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“As soon as our diplomatic aircraft landed, we received a message from the Joint Hive Treaty Enforcement inspection team,” said Michaela. “They’d just discovered that Hive Genex’s attempt to kidnap Amber had been their fourth such attack against our Hive. The first three attacks had succeeded in kidnapping less valuable citizens.”
I gasped. “Three people had been taken before me!”
“The inspection team had been holding those three people in protective custody until we arrived,” said Michaela. “They asked if we wished to register a claim on them, which left us facing a major problem. The claim about Amber’s kidnapping had been registered days beforehand. Our delegation had been expecting to take part in negotiations about penalties and compensation arrangements for that kidnapping, not registering an entirely new claim.”
“I’d sent an Ambassador with general diplomatic skills as the leader of the delegation,” said Elliott, “with specialists in negotiating compensation arrangements to assist her. I hadn’t sent a specialist Adversary with the knowledge to register claims against another Hive. I’d added Michaela at the last minute though, and her Senior Ambassador imprint included every type of diplomatic role.”
“So that’s the equivalent of a Tactical Commander being imprinted with every type of tactical role?” I asked.
“Exactly,” said Elliott.
“Our delegation had to decide whether we should risk me registering a claim immediately, and possibly making a mistake that meant it was rejected, or delay while an experienced specialist Adversary was flown out to join us,” said Michaela. “The problem was that our three citizens had been kidnapped before they were imprinted by our Hive, so they’d been given imprints by Hive Genex. If we didn’t register a claim immediately, the inspection team would release the people from protective custody, and Hive Genex would seize their chance to remove the imprinted knowledge before our specialist Adversary arrived.”
“Removing an imprint messes up all the associated personal memories,” I said anxiously.
“Yes,” said Elliott. “Registering our claim immediately would mean the three people remained in protective custody until Joint Hive Treaty Enforcement ruled on the case. If they decided that the three people belonged to our Hive, they’d be handed over to us with their imprints intact, while Hive Genex would have no reason to remove the imprints if they were allowed to keep the people.”
“So registering the claim protected the people’s memories,” I said.
“There was also the point that the knowledge in those Hive Genex imprints could be staggeringly valuable to our Hive,” said Ambassador Paula drily. “Hive Genex has more advanced technology than us in several areas.”
“I thought that people transferring Hive always had their imprints removed,” said Lucas.
“If a Hive imprints knowledge on the mind of one of its own citizens, and that citizen chooses to leave, then their Hive has the right to remove that knowledge before they go,” said Elliott. “If a Hive chooses to imprint knowledge on the mind of a kidnapped citizen of another Hive, then legally speaking they’ve given the knowledge away.”
“There was a huge amount at stake,” said Michaela. “I made an emergency call to Elliott and gabbled a three-sentence explanation of the situation. I knew Hive Genex was probably monitoring our communications, so I couldn’t raise the issue of me being tainted by running Blue Upway, but I’d told Elliott about that the night before.”
“Tainted?” I asked, in confusion. “What does that mean?”
“If an Adversary has a personal history of criminal activity,” said Paula, “then Joint Hive Treaty Enforcement considers them tainted, and regards the claims they register and the evidence they present as suspect.”
Lucas frowned. “A couple of minutes ago, you said that you all knew running a well-behaved Teen Game was only technically illegal. Law Enforcement wouldn’t consider Michaela guilty of any crimes, or take any action against her, so why would she be tainted?”
“Law Enforcement might not consider Michaela guilty of any crimes,” said Elliott. “Joint Hive Treaty Enforcement is a different matter entirely.”
“Members of Joint Hive Treaty Enforcement don’t understand the concept of something being technically illegal but tolerated as beneficial to the Hive,” said Paula. “If a rule exists, then you either obey it or you are a criminal. There is no middle ground, no mitigating circumstance, no space for compassion. If Joint Hive Treaty Enforcement finds out Michaela was running Blue Upway, it will consider her tainted.”
“I see,” muttered Lucas.
“Michaela’s emergency call came in when I was still asleep,” said Elliott. “I woke up, grabbed my dataview, listened to her explain the problem, and had to make an instant decision. I knew that if Joint Hive Treaty Enforcement found out about Michaela running Blue Upway, then she’d be considered tainted, but there was nothing on record about it. The only evidence of her involvement was held on the game master stack, which we were about to destroy. Besides, we had a hundred per cent right to our kidnapped citizens, so being tainted couldn’t make a difference to the final ruling.”
He paused. “I was more worried by the fact Michaela had only been imprinted the previous afternoon. Registering the claim involved her having to reply to a series of legal challenges by a Hive Genex Adversary.”
Lucas nodded. “The Senior Ambassador imprint must be a sizeable one. Michaela’s brain wouldn’t have had time to integrate the data properly.”
“We had to take the gamble though,” said Elliott. “I told Michaela to commit, so she registered the claim.”
“The Hive Genex Adversary must have been gloating when Michaela walked into the Joint Hive Treaty Enforcement Chamber to face him,” said Declan. “He’d have known from her age that she couldn’t have registered many claims before. If he’d known that she wasn’t a specialist Adversary, and had only been imprinted the previous afternoon ...”
“Michaela made it through the challenges brilliantly,” said Elliott, “and Joint Hive Treaty Enforcement notified me that our claim had been accepted for deliberation.”
He gave a despairing wave of his hands. “Ten minutes later, Paula arrived and told me the game master stack of Blue Upway had gone.”
Lucas pulled a sympathetic face.
“We were still trying to work out what had happened when Bruce called me,” continued Elliott sadly. “He said that he’d discovered Michaela was missing the day after she went into Lottery. He’d told Accommodation Services that he needed to collect belongings for an injured team member, and borrowed one of the tools they use to override teen room locks. He’d then let himself into Michaela’s room, and found the game master stack for Blue Upway.”
Elliott groaned. “That was when Bruce told me how he’d learned the truth about telepaths. He threatened to report Michaela’s involvement with Blue Upway to Law Enforcement and give them the game master stack as evidence. He said that if we didn’t want Michaela’s career in Hive Politics to start with a massive scandal, then we’d have to do him a few small favours.”
“Quite large favours actually,” said Paula grimly.
“I wanted to call Law Enforcement to arrest Bruce,” said Elliott, “but I was nervous about Michaela registering the claim at Hive Genex. I knew that if I contacted Law Enforcement, they’d put lots of records on the central data core about Bruce, and those were bound to include something about Michaela running Blue Upway.”
He sighed. “Our claim on our kidnapped citizens was perfectly straightforward, so I estimated it would only take two weeks for Joint Hive Treaty Enforcement to make its ruling. I decided our safest option was to placate Bruce by doing his few favours until our three people were returned to us.”
“Unfortunately, that encouraged Bruce to believe the information about Blue Upway was a devastating threat to Michaela,” said Francesca.
“The following day, Joint Hive Treaty Enforcement contacted our delegation again,” said Michaela. “We’d assumed that the three people had all been kidnapped relatively soon before Amber, so were about her age. It turned out that they’d been kidnapped well over three decades ago.”
“I’d been wondering why no one in our Hive had gone through the records and got suspicious about what happened to those three people,” said Lucas. “I suppose someone did search the records, but they hadn’t gone back as far as three decades.”
“Exactly,” said Michaela. “Twenty-seven years ago, Hive Genex put the kidnapped people in their duty child programme to have six children each. Those children now range in age from nineteen to twenty-six.”
She paused. “The claim I’d registered had been automatically extended to cover these eighteen children, who all had one parent from our Hive and one parent from Hive Genex. That obviously made the case far more complicated, and involved a Joint Hive Treaty Enforcement inspection team checking evidence at both Hives.”
“The situation with the children is that Hive Genex and our Hive have equal genetic claims on them,” said Elliott. “The Joint Hive Treaty Enforcement inspection team has just completed the checks on birth records and other information held in the central data core of Hive Genex. After the New Year festival, the inspection team will come to our Hive to check our central data core.”
I gulped. “A Joint Hive Treaty Enforcement inspection team is coming here!”
Elliott nodded. “The issue of Michaela being tainted is now crucial. Hive Genex’s claim is weakened by them having kidnapped the other parent from our Hive. The inspectors will be checking our Hive’s central data core. If they discover evidence linking Michaela to Blue Upway, then she will be tainted, and it could change a guaranteed win for our Hive to a win for Hive Genex.”
“That’s why we’ve had to give in to Bruce’s blackmail for so long,” said Declan bitterly. “The few favours turned out to be a lot of favours, and two weeks turned into a couple of months.”
“Couldn’t you just remove any evidence from our central data core before the inspectors arrive?” I asked.
Six faces gave me pitying looks. “My specialism is security,” said Declan. “The inspection team will include experts in forensic examination of data cores. They’ll find anything that’s ever been added.”
“So Bruce has been using Blue Upway to blackmail you,” said Lucas. “He thinks you’re giving him what he demands to protect Michaela’s career. You’re actually protecting our Hive’s claim on those eighteen children and the knowledge in their imprints.”
“That’s right,” said Elliott.
My mind was fully occupied wondering how I’d feel if I was told I belonged to a different Hive. “Don’t these people have the right to decide which Hive they belong to?”
“The eighteen children are allowing Joint Hive Treaty Enforcement to make the decision on their behalf,” said Michaela.
“I don’t understand why anyone would do that,” I said. “Don’t the children care what Hive they belong to?”
“Joint Hive Treaty states that everyone has the right to request a transfer to another Hive, but that transfer is an irrevocable lifetime commitment,” said Paula. “If these people wanted to stay at Hive Genex, they could easily bypass our claim on them. They’d just need to tell the Joint Hive Treaty Enforcement inspectors that they’re requesting a transfer back to Hive Genex.”
“Since they haven’t done that, we believe they actively wish to come to our Hive with the three kidnapped parents,” said Michaela. “They’re choosing to let Joint Hive Treaty Enforcement make the decision on their behalf to avoid having their imprints removed.”
“It’s a unique opportunity for them,” said Elliott. “They’ve got the chance to transfer to our Hive with their imprints intact, see if they like it here, and if they aren’t happy ...”
“They’ve still got their right under Joint Hive Treaty to request a transfer back to Hive Genex,” Michaela finished the sentence for him. “We don’t think our Hive would have the right to remove a Hive Genex imprint from people returning to Hive Genex, so again they could transfer without having their imprints removed.”
“Our Hive will naturally do everything possible to make sure people with such valuable imprints are happy to stay here,” added Paula.
“I can see why you didn’t want Bruce to wreck our Hive’s claim on these people,” said Lucas. “If it had just been a case of you handing Bruce some undeserved luxuries, then I’d think you’d done the right thing by dealing with this yourselves.”
He paused. “What’s puzzling me is why you didn’t call a halt when Bruce started enjoying himself endangering Blue Upway players. A number of teens have been injured. One has been killed. Why didn’t you ask for help and explain the importance of making sure that nothing was recorded on our Hive’s central data core?”
“It would have been easy to get someone to arrest Bruce,” said Elliott, “but we need to find the Blue Upway game master stack too. If we arrest Bruce, and someone else stumbles across where he’s hidden the game master stack, then anything could happen.”
“I’ve tried searching for the game master stack myself but failed to find it,” said Declan. “I’ve managed to search both of Bruce’s offices, his own apartment on Level 41, and Michaela’s apartment on Level 1, as well as most of the maintenance areas around Teen Level beach.”
Francesca sighed. “Did you really need to tell a Tactical Commander that you’d broken into Bruce’s apartment? He could arrest you for that.”
“I’m just explaining that we know Bruce has the game master stack well hidden,” said Declan.
“After Declan’s search failed, we decided we’d never find the game master stack without the help of a true telepath,” said Elliott.
“So why didn’t you approach a Telepath Unit Tactical Commander?” asked Lucas. “You could have called me two months ago to have this exact conversation.”
“There was an excellent reason why we couldn’t risk doing that,” said Elliott. “That reason’s name is Keith.”
“What does Keith have to do with this?” I demanded.
“It’s vital that Keith doesn’t find out anything about this claim against Hive Genex,” said Elliott. “We had a previous incident where Keith got curious about something happening in Hive Politics, went searching through the records to find more information, and then interfered.”
“With disastrous results,” said Paula bleakly.
“What did Keith do?” I asked.
“We don’t have time to tell the full story of what happened back then,” said Elliott. “I’m just mentioning it to explain why we’re so worried about Keith. If he finds out about this claim, then he’ll try to repeat what he did years ago, and access the messages that Joint Hive Treaty Enforcement has sent to us.”
“Can’t you block him from doing that?” asked Lucas.
Declan groaned. “We’ve taken every measure we can to block Keith from accessing those messages, but it’s hard to block a telepath successfully when they can read the latest authorization codes in people’s minds.”
Elliott nodded. “If Keith learns the full facts of this claim, then we believe he’ll sabotage our efforts by putting something incriminating on our Hive’s central data core himself.”
“That worry didn’t just stop us from asking Keith’s unit for help,” said Paula. “We know that Keith has gone to great lengths to read the minds of people in other Telepath Units, so we couldn’t approach them for help either.”
“To be perfectly open about the situation,” said Elliott, “we’re willing to explain this to you now because we’ve learned Keith has been attacking your unit. You’re already taking precautions to protect your people against him, so we know you’ll listen seriously to our concerns.”
“I’ll definitely listen seriously to concerns about Keith,” I said grimly. “He tried to steal Lucas from me.”
“Which is also an important factor,” said Elliott. “The six of us, and the two of you, are currently the only people in our Hive who know about our claim against Hive Genex. The Joint Hive Treaty Enforcement inspection team will be arriving after the New Year Festival, but there’s no danger of Keith getting any information from their minds.”
I frowned. “Why not?”
“Joint Hive Treaty Enforcement has a simple, effective method of preventing telepaths reading the minds of its inspectors,” said Elliott. “It chooses a team with a different birth language.”
“That would certainly work,” I said. “When I tried to read the mind of Hive Genex’s agent, Elden, I found it impossible to make sense of his thoughts.”
“Our Hive goes to great lengths to avoid telepaths meeting,” continued Elliott. “After Keith’s recent behaviour, nobody would be surprised if Amber refuses to allow her partner to leave her unit without her for the next few weeks. That would mean there’s no danger of Keith getting near enough to Lucas to read his mind.”
“I’ve no problem with us taking that precaution,” said Lucas, “but I’m confused by two things. Firstly, why are you so worried about Keith managing to read my mind? It would be far easier for him to read the mind of one of the six of you.”
“That won’t happen,” said Elliott confidently. “Our Hive doesn’t just take care to avoid telepaths meeting each other, but also to stop most telepaths meeting those imprinted for the highest ranks of Hive Politics or the Council of Gaia.”
I gave him a puzzled look.
“Secondly, why would Keith care about our claim on these people enough to bother sabotaging it?” asked Lucas.
“Morton’s unit is about to shut down for months while he has surgery,” said Elliott. “That will leave the Hive with only four operational Telepath Units. The Hive desperately needs Keith to keep working, which puts him in an overwhelmingly powerful position. Keith is enjoying taking advantage of the situation.”
“I’m not sure how that’s an answer to my question,” said Lucas.
“It’s an answer to your question because the three people kidnapped by Hive Genex included a borderline telepath,” said Elliott. “Her twenty-four-year-old eldest son is a true telepath.”
