'Wonder what it's about,' Josep said as he swiped Davis Fenaroli-Reece's card over the scanner on the car's passenger side and looked at the camera.
The barrier pole swung up.
'Someone tried to steal some bullion out of the vault this afternoon,' the man said. 'He got away.'
'God, I hope they don't use one of the collateral necklaces.'
'For that? I doubt it.'
The man drove him into Durrell as promised. Josep thanked him as he was dropped off at a commercial center in one of the outlying districts. Fortunately, Davis Fenaroli-Reece carried just enough cash to pay for a bus ticket into the city center. It was a ten-minute walk from there to the university campus. When he reached Michelle's residence building, he paused in the lobby while his face finally reverted to his own features.
'Ah, I wondered what he actually looked like. Let's see if we have any records of that face.'
Josep tapped the code into her door lock and walked in. The room was a mess as always. Barely large enough for one student, it had turned into a flea market of clothes, fast-food wrappers, hard copy and unwashed crockery since he moved in with her. Michelle was sitting on the small bed, watching the pane on the desktop pearl that was resting on the pillow. Her head came up, shock registering on her face. The gash in Josep's foot left by the glass shard suddenly jabbed a hot pain up his leg. He winced.
Michelle looked up in surprise as the door opened. It had to be Josep. She'd been so worried that he'd been caught doing something for the resistance cell. Relief turned to shock as she saw the thing coming through the door. It was a parody of a Skin suit, thin and spindly, with a simple metallic sphere as its head. The twin black lenses that were its eyes stared at her. She screamed as it walked into the middle of the room.
Two genuine Skins hurried in behind it. Michelle kept on screaming as one of them lunged at her. Thick fingers clamped around her arm. She grabbed at the headboard, but the Skin was immensely strong. She was dragged off the bed, her shoulder blade thudding down painfully on the floor.
'Help me!' she wailed. 'Somebody, help.'
'Shut the fuck up, bitch.' The Skin picked her up and slung her over his shoulder. Michelle tried kicking, but the viciously tight grip on her legs prevented the slightest movement. Her head was hanging halfway down the Skin's back. She tilted her neck back to see the slender humanoid thing moving slowly around the room, its fingers stroking objects. Then she was out on the landing, where several more Skins were waiting. Students stood in their doorways, watching her being carried past, too scared to move or say anything.
Tears rolled down her cheeks. It was all over. Z-B had discovered their little resistance cell. They'd interrogate her and kill her. She whimpered pitifully as the Skin walked into the elevator with her. Three men were crammed inside waiting for them. They began to attach instruments and medical-style modules to her skin.
Michelle started screaming again as the doors slid shut.
For a moment the room was out of focus.
'Are you all right?' Michelle asked. She'd got up to stand beside the bed, looking concerned.
Josep lifted his foot, taking the pressure off the wound. The pain eased immediately. 'I'm fine.'
She gave him a tentative smile. Josep waited. But for once she didn't rush over and embrace him. He wondered what was wrong with her. Did she think he was seeing another girl? Please, not that, not now, he prayed.
He gave her a quick kiss. There wasn't much of a response. 'There's a problem,' he told her. 'I have to talk to Ray. Get the stuff, will you? I'm going to move it out of here.'
'Why? What's happened?'
'Nothing to worry about.' He sat down on the bed and pulled the desktop pearl toward him. There was still nothing from his d-written neurons, just that faint background buzz. That made him pause. What the hell could knock them out of kilter for so long? Every other enhancement d-written into his body seemed to be working fine.
'What is it?' Michelle insisted.
'Okay, look, the controller called me. Z-B has been sending askpings into the university network, checking up on student files. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, but we have to be careful. I'm going to move out for a few days.'
'I don't like it.'
'Neither do I. I'm sorry, but we have to be safe. You'll be fine. Now just get the stuff, please.' He requested his Prime from the desktop pearl's memory blocks. The pane flashed up an invalid request icon.
The remote spoke the command with its associated code, but the desktop pearl didn't respond. An invalid request icon appeared in the pane.
Josep stared at it, not understanding. 'Damn it!' Where had the Prime gone? If he could just interface directly ... He wondered if he should call Raymond without using Prime protection. Michelle was still standing behind him, watching.
'Are you going to get the stuff or not?' he asked.
'I don't want you to go.'
'Damn it.' He told the desktop to call Raymond.
* * *
