‘How about I take the complete collection off your hands in exchange for the rent you owe me?’
Alida pursed her lips. ‘These have … sentimental value.’ Mum had taught her to read. They’d both read these books heaps of times. Late at night, when Graycie had finally zonked out, they’d chat and gossip about the characters as though they were real people.
‘I’m just feeling out the market right now.’ Alida put the books back in her bag, trying to remember her negotiating skills. Mum would hate it if she flogged these books for less than they were worth.
‘Hmm. How about I throw in a fortnight’s rent on top?’
That was more like it. ‘A month and it’s a deal.’
‘Three weeks is the most I can do for you. I’m already charging you the bare minimum I can accept for such a prime spot.’
‘Deal.’ At least she’d have a little breathing space until she could find a way to make enough dosh to eat and pay rent. It still meant filling their guts with LeaderCorp Nutri-Shake rations and edible weeds from the burbs for a stretch though.
Freel smiled at his stack of books like a littlie with a third meal for the day.
‘Um, another thing, Freel.’
He raised an eyebrow, and not a single crease appeared on his plasticised forehead.
‘Now that Mum’s gone, Graycie and I don’t need so much space and it’s gonna be hard to make rent. Do you have something a smidge cheaper?’
Freel shook his head slightly. His hair shimmered and kissed his shoulders. ‘The rate I’m charging you is the going rate for a property on the edges of the market roof.’
Her shoulders sagged. The places on the edges of the roof might as well have not been under the roof at all. The rain shot in sideways and soaked the shacks and the sun beat down on them for half the day.
Freel looked her up and down. ‘There is another alternative.’
Alida had already guessed what was coming. Perv.
‘Have a heart, her mum’s just died.’ Zave spoke before the question had even left Freel’s mouth.
Freel squared his shoulders and sneered at Zave as though he’d only just noticed he was there. ‘I am having a heart, mate. There’s no way she can feed herself and that little girl properly on the credits she makes scavenging in the burbs.’ Freel turned to Alida. ‘I know this isn’t the best time. I also know your mum wasn’t able to work for a while now. I’m sure you’re already hungry.’
Freel was right. Alida’s traitorous guts growled.
‘There’s a job that’d be perfect for you. Tonight. I can advance you some credits right now, if you’re game.’
Graycie had been complaining of her empty tummy for days. The Nutri-Shakes were never enough. Mum would have hated to see Alida working for Freel, but Mum wasn’t around anymore. And if she didn’t take this gig she’d have to find some other gig or move somewhere cheaper, titchier, dirtier, less protected from the elements and just plain nasty. She was the grown-up now. She had to step up. For Graycie.
Blood pounded in Alida’s temples. She held out the wrist containing her credit chip. Freel smiled and tapped on his OmniScreen.
‘How about me, Freel?’ asked Zave. ‘Any work for me?’
‘Kinda slow for you at the moment, Zave. I’ll get in touch if I find you another client.’ Freel smiled at Alida. ‘There you go, credits transferred.’
Alida tapped her wrist chip to check her new credit balance. A number greater than anything she’d ever made flogging goods from the burbs. No wonder Mum had never been able to chuck it in. Nothing else in the Demi-Settlements paid like this.
CHAPTER 3
Voices – many, many voices – outside the truck brought Shuqba out of a doze. She lurched up into a defensive position.
‘Take it easy, officer. We’ve reached the Demi-Settlements, that’s all,’ the driver said.
Shuqba lowered her fists and wiped drool from her cheek. For as far as she could see, there were structures hugging the ground. They were built from all sorts of materials: wood, metal, cloth, plastic, concrete, fibreboard. And among the structures were Sapiens of all shapes, sizes and ages. So different to the uniformity of the Sapiens she was accustomed to. Smoke and dust hazed the air.
Pictures of City 1 never showed the Demi-Settlements. Either the camera had been angled to exclude the sprawl or it had been edited out digitally. Either way, Shuqba hadn’t expected its sheer size and terrifying anarchy. It was hard to believe there were Sapiens who lived that way.
‘City 1 up ahead.’ The driver pointed straight at the windscreen, towards the shining metal wall at the end of the road.
The city itself towered over the Demi-Settlements. Clusters of high-rise buildings wavered in the heat like towers of liquid metal. Harsh sunlight reflecting from the many polished surfaces gave the impression of pure light shooting up from the earth into the cloudless grey-blue sky.
A cleared patch of land separated the wall from the structures of the Demi-Settlements. Androids on the battlements trained their weaponised arms on this no-man’s land as the fortified gate screeched open to allow the truck through.
To calm herself, Shuqba ran through some facts about the city. City 1 has a population of 998,000. It is the location of LeaderCorp’s headquarters and the home of the government’s directors.
The truck rolled through the gate and stopped at the security checkpoint. A Neo-Neandertal Security Force Officer scanned her clone tattoo and checked the truck driver’s credentials. The officers waved them forward into the city proper and the gate closed behind them. Despite the bustle of Citizens and their transportation, the streets of the city were orderly and clean. Buildings hemmed the roads, their windows glinting. The truck stopped at a depot near the western wall.
‘The Security Force building is one block up. You can’t miss it.’ The driver climbed down from the cab and slammed his door.
Shuqba breathed deeply – population of 998,000, population of 998,000 – got out of the truck and set off along the solar-panelled footpath. She had no luggage. There’d been nothing of her own to bring from the academy. Everything she’d require would be provided.
Passengers in self-driving cars yelled at the cyclists streaming around them for setting off their proximity sensors. Advertising and delivery drones buzzed overhead, negotiating the spaces between buildings with the control and dexterity of insects. Sapien pedestrians gave her a wide berth.
Shuqba halted at the door of Security Force Headquarters.
‘How may I help you?’ the Building Intelligence System said.
‘Hello. My name’s Officer Shuqba, Neandertal clone number 46688. Commander Rayne’s expecting me.’
‘Welcome, Officer Shuqba. Please present your clone tattoo for verification.’
Shuqba turned the back of her neck to a camera above the door.
‘Thank you. You may enter. Proceed to the speaker to the right of the door for further instruction.’
‘Thank you, BIS.’ Shuqba walked into a busy foyer, green with air-purifying plants embedded in the walls. Sapien and Neo officers strode every which way, entering and leaving the rooms, hallways and elevators. Nobody paid her any attention.
Shuqba found the speaker next to the door and touched the activation panel.
‘Commander Rayne has requested you meet her in the Surveillance Room,’ BIS said.
‘Could you please direct me, BIS?’
‘As you wish. Take the hallway to your right. The Surveillance Room is the first door to your left.’
‘Thank you, BIS.’ Shuqba straightened her uniform.
Inside the darkened Surveillance Room four Sapien Security Force Officers sat before large screens.
Commander Rayne patted one of the officers on the shoulder and turned. ‘Shuqba, welcome.’ She smiled widely. ‘I’m so glad you could finally join me in City 1.’
‘Thank you, ma’am.’
‘Well.’ The commander held out her arms to indicate the whole room. ‘This is ou
r Surveillance Room, where camera footage from all over the city is processed. The officers here are reviewing footage flagged by the intelligence system and, where necessary, making referrals to the appropriate agencies, whether that be us, Neo Control or City Health.’
Shuqba nodded.
‘Let’s get you kitted out.’
They walked down the hall to the Supply Department. An android issued Shuqba with a spare uniform and an OmniScreen.
‘The OmniScreen’s primarily a communications device – all other functions have been blocked,’ Commander Rayne said.
‘Yes, ma’am.’ Shuqba gripped the edges of her first dedicated OmniScreen.
‘As you are aware Neo-Neandertal SFOs serving in the cities are not issued with weapons.’
‘Of course.’ Only Neandertal SFOs serving in the foreign wars had the opportunity to use their academy weapons training.
The commander led her towards the foyer. ‘Some background information. We have two hundred Security Force Officers in the city. Thirty of them, including you, are Neo officers. The primary responsibilities of the Neo officers are manning the city gates and accompanying Sapien officers on foot patrols. We’re going to start you on a foot patrol tonight.’ The commander stopped in the middle of the foyer. ‘I expect you’ll want to eat and wash up before then.’
‘Yes, ma’am.’
‘Have you had a chance to settle in at the workers’ barracks?’
‘No, ma’am. I came straight here.’
Commander Rayne put a hand on Shuqba’s elbow and ushered her towards the door. ‘Well, then. I’ll take you over and introduce you around myself.’
Shuqba placed her palm over the tattoo on her inner arm that read Karain. She cleared her throat. ‘Commander Rayne?’
‘Yes, Shuqba?’
‘Were you able to find out anything about clone 47789?’
‘Ah, yes. I’m afraid she got involved in some anti-LeaderCorp activity and was sent to medical research.’
Shuqba’s breath hitched. Medical research. No Neos ever returned from medical research. Karain had always been so stubborn, pushing against LeaderCorp and the position Neos occupied in Sapien society.
‘I understand you think it harsh that the two of you were separated – nevertheless, it was for the best. She would’ve dragged you down with her. You’d never have graduated at the top of your year if you’d continued your … friendship.’
Shuqba steeled her expression and stiffened her already perfect posture. Karain had meant a great deal to her, but that relationship was over. Since then, Commander Rayne had mentored her and shown her the wisdom and justice of LeaderCorp’s ways.
The Neo workers’ barracks were directly opposite the Security Force Headquarters. An android at the entrance scanned Shuqba’s clone tattoo and informed her of her bunk number.
They took a lift up to the Security Force dormitory. Like everything else Shuqba had seen in the city, the dorm was spotlessly clean and unadorned – more evidence of LeaderCorp’s skill at maintaining the highest discipline and order. Bunks lined the walls with their pale blue sheets pulled tight and crease-free. Several officers were present, buttoning their shirts, polishing their shoes or combing their hair in preparation for the evening shift. She caught the eye of a couple of them and nodded. They turned away. Perhaps Commander Rayne had transferred another officer to free up a post for her in the city. It wasn’t the first time the idea had occurred to her.
‘This is yours.’ Commander Rayne waved her hand over a toiletry pack on top of her foot locker.
‘Thank you, ma’am.’
‘Attention, officers.’ Commander Rayne stood beside Shuqba with a hand clamped firmly on her shoulder. ‘I would like you all to meet Officer Shuqba. She’s new to City 1 and this is her first posting. I trust you’ll all help her settle in. Thank you. As you were.’
The other Neo officers turned away. Shuqba’s cheeks felt red hot.
Commander Rayne pressed her elbow. ‘It’s great to have you here. On your next leave day I’ll take you for a walk through Undercity Park and show you the holographic and robotic abominations they call wildlife here. I do miss the forest outside the academy.’ The commander left Shuqba to settle in.
The other Neos avoided Shuqba’s eyes or glanced at her sideon. New officers wouldn’t usually warrant a personal introduction from the commander. She’d already been pegged as a teacher’s pet. Well, she wasn’t there to make friends after all.
CHAPTER 4
Alida untangled Graycie’s fingers from her hair and eased a solar lamp on just a smidge. Graycie grumbled and rolled over. She’d been whining about being left on her own. Alida had worried she was never going to zonk out. Poor Graycie. She’d have to toughen up. Alida slipped into some black pants and a hooded top.
Graycie’s eyes popped open. ‘No! Don’t go!’ She had that loopy-eyed mixture of terror and hysteria that clawed into Alida’s chest and made her do anything to calm her little bird down. Alida cuddled her.
‘I wanna come with you. Mum said you’re not supposed to leave me alone.’
She couldn’t leave her like this. Maybe if she asked Ganya really sweetly, Graycie could come with them.
Ganya would never go for it.
‘Hell. I wish you could come, but Ganya said no.’
It wouldn’t be right to take her anyway. Alida wanted to keep Graycie separate from this nasty new part of her life, just as Mum had kept Alida separate from it all. She rocked Graycie the way she used to when she was littler and motion and shushing could sort out everything. It was heaps harder now she was older. Her problems were a shitload more complicated than having empty guts or being growled at by a mutt she wanted to pat.
Graycie buried her face against Alida’s chest. Snot and tears soaked into Alida’s hooded top. ‘My friend Jenny said troll monsters steal littlies out of their beds at night. What if a troll monster comes?’
‘Come on, Gray. I’ve told you before Jenny gabs on about messed-up rubbish. Monsters aren’t real.’
Graycie wouldn’t be cheered. She wailed, increasing in pitch with every second. Maybe Alida should stay. She rolled her eyes. She couldn’t. They needed the dosh. Graycie would crack the sads even more when they had zero grub and zero medicine for all her scrapes and infections.
Alida tried the stern tone Mum had sometimes used. ‘Come on, little bird. There’s shit-all I can do. I have to go and you have to get used to it.’
Graycie cried even louder. It had never worked for Mum either. Alida wracked her brain for a way to quiet Graycie. She couldn’t take her to the creche after-hours and she had no clue where Zave was. If she didn’t split soon she’d be late, and while she wished she could hide and not do this gig at all, she had already accepted the dosh and used some of it to buy grub and a new SunSuit for Graycie.
‘What if we go and get ourselves some sweets tomorrow? Maybe even some chocolate.’
Graycie’s tears evaporated like water spilt on hot dust. ‘Chocolate?’
It all came back to Alida: bribery had worked well for Mum. ‘Yep. If I go and do this thing we’ll have enough dosh for a bit of chocolate.’ Alida tipped Graycie out of her lap. ‘I’ll only be gone for an hour or two. I have to do this so we can keep our home and have yummy things to eat. You have to be brave for me. You got it?’
Graycie pouted and nodded slightly. Alida planted a kiss on her forehead and lay her down in bed. ‘Quiet as a well-oiled android, okay?’
Graycie turned from Alida and rubbed her cheek along the chewed-up edge of her blanket. ‘What about the troll monsters?’ she whispered.
‘Even if they were real they couldn’t get in here because Mum put a special spell on our shack to keep us safe.’
Graycie narrowed her eyes like she was deciding whether to buy it or not.
‘Just think about what kinda chocolate you wanna get tomorrow. Okay?’
Graycie sighed. Alida lifted her hood and stepped out of the shack. She kept to the shado
ws, head down, past the dark shapes sitting around fires and lamps. It would be best if nobody knew Graycie was alone.
Alida clocked Ganya’s car as she traipsed towards the meeting point. Alida hugged herself to still her shaking.
Ganya touched her shoulder gently. ‘I know this is hectic. I’ll look after you.’
‘I’ll be okay,’ Alida lied. ‘I’m not fussed.’
‘Have you done anything like this before?’
Alida bit the inside of her cheek. ‘You know I haven’t.’ Had Ganya forgotten who she was talking to?
‘No, I mean …’ Ganya rolled her eyes. ‘Are you a virgin?’
‘Ah.’ Heat rushed up Alida’s neck. ‘No, no. I’ve had bedfriends.’ The thought of doing it with strangers felt icky, but Mum had done it. Heaps of times.
‘Good, good. I’m not sure it makes it any easier, but the clients like to know.’
‘Right.’ Alida wanted Ganya to stop gabbing about it. She felt sick. If she couldn’t even handle talking about it, how would she handle doing it? Alida changed the subject. ‘So how do we get into plastic-land?’
Androids patrolled the city wall nearby. Floodlights were angled on no-man’s-land.
‘Get in.’ Ganya tilted her head at the car.
Alida slid into the passenger seat.
‘The route changes depending on LeaderCorp security and who we can bribe. We’ve had luck with truckies in the past, but our contact’s gone dark.’ Ganya wove the car through the settlements towards the inner burbs. Startled Demis shielded their eyes from the beam of the headlights. ‘Unfortunately for us, that means we have to find a different route and this time it’s through a tunnel.’
Alida’s nerves leapt to a whole new level. LeaderCorp had done their best to plug up the remains of an old underground rail network that crisscrossed beneath plastic-land, but the tunnel trolls had reopened them for smuggling. The trolls were another level of nasty. All Demi littlies were fed the terror of tunnel trolls along with their baby mylk.
The Shining Wall Page 2