by Patty Jansen
To what?
A sick feeling settled in my stomach.
To break off my engagement with Eva. There was no other option.
In the past few years, I had mistaken duty for love. I had bowed to the demands of the Nations of Earth highbrow diplomatic set. Find a pretty wife from a suitable family, give dinner parties in Victorian-style dining rooms. Heavens knew what I had tried to achieve. Maybe I had hoped to buy their favour, my acceptance in regular diplomatic circles, through Eva. With her in Rotterdam, expecting me to come back, the relationship would never work. In the end, there was only one thing that mattered: I might like Eva, and I liked her a lot, but I didn’t love her. Looking at Thayu, seeing her ear silvered by soft blue light, and feeling myself filled with the warm excitement that had not coursed through my veins for years, I knew I never had.
I was never going to be a stodgy diplomat and would never fit into their society.
And I was hopelessly in love with this crazy woman in my bed.
To hell with what they’d say in the gossip press.
I tightened my fingers about Thayu’s hand, but she remained unresponsive; she had fallen asleep.
* * *
I awoke with a shock when the door to the bedroom rolled open with a clatter. “Delegate, there is—oh!”
Eirani stood in the doorway, staring at the bed, her hand pressed to her mouth.
Groaning, I raised my head. Grey morning light streamed in through the window. My entire left side was wet, where my leg touched Thayu. She still lay on her stomach, her hair a lovely mess, her face scrunched into the pillow.
Eyes wide, Eirani backed into the hall. “There is someone here for you, Delegate. He won’t—ah!”
Someone else pushed past her, dressed entirely in black and wearing body armour over his clothes.
Eirani protested. “I said the Delegate—”
“The Delegate understands.”
Shit. Ezhya Palayi. In my bedroom.
I lunged for the bench next to the bed. Empty. All my clothes were still in the bathroom. Great. One of the most powerful men in gamra came into my room, and I was half-dressed, in bed with a woman I didn’t even have the guts to sleep with?
Thayu mumbled something and stirred. I dragged up a sheet to cover her naked back.
Ezhya Palayi sat on the edge of the bed, showing no emotion. There was no damn privacy when Coldi were involved.
“About your message. Does this mean we’re going to get the full information from your president?”
“I guess so.” We? Who said anything about we? I cleared my throat, hoping I’d heard wrong. I couldn’t imagine Nations of Earth being amenable to a visit by a hostile dignitary, and neither did I wish to travel as part of a hostile leader’s entourage. “You said you were in a position to provide protection. I have decided I want the information and if I go there I guess I’ll need the protection.” For crying out loud, mind the pronouns. I pushed myself up on the other side of the bed, trying to kick-start my brain into action.
“I have provided protection.” Ezhya Palayi tapped his arm bracket where he carried a frightfully heavy-duty charge gun. Right—that was the wrong kind of protection. I could just see customs in the train at the Greek-Macedonian border, Do you have anything to declare, sir? That was even if we got that far. Amarru would surely stop anyone overtly armed. On Earth, one did not talk with guns.
A panicked breath, another thought. “They are listening . . .” I gestured at the ceiling, and all the things that had happened yesterday came back to me. Amoro Renkati, whose apartment I used wanted to shut me up. They had me in their claws; they’d make sure I didn’t leave, that I never got the data.
“My people have taken care of that. In case, you’re wondering, there are plenty of snipers watching this place, too.”
Just what I feared. Yet he seemed relaxed, bemused even.
“The matter seems simple to me. I want the weather data that is ours. We’ve asked for the data to be returned, and the ultimatum expired with no action on the president’s part. We understand that he might have trouble recognising a writ. But I have enough of understanding being one-sided. I want you to make it clear to him that if he continues to act like this there will be consequences—”
“No. I’m not going to deliver blackmail.”
Ezhya Palayi gave me a what-do-you-think-you-are look.
My heart skipped a beat. I wasn’t talking to some Earth politician who was used to being shouted at all his working life; this man was an absolute dictator who controlled the lives of his people with the snap of his fingers.
“I’m sorry if I am overstepping my boundaries but I believe that is not the best approach.” Oh, I chose my words carefully. I didn’t say “wrong approach” because that would lay the blame with him.
“What then, do you think is the right approach?” I didn’t miss the hint of sarcasm, or his playfully familiar pronoun-form. I was a goldfish in a bowl, and he was a boy in the pet shop, watching me from all around, holding me above eye level only because I amused him.
I raised my head, meeting the gold-flecked eyes unwaveringly. “I firmly believe that whatever we do, we must keep sight of two things: in the first place, in the long term, there is nothing to be gained by letting the relationship between Nations of Earth and gamra deteriorate any further. In the second place, and more importantly perhaps, there is a threat to gamra.”
A small silence. The bristled eyebrows went up. Had I finally succeeded in surprising him? “On what do you base that? Gamra is strong as ever.”
“Don’t get comfortable. There is an organisation called Amoro Renkati, the ones who have posted the spies and snipers you saw when you came in. They are a conglomerate of Kedrasi, Indrahui, Damarcians, anyone except Coldi, who want to move away from gamra.”
He snorted, not entirely comfortable, I thought. “They can do so if they wish. Gamra controls the Exchange. They’d be isolated.”
“They want to set up a rival network. They have the technology. I’ve seen it. They’re keen to have my cooperation, my president’s cooperation.”
The silence lingered. All right—this was news to him. That meant he wouldn’t know what happened last night.
“But before I decide what I’m going to recommend to my president, I need all the facts. I need the same information you’re seeking. I am prepared to negotiate with my president for this information, as long as I can have access to it as well. I believe it is part of the reason why the previous president was murdered.”
“Share information that is legally ours?”
“It may be legally Asto’s, but it affects all of gamra. If it’s warranted, I intend to present it before the assembly.” I continued to meet his eyes as a silence passed during which I wondered if he was communicating with people outside the room. I was not going to back down. He couldn’t get the data without upsetting Earth’s goodwill. Not on his own. He needed me.
“Say I agreed to share this information—what would you need to retrieve it?”
“As far as I know, the Nations of Earth block of the Exchange is still in place. I have permission to travel, but only to get in.”
I might well need some kind of military action to get out. Of course Danziger wasn’t going to give me everything he found in Sirkonen’s office. For Danziger, I was virtually an enemy. That would only be confirmed when I turned up with gamra protection. “We must be careful. I think it’s unlikely the president will want to share this information voluntarily. Maybe I . . .” My thoughts whirled with the implication of what I was about to suggest. What was more important: my relationship with Danziger, or getting a clear picture of what was going on? Could I possibly convince Danziger of the importance? I doubted it. Not within the short ti
me frame we had. Danziger was barely comfortable with the second wave of colonisation. He wasn’t ready for the third wave. Not yet.
So we were back to spyware.
Thayu hadn’t experienced much trouble in using and penetrating Earth-based technology. Amarru . . . maybe she could do something. “Maybe I should go in to talk to Danziger about whatever he wants to talk about, while some others . . . I could bring them as guards . . .”
Ezhya Palayi listened; his whole face showed that he liked the sound of this. “And while you talk, they will copy as much as they can in the office?”
Damn.
The words high treason flashed through my mind. But then again Asto probably already had most of the information, anything that had been electronically circulated to more than two or three people at least.
I breathed out heavily. “I guess that is the way it can be done without causing large upheavals.” Upheavals of the military kind, that was.
Oh shit, if this went wrong, it would blow up badly.
“That’s agreed then. Can you negotiate with your president for this visit?”
Not a space for a single breath when Coldi were involved.
“I will do that as soon as I get dressed.” I glanced around, but couldn’t see any of my other clothes either. “We need to decide who will accompany me.”
“May I suggest six?”
“Six guards? For one person?”
“It is a delicate situation. You will need guards even to get out of this apartment. To Amarru, I will suggest your status at gamra is now increased so you require six guards.”
That said all sorts of things to me as well. My status wasn’t increased, so he meant to go behind gamra’s back as well, and Amarru was meant to be kept on the outside of what we were doing. Did that breach my loyalty network? I didn’t have the instinct to answer that question. This was going way too fast.
“You have six personnel here at the moment. The two Indrahui outside. I presume they’re yours?”
I nodded. Evi and Telaris. Thank goodness they were back.
“Then the lady . . .” He glanced at Thayu. “. . . my two personal guards, and myself.”
“You?” I stared, meeting gold-spotted black eyes. “As my guard?” I was tempted to ask if he was joking, but Coldi rarely joked.
I tried to parse this according to the Coldi rimoyu principle. Based on equal status, there would be me and him, with two companions each. No, that left one person unaccounted for. A leader, and two companions, and each of those with two companions made the total of seven. Who would the leader be? Not me certainly.
“It is my entity your president is accusing of impropriety. I want to speak to the man who makes those allegations and put it right.” Those last few words also translated as put it out of its misery. Oh wonderful. Was Danziger meant to live through this experience?
“It will be dangerous.” Oh heck, dangerous didn’t even half-cover it.
“We can handle the danger. You do the talking.” Ezhya Palayi took my hand in a warm-skinned grip. “My success will depend on yours. Iyamichu ata.” And those were damned personal pronouns.
What else could I say? “Iyamichu ata.”
“I’ll leave you to prepare. We’ll leave as soon as possible.” Ezhya Palayi rose from the edge of the bed and left the room.
Eirani scurried in, carrying a variety of items over her arm. My blue shirt, a pair of trousers that weren’t mine, also blue, the rigid shapes of body armour. I wondered about the upgrade in uniform, but she told me she had been given these items. She gave Thayu, still asleep on her belly, a strange glance, but said nothing and bustled about arranging Thayu’s clothes, too.
Only when she left did Thayu roll onto her back and mutter, “Hmmm?”
“Ezhya Palayi is here. We’re going to get Sirkonen’s data.”
She blinked at me, confusion on her face. Her hair was messed-up and the imprint of the folds in the sheet creased her face. So lovely. I fought an insane urge to kiss her.
“Why are you wearing all blues?”
“Eirani gave me these. Are you feeling well?”
“Yes.” Her expression said, should I not be?
My feeder stirred. Last night? What happened last night?
I met her wide eyes. Did she honestly not remember?
But a blush rose in her cheeks, as I guessed my feeder did its work.
I rose, faster than I intended. Get out, before it gets embarrassing. “Just get changed as soon as you can. We have work to do.”
I went into the sitting room, gulped a quick breakfast and went into the hub, where Ezhya’s two guards had a projection up that identified all the places where people hid. Thayu was already there, excited about this new technology. I told her to have breakfast, but she wouldn’t go until the guards showed her how the program identified a person likely to be an enemy spy from listening in on real-time conversations and parsing words against set parameters.
There were five potential enemies in the building, including one in the apartment. It wasn’t Eirani, because she walked across the hall at just that moment, carrying my jacket. I went to take it from her. “Thank you, Eirani.”
She blushed, and didn’t meet my eyes. “I’m sorry about what happened last night.”
“Thayu is fine.”
“Yes, I’m glad.” She hesitated and added, “I don’t work for them anymore, Delegate.”
“You admit that you took the datastick from my pocket and gave it to them?”
“Yes.” Her colour deepened. “I’m sorry, Delegate. I shouldn’t have done it. I thought Renkati would make a difference, challenging . . .” Her gaze flicked to the dark door of the hub room. “But they tried to kill you last night. They had passes to come onto the island, and wanted to come in here, when you were asleep, but I didn’t let them in, and I’ve reset the door locks now. I helped him . . .” another glance at the communication hub, “. . . turn off the listening equipment.”
I stared at her. “Eirani, I had no idea . . . I would never have asked you to risk yourself on my behalf.”
“You are a good person, Delegate. I hope you can get what you want and come back.”
“If I do, you’ll be welcome to work in my household.”
“Thank you, Delegate.” She bowed and scurried down the corridor.
I went back into the hub room, where the four guards were discussing the merits of various exits of the apartment. We were to leave the apartment under the cover of darkness. Gamra would be meeting at the same time, so the complex would be extra quiet.
“What about Renkati’s equipment?” I asked.
Ezhya Palayi gave me a sharp look. “Thanks to your observations, we know where they are. If they move, they’re gone. We’ll send prior warning. If they ignore it, we’ll fire.”
That didn’t comfort me much, but seemed to satisfy the others.
The planning continued. Ezhya’s staff would organise a train to take us to the airport.
The advantage of travelling with someone high in the pecking order was having your own transport. I was the only one in the party without pilot training.
I wondered if Ezhya Palayi’s distinctive craft would be recognised on approach by anyone on Earth. No doubt any Coldi who watched would know who was on board. The news would spread around the world in five minutes. It would send a powerful signal to the Coldi stuck on Earth. Your leader is willing and brave enough to come into your prison. That was the sort of thing Coldi did. I couldn’t see Danziger travelling into a war zone to fight.
I had been warned never to underestimate this man.
And so the plan took shape. I sent messages to Danziger, who remarked that I must finally ha
ve come to my senses and reopened my link to the news services, even though he denied that I had ever been cut off.
I looked at news from a world I barely recognised. Riots had broken out in almost every city, not just against Coldi, but against people who had money and held the technology to liaise with gamra. In spite of rhetoric by politicians over the last two decades, the divide between the haves and have nots, Whites and Blues, ichi and ata-ichi had grown into a ravine. Wherever I went, I would have a healthy life, healthy food, and the latest medical treatments. The Blues struggled to survive. They hated Coldi, who often employed them, but whom they viewed as taking opportunities that should be theirs by right. And Danziger was a champion for the Blue class. I admired the man for that. I hated him for it, too, because it made the current situation so much worse.
Within a few minutes of the link being re-established several messages came in.
From Eva, Cory, I’m so worried about you.
Again, Cory, are you getting this?
And again, Please respond.
I closed those messages, painfully aware that Thayu was in the room. In Rotterdam, I would have an extremely unpleasant job of telling Eva the truth. I hoped she hadn’t made too many commitments yet. Oh damn, I was such an arsehole about this whole engagement thing, but there was no way I could go through with it.
Then another message came in, from Nixie Chan: Have finally made progress in my talks with Nations of Earth. They cannot hold Nicha Palayi any longer without attracting serious legal trouble. He will be released within a day.
Relief flooded me. Nicha free. Nicha to come back to me and work with me, instead of . . . I met Thayu’s eyes.
“Good news?” she asked. She hadn’t been reading my messages, but had been working on the restoration of Sirkonen’s data, because we needed a reference point to see if we had recovered everything Sirkonen had wanted me to read.
“Nicha will be released.”
“That is good news.” The way she said it . . .
I cursed myself. Had I learned nothing from the experience with Inaru? Thayu had told me she had a contract to go to. There was a man waiting for her somewhere. She just saw me as a plaything. She didn’t care about Nicha coming back, because she didn’t care about me.
