The Departure

rotten margarine he’d scraped from a pot in the fridge – which, in turn, had been automatically shut down by Block Control after its door hadn’t been opened for a specific time. Next he jammed a pen into the little microphone incorporated in the side of the camera and scrunched it around a few times. He then stepped down.

‘Okay, you can close the door now.’

After doing so, she headed across to dump her holdall on the sofa and hand him back the keycard. ‘Are you sure that vandalism is not going to be a problem?’

‘Cam service personnel are overstretched almost everywhere, but especially here.’ He looked up at the device as the microphone spat out a spark – the cam now activating in an apartment that had registered vacant until Hannah removed the keycard. ‘They’ll detect the fault instantly, but then it’ll join a maintenance backlog over a month long.’ He gazed at her steadily. ‘You have to understand that our masters are starting to give up on the whole idea of constant surveillance and ideological correction. They’ll only be reinstated when our numbers are sufficiently reduced for them to again be effective.’

She nodded, looking slightly sickened by the thought, then threw herself down on the sofa. He’d already told her about this Straven Conference, and the sectoring of ZA sink estates and other population areas. She’d wanted to disbelieve him, but he guessed the corpses she’d recently seen in the fields went some way towards convincing her. He suspected her doubts had lasted only until he abandoned the lorry in what he hoped was still a cam deadspot adjacent to a sector fence. He felt that the two corpses, one lying on the ground and one still clinging to the fence, must have finally persuaded her.

‘I think,’ she said, ‘that since you took me from the Inspectorate, this is the longest time in my life I’ve been without someone constantly watching me.’ She reached up, pressing a fist against her chest, her shoulders hunched and a bewildered expression on her face.

‘I’m watching you,’ he said. ‘Are you in pain?’

‘Panic attack.’ She gave him a tight, forced grin. ‘They’re a constant with me but, as I’ve recently discovered, I don’t get them when there’s any real reason for panic.’ She waved a dismissive hand and lay back, closing her eyes, deliberately pulling her hand away from her chest and resting it flat on the sofa beside her.

‘You’re watching me,’ she said, ‘but I don’t think you’re about to lecture me about squandering government resources, or deliver any completely inappropriate homilies.’

‘Misuse of government property is theft from the people?’ he suggested.

‘Yeah, because all property belongs to the people, but is controlled by the Committee for the good of the people.’ She opened her eyes and gazed at him. ‘Better then to say that all property and all people belong to the Committee, for its own good.’ She looked up. ‘You know they gave me political prisoners who were scheduled for disposal to experiment with?’

Yes, he already knew that, but it seemed she wanted to repeat herself. She wanted to be certain he knew about the crimes she believed herself to have committed. Perhaps she wanted to revel in her own guilt.

‘I saw one in your surgery,’ he said neutrally. ‘And I released one from his cell. He seemed very self-possessed, so I wonder if he managed to escape.’

‘Malden,’ she said. ‘I hope so too, because, if so, he’s going to be a big thorn in the state’s side. He’s a revolutionary leader, maybe even the revolutionary leader. I put as much hardware in his head as I could, and used the organic interface and comlife they allowed me. He is a lesser version of what you yourself can become.’

He dropped onto the sofa beside her, saying nothing.

She eyed him sideways. ‘I had no choice, you know.’

‘I know.’

‘After Smith made us watch what happened to you, he kept us grouped together for a while longer. Once they brought in the first human subjects for experimentation, Aira objected.’ She was staring at the floor again. ‘He didn’t even try to persuade her otherwise, just took her down to a cell and made us all watch while five enforcers raped her repeatedly. When they were done, he just shot her through the head – no attempt at adjustment.’

‘I can pass judgement on you if you like,’ he said. ‘If you consider a serial murderer’s judgement of any relevance. You, at least, have done the bad things you’ve done to survive. I don’t have that excuse.’

‘I don’t want excuses.’

‘What happened after Aira? Where’s the rest of the research team?’

‘Smith had us separated – the only communication via comlink – and I got to stay in the cell complex. Smith himself got reassigned after that.’ She gazed at him steadily. ‘He was made Political Director on Argus.’

Motives within motives, and now he had another motive to get himself up to that space station. ‘So I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at how willing you are to help me?’

She frowned. ‘I just want to be there when you see him again.’

‘You will be. That’s a promise.’

‘There must be . . . justice,’ she said firmly.

It seemed likely to Saul that she would not enjoy his idea of justice.

‘Yes, quite.’

She nodded, then turned away. ‘Does that shower work?’ she asked, pointing.

He shrugged. ‘I think the water’s turned on, but whether it’s hot is another matter.’

‘Do you have any fresh clothing here?’

‘Yes, enough.’

Standing up, she stripped off her lab coat, kicked off her trainers, then began unbuttoning her blouse. He rose too, and began heading for the door.