Remembering deep competence helped Jack’s self-control reassert itself. It was surprising how relaxed he felt. He started wondering how he could make use of Akhmatov’s evident interest in him. He had his own abilities to draw on. He’d always been the most forensically precise of Grey’s auditors. That skill set had existed long before Fist had climbed out of his subconscious and into the processing nodes nestled snugly against his spine.
‘Oh no, Jack. You couldn’t have touched us.’
‘Really? We knew that Bjorn Penderville was working for you. We were about to prove that you’d had Aud Yamata kill him. I had most of your network analysed. I knew when your shipments were coming in, how you used sweathead avoidance codes to make them invisible, who your dealers were, how they transferred their profits to you and how you laundered them – even how you paid your suppliers.’
‘Aud Yamata,’ spat Akhmatov. ‘That bitch.’ He took a moment to recover himself. ‘But let’s not get sidetracked. Your investigation was very impressive, but you didn’t have the most important thing.’
‘Yamata’s Pantheon protector? I saw the traces. I would have followed them back and found out who it was. And Harry and I would have shut them down.’
‘And taken down a god. You know, I think that’s something you might have been capable of. You were certainly very good at your job, the best perhaps. Yamata and her master saw you as a very major threat. They wanted you dead. Grey must have fought hard for you, to keep your punishment so light. And Harry – well, you heard how we had to deal with him, in the end.’
Akhmatov slowly and deliberately made a pistol shape with his hand. He pointed a two-fingered nozzle towards Jack. His thumb came down like a hammer.
‘Bang.’
[Shit, Jack. He’s going to kill you.]
‘InSec are watching me. If I die, they’ll want to know how. They’ll find you quickly enough.’
Akhmatov laughed. ‘And once again, Yamata’s patron would steer them away from me. But you’ll be relieved to hear that my hands are tied. I’ve been ordered very specifically not to harm your little man or his future property. There are other plans in place for that little weapon’s special talents.’
[ Well that’s a relief,] said Fist.
[ No it’s not. It’s very worrying.]
‘But when my panthers bite,’ continued Akhmatov. ‘they cut deep into the mind and leave no wounds in the flesh. As you are about to find out.’
[ Ha!] said Fist. [ No physical damage at all!]
[ It’s still going to hurt.]
[ What’s a little pain, Jackie boy? You’ll get through it. Maybe it’ll even teach you to keep out of harm’s way.]
‘I will ravage you and break you, without touching your body at all. And I’ll show my masters that I’ve done so and laugh, and maybe they’ll be that little bit less scared of your puppet, and they’ll respect me just a little bit more, and my life will become that little bit easier.’
Akhmatov made a complex gesture with his left hand. Four matt-black faces turned towards Jack. They started to change. The room shifted with them. Gloom fell, silvered with a luminous moonlit haze. The air was suddenly dense with the scent of rich earth and new growth, with the whispering of a soft breeze through leaves. The moonlight caught at vines and small trees as they grew, reaching up to the empty sky above.
‘Akhmatov? Where are you?’
[ He’s a tricky sod.]
Jack stood up. The chair disappeared. He was standing in a small clearing. Small wild sounds washed over him. Insects scraped at themselves, scratching noisily in the night. Birds leapt into being and started to sing. There was a distant scream. Jack remembered playing with monkeys at Old Earth simulations. When they were frightened they’d open their mouths wide until their gums showed and give a high-pitched yowl. Off to his left small birds whistled with surprise, then whirred up into the sky.
A dark shape that could have been a man moved in the forest. There was a rustling at Jack’s back, a flicker of movement that pulled at the corner of his eye. They were circling him, walking at the edge of the treeline. He saw another one, moving with the fluent grace of a shadow cast on water. As Jack watched, it fell forwards. Its arms shortened, its head changed shape and then its body flowed away from humanity. It landed on four feet and padded out of the light.
[Spooky!] said Fist.
Now the jungle was silent. Jack turned in a full circle, trying to remember where the door had been. Humidity simulators had come online. A soft, sticky breeze touched his face. This was confusion software of a very high order. Jack had no doubt that the four security bots surrounding him were of equal quality. It had once been so natural for the weave to replace the world with visions. Now it felt like a transgression.
[ You can’t do anything at all?] said Jack.
[ The cage is in full panic mode. He knows his stuff.]
Fist sounded almost gleeful. A panther growled behind Jack. He spun round. It was an absence carved from shadow, reminding him of the voids between stars. There was hot breath at his ankle – another cat to his left. This one was lying down. It licked the side of his foot and he leapt away. The panther’s rough tongue left a tingle behind it.
[Shit,] muttered Fist. [ I felt that.]
A third panther was coiled up on a tree branch overhanging the small glade. The fourth would no doubt be behind him. Akhmatov strolled into the clearing, his white suit perfect dress for the jungle. The moonlight caught at his pale clothes and skin, and made them glow. The dark glasses he wore made dead suns of his eyes.
‘You see why I called my club the Panther Czar?’ he said. One of his digital creatures growled. Jack gagged at the bloody reek of its breath. ‘The illusion is far more complete than it was in your day. My guests downstairs are very familiar with these creatures. The panthers wander the club, watching for trouble. They have never been seriously challenged. I wonder how much of a diversion you will provide for them?’
The first of the panthers pounced. Jack felt a heavy weight thud against him. Shards of pain exploded across his right shoulder, his chest, his thigh. He staggered and fell sideways. The panther’s claws stayed in him as he went down, tearing and slicing at his flesh. The illusion was devastatingly painful.
Fist screamed too. [Shitting hell!] he howled. [ I felt that! He’s force-linked our pain receptors!]
[Stop them!]
[ I fucking wish I could!]
There was a flash of sparking cageware. A bright light burnt up then flared out as Fist tried and failed to attack. A spiked paw snatched at Jack’s shoulder, turning him over. Another pushed against the back of his head, forcing his face into the ground. Something tore at his back. He felt flesh lift off bone and he screamed [GODS!], mud clotting into his mouth as he did so.
Someone else was screaming too. It was Fist. Bright light exploded again. Nothing changed. Another counterattack had failed. The heavy cat weight lifted off Jack’s back. For seconds the pain was gone. He remembered that he was whole and that all this was illusion. Then the agony crashed back again, the tearing bulk of a panther driving it into him.
[ YOU FUCKER!] shouted Fist. [ YOU FUCKING FUCKER! I’D FUCKING HAVE YOU IF I COULD!]
‘Your boy is caged,’ said Akhmatov, ‘and my cats are hungry. And the night is so young.’
‘Fuck you!’ Jack screamed into the soft night.
The jungle whispered on around his pain.
Chapter 12
An hour or so later, Jack was pushed out of the Panther Czar night club. The queue was much longer. He stumbled through the line and into the road, then fell over. Someone swore at him. Another threw an empty drink can. It bounced off his back. He pulled himself to his feet. His movements were stiff and awkward. ‘Fucking drunk,’ shouted a woman.