Trickster. Part 16

"I'm not Head of Information Services at my project for nothing," she said. "Will you excuse me for just a moment?"

Without waiting for a response, she went into the bathroom, which was as s.p.a.cious as the rest of her quarters, and removed her access key from the hidden pocket on the inside of her belt. Elena herself had written the security protocols that demanded Roon and the department heads keep their access keys on their persons at all times, and if anyone did did remove a key, it had to be hidden in a secret place. Elena had no direct control over the other two department heads, and Roon had explicitly ignored her advice about not installing a Collection terminal in his home, but Elena could make d.a.m.n sure her own key was safe. She certainly wasn't going to show the key to Devin, or leave it unmonitored in his presence, not even if he was about to be drugged out of his mind. remove a key, it had to be hidden in a secret place. Elena had no direct control over the other two department heads, and Roon had explicitly ignored her advice about not installing a Collection terminal in his home, but Elena could make d.a.m.n sure her own key was safe. She certainly wasn't going to show the key to Devin, or leave it unmonitored in his presence, not even if he was about to be drugged out of his mind.

Elena opened the medicine cabinet above the sink and pressed a hidden switch. A small door in the back of the cabinet slid open, revealing a s.p.a.ce just big enough for her key. She set it inside, closed the compartment, flushed the toilet, and went back into the living room. Devin was sitting on the couch, nervously drumming his fingers on his knees. He jumped to his feet when she entered the room.

"I was thinking," he said, "that I should probably be going. You have to work tomorrow, and I shouldn't--"

"Just stay right where you are," she said, heading for the bar and uncorking a bottle of champagne. "You can't leave without having at least one drink." She filled two gla.s.ses and dosed them both liberally from the little vial while Devin fidgeted nervously. He was so cute when he did that, so innocent-looking. Could he be a virgin? Wouldn't that that be a kick! be a kick!

The lighting was low, and Elena ordered the computer to put on some soft music. Then she brought the champagne flutes over to him. A sharp smell issued from the bubbling liquid.

"What is this?" Devin asked as she handed him one.

"Champagne," she said, "laced with a little something to give us both a hit."

"A drug?" he asked, looking doubtfully at the flute.

"I'm taking it, too," she purred. "It's meant to enhance our pleasure."

"Well . . . " he wavered.

"Drink it!" she ordered.

He gave her a wide-eyed look, then drank. In exultation, Elena emptied her own gla.s.s. The champagne had a distinctly acrid taste to it. She set her flute on the coffee table and drew an unresisting Devin down to the sofa. She kissed him, and he kissed back with tentative uncertainty. G.o.d, he was handsome. Her hands were shaking with desire. She kissed him harder. In a moment he would be hers, all--

Ben backed away from Elena Papagos-Faye and waved a hand in front of her face. No reaction. He picked up one of her hands and dropped it. It fell limply. Her eyes were blank and staring beneath dark hair as she sat motionless on the couch.

Ben wiped his mouth with a grimace. He could still taste Papagos-Faye's tongue, and it seemed like her cold hands were still roving all over his body. For some reason, a memory from lower school popped into his head--

--and made him snort. He wanted to contact Kendi, tell him that everything was going fine so far, but Elena Papagos-Faye had set up anti-bug screens all around her house, and outgoing transmissions were therefore only possible through her own com-link, something Ben didn't want to risk using. Best just to find the key and get this over with.

"Stand up," he said, and Papagos-Faye got obediently to her feet, her eyes still gla.s.sy. Steeling himself, Ben searched her carefully. She stood pliantly, not speaking or moving except as he moved her. First he checked for a chain around her neck. Nothing. Then he checked wrists, waist, and ankles. Nothing. The pockets of her dress contained only an SA identification holo and a small makeup kit. Ben did a more thorough search, opening her dress and searching the seams of her clothes and her underwear. He found a secret pocket on her belt, but it was empty. He even ran his hands through her hair in a strange parody of a caress. Nothing.

Ben was getting nervous now. The drug would wear off soon, and he had to find the key now now. Where would it-- The bathroom. She had gone into the bathroom. What if she had taken it off in there?

Leaving Papagos-Faye standing where she was, he dashed into the bathroom. Swiftly he checked all the drawers and all the cabinets. He checked the toilet and under the sink. With growing apprehension, he checked the time on his ocular implant. The drug would wear off in less than half an hour. Grinding his teeth in frustration, he checked the top of the doorsill, the top of the medicine cabinet, and inside various bottles of medicine. Nothing. The tension in his stomach grew tighter. There were a million places to hide something as small as a computer key, and it could be literally anywhere. He had been counting on her keeping it somewhere on her person, like Jeung had done.

Fifteen minutes. Ben searched through the piles of towels in the linen closet, checked the drains on the sink and tub. Nothing. He started to sweat. It had to be here somewhere if only he could-- Ben smacked himself on the forehead with the palm of his hand and ran back into the living room. Papagos-Faye was standing exactly where he had left her.

"Elena," he said, "where did you put your computer key?"

"In the secret compartment in my medicine cabinet." Her voice was dreamy, just like Isaac Todd's had been when Harenn and Kendi were questioning him. "Or is it called a medicine chest? My grandmother always called it--"

"How do I open the secret compartment?"

She told him. Ben left her talking about the b.u.t.tons on her dress and rushed back to the bathroom. He found the compartment, opened it, and found the key. A rush of exhilaration filled him. Quickly he pressed it against the copycat he took from his pocket. It flashed green to indicate a successful download. Ben returned the key to the compartment and dashed back to the living room. Nine minutes left. He took a small white card from a plastic envelope his pocket, pressed Elena's thumb to it, and returned the card to his pocket. Then he led Elena to the bedroom.

Seven minutes. Ben undressed her, messed up her hair, and tossed her clothing all over the room. He did the same to his own hair and clothes. Just for effect, he knocked a lamp off the night stand and tore a hole in one of the silk sheets. Then he ordered Elena to climb into bed and he lay down naked beside her.

One minute.

"Listen to me, Elena," he whispered in her ear. "This is what you're going to remember when you wake up ..."

Sixty second later, Papagos-Faye blinked once, stretched languidly, and turned to look at Ben. He put an amazed and startled look on his face.

"That was . . . incredible," he said in a shocked voice.

"Wasn't it just?" Papagos-Faye said. "And now, Devin dear, I think we need to call it a night."

Five minutes later, Ben was staring at Papagos-Faye's front door as the locks engaged with a click click. He shook his head, then touched the copycat in his pocket and walked away, whistling a happy little tune.

"How'd it go?" Kendi demanded. "Did everything work as planned? How do you feel?"

Ben plunked down onto a chair in the medical bay with a heavy sigh. It felt good to be back in the Poltergeist Poltergeist where the territory was safe, familiar. Kendi's presence also calmed him. Already the memory of Papagos-Faye's cold, busy hands was beginning to fade. where the territory was safe, familiar. Kendi's presence also calmed him. Already the memory of Papagos-Faye's cold, busy hands was beginning to fade.

"Without a hitch, yes, and yuck," he said.

Kendi grinned a wide, white grin of relief and leaned over to clasp Ben in a quick, hard hug. Ben's heart swelled. Suddenly every harsh moment he had spent with Elena Papagos-Faye became worth it. A half-remembered quotation came back to him, about love being a condition in which someone else's happiness becomes essential to one's own. He understood it entirely. Kendi's happiness spread into Ben like warm gold, and in that moment, Ben would have braved vacuum without a s.p.a.cesuit for him.

"You're welcome," he said, unable to keep his own smile hidden. "All right--I want my own hair and clothes back now."

"Momentarily," Harenn said. She was using an enzyme comb to carefully strip the red dye from Gretchen's hair. At one of the counters, Lucia was meticulously fluffing a blond wig that had black roots.

"You got everything, then?" Kendi asked.

Ben held up the copycat and the little card in its plastic envelope. "Key and thumbprint. The hypnoral worked just fine, and so did the antidote I took when Papagos-Faye wasn't looking. I told her to remember some pretty amazing things about me." His face clouded as something occurred to him. "What am I going to do when Papagos-Faye calls me again? I mean, you can tell people to 'remember' stuff when they come off hypnoral, but it doesn't do post-hypnotic suggestions. I couldn't tell her not to--"

Lucia laughed over her wig, a rich, musical sound, and Gretchen snorted from her chair. Harenn gave a small smile as the comb changed the last of Gretchen's "red" hair back to its usual corn silk blond.

"Benny-boy," Gretchen said, "you have a lot to learn about women."

"I dated my share," he protested.

"Three women is not not a share," Gretchen said. a share," Gretchen said.

"Look," Ben said, flus.h.i.+ng, "if you think--"

"Don't get your undies in a bunch. All I'm saying is that you've never dated this this kind of woman, okay? She isn't going to call you back. In fact, kind of woman, okay? She isn't going to call you back. In fact, you you need to call need to call her her."

Ben shuddered at the thought. "No way."

"She's right, Ben," Lucia said. She set the wig on a stand and put the fluffing pick in a drawer. "Remember, Devin Reap is supposed to be a weak, clingy sort of guy. She'll think it strange if you don't don't call. I guarantee you she's already set her com-link to route your calls to her voice mail. Leave a message asking when you can see her again, and then call two or three more times over the course of a week. Sound a little more desperate each time, and I promise you won't hear a thing from her." call. I guarantee you she's already set her com-link to route your calls to her voice mail. Leave a message asking when you can see her again, and then call two or three more times over the course of a week. Sound a little more desperate each time, and I promise you won't hear a thing from her."

"If you say so," Ben muttered.

Kendi patted Ben's arm. "Hey, I don't understand women, either. Close your mouth, Gretchen."

"Did I say anything? A single word, even?"

A while later, Ben and Kendi were back in their quarters. Ben's hair, though still fas.h.i.+onably cut, was back to its usual bright red, and he had changed out of the embarra.s.singly tight clothes into his usual relaxed-looking tunic and trousers. It felt wonderful to lounge on a comfortable sofa in a quiet room instead of leaning over a hard railing in a cacophonous gladiator ring, and it felt equally wonderful to have Kendi's hands moving over his shoulders in a warm, gentle ma.s.sage instead of with a cold, insistent probing.

"Did I tell you how proud I am of you?" Kendi said.

"Once or twice," Ben admitted, closing his eyes in bliss. "But you can tell me again."

"I'm very proud of you. That was great work, and we wouldn't have Papagos-Faye's key without you."

"Two more to go--Rafille Mallory and Edsard Roon." Ben paused. "Any idea how we're actually going to get in there once we have the keys?"

"Not really," Kendi admitted. "I need more information about Roon, and I'll probably have to interrogate Todd again, see if there's anything we missed. I just wish we had more time. The Poltergeist Poltergeist is due back at Bellerophon in only fourteen days." is due back at Bellerophon in only fourteen days."

"I don't like having Todd on board. What if he escapes? It'd be over for us in less time than it takes to say so."

"We're being careful, Ben. All of us. You know that."

"I guess." Ben closed his eyes, deciding not to let himself tense up during a good shoulder rub. "The paranoid part of me wonders what we've overlooked, is all. He's probably getting pretty bored and restless in there with nothing to do but read."

"I don't feel the least bit sorry for that b.a.s.t.a.r.d," Kendi said harshly. His fingers dug deeper into Ben's shoulders and he winced. "As far as I'm concerned, boredom isn't even the beginning of what he deserves. All those women he seduced just to sell their babies." He dug harder. "All life, it makes me vomit just to--"

"Shoulders! Shoulders!" Ben yelped.

"Sorry," Kendi said, contritely lessening the pressure. "Still a touchy subject with me, I guess." He stopped kneading and came around to sit on the sofa beside Ben. Outside, a s.h.i.+p coasted by the window so close that Ben could almost see pa.s.sengers in the windows before it pa.s.sed out of view. Ben turned a little and faced Kendi, his own private universe. What in the world had taken him so long to figure out how deep his feelings ran, how miserable he had been whenever Kendi wasn't in his life? Ben rarely talked with his friends about his love life, and most of them, he knew, had quietly a.s.sumed it was Kendi's mercurial temperament that made their earlier relations.h.i.+p so stormy. None of them, except perhaps Ben's mother, had suspected that Ben had repeatedly been the one to call things to an end while Kendi's devotion had never flagged. Ben still didn't know exactly why he had avoided commitment for so long. Perhaps it was because he had grown up without a father at home and he hadn't learned how to form solid relations.h.i.+ps with men. Whatever the reason, he had gotten over it, and thank G.o.d for that. He never wanted to be apart from Kendi again.

"I have something I need to tell you," Kendi said.

"Oh?"

Kendi took Ben's hand and stroked the back of it in a familiar gesture. "I've been thinking a lot lately. I've lost a lot of people I love. My entire birth family. Ara. Pitr. I've been scared a lot lately, scared of losing more people I love. Eventually I'll run out of people, and I'll be alone." He paused. "It occurred to me that I'm going to lose people, no matter what happens. It's an unavoidable fact. I don't ever want to run out of people to love, Ben. I especially don't want to lose you. Those embryos Ara found, your brothers and sisters, are a part of you, and if I have them, I'll always have you, no matter what." He paused. "Ben, I want to have children with you. Eleven of them."

The universe froze. Ben's mind stopped moving, then made a joyous leap, as if he had just seen a rainbow in a stormy sky. He couldn't speak at first, but finally he made himself say, "You mean it?"

"Absolutely. Hey, I have to pa.s.s all this Real People wisdom on to someone someone before I--what's wrong?" before I--what's wrong?"

Ben didn't understand the question. For once, everything was completely right. Only when he felt something warn running down his face did he realize he was crying. "Sorry," he said in a thick voice. "You caught me off guard."

Kendi gathered him close. "You never have to be on on guard with me, Ben. And really, there was never any other answer I could give." guard with me, Ben. And really, there was never any other answer I could give."

"We'll have to find a host mother," Ben said.

"About ten of them, come to that," Kendi said wryly, and Ben had to laugh.

Martina Weaver sat on a hard chair, trying not to stare at her brother. She and the others were arranged in a big circle that alternated yellow-clad Alphas and green-clad Deltas. A male Alpha occupied a chair in the center of circle. Utang sat almost directly across from Martina, and he was looking at her as well, though his face was blank.

"Begin," ordered one of the Deltas.

"Uh, I'm not . . . not sure," said the center Alpha. He was in his forties and ran toward plump. "That is . . . how do I--"

"The source of all impurity is envy, which creates N-waves in your mind," the Delta said. "Envy of someone else's possessions leads to laziness or greed. Envy of someone else's position leads to ambition and pride. Envy of someone else's food leads to gluttony. Envy of someone else's body leads to l.u.s.t. What is it you envy, Alpha?"

The Alpha's face grew red and Martina felt embarra.s.sed for him. He clearly wanted to be anywhere but here. Meanwhile, it was all Martina could do to keep her seat. Her brother--her brother brother--was sitting only a few meters away and she couldn't even talk to him. She wanted to jump up and run to him more than she had wanted anything in her life. It crossed her mind that perhaps she should say something, tell one of the Deltas. But before she could do so, something else--a slave's instincts?--had advised caution. She didn't know all the rules in this strange place, and she had the distinct feeling that revealing her relations.h.i.+p to Utang would be a mistake. So she kept silent and held her gloved hands folded neatly in her lap.

"What is it you envy, Alpha?" the Delta repeated, more sharply this time.

"I envy everyone who isn't sitting in this chair," he said with a weak smile. This drew a small ripple of laughter from the Alphas and hard pokes in their sides from the Deltas.

"The Confessional is not a place for levity," the Delta said. "Confess! What do you envy?"

"Nothing. I envy nothing."

"Did you wake up this morning with an erection?"

This question clearly caught the Alpha off-guard. "What? I . . . that's none of--"

"Computer records indicate that you awoke with an erection this morning and you m.a.s.t.u.r.b.a.t.ed in the shower," the Delta said. "But you have refused to confess your impurity. The N-waves course through your brain even as we speak. Only by confessing what you have done can you rid yourself of them and become one with Dream. Confess!"

Martina stared at the Delta in disbelief. They spied on the bathrooms? What "impurities" had she committed that had been caught and recorded?

The Alpha looked like he wished the floor would open up and swallow him. "I . . . I . . . "

"Did you wake with an erection?" barked the Delta. "Answer!"

"Yes," the Alpha said in a small voice.

As one, the Deltas pointed at him with green-gloved fingers. "Impure!" they boomed. The word echoed like thunder through the room.

"Did you m.a.s.t.u.r.b.a.t.e in the shower?" snapped the Delta.

"Yes."

"Impure!" roared all the Deltas. Delta Maura elbowed Martina in the side and gestured sharply at the central Alpha. The other Deltas did the same with their own charges. The Alphas, including Martina, all pointed and said, "Impure," though without much force or conviction.

"Did you l.u.s.t after women while you committed this impurity?"