She flushed again. He couldn't know about the Shreck's offer already. He couldn't. She made herself open the door, and Robert came breezing in, wearing full fleet uniform with a kit bag over his shoulder. He nodded and smiled at her, dropped the kit bag on the floor, and looked around his apartment.
'Just a flying visit, I'm afraid, Adrienne. My orders came through this morning. I've been posted to one of the new E-class ships, the
'I understand,' said Adrienne, and she did. The Shrecks' contacts in the military were already at work, arranging things. Removing her options one by one till she had no one left to turn to but Gregor Shreck.
'There is someone who might be prepared to help you,' said Robert. 'But you're really not going to like it. I've contacted Evangeline Shreck. She was, and is, Finlay's love, but she's a good sort, for a Shreck. She'll do anything for Finlay. Even protect you. Go and see her, Addie. You might find you have more in common than you think. Now, I've got to go. They're expecting me on the
He grabbed up his kit bag, pecked her quickly on the cheek, and left, closing the door quietly behind him. Adrienne scowled, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. She'd always known her residence here was only temporary, but it still came as something of a shock to be thrown to the sharks so suddenly. The question was, did Evangeline know about her father's plans for Finlay? Was she, perhaps unwittingly, a part of them? If so and Adrienne warned her, that would put Evangeline in her debt. Adrienne nodded, smiling coldly. She always felt more comfortable when dealing with people from a position of power. She would go and see Evangeline Shreck. If only so she could hear about a side of Finlay she'd never known herself.
Evangeline Shreck stood before the single great window in her apartment in Tower Shreck, looking out at the world beyond, a prisoner in her own home. The door wasn't locked, of course. Nothing as obvious as that. But if she were to try and leave the tower without getting her father's permission first, polite guards would calmly but firmly insist that she return to her apartment while they waited for instructions from the Shreck. And they'd walk back with her, just to make sure she didn't get lost along the way. The Shreck wanted her going outside as little as possible. Officially, he was concerned that the Empress might try and seize her, to become one of her maids—a mentally conditioned slave with no will of her own. Lionstone had already done it once with the Shreck's niece. No one had done anything. No one had said anything. No one dared, not even the Shreck.
But mostly Gregor was concerned that Evangeline would he revealed as a clone, in these very anti-clone days. If it were ever revealed that the Shreck had cloned his daughter after she died suddenly, and then passed the clone off as the real thing, there would be outrage in the Court and in society. Being replaced by a clone of oneself was an aristocrat's worst nightmare. Gregor would be punished and ostracized, and the clone Evangeline would be destroyed—mostly for the crime of having fooled them all for so long.
But even that wasn't the whole truth. The Shreck kept her a prisoner because he could. He wanted to love, cherish, and own her completely, as he had his real daughter. For the Shreck had loved his daughter not as a father, but as a lover. Which might have been why he killed her. Evangeline didn't know the true story. The Shreck insisted it had been an accident, but he liked to drop hints, now and again, that no one ever defied him and lived to boast of it. Evangeline kept her head bowed and did as she was bid. For though she hated her father and would have killed him in a moment if she could, she had no choice. By playing the loving, dutiful daughter, she bought the Shreck's protection for her true love Finlay's wife and children, as she had promised Finlay she would. He never knew the price she paid. He must never know, or he would come storming up out of the underground to take a terrible revenge, not caring if he died as a result. Evangeline cared, so she never told him. She loved him so much she played a role that was destroying her, and never once allowed herself to think how unfair that was.
Evangeline was cracking up, though she hadn't realized that yet. She had too many commitments to too many people. To her father for his protection. To Finlay and his family for his love. To the clone and esper underground for the Cause. They all wanted something from her, and sometimes their needs clashed. It was getting harder to keep them separated. Different lies for different people, until the truth got lost in the smoke. She still loved Finlay with all her heart, though she saw him less and less. The underground kept him busy with missions he never explained to her. She had been the underground's contact with the Court and society, but since she got out so rarely now, she was of less and less use to them. She couldn't explain. They might tell Finlay. And, of course, she couldn't ever tell her father about Finlay or the underground. He'd kill her for what she'd done—for defying him, for daring to love someone else.
After all, he could always clone another Evangeline. He'd done it before.
And so she walked up and down in her apartment, thinking furiously, beating at the shifting walls of her various personas, getting nowhere, going quietly insane. She hardly opened her mouth to anyone, for fear of saying the wrong thing to the wrong person. And always worried that the next person at her door would be from security, with a warrant to drag her away to the interrogation cells. They'd make her talk. Everyone depended on her silence—lover, father, and Cause—and she felt less and less dependable with every day that passed. So far she had kept herself from cracking up through sheer force of will. Partly, because of her love for Finlay, and partly, because of all those who would suffer if she was weak. If she allowed herself to be weak.
And so the weight she carried grew ever heavier, and she could not, would not, put it down. Poor Evangeline.
She jumped despite herself as her comm unit chimed politely, alerting her to an incoming call. She knew who it was, who it had to be, but she went to answer it anyway. She sat down before her dressing table, and the mirror cleared to become a viewscreen, showing her the fat smiling face of her father. A cold hand clutched at her heart. She had to fight to get her breath, and she clenched her teeth together to keep her mouth from trembling.
'Just called to let you know I'm on my way,' said Gregor Shreck. 'Think loving thoughts till I get there, my precious. And wear the pink nightgown. The one I like. I won't be long. And then we can have some fun, just you and I. Won't that be nice?'
The fat smiling face disappeared, and the mirror returned, showing Evangeline her own face again. For a moment she didn't recognize it. Her face was thinner than it had been, the pale skin stretched taut over the protruding cheekbones. Her eyes had a trapped, hunted, haunted look. She tried a smile, rehearsing for her father, but it looked more like a grimace. She had a feeling the Shreck preferred it that way. And then there was a knock at the door, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. She stared blankly at the door, her heart hammering in her chest. It couldn't be him already. Had they come at last to drag her away, screaming and kicking, to the torture of the mind techs, where neither lover nor father nor Cause could save or succor her? She snatched up a heavy pair of scissors from the dressing table. Not as good as a knife, but close. She'd make them kill her. She'd be safe then. Somehow she backed away from hysteria and got a grip on herself, precarious though it was. She moved slowly to the door, still clutching the scissors. It seemed to take forever to get there. When she opened the door with a hand that hardly trembled at all, Adrienne Campbell was standing there waiting for her. Evangeline stared blankly at Finlay's wife, and all she could think was
'Well?' said Adrienne. 'Aren't you going to invite me in? We have so much to talk about.'
'Oh, hell,' said Evangeline. 'I haven't got time for this.'
'We need to talk.'
'This isn't a good time. I'm… expecting someone. Could you come back again?'
'I doubt it,' said Adrienne, smiling slightly. 'Your security people didn't want to let me in at all. I had to speak to them very firmly. Even so, they were still going to turn me away until I demanded a strip search. That slowed them down. I may have fallen from grace, but I am still a Campbell and noble born. Let them try to explain to their superiors that they'd strip-searched an aristocrat, and their next job would be delivering bad news to the Empress. I understand there are always vacancies. They were falling all over themselves to apologize as they let me in, poor bastards.'
'What do we have to say to each other?' said Evangeline.
'I don't know,' said Adrienne. 'But we do have at least one thing in common. Or rather, one person. Have you heard from Finlay lately?'
'Oh, hell. You'd better come in. But you can't stay.'
