“They can execute us, and they’re sure trying. You know that they really are trying to kill us? Someone broke in here once. They almost got us then. Since then, we’ve been sleeping in shifts. I saw the guy again—it was an Uctu. And I wasn’t hallucinating!”
“You mentioned that in your message,” Lord Thomas said. “Tell me all. I’m curious as to why the first instance wasn’t investigated more thoroughly.”
“No evidence,” Allisjonil said, shifting from foot to foot behind him. “The time-coded video didn’t show any of the incident at all.”
“Such things can be falsified,” the taller man intoned. “It is not difficult.”
“Yes, but no one is interested in checking how that could have been done,” M’Kenna argued. “That orange bulb I found—!”
Lord Thomas made a calming gesture with one hand.
“Tell me everything that happened. Start at the beginning. I’d like to hear it all, just as you experienced it.”
She closed her eyes to concentrate. It was getting harder every day. She didn’t want Rafe or the kids to know, but her memory was going bad because the chlorine buildup was really getting to her. She had to make lists for herself on the tablet to remind her what to do every day. Lucky for her, the first attack was burned in her memory, better than those of happier times.
“I was reading on this tablet,” she said, realizing that she had forgotten she was still holding it. “I noticed some movement in the kids’ room. They were all sleeping. . . .”
Her mouth felt as though it belonged to someone else as it scrolled out details of the attack, how she had prevented the Uctu from touching her elder daughter. Listening to herself talk, she was surprised how heroic she sounded at taking on the assailant. Rafe added a few details to her description of running to tackle the Uctu and having the cell door slam in their faces.
“That’s it,” M’Kenna said, turning her hands up. “Guard Captain Oren took us into his office and ran the vids, but none of the video pickups caught the Uctu anywhere. And they said the wall he ran into was solid. It can’t be. We saw him go through it!”
Lord Thomas listened intently, making a note to himself on his viewpad.
“Do you think the attack has anything to do with the cargo you smuggled into the Autocracy?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” M’Kenna said, throwing up her hands. She was so exhausted that even having someone care didn’t seem to help much. “We didn’t know it was there. We didn’t smuggle anything! Neither did the others. I know them. They just don’t do that. We’re not getting rich on our cargoes, but we get by.”
“Forgive me,” he said, the planes of his handsome face turned down in apology. “I should have said ‘allegedly’ and ‘brought inadvertently.’”
The tears returned to her eyes. “There isn’t any allegedly. We didn’t do anything. That’s what I keep telling everyone, and no one listened!”
Lord Thomas’s arms flapped for a moment, then he gathered her to his chest in an awkward hug. M’Kenna held herself stiffly, then let her body collapse. He patted her on the shoulder.
“We are listening, I promise you,” he said, his breath stirring her hair. “I will do what I can for you and your family.”
“And the others,” Rafe put in, his voice hoarse. He sounded like that when he felt shy.
“Of course,” Lord Thomas said, exuberantly. M’Kenna extricated herself nervously from his grasp. She couldn’t believe he had hugged her. She felt strangely honored. “But I consider you my especial charges. You may continue to message me at any time. Let me give you the direct code for this viewpad. As long as I am within orbit, you will reach me easily. I’ll do anything I can for you.”
He picked her tablet up from the bunk and touched the small device to it. A rectangular contact icon appeared, filled with numbers and characters and a friendly three-dimensional image of his face, then shrank into the corner with the rest of her accumulated addresses.
“Where are we?” M’Kenna asked, suddenly. This man might tell her what no one else would. Allisjonil never talked about anything but their case. Lord Thomas’s fair brows went up.
“Specifically, legally or physically?”
“Physically,” she said. “They knocked us out to bring us here.”
Instead of answering immediately, Lord Thomas looked back at the taller man, whom he had not introduced.
“That’s rather rude, isn’t it?”
“It is a matter of safety, my lord,” the other man intoned.
Lord Thomas turned back to her as though he needed no other explanation. She wondered exactly who or what the other man was.
“Are you familiar with Memepocotel?” Lord Thomas asked. He said it perfectly, like an Uctu.
“We’ve been here a couple of times.”
He smiled. “I envy you. This is my first time in the Autocracy. Well, if you know where the Autocrat’s palace sits in the south central part of the city, this place is about forty minutes by flitter to the northwest. We are in the foothills of a mountain range, just inside the curve of a river with nice rapids. Back home those would be full of my cousins on watercraft.”
“Hem!” The taller man cleared his throat.
“But I digress,” Lord Thomas said, with a disarming smile. “Forgive me. I am a little nervous. This is only my second assignment as a diplomatic attaché, and there are so many mistakes I am capable of making! But, the confines of this prison are largely underground. On approach, I spotted the bald, gray egg of a dome protruding among the beige rocks. This was our destination. I spotted a smallish town on the south bank, which I assume is where the service personnel live. We set down inside a security cage woven of wire filaments. My guess is that they are electrified. Doubtless, there are many other protective features that are hidden from the naked eye. Apart from this corridor, all I have seen was an office occupied by a worried bureaucrat, and a host of brave-looking guards and some servicebots roaming the confines. Does that set the scene for you?”
“It’s a thousand times more than we knew before,” M’Kenna said gratefully. “Thanks. That really helps. You don’t know what it’s like, feeling like you’re sealed inside a rock. It’s horrible for all of us, but mostly for my kids. All of them were born in space. This is the longest any of us have been groundbound. I just want to get back on our ship. Can you get us out of here, even for a while?”
Lord Thomas’s handsome eyes were sad.
“I am afraid not. Can I help you with legal representation?”
“I’ve got that under control, your lordship,” Allisjonil said, shifting back and forth. “Everyone on this corridor is my client.”
“Good to know.”
“Look, you haven’t asked it,” M’Kenna blurted out, “but I’ll tell you straight: none of us smuggled anything, especially not weapons. All we want is the truth to come out.”
“We’ll find it,” Lord Thomas said. “My crew is astonishingly accomplished at discovering things no one expects them to find. We have already been gathering up information in other locations, but since your shipments were eventually meant to reach Dilawe, here is where we expect to find our answers. I will report back to you as often as I can.”
M’Kenna’s heart sank.
“So we can’t get out until then?”
“I’m sorry. I am afraid not. I will do everything I can for you, I promise. And trust Parsons,” he added, with a glimpse back at the other man. “He knows how to get things done. I have a pretty high opinion of myself, but a higher one of him.”
M’Kenna glanced at the other man. He must be really something, if Lord Thomas thought that highly of him. She nodded.
“Thanks.”
“Is there anything else I can do for you?” he asked. “Anything I can bring you?”
“I don’t know. We just miss the little things. I mean, the food here is all right, but it’s not our food, if you know what I mean. And they never bring the kids candy or snacks. The kids are bei
ng really good about this whole situation. I wish I could make it more normal for them. Not that anything around here is normal. It’s kind of nice to have company.”
Another glance at the dark-eyed man. “Well, I can spend a little more time with you, if you wish. Ask me anything. I’ll tell you what I know. I’d like to get to know you better. How do you obtain your cargo? Who are your favorite distributors?”
Just like that, he led them into discussing shipping routes with Rafe, talked what sold best where with M’Kenna, all the while sitting on the floor with the little ones. He paid Nona outrageous compliments on her beautiful eyes and hair, and let Dorna crawl into his lap. Even from where she sat on her bunk, she could tell Dorna needed a change, but Lord Thomas didn’t say anything.
“And what do you think your parents would like to have? Do they have favorite foods? I mean, your stay here is temporary, of course.”
“Fruit jellies,” Nona said, promptly. At once, M’Kenna felt her mouth water, craving that tart sweetness. It had been months since she had tasted any. “And Daddy likes champagne artichokes.”
“Um, so do I,” Lord Thomas said, his eyes dancing. “And what about the rest of you?”
“We’re going to die,” Lerin said solemnly. “We don’t have to have anything.”
Akela gasped and burst into tears.
“No!” he sobbed.
Lord Thomas picked the little boy up and put him on his other knee beside Dorna. He shook his head.
“Now, I can prove that’s not true.” He reached into the pocket of his beautiful jacket and took out a deck of old-fashioned playing cards tied with a ribbon. “Have you ever had your fortune told? No? Well, I am honored to be the first. Will you help me shuffle the cards?”
Carefully, patiently, the nobleman showed her elder son how to hold the halves of the deck in each hand and flip the edges together. M’Kenna found herself holding her breath. Lerin, uncharacteristically calm with a stranger, looked up at the tall man and smiled.
“You are very good at this,” Lord Thomas said. After a few tries, Lerin managed a rough shuffle. Eager for his turn, Akela seized the deck but dropped all of them on the floor. Putting out his lower lip, he looked at Lord Thomas to see if he was getting a scolding.
“Now, you’re just going for the easy option,” Lord Thomas said, with a laugh. “Watch.” He turned all the cards face down and mixed them together with both hands. “Now, gather them up.”
The boys picked up the cards and handed them to him. He shuffled them once with a mighty snap! like a poker hustler, and fanned them out in the air. Akela laughed, his fright momentarily forgotten. Lord Thomas gathered the deck together, then dealt three cards in a line face up.
“Now, you see here? We have the queen of hearts, the six of clubs and the ace of diamonds. Help, wisdom and truth. There is not one bad card here. If I had dealt the nine of spades, that might mean death. But these are all good cards.”
“You hid some of them!” Lerin insisted. Thomas held up his hands, protesting innocence.
“You can count them. There are 52.” Lerin boldly went through Thomas’s pouches and pockets, but came up empty. He sat back on the floor, his arms folded mulishly. M’Kenna wanted to laugh at him. Lord Thomas tied up the cards in their ribbon and gave the deck to him. “Here, take these. You can try it yourself. This is the chart showing what each of them means.” He showed them his viewpad. Lerin scrambled up and ran for the children’s tablet. Lord Thomas transferred the file and gave it back. He studied the other three children with a serious expression. “Hmmm. Now, I can’t just give Lerin a gift. I owe all the rest of you present.”
“Pwesent,” Dorna piped up, her brown eyes shining. She hadn’t followed most of what had just happened, but that word always got her attention. “I want present. Got me one?”
“Yes! I hope you like these.”
From his pockets, Lord Thomas came out with a small cuddly unicorn-bear, a model of an Uctu carnival ship for Akela, and a box of face paints for Nona. Dorna leaped upon hers and cuddled it fiercely. Nona accepted the last with nervous excitement. All of her makeup was still on the ship, and she missed it. M’Kenna did, too. She almost wished Lord Thomas had given her one, too. She noticed that all of the items were marked with the Hotel Raffles logo. He must have picked them up in the gift shop on his way to see them. She was grateful to him for even thinking of bringing the children gifts.
“Say thank you,” she chided them.
“Thank you,” the children chorused obediently.
“Thank you, sir,” Rafe added. “That was really nice of you.”
“You may not know it, but I am an experienced uncle,” Lord Thomas said. He dislodged the two small children from his lap and rose to his feet.
“I can tell,” M’Kenna said. “You know kids.” She hesitated. “You’re not the complete idiot we thought you were, sir. My lord, I mean. No offense, but what we saw on the vid, well, it worried us a lot.” She tilted her head toward Rafe, who shrugged his shoulders in apology.
“Oh, appearances can be deceiving,” Lord Thomas said, with a self-deprecating smile, as the three of them watched the children enjoying their presents. “I am an idiot but in ways that you cannot imagine. But I do try, really, I do. I must go now. You don’t know it, but it’s the middle of the night outside.”
M’Kenna rose to her feet.
“Thank you for coming. I really appreciate it. It gives me some confidence that we can get through this mess.”
“I am sure you will, you know. You are strong.” Lord Thomas cocked his head and looked thoughtful. “You know what you need? You need a talisman against the loss of hope.” He took a tiny device from another pocket. Bright colors twinkled from the miniature lights studded on gold wires. “This is my lucky circuit. I will send you one.”
Nobles had weird ways. M’Kenna held up the tablet.
“You gave me your direct number, and you promised to get us out of here. That’s as much of a talisman as we need for now.”
“Oh, you’ll like them,” Lord Thomas said. “They’ll help cheer up this dreary temporary domicile of yours. I’ll send it along with those fruit jellies.”
M’Kenna felt abashed. The children shouldn’t have said anything.
“You don’t have to get us anything. But, maybe, will you come back? That would help more than any sweets or little lights.”
“I will come back,” Lord Thomas promised.
A siren sounded in the corridor. Captain Oren appeared at the door. The guards chivvied the guests out of the cell, but Lord Thomas looked back at her and winked. M’Kenna cherished the warm feeling for as long as she could.
CHAPTER 36
“What more can I do for them, Parsons?” I asked, as we flew away from the prison complex. “They have touched my heart, especially the children. They are in a terrible fix.” The compartment of the transport shuttle was large enough that we sat at one end of the cabin, well out of earshot of the other passengers returning to the capital, including the large, white-furred attorney, Mr. Allisjonil, as well as Ms. Metcalf from Ambassador Galeckas’s office, who had been my escort from the city. “Every one of them professes their innocence. I cannot help but believe them. The Coppers were convincing, but it was the outrage of the Wichus that really make me believe that they have been used in some dastardly fashion.”
Parsons had no more outward expression than usual, but I felt that he had been moved by the sight of all of those decent people locked up in cells smaller than my walk-in wardrobe.
“It is distressing, my lord. All the more because the evidence is mounting that they are innocent.”
My heart, which had been heavy throughout my visit to that depressing place, lifted up and sang.
“You are certain?” I asked. “You were a trifle late meeting me at the prison, so I hoped there would be news.” I put my chin in my palm and looked up at him in expectation. “By the crackling energy around you, it must be good. Let me hear it.”
/>
“I must confess, it merely added to the mystery,” Parsons said. “Far from finding a solution, we have a new enigma.”
“Tell me all!”
He hesitated a moment, then brought out the dull gray cube. I felt the air seal around us like an arm thrown reassuringly over my shoulders. Parsons closed his hand upon it.
“I do not wish to jump to a conclusion I cannot support, sir, but it would seem there was extensive tampering to the vessels of all of the accused. All of the nanites that run the purification systems on board each ship have vanished. To have one ship so swept clean could be explained by a programming error, but to have all in the same condition suggests an underlying cause. My tardiness came because we wished to reinspect each ship to make certain we had not missed any pockets of nanomachines. They are indeed all void.”
“What do you make of that? How does that connect with the weaponry found in the waste tanks?”
“At present all we have are theories. It is possible that the nanomachines worked on a molecular level to open the tanks, hold back the contents, make it possible for the contraband to be introduced, then reseal the tanks to look exactly as they did before. Nanites have been used for microsurgery and many other actions that require absolute precision. Then the nanites were evacuated from the ships, so no one could determine how the trick was done.”
“Those nanites would also have had to interfere with the cameras watching the landing bays,” I pointed out. “No one saw anything. As Ms. Copper just explained to us, someone or something is tampering with video pickups to conceal their nefarious deeds.”
“Indeed, sir. It was a most complex plot to place those items into the ships and must have included compromising the cameras. However, in this case, a trace was indeed left. The process seems to have taken all the nanomachines from the ships, not just the ones involved in the subterfuge. The smugglers caused the ships to gradually cease to function. In fact, two of them would not have made it all the way to Dilawe from Partwe without loss of life. It is a good thing that the ships were intercepted upon arrival in the Autocracy, or several people would have died.”
Fortunes of the Imperium Page 39