Hyperthought by M. M. Buckner Read Free Book Online Page B

swarms of tiny demons chewing through his brain.
    “Jolie, don’t be afraid for me. Look at the risks you take, yes? I’m not afraid for you.”
    “You’ll be alone with that monster!”
    “Judith? I thought you liked the good doctor. You introduced us.”
    I opened my mouth in astonishment. Odd, I hadn’t considered that point before. In my dawning comprehension, I felt muscle-weak.
    “Jin, please reconsider. The woman can’t be trusted. At least, take someone to watch over you.”
    “Father will receive updates.”
    With my face nuzzled against his chest, I couldn’t see his expression, but I heard the bitterness. What was going on between Jin and his father? I embraced him tighter and kissed his salty skin. Ignorance made me powerless even to guess at motivations. It was maddening.
    “Send me the updates, too,” I said on impulse. Why did I stammer on, committing myself without thinking? “If something goes wrong, I’ll come get you.”
    A promise. It was a thing I didn’t like, a thing I had vowed never to give to anyone. But already I’d broken that vow for Luc Viollett, and for others. Truth to tell, I wasn’t half so aloof from people as I wanted to believe. And there it was, lying between Jin and me like a thrown gauntlet, my promise of help.
    “Hmm.” He drew back and gazed at me for a moment with an expression I couldn’t read. Then he kissed me gently on the forehead. “You’re my good angel, Jolie.”
    “Jin.” I didn’t mean to whimper. It just came out that way.
    He turned toward the southwest, and I looked past him toward the east. In the distance, among the efficient white air compressors, I saw a tiny puff of black smoke, an explosion. A filtration unit flew apart in jagged pieces. That seemed odd.
    “Very well.” Jin’s words broke my reverie. “You’ll have the updates, too, pretty pet. You’ll be my witness.”
     
5 Like a Kid Again
5
Like a Kid Again
    LITTLE DID WE realize, as Jin and I made love once more in our artificial tower, that the city below was fragmenting. That puff of smoke I’d seen among the compressors had been the first faint signal. Terrorists had penetrated Greenland.Com. The world had changed.
    Toward evening, Jin walked me to the hotel lobby, but a squad of police had blocked the exits. They were scanning everyone. Jin made a scene. “Let her through. She’s with me.” He flashed his autograph ring and offered bribes, but the police ignored him. I grabbed his fingers as a cop ran a scanner wand over my body. Jin fumed. “Don’t worry, pet. This is a farce.”
    Jin didn’t know the universal ID chip in my signet ring was counterfeit. The chip tagged me as a free agent with Transkei credentials. Usually, I could travel through Com protectorates without hassle. I prayed the forgery would pass muster now. But the cop with the scanner barked an order, and they took me into custody.
    I lost sight of Jin when two orange-suited guards marched me toward a rail bus with a lot of other terrified foreign tourists. Someone shoved me in and slammed the door. For two days I paced a jail cell, getting out only for toilet breaks. They fed me tube-goo and synthetic coffee, and they wouldn’t even talk to me. When they finally said I could leave, it was a lie.
    Oh yeah, the guards escorted me out of the security complex, but by the time I made it back to my lodge and found Luc, no sanctioned transport of any description was leaving Godthaab. What’s more, they’d locked up my credit account. The smart chip in my signet ring had gone dead. I couldn’t pay the lodge bill or access the Net. I couldn’t call Jin’s hotel. I couldn’t even buy a cola from the vending machine. We were stuck.
    Thank the Laws, I’m a resourceful girl. I always carry a few extra signet rings with alternative IDs. And I know better than to store the bulk of my money in a public Net account. Maybe I never attended an edu, but you learn a lot growing up in the Paris tunnels.
    Armed with