Kingdom of Cages(132)

“The less you know, the better for all of us.” He held out the patch. “It goes on your neck.”

“But…” But I don’t know if I can trust you. I don’t know what you’ll do to me. I don’t even know your name. You could do anything. You could kill me, or sell me to the hothouse, or anything.

The man just stood there, holding out the patch to her.

And if I don’t? What am I going to do? Go back to Chena? She’ll lock me in my room and tell me how it’s for my own good and how we can’t get ourselves out of here alive because we’ve got to try to get back at the hothousers.

Teal held her breath and took the patch from the man’s fingers. She peeled the safety sticker off the back, slapped it onto the left side of her neck, and held it down until it stuck.

“You may want to sit down.”

Teal sat. She barely reached the floor before a warm rush of dizziness overwhelmed her. She heard a sharp crack and realized, distantly, her head had fallen back against the wooden crates. Her body had gone away from her, and she couldn’t seem to care. She thought her eyes closed, which was strange, because at the same time, she was sure that she could see the man leaning over her, touching her throat, riffling through her clothes, running a reader over the chip in the back of her hand, grasping her face in his hand and turning her head this way and that, looking for something.

On some level, she was also vaguely aware she wanted to protest these things, but none of them really touched her in the distant place she had gone. Each second they seemed farther away. Her consciousness ran toward the darkness as great as the wide black sky. There was nothing to worry about there. Not the fact that she was being laid down, and her clothes removed, nothing. Soon, there was only darkness and the comfortable knowledge that she was finally, truly on her own.


As usual, Lopera Qay kept them waiting. Dionte watched Basante prowl the confines of the bare red rock cave that Lopera used as a reception chamber. Basante never liked being out of the complex. He felt a combination of guilt that he might do something to disturb Pandora, and distaste at being at the mercy of an uncontrolled and unthinking environment.

In truth, she could not blame him for his restlessness. She did not want to be here either. She needed to be in the complex, tracking the progress of Tam’s new Conscience. She needed to understand why Aleph was becoming so balky. She needed to continue her work with Father Mihran and the Senior Committee. Four committee members were scheduled for Conscience examination and adjustment in the next ten days. She needed to be there for those, to ensure such adjustments were made that would start the potential for tighter bonds between themselves and her, the rest of the family and the city-mind, and to be sure she had the perceptual balances properly adjusted.

But she also could not let Basante meet with Lopera alone when she did not have a clear idea of what that meeting would be about. Their summons had been curt and most uninformative. Lopera had no doubt done that on purpose.

As she expected, Basante reached the inner door and found it locked, as usual. He turned to Dionte, all righteous indignation. “I fail to see why she insists on making us wait and wasting everyone’s time.”

“She gets to display that she has power over two people from the hothouse,” said Dionte, taking care to keep her voice mild. “It is not something many villagers get to experience.” She smiled at him, trying to radiate calm. Basante’s Conscience was probably giving him trouble. This was definitely not a place where a good member of the family should be.

The clanking of a mechanical lock cut off any further conversation. The interior door opened and Lopera Qay strolled in. Lopera was always very careful never to let Dionte and Basante see her in a hurry. Further power games. Dionte let them all pass. After all, Lopera was performing a crucial and dangerous service for them. They could allow her some games.

“Your timing’s good,” said Lopera, folding her arms and leaning one shoulder against the rough rock wall.

“Your message was both urgent and enigmatic.” Dionte spread her hands. “How could we refuse?”

“I hope nothing has happened to your trust,” said Basante irritably. “Although I can’t see what would be so important that you would have to call us out. It is not easy for us to get here, you know.”

The corners of Lopera’s mouth curled up. Dionte stared. That expression meant something. What was it? The sensation of forgetting something incredibly important staggered her.

Sly. It was a sly smile that spread across Lopera’s face. How could she not know that, even for a second?