‘We can already do that, Harry.’
‘Fist’s good, but he’s sloppy.’
‘Fuck you too,’ Fist snapped back.
‘That’s a sore point, isn’t it? If I hadn’t been at TrueShield, she’d have fried both of you. You need me, Jack. You and your little helper both.’
‘They caught us off guard. They won’t do that again.’
Harry chuckled. ‘Well, I admire your confidence at any rate.’
Fist became a shimmer in the air, floating before Harry, his still lightly charred face enraged. His voice was quiet and deliberately paced, control lending it menace.
‘You led us right into her house, and you didn’t tell us what we’d find there, or who she was working for.’
‘I didn’t know she’d be there in such force. And I only found out it was Kingdom when you did. She always kept her patron so well hidden.’
‘Listen to me,’ Fist told him. ‘I’ve been cracking systems like you – and her – since the day I was born. I was built to assess them, break into them and then destroy them. There’s nothing you can’t tell me about what they are, and how they work, and how to kill them. I’m going to find the deepest part of her mind, and then I’m going to blow it. And if I get the chance, I’m going to do the same thing to you.’
Harry laughed again. ‘Little puppet,’ he said. ‘She’s been rebuilding herself for almost as long. She’s never been Totality, and she’s certainly not human any more. And even if you do get past her, well, there’s our friend up there’ – he waved up towards Heaven – ‘her own puppet master. Are you ready for a fight with Kingdom, puppet? Are you punching at that weight yet, little Fist?’
[Don’t boast,] warned Jack. [ We can’t let anyone know what you can really do.]
Fist said nothing, shaking visibly with the effort of restraining himself. Harry chuckled. Jack felt Fist’s rage burn. Then – at a deeper level – attack systems rose into life, casting long, savage shadows into his conscious mind. But they didn’t launch as smoothly as they’d once done. As they booted up, there was a faint, broken grinding and the sharp reek of burnt plastic.
[Don’t, Fist. He’s not worth it.]
[ I’ll crack him like a fucking nut.]
[ We’ve got more important battles to fight.]
‘I’m sure your master is warning you not to attack me. It’s very sensible advice. I’m an old dog, but I could still surprise you both. And as for you’ – Harry pointed at Jack – ‘you should know better than to be so confident. It’s a rookie mistake, and you haven’t been a rookie for a long time.’
‘I don’t trust you any more, Harry.’
‘Very wise. But for now remember this – you will need my help. And if you want to summon me, call my name, and you’ll be able to sit back and watch me kill Aud Yamata for you. And I might even have a crack at Kingdom, too. Call it a hostile takeover if you like, I could run things far better than that cunt.’
‘You’re not coming through me again,’ snarled Fist.
Harry laughed, and was gone.
Ato returned an hour or so later. Jack and Fist were sat together in the middle of the glade, watching the night. Black lines carved the air around them, sometimes making abstract shapes, sometimes rolling together to hint at prowling lions and tigers and bears. ‘Oh,’ said Fist, noticing Ato. ‘It’s you. We’re ready for our spacewalk.’
‘And Grandpa’s got good news,’ replied Ato. ‘Mr Stabs is expecting you.’ Fist jigged around with glee. Jack stood up. ‘We’ll get you some food,’ Ato continued, ‘then I’ll take you to the door to Homeland’s outer skin and you’ll fly straight to Heaven.’
Chapter 40
Jack walked in his vacuum suit, the sound of his own breathing loud in his ears. Homelands’ metal skin curved away and down to his left and right. Ahead, a great pillar broke out of it and soared up to Heaven. Beyond it there was a hundred million miles of nothing, then the silent, roaring sun. Its shadow protected him from the sun’s blaze. Fist floated next to him. He sported a vacuum suit too – an affectation, as of course he had no need of one. A little black bow-tie sat jauntily just below its visor. It was simpler to model than his normal clothing, so it was fresh and uncharred.
Fist broke the near-silence. [Do you know,] he said, sounding a little surprised, [ I actually enjoyed sorting out the kids.]
Remembering what he’d done to Akhmatov, Jack had asked if the children wanted to be made permanently invisible. They’d all been very excited. Even Fred lifted himself out of his sulk. ‘Do you understand what he’s saying?’ Ato enthused. ‘We’ll be children forever. You can go out again, Fred!’ Fist touched them one by one, dropping his sweathead code into their already customised weaveware. He’d built an on/off switch into it, just for them. Fred tried hard to conceal his excitement. Jack imagined him running through the streets and malls of Homelands, joyously untouchable.
[And now I can’t wait to see Stabs again. Let’s go!]
[ We need to talk to a couple of people first.]
[ Hmph,] grumbled Fist, then: [Going into your weavespace through an external antenna, we’re pretty much untraceable. We could be anywhere in Earth orbit. Right, you’re go.]
They were standing in a moonlit garden, by a statue of Ifor. ‘Get me Lestak,’ Jack commanded.
‘Creating a contact,’ Fist replied. An uncarved stone block appeared next to Ifor’s statue. ‘Searching for her address,’ he continued, then after a moment: ‘Meshing. She’s accepting you.’
Lestak’s avatar emerged from the stone like meaning from a dead language. Jack reached out and took her hard hand. It softened into flesh. She snatched it away and slapped his face. The pain was no less real for being simulated.
‘You’ve caused me far too much trouble, Forster.’
‘I don’t have much time.’
‘None at all – I’m tracing you.’
‘No. Not where I am.’
Lestak was quiet for a moment. Jack imagined her listening to a technician, hastily ordered to find him as she reached to accept his call.
‘Oh, for gods’ sake, Jack.’
‘I’ve seen what lies beneath your world, and now I’ve stepped outside it.’
‘Don’t be so melodramatic.’
‘I’ve met the children of the terrorists.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
Jack laughed. ‘Maybe you don’t, at that.’ He turned to Fist. ‘Encrypt us. And share the code with Lestak.’
‘On it.’ Fist trotted over to stand next to Jack. ‘Is Issie there?’ he asked. ‘I need to run this through her.’
She shimmered into being. A white silk scarf hid her skull head. Wisps of hair escaped its top. ‘Hello, Fist!’ she said. ‘Oo! You’re somewhere really interesting. I wish I could travel like you do. Are we going to play again?’
Fist rattled off a string of numbers and letters.
‘Oh’ she said, sounding disappointed. ‘No, we’re not.’
Lestak’s image shimmered briefly, and then returned to apparent wholeness.
‘No one else can hear us now,’ Jack told her.
‘What are you hoping to achieve?’
‘It’s Kingdom. He’s been running Yamata. She was behind the terrorist attacks on Station. He had me sent to war because I was getting too close to uncovering her. And Yamata – she’s something new now. A human mind, running on a Totality platform.’
‘That’s impossible. No one can …’
‘Kingdom’s done it. That’s what Harry Devlin is, too.’
‘Harry’s dead and his fetch is broken.’
‘He’s still around. Yamata used his knowledge to stay one step ahead of InSec, until he escaped.’
‘You have proof of all this?’
‘No. But I’ll find it. I’m going after Yamata. Harry chased her back to Heaven. That’s where her servers are.’