Landfall (The Reach, Book 2) (37 page)

Emil looked at Aksel, then gestured to the console with a nod of his head.

“Uh, this is Aksel,” the young man said hesitantly.

“Is there any chance you can take a look around in there and let me know what I’m in for?  The Consortium Infirmary is one level I’ve never been to.”

“Okay.  I’ll uh, see what I can do.”

“Or better still, if you can give me access into the Consortium systems I could play around with it myself.”

Aksel looked doubtfully at Emil.

“I’m sorry.  I don’t think I can,” Aksel said.

“Why not?”

Emil held up a hand, indicating to Aksel that he would provide the answer.

“Knile, he can’t do that because the Consortium systems are incredibly delicate.  From what Aksel has told me, there’s security all over the place.  One misstep and they could shut us down entirely, lock us out.  Aksel has been tiptoeing around in there for a while and he knows what he’s doing, but we can’t risk having someone inexperienced with the system going in and blundering around there, tripping alarms.”  He grimaced.  “I’m sorry.”

“No, I understand.  I see your point.”

“Knile, I’m curious about this Redman,” Emil went on.  “Can you tell me more–”

“Sorry,
Emil, I have to go.  I’m at the gates.”

“Of course.”

“Talia?”

“I’m here.”

“Are you okay?”
Knile sounded as though he were out of breath, struggling.

“I’m fine.  All good.”

“Okay.  Wait for my call.  I’ll be in touch soon.”

“I will.”

“Good luck, Knile,” Emil said.

Then the phone beeped and the connection went dead.  Talia plucked it out of the console and cradled it against her chest protectively, as if it were some kind of talisman.

Once again she could do nothing but wait.

37

The afternoon sun beat down like a hammer
on those standing in line, pummelling them against the anvil of the asphalt beneath.  The shadow of the Reach, as huge as it was, offered no respite, slanting off to the east in the opposite direction to the gates.  There was no choice for those who were waiting but to bear the full brunt of the merciless heat.

Knile was sweating profusely by the time he reached the back of the line.  He strained to keep a grip on Roman, who had become a lead weight in his arms.  He did not stop to wait his turn at the end of the queue, instead shouldering his way through the line toward the front as he offered mumbled apologies.  Several of those in front raised their voices angrily, irate at the intrusion, but upon spotting the inert form of the boy they went quiet again.  Before long the line began to part of its own accord as those waiting to enter the Reach became aware of what was going on, and with the entry line short at this time of day, it did not take him long to make it to the front.

Sad, silent faces watched Roman as Knile carried him through the throng.  Distantly, Knile felt a modicum of his faith in humanity restored at their empathy.

The two Enforcers at the gate also became aware of their presence and looked up curiously from where they had been processing the newest arrivals.  The nearest one, a baby-faced constable with closely cropped blond hair, saw what was happening and reacted first.

“Whoa, wait a minute!” he called out, taking a few paces out from the gate to intercept Knile.  “No dead people.  We can’t allow those in here.”

“He’s not dead,” Knile said, attempting to hitch Roman up onto his shoulder so he could retrieve the Consortium badge.  “He’s sick and I–”

“Take him out to one of those witch doctors in the slums.”  The constable smiled unsympathetically.  “I hear they save almost one in ten of their patients if you pay enough creds.  You might get lucky.”

“I’m part of the Consortium,” Knile said, finally dragging the badge out of his pocket.  “Let me through.”  He lifted the badge but the constable did not even bother to glance at it.

“Consortium guys don’t wear rags, and they don’t carry around dead kids.”  He began to turn away.  “Shove off.”

“Do I need to get a Redman down here to settle this?” Knile all but shouted.

The constable guffawed.  “Oh, please do.”  He hitched his thumbs in his belt.  “I’d like to see that.”

“What’s going on here?” another Enforcer said, appearing from behind the constable.  He was an older man with a bushy moustache and matching eyebrows.  As his eyes fell upon the glowing badge that rested in Knile’s trembling fingers, he paled visibly.

“What the–?” he said, perplexed.

“What’s the matter, Sarge?” the constable said.

The sergeant glanced at Knile’s face, then back at the badge.  Flustered, he fumbled for the scanner on his belt and directed it toward the badge.  There was a high-pitched sound as the badge registered, and then the Enforcer stepped back involuntarily.

“That thing’s for real,” the sergeant said, glancing up at one of the security cameras mounted on the wall as if fearing his actions were being scrutinised.  “Get out the way,” he ordered the constable.

“Wait a minute, this–”

“Get out the
fucking way
, Jimmy,” the sergeant hissed.  “You don’t interfere with folk from the Consortium.”

“This guy?” the constable said doubtfully.  “There’s no way he’s–”

“It doesn’t matter,” the sergeant said, gripping the constable’s shirt and wrenching him aside unceremoniously.  “If he’s in possession of the badge, he goes through.  I don’t like it any more than you do, but that’s the rules laid down by the Consortium.  If there’s a medical emergency there’s no questions asked.”

“You hold me up any longer and you’ll be looking for a new job over breakfast tomorrow,” Knile told the constable as he moved forward.

“That won’t be necessary, sir,” the sergeant assured him.

“Expect a call from my superiors at Consulate Seven up on Level Two-F
ourteen about this.  Both of you.”

“Our apologies, sir,” the sergeant stammered.  “The constable is inexperienced and he wasn’t aware of the badge–”

“
Expect a call
,” Knile said curtly over his shoulder, and then he disappeared through the gates and into the shadowy interior of the Reach.  A thought occurred to him and he turned back one more time.  “Hey!  Radio ahead and tell them to have an elevator waiting.  I don’t want to be held up again.”

The sergeant clutched at the radio on his belt, but Knile didn’t wait around to see what happened next.  He began to move across the large open area that comprised the lowest level of the Reach, glad to have cleared the first hurdle on their path to the Infirmary.

Away from the harshness of the sun, Roman suddenly felt cool in Knile’s arms.  Panicked, he checked for a pulse, and after a moment he located a weak throb in the boy’s neck.

Roman was hanging on, but barely.

“We’re almost there, Roman,” Knile whispered as he hurried across the floor.  He was out of breath and his arms felt as though they would give out any second, but he did not slow down.  “Just a little longer.”

Knile spotted the bank of elevators up ahead, a great array of them lined up one next to the other, and a moment later he saw two Enforcers positioned not far away, holding an elevator for him just as he’d requested.

“This way, sir,” one of them
called out, beckoning with two fingers.  The way he’d said
sir
made Knile think the word must have tasted like a rotten egg in his mouth, being forced to address a peasant with that kind of respect, but there was nothing the Enforcer could do about it while Knile possessed the badge.

Knile breezed past them, all but collapsing inside the elevator car, and then the Enforcers stepped away, allowing the doors to ease shut.  They glared at him with a mixture of revulsion and mistrust but said nothing.

Knile eased Roman against the wall of the elevator, then lifted the badge to the scanner.  He half expected his journey to end right there – that the illusion of safety would break with the harsh clamour of the alarm.  The doors would slide open again and the Enforcers would appear, grinning with evil satisfaction that they had come out on top in the end.

But that did not happen.  The scanner chimed and the appropriate floor was automatically selected.  The elevator began to ascend.

Knile grasped his holophone and called Talia’s number again.  He gently prised Roman’s respirator away from his face, then removed his own as well.

“Knile?”
Talia said, answering almost immediately. 
“Where are you?”

“We’re inside the Reach.  We made it.”

“In the Infirmary?”

“Not yet.  In the elevator.”  He swallowed, his throat parched.  “Is Emil there?”

“Here, Knile.”

“Emil, did you get access to the Infirmary?  Can you see what’s inside?”

“We haven’t been able to do that, Knile.  Looks like you might be going in blind.”

“Damn.”

“But you’re through the hard part, right?  You’re almost there.”

“Yeah.  I just like to know what’s coming where possible.”

“Seems like you won’t have that option this time around.”

“Guess not.”  He glanced at the rapidly increasing floor indicator.  “This thing has almost reached the top.  I’ll call you again when I’ve hit the Infirmary.”

He didn’t wait for a response, ending the call and stooping to gather Roman up in his arms again.  With the boy in his grip, he braced himself for the final leg of his journey.

38

Ursie and van Asch reached the departure gate, but the Redman and the technician were deep in conversation and did not even bother to acknowledge the presence of the newcomers.  Ursie and van Asch were forced to stand there awkwardly while they waited to be noticed.

“This is the third time in the last month,” the Redman was saying.  “That’s not good enough.”

“Hey, what am I going to do?” the technician replied impatiently.  “Must have been a faulty batch of boards in the last shipment.  I’ve replaced it every time and it just shorts out again.”

“Find a way to fix it,” the Redman said.  “I don’t care how.”

“Excuse me,” van Asch said pleasantly, and the two men turned as one to look at him.  “We have a problem with our passes.  I wonder if you could look at it?  We’re running late.”

The Redman turned back to the technician.  “I’ll be back this afternoon to look at this again.”  He nodded politely to Ursie and van Asch as he began to walk away.  “Good day.”

The technician went back to work, fiddling with a screwdriver on the circuit board as if Ursie and van Asch weren’t there.

“You can help us?” van Asch said expectantly.

“What’s the prob, bud?” the technician said wearily, his eyes never leaving his work.

“There was a problem encoding our passes back at the transit desk.  They used the wrong date, it seems.  I wonder if you could let us through?  We’re running late.”

The technician eyed them suspiciously.  “Can’t do that.  You’ll have to go back and sort it out with the people over at transit.”

“But we don’t have time for that.”

The technician snorted contemptuously.  “The cruiser won’t leave without you, bud.  Don’t worry about it.”

“Please,” van Asch said as the technician straightened and began to rummage through his tool kit.  “We really would appreciate your help.”

“Get lost,” the technician said dismissively, wiping at his fingers with a cloth.  He began to say something else, but Ursie had already closed her eyes and shut out his words.

This guy is standing between you and your future, Ursie
, she thought. 
Make him see reason.  Make him change his mind.

Van Asch had warned her against using her abilities, but what was the point of being discreet if they were going to be left stranded here on Habitat Thirty-O
ne?  What if they were deported and sent back to Earth?  She’d be right back where she started from.

No.  She couldn’t let that happen.  It was time to take control of her destiny.

She slipped into the technician’s mind.  It was a complicated jumble of thoughts.  There were highly technical procedures floating around in his head at that moment – images of circuit boards and processors, voltages.  Coupled with that were memories of the Redman.  From what Ursie could see, it was evident that the technician and the Redman had been involved in many verbal stoushes over the preceding months, and the technician had developed an intense loathing for the man.  He felt bullied and intimidated by the Redman as well, and that was causing feelings of shame to bubble to the surface of his thoughts.