A Meeting of Minds by Robert Harkess

Author:Robert Harkess
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: science fiction, romance, sf-romance, YA romance, alien romance
Publisher: Metaphoric Media
Published: 2016-03-18T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

We went to the ganger lines at Tate and I took my place in the queue. When I saw the man at the head of the line was the same one I had spoken to before, I thought fate might be looking after me for a change, and even more so when he recognised me.

‘Get your registration sorted, boy?’

‘Yessir,’ I answered, smiling. ‘They told me it’s fine now.’

‘Well, you know the drill,’ and he held out the thumb pad. I did what was expected of me, and felt the world crash around my ears when the damned scanner farted at me. The ganger’s face clouded.

‘Wasting my damned time, boy? Get out of the queue and don’t come back.’

‘Please, it should be right. What does it say?’

The ganger flicked a glance down at the terminal, then looked more closely. ‘Hmmm. Okay, you are registered, but you have no permit to work because your food ration is suspended?’ He glanced up at me. ‘Who’d you piss off, boy?’

‘Can I work and you just give me the ration?’ I pleaded. I hadn’t eaten in twenty-four hours and my stomach was hurting-hungry.

The ganger shook his head. ‘Can’t do it. You’re no use to me. Get out of the queue and go find somebody else to annoy. I don’t want to see you back here again.’

As I was drawing breath to argue somebody behind me pushed me out of line, and I decided that if I didn’t want to get thumped, backing off was the best idea. Didn’t make me any less hungry, though, and now it seemed I had no way of earning food either. Or maybe there was one place. I hurried back to the safe house Corina had found for us. It was only ten minutes from Tate at a quick walk, and I wanted Corina to be back on charge before I left her.

Her body flickered into existence as soon as I hooked everything up, and she glared at me. ‘Where are you going?’

‘Can’t tell you.’

‘Can’t or won’t?’

‘Either. Look, I don’t want to risk taking you with me, or even wearing the halo.’

She looked stricken, afraid. ‘Jax, you know I don’t like it when I’m not connected to you.’

‘I’ll be back in a couple of hours. Can’t you read a book?’

She curled her lip at me. ‘I could read my whole library before you could get back.’

I stood up and lifted my hand to tap the halo, but she called out to me.

‘Wait. Disconnect me first.’

'But-?’

‘Please don’t argue. Whatever you are planning has to be dangerous or you would take me, so there is a chance you won’t come back. If you leave me on charge, I’ll go mad, and I’ll be mad for ever and part of me will know it and you can’t do that to me. Disconnect me, then if you don’t return at least I won’t have to suffer that.’

‘But I’ll be back. I promise.’

‘Unplug me, Jax.’

The panic was gone. She looked determined, but pale, and I remembered how bad she had been the last time she had thought she was cut off from the world.

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