Skyfall (5 page)

‘About time.'

‘Sorry. The lift made a couple of stops.'

‘You having caf?'

‘No, I'm right. You go ahead.'

Even though she was only thirteen, Kes's caf intake was nothing short of prodigious. Lari watched his friend as she waved her order at the guy behind the counter.

‘How's the Bean?'

‘Small. Noisy. Smelly. Same as always. He keeps Mum and Dad distracted, though, which is good for me.'

‘I'd have thought you'd be pleased to have a brother.'

She made a noncommittal gesture.

‘I knew it had to happen eventually, but they waited so long I kind of got to hoping it wouldn't. You know how it is.'

‘But why? Surely it's a good thing? Genetic continuance for your family, and all that.'

‘And there speaks someone who's never had to live in a mixed-use dome apartment with a screaming six-month-old baby.'

‘It can't be that bad.'

‘You've seen our apartment, Lari. You know how small it is.'

‘Yeah, but so are babies.'

‘See – no idea. For something so tiny, they take up a skyload of space. Much more than the rest of us. But you wouldn't know about that. Not too many three-roomers in your dome, I imagine.'

‘So, what's this big adventure you've planned?' When Kes got testy, the best thing was to change the subject. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. This morning, Lari was lucky.

‘Later.' She grinned. ‘You'll have to see it to believe it.'

Her caf arrived and she took a sip.

‘Urgh!'

‘Why do you drink it if you don't like it?'

‘I do like it, but lately it's been even worse than usual. Everyone's complaining about it. They must have lowered the water quality protocols again.'

‘I haven't noticed any difference.'

‘You wouldn't.'

‘What's that mean?'

‘You think the same protocols apply to your dome as ours?'

‘Of course they do.'

‘Rubbish.'

‘This is your father talking, isn't it?'

‘Get off it, Lari.' Her expression hardened. ‘This is common knowledge to anyone who doesn't live with their head in the upper atmosphere. They've been lowering the protocol standards for mixed-use and lower-level domes for years. Dad reckons the difference in the water between when he was a boy and now is—'

‘I knew this was about your father.'

‘Don't be smug. It's about seeing what's right before your eyes, Lari.'

She gulped the rest of her caf in one hit and went over to the counter to pay. Lari shook his head. She was even more touchy than usual this morning.

‘You ready?'

She leaned down to pick up her bag from the floor and a small pendant on a fine silver chain slipped from under the front of her blouse. It was shaped like two tiny sideways tridents, mirroring each other along a slightly curved spine with their points facing outwards, left and right. Only the middle tine of each fork was pointed; the outer ones curled elegantly back over themselves.

‘What's that?'

‘What?'

‘Your pendant? I've never seen it before.'

A flash of alarm flickered briefly in his friend's expression.

‘It's nothing. A teacher gave it to me ages ago.' She quickly tucked the pendant back into her blouse. ‘Come on, let's go.'

‘Where're we going?'

‘You'll see.'

They left the ref and headed towards the hub. The common was thronging with people making their way to and from the lower-level shops.

‘You'll need to clear me,' Kes told him.

‘Where to?'

‘Your dome.'

‘Why'd I have to come all the way over here if we're only going back to my place?'

‘Just authorise me, okay?'

There was a sort of excitement building in Kes which Lari didn't trust. He'd seen her like this before and it usually spelt bad news for both of them.

‘What are you up to?'

‘Shi, Lari! Will you just trust me?'

‘Fine.' He waved his wristband across the allocation plate.

‘Dome 3327 North, also authorising Anatale, Kesra.'

The reader chimed, and Kes irritably flicked her wrist over the panel.

There must have been a lift already at the hub, because their names came up on the allocation screen immediately.

‘That was quick!' Lari commented.

‘The joys of upper-level priority,' Kes muttered, as they walked straight past the grumbling queue.

They entered the otherwise empty lift and settled into two seats.

‘Anyway,' Kes continued as the lift dropped. ‘Today we need a lift to ourselves, so it's all for the best.'

After another couple of seconds the lift lurched as it made the transition into a horizontal shaft.

‘You ready?' she asked.

‘For what?'

‘This. Controller,' she said loudly up towards the roof, ‘engage program user interface.'

Immediately the babble of the newspanel faded, to be replaced by the disembodied, electric voice of the lift control program.

Program requires authorisation.

‘Authorisation Anatale. Password' – she winked at Lari – ‘Larinan.'

For a moment there was no sound but the hum of the resonators, then:

User interface protocols engaged.

‘What's …' Lari began, but Kes waved him to silence.

‘Computer, delog current vehicle allocation and reallocate to new destination.'

State new destination.

‘Location 370 North.'

Location 370 North is a restricted recreation facility. State authorising identity.

Kes threw Lari an evil grin. ‘Mann, Janil.'

Authorisation accepted. Previous destination delogged. Vehicle now inbound location 370 North.

‘Controller, end user interface program.'

With a soft ‘click' the newspanel glowed back into life and a couple of seconds later the lift slowed. Lari felt a gentle shudder as it reversed along its course.

‘What was that about?' Lari demanded.

‘What do you think? My newest trick.'

‘Kes, what did you do?'

‘I found the user interface program the other day when I was having a look through the maglift systems. It's basically for use by techies and security and a few high-ups in the Prelature.'

Lari sighed. This was typical Kes. Where data systems were concerned, she just couldn't stop herself.

‘Are you insane? Those systems must be restricted.'

‘Of course they are, but it was so easy! You wouldn't believe how simple it was to break through.'

‘Kes, if they trace you

‘They won't. I've put a program into the central maglift governor that automatically delogs any alterations I make through the interface. We can take lifts anywhere we want and nobody will ever know.'

‘Why'd you use my brother's name?'

‘He's an authorised identity on the interface. So's your dad.'

‘How'd you know that?'

‘It's all there if you know where to look, Lari. You wouldn't believe the authority your dad has.'

While they were talking, the lift entered a vertical shaft and dropped again, much further than Lari was used to.

‘We're going a long way down.'

‘That's not surprising,' Kes replied. ‘Most of the restricted rec domes are in the lower levels. I've heard some of them are almost in the underworld.'

‘This is a bad idea.'

‘Come on, Lari, loosen up.'

‘There's a reason kids aren't allowed down there.'

Kes just snorted as the lift slowed again, switched briefly through a horizontal shaft, then climbed a short way to a hub. A moment later the doors slid open and the thump of muffled bass music filled the air.

‘Come on.' Kes grabbed his hand.

‘Kes—'

‘Don't worry so much! We'll have a quick look around and then get out of here, okay?'

‘Why's it so dark?'

‘Dunno. Let's find out.' She pulled him out. The doors closed behind them and they stood beside the hub for a moment, taking it all in.

‘Cool!' Kes actually sounded impressed.

‘You're joking, right?'

People thronged around them, jostling and bumping. Music pounded through the dome from at least a dozen different directions.

‘This way!' Kes pushed past a couple of women who were scanning the lift allocation plate and headed for the edge of the common.

Ignoring the strange looks thrown their way by the women, Lari hurried after her.

Compared with what he was used to, the restricted rec dome felt small and cramped. The common was little bigger than Lari's apartment. The dome's facility towers loomed high around them, filling the interior almost all the way to the roof and festooned with an eerie array of glowing signs, advertising products and establishments whose functions Lari could only imagine. The noise and smell and pulse of the place shuddered through him as he shouldered after Kes.

‘Watch it!' snapped a man in a shimmering black robe as Lari was jostled hard against him.

‘Sorry,' Lari muttered, but the man was gone and Lari lunged after Kes again, only to almost knock her over as she stopped.

‘Look!' Kes pointed and Lari stared up though the tiny section of dome visible immediately above them.

‘Wow.'

Through a small gap between the utility towers, the city filled the sky, an almost unfathomable tangle of domes, lift and shafts, all lit from behind by daylight and thrown into dark silhouette against the sky.

‘Tell me that isn't impressive?'

‘It's impressive, all right? Now, can we get out of here?'

‘But we haven't seen anything.'

‘People are staring.'

It was true. Almost everyone they passed directed odd looks at them, expressions ranging from amusement to curiosity to outright hostility.

‘Let's keep moving.'

And she was away again, darting down a passage between two buildings.

‘Do you even know where you're going?'

‘Lari, relax!' A note of exasperation crept into her voice. ‘Don't tell me you've never wondered about these places.'

Lari felt colour rise in his cheeks.

‘I knew it!' Kes grinned and punched his arm. ‘You try to pretend you're different, Larinan Mann, but you're like every other guy I know. Now let's make the most of this.'

She grabbed his hand and led him deeper into the shadowy gap between the buildings. The further they walked, the darker and more sulphurous the atmosphere became. The close press of the walls packed the crowd even more tightly than out in the common. Conversation in a dozen banned languages babbled around them, and in the darkness of a recessed doorway someone was vomiting copiously.

‘Check it out!' Kes squeezed his hand. Ahead, a small, shuffling crowd waited in a puddle of red light cast by a glowing sign mounted above a heavy iron door. The flickering glow painted them bloody.

‘What are they doing?'

‘It must be a club.'

‘Orpheus,' Lari said, reading the sign.

‘Hey!' A heavyset man in black noticed them and detached himself from the crowd. ‘Hey, you kids!'

‘Come on!' Kes spun round and dashed back towards the common.

‘Shi!' Lari muttered under his breath as he sprinted behind her.

‘Stop there, you two!' the man shouted, but his voice was quickly lost in the clamour of noise along the alley.

‘Kes!' Lari shouted, but she'd gone, swallowed up in the crowd, which seemed to suddenly thicken around him. ‘KES!'

‘'Ere!' A heavy hand clamped around his forearm, almost jerking him off his feet. ‘What's the hurry, lad?' The speaker loomed out of the press of people. A woman, her head shaved and painted with some kind of glowing substance, glowered down at him.

‘Let go!' Lari struggled, but the woman laughed and dug her fingers deeper into his flesh. ‘You're a pretty one.' She leaned down into his face. Her pupils were dilated so widely that the black emptiness of them filled her entire eyes. ‘Don't often get pretty little fillies like yourself down here.'