by Patty Jansen
I spoke in a low voice. “These people who have attacked both this apartment and Federza’s apartment are obviously still around somewhere, probably around the apartment. The only way off the island is via the train—that doesn’t run much at night—or the water. They may have shot from outside the exclusion zone, but guards would have picked up sound and movement in the reeds, especially if they used a boat.”
“Don’t overestimate the capabilities of the gamra guards,” Sheydu said.
I ignored her comment. “They haven’t reported anything, so it’s my guess that at least some of these people are still here, or they may have left clues about what they were after.”
She snorted. “Like what Reida was doing in that office.”
“Yes, but I very much doubt that his loyalty would be mixed up with the Barresh Aghyrians.”
“So that is coincidence that he was after Federza’s stuff as well?” She flicked her eyebrows up.
“We simply don’t know. But I’m saying that if we want to investigate, we should do that now, tired as I expect you all are.” Hell, I was tired.
Veyada said, “There is no such thing as coincidence, only sheer luck and sheer stupidity.”
Thayu and Sheydu simultaneously named the originator of the proverb, “Rimada Domiri, Commander of the armed forces.”
I could have added my voice to that. I was starting to make serious inroads in recognising the authors of a good number of the thousands of Coldi proverbs.
Veyada grinned, and gave Sheydu a playful look. As usual, a recited proverb was a great tension breaker.
Sheydu stretched and yawned. Then she jumped out of the bath in one athletic movement. Stark naked, she grabbed her clothes and gun. “Well, what the fuck, eh? Let’s go and check on the work of those trusted gamra guards. Let’s see if we can discover something that they didn’t. That shouldn’t be too hard.” She pulled on her trousers without drying herself.
Veyada and Thayu also jumped out, leaving me in the water with Evi and Telaris.
“Does the delegate still require mashara’s services?” Evi asked in a low voice.
“No. I wanted to make sure that mashara knew what was going on.”
“Is it official that Nicha cannot be trusted?”
I cringed. “Not official, and I intend to sort this out as soon as possible. For the time being, try to avoid involving him in sensitive situations. Especially don’t involve Reida. Though only until I give the all clear. But I definitely want Federza watched at all times.”
They nodded, and then we all got out.
Thayu pointed at me when we were leaving the bathroom. “Wear your armour. And your feeder.”
Yeah, shit. Battle gear again.
Chapter 9
* * *
AS GAMRA REPRESENTATIVE supposedly neutral in the Aghyrian case against Asto, I had the right to request information and to investigate the dealings and integrity of all parties in the negotiations. I intended to abuse the hell out of that right.
We moved like a well-oiled machine. I got dressed, went to the bedroom to put on the armour. I fished the feeder out of the pocket of my trousers and transferred it back into my hair, where it settled with the familiar burst of warmth.
Good to have you with us again, Thayu said.
I sent Devlin to bed, and told Telaris and Evi to resume their positions at the door and send Nicha and Reida back inside to rest.
I met Nicha crossing the hallway going back to his room. He was still not looking at me. Still expecting me to lash out, or maybe not, or afraid I would lash out. Nicha had been at my side for the best part of eight years. I did not want to do this.
How Coldi was Nicha, really? And how much of the societal structure was built into a Coldi person’s genes and how much was learned? No one really knew.
I trusted Deyu with the special task of locking the door to Federza’s room. I definitely did not want him to snoop around the apartment while I was away.
Thayu took me aside in the hall while we waited for Veyada to collect his gear. “What’s this about, Cory? You’ve got that gleam in your eyes that you’re up to something.”
“Nothing too crazy or dangerous. We’re going to pay a visit to Federza’s apartment. I want to see if I can get anything out of the guards or bystanders. There is something going on with this Aghyrian group and I would like to know what it is before we get into the real negotiations.”
“Well, we have until tomorrow morning.” The agenda for the day’s meeting would start to venture into subjects on which I expected substantial disagreement.
To my horror, it was already tomorrow morning, if very early, and there was too much still to be done. Talk to Nicha, talk to Reida, talk to Federza. Never mind prepare for the actual meeting. Oh and sleep. What was that again?
Thayu asked, “If Federza has fallen out with Barresh Aghyrians, who do you think they will send as replacement?”
There was that problem, too. “I have no idea. They don’t exactly make a habit of being open.” To be honest, I didn’t even know too many other Aghyrians. They kept themselves well in the background.
“No, they don’t.”
“A replacement could be better, but it could also be a lot worse.”
“I’m betting on the worse scenario.”
I agreed. Federza might be an arrogant prick, but his experience as Trader meant that he had at least some appreciation of other people’s living conditions. He’d been places, travelled a lot. “Federza says that he has a pretty good idea of who sent the people shooting at us, presumably the same ones causing all this other mischief, and he might tell me if I offer him sanctuary.”
“Then why start investigating at Federza’s apartment?”
“I’m hoping to learn something about Federza’s motives. For all his unpleasant bluster, he sounds genuinely scared. There is something going on in that Aghyrian community that has perhaps been festering since Sirkonen’s murder, or even before that. Someone is keen to settle some scores before the serious meeting rounds about the Aghyrian claim start. Well, that’s my guess. I’m not sure how or even if it relates to the zeyshi Aghyrians or if the Barresh Aghyrian community is just supremely pissed off that with all their sophistication, breeding programs and money, they still couldn’t secure a claim. Maybe Federza is trying to come out with what’s been happening behind the scenes. Maybe he’s in the thick of it. I don’t know. Then there is the issue of Reida. I think he’s nothing more than a lackey, perhaps paying off a family debt by spying, but the person who sent him, and who may also be part of Nicha’s network, is trying to prove or disprove something about the Barresh Aghyrians, or maybe just Federza. Well, all of that is my interpretation of the situation.”
She nodded, slowly. “That’s a fair enough conclusion.” She smiled. “I’ll tell Veyada that he may have found his match in unravelling political conspiracy theories.”
“Did anyone mention my name?” Veyada came into the hall wearing his full armour. Like this, he looked so much like the Chief Coordinator’s guard he had once been. The only thing missing from his appearance was the red sash that he used to wear. I’d hinted at him a few times that it was all right for him to feel bereaved over losing his high position, but Veyada was, as always, utterly focused and professional and wouldn’t even flick his eyebrows at those awkward statements of mine.
Veyada was very quickly becoming one of my most important assets. Strangely enough, I felt that he was thoroughly enjoying himself. And I liked him immensely.
He reported for Thayu’s benefit, and in code, that gamra security had declared the island safe for level five personnel, to which Thayu made the We’ll chance it hand signal. They were both level five personnel: armed and trained, but I was level one: those in need of protection.
Not that we left too much to chance. Thayu had insisted I wear full battle gear. The armour was hot to wear, but at least after the recent escapades, Nicha had finally used his contacts and gotten some custom-made for
me, so that I no longer had to make do with ill-fitting equipment.
Nicha.
Hopefully whatever we would find tonight would help solve that issue. Then I’d sit down with him and Reida and get all the issues on the table, including that of secondary networks which may or may not involve Nicha’s mother. We’d sort it out. Things would be back to the way they were before.
We left the apartment in the company of Sheydu, her many pockets bristling with explosives and other dangerous gadgetry, walked down the gallery and down the stairs. Normally the inner courtyard with the waterfall would bathe in muted light, but all the lights had been turned up to the max, producing an eerie, ugly greenish glow that cast harsh, lifeless shadows.
A bunch of gamra guards were milling around at the entrance to our building, wearing armour over their blue and grey uniforms. Thayu told Veyada to stay with me—not prepared to push the limits on level five personnel restrictions. She trotted over to them and spoke with them briefly. There were polite nods and serious faces. One of the men spoke into his comm unit.
“We’re fine to go,” Thayu said when she came back. She winked at me. “They didn’t recognise you.”
“Any news? Have they caught anyone?”
“Not so far.”
There were a lot more guards around the building, most of them just standing around.
We continued on, through the abandoned courtyards in various states of lighting. Some had areas with seating, where light illuminated tables and chairs. A bunch of meili had landed on a table where the evacuate order had come in the middle of a meal and people had abandoned their plates. The animals—about the size of a rabbit—had pushed a couple of empty plates off the table and were fighting over the contents of another plate, a tangle of black fur and leathery wings.
With the lockdown following the security breach, the passageways that were normally full of people almost day and night were now completely empty. Occasionally I caught a glimpse of a couple of people silhouetted behind a window, curious to get a glimpse of whatever required such serious action.
As far as attacks went, the effort on my apartment was a rather lame one, either carried out by inexperienced people or with insufficient weaponry. Or maybe Veyada was right and it was a warning.
The density of gamra guards increased towards the eastern residential wings. A lot of them, as well as Barresh guards in black, milled about without much to do. Their communication was efficient, because no one asked us who we were and where we were going, but they all gestured greetings.
Federza’s apartment faced the water, separated from the edge of the island only by a broad walkway, accessible to anyone who satisfied the entry guards to the island. The apartment was on the top floor, set back from the street atop a pyramid-shaped building.
Clearly, the side facing the water usually consisted of a glass wall, but that now showed a jagged hole.
“That shot has also been fired from the water,” Veyada said.
Yes, and this made it likely that these were the same people who had also fired at my apartment. Two shots, both from a long distance off the water. Which made all those guards standing around look stupid. Had anyone even entered the island’s perimeter? Someone had mentioned a break-in?
Veyada squinted into the darkness over the water, where he would see nothing with his poor night vision. Heck, I didn’t even see much out there except for the glimmer where the moonlight reflected in the water. If there were any Tamerians in the darkness then the guards would need better equipment to find them. Most likely they were already far too late.
We went into the entrance of the apartment building, past another bevy of guards who greeted me with polite nods and let us through, up the stairs and onto the gallery.
The apartments along here were stylish affairs with open rooms, modern and spacious compared to mine. I suspected they came without the heritage listing of my apartment.
Where Coldi often used dark colours in furnishings, all Aghyrian buildings I had visited were wide, open, with a lot of glass and in light colours. People often made jokes regarding their concern about style and appearance, but the Aghyrian propensity for artistic pursuits was well-documented. In apartments we passed, fabric on chairs matched the carpet and the curtains. In one room, there was a strange contraption on the floor that looked like a hand half-clenched into a first and turned palm up. Little platforms rested on the “fingers”. I decided the thing was a table. There were works of art on the walls. The doors were of the regular variety and not the rolling ones like the ones in my apartment. I had tried to get those damn things replaced, but had been informed that I couldn’t, because modifications had to be within the guidelines of the building’s historical value.
We reached Federza’s apartment.
The entire front wall had blown out, leaving a gaping hole filled with molten glass.
A couple of investigators were walking around and taking pictures of peculiar details: not just the gouges in the wall, but also some kind of electronic device that had fallen off the table. They were a mix of gamra and privately employed guards. I guessed the privately-employed ones were Federza’s. They wore dark clothing but no obvious uniform. They seemed to be working with the gamra guards, so I guessed that was all above-board.
As with my apartment, there were globs of glass everywhere, stuck to the carpet, the walls and ceiling.
The back of the couch in front of the window had blown off, spreading stuffing and shreds of fabric over the carpet.
A bookcase had toppled over, having spilled a layer of mangled of books over the floor. I spotted pages of Coldi, Mirani and Aghyrian.
Federza’s bedroom looked out over the marshlands and was next to the living room. The charge had also shattered the window here, blowing a huge shower of glass onto the floor. The bed had received some of the debris. Globs of glass had melted onto the sheets that lay untouched from this morning. There were two impressions in the mattress.
What?
To the best of my knowledge, Federza lived alone. I frowned at Thayu and sent her a ping through the feeder, but she was studying something near the remains of the window, crouching with one of her many devices pointed at the carpet. A scent detector most likely. It helped identify explosives and sometimes even culprits.
She informed me of what she knew through the feeder.
The charge had hit in the centre of the living room window, blowing it inwards. Furniture, the carpet, ceiling and wall fixtures were damaged. There was no evidence that anyone had been inside the apartment.
Just like the attack on me, this appeared to be a lame operation. What could they possibly hope to achieve by shooting at our windows from great distance? As far as the guards had been able to establish, Federza had been out when it happened. He’d either been elsewhere or had just left for my apartment. At least at my apartment, they had attempted to hit us. This was just a random shooting at a non-random person’s property.
I approached one of the gamra guards, Indrahui like so many of them. “Have you discovered anything of note yet?”
He eyed his colleagues as if consulting whether or not he was supposed to reply to me. Some unspoken communication went between them. I couldn’t pick it up on my feeder, because it was probably well-shielded.
“It is not easy,” he finally said in heavily-accented Coldi.
“How so?” Playing the innocent diplomat.
Thayu rolled her eyes at me. She disliked it when I tried chatting people up, because it presented a security situation, but it so happened that most gamra people were stronger than I was, so I’d become used to talking as a means of getting what I wanted. Both Sheydu and Thayu got annoyed with the degree of success I frequently had in this manner.
This guard happened to be the talkative sort. “They shoot from outside. Window blow in. Glass everywhere.”
Yes, I could see that.
“But then maybe they come in through window.”
“You think so? We’re on
the third floor.”
“You and I care about third floor. Some people don’t care about third floor. They climb in, steal—”
“Have you found hard evidence that anyone came in?” That would be a major finding.
“Could be.” He glanced at his colleagues, who were clustered around the electronic device that lay on the floor.
“What’s that thing?” I asked, innocent as I could.
“Communication.”
I clearly wasn’t going to get anywhere with him. He was too busy and his Coldi was too poor. “This apartment has a hub, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, over there.” He gestured into the hall.
I walked over to peek in. The room was about the same size as mine but more modern. The main light was on, casting the equipment in the wan greenish light given off by the pearls on the walls. Since the Exchange had locked down the island’s communication, nothing was going on at the main projection area. The auxiliaries just gave dull information scrolling over a side screen. The temperature, the weather, news from town.
“Guards don’t seem to know much,” I said to Thayu in a low voice.
“They’re administrators. Not paid to think. Not paid to be quick, or to draw their own conclusions. Sheydu is going to have a ball.”
I couldn’t restrain a brief chuckle. “What do you think? They seem to think someone came in.”
“I can’t see any evidence of that,” Thayu said. “I think it’s just one of the items on the list of things they’ve been instructed to look out for. Most of these kinds of things are done with robbery in mind.”
“I still think it’s some kind of warning,” Veyada said behind us. “I mean—if they really wanted to destroy the place, they would have actually destroyed it.”
“Not so easy when you can’t count on fire to finish the job for you.”
He gave me a sharp look. Yes, that was right. It was so easy to forget that nothing burned in Barresh. Probably nothing short of a very large bomb could destroy Barresh. It was a place with an annoyingly stubborn and rebellious streak.
