Crash Deluxe Read Free Page B

has.’ He sighed. ‘People shouldn’t have to live the way they do in this place. And the trouble is, now I can’t go back and forget. The smell, the dirt, the abuses - they won’t go away.’
    I kept my expression neutral. I’d never heard Ibis impassioned about anything before. That was usually my corner of the ring. Where had my flirtatious, frivolous friend gone?
    Alcohol had turned his mood maudlin and I needed to shake him out of it. The Tert was all the things he said and more, but you couldn’t let it get to you - bleed your heart.
    ‘People make choices, Ibis. Most of them wouldn’t change things if they could. Face it - they’re content living on the limits.’
    ‘If you believe that then why are you helping the children?’
    I thought about the ferals. ‘Kids are different. They need to know they can change if they want.’
    ‘I think you’re wrong. Not about the children, but about the rest. I think they all want something better than this.’
    ‘You’re being romantic,’ I argued flatly.
    ‘Better romantic than indifferent,’ Ibis retorted.
    I shifted irritably on the tactile stool. It jigged a bit and muttered a breathy complaint. I thumped on its sensor pad.
    ‘I’m not indifferent. I wish I was,’ I said.
    Instead of any further argument he sighed in resignation. ‘I know.’ He shrugged and downed another shot. ‘You’ll get killed this time, you know.’
    Ibis’s warning, delivered so matter-of-factly, sent an involuntary tremor through my body.
    Two large, silent tears squeezed from his eyes. Pity for me? Or for himself? I didn’t get a chance to ask ’cos he slumped forward onto the bar and fell into a noisy doze.
    I made a cut-throat signal at Larry Hein. No more booze.
    Larry nodded and gave me Ibis’s beer as a chaser.
    I watched Larry smoothing his lacy apron. Underneath it he wore a latex jumpsuit - like he might have a hot date after closing. The idea of Larry even having a libido distracted me momentarily from my gloom that Teece wasn’t keeping his promise. Men were always yanking my chain.
    Take Loyl-me-Daac. When did he ever tell me the truth? I so wanted him but I couldn’t cop the personality disorder that came with the package. He and I were like an old-fashioned coin - two sides of the same creation. Permanently connected but from a different angle.
    He wanted a better world for his chosen few. I wanted a better world for anyone that wanted a better world. Believe it or not, there’s a big difference.
    I hadn’t seen him now for a week or so and I ached for it already.
    Eyes on the road, Parrish.
    I reminded myself that I hated Daac at the moment.
    ‘M-Ms P-Plessis. May I speak with you?’
    Ms Plessis? Teece’s girl, Honey, was sweet and feminine and polite. The sort of girl that guys wanted to crush tenderly to their chest while they put their other hand up her skirt.
    I was jealous about her and Teece, but I cogged it as well. I’d given Teece nothing but grief and aggravation. He ran my business, loved me too well despite my shortcomings. Now he’d found someone who could love him back and who might be alive tomorrow.
    ‘It’s Parrish. And make it quick.’ I fingered the pistol and plucked irritably at the bar mat with my other hand.
    She bit her pretty pink lip and her eyes grew large and nervous.
    Crap . I hated that.
    ‘T-teece said you were looking for a bio-hack. I m-might be able to help.’
    Ah. I glanced over at Teece. He’d had the vreal-gloves on but he wasn’t punching any more.
    I understood what he’d just gifted me. I had to get inside Jinberra and he’d maybe found a way for me - at the risk of involving his new grrl.
    My gaze met his with gratitude. His slid away in pain and guilt.
    ‘Where does this bio-hack live?’
    ‘Inner gyro.’
    Viva . I’d figured Honey for a city grrl. For one thing she kept her fingernails clean.
    She took a deep breath. ‘If I tell you about him . . . they mustn’t find out . . . about me . .