Chapter 15 #3
“Sorry.” Deep regret colored Samara’s thoughts. “It’s even worse for Jumpers. They have military old-style networks, plus skulljacks and controllers.” She pulled her hand away.
Arco was once again alone with her thoughts and the sharp memories of pain. The only physical effect so far was stiffening muscles, especially her neck. The heavy turban felt like a ten-kilo weight.
Samara stood and rubbed her hands together, as if she’d lost circulation in them.
Arco stood cautiously, but only her overworked muscles complained. Fortunately, the brain fog was gone. A quick glance at her wristcomp said twenty-six minutes had passed.
Too bad she couldn’t keep the memories of the pain. They’d be an excellent defense against nosy telepaths. On the other hand, she now had shields.
Samara turned. “You won’t remember meeting me, but I am honor—”
The hallway door slid open with a muted screech. A dark-haired man in a gray and maroon CPS Minder Corps dress uniform stepped in. One gloved hand held a stunner pointed at them both.
“Administrator Akaramides. What an unexpected joy to finally catch you in person.” His grin was full of triumph as he turned his attention to Arco. “And you are?”
Arco met his gaze with equanimity. “Confused.”
Irritation dented the man’s glee. “Identity. Now.”
She tilted her chin toward the CPS seal on his uniform.
“I don’t believe I’ve ever met an auditor from the Office of Internal Inquiry.
” She smiled, letting her genuine fascination show.
“Auditing a huge organization like yours must take determination. You’re probably resented by coworkers who should appreciate you for making the agency better.
” She glanced at the open door behind him. “Don’t you usually work in teams?”
The man started to respond, then stopped. With a little shake of his head, he returned his attention to Samara. “I told them you were too good to be true. You’re always two degrees off-axis from the trouble, but you can’t glide away this time. I’m detaining you on—”
The room and hall lights flickered twice.
Exclamations of surprise came from people in the body parlor. The lights dimmed. More exclamations.
The auditor lunged forward and grabbed Samara’s arm.
Arco saw the corner of Samara’s mouth curve upward right before the lights failed.
Arco crouched where she was, holding her coat, afraid of tripping over her own feet. In the void-black darkness, she heard an intake of breath, then muffled thumps.
After a long moment, the lights blinked on again.
The OII auditor lay face down on the bench, limbs draping over the side. Samara’s fingers rested on his neck.
Arco stood cautiously.
She wasn’t surprised to see Brenner stride in the door. Following right behind him was a figure wearing an enveloping purity caftan and a hooded cloak over it. Only dark, Asian-heritage eyes were visible above the black veil.
Brenner crossed to her and raised a questioning eyebrow.
He was only doing his job, but it still felt nice to be looked after. “I’m fine.” The lucky power outage had probably come from him. She stifled the urge to lean into the security of his solid chest for a moment. “Thanks.”
“This is a mess.” Samara sounded stressed. “Arco guessed right. His team knows where he is and why. They were supposed to wait ten minutes for him to call them in, but the power outage might launch them early.”
“Fuck.” The veiled person pulled down the veil, revealing a masculine face and jaw. “I should have brought a twister.”
Arco made connections at light speed. This had to be the janitor, partner to Samara-the-shield-giver. In the eyes of the CPS, their shared belief in the Ayorinn Legacy made them top-priority threats to the galactic peace. And the comatose man on the bench had an obsession to justify.
Arco had known from the start there would be a price for the shields, but she hadn’t expected it so soon.
“Excuse me, but would the auditor believe a skivey journalist like me would entice Admin Akaramides up here to ambush her? There’s already a trail.
I actually have been trying to get an appointment with her for weeks. ”
Samara nodded. “He might, but he’ll remember the power glitch and that I attacked him. He’s a high-level sifter — most OII investigators are — but he’s also a filer.”
Arco thought a second. “Take it from me, concussions take pieces of memories from filers just like they do everyone else. We can tell him something hit him in the blackout.” She pointed to the robotically controlled scanning armature. “That, maybe?”
“It’ll work if we add details,” said the janitor. “But it also means Charrascos will have to keep more of her memories.” He moved closer to Samara, distress etching his face. “She’s smart. She’ll figure out where the shields came from. You’ll be vulnerable.”
Samara’s expression softened for a moment. Her hand reached toward him, then dropped. She straightened and shook her head. “I’d rather trust Arco than the OII.”
A hard, bleak look settled on the janitor’s face. “Very well. Here’s what we’ll do…”