by John McCrae
It all added up to making the Ambassadors as ideal a partner-group as we could hope for. The only sticking point was that their leader was a Thinker, and Tattletale almost automatically disliked him. It would take a great deal more convincing to get her to play along.
The Teeth had tried to take a bite out of Parian’s territory. They had a history in the bay, and like the Ambassadors they had been nearly wiped out, only it was nearly a decade ago. They’d settled elsewhere while they bounced back, with a turnover rate high enough that none of the original members persisted. There was only the name, and an ethos of violence, anarchy, and profit at any cost, not unlike the ABB. Parian seemed to be making a point of not asking for our help, and I wasn’t intending to offer it until she did.
I had others to take care of, and I could only trust that she knew what she was doing.
“Skitter,” Charlotte said, as I returned downstairs. I could see the other girl, plump, with a shorter haircut that only seemed to accentuate the roundness of her face. She seemed more scared of me than the kids were.
Forrest, by contrast, was almost bemused. He leaned over the kitchen counter. He had a barrel chest, a burly build, a natural glower, a thick black beard and coarse, unkempt hair. He might have looked savage if it weren’t for the tight-fitting striped polo shirt and the nerdish thick-framed glasses. It hadn’t been that long ago that he’d helped sway the outcome of my fight against Mannequin, putting his life on the line to help take down a monster that even some top-tier capes had been scared of.
I’d asked Charlotte to find someone who could serve as my second in command. I considered it serendipitous that she’d nominated him.
“Any urgent issues?” I asked. She shook her head. I let myself relax a touch and gestured toward the new girl, “Who’s this?”
Charlotte looked guilty. “She’s an extra set of hands. Don’t worry. Forrest and I blindfolded her while bringing her here. I didn’t think I’d be able to manage looking after the kids all by myself, and I was ok with paying her.”
“I can cover that cost,” I said. “No trouble on that front? Taking care of the kids?”
“We’re just about ready to go,” she said. “Kids are washed, fed and clothed, lunches nearly finished. They have their bags…”
“Good,” I said, “The school bus is arriving soon. Can you spare a minute to fill me in?”
“I can’t even remember all of the stuff that’s been going on. I’m kind of frazzled.”
I felt a pang of sympathy. This was the cost of me staying with my dad. “The pertinent points only, then. Who or what is the ‘Eric’?”
“Forrest can explain. Some thugs were causing trouble for some people living further north. Your guys caught them.”
“The mess in the alley?”
“The garbage trucks couldn’t get down the road. Shale avenue is still in rough shape, and nobody told the residents they shouldn’t put their trash on the sidewalk there. It’s piled up and it’s hot, so it’s smelling.”
“I’ll resolve it.” Wasn’t so long ago this whole city stank, and people weren’t complaining this much then. “The lunch supplies?”
“One of the pallets of vegetables you ordered was in bad shape. Past ripe. I’d planned to have something done last night that Forrest could warm up for people’s lunches today, but I couldn’t work with what I had, and I thought you’d want something better than a thin soup. Then I was occupied looking after the kids and forgot. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” I said. “You’ve done an excellent job. Better than I could have hoped. I’ll figure something out for lunch. Maybe reach out to a local business. What’s a food most people would enjoy, which we haven’t had available for a good while?”
“Pizza!” one boy in Charlotte’s herd of children piped up.
“Pizza it is,” I said. “With luck, there’s someone trying to get set up somewhere in the north end. We can order a batch for everyone that’s working here, then another batch for tonight, for the kids? If they’re good in school and they do their homework.”
The children almost crowed, and one literally jumped with glee.
“Forrest,” I said. “Can you see them off to the bus stop? I need to have a word with Charlotte.”
Wordless, Forrest stood straight, gathered up the paper bag lunches in two hands and then approached the kids. Like magnets, two kids gravitated to his legs and clung to him, and he walked stiff-legged to the front door with them hanging on him and the rest trailing after him like my bugs trailed after me.
My bugs kicked into motion, blocking the line of sight to the door. No use giving Charlotte’s friend a view of the street outside and a clue about our location. She made a small frightened sound and backed away.
Did Charlotte honestly bring in someone who’s afraid of bugs?
I glanced at the two girls. Charlotte’s eyebrows were knitted in concern. Her friend, by contrast, looked terrified: her fingers were knotted together, her eyes wide.
“Jessie’s still wetting the bed, I see,” I noted. My bugs could feel the damp on one of the bunk beds in one of the other rooms. Something mundane, so we don’t frighten the new girl further.
Charlotte’s eyes widened. “Shit! I was so busy trying to get things organized-”
“It’s fine,” I said. “I’ll handle it.”
“You shouldn’t have to,” she said, “Fern-”
“That’s the other thing I wanted to mention. Your friend-” I glanced at the girl. She didn’t look any less spooked. Why did Charlotte bring her here if she’s going to be so afraid? “Did Tattletale vet her?”
“It was a spur of the moment thing. I know it was sorta dumb, but-”
“I don’t want to be hard on you,” I said, “But this is something I’m going to be strict about. Someone comes here, they have to be vetted first.”
“I’ll be more careful.”
“Please. And are you sure there isn’t anything I can do to thank you for your help?”
“You’re paying me more than enough.”
“Let me know if anything comes to mind. In the meantime, pizza and some candy for the kids tonight?”
“It’s tough, going back to school, trying to get back to something even resembling a normal routine. They’d appreciate it, I think.”
“Okay,” I said. “Don’t mention the candy. Let it be a surprise. I think the bus is coming, so you should head to the stop.”
“Blindfold on, Fern,” Charlotte said.
A minute later, they were gone.
I sighed and set to tidying up. Bugs carted away the unused paper bags and scraps of lettuce.
And everyone’s off to school, I thought.
I felt a pang of regret. A part of me wanted to go, to prove to myself that I’d grown past it, to have another normal thing in my life, like breakfast with my dad.
At the same time, there were so many reasons not to. My face having been exposed in a roundabout fashion, the presence of the Wards somewhere in that school, the time it took away from other things that needed doing…
Better to keep out of it.
Forrest returned. “Want to see ‘em?”
I nodded, and we ventured out into my territory.
All around us, the Boardwalk and what had been the shadier parts of the Docks were coming together. New streets, new sidewalks, new buildings. There were more people out and about than there had been just ten or fifteen minutes ago, and everyone present was getting ready to work or even starting early. Building something as a community.
Conversations died as I approached, power tools were turned off, and heads turned.
My bugs followed behind me like the trail of a fancy gown, rising from my shoulders and hair like pitch black sparks from a fire. Image. I’d done what I could to earn the loyalty of my people. I’d tried to be even-handed, tried to be generous, but image and attitude was a big part in keeping that loyalty.
I was put in mind of my dad’s thoughts on a parent’s auth
ority. Was this so different?
“The attackers were leftovers from the Chosen,” Forrest explained. “I’m not even sure they were full members.”
“Is the family okay?”
“They’re okay. Scared, they lost a few possessions, but nothing really valuable.”
“The little things matter most when you have the least,” I said.
“Profound.”
I couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or not, and I couldn’t see his face without glancing over my shoulder, so I didn’t say anything..
The cells were hidden in one building, much like my base was. A few of the O’Dalys were lingering at the front. They stood at attention as I approached. The closest thing I had to foot soldiers.
A Japanese couple stood nearby as well. The man had a bandage across his nose, blood crusted around his nostrils. Bruises stood out on both of them.
I walked past them to step inside, and looked at my prisoners. Three thugs, no younger than fifteen, nor older than twenty-five. They wore so much face paint I couldn’t make a good guess beyond that.
My soldiers and the couple had followed me inside.
“You came for revenge?” I asked.
“N-no,” the man said. “I came to ask for leniency.”
“Fuck you, faggy ass fagass!” one of the people in the cell shouted.
“For them?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“They hurt you.”
“Out of ignorance,” he said.
“You’re ignorant, assfaggot!”
“My wife and I consider ourselves good Christians,” the man said. “He would want us to show mercy, to turn the other cheek.”
“Why don’t you spread those cheeks and get fucked, faggot!?”
“Quiet,” I said. A handful of bugs flowed into the cell, the boy opened his mouth to retort and choked on a fly. To the man, I said, “You’re tying my hands here. I can’t let them leave unscathed. It would send the wrong message, and that would do everyone in this territory a disservice. You, me, them, everyone else. People need to know they’re safe, especially after everything that’s happened.”
“The police can take care of them. Call it a citizen’s arrest. We won’t mention your name.”
“And if they go free? If the police decide there’s not enough evidence, or the officers are too busy to give your case their full attention, and these three get to go on and hurt others?”
“If that’s the cost of having a system that otherwise works.”
I glanced at the three thugs, and my bugs flowed over them. Silk was threaded in strategic locations, and bugs deposited where they wouldn’t be able to reach.
“Open the cells,” I said.
I could see the fear on the faces of the couple as they backed away. Forrest pulled the switch, bidding the three iron-barred doors along the hallway to slide open.
One of the thugs glared sullenly at me, but he was smart enough to not mouth off.
“There’s a small police office nearby,” I said. “You three can head down Shale avenue, stop one block short of Lord street, and turn left. It’s a tent, and there’s two officers and a police car there. They’ll take you into custody.”
“Right. We’ll totally turn ourselves in,” a second guy said.
“Do I need to repeat the directions?”
“Nah,” the first one smiled.
“Go,” I said. My bugs cut the silk threads binding them to the bars. If they’d lunged or tried to attack us, they would have fallen short, possibly choking or tripping.
“Seriously?” Forrest asked.
“Cool shit,” the lead thug commented. He gave Forrest the finger as he headed to the door. Forrest moved as if he was going to hit the punk, and the thug flinched, but there was no follow through.
They bolted the second they were out of sight of the O’Dalys who were stationed at the front of my miniature jail.
I commanded the bugs I’d planted on the three thugs to bite, then gestured for the contingent of people around me to follow me.
All three boys were still lying on the ground, writhing, when we arrived. One was screaming as though he’d been jabbed with a hot poker. Another was arching his back, as though his ribcage was trying to force its way free.
“What did you do?” Forrest asked, in mixed horror and awe.
The third thug’s screaming joined his friend’s.
“Bullet ants,” I said. “Their bites top the scale in terms of sheer pain caused. People have compared their bites to being shot. Thus the name.”
The thug was still screaming, albeit with less volume and more intermittent whimpers.
“It’s also known as the twenty-four hour ant,” I added.
“Why?”
“That’s how long the pain lasts. Get up,” I ordered them. “Now, or you get bitten again.”
It took them a second, but they were making a halfhearted effort, and I didn’t follow through on my threat. They stood, one of them hunched over, two moaning audibly. They glared at me.
“You brought that on yourselves,” I said. “This is your second chance. Get yourselves to the police station and turn yourselves in. This time, I’ll have them bite each of you periodically to hurry you along.”
“What the fucking-”
He broke off mid-sentence as he screamed and fell to the ground, thrashing.
“If you think of doing anything but admitting your full crime to the police officer right then and there, I’ll try figuring out how many times those ants can bite you before they run out of venom. Now go. Run.”
Two of them ran, stumbling as they twitched and flinched at the continuing pain, while the third crawled. I had an ant bite the mouthiest one when he was only a few paces away, to hurry them along.
I turned to the others. The Japanese-American man was staring at me.
“You should go to the police too,” I said. “Give your side of the story, let them take photos.”
“I will,” he said, his tone curt. He turned to leave, then paused. “I asked you to be lenient.”
How can I even explain? I’ve seen the worst of the worst. I want to protect each and every one of you from it. The system won’t stop them, not all on its own.
But if I explained, they would argue, and every counter-argument would make me look weaker, damage my image and hurt people’s confidence in me. There were people who would be happy with a firm hand being used to deter criminals, there were others who wouldn’t be happy, but they’d accept it as the price that came with everything else I had to offer.
I didn’t like it, but I’d do it.
He was still staring at me, his question lingering. I asked you to be lenient.
“I was,” was all I said.
■
I returned to my lair, and took the time to strip out of my costume. It stuck to my skin as I pulled it off.
I’d need to design something lighter for the warmer months. More porous, while still offering protection, maybe a paler color, if I could manage it and still have it blend into the swarm…
The major tasks were done. I’d called Lisa, and through her I’d gotten caught up on all the other essential details about what was happening around the city. She and Grue had a meeting with an Ambassador – not the leader of the Ambassadors, which I was thankful for. I would have wanted to be present for a meeting that volatile. As it was, I could hope that Grue was in a good enough headspace to keep Tattletale on course.
I’d contacted everyone necessary to clear garbage out of the alley, to order pizzas for lunch and to order more food in to make up for the bad batch of vegetables. I’d shown my face as Skitter and now a swarm-clone lingered on a rooftop, standing in plain view of the people on the street, overlooking a construction in progress. ‘Skitter’ would appear here and there over the course of the day, just to reassure others she was here.
Which she was. I was.
I stripped out of the rest of the costume. I laid out a grungier change of clot
hes.
I hadn’t been lying to my dad when I said I’d work. I’d put in the hours, work alongside the other members of my territory. It was easier to do my share and be working here on a legitimate basis, even part-time, than to try to sustain the lie.
Before I started, I had only one minor chore. I headed downstairs and I pulled Jessie’s mattress off the bunk bed, dragging it into an open space so I could clean it. The mattresses were thin, and would dry after a day in this heat. The humidity was a problem, but I could put it in direct sunlight.
My phone buzzed, still in the utility compartment upstairs. My bugs brought it to me.
Charlotte:
I met someone in class. I think it could be big Eric?
Big trouble? I contemplated sending a reply, but the next text wasn’t far behind.
Charlotte:
says hes an old classmate of urs. asking where u are. loud insistent intense. wouldnt believe that u werent at school. sounds like he might want to talk to you.
I didn’t miss the distinction. ‘u’ meant Taylor. ‘you’ was Skitter. If this person was careless enough that Charlotte had caught on… Fuck.
20.02
It couldn’t be easy. No. Everything was finally starting to settle down, and then this. Inconvenient timing, inconvenient in every way. It had to be at the high school, of all places.
Tattletale and Grue would be meeting with the Ambassadors soon. That took them out of the running, as far as people I could call. Forrest was just a little too old and a little too attention-grabbing to be seen lurking around the local high school. Regent, Imp or Bitch? I was trying to fix the situation, not make it worse.
I pressed Charlotte for more information:
RT:
You see him?
Charlotte:
no. no bars here. had to leave to make call.
Right. Arcadia was one of the schools that had a Faraday cage, if I was remembering right. Something to stop kids from texting and making calls in class.
RT:
What was he doing?
Charlotte:
asking about u in hallways, checking with ppl to see if u were around.