Telepath (Hive Mind Book 1) (18 page)

I headed down two more
levels into Forge’s subconscious mind, and then tried to search without letting
myself drift upwards again. I skated past the emotions of the Strike team and
nosy squad, and finally found something.

“I might have the child.
They’re dreaming. I can’t judge distance properly on a subconscious level. Direction
is hazy too. Can you move me?”

Someone lifted me up. I
didn’t know who it was. Anyone on the Strike team was strong enough to carry me
while running at full speed. It was a pre-requisite for the job.

“Move me forward. Left.
More forward.” This must look incredibly silly, but the only information I had was
whether I was getting closer or further away from the dreaming child.

“Left again,” I continued.
“No, back again, and try right. Stop. Forward. Stop. Backward. Stop. I think
I’m right on top of her now. Still finding no indication of a target.”

“No access hatch round
here, and no signs of digging,” said Adika. “The child must be in a passageway,
and the access to it is elsewhere. This is a park. The level below a park is
just soil. Maybe she’s down on Level 82.”

“She seems closer than
that,” I said, “and it feels damp down there.”

“The level beneath a park
is earth and rock,” said Lucas, “but there must be other things in there, power
cables, drainage.” His voice became sharp and urgent. “Nicole, we need the rain
turned off in that park. It’ll be pre-programmed for regular times, and if it
starts raining now the girl could drown.”

“Working on that,” said Nicole.
It was only a minute before she spoke again. “The rain controls should be near
the largest lift. Access code is …”

My brain skipped over the
next bit, as I checked on the sleeping child. By the time I was listening
again, the rain had been turned off, and Nicole was explaining the drainage
system.

“ … they join the main
drain, and that leads into the lake.”

“It would be simplest to
dig,” said Adika.

“I’ve called our own unit park
keeper in to advise us,” said Lucas. “She says the area around main drains can
be unstable due to leaks. If you try digging, there’s a risk of the ground
caving in on top of the child.”

“Digging is a last resort
then.” Adika sighed so heavily that his crystal unit picked it up with a
rustling sound.

“The target must have
taken the child in there,” said Lucas. “An adult couldn’t fit into most of
those pipes, so the target must have entered the main drain from the lake end. There’d
have been a grating over the end of the pipe, but that could be easily removed.”

He paused for a moment. “I’m
afraid someone has to go swimming. Amber, you’re sure there’s no one else down
there? If we send someone in through the drains, then he’ll be an easy target
for anyone lying in ambush.”

“I’m as sure as I can be,”
I said.

“People outside are
getting upset again,” said Nicole. “A man’s shouting that officials don’t care about
the child because her parents are only Level 80. Can I give them a news
update?”

“Tell them the telepath
has already located the child,” said Lucas. “The girl is alive, but trapped.
The rescuers have to work extremely slowly to avoid hurting the child.” He gave
a humourless laugh. “We’re actually telling the truth for once.”

“I could use you here,
Lucas,” said Adika. “You spend a lot of time training in the pool. Is anyone
else good enough at swimming to cope with real problems underwater? Remember
it’s not just swimming down from the lake surface to the drain entrance, there
may be a long stretch of flooded drain as well.”

“If the target could get
in there with the child, then I can get in there too,” said Forge.

“You’re sure?” Adika
sounded doubtful.

“Forge is an expert swimmer,”
I confirmed without thinking. “He’s been surfing for years.”

I instantly regretted
saying that, but Adika accepted my statement without comment. He’d naturally
assume I had my knowledge from reading Forge’s thoughts, rather than from
standing on a beach watching him surf.

“Ideal then,” said Adika.
“Forge, see if you can find the underwater entrance to the drainage system. Amber,
can you manage to keep track of both the child and Forge, so you can give directions?”

“I’ll try. I daren’t lose
the child, because she’d be hard to locate again. I’ll have to stay with her
most of the time, while making occasional, split-second dips into Forge’s
mind.”

“All right,” said Adika.
“It’s the best we can do. Sending more than one person wouldn’t help. If they
hit trouble in a tight tunnel, the person behind couldn’t get a clear shot.
Forge, I’ll want a running commentary as you go in.”

“You should use extreme
caution and watch for booby traps,” added Lucas.

“Booby traps?” Even Adika
sounded startled.

“It doesn’t make sense to
go to all this trouble to take the child into the drainage system, and then just
abandon her,” said Lucas. “Amber has no indication the child is hurt, and she’s
getting no target at all. The plan may not have been to harm the child, but to
injure her rescuers.”

There was a pause while we
all thought that over.

“Perhaps we should try
digging instead,” said Adika.

“If there really
are
booby
traps, and one is near the child …” Lucas didn’t need to finish the sentence.

“I hope you’re being
paranoid about this, Lucas,” said Adika. “I’ve no choice but to send a man in, because
getting a robot in there would take far too much time. It probably wouldn’t function
in the conditions down there anyway. Logic tells me a drain is wet and muddy.”

“I’ll be careful,” said
Forge.

“If you see anything odd,
anything at all,” said Lucas, “stop at once. It might be a good idea to take a
long stick with you.”

“A long stick!” Adika gave
way to frustration. “Lucas, are you telling us to use a long stick to poke
booby traps?”

“Safer than using your
hand,” said Lucas.

There was a pause while
Forge stripped to just his body armour and attached wristset lights to both his
forearms. I still had my eyes closed, focusing on a small faint mind buried in
the earth.

“Going underwater now,”
said Forge. “Can’t talk under there obviously.”

There was what seemed like
a long wait before he spoke again, sounding breathless. “I’ve located the
entrance. There’s no grating over it. Going underwater again and inside.”

Another long pause. “I’m
in the drainage pipe now. Is my camera still working?”

“Yes,” said Adika, “but you
must have got some dirt on it. The image is a bit grimy.”

“I’m not surprised there’s
mud on the camera,” said Forge. “Everything down here is covered in mud,
including me. There’s no room to stand, but more crawling space than in the
vent system. Only the very first section of pipe was flooded. From this point
on, there’s just a deep layer of wet silt. I can’t see any suspicious objects ahead,
but there could be anything under the mud and silt.”

“Use the stick to check the
ground ahead of you,” said Lucas.

I held on to my link to
the child, and dipped briefly into Forge’s head. He was scared, but not nearly
as scared as I was.

“Using stick,” said Forge.
“Moving slowly. There seems to be something lumpy ahead, almost buried in the silt.
If I hadn’t been warned, I’d think it was just a tree root, but I’ll try the
stick again.”

“Wait!” ordered Lucas. “I can
see the suspect object you’re talking about on your camera image. At one point,
a glint of light reflected off it. Light doesn’t reflect off tree roots, mud,
or ceramic drainage pipes. Better back off and try shooting it with your gun.
Use a stun setting to make sure you don’t damage the pipe.”

“Backing off,” said Forge.
“Shooting now.”

I dipped into his head.
“Eek!”

“Forge?” shouted Adika.
“What happened there?”

“The object is definitely
made of metal,” said Forge. “It’s got jagged bits, like teeth. When I shot at
the thing, it seemed to jump up out of the mud, and then the teeth snapped
shut. If my hand had been in there …”

“Lucas,” said Adika, “I
love you.”

Lucas laughed. “I love you
too, Adika.”

I managed a nervous laugh
myself.

“We’re getting nothing but
a brown blur from your visual link now, Forge,” said Adika.

“Sorry. When the trap went
off, I jerked backwards and caught my head on the muddy side of the pipe. I can
try wiping the camera.” There was a pause before Forge spoke again. “Is that
any better?”

“Not in the slightest,”
said Lucas. “I think we’ll have to forget the visual link. What does the trap look
like? Is it safe to get past?”

“I think so. It’s snapped solidly
shut. I’m pushing it aside. Very slowly. Moving on and using the stick to check
what’s ahead.”

“The target must have
taken the child in, and then rigged traps on his way out,” said Lucas. “He’d
know that we’d be looking out for more traps the same as the first one. I
expect any remaining traps will be different.”

“Thanks for that cheering
thought,” said Forge.

“He’d have had limited
time,” said Lucas. “I doubt there’ll be more than three traps.”

“Another cheering
thought.” Forge gave a grunt of pain.

“All right?” asked Adika.

“The silt contains some very
sharp stones,” said Forge. “I see a junction ahead. Left or right?”

“Left,” I said.

“Forge, stop well clear of
the junction,” said Lucas. “Look it over very closely, and describe it for us. By
the way, I’ve got Keith’s Tactical team listening in to a direct feed of our conversation,
in case they can think of anything helpful. So far, they’re just unable to
believe this is happening.”

“I can’t believe it
either,” said Adika.

“This looks like a
standard T-junction of big pipes,” said Forge. “I can’t see any sign of traps. Do
I shoot the junction?”

“Shoot it,” said Adika
grimly.

“Shooting now.”

I checked Forge’s head. Shooting
the junction did nothing at all.

“I’ve shot it several
times,” said Forge. “Using stick again. Still nothing. Advancing cautiously to
junction.”

“If the target didn’t trap
the junction,” said Lucas, “I’m betting there’s a trap immediately you turn
left.”

“I can see the child!” Forge’s
voice went a notch higher with excitement.

“Don’t move!” shouted
Lucas. “Don’t even think about moving. The target would expect you to head
instinctively towards the child. Check the ground in front of you.”

“It looks fine,” said
Forge.

I checked the view from
his eyes. The ground looked fine to me too.

“Give me a minute,” said
Lucas. “I’ve got to think. There are three possibilities. The target booby
traps the way to the child, or the other way, or both. The target surely can’t
have had time to trap both directions, and would expect us to do the obvious
thing.”

Lucas’s voice changed from
thoughtful to decisive. “Forge, take a look at the right-hand pipe. Shoot it a
bit, prod it with the stick, and make sure it’s safe. The idea is you go into
it a little way and turn round. That should give you a clear shot at the ground
just inside the left-hand pipe, while still being a little distance away. You
understand me?”

“I understand,” said
Forge. “Shooting. Prodding. Moving into right-hand pipe. Turning round … with difficulty.
Made it. You want me to take a few shots at the ground in the left-hand pipe
now?”

“Yes,” said Lucas.

“Shooting.”

I dipped into Forge’s head
just as there was a loud noise. I was thrown backwards and my head hurt. No,
not my head, Forge’s head.

“Something exploded,” I
said. “Forge got thrown backwards and hit his head on the roof of the pipe.
He’s dazed.”

“I’m … all right,” said
Forge.

“He’s not feeling too
good,” I said. “The child is still asleep. She must be drugged to sleep through
that. The blast didn’t seem to hurt her, but water’s dripping on her now.”

“I’m going in after Forge,”
said Adika. “If there’s just a short section of flooded drain then I can make
it. After this, I do more pool time. We all do more pool time.”

“No! I’m almost there
now,” said Forge. “There’s only a short distance between the bit I shot and the
child. Surely if there were more traps, the explosion would have triggered them.”

“I don’t think the target
would have put a trap right by the child,” said Lucas. “If she moved, set off the
trap and it killed her, then we’d just dig up the body afterwards. Be careful
though.”

“Shooting on stun,” said
Forge, his voice sounding strained. “Careful not to hit the girl. It seems
clear. Moving in now. Checking it’s safe as I go. Safety rules.”

“What?” asked Adika.

“Swapping to Forge now,” I
said. “He’s in trouble.” I suddenly realized what was happening. “There’s some sort
of gas in there! That’s why the child is asleep. Forge, grab her and pull
back!”

“Amber, you rode the
rail,” said Forge.

“Forge, hold your breath,
grab the girl, move back!” I yelled.

“Carnival.”

“Forge is unconscious,” I
reported. “He got the girl back to the junction.”

“I’m inside the drain now,”
said a breathless Adika. “Heading for Forge. Let’s hope he didn’t miss any
traps.”

“Can we get fresh air
pumped down to them?” asked Lucas.

“I’ve already got an inflatable
boat, an air supply, and a pump on the way,” said Nicole.

“Rothan, get the pump
working as soon as you can.” Adika was gasping for breath between the words. I
checked his head. He didn’t seem in difficulties, just breathing hard because
of the effort of the underwater swim and crawling along the drain.

“Bringing the child out,”
said Adika.

“We’re launching the boat
and coming to meet you,” said Rothan.