Telepath (Hive Mind Book 1) (38 page)

“What if he dies on the
way to our Hive?” asked Adika.

Lucas shrugged. “In that
case, we’ll have to send people into the tunnel to retrieve his body, but I’m
betting he’ll make it there alive. The man seems indestructible. It should take
him at least three days to make the journey, and we know he’ll head straight for
Gregas’s room on Teen Level. We can send Elden’s image to every hasty in the
Hive, and have them all looking out for him.”

“Elden will be conspicuous
anyway,” said Emili’s voice. “He should reach the Hive just in time for the Halloween
holiday, and it’s trick or treat then. Anyone not wearing a costume is fair
game for everyone.”

Lucas laughed. “Elden will
be pelted with scum balls wherever he goes. We’ll need costumes to wear
ourselves when we chase after him, because I don’t want to smell of algae for
days.”

“I’ll advise Nicole on appropriate
costumes,” said Emili.

“Aerial one, stay and patrol
to make sure our target doesn’t double back to the waterfall nest,” said Adika.
“Aerial two, take us home.”

When our lift doors opened back at
the unit, we found a crowd waiting to welcome us. Even Sofia had torn herself
away from her latest painting to come and meet Matias.

Megan and Emili moved eagerly
forward. Emili hugged Rothan, and I noticed Megan was smiling at Adika as well
as at me, but the reunion was interrupted by the doors of another lift opening.
A gorgeous girl in sparkling party clothes stormed out, followed by my parents,
Gregas, and half a dozen blue-clad hasties.

Shanna scowled round at us.
“I demand to know the meaning of this outrage!”

She had the same ornate
hair and perfectly made up face that she’d had on Teen Level. She was reacting
the same way she would have done on Teen Level as well. She hadn’t changed a
bit since Lottery, while Forge and I were smeared in mud, wearing peculiar,
bulky clothes, and openly carrying guns on our hips. It was an utterly surreal
moment.

No one answered Shanna, so
she tried shouting louder. “I’m a Level 9 Media Presenter. You can’t treat me
like this.”

She expected us to be
impressed that she was Level 9. I couldn’t help laughing, not because I was Level
1, but because levels hardly seemed to matter any longer. My laughter attracted
her attention. She turned to me, wrinkled her nose in disgust, and then blinked
in shock.

“Amber! You look ghastly.”
She marched towards me. “What’s going on?”

“You’ll be staying here for
a few days, Shanna. I suggest you keep quiet and do what you’re told.”

“I can’t stay here. I’m
co-host of the special teen Halloween programme on Hive channel 8!”

“They’ll cope without
you.” I threw a glance at my parents and Gregas. They looked stunned at the
sight of me wearing a gun, but they had enough sense to wait quietly for instructions
rather than make fools of themselves like Shanna.

“I’ll tell all my viewers
how I was forcibly dragged here by a bunch of ignorant hasties!” screeched
Shanna.

I lost patience with her.
“Shanna, this is a Level 1 unit that’s dealing with a Hive security breach.
Since this situation potentially puts you in danger, you’ve been brought here
for your own protection. You’ll tell your viewers nothing, you’ll forget this
ever happened, or you’ll spend the rest of your life polishing pipes on Level 100.”

I looked round for Forge.
“Can you deal with Shanna, Forge? Make sure she understands I really mean that
threat.”

Forge moved out of the
crowd of Strike team members. Shanna didn’t seem to have noticed him until now,
though admittedly he was almost unrecognizable, still wet and covered in mud
after rescuing Eli. Her eyes widened as she looked at him.

“Forge, you’re Level 1 as
well?”

He didn’t say a word, just
nodded.

Shanna hesitated for a moment
as she absorbed that information, then her face lit up in an encouraging smile.
“It’s wonderful to see you again. We’ll be able to talk about old times on Teen
Level, and make plans for the future.”

Forge seemed to wince in
pain. “We don’t have a future, Shanna. You made that very clear the last time I
saw you. Your old teen clothes and fashion accessories weren’t good enough for
you any longer. Neither was I.”

“I regretted saying that
the moment you’d gone,” she said. “We were so good together on Teen Level. We can
be just as good again.”

Forge raised his eyes to
the ceiling for a second. “I used to think we were good together on Teen Level,
but now I realize I was stupidly naive back then.” He turned to look at me. “Can
someone else deal with Shanna, Amber?”

“If that’s what you prefer.”
I nodded at Kaden.

“You can’t mean that,
Forge. Remember how …” Shanna’s words broke off as Kaden grabbed her by the arms,
and dragged her unceremoniously away.

My parents had been staring
at Sofia’s mural of me giving my speech, but now they looked hopefully at me,
while Gregas was literally bouncing with excitement. I waved a hand at them.

“I need a minute to check
a few things.” I turned to Megan. “How is Eli?”

“In the best specialist
hands, but they say he’d stand a better chance if they take his leg.” Megan gave
me a meaningful look. “Eli’s unconscious, so they can’t ask him for a decision
on this.”

It took me a moment to
take in what she was telling me, what she was asking me. Eli couldn’t speak for
himself right now. I’d read his thoughts on a daily basis for months, I knew
him better than anyone else could ever do, so it was up to me to speak for him.
There were those on the Strike team who could accept losing a leg, having a
prosthetic limb, moving to a less physically demanding role, but Eli …

I wanted to keep Eli safe,
but I had to give his answer not mine. “Eli would want to keep his leg.”

I rubbed a grimy hand
across my eyes. I was faced with my worst fear. A member of my Strike team, my
family, dying.

“You did everything
possible, Amber,” said Megan. “You stayed with him.”

She didn’t dare to mention
my telepathy with my parents listening, but I knew what she meant. I’d been in
Eli’s head when he was in trouble. I’d stayed with him despite the pain. I’d told
the team what was happening to him, so they had a chance to help.

“Eli knew the risk when he
broke cover,” said Adika. “He did a great job, but a slightly more accurate
shot would have been even better. If the lad lives, he’s going to do a lot of
target practice.”

I had to trust the experts
to do everything they could for Eli, while I made sure we caught the man who’d
shot him. “Situation status check. Have Hive Defence started the extra coastal
patrols yet?”

Nicole nodded. “Joint Hive
Treaty Enforcement immediately queried our high level of military activity at
our borders. Hive Defence replied that these were temporary defensive manoeuvres
in response to another Hive’s violation of our territory, necessary while we were
gathering evidence to submit a formal complaint. Several Joint Hive Treaty
Enforcement aircraft have just arrived to monitor what we’re doing.”

Adika laughed. “That ties
the hands of Hive Genex. They won’t dare to send an aircraft to collect Elden
from under the noses of Joint Hive Treaty Enforcement.”

“So Elden’s definitely got
no way to escape,” I said. “We just have to wait for him to get here.”

“The Hive is already on
full scale alert,” said Lucas, “but he can’t possibly get here for another
three days.”

“Good.” I finally turned
to my parents and brother. “You’ve probably worked out by now that I don’t run
a Research Unit. We’re actually a Security Unit, and we’re in the middle of
dealing with an attack by an agent from another Hive. There was a possibility
the agent might take you hostage, so we’ve brought you here for your protection.”

“Enemy agents! High up,
Amber!” gasped Gregas.

“This is all highly
secret,” I continued, “so it’s vital you don’t tell anyone about it.”

My parents solemnly
nodded. I knew I could trust them to keep the Hive’s secrets. It was my brother
that was worrying me.

“Gregas, you understand
that?”

He gave an urgent nod.
“Amber, when I go through Lottery, can you get me into your unit?”

I wasn’t sure what to say,
but Lucas stepped forward. “That might be possible, Gregas, but only if you
keep totally silent about what you see here. A Security Unit couldn’t accept
anyone who’d breached Hive secrecy restrictions.”

Gregas instantly looked obedient
and discreet, a model future member of a Security Unit.

Lucas turned to smile at
my parents. “You may remember me. I visited your apartment. I’m just another of
Amber’s team leaders.”

Lucas turned to give me a
teasing look, and I felt myself blushing.

“Mum, Dad, I should have
told you this days ago, but I wanted to say it in person rather than in a call.
Lucas isn’t just a team leader now, but my boyfriend and partner.”

My parents looked
doubtfully at Lucas, who was just as filthy as the rest of us, and had a
clownishly wide smile on his face. I checked his mind. The over-anxious smile
was because he knew my parents were important to me, and could cause huge
problems if they tried to block our relationship.

There was no need for him
to worry. Lucas and I were Level 1. My parents were Level 27, and they’d always
been very aware of their place in the Hive hierarchy. The days of them nagging
me to tidy my room were gone forever. Their daughter was Level 1 now, always
faultless, always right. They wouldn’t dream of objecting to my relationship
with Lucas.

That was an unnerving
thought. I somehow felt alone, abandoned, but of course I wasn’t. My parents
wouldn’t offer advice on my decisions any longer, but they still cared about me
as much as ever.

I took Lucas’s arm. “I’ve
had a huge amount to cope with since Lottery, and Lucas has been there for me
through all of it, helping and supporting me.”

My parents nodded again,
clearly tongue tied in front of so many high level members of the Hive. I took
pity on them.

“Nicole will find you
somewhere to stay. I really need to go and clean up now.”

My mother gave a single,
deeply expressive, look at my clothes and my mud, and said the closest thing to
criticism that she’d ever direct at me now. “Yes, I can see that.”

Nicole led my parents and
brother away, and Lucas and I headed back to the apartment that had been mine
and now was ours. There was the luxury of showers and my favourite foods, and
then we retired to the blissful comfort of a proper sleep field.

I was exhausted, but could
only doze fitfully while watching the wall of our bedroom. Lucas had set it to display
the doctors’ latest report on Eli’s condition in glowing letters, so I just had
to turn my head to see it in the darkness. The doctors nearly lost Eli twice
before midnight, and it was seven in the morning before the words told me he
was stable and they’d saved his leg.

I’d looked my worst fear
in the face. One day I’d lose a member of my team, but not this time. I could
sleep at last.

The warbling sound of the alarm
came during the first evening of Halloween, summoning us to lift 2. Elden had
arrived on schedule, and we were ready and waiting to hunt him. Lucas had insisted
on coming with us, so he was among the masked figures wearing red and black
Halloween costumes.

The last time I’d worn a mask
was for Carnival, months ago, a lifetime ago. Carnival of the silver and gold
costumes. Halloween of the red and black. The twin Hive festivals of light and
darkness, of life and death.

When the lift doors opened
on Level 1, we moved to ride an express belt. I remembered the last day of
Carnival. Twenty-two of us from our corridor on Teen Level, all in Carnival
costumes of silver and gold except for our leader, Forge, who was breaking
tradition by wearing red and black. We’d jumped on the handrail on Level 1, and
plunged downwards through the shopping areas, balanced in a proud line and
screaming our defiance at fate. Forge’s red and black costume had been an act
of defiance too.

Now it was Halloween, and
Forge and I were back in costume. He was in red and black, and I was in silver
and gold, just like before. There was no Eli with us, so nineteen Strike team
members, Adika, Lucas, and myself made twenty-two again. Lucas had laughed when
he’d seen our costumes, and said Emili had been amusing herself with symbolism
when she chose them.

Forge and I were dressed
as the twin angels of dark and of light, forever divided by our choices between
evil and good. He was the dark angel who had made the wrong choice and fallen. I
was in silver and gold, the light angel, the one lone symbol of hope allowed in
the grimness of Halloween. Adika was justice, dressed in unrelieved black and carrying
a great sword on his back. Lucas was wearing the red-eyed helm of the hunter of
souls. The Strike team were in the motley costumes of the members of the pack,
the scavengers of darkness.

“Hasties report that Elden
has just reached the 510/6100 Level 1 shopping area,” said Emili’s voice in our
ear crystals. “He’s cleaned himself up, but he’s not in costume, so everyone’s
shouting at him. He’s looking confused, and staggering towards the downway. He
must be planning to use that to go down to Gregas’s room on Teen Level. The hasties
are following.”

“Keep the hasties at a
discreet distance,” said Lucas. “We know Elden has a knife, so we don’t want to
trigger him into violence in a shopping area packed with people.”

“Approaching scene,” said Adika.

We stepped off the belt
and Forge picked me up. The dark angel carrying the light angel. The crowd
looked at us, recognized a full Halloween hunt in professional costumes, and
applauded. They thought we were part of the official entertainment.

I closed my eyes, searched
for my target, and instantly found him. His mind was blazing like a burning
camp fire in darkness, consuming itself. His imprint was tearing apart, the
horrors in his subconscious had spread upwards to overwhelm his waking thoughts,
and reality was conspiring against him too. He’d come to a Hive that was in
Halloween costume. He was surrounded by creatures of nightmare, who were screaming
abuse at him.

“Elden’s on Level 2 and still
descending,” I said. “He’s totally disoriented, terrified by the Halloween
costumes.”

“We’ll follow,” said
Adika. “Amber, Lucas, and bodyguards at the back. The crowd will slow us down, but
…”

“No!” I wriggled out of
Forge’s arms to stand on my own feet. “We’re the Halloween hunt. People think
we’re entertainers, so we’ll play the roles and the crowd will let us through.”
I pointed at the handrails of the downway. “Forge, with me!”

I jumped on one handrail
and Forge on the other. We balanced there, riding downwards. Adika cursed my folly
and moved to stand on the moving stairs between us. The dark and light angels
on the handrails, with justice standing between them. Behind the three of us,
on the handrails and the steps, the pack streamed after us. Demons, wolves, and
creatures of the night, led by Lucas, the hunter of souls.

“Amber!” Adika shouted
above the noise of the crowd. “Get down! You’re too conspicuous riding the
rail, and you could fall.”

“Amber won’t fall,” said
Forge. “We came to this shopping area on the last day of Carnival, and she rode
the handrail all the whole way from Level 1 down to Level 100.”

I laughed. “I know what
I’m doing, Adika. I promise I won’t fall or put myself in danger from the
target. I know exactly where Elden is. His head’s exploding and he’s impossible
to miss. The crowd is slowing him down, so we’ll catch up with him soon.”

“If he had any sense,”
said Lucas, “he’d just take a lift down to Gregas’s room.”

“Elden’s past sense and
rational thought, Lucas,” I said. “He’s broken and in agony. His Hive did this
to him. They … they wasted him.”

I almost felt sorry for
Elden. No, I did feel sorry for him. He’d been loyal to his Hive and done everything
it demanded of him, no matter how hard the task or how high the personal cost.
If that was a crime, then I was as guilty as he was.

I’d hated Elden, but it
was his Hive that was my real enemy, not him. Hive Genex had cold-bloodedly
used, broken, and discarded its agent. There was no way to cure what his
imprint had done to Elden. He was lost in a tortured existence and worse was to
come.

When we captured Elden, he’d
be handed over in evidence and destruction analyzed. I’d seen what that inhuman
phrase meant in Lucas’s head, all the grim details of how a body and mind would
be picked apart cell by cell. There would be much more pain before Elden was
finally lucky enough to die.

We were on Level 6 when
Adika shouted. “There he is!”

I could see him too, the
lone figure struggling through the mocking crowd. The people saw us coming, and
deliberately blocked Elden’s escape, forming a solid wall and laughing at him.
Trick or treat. A man was out without costume, the legitimate prey of the
Halloween hunt. The mob was holding him for us, so we could pelt him with slime
balls or pour fake blood over his head for their entertainment. They didn’t
know he had a knife. They didn’t know he was ripped apart by pain, and might hit
out in panic and kill them.

Elden saw the wall of
people ahead, turned, and saw the demonic hunt descending on him. He looked at
me, at the light angel, at the one sign of hope in the darkness. He’d spent his
entire adult life hunting me, but his mind had shattered and he didn’t recognize
me.

“The Hive wants Elden alive,
so guns on stun and take him down as soon as you get a clear shot over the
crowd,” Adika ordered. “We don’t want anyone getting stabbed.”

Forge and I were poised on
the handrails, looking out over the crowd, and we both drew guns. My Hive
wanted Elden alive, but his body was all we really needed to prove our case to
Joint Hive Treaty Enforcement. I was a telepath, above the law, untouchable,
and I chose to allow myself one moment of rebellion. Elden was a poor broken
thing now, and I would grant him the only possible mercy.

Forge’s gun was set to
stun, but mine was on kill when I shot Elden in the heart. He fell to the
ground, and the crowd cheered the dramatic performance by the Halloween entertainers.