The Dying Light (22 page)

She shrugged. “I can tie you up again, if you like. Or you can quit with the attitude arid come down to the mess where we can discuss things civilly. It’s your choice.”

He offered a half-smile and said: “The mess will be fine, thanks.”

“Good,” said Roche. “But remember that both Ameidio and I are armed and we’ll be watching your every movement.”

Disisto nodded, standing slowly. “Now
that
I can believe.”

* * *

In the mess, the three of them sat at one of the many tables scattered about the room. Roche picked at a dish of reheated noodles while she sketched the details of how she had come to be in Palasian System. Disisto listened carefully, occasionally glancing at Haid when the ex-mercenary added a detail Roche had left out.

By the time they brought him up to date, an hour had passed and Disisto had hardly said a word.

“Well?” Roche prompted.

“I’m not sure,” he said. “I think you’ve been honest with me, but...”

“But what?”

He pushed his plate aside. “Well, the business of Cane himself. If the clone warrior in Palasian System could cause so much destruction, then why hasn’t Cane?”

Roche shrugged. “That’s one of the reasons we’re here: to see what makes them tick. But so far we’ve only seen two, and that’s hardly a representative sample. For all we know, Cane could be the norm, not the exception.”

Disisto looked down at his plate for a long moment, then back up at Roche. “There’s another one.”

What little appetite Roche had instantly vanished. “What?
Where?
”

“Hetu System. We received news of it a few days ago.” He held up his hands before she could press him for more details. “That’s all I know, Roche. I’m not privy to that kind of information. What little I do find out is on the sly. “

She forced herself to let it go—for the moment. Hetu System was on the far side of the COE, on the fringes of the region. There wasn’t much she could do about it even if she wanted to.

“You heard about this other clone warrior a few days ago?” Haid said. “How was that possible? I thought you were unable to leave here.”

Disisto looked tired, as though his decision to answer questions had come at great personal cost. “Seventeen days ago we were brought here on the back of the
Sebettu,
a Kesh destroyer. They brought us to the edge of the system, just inside the Gauntlet, and from there we traveled under our own power.”

“So the Gauntlet was in place at that point?” said Roche.

“Yes.”

Roche nodded, noting one lie from Rufo so far. He had said they had been trapped when the solar envelope had encapsulated the system.

Disisto went on: “Ever since then, we’ve received a communications drone from outside the Gauntlet every six days or so. I presumed they came from
Sebettu,
but if you didn’t pass it on the way in, I guess I might be wrong.”

“That explained the recent duel Haid had noted in the bar. “All we saw was a blockade comprised of Armada ships. Were they there when you came in?”

“Yes. But they let us through once they were sure who we were.”

“Really? Doesn’t that strike you as a bit odd? I mean, we had a hell of a time getting past them.”

“Not really,” said Disisto. “As I understand it, the COE Armada wanted to seal the system once they had an idea what was inside it. The only way they could do that quickly was with something like Asha’s Gauntlet. They did a deal with the N’Kor Republic, which had the only remaining prototype. At the same time, they contacted the chief and commissioned the services of Galine Four. The Gauntlet beat us here by a few days, so
Sebettu
ferried us in. Once we were inside, they left us alone to begin our work.”

“Which was?” said Haid.

Disisto turned to him. “To study the actions of the person responsible for the destruction of the system.”

“That’s it?’ Haid asked.

“What else do you suggest we do?
Fight
this person? The most we could hope for was to work out
how
he operated, in order to stop his doing it again elsewhere. Anything more would’ve been asking for trouble. If you ask me, it’s risky enough just being here.”

“Rufo agreed to be dropped in here without any means of defending himself?” Haid’s expression was highly skeptical. “No means of escape? No way of letting the outside know if you might be under attack?”

“Not quite,” said Disisto. “We do have communications drones of our own that we can send if we need to. But it was risky, yes. A drone takes at least ten hours to get out of the system. If we
did
get into trouble, by the time help arrived we’d have been dead. We haven’t sent any yet, and I hope we don’t have to.”

“So why did Rufo agree to do it?” Roche asked.

“Lots of reasons, I guess. It’s hard to know exactly why, because he doesn’t explain himself to his employees as often as we feel he should.” He managed a small smile. “I think it was because the COE applied a little pressure to make him agree. That, and they told him the person we would be looking for was probably gone anyway.”

Roche’s laugh was derisive. “And that you would basically be conducting an autopsy on a completely dead system?”

“Something like that,” said Disisto.

“But it hasn’t turned out that way, has it?”

Disisto shook his head. “The traps around Aro could’ve hurt us, and there could be others we haven’t encountered yet.”

“Not to mention the clone warrior himself,” Haid pointed out.

“I doubt he’s still here,” said Disisto.

“Really? Why?”

“It stands to reason, doesn’t it? We’ve been wandering around the system for almost two weeks, and we haven’t been attacked. We’ve been careful, sure, but he would’ve spotted us eventually. And if he did, why didn’t he attack us? We’re the only major target left in one piece in Palasian System. It doesn’t make sense that he would let us roam free—especially not when we’re actively looking for him. He’s not stupid.”

“And this is what Rufo believes?” said Roche.

“No, Rufo is convinced he’s still here,” Disisto said. “But take my word for it, he’s long gone by now.”

Roche wasn’t taking his word on anything, but was prepared to watch him entertain the thought. “Where to? Hetu System, perhaps?”

Disisto shrugged. “Maybe. Or maybe he’s still in transit. It depends what sort of transport he’s in, and what he’s looking for. The nearest system is only a few light-years away, but it’s not much more than an outpost. He might be looking for more of a challenge.”

“I wouldn’t call Palasian System much of a challenge,” Haid said.

“What if this was just a trial run?” said Disisto. “Or just an opportunity to do some damage? Remember: he only made his move when the crew of this ship brought him out of the life capsule. Not only was Palasian System the closest port at that time, but
Daybreak
was already heading there. It would’ve made sense to go with the flow, to take what he could from here, then to move on in the direction he actually wanted to go.”

Roche nodded. “I agree. It matches what Cane said. He’s not going to waste time or opportunities; every decision he makes will be to maximize his return—however he measures it. Palasian System was just a means of making himself stronger.

“But where do
we
fit into this?” she went on. “You said someone from the outside warned you that we were coming. Who was it? And
why
?”

“The Armada, perhaps,” said Disisto.

“You don’t sound very certain about that,” said Haid.

“I’m not,” he said. “The last drone we received told us to expect you. I have no idea who sent it.”

“Word must have leaked from Intelligence,” said Haid, facing Roche. “Someone might have taken exception to there being another Sol Wunderkind on the loose.”

“Maybe,” Roche said. She could believe Page De Bruyn setting her up like this. “But why not ambush us properly? There’s no way we could have withstood a destroyer or two at the edge of the Gauntlet, where they knew we were going to arrive sooner or later. Why leave it up to a nonmilitary installation inside what is basically a war zone?”

“Less risk?” Haid suggested. “Containment would be easier in here, if something went wrong.”

“Not when we have a working slow-jump drive. Supposing Cane did go berserk, all he’d have to do is take over the
Ana Vereine
and fly it back out again.”

“Do you think he’s capable of doing that? Without Kajic or the Box, the ship would be difficult to control for a hundred people, let alone one.”

“I’d hate to rule it out,” Roche said. “Every time Cane reaches a hurdle, he seems to find a way over it.”

“Until now.” Haid turned to Disisto. “So what did you hit him with, anyway? Ferozac?”

“Diprodek-2, actually,” the security officer said, unable to hide a hint of satisfaction. “It was the fastest-acting neurotoxin we had in store,
and
we had an antidote. All we had to do was hit him with a blast, catch him when he fell, then clear out the poison before it did any serious damage. It worked, too. I was receiving updates before the scutter activated its engines—and afterward, too, through the feed your Box tapped into.”

Roche leaned forward. “What did you see?”

“Everything went as planned. The whole thing was handled by remote to ensure no one would get hurt. The scutter docked, and automatics attached the umbilical. When pressure equalized, the airlock opened. The clone warrior stepped through first to check things out, then he went back in to get your reave. They walked out together, and that’s when we hit them. Just prior to that, we shot your reave full of Xarodine to stop her picking anything up—”

“Why did you do that?” said Roche, unable to keep the bitterness from her voice. “She couldn’t read anything. That’s why she was there, not to spy. It was Rufo who suggested we bring her in to see your medical team in the first place!”

“We had no way of knowing you were telling us the truth, Commander.”

Roche shook her head in disbelief. “And I don’t suppose you have any epsense adepts on Galine Four either, right?”

Disisto frowned. “None that I know of. Why?”

“Because Rufo told us you had some on board with similar problems.” She glanced over at Haid. “Another lie,” she said.

“Well, try to see it from his point of view,” said Disisto. “He’d been warned about you; he had to take some sort of action.”

“Why?” Haid asked. “We hadn’t done anything to him.”

“But for the sake of the station he had to assume that you
might
.”

“Oh, come on, Disisto!” Roche snapped. “He never intended to trust us, and you know it! Stop trying to defend him. He lured us to Galine Four with the sole intention of neutralizing Cane. He didn’t even give us a chance.”

Disisto didn’t deny it. “If that’s the case, then he was pressured into doing it. It’s not like the chief at all to take such risks.”

“What do you mean?” said Roche.

“Well, whether he’s in the system or not, we’d already managed to evade one clone warrior; we’re pushing our luck putting ourselves in direct contact with another. The chief knew that, and at any other time he would have simply let you go by and not take any risks. But he sent Mavalhin to contact you, knowing full well what you would bring with you. And I guess he lied about our epsense adepts to get Cane on board. It’s not an acceptable risk, in my opinion.”

“You blame Shak’ni?” said Haid.

“And whoever’s behind him, yes.”

“So why didn’t they do it themselves?” asked Roche.

“Shak’ni is a bigot,” said Haid, “like a lot of the hardcore Kesh. Maybe it amuses him to watch Pristines making trouble for each other.”

Disisto shrugged. “That’s possible. I don’t know, though. It bothers me that the chief isn’t acting his normal self, and hasn’t ever since we came here.”

Roche sighed. “Okay, so what happens to Cane now?”

“Nothing,” said Disisto. “He’s powerless, and the chief knows it’s best to keep him that way. Linegar may be under pressure at the moment, but he’s not stupid.”

Roche nodded. The idea of Cane bound in chains didn’t sit easily with her, but there was some consolation in what Disisto said. While Cane was incapacitated, he was safe. But it was the image of Maii, locked in the perpetual darkness of her own skull, that bothered Roche the most.

Again, determination to rescue the girl flooded through her. Too many people had let
her
down recently; she refused to do the same to anyone she knew. There was too much mistrust in the galaxy as it was.

“If Rufo’s so damned smart,” she said, “why can’t he see that we all want the same thing? Why are we fighting each other?”

Disisto met her gaze squarely.
“
Do
we want the same thing?”

“I thought we did. Or hoped so, anyway.” Roche shook her head. “I need to work out what your boss is doing, and why. Will you help me do that?”

Disisto took a deep breath. “If it means betraying his confidence, no, I won’t.”

“Then we have nothing else to talk about. For now.”

* * *

Responding to a message from the autosurgeon via her implants, Roche stopped at the surgery on the way back to the bridge, sending Haid and Disisto ahead of her. By the time she arrived there, Myer’s unconscious body had been wrapped in a bioactive blanket and strapped to the plastic bed. His left shoulder, chest, and arm were completely encased in a thin layer of translucent bandages that allowed enough red through to indicate just how severe the damage had been. He seemed peaceful, however, and Roche was content to leave him there for the time being—until either the autosurgeon pronounced him fit enough to walk or she needed him on his feet regardless.

She had been there only a few minutes when another message came through her implants. This time it was from the bridge:
Daybreak
had received a tightbeam transmission encrypted in high-level COE code. She quickly left the surgery, instructing the autosurgeon to keep her posted on Myer’s progress.

She arrived on the bridge just as the courier’s AI completed deciphering the transmission.

Haid looked up from tying Disisto back into his crash-couch as she entered. “That’ll be the Box, I guess,” he said.