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  If I hadn’t known him, I might have thought he hadn’t a care in the world. His body language was open and relaxed, his face composed, but I could read anger in the flinty grey of his eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” he said evenly. “It seems there’s to be no negotiation on this.”

  “Can’t you talk to Briggs?” Spider exploded. “Couldn’t we...”

  “Don’t worry about it,” I told him. “I’ll deal with it.”

  “But...”

  I sighed and rolled my tense shoulders. “I hate to admit it, but I have to agree with Stemp. If I was him, I wouldn’t let that network key aboveground, either.”

  “But... it’s not fair. How can he expect you to do that? You can’t even stand to be down there for a few minutes!” Spider’s eyes were dark with distress.

  I stood up. “I’ll manage. When I’m in the network, it won’t matter anyway. I was tied up hand and foot last week, and I managed to get through it. I can get through a few minutes in an underground bunker until my consciousness goes into the network. Once I’m in the network, I can make all the open space I need.”

  I squeezed his shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go down and get to work.” I headed for the door before I could change my mind.

  Back in Spider’s underground lab, I controlled my breathing with an effort. “Do you have the signalling device?” I asked Kane.

  He nodded reassurance. “Right here.”

  “Good. I’d hate to be hanging around in the network not knowing there’s a fire alarm blaring in real life.” I tried to make a joke of it, but it didn’t come out sounding funny at all.

  Kane reached for my hand and squeezed it gently. “Don’t worry. I have the signalling device, and Webb’s going to be in the network with you anyway. Between the two of us, we’ll make sure you get out if you have to.”

  “Thanks,” I said awkwardly. “I’m sorry I’m being such a chickenshit about this.”

  “You’re not.”

  I stepped quickly into the virtual void of the network and immediately created a simulation. By the time Spider’s avatar popped into existence beside me, we were standing on a mountain peak. Far below us, a glittering lake reflected the vividly blue sky. Across the deep valley, a range of mountains marched into the misty distance. Echoing silence surrounded us, underscored by the constant whisper of the breeze sifting through the stunted spruce trees.

  “Wow!” He turned in a circle, gaping. “This is amazing! I’ve never seen a sim with so much detail. And it’s so realistic! I can even smell the pine trees.”

  “They’re spruce,” I ribbed him.

  “Picky, picky. Is this a real place?”

  “Yeah. Mount Indefatigable, in Kananaskis Country. This trail is closed now. Too many grizzly bears. Which I’ve conveniently omitted from the sim,” I hastened to reassure him as he glanced anxiously around.

  “I’m pretty much a city boy,” Spider admitted. “Wilderness makes me nervous.”

  We stood in silence for a few moments, and then I stretched and sighed. “Well, I guess I’d better get to work.” I let the simulation fade to the network’s white void. A few minutes later, I was absorbed in files.

  Spider and I worked steadily, decrypting and recording the data. The files we’d selected at random didn’t seem important to me, but Spider insisted we had to go through the documents completely to make sure we weren’t missing anything.

  The back of my neck was beginning to ache when there was a sudden blip in the network, and a small stab of pain knifed behind my eyes.

  I sprang up. “Time to get out.”

  Spider frowned up at me in confusion. “Okay. Do you need a break?”

  “No, Kane just signalled me. Didn’t you... Oh, no, I guess you wouldn’t have noticed it. That’s just me and the network key.”

  “You’d better go, then. I’ll come, too.”

  We made our way rapidly back to the virtual portal. “You go first,” I told him. “I’m going to step through nice and slow.”

  “Good,” he agreed. “I don’t want to see you thrash around in agony ever again.”

  He vanished through the portal, and I stepped unhurriedly through it behind him.

  The usual pain crashed through my head, and I grunted and jerked into a ball, wrapping my arms over my throbbing skull. I breathed slowly and deeply until I could open my eyes without wincing.

  I straightened up. “You rang?” I inquired.

  “Quitting time,” Kane said cheerfully.

  “Really?” I peered at my watch. “Holy crap, it’s nearly six o’clock. Time flies when you’re having fun.” I turned to Spider. “See, I told you it wouldn’t bother me to be underground as long as I was in the network.”

  “We’ll need to come up with a more efficient solution than this, though,” Kane said. “It’s not a productive use of time for me to sit here doing nothing but holding the signalling device.”

  “Right. I didn’t think of that.” Spider frowned for a second, and then his face cleared. “No problem. Aydan can go into the network, and I’ll work externally. We can still communicate through the network interface, but I’ll be here with her physical body so I can signal her if necessary.”

  “That’ll work,” Kane agreed. “Aydan, what are your plans for tomorrow?”

  “I have to be at the Silverside Hotel at nine, at Blue Eddy’s at eleven, and then I’m due at Up & Coming at one. I could be here by two-thirty.”

  “Does that work for you?” Kane addressed Spider.

  “I can work with that.”

  “Okay, then, I’m out of here. See you tomorrow.” I made a beeline for the door, feeling the oppressive weight of tons of concrete hovering over my head again. This time I made it into the lobby without hyperventilating. I turned in my security fob at the desk and went outside, blinking in the sudden glare of sunshine and heat.

  I slid into the oven-like interior of my car and pressed my back into the dark upholstery, closing my eyes while the heat seeped into my bones. A long breath leaked out of me, tension easing from my shoulders.

  “Are you all right?”

  My body spasmed with shock at the sound of Kane’s voice and my eyes flew open to meet his concerned gaze as he leaned in the open driver’s door.

  “I was, before you gave me a heart attack,” I stammered.

  “Sorry.” He met my eyes seriously. “I just wanted to tell you that you did a great job today. I know what it took for you to do that.”

  I felt a flush on my face that wasn’t related to the heat of the car. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome. See you tomorrow.”

  He strode away, and I listlessly reached for the ignition. With the strain of the day lifted, my muscles felt like wet dishrags. I drove home on autopilot and stumbled into my overheated house with my stomach growling.

  After a meal of leftovers and a couple of unproductive hours at my desk, I fell into bed early and spent the night running through endless dreams on leaden feet.

  Chapter 7

  I crept out of bed and into the shower the next morning feeling only slightly refreshed. At the breakfast table, I marshalled my shrinking courage with a brisk pep talk about positive attitude. I could do this. Claustrophobia was all in my head.

  I made no effort to dress up beyond a well-fitting pair of jeans and a flattering T-shirt. Even so, I was over-dressed for the grimy office at the Silverside Hotel. I made my unwilling way to Harks’s chaotic desk and began to sort through the heaps of stained and wrinkled receipts.

  Harks’s aversion to tidiness actually worked in his favour in a few cases as I harvested slips of paper from where they’d drifted onto the floor and into the corners. I tried not to think about the nameless objects that lurked in the dingy cavern under the desk.

  Harks made a short appearance, again leaning heavily on the back of my chair. The faint wheezing of his breath from a few inches behind my head made my skin crawl, and a dull headache bloomed while my neck and shoulders tense
d.

  After an hour and a half, I’d sorted and stacked the papers in orderly piles, ready for me to tackle the next time.

  As I left the office, Harks looked up from the reception desk. “You leaving already?”

  “Yes, I have another client.”

  “I need this done right away, you know. For what I’m paying you, I should come first in line.”

  Yeah, right. He’d ignored it for at least six months, and now he needed it right away. I left without comment.

  I stepped gratefully out into the blazing sun and stumbled to my car. After another liberal application of hand sanitizer, I slumped in the seat for a few seconds massaging my headache before driving over to Blue Eddy’s.

  My spirits lifted immediately at the sound of the piano when I let myself in the back door. Rollicking boogie-woogie made me grin as I poked my head into the bar.

  Eddy glanced up and returned my smile while the music continued to pour effortlessly through his nimble fingers. I knew I couldn’t resist the temptation anyway, so I didn’t try. Instead of going directly to the office to get started, I wandered over and leaned against the piano, watching him play. He walked the bass home and grinned up at me.

  “You’re still my all-time favourite client, Eddy,” I told him sincerely.

  “Ah, you’re just sucking up because you love my burgers,” he teased.

  “True, but I’m also sucking up because I love your piano playing. And your bar. And the blues. And your beer.” I sighed. “Man, I could sure use a beer right now.”

  He hopped up from the piano stool. “Do you want one?”

  I shook my head regretfully. “I’d love one, but I can’t. I’m driving. And anyway, beer and bookkeeping probably isn’t a good combination.”

  His observant gaze assessed me. “Are you okay? You look a little pale.”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve just been really busy lately. I’ve gotten a couple of new clients.”

  “What, more dens of iniquity like mine?” he joked.

  I laughed. “One of them is a den of iniquity. Or a den of disgusting filth, anyway.”

  “Do tell. I didn’t know we had disgusting filth here in Silverside.”

  “Then you’ve never been in the office at the Silverside Hotel.”

  Eddy sobered, a faint line appearing between his eyebrows. “Bill Harks? Are you sure you want him for a client?”

  “No,” I said truthfully, trying to make it sound like a joke. “His office is so gross and dirty, I needed a shower by the time I left. He had a sandwich lying on his desk that was older than I am.”

  Eddy stood in silence for a moment, his face troubled. “Aydan... be careful over there.”

  “Why? Will the cooties crawl out of the carpet and eat me?”

  “No. At least I don’t think so,” he said with a half-smile. “It’s just... You don’t want to be around Bill when he’s drinking.”

  “Thanks, Eddy,” I said seriously. “That’s good to know. I’ll be careful. Thanks for being my guardian angel.” I began to drift reluctantly toward the office. “Guess I’d better get to work.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “Then you could go back to playing the piano,” I hinted heavily.

  He laughed. “I could, indeed.”

  The merry sound of the piano waltzed me into his tiny office.

  At twelve-fifteen, I was just putting away the books when a movement from the open doorway caught my eye. I glanced up and chuckled at the sight of a disembodied hand holding a big burger and home-cut fries on a generous platter.

  Eddy’s smiling face popped into the doorway above it. “Can I tempt you?”

  “Eddy, you can tempt me any day, any time. Thanks!” I rummaged in my waist pouch for cash.

  “On the house,” he demurred.

  “No, I can’t. You’re always feeding me.” I pushed a twenty at him, but he backed away.

  “No, really. A customer ordered it and then changed his mind. I can’t legally sell it to you.”

  I regarded him for a moment. “Okay. Thanks, Eddy.” I returned his grin and bit into the hot, juicy burger. He was a lousy liar, but I didn’t see how I could tell him that. If the man wanted to feed me enough to lie about it, who was I to argue?

  I finished my excellent lunch and stepped out into the bar, soaking up the classic blues from the sound system. Eddy was occupied with filling glasses at the bar, and I returned his jaunty wave as I left.

  I stepped into Up & Coming on the dot of one o’clock, feeling as though life was worth living after all. Amazing what some good food and good music will do. I recoiled theatrically at the sight of the huge black silicone penis on display at the front of the shop.

  “Lola!” I called. “You left Big John the Wonder Horse out again!”

  Her smirking, wrinkled face bounced up from behind the counter. “Hi, Aydan! I’m just rearranging the shop.”

  I eyed her with amusement. “Purple? I love it!”

  She ran her hands through her spiky hair. “Yeah. I got tired of blonde. And this is such a bright, happy colour.”

  It was. In fact, her hair practically glowed purple. Combined with the low-cut, body-hugging purple dress she wore, it made her look like a wrinkled neon pixie. She stepped out from behind the counter.

  Okay, a wrinkled neon dominatrix pixie.

  “Whoa, killer shoes,” I kidded her. “I didn’t think they could cram that many straps and buckles on shoes that tiny.”

  The outfit should have been wildly inappropriate on a woman of her age, but it worked for her. She struck a sexy pose and grinned up at me. “These are from the same manufacturer as those thigh-high boots you tried on a couple of weeks ago.”

  I groaned. “You mean, the ones you forced me to try on. Don’t remind me.” I cut my eyes at her. “You still owe me for that. That guy who peeked in the window and saw me? I saw him on the street yesterday, and he stared at me like I was a sideshow.”

  “Good. I’ll just tape one of our business cards to your butt.”

  “If you do, I’ll charge you extra for the advertising space.”

  The door chimed, and I turned to see Linda’s smile. “Granny, I thought we agreed we’d try to play up the lingerie and couples toys,” she chided. “I think you should put Big John somewhere different. He’s kind of hardcore.”

  Lola shot her an impish grin. “I know, honey. But it’s so much fun to see folks’ faces when they walk in.”

  “You’re hopeless.” Linda walked over to hug her grandmother, and I chuckled at the two diminutive women standing side by side. Lola’s outrageous outfit and artful makeup contrasted violently with her granddaughter’s practical nurse’s scrubs and cosmetic-free complexion, but the family resemblance was unmistakeable.

  I shook my head at them. “I’m going to leave you two midgets to your sordid plots.” I headed for the back office and settled in at the desk.

  At a quarter after two, I closed the books and emerged into the store.

  “Aydan, come here,” Lola commanded. “Try this on.”

  “No chance.” I kept moving and didn’t look too closely at the garment she was holding up. “I have another client. Gotta go. See you.”

  I fled.

  Chapter 8

  As I approached Sirius Dynamics, I repeated my mantra. I could do this. My heart thumped while I signed for my fob and approached the heavy steel door.

  I stepped into the time-delayed chamber and stood straight and tall while I counted down the seconds. I could do this.

  Wobbling down the dreaded concrete stairwell, I gave my knees another brisk pep talk. I could do this.

  I managed to greet Spider in nonchalant tones when I stuck my head into his lab.

  He looked up with a smile. “Hi, Aydan, how’s it going?”

  “Fine,” I lied. “Ready to roll?”

  “Sure.” He held up the signalling device. “All set.”

  He handed me the box containing the network key, and I propped myself in a chair. “I’m going in.
I’ll let you know when I’m at the files.”

  “I’ll monitor you from here,” Spider said. “I’ll keep the data record running in real-time so I can see what you’re doing.”

  “So you’re saying I shouldn’t pick my nose.”

  He blushed. “No.”

  I was chuckling when I stepped into the simulation. He was such a nice kid. And so easily embarrassed.

  The blip came so soon it startled me. I addressed Spider directly through the network interface. “Are we done already?”

  “Yes. It’s five-thirty. I spoke to you through the interface, but I guess you didn’t hear me.”

  “No, I was buried in this file. Lucky you’ve got the signalling device.”

  I got up and stretched before realizing it was a pointless activity since my avatar was only a virtual body anyway. No point in stretching it when it was a creation of my own mind. I shook my head at my own silliness and stepped out the portal.

  When I’d recovered enough to straighten up, I met Spider’s sympathetic eyes. “I really wish there was another way,” he said.

  “Thanks, Spider. Me, too.”

  I stood and stretched. My body had stiffened considerably after being propped motionless in the chair for three hours. God, and I needed to pee so badly my back teeth were floating.

  I creaked and groaned my way cautiously to the door. “Tomorrow, signal me to come out every couple of hours or so.”

  Spider gave me a cheerful salute. “Will do. See you then.”

  The next several days blurred into a tedious round. Each morning, I worked a couple of hours at the Silverside Hotel, followed by a long day of intense concentration at Sirius Dynamics. At night, nightmares stalked my sleep while I ran with frantic slowness from faceless assailants. By Friday, my head was aching more or less constantly.

  I hissed through clenched teeth and pounded my fist on my knee, eyes screwed shut. Despite my best efforts, some creative obscenities leaked out. As the pain subsided, I gradually squinted my eyes open and pushed myself up, hands braced on my knees.