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“So you are. I will come down.”
The voice answering Ella seemed to come from everywhere in the room. It was a deep, obviously adult voice, full of confidence and the echo of a different time. A time before the Change.
It was followed by a sudden flash of a green laser shining down from the ceiling into the chair behind the desk.
Tiny dots of light followed the beam down. They were many different colours and fell and swirled like kaleidoscopic snow. As they fell, they joined together like a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle.
Then the laser flared still brighter and Gold-Eye blinked. When he opened his eyes again, the laser beam and the falling motes of light were gone – and there was a man sitting behind the desk.
A real, fully grown man. Thirty years old at least, or even more – if that was possible. He was smiling and his teeth were whiter than any Gold-Eye had ever seen, his eyes bluer and more piercing.
“Welcome back,” he said. “And welcome to you too, Gold-Eye. I am Shade.”
“Hello,” said Gold-Eye in an awed whisper. He felt like throwing himself at Shade’s feet, the way they used to do in the Dorms when an Overlord came.
“I’ll have a talk with you later, Gold-Eye,” Shade continued, fixing him with a clear blue gaze that seemed to hold an equal mixture of distant affection and anger held in check. “But first I will hear Ella’s report.”
“Yes, sir,” said Ella, standing to attention. “A team consisting of myself, Drum and Ninde left the Sub pre-dawn two days ago on a routine patrol. We took the Main Drain and then Northwest Six to the Hospital Exit. Water level throughout was medium, with one non-threatening surge.
“At the hospital there was no creature activity except for Winger patrols. Myrmidon Death Markers indicated that a battle had been fought in the Hospital gardens several days previously, between Red Diamond and Blue Star forces, with victory going to Red Diamond. There was also an unusual battle poem posted in the gardens, dedicated to the Red Diamond Overlord. It was written in English, not Myrmidon Battlespeech. I have a copy.
“In the late afternoon, increasing Winger patrols suggested that the Death Marker truce period was over and that our presence was suspected. This was confirmed by Ninde, who looked into the minds of an approaching trio that had been sent to find us.
“We then took West Drain Four into the city. This should be marked as dangerous till there is more rain – it was only just flowing.”
“Noted,” said Shade, nodding his head but making no move to write in the thick leather-bound book that had appeared on his desk at the same time he had.
“We exited the drain outside the Central Fire Station,” continued Ella. “As it was almost dark, I decided we’d spend the night in one of the hose-drying towers, which we did. There was considerable Ferret activity below, but none tried to climb up even part of the way.
“At midnight Drum had the watch. He woke me to advise that the lights along Park Avenue had come on and a fog was forming on the bay. Half an hour later the fog spread inland, the main mass seeming to be directed up Park Avenue. However, there were no visible Claim Fires out, so we presumed that the fog was being prepared early for a battle in several days’ time.”
“Correct,” interrupted Shade. “I have a report that the fog was thickened and then moved further west for a battle between Black Banner and Emerald Crown over the Williams River Raceway. They’re probably fighting now.”
“Since the fog was still there the next morning without battle preparations,” Ella continued, “we decided to move above ground and check out the railway yards between Central and Redtree. At the embankment on Shroveland Street, we heard Tracker pursuit whistles and Myrmidon battle sound in the fog. We then observed that they were chasing a human – Gold-Eye. He tried to climb the embankment but was in the wrong spot and the Myrmidons were about to take him. So I used a flash bang – the last one, I’m afraid – and we pulled him up on a rope while they were disoriented.”
Gold-Eye suppressed a shiver that ran right through him as Ella’s words brought it all back. If the others hadn’t been there, he would be in the Meat Factory now…
“Excellent,” approved Shade. “And then you fought some Trackers, took refuge in a building that proved too low to be safe from Ferrets, and had to do some fancy rope work to get away.”
“How did you…” Ella began, but Shade was laughing, obviously pleased with himself.
“I have finally perfected my new Eyes,” he said, clicking his fingers.
The click was answered by movement in the shadows and a nervous shiver that rippled from Gold-Eye to Ninde. Characteristically, neither Drum nor Ella twitched.
Shade’s new Eyes looked very much like large rats. In twilight or fog, they would be indistinguishable from the real thing – but as they scuttled into the light, their eyes and legs shone metallically and their bodies were too rigid to be flesh and fur.
Three came from each side of the room; then all six ran in a line to the foot of the desk and turned to face Shade, their pink, rubbery tails draped out towards the couch. Ninde shuddered again and drew her feet up.
Gold-Eye thought they were repulsive too, but for a different reason. He actually liked rats, and over the years had trained three of them as pets. They had been his only real friends and he had cried when each one was lost in the all-too-frequent moves between hiding places. These robot rats reminded him too much of the Overlords’ creatures and their relationship with humanity. Like, but not like…
“Can you see through them all at once?” asked Ella. There was no hint of revulsion in her voice – just the curiosity of someone shown a new tool.
“Not yet,” said Shade. “My parallel-processing capabilities need further enhancement. I can use six at a time, switching between rats every millisecond. I should be able to reduce that to a switch every point-two milliseconds – which will effectively give me constant vision and allow me to use twelve of them at a time. Or more, if we can get the materials to make them.”
“They should be very useful,” Ella said thoughtfully. “Can they carry anything? Do any manipulation with their paws?”
“Not yet,” replied Shade. “Which may be a good thing. If they depart from typical rat behaviour and are observed by a Myrmidon Master – or worse, an Overlord – he would quickly work out what they are. Then he need only scan the radio frequencies or check the old Comincsat satellites to discover that their controller is here. That I am here.
“In any case,” he continued, “they are extremely useful and add greatly to my ability to gather intelligence. Which leads me to the next mission for your team, Ella. It will begin tomorrow—”
“But we’ve only just got back,” interrupted Ninde. “Shouldn’t it be someone else’s turn?”
Her words trailed off as Shade fixed her with a cold gaze, and Ella half turned towards her.
“This is a reporting session,” Shade said sternly. “If you have something to add to Ella’s report, or a question for me, raise your hand.”
Ninde didn’t reply. Gold-Eye looked at her out of the corner of his eye and for a second met her gaze. In that instant she curled her lip, obviously angry. Gold-Eye looked away immediately, but he had the irrational feeling that she had suddenly taken a dislike to him.
“You must take your team out tomorrow,” continued Shade, ignoring the stiff body language that declared Ninde’s outrage, “because there has been a major battle at the University today between Blue Star and Silver Sun. The Death Markers went up an hour ago and will be up for two more days. This means that the Myrmidon barracks there will be deserted for that time – giving us a unique opportunity to get back to my original laboratory.”
He paused as Ella raised her hand.
“Yes?”
“Rick’s team has far better knowledge of the University and that area. Why not send them?”
Shade bowed his head and was silent. The others were silent too. Then Ella sighed, Ninde sniffed and Drum leaned forward as if to hear Shade better. Gold-Eye realised that what they were all about to hear was bad news.
“They were due back yesterday,” said Shade, looking up. He sighed too and ran his hands through his hair. “I sent my rats out this morning, and they found their weapon belts near some hedges that line the Old College grounds. There was Tracker ichor on the ground, and Myrmidon boot prints…”
“They’re gone then,” said Ella. Slowly, matter-of-factly, she recited the names as if to fix them in her memory. “Rick. Nelo. Tanner.”
“We will remember them,” said Shade, sitting up straight, his hands laid flat on the table. “At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.”
“We will remember them,” echoed Ella, Ninde and Drum. Gold-Eye sat silent, uncomfortable, aware he was in the middle of some ritual he didn’t know.
Shade breathed in deeply then, chest visibly filling his crisp white shirt, and said, “Right. Back to the operation. The Death Markers give us a unique opportunity that must be exploited. There are instruments in my lab that will make a major difference to our struggle with the Overlords – if you can get them back.”
Drum raised one ponderous hand. Shade hesitated, then said, “Yes, Drum?”
“Instruments worth our lives?”
“That’s a difficult question,” replied Shade. He didn’t look at Drum, gazing at the ceiling instead as he spoke. “However, these instruments can possibly… can probably detect and measure whatever it is the Overlords project or broadcast from the silver globes you can see atop the International Trade Centre and City Tower. I’ve been trying to do that for many, many years, without success. I’ve also tried to duplicate the instruments in other ways. I really believe that if we can retrieve the main instrument package from my lab, then the secret of the Overlords’ Projectors will lead us to victory.”
“Then we’ll get the instruments,” said Ella decisively. “Right, Drum? Ninde? Gold-Eye?”
“Yeah, I guess,” said Ninde unenthusiastically. Then her voice brightened slightly. “At least we’ll be going somewhere different.”
Drum looked at Ella for several seconds, then finally nodded his approval.
Gold-Eye didn’t do or say anything. He didn’t know what they were talking about. But they were his new people, his new Petar and Jemmie. He would stay with them till something happened – and if it did, he’d already decided he wouldn’t run. Better dead or even the Meat Factory, than more years of running scared, running alone.
“I’ll talk to Gold-Eye now,” said Shade. “Ella, come back in an hour and I’ll give you a full briefing. The maps will be printed out then, with the latest intelligence from my rats and Stelo’s team.”
“Stelo’s back, then?” asked Ninde, smiling. Then she said, “Oops,” and raised her hand.
Her smile slipped as Shade looked at her silently, his fingers tapping equally silently on the desk.
“Your Change Talent makes you useful, Ninde,” Shade said finally, “but that doesn’t mean you can ignore the rules – little rules or big rules. Yes, Stelo’s team is back – but I forbid you to approach him. He’s got enough to worry about without you trying out flirting skills learned from 1990s videos. If you want to sleep with someone, Ninde, put yourself in the Lottery like everyone else – and pass the contraception knowledge test, which I note you haven’t even assessed.”
“But I don’t want to be in the Lottery,” Ninde complained. “I might get anyone. I might even get Drum. Oh, sorr—”
The sharp sound and impact of a slap cut her short, and Ella was standing over her, palm as red as Ninde’s left cheek. Before the younger girl could even speak, Ella had her in a “come along” hold and was forcing her out of the room.
“Right, Ninde!” Ella tightened her hold. “You’ve been drifting a bit and now it’s time I pointed you back on course, with a little explanation about what we’re here to do and your part… which I think may not be quite what you think it is!”
Gold-Eye watched them go in wonderment. Surely there was enough trouble outside without having trouble between people here?
Drum watched too, apparently unaffected by Ninde’s outburst. When the hatch closed behind the two women, he got up and made a curious half bow that included both Gold-Eye and Shade.
“I’ll go too,” he said very softly. As he passed Gold-Eye, he paused and lowered his great round head, looming over the boy like a spreading tree. Then he spoke, voice half whistling like wind in the branches.
“Don’t worry, young one. Ninde is good at heart, but strangely unaware of the time she lives in. And Ella is perhaps too much aware. I am just a product of the time. You’ll understand it all, one day.”
Then he was gone, lumbering out through the hatch – and Gold-Eye was left alone with Shade, the rat robots, and the spider things still lurking and rustling in the shadowed corners.
VIDEO ARCHIVE – SECRET 2711 RICK #3 – FINAL
<TRANSMISSION XPACK – COMPX25
RAT-EYE BETA 10:07:41 1102006.>
Get away! Get… ah… You’re not a rat… one of Shade’s Eyes…
<SOBBING.>
The others or gone. Nelo and Tanner. We got to the observation point, but there were Trackers everywhere and Myrmidons… Pre-battle, I guess… hu… hu…
<HYSTERICAL LAUGHER.>
Hundreds of them. Pouring out everywhere. We got back to the hedges, but Trackers sniffed us out… Myrmidons took Nel and Tan… I’m in Southwest Drain Twelve, about… I don’t know… near the Big Six connection… Please send someone to get me… Look… the bone is sticking out… It hurts…
<MEDISCAN APP. CUT IN. VISUAL DIAGNOSIS. COMPLEX
FRACTURE OF HUMERUS. MAJOR BLOOD-VESSEL DAMAGE. EMERGENCY MEDICAL TREATMENT INDICATED.>
I jumped… They almost had me… but I can’t crawl further… I can’t…
<SOBBING.>
A team could get me out. Ella or Stelo, they’ll come. They’ll come, won’t they, Shade?
<MEDISCAN APP. CUT IN. PROGNOSIS: TREATMENT
REQUIRED WITHIN 134 MINUTES. PATIENT
IN SEVERE SHOCK. BLOOD LOSS SIGNIFICANT.>
It’s pretty dry down here… Maybe… maybe dry enough for Ferrets… but it’s not far… not far. They’ll get here before dark. Yeah, it’s OK, they’ll get here… They’ll get here… Shade… help me.
<INCOHERENCE. RAT-EYE BETA
RESUMES PATROL 10:09:55.>
CHAPTER SIX (#ulink_7a5fc5fe-b5be-5f98-a872-8c66b01c715d)
Shade didn’t say anything for a moment after Drum left. He just sat there behind his desk, watching Gold-Eye – who had the uncomfortable feeling that he was somehow being measured or analysed.
“Your eyes have less gold in them than they did outside,” Shade said finally. “Which is very interesting. We’re underwater here, and water does seem to have a damping effect on Change Talents, Change side-effects – and on creatures.”
“I not… creature,” Gold-Eye said hastily. He’d been accused of that before, on the rare occasions he’d met other people.
“No, you’re not,” said Shade decisively. “Just visibly affected by the Change, which is quite rare. But not unheard of. I have seen other cases. Now, Gold-Eye, I’m going to ask you some questions and I’m also going to tell you some things. OK?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve heard me talk about the Change and Change Talents. Do you know what I mean?”
Gold-Eye frowned in thought. History as such wasn’t taught in the Dorms, but there were always children who seemed to know things and would tell the others. He wasn’t sure about details, but the general picture was pretty clear.
“Before,” he replied slowly, “there lots of people, who could get old. Then the Change. Grown-up peoples go. Overlords come. Creatures come. Dormitories. Sad Birthdays. The Meat Factory…”
“Good.” Shade smiled. “That’s about right. Almost fifteen years ago, something happened or was made to happen. For an instant everything stopped. Everything moving halted, every machine, every car. In that instant every person over the age of fourteen vanished. Destroyed… translated into another reality… translocated… I don’t know… And then the Overlords came and herded the survivors into the Dorms. A few weeks after that, the first creatures appeared – built with teenagers’ brains – and the Overlords began their ritual battles…”
He paused, and Gold-Eye raised his hand, remembering the treatment meted out to Ninde for her unauthorised question.
“But you?” asked Gold-eye, after he was sure Shade had noticed the upraised hand.
Shade smiled again and leaned back in his chair, hands linked behind his glossy black-haired head.
“Yes, everyone disappeared – except me. Or including me, depending on how you look at it. You see, Gold-Eye, I’m not really a person at all!”
As he said that, Shade vanished and the lights went out. Gold-Eye shot up out of the sofa, heart drumming, then subsided back into the cushions. It was pitch-black and he knew he couldn’t find the hatch. The thought of stumbling across one of the spider robots or rat things…
Then Shade spoke again, his voice echoing from every corner of the room.
“What I am, Gold-Eye, is a human personality stored in a computer’s memory. I have the memories of that real person. I think like a real person. To some degree, I still have the feelings of a real person. But no flesh, save the holographic appearance you have seen – which I must confess is partly based on a twentieth-century actor – so I look rather better than I did in the flesh. A conceit that possibly shows my continuing humanity…
