Aunt Bobbie was in the common room, the way she always was, doing deep lunges and watching the monitor. A young woman with skin the color of coffee and cream and pale lips was speaking seriously into the camera. A red band around her had SECURITY ALERT HIGH scrolling in four languages. David paused. When Aunt Bobbie looked back at him, not pausing in her exercises, he nodded toward the screen.
They found plans for another bomb, Aunt Bobbie said.
Oh, David said, then shrugged. It was probably better that way. Let security focus on the political intrigue. It just meant thered be fewer eyes looking at him.
Your mothers asleep.
Wheres Dad?
Nariman. Work emergency.
All right, David said and headed back to his room. Aunt Bobbie hadnt noticed the bulk of his satchel, or if she had, she hadnt mentioned it. With his door safely closed, he checked the time. Late but not too late, and between the late afternoon amphetamines and the excitement and anxiety, trying to rest wasnt an option. Now that he had the product, all he wanted to do was get rid of it. Get it all away from him so that no one would stumble across it, get this all over with. He pulled out his hand terminal and put through a connection request to the contact Hutch had given him for emergencies only. He waited. Seconds stretched. A minute passed, and the tight feeling of panic grew in Davids gut.
The screen jumped, and Hutch was there, scowling into the camera. He was naked from the waist up, his pale hair messy. The hardness in his expression was clear, even through the connection.
Yeah? Hutch said. It was a noncommittal greeting. If security had been watching over Davids shoulder, they wouldnt even be sure that he and Hutch knew each other.
We need to meet, David said. Tonight. Its important.
Hutch was silent. A dry tongue ran across the mans lower lip and he shook his ragged head. Davids heart was thudding like little hammer blows against his rib cage.
Dont know what you mean, cousin, Hutch said.
No ones listening in. Im not busted. But we have to talk. Tonight, David said. And you have to bring Leelee.
You want to say that again?
One hour. The usual place. You have to bring Leelee.
Yeah, I thought maybe you were giving me some kind of order there, little man, Hutch said, his voice buzzing with anger. Im going to tell myself that you burned this number because you got a little drunk or some shit. Out of my deep fucking kindness, Im going to pretend you didnt forget yourself, yeah? So you get yourself back to bed and sleep until youre sober.
I am sober, David said. But it has to be tonight. It has to be now.
Not going to happen, Hutch said and leaned forward to shut off the connection.
Ill call security, David said. If you dont, Ill call security. Ill tell them everything.
Hutch froze. Sat back. He pressed his hands together palm to palm, index fingers touching his lips like he was praying. David squeezed his hands into fists, then released them, squeezed and released. An uncomfortable creeping moved up the back of his neck and onto his scalp. Hutch drew in a long breath and let it out slow.
All right, he said. You come to me. One hour.
And Leelee.
Heard you the first time, Hutch said, his voice cool and gray as slate. But anything smells like a setup, and your little girlfriend dies first. You savvy?
You dont need to hurt her. This isnt a setup. Its business.
So you say, Hutch said and cut the feed. Davids hands were trembling. He shouldnt have said that about going to security, but it was the only leverage he had. The only thing that would make Hutch listen. When he got there, he could explain it all. It would be all right. He stuffed the hand terminal in his pocket, stood silently for a moment, then shifted the wall to the still from Gods of Risk. Two men facing each other with the fate of everything in the balance. David lifted his chin and picked up the satchel.
When he came into the common room, Aunt Bobbie frowned.
Going somewhere? she asked.
Friend, he said, shrugging and pulling the satchel closer to his hip. Just a thing.
But its here, right? In Breach Candy?
A new tickle of anxiety lifted the hair at the back of his neck. Her tone wasnt accusing or suspicious. That made it worse.
Why?
Aunt Bobbie nodded toward the monitor with its red border and earnest announcer.
Curfew, she said.
David could feel the word trying to get into his mind, trying to mean something that he didnt let it mean.
What curfew?
They put the whole city on first-stage lockdown. No unaccompanied minors on the tube system or service tunnels, no gatherings in the common areas after seven. Doubled patrols too. If youre heading out of the neighborhood, you may have to send your regrets, she said. Then, David? Are you okay?
He didnt remember sitting down. He was just on the kitchen floor, his legs folded under him like some kind of Zen monk. His skin was slick with sweat even though he didnt feel hot. Hutch was going to meet him and he wouldnt be there. Hed think it was a setup. And hed have Leelee with him because David had told him to. Had insisted. Threatened even. Without thinking, he pulled out his hand terminal and requested a connection to Hutch. The address came back invalid. It had already been deleted.
David, whats the matter?
She was leaning over him now, her face a mask of concern. David waved his hand, feeling like he was underwater. No unaccompanied minors. He had to get to Martineztown. He had to go now.
I need a favor, he said, and his voice sounded thin and strangled.
All right.
Come with me. Just so I can use the tube.
Um. Okay, she said. Let me grab a clean shirt.
They walked the half kilometer to the tube station in silence. David kept his hands in his pockets and his satchel on the other side of his body so that Aunt Bobbie might not see how full it was. He hated this. His chest felt tight and he needed to pee even though he didnt really. At the tube station, a red-haired security man in body armor and carrying an automatic rifle stopped them. David felt the mass of the drugs pulling at his shoulder like a lead weight. If they asked to see what was in the satchel, hed go to prison forever. Leelee would be killed. Hed lose his place in Salton.
Name and destination, please?
Gunnery Sergeant Roberta Draper, MCRM, Aunt Bobbie said. This is my nephew, David. He just got his placement, and Im taking him to a party.
Sergeant? the security man said. Marines, huh?
A shadow passed over her face, but her smile dispelled it.
Yes, sir.
The security man turned to David. His expression seemed friendly. David tasted vomit and fear at the back of his throat.
Party?
Yes. Sir, he said, yes, sir.
Well, dont do any permanent damage, son, the security man said, chuckling. Carry on, Sergeant.
And then they were past him and into the tube station proper. The white LEDs seemed brighter than usual, and his knees struggled to support him as he walked up to the kiosk. When he got the tickets for Martineztown, Aunt Bobbie looked at him quizzically but didnt say anything. Fifteen minutes to Aterpol, then a change of cars, and twenty to Martineztown. The other people in the car were grubby, their clothes rough at the edges. An old man with an exhausted expression and yellowed eyes sat across from them with a crying infant ignored in his arms. An immensely fat woman in the back of the car shouted obscenities into her hand terminal, someone on the other side of the connection shouting back. The air smelled of bodies and old air filters. With every passing kilometer, Aunt Bobbys expression grew cooler and less trusting. He wanted to be angry with her for thinking that he wouldnt have friends in Martineztown, for being prejudiced against the neighborhood just because it was older and working class. It would have been easier if she hadnt been right.