‘No.’ Ferrassie bit her lip. Could she trust him? She had nowhere to go and she didn’t seem to have any other allies. Littlebrains always wanted something though. They were the most selfish species on earth.
‘I’m en route to City 1. Where are you from?’
Ferrassie sighed. ‘City 1.’ Suddenly nothing seemed more appealing than her own bed in the workers’ barracks.
‘I can take you. I’m not trying to trick you. I can show you my ID and work order.’ The driver pulled an OmniScreen out of his pocket and pulled up the details, with no idea Ferrassie couldn’t read. ‘My name’s Lars.’
Ferrassie checked out the dark road and looked back to the unwelcoming light of the refuelling station. What other choice did she have?
‘Why would you help me?’ If she understood what was in it for him, she’d feel safer taking up his offer.
Lars frowned and pushed his blue-black fringe out of his eyes. ‘You need a reason to trust me?’
Ferrassie nodded.
‘I understand.’ He pinched his lower lip between his thumb and forefinger. ‘I don’t know what to tell you. I only want to help. I’d like to think someone would help me if I was in need. The whole karma thing.’
She didn’t know what the whole karma thing meant. Still, he seemed sincere, and there was something kind about his blue eyes. On the other hand, she’d already proved that when it came to judging character she couldn’t tell her arse from her elbow.
‘How about I let you hold the gun?’ He held the handgun out to her, grip first.
She took it. It was the best she was going to get.
While Lars refuelled, Ferrassie waited in the truck, the weapon cradled in her lap. She wouldn’t need it to overpower a puny little-brain like him, but it made her feel safer that any power he had access to was in her hands. He brought back a soy mince pie and a nutrient water and handed them to her.
‘You looked hungry.’
Ferrassie held the warm pie in her hands. ‘Ta.’
They drove along in silence for a while. The stars were much brighter without the corruption of the city lights. She gulped the water. She hadn’t realised how thirsty she was.
Lars cleared his throat. ‘Do you mind me asking how you got out here?’
The story tumbled out of her.
Lars shook his head. ‘You were wise to run. Odds are they were organ harvesters.’
‘What about these free-Neos everyone keeps yakking about?’
‘There are rumours,’ Lars said. ‘I’ve done some work with Neo rights groups myself and everyone is very hush-hush on the subject. I do believe they exist out there somewhere.’
‘Do you think Ferdinand and Peony could really be with something like that?’
‘I doubt it.’ Lars bit his bottom lip. ‘They wouldn’t go around lying to unsuspecting Neos to get them out there. I don’t think that’s how they operate.’
Ferrassie nodded. That made sense.
‘So tell me about yourself, Ferrassie.’
The road slid quietly beneath the truck tyres. They could only see as far as the headlights reached.
‘I was cloned, I grew up in the cloning orphanage and I was sent to City 1 to work in the cricket factory. Not much else to it.’
‘I’m sure you’re far more interesting than that.’
Ferrassie shrugged. She could add that she loved Keeping Up with the Cavemen and singing and lemon was her favourite flavour of nutrient water. Except little-brains were never interested in seeing Neos as real people.
‘What about you?’
‘I’d rather talk about you, but fair enough. My friends often tell me I’m too nosy. Let’s see. I’m twenty. Born in City 1. I aspired to be a game designer, but that’s a very competitive profession. My parents sponsored the download of an exorbitantly priced and extremely boring corporate education package and then insisted I find suitable and extremely boring employment. So I flew the coop, found a cheap and cheerful apartment in the warehouse district and started driving trucks. And here I am. An aimless disappointment.’ Lars flashed a grin at her. ‘I’m also a paleoarchaeology enthusiast, particularly when it comes to Neandertals.’
Ferrassie smiled. ‘You couldn’t possibly know more about the Neandertals than I do.’
They spent the rest of the trip discussing the extinct humans. Lars didn’t make blank IntelliEnhance mug even once. He focused on her and the road. They were debating the evidence for Neandertal knowledge of medicinal plants when the green glow of the city appeared, surrounded by the orange dashes of fires and lamps in the Demi-slums.
Ferrassie’s chest tightened. Ferdinand had done something with her clone number. Would she be allowed into the city or would they send her back to him? Did he own her now?
‘I’ve enjoyed our conversation, Ferrassie. You’re more interesting than a lot of Sapiens I’ve met.’ Lars cleared his throat and glanced at her before returning his focus to the road. ‘I’d like to keep in touch. Would that be all right with you?’
Ferrassie blinked. ‘Seriously?’
‘Absolutely. I don’t joke about this sort of thing.’
A blush crept up Ferrassie’s neck. ‘I’d like that.’
Lars stopped the truck by a square building made of grey bricks, right where the abandoned suburbs met the Demi-slums.
‘What’s going on?’ Ferrassie’s fingers closed over the cool metal of the handgun.
‘Making a small pick-up. Nothing to worry about.’ He tapped the dash and the rear doors of the truck hissed open. Soft shuffling and stomping noises came from the cargo trailer and then they heard the slap of a hand on the wall behind the cab.
‘All right. Ready to go.’ Lars tapped the dash again. The rear doors of the truck thumped closed and the truck accelerated towards the wall. ‘Just a way I have of making a bit on the side to help pay back my parents for my useless education.’
Lars glanced over at her. ‘We’ll need to stow the firearm before entering the city. Do you mind putting it in the compartment in front of you?’
Ferrassie gripped the gun tightly.
‘I haven’t got anything else I can offer you. You just have to trust me.’
She leaned forward and stowed the gun. Maybe not all little-brains were after something. And she didn’t know how to use it anyway.
CHAPTER 17
An android voice came through the speaker in Shuqba’s booth: ‘Truck approaching. City 1 authority verified. Please open gate.’
While the LeaderCorp Hubs were closed Shuqba had been assigned shifts on a gate. Her night so far had involved watching trucks come in and out of the city while androids on the battlements patrolled for incursions into no-man’s-land. Although it was good to work a safe, boring shift, she looked forward to resuming service in the Demi-Settlements. Out there she’d felt alive in a way she hadn’t since she and Karain were split apart.
The gate screeched open before Shuqba had a chance to touch the activation panel. Across the road her counterpart was already on his feet, ready to inspect the incoming truck and its occupants. She still wasn’t very popular with the other Security Force Neos. Her partner hadn’t let her contribute all shift, jumping up before her and screening all the drivers himself. Either he wanted to prove he was better at the job than she was, or he wanted to be able to complain she was incompetent and request not to be partnered with her again. Whatever his motivations, she’d had enough. She planned on being in the city for a long time and that would require learning all aspects of an SFO’s responsibilities.
‘I’ve got this.’ Shuqba strode up to the truck, narrowly beating the other Neo officer. He glowered and took a step back, watching Shuqba closely.
‘Step out of the truck, please,’ she instructed the driver. The other officer would only ever scan the driver’s retina through the window. Shuqba would show him how a properly trained SFO behaved.
The driver – a male, youngish and of typical Citizen build with no distinguishing modifications –
opened the door and climbed down. Someone sat in shadow in the passenger seat.
‘Can you tell your passenger to step out too, please?’
The driver turned and said something to the other individual in the truck and the passenger door opened. Shuqba scanned the driver’s retina and inspected his details on her OmniScreen.
‘Thank you, Lars Vandershell. Everything seems to be in order. However, you have no current authority to carry passengers.’
Shuqba looked up from her OmniScreen. A female Neo with short red hair sticking up all over the place stood in front of her. Shuqba vaguely remembered seeing her around the workers’ barracks. The other officer raised his eyebrows and folded his arms over his chest.
‘Can you turn around so I can scan your tattoo, please?’
The blood drained from the Neo’s face. ‘I know I’m not supposed to be out here. I got tricked.’ She turned the back of her neck towards Shuqba and tilted her head forward so her clone tattoo was easily accessible. The bottom of the tattoo had a fresh cut along it. Streaks of dried blood flaked away from the skin beneath.
‘He told me he’d transferred my work assignment. He might’ve been lying.’
‘Did someone cut your tattoo?’ Tampering with a clone tattoo was a serious offence. Shuqba’s evening had just got interesting.
‘Yes. I think they might’ve been organ harvesters.’
Shuqba scanned the tattoo and a big red alert flashed on the OmniScreen. The Neo had been registered as AWOL, and her clone number had been reported as hacked to allow exit from the city.
‘You’ve been flagged by Neo Control.’
The Neo burst into tears.
Protocol in this sort of situation was to thoroughly search the rest of the truck and to send the Neo to the workers’ barracks, where she would be confined until a position became available at the medical research facility.
‘I’ll check the cargo.’ The other officer took off towards the rear of the truck, perhaps wanting his share of recognition for the catch.
‘What’s your name?’ Shuqba put a hand on the Neo’s shoulder and steered her towards the guard booth.
‘Ferrassie.’
The driver of the truck stood by the cab, biting his lip.
‘Please wait here, sir, while we search your truck and send a report to your employer.’
‘I’m so sorry, Lars. I didn’t mean to drop you in it,’ Ferrassie said over her shoulder.
‘Never fear. We’ll sort it all out,’ he called after her.
The guard booth was only big enough for one chair, a console and a fixed OmniScreen. Shuqba gave Ferrassie the chair and leaned against a wall. She kept her posture loose and informal, hoping to put the Neo at ease.
‘Now please tell me the whole story. I can’t guarantee it will change the outcome of your case, however, we’re required to put these things down as a matter of record.’ Shuqba turned on the OmniScreen recorder.
Ferrassie gripped the edge of the chair tightly. The bright lights in the booth highlighted her puffy eyes as she recounted her ordeal.
‘That must’ve been terrible,’ Shuqba said.
She was appalled by Ferrassie’s story of possible organ harvesters preying on Neos and taking them to an isolated location in the wilds. LeaderCorp needed to be informed. Even if they didn’t care about the individual Neos, the clones were their property. They wouldn’t want anyone else profiting off their creations.
‘As soon as I scanned your tattoo an alert went through to Neo Control. They’ll handle your case from here, but I’ll refer this to my superior and see what I can do for you.’ Ferrassie didn’t deserve to be sent to medical research. She was a victim.
The other Neo officer had been a while in the rear of the truck. Shuqba flicked on the thermo-scanning camera attached to the guard booth. On the OmniScreen three orange thermal signatures blared against the cold metal black of the cargo trailer. Stowaways.
‘What happens now?’ Ferrassie said.
Shuqba turned her attention back to the Neo. ‘Make your way directly to the workers’ barracks. A Neo Control Officer will likely come to see you in the morning.’
Shuqba rubbed Ferrassie’s shoulder and helped her out of the booth. All thermal traces in the cargo trailer had vanished and the Neo officer was walking towards the driver.
‘All in order in the back,’ he shouted out to Shuqba. ‘You can be on your way,’ he said to the driver.
‘Hold it right there.’ The officer must have thought she was a simpleton and had no idea how to use a thermal scanner. ‘Don’t you go anywhere,’ she said to the driver.
Shuqba walked around and opened the rear of the truck. She shone her torch over crates of apples stamped with the logo of one of the ocean farms. Right up the back, where she had seen the orange signatures, were two large boxes.
The other officer stuck his head into the cargo trailer. ‘Hey. I’ve checked in here.’
Shuqba ignored him. He hadn’t spoken to her all night; she wasn’t about to be polite to him now. Besides, he was obviously lying to her. The tape on top of one of the boxes was loose. She pulled it open and shone her torch down on a silvery thermosheet, the kind that would mask body heat. She pulled the sheet off and revealed a face she recognised. It was the female from the Demi-Settlements. The one who’d been kind to her. Alida. Alida being smuggled into the city.
The other box burst open and a Sapien with tattoos all over her shaved scalp stood up. ‘Hey, we paid the other guard already. He can share the credits with you. There’s plenty for both of you.’ She put her fists on her hips, angry like someone who didn’t receive what they’d ordered at a nano-printing shop, not guilty like someone trying to sneak into a LeaderCorp city.
The other Neo guard came up behind them. Shuqba couldn’t see his face, only a silhouette against the light coming through the open trailer doors. ‘You want a cut? I’ll give you a cut.’ He sounded nervous. ‘Don’t tell Commander Rayne.’
‘You let unauthorised people in? This is exactly what we’re here to prevent.’
‘It’s harmless really. I gave them a disease screen. There’s no danger. They go in, they see a client and then they bug out. The Sapiens all know about it. They want us to turn a blind eye.’
It all clicked into place. Alida was a sex worker. Sapien sex work, while not illegal, is unheard of in LeaderCorp cities. LeaderCorp’s official line was that when Citizens were well housed and well fed, crime and desperate acts like sex work vanished on their own. There were still sexbots for anyone who had an urge that couldn’t be fulfilled, but no Sapien had to sell their body or steal from anyone else in order to feed themselves. Except Shuqba now realised those things hadn’t vanished – they’d only been relocated to the Demi-Settlements.
‘Please,’ Alida said, her voice smaller and less confident than the voice Shuqba had heard at the hub. ‘My little sis needs food. The hubs are shuttered and we have zero grub. I have to do this gig.’
Protocol would be to return them to the Demi-Settlements and report the driver. Shuqba didn’t want any of the bribe credits and she didn’t want Alida to sell herself. Still, the girl had to make a living somehow. Shuqba had always followed the rules to a tee, but it was becoming clear that the Sapiens didn’t want you to follow the rules. Not all the time.
‘The client will arc up if you stop us. He’s an important LeaderCorp official,’ the tattooed Sapien said.
Shuqba sighed. There was no point trying to do things properly.
‘I didn’t see a thing.’ She shoved past the other officer and jumped down from the cargo trailer.
When it came to ethical behaviour, all they’d taught at the academy was that Sapien officers and LeaderCorp officials were unquestionably in the right.
CHAPTER 18
First thing in the morning, Shuqba was summoned to Commander Rayne’s office. She rubbed her dry eyes and dressed hurriedly. Her shift had ended at midnight and when she’d finally got to bed she couldn’t sleep,
feeling complicit in Alida’s prostitution.
It was another relentlessly hot, dry day in the city. She took a deep breath before entering the headquarters building, her heart galloping. Being summoned by the commander wasn’t unusual; still, she worried she was about to be disciplined for breaching protocol. Again.
‘Proceed to the elevator in front of you and you will be transported to Commander Rayne’s floor,’ BIS instructed.
The eyes of all the Neo and Sapien SFOs in the foyer were on Shuqba. No they weren’t. She was being paranoid. None of them cared what she had done. Other SFOs must have dealt with similar conflicts. If only she had a more experienced officer she could trust for counsel. In all probability they would tell her to shut up, let the Citizens and LeaderCorp do whatever they wanted and pocket the bribes. LeaderCorp made the rules, so they didn’t have to follow them. Shuqba groaned – upholding LeaderCorp’s values was the basis of her identity. She was lost without the certainty her actions were just and correct. She stepped into the mirror-lined elevator and adjusted her uniform.
The lift opened and BIS directed her to the commander’s office. Shuqba knocked lightly on the door.
‘Come in.’
Commander Rayne was jogging on a treadmill in the middle of an unadorned room. Sunlight streamed in through a window and reflected off all the white surfaces.
‘Good morning, Shuqba. Please have a seat.’ The commander tilted her head towards a three-seater couch in the corner and stepped off the treadmill, dabbing the imperceptible sweat from her forehead with a towel. ‘Running helps boost my exercise nanites.’
The commander touched the window with her forefinger and the glass darkened. The room dimmed and shadows lengthened. She took a seat at the opposite end of the couch from Shuqba. Their knees angled towards each other, nearly touching.
‘How was your first shift on the wall?’
‘Good, thank you. I look forward to serving in every capacity required in City 1.’
‘I’m glad. You seem to be settling in after the, ah … hiccup … on your first shift.’ The commander raised her eyebrows.
‘Yes, ma’am.’
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