They were good questions.
Revik continued to struggle with his light as he listened for the answers.
Apparently Surli and Stanley thought they were good questions, too, given the way they looked at one another.
Stanley said, “There is only one market that we’re aware of. This is the biggest sale of the month, which is why we chose it, being the third Saturday. As to clean up and skill assessment... it is possible, of course, sister. Especially if they wanted her for...” Stanley hesitated, glancing at Revik, as if realizing what he’d been about to say. “...Commercial use,” he finished lamely.
Surli frowned, giving Revik an openly contemptuous look, right before he looked back at the Stanley and the others.
“Could they have opened a second market?” he said. “For preferred buyers?”
His words were directed at Stanley alone.
Revik found himself watching the intermediary’s face as he thought about the Chinese seer’s question. Stanley looked at Revik directly then, his mouth set in a harder line.
“Should we risk him trying to find her?” he said, speaking more to the others than to Revik, although clearly meaning him. “It would be the fastest.”
“And the riskiest,” Surli retorted. “If they tag him, it wouldn’t take much for them to figure out who she is... and that she’s here.”
Even so, he obviously was thinking about the idea.
So was Revik.
After a few more seconds, Surli clicked under his breath, glancing around as if making sure they weren’t being overheard, although they’d posted Deklan as a guard for that very purpose. They stood far enough away from the nearest row of seats that it was unlikely in any case, especially since most of them were speaking Russian, which didn’t seem to be a very well-known language here.
Surli’s frown deepened when he looked back at Revik.
“I say no,” he said, blunt. “He’s hanging on by a thread. Do any of you seriously trust him to get anywhere near that construct right now?”
“No,” Hondo said at once. She glanced apologetically at Revik. “Sorry, boss.”
Clicking under her breath, Chinja shook her head, also looking at Revik.
“It is a bad idea,” she agreed. Unlike Surli, her voice was reluctant. “I am sorry, too, boss. Even if we shielded you, I do not think––”
“We have to do something,” Surli snapped. He glared at Revik openly. “We were supposed to find the contact here... with her to help us.” His voice turned sarcastic. “I wish I’d known her husband was going to hand her off to a fucking trader before they even left the docks. It might have given us time to come up with an alternate plan, before––”
“He did not do it,” Dalejem cut in. His voice was final, and cold. “I did.”
There was a silence while the others all looked at Dalejem.
Then Surli scowled, glancing back at the stage.
“Whatever,” he muttered. “I still would have broken both your arms... brother. If it had been my wife. Hell, I would have killed you before I let them take her.”
Dalejem didn’t answer.
Revik didn’t look at any of them, either.
“We need to move,” Stanley said, at least in part to cut Surli off. “You heard the auctioneer. This is the last of it. We need to look for her. Now. Loki and his team will be here soon... we will lose time in rendezvous. The gods only know how far they could get with her by then.”
“So where do we even look for her?” Hondo said. She looked at Stanley first, then Surli, speaking in a low whisper. “We should discuss that here, first... where there is no surveillance. Once we are outside, the eyes of this place will be looking at us once more... and those eyes are everywhere, brothers and sister. Do we really think there could be a second auction?”
“Or a presale,” Stanley said, glancing at Revik again. “That seems more likely. The buyer we have been tracking is not here, either. It is possible they met with him and those like him earlier. A private showing of high-end product from recent acquisitions. I did not see any seers here with sight ranks in actual over a seven or eight. Such preferred buyer presales used to be common for the underground markets in South America and Europe. Unusual coloring. Sight rank.” Stanley made a vague motion with his hand, again looking apologetically at Revik.
“...Special skill sets of whatever kinds,” he mumbled, tilting his head.
Revik felt his jaw harden more.
He looked back out over the auction floor, fighting to think. He knew what they were talking about with his light. The last thing he wanted to do was paint a massive target on his wife’s chest, when the Dreng picked up Revik’s scent in the construct right after he’d gone looking for her. All he would be doing is locating his wife for Menlim’s people to find.
It wasn’t just risky. It was suicide.
Truthfully, Revik seemed to understand that better than the others did, even with all the crap he was dealing with in his light.
Allie would find some way to get word to them.
She would figure it out, eventually.
Revik struggled to make the thought real in his head, pushing away the far more paranoid scenarios that involved her being gang-raped by a bunch of sick fucks in a high-rise hotel. More than that, he tried to decide if he had any real alternatives. Alternatives that wouldn’t get either or both of them killed.
Then, something else hit him.
Revik looked back towards the stage. Within a matter of minutes, seconds maybe, he located the man he’d been looking for, standing off to the right but still within the glow of the harsh spotlights. At that distance, he couldn’t be absolutely certain it was him, not without using his sight, but it definitely looked like him.
Enough that it was worth getting closer.
“Come with me,” he said, looking at Dalejem. “Now.”
Without waiting, Revik began to walk, aiming his feet for the front of the room.
Revik felt Surli stiffen, about to protest, but Revik gave him a hard look as he passed, and the Chinese seer shut his mouth, somewhat to Revik’s surprise.
Dalejem followed him, his light still sliding around Revik’s in occasionally distracting waves, but operating as an infiltrator’s again, which was all Revik really cared about. Their window was closing, and he knew it. If he had to do something drastic in the physical right now, he would do it... as long as it didn’t put Allie at risk.
He grew conscious of the gun he wore against his skin inside his shirt, tucked into a side holster that melded against his flesh. Luckily, that hadn’t been picked up in the scans, either, since no one but the military and private security teams were allowed to carry firearms inside Dubai City. Vikram and his team designed both the guns and the holsters not to be picked up in a scan––it was a full organic, and threw off a cloak to blend in with Revik’s bio-matter––but, as always, there was a risk that the tech wouldn’t work.
Even with the wide aisles between seats, it took him a few minutes to get to the front of the room.
By then, most of the bidding centered on a dark-haired male seer, maybe halfway through his second century, who looked like he might have come from Europe, at least from his expensive haircut, his weight and the tattoo on the side of his neck. He could be from anywhere though, really. He was stark naked, which didn’t help with identification.
This one didn’t look like he’d ever been a slave before, though.
He looked lost, his eyes haunted, like his whole reality had been crushed recently... as it likely had. He’d probably been blending. He had the kind of coloring and facial features where he could have pulled it off pretty easily in the West, if he could keep himself in expensive and highly illegal colored contact lenses and high-grade blood patches.
And yeah, if he could afford to pay infiltrators who would keep his secret for him.
From his weight and the lack of clan tats on his body, he probably had that kind of cash. A fair number of young seers managed t
o pull that off before C2-77. Most were ambitious. Most used their sight conservatively, mainly in professions at the fringes of the stock market.
The stock market itself had been heavily regulated against tampering by seers, of course, and had its own army of seers whose job it was to prevent (or minimize, realistically) insider trading and high-stakes corporate espionage. But plenty of the big players had their own cadre of seers, too, so there was a lot of bullshit that went on, as well as a sort of an ongoing psychic battle between the seers working for various sides.
This guy didn’t have the rank to be a player at that level, however.
He probably advised suburban housewives on how they should invest their mutual funds, or maybe worked as a tax accountant for a mid-sized corporation.
Revik noted all of that, even as he felt a flush of sympathy for his brother, as the seers and humans in the audience bid for him.
His mind didn’t dwell on that for long, however.
He aimed his feet towards the male seer standing at the corner of the stage, still wearing a pristine white robe, the headpiece clamped to his head with a black headband.
Revik walked right up to him, saw security about to intervene, and held up a hand in a peace gesture, right as the trader looked over at him.
The dark blue eyes with their moon-white flecks shifted from Revik to Dalejem, right before his eyebrows lifted in surprise.
“Brothers!” he said, holding out his hands. “What is it you are doing here?”
Revik made a respectful gesture with one hand, bowing slightly.
The trader’s security goon glared at him in return, his hand on a holster as he looked to his boss in a silent question. The trader only waved him off, though. Revik saw a harder assessment forming in those dark blue eyes as they looked Revik over, maybe for the first time.
“What are you doing here, my friend?” he said again, smiling in a friendly way, even if it was somewhat overdone.
Revik watched the growing understanding in those eyes, too.
“...You are not really dock workers, are you?” the trader said, his voice coy as he winked.
“No,” Revik said, shaking his head, once. “We are not.”
“What were you doing on that dock then, brother?”
“We were there to look at the shipment,” Revik said without hesitation. “And to find a rumored Lao Hu consort for my employer... among other things.”
There was a silence as the sheik trader thought about his words.
“Your employer?” The man in the white robe lifted an eyebrow. “Do you mind elaborating on who that might be, my brother...?”
He looked at Dalejem in the same pause, almost in a question. Within the next set of seconds, however, he seemed to realize that he had miscalculated on the dock, that Revik was the one in charge here, at least between the two of them.
Revik briefly let him see more of his aleimic structure, just to reinforce the point.
“I apologize that we were not more honest with you on the docks,” Revik continued smoothly, once he knew the other had seen enough of him to take him seriously. “My employer has considerable resources at his disposal, and it is common for his new business partners to attempt to take advantage of him as a result. He trusts me... and of course, brother Marsei here... to make sure that doesn’t happen. He most of all desires to have an accurate understanding of his purchases before he takes possession of them.”
“And your name is?” the sheik pressed.
“You may call me Calyn.”
The male seer’s eyes turned shrewd once more, even as he scanned Revik’s aleimi a second time, more deliberately but still a bare touch. Revik saw a quick, more calculating assessment go through those dark eyes, right before he smiled more genuinely at Revik.
“Of course, my brothers, of course... I realize the delicacy of these things,” he said, holding out a hand in a respectful gesture. “Does your employer normally work through another trader?” he said politely. “Or am I merely to be chastised for my lack of observation? For I confess, I do not recognize either of you from these markets...”
“Yes,” Revik said simply, making it clear with his light that he had no intention of offering further information. “He normally works with another. Is that a problem?”
“Not at all, not at all,” the man assured him, holding up the same hand in another sign of peace. “You simply have me quite consumed with curiosity now, I confess...”
“Did you dispose of the real merchandise before we got here?” Revik cut in, his voice holding an edge that time. He threaded through a faint air of impatience, even condescension, sending the message that he was used to people reacting to him, and particularly to his employer’s name, in this way.
“...My employer will be most displeased, if that is the case,” he added. “He wished in particular for us to buy this Lao Hu consort for him. He was quite intrigued with the Barrier imprints we supplied him... as well as the specific flavor of her light, and expressed this sentiment quite openly. He also wished to purchase several other... items,” Revik said, biting down deliberately on the word, as if he found it distasteful. “...From your stock. Things that do not appear to be here any longer, either. Nor are there replacement items available that are of a high enough quality for what my employer requires.”
Revik saw a flicker of denser interest in those dark eyes now.
“Do you have higher quality merchandise, or not?” Revik said.
The man’s smile grew more obsequious. “He is aware, surely, that the prices for these items have gone up?” the man said politely. “In these trying times of scarcity, we all must––”
“He is very aware of that, brother,” Revik cut in. “Price is not... his primary concern.”
The male seer broke out in a much more genuine-seeming smile.
“Of course, of course... and I apologize for asking,” the seer sheik said, his voice sickly sweet once more. “It is just strange to me, that this employer of yours is so well informed in some respects... yet was not told of the presale for our more... unusual items.”
“He was not,” Revik confirmed. “...Informed of this. He has only recently relocated to Dubai, after many years of living in New York. This is my fault, I confess, for not doing better research before coming to my first sale in this part of the world.” Revik grimaced again, delicately, as if trying to keep it off his face. “They did such things... differently... in New York.”
He found himself hoping this asshole didn’t know anything about the markets in New York, because Revik certainly didn’t.
Understanding flooded the seer’s light at Revik’s words, however.
Along with that, some of the surface wariness dissipated.
“Ah! Well, that explains it, of course,” the seer smiled. “I had wondered.” He clicked under his breath, an overdone affect of sympathy. “It is a terrible tragedy, what happened to that once great city. So deeply horrible...”
“It’s an epic poem,” Revik said, his voice short in Arabic. “Brother, are the items in question still available? For I must answer to someone other than you, and he will not be happy that I missed this presale on his behalf, if it means he has lost his chance at the merchandise he so desired. Telling him that you sympathize about the loss of his previous home in New York will not appease him, I’m afraid... although I’m sure he appreciates the sentiment.”
“The female is gone,” the sheik said at once, smiling in apology. “Regrettable, but as you said, she was quite alluring. She was the very first item sold in our presale.”
“Who?” Revik said. “Who bought her?”
“You wish to buy her from him?” the sheik said, his eyebrows lifting.
“I feel quite certain that my employer will wish to make him an offer, yes. One he will doubtless want to consider.”
The sheik’s smile widened, even as a glint came to his dark eyes.
Revik could almost taste the greed he saw reflected there.
; “He is a very wealthy client, as well, of course,” the sheik trader mused aloud, as if considering Revik’s words very carefully. “...and he, too, prides himself as a collector.” The man tapped his lips with a forefinger. “Still, he is not a man of sentiment in any way... and he, like all of our race, can be quite sympathetic to rational and well-funded appeals.”
He smiled at Revik, wide enough to show teeth.
Revik didn’t return it, or change expression.
Unable to get a response from him, the sheik shrugged with one hand, seer-style.
“For a small commission, I could perhaps facilitate such a thing,” he said carefully. “The buyer in question owns a club in Deira that is quite popular. He even mentioned to me during the sale that he thought your Lao Hu friend would fit in quite nicely there...” He gave Revik another smile, that one slightly more predatory. “No promises that he will be willing to part with her, of course, but I can, perhaps, provide an introduction there this evening, if you so desire...?”
Revik glanced at Dalejem, giving him a stare that made the other male flinch.
Revik didn’t linger on it, though.
He looked back at the male seer in the white robe.
“I do desire it,” he said, inclining his head, politely. “Set it up.”
29
DOPPELGÄNGER
SOMETHING ABOUT THIS whole situation felt irritatingly familiar.
Of course, it would help if I wasn’t vaguely worried about my spouse going homicidal any minute and blowing all of our cover, and likely getting himself shot down in the street for his trouble. Or the fact that an op that took us six weeks to plan got thrown completely off-playbook before we’d even breached the city limits.
Dubai itself was interesting, of course.
I’d never been here before. Then again, I didn’t really do a lot of traveling on my waitressing salary back when I lived in San Francisco, certainly not to places like this, which were expensive and exotic even before half the world had been wiped out.
So I was curious, sure.
Allie's War Season Four Page 123