Free Ghost of a Smile by Simon R. Green Page A

the brightly blazing building before them suddenly seemed that much more dangerous, and full of secrets.
    â€œKeep your shields up, Happy,” JC said finally. “Protect yourself in there until we’ve got some idea of what’s going on.”
    â€œWhy are you suddenly being nice to me?” said Happy, suspiciously. “That isn’t like you. It’s an improvement, but it’s not like you.”
    â€œBecause without Melody’s high-tech toys, you’re the only advantage we’ve got,” JC said calmly. “Our only early-warning system, and probably our only real weapon.”
    â€œThen we are in serious trouble,” said Happy. “Let’s all go home and tell the Boss we couldn’t find the right building.”
    â€œBrace up, man,” said JC. “Be a brave little soldier, and I’ll make you some of my special spag bol afterwards.”
    â€œI miss food,” Kim said wistfully. “I can still enjoy the smell, but anything I put in my mouth drops straight through.”
    â€œWell, there’s a mental image I wasn’t expecting to take home with me,” said Melody.
    â€œLet us not go there,” JC said firmly.
    Melody scowled at the brightly lit building before her. “No tech, no proper briefing . . . I hate going into situations blind.”
    â€œBest way,” JC said cheerfully. “No preconceptions to get in the way. Come, children, let us march into the lobby and claim it as our own.”
    He walked forward and darted up the stone steps to the lobby door. It was mostly glass. The others moved quickly after him. JC went right up to it and stuck his nose against the glass. His sunglasses made a loud, clinking sound. He peered carefully round the whole lobby. It was completely open to view, light blazing freely through glass windows. And it was completely empty. No sign of people, no sign of any trouble, or destruction. It looked like a stage set, waiting for the actors to make an entrance and start the scene.
    â€œI don’t see anyone,” said JC, straightening up with definite creaking noises from his spine. “Not even a receptionist. I always thought they were legally obliged to go down with the ship, manning the phones to the end. I see fittings and furnishings, comfortable chairs and potted plants . . . everything as it should be. But . . .”
    â€œWhere are the bodies?” said Melody, pushing in beside him. “The police and the security men?”
    â€œWhy are you so keen that they should be dead?” said JC. “Until proved otherwise, they’re missing in action. This could still turn out to be a rescue mission.”
    â€œThey’re dead,” said Happy.
    There was something in the way he said it that made everyone else look at him. JC considered him thoughtfully.
    â€œIs that a feeling, or do you know something you really should be sharing with the rest of us?”
    â€œI can feel death in this building,” said Happy. “Like a shroud hanging over everything. And especially in this lobby. Recent death. Sudden death. I don’t think they even knew what hit them until it was too late.”
    â€œWho killed them?” said JC. “Or is it What?”
    â€œI can’t put a name to it,” said Happy. It’s like nothing I’ve seen or felt before. And I’ve been around.”
    JC looked at Kim. “Are you picking up any of this?”
    â€œNo,” said Kim. “Not a thing. And that’s wrong . . . If people died here, I should be able to see something . . . The world is full of ghosts, and fellow travellers, and images that come and go. I see all the things we share the world with. Comes with being a ghost. There are things here on the street with us right now, paying close attention to the building. But when I look into the lobby, there’s nothing there. So I can only assume that someone is hiding what’s happened from me.