Nika awoke to the gentle warbling of her ajna, and gave a start. What the hell? Why is Yuke-bloody-Corrigan messaging me?

An anxious thought clawed at her brain. Whatever it is, I know it's going to be bad.

Propping her head on the pillow, she told her ajna to convert the message to text and project it in front of her face. Smoothing her tangle of black curls, she read the block of words glowing in the still air. 

'You've learned a sharp lesson, gentle lady. Therefore, you no longer need to be humbled. My sorrowful heart is willing to release you from further trials by court of law. Pray hasten to the East Indian chophouse known as Nasi Goreng where I invite you to my table at noontide today. Come to me and you will be forever pardoned.'

She made the glowing words vanish. Her puzzled thoughts flitted like nervous fish through wavering reeds. Why did he pick the Nasi Goreng? That's where I like to go with my friends. Is he stalking me?

Tuning into her ajna, she sent Yuke's message to Nazreen. "Shall I ignore this crap from Yuke or send a rude reply?" Nazreen answered within a minute.  "Tell him you'll see him when hell freezes over."

She laughed, then quickly thought: Contesting Yuke's lawsuit is going to cost me a boatload of money, with no guarantee of winning. She sent a reply. "I think I'd better go, Naz. He's holding the best cards right now. Btw, do you mind coming with me?"

She slipped out of bed. After a quick shower, she dressed and padded through the living-room. Dean and Sasha were asleep in the guest room and Robo hadn't started rattling pans in the kitchen. The room was dark and quiet and she opened the French doors to her docking bay. There was thunder in the air. She gazed up at a lurid, purplish sky.

My lease is running out at the end of the month and if I lose my job, I won't be able to renew it. Then what? Do I live like a homeless person in an Underground carriage? Maybe Sasha can give me some tips on that.

The thunder began to growl. Streaks of light etched the sky, then the rain hurtled down, suddenly and heavily, like a tropical monsoon. She quickly shut the French doors. Oh Christ, what am I going to do if Yuke goes ahead with the lawsuit? I can't afford Jack Hemmings's fees. It's all very well joining the revolution, but I need to find somewhere to live and put food on the table. 

 As lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, self-pity wracked her. Watching the storm, she felt tears coming on. She started to cry great shuddering sobs.

Huddled beside Nazreen under a shared umbrella, she spilled her suspicions. "This could be a setup for all I know. I don't trust Yuke a centimeter."

"His dad's a big business tycoon, isn't he?" Nazreen dodged a splashing car as they scuttled across a rainy street.

"Not as big as people think." She remembered what she had heard about Corrigan's companies. "His AI companies have flat-lined and he's pinning his hopes on the Next Big Thing."

"Which is?"

"Something my team and I have been working on--a way of using photons from the brain to predict future events."

"Sounds exciting." Nazreen gave her head a little shake. "You'll have to tell me more about it later."

When they arrived at the Nasi Goreng, they shook off their dripping umbrella in the tiny lobby. A young woman in pink and orange silks with her hair in a plait greeted them and led them through the busy restaurant to an alcove at the back. Yuke Corrigan was sitting, detached from the crowd, at a table laden with Balinese dishes of rice with duck and fish. He was sipping from a tall glass of mango juice.

She scowled at the sight of him in his green Regency outfit, surrounded by the kind of food she loved. Struggling to overcome her feelings of abhorrence, she began mentally calculating how soon she and Naz could wriggle out of the encounter.

"Ah, gentle lady, please be seated and favor me with your presence." 

Yuke half-rose from his chair and caught sight of Nazreen. "To whom do I owe this unexpected pleasure?" He stood and appraised her as if she were a filly at a horse fair. Nazreen lowered her head.

She made a gesture for Yuke to cut the crap. "She's a friend of mine," she said. "Now listen to me. I've been to hell and back because of you. I should've kicked you off my team before all this started. Just know this--there's no way I'm backing down. If you and your dad want to fight me all the way, so be it. But remember, I fight dirty."

He tossed his frizzy mane. "Oh, Nika, you're so sexy when you get angry. Just look at that mean kitty frown."

She felt a surge of rage. What would it take to show him how much I loathe him? Shall I shove that plate of lawar in his face?

"Just tell me this," she said. "Are you going to drop the ridiculous lawsuit or do you want to be humiliated in court, against the best lawyer in town?"

He snorted. "Jack Hemmings? My guy'll gobble him up. Anyway, Nika, how will you be able to afford Hemmings's fees when you're unemployed and living on BNI?"

He snapped his fingers at the waitress. "More juice if you please, wench."

"So what's your offer?" She spoke sharply to him.

He smiled his old flirtatious smile. "Look, Nika, I don't want to squeeze you dry...cashwise. All I want is a little candy."

His smirking face made her almost want to puke. She turned away from him. "How much more of this should I put up with, Naz? I'm just about ready to throw up."

Nazreen gave her a pained look. "I think you're wasting your time here, Nika. He clearly isn't taking you seriously."

"You can tell your dusky friend my king-size bed sleeps three. But you get first dibs." He thrust himself into her, his face suddenly pressing against hers.

She drew back with a cry. Disoriented, she gasped and stared at him in confusion. Did that really happen? Did he try to kiss me...here in the restaurant...in front of all these people?

"Get the hell away from me," she managed to say. A waitress with a jug of mango juice was bearing down on them and she felt hemmed in. Yuke moved toward her again. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself--you're so beautiful."

She pushed him away. "I'm leaving now. Don't try to follow me." She reached for Nazreen's hand and squeezed it.

His words came out in a sudden rush, as if he'd been holding his breath. "Nika, you're the love of my life, my soul mate. I'll give you anything--"

"I don't fucking care. You're sick in the head, and if you don't leave me alone I'm calling the police."

Hurrying out of the restaurant with Nazreen, she felt as if she had been smacked. Her cheeks were flushed and heated.

"What the hell happened back there, Naz? What did I do to bring that on?" Arm in arm, they sidestepped a spreading puddle, rain drumming on their stretched umbrella.  "You didn't do anything, Nika. He lost his mind and smashed face with you."

"And I'm the one who's supposed to be the sex predator."

When she arrived back at her flat, she found Sasha and Dean sitting on the living-room couch eating crusty slices of pizza. "That smells good." She eyed the pieces left on the plate.

"The topping is chicken tikka masala," Dean said. "Robo made it for us. Why don't you grab a slice."

"I think I will." She plopped down on her favorite cushion, a sliver of pizza in her hand.

"How did your meetup with Yuke go?" Dean asked with a wry smile.

"Disastrous. The guy's a complete flake. By the way, is there any wine left?"

"Couldn't find a drop, Nika," he complained. "Robo's a great chef but he's a lousy sommelier."

"Shush!" Sasha admonished him, blushing. "You oughtta be grateful Nika's given us a place to stay." She turned to her. "I saw Yuke's dad on the telly. He looked a real bastard."

"Bastard dad, scumbag son." She beamed brightly. "Do you guys fancy coming with me for some booze? We could go to Tesco."

"Hey, you had me at booze," Dean said. "Your car or mine?"

The vast supermarket she entered was full of bustle, light, and noise. A cacophony of clangs and beeps and a hubbub of voices assaulted her ears. Inside the sliding doors she plunged into the crowd, while Sasha and Dean forged ahead, almost lost amid a jumble of people and roller-footed robots. The bots had jointed arms and their spines were bolted to shopping carts which they were rapidly filling for their customers. When the carts were full, the bots trundled their loads of groceries along the aisles and whizzed outside to disgorge them into the customers' vehicles.

"Where's the booze, then?" Sasha looked thoroughly confused.

The motorized whine of a bot as it swung round to meet them answered her. "Are you looking for beer, cider, wine or spirits?" Behind its cart a spinal cylinder embedded with a lens rotated left and right, as the bot watched and listened for a response.

"What deals do you have on red?" she asked.

The cylinder's lens blinked. "We can offer two cases of Cab Sav for two thousand. Eleven hundred a case."

"Two thou? That's insane. Okay, we'll take a couple." She tuned into her ajna and commanded it: PAY TESCO.

The mechanized server did the rest, receiving her order and transmitting an e-receipt with blinding speed. After getting the details of her vehicle, it promised to deliver the two cases within fifteen minutes.

The machine hustled away and vanished in the crush of people.

"Oh well, I guess we just head for the car," she said. "Anybody fancy a cold drink?"

"Why don't we go to the OFS  at the front of the store and grab some frappes?" Dean replied.

They picked their way through aisles laden with produce. Tomatoes were plentiful and at knock-down prices. Their scarlet exuberance made the rows of produce look cheerful. A green profusion of spinach and bok choy jostled an abundance of cauliflowers, onions, and carrots that the bots were shoveling into their carts.

Buffeted by crowds swarming along the aisles, Sasha scrunched her body. "Shit, this place is packed."

"It's been this way since stores replaced their staff with bots," she said. "The big firms pass on the cost savings to the customers. This is the result."

"Can anyone remember when humans worked in supermarkets?" Dean asked. "Other than the robot supervisor in his office at the back."

Sasha shook her head. "It must've bin horrible work."

"At least they did something hardly anybody does now," she said. "They earned money from a job."

At the front of the store they found an Olde Fashioned Starbucks  coffee stand and she paid the robot server for three butterbeer frappuccinos. The frappes were so delicious, they decided to stay awhile and have three more.

Ascending through rolls of scurrying cloud and a freshening wind, her eemee slipped into a skytrail of vehicles moving at a controlled distance from each other. More vehicles rose to join them, while others left the aerial highway and drifted down to their landing spots. She glanced to her right and frowned. A gray oval skimmer was hovering nearby.

After ten minutes in the air, she looked right again and gasped. "I don't fucking believe it. Another cop car's chasing me." A police eemee, its lights flashing, was drawing closer.

"What the hell does he want? I'm only doing seventy k's."

Dean gave her a worried glance. "If they stop us we're all going to the nick. Sasha and I are on their most wanted list."

"Well, guys, this is where we're at," she said. "Either I drop to the nearest DLA and hope the cops don't recognize you, or we override the autocontrol and try to outrun the police. Your call."

Dean chuckled nervously. "I say we play Dodge the Fuzz--as long as you let me drive."

"No, let me." Sasha opened her mouth and Tinker's fairy voice trilled. "I'm the only one who knows how to do this safely."

"She's got a point," Dean said. "Shift over, Nika."

After changing places with her, Sasha allowed Tinker to place her hands on the autocontrol. The autodrive made an angry beeping sound, which Tinker ignored. She quickly converted it into a manual driving system.

Her eyelids fluttered in startled terror as Tinker, in Sasha's body, slammed on the air brakes and tilted the eemee toward another car. The car veered to the right and barreled toward vehicles in other lanes, compelling them to pull apart. The resulting melee opened up a narrow path which Tinker quickly took.

"Oh my God, someone's going to crash!" 

"No one will crash." Tinker's piercing tone rang out. "Their autocontrols will ensure none of the other vehicles collide."

The pursuing police cruiser's sirens were screaming as it battled to avoid the confusion. After a quick backward glance, she directed her gaze at their careening course. Tinker was accelerating past other vehicles, zooming over their roofs and dipping below their undersides with unnatural, split-second timing. Her eyes widened as the speedo climbed to a hundred and eighty.This is suicidal. We're flying at maximum speed and if we hit someone we'll explode.

After zigzagging around three more vehicles, Tinker sent them into a head dive. 

She felt faint and clutched the sides of her seat. If the cop car catches up and rams us, we'll crash and burst open like a ripe tomato.

The blast of downward speed almost tore her from her seat. Tinker eased up on the acceleration and she looked over her shoulder. The police eemee was far back, hemmed in and blocked by vehicles readjusting their courses. It was clear the cops were out of the race.

Tinker brought the vehicle down and, using Sasha's hands, restored the autodrive. "I'm handing the car back to you. You'll be on autocontrol from now on."

"Just one question," she said. "How did you bypass the laws of physics?"

Tinker gave a tiny snort. "The laws of physics are human laws, and--if you'll pardon my French--humans don't know shit."

They landed smoothly and she told the car to open its doors. She stumbled out followed by Dean, his steering console tucked under his arm, and Sasha. A stiff breeze was blowing in their faces. She zipped her yellow puffer and looked around. Darkness was creeping over a familiar part of Hampstead Heath.

Dean slapped Sasha on the back, making her squeal. "Tell Tinker she ought to drive a race car," he said. "She might even win the Formula 1 Grand Prix."

She laughed and punched him. "There's no 'might' about it. She can outrace any bleedin' car on the planet."

He suddenly pressed his lips against hers and they began smooching.

"Hey, we don't have time for snogging," she said. "We'll have to leave the car here. The cops know where we landed and they'll be looking for us." She pointed north. "We're going this way."

They broke off and looked at her, baffled.

"D'you know where we are?" Sasha asked.

She laughed. "Yeah, we're not far from Kenwood. Mum's house is just over the hill."

"Oh no, I ain't goin' there." Sasha looked alarmed.

She stared at her, a desperate incomprehension in her face. "Sasha, we don't have a choice. There's nowhere else for us to hide."

"I swore I'd never see that bitch again an' I don't wanna see her now." Sasha's tone was adamant. She folded her arms tightly.

"Sasha, she had  to put you into foster care." She blurted out her words while Dean began coughing uncomfortably. "The social services were saying she wasn't a fit mother. They were threatening to take away her custody of you."

Sasha gave her a dazed look. "Then why didn't she come to visit me? Not once."

"Sash, I'm sorry..." She shook her black curls and made a gesture of hopelessness. Dean was still coughing. 

"Bet she only wanted custody so she wouldn't look bad." Red-faced, Sasha glared at the deepening shadows from the trees and the dark, windy sky. Letting her fierce indignation simmer below the surface, she gestured to the others. "Okay, let's go."

They began running over the lumps and bumps of the meadows that led north. Her loose black curls jounced against her neck and her brown eyes streamed in the chilly breeze. She felt her leg muscles twitch and her heart pump. Oh shit, we're going to have some fun and games when Mum and Sasha get together. I hope they don't start fighting.

Almost at the edge of the Heath, a distant overhead buzz pulled her head sharply up. She was panting and felt fuzzy in the cold air. The faint whirring increased and a drift of searchlights across the meadow they were crossing caught them in its glare. She looked wildly in the direction of a clump of gorse bushes skirting the meadow.

"Let's dive into those bushes--it's our only chance."

She plunged into a thick tangle of thorny twigs that tore at her coat. The others dived in after her. 

Dean yelped as the bristling thorns bit into him. "I'm being slashed to buggery."

"Shut the fuck up," she whispered to him. "Never mind the slashes. We've got to lie low and keep still."

"This must be the worst day of my life," Sasha muttered. 

She squeezed her sister's arm. "Ssh! We mustn't make a sound."

They crouched down and waited. She looked up to see a police drone dropping toward the meadow. When it landed, two massive purples jumped out, bending their metal heads under the buzzing rotors, and came stomping toward their hiding place.

When the bots were a few meters from the bushes, they stopped and glowered into the dark undergrowth. Their metallic heads and red eyelets pointed directly at the trio's location. Bands of light from their chests revealed the three crouching fugitives and bathed their faces.

"Come out with your hands up," a mechanical voice rattled. "We can see all three of you."

Each bot reached out two long metal arms, one hand grasping a sharp metal spike, the other a pair of pruning shears. Their cold metal faces seemed to be smiling.

"Come out of the bushes, or we'll spike you and prune you," the voice rasped. "You have ten seconds left."

"I'll take care of these two," Dean said. She noticed he held a handgun. Oh God, he thinks bullets are going to stop them. Doesn't he know they have smartarmor?

The purples advanced on them with whirring motor sounds, their movements stiff but precise. Steadying his aim, Dean fired first at one bot, then the other, hitting them in the torso .

The bots halted, toppled forward, and tried to crawl toward the bushes. Aiming the gun, Dean laid the machines on their faces with two quick shots.

She rose slowly to her feet, looking at Sasha in wonder. Smiling, Sasha bobbed up beside her and hugged her. "That's why Dean's my knight in shining armor." 

She laughed and hugged back.

Tucking his ULF gun back in his belt, Dean pulled himself upright and pointed toward the row of large houses bordering the Heath. "Let's get over to your mum's place before any more of the buggers show up."