Threader (5 page)

Allen looks up from his slate. ‘You'll have to forgive Blake. He's a talented slider, but his manners leave much to be desired.'

‘Does he work for Helios?'

‘Yes. Blake is with the academy on contract from Soteria Security, a division of Galloway Industries. He does a lot of valuable work for Helios.' Allen's smile stretches to show his molars. ‘He's also Victor Galloway's son.'

‘
The
Victor Galloway?' My voice is faint. ‘As in … Galloway Industries?'

‘Correct,' Allen says. ‘Blake is Galloway's eldest son. Used to be in the army, before his father convinced him to return to the family business.' Allen's wide smile falters. ‘You'd think he was a primal, the way he behaves. I always thought shadow-sliders would have an otherworldly grace. Not be big, growling slabs of muscle.'

A thousand questions bubble through my head, while hope warms my chest and I'm wondering if maybe fate has finally smiled on me.

‘Why don't we make ourselves comfortable?' Allen gestures to a couple of chairs by the window and we sit down. I clasp my bandaged hands awkwardly together.

‘Is there any pain?' He points at my hands.

‘I don't even know why they're bandaged,' I tell him.

‘The doctor hasn't seen you yet?'

‘No Doc-in-a-Box,' I say without thinking.

Allen looks horrified. ‘Oh, my dear. We wouldn't subject you to that. No robot dispensers here, only real, live, flesh and blood doctors with the best training.'

‘Oh.'

Allen rests his slate on his lap. ‘You suffered some frostbite and your hands received the worst of it. But they should be fine.' A considering look enters his eyes. ‘Not many non-sliders survive the slipstream. You made quite the entrance here. You certainly caught the eye of the academy director.'

‘It's nothing I'd like to repeat.' My eyes fix on my hands and I'm really hoping he's not going to ask me what it was like. I don't want to remember that screaming void of blazing light.

‘You must be wondering how we found you.' Allen's voice turns soothing.

I shift in my chair. ‘I'm taking a wild guess that my anonymous email wasn't so anonymous after all.'

‘A necessary deception, I'm afraid,' Allen admits, unruffled. ‘It is important for Helios to give the illusion of secrecy to individuals who might be concerned for their safety. I can assure you, we do not abuse this information.'

‘And … Blake,' I say. ‘The slider. He's been hanging around my uncle's shop. He was spying on me?'

‘Reconnaissance and preliminary assessment of a potential recruit.'

‘Did he tell you what happened?' I remember how we'd both nearly been tagged by law enforcement out the back of the Crystal Cave. ‘There was a … misunderstanding, you see, with the law.'

‘Yessss.' He drew out the word. ‘You've been identified as a person of interest by your local law enforcement. We are monitoring the situation, but we haven't disclosed your location to them. Yet.' Allen smiles again. ‘Of course, I can assure you that at Helios, we always look after our own. If you decided you wanted to stay, I'm sure there's something we could do to sort out this … misunderstanding.'

Though my stomach is doing excited flip-flops, dread settles on me as I imagine Bobby's reaction when officers show up at our home searching for me. Third strike. I was out.

Maybe not.

Allen interrupts my thoughts. ‘Let's start with the basics, Josie. Can you tell me what talent you are?'

‘I'm an esper.'

‘Of course you are. But do you know what sub-designation you fall under? After all, there are many. And please, I need you to be very honest. Your application to Helios depends on this.'

The answer is on the tip of my tongue.
Threader
. But years of hiding make the word catch in my throat like a stone.

An irritated look passes over Allen's face. ‘Josie, we both know why you were able to enter the slipstream with Blake. You're a threader, having both a telekinetic and telepathic ability, which you are able to merge with other talents. Correct?'

‘Yes. I think.' My voice is tiny, my pulse pounding loud in my ears. It's possibly the first time I've had an open, honest conversation with someone about both of my talents. The air in the room feels heavy and my breath turns quick.

Allen sits back in his chair. ‘Did anyone teach you about your talents?'

I shake my head, concentrating on slowing my heart rate down. ‘I've never even threaded before. At least, not that I've known of.'

Allen frowns, like maybe he doesn't believe me. ‘That must have been difficult. But you're not in trouble here for anything. The ability to control or assist another talent is quite a valuable skillset, particularly within Galloway Industries. There are only a handful of threaders in its employment and most of them are with the nanobotics or security sectors.'

‘I don't do that,' I say quickly. ‘I don't control people's talents.'

‘But you could,' Allen points out patiently. ‘And more, you can enhance a talent's strength. Blake's report said he returned here with you in half the time it usually takes. The report details he was unconscious for the first minute of the slide, which must have compromised the thread, temporarily exposing you to the elements of the slipstream.' He nods at my hands. ‘We got the frostbite in time, but that wasn't the only damage. Your brain was swollen from oxygen deprivation and you were in danger of cardiac arrest. Fortunately, Helios makes sure this town's medical centre is one of the most up-to-date facilities in the world and the staff were able to treat you instantly.'

My fingers stretch inside the tight wrappings, feeling stiff and itchy. Despite the nurse's assurances earlier, I'm worried what my hands will look like once the bandages come off.

Allen clears his throat and picks up his slate. ‘I understand you live with your uncle, Robert Ryder?'

I groan, realising how panicked Bobby probably is by now, wondering where I am. ‘I have to call him. Let him know I'm okay.'

‘And you will get that chance, I promise. But I just need to clear up a few things first.' Allen's eyes drop to the data scrolling across on his slate. ‘Your father, James Ryder, he was killed in a car accident when you were six, correct?'

‘Yes.'

‘The accident reports say you were in the car with him?'

‘Yes.' My answers are short and wooden, well practised. I'm skilled from years of stuffing thoughts and memories I don't want into the deepest recesses of my puzzle-chest. There's nothing about that last day with James that I want to remember. Ever.

‘Did your father know you were a threader?' Allen asks.

‘He knew I had talents. But he didn't like to talk about it.' I shift again in the chair, uneasy, not wanting this stranger to think James was a bad father. ‘He just worried about me, is all.'

‘And your mother was Alice Ryder?'

‘Yes. She drowned.' My words are abrupt and I don't offer any more details. I don't mention how James never talked about Alice as I grew up, no matter how hard I pressed. And I don't mention the lake behind the house, with the cold, dark waters that took her from us. ‘James hinted that I inherited my talents from her, but that's all I know.'

Allen's eyes turn cautious. ‘I'm afraid I have some rather shocking news for you, Josie. Your parents, Alice and James Ryder, were both graduates from the Helios Academy, and went on to work for Nanogen, the cybernetics division of Galloway Industries.' He pauses, then adds, ‘A few years later, they returned to the academy on secondment to work on very high level projects.'

It takes a moment for me to understand the words and their meaning. Allen's revelation settles inside me, then unfolds slow, scattering my thoughts and leaving a dumbfounded void behind. For a crazy moment, I want to check if he's lying. I need to check. But something must have shown in my eyes, because Allen quickly raises a hand.

‘I am aware a threader's TP has the ability to be silent. I don't know if you've ever had a regular TP read you, but it's like someone stomping over your thoughts with steel boots, while a threader can enter and leave without any trace. A blessing and a curse, I imagine. But let me make myself clear.' His hand drops, eyes narrow. ‘It is a strict Helios rule that talents are never to be used against another person outside of the training environment without their knowledge. Even the suspicion of it can be enough for expulsion. Do you understand?'

‘Yes.' I mentally check the locks on my puzzle-chest, relieved to find them secure.

‘Excellent.' Allen's fingers fly across his slate before he passes it to me. My breath catches as I recognise James and Alice staring up at me, looking young and happy. They're both wearing white lab coats and are smiling for the camera. There's an article below and I skim it. James Ryder was a technopath, able to telekinetically manipulate machinery through touch. Teamed with his wife, Alice Ryder, a talented threader, they worked as a team for Nanogen.

Allen sits silent as I read about the work my parents did, from making great nanotechnology advancements, to making scientific breakthroughs that won them awards. When I finish, I pass back the slate, bewildered as to why James would have never told me about his past. I'd known Alice was a talent, after all, I'd inherited mine from her. But James had never confessed to being one and I'd never suspected. I start to wonder if Bobby knew all of this and never told me. Betrayal floats the surface of my thoughts in an oily film.

Allen closes the slate's screen and snaps the slim control-handle back around his wrist. ‘By all accounts, your parents were much more than their talents. They were also brilliant theoretical physicists.' He stops with a puzzled expression. ‘Are you certain your father never mentioned anything about their time here?'

‘No,' I choke out. ‘Nothing.'

Allen frowns. ‘I'm sure he had his reasons.'

‘What did they do here?' I ask. ‘What did they work on at Helios?'

‘Extraordinary projects, I've heard. With your father's knowledge of nanorobotics and your mother's skill at threading, they made an unstoppable team. My understanding is after a time, their threading became a permanent fixture, their talents securely locked with each other. With this solid foundation, they were able to achieve the ability of complex brain-machine interfacing.'

I try not to frown as I listen, because I don't want him to stop and ask me what's wrong. But I just don't recognise the people he's talking about as my parents and it feels more than a little disconcerting.

I blink and try to focus on Allen's face as he talks, big teeth flashing.

‘The potential was there for great advancements in the manipulation of cybermerging of biology and nanotechnology,' he says. ‘As well as the development of advanced generation artificial intelligence systems. Your parents were revolutionary in their thinking.'

My curiosity doubles, but before I can pepper him with questions, he raises his hand once again. ‘I know you want answers, but you will have to wait.'

‘For what?'

‘For one thing, you don't have the authorisation.' He clears his throat. ‘But I can assure you, if you were to join Helios, there would be plenty of opportunities for you to find out more.'

‘So … this is for real? I'm being offered a cadetship with Helios?' I ask, daring to hope that my opportunity is here at last.

Allen nods. ‘The academic year here at Helios has already begun. Normally we wouldn't accept anyone into the cadet program at this late time, but the director of Helios has decided to make an exception in your case.' His big smile comes back. ‘Can I assume your answer will be yes?'

Overwhelmed, I don't say a thing for a moment. Allen's smile dims and I realise he thinks I'm unsure.

‘Josie, here at the Helios Academy, we can offer you a tremendous amount of support with your skill. I understand your uncle had a heart attack last year. If you were to enter our program, you would be eligible for a Citizenship once you graduate into a commercial division within Galloway Industries. That means a better place of residence and access to better medicine.' He pauses, one corner of his lips quirking up. ‘No more Doc-in-a-Box. In the meantime, as I mentioned earlier, we could help you with any issue you might be having with your local law enforcement division.'

‘I need to call my uncle.' My heart is thumping and I can't believe my big chance is actually happening. Finally. ‘I just need to talk to him first.'

‘Yes.' Allen grimaces. ‘Your uncle has quite a temper, doesn't he?'

My whole body goes still. ‘You've already spoken to him?'

‘We thought it would be a gesture of goodwill on Helios's behalf to bring him here, so you could both discuss options. Just to save time, you understand.'

My eyes pop. ‘Bobby is here?'

‘He's next door. A suborbital brought him early this morning.'

‘I have to talk to him.' I stand and make for the door.

‘You might want to wait,' Allen calls after me.

I stop and turn, an assortment of all the terrible things that could have happened whisking through my mind. ‘Why?'

‘Once he arrived and was informed of your condition, your uncle became quite agitated. When he couldn't see you right away, he became even more … ah … uncooperative.'

‘What do you mean by uncooperative?'

‘He attacked a doctor and broke some equipment.'

‘No,' I groaned.

‘He had to be sedated, but I'm told it should wear off soon.' Allen stands and gestures to the door. ‘I'll take you to him.'

I sit by Bobby's bedside for hours, listening to him snore like he's swallowed a sonic drill. He's tucked under stark white sheets, still in his clothes, his old battered army boots under the bed. A medical bracelet is strapped around his left wrist and his vitals look nice and steady on the holo-screen beside him.