Download first five chapters - John Trevillian

6 DäalessandroWithin the hour, my neoteric team convene in the laboratory. Thomassits across from Jana, Rycharde and myself in the only area of floorspacelarge enough to fit four zabuton around a low table. Hot drinks steamin our hands, though the only nod towards ceremony is a bowl ofpopcorn and, incongruously, a single wooden fork.“I trust your journey down was without incident.”I direct the statement to our newcomer, and everyone there knowsI am not referring to the elevator.Thomas nods, sipping at his darjeeling.“Yes, very comfortable. The transport dirtside was almost empty.”“Empty? Well, that’s understandable. New Jeda City is not currentlywhat you would call the vacation capital of the eastern seaboard.”“You have that right, Dr Glass. I felt like I was the one fishswimming against the stream. But they’ve annexed that name. Thestreamsheets are calling this place Dead City now.”“Dead City?” I say, amused. “How dramatic.”“What’s it like out there?” Jana asks, her eyes scanning everycentimetre of our new recruit. What are you searching for? I wonder.Signs of weakness? Plague? A hint that my insistence at not beingable to adequately cope with a two psychist team is fatally flawed?Yet her question is valid on other levels. It’s been over a year sincethe creation of the near-space consortium and of the XEs sentienceto run its affairs, yet in that time corporate exodus has been inescapable.Like dozens of others, this megalopolis was macrocorp funded to thelast world dollar. Exxo controlled every significant utility, every core