"Nome just had an audience with an agent from
Colonial Investigations named Lee Wokan," Shesel Dhemonis said. "He
cloaked Wokan's arrival from us."
Executor General Gorlon Hague turned from his station
at a console in the security command center to face a mechanically
augmented body much like his own. It stood shorter in stature and
sprouted one human arm and the side of what had once been a very
attractive human face. The rest was missing, lost in battle, or
battle-scarred and hidden away from sight. Only in his dreams was she
still young and beautiful.
Gorlon was startled and annoyed to have his worst
suspicions confirmed. "Khalin is keeping unpleasant secrets from us. And
from the Alliance. He thinks he's an even match for an Alliance agent. The fool. He should know better."
"Will Boris be able to recount the conversation for
you?"
Hague shook his head irritably. "I would have heard
from him had he overheard the conversation. We're lucky he can
circumnavigate as much security as he does. Keep me posted on Alliance
movement in the area. We'll know if trouble brews. Anything more on
Myla?"
"Nothing."
"You know my priorities. We can't afford to have a
problem slip past. I'm going to have a chat with Khalin. Keep your eyes
open."
Shesel gave a grave nod and turned away.
"Tonight, Shesel?" he said on impulse. It had been a
difficult day, and he would need her at the end of it.
"Yes," she said mildly and without looking back. "Of
course."
Gorlon went to visit Khalin in person. "Why?" he
said as the security doors closed behind him.
Khalin refused to respond.
"What did you tell the investigator?"
"I told him the truth," Khalin said quietly.
There was more to it than that. "You told him what
you wanted the Alliance to hear. Why was it so important to be the first
to speak with the man?"
Khalin sat, a grim monster centering his small
office.
"You're trying to hide something," Gorlon said. "If
it's apparent to me, you may have made it clear to the Alliance as well. If it's personal, I'd appreciate it if you'd confide in me. If it's
something I should know about, I'd caution you to remember how good I am
at solving mysteries."
"Nothing may come of it," Khalin said contritely.
Nothing may come of what? Gorlon didn't bother
asking the question aloud. "And if it does?"
"I will confide in you if the need arises."
The inadequate assurance was impossible to interpret
in concrete terms. If Khalin was showing clear signs of an emotional
breakdown, it would be an opportunity to talk again with Council Prime
Executive Basil Whalyk. Such a breakdown was not at all apparent as yet.
"You know she can't survive," he said as an
afterthought, testing Khalin for a reaction. It seemed the most likely
explanation. Khalin was grieving for the child and he did not want the
universe to see his pain.
"She may have resources," Khalin said softly.
An expression of denial? What would
be Khalin's reaction to Myla’s death? If the Overlord
grieved to the point of incapacity, the Council would have to act. With a
sigh of hopeful satisfaction, and exasperation at his ignorance of the
nature of the relationship between the child and the Overlord, Gorlon
turned and left the office.
At the end of the day, he lay in Shesel's arms in the
heart of a dream. "Have you heard anything about the girl?"
"There is no news," Shesel said.
Even paradise could not hold Gorlon's agitation at
bay. "She couldn't have survived. Why am I so certain she
did?"
"We have no evidence that
she survived," Shesel reminded him delicately.
"She should not have been able to
escape Covonia at all. She cannot have survived. She's only a child, a Nat child to boot. She
has no education, no augmentation. She is as helpless as the creatures of
the forest she played in."
Shesel propped her chin on an elbow and frowned. "Then why do you fear that she still lives?"
Gorlon reached for her, anxious for distraction. Myla's survival in the face of impossible odds was a puzzle with at least
one solution. He was trying desperately to find another.
Novels by
William G. Tedford