …’

  But Lari had already gone, swept on with the tide of people.

  The far side of the lake loomed ahead of him. People crowded against the edge, still up to their waists in water and trying desperately to clamber out but hindered by the rush of people surging over them from behind. Those not strong enough were quickly shoved under against the wall. The lucky ones came up again a few seconds later, back behind the press of people.

  He was into the crowd almost as soon as he realised the danger and immediately a large bloke tried to get up on his back.

  ‘Get off!’ Lari lashed out, his fist connecting with the man’s jaw, and the man grunted as he stumbled sideways into the water.

  Until today he’d never hit anyone in his life, and now he’d punched two people. Later he’d laugh about it, but for the moment the plascrete lake edge was under his hands and before anyone could grab him, Lari kicked off the bottom and half leapt, half fell in a heap on the grass.

  Another person, a middle-aged woman, clambered out right behind and kicked him hard, a glancing blow to his shoulder, in her rush to get over the top of him.

  ‘Shi!’

  The pain reminded him of the danger, and he rolled away from the edge as fast as he could. The grass was sodden and muddy, but he kept rolling until he was clear of the worst of the crush, then finally he stood and looked around.

  Port North Central was in chaos. The air was filled with dust and smoke, and in the centre of the common people were milling aimlessly, too scared to venture back towards the edges, uncertain which direction was safe. Lari could taste the tension in the air, smell the fear.

  ‘Have you seen Kira?’ A hand grabbed his shoulder.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Kira. Have you seen her?’

  The speaker was a woman, probably in her late twenties, Lari guessed. Her face was blackened with soot and caked with dirt and blood. Even as she gripped his shoulder, her eyes were darting in every direction.

  ‘No. Sorry.’

  Without another word, the woman released him and drifted towards a group of people standing a little way off.

  For a long time it was like that. People just stood around looking frightened and desperate. High overhead, the last daylight faded from the sky and the giant lights came on, but the air was still thick with dust, making the light diffused and dirty. Nobody knew what to do or where to go, and it felt like hours before the dome’s emergency tannoy finally boomed across the common.

  ‘Remain where you are! Stay calm and wait for an officer to assess you.’

  The voice was synthesised, and Lari was reminded of DGAP field agents speaking through their suit coms.

  ‘About time,’ muttered a man off to Lari’s left.

  People settled to the ground and waited. Every few minutes the tannoy would repeat its message, but nothing seemed to be happening. Finally Lari stood up and started back towards the edge of the common, skirting around the lake towards DGAP. He had to pick his way around groups of people nursing injuries. It took ten minutes until he was even close to the edge.

  ‘Where do you think you’re going?’

  He looked up to find his way blocked by a security officer, just one in a long line who were working their way across the common, moving systematically from person to person.

  ‘To DGAP. To find my—’

  ‘You deaf? Didn’t you hear the instructions?’

  ‘But—’

  ‘Go and find somewhere to sit and we’ll get to you when we get to you.’

  ‘But I’m okay, really. I don’t need any help. I just want to get back to my dad and let him know that—’

  The officer fixed him with a steady glare. ‘Listen, kid, everyone on this common wants to get back to someone, right? And nobody’s going anywhere until they’ve been checked out by an i.d. team, okay? So turn around, find somewhere to sit, and wait your turn.’

  ‘Can’t you just check me out now?’

  ‘I don’t have a scanner. You’ll have to wait.’

  Sighing, Lari moved back through the crowd until he found an empty patch of ground where he flopped down and tried to ignore the wailing of a baby a few metres away. He watched the officers making their slow, systematic way across the common, using portable scanners to check everyone’s wristbands. Once scanned, people were allowed to go, most trudging wearily towards one of the buildings or a maglift hub. Finally, the mother and her crying ba
by were scanned and sent on their way. Then a pair of officers turned to Lari.

  ‘Your turn, mate. Up you get.’

  Lari hauled himself to his feet and held out his wrist. The scanning device emitted a soft chime and the officer holding it peered at the readout.

  ‘Hang on, Bern.’ His partner, who’d already moved across to the next group of people, stopped.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Look.’ The first officer passed the scanner across and the second man glanced at it before nodding.

  ‘You take him across to process. I’ll keep on here.’

  ‘What’s going on?’ Lari asked. The men ignored him.

  ‘This way, please.’

  ‘Where are we going?’

  ‘To the process station.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because the reader told us to, okay?’ The officer’s tone left no room for argument. ‘Now, if you don’t mind …’

  Sighing, Lari followed him to where a table had been dragged out from a nearby restaurant and a com terminal set up on top of it. Behind this, in a roped-off area, stood a group of perhaps twenty people. Judging by the look of them, they were mainly shifties or lower-level workers, their faces bored and suspicious. The officer led Lari across to the portable setup, which was being manned by a female officer.

  ‘Name?’ she snapped.

  ‘Larinan Mann.’

  ‘Wrist!’ She held out a hand.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Give me your band.’ The woman’s grey eyes regarded him coldly.

  ‘Listen, what’s going on? I want…’ The officer grabbed his wrist in a pincer grip, digging his fingers into a nerve bundle on the side of Lari’s arm so that a bolt of pain shot all the way from the tops of his fingers to his shoulder. ‘Hey!’

  ‘Do as you’re told, son.’

  His arm throbbing, Lari silently offered it up to the woman at the desk, who scanned his wristband without another word. This time there was a lot more information on the readout than there had been on the small hand-held one.

  The female officer nodded at Lari’s escort. ‘Good work. I’ll take it from here.’