The three of them moved out of my field of vision. Didn't bother turning my head to watch them go. Just sat there and sweated and waited. Somewhere in the house the datastream was playing. Then some noise from the back room — sounds of protest, and maybe a meaty slap, a cry of pain. Wasn't really listening. All I could think of was soon they'd come back and start asking me questions, and no matter what they asked-no matter what-I'd tell them the truth.
Eventually, Yokomata returned. She glanced around the empty room and toward the back room with annoyance, then came toward me.
"Your full name?" she said.
The words came out on their own: "Sigmund Chando Merlandry Dreyer."
"Where do you live?"
Gave her my compartment number in Brooklyn followed immediately by my office address in the Verrazano Complex because I sometimes sleep there. Couldn't hold anything back!
The sound of our voices must have alerted Rednose and Fourfingers that their boss was back. As they hurried into the room, adjusting their clothing along the way, she rewarded them with an icy glare.
"Are you married?" Yokomata said to me.
Tried to protest, but the answer forced its way out first.
"Was — not anymore — and that has nothing to do with you!"
Yokomata smiled. "I think you're under enough. Now tell me: Are you withholding any information about Kel Barkham?"
"No."
"What about his aka, Kyle Bodine?
"Nothing."
"When was the first time you ever heard the name Kel Barkham?"
"A few minutes ago."
Yokomata gave a perfunctory nod to her men. "Good enough. Bring them upstairs. Directly upstairs."
Began to relax. That hadn't been so bad. None of the questions had been personal. All Yokomata was interested in was this Barkham/Bodine character. I was relieved enough to start wondering why.
"I'll get the clone," Fourfingers said after Yokomata was gone.
"And I'll free our friend here. But first…" He glanced at his partner's retreating form, then back to me. A nasty smile spread over his face like slime. "'Was' married? Where's your wife? She run off 'cause you're clone crazy?"
Tried to sing, to recite a poem, to scream and howl some gibberish, but my mouth ignored me and answered him without hesitation.
"Gone," I heard myself say. "Eight years ago. Out Where The Good Folks Go."
"Left you for some starfarmer, huh? Must be rough. So you just do it with clones now?"
"No."
"Who then?"
"No one."
"No one? Everyone does it with someone. Where do you get your jolts?"
Wanted to cry, wanted to shout, Don't do this to me! Couldn't, so I bit my upper lip until I thought my teeth were going to punch through it, but the word escaped — just as the clone ran up and shouted.
"Hey! That's not fair!"
Rednose's expression didn't change as he half turned and swung the back of his left hand hard against the clone's face. She staggered back and fell. Landed on the floor and sat there looking dazed. Blood began to trickle from the comer of her mouth. The blood was very red against her too-white skin.
Rednose turned back to me. "Repeat what you said." Helpless, I couldn't stop the word.
"Buttons."
His jaw dropped as his eyes lit with a kind of maniacal glee.
"He's a buttonhead!" he shouted. "A dreggin’ buttonhead!"
He leaped to my side and began to paw through my hair. Didn't take him long to reach the rear midline of my scalp and find what he was looking for.
"Here it is! He's a buttonhead, all right." He came around in front of me again. "Wifee find out and leave you? That it?"
"No!"
"Why'd she fly, then?"
Tried to vomit, anything to put a stop to this, but my voice ran on without me.
"Couldn't give Maggs what she needed emotionally or physically or any other way so she took Lynnie and left me eight years ago."
"So you got buttoned after, huh? What'sa matter? Can't get it from the real thing? Gotta get it from a button?"
"No!" Wasn't he ever going to stop?
"Then why, buttonhead?"
"Because it's easier and neater and more convenient and better and because there's no before and no after and nobody there but me and I don't have to be with anybody and I don't want to be with anybody ever again!"
Heard my voice saying things out loud to strangers that I'd never even said to myself. Would have killed Rednose there and then if I'd had the means. But my wrists and ankles were cuffed to a chair. Unable to look anyone in the eye, was using all my will to keep from blubbering with shame.
— 5-
Back before Yokomata's desk, only this time the clone was leaning on me. Guessed her legs were still a little wobbly from that clout in the face from Rednose. Let her lean and kept my eyes straight ahead. Wanted only one thing right now: out of here.
"…and so we're going to return you to the city," Yokomata was saying. "As far as I'm concerned, I've never heard of you and you've certainly never been here. If you wish, you may continue to search for the man you know as Kyle Bodine. I doubt there's much chance either of you will find him before I do."
"That's for sure!" Rednose said with a snorting laugh.
Her eyes narrowed. "But should you stumble across some useful information, you are to bring it directly to me, is that clear? If it leads me to him, you will collect the bounty on him. If you withhold anything…"
She glanced toward the now opaque wall that overlooked her yard, the place where the tyrannosaurus roamed.
We were led to the roof and prodded into the back seat of the Ortega. Fourfingers and Rednose stayed behind and left the driver to take us back by himself. No threat in a buttonhead and a Dydeetown girl, especially with a glassette partition between the front and rear sections.
As we lifted into the darkening sky and swung east, he asked where we wanted to be dropped. Told him the Verrazano Complex for me and Dydeetown for the clone.
"I'll get off with you," she said.
"No."
"I have to talk to you."
"No!"
"Why not?"
The Truth was still in my brain and the words tripped out in a rush. "Because you've lied to me enough today and because I want to be alone and don't want you looking at me and if you ask me another question I'll throw you out the door!" My voice took on an hysterical edge toward the end.
"I'm sorry," she said in a quavering voice that crumbled into a sob. She buried her face against my shoulder and began to cry. "Why me?" I heard her moan. "Why doesn't anything ever go right for me?"
"You're getting my jump all wet," I told her.
She pulled away. Could see tears glistening on her cheeks, running down and mixing with the blood from the comer of her mouth. She’d left a dark splotch of tears and blood on my front. Realized with a twinge that the blood was there because she'd tried to interfere with Rednose's peeping into my life. Much as I hated the idea, I owed her for that.
She dropped her head back down on my shoulder and I let it stay there. The jump was already a mess, anyway.
— 6-
Locked the compartment door behind me and slumped against it. Alone, thank the Core. Alone at last. This one room had never felt so good, so much like a home.
Had the Truth worn off? Didn't know. And it didn't matter now that I was alone. But felt so dirty. Had since I'd answered those questions Rednose put to me. Scummy, rotten thing to do. He got a look into places he had no right to look, exposed areas of me never meant for the light of day…areas even I never looked into. He…
Thought I was going to explode…