'I want to prove to my folks that I'm as smart and savvy as Jackson was. I guess I want to prove to myself that I'm as good as he was.'
'Listen to me, Dillon,' Lucas said. 'You don't have to prove a damn thing to anyone. Live your own life, not your brother's.'
'You don't understand.' Dillon surged to his feet and stalked toward the door. 'No one understands.'
Founders Square was the oldest neighborhood of New Seattle. The twelve-block district near the waterfront marked the location of the colonists' first permanent settlement.
None of the buildings in the area actually dated from the first years of colonization because the original structures had all been built of Earth-based materials. They had quickly disintegrated along with virtually everything else that had been made on Earth.
The stranded settlers had rebuilt using native materials. Many of those buildings still stood, as grim and determined looking in their way as the people who had built them. These sturdy, stalwart structures were not what anyone could call striking architectural statements, but they were important. They represented the beginning of history on St. Helens.
Lucas had a hunch that the founders would have been shocked to the core of their sturdy, upright souls if they could have foreseen what would become of the neighbor- hood.
Founders Square was now home to the city's most popular nightclubs and casinos. After dark an aura of decadent glamour enveloped the old district. The garish lights of the main strip were bright enough to make visitors ignore the warren of grubby alleys and narrow side streets that angled away from the main thoroughfare.
The flashy casinos promised high-stakes gambling and exotic entertainment. Smaller clubs offered dancing, syn-sex shows, and cheap green wine.
It took Lucas some time to find a parking space. He finally managed to squeeze the leer into a tiny slot on a skinny side street two blocks off the main strip. A small, blinking sign advertising a grungy syn-sex club glowed coldly above the entrance to a very dark, very narrow lane.
A man would have to be desperate for sex to risk going down that dark alley, Lucas thought.
He glanced at Amaryllis as he deactivated the leer's engine. She was eyeing the flashing syn-sex sign with distaste. She looked as thoroughly disapproving as any founder.
'So, do you come down here often?' Lucas asked neutrally.
Amaryllis started nervously. 'No. I told you, I've never been in the square after dark.'
'Are you ready to explain to me why we're celebrating our first date here?'
'I'll explain it on the way to the SynCity Club.' She opened the door and got out.
Lucas looked at his watch as he climbed out of the car. He had picked up Amaryllis less than twenty minutes ago. They hadn't been together a full half hour yet, and already his mood was starting to deteriorate.
So why was he here, Lucas wondered. But as soon as he took Amaryllis's elbow he had his answer. Just touching her caused every muscle in his body to tighten with sexual anticipation. He could tolerate five hells' worth of irritation for the sake of this sensation even if he did end the evening under a cold shower.
With Amaryllis's arm fucked into his own, Lucas started toward the bright lights of the strip two blocks away.
'I know I've been acting very mysteriously, Lucas, but there's a reason.'
'I'm listening.' Lucas kept an eye on the yawning mouth of an alley that was crammed with darkness. It was a reflex on his part, the result of having grown up on the edge of a jungle. The predators that hunted in the city walked on two feet instead of the four, six, or eight appendages common to much of the wildlife of the Western Islands, but they were just as dangerous.
Amaryllis shoved her hands into the pockets of her coat. 'I got a strange call Friday afternoon as I was leaving work. I spent the weekend thinking about what to do next.'
Lucas absently tracked two shadowy figures who hovered in a darkened doorway. 'How strange was this phone call?'
'The person on the other end of the line would not identify himself. I was told that if I wanted to know the truth about Professor Landreth, I should talk to a woman who works at the SynCity Club.'
'What the hell are you talking about?' Lucas came to an abrupt halt and spun her around to face him. 'What's Landreth got to do with our date?'
'Calm down, Lucas. There's no need to get emotional.'
'I'm not emotional. I'm pissed off. There's a difference. What do you think you're doing?'
'The caller said that someone named Vivien who worked at the SynCity Club could give me information.'
'About Landreth?'
'Yes.'
'That's crazy.'
Amaryllis lifted her chin. 'That's why I'm here tonight, Lucas. I want to talk to her. I told you it was business. If you'd rather not accompany me, I'll understand.'
Lucas gripped the lapels of her coat. 'I don't believe this. Don't tell me that our little security job the other night at the museum gave you visions of becoming an amateur detective?'
'I admired and respected Professor Landreth more than anyone else on the faculty at the university.'
'So what?'
'Questions have been raised, Lucas. I feel that, in honor of his memory, I must pursue the answers. You, of all people, must know what if feels like to need answers.'
'What questions have been raised?' Lucas asked very carefully.
'Well, first, there is the matter of a Landreth-trained prism engaging in unethical focusing.'
'Not that nonsense again. What's it got to do with this?'
'Don't you see? One thing leads to another. The more I wondered why a properly trained prism would get involved in unethical activities, the more I began to ask other questions.'
'Such as?'
'Such as, what if Professor Landreth knew about the prism's unethical behavior? What if someone didn't want him to know?'
'Five hells,' Lucas muttered. 'I think I see where this is going.'
'And then I got that phone call implying that there was a mystery connected to Professor Landreth. Lucas, if there is even the slightest possibility that his death was not an accident. I'm going to insist upon a full investigation.'
'Fine. Go to the police and tell them that some anonymous caller told you that a syn-sex stripper may have information about Landreth. Let the cops take it from there.'
'The case is closed as far as the police are concerned. You know as well as I do that they're hardly likely to reopen an accident investigation just because I got an anonymous phone call.'
The light was poor on the side street, but Lucas had no difficulty seeing the determination in Amaryllis's face. It alarmed him as nothing else had done in a long, long time. 'Amaryllis, listen to me, this is not a good idea.'
'I just want to talk to Vivien to see if she really knows anything, that's all. You don't have to stick around if you'd rather not get involved.'
'You're not listening, Miss Lark. I'd rather
'I thought you would have some empathy for my feelings.'
'Because I know what it feels like to want answers? Amaryllis, bear in mind that I didn't particularly like the ones I got.'
Her soft mouth firmed in a small but significant gesture that Lucas was beginning to recognize. Amaryllis had dug in her heels.
'I'm committed to this,' she said austerely. 'Look, I told you that I was coming down here on business tonight. If you would prefer to spend the evening somewhere else--'
'Anywhere else.'
'Then feel free to get back in your car and go home.'
'Do you really think I'm going to leave you all by yourself down here?'
Something in his voice must have gotten through to her because Amaryllis's expression turned wary. 'Probably not.'
'Probably not is right.' Lucas released her lapels, seized her arm, and started toward the bright lights that
