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  Kez’s only worry was how Wraith would react if he discovered what he and Raven had decided to do. He had enough faith in the ganger’s perception to suspect that sooner or later Wraith might well find out how Ali had been tricked and he hoped fervently that, if Wraith did find out, it would be too late for him to do anything about it. Otherwise his sense of honor would oblige him to warn her and the operation would be hopeless. Kez knew Raven wouldn’t stick with a hopeless cause and he didn’t think he could either.

  6

  UNNATURAL TROUBLES

  To his surprise, Wraith was becoming interested in politics. The extermination of Hexes, something he had never thought about before in terms of its morality, was troubling him now that Rachel might be one of those at risk. It hadn’t affected him so much with Raven. She had always seemed able to take care of herself, and in the slums of Denver, morality was rarely an important consideration. But the Kali’s code of honor, which had affected Wraith so much, was making its presence felt.

  The people with the Hex gene were the result of a perfectly legal scientific advance. But for over two hundred and fifty years they had been exterminated by their own governments because of the potential threat they posed to the computerized society. Wraith had worked out that even if the CPS only exterminated one person a day, the death count would be nearly a hundred thousand people by now, and Raven estimated the numbers were far higher. It didn’t seem to trouble her that much. Raven had never been particularly interested in other Hexes and was confident enough of her own safety for the massive death tolls to leave her unaffected. But Wraith was more disturbed by them, and especially by the laws that had made this wholesale slaughter legal.

  If Hexes had been allowed to exist, Raven would not have had to fear for her life ever since she’d been a child; she might have been a different person without that burden, lacking the manic-depressive streak that made her hell to live with. Ali wouldn’t be scared that she would die before she even reached her eighteenth birthday. Rachel wouldn’t have been taken away for experimentation at ten years old and delivered to Dr. Kalden’s research lab.

  The more he considered the whole question of the illegality of Hexes, the more certain Wraith was that the extermination laws were a horrific crime against humanity. But he seemed to be unable to bring Raven and Kez to his way of thinking.

  “There’s no point in brooding over it,” Raven told him, in a bored tone of voice. “I’ve had to live with this for most of my life. But there’s nothing that can be done about it.”

  “Bad things happen,” Kez shrugged. “I was living on the streets at the same age that Raven was fleeing for her life. Gangers have trashed the lower levels of London. People get flatlined every day for no other season than they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Little kids get raped and murdered.” He shook his head. “You can’t do anything about it. It’s just there.”

  “But it shouldn’t be,” Wraith insisted, taking hope from the fact that Kez’s response had at least showed concern, unlike Raven, who had already turned back to her wires and fuses. “Those things are illegal. But the murder of Hexes is sanctioned by every government in the world. There’s nowhere you can escape from the CPS.”

  “Unless you’re good enough,” Raven pointed out.

  “And how many people are?” Wraith demanded. “You discovered your abilities young enough to be able to use them. Most people are only just working it out when they’re hauled off to a death chamber.”

  “But the government figures that if they weren’t, things would be even worse,” Kez reminded him. “Raven goes through a computer system like a knife through butter. What if there were thousands of people doing that?”

  “Then governments could design better computer systems,” Wraith pointed out. “Raven, could you design a system that even you couldn’t get into?”

  “It’s a difficult question,” she said thoughtfully. “I would say that the kind of system Dr. Kalden’s lab has is one of the best. But if I can physically penetrate the facility, the computers will be a walkover.” She thought a while longer. “I might be able to design a system that most Hexes couldn’t get into, though,” she said eventually. “Maybe even one that it would take me a long time to crack.”

  “Then why don’t the government use Hexes, instead of exterminating them?” Wraith frowned. It was Kez who provided the answer.

  “Because it would make people like Raven incredibly powerful,” he said. “She could do anything she wanted with the network.”

  “Most people choose not to act illegally,” Wraith said seriously. “Why shouldn’t Hexes be the same?”

  “I don’t think it would work,” Kez replied and bent over his own bunch of wires. Wraith fell silent. He could guess what the boy was thinking. Someone like Raven, if there could be more than one of her, wouldn’t agree to play by the rules any more than they could be forced to.

  • • •

  They had been at the hotel for two days by the time Raven entered the net again. She told Wraith that she was still unhappy with the scarcity of information on the laboratory and was going to make one last attempt at pulling more information out of the CPS database. Even though her professed intention seemed bland enough, Kez suddenly felt as tense as a spring. This was the moment. He watched Raven disappear into her room with apprehension—she still preferred to keep her ventures into the net private—before bending his head diligently over his work. Wraith asked him a question about how many explosive devices they would have in the end, and he replied mechanically with the figure Raven had determined upon. It seemed to take forever for the girl to finally emerge from her room, although in reality it was only about fifteen minutes.

  When she eventually returned to the main room of the hotel suite her eyes were bright with excitement.

  “They’re after her,” she said immediately.

  “What?” Wraith looked up and Kez held his breath.

  “The CPS,” Raven explained. “They’re after Ali. They’ve got a file on her as a suspected Hex.”

  “Can you remove it from the database?” Wraith asked quickly and mentally Kez kicked himself—he hadn’t thought of that. But Raven had obviously anticipated the question.

  “It would be counterproductive,” she said. “There’s certain to be some physical documentation as well. If her file disappeared from the database their suspicions would be confirmed and they’d schedule her for extermination for certain.”

  Wraith considered for a while, his eyes troubled and his brows furrowed in thought. Finally he came to a decision.

  “We have to warn her,” he said.

  “And get her to help us,” Kez put in—after all, Wraith would be surprised if it wasn’t suggested. “She hasn’t got any choice now.”

  “Kez is right,” Raven agreed. “We’re her only way out of the CPS’s clutches, just as she’s our best shot at getting Rachel out.”

  “I agree,” Wraith nodded. “Can you contact her, Raven?”

  “Me?” she grimaced. “Ali wouldn’t trust me any further than she could throw me. She’ll think I’m just pressuring her. It would be better if you told her, Wraith.”

  “OK,” he agreed. “But we had better not meet Ali here or at the Belgravia Complex. Any suggestions as to a good place to see her?”

  “We could pick her up in the skimmer,” Raven said.

  “But not from the apartment complex,” Wraith added. “It’s too dangerous.”

  “Why not from Arkade?” Kez suggested. “They have the most boring collection of junk you’ve ever seen. No one would notice us picking her up from there.”

  “The museum?” Raven arched an eyebrow. “Trust you to be original, Kez.”

  “OK, the museum will do,” Wraith agreed. “Raven, send a message to Ali, saying we want to meet with her there this evening at eight.”

  • • •

  The skimmer pulled up that evening outside the museum just under one of the glowing streetlamps. Night had fallen
on the city, dusk coming early in winter, and all through the levels of London the lights were on. Down in gangland night was dangerous but Arkade had impressive security in order to keep the custom of the families from Belgravia.

  Ali stood on the pavement of one of the bridges that enmeshed the recreation complex, waiting for them. Raven, in the driving seat of the skimmer, grimaced slightly as she brought the vehicle to a halt. She was dressed, as always, in black. But her thick silky hair was for once neatly tied back at the nape of her neck in a businesslike way. Kez was sitting in the passenger seat and Wraith waited in the back of the vehicle. As Ali approached, Raven released the security lock on the door, but Wraith had to slide it open himself. Ali got in, closing the door behind her, anxious not to be seen with them, and Raven sped the skimmer back into the flow of traffic as Wraith spoke.

  “Thank you for agreeing to meet with us,” he said.

  “I haven’t changed my mind, you know,” Ali told him. “And you’d better not be planning anything weird.” Raven wrinkled her nose and glanced back at the girl, still keeping the skimmer under perfect control. Looking through long lashes she said softly:

  “How about a brief trip to gangland, Ali? Do you feel lucky tonight?”

  Kez giggled but Wraith looked annoyed.

  “Keep us on this level,” he warned Raven sharply. “There’s no need to play games.”

  The girl shrugged and turned back to the control console, exchanging an amused glance with Kez who was grinning at Ali’s obvious discomfort. But Wraith ignored them.

  “Ali,” he said. “I’m afraid I have bad news.”

  “What’s happened?” Ali looked alarmed. “Is it to do with your sister?”

  “No.” Wraith shook his head in reply. “This is about you. It seems the CPS already suspect you of being a Hex.”

  “Are you sure?” Ali asked, paling. “How do you know? Are they going to come after me . . . ?” Her voice trailed off as her eyes fixed desperately on Wraith, hoping against hope that it was all a mistake. Kez looked studiedly out of the window, unable to look at Wraith and Ali. But Raven’s mouth curved in a slow smile.

  “Having second thoughts?” she asked softly. Kez froze and Raven’s dark eyes drifted slowly over him before she turned and glanced back at Ali. “About joining us, I mean,” she qualified.

  “We still won’t force you,” Wraith added. “But perhaps you should think again.”

  “It doesn’t look like I have much choice, does it?” Ali asked, a little stiffly. But the fact that Wraith had not tried to threaten her made her want to trust him. Her brown eyes narrowed as they met Raven’s. The younger girl was apparently taking no notice at all of the controls, but the skimmer sped on smoothly through the evening traffic. “But how do I know you won’t just use me to find your sister and then dump me?”

  “You don’t,” Raven replied expressionlessly. But Wraith contradicted her.

  “You can trust me,” he said. “I promise, if you help us, we’ll save you from the CPS and help you start a new life somewhere.”

  If possible Ali turned even paler. Suddenly a new reality was coming home to her. If she was captured by the CPS, even if Wraith managed to rescue her, she could never return to her old life. Belgravia Complex would be the first place the Seccies would look for her, even if her father tried to shelter her from them. And Ali couldn’t really believe that Bob Tarrell would give up his media empire, risking imprisonment and disgrace, to hide an illegal mutant from the Security Services, even if the mutant was his daughter. She would truly have nowhere to go without the gangers’ help. Her mother was long dead, she had no other close relatives. As for her friends, if the situation had not been so desperate Ali would have laughed. Of all of them Caitlin was the best, but not even Caitlin would suffer the social stigma of even acknowledging a Hex as a friend. She wrapped her arms around herself to keep out the cold. But she didn’t permit herself to give in to misery. Raven might have turned back to the skimmer’s control panel but Ali could feel her silent gloating. Taking a deep breath the girl looked back at Wraith.

  “All right,” she said. “I’ll join you.”

  • • •

  With her father still absorbed in CultRock it was easy for Ali to take a day off school without him noticing. For the last few days he had been leaving early in the morning before Zircarda and Caitlin collected her and not returning until late at night. That Friday, the day after meeting the gangers at Arkade, Ali called Zircarda and told her she was too ill to go in to school. After cross-questioning her for ten minutes to make sure that Ali really was sick, Zircarda was apparently satisfied and got off the vidcom. The next call Ali placed was for a flitter to collect her from Belgravia.

  In less than half an hour she was entering the suite the gangers had rented at the Stratos, Wraith apparently deciding that it was safe for her to know where they were staying now that she had agreed to help them. The gangers had just finished breakfast and Wraith was piling the remains on a side table to spread out several sheets of design blueprints in front of Ali while Raven finished a cup of black coffee.

  As Ali joined them, Wraith reseated himself and glanced briefly at Raven and Kez, making sure he had their attention, before beginning to speak:

  “These are the only plans we have of the laboratory where we believe Rachel is being held,” he told her. “Hopefully they’ll be good enough to get us into the facility, as most of that will involve just blasting our way in. But we don’t have time to mount a long search through the lab, as most of this will be very different by now.”

  “That’s where you come in,” Kez said and flushed when she uneasily met his eyes. Wraith didn’t appear to notice the tension or if he did, disregarded it.

  “We believe that, as a young Hex and somewhat inexperienced, you will probably be automatically taken to this laboratory,” he went on.

  “I see.” Ali had no trouble guessing who had provided that definition of her, but she declined to even look at Raven. “What if they just take me to an extermination facility instead?” she asked.

  “The CPS has to get official permission for every extermination,” Wraith told her. “You’d be taken to a holding area first, while they sorted out the paperwork. And if that happens we’ll abort the plan and get you out straightaway.”

  “How?” Ali asked.

  “We’d hijack the transport on the way from the holding area to the death chambers,” Kez told her. “Raven can deal with that, no problem.” He looked at the Hex, who was still silently drinking coffee, with an expression that made Ali blink with a sudden realization. She would have laughed. But suddenly Raven looked up and she didn’t dare.

  “It’s most probable that you’ll be taken to the laboratory,” Wraith was saying. “And, once there, we hope you’ll be able to find Rachel for us. I’ll show you a holo so you’ll know what she looks like.”

  “What if they keep me in restraints?” Ali asked.

  “We hope you’ll be mobile for at least part of the time,” Wraith told her. “But if any thing untoward happens you’ll be able to inform us.” He looked expectantly at Raven who spoke for the first time.

  “You’ll be wearing this transceiver,” she told Ali, holding out a small object on the palm of her hand. “It took a long time to build it, so don’t screw with it, OK?” Her tone was antagonistic and Ali didn’t dare do anything more than nod. “Wraith has a similar device surgically implanted,” Raven went on. “I can contact him through it, in or out of the network.”

  “How?” Ali asked in amazement, her surprise getting past her fear of Raven.

  “Does it matter?” Raven said sarcastically. “You couldn’t do it.”

  “Are you certain about that?” Wraith asked. “It might be easier if Ali could contact us as well.”

  “Quite certain,” Raven said. “I only gave you your transceiver when we left for Europe, remember? I couldn’t have even made it a year before that let alone even used it. If Ali was capable of that k
ind of thing, she’d be headed straight for extermination now.”

  “But could she be?” Kez asked.

  “Hypothetically?” Wraith added and Raven sighed.

  “If all Hexes have the innate capacity to improve their skills, then yes,” she agreed. “But if there are different levels of ability, it’s highly probable that I just have more abilities than Ali.” She ignored the older girl’s annoyed expression and continued: “I’d like to see what kind of conclusions Dr. Kalden has reached about Hexes. That information should be easy to find when I get into the lab’s main database.”

  “That’s what we’re planning to do,” Wraith informed Ali. “When you’ve located Rachel, we’ll blast our way in. Then Raven will find the lab’s control room and enter their computer system. That’ll give us control of their security systems and we should be able to get out again without too much trouble.”

  “Do you want me to find the control room as well?” Ali asked, striving to be as businesslike as Wraith.

  “You wouldn’t be able to,” Raven said briefly.

  “There’s no real need,” Wraith said, less harshly. “The first terminal we find should be able to lead Raven right to it.” He hesitated, then added: “And I think Raven’s right. You’ll be a prisoner there, Ali. I don’t think they’ll give you a chance to see the control room.”

  • • •

  By the time Wraith had explained everything to his satisfaction Ali was feeling exhausted. But the fact that the ganger had turned out to be such a meticulous and conscientious organizer had given her a new confidence in his plan. She could even find herself believing for the first time that everything would be all right. She would find Rachel and then Wraith would come and break them out of the lab. The fact that what would happen after that was still unclear was something Ali didn’t allow herself to dwell on.