Trickster

'This I cannot explain to you,' she replied. 'But it is very important to Father Kendi.'

'My ears are burning,' Kendi said as he entered the medical bay. 'I came down to see how the gene scan is going.'

Harenn gestured at the cryo-unit, which sat on a counter across the room. A computer lead was attached to it and the unit's lights were flashing briskly. 'The computer is running comparisons. It will take some time.'

'How is everything else going?'

'I am examining the biological shipment,' Harenn told him. 'Would you do me a favor? Go get Isaac and bring him here.'

Kendi shot Bedj-ka a look and Harenn braced herself for a barrage of questions. But Kendi merely gave a brief nod and left. Bedj-ka fidgeted on his stool while Harenn put a sample of the virus into a dermospray.

'Mom,' he said at last, 'what will happen to me once we're done here?'

'You will come home to Bellerophon and live with me, of course. And you will attend school. When you get older, you can decide to apprentice in a trade or business, or you can attend a university. The monastery for the Children of Irfan instructs more than just the Silent, and they have many fine programs. Or you can do something else entirely. When we get back-'

'You mean if we get back,' Bedj-ka interrupted.

Harenn set down the dermospray. 'If?'

'I hear stuff. I don't know everything about what's going on, but I know it's dangerous and if someone makes a mistake, we'll all be dead.'

His matter-of-fact tone brought a chill to Harenn's skin. 'I suppose you are correct in this. But we will not fail, Bedj-ka. Father Kendi and the others are skilled, intelligent people. We will let nothing harm you.'

Bedj-ka didn't look convinced. Before Harenn could respond further, however, Kendi arrived with a sullen Isaac Todd in tow. Bedj-ka got uneasily to his feet. Isaac caught sight of Bedj-ka, opened his mouth, then snapped it shut and looked at Harenn.

'He wishes to speak to you,' Harenn said. 'You may respond, but remember that I will be listening. It is best that you do not lie, Isaac.'

Bedj-ka looked at Isaac without speaking. An uncomfortable silence fell over the medical bay. Kendi leaned against one wall, arms folded, expression neutral.

'What did you want to say?' Isaac finally asked.

'Why did you sell me?' Bedj-ka blurted out.

With a glance at Harenn, Isaac stammered, 'I don't… look, I

… ah, hell.' He closed his eyes. 'Plain and simple, I needed the money. Look, it was nothing personal. It was just that-'

He never finished. Bedj-ka flung himself at his father, both fists flying. 'I hate you!' he screamed. 'I hate you hate you hate you hate you! ' One of his blows made a solid connection, and Isaac's breath whooshed out of his lungs. Another fist slammed into Isaac's groin. He paled and doubled over just as Kendi pulled Bedj-ka away. Harenn realized she hadn't been able to move throughout the entire exchange.

'I hate you!' Bedj-ka struggled in Kendi's arms. 'You sold me away and I hate you!'

'Harenn!' Kendi barked.

Harenn unfroze. 'Take him up to our quarters. I'll deal with Isaac and come right up.'

'Hurry.' Kendi carried the still-screaming Bedj-ka out of the medical bay, leaving Isaac on the floor. Harenn dragged him to his feet and sat him on one of the examination beds. His face was still pale with pain.

'Now he is hysterical, thanks to you,' Harenn said. 'Think of this as your reward.' She pressed the dermospray to his arm and thumbed the release.

'What the hell was that?' Isaac gasped, arms crossed over his abdomen from the kick he had received.

'If you are referring to Bedj-ka's attack, I should think that was self-explanatory,' Harenn replied. 'And I shall definitely have to enroll him in a martial arts class. He has talent. If you are referring to the dermospray-have you ever had gelpox?'

'No.'

'Good. I will take you back to your room and there you will stay. By this time tomorrow, if everything goes well, we will be far away from this horrible place.'

'What about me?'

'I imagine you will have a long conversation with the Guardians back on Bellerophon, and then you will have more conversations with police forces on other worlds. Enjoy what freedom you have, Isaac. You will have even less of it very soon.'

Kendi flopped down onto Harenn's sofa with a sigh. Dealing with hysterical nine-year-old boys wasn't in his job description, unless they had snuck it in when he wasn't looking. On the other hand, he supposed, it was good practice for becoming a father-small 'f.' Assuming he and Ben got through this whole thing in one piece, anyway.

The door slid open and Harenn entered. 'Where is he?' she asked without preamble.

'In his room. He calmed down and said he wanted to be alone, though I'm sure you'll want to talk to him anyway. I can recommend a good counselor when we get back to Bellerophon.'

Harenn lowered her voice. ' If we get back.'

She was echoing his earlier thought, but he forced a smile anyway. 'Pessimist.'

'Realist,' she corrected.

'If you want, Harenn, we can put you and Bedj-ka on the Emporium's ship. You'll both be safe there, and if you injected Todd-'

'I did.'

'— then you don't need to stick around for the end. I'll let you know how it works out, I promise.'

Harenn opened her mouth, then clamped it shut. Now that she no longer wore her veil, Kendi found it easy to read her expression. He knew she felt it was her duty to stay, help Kendi free his family the way he had helped Harenn free hers. But now she had to think of Bedj-ka's safety instead of just her own. Kendi had been counting on that.

At last she said, 'Very well. I must check on Isaac in an hour to make sure the injection took, and then I will take Bedj-ka over to the Emporium. He will probably enjoy that very much, come to think of it.' She stood up. 'I should go talk to him.'

Kendi gave a small sigh of relief that she had agreed so readily and rose as well. 'I have a few other things to finish up, too. And then we're going to have a briefing. The last one.'

'Only for this mission. There will be others.'

'That sounded suspiciously like optimism, Madame Realist.'

'Yes.' Harenn took Kendi's hand and squeezed it. 'Kendi, I hope you know I did not mean what I said about your plan being selfish. I am very grateful to you.'

'I know.'

'If we do not meet again, I want you to know that I am glad to have served with you-and under you.' She looked up at him, brown eyes meeting brown eyes. 'You have made history once, Father Kendi Weaver, and I think you are going to make it again.'

'By rescuing a handful of Silent from SA? Hardly.'

'No. I mean later. Great people rarely touch the universe only once.' She stood on tiptoe, kissed him lightly on the cheek, and hurried into Bedj-ka's room.

'They're going to do it tonight, sir, or perhaps early tomorrow morning.'

'How do you know, Mr. Todd?'

'Harenn told me that by this time tomorrow, they would be far away from SA Station.'

'Have you learned the Father's name yet? We have extensive files on the Children of Irfan, and it would be easier to keep a lookout if we knew what he looked like.'

'I still haven't caught his name, sir. He has dark skin, curly black hair, and dark eyes.'

'That describes half the humans who live on this station, Mr. Todd.'

'Tall, on the thin side.'

'Your powers of description leave much to be desired.'

'Sorry, sir. They're still planning to infect the Father's family with gelpox and tamper with the computer