London Wild
Page 19
Kitty assumed it was the female’s turn to get the door the next time someone knocked. She also guessed the weapons were to protect against unwanted intrusion, but so many weapons in one place made her feel very nervous. She tried to console herself. This was her life now, and she’d get used to it in time.
The office they were in was only separated from the room beyond the door by a thin partition rather than a solid brick wall; one good hit and the thing might topple over. Beyond the partition came the sounds of people talking and a few faint strains of music.
February didn’t hesitate. She opened the door and went through. Kitty followed a little submissively. She felt as if the guards were glaring at her, as if the prospect of meeting a lot of cats she didn’t know wasn’t enough.
Beyond the door was the twenty-first theater in the multiplex, nicknamed the hidden theater by its users. It was a flat-screen theater for a few movies they might occasionally show from the early days of moviemaking, before the idea of making them holographic had even entered the imagination of the moviemakers. The theater was always shut to the general public; no one, it seemed, wanted to watch such movies these days. However, it was quite capable of doing exactly that if the owners had to prove it could.
Where the big screen would be was a large stage, and in the center of this stood a lone microphone for important announcements or whatever it was needed for. On the stage a quartet of musicians were playing excerpts from Vivaldi’s four seasons. They could be heard at the other end of the theater, but they didn’t play too loud. People came to gossip as much as anything and didn’t want to be drowned out by the music.
The seats that would normally be facing the big screen had been removed, but when they were there they sat on tiers rising to the back of the hall. These tiers were part of the architecture and couldn’t be removed. No one seemed to notice too much, and they chatted in small groups that usually kept to the same tier. The place seemed to be crowded, though there were probably less than two hundred Herbaht in the room. Not everything could be seen from where they stood, as groups of mingling Herbaht blocked their line of sight.
Not that everyone was gossiping. True, it was important to find out what their brethren were up to, and newspapers, being a very one-sided, humanocentric invention, only tended to report things that humans were doing. But there were more reasons for coming to a meeting than catching up on the latest news. Around the edges of the theater there were a number of small stalls. These offered the services that the Herbaht just couldn’t rely on, or risk, getting elsewhere. In the center of the room, on the flattest plat of the floor of the theater just before the first tier was a large table where the visitors to the tribe were expected to leave their weapons. All, that is, except for two heavily armed guards sitting on chairs at the very back of the meeting hall. There was a door between them that led back out into the auditorium of the holotheater. The door was locked and heavily bolted to prevent anyone from just wandering in by accident, but the guards were ready for any concerted effort.
‘The owner lets us meet here?’ Kitty asked, shocked, as the door closed behind her.
‘The owner is sitting over there,’ February replied, as if it was the most likely thing in the world. ‘Come on, let’s go and say hello.’
The owner was a male no taller than either February or Kitty; he was dressed in pseudo leather and sat on a small stall, watching the band on the stage. He had reached quite an age for a Herbaht. His hair was striped white and gray with a few hints of an orangey red here and there. His right arm was missing from the elbow and one of his eyes had turned white, yet he had a manner about him that made others comfortable around him.
‘Glad to see you again, Febby,’ he said, using a contraction of her name that she hated. ‘It’s been so long I thought they had finally caught up with you.’
‘They’ll never catch me,’ she replied. ‘They’ve tried often enough, but I’ll outlive you yet.’
‘I have no doubt you will,’ he bounced back. ‘I’m quite an old cat now.’
February winced. She had forgotten that he was one of the few who used that word to describe himself. At least it was only himself that he used it on. She’d never heard him refer to others that way.
‘So who’s your friend?’ he asked, indicating Kitty. ‘Some domesticated creature you’ve picked up? I didn’t think you were the kind.’
‘How did you…?’ Kitty started.
‘You smell of opulence and of man, ‘he explained. ‘Most will recognize you as soon as they smell you. But a week with Febby and you’ll start to smell like one of the kin.
‘Her name is Kitty,’ February told him. ‘She was released by her master to protect her from this new passion the herd seem to have developed for locking our domesticated brethren up.’
‘Pleased to meet you, Kitty.’ He stood awkwardly, as if his leg couldn’t take the weight properly, bowed and then retook his seat. ‘I’m Stenhas. I own the building this hall is in, but I expect February already told you that. I would offer to shake your hand, but as you can see I’m slightly lacking in the ability.’ He waved the loose sleeve of his jacket to illustrate his point.
‘Does it hurt? How did it happen?’ Kitty queried.
‘Same way as most of our injuries,’ February told her, ‘he got too close to an explosion and lost both arm and eye. Well, he lost his hand; the arm had to be amputated quickly.’
‘No anesthetic,’ Stenhas added quickly. He seemed to be trying to look buff but only succeeded in looking hammy.
‘Field medicine,’ February continued, ‘if it hadn’t been done quickly, he might’ve died from the blood loss.’
‘But why not get a new arm?’ Kitty asked. ‘I’ve heard about robotic arms; they can read your brain signals and interpret them as your own arm would have. You hardly even notice it’s artificial.’
‘Human invention,’ Stenhas told her simply. ‘If we enter a hospital we are asking for no end of trouble. We can’t let doctors give us a medical; they’d know what we were then. And they definitely wouldn’t be willing to operate on one of us, especially not to improve our quality of life. No, I’m afraid I’m stuck with a stump.’
‘You see,’ February added to the conversation, ‘we have doctors and scientists of our own. We even have a few laboratories, but they tend to concentrate on creating things we can use against the herd. Better ways to hide ourselves, weapons that are easy to hide and don’t set off weapon detectors. I believe they’re currently working on a compound to confound the sniffer dogs. It doesn’t leave much room for basic medicine.’
‘Actually, the first batch is ready. I have some in my office. It’s not very good, though; they’re working on making something a little more powerful and easier to apply,’ Stenhas told them.
‘It’ll be good to nullify those dogs,’ February told him.
Stenhas simply shrugged and then seemed to change the subject without missing a beat. ‘So February, what brings you here today? You know the rules, of course.’ It was obvious she did, but he seemed to be repeating them for Kitty’s benefit more than hers. ‘You can’t take from us unless you give to us.’
February nodded. She looked past Kitty at some of the stalls that were scattered about and then turned back Stenhas. ‘We need a couple of brunette wigs and some brown colored contact lenses for Kitty. I also need a new laser pistol and maybe a trim from the hairdresser while I’m here; it has been nearly a month since my last visit. And if the tribe can afford it, I need a little cash so I can afford to look after Kitty. I don’t need much. I can afford to keep the both of us. I just need help with the initial outlay, clothes and a bed and so on. I’ve already got a bed on order for her, but it will make the rest of the….’
She stopped talking as Stenhas raised his hand. ‘You’re waffling,’ he explained. ‘I don’t need to know why you need the money. I just need to know what you brought us in exchange.’
‘Of course,’ February replied. ‘Sorry.’
First February placed the two shopping bags she was carrying by his chair, and then she stepped back, almost as if she was following some customary procedure.
‘How much?’ Stenhas asked her before she continued.
‘I’d say about a half to two-thirds of yesterday’s kill,’ she answered quickly. Her voice was definitely nervous.
Stenhas raised his arm to stop her continuing, but she had already finished. He probably didn’t want to know who the kill had been or whom the kill might’ve been related to, and no doubt he got that far too often when his own hunters were reporting their successes of the night.
February looked around herself nervously as if calculating what they needed and trying to offset it against what they had brought. She gave Kitty a reassuring smile, but it seemed more likely she was trying to reassure herself.
Stenhas beckoned for a couple of official-looking Herbaht to come over to him and handed them each one of the bags, telling them, ‘The first meat of the day; put this on tonight’s menu. Maybe we’ll have something to eat before tonight’s hunters start bringing their prey in.’
As the two left without any sign of formality, Stenhas turned his attention back to the two before him. ‘Meat is getting hard to get hold of; that was a good exchange. I’ll allow you the wigs, contact lenses and the hairdo for that, but I’m afraid it’s not enough for the cash. Though I suppose if I can get you to bring more to us in the next week I might not be opposed to lending you the cash you need.’
‘I haven’t given you everything yet,’ February said. She stopped and looked at him for a moment as if letting what he had said seep through properly. ‘Cash? No laser pistol?’
‘Laser pistols are very hard to get hold of, dear. Harder even than meat,’ he told her. ‘I don’t think you’ll find one; not here, anyway.’
Kitty was gazing around the hall a bit more, trying to take everything in whilst feeling relatively safe with February. There wasn’t a lot that she had missed the first time, just the areas that had been blocked from view. There were a group of children sitting at the back, all apparently reading from the same book. They were being supervised by a male and a female who sat on chairs facing them while they chatted. Kitty assumed the two adults were married and the children were in some sort of school.
Then she saw that an area of the meeting hall had been covered with some sort of plastic floor protector. It wasn’t hard to have missed the first time; there had been groups chatting all around that area. She couldn’t help wondering what the plastic was for.
‘What else did you bring me?’ Stenhas’ voice brought Kitty’s attention back to him.
February reached out to take the bomb from Kitty, but Kitty misunderstood her intention and handed her the rifle instead. Not that it really mattered which she gave to Stenhas first.
She took the canvas covering off the rifle and handed it to him. He examined it the best he could with just one hand and then laid it across his lap.
‘It’s a laser rifle, standard issue, for the use of the army. We have these coming out of our ears,’ he told her. ‘I can’t give you any credit for this. Nothing, I’m sorry.’
‘I thought that might be the case,’ February replied, though she had hoped it might be otherwise. ‘But the information that comes with it might be considered a little more important.’
‘And you wish to sell this information?’ Stenhas suggested scornfully.
‘Not at all,’ February claimed, all innocence. ‘I think you should be told regardless. But if you’d like to give me some sort of payment afterwards I wouldn’t take it amiss.’
‘So.’ He was beginning to sound a little impatient, yet his face remained passive.
‘Both it and its twin each had four tracking devices on them,’ Kitty told him quickly. She was beginning to feel that February really would try to sell the information if she felt she could get away with it.
February glanced at her and then turned back to Stenhas. ‘It was Kitty’s idea to look for more than the first one. We must assume the authorities know where all our headquarters are. It can only be a matter of time until they hit us.’
‘She’s bright, then.’ Stenhas winked at Kitty. ‘Don’t worry. The soldiers are busy with the pets at the moment; they could never get a large enough force together to strike out against all branches at once, and they would want to do them all together. We’ve been taking tracking devices out of these weapons for years. I don’t think anyone has ever thought to look for more than one. That means it’s likely that they have known about us for years and not done anything about it.’ He pointed at the table in the center of the hall that held all the visitors’ weapons. ‘There are likely a hundred or more tracking devices over there telling them exactly where we are right now. I don’t think it’s an immediate hurry. We just have to warn our people to start being more vigilant.’
‘But don’t you see…’ Kitty implored, but she stopped as February caught her eye. Talking about this made her nervous; she was beginning to think the army would somehow have realized they had been discovered and attack right now while she was there.
‘She means she thinks the rounding up of the domesticated ones is just the first step. They’re getting them out of the way so they can deal with us. We may have time, but less than a week, I’d guess.’
‘And when word of all four tracking devices gets around all the tribes and they start removing them all from the weapons, then the army is likely to think they don’t have that much time left,’ Kitty added frantically.
‘Assuming you do spread the news,’ February offered.
‘I can’t not tell them.’ Stenhas climbed awkwardly to his feet. His tone didn’t sound worried, but his words did. ‘We should probably take this threat seriously just in case.’
‘Move the headquarters?’ Kitty suggested helpfully.
Stenhas looked at her as if she had sworn. ‘I spent everything I had building this place; I’m not going to let it fall without any resistance. Most should go, though. I’ll get word to as many of our people as I can, both in this branch and as many others as I can reach. We’re all in danger. You should prepare too; I’d guess there is a war coming.’
‘You have a nice source for hostages at least,’ February suggested. Even in this part of the holotheater the air stunk of herd; there had to be hundreds, maybe even thousands of human visitors a day.
‘Only if I have no other choice,’ he sighed and seemed to shrink before them. ‘This is my building, and I’m not about to give it up without a fight. So I guess after today we won’t see each other again. Unless you’re back before they do attack.’
‘You’re not serious?’ February almost pleaded.
‘Would you not be willing to die for your home, for your people?’ he asked her. ‘Still, cheer up. Perhaps you’re wrong. If they haven’t attacked within a month then I think it’s unlikely they’re going to. After all, there are more than sixty regional headquarters and they must all be hit at the same time for maximum impact. The last I heard, the government was cutting the defense budget.’
Kitty didn’t mean to be rude and ignore Stenhas or her friend, but the conversation did feel a little dull to her and she was fascinated about what was going on elsewhere in the place. Having never been in a regional headquarters before, she was amazed at how smoothly it all seemed to work. February had to tap Kitty on the shoulder to catch her attention. Kitty turned back to face her and Stenhas.
February then tapped the edge of the bag that Kitty was still holding. ‘Give that to Stenhas.’
Kitty obeyed, only too happy to get the thing away from her. Stenhas was still too close for comfort, but at least an explosion now wouldn’t be her fault.
‘It’s a bomb,’ February told him before he could ask. ‘Be very careful; it’s ex
tremely powerful. I tested one last night.’
‘That was you?’ Stenhas commented. ‘I heard a loud bang, but I found nothing on the newspaper to account for it.’
‘Newspapers don’t like to report our victories,’ February reminded him, ‘but I didn’t think we were anywhere near your district. Maybe the noise was just a coincidence.’
Stenhas nodded, took the bomb from the bag and removed the paper February had wrapped it with. Then he was looking at the two parts. It was fairly obvious what did what, and he wouldn’t need it described to him. ‘Maybe,’ he commented.
‘The main thing is I found it in the patrol car of the soldier I killed.’ She added, ‘I think he was in the process of delivering them to his base when he saw me.’
‘Could he have been an Elite Guard in disguise?’ Stenhas suggested. He seemed to be studying the thing closely.
February shook her head vehemently. ‘I don’t think so. He wasn’t that good.’
Kitty turned back to watching the figures moving around the plastic-covered area. They were setting up a table there now and placing paper plates and plastic cutlery on it. The center of the table had been left empty for the food that was to come.
February glanced round to see what Kitty was looking at and grinned to herself before saying, ‘Fancy a snack before we leave?’
‘What are they making?’ Kitty asked as she watched more plates being brought in.
‘Oh,’ February started slowly, ‘you know, nothing much. Just that guy we brought in with us.’
For a moment time seemed to stop for Kitty; then she felt quite ill. She should have guessed. It didn’t help that both February and Stenhas had found her reaction funny and were laughing. That had once been a living, breathing human they were about to devour. She wondered at what sort of monsters she had found herself living among, but she had no choice. At least these monsters wouldn’t kill her out of hand for being what she was because technically, she was one of them.
‘I think I can help you with the cash,’ Stenhas said as soon as he was able, and even then he seemed to have found it so funny that he had trouble getting the words out smoothly. ‘Goddess knows I’m probably not going to need it much longer. As for a laser pistol, well, we have an ice-gun that no one seems to want. It’s the best I can offer, though.’