“No thanks. I just want my face back how it is now, no better, no worse.” And, I hoped, the mirror image of Yashi’s again once he finished the long road to recovery. “So my preparation is...?”
“Brush up your Nihani, read briefings from our officers, and meet with Kawildin to copy his speech and mannerisms. That aspect isn’t essential—you won’t have to imitate him to the face of anyone who knows him well. On the data stick is a full assessment of him, images, videos, voices recordings and other background material. Once contact is made, we will have you and Sri Shardul meeting in public, to establish a connection.”
“His friends know me very well.”
He smiled unpleasantly. “By the time our surgeons finish with you, sergeant, your own mother won’t know you. If you can do your best to imitate Kawildin’s speech patterns, tone down your own, that will help.”
“You’re pretty confident, considering how much we’re relying on Shardul, and this Sanjeev Unnat falling for the trick.”
“Would you prefer me to be uncertain and fearful, sergeant? I believe this plan has a high chance of success, at least so far as introducing you to Sri Sanjeev. After that, it becomes more difficult to predict. I’m told you’re a man of resourcefulness and intuition, so I’m relying on that. You’ll have a chance to brush up your weapons and personal skills. It’s up to you to identify what other assistance you require, and I’ll do my best to provide it. Any questions?”
“Who can I remain in contact with?”
“Your father, and only infrequently. Meetings with Sri Shardul will be arranged by us, and monitored. Your father will pass on messages from your sister-in-law. When we don’t need you to be seen in public, you’ll be at a safe house, where you’ll remain out of sight. This state of affairs could last months, I should warn you.”
I nodded. “I accepted that when I agreed. So, when do I start?”
“You should have your surgery tomorrow. Sri Sanjeev was arrested this morning. Sri Shardul is on his way now to offer his legal services. How long it takes you to get out of here depends on Sri Shardul, and his progress with Sri Sanjeev.” He stood. “Don’t go wandering around. The fewer people who see you and know what’s happening to you, the better for all concerned.”
“Yes, sir.”
He left and I sat on the bed, staring at my would-be doppelganger’s face on the media screen but not really seeing it. Instead, I thought of my brother, Tara, my two energetic nephews, and my sweet, precious niece. All the promises in the world couldn’t stop me thinking I’d never see them again. If I did, would Yashi and I share the same face again, know that moment of smug realisation that we two were unique, but not to each other? Crazy to think that somehow not looking the same meant we wouldn't really be twins any more, but my fevered, worried brain kept throwing up all kinds of things like that to stress me out.
I had no entertainment other than the media screen—I’d been instructed to bring nothing with me other than the clothes I stood up in, not even my phone or ID—so unless I wanted to die of boredom or spend the day sleeping, I’d have to look over this stranger I was to become.
I read Kawildin’s detailed biography, noting the uncanny similarities but also the striking differences between our respective histories. Thinking about how well I could pass myself off inevitably led to thoughts of Shardul, and his reaction to all this. Just because he’d agreed to cooperate for the good of the Nihani community wouldn’t stop him despising me for exploiting our relationship and my knowledge of the udawathei. In his position, I’d likely feel the same. No one liked a spy, even those for your own side. Even one who’d been a friend, or one for whom you still had some loyalty. At least, if Captain Largosen had called it right.
Could we really fix things between us after this was over? Logic told me no, and so did my empathy. Shardul had always been a confusing, difficult mind to read, but in the brief, hurried encounters over the last few weeks, I’d detected no hidden longing, no desire for me. Mine remained a one-sided passion. The only shocking thing about it was that my feelings hadn’t lessened at all in all this time. Seeing Shardul in the flesh had only sharpened them to an agonising point. With Yashi and the family gone and safe beyond where I could help them, there was nothing to mask the pain with Shardul’s name on it.
An aide interrupted my miserable thoughts to ask me about lunch. I agreed to his suggestions and he went off to fetch the food. I supposed I wouldn’t be allowed to eat in a canteen, if the captain wanted me to lie low. This, more than anything that had happened since Commander Reoda had made his offer, brought home the enormity of what I’d undertaken. For the first time in my life, I had none of the support systems I’d come to take for granted. Even when I’d been estranged from Mum and Dad, even after I’d been forced to leave the police force, Yashi and Tara had been there. Kirin had been there, most of the time. Shardul too, for several years. My grandfather, my friends, my partners, my assistants.
All beyond contact, except for Shardul, and him only on very limited, infrequent terms. Captain Largosen had set things up so that he and he alone was the only person I could turn to. Yet I knew bugger all about him. Cursed insanity, what had I let myself in for?
Lunch didn’t cheer me up much—hospital food hadn’t improved in the years since I’d been shot while on duty—and the meeting with the surgeon sent my mood plummeting. She chattered cheerfully on about cheek and nose implants, removing wrinkles and scars, and how a beautician would reshape my eyebrows and hairline.
“They do a much better job,” she assured me as I stared at the screen projection of the work involved and wondered if it was too late to back out. All the talk about implants and voice changers had unnerved me enough, but the planned alteration of my appearance made my stomach launch up into my throat. My unsuspected vain streak was apparently very wide and deep. I didn’t want a stranger’s face. Yashi and Tara’s kids wouldn’t recognise me.
“You can definitely put me back the way I am now, right?” I asked when she stood to go.
“More or less. Not the wrinkles and scars, but that’s a bonus, don’t you think? Now, no food or drink except water after midnight, you know the drill, I’m sure. Surgery lasts for three hours, and you won’t feel a thing.” She winked as she left.
Bloody hell.
I’d earned those wrinkles and those scars. I didn’t want to look ten years younger than I was.
Javen, you’re an idiot. Concentrate on the important stuff, will you? What would Shardul do? Whatever it took, I knew. What would Shardul say if I’d told him how I was feeling? Something witty and biting to snap me out of my funk, and offering me no sympathy for self-pity whatsoever, while reminding me what was at stake and the importance of what I was doing. Wished he was there to say it. I wished anyone was here.
The rest of the day passed very slowly, and the dry material Captain Largosen had left wasn’t distracting enough. I accepted the offer of a sedative after supper to help me sleep, and went to bed early. Maybe once the surgery was over, I’d be more positive about the plan.
~~~~~~~~
Feeling positive would have to wait. Surgery was as smooth and swift as promised, but the ‘mild discomfort’ the surgeon had mentioned was a bit more than that, and my face felt three times its normal size. The medic attending me after I emerged from the anaesthetic fog didn’t want to let me have a mirror, but I insisted with my newly deepened voice, and since I wasn’t supposed to talk, she gave in. The feeling of increased size wasn’t an illusion—my face was swollen and bruised, resembling nothing so much as a rotting hair-topped piece of alien fruit, and any implants were hidden by the damage.
“It’ll settle down very fast,” she assured me. “But you really mustn’t talk.”
“Reader,” I mouthed.
“I’ll find you one. Just relax, sergeant. Doctor Hern said everything went very well. She should be along later to talk to you.”
She let me have some juice, and I could eat soup. Solid food had to w
ait a couple of days until the swelling around the voice box implant went down. At least I hadn’t needed a tracheostomy.
Now I really felt sorry for myself. When I’d been in hospital before, I’d had plenty of people to visit and console me. I had a sudden longing to see my mother, and wondered if I was stable enough for this undercover gig. Some hardnosed cop I was.
Though no one came to visit, the medical personnel treated me well. I had no idea if they knew what I was there for, but the lack of curiosity meant they probably had suspicions at the very least. As the swelling went down, and so did the ache in my face, I reconciled myself to the changing face in the mirror, and could even think about the role I had to play with a little of my old hunter’s instinct. I wanted to be up and doing. Things were getting worse in Hegal and elsewhere in the country.
And by some instinct that bordered on the paranormal, Captain Largosen dropped by just when my recovery had reached the point where I felt almost normal and I had grown used to both face and voice, and when my frustration at the lack of action was almost at screaming pitch.
“Ah, sergeant. That’s all gone as well or better than I’d hoped.”
I fingered my new face. “Yeah. Still give myself a fright in the morning when I shave, but other than that, I don’t think about it. Except when I talk. Still sounds wrong.”
“You’ll get used to it. I came to let you know that you can expect a couple of visitors. Your friend, Shardul, and Gafur Kawildin. Kawildin will be here for a day or two, and will return to work after that.”
“Shardul?”
“Tomorrow morning, if you’re ready, when Kawildin arrives. The governor has also asked to speak to you, and we can arrange that this evening. How do you feel about the mission?”
“Ready to go, sir. Does Sanjeev trust Shardul?”
“Things are moving satisfactorily. We want to move quickly once Sri Shardul creates an interest in Sri Sanjeev meeting you, which could be any day now. So work fast with Kawildin. We expect to move you from here to the safe house by the end of this week, since you’re recovering so quickly.”
“That soon?”
“We believe that further wide-scale attacks could be imminent, based on chatter we’ve monitored and movements of certain individuals around the country. We need to stop them. Disorder is spreading.”
“Is my father talking to the community leaders?”
He dismissed my question with a wave of his hand. “I don’t deal in politics, sergeant. Frankly, neither do terrorists. They have their own particular agenda which will have very little to do with the lofty ideals spouted by Sri Shardul and his friends.”
“Very likely. So you don’t think the Nihan will surrender these criminals?”
“They may or may not. I intend to catch them first, and then stop them from ever doing anything like this again.” He gave me a rather creepy smile, exuding a jarring satisfaction at odds with his usual cool emotional tenor. “A permanent military solution, rather than a judicial one.”
I’d sworn to uphold the law, and this was out of my experience as an ordinary cop. “Sir,” I said, “I’d rather see my brother’s attackers jailed for life than murdered out of hand.”
He didn’t even look at me as he answered. “If I want your opinion, sergeant, you can be sure I’ll ask for it. Can we concentrate on the actual task in hand, please?”
He had more files for me to read, more briefing about Sanjeev Uttan’s activities and my fake persona. I could taste freedom now. It wouldn’t be long before all these tiresome preparations were put to good use, so I hoped. Even with the media feed, I was too cut off here from what was going down in Hegal. People were being hurt, threatened, even killed there. I had no idea how Prachi and Vik, Madan and Hamsa were doing. I’d been forbidden from touching my personal account in case anyone was monitoring it. So far as the world was concerned, I was still on a space cruiser with my family, a day out from Kelon.
I looked forward to Dad’s call, but when it came, his muted reaction to my new appearance worried me. “Is Mum all right?” I asked, suddenly worried Largosen might have been hiding something from me.
“Yes, she’s fine. We both miss Yashi and the family. And you. I knew it would be hard...really, it’s not like you’ve died, is it?”
I made myself grin cockily at the screen. “No, Dad. I’m doing great, and Yashi’s in good hands. You’ll be able to contact Tara any day now, and you can call me when you need to.”
“Commander Reoda warned us that the more we contacted you, the greater the risk for you.”
“If you need me, call me. Bugger Commander Reoda. I’m not even in the field yet. It could be weeks.”
He tried to smile. “Preparation going well?”
“As well as it can. Just want to get moving. Things still no good in the city?”
“There was an assassination attempt on the defence minister. We’ve kept it quiet in hopes of not inflaming the situation.” He scowled suddenly. “I don’t know what the banis hope to achieve. Do they want me to cast aside the rule of law?”
“No, Dad. Most of them don’t, not at all. Whoever these people are, their agenda isn’t peace. You can’t give in.”
“I won’t. The council of governors is convening in Mardinet in two days. I hope someone will come up with a solution because I’ve tried everything. I met with the community leaders and the conversation was very civil, but that night another house was firebombed.”
“Keep talking,” I urged. “The leaders are the future. Same as you are.”
“Does me good to hear you say that, son. I’d better let you go. Your mother will call you next time, if they allow it. Good luck, Javen.”
“You too. Love to you both.”
He stared in surprise at the screen, then smiled. “And to you, my dear boy. Good night.”
Maybe I didn’t say it often enough. I’d have to do something about that.
~~~~~~~~
The late night call with Dad didn’t make for an easy night’s sleep. He looked so tired and beaten down. I wished I could see both my parents in person. Captain Largosen said it wasn’t possible. I wasn’t entirely convinced but I’d let him have his way for now. Dad was incredibly strong, but he had his limits.
Gafur Kawildin arrived on time the following morning. He blinked at me in shock. “Beloved reason, that’s astonishing. Is this what it’s like to have a twin?”
I smiled, though I didn’t feel like it. “A bit.” I shook his offered hand. “Nice to meet you. I feel like I know you already.”
“I don’t know a damn thing about you, unfortunately. But I’m proud to be part of trying to sort this mess.”
I looked over at Captain Largosen. “Where’s Shardul?”
“Cooling his heels. He’s our first live test subject. Sergeant Kawildin spent some time talking to him before I called him up here. Now you’re going to go in and be Gafur Kawildin. If you can fool him....”
“...I can fool anyone. Bet I can’t, though. He’s sharp.”
“For your sake, I hope you’re wrong. Kawildin? Could you quickly brief the sergeant on what you two spoke about, then swap clothes?”
Captain Largosen brimmed with suppressed excitement, like someone about to play a clever practical joke. I didn’t care for that. Shardul wasn’t a toy, and had put himself at risk to cooperate with this plan. I’d have liked to have seen a bit more appreciation of that.
Kawildin briefed me and gave me his uniform, changing into a set of fatigues. A quick check that our hair grooming matched, and then Captain Largosen showed me down to the office where Shardul was waiting. “Tell him that you—that is, the real you—aren’t quite ready for us. Talk to him, make him look at you. Try to get him to recognise you. This is a chance to safely work out where the flaws in your act are.”
I nodded, and entered the office. Shardul looked up briefly, frowned, and went back to studying his reader. Anyone but an empath would have been totally fooled by his act, but I sensed his disdai
n, even anger. Particular shades of emotions I hadn’t felt from him since our earliest interactions. Shardul had dismissed me as a Kelon and an enemy—a stranger, and an unwelcome one. I hadn’t expected that. I should have. I’d grown used to his acceptance, forgetting how rarely he extended it to one of my kind.
“Ythen’s not ready,” I said, sitting down.
Shardul grunted, not even looking up.
“Hope they don’t keep us waiting. I’ve got things to do at the office. You busy?”
He looked up then, sneering. “Of course not. We banis don’t have anything to keep us occupied. We’re so lazy and shiftless, after all.”
I held up my hands. “Whoa. Didn’t say a word about that. You’re sort of touchy, aren’t you?”
“And you’re rude. Do I look as if I want to have a conversation with you? I’m reading an important document.”
“Yeah? What about? I left my reader behind. Didn’t think I’d have time for it.”
Shardul muttered something, which sounded like “or the brains”. I tried not to grin. “How long do you think they’ll keep us waiting?”
“How in the name of the Blessed Spirit would I know? They’re your people, not mine. If you’re so concerned, go find someone and ask.”
Still not the slightest hint of recognition. Captain Largosen, watching via hidden video, would be delighted. I didn’t know what else to say to Shardul short of provoking an outright argument, which might make him walk out, so I sat back and waited, and shortly after, the captain came in, his expression and emotions muted once more.
He pulled up a chair and laid a file out on the table. “Ah, gentlemen, sorry to keep you waiting.”
“Where’s Javen?” Shardul asked, sharpness in his tone and worry in his emotions. Why, Shardul, I never knew you cared.
“Right next to you.”
Shardul opened his mouth to argue, then shot me a venomous look. I gave him a cheery little wave. “Hi.”
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