Below is Chapter 1 of the upcoming Pale Grey Dot. For Chapters 2 and 3, check out the downloadable PDF.
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Chapter One
Jenna woke to the sound of arguing, audible even over the rain. Up above, water poured out of the gutters that ran down the sides of the housing complexes. Her internal chronometer showed 5:08 a.m., and the lights in the nearby buildings were still dimmed. Jenna’s eyes settled on the man and woman.
They were now screaming at each other. She stole his ration chip, he said. He was a stain who couldn’t tell a chip from his ass, she said. The man wore a tattered grey longcoat that blended in with the walls of the surrounding buildings. His breather was little more than scratched glass and cracked rubber. The woman had no breather at all, and her strained screeching was interrupted by a fit of hacking coughs. Her sagging skin and sunken eyes spoke of bad anti-ageing procedures long since abandoned. Her mouth had more gaps than teeth.
There were at least fifteen others huddled together in the laneway. Most were sprawled across the ground, sleeping under makeshift blankets, or propped up against one of the old shipping crates used for food distribution. Neither the screaming nor the rain woke them. Jenna had already marked and identified each one the night before. Even those with some fight in them knew better than to get in her way.
Jenna’s joints ached as she climbed to her feet, turning away from the fight. Her fellow displaced were unstable after so many years of scavenging for survival, but at least they were predictable. Her drenched black hair obscured her vision as she stumbled out of the alley towards the street. Traffic was quiet, the curbs lined with auto-taxis waiting patiently for commuters.
The signs over each cab existed in the physical world as well as virtually for those with cybernetically enhanced eyes. Thirteen minutes from downtown to the Bronx Port! Only twenty dollars!
The sound of the argument faded as Jenna walked. The homeless fight for petty reasons, she thought. Every alley on the street was filled with this sort of nonsense. She took stock of her surroundings. Despite the hour and the downpour, a few brave, umbrella-wielding pedestrians strode past her. The rain had chased away most of the smog this morning, allowing citizens a chance to go without their breather masks. One man in a business suit and jacket took several steps to avoid being too close to her, wrinkling his nose in the process.
Time to see about stealing a fresh set of clothes, apparently. When the dredges started actively avoiding her, it meant they noticed her. Her stomach growled, but food was also something to worry about later—for now, she had to focus on her mission.
Up above, the glowing red light of a security checkpoint cut through the brown fog. The metal arch stretched from one side of the street, up and over to the other. It flashed its acknowledgement as each citizen passed underneath. Drones, no doubt managed by some cyborg in a darkened control room a continent away, watched her every move. A few hovered, fans beating against the rain, while others used their spidery legs to cling to the side of the arch. Old training helped Jenna keep her breathing and heart rate steady while her proxy identification program supplied a false name as she strode underneath. The arch flashed green, placated.
On the other side, Jenna backed into the nearest alley and rolled up her left sleeve, revealing ports and circuitry along a tarnished metal arm. She remembered how happy she’d been when she first received the cybernetic limb. Such idiocy. Digging into a soaked pocket, she drew out a small, gleaming data decrypter. Twisting it around, she braced herself before inserting it into one of her ports.
The instant she connected with SecLink, mixed in with the flood of information, came the Pull. For a moment, she wanted nothing more than to call the Earth Security Service and surrender. You blame Her, but you know it was your fault. Make Her happy. Make yourself happy. ESS is your friend. They will help you. You know She only wants what’s best for you.
“Piss off,” she hissed out loud, though no one else heard her. Searing jolts of pain shot through her head the longer she resisted.
Fighting the desire to give up, she found what she was looking for. A map of Toronto filled her vision. A bright red mark appeared several streets over. Jenna pulled in every detail of the area. Every building, every car, every checkpoint, and every person was processed.
Disconnecting as fast as she could, Jenna breathed a sigh of relief. Any longer and her intrusion might have been detected. Worse, she might have fallen sway to the need to return to ESS’s loving embrace. It’d taken years to design and build the decrypter. She almost thought it wasn’t going to work. Might never work again if they guess you have access.
Shoving it back into her pocket, Jenna crossed the street, looking for her target. She hadn’t been able to grab his full dossier, but what she had should be enough. Marcus Secor. ESS agent for one hundred and three years. Raised to operative status fifty-four years ago. Known to be stable and reliable. Expert in electronic interference, hijacking, and seduction. Combat training wasn’t listed, but that always went without saying. Assigned to support the GreyCorp infiltration effort at the Jupiter locale. Though he’d become an operative during the end of the Athena Project years, Jenna didn’t know him personally. As she passed by the slowly opening stores, she wondered if he would know anything about the program. Just what are they telling them about the Athena Six these days?
The streets were slick, and the puddles cast reflections of the stratoscrapers above. None were taller than the Tower. The Earth Security Service’s headquarters was as ugly as it was threatening. Asymmetrical and covered in armoured black plating, it was the centre of the web ESS cast across the entire solar system.
Though the sun wasn’t strong enough to pierce the thick brown clouds, the city brightened as natural light usurped the artificial. More cars pulled away from the curb. There would be witnesses. Across the street, Jenna saw her target.
To anyone else, Marcus looked like a random pedestrian going about his business. He wore a black raincoat over a suit and carried a briefcase in his hand—real or a prop, Jenna couldn’t tell. Even from here, she could make out his youthful features. She knew from his dossier that Marcus was well over a hundred, but he didn’t look a day older than forty. He isn’t innocent, Jenna reminded herself. He’s the enemy.
Though Marcus looked as distracted as anyone else, Jenna knew better. Awareness training was the first thing every agent learned. Register every living being in sight, within earshot, and local electronic assets. Catalogue each for potential threats. Look for incongruences. Register any potential weapon, engineered or makeshift. Keep at least three escape routes available at all times. Assess the viability of any potential sources of cover.
Dressed in her ragged coat that was ill-equipped to deal with the rain, Jenna played the part of a shuffling displaced woman while watching Marcus from the corner of her eye. She had no idea what his cybernetic enhancements consisted of, how diligent he was in his training, or where he was heading.
Jenna stopped at the corner opposite from Marcus, pretending to wait for the light. She knew this would require perfect timing. Slowly putting her hands into her pockets, she gripped the signal disruptor tightly with one and her pistol with the other. Taking a deep breath, she squeezed the disruptor, and all hell broke loose.
Every wireless device was struck by static. Every eye ESS had in the area was blinded. Marcus and Jenna both reacted instantly. Pulling her energy projector pistol, she squeezed the trigger as Marcus hit the ground. Deep scorch marks spread across the corner of the building behind him.
There was chaos as pedestrians fled from the gunshots. Displaced, in the hidden safety of their alleys, huddled together in an attempt to go unnoticed. Transports, from the small auto-taxis to the larger commuter buses, slowed to a halt as their connection to the traffic controller was severed.
Jenna fired another shot as the enemy operative dove to the side. She cursed herself—had her internal cybernetics not degraded so much during the past fifty-odd years, this would have already been over. Her only hope was that Marcus was thrown off balance by the sudden disruption to SecLink.
He tossed his briefcase away as he rolled to a kneeling position. Jenna could see his face clearly now. He had the stoic expression of a man who wasn’t surprised at being ambushed. Raising his hand towards Jenna, his palm glowed as he charged an energy blast before her third shot struck him square in the torso. Falling backwards, Marcus hit the wet pavement, convulsing.
People were emerging from their vehicles. Someone from the crowd shouted at her, barely audible over the rain. Jenna raced across the street, kneeling before the downed operative. He was still alive. Good—his systems would start shutting down the instant he died.
Working fast, she pulled up Marcus’s sleeve and began removing the data drives from his arm. Where her cybernetics had the roughness of tactical-grade equipment marred by decades of neglect, his were subtle, designed with a smooth sleekness to simulate civilian implants.
“Jenna …”
She froze.
Marcus twitched as he reached up with his free hand, feebly grasping at her shoulder. His eyes were unfocused, and his breathing had turned ragged. “You don’t need to keep running. You can always go back.”
Jenna removed the next drive and shoved it into her pocket. She met Marcus’s eyes, cursing herself for lingering. Her disruptor wouldn’t last much longer, and the instant the ESS had access to their network of cameras and sensors again, she’d be lost.
“You know She will forgive you … She loves you …” Marcus murmured.
“Shut up,” she whispered. Jenna drew out a med-stim syringe and rested the tip against his chest. To save him, she knew she’d have to press down hard to break through the thin-weave armour beneath his suit. No! Don’t be stupid. If he lives, She will find you.
Jenna swallowed hard. You’re wasting time, she thought. It’s you or him. “I’m doing you a favour,” she muttered. Jenna withdrew the syringe and shoved it into her pocket, unused. Marcus’s grip loosened and his breathing faded.
She wrenched out his last data drive. There would be witnesses. All the technological gadgetry in the solar system couldn’t stand up against human eyes. Helicraft sirens sounded in the distance. A full lockdown of the sector would soon follow.
With no way to tell how long it would be before ESS’s electronic eyes and ears returned, Jenna fled.
