Prequel Read online

  She felt his breath on her neck, felt a tug at the hood, and saw the room she was in.

  “Make the most of it. Have a good look around. I’ll be replacing the hood with a blindfold shortly. I thought it might speed things up if you saw what you were up against.”

  The room was mostly in darkness. The light just spread around her feet in a circle, her legs, her lower body, just her illuminated, and it dawned on her that she was the sole focus of the room. In front of her, laid out on a table, the instruments of her imminent torture.

  “What do you want?” Her voice no more than a tremor.

  “I want to understand the relationship between Jack Clay and Josiah Charm.”

  “But,” she stammered. “I don’t know anything.”

  He let his fingernail scrape down the nape her neck, slowly, steadily. “Remember, you have no AI to dull your pain. I had Jevans remove it under the pretense of his science.” Teah shivered as his fingernail scraped the top of her back. “No AI. Just me and you. You will talk.”

  “Zac didn’t tell me anything.”

  “And if he didn’t, I will know in a few hours.”

  She felt his hand brush her neck, his breath on her ear. A blindfold snapped in place, but she still shut her eyes.

  “Don’t worry, I’m a stickler for cleanliness. Every blade is sterile.”

  Teah woke and screamed. Her body felt like it was on fire. Every inch of her skin was crawling with waves of pain. The corridor’s lights passed one after the other. She was bound to a trolley. Had she talked? Teah had no clue what she’d said in the end. But she couldn’t answer his question. She just didn’t know whether Zac and Charm had a deal.

  The trolley steered into the dingy corridor, the lights left behind. It banked again, and entered a room. Her scream sounded again as she realized she was in Doctor Jevans’ room. Manhandled off the trolley and onto his bed, she waited for the injection. This time she would relish it, this time she would crawl right into herself and hide.

  She felt his hand on her stomach, then a cold disc pressed down, once, twice, all around.

  Give me the bloody injection, she screamed in her mind.

  Jevans shoved her over so she was lying on her front. She felt straps flop over her already ruptured skin, and she whimpered as he tightened them.

  “Now, this is going to hurt,” he muttered, under his breath.

  Then give me the bloody injection.

  “You know, the whole compound could hear you scream. You put on quite the show. Should keep any naysayers in check for a while. No one would invite that pain on themselves.”

  He forced her face into a hole in the bed’s mattress. She stared at the blue vinyl. A strap tightened across her skull.

  “Brace if you want,” he said, and she swore she heard a measure of mirth in his lilt.

  Pain, pain that made what had passed before seem insignificant erupted in her head. She tried to scream, to wail, to cry out, but nothing came out.

  “I only have to cut a few inches into the base of your neck. I will have your implant back in, in no time.”

  Teah barely whimpered now, her tears exhausted, her vocal cords shot, her spirit broken. She felt the tip of his scalpel rooting around in her head, teasing something out. It felt cold, ice-cold. It felt hot, red hot. Teah urged death forward, reached out for his embrace. She heard the faintest of clicks, and then felt a slight pressure at the base of her skull followed by a searing heat and the smell of singed hair, and she passed out.

  She saw Connor floating in a pool of luminous silver, and she smiled, the straps loosened and she was lifted up and placed in a chair, and then she was being wheeled back to her cell. One of the wheels squeaked as it went around.

  “Kin’ell,” the voice came from behind. “They really hate you.”

  “So it was the AI,” May said.

  Teah shrank back into the corner of her bed. The woman must be a monster, must be with them, with the bald man, with Jevans, with Roy. May reached out. Teah shrank back further, her eyes wide.

  “So, you’re afraid of all of us now? What if I told you your suffering was over? What then?”

  Teah tried to speak, but a mere whimper trickled out.

  May lit a smoke and held it out for her. Teah reached out, but her hand wouldn’t venture that far and snapped back. May reached toward her. Teah tried again, her hand shaking uncontrollably. She grabbed the smoke, brought it back and up to her mouth. Even her teeth were chattering in fear. She fumbled with the smoke until her lips pressed on it and she sucked in its calm. Her hands relaxed a little.

  “Thank you,” she whispered, not daring to make eye contact.

  “Strange,” May said. “The AI repairs the body before the mind. Then again, I suppose the body could survive a broken mind, but hardly the other way. Nope, it’s got its priorities right.”

  “I guess,” Teah uttered, because she thought that’s what the woman wanted her to say.

  “Are you hungry?”

  Teah nodded.

  “I’ll go fetch you something,” and May got up and left.

  Teah looked at the end of the smoke, its glowing orange tip. Her body hurt less than the last hour, and much less than the one before that, but she couldn’t care less. It was the memory of the pain that haunted her. Pain like nothing she’d ever experienced. It terrified her. Jevans terrified her. Roy was third on her list now.

  May returned, a bowl of soup and a wooden spoon in hand. She placed it on the bed and retired to the corner of the cell, sitting on the stool.

  “Go on, eat up,” she said.

  Teah stubbed her smoke out on the bedframe, dropping it on the floor and grabbing the bowl. The soup was hot, her throat raw.

  “Is that better?” May asked.

  Teah nodded. The soup burnt her sore throat, but it warmed her stomach. It was almost like she could feel its sustenance flow through her. Spooning it until the bowl was clean, Teah kept glancing at May, making sure she was staying in the corner.

  “What they did to you,” May said, leaning forward, her hands clasped in front of her. “It was necessary. We had to know.”

  “F…f…fuck…”

  “What? Look, things are going on in the city. Charm is readying himself for something. What we did was…regrettable. We had to know.”

  “F…fuck you,” Teah said, and scrunched her eyes, waiting for the blows.

  “It appears your AIs are infinitely more advanced than we thought. It seems that even you suspect Zac has ties with Charm, that he is the chosen one. And we know you have an affiliation with his brother. They won’t stop, Teah, not Jevans, not that evil, evil man.”

  “His name,” Teah said. “The bald man, what’s his name?”

  “Sumner, his name is Sumner. I suppose you could… Look, what they did was extreme. If I could have stopped it… But Teah, you’ve got to fight through it.”

  “Fight…” May was confusing her. Wasn’t she one of them? “Fight through them?”

  “They mean to kill you, Teah. They won’t give you back.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you are no longer of any use. They have all the information. They know how to mimic the AI, true, but they can’t fathom how you heal, but that’s a minor point. I heard them, Teah, they’ve come up with a plan.”

  “Plan?” Teah was shaking less now. The soup had filled her belly. Its strength had infused her. “What plan?”

  “I take it you’re familiar with Zac’s father.”

  “Cornelius?”

  May nodded. “Cornelius Clay, the Drone Slayer. You were probably too young to remember the fear that spread through the place. One man’s actions caused a whole city to nearly melt down. What he did to those women was indescribable.”

  Except it wasn’t, Teah thought. Cornelius Clay had preyed on young women, murdering them and strapping them to drones. He had displayed his artwork by programming the drones to hover over The Black City Park until either the stiffs worked out a way t
o disable the booby traps, or the batteries stopped charging. It wasn’t the murders that put the fear into the gridders, it was the parading of the body, of someone you knew, just hanging there, dead.

  “Is that what they have planned for me?” Teah asked, and May nodded. “Why?”

  May sat back, her eyes never leaving Teah’s. “Seeing you, it will put the fear of God into them, cause mayhem. It’s rumored that it is why Cornelius did it in the first place—the mayhem. While the bodies hung in the air, the stiffs were occupied looking for the murderer. Smuggling routes, it was all about that, and so is this. Money, Teah, it’s all about money. Where’s Zac? Why isn’t he looking for you?”

  “He probably is.”

  “Zac? With his whole network? With Charm? With his club in Christmas manufacturing smokes and powders and booze? Are you telling me Zac Clay couldn’t find you among his own people? No, Teah, you’re too hot for him now, you ain’t just a piece of tail in a uniform—not the trophy he’d brag about now.”

  May’s words stung. Was that why Zac was with her? “It’s not like that.”

  “No? What’s it like then? According to Sumner, and he’s sure, categorically sure, Zac has told you nothing. What does that tell you about your relationship?” She took out a smoke for herself. “Just what did you talk about?”

  “With Zac?” Teah asked, but she knew the truth of May’s words. After the warehouse raid, he’d said next to nothing, just shooed her out of the bar, upstairs to Connor. What then? He’d closed the bar, sat with her a while. They’d slept together and she’d left. Talk, no, they’d hardly ever talked. “We’re more than that,” she mumbled.

  “Than what, Teah? Why are you with Zac Clay?”

  She bit her bottom lip, searching for an answer. “I fell in love with him. Rescued Connor, fell in love.”

  “Who else was there?” May asked.

  But Teah had already thought about that. The day was a foggy one, her memories vague, like out on the wastelands, like when she’d rescued Connor. She remembered the hospital, meeting Zac, meeting Josiah Charm.

  “Charm…” May said, and took a long draw on her smoke. “Josiah Charm might not take to you going back to Zac, even if he’ll have you around. Like I said, we think they’re up to something, and as I’ve said, they won’t court attention.”

  Teah’s mind roiled in confusion. She couldn’t help but wonder why Zac hadn’t moved heaven or hell to find her. Why he’d let her be tortured, beaten, and worse. Jevans’ violations were somehow worse than Sumner’s. He’d been inside her body, inside her mind. He’d drugged her, put her out, and done whatever he’d wanted. Jevans was number one, despite Sumner’s best efforts.

  “So, I’m fucked,” Teah bent her head and stared at her lap, running her fingers through her hair. She looked up and sighed. “Truly fucked.”

  “And you’ve got a bigger problem.”

  “What?”

  “You’re pregnant.”

  Chapter Six

  The door to her cell burst open. Roy standing in its place, legs planted apart, his gun crossing his body, his baton swinging from his belt. “Rise and shine,” he snarled.

  Teah glared at him, no longer afraid, but soon lowered her gaze. Somehow, she knew they’d done their worst, now she had to work out a way to survive, for her, for the baby. She swung her legs off the bed and sat. Obey, she whispered to herself, obey, let them think they’ve broken you. She made to push herself off the bed, but Roy’s gun jerked up and pointed straight at her. “I said, rise and shine, said nothing about getting up.”

  She smiled at him, a feeble attempt, but she managed it. He was a vile man in every sense of the word, and now he sported a look that told her he was looking forward to the day, and that, she knew, would be bad for her.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Where?” Roy grinned. “You’ve got a date with a drone.”

  She scrambled back on the bed, fear returning instantly. Her hand shot to her stomach.

  “No,” was all she managed to say.

  “Aw, c’mon, you can do better than that. Where’s the fight? I’m off the leash today. Been told I can shoot you, bludgeon you, smash your head in with the butt of this here gun. Anything, Teah, just give me a tiny bit of hassle, and I’m locked and loaded and good to go.”

  “What do you want me to do?” compliance somehow her only method of defiance.

  “Stand up, against the wall, there. Legs spread, arms behind your head.”

  Teah did as he bid.

  “In ‘ere. Tie her hands and secure her feet,” Roy barked.

  “Got it, Roy.” Teah recognized the voice, it was the man who pushed the wheelchair. He grabbed her wrists, yanking them down, zip ties crushing. “We gonna wheel her?”

  “What do you think?” Roy growled. “She can’t run if she’s tied to the chair.”

  “Kin’ell, Roy, should have… Never mind, she’ll just be a bit uncomfortable.”

  “Like that’ll worry her.”

  The squeak of a wheel signaled its arrival. Teah was pulled back by her collar, the force of her fall crushing her hands. The man bent down and tied her legs, then ratcheted a strap across her chest.

  “What’s your name?” she asked him.

  “Shut it.” Roy’s voice sounded like grinding rocks.

  “What business is it of yours?” the man said.

  “Need to add you to my list,” Teah said, and Ray unclipped his cosh.

  The pain was nothing compared to what she’d endured, and her lack of whimpering only enraged the man more. One, two, three strikes, and she just stared at him.

  “Fuck you,” he finally snarled, and pulled the familiar black hood from his pocket and doused her defiance with it.

  She focused on the wheel turning, counting each revolution, each squeak, knowing the end of the corridor was coming, knowing they would turn soon. Both Roy and Kin’ell, as she’d named him, were silent. The clip of Roy’s boots echoing. They went further, further than the room Sumner had had his fun in, further than before. Teah’s mind raced. She needed to escape, and escape soon. Not just for her, not any more, not after what May had told her.

  A baby, it was impossible. Though Zac wasn’t a gridder, he would have been scraped. They called it that; she hated the name. Men were scraped, women were harvested, the eggs and sperm then stored and used as the gene combinations were needed. Both Teah and Zac were impotent, had to be, and even if by some miracle Zac had slipped through, done some shady deal that he appeared to be so adept at, then her barren ovaries, her severed tubes would put an end to any conception. Yet May had said she was, that Jevans had confirmed it, and now she felt it too. At least, she thought that was what she was feeling. The squeak stopped. The wheelchair turned.

  She heard what sounded like a sliding door open, a whoosh, and then she was pushed forward. The doors slid shut. A lurch told her she was going up, she counted silently. The elevator jerked to a stop, the doors opening. The squeak of the wheel echoed. Roy’s boots clip-clopped in time with it.

  “That’s far enough,” Sumner’s voice sounded out. “Has she been sedated?”

  “Er, no,” Roy replied.

  “You bloody idiot,” Sumner shouted. “Jevans was supposed to jab her.”

  “Do you want us to—?”

  “—No, no and no. I do not. I’ll do it myself.”

  She heard his footsteps close, felt a needle pierce her skin, felt the cold liquid in her veins, and her eyes closed, a swirling maelstrom of color pulling her conscious away from their voices, bringing her peace.

  “Hang on,” said Roy, and she heard the roar of an engine, the screech of tires.

  “Kin’ell,” said Kin’ell.

  And she slumped in the chair; the only sound was her breaths.

  The rapid fire of machine guns exploded all around her, jerking her back to conciousness. She felt blood splatter on her neck, in her hair. A limp limb smacked her on the head, but she didn’t hear the thud of it fallin
g on the ground. The gunfire resounded around her, then screams and men barking fast orders. She felt her chest strap being grabbed, its clip released. Her legs were freed, and then she was lifted from the wheelchair and dragged away. There was a lull, the noise dying down. She heard breathing, heavy breathing, and the click of guns being reloaded.

  “You Teah?” a man barked in her ear.

  “Yes,” she mumbled.

  “You’re getting out of here.”

  She felt herself bundled into the back of what she assumed was a truck, a jeep, something like that. An engine gunned. A man bellowed: “Out, get out, before the carnies come.” The vehicle lurched forward. The gunfire started back up. The barking and screaming rang out. Her hood was pulled off.

  The back of the truck was dark. No light filtering through the canvas. She could just make out faces, grim faces, and she could feel their breath as their adrenaline faded. She knew that feeling only too well.

  “You locals?” she asked them. There were four of them in the back of the covered truck. Teah was sandwiched between two; two were sitting opposite. All were fully camouflaged, black smears on their faces, the whites of their eyes standing out, clearly soldiers.

  “State defense,” one opposite said. “We had a sniff of your location, heard a whisper they were moving you and had to put a plan together. To be honest, lady, didn’t look like anyone else was bustin’ a gut to rescue you.”

  “Where am I?”

  “Now? Just about to cross the freeway. They had you locked up in the old Angel Bay Hotel.”

  “No, no, that can’t be right…” Teah said. “She took me up to the top of the Bay View, I looked over The Grid, out to sea, looked behind and saw the sequoia forest.”

  The soldiers were grinning at each other. “Couldn’t have ma’am.” He reached for the truck’s rear canvas flap. Pulling it back, he looked at her and then pointed. “See, there’s the old hotel, the sea, The Black City’s ten miles South.”

  Teah couldn’t believe her eyes. How could she be out of the city? Her focus seemed to blur.

  “It can’t be. I spoke with May…”