The Sardonyx Net Part 30

He went to meet her. As he neared her, she stopped, waiting for him. Her face looked tense; the lines around her mouth suddenly prominent. "Rhani-ka," he said, "why didn't you wait for me?"

She did not answer.

"What's wrong?" he asked, alarmed.

She sighed, and put her arm through his. "I wanted to talk to Tuli," she said. "So I went to the shop. When I got there -- " She paused. "I've known Tuli for eight years. I thought we were friends. I went in. She was behind the counter, waiting on a customer. I said her name. She called me Domna Rhani. She wouldn't smile at me. I saw a sheet of paper on the wall and went to read it. It said that anyone wis.h.i.+ng to sign the pet.i.tion calling for a referendum on the maintenance of slavery in Sardonyx Sector should see the proprietor of the store."

Dana did not know what to say. As noncommittally as possible, he said, "You were surprised?"

Rhani's normally husky voice was rough with pain. "I just wanted to talk."

"Did you expect an ex-slave to be in favor of slavery?" Her fingers bit into his arm. "I'm not that much of a fool! But she need not have called me Domna Rhani. And I did think she might have the grace to remain publicly neutral."

Dana said, "I'm sorry you're upset."

"I'm not upset, I'm angry! At myself." With a choppy gesture, she thrust her sunshades to the crown of her head. "I have feared what this referendum's outcome might do to the economy of this planet, if A-Rae's position won it. Now I fear that, whichever side wins or loses, the feelings released by the issue will break Chabad apart. I should have foreseen it."

She was, Dana realized, quite serious. "Rhani," he said, "you aren't responsible for the destiny of an entire planet."

The cacophony and color of the market square swirled around them like storm winds around the eye. Rhani gazed at him. She was only a little shorter than he.... She was wearing blue pants and a blue s.h.i.+rt. The s.h.i.+rt had a red dragon embroidered on its back. The gold pendant glinted in the soft hollow of her throat. She said, "You are wrong. I am."

They began to walk then, threading slowly through the clumps of tourists.

That's crazy, Dana thought. No one runs a planet; that's fantasy.

But it was not fantasy, he thought. This woman strolling at his side had the power to make decisions which affected the politics and the economy of this and four other worlds.

A series of shouts from behind them made them both turn. Rhani started to walk toward the noise. Dana caught her arm, remembering his responsibility as bodyguard. "Don't," he said, "it isn't safe."

"Move aside, please!" came an amplified shout. Three Abanat police officers sliced briskly through the crowd. Two of them were carrying Federation- issue stunners.

Like members of a herd, the tourists began to bunch toward the shouting.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Dana said. He held Rhani's arm. Shopkeepers came from their doorways to gaze into the square, and a few of them looked curiously at the two people moving steadily away from the confrontation. Dana watched, but he could not see anyone who stared for very long.

"This way," Rhani said, changing direction. Dana followed automatically.

Soon they had reached the Boulevard, and, crossing it, were heading toward Founders' Green.

The woman at the gate smiled and bowed and pa.s.sed them in beneath the cool, green trees. "Why do you always walk around the city?" Dana asked.

Rhani chuckled. "It's the only exercise I get," she said. She grinned.

"Besides, the movalongs are for tourists."

They stopped beside the fountain to watch the water cascade from rock to artistically placed rock. "I love waterfalls," Rhani said.

Dana said, "There are worlds with more waterfalls than Chabad has rocks."

She shook her head. "I doubt that," she said. Then the left corner of her mouth turned up in amus.e.m.e.nt. "I told a lie," she murmured, putting her hand on Dana's arm.

"What?" he said.

Her amus.e.m.e.nt broadened. "Walking is not my only exercise."

The spray from the fall had left a veil of drops against her hair; they looked like sequins in the trees' concealing shade. Dana glanced toward the Yago house...."No one can see us," Rhani said. She reached for him.

But Dana held her off. "Rhani-ka, it's not safe," he said. "We may be being watched. The Hype cops -- "

Rhani scowled. "d.a.m.n," she said softly. "I was trying to forget about them."

As they walked from beneath the trees, Rhani said, "How did your errand go?"

Dana tensed. "I've made a step toward contact," he said. "What's your next step?"

"I must go back tomorrow night."

"You are being very vague," she said. They walked into sunlight, and the sweat jumped on Dana's arms and neck. "I presume you mean to be."

He said, "I would prefer to be, yes."

She turned to face him. Pus.h.i.+ng back her cloud of hair with both hands, she said, "I dislike being ignorant, Dana." Behind her, the tines of the iron fence gleamed darkly in the stark Chabadese light.

Dana said, "Rhani, if I tell you what I do and who I see, I break a confidence. Even more than that -- I break Hyper tradition. I promised you Loras U-Ellen. Will you trust me to keep that promise?"

She did not like being cornered; he could see it in her face. She c.o.c.ked her head to one side. "How long till I have him?"

"I don't know," he said. Sweet mother, he thought, she had better trust me. If she doesn't, I shall have to tell her a pack of lies.

He did not want to lie to a Yago.

She nodded. "All right. I will trust you."

"Thank you," he said.

She said, "Don't be a fool, Starcaptain. What should I do, give you to Zed? Let him discover that we have been lovers?"

He said grimly, "Zed would never hurt you."

"I know that," she said. Her shoes rapped crisply on the path. Ahead of them sat the second gate, and, looming over it, the facade with the Yago crest.

"Leave it, Dana. Let's not go over it again." They walked through the gate. "Oh, no!" Her voice rose in dismay. Dana looked past her. PINsheeters with cameras and recording equipment swarmed over the steps of the house.

There was no way to go around, under, or over them, Dana judged. He glanced at Rhani. "Well, Domna?" he said.

The muscles of her face tightened. Then, to his surprise and admiration, she smiled, and walked forward.

The PINsheeters saw her. Courtesy, and their knowledge of her status, restrained them for brief moments. Then they scrambled toward her. Dana stepped in front of her, putting himself between her and the rush -- "No!" she said. He stepped back, jolted.

She pointed. "You, you, you, you, and you," she said. "Get me to the house with as little time lost as you can manage and you may have an interview with me indoors."

They did not hesitate. "You got it, lady," said the one in front, a tall black woman in a bright yellow tunic and pants. She was carrying a camera. "Form wedge -- hup!" As if they had practiced the maneuver, the five turned, and Dana realized that the other four wore yellow badges, that Rhani had not, in fact, selected at random...."Let's go!" They moved out. The other PINsheeters, seeing what had happened, swore at them. But the woman in yellow simply grinned and put her shoulders down, thrusting ahead, ignoring the angry noises. Dana hung back, as did a man with a yellow badge, in case the disappointed PINsheeters decided to crowd them from behind, but nothing happened. Corrios opened the door. The lucky PIN team began to point cameras in all directions. "What the h.e.l.l update is this?" said the black woman.

"Six," said a short man with a vidscreen in his hands.

"No," said someone else, "seven."

"Can we go into the kitchen?"

"How about upstairs?"

The tall woman pointed at Dana. "Who's he?"

Smoothly, Binkie appeared and took charge. "Citizens, Domna Rhani suggests that you set up your equipment in this room." He slid back the door to the large parlor. "She'll be with you in a moment; she asks you to remain here until she arrives. The interview will last twenty minutes." "h.e.l.l," protested the tall woman, "we deserve more time than that! We got her through, didn't we?"

"Shut up, Teddy," said the short man, "or she'll throw us out."

"Twenty minutes," Binkie said inexorably. He gestured to the door.

Grumbling, the PINsheeters entered the parlor. Corrios came from the kitchen balancing a laden tray on one palm.

After the interview was over and the PINsheeters had left the house, Rhani lingered in the parlor. It was not a room she liked; the furniture and the decorations were heavy, dark wood. It reminded her of her mother. She rubbed a hand across the nappy velvet of her chair. The PINsheeters had left exceedingly pleased. She had answered about two-thirds of their questions and had given them a headline for their update: "RHANI YAGO SUPPORTS REFERENDUM!"

What she had said was, "If the pet.i.tions support a referendum on Chabad, then I support it, too."

"What do you think of Michel A-Rae?" Teddy Corinna, the tall woman, asked her.

"I think he is inexperienced," Rhani had answered in her most patronizing tone. "But well-meaning."

She had meant to patronize: she hoped that A-Rae's pride would pique him to a response. Perhaps he could be teased into a few stupidities. Most people could. The sillier he sounded, the more his support would drop, and his supporters, embarra.s.sed, would grow silent.

The PlNsheeters had drained two carafes of wine and eaten a pile of spice cakes. Rhani took a handful of the only food left on the table, chobi seeds. As she stood, someone tapped on the parlor door. "Rhani-ka," said Binkie's voice, "Officer Tsurada is on line."

"Thank you, Bink." She turned. "Is there still a mob on the steps?"

"No, they've gone." He looked with distaste at the litter left by the PINsheeters. "I'll call Amri to sort this out."

"Thank you. Do you know what the call's about?"

He smiled and shook his head. "No, Rhani-ka. Officer Tsurada would never tell _me_."

"No, of course not," Rhani said. "I forget, sometimes -- " She smiled an apology. "Is my brother still at the Clinic?"

"As far as I know, Rhani-ka."

I wonder, she thought, if he is staying away because he cannot bear to be with me, now that I have decided to marry Ferris Dur?

She did not want to think about Darien Riis.

Cracking a chobi seed between her teeth, she wondered what Binkie would make of the wedding news. She would let him know, of course; in fact, she thought, I should discuss it with him now, before all the legal negotiations start. As she climbed the stairs to her bedroom, she found herself longing to be home at the estate. Soon, she promised herself. Soon. After the party.

Which would happen in three more days. She made a face as she crossed the room to the com-unit. The screen was on standby mode. She thumbed the com-line open. "Rhani Yago here."

A face flickered elusively, then resolved into Sachiko Tsurada's features. "Domna. We have uncovered some rather interesting information."

Rhani tensed. "About what?"

"The Free Folk of Chabad. The next to last message you sent us retained a fingerprint on it. We 'grammed the Nexus files; they sent us back an 'R'

cla.s.sification."

"I'm sorry," Rhani said, "but I don't know what you're talking about."

Tsurada giggled, embarra.s.sed. "I'm sorry. When we checked with Nexus Compcenter, which has all human records stored and available to it, we were told that though they had an identification for the print we sent, they could not release it." "What does that mean?" Rhani said.

"It means," said the policewoman, "that the Free Folk of Chabad have been getting some very high-level a.s.sistance."

"a.s.sistance -- " Rhani scowled. Who would help a dissident organization to plan -- rather ineptly -- an a.s.sa.s.sination?

She knew. Officer Tsurada was watching her, eyes grim. Her wrists began to ache, and she realized that she had been gripping the back of the com-unit chair. She released it, and sat. She hesitated, and then said, "Officer Tsurada, is there any chance that either you or Nexus Compcenter made a mistake?"

Tsurada shook her head. "No, Domna. Unfortunately."

Rhani nodded. "I see," she said. Beneath the calm she hoped she was expressing, she could feel rage rising. "Perhaps we should say no more." This was an open line; anyone with the right equipment could be listening to the call. "Tell me, Officer Tsurada -- the last time I spoke with you, you were working on a missing person case. Did you locate the object of your search?"

For a moment, Tsurada's gaze reflected only bemus.e.m.e.nt. Then her puzzled eyes grew clear, and her mouth straightened. "No, not yet, Domna. But we will."

Both women smiled. The Abanat police had not yet located the present whereabouts of Michel A-Rae.

"That's good to know. Please keep me informed. Thank you for apprising me of this information." Rhani watched the image flicker out. The background noise of the police station thrummed in her ears. With a stab of her thumb, she broke the connection, and, suddenly enraged, slammed her fists on her thighs. Fury fought briefly with pain. So the Free Folk of Chabad were getting high-level, _Federation_-level a.s.sistance, were they? d.a.m.n Michel A-Rae!

She rose and walked to the window. Holding the curtain aside with one cautious hand, she gazed into Founders' Green, looking for a watcher wearing telltale black. No one was there but children, and watchful slaves. She wondered if A-Rae could have subverted one of the slaves. She let the curtain fall.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she walked to the com-unit. Zed needed to know of this. But as her hand moved, she hesitated, and then drew it slowly back. She would tell him, yes, but not now, not while it seemed to hurt him to be in the same room with her. She wondered if she could be wrong in a.s.suming A-Rae's part.

No. Who else would exert such power on behalf of a group whose only object appeared to be to kill Rhani Yago? Or, if not to kill her, to frighten her, demoralize her.... She stopped, her arms tensing in a grotesque hug. Could A-Rae have actually planned this -- this process, created the Free Folk of Chabad, to frighten her into some complex error of judgment? Or -- her chest hurt -- was there someone else behind A-Rae? Or even someone else behind the Free Folk of Chabad?

Dropping her hands to her sides, she forced herself to stop pacing, to breathe, to slow down. Simple is best, she thought, remember Occam's Razor.

Don't complicate the situation; it isn't necessary. She rubbed her neck, which ached, and discovered that her palms and sides were wet. She felt as if there was no one she could trust, except Zed, no one who might not be an enemy.

You're being silly again, she told herself. Amri wouldn't betray you, she hasn't the capacity. Corrios would kill for you. Tuli -- she dismissed that thought. Clare, Imre, Aliza -- what's the matter with you, Rhani Yago? Do you really think you've lost all your friends?

There was nothing she could do about Tsurada's information: she had no influence on Nexus. She would simply have to be cautious, leave the house as little as possible -- never alone -- and wait until the Abanat police located Michel A-Rae. After the party she could return to the estate, and she could bear Abanat for four more days; it was not as if she had no work to do. She walked to the intercom. "Binkie?"

"Yes, Rhani-ka."

"Please come to my room." In a moment he was at the door. She gazed at him, wondering; could he betray her? Beneath her silent scrutiny, he grew progressively more pale.