The Burn Zone (8 page)

“
Hello?
”
a woman
’
s voice answered—Kang
’
s wife, Lijuan. She sounded like she
’
d been asleep.

“
Um, hi,
”
I said, raising my voice over the street noise.
“
I
’
m looking for Jake Kang?
”

“
Jake isn
’
t here right now,
”
she said.
“
Who
’
s calling?
”

“
Do you know when he
’
ll be back?
”

“
Who is this?
”

I paused for a minute. She sounded mad.

“
I
’
m sorry,
”
I said.
“
I
’
m sorry to call so late
…
I
just...
”

“
Xiao-Xing?
”
she asked. She sounded surprised, but she remembered my name. I smiled, tears beginning to brim over.

“
Yeah,
”
I sniffed.
“
Yeah, it
’
s me.
”

“
Hey...
”
Her voice softened immediately.
“
Hey, what
’
s wrong?
”

“
I don
’
t know. I think I
’
m in trouble.
”

“
Where
’
s Dragan?
”

I looked up and down the street nervously.

“
Lijuan, they took him.
”
An uncomfortable pause stretched out on the other end of the line.

“
Who took him?
”
she asked finally. She sounded more awake now, and I heard her sit up in bed.
“
What
’
s going on?
”

“
I don
’
t know.... I wanted to ask Jake if he knew anything.
”

“
He
’
ll help any way he can, but what makes you think he would know something? What
’
s going on?
”

“
They were military,
”
I said.
“
Soldiers took him.
”

I heard more movement in the background as walls of people trudged past me on either side. I stuck near a streetlamp pole, hooking one arm around it while I listened to her shuffle out of bed on the other end of the line.

“
I
’
m sorry,
”
she said.
“
Jake
’
s out on assignment.
”

“
Is he on the security sweep?
”

“
No ... he
’
s on some special assignment. After that he
’
s off duty for a while, but he sprang a trip to Duongroi on me, and we leave tomorrow.
”
She paused, listening.
“
Xiao-Xing, it sounds like you
’
re on the street. You need to get inside, right now.
”

“
Right.
”
I nodded, rubbing my eyes.
“
I know.
”
If I got caught up in the sweep, I
’
d get hauled in for sure.

On the 3i, I brought up Vamp
’
s eyebot map, where people throughout the city were feeding in information through the client app whenever it spotted a soldier. The blob of sightings inched in my general direction, spreading down sidewalks and through alleyways.

“
I
’
m sorry,
”
I told her.
“
I shouldn
’
t have dumped this on you.
”

Past the floating, colored window I made passing eye contact with a wandering vendor selling festival gear. I looked away too late, and the old woman started over.

“
No,
”
Lijuan said.
“
Jake gave me an emergency number. I
’
ll try and contact him. Was Dragan actually arrested?
”

“
I don
’
t know. I think he was.
”

“
Do you know where they took him? What detention center?
”

“
No.
”

“
Did they say anything that you think might help? Anything I should tell Jake that might be important?
”

I thought about telling her about the haan that had been with them, but something made me stop just short of doing it. The haan didn
’
t fit. Even with combat armor their bodies could never handle that kind of stress, but I
’
d felt her through the mite cluster; I was sure of it. There
’
d been a flood of anger and hate, along with an undercurrent of sadistic pleasure. She
’
d been hidden under the armor and behind a dispersion mask. Was it possible?

“
Sam?
”

“
They ...
”
I tried to remember as the old woman approached with a wrinkled smile. She held up a papery jiangshi ghost mask with green, iridescent eyes.

“
Handmade,
”
she said. I smiled politely, shifting the phone to my other ear.

“
...
where
did you take
Alexei Drugov?
”

“
They were looking for someone,
”
I said.

“
Who?
”

“
A Pan-Slav. Someone called Alexei Drugov?
”

“
Jiangshi,
”
the old woman said.

“
Not now.
”

The old woman poked me in the tit with a bony finger, and I swatted her hand away.
“
This one
’
s perfect for you,
”
she said.
“
What do you say? Half price.
”

“
Hang on,
”
Lijuan said. I heard faint typing on the other end of the line.

“
They
’
ll be twice the price at the Fangwenzhe Festival,
”
the old woman explained, holding out the mask. She tugged at my pant leg. I looked past her and saw the spinning shadow and burning incense of a gonzo shrine.

“
I know,
”
I told her.
“
I don
’
t have any money.
”
I held out my empty hand.
“
No money.
”

“
What?
”
Lijuan asked.

“
Not you.
”

“
Sam, get off the street,
”
she said.
“
Keep your phone handy. Jake will get back to you.
”

“
Do you know why they took him?
”

“
Not yet. Just get inside and lie low for now. Don
’
t talk to the cops, the military, or anyone in private security until you hear from Jake.
”

“
Okay.
”

“
We
’
ll get this straightened out. Hang in there.
”

“
I will. And thanks.
”

“
No need. You
’
ll hear from us soon. Bye.
”

The line cut as the old woman with the festival mask held it out toward me again.

“
Look, I told you, I don
’
t have any—
”

The weight on my shoulder suddenly disappeared as the ration kit
’
s strap sprang loose. Before I even knew what happened, the kit was torn from my side and the two ends of the severed strap whipped away, trailing behind a boy who had it tucked under one arm.

“
Hey!
”

He darted into the crowd, and in seconds I
’
d lost him. I turned back to the old woman and found that she
’
d disappeared too. The crone had set me up.

“
You little shit!
”
I yelled after the kid.
“
I hope it kills you!
”

Heads turned toward me, but lost interest just as fast. Way off in the distance, a blue arc flashed in the sky between two buildings while another distant rumble began to swell.

A hot breeze cut through the summer air, smelling like B.O., car exhaust, and scalefly repellent. I hugged
Tānchi
to my chest, feeling his warm weight in my arms,
and for the first time it occurred to me that I couldn
’
t keep him, not anymore. Even if the kit hadn
’
t been stolen, our place had been destroyed. I couldn
’
t go back there. I had to hunker down and I couldn
’
t just keep
Tānchi
out on the street with me. It was too dangerous for him.

Security blues flashed down the street over the thick lanes of traffic, and through the layers of street signs above me I spotted a couple of security vehicles as they floated past. One of them shined a cone of light down onto the sidewalk as it went, sweeping it around as it turned between two buildings. Eyebot called it out, highlighting the ship in white outline, then noting the license plate ID, make, and GPS coordinates.

Do they already know I
’
m still alive? Are they looking for me?

I had to go. I spotted a gate hub across the lanes of traffic about two blocks ahead and made my way over to it. At the queue, I split off from the flow of foot traffic and headed for the rightmost gate, the one leading to the haan settlement of Shangzho. Unlike at the others, there was no crowd waiting to go through and the scanner flickered out of sleep mode when I approached the thin metal frame. On the other side I could make out a long, reinforced brick wall topped with rings of razor wire. Over the wall, low in the night sky, star Fangwenzhe glowed like a second, smaller moon.

In spite of his anxiety,
Tānchi
had fallen back into his food-induced sleep, warm and limp inside the blankets. I held him to my chest as I strode up to the gate, whispering into his ear.

“
One ... two ...
”

A strange feeling of limbo gripped me when I stepped through the portal, and then a beat later space and gravity returned as my foot came down on a sidewalk across town.

“
...three!
”

A klaxon made me jump as a red light flashed from behind. I turned around and saw a holographic panel flicker on, a grainy translucent display with instructions in six different languages. It wanted me to pay the balance for the trip. Back toward the wall, heads were beginning to turn as I swiped my cash card and headed toward the settlement entrance.