DoriaN A

by Jon Jacks

  ‘Cally? You know about her?’

  He seemed every bit as shocked as I was that we both knew about Cally.

  ‘I didn’t know her name. Didn’t know much about her at all, apart from that you have a sister. What Dorian knows, I know, of course.’

  ‘Dorian knew of her? But why didn’t he tell me? How did he know? No one knew Cally existed; her mum – my mum – hid her from the authorities.’

  ‘Dorian wasn’t ever going to marry anyone without running a full check on them, including using his own resources. He’d guessed you were adopted; you’d be surprised how many are. Most people are worried their own, natural children will be too weak to survive the early years. Most adopt.’

  ‘He knew but didn’t say! You didn’t tell me either, until just now!’

   ‘In my defence and his, he didn’t want to risk hurting you. It’s a shock for anyone to hear they’ve been adopted; especially when it’s a forcible adoption, and siblings are involved.’

  ‘So…so why tell me now.’

  He shrugged.

  ‘I felt…felt too many things were being hidden from you. Such as Dorian’s plans for me.’

  ‘Don’t worry; I won’t let it happen to you like that?’

  He resignedly stroked the slash across his check.

  ‘I’m not sure there’s anything you can do to stop it Angeic; not now it’s happening this way.’

  ‘There must be some way it can be stopped; Dorian will be able to work out some way of stopping it happening.’

  Dean gave me another wry smile. I know what that smile meant; why would Dorian want to stop it happening?

   How did you find out about Cally?’ Dean asked kindly. ‘Was it when you were outside the Oasis?’

  I nodded.

  ‘She might have been killed,’ I said, ‘by the Tigerdroids. But I don’t think she was.’

  ‘We could send out a message; invite her here.’

  I laughed bitterly.

  ‘Cally wouldn’t come here, unless it was as the leader of some conquering horde. She hates how the Oases treat the outside world – and she’s right about that too.’

  ‘We could get you outside for a while again; using a ScoutBot.’

  ‘ScoutBot?’

  I wasn’t surprised that Dean knew of an invention I’d never heard of. Some of Dorian’s developments were so secret even I wasn’t allowed to know anything about them.

  ‘It’s like a small, enclosed self-balancing motorbike that takes you wherever you want to be once you plug in the coordinates.’

  ‘And you’d know how to work it; this ScoutBot.’

  ‘As long as Dorian hasn’t changed anything since he created me, sure. And I can download the coordinates from whatever I can find out about the Tigerdroid rescue mission.’

  ‘And the tracking chip; how do I get rid of that?’

  I pulled back my sleeve, revealing my bared upper arm.

  ‘Easy; we don’t remove, we just ensure it forwards the wrong coordinates using one of Dorian’s ChipAway gizmos.’

  Great; another invention I wasn’t aware of.

  ‘This could get you into real trouble Dean; why are you doing all this for me?’

  ‘Didn’t I say earlier that I was created knowing just about everything Dorian already knew? That means I know you as if I’ve known you for as long as he has.’

  That wry smile again.

  ‘You could say I was literally born to love you.’

   

   

  *

 

  Chapter 18

   

  Getting past the gates into the outside world wasn’t the problem I thought it might have been.

  I thought Dorian might have put out a warning that I wasn’t to be allowed out.

  Thankfully, of course, as ‘Dorian’ was actually there with me when I applied to go out, the guards just spent all their time gawping at the ScoutBot.

  I had to admit, I thought it was a beautiful piece of machinery too.

  Once I was out on the road, it was so incredibly smooth I could have been fooled into thinking I was flying across the tarmac. The seat was as comfortable as one you’d find in a limousine, the sealed compartment remarkably reassuring.

  It was armed to the teeth, too, according to Dean. He’d given me a quick course in how to operate it, saying he wouldn’t dream of letting me out if he hadn’t had complete confidence in the ScoutBot to make sure I came back safely.

  He wanted to come with me, but I’d told him Dorian would notice that two of us had gone missing.

  I was hoping I’d be gone and back so quickly it would just appear to Dorian that I’d had a long day lunching and shopping.

  The ScoutBot followed the coordinates Dean had fed into it. It wasn’t long before I began to recognise the buildings Cally had forced Claude to drive by on our way to the underground car park.

  I switched off the automatic drive and went into manual.

  I drove down the ramp into the underground car park, looking for a particularly small and dark alcove. Parking the ScoutBot in the alcove, I used the remote control wristband to place the ScoutBot in camouflage mode.

  Instantly, the ScoutBot appeared to disappear. Small cameras recorded the wall beyond, transmitting the images through material screens on the ScoutBot’s surface and giving the impression that you were looking right through it.

  I was dressed more in keeping with what I’d seen in the shanty town the last time I was here. My hair was tied up and powdered with a light film of dust. I’d scrubbed off all my makeup.

  I looked a mess.

  Dean had said I looked beautiful.

  ‘Flatterer!’ I’d chuckled.

  ‘Stay where you are!’

  I whirled around, wondering who had spotted me.

  It was a PoliceBot – and it was aiming its un-holstered gun directly at me.

   

   

  *

   

   

   ‘You’re under arrest!’

  The PoliceBot drew closer, raising its other arm in readiness to fire and catch me in its net if I were foolish enough to try and run.

  ‘You have no permission to be here!’

  Could this be the same PoliceBot that Cally had managed to re-programme?

  Or was it just a regular PoliceBot, on patrol?

  Did it make any difference either way?

  What had Cally shouted at the reprogrammed Bot? Lanky something or other?

   ‘It’s all right lanky,’ I said as confidently as I could manage. ‘It’s me.’

  The PoliceBot stopped making its way towards me. It completely halted, its head swivelling as if it were attempting to process this new information in line with what he was seeing before him.

  ‘It’s me – Cally,’ I added, hoping I now looked enough like my sister to at least confuse it.

  The raised arm dropped down by its side. The gun slipped back into the holster.

  ‘Lanky, make sure no one comes here,’ I said, indicating the apparently empty alcove.

  The PoliceBot gave me a quick nod to show that it had understood my command. With an almost inaudible whirring, it took up position in the area surrounding the alcove.

  With a smile, I turned and began to move off; then whirled back to face Lanky once more, an idea having struck me.

  ‘Lanky, where did you last see Kerrsly?’

  ‘Coordinates xv345, ps876,’ came the mechanical response. ‘Home Coordinates xz675, pj476.’

  It would have been both meaningless and useless to me if I hadn’t had the ScoutBot’s wristband to upload the coordinates into.

  The ScoutBot instantly transformed the information into a small map that came up on the wristband’s miniature screen.

  I couldn’t be sure that Kerrsly was at home, of course.

  But it was at least something to go on.

   

   

  *

   

&n
bsp;  

  No one paid me any attention as I made my way between the poorly constructed hovels of the shanty town.

  Either I now blended in or people were just too busy to notice me.

  I passed through what had obviously been the area damaged by the Tigerdroid attack. Walls and even the ground still bore the scorch marks of the laser blasts. Most of the homes appeared to have been hurriedly repaired however.

  I considered searching for what had been mum and Cally’s home.

  No; Cally wouldn’t be stupid enough to move back in. Not now that the Tigerdroids knew she had been based there before.

  I was surprised that Kerrsly’s home was in the shanty town. Last time we’d met, hadn’t she had an apartment?

  She’d said she would have to move out since losing her job; but would she have had to move so quickly?

  Perhaps, yes, she had.

  The wristband coordinates led me to an evil-smelling hovel surrounded by rubbish, as if it had been neglected for a long time.

  Surely Kerrsly and her family hadn’t been forced to move into here?

  I approached the door of corrugated iron, uncertain if I should knock or call out.

  ‘Kerrsly? Is Kerrsly there please?’ I cried out.

  The door sharply swung open.

  ‘You! Haven’t you done enough damage?’

  It was Kerrsly. But she wasn’t exactly glad to see me.

   

   

  *

 

  Chapter 19

   

  ‘You’re endangering us just being here,’ Kerrsly snapped even as she invited me to sit down on a contraption of tyres and old cloth. ‘You brought down that attack on us last time you were here.’

  At least she hadn’t turned me away. She sent one of her younger brothers off to inform Cally that I was here.

  ‘She’ll want to know. She’s been worried about you for some weird reason; as if you’ve got any problems!’

  ‘My problem is that I thought Cally might be dead!’ I retorted.

  I was going to add that I knew for sure that my mum had been killed. I’d seen that happen right in front of my eyes.

  But I didn’t know how much Cally had told Kerrsly about our real relationship. Didn’t know how much Cally wanted anyone to know about it.

  ‘Seems you two got pretty close in the short time we were holding you. What’s it called; Stockholm syndrome? Can’t see why myself, seeing as how it’s your fault her mum died!’

  So, Cally hadn’t told Kerrsly about our relationship. It’s a good job I hadn’t mentioned it.

  ‘It was the Tigerdroids, not me! And they won’t be able to find me this time; I’ve cancelled out the tracking chip.’

  I bared my arm, turning it to show the white mark beneath the skin when you pressed on it.

  ‘Hah, an implanted tracking chip! We should have guessed little miss high and mighty would be better protected that we’d imagined. So you knew all along the Tigerdroids would be along to rescue you!’

  ‘No, I didn’t! I didn’t even know I had one implanted!’

  She observed me scornfully, like she didn’t believe me.

  ‘If you get Cally killed – you’ll have me to answer to!’ she snarled.

  I had to calm this conversation down before Kerrsly flung herself at me. She was simmering with anger.

  ‘What happened to Cally in the attack?’ I asked. ‘I saw her heading down a small alley, with the Tigerdroids firing at her.’

  I couldn’t say, of course, that I knew the lasers wouldn’t kill her because we shared the same DNA.

  ‘Cally’s clever; brightest girl – brightest person – I know. Somehow, those idiot Tigerdroids must’ve missed, even though they had an easy target. Cally said she couldn’t count on her luck lasting, so she threw herself down; pretending she’d been hit.’

  ‘What if the Tigerdroids had fired again? Or checked on her.’

  ‘The alley was too narrow for them to get down to check. She reckoned that they wouldn’t bother firing again; there were so many flashes going on down there as she ran away, they couldn’t imagine they’d missed.

  Mainly, of course, because they hadn’t missed; they’d probably struck her a number of times.

  ‘Angeic!’

  Cally burst in through the door.

  She flew herself at me, hugging me close.

  I hugged her back.

  It was so so good to hold someone who, I now knew, was my sister. A part of my family.

  The only remaining part of my family.

  Over Cally’s shoulder, Kerrsly burned with resentment.

   

   

  *

   

   

  ‘What are you doing here?’ Drawing apart from me, Cally glared reproachfully. ‘It’s dangerous!’

  What was I doing here?

  ‘I had to see you again! To make sure you were safe!’

  ‘Safe?’ Cally laughed brusquely, theatrically, like she was auditioning for the part of a pirate captain in a play. ‘That lover boy of yours needs to take another look at his inventions! Their aim’s terrible!’

  The theatricals were for Kerrsly, I realised.

  Cally’s eyes had locked on mine, like she was trying to draw the truth out of me; had she guessed right that she had been saved because of our shared DNA?

  ‘I’ll let him know your suggestion next time I see him,’ I chuckled.

  I stopped laughing. I drew close to her again, tenderly taking her hands in mine.

  ‘I’m…I’m sorry Cally; about…about…’

  ‘About mum?’

  I nodded, feeling the tears welling up.

  ‘She died, died protecting me. I…I wish I’d known her better. It’s…it’s…’

  I broke down, weeping.

  Cally held me close.

  She wasn’t crying.

  ‘Mum wouldn’t have wanted it any other way, Angeic! Her life for yours; that was no contest for her!’

  It was good to let it all out at last; to have someone holding me who understood.

  I’d wept when I’d lost my other mum, my other dad.

  But there hadn’t been anyone there for me – not really there for me.

  Someone who cared for them and suffered from their loss as much as I did.

  Now, at last, I had someone I had a connection with, someone who could feel and share what I suffered.

  A disgusted Kerrsly stormed out of the door.

   

   

  *

   

   

  Cally was proud of the team she’d gathered around her.

  A mix of young men and women, they were incredibly physically fit and agile.

  They ran across rooftops as if they had no fear of heights or death. They leapt, they somersaulted, they rolled.

  Each seemed to have a preferred weapon they were particularly skilled at, whether it was a bow and arrow, knife or the latest gun they had somehow managed to acquire from the regular forces.

  They wouldn’t stand a chance against a troop of Dorian’s Tigerdroids.

  ‘I know; I know what you’re thinking,’ Cally said, somehow observing my distress through my forced smile.

  ‘There are more of them,’ she said hopefully. ‘Teams like this all outside the Oases, training secretly.’

  ‘But–’

  ‘I know, I know. But Dorian can turn out his Tigerdroids like other people grow potatoes. But what else can we do Angeic? We can’t go on living like we do; better to die fighting, you ask me.’

  ‘Like mum, you mean?’

  ‘Like mum!’ she said proudly. ‘And dad; dad would have fought too!’

  ‘What were you hoping to do – the last time you held me, what were you hoping I could do to help?’

  She shrugged.

  ‘I’m not sure; mum wasn’t sure. It was just that, I suppose, we, well, sort of hoped that if we could show you that you had a connection wi
th all this–’ with a wave of an arm she indicated the surrounding squalor – ‘you might be able to persuade Dorian to take our side; not in a war, but in any political debates.’

  ‘Hah, I’m afraid you don’t know Dorian. He loves his inventions, his machines; and the people who buy them are the people who run and live in the Oases.’

  She shrugged again. A resigned shrug.

  ‘Well, truth is, we’d figured that might be the case. But we – me and mum – well, we also wanted to meet you; to let you know that we were here. And mum at least had always been concerned for your safety, your wellbeing.’

  ‘Mum? And not you, then?’

  That shrug again. Proud this time.

  ‘I wasn’t sure you were my sister, remember? I couldn’t see the connection then – between me, and what I saw of you on screen, in all those fancy dresses, at all those fancy dos.’

  Who had turned out best? Me or Cally?

  Cally, I reckoned.

  ‘I could go back, try and persuade him. Dorian, I mean. It’s suicide to take on the–’

  ‘Tigerdroids! The Tigerdroids are attacking!’

   

   

  *

 

  Chapter 20

   

  The warning cry rang out.

  Too late.

  The Tigerdroids moved swiftly, professionally.

  The fleet of Hawkdroids were hovering high above, almost disappearing in the glare of the sun when you gazed skywards.

  The Tigerdroids were abseiling down ropes, ropes that, despite being incredibly long, stopped way short of the hovel rooftops.

  The Tigerdroids simply let go of the ropes, dropping down onto the rooftops. They curled into balls and went into deftly controlled rolls to absorb most of the colossal impact of the fall. Some struck the weak roofs so hard they simply crashed through into the house below.

  They rose to their feet already firing at anyone who appeared armed or a threat. (Not that anyone here was a real threat to a Tigerdroid troop.) They sprang from roof to roof, or rushed through the alleyways.

  Everywhere I looked, Cally’s friends were fighting back bravely but foolishly. I saw a few simply vanish in a pink cloud of vaporised flesh and blood as a laser bolt hit them full on.

  Even if they tried to run, whether to flee because they realised it was hopeless or to take up better defensive positions, they would be brought down in mid somersault or leap.

  All of their exercising and training counted for nothing against the far better armed and stronger Tigerdroids.

  I realised I had to bring a swift end to all this killing and butchery by surrendering myself to my ‘rescue team’.

  ‘Stop, stop!’

  I shouted a loud as I could, waving my arm to bring attention to myself as I rose up from behind a pile of rubbish bins. I’d instinctively ducked behind them when the attack had started.