Chapter 1
Edison Carter walked to work from Gladhand Meadows. After seeing that Bryce's body would not end up being dismantled for parts, he had refused a ride from Blank Reg who had agreed to keep silent about Bryce until Edison made the announcement.
The walk, which was three miles, was taken mostly for him to think about how to make that statement. He wondered how they would react? Would they feel angry that Bryce had died without them around him? Would they be mad at themselves? Or Janie for getting herself in danger while Bryce was on death's doorstep? He tried to think of how to work it so there would be no self-recriminations. Tried to take the pain out of his voice so it wouldn't be misconstrued as anger.
As it turned out, he didn't have to say anything.
As soon as he walked into the control room, they knew. Of course they would, he reflected. He had only been away to look after Bryce in his last days. If was back, it meant those few days were over.
"Where?" Murray asked as Theora wiped her eyes on her sleeve.
"Gladhand Meadows," Edison told them. "Next to Paddy. Now," he said, getting to business, "What's the deal with Janie Crane?"
"What?" Theora asked. She'd been thinking about all the things Bryce would never grow up to do. Get married, become a father. He was gone now, taken too soon from this world.
"Janie Crane. The reporter who replaced me. What happened to her?"
"Right," Theora said, glad for the distraction from her sadness.
Murray didn't question it. He had seen a great number of deaths when he'd been a war correspondent and he knew that most people busied themselves after a close friend had passed in order to keep themselves from being overwhelmed by the loss.
"Janie was in the field when she was abducted by what was apparently a ZLin soldier," Theora explained. "They must have a scan blocker somewhere on their vehicles because I can't pick up a trace of her."
"There's got to be a way," Edison told her. "Keep trying."
Theora turned back to her computer and continued her attempts to reach Janie.
Edison shouldered his camera and headed for the door.
"Where are you going?" Murray demanded.
"To visit Blank Bruno," Edison said.
"You can tell him about Bryce later." Murray told him.
"Murray," Edison reasoned, "Blank Bruno was Bryce's teacher. If anyone in this city knows how to track Janie with a trace blocker in place, it's him."
"Just be careful," Murray said. "We can't afford to lose three employees in one month."
"Life is so fragile in the Fringes, God," Bruno said, carefully petting the frog's back as footsteps approached his door. "We live like shadows, Sometimes giving shade, always following. Even when we cannot be seen."
The knock was unexpected.
"We're not interested," Bruno called to the door.
"I need to talk to you about a former student," Edison said from the other side of the door.
"Which student?" Bruno asked, cautiously. He wondered what the reporter wanted from him. He was sure it wasn't chatting about old times.
"Bryce Lynch," Edison called through the door.
Bryce was one of Bruno's best students and the middle-aged blank had a soft spot for the teen genius.
"What about him?" he asked, his hand on the doorknob.
"He's dead." Edison told him, choking back tears.