The Trouble With Heroes.... Read Free

and
expressed terror, but she'd screamed only once, at the point of
death. The oblivious sys-suit had kept on recording even when the
person inside had become a pile of ash, but it had registered as
little after the event as before.
    Hostile Amorphic Native Entity.
    Jenny could imagine how often that data disk
had been viewed and reviewed, but in the end Gaia had been approved
for settlement. There'd been no further incidents, and in all other
respects it was the best EPP -- Earth Potential Planet -- ever
found.
    Climate, air and water needed little
amendment, and it was rich in rare earths to provide economic
security. It had even been strangely free of anything close to a
sentient species that might complicate ownership. It had no large
native species at all.
    That still puzzled the scientists, but it had
made Gaia perfect.
    Yes, Gaia was perfect, but when they returned
to the space and bustle of High Wall Street, Jenny sucked in a deep
breath. She’d not thought she was claustrophobic.
    “ Does anyone smell anything funny?” she
asked.
    “ Just the chip shop fat,” Gyrth said.
“Look, there’s Dan.”
    Jenny turned, suddenly breathing more easily.
Dan, and looking normal. Not worried at all. Everything must be all
right.
    He was in his fixer uniform of brown shirt
and trousers, with assorted badges and braid of significance to
those who understood, but there was nothing special about his
looks.
    He was in his fixer uniform of brown shirt
and trousers, with assorted badges and braid of significance to
those who understood, but there was nothing special about his
looks. They’d been alike all their lives. Average build, average
height. Brown hair and blue eyes in an average face.
    But not anymore.
    Since he’d returned, something drew people to
him like flies to jam. A fizz in the air, a brighter light, an
energy that meant there was never a dull time when Dan was part of
a group.
    Jenny could feel the fizz now, even though he
seemed relaxed, as if this were just another evening in Anglia.
    Work over.
    Time to play.
    "I wondered where everyone was. Poking around
down cracks between buildings?"
    "Peering out through arrow slits," Jenny
said, hooking arms with him as they all turned to do down the
circular staircase to ground level. "And re-analyzing Monty Python.
Polly, tell Dan about the monty stuff."
    That kept things light and away from
blighters for a while. Now, with Dan by her side and showing no
sign of concern, Jenny wanted to forget about it all.
    But it wasn't so easy. Despite the chatter
and laughter that something grated on her like an off note in
music. When she and Dan ended up together behind the others, she
had to ask. "Are there really more blighter attacks near the
equator?"
    His look was quick, and perhaps guarded.
"Yes, but don't worry. It's all under control."
    Leave it. Leave it. But she couldn't. "Then
why are people pouring north?"
    She thought he wasn't going to answer, but he
pulled a face. "You'll hear it on the news soon. Central has
recommended that everyone in the affected areas leave until the
hellbanes are stamped out. After all, one person ashed is one too
many."
    He declared it as a trite motto, but Assam
caught it and turned back. "Damn right. But the problem won't reach
here, will it? Polly can't travel now."
    Polly and Gyrth stopped to listen as well.
Perhaps they weren't as unconcerned as they looked.
    "Blighters have always been more active near
the equator," Dan pointed out. "That's why Hellbane U is there,
which means there are plenty of fixers on the spot, including the
most skilled and experienced. They’ll deal with it."
    Jenny relaxed, and Polly said she was too
tired to walk and wanted to take a tram and Gyrth went with
them.
    Jenny and Dan strolled along in comfortable
silence for a while, but she had questions, and this seemed the
time to ask them. "Fixers can feel blighters, can't they? That's
how you hunt them."
    "I wouldn't exactly call it hunting. Just
stand around