Chapter 31 31.
WHY DID I feel responsible for this girl? Why should I?
Still, I rushed down the hallway, hoping it wasn"t Betas attacking or, worse, the city police looking for me.
But it was just Shanna-in labor. The baby was coming already, probably prematurely.
The others had dragged her rag mattress next to an old iron storage rack. Her small bare feet were braced against the uprights.
Some delivery room. Filthy, no proper instruments, no drugs to ease the girl"s pain.
Corliss, looking nervous and worried, was kneeling between Shanna"s thighs.
"Good, we need someone strong," Corliss said as she saw me enter the room. "Hold her hands." Then she added, "Do you have a name?"
"It"s Hays," I said.
"All right, Hays, hold this poor girl down. Hold her good! She"s in for a world of pain."
So I crouched behind Shanna"s head and took hold of her. The girl"s fingers tightened around my wrists, her nails digging in, drawing blood. And then she began to scream again-and to curse Corliss, then me, and, finally, life itself.
Corliss patiently soothed and coaxed the girl. "You have to push like a madwoman, hon," she kept saying. "I know how bad it hurts, but you have to push so hard. Come on. Push hard, dear. It"ll be over soon. I promise. Push. Push."
"You"re lying! You"re all liars! a.s.sholes!"
On and on like that.
Finally, though, the human baby"s head started to appear. This was unbelievable to me. It almost seemed like a miracle.
"Push!" Corliss urged. "The baby"s crowning! Push! You"re almost there. I promise you, Shanna. Corliss urged. "The baby"s crowning! Push! You"re almost there. I promise you, Shanna. I"m not lying this time! I"m not lying this time!"
The girl"s screams and grunts continued-until quite suddenly, a little boy, slick with blood, slipped out into Corliss"s waiting hands.
Corliss raised and examined the infant carefully, even lovingly. He was small, but seemed perfectly formed as he kicked his tiny feet and started to wail.
Except for the blood and the umbilical cord running into his belly, he looked just like April and Chloe had when Lizbeth and I had first seen them, fresh from the incubator.
Tiny. Perfect. Heart-stopping.
I let go of Shanna"s wrists and stood up. I was sweating, rattled worse than I"d ever been in the line of duty.
My G.o.d, that was something-helping in a human birth.
I got another unexpected jolt when Corliss brought the baby"s belly up close to her face-and bit bit off the umbilical cord. off the umbilical cord.
Smiling, Corliss settled the tiny tyke on Shanna"s b.r.e.a.s.t.s and kissed the new mom"s forehead. "Congratulations, darling," she said. "You did so well. You were brave and you were strong."
There was no reason for me to stay any longer, and I started toward the room"s exit.
"Please stay," Shanna said. "You saved me. You saved the baby."
I was startled-not just by her words, but by the intense feelings that rose up in me. I"d never cared about humans. Far from it. But now it struck me that maybe I"d never considered their plight fairly. Why hadn"t it seemed possible that there was more to them than what the Cybernet said? Why had I been content to study and enjoy their colorful history, literature, art-their music especially-but dismiss humans themselves as self-destructive animals?
Shanna"s imploring eyes brought me back to the moment.
"Look, I have to keep moving," I said. "But"-I hesitated, realizing that I was about to make an insane promise-"I"ll come back. I want to see your baby again."
She nodded slowly, and so did Corliss.
Then I did something truly amazing.
I reached down and touched the baby"s soft cheek. His eyes were still closed, but his little mouth smiled at me.
"I have to go now," I said. "But thank you-for letting me be part of this."
Chapter 32 32.
I HAD FINALLY figured out something useful. I knew what I had to do now and where I had to go-if I wanted to solve the mystery that had suddenly become my life. It was so obvious.
"I want to buy your car," I said.
The man I was speaking to, a midlevel Elite just about to climb into his sporty Mazda ZX-740 airpod, looked stunned. I probably could have broached the subject more subtly, but I was in a hurry. I was a man with a plan now.
"Huh?" said the man. "I don"t want to sell sell you my car." you my car."
"Yes, you do. Now come on, I"m in a real bind here. Name your price."
He glanced around quickly, a grasp of the situation slowly creeping across his face. After walking to the edge of the human slums where Shanna lived, I had hopped on public transit and ridden to a commuter suburb of the city. A place with resplendent green lawns, backyard wave-pools, ch.o.r.eographed fountains, gold-plated driveway gates, and cozy commercial centers with boutiques, spas, high-end jewelers, and cafes that sold cups of organic coffee that cost more than the average human salary. A place, in short, where crime was almost unheard-of.
But the bottom line was that it was six o"clock in the morning, it was drizzling, there was not another soul in sight, and this poor guy was facing someone who looked like a human thug-and who was possibly crazy, or high on wyre.
"I"m not selling you my car. You should leave this neighborhood. Now, Now," he finally said. We were standing outside the only twenty-four-hour establishment in the area, a convenience store.
"Listen," I said, talking fast enough to keep him off balance. "This is the all-environments model, right? Works on-road, off-road, airborne? Can safely dive to one thousand meters underwater? Gull-wing doors? Ultrasonic ma.s.sage seats? THX six-point-three holographic surround sound? What"s the sticker price? Like three twenty? Tell you what, I don"t have time to haggle"-I rummaged in the pockets of the pants I"d taken off the Beta and came up with seven dollars and some change-"but I"m a little short of cash right now. So I guess I"ll have to borrow some money from you too."
His mouth opened in complete disbelief, but then his face took on a cynical smirk. "This is some kind of joke, right? It has to be a joke."
I stepped forward, gripped his lapels with one hand, and lifted him off his feet.
"No joke," I said. "I"m sorry about this-but I need need your car. My life depends on it." your car. My life depends on it."
Chapter 33 33.
I GOT IN the ZX and quickly overrode the vehicle-identification circuits and security beacons so that the car"s computer wouldn"t recognize me as an unauthorized driver. "Sorry about this," I called to the poor guy outside. "I will will pay you back eventually. This really is life or death for me." pay you back eventually. This really is life or death for me."
The ZX took off in a streak while I settled back in the driver"s seat. It flew like a dream and had all sorts of features I hadn"t used before-like Level Two Priority Traffic Access, which let me cut right through the city"s elaborate air-traffic-control patterns by steering me to the shortest routes available to nonemergency or police vehicles. A total Elite VIP perk.
I stopped at a high-end Toyz store along the way and came out wearing new clothes: black jeans, a fitted T-shirt, a leather jacket, wraparound shades to hide my face. I had also downloaded some tattoo art at the Toyz Corp iTattoo booth. Like many Elites, I went in for tattoo-zone implants as a teen-one on the back of my neck, another on my right forearm. I can activate either to become visible-or fade back to skin tone-at a moment"s notice.
I also purchased an ultrasonic shaver and a tube of Elite-Man follicle-activation cream-one quick application and you could instantly grow yourself a fashionable hint of stubble.
Back in the car, I shaved my head-right to the scalp-and quickly gave myself a five o"clock shadow on the chin and cheeks. Then I activated the new tattoo art-a fist-sized tarantula on my forearm, a Harley-Davidson logo on the back of my neck.
Now I looked nothing like the old Hays Baker; I was just another of the wealthy, weekend-warrior civilians you"d expect to see in the Baronville Toyz store, where eleven executives had recently been murdered. That was where I was headed now. I"d made up my mind; I needed one more look at the crime scene where my life had begun to be shattered.
I needed to know why why my life had been blown to pieces. my life had been blown to pieces.
There had to be clues I"d overlooked. Also, why had Jax Moore insisted on calling me there, even though it was well outside my area of operations? What had happened to make the in-store witnesses forget everything they"d seen?
Hopefully, I"d learn something soon-because there was the Toyz store, less than a hundred yards straight ahead.
The place where everything had gone all wrong for me, and for my family.
Chapter 34 34.
THAT LAST THOUGHT reminded me of the girls-and suddenly I had another idea, probably my most constructive one so far.
Chloe and April both carried phones to school-and maybe, just maybe, I could talk to them now.
I dialed Chloe"s number first, then I couldn"t believe it when I actually heard her voice come on the line. Thank G.o.d, it was her! Thank G.o.d, it was her!
"This is Chloe Baker," she said. An odd first line, but it was definitely my baby.
"This is your daddy. h.e.l.lo, Chloe Baker," I said.
"Daddy, what happened to you? Mommy said you"re in trouble-bad trouble. Is that true? It couldn"t be, right?"
"Chloe, sweetie, it"s just a misunderstanding. I"ll be home soon."
There was a silence, which I didn"t understand. Chloe tends to talk and talk.
"Chloe? Chloe? Chloe? What"s the matter? Something is-I can tell-" What"s the matter? Something is-I can tell-"
Chloe blurted out, "Daddy, the police are listening! The police are at my school!" "Daddy, the police are listening! The police are at my school!"
Then she clicked off the phone.
Talk about a heartbreaking call.
But why did I feel things so deeply?
Like a human would?
Chapter 35 35.
I KNEW I"D better hurry-the police could be here soon. It was almost surreal being back at the murder scene, especially since the Agency and city police were now searching for me. I strained to keep my vitals in check so that I wouldn"t set off any biometric-profile monitors in the Toyz store, but my nerves weren"t helped any by having to go past the window display of Jessica and Jacob dolls. They were strutting around like they owned that little world.
The customers inside Toyz were the same mix of Elites and the occasional upper-level humans I"d seen here the other night.
Almost immediately, I recognized a face-the pretty Elite woman I"d first interviewed, the one who said she"d been standing right next to two of the victims but hadn"t actually witnessed the murders.
How could she bear to come back here so soon after that hideous crime, and then wander around clothes and baubles, shopping as if nothing had happened? Was she that callous? Or had something mysterious happened to her? If so, what was it? I needed to find out why n.o.body had seen eleven murders. I needed to find out why n.o.body had seen eleven murders.
The woman was talking to a salesclerk, so I"d have to wait for a chance to pull her aside. That wasn"t good-I wanted to get out of here now. now.
Meantime, there were security personnel posted all around the lobby floor. I couldn"t just stand there looking like a police investigator. So I walked to the nearest bank of SimStims and picked out a diversion that was consistent with my general appearance.
"Rock the Cosmos!" the display flashed, throbbing with the loud treble and hammering ba.s.s of the latest fad, "sycho" music.
I set the timer for ninety seconds and slipped on the helmet.
And man, did I ever rock! I was strutting around the huge stage, surrounded by a crowd that went on as far as I could see-a hundred thousand fans at least. They were waving their arms and dancing to the wild pulse of the music-and it was all about me. me. I was the center of attention, the target of all the screaming and adoration! I was the center of attention, the target of all the screaming and adoration! Not so bad, Not so bad, I had to admit. Certainly better than being chased around by the police and the Agency. I had to admit. Certainly better than being chased around by the police and the Agency.
One of the huge amplifiers suddenly exploded, showering the spectators, and me, with debris. The crowd cheered louder, danced even closer to the stage, screamed the lyrics along with my vocals- Abruptly, the concert was gone-and I was standing alone in the sound booth.
"Presented by Toyz Corporation," a blinking message stated. "We hope you enjoyed-"
I wheeled around, tugging off the helmet. Honestly, I had been lost in the moment!
Then I looked for the witness.