Mute (8 page)

Knot was impressed. “I suppose not. But—”

“Now we come to your own psionic talent. Aren’t you even curious what CC has in mind for you?”

“Not the disposition of radioactive wastes?”

“I have no idea. I doubt that forgetting about such wastes would be a good solution, though, so it probably isn’t that. But if you don’t join, you’ll never know, will you?”

Now the electricity outside was abating, and with it the show of leg and shadow. He could depart. But Knot remained. “You think there is anything for me, anywhere close to the value of the transmutation of lead into diamond or whatever? Anything that my forgetting talent could accomplish?” The question was rhetorical; obviously the leadmuter was potentially the most important man in the galaxy.

“All I know is this: the leadmuter was only the pretext. It is you CC wants.”

“But that implies—”

“That you are something extremely special. That is why I, one of CC’s most able interviewers, was sent to you, instead of a routine enforcement squad.”

“Is your head packed with all the knowledge of the universe?”

She laughed. “Impressed you, didn’t I! No, after I saw my recording of the leadmuter, I did some research and memorization. I don’t really understand what I’m talking about, in heavy metals or physics. CC thought this line of presentation would be effective with you.”

“The big machine was right. It’s an effective presentation. I’m impressed. But that doesn’t mean I’ll join CC. For one thing, I simply don’t believe I’m that important.”

“You don’t have to believe. You just have to do what is required. CC pays well—in more currency than money. You can probably name your price.”

“Such as the protection of the leadmuter and my enclave?”

“In addition to such things.”

Despite himself, Knot was intrigued. How far would Finesse and CC go? “How about Mit and Hermine—?”

I thought you’d never ask?
Hermine put in.
Mit says we’ve already been assigned to you.

“And you,” he finished, flicking his gaze from her thigh to her face.

“Wasn’t that a foregone conclusion?” Finesse inquired. “Or am I losing my touch?”

“Was it? Ask Mit.”

It was,
the weasel assured them.

“And you are willing?” he asked incredulously. Finesse nodded soberly.

“You sell yourself?”

“If the price is correct.”

“If CC orders you to.”

“Yes.” She seemed to feel no shame in this. She had been quite serious when she said she owed CC a lot.

“You give yourself to an asymmetrical mutant? You’re a beautiful normal!” Knot was getting disgusted, but was also fatally intrigued.

“You understate the case,” she said. “You are a minimum physical mutant, yes; that aspect of you hardly sweeps a girl off her normal feet, and I’m no fetishist. But I’ve dealt with many more grotesque mutants than you, and many much duller normals than you. You are not repulsive, taken as a whole. But your psi power—that is quite another matter. It is enormous, it is subtle, it is beautiful. It undercut me completely—and I have had experience with psi before. It is rare; there is no other like it in CC’s files, which means it is probably unique. How much it is worth inherently I don’t know, but there is considerable value in its rarity. For association with such psi I would sell my soul, let alone my mere body.”

“You can’t even remember my power!” Knot exclaimed, unreasonably flattered by her forceful statement.

“Yes I can. The same way York does. Once I have the recording, my memory is secure. Your power is primary, not secondary; the subject has to interact with you directly to be affected. So with the help of technology I can counter your power—but I remain dazzled by it. How I envy you psi-mutants!”

“
You
envy
me!
” Knot said in unfeigned wonder.

“But don’t be naive about price. When you join CC, you can specify any kind of company you want—or CC will provide a woman for you more exactly tailored to your tastes than you can now imagine. I am grossly imperfect for you, and so is your secretary York; once you meet this one—”

“Am I going to ask for such a woman?”

No,
Hermine thought.
You’re such an independent cuss, you will refuse as a matter of foolish principle. Finesse has already netted you, even though you know better.

“You will preserve the semblance of self-determination by making your own flawed selection,” Finesse said, frowning prettily. “You are guided more by appearance and personality and familiarity than by logic. Mit knows. Do you think for half an instant I would have broached the subject, otherwise?”

Yes, he thought, if she wanted to convert him without having to keep him. Bait and switch. But he hoped Hermine had not intercepted that thought.

Smart man,
the weasel thought.
But you still have power. She can’t switch you unless you wish to be switched.

“And if I don’t join CC?” Knot demanded. “How much of you would I see then?”

“That’s academic. But speaking theoretically, I would say that in such a case I would be reassigned elsewhere and would not meet you again.”

“So you are the carrot before the ass.”

“Donkey,” she corrected him. “And I prefer to think of myself as a plum. The symbolism is more conclusive.”

“I adhere to my terms. You are making me bray. I swore I would not join, yet here I am negotiating terms. Are you really ignorant why CC wants me?”

She is.

“Yes. But Mit might know. His range is limited, but sometimes when he orients on a particular person—”

Big awful threat,
Hermine thought.
Mit says something will destroy the empire. Many people and animals will die, and CC will be helpless. Only seven individuals can stop it, and three are enemies of CC, and one is insane. Two are animals. You alone remain—and for you the chance of success is one in ten.

Finesse’s eyes widened. “Oh, Knot—I read that too! I didn’t know it was that bad!”

True?
he thought at the weasel.

Half true. She suspected.

She would have to have suspected, he realized. If a person as valuable as the leadmuter were only a pretext to reach Knot, he would have to be virtually invaluable. But the whole thing could be a gross exaggeration to evoke his galactic patriotism. It was easier for him to believe that CC would lie about his importance, than to believe that he really was the most important man in the galaxy. How could he be important, when no one remembered him?

Awful smart man,
Hermine thought.
Mit says that because you are the one who can do what CC needs done, you are most important to CC.

So he was the nail for the shoe for the horse for the messenger who could save the kingdom. That just might make sense. Circumstance could make little things important, on occasion.

“I don’t know whether I really want to save CC,” Knot said seriously. “But it sounds like one hell of a challenge.”

“You do like challenges,” she said.

“It’s more that I feel compelled to rise to them. You come auditing my enclave, I’m turned off; you bring me a challenge that involves my hidden power, I’m hooked. Why didn’t you mention the challenge at the outset?”

“My first visit was exploratory; I thought you understood that. I didn’t know what your power was, only that you had one CC was interested in. CC is interested in lots of people; it is constantly gathering data and locating mutants. So it was my job to put you through your paces and make my report. I did that. CC was impressed. It seems it had an inkling of your power, despite—or because of—certain lapses of information, lacunae in the files, and such. It wanted to see if that power could deceive an interviewer who was not specifically braced for it. If it could fool a CC interviewer, it could fool almost anyone. It seems CC needs to fool someone. I was fooled.” She grimaced adorably. “My second visit was to recruit you.”

“I did my best to remain inconspicuous. But I think CC could have run me down years ago, had it really tried. Why didn’t it act before?”

“I can only conjecture. I think it is to CC’s advantage to keep some talents in reserve. Any agent it develops and uses is soon known to whatever enemies it has. So it must constantly recruit unknown ones, and do it in ways that do not betray its intent.

When a special need arises, it draws on its reserves—and it seems the need has now arisen for a good psi memory-erasure specialist.”

“I don’t erase memories. I merely prevent the memory of me from registering in a person’s permanent recollection. It is pretty specific, relating only to me and my actions. Like doctoring a photograph to remove one person, without leaving evidence of that doctoring.”

“That can be quite a feat.”

“Still, it is hardly on a par with transmuting lead to gold, or whatever else.”

“I know,” she said, frowning prettily. “I admit it doesn’t seem like much with which to save the galaxy. But it must be an excellent power for a secret agent. At any rate, have you become resigned to your fate?”

“You are inquiring yet again whether I am joining CC? Seems to me I have made my attitude plain enough.”

“Not whether you are joining; I know you are. I asked whether you are resigned to that fact. I’d rather have you join satisfied than join unsatisfied.”

“The answer, to whatever question, is no.” Knot got up and walked out of the cave.

You can’t do it,
Mit warned through Hermine.
Your course is predetermined. You can only make it more difficult for yourself, forcing yourself to yield ungracefully.

Like hell!
he thought back.

“Why be difficult?” Finesse demanded, scrambling up after him. Regardless whether she believed in predestination, her pride had obviously been stung. “Oh!”

Knot turned at her exclamation. She had tripped and sprawled. He hurried back to help her. “I didn’t ask you to fall for me. Are you hurt?”

Naughty man! Is that a human pun? About falling?

“Oh, go away,” Finesse said, pouting charmingly. “It’s nothing.” She touched one ankle and winced.

“You might have sprained an ankle,” he said, not believing it.

“Let me see.”

Touch her and you are lost,
Hermine warned.

Knot put his right hand on her ankle. It was an extremely nice ankle, smooth and warm, tapering into the kind of calf and leg only normals could generate.

“Give that back!” she cried, jerking her leg away. In the process she showed the upper portion of her leg, the inner thigh beneath her skirt, without the benefit of concealing shadow. The view was accidental, and therefore compelling. “It’s not hurt.”

“My touch offends you now?” he asked. “The lowly mute may not lay hands on the celestial normal?”

“You think I’m trying to vamp you with a fake injury!” she exclaimed.

Isn’t she?
he asked Hermine.

No. She meant to vamp you intellectually, this time. She feels that is more permanent. You’re too smart for the straight physical approach. She took a spill, making herself look foolish. She is angry again, because the fall was unintentional. She was distracted. Her ankle hurts.

“I apologize for what I thought,” Knot said.

Finesse melted. “No, you’re only trying to help. I do not take gracefully to falls or other lapses of dignity.”

“So Hermine told me. Did she also keep you posted about my thoughts?”

“Yes.”

“She’s a little tattletale.”

“She enjoys it. You two get along very well.”

“And did she tell you I saw up your leg?”

“Of course. She takes special glee in news like that.”

“It’s some leg.”

“Nature worked very hard on it.”

“Um.”

“Men are fools. No woman would let the sight of a man’s leg sway her from her ignorant determination.”

“True.”

No weasel either,
Hermine put in.

“You really like my leg?”

“I like all of you.”

“Even my temper?”

“That’s the best part of you.”

“Better than my leg?”

“Well—”

“The lightning has abated. My recorder is operating again.”

He blinked. “What has that to do with what I’m thinking?”

“I don’t want to forget a moment of this.” She opened her arms to him.

“I’m not agreeing to join CC!” he protested.

“But you will allow me to complete my mission by bringing you in for a direct CC interview?”

“Direct off-world interview? Never!”

“To plead your case for the leadmuter’s welfare. If you don’t join, that remains in doubt. You need to convince CC that your way is best, and you can do that effectively only in person. Anyone else would forget your message, unless you made a hologram, and that would further betray your nature,”

“You’re very clever”

“CC employs only the cleverest.”

“All right,” he said grudgingly. “One CC interview, on the subject of my choosing. I’ll leave directly after that.”

You will never leave,
Hermine thought.
You touched her, you saw her leg. The point of decision has passed. Fool.

“I am indeed a fool,” Knot agreed, and swept Finesse in, kissing her hungrily. She was delicious.

CHAPTER 3:

Finesse drove him to the spaceport. The vehicle was a summer sleigh, generating a layer of ice on its underside that slid across the road surface. It steered by changing the temperature of the ice on one side or the other, and braked by letting it melt too far. A jet of ice-fog provided the initial propulsion. This made a somewhat jerky ride, at times rather cold, but it was fast and fun. They sat close together, sharing a fluffy blanket: that was part of what made it fun.

Knot experienced nostalgia for this countryside, suspecting that despite his best intent and endeavor he would not see it again.

But maybe he didn’t have to suffer false premonitions. He now had the services of a precog—for what that was worth.
Hermine—does Mit know? Will I return here?