Read Online Swarm by Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, Deborah Biancotti - Free Book Online Page A

panted. “But that girl threatened me with a lobotomy if I didn’t let them go.”
    â€œWe were going to follow them in a cab,” Thibault said, pulling free of Flicker’s embrace. “But all we had was this.”
    He pulled a sheaf of blank paper from his pocket.
    Everyone stared at him, uncomprehending.
    Kelsie eased back their group focus, letting Thibault’s energy in. When she’d first joined the Zeroes, she’d thought he was a cold spot in the room. But he had a mellow, solid presence, once she’d learned to feel for it.
    â€œThis is from the money he threw down on the bar,” he said. “Away from him , it was just blank paper.”
    â€œWhoa,” Flicker said. “It looked real. And I saw it through everybody’s eyes.”
    Nate stood. “Money. The ultimate shared hallucination.”
    Somehow Nate always managed to sound like he was hosting a nature documentary.
    â€œSay what now?” Ethan asked.
    â€œMoney is a social construct,” Nate said. “It needs a crowd’s agreement to make it work, to turn paper into something valuable. Haven’t you ever found it weird that pieces of paper are valuable, just because of the numbers printed on them?”
    â€œUm, no,” Ethan said.
    But Kelsie was nodding.
    Money had always seemed like a game to her and her father, except when they were out of it. Even then, Dad had usually found a way to get more—at any moment, he had a bunch of cons going. Their friend Fig had said that Jerry Laszlo worked harder at conning people than if he’d had a regular job.
    â€œOh, wait,” Ethan said, looking pale. “This is not good.”
    â€œIt’s fascinating ,” Nate said. “And that’s why he offered to pay for everyone’s shipping, and drinks! If his power’s like ours, he’s only rich when there’s a crowd around him!”
    â€œCrowd funding,” Thibault said drily. “We should call him Kickstarter.”
    â€œOr Coin,” Nate said.
    â€œThey’re just jerks .” Chizara rolled her eyes. “And you want to give them superhero names?”
    â€œUh, I think we’ve got a bigger problem than his name,” Ethan said. The energy in the room spasmed, focusing on him. He looked like he’d been busted cheating on an exam. “Because I totally bribed some cops with a bag full of that money.”
    Nate stared. “You . . . what?”
    â€œDid you just say you bribed cops? ” Chizara cried.
    â€œTechnically, it was the voice that bribed them,” Ethan said. “And technically I didn’t bribe them at all. I just handed them a bag of blank paper in exchange for going away.”
    â€œOops,” Flicker said.
    â€œThe cops were all smooth about it. They didn’t even look in the bag!” Ethan’s fear was pulsing through the group, setting off an alarm in Kelsie’s head. “But the moment they try to buy doughnuts, they’re going to be pissed  !”
    Nate held up a hand, and everyone went quiet.
    â€œWhat are they going to do, report us?” he said. “They took a bribe . We can pay them real money later.”
    â€œEasy for you to say!” Ethan cried. “You’ve never had cops on your tail!”
    â€œExcept for the time your mother brought two detectives to my home, after you called me from a police station asking for help .” Nate turned away, and Kelsie felt him shutting out Ethan’s ragged, anxious energy. “What’s more important is thatwe just discovered two more powers in the world, and we let them get away!”
    â€œNot for long,” Thibault said. “They’re planning something tomorrow. Something worse than this.”
    The feeling of being invaded flowed through Kelsie again. She wanted to lash out, punch someone, protect her territory.
    â€œDon’t they care about keeping their powers