‘What if the Will is wrong?’
Only Sato would ever ask such a question. ‘Now that really is enough. We will hear no more from you today.’
Takashi bounced in his seat. ‘It’s happening, Ryu. It’s happening now.’
Together they turned their attention to their symbiot feeds, their information streams watching as Ryu’s civic value rose until it joined the 0.00062 per cent that made up the World Union’s council of one hundred. A member of the Shima was once again part of the Primacy.
‘Takashi, Sato. We must speak with your brother alone for a moment. Please return to your rooms and have your staff double-check to make sure there is nothing in your recent activities or history that might negatively impact on the family. Alpha, do you have more to say?’ Hachiro turned to his wife.
‘We must all do what we can for Ryu, but no Shima must be seen at this time as hungry for power or to be taking advantage of the situation. The chameleon must tread silently for a time.’
‘Yes, Alpha.’ Sato bowed to their mother and father, and then after a moment to Ryu. ‘Do well, brother.’
~ * ~
With Sato and Takashi out of the room, the walls reconfigured, forming a much smaller box. Mother Shima slowly finished her breakfast, delicately plucking at morsels and keeping her nails clean. She would continue this way until Father had had his say.
Ryu knew they would have consulted beforehand. His father always followed instructions and was respectful about it. There had been a struggle for the Alpha Shima position when Yoshiko first became anointed as his wife; he was blood-born, after all, and hadn’t been raised to come second. But over the years he had learnt to enjoy his position as sidekick to the matriarch.
‘You have brought great honour on the house of Shima, Ryu san.’
‘Thank you, Father.’
‘You are poised for greatness. But even now you will need the support of your family to reach the position of Prime.’
‘Do you think I have a chance of reaching Prime?’
‘Only with our help,’ Hachiro spoke carefully.
‘Have I displeased you, Father? Mother?’ His mother did not look at him; she ate as if she was alone.
‘No, Ryu. It is nothing you have done. It is what you could do, if you attain your ambition.’ The Regent looked at him questioningly.
‘I do not understand.’
‘Being a member of the Primacy is both an honour and a most heavy burden. It is not a role all people are suited for.’
‘I have been preparing for this all my life,’ Ryu argued.
‘This is not something one can ever train for. The Prime is the Will, and the Will is the Prime. Do you understand that the Prime is nothing but the peak? That it is not a position of power, but a position of weakness? Which way will you choose to go, I wonder?’
‘Father, I am not following you.’
‘Have I taught you so poorly?’ Hachiro asked.
‘No, Father. You have taught me well. Everything I am is because of you and Mother.’
‘Listen to me now. When one reaches a high position in our society, it is because many people have faith in your history and your character.’
‘I know this —’
Hachiro raised his palm, then waited in silence until the conversation had come to a complete stop.
‘Often when people are honoured this way they begin to change. They begin to think that they have power, but this is not the case. The Will is the Will, and it has power over you.’
I know what this is, Ryu thought. Mother is afraid I will take over the Shima as well and use the Primacy in concordance. It would be a natural power base.
He bowed low to the table. ‘Mother. My duty is to the Will. I cannot let my familial ties prevent me from executing its command.’
Mother patted her lips dry. At last prepared to talk, to reveal her prepared judgement. ‘We will support you, Ryu. You will be made Prime, but only if you stand separate from Shima.’
‘Are you saying I must leave the palace?’ he asked.
‘If you fail, we must not also be brought down.’
‘I will not fail, Mother. I promise.’
‘And if you succeed, your method of success must not bring shame upon you or the family. You have received this attention honourably, through your work. Remember why you have been chosen.’
‘I understand.’
‘Look at me, Ryu san. You must learn to look at me as an equal now.’ He straightened and turned to face her. ‘The world is spinning on a knife’s edge, Ryu, my son. And it has chosen you to lead it to safety. Already you must see the way a Prime must submit to the Will. Count on nothing. I have never seen a change in the Will this fast before. It is a cause for alarm. This change has come so fast, it could happen again while the first dust is still to settle.’
‘Surely the cause for this reaction is what we should be alarmed by.’
She nodded. ‘Yes. Yes. You see clearly, that is why you have been chosen.’
~ * ~
The old man told his stories as he drove. He used to be a commercial pilot. Sixteen years ago he was on his way to becoming a hauler on the Belt run for the Kuiper mining outfits when the girl he was with said she wanted to become pregnant.
‘As soon as she told me, I no longer wanted to go. Who’d want to spend all that time in cold space when there are warm arms for you at home, eh?’ He looked over at his passenger with a wink, but found the seat empty.
Who had he been talking to ...?
‘Anyway,’ he smiled and turned back to his piloting, ‘we’ve had our two since then. A boy and girl.’
He tabbed some photos to appear on the dash.
‘That one is Mindy. She’s nine now and dancing. Floyd is fifteen and about to become a Citizen.’
The driver looked over at the empty seat. Wasn’t he talking to someone?
‘It’s funny. Every time I look at these old photos, I think about going into space. It would have been so empty.’
~ * ~
The fervour of the Weave continued to escalate as a new Primacy rose and new measures for restricting psis came into place. Ryu Shima went from monitoring his local precinct to command of the entire prefecture. Quickly he imposed his procedure for psi collection and shifted ineffectual — possibly sympathising — sheriffs to administration roles. He personally monitored every collection and trusted House Shima and his own growing staff to spread the message that while others were talking, Ryu was doing.
There was no stopping the reports of people being taken from their homes by Services marauders, never to be heard from again. Message to message, hub to hub. Forum rooms were crowded with voices as more and more people windowed on the discussions, hoping the expert panels might be able to explain the whole mess.
‘I think we can conclude that this psi problem is more widespread than anyone ever thought,’ one panellist speculated to another. ‘It seems that Ryu Shima is the only person out there making a difference.’
‘I couldn’t agree more. What is Zim doing with his Services influence? What is holding him back?’
‘I think this is just a new kind of conflict we are seeing and General Zim is simply not equipped to deal with it.’
The pundits continued to cluck and chuckle together. At the fixit shop where Stefan was working they’d had the common screens on all week, spreading their attention across the spectrum of opinions.
He had given up caring, and given up watching, pretty quickly. Big deal. Services would clean it up.
Stefan bent closer to the glider-bike he was reworking and pushed his music up until the world was blocked out.
The machine he was fixing was a fixer-upper from the mech repair shop. It was an antique: part-motorcycle, part-hover. They’d only ever released a few thousand of these before the first squibs entered the market and the line was ended. It was as close to unique as you could get and he liked that.
; He’d been working on the thing for months now, before classes and after, and he had had to custom every nut and bolt. But today was the day it was done. The fuel had been waiting in the freezer all that time, because he’d bought it just after the owner said he could keep the bike if he fixed it. He set a sylus to double-check his work and while everyone else was watching the screens he carried the canister over to the tank with a large pair of tongs.
On start-up, its first purr was quiet. He felt it under his hand and he stroked over the frame, feeling for heat like his boss had taught him. There was nothing. It was cool, and shivering like a skittish horse; though he’d never touched one of those, of course, it was just an expression. His boss, Romeo, was behind him, watching him check over the machine. With an approving slap and a short laugh, he told the bot to release the locks and they both took a quick step back as it lurched up to waist-height.
‘Now that’s a nice machine.’
‘It sure is. They don’t build things like this now.’
‘No, everything’s much safer. If this wasn’t an antique, it would be illegal.’
Stefan mounted and pumped the motor of the glider-bike, feeling it push and pull between thrust and brake.
Romeo keyed the double doors to open, giving him plenty of room. ‘History is unfolding and you are going for a joy ride?’
‘You can tell me what happens when I get back.’ And he was gone, perhaps a little faster than intended.
He knew it was a bit over the top, and loud at full throttle. It didn’t even touch the speeds of a squib, but tearing through the streets below the official flight level, with the wind in his hair as he twisted between avenues of high-rises, Stefan was the most excited he’d ever felt.
He spied two girls from his grade waiting at a bus stop. Tiffani and Myfanwy. They made quite a pair. He looped round and drew up in front of them.
‘What is that thing?’ Tiffani asked.
‘I restored it. I’m going to the deserts. Wanna come?’
‘Get lost, Stefan. I’m not getting on that thing.’
‘What about you, Myf? You want to burn up some miles with me?’
‘Yeah, why not?’
‘Myf, what are you doing? I thought we were going to study?’ Tiffani protested.
‘It’s just some fun, Tiff!’ she yelled back, hopping on the bike behind Stefan.
‘I’m telling your parents.’
‘Okay. Let them know I’ll be home late.’
Stefan kicked the hover to green and they leapt forward. She had to grab at his jacket and huddle in close to hold on. The machine was working perfectly; he banked and rolled, making Myf squeeze him tighter each time.
It wasn’t a real desert they ended up in. The deserts was just what the kids called the old city because nothing much grew there; only stunted trees and bushes were sprouting out of the collapsed buildings and weeds through the cracking tarmac.
‘Cryppy. What a ...’ Myf looked around.
‘Yeah, isn’t it great? Nobody comes here.’
‘I can see why. Is it safe?’
‘So long as we don’t go under any roofs, or over any basements.’
‘I mean, is it radioactive or anything?’
‘Nah, it’s fine. I’ve checked it.’
‘So why don’t people live here any more?’ She started walking up the central avenue he had parked on and he sauntered behind. With a cooperative breeze her skirt was showing enough skin to keep him happy.
‘Too hard, I guess. It’s pretty busted.’
‘What happened to it?’
Stefan shrugged. ‘Nothing, I don’t think. It’s just what happens when no one takes care of things.’ She laughed at him for that.
‘I’m starting to see a pattern. You like fixing old broken-down things that nobody wants.’
He shrugged again. It wasn’t not true.
‘Hey, I didn’t mean it in a bad way.’
‘It’s okay.’
‘I think it’s cute.’ She was staring at him earnestly, standing close to him, big eyes alive and sweet. He tipped his head down — for sure she wanted him to kiss her — then the glider gave out a loud smoky belch that made them both jump.
‘Was that meant to happen?’ she asked, following him as he ran back to the bike. He began sliding his hands over the engine, feeling for heat. He swore.
‘I forgot to park it right. I’ve blown one of the cells. You’re meant to cool them down when you stop. I knew that.’ He started irritatedly flicking switches.
‘Will it still fly?’
‘Yeah, slowly,’ he answered. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘What for? You didn’t mean to do it, did you?’
‘No, but I won’t be able to get you home any time soon.’ This made her laugh again.
‘That’s okay, Stefan. I like it out here. With you.’ Myf placed her hand on his shoulder.
‘You do?’ This time when he turned to her, ready again, she was embarrassed, red, and spun away from him.
‘Let’s walk around a bit more.’
They walked back down the main way and then decided to turn right and then left, and then up a street that had tree stumps lining each side of the road. They took turns looking at the other.
‘Thanks for coming out here with me.’
‘You don’t need to thank me. I said it was alright.’
‘We just don’t even know each other really.’
‘I suppose that’s true. Why did you ask if you didn’t think I’d come?’
He didn’t have an answer for that one, or not one he wouldn’t be embarrassed to give.
‘What? You thought I wasn’t hack enough for you?’ she asked.
‘Something like that.’
‘Hey. Don’t judge what you don’t know.’
‘I’m not judging,’ he replied quickly. She was running circles around him. ‘You’re just always so good.’
‘I just do what I’m supposed to do.’
‘Yeah? So why did you say yes?’
This time, she didn’t have an answer.
‘Is something wrong?’ he asked. Myf shook her head. ‘So why do you always do “what you are supposed to do”?’
She shrugged uncomfortably. ‘That’s how you get somewhere, I suppose.’
‘My parents want me to enrol for Services placement,’ he said.
‘Is that bad? I’ve been enrolled since I could speak.’
‘No. It’s not bad.’ Stefan rolled his head around. ‘I just — not that I’m against Services or anything, I get it — I’m just not sure I think that way.’
‘What way?’
‘Oh, you know ... I don’t know.’
‘Did you watch the feeds last week?’
‘Yeah, I watched it as it happened. We were at the shop late. When it started, we just dropped tools and sat in front of the screens.’
His phrases were odd to her. ‘You talk funny.’
‘You talk funny,’ he weakly countered.
They smiled and then looked down to the safety of the ground.
‘What do you think it was?’ Myf asked.
‘Who knows? Probably just anarcs. Or some nation holdout with a grouse about something.’
‘Stefan, you don’t get a blackout like that from a bomb. Not even a big bomb. It was a total data drop-out. For fifteen minutes.’
‘I don’t even know what that means. Who cares if people couldn’t fritter with their friends for a little bit? I’m like that all day.’
‘No satellite, no camera coverage, no witnesses? Thousands of people died and no one knows how.’
‘Yeah, yeah ... You’re right.’ Stefan swallowed and thought for a moment. ‘I’d forgotten that bit.’
‘How could you forget that bit? That’s the main bit.’
‘I don’t know. The Weave just goes on repeat about the drop-out.’
‘Yeah, but that’s what makes it so huge.’
‘It’s hectic. Thanks. I see it. What the hack happened?’
They wandered around until sunset, which this far north meant until 4 p.m. He didn’t want it to end, but it was getting dark and he hadn’t fixed the lights on the hover.
The Hunt for Pierre Jnr Page 11