A Murder of Clones: A Retrieval Artist Universe Novel

by Rusch, Kristine Kathryn

  “With your permission, Mir Munshi would like to begin the important conversation now,” Oaupheau said.

  “That would be good,” Gomez said.

  Simiaar remained seated quietly beside her, watching everything and listening as Mir Munshi spoke.

  “Mir Munshi says since you last met, he has learned much about your people. Before you met, he thought that your people looked very similar. It was because of the enclave, as you recall.”

  “I remember,” Gomez said. “We had figured as much.”

  Oaupheau spoke slowly as it translated. The only thing she wished was that she could somehow monitor what it said so that she knew if it were a good translator or not.

  “Not long ago, Mir Munshi saw the images of the destroyers of your moon.”

  Gomez was about to correct Oaupheau, to say that the Moon hadn’t been destroyed, but Oaupheau didn’t pause long enough for her to add that.

  “Mir Munshi recognized the faces, but confirmed with our technology the look of those evil ones is the look that we saw daily on Eaufasse fifteen years ago and more.”

  “Yes,” Gomez said.

  “Mir Munshi believes this is why you are here.”

  “Yes, it is.” Gomez spoke to Mir Munshi, not to Oaupheau. “We have reviewed the information from our first encounter and believe that somehow what happened on Epriccom is related to what happened on Earth’s Moon fifteen years later.”

  “Mir Munshi believes that such an attack strikes at the heart of the Earth Alliance, which we are now part of. He wishes to know if his belief is correct.”

  Mir Munshi sat with his hands at his side. He swayed slightly on that mushroom-like chair, but his gaze never left Gomez’s.

  “It is correct.” Gomez knew that, even with a translator, she had to choose her words wisely.

  “Mir Munshi says there is much material that we need to share with you. It is investigative and very old, but might prove of value.”

  Gomez felt her heart jump. Simiaar shifted slightly beside her, and Gomez wanted to caution her not to look too enthusiastic. But she didn’t communicate with Simiaar. Gomez didn’t even want to look at Simiaar at the moment.

  “We would appreciate that,” Gomez said.

  “Mir Munshi would like to be candid.” Oaupheau paused for what seemed like effect. It glanced at Mir Munshi, almost as if confirming this next part. Mir Munshi waved a finger. Oaupheau waved the same finger in return.

  If Gomez hadn’t been trained to watch for the smallest of movements, she would have missed that.

  “Mir Munshi tried to reach his contact at the Alliance, but was told what occurred fifteen years ago has no bearing on today.”

  Simiaar became rigid, obviously thinking that if she moved, she would give something away.

  Gomez wasn’t sure how to respond either.

  “Mir Munshi believes you are not here because that representative sent you, but because of your own ethics, morals, and desire to do the proper thing. Mir Munshi says that even the Alliance has factions as the Eaufasse do.”

  Gomez remembered being told that the Eaufasse tribes had different ways of functioning from each other. She also remembered their difficulty with the Standard word “justice” as applied to a force like the marshals. She wondered if that was because of the primitive translations of the time or if it had to do with the differences in their cultures.

  Now, she wished she had prepared more for this meeting. She had believed she would have a perfunctory discussion and go to the second moon of Q-Teril, the planet below. She had not expected this.

  “Mir Munshi is correct,” Gomez said carefully. “Despite its rules, the Alliance sometimes deals with factions within its ranks, which causes the occasional problem.”

  Oaupheau glanced at Mir Munshi again. Mir Munshi continued to watch Gomez, but he moved a second finger. Oaupheau moved the same finger, then said, “Mir Munshi must apologize. When you first came to Epriccom, the Eaufasse gave you only the information you requested. We were concerned that you would not allow us to join your Alliance, which has greatly benefitted our people. We are grateful to you and your people for all we have received from the Alliance.”

  “Thank you,” Gomez said, not sure where this was going.

  “We have much information on the enclave that arrived. We have even more on its predecessors.”

  Gomez felt the blood drain from her face. She hadn’t realized there were other enclaves.

  Simiaar hadn’t moved at all, but Gomez could feel the tension she was radiating.

  “We weren’t aware there were predecessors,” Gomez said, wondering if she should have admitted that.

  “Mir Munshi thought that might be so,” Oaupheau said. “He tried to inform your Alliance, but they believed that old cases did not matter to new problems. We believe the problems are not new, but old.”

  “May we have the name of your contact in the Alliance?” Gomez asked.

  “Our contact is not the difficulty,” Oaupheau said. “Our contact is the ambassador to Eaufasse. The ambassador has done all she could, even traveling into the Alliance to speak with her superiors. She is there now. She has told the Emir repeatedly that she believes such information is important, and she will get someone to come to Epriccom. At first Mir Munshi thought you were that someone, but we received a message just this morning from the ambassador saying she is still doing what she can. That is when we realized that you are not here to investigate for the Alliance.”

  Gomez actually heard Simiaar swallow. She tried not to let her friend’s nerves infect her.

  “Well,” Gomez said, “that is not entirely the case. We believe that some faction in the Alliance is blocking the information from reaching its proper destination.”

  Mir Munshi made a peeping noise that Gomez hadn’t heard since she’d last been to Epriccom. It was so high pitched and strong that Simiaar scooted her chair backwards. Gomez caught Simiaar’s arm and sent, That’s a normal sound for them.

  Lovely, Simiaar sent. Tell that to my ears.

  “Mir Munshi believed that to be the case. He had hoped to contact you but did not know how to find you. He is relieved that you have found us.”

  Gomez smiled and nodded. “I am relieved as well. I am grateful that you are willing to talk with me.”

  “Mir Munshi would have asked for you if the ambassador had been successful. After you left Epriccom, Mir Munshi spent years studying your concept of justice. We are amazed that you have many organizations dedicated to justice. Mir Munshi is amazed that some of these organizations disagree as to what justice is. He did not understand the reason for the differences until he tried to help with justice for the victims on your Moon.”

  Gomez didn’t know what to say. She knew better than to try to justify what happened within the Alliance. It was too big and too complicated. Usually, when she talked to groups outside of the Alliance, she told them that the Alliance was unified in its goals, but sometimes disagreed on how to achieve those goals, and that such disagreement was healthy within the Alliance.

  But the Eaufasse had gone beyond such platitudes. At least Mir Munshi had.

  He had continued to speak, his liquid gaze remaining on hers.

  Oaupheau waited just a moment, as if he expected Gomez to say something, and then nodded before launching into the translation.

  “Mir Munshi will help in any way you believe useful. We have a great deal of information, all of it old, on the humans who first decided to set up the enclave. We have financial records and vid histories, some badly done interviews, and histories of their ships. Mir Munshi believes you will want this.”

  “Thank you,” Gomez said. “I didn’t realize you had it, or I would have asked for it. We’ve spent days trying to find that information on our own.”

  “Our people were concerned that these humans wanted to build on our soil. They promised that they would not interfere with our lives here or our businesses. They also promised that the moment such interference became
inevitable, they would leave.”

  Mir Munshi made another peeping sound, although not as loud or as piercing. “It would seem leave what they do,” he said directly to Gomez.

  “Yes, you’re right,” she said. “We’re beginning to believe that they left when they realized that you had contacted the Alliance to seek help for the boy who had asked to be protected from the enclave.”

  Mir Munshi nodded, a movement that looked odd, so Gomez knew he had done it deliberately for her. “The same,” he said.

  Strange how she could understand someone even when he wasn’t speaking clearly.

  He just told her he believed the same thing.

  Then he looked directly at Oaupheau before saying something else in Fasse.

  “Mir Munshi says we have reviewed our records. Originally, the humans did not mention the Alliance at all. The second group of humans told us that they would not bring the Alliance to Epriccom, as if it were a promise that we would value.”

  Oaupheau raised all of its fingers, then threw an arm over its shoulder.

  Ew, Simiaar sent. Gomez didn’t look at Simiaar, but she hoped that Simiaar wasn’t grimacing. Gomez remembered the first time she had seen that movement. It looked like the shoulder shattered. She had been disgusted by it then.

  Truth be told, she was still disgusted by it, but it no longer surprised her.

  Mir Munshi spoke directly to Oaupheau, and then tossed both arms over his shoulders.

  Oaupheau bowed its head and let its arm drop.

  It said, “Mir Munshi would like you to know that we had not heard of an Alliance before that mention. Our people then began the research into the Alliance. We liked what we saw. Those interactions were the first that made us worry about the enclaves. We worried that they might be wrong-doers of some kind, but we did not know what kind. By then, they had been on Epriccom for many years, and had not harmed or even interacted with our people.”

  “So you decided to leave them alone,” Gomez said, as a statement to get it to continue, not as a question.

  “Yes,” Oaupheau said. “We thought perhaps it was a faction against this Alliance we had not heard of, and thought maybe it wanted to be isolated.”

  Then Oaupheau seemed to realize that it had spoken for Mir Munshi. It tossed both arms over its shoulders, bowed its head, and spoke softly.

  Mir Munshi replied, but Oaupheau did not translate.

  “Strange this after,” Mir Munshi said directly to Gomez. She guessed he meant that things became strange after they started contacting the Alliance. Then Mir Munshi made a thwapping sound and spoke harshly to Oaupheau.

  Oaupheau kept its arms back and head down. “I have spoken for myself, although I am correct,” it said. “I must apologize.”

  “We accept your apology,” Gomez said.

  Oaupheau dropped its arms. “Mir Munshi says that things changed after we discovered this Alliance and started communicating with it. It had been our understanding that the enclaves would grow, but they did not.”

  Gomez met Mir Munshi’s gaze. He nodded slowly. Simiaar shifted slightly beside her.

  “Mir Munshi says you had asked if there were other deaths. There had been, but none that we witnessed up close.”

  Gomez frowned. She hadn’t asked about other deaths. And then she remembered. She had asked when she had come the first time.

  “We did not believe those deaths were what you meant, but Mir Munshi believes it now. We have footage, but no longer keep what you would call, I believe, ‘evidence’?”

  “Footage is helpful,” Gomez said, trying not to sound too eager.

  Ask about that last enclave. What did they do with that evidence? Simiaar asked.

  Gomez wasn’t going to do any such thing. She was going to let this conversation evolve.

  “Mir Munshi believes that the enclave monitored our external communications. When we started talks with your Alliance, the enclave retreated farther. Mir Munshi believes that these talks may have triggered those initial deaths which brought you.”

  “With due respect,” Gomez said, facing Mir Munshi directly. “I have recently interviewed one of the surviving clones. He says that such killings were part of their hideous training rituals. You should not take any blame for those deaths.”

  Mir Munshi nodded and swayed.

  Oaupheau waited until Mir Munshi was done. “Mir Munshi says we are not taking ‘blame.’ We do not have the same concept of guilt that humans do. But Mir Munshi believes there is a cause and effect. He has studied the footage we will give you. He sees no releases like that in previous enclaves. But he admits that such things might have their own timetable, and he is unaware of what that might be. His core message to you is simple: he would like to help.”

  It took Gomez this long to realize that never once did Oaupheau say that the Eaufasse wanted to help. In fact, at times, Oaupheau very clearly said that Mir Munshi had determined something, believed something, or wanted something. A few others times, Oaupheau had said “we” when referring to the Eaufasse.

  She wished she knew just a little Fasse so that she could ask Mir Munshi if he was acting alone.

  But, she supposed, that did not matter. What mattered was that Mir Munshi wanted to help, and she needed his help. The Alliance needed his help, whether it realized that or not.

  “We greatly appreciate your willingness to assist us,” she said to Mir Munshi.

  He bowed his head, looking like he might topple over.

  “We would love to review the materials you have for us. We would prefer to take them with us, if that is possible. If not, we understand.”

  We do? Simiaar sent. Gomez ignored that, like she ignored all the other comments Simiaar had made in this interaction.

  Mir Munshi spoke for a moment. Oaupheau replied in Fasse, then flung its arms back again.

  Mir Munshi leaned toward Gomez. “Take you may,” Mir Munshi said. “Honored to help.”

  “Thank you,” she said. “We are honored as well.”

  Ask about the damn site, Simiaar sent, as if Gomez had forgotten the reason for coming here.

  “I do have two other requests,” Gomez said. “If it is not possible to fulfill those requests, we understand. You will not offend us by saying no to any of our requests, and I hope we do not offend by asking.”

  “Ask no me offend,” Mir Munshi said.

  Oaupheau had bowed its head. Gomez didn’t want to think about what might be happening here diplomatically.

  “We have traced the ship that left the enclave just before it got destroyed to Ohksmyte,” she said, hoping she pronounced the name of the second moon correctly. “We were wondering if you know anything about why it landed there.”

  Mir Munshi spoke harshly and rapidly in Fasse. Oaupheau kept its head down, but moved its arms. It said, “We do not know why it landed, but we know where it is. Mir Munshi believes it might tell you something.”

  “Forgive me,” Gomez said, as she interrupted. “Is he saying that you know where the ship is?”

  “Yes,” Oaupheau said. “It did not leave Ohksmyte.”

  “Did the occupants transfer ships?” she asked.

  Oaupheau spoke to Mir Munshi. Mir Munshi answered in rapid Fasse again.

  “No one investigated that. We located the ship. It has remained in the same place for fifteen years.”

  Wow, Simiaar sent.

  Wow, indeed. Gomez tried not to look thrilled at the news.

  Oaupheau continued, “We will give you coordinates, but you must exercise caution. The mining operation on Ohksmyte is protective of the dome they have built there.”

  “How old is that dome?” Gomez asked Oaupheau.

  “It did not exist when the ship landed,” Oaupheau said.

  She nodded, then realized it had not answered her question. She didn’t need to press. She could find the answer to that question in some other way.

  “My last question has two parts,” Gomez said, “and I ask them for my friend, Doctor Simiaar.
She would like to inspect the enclave’s grounds, if they have not been built upon or excavated.”

  Oaupheau made a small peep as if the request startled it. Then it spoke, as if it were translating.

  It paused and looked at Gomez. Mir Munshi was watching her as well. Apparently, they were waiting for the other part of the question.

  “And,” she said, “if the Eaufasse collected materials from the destroyed enclave or conducted some kind of investigation, we would like that information as well.”

  “What do you think you will find?” Oaupheau asked Simiaar so quickly that Gomez knew it had not had a chance to speak to Mir Munshi.

  “The way that humans practice investigative science,” Simiaar said slowly, “is to go into an area without preconceptions. I do not believe I will find anything. But I would like the opportunity to look at what is there, and see if it means anything to me.”

  Oaupheau eyed her for a long moment, then looked at Gomez, maybe wondering if she disapproved of what Simiaar said. Gomez remained quiet. Simiaar had handled that well.

  Finally, Oaupheau translated that (she hoped) into Fasse.

  Mir Munshi answered. Oaupheau dropped its arms.

  “We do not know if the gathered materials still exist, but Mir Munshi said he would make sure that whatever we have is added to the material he would give you. The enclave itself is long abandoned, the land destroyed, and now is part of the nearby city. We cannot allow you to visit without a discussion between our ambassadors.”

  “There is no need at this time,” Gomez said. “I think the materials you provide will be more than enough. Thank you.”

  Mir Munshi spoke again. Oaupheau bent almost in half, before it said, “Mir Munshi will have a friend talk with your pilot about how to land on Ohksmyte undetected. He does not say, but I will. It is dangerous. I do not think you will learn anything.”

  “Have you seen the ship?” Gomez asked it.

  “I have not. Mir Munshi has not. It is in an isolated part of Ohksmyte. I suggest that you do not visit. Mir Munshi believes you should do what is best for your investigation.”

  Fascinating. Gomez felt her heart rate increase. She had not expected Epriccom to be such a wealth of information.