“Obeying,” Harenn replied instantly.
“Peggy-Sue, close channel and open intercom to Ben Rymar.” Ara reached the lift, decided not to wait for it, and started down the ladder instead. Ceramic clanged beneath her hurried feet. “Ben, have you gotten hold of Kendi yet?”
“Yes, Mother. He and Sejal are in the spaceport. Kendi wants to know why-”
“Where’s the first place the guard will come looking for Kendi?” she snapped. “God, I can’t believe that boy’s stupidity today. Tell him to find someplace to hide. We’ll be there shortly. Peggy-Sue, close channel and open intercom to Jack Jameson. Jack, we’re going to have company pretty soon and they’re going to ask a lot of questions. I want you to keep your mouth shut. You don’t have any idea where Kendi is, or where I am.”
“But I don’t have any idea where Kendi-”
“Meanwhile, I want you, Gretchen, Ben, and Trish to get the ship ready for takeoff. You might only have a few seconds’ warning, so I want the bridge staffed at all times. Clear?”
“Clear. But-”
“Peggy-Sue, close channel.” Ara reached the bottom of the ladder and all but flew down to the main hatchway. On the way she met up with Harenn. Harenn’s veil was slightly askew, and she carried a briefcase-sized medical kit.
“What happens, Mother?” Harenn asked in a breathless voice.
Ara was about to explain when Pitr’s solid form hurried up, his arms piled with cloth.
“Slave shackles?” Ara asked.
“Under the robes,” Pitr replied.
Ara opened the hatchway. “Peggy-Sue, activate magnetic locks ship-wide and open them for no one but me or Brother Kendi.”
“Acknowledged,” the computer said.
Ara waved Pitr and Harenn through the hatch and shut it. A faint hum indicated the magnetic locks were active. The landing field, carefully gridded with precise yellow lines, stretched around them in all directions. Ships of varying shapes and sizes rested like giant insects, one to a square. Transports carrying fuel and cargo zipped over the aerogel asphalt. Overhead, the sun burned in a cloudless sky.
“Ben,” Ara sub-vocalized, “where’s Kendi hiding?”
In response, a red trail overlaid itself on her field of vision as Ben uploaded directions to her ocular implant.
“What happens, Mother?” Harenn demanded again. “We need to know.”
“It’s Kendi.” Ara said, and strode off along the trail. She explained with short, terse phrases as they went. Pitr whistled under his breath.
“Are any Unity guard coming now?” Harenn wanted to know.
“They’re demanding entrance at the ship,” Ben said. “They said Kendi and Sejal are wanted for assaulting an officer. That makes them high priority.”
“Stall,” Ara ordered. “Tell them the locks are malfunctioning.”
“Acknowledged.”
The red trail lead Ara into the spaceport proper, a large, flat building filled with customs offices, air traffic controls, and who-knew-what. The air inside was cool, and the volume of voices rose considerably when they entered. Ara followed the trail to a private restroom that offered showers as well as toilet facilities.
“Well, that’s one intelligent decision he made,” Ara muttered, and thumbed the chime.
“It’s occupied,” said a strange voice, and it took Ara a moment to recognize it as Sejal’s.
“Let us in,” Ara snapped. “Quick!”
The door slid open. Ara, Pitr, and Harenn ducked inside. Kendi and Sejal sat on narrow benches within. The cubicle was tiny, too small for five people, so Ara turned to Pitr.
“Wait outside and play guard,” she said. He set down his bundle of cloth and left.
“Ben told me what’s going on,” Kendi said. “And I don’t want a lecture, Mother. I’d do everything exactly the same way if I had to do it again, so don’t waste your breath shouting.”
“Who the hell are you?” Sejal broke in.
Ara drew herself up, trying to reign in her temper. “I’m Mother Adept Araceil of the Children of Irfan.”
“Okay,” Sejal grunted. “What’s that mean to me?”
“It means,” Harenn said, “that she can take you off this planet.”
“I’m not going anywhere if she-” Sejal pointed a finger at Ara “-gets Kendi in trouble.”
Kendi shot Ara a smug look, and it took all her willpower not to smack him. Later, she told herself. We’ll hash this out later.
“Sejal,” she said in a calm voice, “you and Kendi are both at grave risk. We have to get you off Rust, and quickly, before the Unity gets hold of you. Harenn-your kit.”
“What about my mom?” Sejal said as Harenn opened her medical kit. “I can’t just leave her.”
That stopped Ara dead. She had been concentrating so hard on Sejal, she had completely forgotten about Vidya.
“We can come back for her later,” Ara said. “The Children of Irfan usually offer relatives work at-”
“Just leave her? What are you, nuts?” Sejal said incredulously. “She’s my mother!”
“Hey, it’s all right,” Kendi said, laying a hand on Sejal’s shoulder. “We’ll send another team later.”
“No!” Sejal shook off Kendi’s hand and scrambled to his feet. He was almost a full head taller than Ara, and she was forced to look up at him. “I’m not leaving without-”
“All right,” Ara broke in quickly. “We won’t leave until we talk to her. Ben, how are things at the ship?”
“Who’s Ben?” Sejal demanded.
“Jack’s still stalling,” Ben reported. “Trish is in the Dream helping him by whispering at the guard to keep them calmed down.”
“Good. Can you patch me through to the Unity communication system and connect me with Vidya Dasa?”
“It’ll take a minute,” Ben said doubtfully. “The Unity’s monitoring us pretty closely right now. I have to change channels and masks every few seconds.”
“You’re wonderful, Ben,” Ara told him. “Let me know when you have her on.”
“What are you doing?” Sejal asked.
Ara wedged herself next to him on the hard, narrow bench. “I’m setting up a call with your mother. Meanwhile, I want you to put these robes on and let Harenn work on you.”
“Work on me?” Sejal echoed, looking a little bewildered. Now that Ara had promised to contact Vidya, most of his belligerence had faded. Ara herself had also calmed down a little, and it came to her that she was sitting next to the person she might have to kill. She swallowed, wanting to edge away from him on the bench, put some distance between them, but there was no room.
“I will change your face, Sejal,” Harenn said. “Hair and eyes, perhaps your nose and forehead. Come by the mirror. There will be no pain.”
Sejal glanced at Kendi, who nodded. Everyone remained silent while Harenn worked. She lumped coagulant paste over Sejal’s nose and forehead and worked it like a sculptor. The material was normally used to seal cuts and other wounds, but in sufficient quantities, it could be used for short-term cosmetic alterations. When Harenn took her hands away, the paste faded and matched itself to Sejal’s skin color. His profile had been altered significantly, with a longer nose and thicker forehead. Next, Harenn had Sejal cover his face while she sprayed his hair with a strong disinfectant. She waited one minute, then told him to rinse off in the sink. When he finished, his hair was several shades lighter, almost blond.
“Now you, Kendi,” Ara said.
Kendi wordlessly submitted to Harenn’s ministrations, though he refused to look at Ara. Before Harenn finished, Ben came on over Ara’s earpiece again.
“The Unity guard are demanding entrance,” he said. “They’re going to damage the ship if we don’t get the door open.”
Ara gritted her teeth. “Peggy-Sue, are you monitoring?”
“On line,” the computer said.
“Peggy-Sue, release hatchway magnetic locks. Then initiate file lockdown and scramble, priority one.”
