Kingdom of Cages(162)

Doubled over on himself, every muscle seized tight as the poison, her poison, gripped him, Basante still managed to shake his head. “We didn’t…” he gasped. “I didn’t mean…”

Chena pulled back. “Liar,” she whispered.

Slowly, with infinite pain and effort, Basante raised his head to look at her with both eyes. “Not my idea,” he grunted. “I never wanted this….”

Then the effort became too much. His head dropped and hit the floor with a crack.

Chena scrambled to her feet, her lungs heaving. He was dying. The liar was dying. Good. He should die. He helped kill Mom. That much was obvious. Now he was lying to her. So why was she scared? She wanted this. Why did her mind’s eye keep showing her the eyes of the woman on the boat, the one she had saved? Nan Elle herself taught her how to use poisons. Pharmakeus took their revenge when they were injured. She was Pharmakeus. She was Helice Trust’s daughter. This was the beginning of her revenge.

Basante’s breath came fast and shallow. Sweat poured in rivers down his blue-gray skin. Chena knew if she touched him, she would feel he was cold. He gagged hard, as if he were trying to vomit, but nothing came up.

Chena glanced away. Had he really locked the door? She hadn’t seen him do anything to lock it. If he had, though, everything might be over.

She crossed the sensor line and the door opened. Think now before you take another step. Everything depended on her being right about Aleph. Aleph wasn’t like a computer with a set of instructions it could not violate. Aleph was a human mind. No matter what else she thought of it, Aleph loved its people.

Chena ran into the corridor. The door shut behind her and vanished.

“Chena,” said Aleph. “What are you doing?”

Chena didn’t answer. She just ran up the straight corridor, heading for the foyer, and putting as many invisible doors and rooms as possible between her and Basante.

“Chena, stop!” called Aleph. “This is not permitted!” Hothousers turned to gape at her. Chena kept her eyes fixed on the door. She wasn’t going to make it. There was no way she was going to make it.

A lean, sharp-faced woman stepped into her path, grabbing her and twisting her arms around her back. “Sorry, Chena,” she said.

Chena ignored the woman. “Aleph,” said Chena, trying not to struggle. “Aleph, listen to me quickly. I’ve poisoned one of your people. One of your people is dying, and you can’t find him.”

“What?” demanded the woman who was holding her.

“You are not making sense, Chena,” came Aleph’s infinitely patient voice. The golden-skinned girl image she used with Chena appeared on the wall.

“Where is Basante?” asked Chena.

Aleph paused for a fraction of a second. “I don’t know.”

Shocked voices murmured around her. A crowd of hothousers had gathered, and not one of them could believe what they were hearing.

“No, you don’t,” said Chena, making sure they all heard her. “You don’t know where he is and you don’t know what he’s doing. You don’t know he’s dying.”

Again, a fraction of a second for a pause. How many operations could Aleph work in that time? What was she doing? Who was she telling about this? She could have searched the whole complex four times over right now, made a million decisions. If Chena had figured this at all wrong, she was already gone.

“Chena, what do you know about this?” The woman shook her. “This is ridiculous.” A dark man had touched the wall, calling up a room map. “I’m not finding anything wrong,” he said. “She’s lying.”

“Then why can’t Aleph find him?” asked Chena. “I know where Basante is, and I know why you don’t. I’ll tell you if you let me out the environment lock into the marsh.”

“Chena, I cannot do that.” Aleph’s image remained frozen on the wall, as if she had forgotten to move it. “Chena, tell me what is happening.”

Chena glanced behind her. “He’s probably stopped breathing by now, Aleph. Let me out of here, or you’ll never find him.”

“I am compromised. I am compromised,” murmured Aleph. “My fellows know no help. Where is Basante? I must find him. Where is he?”

“Start opening the doors,” ordered Chena’s captor. “I’ll take her down to the holder and—”

“Take me anywhere and you won’t find him,” interrupted Chena. “Let me out of here and you will.”

The hothousers had spread out, touching the walls to clear the doors, but Aleph didn’t know where the missing door was. It didn’t know to clear it.