Sons of the Crystal Mind (Diamond Roads Book 1) by Andrew Wallace Page A

up.
    “Payment,” Dodge says to Harlan without looking at him.
    “Done,” Harlan says.
    Dodge hesitates, presumably to check his Aerac and then holds out the object from the table. It’s a hypo.
    “Left or right handed?” he asks.
    “Either.”
    “Choose one.”
    “Right hand,” I say. “What are you injecting me with?”
    “This,” Harlan says.
    He points at one of the empty walls. A red beam of light flickers from his right index fingertip and crackles against the diamond wall. It’s the weapon he used on the Blank at Ursula’s party.
    “And this,” Harlan says.
    “No!” Dodge shouts, too late.
    A white beam from Harlan’s right finger disintegrates the wall with a terrific crash that shakes the building and fills the room with smoke.
    “You fucker!” Dodge shrieks. “I said to you, I fucking said to you no more fucking obliterate shots in my gaffe Harlan, I said that, did I not fucking say that?”
    “You did,” Harlan says, “and I ignored you. Now if you please: the young lady.”
    “I’m getting one of those?” I ask.
    Harlan smiles.
    “It’s a nano-gun or n-gun,” Dodge says. “It uses the movement in your body to generate energy. The clever bit is how it amplifies that and fires charged particles down the beam.”
    He points at the remains of the wall, which begins to grow back as the smoke and debris are absorbed into the floor.
    “The obliterate bolt gives a single particle a hint of antimatter at the point of impact.”
    “A hint?” I say. “That’s… not possible.”
    Dodge looks at me and then at the wall. He shrugs.
    “You want it or not?” he says.
    There’s something wrong with Centria.
    “Yes please,” I say.
    I tug the jumpsuit down to expose the top of my right arm. Dodge presses his hypo against it and I feel the cool jet of smart molecules as they enter.
    “It’ll take a while to grow,” Dodge says.
    He drops the hypo onto the table as I do the jumpsuit back up.
    “It’s a permanent product as well,” Dodge continues. “There’s no time limit before it’s automatically reabsorbed so you never have to buy another one.”
    “How do I work it?” I say.
    Dodge points between my eyes.
    “It connects to the seed so you control it with your Aerac,” he says. “You’ve got three levels of power: one is stun and the beam is blue. Two is kill, which has a red beam. Three is obliterate. That’s white.”
    “Okay,” I say.
    “But be careful,” Dodge says. “You need kilos to work the n-gun and too many obliterate shots are expensive.”
    “Can I still-?”
    “Yes you can still pick your nose,” Dodge snaps.
    I look at Harlan.
    “I thought that was quite funny…” I say.
    Harlan shakes his head slightly in warning.
    “The n-gun won’t work on you,” Dodge says as if I hadn’t spoken. “It’s too easy to have an accident. If you want to commit suicide you’ll have to find some other way.”
    “Right.”
    “Another thing: this beauty won’t register on any scanners so use it sparingly. The fewer people know you’ve got it the more useful it will be.”
    “But…”
    “Get a standard weapon as well and use that as a decoy. Actually, take this one.”
    Dodge hands me a small, squat fuze.
    “It’s nearly as powerful,” he says. “Another one I designed myself. Thought I’d throw it in.”
    “Oh, thank you,” I say.
    I slip the gun into a pocket. Harlan rolls his eyes. I look at Dodge again.
    “How much was the n-gun?” I ask.
    “100,000 kilos,” Dodge says.
    “How much?”
    “I’ve made you superhuman, nigh on,” Dodge says.
    “Yes but Harlan-?”
    “Don’t worry about it,” Harlan says.
    “That’s more money than I’ve ever had!”
    “I think you’re worth it,” Dodge says.
    “I – thank you Dodge – I will pay you back Harlan.”
    “No,” Harlan says.
    “How can you charge that amount?” I ask Dodge.
    “That’s what it costs,” he says.
    “But you could charge less and sell more.”
    “She’s from