Chapter 25 · Undercity Broker - Chapter 25: The Dead Get on Board

Lin's mother stood inside the train car. Her hair was still short like she'd kept it the last year. The gray cardigan with the coffee stain on the left cuff. She looked at him through the open doors and didn't smile.

He stepped back.

She tilted her head. Not like a question. Like she was waiting for him to remember something he'd forgotten a long time ago.

The doors stayed open. No hiss. No warning chime. The train sat there humming on tracks that shouldn't exist and his dead mother stood three meters away with her hands folded in front of her and he could smell the disinfectant soap she used to use after her shifts at the hospital laundry.

"This is a bad idea," Lei said behind him.

Lin didn't turn around. "She's dead."

"I know."

"I saw the body."

"I know."

"So what the hell is this?"

Lei didn't answer. Lin heard him shift his weight. The kind of movement people made when they were thinking about running.

Lin's mother lifted one hand. Not a wave. Just a small gesture. Come here.

He stepped forward.

Lei grabbed his shoulder. "Don't."

"Let go."

"Lin. Don't get on that thing."