“Indeed, and thus does a society that values freedom of information sow the seeds of its own downfall.”

“To be supplanted by a system that doesn’t value personal freedoms?”

“Hardly, Mr. Donelly, we would seek to expand them beyond their current humanocentric confines.” The fingers interlaced. “Has it ever struck you as odd that in the centuries humans have been expanding into the stars we have never found another sentient race?”

“The universe is big and old. No aliens, so what?”

“You see, even you fall prey to the subtle lures of nomenclature. Why would they be aliens? If we came to a world and found them here, wouldn’t we be the aliens? We would, but everything is defined in terms of humans. The fact is that we probably have encountered dozens of intelligent races, like the Mottled Lemur, but because they did not measure up on a scale created by men who sought to distance themselves from their biological roots, these creatures are dismissed as raw materials awaiting exploitation.”

I could see this conversation going off in a number of different directions. The fact that Letitia and others were nodding as he spoke told me they were sold. I almost started a counterargument, just to mess with minds, but since she was willing to scrag me and my hands were still in cuffs, I put that plan on hold.

“Okay, I see where you’re going with that, which is great, but I’m paycheck-ocentric and I was getting a feeling that my commitment to piling up stones in my account was something you were willing to trust.”

“Were it not combined with your pathological hatred for Reis, I would not. The simple fact of the matter, however, is that your loathing of that toad and your unique skills make you an asset worth recruiting. If we can come to a suitable agreement on pay…”

“Save it, ’cause I’m not that stupid. I don’t agree to work with you, I’ll be planted where I’ll fertilize a new crop of trees. My skills, that you know of, are driving a ’Mech, and that comes with a price. I’ll let you buy me on a per job basis, assuming you have a ’Mech for me to drive. A ’Mech that will do the job.”

“We are making arrangements for getting a ’Mech that will be up to this operation. I will pay you five thousand stones, as ComStar bills, Republic scrip, your choice. I will deposit it with ComStar for you. It will be quite clean.”

I nodded and gave him my universal linknumber. He’d send it into my account and once the job was complete he’d give me a password that would allow me to unlock the funds. He could cheat me out of the money by refusing to give me the password, but ComStar wouldn’t give it back to him without an arbitration hearing, and I was pretty sure he’d want to avoid something like that.

“That ought to work. I do need to know one more thing, though, before I can begin to feel comfortable.”

“And that is?”

“Who was your spotter?”

The hands were back fingertip to fingertip. “Someone outside this cell, therefore you may not know their identity.”

I shook my head. “You tell me, or she can just kill me. I didn’t spot him, and if I didn’t spot him, I need to figure out why. I’ve not made that big a mistake in a long time, and I don’t plan on making it again. I need to know what I missed.”

The leader remained silent and his hands motionless for a minute, then he rubbed his hands together. “Very well. It was your boon companion.”

“Andy?”

“The very same.”

I shook my head again. “That’s the last time you’re going to lie to me. If Andy was your man, you’d not be needing me. He has my skills, my hatred of Reis, and has already been on the dark side of the law. Last chance.”

“Forgive me, it was a test.”

“Did I pass?”

“You did. The bartender, the short one, at the Scrapyard, has been keeping an eye open for someone with certain skills. Andy had been considered but old Laments do not revolutionaries make.”

“They’ve already done it once.”

“Quite true, Mr. Donelly. Letitia will be your contact and will see to your needs.” One hand pointed to the office where the leader had been waiting. “We have a billet for you here. Then, tomorrow, you will be briefed on preliminary activities leading up to our operation. Is that satisfactory?”

I doubted that having a woman whose jaw and nose I’d broken taking care of me would be anything but hellish, but I nodded. “Long live the Mottled Lemur.”

“Indeed, Mr. Donelly. Chances are very good they will outlive all of us.”

Overton

Joppa, Helen

Prefecture III, Republic of the Sphere

21 November 3132

The office to which Letitia led me might have been described as cozy. A desk had been shoved against the wall and stocked with a variety of drinks—meaning fruit juices, sparkling waters and natural spring water—and snacks, all of which had no taint of meat, no salt, no fat and, save for the dried fruit, no real flavor. The fact that it was all the sort of stuff that would grant one a much longer life struck me as a bit ironic, but also hopeful.

A rusty iron cot had been set up in the far corner and had a ratty old mattress unrolled on it. Sheets, blanket and pillows were piled on the lumpy, gray-striped surface. I took a look at it, then turned my back and waggled my fingers at my captor. “Undo these and I can make my bed.”

She snorted and I figured she’d be grinding her teeth, but that would have hurt a lot. Letitia unlocked the cuffs and had them tucked away by the time I turned around, rubbing my wrists. I gave her a quick nod as she backed away and perched herself on the corner of the desk. It seemed pretty plain to me that she wanted nothing better than an excuse to kick my butt, so I said nothing to her and instead turned to making the bed.

The sheets were clean and had even been ironed. I somehow imagined Blondie having done that job, and had that impression before I found a long, blond hair on the pillowcase. She’d struck me as the sort who would do anything for a friend, be it human or a tree-dwelling varmint. I smoothed out the sheets, then lifted the folded blanket and turned to face Letitia.

“Assuming you’re going to keep an eye on me, and assuming you’re going to use that chair over there, do you want this to keep you warm?”

She gave me a hard stare which, had it been composed of microwaves, would have roasted my heart in a beat or two.

I shrugged and tossed the blanket on the seat of the leather office chair. “It’s there if you need it.” I shucked my jeans—I’d worn them to bed at the mission because they’d have been stolen if I hadn’t—and slipped into the bed. Stretching out I could feel my spine cracking all the way up, so I started breathing deliberately to relax myself and quickly slipped off to sleep.

While a case could be made for the stupidity of falling asleep in an enemy’s lair while being watched by someone holding a grudge, the simple fact was that I fell asleep easily. There had been ample opportunities to kill me earlier, and lulling me into a false sense of security before acing me made no sense at all. Whatever the Gaia-guy wanted with me was anyone’s guess, and I was pretty sure there were wheels within wheels. As long as I didn’t get pinched between them, I was happy.

I woke up fairly early and made enough groaning and stretching sounds for Letitia to come alert before I did. She crawled out from beneath the blanket very slowly and washed a pill down with water sucked through a straw. I figured the pill for a painkiller and also assumed she was using a fraction of the prescribed dosage so she’d not drift into some narcotic nirvana. While I admired her guts at doing that, I was pretty sure that the drugs would dull her edge enough that I could take her if I needed to.