She finally made up her mind when Yashi’s doctors told her of a new technique successfully trialled on Kelon which might restore him to almost perfect health—but which wasn’t available here. My mother made it clear that if she wanted to return, she would find her old life—house, Yashi’s practice, the boys’ school—ready to step into. Tara seized on the idea of a purely temporary stay with her parents. Whether she would really come back, we couldn’t know. We could only hope she would.
I was reduced to anxiously scanning news reports to find out what my father was up to. After he announced the state of emergency, even my mother said she only saw him last thing at night. I would have liked to ask him what was going on, but my worry and curiosity weren’t any more important than any other citizen’s, and he had a big job to do.
Dad called off the state of emergency after two weeks, and the city returned to apparent normality, though there were reports of sporadic fighting at night, and of increased harassment of the indigenous population. Our family remained under threat, and so, under guard. Tara made her arrangements to leave, and I did my best to help her. Once she and the kids were safely on their way, I planned to insist to anyone that would listen that I had a right to help catch the people who hurt Yashi. To do that, I had to break out of the safe cocoon my father had built around us all.
But as Tara and I sat in the guest suite one morning, a week before her planned departure date, going through a list of changes she and Yashi had wanted to make to the house and now could incorporate in the rebuild, a message came from Dad asking me to step along to his office at my earliest convenience. “You better go now,” Tara said. “I hope it’s not bad news.”
So did I.
~~~~~~~~
Dad’s secretary ushered me straight into his office, where Dad and a uniformed man I didn’t recognise rose to greet me. “Javen, thanks for coming so promptly.”
“No problem. Is everything okay?”
He gave me a wry look. “Define ‘okay’. The situation’s stable, for now. But that’s not why I asked you here. Javen, this is Commander Reoda of the National Security Force.”
I shook the man’s offered hand. He was easily Dad’s age, heavier, shorter, with a resolute set to his jaw. “Pleasure to meet you, sir.”
“And you, Sergeant Ythen. My research shows you had quite a solid career before you retired from the force.”
I raised an eyebrow at the ‘retired’ but out of respect for Dad I didn’t push it. I took a seat. “Thanks. This isn’t a social visit, I guess.”
“No, it’s not. Governor, shall I?”
“Please. Javen, Commander Reoda has wanted to speak to you for some time, but with the situation with Yashi and Tara, and her needing your help, I put him off.”
“But now she’s going away. I understand. Sir?”
Reoda smiled encouragingly. “Actually, sergeant, your sister-in-law’s imminent departure is an opportunity for us. How would you feel about going deep undercover to help unmask these terrorists?”
I leaned back in the chair and glanced at Dad. His face revealed nothing, and his emotions...well, he was tense and worried, but he’d been like that for ages. “I’ll do anything I can to serve, and especially to restore order for the whole community.”
“Ah yes, the governor made a point of stressing your...loyalties.”
Shardul’s face flashed into my mind. I shoved the image aside. “My loyalties are to my family, my country and to the law, sir. I just happen to believe the law is for everyone.”
“And those who break it, who may be friends, or friends of friends?”
“No friends of mine if they do, not if they burn and murder and threaten. If you had any question about my loyalty, you wouldn’t be here, sir.” Dad winced but I ignored him. “What do you want me to do, and what does it have to do with Tara?”
Reoda wasn’t fazed by my rudeness, and replied calmly, “We want Javen Ythen to disappear, and a man, apparently mixed-race, with a new identity and new appearance, to take his place. That man will infiltrate the militant groups as a sympathiser.”
“The idea,” Dad said, “is to announce that you’re going to Kelon with Tara and the family, but in reality you’ll stay behind to have facial enhancement surgery. It will have to be done in complete secrecy. No one, not even your closest friends, can know.”
I wiped my hands surreptitiously on my pants. “My appearance—would it be permanently altered?”
“Not unless you want it to be,” Commander Reoda said. “That’s your biggest concern?”
“It’s a concern, but not a big one. Yes, I’ll do it.”
“It’ll mean spying on indigenous individuals, you realise. Posing as one of their own, and possibly leading to convictions.”
I thought of Shardul again. I knew what he’d say. But this was more important than his feelings or mine. “I already said I don’t have friends who kill. My Nihani friends are as shocked by all this as you are. It’s hurting them a lot more than it’s hurting us.”
“You want to be absolutely sure, sergeant. Undercover work is a massive strain on people. Friendships, relationships, can be shattered.”
“I’m sure. But why me? Don’t you have mixed race officers you could use?”
Commander Reoda coughed. “Ah, we have a slight difficulty in being absolutely sure of their allegiance.”
“You realise I’m actually mixed race, just as my father is.”
“Yes but...the circumstances are different.”
My father tsked. “Javen, do you really want me to tell the commander you can’t be trusted?”
“No, I don’t. Just pointing out a few facts. I don’t speak Nihani. Just a few words and phrases, and I can read a little.”
Commander Reoda nodded. “That’s fine. We’re working up a biography for you that will dovetail with your real skills.”
“When do we start?”
“When your sister-in-law leaves. You have until then to change your mind. Of course you could pull out at any time....”
“I won’t. I’m an officer of the law, and I abide by my oath of service and loyalty. I want these bastards.”
He smiled. “So do I. Governor, looks like our instincts were right. Congratulations on a brave son.”
“Thank you. See you return him how you found him, please.” Dad didn’t smile at all as he said this.
“We’ll do our best to equip him with the skills and backup he needs, sir. But it’s not a risk-free enterprise.”
“Dad, don’t worry. I’m not planning to get myself killed.”
It was the worst thing I could say. My father’s face drained of colour and he put his hand over his chest. “Javen,” he murmured. “I couldn’t bear that.”
“Dad, it won’t happen.”
“Sir, he’s well-trained, and will have full support.”
Dad rubbed his forehead, then cleared his throat. “Yes, of course. And we all must make sacrifices. Javen, I’m sure you want time to digest all this, and please do think about it some more. Commander, thank you for your time. You’ll be in touch with my son, I’m sure.”
I would have stayed and tried to reassure him, but we were clearly dismissed.
Commander Reoda gave me a sympathetic look as we left his office. “I don’t want to offer him false promises of your safety, sergeant.”
“I know. I also know what’s involved. I don’t need false promises either.”
“Good. From this moment, your status on the police force register has changed from reserve to active.”
I grinned. “Thank you.” I was a cop again, even if I couldn’t tell anyone. Even if it might just get me killed.
“You’re welcome. Sergeant, I didn’t want to mention this in front of your father since he, ah, is somewhat distressed about the matter, but I have someone I need you to meet.”
“Now?”
“Yes, please. We’ll take my vehicle. I’ll give you ten minutes to collect your weapon and body armour, and meet me
at the security office.”
“Yes, sir.”
Back in the apartment, Tara smiled with relief as I returned. “Everything all right?”
“Dad needed my help with something, and now I have to go out for a bit. Hang on, I just need to put my outside gear on.”
The sight of me with my holster and armour never failed to distress her. “How long will you have to wear all that?”
“For a while, I suspect.” I sat next to her, and let Nita grab my finger with her chubby hand. “You know I want to catch who did this to Yashi, don’t you?”
“Of course. Javen, you’re not going back on the force, are you?”
“No,” I lied. “Of course not.”
“Are you sure everything’s okay?”
I smiled and kissed her cheek. “Absolutely sure. I want you to have a good year on Kelon, but not too good so you want to come back, okay?”
“So long as you and your parents are here, I always will. Be careful, Javen. Today, I mean.”
I patted her hand and tickled Nita under the chin. “I’ll be back this afternoon, probably. I’ll take the boys out for a run on the estate, wear them out. See you soon.”
The commander nodded with approval at my prompt arrival. We drove in his anonymous dull blue auto into the city. He gave me no clue as to our destination, and when, to my surprise, we pulled into the parking area of the central police station, he only glanced at me. I kept quiet, practicing creaky skills of being a good subordinate after years as my own boss.
I’d long since stopped flinching around uniformed officers, but it felt weird to realise I belonged here in the station again, even covertly. The smell of the place plugged right into my basal brain, and I even found myself doing the cop walk—the lopsided one we all ended up using because of the equipment we carried on our belts and shoulders.
“Miss it, sergeant?” Commander Reoda asked quietly as he led the way to the elevator.
“Like a limb, sir.”
“It gets into your blood, police work. You learn to see the world differently and you can never unsee it.”
So, another former cop. Not the usual career path for the security force, but not unheard of. Hadn’t been an option for me back then—but it was now, in theory. Dad would have a stroke. Once I thought I wouldn’t have cared. Now I knew I did.
We headed to the low level, and despite myself, a fear shiver ran up my back. The basement was where bad things were dissected, the worst crimes discussed, the hardest criminals targeted. It was also the location of the high security cells, rarely in use in my day. I had a feeling they’d been busy of late. Cheap disinfectant, urine and sweat assailed my nose, and the stark, sickly coloured lighting had been designed to drain the heart out of a man. I’d always tried to spend as little time as possible down here when I’d been a cop.
He took me to a small interview room. Another officer, a captain, rose and saluted him. “Sir.” He was young, unremarkable in appearance but with a keen intelligence in hooded eyes. He gave nothing away as he looked at me. I tried to look as if this was all routine.
“Captain Largosen, Sergeant Ythen has agreed to help. I think he’ll be able to assist us with the current matter. Take a seat, sergeant.”
I sat across from the captain, who opened the file in front of him, and slid a picture from it towards me. “You’re acquainted with this man, sergeant?”
Shardul. It was an official police photo, and a recent one. I frowned at it. “Yes, sir. Has he been arrested?”
“Two days ago on suspicion of communicating with terrorists.”
“Shardul? Really?”
The commander gave me a thin smile. “No. Oh, the police had enough to arrest and hold him, but it wouldn’t take a lawyer of his calibre to have the charges dropped. What we want is a lever. We need his help. Unfortunately, he has so far declined to give it or be persuaded into it.”
“Or forced into it. Sir, you picked a really bad individual to intimidate. What do you need him for? He’ll never help the Kelons.”
“We need him to do just that. It’s precisely because of his impeccable standing as a champion of his kind that we need him to help us plant agents such as yourself. No banis would doubt his recommendation.”
“But he’ll never give it. I know him. You’d have a better chance of persuading Uterden to stop rotating.”
Commander Reoda tapped Shardul’s picture. “I think you might have some influence. You and he were engaged at one point, were you not?”
I flushed. “No, sir. That was a stupid media story. We were friends...but not any longer.”
“Ah. And yet you greeted him at the hospital in a friendly manner.”
How long had they been watching me? “I’m willing to talk to him, sir. But I don’t think it’ll work.”
“I’m willing to risk it. Captain, have the prisoner brought into the observation room. Sergeant, you know where that is, don’t you?”
I didn’t like this, and I didn’t like the calculated smugness Commander Reoda exuded. Captain Largosen’s emotion remained spookily opaque—whatever his thoughts about this, he felt uninvolved emotionally, like this was just a game to them, and Shardul a pawn.
Yashi’s life was more than a game, though, and if Shardul help find the people who’d tried to kill my family, then I’d do my best to persuade him. I went two doors down to the interrogation room.
Five minutes later, Shardul, shackled and dishevelled and mad as hell, was hauled in and dumped into a chair. The guards left us glaring at each other across the table.
He tossed his braids back with a disdainful flick. “Well, there’s a surprise. When you surrender your principles, you really do a good job, don’t you, Javen?”
“Oh, shut up. I hear you’re communicating with terrorists. Not many principles there either.”
“I was monitoring conversations of anti-indigenous agitators, something you advised me to do and which I’ve been doing for years. Oh, don’t tell me the terrorists are Kelons? Suddenly it makes sense.”
“Knock it off, Shardul. We need your help to catch these people. Why won’t you give it?”
He raised his cuffed hands. “I have no idea. After all, I was asked so very nicely.”
I turned to the observation window. “Please unlock the restraints, sir.”
A long delay. I imagined a pretty heated discussion was going on, but finally the locks emitted a beep and the cuffs fell away. Shardul didn’t move.
“Oh thank you, master. In gratitude, I will fall down on my knees and do whatever master wants.”
I gave him the finger. “These bastards tried to kill my family and crippled my brother, possibly for life. Help us.”
“ ‘Us’ being the race which beat my cousin to a pulp, and killed a pregnant woman by running over her in an auto four nights ago, not to mention the race which produced Kaushik Denge? You forget, don’t you. For every atrocity you can come up with against your people, I can list ten—and they go back a long way. You won’t guilt me into this, you won’t bully me, and you will never force me.”
“But why won’t you help? These people are hurting yours as well as mine.”
Did I imagine the very slightest softening of his snarl? His anger overlay the rest of his emotions, hiding them. “I know. But my own arrest shows the lax manner in which the law is being applied, how quickly our legal guaranteed rights are destroyed, and without protection being guaranteed, anything I do for you will oppress the innocent more than the guilty. I’ve spent my entire life protecting the helpless, and you want me to overturn that?”
“They could arrest your aunt, or Rupa.”
The look he gave me told me as much as my empathy did how much he despised me for saying that. “Do your worst, chuma. They would die, as will I, before we act to harm any innocent Nihan.”
“I believe you. Tell me this—are you helping the terrorists?”
He scanned my face, my eyes. I hoped he could tell I was serious, because I was. “No.
Not in any way, and I never would.”
“I believe you.”
“Will you help me get out of here?”
“Yes.” I turned to the window again. “I’m done here.”
Commander Reoda had lost the smugness when he joined me in the corridor. Now he was coldly furious, walking with clipped, angry steps towards the elevator as if the very ground offended him. “Is that your idea of assistance, sergeant?”
“I warned you, sir. Just let him go. Holding him is only inflaming racial tensions and he will never, ever help you under duress. No more than I will.”
He turned and glared. “You’re here voluntarily.”
“Yes, sir. So long as that remains the case, I don’t have a complaint. Shardul’s not a cop or a soldier. He’s a man more devoted to principle than any I’ve ever met in my entire life. If you want his help, you need another lever.”
“Perhaps your father was mistaken about your loyalties.”
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that, sir, because punching a superior officer isn’t considered nice.”
“And I’ll pretend I didn’t just hear you threaten me because I don’t have time to sit through a bloody disciplinary hearing. Fine. We can’t use him. Which probably means we can’t use you. Go back to the interview room and wait. I’ll have you taken back to the residence. Wait for orders.”
“Yes, sir. Will you release him?”
“Yes, yes, of course. As you said, we’re wasting time, and I don’t have it to waste. Good day, sergeant.” He stomped off, still enraged at my stupidity.
Captain Largosen slipped out from the office where we’d met and caught up with me. “Excellent start, Sergeant Ythen. Congratulations.” He wasn’t angry despite the sarcasm. His emotional state hadn’t changed at all. Cold fish, or stone hard cynic? I couldn’t tell.
“Thank you, sir. If you’re releasing Shardul, I’d like to speak to him before he leaves the station.”
“Wait here. I’ll have someone let you know when he’s been processed. A driver from the residence has been summoned.” Too much trouble to take me back in person, I supposed.
Shame about the poor first impression, but I honestly didn’t know how I could have done any different. If it had been someone who knew me less well, I could have bluffed and bullied, and with someone I knew less well, I wouldn’t have had so much conscience about what I was doing. But not zero conscience. I’d never cross the line between being one of us and being one of them. Not even for Yashi would I become what I hated.
Different Senses Page 48
