Beat

by Jared Garrett

  “That’s enough.” The Prime Administrator stood, his tall frame looming over his glass desk.

  I wondered if Melisa had made it to the Dome yet. I glanced at the wall of skreens to my right. Scenes of a normal, early New Frisko day flashed calmly on each one. I needed to stall.

  “It’s not enough. You won’t deny it because it’s true. You’re not even human. He’s a robot or something.”

  “Nik, you will calm yourself.”

  I spun back. “No, I won’t! You’re trying to control everyone and you killed my best friend!” I knew what I had to do. I launched myself across his desk, reaching for him. He stepped back and shouted. I grabbed for him, and he dodged.

  I slid across the desk, jackknifing my body to bring my legs around and landed on my feet. I kicked out at the Prime Administrator, but he jumped away. Yells came from the Enforsers as they came back in the room, but no explosions from their Keepers. I’d hoped they wouldn’t shoot out of fear of hitting him. I pushed myself off the desk and lunged for the door. A powerful hand snagged my right shoulder, pulling me back. I felt myself yanked and slammed onto the hard floor.

  “Restrain him!”

  The Enforsers each went to put a knee on one of my shoulders, but I threw my legs up, willing the vial to stay in my sock, and tried to kick them. I got one in the faceplate. He stumbled back with a grunt. I wriggled hard and got out from under the other Enforser, I rolled to my left. “He’s lying! You have to help me.” I said, pushing myself to my feet. “I’m not the bad guy. He is!”

  The Enforser I’d kicked slammed into me, shoving me against the wall. I crumpled, my back throbbing. He grabbed my right shoulder and broken arm, yanking me to my feet. I yelped at the fresh agony. The other Enforser caught my left shoulder. They hauled me in front of the Prime Administrator’s desk. I swallowed, breathing hard, fury still burning in my gut.

  The Prime Administrator brushed part of his desk. “Send up Tek Scot with some knockout.”

  I struggled a little, trying to keep the Enforsers’ attention on me. I glanced at the skreens, wondering if Melisa had made it yet. Come on. She had to make it through two conveyor belt tunnels, across the Dumps, and then into the lab. It could take her a while. Maybe I hadn’t done the right thing by involving her. I carefully pulled my hand out of my left pocket.

  “Looking for something?” The Prime Administrator’s voice cut through my thoughts, drawing my attention from the skreens. I hated having to look up so high. What he’d said before finally registered. Knockout? Some Tek was coming with knockout?

  “Just looking at all the people you infect every day.” I glared at him.

  “Nik. You are too young to understand.” Why did he suddenly sound more natural? From one moment to the next, the Prime Administrator looked more human.

  “Wrong. I understand exactly what you’re doing.” I gathered myself.

  “But you don’t. And your friend Melisa doesn’t either.”

  My legs went weak. All the tension I’d been gathering completely dissipated. “What?”

  “You’re a smart boy, but you’re a very bad liar.” The Prime Administrator came out from behind his desk. He moved more smoothly now, too. “We caught her as she entered the Dumps. She will be here soon.”

  No. First Bren. Now Melisa. I couldn’t stand. The Enforsers let me fall, probably enjoying my misery.

  “What exactly did you have in mind, boy?” He crouched in front of me. “What was she supposed to be doing?”

  “Nothing.” It hurt to talk. “Nothing. She doesn’t know anything. Please just let her go.”

  His hand lifted my chin, forcing me to look him in the eyes. “A very bad liar. But I am honest. You and she will suffer the very unfortunate consequences of not letting the system keep you calm.” He smiled. “Better calm than dead.” He stood. “Hold him. Tek Scot will be here shortly.”

  I yanked the vial out of my sock and slipped it under my foot. Frag it. I rocked back, hard, and felt the vial crack under my shoe. At the same time, I used my teeth to pull the tiny needle Melisa had given me free from its cylinder.

  “Hey!” The voice came from above, but it was too late. I ducked under the reaching hands and twisted hard, dipping the needle into the puddle of knockout. I jabbed it into the calf of the Enforser on my right, moving as fast as I could. He cried out and I felt four hands grab at me as I went for another dip.

  “Stop him!” The Prime Administrator. I needed to get to him. I swiped the needle through the puddle and twisted again, standing abruptly. The Enforser to my left stepped back, a little off balance. The other Enforser was already crumpling. I forced my right arm to reach up and grab the Enforser’s wrist. He kicked at me, trying to get hold of my other arm and spin me. I only needed one jab. I got him, right inside his wrist. Within a few seconds, he swayed and fell. I reached for another dip, scanning for the Prime Administrator. I saw a tall shape coming at me. He bowled me over before I could get at the tiny puddle, but I managed to keep my grip on the needle. I rolled clumsily, coming down painfully on my injured arm, but kept the presence of mind to reach out with my other hand.

  Coming out of my ugly roll, I switched hands and pointed the Enforser’s Keeper up at the Prime Administrator. “Stop.”

  He stopped, glaring at me with a hard expression but still empty eyes.

  My heart pounded. Supporting the Keeper with one hand, I slipped the needle into my pocket and reviewed what I’d just done. Had I gotten any knockout in me? I couldn’t have. I stood, pulling the Keeper all the way free from the unconscious Enforser.

  They had Melisa. I had to get her away.

  CHAPTER 27

  The Prime Administrator stepped toward his desk. I pulled the trigger, splinters of pain slicing through my right arm. Rubber bullets slammed out of the gun, one creasing a red line across the Prime Administrator’s cheek, the others pounding into walls. He yelped, his hand going to his face.

  “Don’t move. I’ll find the real bullets eventually.”

  “What do you think you’re going to do now?”

  “I think I’ll just kill you and call it good.” I glanced at the Keeper. There had to be a way to select the ammunition used. The handle in my right hand fit comfortably in my palm and my left hand naturally went under the long barrel. But between my hands was a fat cylinder where the different ammo types were stored. Maybe there.

  “Nik. You don’t have it in you.” He tried stepping backward. I fired again, aiming lower. One of the rubber bullets hit him in the stomach. He jumped, snarling at me. “One more time, boy, and you will wish the Bug killed you.”

  “Take another step and it won’t be the Bug that kills you. I will.” But I couldn’t. I had to take him hostage, use him to get Melisa.

  “Kill me all you want.” A strange smile crossed his face.

  We both turned at the sound of the door opening. A man, small and round, eyes suddenly going wide, stepped through the door. Tek Scott.

  Two things happened fast. The Prime Administrator leapt for his desk and Tek Scot shouted, his hand smacking onto a spot just under the sensor next to the door.

  A loud alarm exploded through the room. I jumped after the Prime Administrator and slammed the Keeper at his back. As he fell, I wrapped my left arm around his neck and pointed the Keeper at his side. I couldn’t lift it any higher with my right arm.

  “Don’t move!” What the Bug was I doing? No time to think about it. “I mean, come in here.”

  “Tek,” the Prime Administrator said. “Just wait for the Enforsers. He can do no harm to me.”

  What was he talking about? I jabbed the Keeper into him, making him wince.

  Tek Scott froze. “I said come in here!” He came in, a white plasteel case in one hand. That had to be the knockout he’d been coming to give me. I forced my thoughts to slow down. If Melisa was captured, they’d be bringing her in a pod. That meant that they would be coming down the pod elevator. The entire sequence opened up to me.

&nb
sp; “Tek. Don’t listen to him.” The Prime Administrator struggled, but I clamped tighter around his neck.

  “I know you’re not human,” I reminded him in a harsh whisper. “But I can still shoot you in the head. Then they’ll know it too.” I dragged the barrel of the Keeper up his side, my arm screaming in pain.

  He stiffened for a moment then stopped struggling.

  “Let’s go.” I pointed with my chin at the door leading to the scanning cylinder.

  “Where?” The Tek looked around wildly. No surprise there, it had to be strange to see the Prime Administrator taken hostage by a fifteen-year-old kid.

  “Out. To the pod elevator.”

  “The pod lift?”

  “Just go!”

  He nodded and crossed the room, still gripping his white case, as if it was armor against what was happening. I followed him, having trouble walking with any kind of grace while holding onto the neck of such a tall guy. I nearly stumbled going through the door from the reception room to the hallway, but was able to keep my feet.

  As Tek Scot approached the door to the lift area, I called out. “Wait.” He turned, his face dripping with sweat.

  I took a long look at the Keeper’s ammo cylinder. There was a knob I could reach with my thumb. Notches labeled 1 through 5 ran around the edge of the knob. Currently, the arrow on the ammo case pointed to 1. I thumbed it to 5. I hoped that was bullets.

  “Okay. Go partway through and tell them all to—to go to the right of the door. And don’t let the door close.” I pushed the Prime Administrator forward. The door opened for Tek Scot. He followed my instructions and I heard shouts, but then he explained, and I saw two Enforsers cross in front of the door.

  “The robot, too!” I pushed forward a few more steps. Finally, I saw the freaky robot that had cut off my cast whir across the concrete floor. “I’ll kill him! Stay back!” My right arm felt like it was going to fall off, but I made it lift the Keeper a little more and quickly point up. This was going to hurt. I pulled the trigger. A thump and a painful push against my arm, followed by a narrow silver canister flying in an arc through the doorway. It hit the ground and exploded with a loud flash, smoke pouring out of it.

  “Don’t try anything!” I thumbed the knob to “4” and muscled the Prime Administrator through the door, glancing quickly left to make sure nobody was still there. All clear. Then I was facing four Enforsers, two creepy robots, and a terrified Tek. We all stood on the platform that remained when the lift was up and waiting to receive a pod. It was maybe eight meters wide and at least twenty meters long. I aimed above them, gritted my teeth, and fired again. Bullets splattered against the concrete walls. I swiveled the weapon so the barrel rested on the Prime Administrator’s shoulder. He hissed; I felt the heat from the barrel too. It felt good to get some pressure off my arm, so I didn’t mind the burn he was getting on his shoulder.

  “Where’s the pod?” I yelled at them, glad the smoke wasn’t spreading outward much, but was instead reaching up the shaft. If I looked up, I would have been able to see the top of the lift shaft, which was the main floor of Prime one.

  Nobody answered. “The pod! With Melisa! The girl!”

  “We’ve warned it off,” one of the Enforsers said.

  My heart skipped. I clenched my jaw. “Call it back or he dies. Then some of you do, too.”

  “Nik, don’t be stupid,” the Enforser said. “This doesn’t have to happen this way.”

  But it did. “I’m dead if I stay. I have nothing to lose.”

  “You’re not dead. We just need to figure things out.” The Enforser took a step toward me.

  “Call it back! Do it!” I jammed my knee into the back of the Prime Administrator’s legs, forcing him to his knees. “I will put a bullet in his head.” It was hard to stare down a man with a black face plate. But I tried. “And get back. Now.”

  “Do it,” the Prime Administrator said. “Let’s not let anyone get hurt here, Enforser.”

  What a lying piece of spam. I almost pulled the trigger. It wouldn’t be murder if he wasn’t even human, right?

  The Enforser moved back. I didn’t hear anything, but it was only a couple of seconds later that I heard the whine above my head. I fought back the urge to glance up. “Don’t move!” I jabbed the barrel of the gun into the Prime Administrator’s neck. “Tell them to do what I say or I will shoot you. You know as well as I do that I have nothing to lose here.”

  What the Prime Administrator did next told me I was right about everything. He did exactly what I asked. “Just cooperate. The safest thing is to let him leave. Tell the ones on the pod.”

  I knew he wouldn’t leave it at that. Once I was in the pod, he would send everything he had against me. I thought it through as the huge piston that was the lift slammed loudly and began to lower. If I kept him with me, I had a chance.

  In the final seconds before the lift platform arrived, I considered what had happened in the last day and a half. From gaming the speed damper on my cycle to holding the Prime Administrator hostage. My parents would be horrified. But if this didn’t work, they’d never know any of it.

  The pod showed up, the door opening and a ramp extending. As the noise settled and stopped echoing off the shaft, I shouted. “Melisa! Show me her!” I pushed the barrel into the man’s neck again. Even with resting the gun on his shoulder, I felt like my arm was turning into a limp noodle. My left arm felt locked in place around his neck, like it would never unbend.

  “Nik?” Melisa appeared in the doorway. Her eyes went wide.

  “Everyone but her off! Melisa, tell me when they’re all off the pod!” I pushed the Prime Administrator forward, dragging him into an awkward crouching walk.

  She stepped back and four Enforsers tromped out of the pod. I felt their glares through their face plates.

  “That’s all of them!”

  “Nobody moves. Nobody tries anything, or his head’s . . . deer meat.” We hit the ramp and I shoved him up toward the pod, my eyes never leaving the group of Enforsers. Melisa gasped when she saw who I had with me.

  “Nik! What are you doing?”

  “Getting us out.”

  “But you have the Prime Administrator!”

  “Yup.” I tossed her a glance. “You remember the simulators we used at school?” I glared at the group of Enforsers. “I’m keeping him with me until we’re safe. If you follow me, I will kill him.” I bent close to the Prime Administrator’s ear. “Tell them. They’ll examine your body and see the truth.”

  A pause. “Just let him go for now. We will catch him later. He’s harmless.” His voice infuriated me. I wanted to push him out of the pod at a kilometer altitude. They could inspect what was left of him.

  The ramp folded in on itself at the same moment the propulsion units fired up and the door flipped downward. In another few seconds, we were lifting off. Melisa took us out of Prime One fast, the propulsion units screaming.

  “Nik!” Melisa called back from the cockpit. “What is wrong with you? That’s the Prime Administrator!”

  “It worked, didn’t it?” I prodded him forward and made him sit on one of the benches that lined the pod. It took me a moment, but I found the button that activated the restraints and hit it with the Keeper. I only lowered the weapon when the straps had finished stretching across his chest and lap and clicked into place in the bench and wall.

  “Be good,” I said, bumping the Prime Administrator’s foot with mine. He didn’t move but stared at me.

  “Have you thought this through, Nik?” The man-thing’s face stayed completely expressionless.

  “Nope. That’s probably why it’s working.”

  “You’re going to die. You don’t have it in you to kill me. That’s why you lose. That’s why humanity was lost.”

  I stood there, a sick twisting in my stomach. Everything—the knockout, the Bug being in the air, our ‘helpful’ Papas—it was a lie. From this man. Or thing. “Why?”

  Still no expression. “You woul
d clearly not understand.” And he closed his mouth and simply stared at me, obviously done talking. As I watched him, something happened to his body. It seemed to relax a little and the eyes lost their focus.

  What the fragging bug? “Hey!” No reaction. “What are you?” Still nothing.

  The sick twisting in my gut got worse.

  I headed forward. “Hey. Glad you can fly this. We need to figure out what’s next.”

  “Yeah,” Melisa said. “Simulators are the best part of school.” A moment of silence. “And what’s next is that we figure out how to not get killed.”

  “It’ll be all right,” I said. “I prom—”

  “Bug that. Of course it’s not gonna be all right. We just kidnapped the Prime fragging Administrator.”

  “Fine. The plan sucked.” I checked our hostage. He was still restrained and somehow blank. I tossed the Keeper onto the co-pilot’s chair and leaned on her soft pilot’s chair. I held my abused right arm against my stomach. Melisa was heading north, toward the edge of New Frisko. I lowered my voice. “Can you go faster?” I tried to imagine what the Enforsers and Admins would be doing right now. We had to get off their radar somehow. And fast.

  “Sure.” Melisa reached for the throttle in the console between the two pilot seats and pushed it forward. I felt our speed increase.

  “I’m sorry my plan didn’t work.”

  “I told you it was stupid.”

  “It might have worked if you hadn’t gotten caught.” Why did she always have to talk like that? I was trying.

  “I couldn’t exactly fight off a hundred Enforsers who ambushed me the moment I opened the door to the Dumps!”

  “A hundred?”

  “Probably.”

  “Well maybe you should have tried staying out of sight better.”

  “Like you were doing a good job with that, Mr. Take the Prime Administrator Hostage.”

  This was stupid. We were passing over the edge of the city and we had no idea what to do next. “Shut up.” I pushed a smile on my face to show her I was joking. “You’re right. We need a better plan.”