Sam looked around. Astrally, he could feel the emo 62
Robert N. Charrette tions of the place. The air was filled with despair, hopelessness, sorrow, spite, and hate. There was not a trace that he could identify as peaceful.
'You're wrong, Janice. There's nothing for you here.'
'No, you're wrong. There is safety here. This was Dan's place, his refuge in the lean days when the magic wasn't strong enough to let him walk among you norms. The hunger is weak here. In the quiet its absence creates, I can sleep the dreamless sleep. As I was doing until you disturbed me. You should be happy that I'm here. As long as I stay hi this place, you and all your kind are safe from me.'
Sam suddenly understood why she refused to leave. 'You're afraid.'
She growled, but there was no spirit in the sound. He saw his opening, a way to persuade her to do what must be done.
'What is your totem, Janice? Mouse?' 'I have no totem.'
'That's a lie. Your change into a wendigo has awakened power in you. I can see it. I've learned enough about wendigos to know that their power molds most easily to the shamanic mode. For all his warped vision, your Shiroi was a shaman. I know he taught you because I've seen your magic. You can't do that magic without a totem.'
She growled again, a warning sound. 'Leave Dan out of it.'
'What's your totem?' Sam insisted. At last she said, 'Wolf.'
'Wolf?' He hoped his voice did not sound falsely incredulous. 'Wolf isn't a coward's totem. Are you sure you don't focus through Ostrich? That would be more suitable for someone who ignores what's going on around her. You're a disgrace to the Wolf nature.' 'Wolf understands,' she said sulkily. 'Wolf must be appalled at your lack of strength.'
The growling returned, stronger than before. 'If you don't want to feel my strength, leave.' 'Not without you.'
She glared at him, still growling. Her eyes radiated heat but Sam felt chilled, like a mouse under a hawk's stare. Had she gone so far? Had he pushed her too far? Was he no more than meat to her now?
She shifted suddenly and he took a defensive step backward, having forgotten that his astral body was impervious to physical harm.
The growling stopped and she laughed, the sound brittle and without humor. 'Are you going to take responsibility for me?'
He sensed that this was the turning point. His answer would decide her. Could he take responsibility for what she might do? Hadn't he already? There was only one answer he could give.
'I will.'
'That's the fool I once had as a brother. Haven't you learned yet that everyone is responsible for themselves?'
'Families are responsible for each other.'
'Very Japanese. I would have thought you'd given up your fascination with their culture when you ran away from their corporation.'
'I haven't given up on my sister. Are you going to come or not?'
Janice shrugged. 'What have I got to lose? YouVe roused me now. I doubt I could rest here peacefully.'
'I'm telling you there is no peace here.'
'How little you know,' she said softly.
'You'll have peace when the ritual restores you.'
'I certainly won't get it until you dance your dance.'
Tinged with something undefinable, her words echoed strangely in him. He forced the uncomfortable feeling away, concentrating on the matter at hand. Janice had agreed, and it would be to no one's benefit to delay. 'Hart has arranged a plane. The course will be laid into the autopilot and die computer will do the flying. All you have to do is board, sit back, and enjoy the ride.'
She bared her teeth in a grin that made him uncomfortable. 'No pilot? What's the matter? Afraid I might eat him?'
Sam tried to tell himself she was just joking, just needling him, but he could see those teeth. 'The fewer people who know about your entry into Salish-Shidhe Council, the better. They have a bounty on wendi-gos.'
'And on those who aid and abet wendigos,' she said.
Sam nodded, already well enough aware of that.
Though Ghost Who Walks Inside was tall for an Indian, his broad shoulders, massive chest, and well-muscled arms made him seem more squat than he was. He was a street samurai, but unlike many others who claimed that title, Ghost showed few obvious signs of cyber-enhancement. Dressed in his tattered jungle fatigue trousers and boots, armored vest, beaded wristlets, and feather-adorned headband, Ghost revealed only the palm-mounted induction pads of his smartgun link. Which was not to say they were his only chrome. He just didn't believe in displaying his advantages, preferring to let others underestimate his abilities. Just one more edge.
From his vantage point in the shade of a kiosk selling Seattle metroplex memorabilia, Sam spotted Ghost's wild black frizz on the far side of the court.
As the Indian moved through the Sunday tourist crowds thronging Aurora Village, his swagger and rugged appearance opened a path for him, making his progress swift. With nonchalant ease he sidestepped those too self-absorbed or oblivious to notice him, never breaking his rhythm. Only once was he interrupted, when a fat German suit bumped into him. There was a slight jostling and for the next few steps, a smiling Ghost let deutschmarks, corporate scrip, coins, and credsticks dribble from his fingers. The turmoil in the crowd behind him made his forward progress even easier. The Indian seemed in no hurry. An observer might have thought that he turned in Sam's direction purely by chance. Sam stepped out from behind the kiosk to greet him, but Ghost beat him to it. 'Hoi, paleface. Whazappenning?' 'Hoi, Ghost. Biz as usual. 'Zappening with you?' 'Running hard to stay in place. Wakarimasu-ka? Biz as usual,' Ghost said with a laugh. 'Not too busy for a little extra, I hope.' 'Man's too busy for friends, he's too busy to live,' Ghost said, grinning.
Sam grinned back. Ghost's thaw toward him had coincided with the onset of Sally's glacial chill. Sam wished Sally would stop avoiding him so they might have a chance to talk it out, but as long as he was seeing Hart, Sally would never let him get her alone. Ghost, however, seemed to find the situation exactly to his taste, and that was good. Sam much preferred a friendly Ghost to a hostile one.
Sam checked around for eavesdroppers, then got down to business. 'I need your help to find a safe place for my sister to hide. Someplace outside the Seattle metroplex.'
'Why me? Thought you'd have enough grease with Hart. Hear tell, she's got connections in Council lands. I'm just a city boy.' Sam had never spoken of Hart's connections, and Ghost rarely worried about people and places outside the plex. If he knew about Hart's connections, somebody was looking into Hart's affairs. Most likely Sally. Sam hoped it didn't bode trouble. If it did, he'd deal with it later. 'Got a good net going, Ghost. But not good enough. Hart's connections aren't suitable to the current situation.' 'So ka. Sister got a feud?' 'She's…' Suddenly Sam wasn't sure he should explain. Telling anyone was a danger, and Ghost was a mercenary, always on the lookout for ways to improve his tribe's financial position. Would he be tempted by the bounty? If he turned Sam in as well, might not Ghost also improve his standing with Sally? Or would he even consider such a course of action? Sam wasn't sure. For all the easy camaraderie, Ghost was still a bundle of unknown quantities. But trust was needed. Before Sam had attracted Sally's attention Ghost had treated him well, almost as a younger brother. Aside from the Indian's interest in Sally, Sam could find no reason to distrust Ghost. The other man lived by a code of honor, one that Sam did not always understand, but he was confident that Ghost wouldn't abandon his honor for a few credits. There was, of course, only one way to find out.
'My sister has goblinized. Hart's contacts won't take her in.'
'So ka. ' Ghost nodded sagely. 'How illegal is her breed?'
'How did you figure that?' 'Null perspiration, paleface. If her breed wasn't illegal, you would have made arrangements with Cog or Castillano. Fixers are real good at moving merchandise, even live merchandise. But you're asking me, and that means you don't want anybody to know so bad that you're asking a city Indian to find you a place outside the wall. So what is she?'
'Wendigo.' Without waiting for a reaction, he added, 'But she's never killed.'
Ghost looked at him strangely. 'What's that got to do with it?'
