alien creatures,” she says to me.
This ought to be interesting. “They resemble shadows. But they move as if they’re made of liquid and they’re…translucent. They float and seem to have no mass. I call them blobs because they remind me of those amoebas. They can grow as big as two meters and will form…appendages—lots of them that solidify into sharp blades.” I rub my left hip, thinking of the one that stabbed me. But it wasn’t as bad as when they attacked Beau.
My description appears in the file. Alarmed, I ask, “How safe is it? Wormers can get to the file and might be able to connect it to me.”
“Officer Dorey assured us it’s well protected,” Bertie said.
Beau is good, but I’m better.
“And Jarren already knows we’ll be trying to figure out a way to stop the HoLFs,” Morgan says.
Still. “Mind if I take a look?”
Yenay glances at Morgan. “Is Ara authorized?”
I almost laugh. “I can go in without the Q-net recording my identity.”
“Really? That’s possible?” Yenay seems impressed.
“It’s possible for Ara,” Morgan says, giving the woman a pointed look. “But there’s no need, Officer Dorey has established your new identity, Ara.”
Swell. “I’d feel better skipping that part.”
“All right.”
Excited, I insert my tangs. The little round plugs fit right into my ears. They, along with the sensors implanted in my brain, allow me to access the Q-net. You have to be next to a terminal, though. To entangle with the Q-net for more than twelve-hours can lead to insanity. Nice, huh? So everyone must be able to completely disentangle.
My consciousness flows into the Q-net. To me, it’s like a universe-sized ball of yarn with zillions of layers. And I’ve learned how to squeeze and wiggle between those layers, entering data clusters and other secure areas. It’s called worming and it’s illegal unless you’re doing it for a good reason—like hunting down murdering looters.
But this time, it feels like home. I ease into deeper layers as if sinking into a tub of hot water. Ahhh.
“Well?” Morgan asks.
Ignoring the temptation to descend to the star roads, I check Beau’s protective measures. They’ll do.
“Let’s continue,” Bertie says. “How does the light affect these beings?”
“They shied away from the beam or vanished.”
“How close were they at that point?”
“About a meter to a meter and a half. When they closed in, I could make them disappear with the light.”
“Disappear? Is that different than vanishing?” Bertie asks.
“Yes. Vanishing is like they moved out of the way too fast for me to see where they went. Disappearing is when I shone the light right into their core and they…poofed. It seemed more…drastic. And I don’t know if it’s permanent either. They could have reformed in the darkness.”
“I see.”
Too bad Bertie still sounds confused.
“What type of light?” Yenay asks.
I pull the flashlight from my belt and hand it to her.
She clicks it on. “It’s not very powerful.”
“Which is probably why they were able to get through our defenses. That and the fact we only had three.”
“Do you know how they were able to turn off all the lights?”
“No, but I can guess they used their sharp blades to cut the wires.”
“Including the emergency lights,” Morgan adds.
Quiet descends as the fact that the HoLFs showed signs of intention sinks in. It shouldn’t be a surprise to me as I was there, but at the time it seemed as though I fought mindless shadow-zombies.
“We have the video of when you first saw them,” Bertie says, breaking the tension. “Can I show it to you?”
There’s that caution again. Morgan must have said something to them. I ignore it. “Sure.”
The video plays. It’s only a minute long, but Bertie stops it when I take a step toward the back wall of the pit. “Can you point out where the HoLF is?”
“Which one?”
She glances at me. “There’s more than one?”
“There’s five.”
Stunned silence. Clearing her throat, she says, “Okay. Can you point them out?”
Yes, but what good would it do? They can’t see them. I consider the problem. Maybe I could outline them, but I’d need to go deeper. Various possibilities pop into my head.
“I’ve seen that look before,” Morgan says. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”
I explain. “I’ll keep everything…quiet. It’s low risk.”
“On one condition.”
I wait.
“That Officer Dorey trails you.”
“Fine.”
Beau is summoned and Bertie relinquishes her seat to me when he arrives.
“Keep everything on the screen,” Morgan orders. “And if Dorey tells you to back off, you listen.”
“Yes, sir.”
I meet Beau’s gaze.
His brown hair is spiked and the ends are dyed