mentioned the fact that if Martina and Utang had been taken off-planet, the chances of finding them were slim. There was no way to track a slipship's course if the captain and pilot logged a false destination with the authorities. It was an advantage that both the Children and the slavers often used when they needed to make a fast getaway. The irony was rarely lost on Kendi.
'Who drew that?' Bedj-ka asked, pointing to the sketch.
'My sister.' Kendi held it up so everyone could see. 'She's pretty good. I didn't… I didn't know she could draw. I think it's her hobby.'
'It's pretty rigid,' Bedj-ka said. 'Is there a clue in the picture? That's how it always works in stories and stuff- the artist leaves a clue in a painting or a poem or something that tells the good guys where they were taken, right? That's why you took the drawing, right? All we need to do is find the clue and then we could go in and rescue them and-'
'Real life,' Harenn interrupted, 'is rarely so easy.'
'And I already looked for clues in the picture,' Kendi said with small smile. 'I figured it was worth a shot. There wasn't anything in it, though. Sorry.' He set the picture aside, and suddenly he couldn't stand the idea of being in a roomful of people for another second. Anger flared. He wanted to knock something off the desk and rush from the room, but he didn't. Instead he forced himself to stand up with a calm face. 'I need some time alone, guys. I'll be in my room if something turns up.'
He knew before he got the bedroom door open that Ben was coming up behind him. He turned, caught Ben's eye, and shook his head. 'I'm going into the Dream for a while.' Then he firmly shut the door.
Harenn Mashib felt the guilt drag at her like a wet, heavy cloak. The sky above Felice was overcast today, blunting the worst of the usual humid heat but still leaving the busy city uncomfortably warm. Harenn's feet ached, her stomach was empty, and she had a headache, but the guilt kept her moving.
'Your pardon,' she said, and held up the holos to the next person on the sidewalk. 'Have you seen either of these people?'
The man glanced at the hologram of Kendi's siblings and shook his head. Harenn moved on. This was the third straight day she had been at it. Even Bedj-ka had abandoned her, preferring to stay in the hotel and swim or read or play on the virtual reality networks. She had only allowed him to stay behind after extracting heavy promises from Ben that someone would always, always have an eye on him. And Harenn kept at it, shoving the holograms in the faces of random passers-by, hoping for a flicker of recognition.
It was a ploy of desperation. She knew it. Kendi knew it. But in the past week, all other clues had been followed, all other avenues had been exhausted. Martina and Utang had simply vanished. It made Harenn's heart twist inside her whenever she saw Kendi's ashen face. Although he had repeatedly assured her that he didn't hold her responsible, she couldn't help but feel that she was. Every night when she looked down at Bedj-ka's sleeping face, she couldn't help but feel that way.
It filled Harenn with joy beyond imagining to have Bedj-ka back. After their first embrace, she had given him another, and then another, and several more, until at last he began to protest. He was a stranger to her, but she was getting to know him, was growing used to his chatter and how much he lived in his imagination. She had finally set a limit on the number of hours he spent on the game networks, insisting he get fresh air and exercise in the real world. He had become angry and she had almost given in to his demands. What if he ran away from her? What if he stopped speaking to her? What if he hated her for doing this to him? More than anything else, Harenn wanted to live in peace and love with her son. But then she had decided that spoiling him would not, in the end, be best for either of them. The anger and pouting that followed had been difficult, but eventually Bedj-ka's bright nature had returned and he had asked to go swimming. Harenn was beginning to feel like a mother again, even if she barely knew her child.
It was a feeling that had come at great cost to Kendi.
So now Harenn searched the streets. The work was no doubt futile, but it made her feel as if she were doing something, and it kept her away from the sight of Kendi's haunted eyes.
Another fruitless hour passed. Harenn's headache intensified along with the hunger, but still she kept moving, asking, looking. After a while, Lucia emerged from the crowd.
'Here you are,' she said. 'What did you do, switch off your earpiece? I've been worried. You've been gone for so long, and Bedj-ka was wondering what was going on.'
Another twinge of guilt. 'I have lost track of time.'
'Any luck?'
'None.'
'Let's go back to the suite. Father Kendi ordered room service. He said he doesn't much feel like going out. I think he's about to give up and leave.'
Harenn shook her head as they moved along the sidewalk toward the Varsis Building. 'That would be a mistake. We are so very close to them.'
A familiar scent wafted by. Spicy grilled sausage sizzled on a cart tended by a man wearing a disposable white cap. Harenn wrinkled her nose. Grilled sausage had been one of Isaac Todd's favorite foods, and every time she smelled the stuff, it brought back harsh memories.
'We don't know if we're close to them or not,' Lucia said. 'That's the problem. We don't have a single-'
A customer turned away from the cart, raising a sausage in a bun to his mouth. A pang shot through Harenn's stomach. She dropped the holo-unit and grabbed the man by the lapels of his shirt. With a strength that surprised even herself, she shoved him into an alley and up against the hard stone wall. The sausage went flying. The man grunted and his eyes widened with shock and surprise as the tip of the large knife Harenn always carried pricked his throat. Lucia gaped.
'Harenn, what-?' she began.
'Do you remember me?' Harenn hissed. ' Do you? '
'Who the fuck are you, lady?' the man yelped. His eyes were saucer-wide beneath straw-blond hair.
'You don't remember, then.' Ignoring Lucia's startled questions, Harenn shoved her face closer to the man's. The big knife blade, sharp and unmoving, pressed against his jugular. 'I am unsure if that makes me simply angry or absolutely furious. In either case it does not bode well for you.'
'Harenn!' Lucia protested. 'What's going on?'
'Tell the woman who you are,' Harenn growled.
'Lady, I don't-'
'Tell her!' She pressed the edge of the blade into his skin until a drop of blood oozed down the edge. The man cringed. 'Tell her your name!'
'I'm… it's Marlin Silver.'
Harenn pressed harder. 'Liar! Tell the truth, or I will slice you open here and now.'
'Todd!' the man howled. 'My name is Isaac Todd!'
'Where did you say you found him?' Kendi demanded.
'Not far from the spaceport,' Harenn said grimly. 'I was showing the holograms of your brother and sister around and I saw him. Lucia and I dragged him back to the ship, then we called you.'
'She almost killed him-' Lucia began.
'I still may,' Harenn said.
'— but I convinced her that he might be a good source of underworld information.'
'Hey, there's no need for violence.' Isaac Todd raised both his hands in supplication. A silver slave band, fitted by Lucia, encircled one wrist to ensure he wouldn't attack anyone. The man was attractive enough. Square jaw, blond hair, well-molded physique, blue eyes. Bedj-ka was lucky that way, Kendi decided. The boy had his father's features and his mother's coloring. He was going to break hearts in a dozen solar systems when he got older.
'What are you doing here, Isaac?' Harenn demanded. 'Does it have anything to do with the slaves who were kidnapped from DrimCom?'
'I don't have to talk to you,' Todd replied tightly.
'You fail to understand, my husband,' Harenn purred. She leaned forward, pushing her bare face into his. 'You will talk to us and you will tell us everything we need to know. I have in this medical bay a wide variety of drugs that will make you reveal everything that ever happened in your filthy life. Some of those drugs have very interesting side-effects. You will talk, Isaac, and then I will check the veracity of your answers with my collection of chemicals.
