balcony door, where the first faint color in the sky was beginning to mute the city lights, and she swallowed.
“They have to have some sort of warrant,” said Ivan, beginning to share her unease. “I would think.”
“Ivan, those people issue warrants,” said By impatiently. “They don’t have the broad powers ImpSec does, but they’ve plenty enough for this. Probably more than they used to have back when Komarr was an independent polity. They don’t even have to break anything-they can make the building manager open the door.”
“We have to get out,” said Tej. “We can’t let ourselves be trapped in here.”
Ivan had some sympathy for that sentiment. Even though the flat wasn’t dark, or constricted, or wet. Also, they weren’t alone…Maybe they were overreacting, really.
“That’s what I came to tell you,” said By.
“Wait, no,” said Ivan. Once they got away, and lost themselves, how would he ever find Tej again? The women had to be pretty good at hiding, or they wouldn’t have evaded their determined pursuers across four systems for what, seven months? Or maybe By had a plan-he wouldn’t have come boiling in here without one, would he? Some way to keep a string on them-
“You’ll have to get your things together-” By began, but was interrupted by the door buzzer. Two stern blats. Tej jumped and Rish tensed. By wheeled. “What the hell? They can’t be here already.”
Ivan nipped out to the short hallway and checked the security viewer. Unfortunately, he recognized his visitors. Detective Fano and Detective-patroller Sulmona, up bright and early, or dark and late, whichever. Fano leaned on the buzzer again, and Sulmona, after another moment, pounded on the door. “Vorpatril?” she shouted through it. “Answer your door.”
No polite please with that, Ivan noted as By and the women came up to peer anxiously around his shoulders.
“That’s not Immigration,” said By.
“No, it’s the dome cops. Same pair I talked to t’other day. Would Immigration have sent them?”
“No, they have their own uniformed squads for this sort of thing. There are procedures. This must be something else.”
Another buzz, longer. Sulmona pounded again. “Vorpatril? We know you’re in there. Open up.”
Ivan hit the com and called, “Why?”
By winced.
Fano drew a long breath. “We have a felony warrant for your arrest. That gives us the right to break down this door if you don’t open it.”
“Arrest! What the hell for? I haven’t done anything!”
“Kidnapping.”
“ What? ” said Ivan, outraged.
Fano’s jaw jutted. “We know you lied. The security vids from the Crater Lake bubble-car platform finally surfaced. They clearly show you and an unknown person escorting the missing Nanja Brindis into a bubble car. She hasn’t been heard from since. The abduction charge is enough to get us in your door, but the one I’m really after is murder. But you know that, don’t you, Captain?”
Ivan was struck nearly speechless, except for the wheeze of his hyperventilation.
“Don’t open it!” whispered Tej. Truly, Ivan didn’t want to. By and Rish dragged him back to the living room for a hissed conference.
“But I have to let them in,” said Ivan, harried. “In the first place, it’s another felony not to, and in the second place, Tej, you can make the kidnapping charge go away by telling them I didn’t abduct you, I just invited you. Not to mention murder, good God!”
Tej said, “We can’t let them in, they’ll take us.”
“Tell them through the intercom,” Ivan suggested. Would that work?
“How would they know you weren’t holding a weapon to her back?” asked By, unhelpfully.
“And don’t you believe for a minute that Prestene’s agents can’t whip us out of their custody before you can get back with help, and anyway, your help is worse,” said Tej. “ImpSec! I’d almost rather take my chances with Prestene!”
“Hey!” Byerly protested.
Rish turned in a complete circle, gold eyes dilated, reaching as if for some rope that wasn’t there. “We can’t get out. There’s no way out!”
Tej grabbed her hands, stopping her rotation. “It’ll have to be the balcony after all. Oh, Rish, I’m so sorry I led you into this!”
“What’s on the balcony,” Ivan began, but was interrupted by a chime from his wristcom. That particular tone wasn’t one he could ignore. He held up a hand, “Wait!” and opened his link. “Sir?” he said brightly.
“Vorpatril!”
Ivan rocked back. Desplains never bellowed. “Uh, yes?”
“What the hell is all this?”
“Are you at work already, sir?”
“No, I’m in my quarters. Just received an emergency heads-up from ImpSec Komarr that Dome Security has filed a felony charge on my aide-de-camp, so I finally opened their memo. That was no garden snake!”
“I can explain, sir.” The door buzzer sounded again, and more pounding. Muffled shouts. “Later. I have a bit of a situation on my hands right now.” Ivan gulped and cut the com. He’d never cut off any admiral, ever, let alone Desplains.
The pounding stopped. More muffled voices.
“We’ve got to block the door. Buy time,” said Ivan.
“Time for what?” said By.
“Time for me to think of something.”
“ That could take all day.”
Ivan shot him an irate look, teeth clenching hard.
“The couches,” said Tej. “They’ll be through the door codes soon enough-we have to make a physical barrier.” The two women leapt to begin dragging furniture into the hall and propping it up against the door. By looked as if he didn’t think this would work, but, carried along by the fog of cold panic that seemed to be permeating the place, fell into helping them nonetheless. Damn but Rish was strong for her size…
Ivan peered into the security vid. The two detectives had been joined by four more people, three men and a woman. One man was the building manager. The other three were in unfamiliar uniforms. They appeared to be debating with each other, comparing official-looking forms displayed by their wrist holos. Unless it was some really arcane style of video arm wrestling? Dueling jurisdictions?
Ivan shoved By up to look in the vid. “That wouldn’t be Immigration, would it?”
“Uh, yes?”
The building manager fumbled with a code key. By opened his jacket and jerked out his stunner.
“Can you take down all six of them before they get you?” asked Tej uneasily. Picturing her and Rish escaping over a wall of bodies? Possibly including By’s and Ivan’s?
Still peering, By swore, set his stunner on high, and jammed it up against the electronic lock. It buzzed angrily, and after a long moment, sparks shot out of the mechanism. “At least that’ll hold the building manager,” said By, a glint of strained satisfaction in his eye.
“You’ve locked us in!” Ivan protested. “And now I can’t open the door.”
“Good!” said Rish, heaving another heavy armchair atop the pile and wedging it in tight.
They all retreated temporarily to Ivan’s emptied living room.
Tej swung around, stared deeply into Ivan’s eyes, gasped, “I’m so sorry it has to end this way, Ivan Xav. I know you tried,” and flung her arms around him. Ivan found himself holding what would, under other circumstances, be an absolutely delightful bundle of warm, soft woman. He opened his mouth to her frantic kiss nonetheless, and his arms wrapped her in turn, snugly and securely. He wasn’t sure what was happening here, but O God don’t let it stop…
She stopped. Pushed him away. He managed not to whimper. “That’s it,” she said simply, and turned to take her blue companion’s hand, with a nod toward the balcony. “It’s time, Rish.”
Rish nodded back, face very grim. They started for the door. By, uneasy, moved to block the glass.
“Where do you think you’re going?” By asked.
