Swing Shift by William D. Arand

Author:William D. Arand [Arand, William D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: William D. Arand
Published: 2019-05-06T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20 - Wrong Fit

Pushing his phone in his pocket, Gus really wasn’t sure what to do with himself. They were operating beyond having no safety net. There wasn’t even a tight rope.

Most people just thought the Federal Department for Paras was there and did its own thing. Gus had a different view, mostly borne of his debrief from his time killing Elves. One he didn’t share with people.

With anyone, really.

Not even his own family knew what the Fed really was. Mark was the one who probably understood the most, but that was because of his own position and how much more closely he worked with them. He knew what they were about.

And that was protection for the entirety of the Para world.

The Fed was what operated between the Para world and the Norm world. It interfaced between the government, and operated as a de facto government for the Para world. It was the government, the health system, the police, the finances, the everything. Everything was what the Fed was.

To the PID, the Fed was their version of the FBI. To a Para citizen it could be the DME, record depository, and social security offices.

And someone hadn’t just attacked it, they’d ended it.

There were precious few people right now acting on behalf of the Para world to interface with the Norms.

Pressing a hand to his face, Gus took a deep breath. He held it in, focusing on what he could do for the time being. He couldn’t fix what had happened to the Fed. He couldn’t rebuild it or help it.

What he could do was figure out who had done it. Or maybe at least how.

If he could figure out how it had happened, there was the distinct possibility he could prevent it from ever happening again.

Letting out his held breath, Gus felt his thoughts crystallize on that goal.

Figure out how it had happened.

He looked at Melody and saw her standing off to one side now, staring at the wreck that had once been a large office building.

Let’s see what she’s got and go from there.

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Gus wandered over to Melody.

She was facing the ruin, and she didn’t turn toward him. She was acting like she didn’t even know he was there.

Coming to stand beside her, he leaned forward and saw her face clearly.

Her Blue, Green, Orange and Violet contracts were all blazing and bright. She wasn’t just working on this, she was burning her own power to put her entire self against it.

Tentatively, he connected back to the fiber of power he’d left in her mind. Her thoughts were chasing one another wildly. Dodging over clues, hints, and small things she was trying to piece together in a mad hodge-podge of screaming and shouting Melodys.

She had nothing, and she was trying to put it all together.

“Hey,” Gus said, figuring this would be a good time to interrupt her. She seemed like the type of person to fall way too deep.

Melody didn’t respond, but her head marginally turned toward him.

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