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Buzz shook her head urgently. “I’ve heard all about Keith, and I don’t want to go to his unit.”
“You aren’t going to Keith’s unit,” I said passionately. “He can’t borrow one of my staff without my permission, and I absolutely refuse to give it.”
“Why would Keith want me to go to his unit anyway?” asked Buzz.
“He claimed he’d heard how much your counselling had helped Amber,” said Lucas. “He wanted to borrow you to see if having a borderline telepath counsellor could help him as much. I worked for Keith for three years though, so I know you can’t trust a word he says. Given Keith’s past history, I expect he really wants the chance to nose around in your mind and find out personal information about Amber.”
“That’s outrageous,” said Adika.
Lucas pulled a face. “Keith has a habit of being outrageous. I knew exactly how Amber would feel about his request, so I sent him a polite refusal, saying that Amber couldn’t spare her counsellor for even a few hours. Shortly afterwards, I got a message from Gold Commander Melisande. She said that Keith had asked her to intervene and order Buzz to go to his unit.”
“Oh, no,” muttered Buzz.
“Don’t worry,” said Lucas. “Gold Commander Melisande is well aware of Keith’s tactics, and realized what he was planning. She told Keith that it was impossible for two telepaths to have counselling from the same person, and offered to find a different borderline telepath to help him.”
Buzz sighed in relief. “I pity the borderline telepath who gets the job of counselling Keith.”
“I don’t think any borderline telepath is going to get the job,” said Lucas. “Gold Commander Melisande said Keith had no interest in any other counsellor than Buzz.”
He paused. “I hope we won’t hear any more about this, but I felt I had to warn you all about the situation. If Keith sends a message to any of you, tell me at once, and let me deal with it.”
We all nodded.
“As I said a minute ago, Amber is going to be under increased stress while Morton’s unit is closed,” said Lucas. “Buzz is proving to be an excellent counsellor, and Gold Commander Melisande won’t allow Keith to disrupt that arrangement. Now, is there anything else we can do to help Amber?”
Lucas looked expectantly at Buzz, but she was clearly still unnerved by the news that Keith had asked for her to counsel him. It was several seconds before she started speaking.
“You’re talking about Amber taking on an unrelenting schedule of emergency runs. We all know the danger of allowing the lingering influences of wild bees to build up to the point where the telepath begins fragmenting under the strain. If Amber is going to be doing an emergency run virtually every day, constantly being hit by the minds of wild bees, then it’s essential we give her the chance to shake off those influences.”
Buzz tapped the side of her glass with her elegant fingernails. “Amber’s method of cleansing herself of the echoes of wild bees involves going Outside. Preferably somewhere that’s a long distance from the hundred million minds in the Hive, so it’s totally quiet on a telepathic level. We’ll need to arrange for Amber to go Outside every few weeks.”
She frowned. “It should really be every few days, but these trips Outside will be time-consuming and complicated, and we’ve got the added problem of it being winter and freezing cold out there. I’ve considered the option of just sending Amber up in an aircraft for an hour, but her fear of heights means she wouldn’t be able to relax enough to cleanse herself of echoes. That means we’ll have to fly her to an outlying supply base, and then give her time to recover from the trip and cleanse herself of echoes before flying her back.”
“I know that my fear of heights is ridiculous,” I said guiltily. “I should be able to overcome it, but ...”
“You mustn’t worry about your fear of heights, Amber,” said Lucas hastily.
“Amber may be afraid of heights, but she successfully overcame her fear of Outside,” said Buzz gloomily. “I thought I could do the same, but I’m finding it an impossible struggle.”
She shrugged. “Since trips Outside will have to be infrequent, we need to do everything else we can to help Amber relax during her rest breaks. One of the reasons Telepath Units are built on Industry 1 rather than on a level halfway down the Hive, is that it’s more peaceful for telepaths here than down in the heart of a hundred million people’s thoughts.”
“Yes,” I said. “The background sound of the Hive mind is far quieter up here.”
“It’s obvious that your favourite place in the unit is the park,” said Buzz. “I think that’s partly because the park is a large space and normally only has a few human minds in it. I’m only a borderline telepath. My insights into the thoughts of others are completely random, only last for a second or two, and are limited to one person at a time. That means I’ve never been aware of the Hive mind at all on a conscious level, but I still find it peaceful in this unit’s park.”
She smiled. “I believe there’s an extra factor involved in your enjoyment of parks though, Amber. You enjoy feeding the birds. You love getting them to flock around you.”
I nodded. “Animals and birds have simpler minds than humans. If they’re frightened or hungry, then their thoughts can be piercingly sharp, but the ones in the park are usually contented. They’re particularly happy when they’re eating, so there’s something very soothing about their minds.”
Buzz hesitated before speaking. “You read thoughts on a lower level than other telepaths, Amber. You experience the emotions of others in a way that they don’t. I’d like to have a detailed conversation about the implications of that at a future time, but the key issue now is that you can touch the minds of animals and birds when I’m told they aren’t detectable by other telepaths. You find their contented thoughts soothing.”
She waved her hands. “We need to use that to ease the constant pressure on you. The problem is that even when you’re feeding the birds, they get disturbed by the presence of other people. I’ve seen the Strike teams running laps of the park in training, scattering the birds every time they pass by. Ideally, you should either be alone in the park or just with Lucas.”
“If the Strike team gave up using the park for training, it would severely damage their fitness levels,” said Adika.
“Yes, the Strike team need the park for training,” I said, “and everyone else goes there to rest as well. I can’t keep it for myself.”
“There’s an easy answer to that problem,” said Megan eagerly. “We could set up a small private park area for Amber in the expansion section.”
I gave her a bewildered look. “What expansion section?”
Megan stood up. “It’s going to be easiest if I take you there and show you.”
I stood up, grabbed a handful of pastries, and happily munched them as I followed her out of the door. Megan headed down the corridor, chattering away busily, while everyone else trailed after her.
“It’s important that a telepath isn’t troubled by the presence of unfamiliar minds when resting, so Telepath Units are always surrounded by things like water storage tanks that need minimal maintenance, but there’s also an area kept entirely free for expansion.”
She paused when we reached the security doors that led to the accommodation section of the unit. “Telepath Units all have the same basic layout. Behind us is the operational section. Ahead of us is the accommodation section with the main bank of express lifts. On the far side of that is the expansion section. The park runs down the entire eastern side of the unit, with three sets of double doors that connect it to each of the three sections.”
I swallowed the pastry I’d been eating. “I’d assumed the double doors at the far end of the park led to a storage area.”
Megan continued through the security doors and on towards the lifts. I was surprised when she turned left to walk past my apartment door rather than right towards the park.
“The park entrance to the expansion section has a long flight of steps,” she said. “The entrance at the western side of the accommodation section has a ramp, which will be better for Nicole’s powered chair.”
“I can put my chair in walk mode to handle things like steps and getting on and off the belt system,” said Nicole.
Megan sighed. “Your chair could handle an ordinary flight of steps, but this one is especially awkward because of some changes to the unit northern emergency exit over a decade ago.”
We reached the end of the corridor, and Megan stopped by a locked set of double doors labelled “Maintenance Staff Only.” She entered a code, opened the doors to reveal total darkness, and clicked her tongue in annoyance.
“The motion-activated lighting in here needs adjusting.”
She clapped her hands several times, and a small light finally came on above a bank of switches. Megan went to press a large red one.
Overhead lights blazed into brightness, and I gasped. We were standing at the edge of a vast empty space that stretched from a level below us to several levels above, and was featureless except for occasional structural columns and a raised area that looked like a stage.
Megan led the way down a sloping ramp to floor level. “Claire liked to watch live performances by troupes of actors in here.”
I’d been right about that raised area being a stage then. I glanced behind me to check that Nicole’s powered chair could handle the ramp without problems, and then looked upwards. “Why is the ceiling black?”
“Because you’re not looking at a proper ceiling,” said Lucas. “That’s the Hive’s outer structural shield.”
I blinked. If that was the Hive’s outer structural shield, then there was just a layer of earth and rocks above it between me and Outside. As a child, that thought would have terrified me. Now I found it oddly comforting.
I popped my last pastry into my mouth, and walked forward to study the stage. The last troupe of actors to come here hadn’t left any of their scenery behind, but a crumpled streamer told me they’d performed a Light and Dark pageant. The Hive celebrated four festivals during the year. New Year, Carnival, Valentine, and Halloween. Light and Dark pageants were traditionally performed in the weeks before the festivals of Carnival and Halloween.
I pictured Claire standing where I was now, surrounded by her unit members, watching the light angel in her silver dress fight to defend the Hive from the dark angel in his costume of red and black. The abandoned streamer was silver and gold, meaning the forces of light had triumphed in the pageant, so it must have been performed before Carnival rather than Halloween.
That made sense. Everyone kept talking about the three years between Claire’s death and me coming out of Lottery. Since Lottery testing was always in the week after Carnival, Claire must have died sometime around Carnival too.
I’d asked Gideon what Claire was like, and one of the things he’d told me was that she was a devout Hiveist. I didn’t know much about the old religions that were only practised in secret, but I’d been taught about Hiveism in school before I moved to Teen Level. Hiveists worshipped the Hive itself as a collective gestalt, and the myths of Halloween and Carnival had great symbolic significance for them.
It was part of a Hiveist’s religious duty to attend the Light and Dark pageants before the festivals of Carnival and Halloween. I could imagine how horrified Claire’s Strike team leader would have been at the idea of her attending a pageant in one of the great Hive arenas, surrounded by gigantic crowds, and with periods of complete darkness. Being among those packed crowds would have been a massive strain on a telepath too.
I was glad that Claire had been able to watch her Light and Dark pageants here in this expansion section, and the last pageant she saw was one where light triumphed. I had reservations about some of the things the Hive did, but there were times when I felt the Hive Duty songs I’d been taught in school were right, and the Hive did know best.
This was one of those times. Claire had served the Hive faithfully as a telepath until her very last breath, dying of a heart attack on a check run when she was ninety-three years old. The Hive had been faithful to her too.
I was getting ridiculously emotional about a woman I’d never met. I brushed moisture from my eyes with the back of my hand, picked up the streamer and tucked it into my pocket, then took a moment to get my voice under control before speaking.
“This place is amazing.”
Megan smiled. “Sapphire has her expansion section set up for parties. Morton has a series of meditation rooms in different colours and décor to suit his varying moods. Mira has a full-scale hydroponics area.”
I briefly wondered why Mira wanted a hydroponics area in her unit, but was more curious about why Megan hadn’t talked about Keith. She’d come out of Lottery with him, and spent thirteen years working for him before moving to my unit to be my Senior Administrator. She must know what Keith did with his expansion section.
“What about Keith?” I asked.
Adika laughed loudly.
Megan gave him a reproving look. “Keith uses his expansion section as a giant bookette room,” she said, and swiftly changed the subject.
“This expansion section isn’t big enough for a full-scale park with a lake, but we could certainly have some sort of animal and bird area here. I’d have to get some experts to look at the available space, and then consult Amber about the design.”
“Would you like Megan to do that, Amber?” asked Lucas, “or were you planning to use the expansion section for something else?”
“How could I be planning to use it for something else?” I asked. “I didn’t know it existed. Why haven’t you mentioned it to me before?”
Lucas looked puzzled. “I did mention the expansion section to you. We discussed the possibility of you having a miniature beach here?”
“We did?” I shook my head. “When did that happen?”
“It was soon after our first operational run,” said Lucas. “We were discussing the number of rooms in your apartment, and you said something about having a door through to a private beach in the expansion section. I said that I didn’t think Megan could manage a full-size beach, but she’d arrange a miniature version if you asked nicely.”
I groaned. People kept assuming I’d already seen information in their mind, or the mind of someone else in the unit, when I didn’t know anything about it at all. When I read a person’s thoughts, I couldn’t see everything they knew, just what they were thinking about at that moment. In Lucas’s case, there was the extra complication that I could often see what he was thinking about but didn’t understand it.
It was obvious why I hadn’t seen anyone thinking about the expansion section. Megan was probably the only person in my unit with a reason to think about an unused area, and I’d been avoiding reading her mind because I found her so annoying.
“I remember that conversation, Lucas,” I said. “I was talking about the ridiculous number of rooms in my apartment. I made a joke about opening a door and discovering a beach. I assumed your comment about Megan arranging a miniature beach was a joke too, but you really meant it?”
Lucas nodded. “You never mentioned having a beach again, and I didn’t remind you about it because I was worried about the safety issues.”
“Yes,” said Adika anxiously. “I know you’re an excellent swimmer, Amber, but we couldn’t risk you going swimming alone on a private beach. You’d need someone imprinted for beach rescue to be on duty ready to ...”
I held up a hand to stop him. “I only mentioned a beach as a joke,” I repeated. “I’ve been on an emergency run in the maintenance areas of the Level 67 beach. I saw how complicated the wave machinery was, I couldn’t demand even the tiniest beach for myself, and I’m perfectly content swimming in the Strike team’s swimming pool anyway.”
I paused. “If Megan could arrange for there to be a place here where animals and birds were happy, that would be wonderful. There’s no need to consult me about the design because it needs to be whatever is best for the animals and birds.”
“That’s very true,” said Buzz. “If they’re happy, then you’ll be happy too.”
“Could I really have a door that leads from here directly into my apartment?” I asked.
“Of course,” said Megan.
“I’ll want to do a security review of the plans,” said Adika pointedly, “but a door from here into Amber’s apartment would have the advantage of speeding up her response to emergency runs. The problem with her spending so much time in the park is that she has to run all the way across the unit to reach her apartment and get ready.”
I didn’t need telepathy to know the rest of us were all thinking the same thing. There was a short silence while we waited to see who would be the first to give in and say it. I wasn’t entirely surprised that it was Buzz.
“I hope that a faster response by Amber doesn’t mean more of the Strike team getting left behind,” she said, in an unnaturally innocent voice.
Adika gave her a withering look.
“I think that covers everything, so we can end the meeting now,” said Lucas hastily.
I took out my dataview to check the time, and wrinkled my nose. “I hadn’t realized it was so late in the day. I’ve been promising my mother a clothes shopping trip to the 500/5000 shopping area on Level 1 ever since I came out of Lottery. She won’t be working tomorrow, so if our unit is going to be in shutdown until tomorrow evening, then I must call her and make arrangements to go shopping.”
Lucas gave me a dubious look. “You’ve had an exhausting day, Amber. Are you sure that you want to go all the way to the 500/5000 shopping area tomorrow? I’ve always had the impression that you didn’t like clothes shopping.”
Lucas was right that I didn’t like clothes shopping. I particularly didn’t like going clothes shopping with my mother. I’d already arranged and cancelled this trip a dozen times though.
“I really must take this chance to keep my promise to my mother,” I said. “Besides, I desperately need to buy myself a dress to wear for the New Year festival.”
Adika nodded acceptance. “I’ll arrange for a group of bodyguards to escort you on your shopping trip.”
Adika and Megan turned and headed off up the ramp, followed by Nicole in her powered chair. Buzz started walking after them, but I called after her.
“Buzz!”
She came back and smiled at Lucas and me. “Yes?”
I studied her thoughtfully. The first time I met Buzz, she’d had her hair in a thick mass of black curls that clustered around her dark face, and was wearing a low level skirt and top to help Level 93 patients relax and talk to her. The second time, her hairstyle had been severely formal, and she’d been wearing an Emergency Services uniform. Right now, her hair was floating cloudlike around her head, and she was wearing a dress in her favourite bright red.
I must have seen Buzz dressed in dozens of different ways by now, depending on exactly what effect she wanted to create in the people who saw her. Whatever Buzz wore though, she always looked stunning. If anyone could help me find a dress that would make me look good, it was her.
“Would you mind coming along on the shopping trip to help me choose a New Year festival dress?”
Buzz clapped her hands together. “I’d adore helping you, Amber. Do you have any particular dress styles or colours in mind?”
“I’ve absolutely no idea what I want. My mother will probably make some suggestions, but ...” I let the sentence trail off, unwilling to say anything rude about my mother.
“But you loathed the dresses your mother bought you when you were a child,” said Buzz.
I stared at her. “How do you know that?”
Buzz laughed. “From the moment I joined this unit, I’ve been aware that you had a hatred of dresses, Amber. Whenever possible, you wear a higher level version of the leggings and tops you wore on Teen Level. If you feel the need to look more formal, then you wear a onesuit, though you seem horribly uncomfortable in them.”
“That’s true,” I admitted. “It’s something about the collars and the rigid tailoring.”
“You’d still rather wear a onesuit than dresses and skirts though.” Buzz sighed. “After all the problems you’d had with Megan counselling you, we agreed that I’d never push you into discussing anything until you raised the subject yourself. That stopped me from discussing the clothes issue with you until now, but I couldn’t help thinking about it.”
She shrugged. “I’ve seen both your parents on their visits to the unit, and you strongly resemble your father rather than your mother. I guessed that your dress aversion was the result of your mother dressing you in clothes that would look perfect on her but were dreadfully unflattering on you. I’ve noticed she loves tightly tailored dresses in shades of orange and russet brown. Preferably with ornate gold trimmings as well.”
“That’s right,” I said gloomily.
“As I said, those are clothes that look perfect on your mother,” said Buzz. “They’re totally wrong for you though. I’m sure you meekly accepted her choice of clothes as a child rather than arguing, because you hate having conflicts with people you care about, but now you want to buy some clothes that are right for you rather than her.”
Buzz gave me an assessing look. “The only time I’ve seen you looking truly happy in a dress was after the emergency run on the Level 67 beach.”
I was startled. “Yes. We all had to buy clothes to fit in with the crowds on the beach. There weren’t many that would fit me and hide my body armour, so I ended up buying a dress I’d never normally have considered, but somehow ... Well, you’re right. That’s the only dress I’ve ever liked wearing, but I can’t wear a low level beach dress for the New Year festival celebrations.”
“You like wearing your beach dress because it’s ideal for your figure, and has the bright colours that look glorious with your dark-brown hair,” said Buzz. “Here in your unit, you can wear whatever you want, but New Year is the Hive festival for families. You’ll want to follow tradition by celebrating the festival with your parents and brother on Level 27.”
She smiled. “I know you won’t want to disappoint your mother by wearing a low level beach dress. That means we need to find you a proper festival dress with the same informal style and bright colours. Make sure you bring the beach dress along on the shopping trip, so we know exactly what we’re looking for.”
Buzz turned to look at Lucas. “I know you aren’t in touch with either of your parents, Lucas. Am I right in assuming you’ll be spending the New Year festival with Amber and her family?”
Lucas had been standing listening to our conversation with the distant expression that meant he was busily analyzing something. He was caught completely off guard by Buzz’s question, and gave her a panicky look.
“I’d like to spend the New Year festival with Amber and her family, but I don’t know whether I will or not. I haven’t had a specific invitation from Amber or her parents yet.”
I blinked at him in disbelief. Lucas was my partner. We shared an apartment. I slept in his arms every night. How could he think that he wouldn’t be invited to celebrate the New Year festival with my family and me?
But the answer to that question was obvious. Lucas was deeply insecure about relationships. He’d been an unwanted child. His father had left when he was six years old, and his mother broke off contact just after he moved to Teen Level. After so much rejection, some deep part of him would always expect to be rejected again.
I touched his thoughts to find out what I should say to reassure him, and found the glittering levels of thought had fragmented under an onslaught of churning emotion. The dark waves of pain were coming from deep in the unconscious levels of his mind, so there were no words at all among them.
“We’ll definitely be celebrating the New Year festival together, Lucas,” I said firmly. “I’d like to be with my family as well, but if it comes to a choice between them and you – if they don’t invite you, or you’d find it difficult to celebrate the festival with them – then I will choose to be with you.”
The dark waves of pain faded from Lucas’s shining mind. I would have said more if we’d been alone rather than with Buzz, but those words could be added later. I’d told Lucas all he really needed to hear.
“In that case, you’ll have to come shopping with us, Lucas,” said Buzz briskly.
“I will?” Lucas gave her a dazed look. “I don’t think I’ll be much help with choosing dresses. I don’t spend much time clothes shopping.”
Buzz gave him a pitying look. “The entire unit knows that you don’t spend much time clothes shopping, Lucas. When you’re relaxing, you wear your worn-out clothes from when you lived on Teen Level. When you’re acting as Tactical Commander, you wear a set of simple classic outfits in neutral grey or blue. Who was it who bought those for you?”
Lucas blushed. “My old boss, Keith’s Tactical Commander, Gaius. When I got the chance to become Amber’s Tactical Commander, Gaius said that nobody would have any confidence in me as a Tactical Commander if I kept wearing Teen Level clothes, and took me on a shopping trip.”
“Gaius has excellent taste and sense,” said Buzz. “He chose clothes that are suitable for your role, but a simple enough style that you wouldn’t feel uncomfortable in them. You can’t wear one of your standard outfits to spend the New Year festival with Amber though. You need to come shopping with us and get a proper festival outfit that complements her chosen dress.”
“Oh,” said Lucas. “Well, if that’s what Amber wants ...”
“It is what Amber wants,” said Buzz imperiously. “We’ll take Eli along on the trip as well.”
“I think Adika will want to choose my bodyguards himself,” I said hastily.
Buzz shook her head. “Eli won’t be coming along as a bodyguard. His job will be to distract Amber’s mother whenever she tries to interfere with Amber’s choice of dress.”
I laughed. I was feeling far more hopeful about this shopping trip now. I remembered the random mind I’d read back in area 500/2500. That person had been looking at a display of New Year festival dresses in jewelled colours. Perhaps we could find a shop with similar dresses in the 500/5000 shopping area and ...
I had a far better idea. Lucas was right about this being an exhausting day. If I could persuade my mother that the Level 1 shops at the centre point of Orange Zone were virtually as good as those at the centre point of the whole Hive, then I could go back to area 500/2500 tomorrow and look at those festival dresses in person.
