‘And … Blake,’ I say. ‘The slider. He’s been hanging around my uncle’s shop. He was spying on me?’
‘Reconnaissance and preliminary assessment of a potential recruit.’
‘Did he tell you what happened?’ I remember how we’d both nearly been tagged by law enforcement out the back of the Crystal Cave. ‘There was a … misunderstanding, you see, with the law.’
‘Yessss.’ He drew out the word. ‘You’ve been identified as a person of interest by your local law enforcement. We are monitoring the situation, but we haven’t disclosed your location to them. Yet.’ Allen smiles again. ‘Of course, I can assure you that at Helios, we always look after our own. If you decided you wanted to stay, I’m sure there’s something we could do to sort out this … misunderstanding.’
Though my stomach is doing excited flip-flops, dread settles on me as I imagine Bobby’s reaction when officers show up at our home searching for me. Third strike. I was out.
Maybe not.
Allen interrupts my thoughts. ‘Let’s start with the basics, Josie. Can you tell me what talent you are?’
‘I’m an esper.’
‘Of course you are. But do you know what sub-designation you fall under? After all, there are many. And please, I need you to be very honest. Your application to Helios depends on this.’
The answer is on the tip of my tongue. Threader. But years of hiding make the word catch in my throat like a stone.
An irritated look passes over Allen’s face. ‘Josie, we both know why you were able to enter the slipstream with Blake. You’re a threader, having both a telekinetic and telepathic ability, which you are able to merge with other talents. Correct?’
‘Yes. I think.’ My voice is tiny, my pulse pounding loud in my ears. It’s possibly the first time I’ve had an open, honest conversation with someone about both of my talents. The air in the room feels heavy and my breath turns quick.
Allen sits back in his chair. ‘Did anyone teach you about your talents?’
I shake my head, concentrating on slowing my heart rate down. ‘I’ve never even threaded before. At least, not that I’ve known of.’
Allen frowns, like maybe he doesn’t believe me. ‘That must have been difficult. But you’re not in trouble here for anything. The ability to control or assist another talent is quite a valuable skillset, particularly within Galloway Industries. There are only a handful of threaders in its employment and most of them are with the nanobotics or security sectors.’
‘I don’t do that,’ I say quickly. ‘I don’t control people’s talents.’
‘But you could,’ Allen points out patiently. ‘And more, you can enhance a talent’s strength. Blake’s report said he returned here with you in half the time it usually takes. The report details he was unconscious for the first minute of the slide, which must have compromised the thread, temporarily exposing you to the elements of the slipstream.’ He nods at my hands. ‘We got the frostbite in time, but that wasn’t the only damage. Your brain was swollen from oxygen deprivation and you were in danger of cardiac arrest. Fortunately, Helios makes sure this town’s medical centre is one of the most up-to-date facilities in the world and the staff were able to treat you instantly.’
My fingers stretch inside the tight wrappings, feeling stiff and itchy. Despite the nurse’s assurances earlier, I’m worried what my hands will look like once the bandages come off.
Allen clears his throat and picks up his slate. ‘I understand you live with your uncle, Robert Ryder?’
I groan, realising how panicked Bobby probably is by now, wondering where I am. ‘I have to call him. Let him know I’m okay.’
‘And you will get that chance, I promise. But I just need to clear up a few things first.’ Allen’s eyes drop to the data scrolling across on his slate. ‘Your father, James Ryder, he was killed in a car accident when you were six, correct?’
‘Yes.’
‘The accident reports say you were in the car with him?’
‘Yes.’ My answers are short and wooden, well practised. I’m skilled from years of stuffing thoughts and memories I don’t want into the deepest recesses of my puzzle-chest. There’s nothing about that last day with James that I want to remember. Ever.
‘Did your father know you were a threader?’ Allen asks.
‘He knew I had talents. But he didn’t like to talk about it.’ I shift again in the chair, uneasy, not wanting this stranger to think James was a bad father. ‘He just worried about me, is all.’
‘And your mother was Alice Ryder?’
‘Yes. She drowned.’ My words are abrupt and I don’t offer any more details. I don’t mention how James never talked about Alice as I grew up, no matter how hard I pressed. And I don’t mention the lake behind the house, with the cold, dark waters that took her from us. ‘James hinted that I inherited my talents from her, but that’s all I know.’
Allen’s eyes turn cautious. ‘I’m afraid I have some rather shocking news for you, Josie. Your parents, Alice and James Ryder, were both graduates from the Helios Academy, and went on to work for Nanogen, the cybernetics division of Galloway Industries.’ He pauses, then adds, ‘A few years later, they returned to the academy on secondment to work on very high level projects.’
It takes a moment for me to understand the words and their meaning. Allen’s revelation settles inside me, then unfolds slow, scattering my thoughts and leaving a dumbfounded void behind. For a crazy moment, I want to check if he’s lying. I need to check. But something must have shown in my eyes, because Allen quickly raises a hand.
‘I am aware a threader’s TP has the ability to be silent. I don’t know if you’ve ever had a regular TP read you, but it’s like someone stomping over your thoughts with steel boots, while a threader can enter and leave without any trace. A blessing and a curse, I imagine. But let me make myself clear.’ His hand drops, eyes narrow. ‘It is a strict Helios rule that talents are never to be used against another person outside of the training environment without their knowledge. Even the suspicion of it can be enough for expulsion. Do you understand?’
‘Yes.’ I mentally check the locks on my puzzle-chest, relieved to find them secure.
‘Excellent.’ Allen’s fingers fly across his slate before he passes it to me. My breath catches as I recognise James and Alice staring up at me, looking young and happy. They’re both wearing white lab coats and are smiling for the camera. There’s an article below and I skim it. James Ryder was a technopath, able to telekinetically manipulate machinery through touch. Teamed with his wife, Alice Ryder, a talented threader, they worked as a team for Nanogen.
Allen sits silent as I read about the work my parents did, from making great nanotechnology advancements, to making scientific breakthroughs that won them awards. When I finish, I pass back the slate, bewildered as to why James would have never told me about his past. I’d known Alice was a talent, after all, I’d inherited mine from her. But James had never confessed to being one and I’d never suspected. I start to wonder if Bobby knew all of this and never told me. Betrayal floats the surface of my thoughts in an oily film.
Allen closes the slate’s screen and snaps the slim control-handle back around his wrist. ‘By all accounts, your parents were much more than their talents. They were also brilliant theoretical physicists.’ He stops with a puzzled expression. ‘Are you certain your father never mentioned anything about their time here?’
‘No,’ I choke out. ‘Nothing.’
Allen frowns. ‘I’m sure he had his reasons.’
‘What did they do here?’ I ask. ‘What did they work on at Helios?’
‘Extraordinary projects, I’ve heard. With your father’s knowledge of nanorobotics and your mother’s skill at threading, they made an unstoppable team. My understanding is after a time, their threading became a permanent fixture, their talents securely locked with each other. With this solid foundation, they were able to achieve the ability of complex brain-machine interfacing.’
I try not to frown as I listen, because I don’t want him to stop and ask me what’s wrong. But I just don’t recognise the people he’s talking about as my parents and it feels more than a little disconcerting.
I blink and try to focus on Allen’s face as he talks, big teeth flashing.
‘The potential was there for great advancements in the manipulation of cybermerging of biology and nanotechnology,’ he says. ‘As well as the development of advanced generation artificial intelligence systems. Your parents were revolutionary in their thinking.’
My curiosity doubles, but before I can pepper him with questions, he raises his hand once again. ‘I know you want answers, but you will have to wait.’
‘For what?’
‘For one thing, you don’t have the authorisation.’ He clears his throat. ‘But I can assure you, if you were to join Helios, there would be plenty of opportunities for you to find out more.’
‘So … this is for real? I’m being offered a cadetship with Helios?’ I ask, daring to hope that my opportunity is here at last.
Allen nods. ‘The academic year here at Helios has already begun. Normally we wouldn’t accept anyone into the cadet program at this late time, but the director of Helios has decided to make an exception in your case.’ His big smile comes back. ‘Can I assume your answer will be yes?’
Overwhelmed, I don’t say a thing for a moment. Allen’s smile dims and I realise he thinks I’m unsure.
‘Josie, here at the Helios Academy, we can offer you a tremendous amount of support with your skill. I understand your uncle had a heart attack last year. If you were to enter our program, you would be eligible for a Citizenship once you graduate into a commercial division within Galloway Industries. That means a better place of residence and access to better medicine.’ He pauses, one corner of his lips quirking up. ‘No more Doc-in-a-Box. In the meantime, as I mentioned earlier, we could help you with any issue you might be having with your local law enforcement division.’
‘I need to call my uncle.’ My heart is thumping and I can’t believe my big chance is actually happening. Finally. ‘I just need to talk to him first.’
‘Yes.’ Allen grimaces. ‘Your uncle has quite a temper, doesn’t he?’
My whole body goes still. ‘You’ve already spoken to him?’
‘We thought it would be a gesture of goodwill on Helios’s behalf to bring him here, so you could both discuss options. Just to save time, you understand.’
My eyes pop. ‘Bobby is here?’
‘He’s next door. A suborbital brought him early this morning.’
‘I have to talk to him.’ I stand and make for the door.
‘You might want to wait,’ Allen calls after me.
I stop and turn, an assortment of all the terrible things that could have happened whisking through my mind. ‘Why?’
‘Once he arrived and was informed of your condition, your uncle became quite agitated. When he couldn’t see you right away, he became even more … ah … uncooperative.’
‘What do you mean by uncooperative?’
‘He attacked a doctor and broke some equipment.’
‘No,’ I groaned.
‘He had to be sedated, but I’m told it should wear off soon.’ Allen stands and gestures to the door. ‘I’ll take you to him.’
CHAPTER 5
I sit by Bobby’s bedside for hours, listening to him snore like he’s swallowed a sonic drill. He’s tucked under stark white sheets, still in his clothes, his old battered army boots under the bed. A medical bracelet is strapped around his left wrist and his vitals look nice and steady on the holo-screen beside him.
Allen has arranged a slate for me and loads up articles about my parents. I flip through them, devouring information about a past I know nothing about. There’s no personal information on either of them, and nearly all reference controversial studies into the shadow biosphere.
I’m apprehensive about the conversation we’re going to have when Bobby wakes up. My plan is to grill him about whether he knew Alice and James worked at Helios. Then I’m going to yell a bit. Flap my arms about. Make a scene. Then I’m just going to tell him I’m staying. Which I know Bobby will be totally against. He always tells me he promised James he’d keep me safe. To Bobby, this means keeping me away from the prying eyes of governments and corps. But now I’ve got to convince him he’s wrong. That James was wrong. And more than anything, I want to know why Bobby never told me James was a talent who worked for a corp.
A nurse shows up at one point, offering me a tray of food. Starving, I gratefully accept and when I lift the lid, I see a plate of creamy, golden macaroni and cheese. There’s even a lime jelly for dessert, which I chow down quick smart. After I’m done, I return to my reading, searching for more clues about my parents’ past.
At some point, my eyes flutter closed and I doze lightly, dreaming of rushing wind tunnels and falling from great heights. When I jerk awake, it’s dark, the room illuminated by a light above the door. I stretch out my stiff legs and rise to my feet to get my circulation going again.
There’s a nurse station outside Bobby’s room and a sleepy woman taps listlessly at a screen. The quiet is unsettling and I only wander a few minutes before returning to Bobby’s side, taking one of his rough hands in my own. At my touch, his snoring catches in his throat, and then he’s spluttering himself awake. He sits up in bed, looking bewildered.
‘Where are we?’ His eyes roll around the dim-lit room, confused.
‘You don’t remember?’
He scrunches his eyes shut, then groans. ‘They found you.’
‘It’s not like that.’
‘My ticker nearly gave out when a couple of jokers showed up at my door, wanting to talk about you,’ he says. ‘I thought either you’d been picked up and clipped, or run over by a cycle gang.’
‘I’m just fine.’
‘The hell you are. The Helios Academy, eh? I’ve seen their adverts. Nothing but glorified recruitment centres for slimy, no good corps.’ He smacked a fist into an open palm with a growl. ‘You don’t want nothing to do with these guys, Josie. Trust me. One corp is as bad as another. The only thing they think of is how to profit. And every employee is expendable.’
‘It’s going to be fine, Bobby,’ I try.
He struggles to get out of the bed and begins searching for his shoes. ‘You think they’ll give you that Citizenship you’ve always wanted? Sure, they might. Or maybe they’ll just shove you in a cage and do tests.’
I swallow, then blurt out, ‘They didn’t find me. I reached out to Helios, asking about recruitment.’
Bobby freezes, his eyes sliding to me. ‘Why would you do something like that?’
‘Did you know James was a talent?’ I change the subject, watching Bobby’s face for any indication he’s surprised. But he doesn’t even flinch.
My throat constricts and tears threaten. ‘Did you know both he and Alice graduated from Helios and used to work for Galloway Industries?’
Bobby sits back on the bed, shoulders slumping. ‘No. I knew they worked for a corp, but I didn’t know much else.’
I blink back tears. ‘Why wouldn’t he tell me about it? Why keep it a secret?’
One of Bobby’s shoulders lifts, then drops again. ‘I’m sorry, Josie. I don’t have the answers you want. All I know is that James wanted you safe. I raised you and did what I thought was right.’
A silence falls as we both search for some common ground. The only thing I’m sure of, is that I can’t waste this opportunity. This is my chance and I’m going to take it.
‘I’m going to stay.’ A hint of desperation leaks into my voice. Despite reeling from the revelation about my parents, I want Bobby to understand and approve of my decision. And I really don’t want to tell him about getting busted back home by the cops.
‘All the money in the world isn’t worth giving up your freedom,’ Bobby says darkly.
‘If I graduate, I can get a Citizenship.’ I ben
d and pull his shoes out from under the bed and hand them to him. ‘You could close the shop and retire.’
Bobby stares at the battered boots in his hands. ‘James felt the same way I do. That corps can’t be trusted. I learnt my lesson with the war, and losing my leg. I think James lost something more. Something went wrong for them, somewhere along the line, and they had to disappear.’
I knew my parents were hermits, but Bobby never talked about why. For the longest time, I’d never realised there was anything odd about living in the middle of the woods, isolated from everyone else.
Bobby’s craggy face is distressed as he pulls on his shoes. I’ve never seen him so upset with me, not even when I got my second strike.
‘I’m not a child, Bobby,’ I say softly.
He glares at me, offended. ‘I know you’re not.’ He struggles to stand, short of breath. ‘But we’re leaving. Right now.’
The door behind me opens and a nurse storms in, looking angry. ‘Your stats are going off the chart. Get back in that bed this instant.’
Bobby blinks at her, then sees the medical bracelet around his wrist. ‘Get your leash off me.’ He tries to wrench it off while the monitor beeps louder, faster.
‘Get back in that bed. Right. Now.’ The nurse’s jaw is set and she looks ready to tackle him if he doesn’t comply.
‘Don’t tell me what to do.’ Bobby shakes a fist at her. ‘You take this thing offa me, before I show you I mean business!’
The nurse almost shoves him back in the bed. ‘I will sedate you again.’
With a brisk wave of her hand, she motions for me to leave. Sick with worry, I hurry out of the room, hoping she can calm my uncle down.
‘Still thinking of running off?’
A short yip of surprise escapes me and I whirl to see Blake Galloway, looking like he’s just been standing there, waiting for me to appear.
‘What do you want?’ I snap.
He ignores my question. ‘The lawyer told me you’re a threader. But I’d kind of guessed that.’
I feel like he’s accusing me of something and the apology just trips off my tongue like an old habit. ‘Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—’ I wave a hand about, ‘—do whatever I did.’
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