you’re going nowhere! I’m making
something of myself, Ko.” She advanced and prodded him in the chest.
“I’m ready to do whatever I have to. You? You’ve got nothing but a bunch
of half-assed principles and a downward spiral.”
He tried to frame a reply but nothing came.
“I’m not ending up like…” Nikita stumbled over the words. “I’m not
going to stay here for the rest of my life. I’ve
got goals
.” She threw
the money at him and he caught it.
“You lie with pigs, you become dirty,” Ko said in a low voice. “Your
boyfriends at the Dot, it’s their kind that is screwing us all, not just
you and me, the whole damn planet! You want to be part of that?”
She snatched up her bag and drew a silver card from within. “I
am
part
of it, Ko. I’m connected.”
“What the hell is that?”
Nikita waved the smartcard in the air. Ko recognised the design as a
single use corporate security pass. When he was younger, he’d often
picked them from the pockets of drunk salarymen in the bar district. “I
wasn’t going to tell you because I know you’d blow your stack, but what
the hell, you’d find out eventually.” She leaned in. “I’m moving up, Ko.
I’ve got a patron.”
He swore explosively and grabbed at her, snatching the strap on her bag.
Nikita kept hold of the other end and an angry tug-of-war ensued. “I’m
not letting you go uptown! I forbid it!”
“You what?” she sneered. “You can’t order me around, Ko. I’m the eldest,
I do what I want to!”
“You stupid bitch—” The bag strap tore and the contents scattered on the
floor.
Nikita dropped to her knees, gathering up the stuff. Something plastic
flashed in her grip, a disc of bubble-packed capsules. Ko’s hand shot
out and he grabbed her wrist. He had height and weight over his sister,
and she squealed as he turned her arm the wrong way. “Stop it!”
Ko tore the packet from her hand. There were nine bubbles, three of
which had been emptied. The other six contained ice-blue pills made of
clear gelatine. They glistened in the sunlight, and the letters Z3N were
clearly visible on them. The packet bore no manufacturer’s markings.
“Give those back!”
Ko crushed the pack in his fist and turned a furious glare on his
sister. “You stupid, stupid bitch! Did he give them to you? That bald
bastard, was it him?”
“No—”
“I’ll fucking kill him. I’ll find that wageslave and run the fucker
down.”
“Those are mine.” Nikita shouted at him, and the words hit like a shock
of cold water.
“What?” Ko’s rage disintegrated.
“They’re mine, you idiot!” His sister pushed away from him; anger and
despair, frustration and regret framed her pretty face. “You are so
naive, Ko.”
The blue fluid seeped around his fingers from the cracked capsules.
Where it touched his skin, it tingled. Ko threw the packet into the
burner and ran his hands under the sink in the bathroom.
While he was there, he heard the front door slam, loud like a gunshot.
Tze advanced across the room and enveloped Frankie’s hand in his. Rough
skin, hard like old leather crossed the younger man’s pale office-worker
fingers. Tze leaned into him, and Frankie felt profoundly naked beneath
the man’s flinty gaze. The CEO of Yuk Lung had hard amber eyes set deep
in a face tanned by exposure. Tze wasn’t as tall as Frankie had been
expecting, but the man was thickset and broad across the chest. He
looked more like a wrestler than a corporate executive, and it wasn’t
hard to imagine him as the Mongol warrior some compared him too. Frankie
imagined Tze in horsehide and armour and knew he’d be as comfortable
with it as he was here and now in his spidersilk Tommy Nutter original.
“Alan was a good man,” he rumbled. “He had vision and character. He will
be missed.”
Frankie swallowed. “I… Please, sir, I haven’t yet been given the
details of what happened…”
Tze threw Alice a look and she gave a shallow nod. “A
something of myself, Ko.” She advanced and prodded him in the chest.
“I’m ready to do whatever I have to. You? You’ve got nothing but a bunch
of half-assed principles and a downward spiral.”
He tried to frame a reply but nothing came.
“I’m not ending up like…” Nikita stumbled over the words. “I’m not
going to stay here for the rest of my life. I’ve
got goals
.” She threw
the money at him and he caught it.
“You lie with pigs, you become dirty,” Ko said in a low voice. “Your
boyfriends at the Dot, it’s their kind that is screwing us all, not just
you and me, the whole damn planet! You want to be part of that?”
She snatched up her bag and drew a silver card from within. “I
am
part
of it, Ko. I’m connected.”
“What the hell is that?”
Nikita waved the smartcard in the air. Ko recognised the design as a
single use corporate security pass. When he was younger, he’d often
picked them from the pockets of drunk salarymen in the bar district. “I
wasn’t going to tell you because I know you’d blow your stack, but what
the hell, you’d find out eventually.” She leaned in. “I’m moving up, Ko.
I’ve got a patron.”
He swore explosively and grabbed at her, snatching the strap on her bag.
Nikita kept hold of the other end and an angry tug-of-war ensued. “I’m
not letting you go uptown! I forbid it!”
“You what?” she sneered. “You can’t order me around, Ko. I’m the eldest,
I do what I want to!”
“You stupid bitch—” The bag strap tore and the contents scattered on the
floor.
Nikita dropped to her knees, gathering up the stuff. Something plastic
flashed in her grip, a disc of bubble-packed capsules. Ko’s hand shot
out and he grabbed her wrist. He had height and weight over his sister,
and she squealed as he turned her arm the wrong way. “Stop it!”
Ko tore the packet from her hand. There were nine bubbles, three of
which had been emptied. The other six contained ice-blue pills made of
clear gelatine. They glistened in the sunlight, and the letters Z3N were
clearly visible on them. The packet bore no manufacturer’s markings.
“Give those back!”
Ko crushed the pack in his fist and turned a furious glare on his
sister. “You stupid, stupid bitch! Did he give them to you? That bald
bastard, was it him?”
“No—”
“I’ll fucking kill him. I’ll find that wageslave and run the fucker
down.”
“Those are mine.” Nikita shouted at him, and the words hit like a shock
of cold water.
“What?” Ko’s rage disintegrated.
“They’re mine, you idiot!” His sister pushed away from him; anger and
despair, frustration and regret framed her pretty face. “You are so
naive, Ko.”
The blue fluid seeped around his fingers from the cracked capsules.
Where it touched his skin, it tingled. Ko threw the packet into the
burner and ran his hands under the sink in the bathroom.
While he was there, he heard the front door slam, loud like a gunshot.
Tze advanced across the room and enveloped Frankie’s hand in his. Rough
skin, hard like old leather crossed the younger man’s pale office-worker
fingers. Tze leaned into him, and Frankie felt profoundly naked beneath
the man’s flinty gaze. The CEO of Yuk Lung had hard amber eyes set deep
in a face tanned by exposure. Tze wasn’t as tall as Frankie had been
expecting, but the man was thickset and broad across the chest. He
looked more like a wrestler than a corporate executive, and it wasn’t
hard to imagine him as the Mongol warrior some compared him too. Frankie
imagined Tze in horsehide and armour and knew he’d be as comfortable
with it as he was here and now in his spidersilk Tommy Nutter original.
“Alan was a good man,” he rumbled. “He had vision and character. He will
be missed.”
Frankie swallowed. “I… Please, sir, I haven’t yet been given the
details of what happened…”
Tze threw Alice a look and she gave a shallow nod. “A
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