Jason gave him a short nod of acknowledgement before he stepped out the door. Moving back up the corridor, he reentered the monitoring room to see his captain already there.
She met his eyes with a cold, humorless smile. "Your interrogation methods leave much to be desired, Commander."
He ignored the rebuke. "Do you believe him?"
Jarden spoke before Marta could answer, her eyes on the boy's monitor and her face unyielding. "The real question is: Can we trust him? He could be dissembling, but even if he isn't, what if he can't control her?"
"Actually," the captain said, "the real question is: Do we have the right to ask him to do such a thing, to control another human being?" Her sternly beautiful face was chilly enough to make Jason cringe inside. "How is such an act any less monstrous than wiping someone's memory? The end does not always justify the means," she finished softly, eyes meeting Jason's. It was a kind of an apology for how she'd acted when Anya had given them the destroyer, but he couldn't appreciate it just then.
"What the hell are we supposed to do?" Jason snarled at her. "If what the kid says is true, only this other telepath can give Anya her memory back."
"If it's true, Jace. We haven't established that yet. Has anyone considered that the emotional and physical trauma she's had to endure on this station may have been too much, that this memory loss might be a protective reaction of her own? A common enough phenomenon even among us non-talented folk, given the right set of circumstances."
Jason stared at her, frustrated anger and exhaustion numbing his brain and stilling his tongue. At the edge of his vision, he saw Jarden frown at his captain.
"So you think the telepath made it up?"
Marta broke eye contact with him to turn a wry smile on the dark-skinned woman. "As it happens, I believe him. But we need to take this a step at a time. And the second step is having a talk with the other telepath."
With that, she nudged a stool over in front of the female's monitor and sat, bobbing a bit as the hover stool adjusted to her slight weight. It was then that Jason realized the three of them were the only ones in the monitoring room. The guard was gone. When Marta turned speculative eyes on Jarden, he could guess what was coming.
"Perhaps you should return to Anya and leave this to us. It may take some time."
Jarden's only response was to lift her eyebrows and fold her arms across her chest, her dark eyes meeting the captain's in mute refusal. There was a tense silence while they stared at one another, until Jason sighed impatiently.
"Let her stay. She'll find out soon enough anyway." Marta flashed him a frown that said she wasn't pleased with his indiscretion. He was beyond caring. "Get on with it, Marty. Time's wasting."
She narrowed her eyes, a sure sign that she was annoyed with him. But he'd spoken only the truth—preoccupied as he'd been with Anya's condition, he was still aware of the squadron of ships on their way from Central. They would arrive soon, and one of the concessions the captain planned to make was a return of the Guild Members and any of the destroyer's crew that didn't wish to stay on the station. Somehow they had to get Anya's memories returned to her before the armada arrived.
"I'm well aware of the time factor, Commander," his captain said in a smooth voice, her tone belying the flash of irritation in her eyes. She turned her attention to Jarden, studying her with cool speculation. "If you stay, you may hear things which are known to only a few on this station. Anya is one of those people. As you are her trusted friend, I am willing to allow you to stay, but only if you promise to keep anything you hear confidential."
Jar didn't look very surprised to hear that Anya knew some station secrets, but she also didn't look pleased, her mouth tightening to a grim line. "You're up to something, and Anya knows about it. I figured as much. You seem very good at using people, Captain. Tell me one thing before I promise to keep quiet. Did you put her up to taking on that destroyer?"
"No," the captain answered immediately, her expression still smooth in spite of the insult given. "And I would not have allowed it if I'd known what she was going to do. It wasn't necessary."
Jar's expression hardened, mouth tightening even further. "It wasn't necessary? You're some piece of work, Captain." She lifted her eyes to meet Jason's. "Is she telling the truth?"
"Yes."
Jarden didn't hesitate, which was gratifying, even if she wasn't very gracious about it. "Fine, you have my promise to keep your secrets. Get on with it."
The captain got on with it. Activating the com link to the female telepath's cell, she said, "Guild Member, this is Captain Jamison."
On the monitor, the female telepath jerked as though startled, head lifting to face the vid feed. "Captain! Why am I being detained? Why have I been kept isolated? I demand to know—"
"You are in no position to demand anything, Guild Member. You have been accused of a very serious crime."
"Crime?" the woman asked, her face now edged with caution. "What crime?"
"There are laws governing the actions of telepaths, are there not?"
"Of course," the woman said rather impatiently.
"What do those laws say about tampering with a person's memories?"
"It is forbidden, unless that person gives full, signed permission and it is approved by the Guild. People request this of us telepaths all the time, you know. It is one of our most popular services, to help people recall something they had forgotten or forget some traumatic event." She paused, tilting her head to one side in shrewd contemplation. "Why do you ask? Have I been accused of doing something to someone's memories?"
Marta ignored her question. "And what do those laws say about mind wiping?"
"That is never done," the woman said in a flat tone, her expression gone hard and cold. "It would be an abomination. Criminals are sometimes wiped, but telepaths are never asked to do it. There is a machine—"
"I am aware of the brain wiper. I am also aware that the Guild has two sets of laws, one for the public, to reassure the untalented and lull them into a false sense of security. The other set of rules are much more lax in the areas of morals and ethics. Which set do you adhere to, Guild Member?"
The woman stiffened, her face going pale, but not with fear. "You insult me. You insult me, and you insult the Guild which has been my sanctuary all of my life. Why are you asking me these questions? What have I been accused of?"
It was quite an act. Jason felt like applauding.
"You have been accused of attempting to mind wipe Anya Vaedrin while she was aboard the destroyer Calypso."
The telepath shot to her feet in a fine show of outrage. "That is a lie! I was trying to help her! Brian is young, much too young to understand what he saw. She had collapsed and I—"
"Who is Brian?" Marta interrupted her with cool precision.
Jason smiled grimly, seeing the net his captain was weaving around the woman. She would tighten it until the telepath had but one choice—surrender.
"Brian Gillespi, the other Guild Member who accompanied me on the ship," the woman said in a stiff voice. Her face appeared frozen, and Jason wondered if she saw what was coming.
"I have not spoken with Guild Member Gillespi. Why did you mention him?"
"I—I assumed he was my accuser."
"Why would you assume this?"
The woman stayed silent, lowering herself back to a sitting position with slow care. Her face was very pale, and her light eyes had a distant look, as though she was seeing something grim in her future.
After a moment, Marta continued, "You mentioned helping Miss Vaedrin. Does this mean you admit that you used your talent on her in some way?"
"She was obviously ill. She had collapsed. I was trying to reach her, to help her recover."
"I see. And you believe Mr. Gillespi misinterpreted what you were doing. Why do you think so?"
The telepath's expression tightened, and she looked up into the vid feed with a challenging gaze, tossing her long, dark hair over her shoulder in defiance. "If you h
aven't spoken to him, if he's not my accuser, then who is?"
"Anya Vaedrin," the captain lied without hesitation, her voice a study in calm detachment.
Jason heard Jarden make a startled sound and shift next to Marta, but he didn't look up from the monitor. He was too interested in the shock on the telepath's face.
"That's impossible," the woman blurted, hands clutching each other in her lap.
"Why do you think so?"
The telepath was silent for a long moment. She seemed to be gathering herself. With a deep breath, she finally answered, "If the fugitive's mind was wiped, she would not remember what was done or what was wiped."
"Are you so sure?" the captain murmured, her tone one of amused interest. "Are you so certain you know what Miss Vaedrin can and cannot do?"
The telepath was still and silent, but Jason saw her throat move as she swallowed.
"It's becoming clear to me," Marta went on in a soft, dangerous voice, "that neither you nor the Guild have any idea what she's capable of. It's even more clear, Guild Member, that this has caused a great deal of fear. Why else send an assassin after her? When he failed, why else would they send you to wipe her mind?"
"I haven't done anything! I am guiltless of this accusation, and I know nothing of any assassin. You have no proof of wrongdoing except the word of a known fugitive," the woman responded with admirable control.
But Jason knew his captain well—there were other strands of this net to be woven.
"A fugitive who has done no crime. A pretty paradox. But let's save that discussion for another time, shall we? You claim that it's her word against yours. And so it is…at the moment. Perhaps we should speak with Mr. Gillespi, then. Which story do you believe he will corroborate?"
The telepath opened her mouth as if to answer, but then shut it again, her expression shuttered.
"He may say that you were indeed trying to help, that you would never perform such a—what did you call it?—an abomination on another sentient being. In that case, we assume Miss Vaedrin has suffered a mental lapse, apologize to you and the Guild for the misunderstanding, and send you home." She paused long enough for the telepath to look up with a species of cautious hope. "But if he agrees with Miss Vaedrin's accusation and we make this known to Central, the Guild would turn its back on you faster than a telepathic thought."
"You lie. The Guild protects its own."
"I wish that were true. But unfortunately, even though they are responsible for your actions, guiding your hands so to speak, they would denounce you in an instant if it was made public that one of their telepaths attempted such a horrible act. An act that their own laws prohibit. To save face and protect their own skins, they would make sure that you were punished to the full extent of those laws. What is the punishment for mind wiping, Guild Member?"
The telepath didn't answer. She didn't need to. Her complexion faded to gray, and her eyes widened with a dawning horror that spoke volumes.
The captain remained quiet long enough for the threat to take full effect before continuing. "There is another way out for you," Marta murmured, her voice a potent mix of sympathy and gentle persuasion.
"W-what way?"
"In exchange for undoing what you've done to Miss Vaedrin, we would let you return to the Guild, your actions forgotten."
The telepath's eyes narrowed, the fear on her face changing to shrewd assessment with surprising swiftness. Jarden hissed something under her breath and shifted again, but Jason paid her no attention. This was the tricky part.
"If she remembers what I've supposedly done, why would she need anything undone?"
"It seems you did manage to steal some memories from her. She wants them back." Marta seemed undaunted by her subject's sudden change of demeanor.
The woman in the cell fidgeted, and then stood to pace restlessly. "How can I trust you to keep your word that you'll send me back?"
"How can I trust you to make a real attempt to return her memories and not fake it?"
Her expression sly, the telepath stopped pacing and faced the vid feed again. The straightening of her back and squaring of her shoulders said that her confidence had returned now that she had something to barter with. Jason almost felt sorry for her.
"Well, it looks as though we may have a stalemate, Captain. If we can't trust one another, how do we proceed?"
Marta's eyes took on the sharp gleam of a predator circling its prey, but her voice was all smooth control. "You believe you have an advantage, now that you have something to hold over me. You think you can bargain. But you don't understand your position. So let me explain it to you." She paused, giving Jason a quick, admonitory frown, before casting Jarden a measuring glance. She was not pleased to have an audience for this, but it didn't look like it would stop her. "Even now you think the Guild will fly to your rescue, that at some point we will be forced to give you up, crime or no crime. But I have no love for the Guild, and in a few days, they will have absolutely no jurisdiction over anyone or anything on this station. Because in a few days, this station will break away from Central."
She said it as though it meant as little as passing the sugar at the breakfast table, but it made an impression. Jarden gasped, stumbling back from the captain to drop awkwardly onto a hover stool, her usual grace lost.
The telepath frowned, shaking her head as though confused. "They wouldn't allow that."
"They would have no choice. This station is occupied by more than humans." Before the implications of what she was saying could sink in, the captain went in for the kill, her voice hardening to steel. "You also have no choice. If you don't return Miss Vaedrin's memories, you will never return to the Guild. You will never go home again. If you do not do as I ask, you will remain in that cell for the rest of your life. Isolated. Alone. No one will visit you. No one will speak to you. You will be kept fed and cleaned and clothed, but by automation only. Your life in that little cell will be filled with a vast, solitary emptiness."
The woman swayed and then stumbled to the bed, sitting abruptly as though her legs had lost all strength. Jason could understand her reaction—a normal human would be tormented by such solitude, but a telepath would go insane, eaten alive by their talent.
"So you see," Marta went on implacably, "there is no bargaining here. You will undo what you've done or my voice and these words will be the last you'll ever hear. Think on it, Guild Member. Think very carefully."
With that, the captain deactivated the com and stood, staring down at the monitor without expression. The telepath remained seated, her pale eyes wide with unseen horrors and her face a blank mask.
"This will take a little while, I think," the captain murmured. "Could you retrieve the guard, Jason? She'll need to keep a close watch on this one for a while. And I need to have a chat with Guild Member Gillespi."
Jason saw Jar staring at them both with an expression that was hard to read, except for the distrust in her dark eyes. He knew he should reassure her, but he couldn't seem to find the will to do it. All his attention and strength was centered on not marching down to the telepath's cell and dragging her to Anya's side. With careful control, he spun on his heel and left to retrieve the monitor guard.
Chapter 24
"I did what?" Anya exclaimed, lifting fingers that trembled slightly to her aching forehead. After her first odd awakening in this unfamiliar place, she'd fallen back to sleep with the help of the painkillers. She'd woken back up in the same sterile, unsettling room, and though her friends were a welcome sight, they'd soon busied themselves filling her in on what she'd forgotten. What they had to say was more than a little shocking.
"It was kill or be killed," Jar continued, her tone matter-of-fact. "It's not like you had a choice."
As if killing somebody was an everyday occurrence. They were singers, for god's sake. Anya shook her head, staring from one friend to the other in pained confusion. It was a lot to take in all at once, especially when her head throbbed like a dirge.
"I don'
t think I could ever do that."
"Well, it was really Jason who killed him," Cesna added.
Anya felt her brows pull together in an involuntary frown at the mention of that man's name again. All of them spoke of him with casual familiarity, but they would often give one another veiled glances when they did. As if there was some significance to his part in their story. His presence at her side when she'd awakened the first time seemed to say so. The memory of his drawn features and his intense, vividly alive dark eyes made her heart kick. But they'd been very vague when she'd asked a direct question about him. And he hadn't been back, so whatever was so significant about him couldn't be what she was thinking.
"Anyway, that's what you did to burn out the first time."
"After that, we set up shop with a couple of places here on the station."
"You will like the Seasons," Rie said, her large eyes flowing through soothing blues and lavenders.
"But why…" Anya started to ask, then fell silent at the sober look in her friends' eyes.
"Why didn't we go home? The Guild, Ani. We can't go home." Jar spoke with soft sympathy. "But this place isn't so bad."
"Actually, it's great!" Cesna exclaimed, her brown eyes twinkling with enthusiasm. "There's so much to do and see, plus there's all the aliens and…the men!" she sighed, her expression ecstatic.
Anya couldn't help grinning. Cesna hadn't changed, at least. But the situation was too distressing for her to be distracted long. "So what did I do this time to get this blasted headache?"
"Um…" Cesna's face turned cautious, and she glanced at Jar as if looking for support.
"They sent a destroyer with a couple of Guild members to take you back when their assassin didn't come through." Jar said with remarkable calm.
Anya blinked at her. "A…destroyer? But they…that's…" her voice dropped to a whisper and faded out as she considered what kind of damage such a ship could do. The lengths the Guild seemed willing to go to get their hands on her were terrifying. How could she mean that much to anyone? Clearing her throat, she rallied. "So what happened when they got here?"
Angels and Ministers of Grace Page 25