Worlds Apart (ThreeCon)

by Carmen Webster Buxton

  “No,” Rishi said, remembering how Praxiteles’ friends had gone with her to the hospital. “That’s where you’re wrong. I haven’t spent nearly enough time with the security staff.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  It was late afternoon before Hari agreed that Rishi could go back to the hospital. He wanted her to wait until the estate was secure again before he assigned any staff to escort her. Rishi seethed at the delay but decided against overruling Hari. After her abrupt awakening that morning and finding out about the attack on Praxiteles, she was more worried about security than she had ever been in her life.

  When she arrived at the hospital, a slender and very young Terran in the uniform of the Shembor police stood outside the door of Praxiteles’ new room. Rishi ignored him and started to open the door, but he stepped in her way.

  Rishi put on her House of Trahn face—haughty, frozen, and imperious. “Get out of my way, please.”

  The young man looked as if he would rather be almost anywhere else, but he stood firm. “I’m sorry, citizen. No one is allowed in until the Captain’s finished her interrogation.”

  Rishi raised one eyebrow. “I’m Rishi Trahn, Mistress Rishi Trahn. Why should Captain Arnuchh prevent me from visiting one of my own employees?”

  The officer flushed but stood his ground. “I’m sorry, Mistress Trahn. Captain’s orders.”

  Rishi let the haughtiness slip and smiled a genuine smile. “Let’s ask her.” She reached around him and pressed the access panel.

  The door slid open in a second, and a frowning Captain Arnuchh looked around from her position near Praxiteles’ bed. “I thought I told you no interrupt—” she broke off when she saw Rishi. “Good afternoon, Mistress Trahn,” she said, smiling sternly. “Perhaps you can be of some help. The young man doesn’t want to answer my questions, and your counsel is encouraging him to be as unhelpful as possible.”

  Rishi nodded at the four guards Hari had insisted on sending with her. “Wait here, please,” she said, and then she walked into the large, sunny room. After a quick glance at Praxiteles, who was sitting up in bed, she studied the window and realized that it was the kind that could actually be opened. She walked to the window and slid the pane sideways, allowing a blast of cool air to blow into the room. She turned to Praxiteles and smiled. “Is that better, Praxiteles?”

  Praxiteles seemed perfectly aware of what was going on around him. When he smiled back at her, there was warmth in his eyes. “Yes, lady. Thank you.”

  The young Terran woman in the corner stood up and came forward a few steps. “Good afternoon, Mistress Trahn. I’m Lucinda Delgado, from Rufouchh shu Fahr’s office. He sent me—at your request I believe—to advise this young man.”

  “If you can call it advice to constantly tell him not to answer my questions,” Arnuchh said dryly. “A printed card would have done as well.”

  Lucinda Delgado frowned.

  “How are you feeling, Praxiteles?” Rishi asked, moving to the bed to take his hand.

  He flushed red but let her hold his hand. “I feel very well, lady. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

  “Good,” Rishi said. “Now, what’s the problem?”

  Praxiteles almost scowled. “Who are they, lady?” he asked, in a pained tone. “And why do I have to talk to them? That one,” he pointed with his chin at Arnuchh, “tells me lies that sound like the truth. And that one,” he indicated Delgado, “says the truth, but she makes it sound as dirty as a lie.”

  Rishi smiled at this apt description. “They’re doing their jobs, Praxiteles. Captain Arnuchh is a police officer. She’s trying to find out what happened out at my house early this morning and she suspects you of being involved with the thieves who broke in. Citizen Delgado is a lawyer. She doesn’t care whether you’re guilty of anything or not. Her job is to make sure that the police don’t find out anything that could hurt you, because that’s what I’m paying her for.”

  Praxiteles looked bewildered. “But why should anyone think I knew the men who shimmered? I never saw them before. I never even saw anyone like them.”

  Arnuchh looked up at this question. “Are you saying the man you killed was unknown to you?”

  Delgado opened her mouth, but Rishi held up a hand. “Let him talk,” she said.

  “Yes,” Praxiteles said. “I never saw him before. I didn’t see his face really, until he was dead, but I’m quite sure I’d never seen him before.”

  “What about the other one?” Arnuchh asked.

  “I barely saw him at all,” Praxiteles said. “He came out from behind the desk so quickly, I had no time to do more than bring up my arm to throw my knife again. The force of his weapon hit me just as I threw it, and I knew I couldn’t have hurt him badly.”

  “You didn’t get a good look at the second intruder?” Arnuchh said.

  “Just his feet,” Praxiteles said. “When I was lying on the floor, before I passed out, I saw his feet as he ran out the door.”

  Arnuchh studied Praxiteles closely. “So you didn’t know the second intruder was a woman?”

  Praxiteles’ face reflected total surprise. “A woman? I threw my knife at a woman?”

  Rishi patted his hand. “Don’t be upset, Praxiteles. This particular woman was trying to kill you.”

  “Mistress Trahn,” interrupted Delgado, “if you’re going to instruct him to answer these questions, why am I here?”

  “In case I want to ask you something,” Rishi said. “Just sit down, and I’ll let you know if anything comes up.”

  Arnuchh looked as if she were holding back a smile at this. Delgado sat down, and Arnuchh went on.

  “Now, citizen, since you seem to be more cooperative, let’s go back to when the incident first started. You were walking down the corridor near the office. How did you know something was wrong?”

  “The door opened,” Praxiteles said. “There shouldn’t have been anyone there. When the door opened, I waited and a man came out, a man with a strange shimmer all around him.”

  “What did you do?” Arnuchh asked.

  “I pulled my stun gun,” Praxiteles said. “I fired it, but it had no effect except the shimmer flashed right at the point where I had aimed. Then the man turned and pointed something at me. I rolled out of the way, and I smelled the wall burning behind me. I rolled again, and I took the knife from my boot.”

  “You didn’t think to use the darts in your stun gun?”

  Praxiteles shook his head. “I had no time. The knife was quicker.”

  “And you were able to throw the knife and kill him before he fired again?”

  Praxiteles nodded. “The range was right. Besides, when he fell, he fell face down and that drove the knife farther in.”

  “What did you do then?” Arnuchh asked.

  “I tried to see if he was dead,” Praxiteles said. “But I couldn’t reach his throat to feel whether he lived or not. So I took my knife out of him in case I had to use it again.”

  “Weren’t you upset that you had killed a man?” Arnuchh asked. “Most people would have been.”

  Praxiteles looked blank. “I had no time to waste on someone who had tried to kill me first. He wouldn’t have shed any tears over my body.”

  Arnuchh nodded grimly. “I’ve seen his rap sheet. You’re right about that. What did you do next?”

  “I pulled the alarm loop inside my belt. I knew that would alert the others. And I changed my stun gun so it would fire darts. I wasn’t sure it would help, but I decided it couldn’t hurt. Then I went into the office to see if there were more of them.”

  “Why didn’t you wait for help?” Arnuchh asked, surprise in her voice.

  “I didn’t know how long it would take for anyone to get there. Besides, for all I knew, it was as dangerous to wait in the corridor as it was to go into the office.”

  “So you went into the office?�
�� Arnuchh prompted.

  “Yes,” Praxiteles said. “I went slowly. I tried to watch carefully, but the second man—I mean the woman—fired as she jumped from behind the desk. I didn’t have time to get a clean throw.”

  “You went down?” Arnuchh asked.

  “Yes. I must have passed out quickly. I don’t remember anything until Tinibu held something vile under my nose, and it woke me up.”

  “Let’s go back to the beginning,” Arnuchh said. “What were you doing in that corridor in the first place? You weren’t on duty.”

  Praxiteles looked at Rishi.

  She smiled at him. “Go ahead and tell her, Praxiteles.”

  Praxiteles got his stubborn look. “I was walking.”

  Rishi laughed out loud. If all the Elliniká were this circumspect, it was a miracle they hadn’t died out. “Don’t be so shy. I already told her about us.”

  “Why?” Praxiteles demanded. “It’s none of her business.”

  “Where were you going when you saw the first intruder?” Captain Arnuchh asked again.

  “I’m not going to say,” Praxiteles said.

  “Very well,” the Shuratanian said mildly. “Then tell me why you were carrying a knife in your boot?”

  “That knife is made to carry in a boot,” Praxiteles said. “That’s why it’s so small.”

  Rishi let herself smile at this answer. Praxiteles was being perfectly truthful, but doubtless Arnuchh saw it as obfuscating.

  The Shuratanian frowned. “I mean, why were you carrying a knife at all? It’s not part of your equipment.”

  “Why shouldn’t I carry it?” Praxiteles said. “It’s mine. If I’d left it in my room, someone might have taken it.”

  Arnuchh twisted her lips; her long ears seemed to repeat the same motion involuntarily. Her eyes had a steely glint.

  Delgado stood up. “This is pointless. You don’t need a lawyer if all you’re going to do is reply to every question she asks.”

  “Perhaps you’re right,” Rishi said, her patience at an end. “Why don’t you go ahead and leave? Tell Rufouchh to send me the bill.”

  Delgado looked astounded. “I wasn’t suggesting that I leave. I was recommending that he not answer anymore questions.”

  “Well, I’m suggesting it. The meter’s not running anymore. You’re on your own time now, counselor.”

  Delgado set her mouth in a straight line, collected a business case from the floor, and stalked out the door. Arnuchh watched her go with satisfaction evident in her expression.

  “Now,” she said, turning back to Praxiteles, “you were going to tell me why you had a knife on you.”

  “I already told you,” said Praxiteles. “I own a knife, and there was no reason not to carry it. Knives come in handy sometimes.”

  “That’s your only answer?” Arnuchh said. “You were carrying the knife just in case you needed it?”

  Praxiteles gave her a puzzled look. “Why else would anyone carry a knife?”

  “Perhaps because they knew there’d be someone wearing an energy shield?” Arnuchh suggested.

  Praxiteles’ expression went blank. “What’s an energy shield?”

  Arnuchh grimaced with distaste. Her left ear twitched nervously. “Are you trying to tell me you don’t know what an energy shield is? You’re on the security staff.”

  Praxiteles shook his head. “I’ve had to learn a lot very quickly. There are many things I still don’t know yet.”

  Arnuchh’s expression said that she believed this explanation even less than Praxiteles’ blank denial. “If you didn’t know the intruder was wearing an energy shield that would repel all energy weapons, then why did you use the knife on him?”

  Rishi had to hide a grin. Praxiteles’ face showed plainly that he thought the Shuratanian had asked a very stupid question.

  “I had tried the stun gun and it didn’t work,” he said.

  “And yet you switched your gun over to firing darts.”

  Praxiteles nodded. “If there had been a third intruder, I would have used the gun.” He gave the Shuratanian a grim smile. “Besides, Rurhahn told me it would kill a hu—a Terran to use the darts, so I don’t see why I shouldn’t have thrown the knife.”

  “I suppose you didn’t know the resonator frequency for the force field, either?” Arnuchh said, her tone as impatient as Rishi had ever heard from a Shuratanian.

  Praxiteles thought about it. “I know what the force field is. And I know how to check on the monitors to see if it’s working properly.”

  “But not how to find the resonator frequency?” Arnuchh persisted.

  “If I don’t know what a resonator is,” Praxiteles said reasonably, “how could I know how often we have it?”

  Rishi bit her lip at the look on the captain’s face. Arnuchh didn’t seem at all amused.

  “Very well,” the Shuratanian said. “I’m finished for now. I may have more questions for you later.”

  “You can ask me all the questions you want,” Praxiteles replied with equal asperity, “but I can’t say that I’ll have the answers.”

  Arnuchh made a show of collecting a recorder and some other things from the table. Rishi realized indignantly that their conversation was being recorded. She made a note to mention to Rufouchh that she had not been impressed with Lucinda Delgado.

  When Arnuchh left, Rishi followed her to the door and then locked it.

  “Why did you do that?” Praxiteles asked as she came back to the bed. “Are you afraid she might come back?”

  “No. I locked the door because I wanted to do this.” Rishi leaned over and kissed Praxiteles on the mouth. Praxiteles put his good arm around her and returned the kiss with eagerness.

  Relief flooded Rishi. He was fine. Everything would be all right. “That’s better. Was she telling the truth?”

  Praxiteles shrugged. “She didn’t say much. Mostly she asked me questions. She lied to me at first though. She told me that she had to ask me some questions, but that I didn’t need to worry.”

  Rishi decided he should know what Hari had said. Ignorance could be dangerous. “I think she does suspect you. Hari says they always suspect new people on the staff when a break-in happens, especially if they’re the ones who discover it.”

  “But I did nothing,” Praxiteles protested. “I defended myself. What was I supposed to do? Let them kill me?”

  Rishi could understand his frustration. “It seems unreasonable to me, too. I suppose Arnuchh would be happier with a clear-cut break-in and murder than with an intruder dead with an unusual weapon.”

  Praxiteles shook his head. “It’s not an unusual weapon where I come from. What’s an energy shield, lady?”

  Rishi sat on the edge of his bed. “It’s a device that repels all energy weapons, like stun guns, burn pistols, and lasers. It doesn’t stop physical matter, like a knife or a dart, only energy. The two intruders were wearing them. That’s what made them shimmer.”

  Praxiteles thought about it. “Then why don’t security people carry knives?”

  Rishi chuckled. “Maybe I’ll ask Hari that question. It might be a good idea. But energy shields are illegal on Subidar—to make or to import. They’re very hard to get, so we weren’t expecting intruders to wear them.”

  He didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t argue further. “Why did they break into the house, lady? Did they come to steal from you?”

  “Probably. For one thing, I keep all my jewelry in a safe in the office. Hari wouldn’t let me put a safe in my room; he didn’t want anyone who broke in to steal tripping over me.”

  “He takes good care of you.”

  “Sometimes he’s a little too zealous,” Rishi said, thinking of the questions Hari had asked Praxiteles.

  Praxiteles didn’t answer. Instead, he threw back the covers and climbed down from the bed.


  Rishi jumped up, horrified. “What are you doing, Praxiteles?”

  He gave her a calm smile. “I’m getting up, lady. I need to find where they put my clothes.”

  She was torn between wanting to push him back into bed and a fear of touching him too roughly. “You’re not supposed to be up yet. Did the doctor say that you could get up?”

  He didn’t answer. He was busy opening drawers and cupboards. He found his trousers and his boots, but muttered in annoyance when he couldn’t find his uniform shirt.

  “They must have had to cut it off you to treat your wound,” Rishi said. “Don’t worry about it; I’m sure Hari will give you another one.”

  Praxiteles nodded. In spite of her repeated admonitions to lie down again, he proceeded to get dressed, somewhat awkwardly, as his right arm was almost useless. He left the hospital robe on as a shirt, and tucked the hem into his trousers. It looked a little odd, but it wouldn’t cause anyone to stare at him.

  “Can we go now?” he asked.

  “No!” Rishi said, seriously alarmed. “The doctor said you have to stay for a few days. Will you at least sit down?”

  Praxiteles paid no attention to this objection. “Who came with you, lady?”

  “Qualhuan, Chio, and two others.”

  He nodded. “Good. Let’s go then.”

  “Praxiteles!” she said sharply. “You cannot simply walk out of here! Once you’re in the hospital, you have to stay until the doctor says you can go.”

  He snorted. “It sounds more like a prison than a hospital.”

  When she didn’t answer, he patted her shoulder with his left hand. “I’m fine, lady. I’m well enough to leave. My arm’s a little sore, but it’ll get better.”

  She started to protest but she was interrupted by the chimes of the door. When Rishi unlocked it, Dr. Chiang walked in.

  The doctor took one look at Praxiteles, and her frown became positively fierce. “Who told you that you could get out of bed?”

  “No one,” Praxiteles said. “I’m not a child. I don’t need anyone’s permission to get out of bed.”

  Dr. Chiang plainly didn’t concur with his opinion. “You take those clothes off and get back in that bed! You had surgery only a few hours ago.”