Dreams in the Tower Part 2 Read Online Free Page A

the morning and the fact that thousands of people in the city were recently out of work didn’t change that; the difference now was that instead of drinking their coffee on the way to work many of these people would be drinking it on sidewalks in the ranks of the protesters. She was uncomfortably conscious of the fact that the people around her surely noticed the unpleasant smell emanating from her body. Good hygiene was hard to maintain when you were the most wanted person in the city…maybe the world.
    Since deciding that the best place to hide while tracking down the right people was right on the streets of the city that Silte Corp had turned into its capital, Dellia had determined that spending a night at a hotel should be a rare occasion; she had only done it twice since going into hiding, and the last time was several days ago now. The other nights she had spent sleeplessly, curled up in a DART train, tensing as every would-be mugger or rapist walked by, and more recently she slept in tents alongside the growing mass of protesters camping in every park across the city. She liked staying with the protesters because they didn’t expect her to answer any questions she didn’t want to. In fact, many of them used only nicknames and were never seen without hoods or masks. Blending in with them had made hiding much easier, especially once the crowds lining the streets grew large enough that she could move through them without the constant fear of a camera identifying her. The crowd, though, wouldn’t help protect her against the secret surveillance cameras here in Starbucks.
    But that line of thinking was a little too paranoid.
    She had resolved in the beginning not to succumb to fear; she would accomplish nothing if she was too afraid to poke her head out occasionally. As far as she knew, her frenzied drive down to Austin (in a rented car she knew would be traced to her) and subsequent train ride back to Dallas with a false ID had fooled Silte. Or maybe it hadn’t, but she wouldn’t worry about that.
    “Green tea latte for Lucy.”
    It was a couple of seconds Before Dellia’s sleep-deprived brain registered the false name she had ordered with. “Excuse me,” she said, creeping through the tired people waiting for their morning energy.
    Grabbing her drink, she hurried out of the shop to give those in her vicinity relief from her unwashed body. She found a table outside behind a particularly dense patch of protesters, some holding large signs that would act as a nice shield from the street and the buildings on the other side. Feeling secure, she deposited her bag on the table, tossed windblown oily hair away from her face and pulled out her tablet to pass the time while she waited; she had no idea if her co ntact would be punctual in meeting her here. When the screen lit up it was already showing the video archive on a citizen news app called Bare Facts News, which she had found earlier. She had come to realize that the big media networks weren’t worth bothering with anymore.
    It took only a single swipe to find a new report on the so-called mind virus epidemic. Fina lly, it seemed like people were starting to make a big deal about it. Dellia put in one earbud and listened to the smooth male voice speaking over recent footage and stock photos.
    “The mysterious mind virus is the new epidemic nobody is talking about. Across America, thousands lie in nearly catatonic states, while abroad major cities like Beijing, Tokyo, and Lo ndon have already contained those infected with the virus in quarantine zones. The CDC and WHO have kept relatively quiet so far, unwilling to give definitive statements until they know more about the true nature of the disease. Meanwhile, doctors and scientists alike say we could be facing the biggest crisis in modern history. The world is at a loss to explain just what is going on, but BFN has spent the last week uncovering new information that could save your life.”
    This was probably