Ben stared. Ara drank, then cupped her hands around the tea mug as if they were cold.
“Kill him?” Ben said at last. “Why?”
“If, in my opinion, Sejal would, quote, ‘pose a threat to the Confederation,’“ Ara said quietly, “the Empress wants me to kill him.”
“She gave us an order like that?” Ben said incredulously. “What does she mean by ‘a threat’?”
“I’m not completely sure,” Ara said. “She left it up to me.”
“God.” Ben got up to pace the rug. “How could she order us to do something like that? What does she think we are?”
“She ordered me, Ben. Not you. Or anyone else.”
Ben stopped. “That’s why you’ve been so upset?”
“Yes.”
“God,” Ben repeated. “That’s cold-blooded of her. How could one boy with a freak ability threaten the entire Confederation?”
“If he possessed the right person or people at the right time, he could start a war, or assassinate an important person, or any number of things. Not to mention that if word of a Silent with the power to possess unwilling non-Silent gets out to the public, witch hunts will start all over the place. No one would be safe then.”
Ben was still pacing with agitation. “So the Empress chooses you to decide whether or not Sejal should die and then she says you have to pull the trigger, is that it? Who the hell does she think she is?”
“She thinks she’s Empress.”
Ben whirled on her, ready to make a sharp reply, when he noticed the tears standing in Ara’s eyes. Immediately he swallowed the remark and knelt by her chair to put an arm around her shoulders. She hesitated, then leaned her head against him. Ben remained very still. He had been an adult for several years now, but a handful of years didn’t erase a lifetime of expectations. Parents comforted their children, not the other way around.
“It’s all right, Mom,” he said softly. “All you have to do is decide that Sejal isn’t a threat and you’re off the hook.”
Ara was sniffling now, looking not at all like a firm, decisive Mother Adept. Anger rose in Ben’s chest. Kan maja Kalii might be the Empress and her word might be law, but Ara was Ben’s mother. In that moment, he would have socked Kalii on the jaw cheerfully and without hesitation.
“It isn’t that simple, Ben,” Ara said. “The Empress-and now I-have to think of literally countless lives. If I make a mistake and don’t…and I let Sejal live, thousands or even millions of people could die in his place. I’m afraid the Empress might be right, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to do what needs to be done.”
Ben didn’t know what to say to that, so he stayed quiet.
A moment later, Ara sat up and reached for a tissue to blow her nose. “Thanks, Ben. I feel better now.”
“Do you want me to tell Kendi about…about this?” Ben asked hesitantly.
Ara shook her head. “It’s my job. I’ll do it tomorrow.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
PLANET RUST
The universe is unfair. We can merely hope it will be unfair in our favor.
Kendi tried to run, but there was no room. Unyielding stone hemmed him in. Shadows flickered like dancing trolls.
“Keeeeennnnnddiiiiii,” rasped a voice. “Keeeeennnddiiii.”
A dark puddle spilled across the floor, reaching for Kendi’s feet. He couldn’t see, he couldn’t move, he couldn’t cry out. A bright object flashed. Kendi screamed and bolted awake.
He was sitting up. Sweat ran in tiny rivulets down his bare torso and darkened the sheets. He sat there a moment, panting. He was on the Post Script, in his quarters, in his bed. The lights were on-he couldn’t bring himself to darken the room. He slumped a bit. The nightmare was already fading.
“Attention! Attention!” Peggy Sue said. “The time is now seven a.m. Attention! Attention! The time is now-”
“Peggy Sue, halt alarm,” Kendi said with remembered excitement. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and reached for his bathrobe. Today, Ara had promised, they would talk to Sejal.
Ara entered the galley, coffee cup in hand, last night’s resolve firm in her mind. At the sight of Kendi’s grinning face, however, she completely lost her nerve.
“Sejal today, right?” he said. “Trish says the Unity knows about him, so we have to move fast.”
Ara sat and hid behind a sip of coffee. The others had already breakfasted, so she and Kendi were alone in the little galley. The smell of rice meal and toast hung on the air. Despite her exhaustion and the fact that she had unburdened herself to Ben last night, Ara had slept fitfully and she felt heavy circles under her eyes.
“Yes,” she said, forcing herself to sit erect. “We’re going to see Sejal today. But I don’t think you should come, Kendi.”
“What? Why the hell not?”
“You’ve got too much invested in this. I don’t know how objective you’ll be if you think he’s a relative.” Ara poured thick brown honey over crisp toast. “You’ll scare him off.”
“Who told you I think-” Kendi began, then caught himself. “Ben.”
Ara bit into her toast, hoping Kendi would agree just this once. No such luck. Kendi leaned forward, elbows on the table.
“I need to come with you,” he said. “I saved Sejal from those goons. He owes me, and he’ll be more willing to talk to me than to a total stranger.”
Ara didn’t have the energy to fight. She threw up her hands. “Fine. Come along, then. But if I signal you to shut up, you shut up. Clear?”
Kendi saluted.
“That wasn’t an answer.”
“All right,” Kendi sighed. “Your wish is my command. When do we leave?”
Ara rose. “Right now.”
The taxi door slammed shut and the vehicle zipped away, leaving Ara and Kendi at the gate. The neighborhood was as Ara remembered it except for a different guard at the gateway. Ara decided not to mince words. Her stomach was tight, and she didn’t feel like bandying about.
“Glory. We’re here to see Sejal Dasa,” she said.
“Glory. What for?” the guard, a husky, dark-haired woman, said.
Ara stepped on Kendi’s foot before he could speak. “It’s a private matter. May we pass?”
— I don’t have to do anything, Mother,~ Trish said from the Dream. ~This one isn’t very suspicious.~
Trish was right. The woman looked at them for a moment, then wordlessly stepped aside.
“Nice lady,” Kendi observed. “Polite.”
“She’s doing her job. And stop dragging your foot like a hunchback. I didn’t step on it that hard.”
“So you say.”
Ara smoothed her trader’s tunic, unable to help a small smile. Kendi could be exasperating, but he knew how to lighten a mood. She pointed. “Sejal’s apartment building is over there.”
“Clean neighborhood,” Kendi admired. “Better than those other places we passed through. You could eat off the street here.”
— There’s a thought,~ Trish said.
No people sat on the porches, and Ara assumed most of the adults were at work. A group of children ran up and down the sidewalk, yelling and giggling in some game or other. Their clothes were patched but clean. About a kilometer ahead of them, Ara could make out another wall and gateway. She wondered how extensive the wall was and what kind of neighborhood patrol Vidya had set up. Whatever she had done, it had apparently worked.
Ara and Kendi climbed the short flight of steps to the apartment building’s front door and Ara tried the nob.
“Glory to the Unity. Please state your name and your business,” said the scratchy-voiced computer.
“We’re here to see Vidya and Sejal Dasa,” Ara told it.
Whirr, click. “Please repeat your request.”
“We’re here to see Vidya and Sejal Dasa,” Ara repeated, louder this time.
Whirr, whirr, click. “Please repeat your request.”
“Ancient hardware,” Kendi muttered.
“Dasa!” Ara shouted at it. “We want to see Vidya Dasa!”