The Hunt for Pierre Jnr (27 page)

Pete could sense no sentience from the two figures and as he got closer he found out why. They weren’t people at all, merely skinbots with the cursory dressing of humans. They wore flexible athletics clothing with their hair tied up in an array of tiny pigtails. They had exaggerated eyes and giggled like the schoolgirls they looked to be — if not for the hefty pistols on their belts.

‘May I introduce you to two new members of your team, Aiko and Endo.’ Gock indicated which was which, though they were too similar for Pete to distinguish between them. ‘Aiko and Endo are our most successful collectors in the Yantz province. They have been working with me for years and have an impeccable track record.’

‘Only thanks to me,’ one of them said.

‘Aiko?’ Pete guessed.

‘Endo.’

‘Sorry.’

‘You’re wet.’

‘And green,’ Aiko added.

Well done, Prime,
 Pete thought. 
More non-people around the telepath.

‘What’s wrong? Doesn’t he like us?’ one asked the other.

‘Don’t you like us, psi-man?’

‘He hasn’t even looked at us, Aiko. I don’t think he’s into girls.’ The two skinbots giggled.

‘Let’s get started,’ one of them moaned.

‘I’m bored,’ the other added.

‘Today we are collecting a psi who has just entered the precinct,’ Gock announced.

‘Yeah, he’s in this room. Get him!’

‘No, not him. File 378.’

‘Oh, right.’

‘How have you detected him?’ Pete asked.

‘Target 378 is shopping. By that I mean he is not paying for anything, which is incredibly stupid.’

‘Yeah, stupid psi. If I had powers, I wouldn’t be so dumb about it.’

‘Yeah. Psis are so stupid. Pete, we’re going to show you how to take down one of your own. You can pretend it’s you if you like.’

‘But don’t get in the way.’

‘Watch and learn, psi-man.’ They both giggled.

~ * ~

He had time to change before he took a squib north and landed on a small open area that branched out on all sides into the green lattice of canals. The only things on this particular island clearing were an old man with a muddy taxi and a single Serviceman. Like everywhere in Yantz, it was hot. Hot, humid and green. Pete had to frequently skim the sweat off his scalp.

Aiko and Endo leapt out of the squib and sprang around the landing area before running off. ‘It’s on foot from here, tapper-man.’ The twins were quickly out of sight, but they pinged his symb and sent teasing messages about being slow, old and, of course, being a psi.

‘We’re going to catch your friend. Tee hee,’ they laughed and skipped ahead. Pete didn’t even bother correcting them. He trudged forward and Gock trailed behind. Gock’s family was to the east and he looked habitually in that direction. Their target pulled them west.

‘You can consider this a demonstration, Mister Lazarus,’ Gock sneered. ‘This is how we catch psis in my province. You won’t have to do anything. This time.’

Two weeks ago Gock had been a vendor of refurnished tech, and would be again when he returned to his less-than-reputable business. He knew what Pete was now and he didn’t like that he had to be the one escorting him around Yantz. He didn’t want them to be seen together.

‘This way. He is on the move.’ One of the twins jumped forward.

‘Can you tell me more about how you discovered this psi?’ Pete asked Gock.

‘Firstly, we monitored a number of ambiguous interactions with some members of the opposite sex,’ Gock sneered, the kind of thing he would do if he could control minds.

‘And he wasn’t simply charming them?’ The proxy snorted in response.

Endo: Psi-man, hurry up or you’ll miss the whole thing.

Aiko: Uh-oh, 378 is about to squib it. Let’s go.

Endo: I call that perfect timing, sis. We can pluck him from the air.

Aiko: I bet I can jump higher than you can.

Endo: No chance. This one will be on my count.

Aiko: I thought we promised not to fight over men any more?

Endo: Yeah, but that’s no fun. Let this one be the first exception.

Pete and Gock had just crossed a bridge and climbed the side wall of a larger island. Well-dressed people milled around or sat in the open piazza. The twins were waiting perched on rooftops on either side of the square, watching the exit of the squib outlet.

Pete: How do we know he’s inside?

Aiko: He was painted days ago, silly. He hasn’t left our watchful eyes that whole time.

Endo: We know what he’s been up to. We suspect he’s been playing the area for weeks.

The showroom doors parted and a clean new squib floated out and began curving its ascent.

Aiko: That’s him. Go, Endo.

With a shout the twins leapt, Endo then Aiko. Endo landed on the nose of the squib and slashed her arm into the membrane, gouging a handhold for herself. Aiko’s jump just missed and she dropped gracefully down to the piazza. Two huge guns arose from her arms.

‘Oh no you don’t, 378.’ With her spare arm Endo drew a pistol from her holster and blasted smoking holes into the side of the vehicle until it began to flare and wobble. The power fluxed and the squib quickly succumbed to gravity. ‘See you on the ground, mister.’ Endo leapt off to land safely away from the crash site.

The squib slammed down on some tables, smashing them to sticks, before flipping end over end to land on its broken back. The crowd in the piazza ran for cover. By the time the squib had stopped sliding around, the square was clear bar the camera drones that forever circled. After the manifestation, no one was taking any chances with spontaneous outbreaks of violence. The Weave was watching.

‘That’s another one for me, Aiko.’ Endo laughed.

‘Let’s make sure he’s down first before we start counting.’

Gock pushed Pete in the back, urging him toward the splatted squib and its pilot, who was trying to untangle himself. ‘Go, they might need you.’

Pete let himself be prodded forward, and was near enough to hear the target shouting as he clambered from the wreckage. ‘You little bitch, I am going to melt your brain.’

‘Wait,’ Pete called out. The man was really just a boy, only sixteen or so. Pete felt his mind and read that his name was Risom Cawthorne and he wasn’t just telepathic but also a kinetic. Services had their information wrong.

‘I doubt that, mister!’ Endo shouted back at Risom. ‘You can’t mess with wires.’ With that the two sisters glooped him: from their hips two slim tubes slid out and fired blue gunk at his feet, sticking him down. ‘Now, don’t move. I’m going to fix your ugly face.’ Endo pulled a mask from her shell and moved toward him.

‘You!’ Risom shouted at Pete. ‘Help me. Why are you letting them do this?’

I can’t stop them.

You could try.

They would just do the same to me. Or blow my bot. There’s no point fighting when we can’t win.

That’s when we need to fight the most.

Gock lurched at Pete, throwing his hands at his throat.

‘What are you doing?’ Pete shouted. ‘Get off me.’

‘I can’t. I can’t!’ Gock screamed and clawed at him. Pete pushed him off, but he came again. Then another passer-by jumped toward him in clumsy attack. Risom was controlling them like marionettes.

Don’t do this, Risom.

Traitor!

Pete kicked his attackers away and sent an SOS to Ten. Wasn’t the squad meant to always be in range?

They can’t help you, traitor. I’ve taken care of them.
 Pete probed and saw that Risom had tinkered with the marauders, triggering their interference protocols and locking them in position. 
You’re next.

A street pole twisted and snapped near Pete, swinging at him with tremendous force. He leapt out of the way, only just avoiding it. Gock grabbed at his legs and pulled him down.

‘It’s not me. It’s not me!’ he screamed.

Pete’s chin hit the ground and his vision went from blur to white to black. Inside him he saw the staring eyes and then he reached out. He pushed across the square and ... changed Risom’s intentions. The pole dropped from the air and the human puppets fell stunned to the ground.

You bastard. You’ve turned on your own kind.

By now Endo was close enough to shove the mask at Risom’s face, but he thrashed his head back and forth. ‘You’re a fucking coward! Peter Lazarus is a coward!’ Risom bit at Endo’s hand and she took the opportunity to land a punch square to his cheek. He was dazed and she pushed the mask on. The nearly opaque shell softened over his face and then after a heartbeat or two, the body of the psi relaxed; legs deflexed and slumped, his rapid breathing calmed.

‘378 is secure. One point, Endo.’

~ * ~

That night Peter stayed awake. The only time the Prime had for him was at the end of his scheduled day. He couldn’t sleep anyway. He heard the boy screaming out his name again and again. Calling him a traitor.

Something wasn’t right about the whole situation, but he didn’t think on it long. What he had done to Risom was irritating him and he worried at it like a loose tooth. He could ignore it, but now that he’d done it he knew he could do it again.

He looked at Gock, snoring, head back, mouth open to show less than a full set of teeth. He thought how easy it would be to suggest he go to his room and leave Pete in peace. He resisted the temptation and returned to staring out over the megapolis of Yantz.

The view through the lounge window showed the weather rolling in, dusting up the stars until they disappeared beneath the grey. 
This is how it is to be now
, Pete thought to himself. In an isolated tower, high enough from the ground level to be unable to sense the pedestrians. All human contact filtered from above through a snoring proxy, two teenage remotes and a squad of sacrificial soldiers. He was better off in hospital with Nurse Anchali visiting him every two hours. He missed Anchali. He wondered if she had been able to get word out about what had really happened under the Dome.

Ryu came online after midnight. Gock’s loud breathing snorted to a halt and he turned his weary head toward Peter and announced that the Prime could speak with him now.

‘You did very well today, Mister Lazarus,’ Ryu-Gock began.

‘Please don’t congratulate me.’

‘But why not? You managed to defuse the situation quickly enough. Just think how it might have ended if you hadn’t stepped in. Innocent people might have been harmed.’

‘Your information was wrong. You didn’t know he was a kinetic too.’

‘Was it? I shall look into that.’

‘So this is what you want of me? I am to hunt psis?’ Pete seethed. ‘I won’t do it. I am only here to stop Pierre Jnr.’

‘Yes, Mister Lazarus. You have said that plenty of times already. But after your recent failure under the Dome, surely you can see that you need some sort of practice.’ Gock blinked, waiting for Pete to respond or for more instructions from above. ‘It is this or the islands — but what good could you do there?’

‘What about the rest of the team? Where is Geof? And Colonel Pinter? What have you done with them?’

‘There is no need for paranoia. Both Geof Ozenbach and Colonel Pinter are still part of the hunt.’

‘Can I see them? Can I talk to them?’

‘Perhaps in time. When your trial is over, your request will be reassessed.’

‘So I’m to be isolated from everyone else? No contact with anyone, but your proxies and remotes?’

‘We are nearly ready to move forward. We are just securing one more member to bring your new team up to a full fifteen.’

‘Who is that?’

‘No one you know.’

‘And once the team is assembled, what will you have us do then?’

‘You will do what needs to be done, Mister Lazarus. There are some new directions to follow up. Geof Ozenbach is working diligently on the problem as we speak. Please don’t bother asking for more information now. None shall be provided.’

Pete bit his lip. ‘There’s nothing I can do to make you trust me, is there?’

‘If I think of anything, I will be sure to let Gock inform you.’

‘Do you think I’m guilty?’

‘Guilty of what? Being a psi? Yes. Did you conspire with Pierre Jnr? Perhaps, perhaps not, or perhaps unwittingly.’

‘Then how can you trust me to be part of the hunt?’ he asked.

‘I’m not trusting you at all. You’re botlocked and watched every minute of the day. Not to mention that my proxy is with you as a constant reminder of my presence.’ Gock smiled. ‘The way I see it, we may as well make use of your skills and presume that the truth about you will reveal itself in due course. My main problem is that your skills don’t amount to very much.’

Pete knew the Prime was right. He had always been able to read anyone who came within his range, but he’d never been aggressive with it. Instead of taking hold of a mind and drilling for the information he was after, he preferred to ask leading questions. Aggression had never been his way. If he encountered Pierre again now, he would do no better than he did last time. He did need to become used to his powers, to command them better.