Trickster (41 page)

 
The green thumb, which bore Elena Papagos-Faye's print, also worked as advertised, and in a few moments, Ben had a complete set of blueprints and diagrams for the entire Collection. Ben logged off the system, shut it down, and ran a relieved hand through his hair.

 
"We're done," he said.

 
"All that sweat to get keys and prints, and it only took ten minutes to get what we needed?" Gretchen said. "You didn't even use the yellow thumb."

 
"We don't need to access research and medical quite yet," Ben said. "Or so Kendi says."

 
Gretchen leveled a hard look at him. "You don't know the whole plan either, do you?"

 
"No. But Kendi will tell us what we need to know when we need to know it."

 
"I'm sensing reluctance," Gretchen smirked. "You're as ticked as I am. Admit it."

 
"I trust Kendi."

 
"Of course you do," Gretchen scoffed. "You're both still Silent and Kendi's still your goddammed--"

 
"Sister Gretchen!" Lucia interrupted, stepping in front of Ben and leveling a hard look of her own. "I think we're done here, don't you?"

 
Gretchen met her gaze and ran her tongue around the inside of her mouth with small smacking noises. After a long moment, she said, "Yeah. I think we're done. You do what you need to, church girl. I'm going back to the ship."

 
And she stomped out of the room.

 
"What was that about?" Prasad asked.

 
"I can't be angry at her," Lucia said absently. "She's lost too much."

 
Ben, who was struggling to keep his own temper, took a deep breath and nodded. "Agreed. I just hope she can finish her part in this."

 
"She will," Lucia said. "I think this sort of thing is all that keeps her going."

 
Harenn pressed the dermospray to Bedj-ka's arm and pressed the release. The drugs
thumped
home. Bedj-ka rubbed his arm, then rubbed his nose.

 
"I gave you medication to relieve your cough and fever along with the anti-viral," Harenn said. "You will be fine after a good night's sleep."

 
She turned to the small crate on the counter behind her. The words
Biological Agent: Handle With Care
marched along the side like red soldiers, and Harenn opened the top as if it might explode.

 
"Can I talk to my dad?" Bedj-ka asked behind her.

 
Harenn closed her eyes. It was the question she had been dreading. She pushed the crate aside and laid her palms on the cool counter top without looking around. "Why?"

 
"I want to see him," Bedj-ka replied. "I want to find out why he did it."

 
"It is a poor idea, my son." Harenn turned around. Her stomach felt like a ball of heavy ice. "He will only say things that hurt you. Perhaps later you will understand why I cannot let you--"

 
Bedj-ka's jaw firmed, and in that moment he looked amazingly like Isaac. "I want to see him. You said I can make my own choices now that I'm free."

 
"Within reasonable limits, yes."

 
"Mater and Pater said the same thing in the Enclave."

 
"It is hardly the same thing. You know this very well."

 
"All I know is you won't let me see my dad."

 
Her first crisis as a mother. Harenn had often watched other parents deal with problems among their children and felt a stab of envy. Now that it was happening to her, however, she found herself wishing the situation would go away. The whole thing was a trap. If she agreed Bedj-ka's demand, she was setting him up for a world of hurt. If she refused him, it could create a serious rift between them at a time when their relationship was still forming. She couldn't win, no matter what she did. Hatred for Isaac rolled thick and black. If he hadn't spoken when he had, none of this would be happening. If he hadn't stolen Bedj-ka away in the first place, none of this would be happening. If . . . if . . . if . . .

 
"Very well," Harenn said at last. "You may talk to him during the procedure." That way, at least, Bedj-ka wouldn't be left alone with him.

 
"Thanks, Mom." Bedj-ka's eyes were wide and bright.

 
"But first I have a few small tasks to attend," she said. "When I am finished, I will bring him down. You may sit and wait over there."

 
Bedj-ka retired to the indicated chair without further comment. Harenn opened the little crate, extracted a plastic vial filled with clear liquid, and slotted it into the microscope. She examined the virus on the holographic display with a critical eye. It looked like a clump of snowflakes. Harenn nodded.

 
"What's that for?" Bedj-ka asked.

 
"This I cannot explain to you," she replied. "But it is very important to Father Kendi."

 
"My ears are burning," Kendi said as he entered the medical bay. "I came down to see how the gene scan is going."

 
Harenn gestured at the cryo-unit, which sat on a counter across the room. A computer lead was attached to it and the unit's lights were flashing briskly. "The computer is running comparisons. It will take some time."

 
"How is everything else going?"

 
"I am examining the biological shipment," Harenn told him. "Would you do me a favor? Go get Isaac and bring him here."

 
Kendi shot Bedj-ka a look and Harenn braced herself for a barrage of questions. But Kendi merely gave a brief nod and left. Bedj-ka fidgeted on his stool while Harenn put a sample of the virus into a dermospray.

 
"Mom," he said at last, "what will happen to me once we're done here?"

 
"You will come home to Bellerophon and live with me, of course. And you will attend school. When you get older, you can decide to apprentice in a trade or business, or you can attend a university. The monastery for the Children of Irfan instructs more than just the Silent, and they have many fine programs. Or you can do something else entirely. When we get back--"

 
"You mean
if
we get back," Bedj-ka interrupted.

 
Harenn set down the dermospray. "If?"

 
"I hear stuff. I don't know everything about what's going on, but I know it's dangerous and if someone makes a mistake, we'll all be dead."

 
His matter-of-fact tone brought a chill to Harenn's skin. "I suppose you are correct in this. But we will not fail, Bedj-ka. Father Kendi and the others are skilled, intelligent people. We will let nothing harm you."

 
Bedj-ka didn't look convinced. Before Harenn could respond further, however, Kendi arrived with a sullen Isaac Todd in tow. Bedj-ka got uneasily to his feet. Isaac caught sight of Bedj-ka, opened his mouth, then snapped it shut and looked at Harenn.

 
"He wishes to speak to you," Harenn said. "You may respond, but remember that I will be listening. It is best that you do not lie, Isaac."

 
Bedj-ka looked at Isaac without speaking. An uncomfortable silence fell over the medical bay. Kendi leaned against one wall, arms folded, expression neutral.

 
"What did you want to say?" Isaac finally asked.

 
"Why did you sell me?" Bedj-ka blurted out.

 
With a glance at Harenn, Isaac stammered, "I don't . . . look, I . . . ah, hell." He closed his eyes. "Plain and simple, I needed the money. Look, it was nothing personal. It was just that--"

 
He never finished. Bedj-ka flung himself at his father, both fists flying. "I hate you!" he screamed. "I hate you hate you hate you
hate you!
" One of his blows made a solid connection, and Isaac's breath whooshed out of his lungs. Another fist slammed into Isaac's groin. He paled and doubled over just as Kendi pulled Bedj-ka away. Harenn realized she hadn't been able to move throughout the entire exchange.

 
"I hate you!" Bedj-ka struggled in Kendi's arms. "You sold me away and I hate you!"

 
"Harenn!" Kendi barked.

 
Harenn unfroze. "Take him up to our quarters. I'll deal with Isaac and come right up."

 
"Hurry." Kendi carried the still-screaming Bedj-ka out of the medical bay, leaving Isaac on the floor. Harenn dragged him to his feet and sat him on one of the examination beds. His face was still pale with pain.

 
"Now he is hysterical, thanks to you," Harenn said. "Think of this as your reward." She pressed the dermospray to his arm and thumbed the release.

 
"What the hell was that?" Isaac gasped, arms crossed over his abdomen from the kick he had received.

 
"If you are referring to Bedj-ka's attack, I should think that was self-explanatory," Harenn replied. "And I shall definitely have to enroll him in a martial arts class. He has talent. If you are referring to the dermospray--have you ever had gelpox?"

 
"No."

 
"Good. I will take you back to your room and there you will stay. By this time tomorrow, if everything goes well, we will be far away from this horrible place."

 
"What about me?"

 
"I imagine you will have a long conversation with the Guardians back on Bellerophon, and then you will have more conversations with police forces on other worlds. Enjoy what freedom you have, Isaac. You will have even less of it very soon."

 
Kendi flopped down onto Harenn's sofa with a sigh. Dealing with hysterical nine-year-old boys wasn't in his job description, unless they had snuck it in when he wasn't looking. On the other hand, he supposed, it was good practice for becoming a father--small "f." Assuming he and Ben got through this whole thing in one piece, anyway.

 
The door slid open and Harenn entered. "Where is he?" she asked without preamble.

 
"In his room. He calmed down and said he wanted to be alone, though I'm sure you'll want to talk to him anyway. I can recommend a good counselor when we get back to Bellerophon."

 
Harenn lowered her voice. "
If
we get back."

 
She was echoing his earlier thought, but he forced a smile anyway. "Pessimist."

 
"Realist," she corrected.

 
"If you want, Harenn, we can put you and Bedj-ka on the Emporium's ship. You'll both be safe there, and if you injected Todd--"

 
"I did."

 
"--then you don't need to stick around for the end. I'll let you know how it works out, I promise."

 
Harenn opened her mouth, then clamped it shut. Now that she no longer wore her veil, Kendi found it easy to read her expression. He knew she felt it was her duty to stay, help Kendi free his family the way he had helped Harenn free hers. But now she had to think of Bedj-ka's safety instead of just her own. Kendi had been counting on that.

 
At last she said, "Very well. I must check on Isaac in an hour to make sure the injection took, and then I will take Bedj-ka over to the Emporium. He will probably enjoy that very much, come to think of it." She stood up. "I should go talk to him."

 
Kendi gave a small sigh of relief that she had agreed so readily and rose as well. "I have a few other things to finish up, too. And then we're going to have a briefing. The last one."

 
"Only for this mission. There will be others."

 
"That sounded suspiciously like optimism, Madame Realist."

 
"Yes." Harenn took Kendi's hand and squeezed it. "Kendi, I hope you know I did not mean what I said about your plan being selfish. I am very grateful to you."

 
"I know."

 
"If we do not meet again, I want you to know that I am glad to have served with you--and under you." She looked up at him, brown eyes meeting brown eyes. "You have made history once, Father Kendi Weaver, and I think you are going to make it again."

 
"By rescuing a handful of Silent from SA? Hardly."

 
"No. I mean later. Great people rarely touch the universe only once." She stood on tiptoe, kissed him lightly on the cheek, and hurried into Bedj-ka's room.

 
"They're going to do it tonight, sir, or perhaps early tomorrow morning."

 
"How do you know, Mr. Todd?"

 
"Harenn told me that by this time tomorrow, they would be far away from SA Station."

 
"Have you learned the Father's name yet? We have extensive files on the Children of Irfan, and it would be easier to keep a lookout if we knew what he looked like."

 
"I still haven't caught his name, sir. He has dark skin, curly black hair, and dark eyes."

 
"That describes half the humans who live on this station, Mr. Todd."

 
"Tall, on the thin side."

 
"Your powers of description leave much to be desired."

 
"Sorry, sir. They're still planning to infect the Father's family with gelpox and tamper with the computer diagnostics to make you think they have something more serious and sell them away cheap." He grimaced. "Harenn injected me with gelpox to test the viability of the virus. In a couple days, I won't be feeling very good."

 
"Gelpox is a child's disease, Mr. Todd--a mere inconvenience. You shouldn't worry yourself."