|YA featured story|
Welcome to 2325.
The natural world is no longer habitable, the government has been all but privatised and the 15-billion strong population has spent the last 170 years crammed into a single man-made continent.
When her father's...
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A giant Gourami stared at me with bulging eyes through the glass. Its fishy mouth bounced open and closed as it watched me pace along the foot of the bed.
"She should be back," I told it, fidgeting with the PEP gun Delta had left me with. She'd been gone twenty-five minutes—five longer than she had told me to wait—and I didn't know what to do.
The suitcase plan had worked. Delta had booked a room at hotel Oceana, where Dad's memorial was being held. She'd walked straight into the lobby and been shown to her room, all whilst dragging me along in her suitcase. I wasn't usually a claustrophobic person, but after that sweaty experience, I think I might have become one.
Once we were in the room, Delta had forged herself an invite and taken off to the memorial, where she was supposed to find Fabia and pass on the message to come meet me upstairs.
It was a simple enough plan, but perhaps a little too undercooked.
Neither of us had really considered that Fabia wasn't likely to leave Dad's memorial just because some random girl was claiming I was waiting upstairs. Especially after all the recent attempted kidnapping stuff.
I tore my eyes away from the fish and focused on the holo Delta had left with a live stream of security footage. I had seen her follow Fabia and a female ZenSecure guard into the toilets exactly seven minutes and thirty-six seconds ago—and they had still not re-appeared.
My stomach swirled. I was too jittery to even focus on the other live feed of Dad's memorial.
My worrying was interrupted by a single, sharp knock on the door before it flew open. I aimed my weapon, my jaw going slack as Delta limped into the room. She had her arm draped over someone's shoulder as they helped her through the door.
"What the f—" I broke off, registering the face of Delta's support. "Fabia?"
Flinging the gun onto the bed, I rushed to help them. Delta's nose was gushing blood, staining her entire front bright red. "What happened? I couldn't see you on the security feed!"
Delta groaned in response, staggering over to the bed and easing herself down. "Anything cold in there?" she asked, pointing to a small bar fridge.
I ripped it open, grabbing a beer and a mini bottle of champagne from inside. "This is all they have," I said, holding them up.
"They'll do, bring them over." Delta rolled up her shirt, but I couldn't see an injury.
I handed her the bottles; she pressed the champagne against her side and winced. "Slipped rib," she explained, pulling the cap off her beer and taking a gulp. "Xanya packs one hell of a kick." She looked to Fabia. "You're in good hands there... cheers." She upended the bottle, downing the whole thing.
"Who's Xanya?" I looked from her to Fabia.
"My ZenSecure issued guard," Fabia replied, rubbing her temple. A few silver hairs had come loose from her dark plait. "If you could call her that. She's more of a glorified babysitter really. Spying on me and blabbing to Zenith if I meddle in things I shouldn't."
