— I have news, Mother,~ Trish said.
— Can it wait?~ Ara asked almost petulantly.
— The Unity Silent have narrowed the kid’s presence down to Rust.~
A chill rippled Ara’s skin. ~It was inevitable. What else do they know?~
— They think he’s powerful. That means we-yike!~ Her voice cut off.
“Trish? Trish, what’s wrong?” Ara didn’t realize she’d spoken out loud until she saw the odd looks from the ragged people passing her on the street. With a double pang she noticed she’d lost Sejal. She sped up a bit and caught sight of him again. His head was down and he was still using his ground-eating pace.
— Trish!~ Ara said urgently. ~Trish, can you hear me?~
— I’m all right, Mother,~ came Trish’s Dream whisper, and Ara wanted to go limp with relief. ~The ground went shaky again. I had to move fast.~
— Don’t stay in the Dream if it’s going to risk-~
— I’m fine, Mother,~ Trish interrupted almost sharply. ~I know what I’m doing.~
Ara took the hint. ~Sorry. Sometimes I’m half Mother Adept and half mother hen.~
Sejal turned another corner, automatically losing Harenn, and Ara stirred her tired legs to a trot. When she turned the corner, Ara found a strange barrier. It was about half a block up the street and had been formed out of a variety of materials-old bricks, chunks of concrete, even old furniture. The wall spanned the street, though a gap in the center would allow a ground car to slip through. Ara’s quarry had already passed through the gap and she hurried to catch up. Through the gap she could see that the neighborhood on the other side looked much the same as this one, except the gutters and sidewalks were clear of trash.
“Hold it!” snapped a voice. Ara halted. A man armed with some kind of staff was standing guard just inside the wall. The staff was tipped with a wicked-looking metal ball. “Glory to the Unity. I don’t recognize you. What’s your business here?”
— I’m on him,~ Trish whispered. ~He’s stubborn and bit afraid, though. It’ll make things difficult.~
Just up the street, Ara saw the boy disappear into one of the apartment buildings just as Gretchen caught up. Ara put on an ingenuous smile and shot Gretchen a look that told her to keep quiet.
“Glory to the Unity,” Ara said. “My daughter and I are looking for an apartment.”
The guard frowned. “In here? Where?”
Ara pulled out her computer pad. She pretended to check the screen, then squinted up the darkening street. “There,” she said, pointing at the building the boy had entered.
The guard narrowed his eyes. “You sure? I don’t remember anyone saying they wanted to move.”
“That’s the address from the ad. Who are you?”
“Neighborhood patrol,” the man said. “And we don’t allow certain kinds of people in here.”
“Oh? People like who?” Gretchen asked.
“Drug dealers, gangs, hookers, other riff-raff,” the man said.
— He’s strong, Mother,~ Trish said. ~He doesn’t want to let you pass and I don’t think I can change his mind.~
Ara raised her eyebrows. “Are you sanctioned by the Unity?”
“No,” the man replied carefully. ”We’re unofficial. We wanted a clean neighborhood, and the Unity doesn’t seem interested in giving it to us. So we made one.”
— Good move, Mother,~ Trish put in. ~Keep acting authoritative.~
“I see,” Ara said briskly. “Well, if you aren’t Unity, you don’t have the power to keep me out, do you?”
The man shifted. “You can pass through the streets,” he admitted. “But no one moves into our neighborhood without Vidya’s okay.”
“And where does this Vidya live?”
“There.” The man pointed to the boy’s building.
“Well, then,” Ara said, still in a brisk tone, “I guess that’ll kill two birds with one stone. We shall pass now.”
“Wait!” shouted another voice, and Harenn hurried up to them. Her veil fluttered with her breathing. “I’m here.”
“My other daughter,” Ara supplied before the guard could ask. “You’re late, my dear. Shall we? Glory to the Unity.”
They strolled passed the guard and into the neighborhood.
— That was good, Mother,~ Trish chortled. ~You sounded like a queen.~
“Daughter?” Harenn asked.
“I’ll explain later,” Ara said.
“Mother, what’s happening?” Ben said in Ara’s earpiece. “The kid has stopped moving and I think he’s indoors.”
“He’s in an apartment house,” Ara said. “We’re going in. We’ll probably be out of touch for a while, so hang tight.”
“What about me?” Pitr asked. “I’m about half a kilometer away.”
“If you can, find a place to wait for us,” Ara instructed. “If not, head back to the Script.”
The apartment house was a block away from the wall. The neighborhood buildings, while in poor repair, were at least clean. Windows gleamed. No papers or other detritus clogged the gutters. Walls were cracked, but any loose bits of mortar had been cleared away. Window boxes made of scrap lumber sported flowers and herbs. People sat on porches, enjoying the cooling night air, and flute music floated from a window.
“Interesting,” Harenn murmured. “Inhabitants in the other neighborhoods we passed would not dare to be sitting outside in such a manner.”
Ara nodded in agreement as they arrived at the boy’s building. No one sat on the steps but the entryway door was locked. When Ara tried the old-fashioned nob, a speaker whirred to life.
“Glory to the Unity. Please state your name and your business,” a scratchy computer voice said.
Ara ignored it and tried the door again.
“Glory to the Unity. Please state your name and your business.”
“Can you get this open, Gretchen?” Ara asked.
“Probably,” Gretchen said. “But the gate guard is watching us.”
“Damn. Ben, can you get a list of residents for this building?” Ara recited the address.
“The directory lists eighteen,” Ben replied. “Do you want all of them?”
“Can you tell what floor the boy is on?”
“The first,” Ben said promptly. “I think you should know Kendi’s here and he’s biting his nails corn on the cob.”
“Glory to the Unity. Please state your name and your business.”
“What are the names of the first floor residents?” Ara said.
“Keeren and Jace Muhar, Nara Oliva, and Vidya and Sejal Dasa. Nara is an old lady. Keeren and Jace are listed as spouses. Vidya and Sejal are listed as mother and son.”
The boy was named Sejal, then. The Empress and her orders loomed in Ara’s mind. She may have to ensure the death of someone named Sejal. Ara faltered. She had never been easy with the idea of deciding whether this boy would live or die, and the fact that he now had a name and a mother made it even worse.
“Glory to the Unity. Please state your name and your business.”
Hunger rumbled in Ara’s stomach. Her legs ached, and she was bone tired. Suddenly the idea of seeing the boy-Sejal-up close was nothing but repellent.
“Let’s get out of here,” she said.
“Leave? But we’re so close,” Gretchen protested.
“I’m tired, I’m hungry, and the boy isn’t going anywhere,” Ara said with more firmness than she had intended. “The Unity won’t find him by tomorrow. We’ll come back later. Let’s go.”
Ara marched off, not waiting to see if Harenn and Gretchen followed. At the gate, she nodded once at the guard. “Glory. No one home,” she said without stopping to care about the transparent lie. And with that, Mother Adept Araceil strode swiftly back toward her ship.
Benjamin Rymar stood uncertainly outside Ara’s door. Kendi had been right-Mother Adept Araceil wasn’t quite herself. It wasn’t just that she had gone straight to her quarters without speaking to anyone after she, Harenn, and Gretchen returned from the city. Ben also knew Ara well enough to see the signs that something was bothering her-a certain tightness around the mouth, certain tense gestures-and these signs had shown up after her conference with the Empress. The problem was obviously something to do with the Silent, and Ben wasn’t Silent. It was therefore none of his business.