be our last chance to talk,' he warned. In Elysium, it was said, the very air had ears. A few minutes in a privacy booth cost a thousand credits. 'I'm sorry you had to—'
'Get mixed up in this; I know.' Chrys sighed. 'I didn't ask for it; believe me, I didn't. That damned 'leader' had to pick on me.'
'It's a break for us. Especially if there's any clue to where that ship is.'
She shook her head. 'I've no idea. Andra sent Arion the clip— Why in hell does he need to see me?'
'It's standard procedure to debrief the operative.'
Chrys rolled her eyes. 'If I'm an 'operative,' his service sure needs help.'
'It does,' said Daeren bluntly. 'Don't worry, I'll be with you. You may decline to answer any question. But if you answer, tell the truth.'
'I'm a lousy liar.'
'Remember, Arion can help us. He believes in micro people.'
'He's not a carrier.'
'He's had 'visitors.' '
Visitors—from whom, she wondered. Her eyes widened, remembering. 'What about you? Did you . .. test the Elf carriers?'
'All day I spent testing, one after another.' Daeren sighed. 'All twelve were clean.'
'Not Eris?'
'It was Eris who recommended me to Arion.' His face did not change. 'The whole time I tested them, Eris stood there, watching.'
Chrys absorbed this. Her fingers trembled.
'Arion himself is still clean,' Daeren said. 'He gets arsenic-wiped several times a day.'
'How reassuring. Why won't he test Eris?'
'Chrys, if there were any way I could get you out of this—'
'Never mind. Let's get it over with.'
The ship door opened, revealing a long luminous corridor.
'Activate your train,' Daeren told her. 'A button should appear in your window.'
She blinked at it. Behind her a trail of butterflies came alight, more gaudy than the floor show at Gold of Asragh. 'Is this really necessary?'
'It's the custom. And remember, no physical contact in public, not even a handshake.'
The wide, vaulted street of Helicon lay buried in nanoplast kilometers thick, yet it filled with a soft light, like the natural light of dawn. The street's surface was just warm enough to please her bare feet. At the side a small thing scurried; a rat, she thought in surprise, but it was only a cleaner servo, searching in vain for the slightest bit of trash. Ahead glided a couple of Elysian, their virtual trains sparkling for half a block behind them. Like angels attending a wedding.
Daeren stopped at a garden of towering foliage; one of the famous butterfly gardens of Elysium. The butterflies, dark heliconians barred with blue and pink, were just flexing their wings, bright with moisture. 'Those live barely longer than our micros,' observed Daeren. 'Yet that's how Elysians feel about their own centuries—gone as if in a day. You'll never understand an Elysian till you grasp that.'
Overhead, what looked like an overgrown snake-egg descended with a faint whine, settling at their feet. Cleaner servos scurried like mad to the spot, in case a speck of dust was raised. The giant egg formed a round lip which puckered in, a mouth gasping. Chrys hesitated, then stepped into the mouth. Her train projectors automatically turned off. Once the two Valans had entered, the egg did not rise, but sank into the street, through a fluid-filled transit reticulum. It seemed to sink at an angle, though Chrys could not tell for sure; her stomach lifted and felt sick.
Daeren touched her talar; he would have touched her arm, she thought, but he remembered just in time. 'We'll soon be at the Nucleus.'
The Nucleus, the very core of Helicon, housed the government of Elysium. No sign of the armed octopods that so ostentatiously filled Palace Iridium; but then, the very air had ears. A maze of corridors and doors, half of them illusory; how could one ever find one's way here, Chrys wondered. Fortunately, a traveling shaft of light led them at long last to the reception room of the Guardian of Peace.
Guardian Arion looked smaller than Chrys expected. She had forgotten how diminutive the Elves were; their virtual appearances were designed to enhance their size. Arion sat behind an opalescent conference table shaped like a half moon. His hands on the table were relaxed, but the features beneath his flaxen hair looked tight as a coiled spring. 'So you are Chrysoberyl of Dolomoth.'
The sound of his voice rang strange, after so many newsbreaks in her head.
'I understand,' he added, 'you're opening soon at our Gallery.'
'Two months yet.' As usual, she was desperate to get it all done.
A nod to his right, and the holostage filled with the apparition of Saf. 'I'm to understand you entrapped the 'masters' with your art.'
The way he said 'art' made her face hot. 'I didn't trap anything,' she exclaimed. 'They came after me.' As did your dear brother, she silently added.
Daeren put out a hand. 'Guardian, Chrys is a trained tester. Her only contact with slaves is professional.'
'I understand.' Arion waved his hand dismissively. To Chrys he said, 'I'd like to meet some of your ... people.' He set a transfer patch on the table.
Then it dawned on her, why he had called her all the way out to the turquoise moon to meet in person. It wasn't herself he wanted. She gave him a cold stare. 'How do we know you're safe?'
Lines tightened in Daeren's neck, but before he could speak, Arion lifted his hands. 'Of course, how would you know. 'Virgin territory' after all. I assure you, I'm well prepared. My phagocytes , are tame.'
Daeren nodded. 'It's true; the blue angels have been there.'
Arion could help the carriers, and their people, Andra had said. Even civil rights.
The guardian added, 'Be sure to include the double agent.'
Chrys flushed red as rubies. Whoever had told him? she wondered. Ignoring the patch on the table, she used one of her own, which she knew her people kept supplied with moisture and nutrients.
Arion placed it at his neck like an expert. 'So tell me, where can we find this Leader?'
'I can't say.'
'Can't or won't?'
'I've no idea,' she snapped.
Daeren agreed, 'None of us do. We told you that, Guardian.'
Arion paused, his eyes flitting back and forth as if reading. 'Your double agent has a couple of clues. She's still rather keen on Enlightenment.' He frowned slightly. 'I do hope she's not triple.'
'Guardian,' said Daeren quickly, 'I assure you—'
'Of course,' he said dismissively. Then he clasped his hands on the table and leaned forward. 'So, Chrysoberyl. The Leader of Endless Light made you an invitation. Will you take her up on it?'
'No.' Daeren's face was ashen. 'Guardian, as you well know, the Slave World is a place of no return.'
'There's always a first time.' Arion's gaze did not leave Chrys. 'Advance planning minimizes risk. Think well, Chrys. We could make it worth your while. A planetoid of your own, perhaps? Or Plan Ten for all of Dolomoth?'
Oddly, Daeren's loss of composure made Chrys more calm. This offer hadn't been on his agenda, she figured. She gave Arion her difficult-client smile. 'We'll think it over.'
'Guardian,' said Daeren, recovering, 'as you know, these are dangerous times. The deadly new strain—even trained carriers are at risk.'
'Indeed,' said Arion in a low voice.
Chrys thought of something. 'Those two Elves who got hijacked. Were they carriers?'
For the first time Arion frowned. 'I ask the questions here.' No wonder he'd called in outside help to test the others.
'What else can we tell you?' offered Daeren. 'You know our surmises. All available evidence increasingly points to one highly placed carrier.'
Arion nodded. 'We too suspect a highly placed Valan carrier.'
