Nightmare

Ara glanced at Rashid. Tan was peering over his shoulder at the data on his pad. Her first instinct was to dismiss Kendi, but another, more reasonable, voice told her she should listen.

— Give me a few moments,~ she said. Ched-Hisak’s presence left her mind and Ara got up.

'I need to go into the Dream,' she said. 'My student-the one who witnessed the murder-wants to talk to me. May I use that couch over there?'

'Please,' Rashid said absently, eyes glued to the display.

'What’s going on?' Tan asked.

'I’ll tell you as soon as I find out,' Ara replied. She crossed to the sofa, lay down, and drew out her dermospray. After a moment, colors swirled behind her eyelids. Tan and Rashid’s conversation dwindled into the distance. The last thing she heard was Tan’s puzzled voice.

'Look here,' she said. 'Cole Keller got in trouble twice for setting the school restroom on fire. That’s also a symptom of …'

The fountain sprayed high into the air, which was delicately scented with orange blossoms. Ara perched on the lip of her fountain and a moment later she felt another knock, this one infused with a question.

'Of course,' she said aloud. 'Please come.'

Ched-Hisak and Kendi appeared before her in a rush of Dream energy. Kendi instantly fell retching to hands and knees. Ara knelt beside him. She had forgotten that he hadn’t yet learned to adjust to instant transport within the Dream.

'It’s all right,' she soothed in her best mother voice. 'Just try to breathe.'

Eventually the heaving subsided and Kendi let Ara help him to his feet. Ched-Hisak waited patiently as Ara conjured up a glass of water for Kendi. He accepted it gratefully, face pale.

'We still have to work on that,' she said. 'Now-what’s so important?'

Excited color returned to Kendi’s face and tossed the glass over his shoulder. It vanished before it hit the grass. 'It’s Dorna,' he said. 'She didn’t do. I have proof.'

Ara thought about what she and Tan had learned in Rashid’s office. 'Kendi, I’m sorry, but I just don’t have time for this. I’m sitting in the office of the station’s Security Chief, and his time is-'

'Just listen, will you?' Kendi pleaded. 'I have evidence.'

'He is correct,' Ched-Hisak put in. 'I would listen.'

That checked Ara. 'All right,' she said. 'Go.'

'Okay, the drug that gets us each into the Dream,' Kendi said. 'It’s tailored, right? Each person has their own mixture, and no one else can use it. One Child’s drug won’t work for another.'

'I know this, Kendi,' Ara said. 'What does it-'

'I’m just setting the stage,' Kendi insisted. 'Okay, we don’t have to pay for the drug, but the Children do keep track of how much you use, and for students they do more than that. A student dermospray has a microtransmitter that alerts the dispensary whenever we use a dose so our teachers can keep track of how often we practice in the Dream.'

'Right, right,' Ara said, barely concealing her impatience.

'Just before Vera Cheel was killed,' Kendi said triumphantly, 'Dorna didn’t use her dermospray.'

Ara blinked but didn’t answer.

'I know this,' Kendi went on, 'because she was between fill-ups. I remember she mentioned it when she and the others came over to play hide and seek. She said she’d been out for two days but kept forgetting to go down the dispensary for more, and it was during those two days that Vera was killed. When I remembered this, I asked the clerk at the dispensary to look up Dorna’s record, but he wouldn’t do it until Father Ched-Hisak and Inspector Gray got permission. That took a whole day. Otherwise I would have tried to talk to you earlier.'

'And the records confirmed that Dorna hadn’t used her dermospray?'

Kendi shook his head. 'She hadn’t. And she hadn’t used it anytime before Iris and Prinna were killed, either. We checked. And there’s no way she could enter the Dream without using her drugs.'

'She could have gotten them from somewhere else,' Ara said doubtfully, 'or used a different dermospray.'

'This is unlikely,' put in Ched-Hisak with a bob of his head. 'Her dermospray would have registered the transaction if she had moved her drug, and there is nowhere on Bellerophon that could mix her exact drug cocktail unless they had her medical records. A black market for Dream drugs does not exist-they have no effect on the non-Silent and or on Silent for whom they are not designed.'

'True,' Ara admitted, and she let a tiny blossom of hope bloom in her chest. 'But that leaves an awful lot unexplained. We found the blood of one of the victims on a shirt in Dorna’s room.'

'You did?' Kendi said, surprised. 'Well, maybe the killer planted it there. But still …'

'What?' Ara asked.

'There’s something else,' Kendi said. 'It happened right after you left. Ben and I-that is, I-invited a few people over that evening, and-'

'You had a party?' Ara growled. 'I don’t recall giving you permission to have-'

'You said the more people who were around me and Ben, the better,' Kendi said loftily. 'I was just doing what you said.'

'I didn’t say that-never mind. We’ll discuss that later. What happened?'

'Dorna showed up,' Kendi said, and explained in detail. 'She blamed the killings on someone named Cole. We figure he’s one of her alternate personalities, but if Dorna didn’t use her dermospray before any of the killings, she- or he-couldn’t have-'

Ara stiffened. 'What was the person’s name? The one Dorna said killed people?'

'Actually it wasn’t Dorna talking,' Kendi said. 'It was a personality named Violet. She seemed nice until I grabbed her, and then I think she switched to another-'

'Kendi,' Ched-Hisak interrupted. 'Mother Ara asked of you a question.'

'Oh. Sorry,' Kendi said. 'What was it?'

'What was the name of the person Dorna said was killing people?' Ara repeated.

'Cole,' Kendi said. 'She blamed the killings on someone named Cole.'

Ara blinked. 'That’s the name of Dorna’s brother.'

'She has a brother?' Kendi said. 'Where is he?'

'Let me see if I can find out,' Ara said. 'Give me a moment.' She closed her eyes and felt around the Dream. After a moment, she found Lewa Tan’s solid-world mind nearby. Ara reached for it and gently knocked.

— Yes?~ came Tan’s mental voice.

Ara quickly explained what Kendi had told her. ~Do you know where Cole is now? ~

Excitement rippled across Tan’s mind like the smell of cinnamon. ~There’s information on him in the file. Listen to this-his school record says he set the bathroom on fire. Twice. Another time he was cited for setting a cat on fire. Arson and cruelty to animals are both hallmarks of a serial killer. Dorna isn’t our killer. Cole is.~

— But what’s Dorna’s connection, then?~ Ara said. But even as she spoke it fell into place. ~They’re a team. Cole kills them in the Dream and Dorna cuts off fingers in the solid world.~

— Which would explain the spot of blood on Dorna’s sleeve and how the victims died even though Dorna hadn’t entered the Dream,~ Tan said. ~Okay, okay. Let me talk this out.~ Brief pause. ~Dorna and Cole. Both abused as kids. Dorna develops multiple personality disorder, Cole becomes a sociopath. Cole is a coward but also a dominator who needs to control. It’s why he kills-he’s trying to control his victims and he kills them when they don’t fall in line. He also dominates his sister Dorna. They’re both Silent, so when dear old Mom sells them off as slaves and they’re split up, they can keep in contact. Cole stays aloof and remote, ruling and killing from the Dream because it’s safe there. He bullies his sister-or one of her personalities-into doing the dirty, bloody work in the solid world.~

Ara nodded, though Tan couldn’t see her. ~This complicates everything. Back when we thought Dorna was the killer, we at least knew what planet she was on. But Cole could be anywhere in the galaxy. How are