‘Only very small things.’
‘Oh, but still, that is a marvellous gift. And it is a very rare child indeed who can do either, let alone both.’
‘Doctor Sal? Will Momi be okay? In the morning everything will be better, won’t it?’
‘Maybe ...’
‘You’re lying. Did I hurt her bad?’
‘Yes, Piri. Sometimes our gifts can be dangerous.’
‘Will she die?’
‘Only if we don’t take care of her.’ Tamsin could see what the doctor was thinking. The mother would join the wandering brainless, and eventually starve to death.
‘Piri, why don’t you go in the other room for a moment. I need to speak privately with the doctor.’
I hurt Momi.
I know, child. But it was an accident. Now go watch some shows in the back room.
That is the doctor’s house.
He won’t mind. He wants you to make yourself at home. Go find something to eat.
When they were alone, Salvator stood and stretched. ‘I guess you must be Tamsin Grey.’
‘How do you know that? You’re not a tapper.’
‘I was warned you might come. Where are the others?’
‘What others?’
‘The ones you have freed. We know about them.’
‘It seems you know quite a bit. Services would not be pleased about that. My people are safe. Nearby.’
‘And what are you doing in our fair city?’
‘Doctor, I must insist I complete my delve. As you must understand, it is very hard to trust anyone these days.’
‘And why should I trust you, Miz Grey?’
‘Do or don’t, but it will be easier on you if you don’t fight me.’
‘What are you —’ Tamsin caught him before he fell and laid him down on the floor. She folded her legs beside him, tapped in and pushed his memory a long way back.
Salvator’s parents always knew. Apparently he’d exhibited signs of telekinesis as a baby. Forty years ago Services was only just getting organised and the WU didn’t span the globe like it did now so they managed not to be noticed. The town that they lived in, that was later overcome by the growth of Santiago, gave them enough room for him to go into the mountains and learn to control his powers. They said he needed to be able to control them so he didn’t get caught.
It wasn’t enough though. When the collections began after the institute fiasco, the marauders came to collect him. He was in the middle of surgery and a sharp vibration made him split a blood vessel as the patient’s body was shaken.
Services failed to collect him. Salvator cut them to shreds as they came into the room and then he finished the procedure and stitched up his patient. After that he collected his family and ran to Atlantic.
He’d lived in this building for thirteen years, with a wife, two children and his elderly parents who slept on the second floor.
He was as pure as she could hope for: never a part of Services, his Citizenship renounced, finding and protecting emergent psis. Tamsin sat back and tickled through the minor memories since then. The people he had helped, as a doctor and as a part of the psi underground.
Salvator’s eyes opened in alarm. ‘How dare you!’ he shouted and lashed out at her. She reached in and swerved his desire to dissect her toward a metal stand with surgical toys on it. ‘I don’t like to think back to those times.’
‘I had to.’ Don’t try anything or I’ll mush you up. ’That’s better. I’m sorry for the invasion, but it’s hard to know who you can trust these days.’
‘You don’t say,’ he responded wryly. ‘So, do you trust me enough now to tell me why you’re here?’
‘I’m here to help. I know there are psi groups in the Cape. And I now know you’re in charge of one of them. I want you to get me in touch with the others. I want to meet this La Grêle.’
He shook his head. ‘No, not without telling me what you want. La Grêle is very careful.’
‘And she’s who warned you about me?’
‘As you can see, I don’t know much. I can’t even be sure the woman I know is La Grêle. She could just be a stand-in.’
Tamsin knew that Salvator didn’t believe that. He was in thrall to the woman he knew as La Grêle, though his actual memories had little evidence to believe her to be more than just another telepath. Over the years he had taken children to her for help, and she had always been kind. He believed her to be the head of a vast network of psis that lived in the World Union undiscovered. Services had often speculated that such an organisation could exist, but no trace had ever been found; at least, not to Tamsin’s knowledge.
‘Please, Salvator. I need to speak with her. Don’t make me force you.’
‘Okay.’ He gave in, as she knew he would. La Grêle had instructed him to keep Tamsin in town if he came across her. ‘It may take some time to organise. Like I said, La Grêle is very careful. How can I find you?’
‘I’ll come back tomorrow, and the day after that and the day after that. Make sure they know I won’t stop and that they do want to talk to me. It’s in their best interests.’
‘I understand.’
‘And I’m taking Piri with me.’
‘No. I can’t allow that.’
‘You can’t stop me either.’ Tamsin met his angry stare with a smirk.
‘Is this how you get your way? Threats and force?’
Tamsin shrugged. ‘If that’s what it takes.’
‘La Grêle isn’t going to like you.’
~ * ~
The girl walked beside her and occasionally looked up at her.
You have two skins.
Tamsin paused. How can you tell?
I can tell.
What else can you tell?
You’ve met Pierre.
Yes, I have.
Will you take me to him?
Yes. In time. I don’t know where he is right now.
Piri had been in the slums since she was young, living in the hovel with only her mother. She’d developed her abilities quickly and knew that she had to keep her gift secret. She didn’t want her mother getting in trouble.
How did you know I was telepathic? Tamsin asked her.
What do you mean? I can just tell. Can’t you?
Just by looking at someone? No.
I don’t need to look with my eyes, I just feel it.
... This child could be very helpful, Tamsin thought to herself.
I’m happy to help. I don’t think we should have to hide. I want to join Pierre Jnr.
So do I.
~ * ~
Two days later Doctor Salvator arranged a meeting for that evening. He explained that even though gatherings were rare, they never met in the same place twice, in case Services was watching.
While everyone in the rebellion wanted to come along, Tamsin chose only to take Okonta for extra protection. Since she had freed him, Okonta had proven himself to be disciplined, perceptive and considered himself forever in her debt. If she fell, he would take her place to lead the revolution.
Their journey began with the doctor handing each of them a hand lamp and warning them to watch where they stepped. The location was to be kept secret, even from Salvator, until the very last minute.
‘The basement is old and broken down. The ground can give way at any time.’ They began their descent via a maintenance stairwell that let out on the old ground level. He pulled a paper map from his jacket, looked over it for a moment and then directed them forward.
The air was thick with moisture. In the areas where the old tarmac had given way, pools of dirty water made traps for unwary feet. In the distance, the lap of the tides licked and echoed. Tamsin could see small glimmers of fires and silhouettes warming themselves.
‘Dennies. Watch out not to drift away. Not all psis are part of La Grêle’s network.’
They followed Salvator through the muddy winding of the basement streets
, with Piri holding onto her hand and Okonta behind. A century ago this was the street level, signs of which were still obvious: the gutters that followed the interstices of roads, telegraph poles and street signs. The original buildings had been torn open, decimated, now broken-down caves whose insides held collections of dark rubbish that not even the dennies cared about.
The second level was fifty metres above, held up by strong steel girders in a tight grid under the city. By pointing their lamps upward they could see the underside of the streets, the pipes and circuitry of sewerage and cabling; a base that kept this old world in permanent shadow.
Salvator approached a pair of men who were standing at the entrance of an old cinema. They whispered with Sal and looked suspiciously at the group he was leading.
He’s telling them they don’t need to come down. That they can trust you, Piri informed her. Tamsin could get that much for herself, but the girl had taken it upon herself to report everything her powers could detect.
‘That’s nice.’
‘He doesn’t trust you though.’
‘I was mean to him.’
‘You should learn to be more gentle.’
Tamsin turned to catch Okonta smiling.
The two men pointed to a spot on Salvator’s map and he returned to the group. ‘It’s still a way yet.’
He led them through more of the same dark roads until they eventually came to a pair of large trapdoors that opened upward and exposed a staircase leading down.
‘A bit excessive, isn’t it, Salvator?’
‘La Grêle likes to be cautious.’
‘And she wanted to make sure we couldn’t escape too easily, right?’
‘We will stop now if you can’t show respect.’ The doctor twisted around to stare her down. ‘If you go in there with that attitude, don’t expect their help.’
‘I’m sorry. It was only a little joke.’
‘There is nothing to joke about. Don’t think that just because I can’t read your mind, I don’t know why you’ve come here.’
The room at the bottom of the stairs was about fifteen paces across and had once been some sort of storage area. The walls were brick and mould. There was no furniture in the room and all the clutter and debris had been pushed to one corner.
Their group was the last to arrive. Piri let Tamsin know who was waiting for her as they got closer: three tappers and four benders, from the four corners of Atlantic. When they entered, the two groups stood separated from each other, indicating an uneasy alliance. The telepaths were forewarned of their arrival and showed nothing but impatience, but the benders turned as one when they came through the doorway, also impatient.
It was not a friendly room. The benders were aggressive and the telepaths had blocks up, shielding their minds.
‘Who are they?’ one of the benders asked Tamsin — Vincent Lang from the Phili side. He was the most powerful kinetic in the Cape, as recent competitions had proved. This was his first meeting as part of this ad hoc psionic council; apparently he didn’t really know, or care to know, the older members.
‘They are with me. This gentleman here is Okonta, who like me has recently been freed from Services employment, and this girl, Piri, is an orphan I have adopted.’
‘Why are we meeting this woman, Sal? She used to be a collector,’ said another bender. She was thickset, homespun and nicknamed Rocks. She had been sent by someone called Chiggy, who never let himself get close to tappers.
‘She says she means no harm,’ the doctor replied. ‘Her background is enough to make her at least interesting for us to talk to.’
The woman known as La Grêle grunted. Tamsin turned her attentions toward her. She was tall for a woman and old enough for her hair to silver. Her body was slim, face noble and she wore layers of grey. She had a block up that Tamsin couldn’t push through and from her crossed arms and tight lips it was clear she also wasn’t happy to be called here.
‘Let’s get this over with. We know why you are here, Tamsin Grey,’ La Grêle said.
‘I am open to you as requested. My mind submits to your investigation.’ She bowed. While you are allowed to remain closed to me. I understand and forgive.
And we shall try to forgive your arrogance, La Grêle projected in return.
It was agreed that Tamsin would be able to present her case and then the two group leaders would speak without interruption, Salvator for the benders and La Grêle for the telepaths. For the sake of the benders they would communicate vocally only. Silent conversations were forbidden.
‘Miz Grey, please begin. Why is it that you have come here?’ Salvator prompted.
Tamsin took a small step forward. Piri was telling her everything she was picking up from the group and Tamsin silently shushed her.
She panned around the room as she spoke, matching each of their hot glares with her own. ‘I have come here for your help. My name is Tamsin Grey. At least, that is the name I was given by Services when they took me for training. I do not know if that is my original name.’ She commanded her symbskin to roll back to reveal her underskin. It began a slow crawl down to her neck, a process that took a couple of minutes to complete. ‘I was taught to hunt psis. To collect those who didn’t volunteer themselves. I was one of their best agents.’
‘And now you want us to listen to you? I think it is time we got our own back.’
‘Just try, Vincent.’ She smiled and pushed force on his chest. ‘I can understand your anger toward me. I am not proud of what I have done, but I was just a little kid when they took me, like Piri here. I didn’t understand what was happening, and by the time I did they didn’t have to force me. Okonta and I, like many others, were trained. We were locked in. And you think you’re angry? Where were any of you?’
By now her second skin was down to a roll around her neck and she ordered her hair to change back to its natural colour. They must see the real her, her true face.
‘We do have one thing in common though. I too think it’s time to get our own back. I cannot undo what I have done, but at least I am trying to reverse it. So far I have freed thirty psis who were collected and I will continue to free more. And when I have enough, I will free our cousins on the islands.’
‘Wait a minute,’ said one of the tappers who had been silent until now. Hiero Blish, according to Piri. To Tamsin, all the telepaths had blocks up that she couldn’t see through, but Piri didn’t seem impeded. Hiero worked as a monitor for a cartel of gaming arenas in the Washington precinct, security against psionic cheating. ‘Isn’t there an elephant in the room you seem to have bypassed? What about Pierre Jnr?’
‘Tell me what you would like to know,’ Tamsin replied, spreading her hands.
‘What can you tell us about the Dome manifestation? Was it him or not?’
‘It was him. I was part of a Services team that was tracking him so I was there that day.’ Hiero at least seemed keen to hear more; it was hard to tell with the rest of the group. The benders were impressed by the force of the manifestation more than anything else. ‘Pierre is the only reason I can stand before you today. He freed me.’
‘Where is he now? Why has he not come to us instead of talking through a proxy?’ Vincent asked.
‘I am not a proxy. The truth — since you will undoubtedly delve it from me anyway — the truth is that I don’t know where he is. Four weeks ago I woke up in Joberg with a cyberdoc putting a new skin on me.’
‘So what does he want?’
‘He didn’t say. But he freed me and set me on this path, so I believe that this is what I am meant to be doing.’
‘And what is that?’
‘Fighting for a world where psis can live in peace without having to hide our abilities.’
‘Yes, Miz Grey,’ a redheaded man behind La Grêle interrupted. ‘You are certainly not the first to have thought of this ... it is an amusing pastime to speculate on. You cannot be thinking you are the first to attempt it? How do we win?
Tell me that, Miz Grey, and I’ll keep listening.’
‘Together. We will win together. I know how Services hunts us. I’ve been leading them my entire adult life.’
‘And you want us to trust you?’ Vincent smirked.
‘“Traitor”, I hear you thinking. To who? To you? To psis everywhere? Where were you when they took me? Down here in the dark. It’s them I’m betraying more than you. They took me in. They manipulated me. They locked me. But when the opportunity came, I broke free. And now I’m going to win a war against them. You’re either with me, or you’re a coward.’
The Hunt for Pierre Jnr Page 29