Read Divided Worlds Trilogy 01 - Disconnect for Free Online Page A

compartmentalised section, Zachary struggled to recall which of the five horizontal mounted shelves held the jumpsuit he’d borrowed. The landing feet of the Muirne clanged down, wobbling Zachary. Flicking his fingers over them, he ploughed through the jumpsuits. Sticky residue and chewing gum in some of the pockets irked him. Finally hard metal clicked against his fingernail.
    “Are you all right?” Marcus’s puffed put chest touched Zachary’s shoulder.
    Zachary hooked his hand over the Raptor Intercom. He slipped it into his jeans pocket. “I knocked over the suits accidentally.” Kneeling, he replaced the suits back onto the shelf. “Did the repair go okay?”
    Marcus scraped his neck stubble. “Took longer than we wanted. Fungal compounds had infected the metal right up to the hull’s edge. It would’ve burst through in a week.”
    Hastily appearing, Gerry slapped Marcus on the back. “Come on – stay a bit longer? Crack open a few cans? The little one can join us. We might as well initiate him. What do you say? Came to IOTA as a boy, but left as a man.”
    Marcus shook his head. “He’s not ready for that stuff. I’ll be hanging around for a bit, but I want you to go straight home,” he said to Zachary. “And don’t run. There’ll be nobody picking you up if you hit anything again.”
    Zachary descended the ramp amidst white smoke gushing from the Muirne ’s cooling-vents. Everything within the bay was the same as he’d last seen it several hours ago.
    On approaching the gate, a heavy throb beat his eyelids. Walking backward through the exit, Zachary saluted IOTA. Darkness expanded as if Biro’s curtain had been cast upon him. The stagnant odour of District Two hit him harder than he expected.
    He kicked a burnt tray into an open pipe, dried of waste. The tray’s base reflected a glimmer of light from the ceiling. Rosa had been determined to remind him of his status. She wouldn’t have lasted a second down here.
    Outlines of people grew in the darkness ahead of Shantytown’s towers. A woman screamed in the distance, and dogs barked one after another until a chorus broke the whirring sounds of the District. No matter how late, there was never a trace of calm and quietness. No bright flowers. No waving trees. No grass to tickle his wrist.
    Rather than take the long curving path, Zachary shaved fifteen minutes off his journey by pulling himself up the ridge to the outskirts of Shantytown. All of a sudden, a streak of light burst within the Wastelands. It stirred to the side then shrank back to its point of origin. Zachary saw a larger figure pull back a smaller person whose hair reflected the beam of the torch’s upward motion. The light switched off.
    Where did they get a working torch from?
    Thinking nothing more of them, Zachary turned into an alley with clear sight of his home. Payment from his dad’s job might be enough for them to purchase a flat higher up in the tower.
    Inside, whiffs of putrid rabbit meat wrung Zachary’s neck. Flapping at the stench, he suddenly felt overwhelmed by it. With the pan in hand, he rushed over to the door. Outside, he swivelled on the spot preparing to throw the rancid meat. He didn’t stop swivelling. His mind saw the decrepit walls of Shantytown giving way to glass panels showing the wondrous gas bands of Jupiter. Music played. Harps. Drums. Cymbals. The pattering of feet.
    Zachary stopped. What was he doing?
    Sinking his arm a little, he flung the rabbit meat out of the pan. It disappeared into the darkness. Someone would find use for it.
    Door shut, he walked past the silent Haulage-404 droid. “Night, Patch.”
    Zachary slithered under the blanket on his bed. He glazed up at the crisscrossing pipes in the ceiling. His room, half the size of his dad’s, was big enough for a single person. For the first time, it felt cramped. He wondered how big each room was in the Kade residence.
    On turning, the Intercom pressed into his hip. He pulled it up. It