One Breath, One Bullet(The Borders War book 1) (14 page)

To See the Sky

L.M. Brown

Excerpt

Chapter One

AJ4982—known as AJ—squinted at the ‘employee wanted’ cards pinned on the wall of the agency. He could only read the figures on the cards and had no idea what jobs they offered. He didn’t care, he’d do anything to raise the credits for his sister’s medicine. Finally he spotted one with the figure 500 printed at the bottom in bold black lettering. He grabbed the card from the wall and marched over to the clerk’s desk.

“Hi, I’m Landon. How can I help you today?” the bespectacled clerk said as he took the card from AJ’s outstretched hand. His eyes widened slightly as he scanned the job details before turning back to AJ.

“Put this back where you found it,” Landon ordered as he passed the advert back.

“I want to apply for the job,” AJ stated.

Landon looked him over, taking in his messy hair, ragged clothes and swiftly assessing him to be one of the uneducated masses. “You can’t do this job.”

“I’ll do
any
job.”

Landon looked at the card again and cleared his throat before reading the text. “‘Wanted—Laboratory Technician with at least three years experience in bio-science for temporary assignment in sector R9’. Still think you can do the job?”

AJ ducked his head, embarrassment sweeping over him.

Landon gave him a sympathetic glance. “Can you even read?”

“I can read enough,” AJ snapped.

“You can read figures, the same as the rest of the lab rats,” Landon corrected. “You can tell the time, see what things cost and make sure you’ve been paid correctly. The scientists need their staff to be properly educated. Now, what was your last job?”

“I was a runner down in the tunnels,” AJ replied reluctantly. With the surface of the planet uninhabitable after the Last War, the human race had taken refuge beneath the ground. The underground community was outgrowing the caverns they inhabited at an alarming rate. The original emergency caves had filled as soon as the survivors took refuge. Within just two generations the cave system could no longer hold everyone and the tunnelling downward had begun. More than five hundred years later the digging still continued, with twisting tunnels stretching out in every direction as they struggled to accommodate the ever-increasing population.

“I’ve got nothing for a runner these days,” Landon said. “Since the collapse in sector C14 workers in the tunnels are being laid off. No one’s hiring at the moment.”

AJ knew all about the collapse in C14. He had lost a friend in the accident and several lab rats from his own sector had been injured badly enough that they would never work again. AJ had been in sector C13 at the time of the collapse and he could still hear the screams from the neighbouring sector as the roof caved in on the diggers and runners who were trapped within it.

“I’ll do anything.”

Landon sighed and tapped the screen of his hand-held computer. “Can you wait tables?”

“How much does the job pay?”

“Ten credits a night.”

“That’s not enough.”

Landon gave him a stern look over the top of his glasses. “Lab rats can’t afford to be picky.”

“I need five hundred credits in three days.”

The clerk’s jaw dropped. “What sort of trouble have you got yourself into?”

AJ bristled at the implication he had done something wrong. “It’s for medicine for my sister. The physician has given her three days if she doesn’t get the lung decongestant. What have you got that’ll get me the credits?”

Landon shook his head. “I’m sorry. I’ve got nothing. Have you thought of moving her to a less dusty sector?”

“Of course I have. We don’t have the credits to move either. There must be something I can do to get five hundred credits.” AJ had no intention of giving up. He had too much at stake.

Landon contemplated him for several minutes before glancing around the office. When he appeared satisfied no one lingered in earshot he leant forward and lowered his voice. AJ inched closer as well.

“I’ll do anything,” he repeated.

Landon gave a small nod. “Okay, here’s the deal. Officially, we don’t offer this sort of work…”

AJ breathed a sigh of relief. “And unofficially?”

“If you’re collared you can earn upwards of one hundred credits a night, depending on what you’re prepared to do.”

“What do you mean?” AJ had never heard of the expression ‘collared’.

“Some of the waiters wear collars to advertise they’ll accept credits for sexual favours.”

AJ jumped backwards as though he’d been bitten. “Prostitutes?”

Landon waved his hand frantically. “Keep your voice down.”

AJ cringed. “I can’t have sex for credits.”

“You can get your credits in a single night if you find someone who’ll accept your prices. You set your own. Get lucky and you could make your five hundred with a single blow job.”

AJ looked at the three collars Landon pulled out from his desk drawer. The first was red, the second blue and the third silver. They were all about an inch wide and each sparkled in the dimly lit cave with blinking coloured lights.

“Tell you what,” Landon said. “Accept the job as a waiter and take the collar with you while you think things over. Providing you show up—and for goodness’ sake use the public facilities to wash yourself first—you’ll get ten credits for the night. If you decide to try earning extra credits with the collar, you can always put it on later.”

AJ didn’t see the harm in deciding later and he reached out to accept the paper Landon offered him with the details of the waiter’s job. All he could understand were the figures. “Can you read it for me?” he asked, his face flushing with embarrassment again.

Landon took the paper and read out the location he had to go to.

“It’s in one of the towers?” AJ queried. He had never been inside a tower before.

“Did you think lab rats could afford to throw a party and hire wait staff?”

“I guess not.”

“Do you know how to get there?”

“I think so.”

“Fine, just don’t be late. Now, which collar do you need?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you prefer men, women or both?” Landon asked.

“Oh. Men.”

Landon slid the red and silver collars back into the drawer and passed AJ the blue one. “If anyone asks, you didn’t get this collar from me, understand?”

AJ nodded his agreement as he slipped the surprisingly soft collar into his pocket.

“One last thing,” Landon said as AJ stood up to leave. “If you enter into a contract with anyone the collar will stop blinking automatically as soon as you agree to the terms. It can’t be removed until the contract ends in some way. If you try to forcibly remove the collar and it gets broken, you’ll have to pay for the replacement, which will cost a hell of a lot more than the medicine you’re after. Likewise, if you lose it, you’ll be the one replacing it.”

AJ still wasn’t sure he’d ever put the collar on at all, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Two weeks had passed since the physician had diagnosed his sister and time was rapidly running out. Her condition worsened a little more each day. AJ was determined not to return to their cave without the medicine. Even as he left the agency he started to consider the option he’d been given, the only one he had that could potentially save his sister’s life.

* * * *

As a lab rat—the nickname given to those who lived in and scurried about the labyrinthine cavern system—AJ had never had cause to rise above the surface of the planet. The tower dwellers were the scientists of their society, studying the toxic gases above ground until the day they pronounced the world safe for humans to inhabit once again. Although AJ had never been into one of the towers, he had always been curious to see what might be visible of the outside world through the thick, impervious glass.

As AJ rode in the tightly sealed elevator he looked out over the barren wasteland and tears formed in his eyes. He had seen a picture of a lush green landscape once. The image had been the most beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes on, and a stark contrast to the dark and dreary caves, where the light generators were out of order more often than they were working. AJ had hoped something of the beautiful greenery had survived the devastation, but there was nothing of such beauty outside now as far as he could see. Desert stretched out towards the distant horizon and AJ couldn’t pick out a single plant or tree on the ground. There was simply nothing living out there. Nothing had survived the war.

Above the ground itself things weren’t much better. Clouds of gas stretched across the sky as far as the eye could see. The fabled blue sky of a time long past was hidden from view, perhaps forever. Only the slightly different hue to the gas clouds near the horizon indicated the sun had risen in the sky today.

“First time?”

AJ jumped at the sound of the deep, rich voice behind him and spun round to see a strikingly handsome man leaning against the glass. Short, neatly trimmed black hair told AJ immediately the man had more by way of credits than he did. AJ’s scraggly brown hair had rarely seen a pair of scissors. Only those with funds to spare wasted credits getting their hair styled. The brown-eyed male smiled sadly and nodded out the window.

“You look as though you’ve never seen the devastation before.”

“I haven’t,” AJ admitted. “I thought there’d be something out there though. Empty and abandoned buildings or something.”

The stranger shook his head. “The underground facilities were all constructed far away from major towns and cities. The governments didn’t want to risk them being destroyed by direct hits from weapons during the war, so they built the caverns out in the middle of nowhere. Considering how many cities were levelled during the war, they certainly made the right choice.”

AJ felt ignorant as the man explained. Something of his shame must have shown in his expression because he offered him a sympathetic smile.

“Lab rat, huh?”

“Yeah.” AJ didn’t see any point in denying the obvious. His worn and dirty clothes made it pointless to pretend to be anything else. He felt awkward next to the neatly dressed stranger. Was everyone at the party going to be decently clothed apart from him? He had washed up as Landon had ordered, but the employment agent had mentioned nothing about changing his clothing.

“You’re a long way from the labyrinth up here.”

AJ stiffened and straightened his back. “I’m here to work.”

The man raised his hands and laughed. “I don’t care if you’re supposed to be here or not. I’m just making conversation.”

AJ let himself breathe again. “I’m waiting tables at a private party.”

“Me too,” the stranger said. “We’re probably going to the same one. I’m Ryder.”

“AJ4982.” He stuck out his hand for Ryder to shake, wondering if his true name and number would get the reaction it usually did from those who lived outside of the labyrinth. Only the lowest members of society had initials with numbers attached instead of proper names.

Ryder didn’t bat an eyelid as he smiled and took AJ’s hand in a firm grip. “Nice to meet you, AJ.”

AJ offered a tentative smile back as the elevator came to a smooth halt. Ryder apparently knew where to go, so AJ followed him through the doors and into what seemed to be the main function room for the party. AJ stumbled to a halt as he took in his surroundings with wide-eyed wonder. The tower dwellers didn’t have to worry about electricity outages. The room had light and air conditioning and comforts the lab rats could only dream about. No dust from the tunnels to choke you, no dark corners for creatures to lurk in and no food that looked as though it had rotted a year ago. The tower dwellers had the best of everything and most of the luxury was right here in front of his eyes. A few of the guests had already arrived and were talking near one of the windows. None of them gave AJ and Ryder a second glance.