Trickster

'How about this?'

'Nope.' Ben closed his eyes with a sigh. 'You'll have to keep trying.'

What started in the shower finished in the bedroom. Ben, still slightly damp, sprawled on his stomach next to Kendi, who was lying on his back but still pressed close to Ben. Kendi's skin was warm on Ben's. The soft light and lack of angles in the room were soothing and restful. The window showed gleaming stars against an utterly black background, and Ben could pretend there was no Collection, no SA Station-just a universe that was completely empty except for him and Kendi.

Ben shifted and winced beneath a slight twinge. Kendi's lovemaking had been intense, even a little rough, and Ben was sure he'd have a few bruises in the morning. He didn't care. Everything about Kendi had lately been more intense-and just plain tense-and Ben was glad to offer him some relief. Ben was just drifting off to sleep when Kendi spoke.

'So what happened today? You said Roon deviated from his routine.'

'Hm?' Ben roused himself. 'Deviated. Yeah, he did. It wasn't anything big. He gets off work every day at the same time-not during the shift change for the rest of the workers-and then he goes home. He takes the same route every single day, and once he gets home, he stays there. Except today.'

'What did he do today?'

'He went to an art gallery.'

'Art gallery?' Kendi rolled over and propped his head up on one hand. 'Did you follow him inside?'

Ben shrugged. 'Of course. I swear he looked at everything. Paintings, sculptures, holograms, sensories-you name it. There was a special exhibit on. He wandered around for more than two hours. Finally he bought a painting. He ordered it delivered and walked out. I followed him home, but nothing else happened.'

'What was the painting about?' Kendi asked intently.

'Does it matter?' Ben said, surprised.

'It might. No detail is too small, you know that.'

Ben closed his eyes and cast his mind back. Kendi, he knew, had the flawless short-term memory required for Dream communication work, and could faultlessly remember pages and pages of text for short periods of time. All Children were trained this way so that written communication could be transmitted word-for-word to other Silent through the Dream. But Ben hadn't gone through the mnemonic training, and he hadn't paid too much attention to the specifics of Roon's purchase. He hadn't though it would matter, though now he realized his mistake. He closed his eyes and thought.

'It was an exhibit of circus art,' he said after a while. 'And Roon bought a painting of a circus animal. An elephant? Yeah, an elephant.'

Ben felt the bed move and heard the rustle of sheets. He opened his eyes. Kendi had gotten up and was yanking open the closet door.

'What's up?' Ben asked.

'I have to go talk to him.' Kendi pulled out an outfit he rarely wore because it was so dressy-an electric blue silk tunic with matching trousers that set off his dark skin and eyes.

'Talk to who?'

'The art gallery owner.' He pulled a long length of red cloth from the closet and expertly wound it into a turban. A purple amethyst lapel pin completed the ensemble. Ben gnawed his lower lip, feeling like he had let Kendi down. If he had done a proper job shadowing Roon, Kendi wouldn't have to go back to the gallery. Ben felt had somehow blown it, but he didn't know what he had done wrong. Kendi didn't seem upset, but still.

'How do I look?' Kendi asked.

'What look are you going for?' Ben countered, sitting up.

'Wealthy collector.'

'Works for me. Um… do you want me to go with you? Back you up?'

'No, I'll be better off alone. Send out the troops if you don't hear from me in two hours.'

And then he was gone, leaving Ben alone on the bed.

Bedj-ka ghosted along the walkway, staying close to the shadows. Insects chirped among the talltree leaves, and his feet made only a tiny whisper of sound on the wooden path. The forest was almost completely dark beneath the talltree canopy, though enough silvery moonlight filtered through the leaves to let him see where he was going. The house, built into the branches of the talltree, lay about ten meters ahead of him. Like most Bellerophon treehouses, it sported a wide balcony that went all the around it. Golden light shone from the house windows, and a pair of enormous, shaggy humans guarded the front door. Bedj-ka halted where he was. He knew from experience that if he got much closer, the two men would spot him, no matter how many points he put into his stealth skill. This time, however, he had a different idea.

Just before reaching the discovery point, Bedj-ka oozed carefully over the rail of the walkway. The forest floor was shrouded in shadow, and Bedj-ka was grateful for that-he didn't have to look at the hundred meter drop. Beneath the walkway was a fine polymer netting made to catch objects or people that slipped over the edge. Bedj- ka dropped fearlessly onto the netting and scuttled along the stretchy strands like a spider until he had made his way to the rear of the house, opposite the side with the guards. The men didn't stir. Bedj-ka reached up, got a hand on the walkway, and hoisted himself back onto it. This brought him almost directly under a rear window of the house-and got him past the guards unnoticed.

Voices filtered out of the open window.

'Where would she run to?' demanded a husky male voice. 'Where's she hiding?'

'I don't know,' replied a woman in shaky tones. 'How would I know?'

The sound of a slap, a grunt of pain. Bedj-ka's throat tickled. He swallowed hard to suppress a cough and slowly raised himself up until he could peer through the window. A big, shaggy man in black was glowering down at a woman who was holding her cheek and trying to look defiant. Three other men in the room held energy pistols on a small crowd of scared-looking humans of varying ages. Some were younger than Bedj-ka.

'Maybe I should kill one of the others,' the shaggy man snarled. 'Maybe then you'll be more forthcoming.' He gestured at one of his men, who leveled a pistol at a boy Bedj-ka's age. 'Tell me where Irfan Qasad is hiding, or the boy dies.'

'I can't tell you what I don't know,' the woman cried. 'Please, Mr. Clearwater. I really don't know where she is. None of us do.'

'Max,' Clearwater said. Max tightened his finger around the pistol. Bedj-ka made an odd gesture, and the scene instantly froze. He stared through the window, trying to think. Bedj-ka had already died seven times, and he didn't want to make a mistake that handed him death number eight.

Okay. The shaggy man was Ormand Clearwater, leader of the pirates. That he already knew. Irfan Qasad was hiding in the woods less than a kilometer away from Treetown, but she had no idea what the pirates were doing or why they had invaded Treetown. All she and the other escapees knew was that the pirates had slipships and a lot of weapons. Bedj-ka had volunteered to go spy on them to learn more, and Irfan had flashed him a grateful look before nodding and sending him off. She hadn't actually said whether or not he should rescue anyone, and the only weapon Bedj-ka had was a knife.

A sudden cough exploded from Bedj-ka's throat. He put a fist to his mouth and coughed several more times, then swallowed. Was he getting sick? He hoped not. Good thing he had paused the game.

Bedj-ka stared at the frozen scene for a long moment. Maybe Clearwater was bluffing, or maybe the woman did know something and would reveal it now. Regardless, Bedj-ka was sure that if he charged through the window, he would die.

Or would he just be captured?

Bedj-ka suddenly wished he had read more about Bellerophon's history. The sim was supposed to be historically accurate, and he had the feeling he was playing the part of a real person. If he knew what that person had done, Bedj-ka might know what to do now.

Clearwater continued to train his pistol on the cowering woman. Bedj-ka did know that Clearwater was actually a minor player in all this. The real villain was Daniel Vik, who was even now amassing an army to attack Treetown and the new Silent who lived there. Irfan — and Bedj-ka — had to find a way to stop Clearwater and rid Treetown of the pirates before Vik got wind of their presence. If he knew how vulnerable Treetown currently was, he would almost certainly invade in force and the Silent would be wiped from the face of the planet.

Bedj-ka drew an 'S' in mid-air. The letter glowed briefly, then flashed and vanished, indicating the game had