Time Was Read Free Page B

since Radiant first gripped the fence.
    Seven seconds.
    It should have only taken five.
    Sloppy , he thought.
    And there were no excuses for that.
    None.
    Dammit!
    Overhead, a triple-bladed HeliCam swept down toward them, its bright red tracking beam hitting Radiant squarely on the forehead.
    â€œSneaky, aren’t they?” she said. Lifting her index finger, shemade a circling motion, and the toy-sized robotic airborne security unit did several loop-de-loops before she sent it on its confused way with a dismissive wave.
    â€œWill you please not do that again?” hissed Psy–4.
    â€œI can’t help it. It’s fun! ” When this didn’t get a reaction, she sighed and said, “You have got to work on your sense of humor, Psy–4.”
    â€œWe’ll discuss my dreadful personality problems later. C’mon.”
    â€œI thought this was going to be difficult.”
    â€œStop whining.”
    â€œOh, all right. ”
    â€œAnd tuck in your hair.”
    â€œAw, come on! Do you know how long it’s going to take me to get the kinks out after this? I swear, Psy–4, if you knew what it was like to have to—oh, don’t glare at me like that. I’ll be a good girl.”
    She began tucking the loose strands of her hair back under her cap as they moved toward the target area. . . .

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    The child gasped (or so he thought/hoped).
    Time was he could have told the difference.
    Someone’s coming, he thought to himself.
    He wanted to hope it was true, but would not let himself.
    In this darkness, Hope was his enemy.
    Time was, it used to be his brother — no, more like his older sister. Yes, he imagined it used to be his older sister, always looking out for him, cheering him up when he felt down.
    But she had turned on him.
    Even his own sister wouldn’t tell him what he had done that was so bad.

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    Preston hit another hidden button and two large speakers lowered from the ceiling above the monitors; both hissed, but not from any electronic malfunction in their circuitry: The hiss was the sound of silence.
    Zac Robillard turned to watch the speakers descend into place, and Preston used the opportunity to pull two small white pills from his pocket, pop them into his mouth, and take a quick drink of water from the glass sitting on his desk.
    Robillard saw none of this, and Preston was quite pleased about that.
    He’d kept it a secret for a long time, and the last thing he wanted was for Robillard, of all people, to ask him if he was feeling all right.
    â€œThose speakers,” said Preston, “are hooked into an audio tracking system that runs throughout this building. What you’re hearing right now—let me turn the volume down a bit—there, that’s better. Where was I?”
    â€œYou were about to tell me what I was hearing.”
    Preston glared at Robillard for a moment: Was that actually boredom in the man’s voice?
    Smug bastard , he thought.
    Didn’t matter. Robillard would be eating crow soon enough.
    Preston cleared his throat. “You’re hearing every sound that’s being made outside the doors of this office in this building at thismoment. There’s nothing out there, Zac, except maybe a thousand or so mosquitoes.”
    Robillard rubbed his eyes. “I’m guessing you’ve got some kind of sensor installed God only knows where that can give you a precise count?”
    Preston grinned, noting with satisfaction that Robillard’s apparent boredom was swiftly changing to resignation. “I might. You never know.”
    Robillard nodded his head. “You always were one to use an uncertainty to your advantage.”
    â€œAnd you always considered that taking unfair advantage of someone. That was your biggest problem, Zac—hell, it probably still is .”
    â€œAnd what’s that?”
    â€œYour overwhelming sense of morality had no place in the