Angeleyes - eARC by Michael Z. Williamson Read Free Book Online

were overwhelmed. Hundreds of people were shoving past them, batting their batons away. If pressure dropped, you went anywhere that could hold it, fast. That was a few facilities, and any ship.
    Ahead of me, the crowd shifted to the right. I came to what looked like an edge, and found myself facing a bunch of caretakers with kids.
    The adults were trying to keep scared kids corralled while scared adults shoved past them.
    This really wasn’t good. I wondered if the ships would run out of space soon and have to button up. There are gas dealers with oxy, and a number of short duration emergency bottles at any dock, then some machine shops have gas. They couldn’t handle everyone, though.
    The guards had apparently given up trying to tag anyone. They were being swarmed. One was missing his helmet and had a bloody nose. Another was welting up around his cheek and forehead. I guess people didn’t like being told they had to wait for permission to breathe.
    I hoisted my pack onto my shoulder and scrambled through the crowd, then through the turngate. My strap caught on a gate rod and I had to twist around as three people went under my arms.
    “Move it, slunt,” some guy said and jabbed me hard with his elbow.
    I said, “Fuck off, dickless,” and kept pulling the strap.
    Then someone else shoved through and it tangled even worse and jammed the gate. I managed to reach the strap lock, pop it, and pulled the strap through. I’d have to get replacement hardware out when I had a chance.
    I slung the bag over one shoulder and shoved through.
    Then I bumped something and came to a complete stop.
    It was a little girl, maybe from that crowd of them. She was tall enough to bump my hip.
    I didn’t want her getting trampled, so I scooped her up in my left arm and carried her.
    “You’re in the way, Sweetie, we don’t want you to get hurt.”
    I shouted, “ Does anyone belong to this child ?”
    Several people looked, but none answered.
    She had a bag in her hand, and I realized there was a leash dragging behind her. I managed to flip that up and catch it, then shoved it through the bag handles while using my elbows to stop people from crushing us.
    I didn’t want to abandon a kid, and I did want to help get her safe. There’s positives and negatives to having a kid with you. You get a certain amount of leeway, but you can’t leave them and run. They also stand out some places.
    Only, I wasn’t heading for a ship. I was planning to find a station safe cell and shelter there, with crew and labor. They wouldn’t turn me away with a kid, no. But she’d make me distinctive.
    And she was screaming.
    “Hey, hey! It’s okay!” I said. It was a rhyme. I went with it. “Can you clap your hands?”
    This was bad. The only training I had for child care was watching friends and memories of growing up. I was faking it as I went.
    Then I saw a skirmish line of UN police moving toward us. That’s why the crowd was so thick. The goons were still trying to scan their fucking IDs while we were trying to get air to breathe.
    I didn’t have one, and didn’t want to be questioned about why not.
    I saw a restroom and pushed sideways and backwards, like I was swimming across a river current, which I hadn’t done in ten years.
    Once there, it got easy. No one was stopping to pee. But the girl was hopping around and ran straight for a stall.
    Then I heard shouting outside and ran in with her.
    I heard the door open and a rough female voice shouted, “Who’s in here? You better have an ident when you come out. Anyone? Last call.”
    Then the noise faded as the door closed.
    Well, shit.
    The girl looked scared at all the yelling.
    “It’s okay,” I said. “Let’s wash our hands, okay?” I wasn’t sure that was safe, but I wanted to keep her quiet and be a responsible adult. The delay was safer than the screaming.
    She nodded and followed me, pulling at her pants as she came.
    I helped her clean up and wash her hands, and she said,