Offspring (43 page)

There was a
wrench
and he was standing in the corner of his and Ben’s bedroom with his red spear under his knee. Ben and Harenn were sitting on the bed. Harenn was nursing Evan. Kendi had expected his tension to dissipate once he left the Dream, but it only grew worse. His heart beat an unpleasant cacophony inside his chest and his mouth was dry. He almost lost his balance while removing his spear because his hands shook so badly.

The motion caught Ben and Harenn’s attention. Ben noticed the expression on his face and immediately stood up. “What’s wrong?”

“We have to get out of the house,” Kendi said hoarsely. “Now! Grab Evan’s diaper bag and run.
RUN!
”

Harenn clutched Evan to her chest and ran without hesitation. Ben sprinted after her, pausing only to snatch the diaper bag from nursery as he passed by. Kendi followed, shouting for Lucia, Bedj-ka, Tan, and Gretchen. Bedj-ka tried to ask what was going on, but Ben grabbed his arm and hauled the boy bodily toward the front door. Tan didn’t waste time asking what was going on and instead activated her earpiece and shouted orders to the outdoor guards. Lucia, also used to field work, hurried as quickly as she could, but her heavy body slowed her down. Kendi and Gretchen stopped to help her. Every nerve in Kendi’s body shrieked at him to hurry, move,
run
, but he stayed with Lucia.

“Carry-chair,” Gretchen said at last. “Quick!”

Kendi grasped the inside of his own elbow and with his free hand grabbed for Gretchen’s. She did the same for him, forming a square of flesh and bone for Lucia to sit on. The moment she sat down, they hoisted her up and fled out the door.

Outside, Tan had lowered one of the drawbridges. The security people were forcing the usual group of gawkers back to a safe distance. Fortunately, the night was chilly and the crowd was thin. Harenn, still clutching Evan, stood with Ben and Bedj-ka, surrounded by four more guards. Lars was one of them. Kendi and Gretchen carried Lucia over and set her down. Tan hurried up, face flushed.

“I’ve called the Guardians,” she said. “They’re on the way. What’s this all about? Did you see something?”

Kendi shook his head. Now that they were outside, his tension and fear had evaporated like water on a hot rock. He couldn’t for the life of him think what had scared him so badly.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I was in the Dream and suddenly I had to get everyone out the house. I don’t know why—I just did. Now...now it all seems kind of stupid.”

“Something must have set you off,” Tan said. “We’ll do a full sweep of the house before we—”

The explosion knocked them off their feet.

“Work for me. You’ll like it. I promise.”

—Irfan Qasad

Fiery debris rained down from the sky and struck the walkways with thuds and clunks. The humans and Ched-Balaar who had managed to keep their feet fled in a screaming stampede. Evan’s thin, frightened wail rose above the noise. Barely aware of what he was doing, Kendi got halfway to his feet and flung himself on top of Harenn, who had curled herself protectively around the crying baby. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ben sheltering Lucia. Something hit Kendi’s back with a stab of pain and bounced away. He stayed where he was. The smell of burning wood and scorched wet leaves filled the air. After a time, Kendi slowly raised his head. The house was on fire. The nursery and main bedroom were a wreck.

“Is everyone all right?” he demanded, getting to his feet.

The group shakily stood up on the wooden walkway past the drawbridge. Harenn, still clutching the screaming Evan, looked desperately around. “Where’s Bedj-ka? Bedj-ka!”

“I’m here, Mom,” said the boy. His face was pale and he was bleeding from a cut on his cheek but otherwise seemed fine. A quick check among the others revealed a few bruises and minor cuts, including one on Kendi’s back, but no serious injuries.

“How did you know that was going to happen?” Ben asked.

“I didn’t know it was going to be a bomb,” Kendi said, a little awed. “I just knew we had to get out.”

The fire squad arrived and had the fire out in short order. The police provided crowd control and handed out blankets to the Rymar-Weaver household to ward off the chill. Evan finally quieted. Inspector Ched-Theree also arrived and set about taking statements.

“We have an entire team looking into this,” she said. “It seems reasonable that the same people are responsible for this and for the other attempts on your life, especially since the tree branch was also severed with an detonation device. Unfortunately, the clues are few. A forensic team will examine the house in careful detail, and they may have something to tell us in a few hours.”

“What I’d like to know,” Tan said, her raspy voice even more hoarse than usual, “is how a bomb got past our security measures. Got chemical sniffers to watch for explosives. Should have spotted a bomb right away. Who planted it and how did it get there?”

“Who has access to your home?” Ched-Theree asked.

“These days?” Ben said. “Only family and close friends.”

“There’s Ben and me,” Kendi said, ticking off his fingers, “Harenn, Bedj-ka, Lucia, Grandma—Senator Reza—my brother Keith and sister Martina, Ben’s aunt Sil and uncle Hazid, and his cousins Tress and Zayim. And the security people.”

“Would any of them want to kill you?” Ched-Theree said.

“We don’t get along well with Ben’s aunt, uncle, and cousins,” Kendi said, “but I don’t think they want him dead. Ben?”

“Tress and I get along fine these days,” Ben said, pulling his blanket tighter around himself and Evan. “Sil still whines and Zayim and Hazid are complete jerks, but killers? No.”

“When was the last time each of these people were in your house?” Ched-Theree asked.

“They were all here today,” Kendi said. “Except for Grand—Senator Reza. She visited the day after we brought Evan home from the hospital.”

“The explosive had to be planted within the last week,” Tan said. “We do a complete security sweep of the house every seven days—”

“You do?” Kendi said, surprised.

“Standard,” Tan said. “We turned up nothing. Has anything new come up on the other attacks? Might give us a clue.”

Ched-Theree dipped her head. “Indeed. Thanks to Senator Reza’s expediting, I learned that a military research laboratory near Othertown was keeping a small supply of polydithalocide for study. It was recently stolen. We are working with the military to solve the theft. I also learned that the medical center took extensive scans of Father Kendi’s dart wound, and we took a very close look at the angle of entry. It may point us toward the place occupied by the attacker. We must first finish here, however.”

“Why are we standing outside?” Gretchen demanded. “It’s not safe for all of you to be standing around in the open like a herd mickey spikes. Someone with a rifle might take potshots.”

“Grandma’s,” Ben said. “We should be safe there.”

A quick phone call followed by an equally quick flitcar ride, and they were securely ensconced behind the walls of Salman Reza’s enormous home. Salman herself showed them to guest rooms.

“Make yourselves at home, my poor ducks,” she said. “Wash up and then come downstairs for tea and sympathy.”

After quick showers to wash of soot and grime, Kendi, Ben, and the others wrapped themselves in thick bathrobes and gathered in Salman’s living room. Evan was asleep on Ben’s lap, apparently none the worse for wear. A generous array of foods that impressed even Lucia was spread across the coffee table, along with steaming mugs of herbal tea. Kendi’s stomach growled with previously unnoticed hunger, and he wolfed down most of a ham sandwich without really tasting it. Then he took Evan so Ben could eat. The baby made a warm bundle in his lap. Kendi looked down at his sleeping face and a lump the size of an apple grew in his throat. His son, this little baby, had almost died. Kendi’s hands started to shake. He himself had come close to death any number of times, but the possibility of Evan coming to harm unnerved him. He stole a glance at Lucia’s round belly. Would it be like this for all their children?

“Perhaps we should hold a council of war,” Salman said. “That’s what this has become, after all—a war.”

“But who are we at war against?” Lucia sipped her tea. “We don’t know who our enemy is.”

“Or exactly who the
target
is,” Gretchen said. “The first two attacks were clearly made against Kendi, but the bomb could have been for any one of us. Mostly likely are Kendi or Ben, but it could also have been meant for—sorry, it has to be said—meant for Evan. He’s a child of Irfan just like Benny-boy there.”

“The question to ask is
Who benefits?
,” Tan said. She got up to pace the floor. “If Kendi died, who would benefit? Same for Ben and for Evan.”

“Foxglove,” Kendi said. “Before Ben’s revelation, my endorsement was keeping Grandma’s campaign going. The branch and the dart both happened pre-revelation. After the revelation, Ben—and Evan—became dangerous to Foxglove as well. Look at the change in tactics. The branch and the dart would hurt only me. The bomb would take out all three of us. Foxglove benefits.”

“As would Ched-Pirasku,” Harenn pointed out.

“Ched-Theree said the polydithalocide in that dart probably came from a military base near Othertown,” Lucia said. “That may point toward Mitchell Foxglove.”

“I still think Sufur has a hand in this,” Ben growled. “We can’t discount his presence here.”

Kendi said, “Maybe we should—”

“Excuse me, Senator,” said a black-clad servant in the doorway. “Inspector Ched-Theree is here. Shall I show her in?”

Salman gave assent, and Ched-Theree joined them, sitting on the floor next to the sofa. Her blue head cloth was limp and sweaty-looking and her silver Guardians medallion was dark with soot. Salman offered her tea, but she refused politely.

“We have preliminary findings,” she said. “The forensic crew scanned the site and found traces of a chemical explosive. The common name for it is Trip-Slap, and it is quite rare and expensive.”

“Chemical explosive?” Gretchen said. “Why didn’t the sniffers catch it coming in?”

“Trip-Slap is short for ‘triple slap,’ “ Ched-Theree chattered. “It involves three chemicals. The first is a buffer solution which is, by itself, not dangerous. The second is a stable chemical held in the buffer solution as a suspension. The third chemical is an enzyme. It breaks down the stable chemical, which then reacts with the buffer solution to create a liquid so volatile that simple ambient vibrations cause it to explode.”

“How did the attacker manage to get it inside the house, then?” Kendi asked.

“The first two chemicals were probably placed together in a container. Then whoever built the explosive dropped a second container containing the enzyme into the mix. When the container dissolved, it released the enzyme and transformed the entire jar into an explosive.”

“How long would it take to dissolve the enzyme container?” Ben asked. “That might tell us when it was planted in our house.”

“That we do not yet know,” Ched-Theree said. “It will require painstaking scans to uncover such microscopic shards. Pray to Irfan that it does not rain within the next few days.”

“You still haven’t told us how the bomb got past the sniffers,” Tan said.

“None of the chemicals are volatile by themselves, so sensors that sniff for explosives miss them entirely. “ll three chemicals are also extremely expensive and difficult to manufacture. “s a result, the manufacturers of chemical sniffers rarely include them in the sniffer’s database.” Ched-Theree lifted a hand to fiddle with one end of her head scarf. “Perhaps after this incident, they will do so.”

“If the chemicals are expensive, the attacker has to be wealthy,” Ben said with a pointed look at Kendi. Evan stirred on his lap.

“It would seem so,” Ched-Theree. “This does narrow the field of suspects.”

“Do you have suspects?” Kendi asked.

“We have leads,” Ched-Theree said, then lowered her head and gave Kendi a hard stare. “Is there anyone
you
suspect? Someone you have not yet mentioned? Perhaps because it only recently occurred to you?”

Kendi shook his head. “Sorry. No one.”

“What of you, Inspector Tan?” Ched-Theree asked. “Is there anyone you suspect?”

“No,” she said.

“A pity,” Ched-Theree said. “I will continue my investigation. Meanwhile, do not travel anywhere alone. It would be a terrible thing if you were to disappear as well.”

“As well?” Harenn said.

“You have not heard the news?” Ched-Theree said in exaggerated surprise. “I suppose it is understandable. The lawsuit and the election and becoming new parents have doubtless been a distraction.”

“What are you talking about?” Kendi said sharply.

“Well over a dozen people have disappeared in the past few months. We have recovered no bodies and received no ransom notes. They simply disappeared. The only thing all of them have in common is Silence. In fact, exactly half of the victims are Silent and the other half are Silenced. We cannot help but wonder about a connection.”

Kendi suddenly remembered reading about disappearances on the feeds—the girl on the hiking trip, the Silent monk who hadn’t come home, the people Keith had said stopped coming to work. He should have noticed, should have spotted it, but he had been so busy with everything else. Besides, Bellerophon was supposed to be
safe
, a haven. Who would have thought Silent were in danger here?