"Yes," Ara was forced to say. "We both are."
"I am sorry, but I am not allowed to speak with you."
"But-"
"If you wish to leave a message for a particular party," the creature went on, "you may hire a courier ship with a hardcopy missive. Good day."
The reception room vanished, leaving behind the featureless plain that was the default condition of the Dream.
"Rude," Tan observed. "What brought that on?"
"Probably me," Ara said grimly. "The Children-including me-have bought, stolen, swindled, and tricked a hell of a lot slaves out of that company over the decades. We’ve probably cost them billions in revenue by now. Silent Acquisitions seem to have adopted a new policy of identifying Children and then refusing to communicate with us so we can’t trick any information out of them. Bastards! Filth doesn’t even begin to describe what they do."
"I agree," Tan said, "but we need to stay focused on the other job."
Ara let out a long breath. "Right. Sorry. I just hate slavers. Buying and selling sentient creatures is about the lowest anyone can-"
"You church, me choir," Tan said. "Can we go?"
"Right, right. Let’s try the Silent Partners and see what they have to say."
The Silent Partners, it turned out, didn’t know of any strange murders. Neither did DreamShapers. They were about to visit Quietude, Ltd., when Ara felt a presence brush her mind.
"Marco!" she said with delight. "He’s in the Dream. Hey, Marco! My turf, all right?"
The pleasure garden appeared around them. Ara was dressed in her green robe with the close-fitting hood. She put Tan in a similar one, but blue. They both sat on the lip of the fountain, waiting. After a brief interval, a yellow sphere of light the size of a basketball whizzed over the garden wall and hovered in front of Ara. Her face showed her pleasure.
"Marco," she said. "I’m glad you could talk to me. This is Inspector Lewa Tan."
"Good morning," the sphere said in a voice reminiscent of ringing bells. "Or is it not morning on Bellerophon?"
"It’s evening for us," Ara told him. "Listen, I know you’re probably busy, so I’ll be fast." She gave a quick explanation of the Dream murders. "Can you find out if there were any similar happenings among Dreamers, Inc.?"
"I know there were," Marco said in his bell-like voice. "It was nine or ten years ago."
Tan stood up, excited. "Can you put me in contact with the investigator in charge of the case?"
"Perhaps. I will have to go through appropriate channels. Please wait."
The ball vanished with a pop of inrushing Dream energy. Tan waited with ill-disguised impatience.
"Marco’s good," Ara said. "He knows a lot of people."
"My drugs are going to wear off soon," Tan grumbled. "What species is Marco, anyway?"
"Human." Ara scratched her nose. "He’s a practicing Zen Buddhist. When I first met him twenty-some years ago, he looked as human as you or me but now …" Ara shrugged. "I sometimes wonder what’ll happen when he reaches Nirvana."
The ball popped back into being. Standing beneath it was a small, dark-complected man in a linen suit. He had a thin mustache, small black eyes, and equally black hair scattered with silver.
"Ara, Inspector," Marco rang out formally, "this is Ken Rashid, Chief of Security for Dreamers, Inc. Chief Rashid, this is Mother Ara and Inspector Tan, both of the Children of Irfan."
They all exchanged greetings, and Marco said, "I imagine you have little time left in the Dream with much to discuss, so I will leave you. Ara, it was good seeing you. Please visit me again when you have time."
"I will, Marco," Ara said. "And thank you."
Marco vanished with another pop.
"Little time left in the Dream," Rashid repeated. "I take it your drugs are wearing off?"
"In about five minutes," Ara confessed. "We’ll have to be quick."
"Marco already explained to me the basics of your case." Rashid looked about the manicured lawn as if he were missing something.
"Your pardon," Ara said, and quickly produced a chair for him out of thin air. He took it.
"Almost exactly ten years ago," Rashid continued, "four women connected with Dreamers, Inc., died. Levels of psytonin in their brains indicated they were in the Dream when it happened. The first one was missing the little finger on her left hand. The second woman was found also missing her left little finger, and the finger of the first woman was sewn on in its place, and so on. This was when I was a chief investigator, before I took my current position, and the case was assigned to me. Unfortunately, we had-still have-no suspects."
Tan was on her feet again, eyes flashing. "Wait! The first woman was only missing a finger? One wasn’t sewn on?"
"That’s correct."
"Then she might have been the first victim!" Tan said. "A big lead!"
"What?" Ara said. "Why?"
"A serial killer’s first victim is usually someone the killer knows," Tan explained. "If we can get a list of people the first victim knew and compare it with a list of Silent who have been on Bellerophon since the killings started there, we might be able to pin down a name."
"Possibly," Rashid said. "Assuming, of course, that the killer hasn’t changed his name."
"Or hers," Tan muttered.
"Chief Rashid," Ara said, "have you ever seen this woman?" She gestured and a hologram of Dorna Saline hovered in the air before Rashid’s chair. The features were a bit blurred-recreating faces in the Dream was difficult for most Silent since it required tremendous concentration and a bit of artistic skill, and while Ara had the first, she had only a bit of the second.
Rashid studied the image thoughtfully. "I don’t believe so," he said at last. "Though the likeness-my apologies if I seem rude-isn’t going to be exact. Who is she?"
"We think she’s connected to the case," Tan told him.
Ara fidgeted on the lip of the fountain. Her drugs were nearing the end of their course and she would have to leave the Dream soon or be yanked out of it, and right now it wouldn’t be convenient to spend two or three days in bed recovering from the shock.
"Chief," Tan said, "we need to compare notes. The Dream isn’t a good medium for transmitting images, and we need to spend more time talking than our drugs will allow. Can we visit you in person?"
"Of course," Rashid replied promptly. "This case has …nibbled at me for years, Inspector, and I would love nothing more than to solve it." Something flashed behind his eyes, but Ara couldn’t place what it was.
"You are at the headquarters station for Dreamers, then?" Tan said.
"I am. I will instruct my people to look for you."
The itch grew so strong Ara couldn’t remain still. "Chief, I’m sorry but I have to go. I look forward to meeting you in person."
Rashid rose from his chair and gave a little bow. "As do I, Mother."
Ara summoned her concentration and released the Dream.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The worst part about revelations is that they always feel like something you should have figured out a long time ago.
— Irfan Qasad
"But I’m involved," Kendi wailed. "I should be there."
"Absolutely not." Ara pressed the seals on her bulging suitcase. The bag shut with a hiss. "There won’t be anything for you to do. Besides, you have school. You’ve been a big help, Kendi, and I promise to let you know everything I can, but we don’t need you along on this one."
"You mean you don’t need a mere student," Kendi growled.
"If it makes you feel better to pout, go right ahead," Ara said heartlessly. "I should be back in a couple of weeks. My sister and brother-in-law will come by every so often to check on you. Don’t go anywhere by yourself, understand?"
Kendi gave her a sidelong look. "You don’t want me to be alone because it’s not safe?"
"That’s right." Ara rummaged through a carryall. Toothbrush, hairbrush, comb, dermosprays, everything there. Had she packed sleeping clothes?
"Safety in numbers and all that, huh?"
"Absolutely." Carryall, suitcase, bookdisks, computer pad. Was her itinerary in the pad? Oh, yes. "Safety in numbers."
"And the more numbers, the better?"
"Yes, yes." Should she take a jacket? Probably. Dreamers, Inc., was headquartered on its own space station, and she usually found the stations a bit chilly.
"Okay. Have a nice trip, then."
Ara said good-bye to Ben-he barely paused in his workout to acknowledge her-and bundled her things outside. Kendi waved his farewell as she shut the door. Something nagged at her as she stood on the deck, something Kendi had said or something Ara herself hadn’t said.
Nerves, she told herself. Stop being such a mother hen. They’ll be fine.
She might not have been so dismissive if she had been able to see the wide grin that stretched Kendi’s face.
The party was enormous. Loud music vibrated the floor and shook the rafters, and the rooms were crowded with brown-clad students. Kendi moved easily among them, dancing a bit here, trading palm slaps there. Ben watched with trepidation and not a little envy. Once again Kendi was the life of the party and Ben was relegated to the corner. He was nervous about the entire affair. Mom hadn’t specifically given permission for a party, no matter what Kendi tricked her into saying. Still, he had gone along with it because he found that lately he just couldn’t say no to Kendi. And, he had told himself, maybe someone else would talk to him because it was his house.
So far the latter hadn’t happened. Ben seemed to fade naturally into the woodwork and the partygoers ignored him after polite, dutiful greetings. Once the sun went down and the house began to fill up, Ben found himself in the same corner he had occupied at the Festival party where he had first met Kendi.
Kendi. Ben closed his eyes. He still couldn’t figure it out. Things had been cool between them since the fight, and Ben knew himself well enough to realize that he had used it as an excuse to push Kendi away. And Ben found he hated it. Not even the news that Zayim and Tress had gotten twenty whole hours of extra work detail made him feel better. Ben wanted to be close to Kendi, ached to be so. And he didn’t understand why he felt that way.
Music continued to throb. Ben shot a nervous glance at the computer speakers. Was it too loud? It would be all he needed to have the Guardians show up and cite him for a loud party. Maybe he should tell the computer to lower the volume, but gradually so no one would-
Ben stiffened. His mouth went dry and his stomach twisted inside him. A ghostly face had appeared at the window. Long, curly dark hair, emerald eyes, pixie features. Dorna. Her eyes met his and she gestured to him. Ben didn’t know what to do. Call the Guardians? Shout for help? She had attacked him, and Ben knew the Guardians wanted to question her. Maybe they even thought she was the Dream stalker.
Dorna gestured again, pointing further up the balcony that ran around the entire house. It was hard to see her, since the lights in the house were on and it was dark outside. Ben glanced around uncertainly. Dorna had attacked him, and that made him angry, but his mother had said she probably suffered from multiple personalities and didn’t know what she was doing.
Now there’s a good reason to go outside and talk to her, he thought.
Dorna gestured once more, then vanished from the window just as Kendi wandered by. Ben grabbed him.
"We need to go outside," he said.
"What? Why?"
"Dorna." And Ben explained.
Without a word, Kendi grabbed Ben’s hand and hauled him outdoors. The night was a bit chilly. A dinosaur called from the forest below, a high, honking sound, and a slight breeze made the leaves rustle as if they were whispering. Music continued to boom inside the house. Kendi took Ben around toward the back of the house, and Ben let him lead. He was nervous, but a small part of him liked the fact that Kendi was holding his hand. Behind the house, the wraparound balcony was more narrow, barely wide enough for two people to walk side-by-side.
"Where is she?" Kendi murmured. He dropped Ben’s hand.
Ben said, "I’m not sure."
"Over here." A hooded shadow edged around the corner. "I’m here."
"Dorna?" Kendi asked. "Where have you-?"
"My name isn’t Dorna," the figure said in a voice so quiet Ben had to strain to hear it. "It’s Violet."
"Violet," Kendi repeated. He drifted a little closer. "All right. Look, half the planet is searching for you. Where have you been hiding?"
"The forest," Dorna/Violet whispered. She sounded scared. "Buck knows things. He’s built a shelter for us and he finds food. But I don’t like it. The dinosaurs are scary."
"They think you’ve been killing people," Kendi said. "In the Dream. Is that true?"
Violet’s eyes went wide and she shook her head. The hood rustled against her hair. "No. Not me. And not Dorna, either. Cole is the killer, don’t you see? He needs to be stopped."
Gooseflesh rose cold on Ben’s arms and back. The woman was completely insane. How many people lived inside her head? Animal instinct told Ben to bolt, put as much distance between this strange creature and himself as possible.
"That’s why I came," she continued. "So that you would know what’s going on. I wanted you to know that Dorna hasn’t killed anyone. Not once."
"Then why did you run away?" Kendi leaned casually against the balcony rail, as if he talked to total lunatics every day. Ben couldn’t help but admire his calm. What if she lunged for him, tried to shove him over the edge? "If you-Dorna, I mean-never killed anyone, there’s nothing to worry about, right?"
"People wouldn’t understand," Violet whispered. "The Guardians would cage us up, beat us. They scare me."
"Were all those people in the Dream your …friends?" Kendi asked. He edged closer again, and Ben wanted to warn him not to. "Buck and Zelda?"
"Zelda’s mean," Violet said. "Sometimes she helps Cole. So does Rudy. He’s the one who hit Ben. Dorna’s talked about you to all of us. She wanted us to meet you in the Dream because she likes you. But Rudy isn’t Silent, so he couldn’t come into the Dream. When everyone else was there, he took control and ran away. He says he never gets enough body time, so he took it when we weren’t looking."
Ben’s skin was crawling now and it was all he could do to keep from running for help. He didn’t dare leave Kendi alone, though. He tensed, ready to attack if she made any strange moves.
"What about you?" Kendi said. "I didn’t see you in the Dream."
"I was there," Violet whispered. "You just didn’t see me. I’m good at hiding. Listen, you have to make sure Cole gets caught. Dorna didn’t kill anyone. It’s all Cole."
Kendi lunged. The move caught both Ben and Violet off-guard. Kendi grabbed her arm and tried to twist her around in front of him. But Violet recovered with surprising speed. In a pair of lightning moves, she smashed her foot down on his instep and rammed her elbow into his solar plexus. The air burst audibly from Kendi’s lungs. Violet whirled and slammed her shoulder into him. Kendi tumbled over the balcony rail.
"Kendi!" Ben shouted. He bolted toward the rail. Kendi hung by one hand, gasping in pain and fear.
"Bastard!" Violet spat. "Fucking son of a bitch!" She punched a window and glass shattered. Screams erupted from inside the house. The music played.
Ben grabbed Kendi’s wrist. His back prickled and he felt vulnerable. Violet was only a few steps away, but he couldn’t spare her any of his attention.
"Give me your other hand, Kendi," he said. "Hurry!"
A cold hand grabbed the back of Ben’s neck and another hand put a firm grip on his groin. Ben froze but didn’t let go of Kendi’s wrist. Kendi swung heavily, trying to get his other arm up. Ben’s hands started to sweat.
"You stupid asshole," Violet (Dorna? Rudy?) growled. "Next time I see you, you just remember that all I did was this."
She squeezed hard. Pain knotted Ben’s stomach and a choking sound escaped his throat but he kept a death-grip on Kendi.
"One s
hove and I could have killed you, asshole," she hissed in his ear. "Remember that."
And then she was gone. The hard sound of shoes on wood faded into the night. Pain curled like a snake in Ben’s lower abdomen but he forced himself to ignore it. Kendi managed to get his other arm up and grab the balcony rail. Ben helped haul him over the edge, then both of them collapsed to the planks. Ben could do nothing but sit. He felt hot tears trickling down his face, but he didn’t care.
"All life," Kendi said. "All life, she almost killed me."
"She almost killed both of us," Ben said. "We need to get help, but god-I don’t know if I can stand up."
They sat there a moment until half a dozen sets of footsteps rounded the corner. Ben looked up. A group of the party-goers had come outside.
"We heard the window break," one of them said. "Are you guys okay?"
"Help me up," Ben said. "We have to call the Guardians."
Inspector Linus Gray was making Ben and Kendi repeat their story for the third time when Sil and Hazid arrived. Two Guardian officers had checked the house and a dozen others combed the walkways around and the ground beneath the Rymar house, but they found no trace of Dorna Saline. The partiers had long since left, and the house was still a mess.
Kendi watched Ben’s aunt and uncle come in. Kendi’s hand, the one that had hung onto the balcony rail, was scratched and bloody, though he hadn’t noticed until a few moments ago. His shoulder hurt. So did his stomach and his foot where Dorna/Violet had hit him. Or had one of her other personalities done the attacking? That seemed more likely. Violet had seemed afraid of her own shadow.
"What happened here?" Hazid demanded as he strode into the living room. Sil’s gaze swept the messy room, her eyes glittering with righteous disapproval.
"Are you the owner of this house, Brother?" asked Gray, noticing Hazid’s medallion and amber ring.
"I’m the owner’s brother-in-law," he said. "This is my wife, Sister Sil. We keep an eye on the place when Ara goes away. Now what the hell is going on?"
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