The Apex Book of World SF 2 Read Online Free Page B

behind him, and of course it didn't need a
mask, gene-tailored as it was for the Earth's current environment amongst other
things. Like being able to virtually live forever , Tamuka thought
irritably. As with all Geneforms, Mr Goop was of limited intelligence, but it
certainly knew enough to sense Tamuka's moods, and remained a constant five
metres away. Tamuka could feel Mr Goop's quiet presence behind him, as he had
his entire life. He could not, in fact, imagine what life might be like without
Mr Goop. Tamuka had no brothers and sisters, nor would he ever, with the
one-child family law.
     
    In the low late afternoon sun, the rusted railway tracks shone like two lines of spun gold. On
either side, Tamuka could see through their transparent domes and into the rear
of the rich suburban houses of this area. From where he walked, they all looked
to him like big bubbles housing other dimensions of existence, which could only
ever be glimpsed by peeking over high walls, and through bright laser security
systems. From behind a row of thorny acacia trees that jutted from a dome to
his left, he could hear the sound of splashing water and children's laughter.
Unable to help himself, he leapt from the tracks, down into the thick
vegetation that thrived in the high carbon dioxide and low oxygen environment.
He battled his way to the plastic-steel wall, leant against it and listened
carefully.
    Mr Goop stopped
walking and waited patiently in the hot sun. Tamuka closed his eyes and
imagined the happy sun-soaked scene behind the wall; he could almost smell the
chlorine in the water.
    "You are
unauthorised to be near these premises," bellowed a disembodied voice, "Please
vacate the immediate area in twenty seconds, or become liable to arrest and
prosecution."
    It scared Tamuka so
badly that he jumped backwards, deep into a very dense and thorny wait-a-bit
bush that he had already so-carefully avoided. As Mr Goop plunged off the
tracks to get to him, Tamuka kept very still. He could feel blood starting to
drip, warmly, where the small needle-sharp thorns had painfully punctured right
through his sun-screen coveralls and school uniform. Well, it wasn't called
the wait-a-bit bush for nothing , Tamuka thought. The trick was to keep very
still and remove each thorn-studded, vine-like branch, one by one. The property
had to belong to a really rich and important person to have such a security
system. Tamuka tried to stay calm, but his breathing was hard and deep,
steaming up the clear oxygen mask. At least he had remembered to strap the
vulnerable oxygen line underneath his clothes before leaving the school
airlock. And so far, he could hear the steady hiss of the mask: no thorns had
penetrated it.
    "Nineteen."
    Mr Goop reached
Tamuka, its grey skin paler than usual, and began to gently remove the thorny
branches, one by one.
    "Eighteen."
    Mr Goop had done
this before, Tamuka could see. There was no hesitation in his movements.
    "Seventeen."
    Tamuka was mentally
racked by visions of armed and armoured men, jumping from fliers in the sky to
capture him at any moment.
    "Sixteen."
    There was a measured
haste to Mr Goop's actions now; Tamuka could tell that it knew, in its way,
what could happen if Tamuka was arrested.
    "Fifteen."
    The surface of the
wall began to hum and several holes opened like pupil irises along the top.
From these apertures sprung robotic necks with camera heads, which swung
themselves around and whined into focus on Tamuka and Mr Goop.
    "Fourteen."
    Faster now, and with
no thought to the thorns that were scratching his own skin, Mr Goop started on
the branches wrapped around Tamuka's head.
    "Thirteen."
    New holes opened
along the wall and out popped several sleek, gun-bearing robot arms. Beams from
their blue lasers roamed Mr Goop and Tamuka's bodies like glowing beetles.
    "Twelve."
    The last branch
finally came free and Mr Goop hauled Tamuka over its shoulder and sprinted up
to the tracks. Though the countdown had ended, the