Telepath (Hive Mind Book 1) (16 page)

I gave him a startled
look. When I mentioned that example to Lucas, I’d been careful not to mention
Adika’s name.

Lucas smiled. “I don’t
read minds, Amber, but I do read body language. Adika’s attraction to Megan is
blindingly obvious.”

“Oh. Well, yes, I’m ready
for it now so I can keep a distance.”

“It should be the same for
the wild bees. The distancing may not work perfectly straight away, and there
may be future new emotions that catch you by surprise, but as you gain experience
you’ll also gain control and separation.”

“You’re sure? I’m scared
that I’ve caught something from Callum’s mind. I’ve tried testing myself,
thinking of things that make me angry, and I feel violent.”

“Everybody has things that
make them feel angry and violent,” said Lucas. “You could equally well claim to
have gained violent tendencies from reading your Strike team as from reading your
target this morning. They’re all as capable of attacking or killing people as
him.”

“No, they aren’t!” I said
sharply.

“Yes, they are,” said
Lucas. “Your Strike team members were selected for their work because they have
a potential for violence. They could, in the wrong circumstances, have been
triggered into becoming wild bees themselves. Instead, their violence has been
controlled and channelled into a role that’s needed by the Hive. If necessary
they’ll kill, either to defend you, or to protect vulnerable members of the
Hive from wild bees.”

I knew the Strike team
carried guns that had both stun and lethal settings. I knew all their training
included the possibility of the team being given the kill order. I couldn’t
take the idea seriously though. Before Lottery, the only violence I’d ever
known was the occasional fight between children. Now I believed that wild bees
might kill people, but my Strike team wouldn’t.

“I don’t believe that.”

“It’s a fact, Amber.
Statistics say that almost all Strike team members will kill a target one day.”

I shook my head. “I
suppose Adika might do that if he had no choice, but I can’t imagine Eli
killing anyone.”

“Adika has killed multiple
times already, and Eli will too if necessary.”

I blinked. “I didn’t know
that Adika had killed anyone. I’ve never seen that in his thoughts.”

“You wouldn’t,” said
Lucas. “Adika doesn’t agonize over it. Strike team personnel are carefully selected
and trained for their work. They do what needs to be done, and then happily
carry on with their lives. Problems only arise if a bystander dies and the
Strike team feel responsible because of something they did or didn’t do.”

He pulled a face. “That’s
when they get tortured by regrets and need help. The extreme case of that would
be if something happened to you. If you got even the slightest injury, Amber, it
would have a devastating effect on your Strike team. They would have failed to
protect you. They would have failed their Hive.”

I sat there in silence, worrying
about a confused tangle of different things. Getting injured wasn’t one of
them. Adika would never let anything happen to me.

Lucas watched me for a
while before speaking again. “Hunting wild bees will change you, Amber, but not
because you catch their violent tendencies. All experiences change people.
You’ve already done things, experienced things, which you’d never even dreamed
about before Lottery. You’ve grown and developed because of them.”

“You really think so?”

“Yes. I can see it even if
you can’t.” He paused. “Megan, Adika and I, all think Nicole did well during
that run. What do you think?”

“I agree.”

“How do you feel about
making her permanent Liaison leader? She’s suffering badly from reaction. Confirming
her in the team leader position now would be good for her confidence, and help
to snap her out of the reaction phase.”

I felt guilty. Nicole had
had so much thrown at her and done brilliantly, but I hadn’t spared her a
single thought. I rolled off the couch, ran my fingers through my hair, and called
her. The holo of Nicole appeared, sitting in an ordinary cushioned chair rather
than her powered one, looking tired and strained.

“Nicole, you did a
fantastic job this morning. Forget the acting team leader role; you’re Liaison
permanent team leader now.”

Her face lit up. “That’s incredible!”

I managed a couple more enthusiastic
sentences, then ended the call and slumped on the couch again.

Lucas leaned back in his
chair. “Poor Nicole. Thrown into an emergency run on her first day as Liaison
team leader.”

“How did we end up doing
an emergency run anyway? We were supposed to still be in training.”

He groaned. “That was my
fault. The other Telepath Units couldn’t take the emergency. Their Tactical
Commanders knew our unit was nearly operational, so they called me and asked if
we could help. I hated throwing that emergency at unprepared people, especially
you, but what choice did I have? If our unit didn’t respond, the hasties would
have to handle it alone, and by the time they identified the target …”

He broke off. “Sorry. I’m
babbling. That’s the way reaction hits me.”

I frowned. “It bothers you
too then?”

“Yes.” Lucas rubbed his forehead.
“I didn’t expect it to be this bad, but previously I’ve just been sitting with
the others in the Tactical office, feeding suggestions to my team leader. Today
I was the Tactical Commander, making a snap decision on whether to rush us into
an operational run or leave an unknown number of people to die.”

“You sounded so calm.”

“A Tactical Commander has
to appear totally calm and relaxed. How can other people trust his guidance if
he doesn’t sound confident himself? Underneath though, I was horribly aware I
was sending people in before they’d finished training. Any injuries would be my
fault. Any deaths would be on my conscience.”

“I’m surprised. I thought
you …”

He interrupted me with an
impatient wave of his hand. “You’ve walked through my mind, Amber. You must
know I’m human.”

I felt guilty again. I’d
been selfishly focused on my own problems, but that emergency run had been hard
on Nicole. It had been hard on Lucas. It would have been hard on others too. “How
are Adika and the Strike team coping?”

Lucas smiled. “It was the
Strike team’s first ever run, so they were a little shaken afterwards, but as I
said earlier, Strike team bounce. Adika lectured them about a dozen things they
could have done better, but finished by saying they did quite well for a bunch
of clueless greenies. That’s high praise by his standards, so they went off feeling
far too exuberant to suffer from nerves.”

“Adika gave the poor things
a lecture! Why? They did amazingly well.”

“Adika has no mercy on his
Strike team. Anything short of perfection must be improved, because mistakes
could get them killed. I got lectured too.”

“You did?”

“After Adika finished with
the Strike team, he turned on me. He said a few choice words about me sending
them on a genuine emergency run, and made some eye watering suggestions about
what he could do to me in revenge. The Strike team really enjoyed listening to
him.”

I laughed.

Lucas changed the subject.
“Let’s forget all about emergency runs and wild bees now. How about a relaxing game
of chess? You can read my mind and beat me.”

“I’m not in the mood to
read minds.”

“You don’t have to read
me,” he teased, “but you know I’ll win if you don’t.”

We played chess. Lucas
didn’t so much win as completely slaughter me. After the third massacre,
exhaustion hit me. I’d totally lost track of time, and was shocked to discover
it was almost midnight.

“I must get to sleep.”

Lucas nodded. “I think we
should do a standard check run tomorrow.”

I tensed.

“You’re worried about
reading the mind of a wild bee again,” he continued. “The best way to reassure
you is by doing a nice, peaceful check run. We’ll have a little stroll round
one of our suspect areas, and you can track down the wild bee without any
pressure. There’s an area with a simple firebug developing. They’ve only scorched
a few walls so far, but we need to get them treatment before anyone gets hurt.
How about scheduling the check run for eleven tomorrow morning?”

I wanted to argue, demand
a delay, but I was bone tired and desperate to be left alone. “If that’s what
you want.”

I stood up, and waited for
Lucas to move. He didn’t.

“I’m going to bed,” I said
pointedly.

“I’m tired too,” said
Lucas. “I’ll camp in your spare room if that’s all right.”

I’d had plenty of chances
to read the details of what happened to Olivia and York in the minds of people
around me. I’d shied away from doing that, because I didn’t want to know when
and how the strain had got too much for them, but now one fact was obvious. Either
Olivia or York had been broken by the stress of their first emergency run. That
was why Lucas had pushed his way into my apartment, and why he wanted to stay
in my spare room. He was scared what might happen to me if I was left alone.

“I’ll be all right, Lucas,”
I said.

He gave me an unconvincing
imitation of his usual light-hearted grin. “But I’m really, really tired,
Amber. Don’t you have a spare room?”

If I forced him into
leaving, he’d probably spend the whole night sitting outside my front door, worrying
about me. Waste it, if I forced Lucas into leaving, then Megan would arrive and
insist on spending the night here. I gave in.

“There’s a spare room or
six around somewhere. I have everything in this apartment. I wouldn’t be
surprised to open a door and find my own beach.”

“I don’t think Megan could
manage a full size beach, but she’d arrange a miniature version if you asked
nicely.” Lucas paused for a moment. “Promise to call me if you need anything.”

I sighed. “I promise.”

I went into my bedroom,
shut the door, peeled off my clothes, and dumped them on the floor. This
morning’s clothes were still scattered there as well. I’d been barricaded in my
apartment all day, so Hannah had had no chance to sneak in and clear up my
mess.

I turned on the sleep
field, flopped onto it with relief, and then cursed and rolled out again. I
stirred the clothes on the floor with one foot, uncovered the thin smooth mesh
of my body armour, picked it up and tossed it on a chair. I’d need that for tomorrow’s
run. If tomorrow’s run didn’t turn out to be me running away. I didn’t think I
could face reading another wild bee.

I collapsed back onto the
warm air of the sleep field again. I couldn’t run away. The security system
would notify Adika if I went into a lift, and I’d have the entire Strike team
after me.

Jets of air caressed me,
turning me gently as I floated in mid air. I wondered if Lucas was asleep, or if
he’d stay awake all night watching over me. Megan should have been the one
talking to me today, but Adika and Megan had ganged up on Lucas to send him
instead. They both knew that whatever Lottery said about my physical
preferences in men, I was attracted to Lucas.

Of course I was attracted
to Lucas. Physical appearances only mattered when you looked with your eyes. I
was a telepath, and when I saw Lucas’s mind …

I slept, lost deep in
blackness without dreams.

There was a knocking sound and a
voice calling me. “Amber?”

It was Lucas’s voice. Telling
him to go away wouldn’t work. He’d just stubbornly sit outside my apartment
until I opened the front door.

I groaned. “Come in.”

The door opened. “Are you ready
to go and … Oops.”

I forced myself awake, and
opened my eyes in time to see my bedroom door close. “Oops,” I echoed, and
hastily left the sleep field. “I’m getting ready!” I yelled.

“Clothes are good,” Lucas
called back through the closed door. “Or not. Depends what you have in mind.
Your call.”

I checked the time. Waste
it, it was nearly eleven! I showered and dressed at express speed, then realized
I’d forgotten to put on the lightweight mesh of the body armour under my
clothes. I stripped off, dressed again correctly, grabbed my crystal unit from
its shelf, shot out of my room, and found Lucas leaning casually against the
wall.

“Sorry about that,” I said,
in what I hoped was a dignified voice. “I was dreaming that you were outside
the apartment, so I said to come in.”

He grinned. “A psychologist
could have a lot of fun with the symbolism of that one.”

“Aren’t you a psychologist?”

“Partly. My imprint information
covers behavioural analysis, tactical information, basic Lottery evaluation,
imprinting techniques, and certain areas of psychology. That sounds a lot, but
there’s a huge amount of common data between the areas, so it condenses down well.”

He paused. “Do you want
any breakfast before we head out? There’s no desperate rush. Adika can always
take the Strike team on a few laps of the park while they’re waiting.”

I’d been distracted by my embarrassment,
but now the cold realization hit me. I had to go and hunt another wild bee. I
had to read another mind that was torn with alien emotions. I could refuse, but
if I refused this time then the next time would be even harder.

“I’m not hungry.”

“We’ll stop off for
something to eat while we’re out then,” said Lucas.

I stared at him in silent disbelief.

He smiled. “I told you that
check runs are much more peaceful. There’s bound to be somewhere serving food
in the area.”

We went out of my
apartment and headed for lift 2. Lucas was obviously going to escort me every
inch of the way. If I turned round to look behind me, I’d probably see Hannah
sprinting into my apartment to clean up. I might as well be in nappies.

Adika and the Strike team
were waiting for me in the lift. Adika exchanged rapid glances with Lucas, and
didn’t seem to like what was communicated to him. Did they have a pre-arranged
signal, so Lucas could tell Adika that their telepath was still refusing to
read even him?

I put my crystal unit in
my ear and went into the lift. When I turned round, I suffered a moment of pure
shock. Lucas was in the lift too!

“Strike team is moving,”
said Adika.

“Tactical ready,”
responded a female voice in my ear crystal. That was Emili, deputy leader of the
Tactical team.

“Liaison ready,” said Nicole’s
voice. “Tracking is …”

“Hold it!” I interrupted.
The lift doors had closed but I opened them again. “Why is Lucas with us?”

“I haven’t been shopping
in ages,” said Lucas. “This is my big chance to buy new socks.”

I turned to Adika. “I need
a private word. Now!”

He followed me out of the
lift. I moved us far enough away to be out of ear shot, and we turned off our crystal
units. “You can’t put Lucas at risk just to babysit me. He’s not trained for
this.”

“I wouldn’t want to take Lucas
on an emergency run,” said Adika, “but routine check runs are totally
different. All the research and analysis has been done in advance, so we know
exactly what we’ll be facing. It’s standard practice to bring a member of the
Tactical team along to talk us through the situation.”

“But what if something unexpected
happens? What if it turns out not to be so routine after all?”

“In that case, Lucas knows
he’s to keep out of trouble and stick with you and the bodyguards. He may be
Tactical not Strike team, but he’s an excellent shot with a gun and can move
fast.”

I frowned in frustration. I
could insist that Lucas was kept safely back in the unit, but overruling his decisions,
dictating how he lived his life and did his work, would wreck any chance of a relationship
between us.

“Lucas has already been
out on dozens of routine check runs with Keith,” added Adika, in a soothing
voice. “Lucas isn’t a liability, he won’t slow us down, and I won’t let him get
hurt. I know it can be worrying when someone you care about is …”

I turned, stalked back into
the lift, and turned my ear crystal back on.

Adika followed me, and
closed the lift doors behind us. “Tracking active, Nicole?”

“Tracking status green for
all Strike team,” she said.

“Amber?”

I checked my dataview and
saw Lucas was listed with my Bodyguard team. “Green,” I said.

“Everyone, check any bruises
are well covered with makeup,” said Adika. “Crystal units kept on audio only for
this run. You’re supposed to be innocent shoppers, blending into the crowd.”

I glanced round at the
faces of the Strike team, and got a shock when I saw Forge. The whole of his
left cheek had been covered with a skin-toned protective plaster since he cut
his face open. Now the plaster was gone, the cut beneath had healed, but …

“What happened to your
birthmark, Forge?” I asked.

He flushed. “Medical had
to do a bit of reconstructive work after that branch ripped my cheek open, so I
asked them to get rid of the birthmark at the same time.”

“Did you feel it was
spoiling your good looks?” asked Adika.

There was a burst of
laughter from the rest of the Strike team, and the colour in Forge’s cheeks
darkened. “No, but an old girlfriend used to suggest I should get it removed,
and this seemed the obvious time to do it.”

“That reminds me of
something,” said Adika. “I heard the unit’s new mural painter arrived last
night. Is she moving in with you, Matias?”

Matias was the one looking
embarrassed now. “Sofia will be living in her own apartment. She wants to settle
into the unit before taking any important steps in our relationship.”

Adika’s face twisted in a
dubious expression. “Well, I hope it works out for you.”

There was silence until the
lift doors opened on Level 24. We joined the random crowd of people travelling
on the express belt. My bodyguards were split ahead and behind me, while Lucas
cheerfully stood beside me and took my arm. The rest of the Strike team were
standing in groups of two and three, chatting to each other, trying to look
like casual travellers.

Adika’s voice in my ear
crystal warned me that we were approaching the scene. Ahead of us was a crowded
shopping area.

“Chase team, detached
contact,” said Adika. “Keep Amber and Lucas in sight at all times, but mix in
with the crowds. Bodyguard team, stay close to Amber. Brief us on the situation
here, Lucas.”

“The first incident was
behind this shoe shop.” A passerby would think Lucas was talking in a low, confidential
voice to the girl on his arm, but his words were going out to the whole team.

I glanced at the shoe
shop. Its boundaries were defined by thin plastic partitions. There was a narrow
gap between the back of the shop and a structural wall.

“There was some rubbish
behind the shop,” said Lucas. “It was set on fire, the sprinkler system put it
out quickly, and nothing was damaged. It would have been possible, but
difficult, for an adult to squeeze in there. We think we’re looking for a
child.”

Lucas showed us two more
spots in the shopping area, all in places blocked from public view. “There were
three more incidents in the housing warren north of here, but we’d look a bit conspicuous
if we all trek round to see where those happened. There were also two incidents
in the park to the south, and one in the local community centre.”

He led me to a group of
seats in the centre of the shopping area. We sat together on one seat, a pair
of bodyguards took the next one, and three others stood in a group nearby. The
Chase team lurked around the neighbourhood. Adika was with Forge, apparently
debating whether one of the jackets on a clothing stall would suit him. It
wouldn’t.

“The last incident was the
worrying one,” said Lucas. “Our firebug used an inflammable liquid, and the
blaze was much worse than previous ones. That escalated the warning signs from
strength two to strength three. The next progression is sabotaging the
sprinkler system, which increases the risk of people getting hurt or killed.
We’re here to stop that happening. Over to you, Amber.”

I couldn’t dodge things
any longer. I closed my eyes and sat there for a couple of minutes, alone in
the darkness in my own head, just thinking. I wasn’t sure why I was so reluctant
to reach out to other minds. Yesterday had been frightening, it made sense that
I didn’t want to experience the thoughts of another wild bee, but why didn’t I
want to read Lucas? I liked reading Lucas. I loved the wild ride of swirling
along with his thoughts.

And the answer was
obvious. I didn’t want to read any thoughts, because I didn’t want to be a
telepath. I wanted to be imprinted, to be like everyone else, so the part of me
that hated nosies would leave me in peace, but that was never going to happen.

The situation was brutally
simple. I was a telepath and I was urgently needed. I had to help the Hive mind
get more stable, or the other Telepath Units would be overwhelmed by too many emergency
runs. I had to stop thinking of myself, and think of a hundred million other
people. They didn’t know it, but they were depending on me to keep them safe.

I remembered the Hive Obligations
and the Duty songs I’d learnt in school. The Hive was our world. We served it
and it gave us everything we needed. Since Lottery, the Hive hadn’t just given
me everything I needed, but buried me in luxuries as well.

I had to do my duty in
return. The first step was the hardest, so I made it as easy as possible for
myself. I reached out to Lucas, and found his mind was layered with frantic,
anxious thoughts.

… still not even
reading me, and if she won’t do that then …

… stupid gamble pushing
her into this. Should have given her more time to …

It was going so well.
Too well. Everyone has weaknesses and Amber …

… Telepath Unit with
a telepath who won’t read people is completely useless.

… blocked me along
with the rest. Waste it, that hurts. I thought I was special to her.

… she was floating
in mid air, with no clothes on. If I’d stayed …

I was six levels deep, and
things were getting very personal. I pulled out rapidly, and then let my mind
drift out among the people in the shopping area. Nothing, nothing, nothing. As
I reached further out, something caught my attention.

Orange, bright,
flickering. Coaxing the tiny fire into life, and the excitement building. Can’t
do it here. It’s not safe here. Mum will be back soon. It’ll be different when I
have my own place. Next year on Teen Level, I’ll be able …

“Target is north of us,” I
said. “Age twelve.”

“Male or female?” asked
Lucas.

With Lucas sitting right
next to me, hearing him speak was enough to make me link back to his mind. Its
normal glow had been dulled by anxiety, but now his thoughts flared out,
shining dazzlingly bright with exhilaration and relief. I spent a moment
basking in the warmth of his delight before forcing myself to concentrate on my
job again.

“Target is male. Fires
excite him. His name is Perry. He’s at home now. Alone at the moment, but his
mother is due back soon. I don’t think he has any weapons.”

“We have a location,” said
Nicole’s voice through my ear crystal. “Five cors north, one west of you.”

“Call for medical assistance,”
said Adika, “and tell them to wait for us at the end of the corridor. Four of
us should be more than sufficient to deal with an unarmed twelve-year-old boy.
Forge, Caleb, Rothan, come with me. The rest of you stay here.”

Adika had drilled it into
my head that seemingly simple situations could go horribly wrong. I dutifully
ran circuits on the four minds until Adika announced the target was secured,
then relaxed and turned to look at Lucas.

“What will the medical
staff do with Perry?”

“Probably give him a
little therapy to control his fascination with fires during his time on Teen
Level. Once he reaches Lottery, he’ll be allocated work that involves fire, and
his obsession with it will become a useful asset.”

I saw an image in Lucas’s
mind. A man watching a red-hot furnace, where a tangle of discarded metal
objects were melting into glowing liquid.

I hesitated for a moment, and
then switched off my ear crystal. Lucas raised his eyebrows, but turned his
crystal off as well.

“Why are we having a
secret conference?” he asked.

“I was just wondering what
will happen to Callum.”

Lucas shrugged. “A
forensic psychologist will study his case, and assess ways of making him into a
productive member of the Hive.”

I waved my hands in
despair. “No one can make Callum into a productive member of the Hive. He
stabbed people.”

“Callum seemed to believe
his wishes were paramount, and he had the right to do anything he wanted to
other people,” said Lucas. “If that’s a long term, deeply ingrained attitude,
then treating him may be extremely difficult, however he escalated in behaviour
very quickly. It’s possible his attitude is a recent development, in which case
it may be possible to reset him.”

I’d no idea what Lucas
meant by that, so I checked his thoughts and gasped in shock. “They’d take away
Callum’s memories of stabbing people, and send him back to live on Teen Level
again!”