Regenesis

by C. J. Cherryh

  Get on with it, for God’s sake!

  “…but we are constrained by considerations of the welfare of the nation to make an appointment representing the will of the electorate as expressed in the recent election. I am therefore retaining the seat, but will appoint as Proxy Councillor Vladislaw—”

  “Good loving God!”

  “—Khalid, who will serve starting immediately. This decision has been reached after, of course, considerable—”

  “Cut it off.” she said to Catlin. The headache was back. And Catlin just stood there, seeming sure there would be some order to come. “I wish I could think of something,” she said to Catlin. “Thank you. Thank you for turning that on. I wanted to hear it. The man’s a fool.”

  “He will likely die very soon,” Catlin said, the same assessment she’d reached, even contemplating it. “Khalid will succeed him. Am I right about the law?”

  “Khalid got some hold on him.” she said. “Yes. You’re right about it. And he’ll last just long enough for the media attention to cool down about Spurlin, or until he objects to something Khalid does. Monitor Rafael. See if he’s getting any news from ReseuneSec in Novgorod or elsewhere.”

  “Yes, sera,” Catlin said, set the wand on the table, and was off like a shot. Florian would be likewise engaged, might already be hauling in information via ReseuneSec—was probably doing that from the apartment security station: Wes and Marco were, she hoped, getting their rest: it was going to be a long twenty-four, thirty-six hours.

  They’d just lost Defense as an ally and gained a bitter enemy. Yanni was still in Novgorod, so was Amy: they’d at least be aware what had just happened.

  Meanwhile, having found out what she knew about their internal problem, she was, herself, stalled out and making no progress on the ReseuneSec situation, and didn’t know if they had a greater threat inside Reseune or out. They’d taken in thirty-odd alphas in the batch they’d recovered from the military. Most of them were retired, now, only ten, counting Kyle, still serving, and all others of those were in esoteric fields, unsocialized—so concentrated on their specialities it was likely immaterial to them what planet they were on or whether the rest of the human species existed.

  Worth investigating, when she had time.

  Spurlin death Lao dying. Lao’s Proxy still missing. And Yanni had had a meeting with Corain, which gave her a better opinion of Corain than she’d ever had. But at the moment. Council was not in session, couldn’t go into session until three Councillors showed up in the Council chamber and formally called for a session to occur: it wouldn’t be legitimate to do business until five showed up, and the numbers available to show up were getting scant.

  That news feed would have gone all over Reseune, down to the town and the port. It would have gone just about everywhere.

  And should she get on the air immediately after and tell everybody it was all right?

  That would be a lie. It wasn’t all right. Anybody above the age of eight had to have figured that out; but all right, it was a psych question: people wanted to hear from the people they trusted to make decisions, and right now, that had to be her.

  She decided, however, not to go to the media at large. A full-blown media event, down at the airport, the usual venue for such press conferences, wouldn’t help Yanni in his situation; and her appearance, and a declaration of challenge, might push Khalid just one step farther than she liked at the moment.

  She had, however, to figure what she said and how she appeared might leak out.

  So she brushed her hair, put it up in the skewered twist she lately favored, even if it hurt like hell. She put on a little rouge, put on a blue, high-collared jacket over the black jersey tee she was wearing, zipped it up and took a seat at the desk that had the vid camera.

  She punched in. “Base One. Activate Channel One, override Channels Two through Two Hundred.”

  “Done,” Base One said. Her own image appeared on the screen in front of her, but she didn’t look at that. She looked into the camera, somber, but perfectly relaxed, the way she’d practiced that expression.

  “This is an informative bulletin. This is Ari Emory, acting Director of Reseune. You may have noted the outcome of the Defense Proxy appointment. I am in communication with Director Schwartz in Novgorod, and I’ll be working with him during this period, opening communication with the new Proxy Councillor for Defense. We aren’t sure how long this process will take. Let me state we are both appreciative of the response of Reseune CITs and azi to the recent domestic upheaval—which I am glad to say is fairly well along in process of resolution. We request that everyone keep on doing as you have been doing, conducting business as usual, but we also suggest that places of public assembly review their emergency procedures and be sure that storm tunnel accesses are clearly lighted and in good working order.

  “Bear in mind that we are now in August, approaching the fall storms, so this is the semi-annual announcement in that regard. What is not routine is the incident upriver, and what happened recently in a security breach. Please bear in mind that should an area evacuation emergency occur during an otherwise routine weather alert, all residents and workers should not risk outside exposure;. Use the tunnels, not the outside exits, to reach a secure area, and tend away from any area of disturbance, as you will be advised to do. Sequence flashers will indicate appropriate direction. Please review these procedures with your employees and with members of your family, and arrange several meeting places as contingencies in case one is unavailable. This in no way signals a cause of imminent danger. We have dealt with and arrested the known problem. We have no immediate reason to anticipate another such alert, but we will be in a state of heightened awareness until that matter has been investigated to a conclusion. Until Director Schwartz returns to assess the situation, I am erring on the side of caution and placing Reseune on a moderate level of alert. Thank you.”

  BOOK THREE Section 5 Chapter xiv

  AUG 7, 2424

  1300H

  “Ser,” Ari said politely, visiting Adam Hicks, who’d spent the last number of days in a very restricted part of Alpha Wing—

  Behind the Alpha Wing security office, in fact.

  It wasn’t a bad little suite Hicks occupied: there was a dining table, there was a comfortable chair, there was a wide selection of books available via reader. There was a bed, and unlimited access to crossword puzzles—Tommy’s idea. Hicks had been a cooperative inmate. He kept the place neat, the bed made. He could send out for coffee and food as desired, and the restaurant passed things to his guards. There was a used disposable cup waiting on a small table by the door—that was the only disorder in the place.

  “Sera,” Hicks said with a little nod. And as she took a seat at his dining table. Florian and Catlin arranged themselves, both standing, nearby. Hicks quietly took a seat at that table within the corner, opposite her, insulated from Florian and Catlin—she marked that.

  She had her handheld in her coat pocket. She took it out, set it on the table facing Hicks, and played the short bit from Yanni: “If he’s not innocent he’s not a friend of mine. You can tell him that. Tell him I said cooperate with you or I’ll break his neck.”

  Hicks’s brows lifted. Drew down again as his stare locked with hers.

  “That’s Yanni’s opinion,” she said mildly, repossessing the unit. She dropped it into her jacket pocket. “For the record, I’m increasingly sorry for the roughness in the takeover. Yanni tells me you’re to be trusted. So I’m very sorry for the contusion, and I’m sorry I had to take the measures I did, but I had reason for concern. I don’t know if you know. I’m assuming you don’t. Kyle was our target.”

  “Kyle?”

  “I’m sorry to say, his axe code never did work: he’s been reporting to Defense for years. For about six decades, in fact, going way back into Giraud’s administration.”

  Hicks looked numbly shocked. Shook his head. “I can’t accept that. That’s just not so. You’re wrong.”

 
“Giraud got you your provisional precisely so you could have a legal partnership with him. I take’ it this represents a strong friendship.”

  “Is he all right?”

  “He’s fine, or as fine as he can be, considering the contradictions he’s carrying inside, which I suspect involves a real attachment to you. He’s on a suicide watch. We’re worried about that.”

  “God. This is complete nonsense.”

  “I’m sorry it’s not.”

  “It’s a damn trick!”

  “Not that, either. He got past Giraud, he got past the first Ari, for that matter. She relied on Giraud and she shouldn’t have, in his case. She was busy at the time. It’s very likely that Kyle was the agent in turning Abban. It’s at least certain he was reporting to Defense every time you were in the building. I am very, extremely sorry for the situation.”

  “I don’t believe this!”

  “I do believe,” she said quietly, “that you honestly don’t believe it.”

  “I don’t.”

  “This isn’t about fault. The fact is, very likely Defense, or someone in Defense, ordered my predecessor murdered, and that Kyle was how it happened.”

  “No.”

  “Jordan didn’t do it. Abban may have, but would Giraud order it? I don’t think so. I don’t think you thought so, at the time.”

  “Warrick—”

  “That was Giraud’s bias. He was dead sure it was Jordan who’d done it, by some means or another. And he was wrong. It was Abban. We thought Denys might have accessed Abban to do it, but here’s the stinger: Denys’ certificate was a fake. He couldn’t do it. That leaves Giraud, who I don’t think had the motive. And it leaves Kyle. I don’t say Kyle had a personal choice in the matter, understand. And we could solve his situation in one sense by packaging him up and sending him off to Defense to finish his career there. But he knows a lot that we’d rather Defense didn’t get the rest of. And I’m not sure they’d be kind to him, no matter how well he’s served them—because I’m not sure all of Defense is behind what he did, and I don’t think some of Defense would like him to answer questions.”

  “You’re not making sense.”

  “There’s a lot of vulnerability he could have created. I’m sure Defense now has the building plans for much of Reseune, and we’re going to have to do some major revisions. Worse, I’m sure they’ve got some keys; and codes, anything Kyle could reach; so Base Two is going to have to change some codes. That makes a very messy situation, since Yanni is still off in Novgorod, and I can’t get him new codes that easily: so if I don’t change how you access Base Two, I expose him to problems, and if I do, it’s another kind of risk, of his not being able to handle all the programs he might need to. I appreciate that it’s not exactly your problem at the moment, but it is a problem, and I know you’re a friend of Yanni’s. At least he thinks you are. He’s in serious danger, where he is. Spurlin’s dead; you do know that. We think Jacques will be soon. Lao’s in hospital. We’re having a real crisis in the Council.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “Khalid’s got Defense again. Jacques just named him Proxy.”

  Hicks’ face didn’t react much; but he just seemed to wilt a bit, physically.

  Ari said, “You’ve dealt with Khalid.”

  “I have.”

  “Did you like him?”

  A slight shake of the head. Hicks looked a little pale, lips tightly compressed. “Didn’t.”

  “What kind of feeling did he give you?”

  “That’s subjective. It doesn’t matter.”

  “I think you may record impressions a lot better than you think you do. How did Kyle react to him?”

  “Kyle was just business, that’s all. I didn’t like Khalid. It wasn’t my job to judge him, just negotiate with the man.”

  “Did Khalid ever propose anything you thought unethical?”

  Hicks shook his head.

  “Possibly Kyle told him in advance what you’d agree to. And what you wouldn’t.”

  Eyes dilated. Contracted. Dilated again.

  “That’s a damned fish.”

  “It must have been particularly hard to negotiate with him. I hope you’ll think about that issue. Try to recall specific incidences where he seemed to know exactly how far you’d go. It may help us dealing with this man. It seems were going to have to, unfortunately.”

  “I’ll think about it.” Hicks didn’t look cooperative, quite the opposite; but he was retreating a little, accepting some arguments, or acting as if he did. He was actually very smart on a beta level. He wouldn’t buy any whole package. He knew tricks, and he kept things in reserve, and he knew she was Working him to get hooks on an azi he regarded as a brother.

  “You know I’m going to have to do something with Kyle,” she said. “I will—because, unfortunately, I’m about the best Alpha Super alive right now, and I’m only eighteen.”

  He just stared at her.

  “So,” she said. “I’m not as good as I’d like to be. And I don’t feel as confident as I’d like. I’ve got a lot of my predecessor’s techniques—I’ve studied. I’ll try. I want to do it the best, the safest way possible.”

  “How many people did you just kill, shooting up my office?”

  “Nobody’s dead. None of yours needed more than on-site medical. One of mine’s still in hospital. Kyle’s not hurt at all, beyond a few bruises, He just got a dose of a non-lethal and went out.”

  Hicks absorbed that, seeming guardedly relieved.

  “Yanni says he wants you back in charge of ReseuneSec,” she said, “and I’m not going to argue with that, personally, if we can get Kyle straightened out.” That brought a sharper attention. “And I’ll tell you why I agree with Yanni. Reseune is running shorter and shorter of people with an actual memory of what happened back in our beginnings. Kind of odd to think of, but I have that kind of memory—just sort-of. Just enough to know how much really valuable detail is still going to go away with administrators like you, like Yanni. Kyle’s age makes him very valuable, if we can just get him back—get him to the state you believed he was.”

  No response to that. No challenge, either.

  She said, “Absolutely if that axe code never did take, he’s been conflicted, he’s probably been very painfully conflicted over certain things he’s done, which he probably tries not to think about too often. He’s worked it out, saying to himself he never hurt Giraud, never hurts you, not in his self-adjusted view of the universe. Everything’s for the ultimate good. He’s been doing what Defense asks, being a good soldier while he’s in Defense; and then he can go home to Reseune and follow a program that will ultimately make the world run better. He’s comfortable again, since Denys died, because Yanni’s been making the Novgorod trips, and he’ll never have to go to Defense again.”

  “Fantasy. The code took. He’s not guilty. He is what he’s always been. You want the man who murdered your predecessor, look at the man you brought back from Planys.”

  “If you’re right and it is true, we’ll find it out in the process, and we won’t stress Kyle at all; if I’m right, there will be stress. There’ll be a block; and we’ll have to go after it before we can apply the axe code and get him back.”

  “He’s not young, for any of this.”

  “And you’re worried I’ll botch it. But you’re really, extremely worried it could possibly be true.”

  “I’m worried an eighteen-year-old kid is going to start messing with his psychsets and upsetting him, and he’s not young.”

  “Would you like to be there?”

  “I wouldn’t like to be there. But I want to be there, yes.”

  “He’s very strong, considering—he put up a hell of a physical fight. But you’re quite right: if there is a block, this is going to hit his endocrine system like a hammer, and at his age, it could have an impact on rejuv. So what my studies tell me is that he should have complete medical support. Everything to safeguard him. But mostly, you should be there. H
e’s your companion. You are his Supervisor, at least one of his Supervisors, though I’m betting there’s another in Defense. I hope he’ll respond to you. And I do want him to come through this all right, not just because I want the truth from him.”

  “You’re saying he’s guilty of everything in the book. That he killed your predecessor. What reason do you have to want him to be all right?”

  “You don’t think it’d be his fault, do you? I don’t either.”

  “If it were true in the first place,” he said, “no, it’s not his fault.”

  “I’m calling in Chi Prang. And Justin Warrick.”

  “Oh, that’s a help.”

  “You know you’re not his favorite human being, no more than Giraud was. But I know Justin as well as I know anybody outside my personal staff; and he’s very good. He’s professional. He’d never hold a grudge against an azi. And you should also know I’m consulting Jordan. Jordan’s mad at me, no question. He’s probably mad at you and at Kyle. But I don’t think that would ever extend to his work on a case.”

  “Then you’re a fool.”

  “I don’t think so,” she said. “Jordan’s actually written an important paper on this kind of operation—what they learned about blocks, both creating and undoing. I read it. He’s probably the best authority on it of anyone still alive.”

  “I’m saying he has a grudge, and he’s the man who’d hold it. I’m saying I knew your predecessor, and she was a bitch. She’d lie with a straight face, when it suited.”

  “Most people will,” she said quietly, “in a good cause. But she was exactly what you say, sometimes. And I won’t say I haven’t had a little trouble unwiring my own feelings about Abban. It got personal, about him. It never should have, because my feelings misled me. I’ve asked myself how I feel about Kyle, because I don’t think I could work if I were ambivalent on this. So I tell myself he’s been in a hell of a position for a long, long time, and I wish for a lot of reasons that Giraud hadn’t made a mistake in handling him. I wish Giraud had told Ari he had a potential problem, instead of testing his own ability to handle it. But Giraud didn’t want Ari to start paying attention to his psych operations, and particularly to Denys, whose certificate to run Seely was an outright lie—and Giraud had run the certification… I found that little detail. You had no reason to think Kyle had a problem, since you got him from Giraud. Kyle couldn’t tell you; and you weren’t going to spot it—being a provisional Super—but frankly, I know you’re better than Denys. Denys wasn’t really doing any direct Supering until Giraud died; and then he was handling both Abban and Seely and you could just watch the stress pile up on both of them. I saw it. I didn’t know at the time what I was seeing—particularly in Abban. I learned a lot from that. Is Kyle happy?”