Skywatch

By Steve Davala

Always being connected to technology is nothing new for Daj, a young Maglan with dreams of flying. With constant access to vid streams, friends, legions of fans, and everything digital, there's nothing else he needs. When he stumbles upon an anti-tech group, however, he begins to see the other side of a world controlled by technology.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steve Davala
• Release date: Jun 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9781737098423

Book preview

For my family, for your support through this all.

And for all the sci-fi out there, thanks for inspiring me to create my own worlds and stories.

Chapter 1

Ever look up into the sky and say, That’s where I belong? I don’t mean riding around in a skimmer or on a skyboard, I’m talking about really flying. You know, just you and the sky?

That’s me. I’ve always wanted to be up there as far back as I can remember. No, I take that back. Not wanted. Needed is the right word. I was meant to fly. That’s why I’m going out today. Going out to the Edge.

Hey Daj, what are you doing in there? You almost ready?

Yeah, hold on, Kie.

Kie. My best friend. Always here for me. At least when I’m ready to make a new stream, and especially when he can get in on something this big.

Did you get the notes from Scitech? Kie says. They’re pinging me to get you out there.

Sponsors. Don’t they know about showmanship?

With a quick flit of my eyes, the Nanosite fills my vision. Bright lines pulse and respond to every eye twitch, displaying news feeds, weather, maps, friends, vids. Everything I need. I activate the stream and link it to the server.

Whoa, three hundred thousand Maglans on the ‘site already?

And growing fast, Kie says.

The stats from the stream scroll across the lower edge of my vision, bigger numbers than I’ve ever seen this early on. Messages stream faster than I can process as the early log-ons try to get my attention. My display starts to fill up with alerts so I minimize a bunch of them.

Thanks for watching! I respond to a few.

The message board erupts and there’s no way I can handle it, so I let the AI response software deal with it.

Three-fifty.

A single line of text in the upper right of my vision blinks its question. "Initiate program?"

Four hundred thousand.

Initiate.

A thumping bass line thuds in my head as the opening sequence of my program starts. The lights in the living area slowly come on highlighting my old skyboards right above the couch. I stare into a mirror with my four arms crossed over my purple Scitech jacket. The music lowers as my old Camdrone hovers above my head to give a sweeping view of the room and funnels it right into the stream.

"Do you really need that old thing?" Kie texts on screen.

Cam? Of course. She can get some angles I miss. Right?

"There are plenty of other cameras around, Kie says. I’m just saying it's clunking up your look."

You can barely see her. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got a show to do. So get off my feed.

The vid feeds light up as I watch myself on the ‘site display in my eyes. I blink and cycle through the possible camera positions until the new focus is on the Sky Deck.

Look at her. Sick right? You’ve never seen anything like it.

I rub my hand over the tight mag-fiber design, making sure to show the blocky Scitech symbol, as per our contract.

She’s lighter and more maneuverable than any other board. That’s also a part of the contract. Kind of soul-selling, but what are you gonna do? And I’m going to test it out in front of all of Magla. Are you with me?

Seven hundred thousand viewers. And still going up.

Yes, everyone in the city, and yes, they are definitely with me. No pressure.

Blood pumps loudly in my head. My breathing quickens.

Need a tranquilizer? a calm voice in my head prompts. I can almost feel the nanomeds just waiting, primed to click out their tiny injectors into my bloodstream.

I click negative on my ‘site. I can’t tone down my reflexes, not on today’s course.

I hold the sled over my head with one hand and let go. The glider freezes in place, locked into the magnetic field. Cam hovers into place right behind me.

Time to cue the voice controls, fade out the music a bit. Take a deep breath.

Ever look up into the sky and say, ‘That’s where I belong?’

Fiftieth floor. Sixtieth. The rocky ground outside the ringed city of Phen spins out of sight. I shake my head and focus on what’s in front of me. As I travel up and the lower Rings disappear, my feed streams in the corner of my vision. Chatter from my fans fills most of the screen but I ignore it. They’re busy watching a montage of my old stunts on different screens, now scattered all around me, while in the center I head to the jump site.

I blink at the weather icon. Light winds, cold. Not what I expected, but it could be worse. Automatically, my internal nanos adjust and my arms heat up. They say you can’t sense the nanos working, but I swear I can feel them crawling around under my skin.

Thanks, bots. Better not piss them off, I always say.

I prompt the next part of my program and a glowing arises across my boring gray arms developing into lines and complex patterns like fire. They even flicker like real flames. I check the feed for the general reaction.

The first responder includes a symbol with a frown on it.

That’s what you get when you upload an untested designer. Well, that Maglan is fired.

"No, not that one. Choose tattoo pattern Zaylee.’"

Are you certain? a computerized voice warns. This is not sponsor approved—

I know what I’m doing.

Don’t piss off the nanos, but the sponsors? Screw ‘em. I’m the best they’ve ever had.

The glowing flames on my arms disperse into pixels and regroup into thick lines like lightning bolts. Blue energy throbs through them and pulses with my music.

That’s better. I check the feed and smile as the approval ratings light up. Zaylee’s sub feed pops in with her signature burst of sparks.

"Thanks, D, it says. I owe you."

"Thank me later," I reply with a winky response.

The elevator slows as I approach the top of the Ring. The sun sets and the moons, Naglor and Cadea, fill the night sky blanketed by the glow of the auroras. Cadea freaks me out. I wonder if the Cadeans are watching this feed right now. Probably better than anything they can get on their pathetic world. Still, they make a nice backdrop for my show.

The elevator clicks to a halt and the door opens, letting a gust of wind in to blow my hair back. I eye my vid from the feed. Yeah, it caught that. That little Camdrone is the best. She focuses on the Sky Deck and pans around the top of the Ring. From here I’ll be able to get out to the Edge and make the dive. First one to ever do it.

Adjust profile image? my internal AI prompts.

I look at myself. Stupid blotches on my narrow purple face. My too narrow face. And the stumpy face spikes? These won’t do. A quick swipe and the image I now see on the sample feed looks better. Much better. I cycle through the eye colors and settle on a nice shade of green. Face filled out a bit. Spikes sharpened.

I don’t know how you do it, I say. Every time. 

Over a million and a half logged on to my feed and the count keeps ticking up. I’ll have all of Magla on here before long.

A strong bass line kicks out of the speakers on my shoulders and I make my way onto the deck with the glider following me. My boots whir and click as the mag grips lock onto the decking.

Disengage grips, I key into the Nanosite command screen.

A sharp beep and a flash respond. Negative.

"I said disengage grips."

Again the alarm sounds abruptly and still the mags hold on.

Well, it was worth a try. Probably for the best with the winds and all. It would have boosted my ratings, though.

A large shadow falls over me. It’s the first of the Dust Field coming in tonight, a massive rock tumbling slowly amongst rocky debris. High above that I catch a glimpse of one of the silver freighters out on a mining run. They’ve got one rule up there: dodge rocks or get pulverized. That’s where the real flying happens.

Ping.

"Stay on schedule," a text on the side of my ‘site reminds me.

Right. I hit the prompt and Scitech’s prerecorded spiel starts. Ever since he was young, he’s dreamed of flying in the Dust Field.

True enough, but cheesy.

I think every kid has. Free of the planet.

Stupid planetary lockdown keeping everyone on Magla unless on Scitech business. Luckily my eighteenth birthday is coming up and I can finally get out of here.

Thanks to the innovation and support of Scitech lifting him up, he is about to live his dream of leaving the Rings and entering the sky. Could you be next?

The silver freighter spins around the tumbling rock, locking into its trajectory, perfectly synched up.

Magnify.

My ‘site focuses on the ship and zooms in until I can almost see into the cockpit. A single pilot flies this thing. That’ll be me someday, and soon. I watch for a few more seconds until the rock blocks the ship from sight.

A beep interrupts me and I glance over at the script in the corner of my vision. I’m supposed to be heading over to the Edge now if I want to keep in time with the next song queueing up. So I drink in the sights and cold night air whipping past, and stamp in the direction of my drop off. The whir and clank of the mag boots beat in rhythm with my playlist, while the Sky Deck hovers patiently behind, tethered to my lower right arm.

Looking good, Daj, Kie whispers in my sub channel. No one can hear that on my feed. I can’t believe how many Maglans are watching. I think Scitech really liked when you panned up to their ship.

Holy shit. My eyes bulge as I check out my account funds. Scitech's initial amount has doubled. Doubled! You’re not kidding.

See any more? Kie says.

Not yet, but I’ll have Cam keep an eye out for anything. Can you do that?

The drone beeps happily and the blue eye scans back and forth across the horizon while keeping the main camera in front of me.

You ought to link that thing to your Nanosite display, Kie says. It’d save time and they’d be able to edit your feed on the fly.

I’m good, I reply. I’ve had her so long I don’t want to upgrade and lose whatever she’s learned.

"She?"

Yeah she, dumbass. And she takes way better vids than my nanos ever could.

Don’t say that too loud. You know, Scitech’s gonna make you do it when you upgrade next month, anyway.

I glance back at the drone, and the little thing winks her blue eye happily at me. We’ll see.

After a minute more, my final song drops and it’s time to go. The Edge marks the end of the smooth contours of the city and the beginning of a rocky cliff face. This part cuts straight down to the surface of the planet nearly a mile below through spinning rocks held right in the mag field. I’ve got to rip that new Sky Deck so hard that I don’t end up splattered all over the feed. And right before I get there, I’m going to flip and arc into the city ring, going faster than anyone’s gone before. Nothing can do it. Nothing except this new ride. I’ve practiced so many times on the sim but man my stomach drops a mile as I near the Edge for real. I got one chance to do this. I’m not going to screw it up.

Hey, Daj? Kie asks, this time not texting.

Not so loud, I say. This is it. Everyone’s watching. Two million hits. The counter in my feed doesn’t lie.

Daj?

What? I shout this time.

Look up.

I slowly turn my head up to the skies, to the sharp and jutting rocks at the Edge. This better be good. My stomach drops even farther this time when I see what Kie noticed in the live feed.

A Maglan. Some black-haired girl perching right on one of the floating rocks about thirty feet up. And staring at me. My Nanosite zooms in another few times until I can see the delicate spikes on her face.

Oh great. She’s waving.

Well, if she thinks she’s going to show me up, she obviously doesn’t know who I am.

I lift my deck above my head with my top arms. And flip her off with my lower two.

Watch this. I slam the Sky Deck to the ground and it bobs in the city’s magnetic grip.

Before I can do anything, the girl, young like me, steps off one of the spinning cubes of rock. My chest tightens for a moment as she drops, but she smoothly catches onto another rock with her... bare toe claws? Wait, no boots? How is she doing this without any equipment? She’s insane. She props her chin up with two hands and blinks at me. For half a second, I almost think she’s seriously checking me out, but then she just rolls her eyes.

Um, you better get moving, Kie says. And get your cameras off her.

He’s right. The music I was supposed to be listening to as I gripped the mags on the Edge is already blasting. And me standing around like an idiot staring at some girl. A warning light on the side of my stream flashes suddenly, insistently.

We will sever your feed if you do not start moving, it reads.

Scitech. Shit.

I’m going, I’m going. My boots click and lock into place on the Deck. The interface for the machine lights up and overlays my regular Nanosite giving me access to the controls.

Steering. The Deck spins 360 degrees. Check. I tuck down and then I flip backward in a tight loop. I edge forward slightly so that I can peer over the side of the arcing city wall down to the bottom. Boulders caught in the mag field sway back and forth in my path. I let out a deep breath. I’ve been training for this. I can do it.

Someone taps me on the side of my head. I spin around but no one’s there, but then I look up. It’s the Maglan girl hanging upside down from a floating cube. Her toes are clutching the stone as she peers down at me with her crystal blue eyes. And then she shoves me so hard I fall back onto my ass. Meanwhile, she floats gracefully toward the edge of the mile-high chasm I’m about to dive down. She’s still sitting on that rock and she stretches her four arms and yawns intentionally at me.

What do you want?

Bright static lines shoot across my ‘site; must be some sort of interference. Nanos shorting out isn’t a common thing. It’s got to be the intense mag field out here messing with them. The weather report called for low intensity mags tonight, though. After a few quick taps to the side of my head, the lines disappear and I can see again. Well, almost everything. Things seem a little out of focus. I can’t see the girl’s face clearly but I can tell she’s still smiling. I hit the request info tab on my ‘site but no stats pop up from her. No name, no age, nothing.

Either the interference is blocking me, or she’s got no Nanosite. No Nanosite? Not likely.

Can’t you talk?

Nothing. Great. A mute whack job hanging around on my vid feed. That’s going to go over well.

All right. I’ve got a dive to take, or I’m going to lose my sponsorship. And that’s not going to happen. Not with my training day coming up soon. Kie already rewound my music sequence and I’m ready to drop.

Cam, make sure you get this.

The little drone zips past me and focuses on the girl. The hanging girl blows a little kiss at the camera. Cam shies away, seemingly embarrassed.

Not her. Me. Going down there. I point down and Cam beeps an apologetic sound at me. She zips to my side and points down.

A high-pitched sound rises above the music and shreds into my ears. I swear loudly, but my recording software mutes it out. This is a family show, after all.

What’s causing this? More interference? The girl drops down another few paces and slickly catches the next floating cube with her feet spinning herself over into a few graceful flips. She’s good.

Annoying, but good.

"Ending vid feed. Return to your domicile." Scitech streams this banner over the top of my sight in bright red letters.

Wait, what? With all these views? I’ve still got this. I urge the Deck forward and it tilts dangerously close over the ledge. A gust of wind blows past me and my stomach sinks. This is going to be one crazy ass ride.

Cam, keep up.

The drone beeps affirmatively.

The girl, still spinning on the floating rock, salutes me and swan dives off the edge.

No way.

I jam forward on the control panel of my ‘site, and the Sky Deck speeds down the city wall’s grav field. The building whizzes past, wind shoves my eyes back into my head. I don’t think I’ve dropped this fast before. Nanos jack my reaction times, and I juke back and forth between the grav rocks spinning about.

Vid... closed... Kie’s voice cuts in and out of the comm channel.

I spare a second to check out the vid feed and see what he was talking about. Cam, I got no video through my ‘site. Don’t you stop now! Stay on me and right up ahead.

Cam, still next to my side, beeps. Sounds like a terrified beep, but it could be just me.

I try to zoom in up ahead to stay ahead of the debris in my way, and also to look for the girl, but there’s something wrong with my Nanosite. A sharp pain tears through my right arms. I don’t even see what caused it, but it had to be some rock debris smashing into me.

My video feed, the one thing I needed, is now completely shut down. Viewer count is at zero.

The whine of the Sky Deck as it fights to stay locked to the city wall cuts into my brain. I’m inverted now as the building begins to bend back on itself and I can’t see anything ahead of me. Not even the girl.

The Sky Deck comes to a complete stop, and my body crumples within a safety net. The last thing I think as the pain of stopping after traveling faster than I’ve ever gone fills my entire body is that the girl must be dead.

And how much I frickin’ hate inertia.

Chapter 2

You up yet, kid?

The slurred, gruff voice stabs into my ears and rattles my already jostled brain. I squeeze my eyes shut.

"I said, you up?" The Maglan gets so close, the reek of whatever he’s been drinking makes the last meal I had creep its way up to the back of my throat.

The harsh glare of flickering light burns through my half-opened eyes, waking me further. Where am I?

The bum is right in front of me now, and I get a close-up look at his elongated face spikes through his patchy gray beard. I reach up to push him away and turn over on the hard cot.

Only to look through a set of solid metal bars.

I’m in a holding cell?

The hell?

I jerk upward and slam my head into the low bunk right above me. Another jolt of pain tears through me and my ‘site beeps a warning.

"Repeated head trauma is not advisable."

Yeah, no shit.

Maybe give me some pain meds, you think?

"Negative. Access to your Nanosite is restricted."

I must have hit my head harder than I thought to make my nanos tweak out like this. A quick scan over my ‘site shows that almost all of the readouts are empty.

Contact Kie.

"Access denied."

Play my latest feed.

"Access denied."

Jeez, is there anything I can access?

"Answer to that question denied."

All right, that’s it. I carefully sit up this time and brush past the faded blue Maglan bum sitting next to me in this shared cell. Nice tat, grandpa.

Surprise crosses the old man’s face for a second as he pulls his sleeve over his forearm with a stump of a hand. Gross. What happened to it?

That would’ve been some jump if you actually did it, he says.

Oh, you saw that? I tear my eyes away from his stump. How much did you see?

Before or after you chickened out?

I didn’t chicken out, you old drunk. Why don’t you go back to your bed and sleep it off? Outside my cell, a screen lights up with today’s highlighted vids. Must be for inmates without access. At least my nanos can still reach the wireless port and relay the feeds to my head. I grip the bars with all four hands. My knuckles turn white.

You ain’t on the top of the feed, are you, HotDaj?

No. I’m not. But for the life of me, I can’t figure out why. I had two million plus viewers. Hell, why am I not even in the top five? I need one of those spots if Scitech is going to give me that upgrade. Hell, if this old guy knows my screen name, you’d think I’d be in there somewhere. It takes a bit and then a headline pops up next to my HotDaj username, but it isn’t even close to what it should be. It should say something like, HotDaj makes his most epic drop off the Edge, but there’s something else.

"Suicide off the Edge by one of the Maglan radical group, Eldane, postpones Scitech’s maiden Sky Deck flight. Reschedule TBA."

Well that sucks.

Old drunk guy chuckles behind me, and while he’s at it, he coughs up something chunky.

What, you gonna cry because you didn’t get your special spot on the list?

The blood inside my head begins to boil and I punch the bars. Some Nonno jumped on my feed.

"Nonno?"

Yeah, you know? A Maglan with no nanos? Nonno. Man, you are old. Anyway, her killing herself in front of my feed kind of took over my show.

Now the old geezer is really laughing. Dead, huh?

Watch the news feed. She jumped off the Edge without a suit or anything. The fall protection wouldn’t catch her if it couldn’t detect her. Splat. She’s dead.

The old guy slaps me on the back. "Son, if she’s an Eldane, then she flew better than you ever could."

You’re crazy. Too bad my nanos shorted out on the Edge before I could jump, or I would have caught the vid. My chest clenches and I look around me and search all over and under the bed.

What you looking for?

Where is she?

Who?

Did you see an old drone come in with me?

The old man shrugs. Impounded, probably. Why?

Because it’s mine, that’s why.

What’s the model?

Why do you care?

I like old stuff, that’s all.

Me, too. I sigh and press my head against the bars. She’s a Camdrone Mark I. She can prove I jumped.

Really? A Mark I. The drunk moves in a little closer and taps something on his wrist. That’s some real old tech.

Yeah. It is.

Special to you?

What do you think?

Step away from the door, a robot says in a cold voice.

It’s a security bot. Can’t really tell how old, but if the number of scuffs and score marks on its chassis tells me anything, it’s pretty old. Barely any chrome left, now. Pity. It could have really been something if the security station kept it in any semblance of shape. A single glowing red eye scans the cell.

Are you going to let me contact anyone? I say. I don’t even know why I’m in here.

It says you were in violation of the city of Phen’s safety code 2115. You were also trespassing.

Huh? See, I was out there on Scitech’s time. Why don’t you go give them a call and you’ll see. They’re my sponsor. You might have heard of me. Daj?

The old bum nods to the bot and then points to me.

HotDaj? the bot asks.

Yeah, that’s—

And the next thing I sense before I pass out is the sizzling smell of my own flesh.

***

Something beeping really loudly wakes me up. I’m still in my cell, but at least stinky old drunk is gone.

Get up. Rough hands grab me under my arms and drag me into the hall.

Why did you—? I start to say, but my lips aren’t working right so I stop.

The guard leads me to some sort of interrogation room and sits me down. All four hands suddenly lock down onto the table in front of me. My head still spins from that security bot. How long was I out?

A middle-aged Maglan stands over me. He’s wearing a security force standard uniform and it fits snugly over the top of his well-rounded midsection. He’s carrying a datapad. A literal datapad.

What’s with the ancient tech? Don’t they have you on nanos yet?

The man grunts and turns around. He’s probably running Nanosite version 15, or older. I guess I’d be upset, too, if I had to read the uploads off that thing. 

"Run diagnostics," I key out with my eye board. The results pop up and tell me my nanos are back online, or at least some of them are. Whatever burned and shocked me into unconsciousness earlier, there’s no scar or any pain left, so I know the base healing nanos must be working. I cycle through the systems to see which are online.

In the corner of my ‘site there’s a readout of my whole body. The epidermal scan shows all cuts and lacerations that were healed up in the past couple of hours. All right, all right. No scars, at least. The next scan, the skeletal scan, shows the nanos working on both top and bottom left arms. A cluster of them at the forearm. There must be a pretty serious break if they’re still active, and judging by the amount of warmth in there, the nanos must’ve injected me with the proper anesthetics. The final scan for soft organs appears to still be in diagnosis.

Something like a concussion would take a lot longer to heal up compared to a regular bone fracture, and with my placement exams coming up for flight training, I can’t afford to wait. The scan first goes through my head. It pauses for a moment but then flashes green.

Phew. The scan continues downward.

On to my hearts.

They both check out.

Digestive stuff.

Good.

Balance and mag center.

The scan runs a diagnostic here for a full minute. Back and forth. Scanning the hard bio-metal lump right below my gut. Oh man, if my balance or reaction time is off at all, I’m going to get thrown out. And screw getting into the flight program if that happens.

Finally, the green light kicks out and I’m clear. Even bigger sigh.

Well, one more.

Got to be sure I can make some little Maglans someday.

And... check.

You almost done here? I want to get home.

The security guy sits down right across from me and places the data pad propped up away from me so I can’t see anything on it. You’ve been grounded, kid.

Hah. What do you mean?

After that suicide, Scitech is holding off on letting any more of you stunters up to do your tricks. Pity that’s what some Maglans want to do. Steal a vid just to say goodbye to the world. You should have gone down before she jumped in front of your camera. He spins the data pad around and there’s my feed I shot. I was rooting for you. My whole family was.

I watch the vid silently.

Vertigo fills me as the camera pans out over the edge. My voice plays on the feed. "With all these views? I’ve still got this. Cam, keep up."

Really good footage, despite not being Cam’s, flits over to the girl floating on the rock. She has a sad expression on her face. Huh, I must not have caught that the first time. But man, she’s bummed, because in the next second she leaps off the edge. Suicide all right. She didn’t have any nanos in her. No wonder she jumped.

A terrified scream trails off as the camera peers down the drop, but there’s no sign of the girl. The feed turns to static and cuts out. I rub my eyes and pound the table.

Scitech didn’t actually see me drop. They don’t think I did it.

I went over, too. There’s got to be more footage. I know there is. Rewind that.

The guard glares at me.

"Rewind that, please."

With a swipe, the video scans back until I’m looking over the edge again. The sad Maglan girl waves farewell to the world and jumps. Bye. But no, I’m not even moving close to the edge. Stupid interference from the mag field. Why didn’t they check for that before sending me up there? I hope whatever footage Cam got is better.

The guard’s datapad dings. He picks it up and stares at the screen. Scitech posted your bail just now. Stay off the side of the city walls from now on, kid. Leave that to the window washers. He eases himself out of his chair and limps out of the room.

Too much sitting around will do that to you, buddy.

It’s about time. The magcuffs disengage with a click. Kie, I begin messaging into my Nanosite. You’re not going to believe where I was last night.

No reply. Probably some interference with my nanos coming back online. Ugh, this sucks.

Hey, where can I pick up my stuff?

The guard outside points two arms to the right.

The halls are empty as I quickly walk to the checkout wall up ahead. An eye scan interfaces with my ‘site sending my ID to the bored looking Maglan on the other side. While I wait, I type a message to Scitech.

"Sorry the drop didn’t work out. I can get back up to the Edge as soon as you need me there. My vid feed cut out before I could jump off."

The Maglan clears her throat. Here’s some clothes, a backpack, and a water tube.

Umm, what about my Sky Deck?

The attendant stares at me with her tired gray eyes.

I came in with a Sky Deck. And an older drone.

This is all that was in your bin.

Well, check it again. I think you might have missed the half million cred new tech in another locker. She keeps staring at me. Go and check again!

She glowers at me for a bit and then pushes her chair back to get up. Without a word, she heads to the back room.

All my hands are clenched into fists. I’m about to slam something. I scan through the diagnostics in my Nanosite just to focus on something else. I pick out a solemn music track and turn it on. The deep bass resonates in my skull. Thankfully that’s running again. Nano-tats are online, too. I scroll through some of Zaylee’s designs. Electric growth, digital waves. Maybe I can get her to make the tat that old guy had. It was a pretty sweet design. Simple, but it would really go perfectly with my next jump. Some overlapping diamond shapes on it. What did it look like, exactly?

I rewind through my vid log of the past couple of hours. There’s some time of me just lying there passed out. A bit more. And then I’m back in the cell with the drunk prisoner and the security bot. Right there, there’s his tat. I take a still snap and upload the image into the tattoo software.

The diamonds appear on my palm as the nanos in my skin light up. With a flick of my hand I swipe the image onto my forearm and expand it a little bit. Add some glowing outline to it. Color it... purple? Perfect.

No, nothing back here, but there’s a message for you.

I stand expectantly and wait. And?

Here. She swipes at the datapad in front of her toward me and I instantly get the message across my ‘site.

Sky Deck appropriated until further notice. Payments withheld.

They’re banning me? And they didn’t have the nerve to tell me to my face? Is it all because I didn’t get vid coverage? I smack my hand against the metal wall and it rattles.

Where’s my drone?

There’s nothing else, sir. No record. She slams the gate down. But nice tattoo. I’m seeing that a lot lately.

I clutch the gate and rock it back and forth. If you lost my bot you’re going to pay!

Yeah, I bet. She starts to walk away and something hits me.

Wait, you’ve seen this symbol before? I gesture to my glowing tattoo.

She nods. Some old drunk and his bot checked out of here a couple of hours ago. It had that freaky red eye. Now, will you get out of here and let me get back to work?

My head spins. What did the old guy want when he came here? Please.

She sighs and flips through a data pad. The bot put in a requisition order. Huh. Now that’s odd.

What?

There’s no record of it happening. I logged it in, picked up the package and gave it to them. I know I did. She stands up and walks back to another Maglan and begins talking.

That old man sure was asking me a lot about my drone. He must have taken her. My blood burns thinking about it.

Maybe I can remote activate her. I run through the Camdrone startup sequence. A message pops up. "No drone detected."

Crap. Too far out of range. But not far enough to engage the tracking device. A few more gestures and the signal in my ‘site flashes once and then stops.

That tracker has at least a five-mile surface range on it. There’s no way he’s out of Phen’s rings. Maybe he disabled that thing.

But why? Why would he want it?

Then I remember our conversation. I told him I had footage of my jump. Dammit. That video could make him a lot of money if he ever figured out what to do with it. And considering he knows how to disable the tracker, he can probably find the vid. I’m going to have to find that old bastard first.

As I run out of the station, I send a message to Kie and Zaylee. "Need your help. Meet me at Bruho’s."

My stomach rumbles in response to having spent all night in the hole. It’s late in the day already and Cadea and Naglor are setting. I pull up the map of this quadrant of Phen and the outline of the city’s interlocking rings fills my ‘site. Bruho’s is a little greasy, but it’s my favorite spot in the upper Ring.

I sit on one of the benches near the street side and a destination request pops up on my ‘site.

Bruho’s, up on Phen Prime.

The charge for the ride displays and I type out the payment on the eye