Once upon a time, her favorite Saint had been Yuri Alster because of his logic and perseverance. Now, though, her allegiance had shifted to Alik Monday, in appreciation for showing her how ruthless you sometimes had to be, how self-belief kept you strong.
Yirella rose silently, making sure she didn’t disturb him. She put on a simple robe and slipped into the den next door, where Uma and Doony were awake. She smiled at them, impressed that Uranti was right. They’d woken with her, even though there was a wall separating them. Maybe the empathy bond wasn’t telepathy, but it certainly had a kind of magical quality excluded from the rest of her life.
Her soft motions, the way she held herself, prevented them from making a big burst of noise and movement that was their usual greeting. Smiling in welcome—false, so false, yet it fooled them—she stroked their soft pelts in reassurance. They regarded her expectantly, and she tilted her head in a playful gesture. The three of them slipped out of the bungalow and into the warm early-morning air.
The lake was half a kilometer from the snug crescent of bungalows, surrounded by tall, lush trees. Swans sailed calmly on the still waters, twisting their heads to give her curious looks as she appeared through the undergrowth.
Without hesitating, she waded straight into the water, shivering slightly at its cool embrace. She held Uma and Doony’s hands, urging them in with her. Her posture was so perfect, so easy, that they walked along beside her eagerly, keen to share whatever adventure she was embarking on.
Feet pressed into the mud and the water rose to her waist. The little forest was serene and lovely. A nice sight for your last.
Her arms curled around the muncs’ shoulders. “My choice,” she told them guilelessly, so they would know this was the right thing, that this was what she wanted. Her knees bent until they too were sinking into the thick mud. Uma and Doony knelt obediently by her side. Her head was well above the surface, but the water closed over their scalps.
Uma struggled a little, as she suspected it might. Doony was completely passive as Yirella held them both under the water. She kept her face completely composed as her little companions died in her tight embrace. There were no tears.
And that was the most frightening aspect of the whole scene for Alexandre and the others who eventually came crashing through the trees, far, far too late.
THE ASSESSMENT TEAM
FERITON KAYNE, NKYA, JUNE 25, 2204
By the time Yuri finished telling us about finding Horatio, we still had another five hours on the Trail Ranger before we reached the crash site. Outside the long window, I could see Nkya’s landscape changing again as we descended onto the dusty plain carpeted with red-gray regolith. The beacon posts stretching away to the sharp horizon were almost twice as high as the oddly smooth rocks littering the ground. Ahead of us, the wheel tracks of the earlier caravans cut across the pristine ground, their dark, laser-straight lines a monstrous act of graffiti against a geology untouched since dinosaurs walked the Earth.
“So what did happen on Althaea?” Alik asked.
“We’re still not sure,” Jessika said. “I spent a year on the post-mission analysis. A hellbuster was a good choice. Most of building seven was vaporized, so there was very little physical evidence for our forensic labs to analyze. My findings were inconclusive.”
She was being modest; I’d checked her report myself. There were some interesting facts to be had amid all those secure files. Ainsley Zangari had certainly thought so. For a start, it’s how Yuri claimed the prize: head of Connexion Security. The boss rewards loyalty.
“But the kid came out of it okay, right?” Kandara asked.
I thought she sounded rather amused, as if Yuri had recounted some traditional fairy tale.
“Yes, my father made a full recovery,” Loi said. “Thank you for asking.”
Like everyone else in the Trail Ranger, apart from Yuri, I turned to look at Loi in surprise. I only knew he was one of the third generation of Ainsley Zangari’s offspring, but I hadn’t actually bothered going deep enough into his file to check parentage. I admit the coincidence was slightly unnerving.
“You?” Jessika asked. Her face was lit up with a smile of pure fascination. “You’re Gwendoline and Horatio’s son?”
“Yeah.”
“That is one hell of an impressive how-my-parents-met story,” Eldlund said in admiration.
Loi took a while finishing his espresso. “Depends on your viewpoint. But, yeah, I guess.”
“Nice happy ever after,” Alik mocked. “But I’m biting.” He leveled a finger at Jessika. “What were your findings? Bad enough to make you switch allegiance back again?”
She gave a reluctant nod, almost as if she was embarrassed. “That kind of criminality, snatching helpless low-visibility people for profit, simply doesn’t happen in the Utopial society. And I really am an office girl at heart. So I went back, looking for the quiet life. How dumb is that?”