Chapter 10

Benni could no longer leave the family compound alone. A few days after the assassination, platoons of Enforcers began to patrol the corridors of Level Eight, sometimes stopping individuals for questioning. They appeared in the morning as everyone was rushing for the day shift and they returned in the evening when day shift returned and night shift began.

They always walked in platoons of ten men. At least one of the Enforcers carried several scanners and a face recognition cam attached his body armor. No one could figure out as of yet if they were there to guard against further assassinations or to search out particular targets.

They were bad for business and they mucked up time schedules for nearly everyone. Wherever they stationed themselves, traffic jams instantly appeared. They never said a word, they never knocked on the gate of a family enclave, and they ratcheted up the tension in an already volatile situation.

Fearing that Benni was a target, family members escorted him off of the level each morning and met him at a bodega on Level Seven each evening to walk him home. He had to walk with his head down to avoid optical scans, which made him feel all the more vulnerable and edgy. Benni noticed that others were taking such precautions but he didn't know their reasons.

Benni was trying to fight off the twin demons of boredom and depression because of his restriction.

The previous night the Enforcers had touched off a riot in front of Flager's. They had taken up a defensive position with their scanning gear near the entrance, which some patrons had taken as intimidation. Rumor had spread and a raging crowd of incensed citizens had attempted to steamroll over the Enforcer positions. Benni nodded glumly as Korba described in colorful detail how plasma rifles had hissed and needle guns whizzed and knives sliced and flew. He had missed all of it, confined by common sense and family command to the compound. No one was saying who, but someone had tripped the deadman's switch that Flager's hostess always held in her hand.

The front of Flager's was scorched and pockmarked, but the Enforcers were gone. Family members argued whether it was a fair trade, but Benni showed no interest. He gave a brief thought as to whether he would ever see the buxom hostess again — not her, of course, but her corseted chest. It had been the best fight in many a cycle and he had missed it.

Shasa kept him busy. She constantly surprised him with her "variations on a theme," as she put it. She had connected the gymnastics of Doyan's fighting techniques to sex positions. She had him standing, squatting, sitting, bending over and back, and otherwise contorting. He enjoyed every minute of her attentions. Still, they were two rats locked in a cage, no matter how much they liked fucking.

Dember consoled him with games of pegs and dice. Ceema brought stories of her former family and her happy disposition. Nagala had him studying, memorizing, and practicing the art of verbal warfare; he was a captive audience.

He did save slugs though. When he had enough wages finally weighing him down, he decided to buy a new knife but not just a replacement, he wanted to upgrade. Shasa was a mixed-ceramic fabricator, learning the skills of making electrical conductors, knives, and intricate parts of machines. Benni sent Shasa to her workplace to buy him a professional cera-metal composite knife to replace the one that he had lost. Cera-metal was stronger but lighter than pure metal, and sliced with less friction. It was a faster blade

Even Doyan showed interest in his new knife.

That night he celebrated his new acquisition. The next morning the rules of the Enforcers changed. The Enforcers abandoned the concourses for the stairwells leading up and down. His escort had already left him at the bottom of the stairs when he realized the switch in tactics. In a panic to avoid the face-recog scan that was running halfway up the first flight of stairs, Benni ducked into the Family Khan enclave.

He asked the first familiar face he saw inside of the Khan compound if they had a solution to the blockaded stairwells. The woman beckoned him to follow until they arrived at a second gate which led to the inner ways of their large enclave. She slipped inside and emerged a few moments later with one of her elders.

Benni recognized the face of the elder but remained silent. Nagala's lectures started to run through his mind. His heart quickened.

The man spoke. "You are looking for a way around our well-armed guests. For Benni the documents apprentice, there may be a way."

Benni hesitated, remembering how he was supposed to formalize his response. He bowed his head in agreement to negotiate and said, "I am relieved to learn that a way may be open for me. I'm sure there is something of value to trade."

"The Khan propose a trade with you for professional services. We need digital signatures on several items heading Upstairs. If you provide them, we will transport you to Level Four."

Benni was confused. "I provide Family Khan digital seals on a regular basis. Is there a problem?"

"Privacy is the issue with these packages. While your master may be a professional, we have a need to keep these packages out of the usual channels."

Benni was intrigued that he was being offered something so delicate that his master couldn't be involved. He held out his hand, palm up. "I accept this trade with noted statements of privacy for all aspects of this transaction."

The man spit in his palm and the deal was sealed.

"Safe-be," said the man. "My name is Paoli."

"Safe-be," Benni agreed with a smile. "I will return tonight with my travel tools, which you will recognize from my earlier visits to do work for Family Khan. I'll build your seals then."

Paoli said, "Agreed. I suspect that the Enforcers will be in the stairwells again this evening. We will wait for you at the same place where we leave you."

"Fair enough. Do you know who or what the Enforcers are looking for?"

"No," Paoli said too quickly, which Benni's ears picked up immediately. The man was lying, but Benni wasn't about to let him know that he knew.

Benni was escorted into the inner sanctum. The number of children who looked up from their lessons and smiled at him was astonishing. He couldn't believe that they were raising children on Level Eight; he couldn't believe they were raising that many. After gazing upon all those small faces, he wondered. His thoughts turned to Shasa and her come-hither smile, and he speculated.

They ushered him into a room with boxes, cans, canisters and crates laid out on the floor. Someone flipped a switch or released a catch that Benni couldn't see, and a part of the wall slid aside revealing a moving platform, modest in size but big enough to move the largest crate in the room.

Paoli pointed to the platform and, with a declaration of "safe-be," indicated that Benni was to board. Inside the dark shaft, Benni could see only as far as the light in the outer room allowed him. He saw that the platform was attached to four rails, one in each corner. Another woman joined him on the platform.