"It's true."
"You haven't answered, have you?"
"No." Panic pressed on him. He felt sick inside.
"The whole situation with the Project," Petros said, "has bothered you quite a bit, hasn't it?"
"Live and let live. I'm sorry for the kid. I'm sure you've got all the benefit of Security's eavesdropping in my apartment. I hope you get a lot of entertainment out of the intimate bits."
"Justin."
"You can go to hell too, Petros."
"Justin. Tell me the truth. Areyou still getting tape-flashes?"
"No."
"You're sure."
"Yes, I'm sure."
"You felt a lot of stress when you walked into the party, didn't you?
"Hell, no. Why should I?"
"I think that's your answer," Petros said to Giraud. "He came in there stressed. Both of them did. Ari had no trouble picking up on it. That's all there is to it. I don't think it was intended. I'm more disturbed about Justin's state of mind. I think it's just best he go back to his wing, and show up at family functions, and carry on as normally as he can. I don't think anything useful is served by a probe. He's carrying enough stress as it is. I do want him to come in for counseling."
"Giraud," Denys said, "if you believeyoung Ari's sensitivities, bear in mind she wasn't afraid of Justin. Stressed as he was, she wasn't afraid of him. Quite the opposite."
"I don't like that either." Giraud drew a breath and leaned back, looking at Justin from under his brows. "You'll take Petros' prescription. If he tells me you're not cooperating, you'll be tending a precip station before sundown. Hear me?"
"Yes, ser."
"You'll go on working. If something takes you across Ari's path, you speak to her or not according to your judgment, whichever will provoke the least curiosity. You'll show up at Family functions. If she speaks to you, be pleasant. No more than that. You stray off that line, you'll be in here again and I won't be in a good mood. And that goes for Grant, just the same. You make it clear to him. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, ser." Like any azi. Quiet. Respectful. It's a trap. It'll still close. There's something more to this.
"You can go. Open the door, Abban."
The door did open. He shoved himself out of his chair. Denys did the same. He made it as far as the door and Denys went out it with him, caught his arm, steered him past Security out into the small box of the entry hall and out again into the main corridor.
Then Denys tugged him to a stop. "Justin."
He stayed stopped. He was shaking, still. But defiance did not serve anything.
"Justin, you're under a lot of pressure. But you know and I know—there's no memory transfer. It's notthe old Ari. We don't want, frankly, another case of animosity with the Warricks. We don't wantyou taking Jordan's part in this. You know what's at stake."
He nodded.
"Justin, listen to me. Giraud did the probe on you. He knows damned well you're honest. He's just—"
"A bastard."
"Justin. Don't make things hard. Do what Giraud says. Don't make a mistake. You don't want to hurt the little girl. I know you don't. What Ari did to you—has nothing to do with her. And you wouldn't hurt her."
"No. I never did anything to Ari,for God's sake. You think I'd hurt a kid?"
"I know. I know that's true. Just think about that. Think about it the next time you have to deal with her. Ari tore you up. You can do the same thing to that child. You can hurt her. I want you to think seriously about that."
"I didn't do anything to her!"
"You didn't do anything. Calm down. Calm down and take a breath. Listen to me. If you can handle this right, it could help you."
"Sure."
Denys took his arm again, faced him closer to the wall as Security left the office. Held on to him. "Justin. I wanted to tell you—the request that's on my desk, the phone link: I'm going to give it a few weeks and then allow it. You'll be on some kind of delay—Jordan's clever, and Security has to have time to think. That's the best I can do. Does that make you feel better?"
"What's it cost me?"
"Nothing. Nothing. Just don't foul it up. Stay out of trouble. All right?"
He stared at the wall, at travertine patterns that blurred in front of his eyes. He felt Denys pat his shoulder.
"I'm damn sorry. I'm damn sorry. I know. You haven't had a day of peace. But I want you onthe Project. That's why I fought Giraud to keep you here. Ari liked you—no. Listen to me. Ari likedyou. Never mind what she did. I know her—posthumously—as well as I know myself. Ari's feud with Jordan was old and it was bitter. But she got your test scores and made up her mind she wanted you."
"They were faked!"
"No, they weren't. Not outstandingly high, you know that. But scattered through half a dozen fields. You had the qualities shehad. Not her match, but then, you hadn't had Olga Emory pushing you. She told me—personally—and this is no lie, son, that she wantedyou in her wing, that you were better than the tests showed, a damned lot better, she said, than Jordan. Her words, not mine."
"Science wasn't what she had in mind, you know that."
"You're wrong. It's not what you want to hear, God knows. But if you want to understand why she did what she did—that's something you shouldknow. I have one interest in this. Ari. Understand—she had cancer. Rejuv breakdown. The doctors argue whether the cancer kicked the rejuv or whether the rejuv was failing naturally and let the cancer develop. Whatever was going on, she knewshe was in trouble and the timing couldn't have been worse. Surgery would have delayed the project, so she put Petros and Irina under orders and covered it up. She set the whole project up, so that when she had to go for surgery—I'm sure she didn't rule that out: she wasn't a fool; but so when she did, it wouldn't leave the subject without support, you understand, and it could run a few months with a light hand. Understand: I knew, because I was her friend, Justin. I was the one she allowed access to her notes. Giraud's damn good at the money end of this. But my concern is her concern: the Project. I think you have your sincere doubts about it. No controls, no duplicatable result— But it's founded on two centuries of duplicatable results with the azi. And of course it's not the kind of thing that we can quantify: we're dealing with a human life, an emotional dimension, a subjective dimension. We may disagree like hell, Justin, in there, in private, and I respect you for your professional honesty. But if you try to sabotage us, you'll have me for an enemy. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, ser."
"I'll tell you another thing: Ari did some very wrong things. But she was a great woman. She wasReseune. And she was my friend. I've protected you; and I've protected her reputation by the same stroke; and damnedif I'll see some sordid little incident destroy that reputation. I'll keep you from that. You understand me?"
"You've got the tapes in the archives! If this poor kid halfway follows in Ari's track, researchers are going to want every last detail—and that's no small one."
"No. That won't matter. That's from the endof her life, beyond the scope of their legitimate interest. And even so, that's why we're working with Rubin. Rubin's the one the military can paw over. Ari is ourproject. Wekeep title on the techniques. Did Reseune ever release anything—it has a financial interest in?"
"My God, you can run that scam on the military for years. Admit it. It's Giraud's damn fund-raiser. His bottomless source of military projects."