Creation (22 page)

“Yes,” Joshua said. “We thought if we just gave people enough money to survive, they’d naturally try to make something better of themselves.”

Jacques apparently didn’t figure he needed to have been part of the interview to contribute. “People are lazy. At least people of that socioeconomic class. Take away their need to work, and they lose all motivation. You just contribute to their decline by giving them money. And again, it wasn’t a small monetary experiment. We continue to pay these people even though the test clearly didn’t work.”

“We can’t abandon them,” Lud countered.

“Give a cat a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a cat to fish, and he’ll follow you around meowing loudly for another fish,” Jacques quoted.

Lud closed his eyes and muttered, “I never should have bought you that Mitchell Grafton sculpture. The title was meant as a joke, not economic theory.”

Sam withered slightly at the look Jess shot Jacques. “That’s easy to say for someone who has so much. And I don’t just mean money. You have power, purpose, respect, and all the intangible interpersonal reactions that give you the drive to do—or in your case to make—more. Life can’t be all about who amasses the most wealth.”

“Look who’s talking.” Jacques’s laugh made Sam want to let go of Jess’s hand. She had a wicked right hook when provoked. “From what I understand, you went on quite the spending spree the other day. As the wife of the wealthiest man on Earth, you might want to watch what you say about money.”

Sam held tight to Jess. “If I thought giving it all away to the people in this building would solve anything, I’d do it in a minute. The only thing I’m getting from this experience is that money, no matter the motivation, doesn’t help. It only magnifies who a person already is.” He doubted Jacques would get the innuendo, but Jess’s snicker told him at least she got it.

Ed put his hand to the stairwell’s door. “We can keep going down if you insist. But I’m not sure you’ll learn any more than you already have about how we Tobes have tried to help monetarily. And I’m not sure I can round up anyone down there you’d want to converse with. Even the people’s market is careful about who’s let in to barter. They don’t want any deals that can’t be backed up. So you entering the tenth floor might expose your identities. And net worth.”

“It’s okay, we can leave. I think I’ve seen enough of Jacques’s perspective on Tobe involvement for one day,” Sam said.

A
s they reached the roof
, Ed stretched out his hand behind him in warning. “We need to get out of here. Something’s not right.”

“You’re a Tobe. I’d think you could be a little more precise,” Jacques said.

Ed opened the door slowly. “It’s just an impression. We don’t have access to what every person is doing, so sometimes we need to guess about upcoming events.”

“You’re paranoid.” Jacques pushed through the door and strolled up to the shuttle, his chin firmly in the air.

Sam watched the display, wondering if it was bravery or arrogance. Either way, if no one bothered such an obvious show of self-confident wealth, the rest of them should be okay. He pulled Jess tight to his side and made a dash for the craft. Lud reprised his high-school-football years by running blocker to protect his quarterback. But no threat materialized.

Secure in the shuttle, Jacques took the controls and lifted off the building full of demoralized souls. “You see? Paranoid.”

Ed turned to his passengers. “Sorry for the drama, but this building doesn’t have the best—”

Laser fire from the supposedly empty high-rise that looked down on the landing pad cut through the back of the craft. The smell of melting steel and burned rubber filled the cabin.

Sam watched the light beams flash from building to shuttle. He knew he should duck, panic, something, but he didn’t move.
What would happen if I died right now? Would anything really change?

Jess punched him in the leg from her position crouched down behind the seat in front. “What are you doing? Get your ass down here. Do you
want
to get killed?”

He knew she meant it rhetorically, but the question had merit. If she were referring to their life on Chariklo, the answer was an obvious
no
. He’d fight for that life with every fiber of his being. But here on Earth? If it hadn’t been for her presence, that lifeline back to what he cherished most, he wouldn’t have a definitive answer.
Stupid. You can’t change anything if you’re dead. Stop being a bystander in this existence, and fucking take charge of your life.

His current life had become an extension of the one he’d known so long ago when he was a kid with no direction and no desire, just drifting and waiting for something to happen. But he’d left that kid behind. He had purpose. It was time to become the person the Tobes, and so many others, believed him to be.

He pressed his mouth to Jess’s ear. “I think, with your help, I can make a real difference down here.”

“I’m glad to hear it. All we have to do is not die.” She grabbed hold of the seat as the shuttle veered hard left.

“Shit, I’ve lost stability. They must have hit the rear rotor.” Jacques pulled hard at the controls but got little response.

Ed’s hands disappeared into the console. “I’m rerouting power to the main thrusters. It won’t be pretty flying, but it should get us out of here.”

The craft lurched hard right, away from the river and deeper into the maze of dilapidated buildings.

“She’s not responding to helm control. Who cares how fast we go if it’s just to go splat onto a cement wall?” Jacques asked.

“Get out of danger first—that’s the mandate. Once clear, we can figure out where to go,” Ed replied.

Jacques continued fighting with the controls. Gradually, the ship achieved something resembling level flight. “And you didn’t see that coming, security guard? Someone takes a potshot at the most powerful people on the planet, and you don’t give us any warning?”

“You come flying out here in a big black shuttle with a big red R on the side, and you think it’s inconspicuous? You don’t think maybe that might make nice target practice?” Ed’s arms moved so fast Sam only saw a blur in the front cockpit.

Another barrage of lights lit up the shuttle from both sides as they snaked their way through the not-so-deserted buildings. The view-screen dome that had been transparent displayed gray steel where the transmitters had been fried.

“Wow, they really don’t like us.” Joshua, who couldn’t be hurt by the fire, sat upright in his seat as if he were watching a movie.

Jacques’s eyes left the display of dizzying, swirling buildings ahead to check the shuttle’s readouts. “You know we’re losing power, right? I can’t get this thing back to Rendition.”

“Yep, we’re going to have to land. And soon. We could set down on the road canal. The main cabin hasn’t been punctured, so we’ll still float.” Ed scanned the area below.

Jacques pulled hard against the joysticks to gain altitude. “We’d be sitting ducks. And I mean that a little too literally. Whoever’s shooting at us clearly isn’t alone.”

Sam pointed at the hollowed-out floor of a building directly in front of the ship. “Can you land there? We’d have a high enough vantage point to see anyone approaching.”

“That’ll work.” Jacques leaned in toward the front of the craft as he focused on threading the large craft into the narrow opening.

“We’ve notified Rendition of our situation,” Joshua said. “They’re dispatching another shuttle, an unmarked one. But it may take ten minutes to get to us.”

Jess looked to him with wide eyes. “Why so long?”

Jacques cut in. “This is the only shuttle we keep on the roof. There’s not a lot of room up there for a fleet. And pulling up an unmarked craft means rerouting an employee who may have been out on an errand.”

Sam held Jess tight as the nose of the craft dipped down below the opening then sharply up toward the ceiling of the gutted thirty-eighth floor. The spray-painted numbers were hard to miss on the steel girder that filled the front windscreen. The sounds of metal scraping, then crunching, against the hardened cement filled the craft. The nose angled down as the shuttle slowed its progress through the building. Floor tiles flew like confetti around the sides. One final hard jolt indicated the tail section had encountered one of the many exposed beams overhead.

Lud wasted no time in unbuckling his harness. “Ed, you circle the floor to the right. I’ll take the left. No point in relying on technologically connected information. This is going to have to be a visual inspection. You move faster, but you can’t carry a weapon. So you see something, you materialize your ass over to me.”

The back of Sam’s seat shook as Lud hammered his fist against it. The weapon he pulled from the backrest gleamed in menacing beauty. Sam only had a moment to admire it, however, because Lud again broke huddle to face whatever opposing force lay in wait.

“You know, I never appreciated how much I like having him on our side,” Jess said as he busted out of the craft.

The quiet sound of a girl weeping drifted up from the backseat. Jess turned back before Sam could fully process the noise. “It’s okay, Ellie. None of us got hurt. Just a little rattled.”

Sam turned to see a girl of five or six clutching a teddy bear. As he watched, she took four deep breaths, each adding a couple of years to her age until the Ellie he knew again occupied her place next to her brother.

“That shouldn’t have happened.” She glared between Sam and Jess toward the front of the craft. “We never should have allowed you to bring them here. There were other ways, other buildings we could have visited. You intentionally put Sam and Jess at risk. And I will not forgive you for that.”

The tone of indictment she threw at Jacques made Sam wonder if she were talking only for herself or the entire Tobe community.

We will protect you to the last member of our society. And that goes for Jess also.

Laser fire lit up remnants of the ancient kitchen that lay in front of the shuttle. Food-processing machines that hadn’t been used in decades disintegrated before Sam’s eyes. Jess’s hand pushed against his leg. For a moment, he thought she was demanding he duck for cover again. But as he scrunched down, she reached for a latch in the seatback. The hidden compartment flopped open, revealing a laser gun, a match to the one Lud had retrieved.

“Just point and shoot?” Jess asked.

Ellie’s hand, only her hand, materialized over the weapon. “It’s now been cleared for your use. Ed says to be careful.”

Well, that wasn’t exactly blindingly insightful instruction.

Best I could do in my current state. Don’t shoot unless you’re sure what or whom you might hit.
Usually the Tobe mental messages were anonymous. This one wasn’t.

Thanks, Ed. Be careful.
It was only after Sam thought the words of concern that he realized how pointless they were to someone who didn’t have a body.

A light on the back of the weapon came on.
As a Tobe, I can’t fire a gun, but I can help you aim it. When the light glows green, it means you’re clear to shoot. Red means I’ve locked the gun out so you won’t kill someone you don’t want to.

Sam took the gun from Jess’s hands. “This isn’t a macho thing. I’m certain you could fire this better, but Ed can talk to me directly, and that should help me hit what I need to hit.”

Her slight smile accompanied her release of the weapon.

Another blast of laser fire hit the canopy, turning it completely opaque to the outside world.

“It’s not impregnable. One more shot, and they’ll pierce the protective armor,” Joshua said.

Jess looked to the backseat. “Open it up. We’re ready.”

A scream of protest emanated from the front of the shuttle. “Are you crazy?” But no one was listening to Jacques.

Damaged beyond its normal functionality, the canopy exploded off the shuttle to release the passengers. Dark figures darted around what had once been a hallway.

Sam pointed the weapon around the area, but the light on the gun only indicated how poorly he grasped the concept of aiming. Bright lights blinded him as two guns fired in rapid succession toward the shuttle.

Jess pulled hard at his sleeve. “Stop trying to get shot.”

He handed her back the gleaming weapon. “When the light goes green, it means you have a shot. Red means Ed won’t let it fire.”

“What about Ed talking to you telepathically?” Jess asked as she took hold of the gun.

“Won’t do much good if I can’t point the damn thing long enough to pull the trigger.”
Plus, I’ll never hear the end of it if I don’t let you try.

Swinging her body up from the crouched position, she directed the gun out toward the hallway and opened fire. Sam didn’t notice a green light, but maybe that didn’t matter as much as letting the bad guys know she was armed. The whole area lit up with beams from the gun, exploding glass walls, and cut metal flying through the air.

Jess ducked back down next to Sam. “I don’t think I hit anyone.” She wasn’t quite able to suppress the smile of satisfaction.

A man shouted something obscene before a loud thud indicated he’d been tackled to the ground. Random laser fire hit the ceiling over the shuttle but posed no threat.

Joshua materialized next to them. “It’s okay. Lud just subdued the last threat.”

“Is he okay?” Jess asked.

“Lud moves a lot faster than you’d think possible. Your laser fire distracted the thugs, giving him time to get into position,” Joshua said.

Sam peeked over the side of the craft. “How many were there?”

“Four pretty tough customers. Of the two Ed identified on the far side of the building, Lud had to shoot one. He’s injured in the leg but nothing that won’t heal. And Lud laid out another with a linebacker tackle that must have broken some bones.” Joshua moved his shoulders side to side, making Sam think he’d wished he were in on the play. “Vicious hit, and that’s my assessment after analyzing decades of modern football.”

Ed materialized outside the shuttle. “Sorry for the delay. If it hadn’t been for those other two, we’d have gotten here before you needed that weapon. Glad to see at least one of you can shoot.”

Jess twirled the weapon around in her hand. “Just point and shoot. Works just like in the adventure novels.” The red light eased Sam’s fears of her accidentally shooting something important.

“The authorities have been notified,” Joshua said. “Not that anything will be done other than the hoodlums being released from their bonds and having their wounds tended to. Disagreements like that happen all the time out here.”

“Lud’s tying up the riffraff. They shouldn’t be bothering us. Other than that group, the floor is secure,” Ed added.

Jacques pushed at various panels of the crashed ship. “Any more of those weapons aboard?”

“Like you’d know how to use one.” Ed laughed. “Even if there were, I wouldn’t authorize it for your use.”

“Don’t forget who I am, security guard. You may have proven useful, but it’s your fault we got hit in the first place. You really should have done some reconnaissance when you had the chance.”

Sam wondered how much money it took to be an asshole without anyone taking a punch at you.

Two small shuttles edged into the building and deftly landed beside the crashed vessel. Both opened to heavily armed operators. “Everything all right, Mr. Saint Clare?” asked one of the pilots.

Jacques waved his hand dismissively. “Fine, fine. Just get us out of here. This excursion has taken up too much of my day already.”

Lud arrived, fresh from battle. His suit was torn at the shoulder, making him look even more muscular, his black hair sat in uncoordinated waves, and blood dripped from one hand.

Sam caught Jess’s heavy breathing at the sight of the warrior. He pointed at the blood. “You okay?”

A look of amused shock crossed Lud’s face as he raised his hand. “Guess that glass was sharper than I thought. Nothing to worry about.”

“If you’re not too busy playing war hero, do you think we could get back to the offices?” Jacques asked.

With two shuttles, maybe Sam could prevent a fistfight on the way back. He didn’t think he could stand Jacques for a moment longer, and Jess tended to be even less diplomatic. “I think Jess and I might like to find some place to think. Any chance we can borrow one of the shuttles while you two return to work?”

One of the pilots bowed. “I’m at your disposal.”