by Roger Levy
Ghraith shrugged and looked out the other side where the shuttle was passing the rigworks. Bale stared too. The spiky architecture of the rising rigs was a scribble against the sky, redrawing itself as he watched; it wasn’t simply the changing perspective from the shuttle, but the microvanes of the fine struts constantly adjusting to the wind, presenting nothing to be battered and whipped. They say each single rig costs more than it costs to build a fleet of freighters, but then a single reservoir of core was enough to justify the whole thing.
Ghraith chuckled at the window, and Bale said, ‘What?’
‘You’re an off-duty Paxer, Bale, with a history of trouble. All of Lookout knows it now. Not everyone thinks you’re a hero. I heard you were drunk. People are saying you could have saved that guy before he even got sliced if you’d been sober. You imagine you’re not going to get attention?’
The shuttle jolted on and eventually sieved through the shield into Lookout. Ghraith left with a last glance, and Bale stood a moment on the platform, thinking back to the Chute. NTGs and a flysuit. He wouldn’t be hard to trace. Even seemed vaguely familiar, the way he flew, though Bale couldn’t place him.
Bale was still considering it an hour later as he arrived at Pax for his appointment with Navid. He could check the Chute-shops… and then what? Ghraith had said it; Bale was off-duty and a fair target.
No. For now, the wind could take him. If Bale saw him again, that was fine.
And he had a more immediate concern. Navid was going to be snitty with him, but for now he was a hero. Navid wasn’t about to discipline a hero.
He took a breath before pushing the door open. He hadn’t been in the Chief’s office since the last time he’d been suspended. It was almost a ritual between them, Navid suspending him with a warning, then taking him back with another. This time, Bale was sure, he had to be in the green lane.
Navid sat back in the chair and linked his hands at the nape of his neck. It was impossible to read his face. ‘Good to see you. Welcome back, Bale.’
‘Thank you, sir.’
Navid let the back of the chair drop forward. ‘Did you just call me sir?’
‘Yes, sir. May I sit down, sir?’
‘What is this? You never call me sir.’
‘You never welcome me back, sir.’
‘Drop it. You’re fit and well? You got out of hospital when?’
‘A week ago.’
Navid nodded. ‘Been relaxing?’
‘I’ve been working out. Loosening up.’
Navid was still nodding evenly. ‘In the Fit Room here? I hadn’t heard.’
‘In the Chute.’
Navid glanced at him. ‘Ah, yes. I never got that. What is it with the Chute? Not enough shit in your life?’
‘It clears my head.’
‘Right. I hope it’s clear now. Sit. Just to get this out of the way, I take it you’ve read the report.’
Bale sat down. ‘I just have a few questions.’
Navid wiped the back of his hand across his lips. ‘Have you read the report?’
‘That’s why –’
‘Everything’s in the report. We’ve identified the K. He was a loner. Nothing more to it. Pax is not prepared to waste any more time on it. Do you understand this?’
This was a bit harsher than Bale had expected. He said, cautiously, ‘Tallen doesn’t fit.’
‘Life’s like that, Bale. It isn’t today’s puzzle with a solution next week. It’s a mess.’
‘I always thought our job was to clear up some of the mess.’
‘Clear it up or keep it tidy, yes. And we’ve done that. Although it’s starting to seem like you’re part of the mess, Bale. What are you doing? Didn’t Officer Kerlew see you? Did she talk to you at all? Did you listen?’
‘Yes. Don’t worry about her. She ticked all your boxes. I still have a few questions.’
Navid sighed. ‘I’ve done my best here. It’s closed. Vox is happy, which means we’re all happy. Except for you. What do you want, Bale? A day? Will that do it? A week? Or maybe I should let you use your own time for it. Oh, but you have, haven’t you? Despite what Officer Kerlew told you.’ He started to stand up, changed his mind and sat again. ‘You know what, Officer Bale? I think there’s just one way to deal with it. You got your ID there? Let me see it.’
Suddenly knowing it was too late, Bale pushed his chair back and said, ‘Sir. One day should do it. I just need access to the archive, to check a few things and I’ll be done.’
‘I know what you’ve been doing, Officer Bale. You understand the meaning of “leave”?’
‘Yes, sir. My own time. I just thought –’
‘It means leave it alone. Forget it. Don’t you know a warning when you get one? You’ve had your warning. You don’t know anything. You think this is a chat we’re having? Give me that.’
Bale passed his Paxflake across the desk to Navid. Navid took a small niller from the desk and ran it twice over the flake. The first time it brightened, the second time it went dark. Navid snapped the flake in half.
‘Now your wrist.’
‘Sir?’
‘You don’t need to call me that any more. Not ever.’ Navid held the niller to the skinscreen on the inside of Bale’s wrist, lit it up and watched the small reader register and then start to kill the embedded Paxpack. He tilted it so Bale could see his job, which meant his whole life, seep away.
PAX LICENCE VOIDED
VOX ACCESS CANCELLED
PAX RANK REMOVED
As the program wore down, Navid said, ‘You have the right to challenge this, Mr Bale. I think you know how far you’ll get, though.’
PERSONAL CONTACT DATAFILE CLEARED
‘You want to challenge it, Mr Bale?’
‘No.’
PROCEDURE COMPLETE. PAXPACK DELETED
The letters faded. Navid said, ‘Not quite done yet, Mr Bale. Watch the screen, please.’
THIS PACK MAY NOW BE USED AS A PERSONAL DATASTORAGE DEVICE. THIS DEVICE CANNOT BE REVERTED OR RECONFIGURED. ANY ATTEMPT TO DO SO WILL INSTANTLY ALERT PAX AND IS A CAPITAL CRIME
The small screen greyed. Bale cleared his throat and started to pull his wrist away, but Navid said, ‘Wait. One last thing.’
SALARY – FULL DISCRETIONARY FINAL PAYMENTS AUTHORISED
The screen faded until all Bale could see was his bare wrist.
‘Now we’re done, Mr Bale. You can return your uniform and weaponry tomorrow. The weaponry is of course already disabled, and in the meantime you may not use the uniform or any material in your possession to pass yourself off as a Pax officer. Do you understand, sir?’
‘Please. I –’
‘Do you understand, sir?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Yes, officer, Mr Bale.’
Eighteen
ALEF
SigEv 23 Belleger
Drame said, ‘Belleger, we have a small problem.’
Belleger was a soldier. He was the man who enabled what Drame called his reach. He stood in front of Drame like heavy shadow. The rumour in the building was that his speech modulator was broken, and if it could be fixed, people might talk to him, or at least be able to get into an elevator with him.
I said, ‘I don’t think Belleger is the answer to this.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because it’s what Ligate wants.’
Drame said, ‘Belleger, you can relax. This isn’t a parade.’
Belleger shifted his stance. He didn’t look any calmer.
I said, ‘Ligate wants you to see it. He wants you to react.’
‘He doesn’t realise I know yet. I can’t leave it. If I leave it, he’ll continue. If I act now, I have surprise.’
Belleger said, ‘Do you need me here, Mr Drame?’ The timbre of his voice made me tremble. Even Drame seemed to wince momentarily.
Madelene swallowed and said, ‘You don’t need me,’ and slipped quickly from the room.
Drame watched her go, then said, ‘Tell him, Alef.�
��
So I told Belleger.
When I was done, Belleger took about half a second before rumbling, ‘It’s straightforward, Mr Drame. The first choice is whether we act at all. Can we use words? Will that be enough?’
‘Alef?’
‘No. This is a provocation. He’s prepared his position. I don’t know how, but he’ll be ready to act.’
Drame said, ‘How will he act, Belleger?’
The soldier didn’t move or hesitate. I felt an odd sense of identification with him. He knew exactly how it lay. ‘Ligate has options. He’s set up a situation in which our options will be limited. He has a huge advantage in that the situation is of his making, and it is close to his home ground. In addition to this, he has more control of space, both locally and generally. If we attack, we can only come from one direction, since the unsaid planet is to his rear.’
The presence of the unsaid planet was to Ligate’s advantage. No one risked entering their territorial space. Belleger certainly would not risk his forces being attacked on two fronts. Ligate had chosen his base well.
‘So the arena is Ligate’s, and he will be ready.’ The room seemed to resonate with Belleger’s speech. My eyes blurred. I’d never heard Belleger say so much, and he was still talking. ‘I imagine he will have been ready for a long time, Mr Drame.’
‘Will he, Belleger? That’s interesting.’ Drame turned his gaze back to me. ‘Alef, is he ready?’
I wasn’t prepared for this. I hadn’t thought of it. My role was to monitor Drame’s businesses and no more. ‘I don’t know. I could find out.’
Drame said nothing. The atmosphere in the room thickened. Outside, it was growing darker, the black overpowering the purple. Night.
I cleared my throat. ‘I could carry out an analysis of factors associated with the arms markets. But any active searches I initiate might warn him that we’re aware. Up to now I’ve done nothing unusual. We could lose the element of surprise. It’s all we have.’ And we only had that thanks to Pireve. I didn’t say it.
The room slowly settled. The silence and stillness seemed especially deep. Drame nodded. ‘Our options, Belleger. You’ve had time?’
‘Enough. There are two options. In the first, you back down and accept the loss of Vegaschrist and consolidate your positions elsewhere. You set boundaries and make them strong. You would have to create a buffer zone and burn everything in it. In the second option, you prepare a physical response.’
Both men glanced at me. I nodded agreement.
‘Outline a physical response, Belleger,’ Drame said.
‘He’s ready for the fight. You might win, but if you do, almost everything will be lost in the process. You can only take this option if you are prepared to lose and you think he is not, that he’s bluffing with everything he has, that he’s not prepared to risk it all.’
I was feeling nauseous. I didn’t know if it was Belleger’s voice or the direction of his words. Neither disturbed Drame. I wanted to sit down, but I didn’t want to draw Drame’s notice.
Belleger said, ‘Do you have any evidence that this is a bluff?’ He waited, then when Drame didn’t answer, he continued. ‘Ligate has begun this. He knows the conversation we are having. He knows we are asking ourselves whether we believe he is prepared to lose everything. He knows you are asking yourself whether you are prepared to lose everything.’
‘That isn’t quite true,’ I said.
Belleger turned to me. His eyes were quite empty.
‘Go on,’ Drame told me.
‘We do have one thing. Ligate doesn’t know we’re having this conversation now. We’re lucky that Pireve had her eyes on Vegaschrist just as the situation shifted. Because of that, I think we’ve identified the situation earlier than he expects. If I analyse the rate of activity, I think we have three weeks, maybe four, before he’d expect us to spot it.’
I had Drame’s attention. I went on. ‘At that point, when we can expect him to be entirely ready, he’ll reveal his position. That means he’s not quite ready yet. But he’s close. When he is fully ready, he’ll do something we can’t ignore and he’ll be prepared to deal with any response.’
Belleger was nodding now. A rumble came from his throat.
I said, ‘He’ll expect you to try to take them back instantly and straightforwardly and fail, and that you won’t understand why. He’ll want you to try harder and still fail, and eventually, only eventually, to become aware that something is significantly wrong. He’ll want you then, too late, to try and withdraw and to realise that he’s out-thought and broken you.’
Belleger grunted. It was a terrifying sound.
Drame nodded. ‘I would stretch out for him to cut off my fingers. And then he would grasp my arm and chop off my hand at the wrist…’ For almost a minute he looked out of the window, at the high unsilvered sky there, and then he said, ‘But I shall destroy him first. Belleger, prepare it.’
Belleger stood straight, but didn’t move. ‘Mr Drame,’ the soldier said, the room shivering with his voice. It seemed to me that Belleger was about to continue.
‘Enough,’ Drame said. ‘Thank you, Belleger. Go.’
The soldier left.
As Drame slumped back in his chair, I wondered what Belleger might have been ready to say. Drame watched the depthless sky and said, ‘This is it, Alef. This was what he meant.’
I knew exactly what he was talking about. I remembered Ligate’s words precisely. This is the start of it. When I had been watching him murder my parents, he had been planning this. I looked at Drame’s face. It was hard and without colour. His hands were set flat on the desk. Without thinking of the consequences, I said, ‘What exactly did you do to Ligate’s family?’
Still staring at the window, he murmured, ‘I slapped him down, that’s all. I had a big contract about to be signed with a third party, and he was trying to break into it. It was pure business. I meant a warning, but –’ He wiped the back of a hand across his mouth. ‘But perhaps I overshot. The deaths were an error. Ligate is no businessman. He’s less than nothing.’ He fell silent.
Maybe it was true. It didn’t matter. ‘And now?’
Drame roused himself. ‘Ligate knows I won’t back down. There is no such thing as consolidation in this, Alef. There is just death.’
I saw that this was exactly what Ligate wanted. In that room of slaughter, with my dead mother and father, back on Gehenna, he had said he had nothing left. ‘You’ll be doing just what he wants. Don’t you see?’ My voice was shrill.
‘Of course.’ Drame was calm. ‘We have no choice, Alef. It’s the way of it. This had to happen, and I should have known it. It doesn’t matter. I have never lost anything in my life, Alef. I shall destroy him and everything he has. I shall eliminate every memory of him until he never was.’
That determination was terrifying. Drame was telling me he had never lost anything. Did he believe that? I saw the two of them face to face, Ligate and Drame, and the answer came to me.
I said, ‘There is another way.’
‘Belleger told us the choices.’
‘He told us his choices. There is another. And it’s better.’
Drame drummed his fingers on the desk. ‘Go on.’
‘Remember, Ligate doesn’t know he’s exposed yet. If we can locate him, locate Ligate himself, and kill him, all this is over. It’s a war between the two of you, not the businesses. If he’s dead, it’s over. After that, don’t destroy what he had, but take it intact. Don’t eliminate his memory, but rewrite it instead. There’s more humiliation for him, more victory for you, in that.’
There was a long silence. I replayed my words in my mind. I went back over the last hour. All of this had happened in a single hour, from all being well to the end of everything. And I thought of Pireve with an aching sense of simultaneous discovery and loss. Oh, Pireve.
Drame frowned. ‘How do we do that?’
He looked at me. Had I drifted away for a moment? Was the sky darker?
&nb
sp; ‘Alef!’
‘First, pull Belleger back. We must keep Ligate from realising we know anything. There must be no buildup. Just send people to try and persuade the businesses to come back to us, as we normally would, and when they fail, send more. Act like it’s routine local resistance we think we can deal with. As Ligate expects. Let him think he’s drawing you in, that he still has time.’
‘We’re giving him that time.’
‘We’ll be preparing, too, only he won’t realise it.’
I was telling Ethan Drame to throw people to their deaths. It was like any one of my calculations. Like leaves falling from the number trees in my mind. I said, ‘You have spies in his organisation?’
‘Oh, yes,’ Drame said softly, and for the first time, he smiled at me. ‘Oh yes, my boy.’
‘They need to know, in advance, where Ligate will be on a certain day. Just that. It has to be a location we can reach. You need Belleger to prepare a team to be there to kill him.’
‘That’s it?’ His face began to colour. ‘That’s your plan? That’s shit. Ligate squats on his planet. He moves around all the time, but he never moves offworld. Nothing brings him out, nothing of ours can infiltrate it.’ He sat back, breathing heavily. ‘Your plan’s no better than Belleger’s. To kill Ligate, we have to extinguish the planet.’ He inspected me to see if I understood this, then said, ‘The entire planet. Do you have any idea what that will cost me?’
I tried to keep calm. Talking to him was like being in freefall. ‘We bring Ligate out. We bring him off-planet.’
‘I hardly ever go off-planet. He never does.’ Drame was losing patience.
‘He would if he knew he’d capture you. If he were sure Ethan Drame would be there for the taking, unprotected.’
He opened his mouth, then closed it again and waited.
‘Send Belleger ahead with his assassination team. That must be in total secrecy. It should be straightforward, since Ligate doesn’t know we’re already aware of his intentions.’
Belleger nodded.
I said, ‘Now you tell your spies to let Ligate know that things are going so badly that you’re coming out in person, secretly, to see what’s going on. To change a few minds. You’ve done that before, haven’t you?’