"Jordan's not a killer," Justin said. "He's not like that. Whatever happened was an accident. He made his mistake in trying to cover it, that's what I know happened."
"How do you know it?"
"I know my father."
"Even after twenty years?"
"Yes."
He was close to the upturn, when the drug would fade. And she was all but hoarse from questions and from strain.
She thought: I almost know enough to take on what Ari did. Almost. But he's not the boy she worked with.
I could Work him to make him want me. So easily. So easily.
She remembered the tape, remembered it with sexual flashes that troubled her.
And thought, thinking of the possible intersections with so many, many knot-ups in his sets: Damn, no. Damn, damn, Ari, not so fast, not so reckless.
I could make him happy. I could take all of that away
Politics is real and everything else takes second place, he knows thatThere's that on top of everything that's wrong in him.
I could make him worry less. I can make him trust me more.
Is even thatfair? Or safein the world the way it is, or inside Reseune?
She got up, cut the recorder off and sat down on the edge of the couch beside him. She touched his face very gently, saw the monitor blips increase. "Hush, it's all right, it's all right" she said, until she could get the monitor blips down again.
"Justin," she said when it was running even, "I believe you. You'd never hurt me. You'd never let me be hurt. I know all those things. I don't think they're going to make a move on Grantnot now that I've got you on record. I can tell my uncle what I have, and at the same time I'll tell him Grant's in my wing, and he'd better not move against him. That's what I'm prepared to do, because I believe you. Do you understand me?"
"Yes." A little flutter from the monitor.
"Don't be anxious about this place. This is my home. My predecessor isn't here anymore. That's all gone. That's all gone. You're safe here. I want you to remember these things. I can't get what I'd like out of hospital, without them knowing I'm doing thisbut I want you to do the deep-fix for me, the way Grant could do it. Can you do that? Bear down hard, feel good, and remember this."
"Yes. . . ."
"I want you to think: I'm going to believe this forever. I promise you, if you trust me, if you come to me and if Grant comes to me when you need help, I'll do the best I can. You can rest now. You'll wake up feeling fine, and you'll be all right. Do you hear me?"
"Yes."
No flutter now, just a strong, steady beat. She got up, signaled Florian and Catlin to be very quiet, patted Justin gently on the shoulder. You stay with him, she signaled Florian.
And to Catlin, in the hall, she said: "What's the news?"
"Nothing more than we had," Catlin said.
"Stand by in case Florian needs you." She went to her own office and phoned Denys directly.
"Seely," she said, "I need Denys, right now." And when Denys came on: "Uncle Denys, how are you?"
"I'm quite well, Ari, how are you?"
"I wanted to tell you something. I've gotten very nervous about the situation, you know, with Grant being out and all, and Grant is vulnerable, so I asked Justin to talk with me about it"
"Ari, this involves exterior Security. I strongly suggest you let this alone."
"I've done it already. I want an order, uncle Denys, for Grant to be immune to Security, I don't care if something should go on at Planys with Jordan, I have an agreement with Justin"
"I'm sorry, Ari, this isn't at all wise. You don't tie down your Security people. You have no business making promises to Justin, especially to Justin. I've talked to you about this."
"This is the agreement, uncle Denys. Justin's agreed to take a probe with my security."
"Ari, you're interfering in a matter you have no expertise in whatsoever, that involves your safety. I won't have that."
"Uncle Denys, I've been thinking a lot. It runs like this: I'm getting a lot more grown-up. People couldn't ever make a campaign out of killing a cute kid. Paxers and all these groups haven't come out into the open all at once just by coincidence. They see me getting older, they know that I'm real, they know I'm going to be a lot of trouble to them someday, and they're going to throw everything they've got at me in the next few years. But you know what occurs to me, uncle Denys? That could be true on this staff too, inside Reseune. And I'm not going to have my staff tampered with by anybody except me."
"Ari, that's halfway prudent, but you're meddling with a kind of situation you're not equipped to deal with."
"I perfectly well am, uncle Denys. I'm not going to be reasonable on this. I want Grant back without any problems. Florian's going to meet the plane and bring him up here, and I'm going to talk to him, myself, with trank. If I find out anyone else has, I'm going to be real upset. I don't care if it's Jordan, or if it's Reseune Security, either one, I'm going to be real upset."
"Ari, "
"I'm just telling you, uncle Denys. I know you don't like it. And I don't want to fight with you. Look at it from my point of view. You're getting up there in years, you could have a stroke or somethingwhere would that leave me, if I don't have control of my own wing? I'd have to trust a lot of people all of a sudden, without knowing what's going on. And I don't ever want to be in that situation, uncle Denys."
"We've got to talk about this."
"We can. Only I want your promise that you're not going to let Security touch Grant even if you think Jordan did something to him: I'll tell you how Justin feels about itif Jordan did something like that, Justin would be real mad. And that would mean Justin would be on my side about it. But if you did, then Justin would be mad at me. There's an old proverb about muddying up the water, do you know it? I'm getting old enough I don't want other people's notions of what's good for me muddying up the waters I have to swim in for the rest of my life, uncle Denys. That's exactly what it comes down to."
"I appreciate your feelings, Ari, but you'd better gather your data before you interfere with an operation, not after."
"We can talk about this as much as you like and you give me advice I know is going to be worth listening to. But then's then. Now is, I'm not going to have them messed with by anybody. They're in my wing and I've made promises I'm going to keep. If you do anything else, you cut me down with my own staff, and I'm not going to have that, uncle Denys. That's a promise."
There was a long silence on the other end. "Have you discussed with Justin the chance that Grant might have been tampered with?"
"He's afraid of it. He's the one brought it up with me. He's willing to trust me in this, uncle Denys, not Reseune Security, strange as that may seembut then, by what he tells me Reseune Security isn't very polite. I've got his deposition that Grant went out of here clean, uncle Denys. I've got it under deep probe, and I'm quite sure of it. So we'll find out when Grant gets back, won't we? I'll be happy to lend you a transcript of the interview."
Another long silence. "That's very kind of you. Dammit, Ari, Justin's got medical cautions, he's got major problems, I don't care if he thought this would be better, you're a seventeen-year-old kid"