by Mason Adgett
“Okay,” I said, the numbers blurring in front of my eyes. I focused and saw they were sorted by date and log-on time in chronological order. “You don’t have an easier way to do this than this?”
“Well none of that information is supposed to be public. That’s the way Kirby gave it to me. I’m not about to ask for something better. If it wasn’t so sensitive I’d feed it into Greaves and have him re-digitize it.”
“Fine,” I said. “But I thought you said it was about Vavaka.”
“The second section,” he said. “Much shorter, maybe 20 pages. That’s Vavaka’s history.” I started flipping but didn’t find it right away. “It should be a slim little section right before the appendix.”
“Got it,” I said. It wasn’t titled or identified in any way but there was a blank page after India’s list that separated the two portions. I spent a little time looking through some of the numbers and comparing them to the appendix. India played a lot of Galactic Zookeeper, Dance Universe, Cosmic Power, those seemed to be the ones she did most online. She also spent a lot of time solo in Solitaire Design and Candy Wars, which wasn’t really a solo game unless you just liked making and tasting candy. The other ones I knew only vaguely. You’d never catch me in Dance Universe.
Vavaka on the other hand apparently did play Dance Universe. A brief scan of his list showed he also played Galactic Zookeeper and Cosmic Power.
“What should I be looking for?” I asked Charles. “You’ve already done the work. Give it to me.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Just take a few minutes and look through it.”
I did. “This is all of it?” I asked. “Vavaka’s entire history? Nothing’s been left out?”
“No, that’s the entire thing. I asked the same question.”
“I’m not going to go through every line,” I said, “but they all match, right?”
“I can’t say I’ve gone through every line myself, but yes, I’m pretty sure they do.”
“You mean to tell me Vavaka as’Tatim has never, not once, played a Galactic Empires game without India Phoenix.”
He waggled his eyebrows. “I haven’t found one. Not in that list anyway.”
“But this is the official list,” I said. “You just told me it’s complete, unaltered.” I thought for a second. “It’s kind of weird, right, seeing exactly what someone is playing? It’s kind of like spying on them.”
“Some people don’t mind it. Lots of people have all this right there on their profile.”
“But India doesn’t,” I said. “And this is no coincidence. There’s no way this is just a coincidence.”
“Maybe they coordinated it,” he said.
“India and Vavaka?” I waved the idea away. “There’s no way India knows about this.”
“You can’t tell her,” he said.
“I wasn’t going to,” I said, not sure if it was true. “But why not?”
“Kirby specifically – specifically – said he didn’t want the Phoenix family to know he’s sharing their information.”
“Understandable,” I said. Kirby must have been a big fan of Charles to be risking sharing it at all. “But this is evidence, right? Evidence Vavaka somehow knew when India was online and what she was doing.”
“Yeah, evidence he’s a stalker,” Charles said.
Yes, that. I put the volume down and stood up, stepping out of Charles’ meditation egg to stretch my legs. I paced just outside it, thinking. He let me go round for a few minutes. Then:
“When did you first become aware of the existence of India Phoenix?” he asked, his tone of voice mocking the question from Boldt’s interview.
I shot him a glance. “What are you talking about?”
He chuckled and Max’s head poked up from the pillow. “When did you first develop your fascination with India Phoenix?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I said. “Also that’s very insensitive.”
“Listen,” he said, “I’ve got no problem with it. The more I’ve gotten to know her the more I like her, you know what I mean?” He grinned a sly grin. “You know what I mean.”
“I think I know what you’re getting at.”
“Yeah, you know what I’m getting at,” he said. I rolled my eyes. He went on: “But Vavaka, right?”
“She is engaged,” I said.
“Yes,” he said. “To a stalker. A liar. Who’s to say he wasn’t in league with Boldt the whole time?”
I gave him a look. “You’re pushing it.”
“Just saying,” he said. “Just saying.”
“I’m not going to jump to conclusions just because I don’t like the guy.”
“I knew it,” he said. “You don’t like him.”
“Which doesn’t matter,” I said.
“This dossier we’ve got on him, you got that from the Phoenixes?”
“Yes,” I said. “Pretty much all our information on Vavaka comes from Debra Rhine.”
“It’s accurate?”
“I assume so,” I said. But really I had no way of knowing. “It wasn’t very detailed.”
“No it wasn’t,” he agreed.
“What I have to decide,” I said, “is how much of this I’m going to share with Lewis.”
“You’re going to tell Lewis?”
“Charles, this is his job, not mine. I’m working for him. Assuming I’m still on the case, which I haven’t been told I’m not. So it’s my professional responsibility to keep him updated.”
“Well you know how I feel about Lewis,” Charles said. I did indeed. “I wouldn’t tell him until you figure out what’s going on.”
“I’m going to call him,” I said.
Charles shrugged. “I’ll wait.”
So I rang Lewis. He picked up almost immediately. It looked like he was in transit, leaning back against the plush passenger seat of his Lexory. I assumed Mike to be in the pilot’s seat.
“Hey little brother,” he said, a joke he enjoyed since I was the older but he was the taller. “I’m on my way to an interview with GNR.”
“Big time,” I said.
He beamed. “I know, and I’ve got another with Culture Clash later. They’re pretty much saying we brought down a terrorist. I’ve got Jack and Jerry with me. We’re going to do a segment on the news coverage in the next episode.”
“They’re not listening now, are they?” Of course they were but I wanted him to know what I had to say was sensitive.
He scrunched his eyebrows and dropped his voice. “Nothing’s recording at the moment,” he said. “What’s up?”
I knew my brother too well to believe that. “Charles and I have acquired new information about Vavaka. I need two things. First, can you find out the source of the information we received from the Phoenixes? I want to verify the information we already have.”
“Vavaka?” he repeated. “That’s on hold. The wedding has been postponed.”
“Well, that’s the second thing. Un-hold it. Charles and I need to go back to Asitot to finish our investigation.”
“What?” he said. “I can’t do that.” I just waited, knowing he would crack under the silence. “You’re sure of whatever information you have? This better be good. We’re on top of the Earth right now and in the Phoenixes’ good graces. You’re not going to screw that up are you?”
“No,” I said, though I couldn’t guarantee it. “Just trust me. I’m pretty sure they’ll thank us later.”
He sighed. “Mike’s going too.”
“No,” said Charles, listening in.
“Yes,” said Lewis, who overheard him. “I’m sending Mike. But I guess I won’t send Jerry and Jack, if this is that sensitive.”
“Fine,” I said.
“You’d better be on to something,” he said. “I’ll call you back when Mike’s worked out the arrangements.”
····15····
I left Charles and went home to wait. I was excited about the prospect of returning to Asitot. I loved travel, espe
cially to other star systems, but there was also something in me this time – an anxiousness bordering on dread – that I recognized immediately as a consequence of Kantsky. I guess some foolish part of me thought the whole thing would happen all over again, that as soon as we got through the Space Machine we would be hijacked, I would be kidnapped, tortured. And maybe not just myself but Charles or Mike, any associated pilots, stewardesses, travel guides. Everyone was in danger. I tried to tell the silly voice in my head to shut up and wondered how long it would take for the feeling to fade. My trip to Asitot had been my fourth journey out of the solar system and I had never felt any sense of dread before.
A while later Lewis came by again. It was a minor miracle, him coming by twice in the same day. Of course I half expected it this time, since I knew he’d be fishing for information and would probably need to try out a few objections to the whole thing.
“You look better,” said Mike, who came up with him. “Last time I saw you, you looked like death.”
“Thank you, Mike, I’m feeling a lot better. I appreciate the rescue.”
“It was nothing. Mostly Charles.” He put a beefy hand on my shoulder which he sometimes did when he was mistaking us for buddies. “He was really worried about you. I’m not sure he slept the whole time you were missing. You’ve got a great friend there, Mr. Lewis, a really great friend.”
Lewis moved Mike aside. “Yes of course he is, Mike. We’ve always been able to count on Charles.” He pinned me with his best business face and said, “So I went ahead and got you booked for Asitot. I’ve been working the whole day to make it happen. I assume you wanted no delay. You’ll be on a shuttle to the Space Machine tomorrow afternoon and should be on Asitot the same day.”
“Asitot day,” Mike clarified. “Not Earth day. They aren’t the same.”
“That’s perfect,” I said.
“But…” Lewis said, singing the word for its full note value, “Let me tell you something. I’m not at all sure this is a good idea and I really need you to tell me what you have that prompted this. I don’t think you’re quite well enough yet for one. You’ve just come back. You haven’t even had time to recover. “
I shook my head. “Not well enough? I’m fine. I’m one hundred percent.”
“I don’t buy that in the least. There are shadows under your eyes and you can’t even look at me straight.” That was only because he was wearing his Top Popper and it kept distracting me.
“I’m fine, Lewis. Besides, Mike will be with the whole time, right?” I looked at Mike who nodded with enthusiasm. “I’ll have a bodyguard. And Charles is no slouch either in that department.”
“Didn’t help much last time,” Lewis said and Mike’s face sharply fell. That was the thing about Lewis, he didn’t have much regard for how others would react. He just said what he thought. Honesty is a virtue, right? “I’m half inclined to go myself instead,” he said.
That of course was the height of ridiculous and gave away that he was already resigned to the matter. As long as I was committed to going he wasn’t going to get in the way. But he still demanded my “secret information” several times before I finally convinced him it was a secret that could be more dangerous the more people who knew it. I had no idea how dangerous it really was since I didn’t quite know what Vavaka’s game was yet.
“Have you told the Phoenixes anything about this?” I asked.
“No. That’s what I’m here to talk about. I really want to let them know you’re going back to Asitot. I’ll just say you’ve gone to tie up some loose ends.”
“Don’t tell them,” I said. “You can’t let them know I’m going to Asitot. I don’t want Vavaka to know. You think India will keep it from him?”
“I don’t like that.” He frowned at me. “I don’t like keeping secrets from my clients.”
“Even when those secrets are there to provide their best protection?” I played my trump card. “Just remember we’re dealing with hackers here.”
He sniffed in irritation but gave it up. “Where am I supposed to say you’ve gone?”
That was a good question because it was almost certain India at least would notice I was away. While I hoped I might only be gone a few days I couldn’t be sure. “Say I’m somewhere recovering from my very trying experiences,” I said. “Doesn’t matter where. Counseling? Therapy?” Both were safe, civilized choices after a traumatic event. A thought occurred to me. “Have you worked out where we’ll be staying? Please tell me you haven’t arranged for us to stay at Vavaka’s estate again.”
He sighed, giving me a wounded look. “I’m not an idiot, you know. Obviously Vavaka’s not supposed to know you’re coming. You are aware I didn’t like idea of staying there the first time but it was the way the Phoenixes requested it. If we’re not going to tell the Phoenixes” – he glared – “we might as well do it right.”
He flicked an encrypted itinerary to my cell, told me the passkey, then waited while I opened it and looked it over. We would be staying at a hotel that specialized in serving humans, something called Eden’s Garden. He had gotten approval from civilization enforcement for us to act under aliases for civilized investigative purposes. “You’ll be undercover,” he said. “I’ve attached details.”
“Is all this really necessary?” I wondered, but decided in the same instant it probably was a good idea. Civilization authority would have known we were going to Asitot from the Space Machine trip anyway. This way we could avoid having our names appear in the record while still not risking any breach of civilized behavior. There was probably no better way to ensure secrecy and the fact that civilization enforcement approved it meant they were taking Lewis seriously. “Never mind,” I interrupted his reply. “You’ve done good, Lewis.” He really had, to get that much done just since we had last talked.
He smiled. “You all should enjoy the trip even while you’re working. You’ve been set up as former college buddies doing a re-union star tour, so your cover is to party, party, party like it’s 2099.”
The way he said it made it sound more exhausting than fun.
I deflected his demands for more information one more time before getting rid of him then set about preparing for the trip. My background cover story was unnecessarily long and I did not see why I might need to memorize it. I supposedly had graduated cum laude with a degree in musical theology and had been teaching at an Earth colony on Jupiter’s moon Io for nine years. It didn’t sound like me and I knew very little about Io. Who came up with this stuff? It was probably because I could tinkle a bit on a keytron and Lewis thought I had talent but honestly I could barely name the notes I was playing.
Charles was an athletics coach – a good fit – and Mike supposedly a 3V audio technician. I hope that didn’t mean Lewis was still going to try to use Mike to get recordings for his show.
Anyway I put all that away for the trip and decided to relax. I thought about calling Shondra or Paul or Michelle, the friends I had missed so desperately when under the hand of Kantsky. All had sent me messages when they had seen my name on the news. But I felt exhausted just thinking about talking to someone else and ashamed of myself to realize it.
Instead I went for a book but despite there being plenty on the shelves it took me forever to pick one. I finally settled on a classic from the twenties, The Eye of Set, because it seemed to have an interesting story but was written in a boring style I could fall asleep to. I didn’t realize that’s what I was looking for until I found it.
I lay on my flexiform reading couch, which isn’t nearly as comfortable as Charles’ meditation egg but does the job. It at least keeps me from having to use legs and elbows to prop the book up where I can see it.
I fell asleep in no time. Despite what I had told Lewis I was not one hundred percent, not nearly. I was mentally, physically, even spiritually drained. It was difficult to think, and I was too tired to want to.
And I dreamed once again of the happy caterpillars that ate the worries out of my brain lik
e the raisins in an oatmeal cookie. They did not all look the same. They weren’t the same color or really the same shape. They were all worms but some were thick, short, long, some with bulbous knots along the form. The colors were bright, vivid, flower-like colors. There was my brain on a China dinner platter – I saw it in the dream and knew it to be my brain, I don’t know how – and there were the colorful little crawlers, spilling off the plate and onto a table, and then I realized I had a fork in my hand.
“Eat,” one of the caterpillars urged me. “Go ahead and eat.”
I don’t think I did but I’m not sure as the dream transitioned somehow and I found myself back on the Alice couch with India in a virtual environment that was not very well done. India looked like a cartoon character, an illustrated version of herself, and her expression – a comic version of her trademark pout – never changed throughout the dream.
We argued about something but I don’t remember what. It was either about Vavaka or about the decision to return to Asitot or both.
I woke up knowing I had to go visit her before I left.
I sent her a message first and the speed of her reply made me think she was looking forward to it. I had no idea what to expect. I had seen clips of their mansion on 3V and couldn’t imagine what the life was like but her message said I could come in easy enough through the garage on the roof. But what was I flying? Security guarded the airspace pretty tightly.
I told her – an EI Vordisimo – and she laughed and asked if I wanted someone to pick me up. The Vordisimo flew just fine, I assured her.
I spent more time getting ready then I should have, making sure I looked just right, didn’t smell too bad. It took about twenty minutes to get there. She lived west of Fort Worth in a neighborhood that immediately made my Vordisimo seem out of place.
