Manifestations (39 page)

Which is why Callum didn’t immediately react to the shouts of the soldiers. And why he tried to push off their arms as they dragged him away. It was only when the pain hit from his crushed leg and he thought,
I really felt that,
that he began to look around him at what was happening.

Dust was clearing and he could see people on the ground and there was blood everywhere he looked. Then the tower nearest him exploded, a large slab landing on the Serviceman who had been pulling him out. Another chunk of rock landed on Callum’s leg.

A small hand patted his shoulder and he looked up into the eyes of the calmest boy he had ever seen. The boy turned to look back at something else. A young man was standing atop a cargo train as it raced from the area, holding on with a cybernetic arm as its speed increased.

~ * ~

Freya Harvey wiped her brow. She couldn’t live in this dirt another day. It wasn’t just their rooms. It was the whole building she had to clean up. She hadn’t had a shower in three weeks. Something had to be done.

When they landed they were given a choice about which faction they wanted to align with. It seemed to be a choice between tappers and benders and since Freya was a telepath, and Bobby too, Ben and Molly didn’t really have a choice.

Desh, though ... Chiggy had saved them. He felt he had to go and the Harveys had only seen him a couple of times since.

During the fight to get through the blockade, Desh and Ben had disengaged the shell from the base of the bus to confuse the blockade machines and they glided on a makeshift barge that was led into the city, the family holding tightly to their seats in the open air.

When they landed there was much excitement. The psis milled around them, shaking their hands, laughing, and welcoming them to Atlantic. But after the initial greeting nobody knew what they were supposed to do.

They were shown to a hotel, or what used to be a hotel. It was run-down, waterlogged and its most colourful aspect were the lichens that grew on every lintel and ledge. The foyer wasn’t grand, as it had been modified when the raised floor made the fifth storey the new ground level; it was actually just a pair of matched doors that were permanently open and let them into a wide corridor.

There was nobody to meet them there either. The daylight only went so far in, and they had waited within its warmth rather than exploring the dark corridor. It was some minutes before a door opened next to the elevator shaft and a thin crinkle-faced man stepped out.

‘I am so very sorry for keeping you waiting. My name is Doctor Alexei Salvator.’

‘Doctor, what is happening here? I have brought my family to Atlantic at great risk.’

‘I know, I know. I’m sorry we are not better prepared but there have been matters to arrange. Your arrival has caused ... some complications for us.’

‘You’d better be on the level with us, doc. Tell us what is happening.’ Desh came forward to introduce his muscle to the conversation.

Doctor Salvator pursed his lips and rolled his eyes. ‘Don’t be silly and don’t push me.’

Desh suddenly shook his face as a slice of his forelock fell onto his nose. The doctor had kinetically cut a lock of his hair. He brushed it away, laughed, and then thrust his hand forward with a smile. ‘I like that. I’ve never seen that. I’m Desh.’

The doctor shook the offered hand and then went around the group to make individual introductions. He even knelt down to Molly, who hid behind her mother’s leg. ‘There’s no need to be afraid, little one.’

A man scuffled into the entryway and approached the doctor warily, keeping his eyes low. His face was bruised and a cut had dried, unwashed, on his scalp. He held a note out that

Salvator took from him.

‘I’m sorry, Freya. I need you and Bobby to go downstairs.’

‘Us? How come?’

‘There is a bender outside, but she won’t come in with you here.’

‘What? Why?’

‘This is just the way it is right now. The benders don’t like having telepaths around them.’ He grimaced. ‘Please. They would just like to speak with Ben and Desh for a moment.’

‘No. I won’t leave my husband here,’ she insisted.

Looks passed between the three men, not sure of what to do. Bobby put his hand on his mother’s shoulder. ‘Let’s go, Mum. They don’t want us in this.’

‘But…’ she stuttered. Ben came and stood close to her and kissed her cheek.

‘It’ll be alright.’

Reluctantly, she let Bobby lead her to the stairwell, pulling Molly along with him. It was dark. The sconces were broken and they had to feel their way down the steps.

Wait,
Bobby projected to her.
We can listen from here.

Freya put her hand in his and shared what he was seeing through his father’s eyes.

The doctor sent the messenger back outside. ‘Tell her she can come in. And there is a tap outside. Wash that cut.’

No sooner had he shambled off than a short, solid woman came in through the doors, her heavy shadow lumbering towards the group.

‘Are the tappers gone?’ she asked.

‘They’re gone,’ he answered. ‘Ben Harvey, Deshiel Diaz, this is Rocks. She speaks for Chiggy.’

‘Chiggy wants you to come now,’ she said.

‘Wait, who is Chiggy?’ Ben asked.

‘There are two factions in Atlantic,’ Salvator explained. ‘The kinetics have formed their own group south of here. Chiggy is their leader.’

‘And now you are to come to him. We don’t keep Chiggy waiting.’

‘Why should we go with you? What if we want to stay here?’ Desh asked.

Rocks looked at the doctor. ‘You didn’t tell them who saved their lives, then?’

‘I was getting to it.’

‘You owe Chiggy your lives. You have to come to us now.’

‘I’m not going anywhere. I have a family,’ Ben said. Freya squeezed Bobby’s hand and made to run back upstairs.
No. Wait.

This isn’t right,
Freya thought to him. This wasn’t the new world Tamsin Grey had promised.

We can trust the doctor,
he thought back to her.

‘Ben has a wife and two children with him,’ Salvator informed Rocks. ‘Could you not at least let him settle his family in?’ The woman made a sour face and ruminated with deliberate swings of her head.

‘Okay. He can stay. The other one must come with me.’

They all turned to look at Desh.

‘What? I have to go because she says so?’ he asked.

‘Chiggy says so,’ Rocks said. Desh felt himself pushed in the back, forcing him to take a step forward.

‘Hey,’ he said and shoved back at her.

‘Don’t —’ Salvator warned, but Desh was hit by a wave of force and dropped to his knees clutching a ringing head. The doctor knelt beside him. ‘Don’t fight. She hits like rocks, thus her name.’

‘Come,’ Rocks said and turned around, dragging Desh behind her.

‘You’re not letting her take him, are you?’ Ben asked and went to hold onto his friend. He had felt the tip tap of the word H E L P on his hand.

‘Rocks, wait,’ the doctor called out. ‘Let the man choose.’

The bender stopped, letting Desh stand up. ‘If I was you, I wouldn’t deny Chiggy.’

‘Desh, I know this is hard, but you should go. You just have to go there. After that you can choose to come back. Isn’t that right, Rocks?’ Sal said with emphasis.

‘Nobody chooses to leave Chiggy,’ she said.

Desh and Ben looked at each other. ‘What should I do?’

‘I don’t know, Desh. It’s your decision,’ he said and tiptapped a message to him. R E A D Y.

‘What happens if I don’t go?’ Desh asked Sal.

‘I don’t know.’

Desh turned between the other three people and back to the doctor. ‘Not much of a choice, is it?’

He went to stand by Rocks, ready to follow her. ‘I’ll be okay, Ben. Don’t worry. You look after the kids.’

C O M E B A C K.

I
W I L L.

‘I will return for Chiggy’s tribute,’ she said to Sal.

As soon as the bender and Desh had gone, Freya pushed past Bobby and quickly made her way up the stairs. They rushed through the door and she rushed to hug Ben close to her. ‘Oh, thank light you didn’t go.’

‘You were listening?’ the doctor asked.

‘Of course I was —’ Bobby said.

Salvator held up his hand. ‘Please don’t do that again. We need the benders to trust us.’

‘She would never have known.’

‘That’s not the point. I also need to know
I
can trust you.’

‘Trust you? Trust you? What kind of kutzo place are you running here, doctor?’ Freya turned on him.

‘Miz Harvey, please don’t ...’ he trailed off. He was extraordinarily tired. The adrenalin was evaporating out of him and the thing he wanted most in the world right now was a chair. ‘Look, we’re all in a situation here, trying to manage as best as we can.’

‘And this is your rebellion? How many of you are there?’

‘There are just over a hundred of us. We lost six helping you and your family get through.’

‘Mum,’ Bobby said. He looked at Ben, who hadn’t said anything since Desh had left. For a long moment none of them said anything.

I can hear you all thinking, so you may as well wait so you can say it to my face,
another voice entered their heads.

They hadn’t heard or felt them approaching. A group of three led by Tamsin Grey. She was followed by a dark-skinned man and a girl holding his hand.

Bobby spoke up, stepping in front of his parents. ‘Miz Grey, we apologise. It is just that no one is giving us any information.’

‘No need for apologies, Bobby.’ She shook her head and smiled at him. ‘And you can just call me Tamsin. This is Okonta, my second, and this is Piri.’ Piri looked at the new people very seriously. ‘And you’re Ben, Freya and Molly. Welcome to our little rebellion.’

‘Thank you, Miz Grey,’ Bobby said eagerly. The rest of the Harveys nodded numbly.

‘Freya,’ Tamsin said. ‘If you want to complain, then you can do so out loud. I’m truly sorry the guest rooms weren’t ready on your arrival but we are trying to do something here. We also went to a great deal of trouble to save you. It cost us dearly.’

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t realise.’

‘Let’s just remember that next time.’ Tamsin turned towards the husband. ‘You’re an engineer, Ben. Is that right?’

‘Yes, Miz,’ he said.

‘Then you’ve arrived just in time. Come with me,’ she said, crooking her finger.

‘What about us?’ Freya asked, annoyed at how Ben was automatically moving towards the other woman.

‘Sal here will show you where you’re going to stay. Then he is going to get some rest.’

‘Thank you, Tamsin.’

‘Well done today, Sal.’ Tamsin took him by the hands and kissed him gently on either cheek. ‘You bought us time.’

‘Just doing what I have to,’ he said.

Tamsin stepped away. ‘May I leave Piri with you? I’m sure she and Molly would be good for each other. There are so few children around.’

‘Of course,’ Bobby answered before Freya could say anything. ‘We’re happy to help.’

‘Perfect. Please have her back by six.’

Come to me later,
Tamsin thought to Bobby.

Okay.

You should know what we’re fighting for.

Ben left with Tamsin and her bodyguard. Salvator stayed behind with Freya and the three kids.

The streets were messy with people. Women put themselves on display and one couldn’t walk anywhere without being beset by spruikers for eateries, mesh bars or pleasure rooms. The cybernetics were crude and obvious.

Atlantic wasn’t what she’d expected. She’d grown up watching the spectacle of the games over the Weave. Beautiful, athletic men and women with plated visors and elegant body morphs surrounded by dancing, music and the livid barracking of their fans. It had always looked like the most energetic place on Earth.

Freya was no longer sure why they had been drawn here. They’d lived their whole lives in hiding, things could have stayed that way. If only Ben didn’t fear every Serviceman who walked past him, or have days when he couldn’t eat or digest because announcements of new restrictions put knots in his stomach.

There was nothing to be done about it now. Now she just had to figure out how the family was supposed to live.

Salvator didn’t lead them far, soon arriving at a once-green apartment block that looked like it had been burnt by a fire. The doorway was boarded over, and crammed with wind-collected litter. The nails holding the boards in place broke in unison and the planks dropped to the ground and then shoved themselves to one side.

‘It’s all yours,’ he said.

Freya took a long look up and down the building. ‘We’re the only ones here?’

‘You’re the first to come through,’ he said. ‘But we’re finding more every day.’

She had her hands to her mouth and Bobby patted her gently. ‘It’s okay, Mum. We’re here now.’