Antagonist - Childe Cycle 11 (45 page)

He
walked
across
to
her,
his
long
legs
in
their
dark
gray
trousers and
black
boots
covering
the
distance
quickly
even
though
he
was pulling
his
oversize
chair
with
him.
He
placed
the
chair
in
a
position
to
her
left
front,
a
move
Pallas
recognized,
from
her
training
at
Others'
headquarters
on
Association,
as
designed
to
avoid
the
confrontational
connotations
of
a
face-to-face
situation.

"I
won't
ask
how
you're
feeling,"
he
said,
smiling
at
her.
His white
teeth
gleamed
out
of
the
lightly
tanned
face
beneath
his
dark hair,
and
the
collar
of
his
white
work
shirt
was
open.
Even
seated, he
seemed
to
tower
above
her.
"Not
because
I
don't
care,
but
because
I
know
what
Kaj
Menowsky
has
learned
about
you,
and
what you've
told
Toni."

She
found
herself
relaxing.
She
really
could
use
a
little
more sleep,
she
thought.
That
slight
accent
that
colored
his
speech
pattern
was
quite
pleasant
to
listen
to
...

"Everyone
assures
me
you
haven't
been
damaged,"
Bleys
Ahrens was
continuing,
"and
that
you've
been
making
a
solid
and
fast
recovery.
We're
all
glad
to
hear
it,
and
we're
determined
to
make
sure that
whatever
happened
to
you
doesn't
happen
to
you—or
to
anyone else
among
our
people—ever
again."
His
last
words
had
taken
on
a cold
tone,
while
his
eyes
seemed
suddenly
to
become
hard,
his
jaw muscles
to
tighten.

Pallas'
eyes
opened
wide,
and
she
sat
up
in
her
chair.
She
had
not been
thinking
in
terms
of
anger,
but
Bleys'
words
seemed
to
fan some
hidden
ember
inside
her.

"What
did
happen
to
me?"
she
asked.
"And
who
did
it?
I
don't remember
anything
at
all,
and
Antonia
Lu
said
she
didn't
know much—"

"And
we
don't
know
much,"
Bleys
said,
his
voice
again
low
and calm,
soothing.
In
response,
he
noted,
her
breathing
slowed,
the skin
around
her
eyes
loosening
a
little.
The
purposeful
manipulation
of
her
emotions
into
a
series
of
quick
variations
would,
he
knew, leave
her
more
susceptible
to
his
suggestions
than
she
might
otherwise
be.

"I'm
going
to
tell
you
everything
we've
learned
so
far,"
he
went on,
putting
just
a
hint
of
a
smile
on
the
edge
of
his
serious,
determined
expression.
"I'd
like
you
to
listen
carefully,
and
tell
me
whenever
you
hear
something
you
think
is
incorrect,
or
whenever
you remember
anything—anything
at
all.
Will
you
do
that?"

"Of
course,"
she
said.
Her
chin
lifted
slightly
as
her
voice
became
a
little
stronger.
"You
can
count
on
me." "I
thought
so,"
he
said,
looking
pleased.

Immediately,
his
trained
perceptions
noted
that
she
was
reacting positively
to
his
approval.
He
leaned
forward
in
his
chair,
an
action that
had
the
twin
effects
of
bringing
his
eyes
down
to
the
level
of hers
and
moving
his
face
closer
to
hers.
He
could
see
the
pupils
of her
eyes
dilating
in
response
to
the
increased
sense
of
intimacy
he had
evoked.

"As
you
know,"
he
began,
"there
were
two
attacks
on
my
party while
we
were
on
tour."
She
nodded,
her
eyes,
large
and
grave,
focused
on
his
face.

"Of
course,
we
let
you
know
we
were
all
right."
She
nodded again.

"What
we
didn't
tell
you,"
he
continued,
"was
that
after
thinking about
the
implications
of
the
attack,
we
became
concerned
that
you yourself"—her
head
drew
back
a
little—"as
well
as
your
colleagues,
might
be
in
some
danger,
too."

"I
think
I
see
what
you're
saying,"
she
said,
her
words
quiet
and timid
at
first,
but
strengthening
and
coming
faster
as
she
continued: "You're
suggesting
that
the
attack
on
you
might
not
have
been
due to
your
position
as
a
Friendly
official,
but
to
your
work
as—as
one of
us."

"Exactly,"
he
said,
smiling
at
her.
"Of
course
we
didn't
know
the reason
for
the
attack,
since
the
people
who
planted
the
bomb
weren't found;
but
we
decided
to
take
no
chances,
and
I
ordered
some
of
my security
people
to
stand
guard
over
your
offices—and
over
you
personally."

"But
why
didn't
you
tell
me?"
Pallas
said.
"I
could
certainly have—"

"That
was
a
hard
decision,"
he
interrupted
her,
"but
one
I
made personally."
He
paused
to
look
her
straight
in
the
eye,
as
if
offering her
a
chance
to
challenge
him.

"That's
what
my
main
job
in
this
organization
is,"
he
said.
"I make
decisions.
Every
organization
has
to
have
someone
to
do that—someone
who
can
do
it,
and
do
it
well,
even
when
the
situation
is
.
.
.
difficult."