Equinox (12 page)

They went along a narrow short corridor to a set of stairs and then another door. It was all painted grey, with flat luminescent lighting that reminded her of the Enclave. Agent Whitely paused at the last door and glanced back at her with an indecipherable look before opening it. Beyond was a long, high-ceilinged room without windows. On one side were eight beige doors. The facing wall was taken up by Grid terminals, AI pods, and a line of six stationary robotic drones.

“In here.” Agent Whitely headed to the third door. It was a cell. The guard shoved her inside and Rosie was suddenly overtaken by a furious fear. She turned and tried to lunge back out again, but the guard only pushed her in.

“You can’t do this!” she shouted, but the door slid shut. She pounded her fist against it and screamed, “Let me out!” She kicked it, hammered on it, but the door remained shut.

Finally, she gave up and backed up against the wall. Where the hell was that Sulawayo woman who was supposed to be here?

A lone bare tube lit the room, giving it a garish shadowed look. It was cold as well and she shivered, pulling her com from her pocket. She tried to ping her aunt, but it wouldn’t even power up. The room must have some kind of shielding. She slid down against the wall and sat on the floor, hugging her knees to her chest fighting a rising terror. The Senate could do anything with her if they wanted to. Who was going to stop them? She’d defied them, hidden possible evidence of a cure for the MalX. Why would they be lenient? And if Whitely was a Helios mole, who knew what he’d do to her?

She didn’t know how long she was there alone. Too long – probably to scare her. It was working.
Get it together, Black
. She put her head on her knees, closed her eyes and forced herself to focus on just breathing.

After what felt like hours the door opened and Agent Whitely came in, followed by the guard.

“Are you feeling more cooperative now, Ms Black?” he said.

Rosie got to her feet. “You haven’t even asked me any questions. How can you say I wasn’t cooperating?” She was trembling with cold and fear, and she hated how her voice sounded weak and small.

“You were being smart mouthed.” He considered her. “And that is not a good idea considering what the Senate believes you may be concealing.”

“I’m not hiding anything,” Rosie said.

“No?” His eyebrows rose. “So you told us about that blood we saw you attach to your father’s drip?” He frowned. “None of us can seem to remember that. And then, miraculously, he recovers from the MalX. Explanations?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rosie whispered. “I’m just glad he’s alive.”

If only she trusted the Senate more. If she really believed they could make a cure from Pip’s blood and that a Helios mole wouldn’t find out and Pip would be safe, she would gladly help them find a cure. But she didn’t. If she told him, Helios would know. They wouldn’t stop until they had Pip, and he would be back in the place he feared the most. And the things they would do to him made her scared. She couldn’t betray him like that.

Whitely was watching the emotions cross her face with interest. “What is it, Miss Black?” He eyed her like a bird eyes a worm. “Where did the blood–”

“Agent Whitely.” The door swung open and a tall thin woman took one step into the room. “What’s going on here?”

The guard whipped around with the reflexes of a soldier. Whitely turned more slowly, but not before Rosie saw the look of annoyance quickly suppressed on his face.

“Agent Sulawayo,” he said. “I am interviewing a person of interest.”

“Here?” The woman’s voice was cold, restrained. She stepped further into the room. Her skin was ebony, her face so perfect she could only be a natural beauty. But her eyes were a glacial-cold dark brown as she stared down at Agent Whitely. She reminded Rosie of Nerita – fierce, commanding, inscrutable.

“Please tell me you have a reason for being here, Whitely,” she said quietly. “And tell me fast.”

“Captain, we–” The guard started to talk but Agent Sulawayo silenced him with a look.

“You may go,” she said. “We have no more need for you here.”

Without a glance at Whitely, the guard left in haste. For a moment there was silence then Agent Whitely said, “I thought it best, given the circumstances of this case, that the girl be brought here for processing. The aunt was becoming a problem.”

“Was she?” Sulawayo regarded him. “That was not my impression.”

“You weren’t there earlier.” Whitely’s shoulders tensed.

“No. I wasn’t. Unfortunately. But I am now and I think this interview is over.”

“Not until I say it is,” Whitely said. “This girl defied the Senate.”

“And where is your evidence?” Sulawayo glared at him. “Some anonymously provided vision, which could be fake for all we know. I don’t believe that warrants you restraining a
child
,” she emphasised the word, “in a facility designed for hardened criminals.”

“She ran from Senate officers,” Whitely said.

“She was afraid, and I believe one of them shot at her,” Sulawayo countered.

“She cannot be allowed to defy us and just walk away.”

“She won’t, but this treatment is out of order. I am relieving you, Agent Whitely. I have already informed your Officer in Charge of my actions.” Sulawayo’s expression defied him to argue.

“This isn’t over,” he said and stalked past her out of the room.

Sulawayo regarded Rosie. She seemed barely more friendly than when she’d been talking to Whitely. Rosie was too intimidated to say anything.

“Follow me,” Sulawayo said and led her out.

Aunt Essie was waiting in the atrium when they came out of the transporter. She was angry and glowered at Agent Sulawayo as Rosie joined her.

“You took your time,” she said. “It’s been two hours. They had her in there with Agent Whitely, the Senate’s favourite rabid attack dog.”

“I know, it was unavoidable.” Sulawayo was unruffled. “I got her out as quickly as possible.”

“Any tracking devices on her?”

“Not that I am aware of. I can organise transport home if you wish.”

“No need,” Aunt Essie said. “I think we’re safer on the shuttle.”

There was a moment’s strained silence, both women looking at each other like there was a lot more to say, but there were too many people around.

“Rosie will be fined for evasion of the Senate guards,” said Sulawayo. “I will do what I can to discredit the vision, but you can expect her father to be the subject of many Senate-directed tests now. A possible cure for the MalX will not go unresearched.”

“I expect not.” Aunt Essie’s expression was grim. “Though I doubt they’ll find anything. The doctors already put him through every test they could think of.”

“Yes, well …” Sulawayo hesitated as if she would add more, but only said, “You should go.” And she turned abruptly and walked away.

“I don’t like her,” Aunt Essie said, watching her go. “Wonder how she got mixed up with this.”

Rosie felt the same. But Riley must have some faith in the woman, and she had got her out of the cell.

“Come on.” Essie took her arm. “Let’s get out of here.”

“You need to go,” Riley said. “All you do by being here is put yourself at risk.”

“And what about
her
risk?” Pip said. “It shouldn’t have happened. If I–”

“Rosie is fine.” Riley’s tone was final. “You have to go back.”

Pip clenched his hands into fists. “Who’s going to make me?”

“Don’t turn this into a pissing contest, Pip. I don’t have time for it. The vision of your blood being used is out there. You can’t be here right now and I need you to keep an eye on Cassie.”

“Kev’s been looking after her for ten years. I hardly think I’m making much difference.” Pip sat in a chair at Riley’s desk. He leaned back and folded his arms. “I’m not leaving.” He stared up at Riley. “So the Senate know there’s some mystery blood donor who can cure the MalX. I don’t care. I’m not scared of them, and I know how to hide from Helios.”

Pip couldn’t help feeling that he was missing something. Riley was agitated. He was never this keyed up and Pip was sure it wasn’t over him still being here. What wasn’t he telling him?

“So, what’s the deal?”

Riley drew in a deep breath. Pip knew he was weighing up whether or not to confide in him. Finally he said, “I may have been compromised.”

The chair creaked as Pip stood up. “Compromised? You mean–”

“Helios is closing in on where I am.”

“Are you sure?”

“No, but I can’t afford to assume they’re not.”

“Jesus, Riley, you’ve got to get of here. You can’t stay.”

“And neither can you.”

“So what’s the plan?”

“The plan is you go.”

“And?”

“And nothing.” Riley picked up Pip’s bag from the floor and tossed it to him. “You get back up north and wait there. You’ll know when I need you to do anything.”

Pip caught the pack one-handed. “Are you serious? That’s not a plan. That’s you ordering me around,
boss
.” He filled the word with sarcasm. “If I stay here, I can help you.”

“No, you can help me better up north. If you stay here, you’re just a hindrance.”

Pip’s chin came up. He couldn’t help it, what with that bloody calm tone Riley used. The expectation he’d just do what Riley said. “And what about Rosie? She’s got a big target on her back now. You can’t just expect me to leave.”

“Rosie already had a target on her back, and it will be a lot bigger with you hanging around. If you want to keep her safe, you need to get back up north and stay there.”

Just the idea made Pip furious. That and knowing Riley was right. He squashed the urge to fling the bag at Riley’s head. “So what are you going to do?”

“I have contingencies.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It means, you go north and I deal with things here.”

Pip debated pressing him, but Riley had that stubborn look that meant Pip was getting nothing more. It was almost like being part of Helios again. Everything was always on a need-to-know basis. Secrets were like a disease. Contagious.

He flung the bag over one shoulder. “Right, then, guess I’ll be off.”

“Good.” Riley didn’t even blink. “And don’t try to contact me when you get there. I’ll contact you.”

“Whatever.” Pip kicked open the door. “I’ll send your regards to your sister, shall I?” Riley had already gone back to his holos. Furious, Pip took the stairs two at time, not bothering to turn on the light. It was nearly seven and he still had his surveillance jammer. Maybe he’d make a visit before he went. If Riley wasn’t going to tell him what was going on, at least he could give Rosie the heads-up. If she was still speaking to him.

Rosie could barely eat. She sat at the small table in their apartment and pushed the chilli Aunt Essie had made around the plate. Across from her, Essie was sipping from a glass of straight vodka and staring into space. She hadn’t eaten anything either. They had barely spoken since leaving Senate Prime. It was clear something had gone wrong, really wrong, for Riley’s contact to be so late. Rosie kept wondering if Whitley had been Helios, and if he’d engineered something to delay Sulwayo. But it didn’t make sense.

“We’re going to see Riley tomorrow,” Aunt Essie said. Rosie wasn’t about to argue.

“Why not go now?”

“Too obvious. We’ve got two tails on us. Better to wait, go in the morning as if we’re getting breakfast. Give us more time to shake them.”

“When did they turn up?” Rosie hadn’t noticed the tails.

“They followed us pretty much from leaving Senate Prime,” Aunt Essie said. “They’re better than the others. We must have been promoted to a higher class of Helios operative. Lucky us, eh?”

Super lucky, Rosie thought sourly. The sound of the city rose up through the walls. Someone next door had digi-tel on so loud they could hear the screams and cheers from some game. It made Rosie feel like they were in a dead zone, a black hole.

She pushed her chair out. “I’m going to clean some clothes,” she said. “You need anything done?”

“Yeah.” Rosie waited but Essie didn’t move or give any indication what she wanted.

“I’ll get them then,” she said. Her aunt grunted a reply.

She collected the basket of clothes from her room then went into her aunt’s. Pants, underwear and a few shirts were stacked neatly in a clothes bin. Her aunt might be out of the Elite but she would never get rid of her soldier’s habit of order.

Rosie threw the clothes on top of her own then took an elevator tube to the basement.

The laundry was a small windowless room. One wall was lined with half-a-dozen cleaning units and the air smelled of cleaning fluid. At least it was in the building though. When she’d lived in the Banks, if you wanted clean clothes you had to go to a clean’n’go autocaf.

There was no one else there. Rosie shoved the clothes into a unit then sat on the end of a line of chairs pushed up against the opposite wall. She stared at the clothes churning around and around. It was very quiet and the warmth of the air and the hum of the machine made her sleepy. She rubbed at her face and yawned, her eyelids drooping.

The snick of the door closing woke her. She sat up too fast and banged her ankle against the chair leg.