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by Chris Gladstone

  "Are you my mother? I’m so lonely. Please take me home," the little boy said as his face took on a pleading look, "Please. I don’t like it here. It’s dark and cold, and I’m frightened." He stretched out his arms. "Please take me home and be my mother." Kiera stood mesmerised, as tears began streaming down his face.

  "Kiera," came Jack’s voice. "Your breathing and heart rate have slowed, you’re being drugged."

  "Convincing, isn’t it?" Lianna said as she silenced the demonstration. The boy froze, arms outstretched, with tears still glistening on his cheeks.

  What was wrong with her? She actually wanted to take this one home. She wanted to be his mother, she wanted to hold him in her arms, to tell him not to be afraid, to…

  "Kiera. Move!"

  Jack’s voice reverberated through her head, jerking her back to awareness.

  "We’ve got enough footage. Go—go now! "

  She shook her head, took a deep breath, and turned to Lianna. "Thank you so much. There's so much choice. I’ll have to go away and think about it. I need to leave now, but I’ll be in touch."

  "Come with me and I will let you out."

  Kiera followed the android back to the blank wall.

  Lianna waved her hand and the door slid open. "I hope you enjoyed the tour and you don't find choosing a model too taxing. Prices can be negotiable depending on the volume of the order. We hope to hear from you soon. Goodbye."

  Kiera stepped back into the main display area. The door glided shut behind her. The image of the little boy still filled her mind. She felt guilty about leaving him behind.

  "Jack, what the hell was that? I’m still feeling it."

  "My guess—oxytocin, or a derivative of it. It’s the bonding hormone, the hormone of love."

  "Get me out of here, Jack." She felt the effects of the chemical slipping away, as a furious revulsion welled up inside her, and she flooded with anger. She’d expected some of it but not the children. She hadn’t been prepared for that. What a disgusting animal Williamson was.

  "Go back out the way you came. Once you're through the airlock, I’ll turn your night vision back on. Follow the arrows and stay calm, Kiera. We have all the evidence we need." He sounded so matter-of-fact, almost tranquil. She could have strangled him.

  Kiera retraced her steps back through the airlock. Once Jack had turned off the lights and activated the night vision, she only had to follow the arrows. She pounded down the seemingly endless passageways until finally she reached the exit door. When Jack had opened it, she dashed through and hurtled towards the cyclone fence. She skidded to a stop in front of it and screamed.

  "Kiera?" came Jack's worried voice. "I'm on my way."

  #

  Jack had already begun to pack everything away, but after hearing Kiera’s scream he turned and ran to the fence. Kiera stood immobile and dazed on the other side.

  "Kiera, are you okay?"

  "The bloody cutters are stuck to the fence and the hole’s vanished," she snarled. "It's Zarking gone." She thumped down on to the ground. Bracing herself with both feet, she gripped the fence with her hands and began to yank it hard backwards and forwards like a trapped wild animal.

  "Calm down, Kiera, and stop shouting. It must be a nanolone fence. It automatically repairs itself. If the cutters were leaning on it, they will have been absorbed. I'm sorry, I should have thought of that. Stand back. I'll see if I can kick it in. It takes a while to harden up."

  Kiera stood up and moved to one side.

  In the moonlight, he could see her shaking silhouette. God, I hope she's not going into shock, Jack thought. He sat down and bent both knees up to his chest. He lent forward and gripped the fence with both hands either side of where the hole should have been. Launching his legs, he kicked as hard as he could. A metallic crash echoed through the silence, and he felt the fence give a little in one corner.

  "A second go should do it. Can you get hold of the centre and pull while I push? "

  Still silent, Kiera sat down opposite him. She braced her feet on the fence on either side and threaded her fingers through the wire.

  "Okay, on the count of three. One, two, three."

  Jack kicked as hard as he could while Kiera hauled. She fell over backwards as his feet punched the hole through, narrowly missing her. He pulled himself upright and stood up. Kiera scrambled up, hurled the piece of fence aside and came at him; a screaming, punching, ball of fury. He staggered back under the reign of her blows. He put his arms up to ward her off but tripped over and went sprawling onto his back. Blood streamed from his forehead and into his right eye from where he’d caught himself on an overhanging branch on the way down. Kiera went over with him and continued to pummel his chest.

  "For God sake Kiera, calm down." He managed to grab her wrists, but she still struggled furiously, trying to get free.

  "Kiera! Stop it!" He gave up, let go her wrists, put his arms around her waist and rolled over on top of her. He grabbed both her wrists again and pinned her legs underneath his.

  "Kiera! Kiera for God's sake. Remember Lisa. Remember what happened the last time your anger got out of control?" he shouted.

  She stopped struggling.

  Jack sat up and wiped the blood from his eye with the back of his hand, "What the bloody hell was all that about?"

  Kiera, quiet now, cried silently, her tears barely visible in the moonlight. Jack climbed off her and pulled her upright. He wrapped both arms around her and held her as she sobbed. Minutes passed, and part of him wished he could stay that way forever.

  The sobs subsided, and Kiera looked up at him. Her face, lit by moonlight, softened with contrition as she noticed the blood trickling down his face.

  "Oh Jack, did I do that?"

  "No, but you did everything else. I'm going to be covered with bruises. What on earth bought that on? You were like a wild animal."

  "I…just lost it. You should have known about the fence and warned me so I wouldn't have left the cutters where I did."

  "A little out of proportion don't you think?"

  "It wasn't just that. It was what I'd seen inside as well as everything that happened. It was all just…"

  "I saw the same thing, Kiera," Jack said, quietly.

  Kiera took a clean handkerchief out of her pocket and reached up to gently dab the cut above Jack's right eyebrow. "I'm sorry," she said almost imperceptibly.

  "Remind me never to really piss you off in the future. I'll forgive you this time, but if you ever do that again, Kiera, that will be the end of our friendship. Is that clear?"

  Kiera nodded.

  "Go back to the bike and put your helmet on, I'll put the piece of fence back so nobody will know we were here."

  After he had reinstated the fence as much as possible, he limped back to the bike. He saw Kiera don her helmet like an automaton. When he reached her, she reanimated.

  "Jack, are you okay to drive?" Her tone held concern.

  "I'm okay. Are you civilised now?" He put his arm around her and gave her a little squeeze.

  "Yes." She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. "I'm really sorry Jack. I promise it won't happen again…ever. Now let's get out of here."

  "Okay, let's go."

  Kiera helped him pull the bike off its supports and wheel it back to the road. They got on and rode away.

  #

  When they reached Kiera's apartment, they pulled around the back. Kiera got off the bike and stood up stiffly. When Jack made no attempt to dismount she said, "Come up with me and I'll clean up that cut for you."

  "I'm too bloody tired. I'm liable to flake out," he said in a tired voice.

  "Stay the night. The lounge is comfortable, and I don't snore." When he still didn't move, she took off her helmet and fastened it to the back of his bike. "I'll make you a hot chocolate. Come on." She tugged at his elbow.

  He relented, climbed off the bike and followed her inside. Up in her apartment, Jack limped to the lounge and sat down.


  Kiera put the kettle on and went into the bathroom. She rummaged in her bathroom cabinet for cotton wool, disinfectant and plasters. The kettle had just begun to boil when she re-emerged. After she made them both hot chocolates, she tipped some of the hot water into a bowl. She added a little cold water before setting it down on the coffee table near Jack. After bringing over the cups of hot chocolate she knelt down in front of him and gently dabbed at the cut above his eyebrow. When she'd finished she cleaned the blood off the rest of his face. She patted his face dry with some tissues before she dabbed antiseptic on the cut and placed a plaster over it. By the time she'd finished Jack's eyes were drooping closed.

  She got the spare pillow and blanket from her bedroom and brought them into the lounge. Jack had taken off his jacket and his shoes and had already stretched out. She placed the pillow under his head and draped the blanket over him. Within seconds he fell asleep. As she watched his peaceful, relaxed face, she found herself filled with tenderness followed by a wave of guilt. Dear Jack, how could she have attacked him like that? She'd let anger overwhelm her. She'd lost control. He'd done the right thing by reminding her of the last time—of Lisa. When memories of Lisa had flooded back grief had washed away her anger. Kiera sighed. She couldn't afford to let her anger run riot. I need to learn how to cope with stress a lot better than this, she realised.

  Exhausted by the night’s events she went into her bedroom. She stripped down to her underwear, slipped into bed and soon fell into a deep sleep.

  She awoke to the sound of her mobi. Surely, she'd only been asleep for minutes? She sat up groggily and picked up her mobi from her bedside table.

  "Hi Kiera," Luke's cheery voice said, "I bought a surprise breakfast. Can you buzz me in?"

  "Oh. I hope there's enough for three, I've got company." Bloody hell, Kiera thought, I shouldn't have said that. She hung up before Luke could reply. She rolled out of bed, wriggled into her jeans and pulled her jumper on. When she came out into the lounge, Jack was just putting his shoes on. The buzzer now sounded impatiently. She went to the door and pressed the button.

  Jack grinned at her. "Just as well your mobi rang, otherwise, I'd still be out cold." He glanced up and frowned. "What's wrong?"

  "It's going to be…" At that moment her door bell sounded. "It's Luke. Follow my lead." Kiera opened the door.

   Chapter 14

  Jack zipped up his boots and looked up when Kiera opened the door. So, this was Luke.

  Luke said, "I know it's early, so I hope…"

  Luke's voice trailed off as his laser blue eyes locked on to him. They were filled with a burning intensity, and his smile transitioned from hurt to anger.

  He turned on Kiera and hissed, "Who the hell is this?"

  Oh God, Jack thought. He's got the wrong idea. He had to act fast before the situation escalated. He winced as he pushed himself up from the lounge.

  Kiera's expression hovered between embarrassment and sheepishness as she attempted to introduce him. "This is my friend, Jack. Jack, this is Luke. Jack's been helping me navigate through the evidence on Williamson."

  Clever choice of words, Kiera, Jack thought. "So this is Luke," he said, limping over to him and smiling. "Kiera and I go way back. Here, let me take some of those for you." He reached out and caught hold of one of the bags Luke held.

  Luke tugged the bag free from his grip. “I can manage, thank you.”

  Another angry person. He'd had enough of anger over the past twelve hours, and now this. He'd have to call on all his old psychology skills, and fast. He stepped back and held up his hands, "Okay, I surrender, I wasn't about to pinch your favourite."

  Kiera gave a nervous giggle.

  Luke walked over to the dining table and dropped the bags with a thump.

  Jack shrugged, this wasn't going to be easy. "Takes me back to kindergarten days, Kiera."

  Kiera chuckled. "Just what I was thinking."

  But he wasn't going to be deterred that easily. He knew how important Luke was to Kiera, and he needed to make sure they got off to a good start. He limped over to the table, smiled, and holding out his hand tried again, "Pleased to meet you, Luke. I've heard a lot about you."

  Luke, frozen to the spot, glared at him without speaking, his right hand still locked by his side.

  Jack pulled a face. "Parties at your place must be fun." His humour wasn't working, so perhaps a strategic withdrawal might be the best option. "Should I go, Kiera?"

  "Absolutely not!" She rounded on Luke, "For Zark's sake, Luke, Jack is an old friend. He helped me through an extremely difficult time in my teens. You're behaving like a child."

  Luke stood immobile.

  Jack saw his expression soften when he spotted the neatly folded blanket topped by the pillow he'd used last night on the lounge. Perhaps now they'd get somewhere.

  Luke seemed to come to a decision of some sort and asked, "What happened to your face Jack, and why are you limping?"

  Before he could reply, Kiera jumped in, "He slipped on the pavement last night, rolled his ankle and cut his forehead. The job took hours, and he wasn't in good shape by the time we finished, so I persuaded him to sleep on the lounge."

  She could hardly say she had come at him like a screaming banshee, and had knocked him over causing his injuries, could she, Jack thought? He couldn't do anything other than play along with her, so he simply nodded.

  "Oh. I'm…sorry." Luke finally held out his hand. "I'm Luke. I obviously don’t need to say any more, since you’ve heard all about me."

  He reached out and took Luke's hand.

  Luke held it in a vice-like grip and gave it a single shake. With an expression of uncertainty tinged with anger, he held it captive as he locked eyes with him.

  At least I've made some progress, Jack thought as he watched Luke's face mellow and felt his imprisoned hand released.

  Luke walked over to Kiera and kissed her on the lips.

  He's laying claim to her, Jack thought. He had the sudden urge to laugh but coughed instead.

  Kiera raised her eyebrows as Luke went back to the table and stood facing him.

  In an attempt to lighten the atmosphere, Jack said, "I don't know about you, but I'm starving. It looks like you've bought enough for a small army, Luke. Let's eat." He grinned. How long could he keep this up? His face was beginning to ache from the effort.

  Luke sat down at the table, and Jack sat opposite him.

  Kiera fetched plates from the kitchen and dished out Danish pastries from one of the bags.

  Just as well Luke had bought a choice of items, Jack thought.

  After she'd given them each a plate, she sat down at the end of the table. "Help yourself, you two."

  After they'd dished out a pastry each, Luke said, in between a mouthful, "So Jack, what exactly was it that you helped Kiera with when she was a teenager?"

  Bloody hell. Jack looked at Kiera.

  She frowned and gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head. She glared at Luke. "Jack was my youth counsellor." She sniffed and began to carefully brush invisible crumbs off her jumper. "I got myself into trouble and Jack helped me work through it. I'll tell you all about it sometime."

  "Oh?" Luke fixed him with an unwavering stare.

  Jack squirmed in his seat and examined his plate, "Those were the days weren't they, Kiera?" Kiera remained silent so he prattled on, "Those pastries were great, Luke. Has anybody besides me got room for some fresh bread and jam?" he said, eyeing the crusty loaf in the centre of the table.

  "I'll get the bread knife." Kiera escaped to the kitchen where they heard her delving in the knife drawer.

  He'd felt like saying 'is that wise, under the circumstances', but decided he'd better not.

  "So, Jack." Luke skewered him with his gaze, "You've been helping Kiera sort through our evidence against Williamson?"

  "Something like that." Luke's eyes held him captive and Jack felt as though he was about to drown.

  The moment shattered when Kiera retur
ned to the table. "There you go." She sat down and put the bread knife on the breadboard. "Tuck in, I'm going to."

  An awkward silence followed. Luke grabbed the knife, and pointedly cut slices for Kiera and himself. He smothered his with apricot jam before looking up. "Are you still a youth counsellor, Jack?" Luke picked up his slice of bread and took a mouthful before he fixed him with a steady gaze, waiting for his answer.

  Jack picked up the bread knife and cut himself a slice before replying. Two could play that game, "No, I'm a bit too old now. They like youth workers to be not too much older than the people they’re working with. It helps you to relate to one another."

  "You look a lot older than Kiera."

  Jack winced. "Ouch. I'm only eight years older than Kiera, but it was a tough night."

  Luke smiled this time, before asking, "So what do you do now?"

  "I'm a computer and IT consultant." He wiped jam off the corner of his mouth and helped himself to another slice.

  "Oh," Luke said, "what area in particular?"

  "Predominantly computer security, I set up systems, and ferret out problems."

  "He's also a hacker extraordinaire," Kiera said, in between licking jam off her fingers. "And he has a network of informants scattered around heaps of organisations he's able to call on for help, if he needs to. He's been absolutely invaluable in sourcing information to help us out with our campaign against Williamson. Would anybody like a cup of tea?" Kiera leapt up from the table.

  Jack heard her sigh as she darted towards the kitchen; probably with relief.

  "Yes thanks," Jack said.

  Luke echoed his reply.

  Jack felt himself relax at last or was it exhaustion? At least his struggle with Luke appeared to be over; he seemed calmer.