The Smudger Page 4

  “Really?”

  She nodded. “Don’t worry about me. Oh, did you want to give me my memories back? I know they’re not good for you to hold onto.”

  “One of them I can sell. I can at least get something out of this horrible day. You can have your warning back. Maybe you can learn something from it. Stop letting those guys use you.”

  I pressed my hand against her forehead and pushed the memory back. It went easily; memories always wanted to be with their original host.

  “I’m out of here,” I said, and turned towards the door.

  “Oh, this is yours,” Ata said, holding up my pebble.

  I snatched it from her open hand. “What have you got that for?”

  She shrugged. “I thought it was pretty.”

  9

  SENETSU

  The sky above Okaporo was a smear of red in the dusk. It would have been beautiful if it wasn’t accompanied by a breeze that carried the stench of death.

  There was now nowhere to return to. We were officially lost. Refugees. Wanderers. It wasn’t right for traders; our roots were important. But now, everything and everyone I ever knew was being burnt to dust. It was all just dust.

  “What will Kioto return to?” I whispered. Saji didn’t reply. “She’s going to be so scared. Do you think Narata warned the rooks?”

  “I’m sure she will have. Maybe they’ll stay in Iwoyo with the children.”

  I frowned. “It’s lucky they chose today to go.”

  “The High were looking after them. Narata was right; they are Okaporo’s future now.”

  “Do you think Narata knew? That she sent the children away to save them?” I screwed my hands into fists. “Do you think she knew and said nothing until it was too late?”

  The question hung in the darkness between us, and the consequences of its answer were too horrific to say aloud.

  10

  KIOTO

  I folded my arms onto the counter of the exchange, and dropped my head into them. The screens on the back wall were blank and had been for some time. I’d tried to secure another two jobs, only to have them poached by merchants. At least, this time, the clients had been courteous enough to let me know before I’d arrived.

  “Here,” the woman behind the desk said, placing a mug of coffee and a sandwich in front of me.

  I looked up at her with bleary eyes. “Thank you. So much.”

  “Not been a good day, has it?”

  “Not at all,” I replied, my mouth already full of bread.

  “I wish I had something for you, but the network’s gone silent.”

  “Thanks anyway.” I picked up the coffee and turned around. It was beginning to get dark outside, and my good coat had been amongst the things they’d stolen. I needed somewhere to spend the night, but I didn’t have enough money for a proper bed.

  “Are there any safehouses nearby?”

  “A couple. You want directions?”

  I turned back to her and nodded. “Please.”

  She handed me a cyber card. “There’s enough credit on there for a hot meal.”

  “Thank you. Again.”

  She smiled. “They’re paid for by the colony. I give them to anyone who needs them. And they’re needed more and more these days.”

  I smiled back at her. “Thanks. You’ve really looked after me today.”

  “I’ve been where you are.”

  I flicked the corner of the cyber card, and the first direction flashed up.

  The safehouse was only a couple of streets away, fronted by a brightly lit café. It looked friendly, welcoming, but then, after the day I’d had, and with the growling ache in my stomach, anything would have looked welcoming.

  I pushed the door open and stepped into the warm interior. It smelled of coffee, and cooked meat, and warm sugar. I pushed myself into a booth and grabbed the menu.

  “I won’t be a minute, love,” called the waitress from behind the counter. As she looked up, I spotted the scars over her eye. Looked like traders everywhere were having to find new streams of income.

  My mouth watered as I looked over the menu, and I turned the cyber card over and over in my hand. It was the only good thing that had happened today.

  My phone buzzed, and I pulled it from my pocket. As I did, another cyber card fell onto the seat beside me. I picked it up. It was the one the merchant had given me; directions to his off network contact. I laid the card on the table next to the one that would buy me a hot meal. One hot meal. Enough to get me through until tomorrow.

  I looked at my phone. It was an automated message reminding me that my account was almost at its limit. Just what I needed.

  I looked at the two cyber cards, side by side. One would fill my stomach for the night. The other would fill it for weeks. And it would buy that smudger. The one holding memories that belonged to my little sister.

  “What can I get for you?” The waitress was suddenly by my side, and I scooped the merchant’s card back into my pocket.

  I held up the other card. “What does this get me?”

  She cocked her head. “Anything you want, my love. Pudding too.” She took it from me.

  I smiled. “Pizza. And chips. And I’ll have a strawberry milkshake. And...” I flipped the menu over to the puddings. “Waffles and ice cream please.”

  “That’s it, love, fill up your belly. Are you looking for a bed for the night too? We’ve only got a couple left, so say now if you want one.”

  “Yes, please.”

  “Not a problem.” She patted me on the shoulder and disappeared into the kitchen beyond.

  When I’d finished my meal, I leaned back and laced my hands over my very full stomach. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt so full, and I didn’t know when it might happen again.

  I took out the other cyber card and turned it over in my hands. I could earn enough with this to buy the smudger and have enough left over for lots of meals. And a new coat and boots, better than the ones I had before. Off network jobs paid extremely well, but the punishments, if you were caught, were harsh. Even more so for a colony trader.

  I tapped the card against the table. How else was I going to get 500 quickly enough? I couldn’t let that merchant walk away with my sister’s memories. Not when what I saw suggested that she could still be alive.

  I didn’t have a choice.

  “I won’t need that bed after all,” I called back as I strode towards the door. If I didn’t do this right now, I’d never do it. “Give it to someone else. And thank you.”

  11

  KIOTO

  I found myself standing outside a dentist’s surgery. I looked down at the cyber card. This was definitely the address. It was just my luck that he’d moved on and now I had no bed for the night either.

  I stepped forward and peered through the window into the dark interior, my hand cupped over my eyes.

  The cyber card buzzed. I looked at it. One more direction. The arrow pointed down and to the right. Protruding from the corner of the building, was the end of a railing. I would never had spotted it.

  As I rounded the corner, I saw that the railing marked a set of stairs leading down to a door. This was much more plausible.

  Before knocking on the door, I checked the cyber card for instructions on some kind of secret knock. There weren’t any. I grinned, and reminded myself that this was reality. So I lifted my hand and knocked as if I meant business. As if I’d called here a thousand times before and would be welcomed in as one of the family.

  “No traders.” The crackled voice came from a box on the wall.

  “I was told to come here by Cota?” I offered.

  “No traders.”

  “I’m not going away.”

  The box sighed. “Fine, come in, just don’t expect a warm welcome.”

  “I’m used to that,” I muttered as the door buzzed and I pushed it open.

  The corridor beyond was dimly lit with red lights, the walls coated with paint of the same colour. It wa
s like stepping inside a vein. A door at the far end stood ajar, and I made my way towards it.

  “Hello?” I enquired, gently pushing the door a little further open.

  “Well, come in if you’re coming in,” an impatient voice said.

  I pushed the door open further and stepped inside.

  A large desk took up the majority of the room, and sat behind it was a man who looked more like a toad then a man. His face disappeared into his neck, which disappeared into his shoulders, which, in turn, disappeared into his stomach. His head was mostly smooth, the expanse of skin interrupted only by the odd tuft of hair like marsh grasses. His eyes, enlarged by thick glasses, sat above a flat nose and a wide mouth.

  The walls of the room were lined with shelves, and those shelves were crammed with artefacts. I spotted several traditional trader items, even some Arukumbi items, but most of them were unfamiliar. This man was clearly a collector. An appropriator of other cultures. I wondered how many of these items had been sacred to someone, and how much blood had been spilt to accumulate them.

  His huge eyes scrutinised me. “How do you know Cota?”

  “He poached a job from me.”

  The toad man huffed. “That, I can believe. He’s no-nonsense when it comes to money, but he does have a soft spot for you folk and your funny ways.”

  “He said you might have some work for me.”

  “You people tend to avoid jobs like this. Too many scruples.”

  I shrugged. If I let him know I was desperate, the bargaining would swing very much in his favour. “I haven’t belonged to a colony for a long time. I’m not exactly your traditional trader. I’m somewhat off network myself.”

  “An outcast. I meet a lot of those.”

  “So what do you have?”

  “What are you willing to do?”

  “Anything really. I’m saving up for a palace.”

  He snorted. “Then I might have something for you. It pays big. 1200 on pick up, and another 1200 on delivery.”

  I attempted to bury the shock and excitement that tried to rush to my face. It could take me months to earn that with legitimate jobs.

  I shrugged again. “That sounds alright.”

  “But it does require a deposit. Something I’ll hold onto for now. Something precious.” He stared hard at me. “Your pebble.”

  My heart went cold. “My pebble?” My voice came out as a squeak, confirming that he’d hit on the right item.

  He tapped his glasses. “These see more than you know, and if there’s one thing I know, it’s people.” He held out his hand.

  “But I can’t perform the Dedication without it.”

  “I’m sure that’s not a problem for an ‘off network’ trader like you.”

  I swallowed hard. “When do I get it back?”

  “After you complete the job.”

  “The extraction?”

  He shook his head, sending ripples down to his stomach. “After delivery.”

  “I have to come back for it?”

  He shook his head again. “I’ll have it sent to the delivery point. It will be perfectly safe, I promise.”

  I wondered how much his promise was worth. Reluctantly, I dug into my bag and handed it over.

  He weighed it in his hand for a moment. “Okaporo. That’s tough. Anyway, here are the details.” He tossed a cyber card at me. “When you arrive, show them that card. And I mean as soon as you arrive. This isn’t somewhere you want to get mistaken as a trespasser. Understand?”

  I waved a dismissive hand at him. “Not a problem.”

  12

  KIOTO

  The property was neither large, nor expensive looking, but it was well fortified. I found myself in front of tall metal gates topped with spikes. On the wall next to them was an intercom box. I glanced up at the camera watching me and held up the cyber card.

  The intercom beeped, and an instruction popped up on the screen. INSERT CARD. I stepped forward and pushed the cyber card into the slot on the side. The instruction on the screen changed to READING. I waited. The intercom beeped again. ACCESS GRANTED.

  The gates slid open, and I stepped through. The space beyond was functional and corporate, with nothing to indicate any kind of domesticity. The entire forecourt was tarmac, with not a single plant to break up the space. The building was square, squat, and unattractive.

  I was met halfway across the forecourt by a woman running impressively fast in a pair of high heels. She linked her arm into mine and steered me towards one side of the building.

  “Not in the front,” she said.

  I looked up at her. She had a long, sharp scar running along her jawline. It looked recent, but she hadn’t tried to hide it. I could see that her make up stopped short of it, and her hair was tied back out of the way. Maybe she wanted to remind someone of it every time they looked at her.

  “What’s your name?” she asked.

  “Kioto.”

  “We’ve been waiting a long time for you.”

  “I’m sorry, I have to walk. They never let my kind ride on the buses.”

  She waved her hand at me. “Sorry, that’s not what I meant. I mean we specifically wanted a trader for this job, and it’s been hard to find one willing. We’re grateful to you.”

  “I see.”

  As we reached the building, a door was opened, and the woman led me through.

  “Come on,” she said. “We need to get started right away. Everyone’s waiting for you.”

  She led me up a series of connecting corridors, down a set of stairs, up another, until I’d lost all sense of direction. I had no doubt that it was intentional.

  We finally stopped at a door, and the woman knocked once before pushing it open. A merchant was standing in the room staring back at me.

  “I don’t believe this,” I said. “I’m not losing another job to an egg.” I turned to the woman. “We had an agreement. This is my job. Don’t give it to a merchant.” I lowered my voice. “Please, I need this.”

  “You never told me I’d be working with a red,” the merchant complained.

  “Ha!” I cried. “You’re calling me a red? Yet you’re here trying to poach an off network job from me.”

  “Calm down,” the woman said, stepping between us. “No one’s poaching your job,” she said to me. “This job requires both of you.” She turned to the merchant. “And if you don’t want to work with a trader, Tian, then feel free to leave. There are loads of merchants who would be willing.”

  He muttered something I couldn’t hear.

  “No?” asked the woman. “Then keep your insults to yourself. Tian, meet Kioto. Kioto, this is Tian. There, now you know each other. You’re both here for the same reason, because the money was too good to turn down. But if you can’t work together, just say now, and I’ll escort you out.” Neither of us spoke. “Right then,” she continued, “now we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get down to business. Tian, you’re up first. Follow me. Kioto, make yourself comfortable, I’ll be back for you soon.”

  She led Tian back out of the door and closed it behind them.

  I sat myself down on the plush sofa, folded my arms, and allowed myself to doze off.

  I jumped as someone knocked on the door and then pushed it open. The woman gestured for me to follow her. She led me down a short corridor and into another room. A slave lay on a bed, watching me approach.

  “Take the memory offered to you,” the woman instructed. “Nothing else. No poking around, no prying. She’ll tell me if you do.” She gestured to the slave. “It’s only a scratch, so even if you play it, it won’t make any sense to you.”

  “Is it alright for me to perform the Dedication?” I asked.

  The woman shrugged. “Whatever you need to do.”

  I laid out my altar items, minus the pebble of course. I glanced up at the woman, but she was looking away and hadn’t noticed the omission.

  I spoke quietly and quickly, performing the least reverent Dedication I ever had
. I only hoped the High had had the time to hear it before it ended.

  The memory was pushed through to my mind without hesitation, while everything else in her mind was held back from my reach. The slave was well-trained and knew what she was doing. She couldn’t have been much more than fifteen years old, and I wondered how long she’d already been doing this for.

  “Done,” I said, stepping back.

  “Let’s get you settled before the throw kicks in,” she said.

  “I’d rather go to a safehouse,” I replied.

  “Absolutely not. We’ve got a room all set up for you. You’ll be perfectly safe.”

  “I’ve heard that before,” I mumbled.

  13

  KIOTO

  The room had two beds, and the merchant, Tian, already occupied one. I lay down and turned my back to him.

  “You don’t have to act like a child,” he said after a moment.

  “I’ll act however I like, thank you.”

  “How’re you feeling?”

  “Like I don’t want to talk all the way through this.”

  “Fine.” I heard him turn over in his bed. And then again. He fidgeted and shuffled about, and the bed squeaked under his constant motion.

  “Are you completely incapable of keeping still?” I snapped.

  “Are you completely incapable of keeping quiet? I’m trying to get some rest.”

  “And you usually sleep like that, do you? Like you’re wrestling?” I rolled over and stared at him, the motion sending sharp pains through my skull.

  He grinned at me annoyingly. “Maybe I do.”

  I grabbed my stomach as it churned and sloshed. “Is there a bathroom?” I mumbled.

  Tian pointed to a door in the corner.

  I only just made it to the toilet before I started retching, bringing up the only good meal I’d had in weeks. Such a waste.

  “Would you like me to come and hold your hair back?” he called to me.

  If I hadn’t been hit with another bout of retching, he’d have received a very vicious response. How dare he not be as sick as me. How dare he be so frustratingly bright and healthy.