by R S Penney
Very few Leyrians “owned” a car in the way that Earthers did. When cities were designed around accessible public transit, it simply wasn't necessary. Certain individuals who wanted to live out in the wilderness were assigned their own vehicles, and certain organizations – like the police – had a fleet of their own cars.
Most police cruisers were marked, and while it was conceivable that an undercover officer might have visited the university, the coincidence of him parking his vehicle right outside the garden where Leo had fought Jack was a little too big for her liking.
Anna turned abruptly and went to the window with her arms swinging. “Determine the type of car in that image and where it's manufactured,” she said. “Take that data to an arbiter and request a warrant for the manufacturer's records.”
“On it,” Cassi said.
Through contact with Seth, she sensed it when Cassi turned around and made her way to the door. The woman paused before leaving her office. “May I ask you something of a personal nature.”
“Of course.”
When Anna turned, Cassi was standing just inside the door with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. “Am I being paranoid?” she asked. “Or is there something going on between you and Jack?”
Anna went red, then shut her eyes and bowed her head to the other woman. “You aren't paranoid,” she said reluctantly. “I'm sorry; I thought it would be best to let Jack tell you himself.”
“There's no need to apologize.”
While Anna was still formulating a way to smooth this over – diplomacy was never her strong suit – Cassi simply left the office. Obviously, the woman considered the matter settled, but Anna felt an obligation. “Cassi, wait!”
Out in the hallway, the woman stood with her back turned, her shoulders falling as she let out a breath. “For what?” Cassi demanded. “You don't owe me an explanation, and neither does he.”
“No, but-”
“I'm not like you and Jack.” When Cassi looked back over her shoulder, her eyes were sharp and full of pain. “I don't share your insipid need to dissect every emotion. If it's all the same to you, I would rather not sit here and pine over a man who would rather date the woman who strung him along than the woman who was there for him.”
Ouch…
Anna said nothing as she watched the other woman go. That last remark had been a low-blow, but what could she do in response? In some ways, she was the cause of Cassi's pain. Or at least part of that cause.
The beep of an incoming call pulled her out of her reverie. “What is it now,” Anna whimpered. “Answer.”
A portion of her desk rose to a seventy-five-degree angle, and the SmartGlass lit up with the image of her father's face. “Leana. I…I wanted to apologize for the fight we had the other night.”
“It's not your fault,” Anna said. “I was way too harsh.”
“No harsher than I deserved,” he muttered. “Your sister would very much like it if you would come to the wedding.”
“Tell her I'll be there,” Anna said. “And I promise to keep my political opinions to myself.” That seemed to ease some of her father's tension, though he was diplomatic enough not to show it. He went on about the logistics of where they would meet, how they would get there, pictures, greetings and the usual fare that went with such events. Suddenly, an idea occurred to Anna. “Hey, Dad…Can I bring a date?”
When Anna stepped out onto a balcony that overlooked the practice field, she found Jack standing with his back turned, hunched over with hands on the railing. He seemed to be fascinated by something below.
When she got closer, she understood why.
Melissa was down in the field, sparring with two young men who seemed ready to attack her from both sides. They moved in unison, both converging upon her at the same time, and of course, they regretted it.
Melissa jumped, turning belly-up, bringing her feet up to strike each man's chin. Both of her opponents stumbled, and she quickly flipped upright to land in the grass. In a flurry of motion, she attacked each of them. That was an incredible amount of progress for someone who had carried a symbiont for less than a year, but then Melissa had used her symbiont to accelerate the learning process. Still, it was a real accomplishment.
Anna looked up at the heavens, her eyebrows slowly climbing up her forehead. “I have to hand it to you,” she said. “Girl learns quickly. You did a good job training her.”
Jack was smiling down at himself, a blush singeing his cheeks. “Wasn't me,” he insisted. “Melissa did that all by herself. Well…Maybe Jena deserves a little bit of the credit.”
“Take a compliment, would you? It won't kill you.”
“It might.”
Anna turned to lean against the railing with her arms folded, heaving out a breath. “You keep that up, and I might have to kill you,” she said. “By the way, while we're on the subject, I hope you're ready for our first fight.”
“Uh oh…”
“'Fraid so.”
“What did I do?”
Glancing over her shoulder, Anna squinted at him. “Cassi,” she said with a nod. “I just had a conversation in which I had to tell her that you and I were a thing. That should have been your job, hon.”
Jack scowled, turning his face away from her. “Is it still a fight if I agree with you and accept full responsibility?” he asked. “I was going to tell her, Anna, but we've been a thing for less than forty-eight hours, and most of that time was spent tracking one mass murderer and discovering that another mass murderer is still alive.”
“Grumble grumble.”
“What?”
She paced across the balcony with her arms crossed, shaking her head. “Well, I was gonna enjoy yelling at you,” she teased. “But then you had to go be all reasonable…Takes all the fun out of it.”
When she turned, Jack was standing there with that big dumb grin on his face…and damn it! Did he have to be so adorable? “I'm sorry,” he said. “You're right. I should have been the one to tell her.”
“Well, you can make it up to me.”
“Oh really?”
She stepped forward, grabbing his shirt with both hands and then standing on her toes to kiss his lips. “My sister's wedding is in two days,” she murmured. “Would you be my date?”
Jack blinked at her, then gave his head a shake. “Wait a minute, the wedding is in two days?” he exclaimed. “And you want to add me to the guest list now? Are you trying to piss off your family?”
“This isn't Earth, love,” she said. “Weddings aren't a massive affair that requires six months to plan at a cost of a hundred dollars a plate. It's simple enough to tell the serving bots to add one more dinner order to the list. It costs my family nothing; there's more than enough room at the banquet hall, and they're all eager to see me pair off with someone.”
“Okay,” he said. “Then count me in.”
“Excellent.”
The hologram of a tiny woman with olive skin and long dark hair floated in the middle of the office they had given Gabi, its simulated reactions so lifelike that the damn thing even blinked as it revolved. After several hours of working with Melissa, Gabi had come to realize that she had seen this woman before.
The girl had taken quite a bit of time to describe this Valeth's features, ordering the computer to make minute change after minute change until finally, Gabi recognized the face in front of her.
Melissa sat on the couch with hands on her thighs, a look of intense concentration on her face as she studied the hologram. “Ilia recognized her the instant I saw her,” she said. “Which means Jena encountered this woman.”
Seated across from her in a plush red chair, Gabi watched the revolving image with pursed lips. “It was in Queens,” she said. “The woman attacked us while we were dealing with some of Slade's minions.”
“I know,” Melissa said. “Ilia told me.”
“Well let's review what know.”
Gabi stood up, crossing her arms and pacing a tight circle a
round the hologram. “I was there when this woman attacked,” she said. “And from what I can recall, her partner did most of the talking.”
Melissa wore a thoughtful frown as she stared into her lap, a soft sigh betraying her irritation. “Oh, she was quite willing to talk to me,” the girl murmured. “But she seemed reluctant to fight.”
“Really?”
“Yeah…It was weird. She seemed to prefer taunting me, like she thought she could intimidate me into backing down.” Now, that was interesting. Not the taunting – she had seen Valeth's partner do much the same in Queens – but the fact that this woman seemed eager to avoid a fight.
“What else do we know?”
“Not much,” Melissa lamented. “Ilia told me about the confrontation in New York. Jena led this woman and her partner – a guy who called himself Flagg – to the rooftop of an apartment building, and she fought them both. After she killed Flagg, Valeth took off.”
Spinning to face the hologram with a huff, Gabi looked the woman up and down. “So, that's two incidents of Valeth trying to avoid direct confrontation,” she said. “Could it be that Slade took on a coward?”
From the corner of her eye, she saw Melissa wince and place a hand over the back of her head, no doubt recalling the memory of some blow she had taken. “Coward or not, the woman can fight.”
“I'm sure she can,” Gabi said. “But if she prefers to avoid it, that would suggest that Slade recruited her for other reasons.”
The fact that Slade was still alive – that, according to Jack, he had been resurrected – left her with the taste of bile in her mouth. Gabi wasn't entirely opposed to the idea of there being something after death, but you weren't supposed to interact with it. You live, you die, you don't come back: those were the rules!
But Jack had been adamant in the meeting he had called this morning, and when she'd looked around the table, Gabi had realized that everyone believed him. Harry, Anna, Larani: they all believed him.
“Perhaps an administrator of some kind,” Gabi whispered.
“What do you mean?”
Gabi closed her eyes and touched one finger to a spot just above the bridge of her nose. “If Valeth wasn't recruited for her prowess as a warrior,” she began, “then perhaps she offered more in terms of planning.”
With a moan, Gabi dropped onto the couch beside Melissa, her head lolling as a wave of fatigue washed over her. “I don't know,” she added. “I joined the LIS to profile criminals, to use my talent for psychological analysis, but resurrections and inscrutable aliens are somewhat outside my field of expertise.”
Melissa looked solemn as she stared at the wall, blinking slowly. “I know what you mean,” she said softly. “I grew up with the understanding that only one person ever came back from the dead.”
“And now?”
“Jack seems to think the man he saw was the real, true Grecken Slade, but I'm more inclined to think it was a clone.”
“That would make sense.”
The question, however, was why? She had no doubt that the Overseers could create a clone of Slade, but why would they want to? Even if they could program the clone with all of Slade's memories, duplicate his neural architecture down to the very last synapse, what good would it do? What could Slade offer them? “I should report to Larani,” Gabi said. “We'll resume this tomorrow.”
On the short walk to Larani's office, she mulled over something that had been on her mind lately. Did she really want to get back into this ugly, dangerous line of work? She loved teaching – and she would not give up her students under any circumstances – but the world seemed to be getting more dangerous.
Maybe these Keepers needed Gabrina Valtez.
Through the glass door to Larani's office, Gabi saw the other woman in profile, sitting on a couch and watching a screen of SmartGlass on the opposite wall. By the look of things, the head of the Justice Keepers was uneasy.
A knock got Larani's attention.
When she was given permission to enter, Gabi strode in and made her way across the room. The sound of a news broadcast drowned out any thought of the report she had intended to deliver, and when she glanced at the screen, she saw the reason for Larani's apprehension.
Councilor Jeral Dusep was standing among a crowd of people in a garden setting, gesticulating as he spoke the usual pomposity of a politician. “The fact remains that we can't trust them as we once did-”
“Sound off,” Larani ordered.
The television went mute but Dusep was still making his emphatic gestures, still fuming like a man who had just had his foot stepped on. Gabi had followed this one with some interest. Not long ago, a man with Dusep's views would have been a joke among even the most nationalistic Leyrian voters, but now…
“Something I can do for you, Professor?” Larani asked.
“He's threatened you, hasn't he?”
Larani bent forward with hands folded in her lap, grunting her displeasure. “Dusep has made it clear that he intends to thoroughly investigate the Justice Keepers,” she said. “He seems to be trying to gin up hate to serve his political ends.”
“I've studied this type of movement.”
“As have I.”
Gabi stood before the other woman with her hands clasped behind herself, her eyes closed as she chose her next words. “You've been keeping tabs on him,” she said. “Maybe I can help with that.”
The head of the Justice Keepers regarded her with an unreadable expression, but then she nodded. “That would be appreciated,” she said. “You seem to have a knack for profiling such individuals.”
“May I?” Gabi asked, gesturing to the couch.
“Please.”
She spun around to sit beside Larani, folding her hands in her lap and letting out a sigh. “This Valeth seems to be something of an anomaly among Slade's lieutenants,” she said. “Less aggressive than the rest.”
Larani set her jaw but kept her gaze focused on the muted television. “Interesting,” she replied. “What do you suppose the motivation for recruiting her might be?”
“I wish I knew.”
“There must be something that drew Slade to her.”
Gabi felt her mouth twist, then shook her head quickly. “We are most acquainted with the more obvious kinds of evil in Slade's employ,” she began. “Sadists like Leo. It's very possible that Valeth is more dangerous.”
“The thought occurred to me.”
Gabi stood up again and took a few steps forward, then whirled around to face the other woman. “I'd like to work with you on a part-time basis,” she said. “Specifically, I think we should formulate a strategy for dealing with Dusep.”
Larani's arched eyebrow told her that she had spoken a little too plainly, but it was too late to take the words back now. “A strategy?” Larani asked. “The man is an elected official, is he not?”
“I'm not suggesting anything unseemly.” She reconsidered the limits of what Larani might consider to be unseemly, and then added, “I still have some contacts among LIS. People who might be willing to keep an eye on him.”
“And what shall we do with this information?”
Gabi faced the television with arms folded, frowning as she peered into the screen. “Perhaps a scandal might be uncovered,” she said. “Something that might dissuade voters from casting a ballot for him.”
“So, we stoop to manipulation,” Larani muttered. “In some ways, we're becoming as bad as the Earthers.”
Wrinkling her nose in distaste, Gabi stiffened at the derision in the other woman's tone. “It's that or do nothing while our planet devolves into fascism,” she said. “I know which option I prefer.”
An awkward silence lasted for maybe half a minute.
“Just think about it,” Gabi said. “If you decide you're in, you know where to find me.”
Chapter 20
With pursed lips, Anna inspected her reflection in the mirror, her face framed by a few thin strands of white hair that she wore in a short little ponyt
ail. Bangs fell almost to her eyebrows. “It'll do,” she said.
“You almost ready?” Jack called out.
Anna closed her eyes, pausing for a second to collect herself before she answered. Men could be so impatient. “Just a sec!” she shouted. “I'll be right there.”
Turning on her heel, she left the bathroom and stepped into the living room, where she found Jack waiting for her in gray dress pants and a blue Leyrian style shirt under a jacket. “Now I'm ready.”
His face lit up when he saw her, and then he blushed, turning his head to break eye contact. “You look amazing,” he said. “I…Whole lotta 'wow.' ”
Anna stood before him in a white dress with thin straps and red roses on its flaring skirt. In response to the compliment, she offered a small curtsy. “Aaaw,” she said. “And you look very dapper.”
“But you're gonna wear white to a wedding?”
Grinning as she sighed with exasperation, Anna shook her head. “I keep telling you this isn't Earth,” she said. “Brides don't wear white. In fact, my people never adopted that silly custom because we were never obsessed with 'purity.' ”
“So they never wear white?”
“Well, some do,” she answered. “Alia's dress is blue.”
“Interesting.”
Anna slung the strap of her purse over her shoulder, then glanced in his direction with a raised eyebrow. “Shall we go?” she asked, jerking her head toward the door. “I'm quite sure my father will be livid if we're late.”
The sun was shining bright upon the street outside her building, a street lined with store-front windows that looked in on supply depots, recreation centres and fabrication stations, to name a few. People chatted as they walked up the sidewalk or sat at outdoor cafes; it was a lovely morning.
On their way to the subway station, Anna slipped her arm around Jack's without thinking. The instinct to scold herself for showing too much affection popped up for half a second before she remembered that she didn't have to hold back anymore. It dawned on her that she had been holding back for years; this new-found freedom was exciting…and a little scary.