Ghost of Mind Episode One (3 page)

‘Put me down
before the security forces come,’ she said in a very calm if bored
tone.

Because the
security forces would come. No doubt the sophisticated computer
that ran all the way through this section had already picked up on
the fact there was an altercation going on. It would send that
information back to the central computer, and whatever alien was
sitting on the desk at the security forces would be alerted. Within
seconds bots would be deployed.

Alice really,
really didn't want to be dragged up before the security forces.

Fighting this
guy was one thing, but there was something far worse Alice could
never let happen. She could not be scanned. Her biometrics could
not be read, and they could not be checked up against the Great
Universal Database.

While she had
the appearance of a human or one of the other soft-fleshed races,
that was where the appearances ended. If anybody got a detailed
biological scan of her form, they would see what she really
was.

As the creature
twisted Alice around, letting her body jolt from side to side as
its arm dangled her in front of its face, she didn't even bother to
let out a sound. Not a scream or a yelp or a semi-frightened
gasp.

Because she
wasn’t scared. Though the creature had a gleeful look in its eye,
Alice was not in any real danger.

Well, she would
be if the security forces arrived, but she still had several
minutes before that, didn't she? As they were always a little slow
when responding to altercations in the lower levels.

The higher
levels, on the other hand, were a different story. If someone so
much as stubbed their toe, they would have an entire security force
at their door within seconds.

The higher
levels were where all the richer people lived. The important
people, the people that the galaxy decided were moral and just and
rich enough to be worth saving.

The lower
levels, however, housed the scum. The detritus, the nasty little
part of the universe that nobody else wanted to look at. So while
security still had to be kept, it wouldn’t rush its way to get here
too quickly, because if they were lucky, whoever was involved would
wipe each other out.

‘Hey, put her
down,’ somebody shouted from behind Alice.

Great, somebody
was about to get involved. Just what she needed. Somebody trying to
be a hero. Usually you didn't get it that much around these parts,
because usually everyone understood that around these parts there
was no point. There was no justice to be had, just survival. Just
walk on by with your head low to the ground, eyes locked on
something innocuous. Ignore the screams, ignore the shouts, doge
the blasts and blows. Survive. Because no matter how powerful or
strong you were, there was too much crime, there was too much muck
to wade through.

Without the
help of the rest of the universe, you wouldn't be clearing up
places like Orion Minor. You would need everybody to change their
attitudes, and more importantly, you would need the Government to
help, to finally send resources, to finally stop taking away money
and land and jobs.

Alice rolled
her eyes. She did not suddenly scream at whoever was behind her
that she need their help.

‘It's okay
ma’am, just hold on,’ the man assured her.

Oh great, what
was he going to do? He wasn’t going to tackle the alien, was he?
Because Alice could see that would be a sure ticket to the
morgue.

That however
was not what happened.

There was a
sharp slice of light, a sound that reminded her of 1000 airlocks
blasting into space, and then a clap.

Then the big,
fat, green, slimy alien fell over. He sounded like a tree splitting
in half. In fact there was a moment when he teetered on his feet,
his large eyes closing, that massive tongue of his slapping to the
side as his body grew slack. And then he fell. And of course Alice
fell with him. Still stuck in his arm, still unwilling to use her
own strength to muscle free, she found herself slanting towards the
ground.

She did not
reach it though.

Someone caught
her instead.

In a burst of
speed, their shoes making a loud scratching noise against the
already scratched floor, somebody jumped. They leapt right at her.
They grabbed her, and they pulled her out of the creature’s arm.
Swift, fast, and very strong.

Then Alice
found herself in a strange position. She found herself in a
position she had never been in. In a human man’s arms.

Confused, but
still a little angry, she looked up to the guy’s face.

‘It’s okay,
ma’am; I have you now,’ he assured her.

Was he trying
to be gallant? Was that why he had that particular silly smile on
his face? Or was that just what humans looked like? Though Alice
had seen her fair share of them in the news and from the movies she
watched, there weren’t that many humans around Orion Minor. It was
a very long way from Earth, after all.

And then Alice
stopped.

Because
recognition began to flicker within her. A sharp, painful
recognition. It felt like a spear had been stabbed and rammed into
her ribs.

She knew that
face. She’d seen it many times before.

She knew the
name too. John Doe. Commander John Doe.

Damn it. About
the one person in the world, about the one person in the galaxy,
the one person in the entire universe, that Alice absolutely could
not afford to run into. And now she was tucked neatly in his
arms.

‘Put me down,’
she said, inhaling fast. Her voice was snapped, quick, gasped, and
strangled.

The man
blinked, receding slightly, looking shocked. Perhaps that was not
how people were meant to react. Perhaps when somebody shot an alien
that was trying to strangle you and caught you in their arms, you
weren’t meant to snap at them to put you down.

‘Of course,’ he
mumbled, and then he complied by putting her down, but gently and
carefully, as if ensuring that she didn't suddenly fall over from
surprise or anything.

Alice stood
with her back as stiff as possible. Her hands clutched into tight
fists, the blood pumping around her body, her ears ringing. She was
most definitely sure she had a frantic, unfriendly look on her
face.

Maybe the guy
paled, maybe he stood a little straighter, maybe he started to get
a mildly suspicious, worried look on his face.

And why
wouldn't he? That was John Doe, Commander John Doe, one of the men
responsible for heading up the new wave of security into the Rim.
He didn’t belong in the slums, that was for sure. While everyone
around here would have been content to see Alice squeezed to death
by the alien, he was a member of the Union Forces. They were there
to ensure peace. Even if they had to beat it out of you.

She’d read
about him in the news, she'd seen the feeds, she’d heard the audio.
She knew who this man was.

No doubt he
would truly believe in justice, no doubt he was the kind of guy who
would throw himself into any altercation, regardless of whether it
had anything to do with him, no matter how seedy and scummy the
combatants were. Because no doubt John Doe would believe in
heroes.

And no doubt
right now he was wondering whether Alice herself was the criminal,
not the victim.

‘Are you okay?
You should get to a medical facility. The grip of a Parsi arm can
be ferocious,’ he nodded down at her, indicating her middle.

She understood
that. She knew what species the alien was behind her, and she could
appreciate the exact mechanical attributes of its grip.

But she did not
need to go to the medical bay. Because if Alice ever went to the
medical bay, well, her life would soon end afterwards.

She shook her
head very quickly, the tendrils or her blue-black hair flying
around and up, slapping against her face and nose, and resting
against her neck.

‘I'm afraid I’m
going to have to insist. You look like you are in shock,’ he
said.

Was she
shocked? Absolutely. Was she
in
shock? Hell no. While she
was freaking out at the prospect of what Commander Doe would do to
her, Alice’s body had sustained no injury. And unless John here
decided to chuck her into the sun, she was not going to.

Shaking her
head again, she started to take several steps backwards. ‘I'm
fine,’ she tried to say in her most natural, authoritative
tone.

It didn't come
out as natural and authoritative though; it came out shaking and
gasping.

If she was
trying to convince the Commander, she was failing, and very
badly.

Narrowing his
eyes, he took another step towards her, nodding his head.

And then she
heard it. Or rather she felt it. Her race had been possessed of the
most sensitive, incredible abilities. She could pick up sounds that
most of the softer races could hardly detect with recording
equipment, let alone their ears. She could also sense the smallest
movement in somebody's body, the tiniest change in blood flow, even
the slightest electrical impulse across their scalp. So she could
tell when someone was using an implant.

And right now
Commander John Doe was making a call. Grafted into his brain would
be various implants that would help him control everything from
devices to ships to weapons. They were standard for all security
forces. They also enabled instantaneous communication. Silent and
undetectable; unless you were Alice that was. Because she could
hear it. With a quick clench of her jaw she could smell the change
of sweat as his attention refocused, see the shift in his blood
flow as his pupils dilated.

He would be
calling her in. While she did possess incredible senses, she could
not read his mind. She didn’t need to however; there was only one
thing the good Commander would be doing to the suspicious woman in
the slums.

So Alice did
the only thing she could think of.

It was mad.

Absolutely
mad.

But she ran.
She ran from John Doe. She didn't have anything else she could
do.

She could not
allow herself to get caught. She could not be scanned. Alice had to
run.

And she could
run fast.

She did not
have to put on the full burst of speed that was possible for a
member of her race; she kept it to a healthy pace, yes, but not
something fantastic.

Turning on her
foot, her shoe making a squeaking noise against the floor, she
pushed herself forward. She didn’t do a fantastic leap over the
comatose body of the alien, but she did deftly jump over its tail,
land, and start sprinting down the corridor.

Luckily she
knew the slums and she had memorized the best places to hide from
the security forces.

Luckily she was
also motivated. Terribly bloody motivated.

Because if John
Doe found out who she was, she could kiss her life and the universe
goodbye. He was after Old Technology, wasn’t he? That was the
entire point of the new Union Forces’ mission to the Rim. That was
why Alice forced herself every single morning to watch the news.
Even though she hated it, even though it made her sick, she made
herself trawl through every single one of the newsfeeds mentioning
that section of space.

All that Old
Tech.

Ever since some
pirate ship had crashed on a Rim planet bulging full of it, there
had been a race to secure the whole area.

It was like
drugs, or money, or worse. The most addictive thing you could
imagine. It was by far the most powerful technology in the
universe, it outstripped anything the Union had by miles and
miles.

People were
willing to fight over it, die, do the most atrocious things. Even
for the stuff that no longer worked, that had run out of juice
centuries ago. As for the Tech that still ran – the Union and the
pirates were willing to lose entire systems in their desperate grab
to obtain it.

If either of
them ever found out a member of the Old Ones still lived, Alice
would be done for. The resultant war over her would likely take
everyone else with her too.

So Alice
ran.

Her boots
scampering over the floor, she turned the corner, almost slamming
face first into a robot that was cleaning graffiti off the
wall.

The robot
muttered out an electronic sorry, but Alice didn't have time to
reply. She used the robot’s stiff arm for purchase, grabbing hold
of it in order to sling herself around and down the corridor.

She could hear
him behind her. His footfall was frantic. No doubt he had all sorts
of fancy implants grafted all over his body, devices that would
account for usual human weaknesses. They would give him extra
strength, speed, agility, maybe even intelligence.

But no matter how fancy John Doe was, he was
not an Old One.

Alice was.

Chapter 4

John Doe

He'd known she was going to run. From the
second he saw the look on her face after he'd saved her.

Something wasn't entirely right with the
woman sprinting through the corridors before him. She obviously had
a secret.

Then again, who in the slums wouldn't
have?

‘
Hey, stop,’ John tried again, using his
neural implant to relay his voice throughout the audio system of
the corridor block. It was a strange sensation to hear his own
voice booming at him from all corners, but it wasn't for his
benefit; he had an obligation not only to warn the woman to stop -
not that she would - but to warn everyone else in her path that
there was a security chase in place.

‘
Redirect a unit to the end of Tunnel 4,
Block Alpha,’ John said, but this time he didn't even use his
voice. He didn't even make a sound. He relayed his thoughts
straight through his implant.