WAVE Orbiting Station
Now

DORIC

Lunch time. Mac had been called into the Ahluwalia's office. I had no idea whether that was good or bad for Ann. I was sitting eating a sandwich in the cafeteria, while she was left chained to the metal table in the interrogation room. Though I hadn't consciously let her out of that imaginary closet, I felt her stomach rumble as I bit into stale bread and mystery protein. It seemed I had very little telepathic control.

Will I ever have any privacy again?

I felt Ann sigh. We live in a world full of drone cameras. Did we ever have much privacy?

You know, I remember watching that news feed, Ann. I remember your face on the screen.

You saw it then?

Everyone saw it.

What did I...what did I look like?

I lowered my head and tried to stifle my laughter. You're being interrogated for murder, and that's what you're worried about?

Don't laugh. Tell me. No, don't tell me. It's ridiculous...No, tell me.

Well, you just looked like a glowing—

Rat?

Pretty much. It was your voice I remember the most. Strong, confident...

Even with all the time delays and stutters?

They edited that stuff out. It's amazing really considering the arguments going on in your head, but you sounded fierce, unwavering. You were wrong when you said you had no leverage against WAVE Corp. Those images of starving Pitters were a PR disaster for the company.

Something caught my eye. I looked up. Caraq just walked in the room.

Poor man. How's he look?

Gaunt. Stooped. What did you do to him, Ann?

Nothing.

Come on, clearly something happened.

Caraq was born above the dust. It was always blue sky for him, until the Pit, until the barricades went up, until he began to listen.

Oh, for God's sake, stop being cryptic. Caraq keeps looking at me, Ann. What does he want?

Have you asked him?

Yeah, but he was also cryptic. Kept saying "they" will try to stop me from finding the truth.

I spotted Mac and Ahluwalia in the doorway. When they saw me, they parted company. Ahluwalia lingered by the door to talk to another manager, while Mac walked unhurriedly toward the counter, took a tray and helped himself to the special of the day—some godawful deep-fried crap. Their stiff body language and poker faces told me something was up. They were aware of Caraq sitting at a table in a far corner, but Ahluwalia was pretending he hadn't noticed Caraq or me for that matter.  And Mac just looked right through Caraq. It occurred to me this was more than just awkward embarrassment about running into a disgraced colleague. All three men were acting strange.

Sandwich forgotten, I watched them. My breathing increased—and Harmony's breathing synched up with mine. Both of our hearts now sounding in my ears, I watched Mac pour himself another damn mocha, while Caraq looked at Mac with—what was it? Distrust? Hatred? And then Caraq glanced at Ahluwalia, still talking with this back to us to that manager in the doorway, and I saw fear in Caraq's eyes.

What's going on, Vestra? Ann whispered in my mind, as Mac grabbed cutlery, and sauntered over to my table with a studied air of nonchalance.

I shook my head. I don't know. The way Mac and Ahluwalia reacted to Caraq—they can't even look at him—reminds me of something, someone else.

Who?

I couldn't pin-down the memory.

"What?" Mac asked, as soon as he was in earshot.

I looked at him blankly as he sat down across from me.

"You were shaking your head, Girlie."

"Oh, sorry. Just some stray thoughts," I lied. "What did the boss want?"

He took a sip of his mocha. Then he put his cup down slowly, as if letting an audience know he was perfectly calm.

"Well?" I asked again.

"They're putting an end to our enquiries. We've got the afternoon, possibly into the early evening, if she answers the questions."

"What happens if she doesn't?"

"What they should have down weeks ago. Conduct a shack-by-shack, hovel-by-hovel, hole-by-hole search of the Pit and round up the other members of the PCC," he told me with a smirk.

"You know that's not going to work, Mac—they'll just hide in the dust. And more of our people might disappear."

Mac shrugged and tucked into his meal. "Well, she better talk then."

"She will." Won't you Ann? "But you should give her some food. She's hungry—probably."

Mac looked at me strangely. "Good, that's an added incentive to talk."

Harmony and I chuckled at this. "Starving the Pitters backfired on WAVE Corp. the last time. Give her a break, Mac, and she'll give us one too."

"And you know this how?"

I shrugged. "Just a feeling."

***

"Caraq was angry at me," Harmony said, after finishing her meal. Thank you, Vestra by the way.

You're welcome.

It's after lunch, and we're in the control room again.

"Pardon me?" said Mac.

"You want me to talk, so I'm talking," she said through the screen.

"You need to answer my questions."

"I know that," she yelled at him. Honestly, Vestra, how do you deal with his bullheadedness? "Don't interrupt me and I will."

There was a pause. Mac let out a frustrated sigh.

He just rolled his eyes, Ann. This better be good.

Pit District, Simoom
Five months ago

HARMONY

Caraq was pissed at me for talking to that reporter.

The next time he saw me, he had dropped all his charm and civility. "The Pit Command Council is in no position to dictate terms to WAVE Corp. Rats don't get to have a list of demands. This is not a negotiation."

"Then what is it?" I yelled back, the question reverberating through all the people linked to me. "We've been talking for months, but for what? You told me that we could speak to our people in detention. You told me I could get a message to my son. You told me the blockade would be lifted eventually. But none of that happened."

We sat in silence for a minute. I liked Caraq. I did. He hadn't treated me like all the other Plats. He hadn't treated me like Mancy did. He never talked down to me. He was always polite and respectful. "What was your plan, Moses? Just keep me talking in circles, then wait us out—wait for us all to drop dead of starvation?"

"It wasn't my plan," he said, shaking his head. "I take my direction from the VP of Security..."

"What were the plans for the detainees?"

"I really don't know. And it really doesn't matter; I expect it won't happen now that you've forced their hand."

"What?"

Caraq chuckled. "Your little stunt with the reporter. You've gone viral. Everybody's watching now, including the New Earth Assembly. And Doctors Without Orders have petitioned WAVE to let their aid workers into the Pit. Congratulations, Ann. Chances are you're going to get what you want. You're going to get your aid workers and observers."

"For real?"

"For real. And they won't take months to get here. They're not coming from New Earth; they're coming from the colony on Simoom's third moon—apparently DWO's had a group from New Earth stationed there for a while. They'll be here in a week, and they're bringing passenger freighters. We'll be offering free relocation back to New Earth to all Pit residents."