Emergence (Fox Meridian Book 5)

by Niall Teasdale

  Belle, the house AI, resplendent in her usual blue suit, appeared beside the table. ‘Current predicted temperature at midnight on Friday is five to six degrees Celsius with clear skies and low humidity. Forecast certainty is ninety-two per cent.’

  ‘So it’s going to be cold and we’re supposed to dress for a party.’

  ‘Wear hose,’ Marie suggested, ‘and invite someone to come with us. There has to be someone you wouldn’t mind making out with.’

  ‘I could arrange something,’ Sam said.

  Fox looked at him and narrowed her eyes. ‘Who?’

  Sam smirked. ‘Someone.’

  ‘Now, see, that is not a face that’s going to make me want to go along with this…’

  ~~~

  ‘I can’t believe they talked me into it,’ Fox muttered.

  ‘Generally,’ Kit said, ‘when you get talked into something you claim is a bad idea, it is because you wanted to do it anyway.’

  Fox made grumbling noises for a second, because Kit was right… ‘Sam’s going to basically set me up on a blind date!’

  ‘Just for a kiss.’

  ‘He’s up to something.’

  Kit considered that to be highly likely, but saying so was not wise. ‘Belle could monitor his calls. You could keep watch on him through the house cameras.’

  ‘You don’t think that’s being a little paranoid?’

  ‘Yes, but you’re the one who thinks he’s up to something.’

  ‘Huh…’ Fox folded her arms and frowned at the wall opposite her sofa for a few seconds. ‘Wouldn’t work anyway. He can call someone when he’s out tonight.’

  ‘He probably just knows another registered prostitute who is not working that night,’ Kit suggested, trying to sound placating.

  ‘That is not better.’

  ‘It’s just a kiss, Fox.’

  ‘That’s what they all say. Next thing you know, they’ve got their hand down your panties.’

  Kit pursed her lips. ‘Now you’re just escalating for no good reason. You can always say you’ve changed your mind, or…’

  ‘Or what?’

  ‘Don’t wear panties, then no one can get their hand in them.’

  31st December.

  The area known as Times Square was larger than it had been at the beginning of the century. The northern end of it remained much as it had been, but Times Spire dominated the southern tip now, the megastructure dwarfing the more mundane buildings set around the triangle of land.

  Huge video displays still dominated the canyon of buildings. If anything, the displays were bigger and brighter, with very high resolutions thanks to advances in technology. Times Spire had a sixteen-storey screen affixed to the side facing the square running a constant stream of adverts for various companies that occupied the building.

  ‘Oh God, I’m up there,’ Marie said almost as soon as the trio got within sight of it.

  Fox looked up in time to see the tail end of an advert for M. J. running on the wall. ‘Don’t worry, I doubt anyone down here is paying much attention to what’s up there.’

  ‘You might be right…’

  It was noisy and crowded, and at eleven p.m. in the middle of winter, it was brighter than at noon. There were four live bands playing on raised stages located around the square. Several official stands were selling drinks, and several unofficial vendors with carts were probably making more profit in an hour than they had in the last quarter. And Fox spotted at least two individuals who were ‘vending’ things as discreetly as they could manage: if she had still been with NAPA, she would have probably hauled them in just for being stupid.

  There was a definite party atmosphere about the place. No one had got too drunk, or too drugged, yet to spoil things. Some of the fun was boisterous, but mostly there was a big crowd of people buzzed on the anticipation of the coming event. And Fox knew from experience that they were being watched by hundreds of fixed and mobile cameras every second of the time they were there. NAPA’s visible presence in the square, and there were actually uniformed officers walking among the crowd, was nothing compared to its less-than-visible monitoring effort.

  ‘How is my surprise date supposed to find us in all this?’ Fox asked.

  Sam just smiled. ‘It’s been taken care of.’

  ‘Still not even giving me a hint about this guy?’

  ‘It’s a surprise. Don’t want to spoil it, do we?’

  ‘I could stand a little spoiling…’

  Sam just broadened his smile. ‘Let’s get something to drink and find a band worth listening to or something.’

  There were those in the twenty twenties and thirties who had predicted the demise of live music. Autotuning and other forms of digital manipulation had become ubiquitous in recorded media and were starting to become viable for streamed live performances as computers got ever faster. With telepresence, you could attend a virtual gig from the comfort of your own home. What was the point of going out to see someone perform?

  And the answer that had come back from music fans was simply that they did not want over-produced, fake music. Or, yes, that was nice in its place, but how could you know a musician was really any good and not simply the product of technology? Performers who could actually sing and play in front of an audience had become the ones people flocked to and the ‘perfect bands’ manufactured by media companies had fallen out of favour.

  The trio had obtained plastic tubes of light beer and located a band doing a rock set on a stage not too far from the looming countdown clock at the northern end of the square when Fox heard the voice behind her.

  ‘Hey! Stuff this bad always sounds better on a little Bliss.’

  Fox turned and had to look down to see a little man in a luminescent green poncho who immediately flashed a small plastic bag at her. She recognised the contents: small pills, brightly coloured, like sweets. Bliss. It had an effect similar to cannabis, but it hooked you faster and stronger and, since it was synthesised rather than grown, it was easier to produce.

  Shrugging, Fox asked, ‘What else you got?’

  The little man’s eyes flicked over Sam and Marie, who were now also looking his way. ‘Got some Harmony. Got a little Kiss and some Cupie if you want to see the New Year in with a real bang.’

  ‘Interesting,’ Fox said. And then the man’s head was snapped back on his neck as Fox drove the heel of her hand up into his jaw. He blinked at her. His knees buckled and he would have fallen if Fox had not grabbed his arm, twisted him around, and pulled him up again.

  He let out a squeal of protest. ‘Hey! You better let me go or–’

  A wall of blue-and-white armour appeared in front of him and he stopped speaking instantly. Fox was expecting to have to explain herself, but what actually happened was that one of the officers cracked open his dome-like helmet and said, ‘Inspector? Didn’t expect to see you here.’

  ‘It’s not “inspector” any more, Grodin,’ Fox told him, ‘but thanks for remembering me.’

  ‘What’ve you got?’ Grodin asked, looking down at the dealer.

  ‘He’s hawking Cupie. He’s got some other shit on him, but I’d have just told him to fuck off if it wasn’t for the Cupie.’

  Grodin sniffed. ‘Ed Wuss. This’ll be your third bust, Ed. Better hope you don’t get a female judge.’

  ‘Oh…’ Fox shook her head in mock sorrow. ‘Third time and carrying Cupie… Next time you see that ball drop, Ed, it’ll be next century.’ She pushed Wuss toward the two officers. ‘All yours.’

  ‘They were quick getting here,’ Marie commented when Wuss had been dragged away, protesting his innocence the whole time.

  ‘Yeah,’ Fox agreed, ‘faster than I thought, but not surprising. NAPA watch this event pretty closely. If you slap someone on the back too hard, you’ll have uniforms telling you to calm it down before you’ve stopped laughing.’

  ‘So, when you hit him, you knew you’d have people coming to see what was happening?’

  ‘Uh-huh.’
<
br />   ‘There was a mass brawl here about a decade ago,’ Sam said. ‘Since then, NAPA have cracked down on any kind of violence very rapidly.’

  ‘Plus, if Ed there had been selling Titan, they’d have thrown the entire legal code at him. They only allow alcohol sales here because people would just smuggle the stuff in if they banned drinking.’

  ‘Oh…’ Marie said, frowning. She shook her head and turned back to the band. ‘Anyway, that guy was obviously tone deaf. This lot aren’t bad.’

  ‘I’ve heard a lot worse. Huh, did you know Nishi Sakura is doing concerts in New York soon?’

  ‘Oh yeah. Sold out concerts. Her new album’s the pearl, seriously. It might even be better than Songs on the Wind.’

  ‘You’re a fan?’

  ‘Uh-huh. Never been to one of her concerts though. They’re supposed to be amazing.’

  ‘Palladium is doing the security for them this time around.’

  Marie’s head flicked around. ‘Lucky! I suppose you’d be working, but–’

  Fox grinned at her. ‘I’m not needed. It’s all Ryan’s baby. No need for a detective at a thing like that.’

  ‘Oh… Okay…’ Marie turned to Sam. ‘You don’t mind if I seduce Ryan to get into a Nishi Sakura concert, do you?’

  Sam pursed his lips, considering. ‘It seems like a good cause.’

  ~~~

  ‘This mystery guest is cutting it close.’ Fox looked up at the clock. To be honest, without looking, she could tell they were getting close because the excitement level in the square was rising to fever pitch.

  ‘Don’t worry about it,’ Sam said calmly.

  ‘You know if he doesn’t turn up, I’ll steal Marie off you.’

  ‘I am confident enough to agree to that deal.’

  ‘Huh.’

  And the crowd yelled, ‘Ten!’

  Fox took a long drink from her beer tube and watched the clock. ‘You’re nervous,’ Kit said into her head.

  ‘So?’

  ‘Sam won’t let you down.’

  No, Sam would not let her down…

  ‘Three… Two… One… Happy New Year!’

  The crowd screamed its delight at the sight of a large, multicoloured ball dropping to ring in twenty sixty-one and a hand landed lightly on Fox’s shoulder. She turned, catching sight of Sam and Marie with their lips locked, and suddenly she was being kissed. Fox closed her eyes and went with it because, even though she had had no time to actually see her partner before their lips locked, she knew who it was. The sensuous mouth, obviously practised, the press of firm breasts against Fox’s own, the feel of one long leg sliding between Fox’s thighs and the knowledge that its owner was a supremely confident woman…

  They parted, a little breathless, and Fox said, ‘Happy New Year, Naomi.’

  ‘Happy New Year, Fox,’ the Sister Superior of the Church of Saint Nicholas replied. ‘And Happy New Year to you, Sam and Marie. Let’s hope this one is a little better than the last.’

  ‘It got off to a good start,’ Fox said, and then she punched Sam in the shoulder.

  ‘What was that for?’ Sam asked, though he was grinning.

  ‘Setting me up to kiss Naomi. Which wouldn’t be a bad thing if I didn’t have a boyfriend. My vibrator is going to get such a workout later.’

  Naomi looped an arm around Fox’s waist, for form’s sake. ‘Mine too. I need a drink.’

  Grinning, Fox followed Naomi’s lead and, pressed together at the hips, they headed off to one of the drinks stands. As far as Fox was concerned, getting a little drunk was the best way of bringing in this new year.

  Part Two: In the Big Top

  New York Metro, 6th January 2061.

  Fox had to admit that she felt rested and ready for what lay ahead, even after a couple of days of checking over notes and preparing for lab work. She stood in the gleamingly new, unassigned laboratory space Palladium had been given for the induction course and looked out at her ‘class,’ but her thoughts drifted briefly over the week before: it helped her settle herself for the next two days.

  Naomi had gone back to the house with Fox. They had got drunk with Marie and Sam, and then left them to other forms of celebration. Then they had got drunker in Fox’s apartment until they fell asleep on the sofa and woke up hours later, curled up against each other, and a little embarrassed about it. But they both knew that the evening was one final goodbye to the Sisters who had died at the hands of an insane infomorph a few months earlier: Naomi’s people, avenged by Fox. Fox had been left with the same sort of regret she had for never having slept with Sam: it was there, but it was a friendly sort of regret, one she thought Naomi shared.

  Jason had returned from Toronto the day after, checked in at his office to ensure no international crisis had unfolded without him being told, and then he had come to see Fox. The memory of that Sunday’s activities caused a warmth to start in Fox which she had to rapidly push aside before it became too distracting to do her job.

  ‘All right, ladies and gentlemen,’ Fox said, and the assembled detectives fell into silence. ‘Thank you. Welcome to the first meeting of the Palladium Security Services Junior Detectives Club.’ When everyone got the joke, Fox decided that at least one potential hurdle had been jumped successfully. ‘Everyone’s laughing so that’s a good sign. We have people from all over the planet here, and I know we put competence in English in the job requirements, but I don’t think you really know until you see jokes work on someone.’

  ‘Especially with your sense of humour,’ Helen Dillan said. Helen was now, officially, Fox’s second-in-command, partially by virtue of being the only other detective in the division until recently, but also because Fox trusted her.

  ‘Thank you, Helen. Everyone, this is Helen Dillan, my SiC. I’m Tara Meridian, which you all know because I’ve talked to all of you already. We’ve talked, but I intend to get some individual time with each of you over the next two days.’

  Fox scanned the rather varied group of twenty-eight men and women. No one looked nervous. Good. ‘You’ve all had the basic company induction. You know how Palladium works, and how Ryan Jarvis has the security division set up. Over the next two days, we’ll talk about how investigation hooks into that, discussing what we expect out of you, and we will be playing with the new toys so it won’t all be boring.’

  There was laughter and Fox waited for it to die naturally. ‘Most of you are here due to the recent law enforcement changes in America, but we’ve taken the opportunity to bring in some people who will be based in other countries so I don’t need to jet all over the planet when something comes up. We’ve got people here from Japan and Australia, which is a fair trek. To all of you, thanks for coming, not that we gave you any choice.’

  Kit was displaying notes for Fox and those served as one other kind of reminder. ‘Okay, enough pointless chatter, but one more introduction. This is Kit’ – Kit appeared beside Fox, dressed for lecturing in her pencil skirt and glasses – ‘my PA, assistant detective, and data bunny. Given she’s a wiz with displaying things, Kit will be going over the structure we’re building, how far we’ve got with it, and where you all fit in. So I get to sit down and drink coffee while you get lectured. Kit, you’re on.’

  Kit smiled. ‘Good morning, everyone. Tara takes her coffee black, no sugar, for future reference. Yes, I am a class four AI. Yes, I do have a lovely tail. Now, let’s get down to business.’

  Fox smiled and stepped back as various graphics started appearing in the air over Kit’s head. Helen handed over a mug of coffee. ‘Black, no sugar?’ Fox asked.

  ‘Oh, I learned that before I even joined the company,’ Helen replied. ‘You know there’s doughnuts, right? If we get in early, we can grab the ones with sprinkles before they all go.’

  ‘That’s mean.’ Pause. ‘Just one each.’

  ~~~

  ‘Have a seat, Miss Fukui.’ Fox watched as the Japanese girl bobbed her head and settled onto one of the low seats in the break room. Fox figured havin
g her one-to-ones in there would be less formal than doing them in an office, but Yuriko Fukui looked nervous.

  The Japanese representative for Palladium’s investigations division was a couple of inches shorter than Fox’s five-foot-eleven, tending to a longer, very slim body. She hid quite large breasts for her body form and the tattoos her file said she had under a black, long-sleeved blouse and grey skirt combo which tended to the bland. Yuriko Fukui seemed like a woman who was used to fading into the background as much as possible. There was enough leg on display to suggest firm muscle tone: her file indicated she was adept at aikijutsu. Her face was quite round, narrowed by the tight, black bob of her hair. Her eyes were a dark enough brown as to be called black. Her mouth was, perhaps, her most attractive feature: quite full lips gave a pouting quality.

  ‘Coffee?’ Fox asked, indicating the pot on the table in front of them. ‘Or there’s water. You look nervous.’

  Fukui managed a slightly timid smile. ‘I am. I think I know what you will ask me about. I was surprised that it did not come up in the telepresence interview.’

  Fox nodded. ‘Okay, then let’s get that out of the way first. Your father was oyabun of the Fukui-kai, which currently more or less runs organised crime in Japan. Since your father’s death, your brother has taken the top spot. We did three times the number of checks on you than we did on the other applicants, anywhere, never mind in Japan. We satisfied ourselves that you were not connected to your family business in any way. If we had even the smallest doubt about your loyalty and integrity, you wouldn’t be here.’

  ‘Thank you, Miss Meridian.’

  ‘That said, for what possible reason would I trust the sister of the head of the most powerful yakuza organisation in the world?’

  Fukui swallowed and then gave a short nod. ‘You wished me physically present when you asked me this question. I understand.’ Her English was excellent. She had an accent, but it was barely audible. ‘The yakuza remains, to a great extent, a male preserve. My father was instrumental in breaking down the barriers to more female participation, and the Fukui-kai has more ane-san than any other group, but he never intended me to go down that path. For my own protection, he saw to it that I learned marksmanship and aikijutsu, and that I knew the structure of his organisation so that I could avoid conflict with it. When I expressed great interest in studying criminology, he asked only that I not join the police force since it might put me in a difficult position, so I agreed to stick to academic activities.’