Ash Read Free

his face, and the beginnings of a beard shadowed his jaw. It struck me as odd. The PAE had strict codes. Cropped hair, clean shaven. Maybe he had been on special assignment.
    “Are you alright?” I asked.
    He smiled back. “I’m just fine. A little embarrassed, I guess. The Keeper was telling me I interrupted a destiny in progress. I somehow missed the signs. A lot on my mind. What with the loop championship today.” He laughed a loud, booming laugh. “Speaking of which, I should really get moving. I’m supposed to be meeting some friends to head over to the stadium together.”
    There was something about his speech that sounded forced and I paused, looking at him harder. “How long have you been driving for the PAE?” I asked.
    “Not too long,” he said. “Just a few months.”
    I was probably being paranoid, but I asked another question to make sure. “Is Robin still managing the office over there?”
    “You know it,” the man said, shaking his head and smiling.
    “How’s he doing?” I asked, my body tensing.
    “He’s as good as ever.”
    A wave of nervous energy pulsed through me. “Robin’s a woman,” I said. “And she retired last month.” I wasn’t paranoid. I was right. This man wasn’t who he said he was.
    His loud laugh boomed from the van again. “I’m just a little mixed up from the crash.”
    A bead of sweat trickled down his temple, and he reached up to wipe it off, displaying the band that circled his left wrist. Only I could see that it was a retired model. The shape of this man’s tracker was a perfect square, rather that the rounded corners that had been part of the last hardware update. I stepped back from the van.
    “He’s not wearing a proper tracker,” I told the Keeper. “He’s not PAE. He’s probably not even a Purple.”
    The Keeper snapped to attention, immediately pulling his stun stick from his belt. The small wand crackled to life. “Miss Sumner, please return to the lawn. Sir, step out of the vehicle. Slowly.”
    I did as instructed, but the driver didn’t. He shot out of the van and went straight for the Keeper’s throat. But he only ended up with a blow to the side of the head for his efforts. The Keeper had been ready with his stun stick. He quickly cuffed the man, while his broader partner opened the back of the van. He glanced inside and immediately slammed the doors shut. I couldn’t get a look, but it had to be something important, because he promptly tapped a message into his tracker. Moments later two additional PAE vehicles screeched into the scene. A woman stepped out of the first, got into the wrecked van, and drove off.
    The suspect was then hauled into the second car. He looked right at me, and a strange smile played over his lips. I shuddered at the attention. I was glad to see him driven away.
    Around me, the student body buzzed with nervous energy as they tried to understand what had happened. I was just as curious. The two Keepers who had served as Laira’s monitors remained behind. They rejoined our group when the vehicles were out of sight.
    “What’s going on?” I asked.
    “You were right, that man was an imposter,” the taller one said, his face expressionless. “He’s being taken to the holding cells for questioning.”
    I was overwhelmed but did my best to hide it. Destiny enforcement had virtually wiped out crime for decades. It was hard to imagine anyone stepping out of line in this day and age. Sure there were the occasional purple collar offenses—financial scams, gambling, that sort of thing. But there was nothing violent. Nothing that put anyone’s life at risk. And nothing that a large fine and tighter monitoring wouldn’t put a stop to.
    “It’s nothing to worry about. We’ve got it under control,” the Keeper continued. “You have a good eye, Ms. Sumner. Thank you for your help today.”
    “Way to go, Madden!” Lavendar yelled, then began to clap. Portia joined her and a moment later the applause spread