“Amber Alpha team, stand by to receive your assignments,” said Adika.
The top levels of his mind were fully occupied checking the locations of Katelyn’s people and allocating his own men to take over their guard positions. Several levels down, there was a train of thought about Mhairi.
… pity she’s escorting Morton back to their unit. I called her with my congratulations when she was confirmed as my replacement, but it would have been nice to say a word in person.
Further down in his mind, at a level so close to the unconscious that Adika probably wasn’t aware of it himself, was a wistful reflection on the past.
… wonder if Mhairi ever had the same thoughts as me. It was impossible though. You aren’t allowed to have a relationship with someone on the same Strike team, so we both stayed alone and …
I was swept up by Adika’s emotions, sharing his moment of melancholy as he reflected on the relationship that had never happened. It was just one among many sacrifices he’d made for his career and his duty to the Hive. A second later, his mood lightened again.
… went through some difficult times with Megan. My fault for rushing things when she was still grieving for her dead husband. Now we’ve moved past that, we can enjoy the …
Adika’s thought train drifted off into erotic imagery, so I hastily pulled out of his mind.
“Amber is southbound approaching area 100/4900,” said Adika. “Is she clear to join eastbound express belt?”
“Morton is in area 900/4900 and joining express belt 900 southbound,” said Katelyn. “Amber is clear to head east.”
I felt Adika pick me up again. There was the distinctive series of movements that meant we were leaving one express belt and joining another. Morton and I were like chess pieces being moved to their correct squares on the board.
When Adika put me down again, I opened my eyes. We rode east along the express belt in total silence. My Alpha Strike team members were all eighteen or nineteen-year-olds who’d come out of the last Lottery with me. They were paranoidly aware they’d never taken part in a target handover before, and mustn’t break protocol by speaking on the crystal comms.
Morton’s Beta team were obviously being careful too. Was Morton listening to our crystal comms as well? Would he hear me if I tried saying hello, or were he and his bodyguards using comms on a different frequency?
I didn’t know the answer, but I was certain of one thing. If I tried talking to Morton, the staff of both our units would react by instantly separating our crystal comms, and our target could escape in the confusion and harm more people.
I couldn’t risk that happening. I didn’t need to use the crystal comms to talk to Morton anyway. One of the other telepaths, Sapphire, had contacted me and explained the secret method telepaths used to call each other.
Sapphire had also told me that telepaths had their special rules of conduct, referring to them as good manners. Unless there was some great emergency, it was considered good manners for a new telepath to wait for the more experienced ones to make contact first. None of Morton, Mira, or Keith had called me yet.
My team finally jumped belt again and moved into a lift. “Amber is approaching scene by lift,” said Adika.
“Morton has crossed to Blue Zone and is heading south to our unit,” said Katelyn. “Telepath handover complete. Standing by for target handover.”
The figures of my Strike team were rigid with tension as the lift went down from Level 67 to Level 69 and the doors opened. Adika led the way out of the lift, and along the length of one corridor, to where a tall, muscular woman stood by a door labelled Beach Maintenance 69K.
Katelyn faced me, and bowed her head respectfully in what I’d learned was the standard acknowledgement of the presence of a telepath from another unit, before leading the way through the door.
I’d expected to enter a cramped maintenance walkway, but found myself in a spacious area with motion-activated lighting. Corridors led off to both the right and left, and staircases headed up and down. I relaxed. There were solid staircases rather than ladders here. My fear of heights wouldn’t be an issue after all.
“Amber Alpha team, crystal units to visual,” ordered Adika.
We all reached up to adjust our ear crystals, and the camera extensions unfolded at the right side of our faces.
“Nicole for Amber.” Nicole’s voice was a note higher than usual. “Visual links green for all Strike team.”
“Amber Alpha team, deploy,” said Adika.
The Strike team members assigned to Chase team duties split up, running off down the corridors or climbing up the stairs to reach their guard positions. Katelyn gave a wary look in the direction of my bodyguards and me, then turned to Adika.
“I’ve heard good reports of you, Adika. You’ve taken a novice Strike team and brought them up to operational standards incredibly quickly.”
Adika smiled. “I had the advantage of your excellent training, Katelyn.”
A strange voice spoke in my ear crystal. “Marcia for Morton. Guard position relieved.”
Other voices followed, stating their names and reporting their guard position was relieved, and then figures began appearing from all directions. Strike team members didn’t just regularly carry their telepath. If danger threatened, they’d use their bodies to shield their telepath from harm. The Hive believed the intimacy of those moments was easier if Strike team members were of a sex attractive to the telepath, so Lottery had selected male Strike team members for me.
Morton would ideally have had an all-female Strike team, but Lottery had problems finding enough female candidates who could meet the physical requirement of carrying their telepath while running at full speed. Most of the people arriving were women with closely trimmed brown hair and a build that totally overshadowed me, but there were a couple of men among them. They all gave the standard, respectful nod in my direction on arrival, before moving to stand in formation behind Katelyn.
When number fifteen appeared, Katelyn faced Adika and lifted her right hand. Adika matched the gesture, and they clapped their palms together.
“I tag you, Adika,” said Katelyn. “You have control of the incident scene.”
“I have control of the incident scene,” Adika responded formally.
Katelyn and her people nodded to me again, looking oddly like actors bowing to their audience. I was tempted to read one of their minds to find out what they thought of me, but Sapphire had warned me that violating the privacy of another telepath by reading the mind of someone from their unit was bad manners. I dutifully kept my curiosity in check while Katelyn led her team off through the door.
Lucas’s voice spoke in my ear crystal. “Lucas for Amber. Acknowledging target handover complete. Counting down to separating crystal comms. Three, two, one. Now!”
“Crystal comms are separated,” said Nicole.
I heard the massed sound of relieved sighs on the comms.
“Now we can stop worrying about looking like a bunch of inexperienced greenies in front of Morton’s people, and concentrate on catching our target,” said Lucas cheerfully. “Forge, you can start moving Amber into position now.”
Forge pointed his finger at two of my other bodyguards, and they led the way up the stairs. Forge and I followed, and my remaining three bodyguards brought up the rear. At the top of the stairs was another open area. Corridors led off to the left and right, but straight ahead of us was a wall with a ladder heading upwards. I had a bad feeling that we were going up the ladder.
“We’re going up the ladder,” said Forge.
The ladder led up into a pitch-dark shaft. There was bound to be motion-activated lighting up there, but right now it wasn’t on, so I had no clue to the length of the ladder.
I hesitated. “Isn’t there an easier way to get to wherever we’re going?”
“I’m afraid not,” said Forge. “We need to get you to a spot right next to the wave machinery while ensuring we keep a solid wall between you and the target at
all times. The only other routes are even worse. I can show you a holo diagram to help you understand the area.”
Forge took out his dataview and projected a bewildering, three-dimensional holo diagram in mid air. “Since there’s only one beach on each accommodation level, they’re all located near the 500/5000 centre point of the Hive to optimize travel access, and are arranged in a spiral pattern around four structural columns for optimal strength and stability.”
He gestured at the diagram. “The four vertical tubes marked in green are the structural columns. We obviously can’t walk through those.”
“Obviously not,” I agreed.
“The red areas contain extreme hazards like wave machinery. If necessary, the Strike team can pursue a target through those areas, but we can’t risk taking you in there.”
I gave a resigned grunt.
“The blue oblongs are the beaches themselves,” continued Forge. “It’s impossible to go through a beach void, so we have to go over, under, or around them, and that complicates our route.”
“I don’t see why there’s a problem going through a beach. We can just walk across the sand.”
“It’s true that we could walk across the sand,” said Forge, in a carefully polite voice. “We can’t walk across the sea though, or fly over a beach like a seagull.”
“Oh, yes.”
Forge pointed at the diagram. “We entered the maintenance area here on Level 69. We’ve climbed one flight of stairs, so we’re now on Level 68, and we need to go over the Level 68 beach to get you next to the wall of the wave machinery area for the Level 67 beach.”
“And that means climbing this ladder.” I sighed.
“Yes. There’s one very long climb up to Level 63, where we walk along a corridor over the top of the Level 68 beach, and then we have a shorter climb down to Level 65.”
“We’re going to Level 65?” I rubbed my forehead. “That doesn’t make sense. Surely the wave machinery area for the Level 67 beach needs to be down on Level 68 or Level 69.”
“No, wave machinery areas are always two levels above the beach they serve.”
I abandoned all hope of understanding either our route or how wave machinery worked, and tried an alternative tactic for avoiding the ladder. “Lucas, I’d like to check the area to see if I can find our target from where I am.”
“You’re welcome to check the area, but I’m afraid you’re unlikely to find our target,” said Lucas. “Beaches are popular places, and the lower level ones get especially crowded. You’ll find your telepathic range is far shorter than usual.”
I took another look at the holo diagram, and faced the wall with the ladder. The Level 68 beach was on the other side of that wall. Beyond the beach was the wave machinery area where our target had taken refuge.
I closed my eyes and studied my surroundings with my telepathic sense. Clustered around me were the familiar minds of Forge and my other bodyguards. Directly ahead of me was the dazzling glow of a tumult of thoughts. There were other glowing areas to the side, above, and below, which had to be the densely packed minds of people on other beaches.
On a telepathic level it was noisy here, very noisy, but I tried skimming forward across the minds on the Level 68 beach anyway. I could sense the nearer ones perfectly well, but the thoughts of the further ones merged into what was effectively a deafening background noise. There was no hope of me finding a target who was hiding somewhere beyond them.
I opened my eyes again. “You’re right about the problems of the crowded beaches, Lucas. My telepathic range is less than a corridor length.”
I took a deep breath. “Let’s climb the ladder, Forge.”
Chapter Three
Two of my bodyguards headed rapidly up the ladder, and then Forge gestured me forward. “It’s best if we don’t use safety ropes here – they’d keep getting caught on the hooks holding the ladders – but don’t worry. It’s impossible for you to fall when I’m right behind you.”
I took hold of the ladder and started climbing upwards. As always, the first few rungs were easy. It was when I’d climbed past ceiling height that fear began beating at me. I told myself not to be silly. Forge was right that it was impossible for me to fall when he was right behind me.
It wasn’t dark in the shaft any longer, because the motion-activated lights had come on. That was good because I could see the rungs of the ladder. That was bad because I could see just how much further I had to climb. Logic told me the ladder could only be four or five levels high at most, but the rungs seemed to stretch off for a distance of more like twenty.
“You’re doing fine, Amber,” Forge’s voice encouraged me.
“I wish I could read your mind while I’m doing this, Forge,” I babbled. “You aren’t scared of heights, and that stops me being scared of them too. Being in someone else’s head and trying to move your own body gets confusing though.”
“I strongly advise you against reading anyone else’s mind when you’re climbing a ladder, Amber,” said Lucas hastily.
The palms of my hands were slippery with sweat now, making it harder to grip the rungs of the ladder. I should try wearing gloves the next time I did this. I should try not to be in the situation again. If another Telepath Unit ever called for an emergency handover at a beach again, I wouldn’t volunteer. I’d …
I reached up for the next rung with my left hand, and my right hand slipped, almost losing its hold on the ladder. I gasped in alarm, and Forge’s body was suddenly pressing against my back, his arms encircling me, his hands gripping the ladder on either side of mine.
“I’ve got you, Amber. I won’t let you fall.”
I clung to the ladder, frozen in panic.
“I won’t let you fall,” Forge repeated soothingly. “Trust me.”
I’d known Forge since I was thirteen years old. We’d had rooms on the same corridor on Teen Level. I’d once tried the ‘C’ grade cliff climb on the Teen Level beach and frozen in panic just like this. Forge had rescued me then, and I could trust him to take care of me now.
I gave myself another minute to relax before climbing upwards again. This time, I tried counting each rung of the ladder, but quickly discovered that was a bad idea. The steadily increasing number made me even more aware of the long length of ladder below me.
I tried concentrating on the Hive Obligations I’d learnt in school instead, thinking of one line each time I climbed a rung of the ladder. It was a minute or two before I realized I was reciting the lines aloud.
“Sorry,” I said. “I’m trying to distract myself.”
“You can do anything that helps you, Amber,” said Lucas.
“I know that it’s …”
I climbed another rung of the ladder, and the narrow shaft was replaced by an open area. A moment later, I was standing on a wonderfully solid floor, with my bodyguards next to me.
“Amber’s made it to the top of the ladder,” reported Forge.
“Well done.” Lucas sounded as relieved as I was.
“Now we go this way,” said Forge.
He led the way along a corridor, and I became aware of a thumping sound from above me, which kept repeating every few seconds. “Is that noise coming from the wave machinery of one of the beaches?”
“Yes,” said Forge.
I wasn’t just hearing the thumping. I seemed to feel it vibrating in my bones. Air was gusting through this corridor, carrying the salt scent of beaches with it, so we must be near a wind machine as well.
“We’re walking over the top of the Level 68 beach now,” said Forge. “Our floor is their sky.”
There was a thrilled note in his voice, and his face registered pure delight. Eight months ago, the two of us had entered Lottery testing along with over a million other eighteen-year-olds in our Hive. We’d felt helpless and afraid back then, knowing we’d no control at all over our future lives. Lottery would decide our work assignments and status in the Hive. Whatever that decision was, whether we were sent to live on the elit
e top ten levels of the Hive or down in the depths, we’d have no option but to accept it.
Lucas said that might seem unfair, but the automated processes of Lottery could make much better decisions than we could make for ourselves. They could consider careers we didn’t even know existed, choosing one that was needed by the Hive but would also make us happy and fulfilled.
It had certainly happened that way for Forge. As a teen, he’d got into trouble for exploring the forbidden places of the Hive. Lottery had harnessed his rebel streak and hankering for danger by assigning him to my Strike team.
This was Forge’s ideal life. I felt a moment of pure envy. Forge, all the other members of my unit, and virtually everyone else in the Hive had been assigned to work they loved. I was the one in a million exception. My telepathic ability was so vital to the Hive that whatever other skills I had, whatever other life I was better suited to, didn’t matter. I had to do this work, and I had to do it without the benefit of imprinted information or the help of other telepaths.
“We’re approaching a viewing point for the Level 66 beach,” said Forge. “There’ll be a hole in the corridor wall at head height. I don’t know whether that will make you nervous or not.”
“Exactly how big a hole is this?” I asked warily.
“A square hole about this wide.” Forge held out his hands to indicate the width. “It’s impossible to fall through the hole though. Viewing points have wire mesh across them.”
“If the hole has mesh across it, then it shouldn’t worry me,” I said.
A moment later, I saw the hole in the wall myself. I’d been wrong about there being a wind machine nearby. The gusts of air and the sea scent were coming from that hole. I hesitated, went to look through the wire mesh, and was startled by a screech and a flapping of wings.
I gave a shocked giggle. “I scared a seagull.”
“The gulls are the reason for the wire mesh,” said Forge. “If one gets inside the maintenance areas, it’s difficult to get it out again.”
Hurricane (Hive Mind Book 3) Page 2