Telepath (Hive Mind Book 1) (5 page)

A shattering new thought
suddenly overrode everything else. My parents and Gregas loathed the grey-clad
nosies almost as much as I did. How would they react when they saw my Lottery
result? It had been hard to say goodbye to all my friends from Teen Level. I
couldn’t cope with losing my family as well.

I dropped my fork onto my plate,
and used the apartment comms unit to ask Megan to come back. She arrived a
minute later, smiling as usual. I saw her glance at the plates of spare food,
and hastily gestured at them.

“Please help yourself.”

She pulled up a chair and
sat down facing me. “I’ve already eaten,” she said, but picked up a pastry
anyway.

“Have I been listed as a
nosy yet?” I asked. “It’ll be a huge shock to my parents. They really dislike
nosies.”

“The last batch of this
year’s Lottery results should be posted within the next hour,” said Megan. “You’ll
be included in the results, but not as a telepath. It’s essential for the security
of the Hive that only approved members of Law Enforcement know the true
information about telepaths. Given your parents’ attitude to nosies, keeping
your telepathy secret from them will be best for your family relationships as
well.”

I waved my hands in
despair. “So what do I tell my parents?”

“The established method of
dealing with this situation is to list true telepaths as Level 1 Researchers.”

“Level 1 Researcher!” My
jaw must have dropped low enough to hit the floor. “My parents will ask me lots
of questions. What do I say? What am I supposed to be researching?”

“You just explain apologetically
that you aren’t allowed to answer any questions because your research is
classified.”

I considered that. My
parents would have a shock all right, but not the horrible shock of finding out
I was a telepath. They’d be ecstatic at the news their daughter was a Level 1 Researcher.
My photos would be centre front with flashing lights round them. Their friends
would get sick of hearing about me.

“If Telepath Units are
part of Law Enforcement, does that mean I’ll be living with the rest of Law Enforcement
on Level 20?”

“No,” said Megan. “You and
all your staff will be living at your Telepath Unit. You can tell your parents that
you have a dedicated Research Unit to assist you in your vital work. Explain that
you and your staff need to live there for security reasons, and because some
work has to take place at unusual hours.”

She paused for a moment. “We
can’t allow anyone from outside Law Enforcement into the operational section of
the unit, but your parents will be able to visit your apartment in the accommodation
section if you wish.”

I gave a disbelieving
laugh. A Level 1 daughter with her own Research Unit. My parents were going to
faint from joy. I’d be fainting from joy myself if only it was true.

“We want you to be able to
relax and sleep properly, Amber,” continued Megan, “so your Telepath Unit will
be on Industry 1 in an area surrounded by things like water storage tanks that
need minimal maintenance. You’ll rarely be troubled by the nearness of unfamiliar
minds in the daytime, and never at night.”

There were a hundred accommodation
levels in the Hive, with Level 1 at the top. Above that were fifty more levels
that held all the things like manufacturing centres, air purification,
recycling, and hydroponics, which were too messy, noisy, or took up too much
space to be on an accommodation level. If my Telepath Unit was on Industry 1,
the highest of the industrial levels, then it would be right at the top of the Hive!

I had a sick, fluttery feeling
in my stomach. “There’s a solid ceiling on Industry 1? Truesun won’t be able to
get us?”

Megan’s expression
flickered as if she was struggling not to laugh. “The ceiling on Industry 1 looks
exactly like the ceiling on any other level. Above it are some special
maintenance areas, then the Hive outer structural shield, and then a thick
layer of soil and rocks.”

She paused. “Should your
parents question the remote location of your Research Unit, you can explain
that it’s dictated by the nature of your research.”

Her words triggered
another dreadful realization. As soon as my parents had got over the shock of
my Lottery result, they’d try to call me, but they wouldn’t get an answer
because I was in Hive Futura. They’d think I was ignoring their calls, and jump
to the obvious conclusion that their Level 1 daughter was dumping her Level 27
parents.

“Megan, you have to get a
message to my parents,” I said urgently. “Give them some reason why calls won’t
be reaching me for a while.”

She smiled. “You can call
your parents yourself, Amber, or they can call you. We’ve got a secure link to our
Hive, and all calls for you will be automatically routed here.”

I gave a sigh of relief.

“You obviously can’t tell
your parents that you’re in Hive Futura,” added Megan. “I suggest you tell them
you’re in temporary accommodation while you’re setting up your unit. They’ll be
able to visit you as soon as you’ve moved into your permanent apartment. Would
you like me to leave you alone until you’ve talked to your parents?”

I nodded, watched Megan go
out of the door, and then reached for my dataview. If I could make calls to
people in our own Hive, then I should be able to access information too. I
checked to see if the final batch of Lottery results had been posted yet, saw
they’d just gone up, and automatically started looking to see how my friends
had done. This time I started with the most important one.

Shanna was a Level 9 Media
Presenter! She’d made the elite top ten levels of the Hive just as she’d
expected. I might see her presenting the inter-Hive news or …

No, I couldn’t imagine Shanna
presenting the news. It seemed far more likely that she’d be covering social
events. Whatever programmes she’d be presenting, Shanna must be thrilled that her
Lottery result was such a huge success.

After a few moments imagining
what Shanna was doing and thinking, picturing her buying all the high level clothes
she’d been dreaming of for years, I moved on to checking my other friends.

Margot was a Level 30
Protein Enhancement Supervisor, which was funny because she’d always been so
fussy about her food.

Casper was a Level 61
Restaurant Service Specialist. He’d been born with a genetic condition that affected
his ability to learn, but had an enthusiasm and infectious happiness that made
him a popular member of our group. He loved helping people, so he’d take
pleasure in bringing people their food, and they’d enjoy sharing the warmth of
his smile.

Reece was a Level 93 Pipe
Technician. I cheered aloud. Reece was a bully who’d grabbed every chance to
push people around on Teen Level, especially targeting me, Linnette, and Casper.
He could try bullying pipes now, and see how far that got him.

Atticus startled me. Level
3 Physician Surgical. High up! A year or so ago, when I was trying to break my
obsession with Forge, I’d had a few dates with Atticus. He was a quiet, serious
boy with …

“You have an incoming
call,” the comms system announced.

I took a deep breath and
accepted the call. Holo images of my parents appeared in front of me, looking so
real that I could imagine reaching out and touching them. This apartment comms
system must be a top model, nothing like the basic one I’d had in my room on Teen
Level.

“Amber!” My mother gasped
my name. “We saw your Lottery result. When there was no news yesterday, I started
getting worried, but this is incredible.”

My father just gave me a
dazed look, seeming completely lost for words.

“I’m in shock too,” I said.

“This is your new
apartment?” My mother looked round the room. “Very nice.”

“This is my temporary accommodation,”
I said. “I’ll have an apartment at the Research Unit, but setting it up will
take a few weeks.”

“You won’t live on Level 1?”
She looked disappointed.

I remembered my cover
story. “I need to live at the Research Unit because I’ll be working odd hours.”

My father finally found
his voice. “What sort of research will you be doing?”

“I’m afraid I’m not
allowed to tell you any details. It’s classified.”

“If you’re Level 1, you
must have an important post at this Research Unit,” he said.

“It’s
my
Research
Unit,” I said. “It’s being specially set up to help me with my work. That means
…”

“Your own Research Unit!”
My mother turned to look to her left. “Gregas!” she yelled. “Your sister’s got her
own Research Unit!”

There was a grunt from
somewhere off image. I could tell that Gregas was much less thrilled than my
mother. I could see his point. He had a Level 1 older sister with her own Research
Unit. Anything he did now, short of inventing the elixir of life, was going to
be an anti-climax.

“I’ll be wildly busy for the
next few weeks,” I said, “but once my Research Unit is ready you can come and
visit me. I won’t be able to show you the unit work areas for security reasons,
but you can see my apartment.”

“We understand,” said my
father.

“You’ll be tired after the
imprinting, so we’d better let you go.” My mother’s expression suddenly changed
to something vulnerable and anxious. “You’ll keep in touch?”

“I’ll keep in touch.” I
knew my parents really needed the reassurance of me visiting them in person,
but I wouldn’t be able to do that for weeks. I thought of something that would
please my mother. “I’ll need you to advise me about clothes. I’ve no idea what
to wear now I’m Level 1.”

“That’s a good point,” said
my mother. “You can’t keep wearing your old teen clothes in your new position.”

“I’ve no time for shopping
right now,” I said. “Could you find some clothes you think would look good on
me and mail me the details? I can order some of those to start with, and later
we can go shopping together.”

“I’d love that,” said my
mother. “We can go to the 500/5000 shopping area on Level 1. The finest shops
in the Hive!”

I laughed at the delight
in her face, said goodbye, watched my parents’ holo images vanish, and gave a
sigh of relief. I’d told them a host of lies, but at least the lies had made
them happy.

I went back into the bedroom,
and picked up the cube that held all the holos of my time on Teen Level. I
hadn’t played them since the last day of Carnival. I wanted to play them now,
but almost every image of my friends would include Forge. If I watched them
again, I’d be taking my teen fixation with him into my new life.

There was only one way to
stop myself doing that, so I did it. It was surprisingly hard to smash the
small cube. Not just mentally hard but physically as well, because it was a
tough little thing, and stubbornly dented rather than breaking in pieces. I had
to pound it with a chair for several minutes before it shattered into sad
little fragments. I collected them up, cutting my right forefinger on a sharp
edge, and dumped the lot down the waste chute.

It was done. I’d made a
clean break with the past, and could focus on the future. I’d hoped that
Lottery would make me high level, and it had made me Level 1 but a telepath. I
wasn’t sure if that was a dream come true or a nightmare.

“You need to go deeper into my mind,”
said Megan.

“I can’t.” I snapped the
words at her. We’d been sitting at a table in my apartment all morning. We’d spent
most of the previous two days sitting here as well. We didn’t seem to be making
any progress at all, and I was getting increasingly tired and frustrated.

“You’re still just picking
up pre-vocalization,” she said. Her lips weren’t moving, I was taking the words
straight from her mind, but effectively she was saying them. “When you pick up
…”

“I know,” I interrupted.
“You keep repeating this over and over. It’s not enough to read the words
someone is preparing to say aloud. I need to go deeper, and read the level
beneath with their private thoughts and plans. You keep telling me what I need
to do, but you aren’t telling me how to do it.”

“I can’t tell you how to
do it, because I’m not a true telepath,” she said, or thought.

“Then why don’t you get one
of the other true telepaths to teach me? Why haven’t you told me anything about
them? I don’t even know their names.”

Megan’s thoughts seem to
freeze for a moment before starting up again. “The other telepaths are Morton,
Sapphire, Mira, and Keith. I worked for Keith as a Deputy Administrator before
accepting the position as your Senior Administrator.”

“What is Keith like?”

“Giving you more information
about the other true telepaths would merely distract you at this stage in your
learning process,” said Megan. “They can’t teach you because they’re far too
busy to come here, and you can’t return to the Hive until you’ve learnt to
control your ability.”

“Get a borderline telepath
to help me then.”

“Borderline telepaths
can’t help you achieve a telepathic depth and control that they don’t have
themselves,” said Megan. “You can do this, Amber. Try to go deeper into my mind.”

“You could at least
explain to me why I need to learn these things. I keep asking you questions,
and you keep avoiding answering them. What are you hiding from me? What does a
Telepath Unit do?”

“I’m not hiding anything
from you, Amber,” said Megan. “I’m only a Senior Administrator. I could tell
you all about the day to day running of a Telepath Unit, all the trivial
details of general maintenance and ordering supplies, but you don’t want to
know about those things. You want to learn about the operational side of a
Telepath Unit. Your Tactical Commander will be in charge of that, and it’s his
decision how best to explain your role to you.”

I groaned. “Let me talk to
my Tactical Commander then.”

“Your Tactical Commander can’t
give you instructional guidance yet because he hasn’t been confirmed in his
post. All your team leaders need to come here and be approved by you before
their appointments are finalized.”

“Then get my Tactical
Commander here so I can approve him!”

Megan gave me her maddeningly
calm smile. “Contact with too many minds can be dangerous for a newly emergent
telepath. Your team leaders can’t come here until you’ve learned to control
your ability.”

I thumped the palms of my
hands on the table. I was tempted to bang my head on it too. Better yet, I
should bang Megan’s head on the table. Every time I tried to get her to answer
questions, I got stuck in one of these circular arguments.

Megan looked down at my
hands, and her smile changed to an anxious frown. “Your finger is bleeding,
Amber. I should put a protective dressing on it.”

I glanced down and saw I’d
knocked the scab off the cut on my right forefinger. Given Megan’s expression
of doom, anyone would have thought it was spurting torrents of blood instead of
oozing a single tiny drop.

“I don’t need a dressing
on a microscopic cut.”

“It may be a very small
cut,” said Megan, “but it’s still an open wound that could become infected.”

I thrust my hands out of
sight under the table. “I’ve survived eighteen years of cuts and bruises
without anyone covering them in protective dressings.”

Megan sighed. “Let’s get
back to work then. Try going deeper into my mind. Look for what’s beneath the
pre-vocalized thought level. Focus on …”

“It’s no use!” I stood up
and screamed the words at her. “I’ve tried a thousand times already.”

… need patience to
achieve the breakthrough that …

… still can’t
believe my good luck being offered this. A Senior Administrator position at
last, and the fresh start I desperately needed after …

… had to resign. It
wasn’t just my feelings when I looked at Keith, but his feelings when he looked
at me. Constantly reminding him of Dean’s death. Constantly reminding him of
his failure and …

… his fault, his
stupid, arrogant, lazy fault. If Keith had done his job, the Strike team would
have known Dean was wounded. They’d have been able to reach him before he bled
to death, and …

Dean! He’s dead and
everything’s gone with him. All our plans. The children we’ll never have now.

Ashes blowing in the
artificial wind of the park.

I’d broken through to Megan’s
deeper thoughts, but there wasn’t just one set of them. I was sucked down into her
mind, through layer after layer of thoughts and emotions, feeling her grief and
her pain, becoming her instead of Amber.

I don’t know how long I
was caught there, being Megan, lost in her emotional turmoil, before my survival
instincts kicked in. I fought my way back to the surface of her mind, like a
drowning swimmer desperate for air. I stared at my face – no, that was Megan’s
face, not mine – still dazed with shock.

“Judging from your face,
you managed it that time,” said Megan.

“You didn’t feel me in
your mind?”

She shook her head. “Not a
thing. People can’t.”

She hadn’t felt anything,
but I’d felt all her emotions as if they were my own. Megan hadn’t warned me that
reading deeper thought levels would be like this.

“I’d like to be alone for
a while.”

She nodded, stood up, and
left the room. I waited until the door was safely closed before I allowed
myself to start crying. Mourning for my husband, Dean. Grieving for the stupid,
senseless loss of his precious life, and the children we’d never have.

I’d thought I needed to be
imprinted to grow up. I’d been wrong. I felt a hundred years old.