Apr 9

Apr 9 Maelstorm

Maelstorm - book excerpt

Prologue

The woman burst into the room; her bloodshot eyes wide and frantic, “We have to go,” she cried. “Where is she?”

A muscular man rose from a tatty armchair, his face hidden by the darkness, “She's fine, she's asleep.” He took the woman's hand in his own, “Hey, stop! Breathe! Look at me and tell me what's happened.”

Her chest heaved, and her breath came in short, ragged sobs. “He knows, he knows!”

All colour drained from the man’s face, “Are you sure? How can you be sure?”

“I don't have time for this, help me load the van, we need to go now. Please.”

“The van? You can't take that thing, it’s an antique, you won't get ten miles!”

The woman ignored him and emptied a drawer onto the floor before frantically scrabbling around in its contents. Triumphantly holding up an old set of keys, she looked up at the man with tears streaming down her face and fire in her eyes, “You of all people know it's the only way he won't be able to track us, it only has to get us as far as the wall. I've kept it running for years, it'll work I promise. Please, I don’t have time for this, you have to trust me!”

They stared at each other in a long, heavy silence before the man finally spoke. “This is really happening isn't it?”

“Mummy?”

The tension between them evaporated as a small child shuffled into the room, her eyes heavy with sleep and a worn looking stuffed rabbit clutched in her arms. With a guttural sob, the woman scooped up the confused child and pulled her into her chest, stroking her fine blonde hair. “Everything's okay sweetie, I’m sorry we woke you. We're just going on a special adventure is all. Now let's get you bundled up; it'll be a bit chilly when we get there.”

A meaningful glance flew between the adults, as the sleepy little girl smiled up at the man, “Andoo coming?”

A weak smile spread across the man’s face, “Not this time kiddo, now, you be a good girl and go with Mummy to get dressed.” He sighed deeply, “And I'll go and load up the van.”

1: The Constables

A faint scent of burning hung in the night sky, Gideon inhaled deeply, and brilliant flashes of light danced in his vision. Fire ran through his veins; a droning hum rang in his ears and a brutal pain sliced through his head. Around him, the alleyway began to splinter, the wet ground beneath his feet shattered like glass and Gideon Rayne fell for what felt like forever.

“Gideon?” The voice was urgent and comfortingly familiar, it seemed to come from somewhere far above him, fighting to make itself heard over the pulsating droning sound that filled the air. “Come on mate, I've got you.”

Gideon's world began to tumble back into place in a chaotic burst of colour and sound, the sensation reminded him of watching the tiny plastic shapes in a kaleidoscope when he was very little. Eventually, the shapes formed an outline that matched the familiar voice. It was Jakub, who seemed to be trying to drag him upright and jolt him awake at the same time. “Ok Jay, I'm alright, you can let go,” Gideon floundered unsteadily to his feet and brushed his wild mop of errant hair out of his face. As he finished dusted himself down, he realised that the loud droning hum hadn't gone away and that his best friend’s face was draining of all colour as he stared at something further down the damp alleyway. Every hair on Gideon’s neck stood to attention as he slowly turned to follow his friend’s gaze. The droning sound was coming from a Constabulary 'Dragonfly' airborne intervention vehicle as it descended into a hover just metres away from them.

An unusual sight in the Rainbow Zone, the civil enforcement craft seemed to have been specifically designed with intimidation in mind. Shaped like a cross between a manta ray and a bat, the Dragonfly's windows glowed with an intense red light, giving the craft a demonic appearance. Two huge cannons emerged from the front like fangs, whilst active control surfaces rippled and pulsated, making minute adjustments countless times per second. The overall impression was that the craft was some strange, otherworldly biomechanical creature.

“We should go!” hissed Jakub. “We don't want any part in whatever this is.” Gideon stumbled weakly, his legs were still rubbery and refusing to cooperate. Jakub understood, he had seen his friend go through enough fainting episodes to know they were going nowhere just yet. Deciding against running, instead he grabbed Gideon by his backpack and ushered him into the shadows of a nearby doorway, “Stay down!” The pair hunched low, trying to make themselves as small as possible.

A broad beam of light shone down from the Dragonfly, slicing through the night sky, transforming the far end of the alleyway into daylight and revealing a gang of shadowy figures furtively loading bags into the back of a tired looking vehicle.

“Charneys,” whispered Jakub, it was his preferred choice of uncomplimentary words for Factory dwellers. “Looks like they've snuck in from the Factories to rip off that shop. I hope those Constables blast them into a million pieces and then…”

Gideon held a finger to his lips and whispered, “Okay, okay, not now!” It definitely wasn't the moment for one of Jakub's regular rants about charneys and how they ruined things for everyone. It was the correct Kaoteck company opinion, but Gideon knew that his older friend could tend to get a little overly animated when he talked about people from the Factories, especially those he considered to be ‘charneys’, or criminals.

Even in a less affluent area of the Rainbow zone, the gang stood out a mile, their filthy, cobbled together outfits and excessive decorative flourishes marked them as being from the lowest of the industrial classes. They were chancing their luck being in the Rainbow and the sudden arrival of the Constable's Dragonfly had caught them completely off guard sending them into a confused frenzy. One of the charneys attempted to bring some kind of tube-like weapons to bear on the ship, whilst the others fell over themselves in a desperate attempt to keep hurling as many bags as possible into their vehicle.

A door slid open on the side of the Dragonfly and a group of Constables leapt down into the alley, charging straight towards the panicking criminals. Gideon and Jakub's wrist mounted ‘Kaotab’ tablets burst into life, displaying a holographic exclamation mark with the ‘dot’ part replaced by the Kaoteck logo. It was an emotinote that neither of them had seen before, a verbal warning sounded, “Caution,law enforcement detected in close proximity; device camera blocked.” Both men hit the 'silence' key on their Ktabs at the same time, sharing a wide-eyed glance as they turned their attention back to the drama unfolding around them.

The Constable's craft had aimed its massive chin guns at the charney's vehicle, prompting the driver to surrender and kneel in the street with his arms raised above his head. Two of the other charneys were attempting to fight back against the officers, but it wasn’t going well for them. Gideon noticed that the Constables weren’t wearing the typical Kaoteck Constabulary uniforms, but were clad in unusual, bulky suits of armour. ‘Maybe this group of criminals are particularly dangerous,’ he wondered, ‘these guys don’t seem like regular Constabulary to me.’

One of the Constables raised an arm, there was a brief flash of golden light and both of his assailants collapsed to the ground. Seeing the fate of his accomplices, the remaining charney turned and fled down the street, straight towards the shadowy doorway concealing Gideon and Jakub.

Another armoured figure leapt from the open door of the Dragonfly, gracefully arcing into a tumbling roll. There was another flash of golden light and a thin cable shot from the airborne Constable’s armour, neatly intercepting the running charney. Its spiked tip made brutal contact, yanking the man backwards and spinning him around causing him to faceplant straight into the concrete just inches away from Gideon and Jakub. He lay there, groaning in pain and heaving and coughing through yellowed teeth as he clawed at the tip of the cable emerging from his shoulder. His eyes widened in confusion as the cable shimmered with golden light once more and vanished into thin air. A ribbon of crimson ran from the open wound, and the man passed out, his face smacking back down into the damp ground. The two friends stared in horror, ‘He’s only about my age,’ thought Gideon. ‘Eighteen or nineteen perhaps, no more than twenty at the most.’

One of the armoured Constables unceremoniously dragged the unconscious charney away by his hair.

“You two can come out now,” said a woman’s voice.

The Constable who had just speared the man loomed over them, making for an impressive sight in her matte black and white armour. A glowing blue visor hid her eyes, and a filtered grille covered the lower half of her face. Overlapping plates formed most of her body protection, they reminded Gideon of a picture he had seen of something called a ‘mollusc-shell’. Each of the armour plates had an unusual port that he thought looked like some kind of socket for additional equipment. The armoured suit’s most dominant feature was an integrated, vented backpack stencilled with 'MORI: 1207'. The pack seemed to have a life of its own, an otherworldly golden glow emanated from deep within the vents and pulsed through the armour in delicate patterns, almost like veins and capillaries.

“It's late, where are you going?” she demanded. Panic overwhelmed Gideon and he froze, he knew the officer would probably be studying their details and ‘Community Points’, or ‘CP’, in her helmet display. Not to mention analysing their responses and biometrics for any indication of deceit.

“We're heading to the Chain Club,” Jakub blurted out. “My young friend here has just graduated from StatEd, so we're celebrating. — In fact, he’s hoping to join the Constables on selection day, just like you officer, erm…Mori is it? You never know, you guys could be work friends soon! I love your armour by the way, are all the Constables going to start wearing that now, or are you guys like…special?”

Before the Constable could reply, the Dragonfly dipped its nose and swung towards them. Without any further comment, the armoured figure turned on her heels and strode away. For a fleeting moment the golden light pulsing through her suit intensified as she leapt back into the hovering craft. The door slid shut and the Constables vanished into the night as quickly as they had appeared.

With the Dragonfly gone, Jakub placed a gentle hand on Gideon’s shoulder, “Okay, so that’s more than enough drama for one night. I reckon we should get you back to the home fella.”

Gideon nodded his agreement with a weak smile, “Yeah, I reckon you might be right there, sorry mate.”

2: Gideon Rayne

The two young men wandered together through the darkened streets of the Rainbow zone, each lost in their own thoughts, until finally Gideon spoke up, “Seems to be happening a lot more lately don't you think?”

“Charneys coming into the Rainbow you mean?” replied Jakub. “I'd say so yes. I mean, it seems like there's a new robbery or incident of some kind every other week.”

Gideon studied the fresh scratches on the back of his hands as they walked, every time he fainted it seems that he managed to pick up a few new scars. “I can’t believe you said, ‘I love your armour,’ that was hilarious! It was cool armour though to be fair!”

Jakub nodded emphatically, “Yeah, I may have been babbling a bit if I’m honest. But in my defence, that suit was straight up awesome, trust Kaoteck to create something like that. I literally can't think of anything more awesome than backpacks that make guns and grappling hooks that can appear and disappear!”

“I can,” chuckled Gideon. “Flying backpacks that make guns and grappling hooks appear out of thin air!” The two young men shared a moment of laughter together until Gideon asked, “Do you think I'll make it…into the Constabulary I mean?”

Jakub took his young friend by the shoulder and fixed him with a serious look. “Hey, seriously mate, you've done all you can,” — he began listing off on his fingers — “you've posted dozens of holo-feeds on the importance of law, you've stayed out of trouble — to the point of being a massive nerd I might add. You’ve made sure your biometrics stayed healthy, you’ve filled in all the forms early, you’ve proved you believe in building a better future over and over, need I go on?” Gideon shrugged, feigning modesty, but Jakub wasn't relenting just yet. “Mate, if the watchers haven't worked out that you're a great candidate by now, then I don't know who would be. — Unless you have any weird private habits I don't know about?”

Gideon stared up into the night sky, he knew his friend was right. For his whole life he'd thought of nothing else but getting into Kaoteck Industries and being selected for the Constabulary. It felt as though his every waking moment had been dedicated to being ready when the opportunity for selection came around. He'd sacrificed having much of a social life and graduated with top marks from StatEd, so he wasn't worried about that. But his stomach was still churning with nerves. It was the fainting that bothered him, his doctor had never found a reason, but if Kaoteck caught sight of something untoward on his bios then he stood no chance of ever making it into the Constabulary.

Jakub snapped him out of his reverie with a friendly punch to the arm, “Wakey wakey fella, go get some sleep, there's only twenty-four hours until selection.”

Gideon shot him a knowing look, “I've got to survive getting back inside first. If Miss Burnett catches me, I'll probably be locked in the laundry room till I'm fifty anyway!”

“At least fifty,” chuckled Jakub. “I'd have to sneak you in crumbs when I was in there fixing the machines — which to be fair would be most days anyway!”

“Well, I'm glad you're still around,” Gideon replied with a smile, staring up at the ugly old square building they'd stopped outside. Over the door, a flickering holo-sign read 'Kaoteck Industries home for Children of The Rainbow.' “It hasn't been the same since you moved out.”

“Aw, sorry for getting old, but I do only live like five minutes away…and I do like my job.” joked Jakub, as he ran his hands through his short spiky hair, which was something Gideon noticed his friend always did when he thought he'd come up with a brilliant joke. “And besides,” he continued, adopting his best ‘dead-pan’ expression. “If you think about it, you could say that as general employee, handyman and helper out at a Kaoteck owned facility, technically I actually work for Aloysius Kroll himself, y'know…technically!”

With a weary sigh, Gideon gave his friend a wink and climbed the steps to the front door, pointing his face towards the entry scanner. “Yeah,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “You keep telling yourself that mate! See you tomorrow.”

Jakub started off down the street, calling back in a cheery sing song way, “Look on the bright side, it’s your last twenty-four hours under the rule of Burnett! The Constables are gonna feel like a holiday by comparison!” With his friend's parting jibe ringing in his ears, Gideon turned back to the scanner again, only to find the door already open and Miss Burnett, the head of house standing in the portal of light.

A striking looking woman in her early fifties, Miss Burnett’s usually immaculate hair was tousled and loose, rather than piled up on top of her head in her customary fashion. Instead of her usual prim, tightly fitted jacket and skirt combo, she was swaddled in a thick dressing robe. Gideon cursed his bad timing; she'd clearly been on her way to bed when he’d arrived. Miss Burnett was obviously unimpressed; her hands were turning white where they were fixed firmly to her hips and she was making the strange 'clucking' sound with her tongue he had come to recognise as a precursor to a serious telling off. Gideon winced and braced himself for the both barrels he knew would be coming. He was convinced that Miss Burnett's razor-sharp voice, with its thick Rainbow Zone accent, could cut a man in half at fifty feet.

“Mr Rayne,” she snapped. “Now that you and Mr Bakula have stopped yelling at each other down the street, would you care to explain why you are out so late this close to selection day?”

Gideon's mouth opened and closed like a suffocating fish, he didn't actually have an answer, at least, not a satisfactory one. Jakub had suggested going for a quiet drink, which had turned into staying out and going to the Chain Club and he'd just sort of…followed. Trying his hardest not to stammer, he started with “Well, Jakub and I…” Her stare stopped him in his tracks. He tried again, “Well, you see, these charneys came, and the Constables arrived, and…” She looked very unhappy, his voice trailed out, “…No?” He stopped again. Her glacially cold eyes unwaveringly fixed onto his, almost seeming to bore into his soul. Gideon started to wonder if he was lying, even though he knew was telling the truth. Miss Burnett cocked her head to one side as though studying some unusual curiosity, Gideon thought it made her look like an inquisitive peacock.

“Mr Rayne, you may be coming to the end of your time here at 'The Children of the Rainbow', but as long as you remain under my roof, you shall abide by my rules, am I making myself perfectly clear?”

“Yes Miss Burnett,” he mumbled, hoping that would be the end of it.

“Good, and I shall have words with Mr Bakula tomorrow about leading the house-members astray.” Her face suddenly softened, and her eyes filled with warmth. “Now come inside, have a hot chocolate and tell me all about these Constables of yours! I can't believe this is probably the last time I'll ever get to chase around after you and Jakub after all these years,” she stopped suddenly, unable to finish. Her eyes glistened and her voice was thick with emotion when she spoke, “I don't know what he's going to do without you, you know. Or me for that matter.”

Gideon smiled up at the woman who'd raised him since childhood. He could still remember the day he'd been brought to the home, shortly after his whole world had collapsed in an instant when his parents had died suddenly in an accident. Thankfully, they had both worked for Kaoteck Industries helping to rebuild the country, which meant he’d been entitled to a place in the home under the care of Miss Burnett. Otherwise he would've been shipped off to the Factories to fend for himself. On his very first day, an older boy called Jakub had taken him under his wing and they'd been the best of friends ever since. Over the years other children had come and gone, but Miss Burnett and Jakub had been his only constants. Not seeing them both every day meant that his life would never be the same again.

3: Selection Day

Gideon rose early on selection day; sleep had mostly evaded him anyway. With a yawn, he reached across to his bedside table and grabbed his tatty old Kaotab, the ageing wrist mounted device acted as his communicator, computer, streaming device and a million other things combined into one. It was hardly the best or latest model, far from it in fact, but it was all he had been able to scrape together enough to buy. The Ktab’s bio-hack link disk embedded in his wrist had cost almost a year’s CP on its own, he’d bought that part first, so that when he had eventually been able to afford the tablet, he had been able to use it straight away. Now that he was permanently connected to the New Britain network, it allowed him to share his life on 'The Home Feed’, where people documented their every moment, thought and desire. Kaoteck Industries monitored the feed for likely candidates to join their organisation. If a person wanted to be selected for a career with Kaoteck, they needed to impress the watchers and the algorithms that kept track of their every move and decision, from their heart rate to their choice of toothbrush.

Peering through sleep-heavy eyes, he used the device to activate the cameras in the walls of his room and started streaming himself live to his feed followers. He posted a status update and large 'cheery face' emotinote leapt into the air above his Ktab's screen, accompanied by the message 'Sorry no sleepcam…big night! Awake and ready for selection day!' Vaulting out of bed and pattering off to the sink, he felt pleased to see his vital 'CP' or 'Community Points' had jumped up quite a bit from the night before, it meant his followers were anticipating his big day. Community Points granted people access to life's essentials, such as the right to apply for better jobs, housing permits, travel permits and more, you could even cash them in for Kaoteck products, even the discounted reclaimed ones taken from dead people or unlucky folk who had been forced to hand theirs over for misuse.

The advertising screen embedded in Gideon’s mirror burst into life upon his approach, reminding him that he could still boost his CP by purchasing Kaoteck products, he waved the advert away and navigated to his Kaoteck Industries application portal. The selection deadline countdown timer that had occupied his every waking moment for as long as he could remember read '0003:00'. In three hours he would find out if he'd been selected to board the famous ‘Train to the future’ that connected the Factory and Rainbow zones to the Kaoteck headquarters, beyond the wall down in the flooded south.

Browsing through his suitability profile one more time, he noted a slight deficit in his martial arts and self-assertiveness tabs, both prerequisites for anyone hoping to make it into the Constabulary. It was too late to do much about being assertive, so he decided to spend his last morning in the home streaming himself practising his fighting skills.