“Talk to Basante for me. Help me gain a supervisory assignment on the Trusts.”
Dionte started to pull away, but she was too far into it. Tam searched her face, watching the emotions flicker across it, but the bond had been tightened, by his Conscience and hers. The Consciences existed to strengthen the ties between family members. Whatever she was doing to herself, even Dionte was not good enough to completely subvert her implant’s primary function.
“That assignment has already been given to Basante,” she tried.
Tam said nothing.
Dionte hung her head. “Perhaps a cosupervisor? Basante would surely agree to that.”
That would give him access to all the records and require Aleph to alert him when any change in their status or welfare was made. It would do—for now, at any rate. He would at least be able to make sure that Dionte kept her promise about them being well looked after inside the complex.
She was giving him a contemplative look now, as if he were something she’d like to study later at her leisure. “Do you ever wonder if our parents did right?” she asked suddenly.
Tam’s smile was tight. “How could they do wrong?” he asked mildly. “They were family.”
Before she could answer that, Tam rose. “Thank you for what you have done, Sister. I’m sorry to have been trouble to you.”
She straightened up and pressed his hand again. “We know, you and I, how things are. I’m impressed with you, Brother. I think I’ve underestimated you before this.”
You have, but you won’t again, he thought as he turned away, leaving her there with her own thoughts and connections. I’ve shot my bolt. From now on I will have to be more careful.
But then, so will you.
CHAPTER NINE
Hothouse Flowers
Chena had assumed the hothousers would stash her family in a place like the village dormitories, but she was wrong. After the boat ride, and the dirigible ride, the supervisors, Basante and Tam, took them through an environment lock and from there into a series of labyrinthine corridors lined with video images of sunny meadows and marshes. The living space was nooks and crannies tucked into the crooks of the corridors, labeled neatly with their names and ID numbers. No doors stood between the various “rooms” and the curving hallways, just green curtains that rippled slightly in the air from the ventilators.
In fact, the only door in the whole place was the one leading from the central atrium to their wing, and that had a touch pad to activate the lock. Chena couldn’t help noticing that nobody took their prints or a chip reading to ID them to that door either.
They’re going to lock us in here, thought Chena as they walked down the hall behind Tam and Basante in their matching white shirts and black vests. Their feet made no noise on the padded floor. We’re prisoners.
Despite the fact that she felt like a baby doing it, Chena pressed closer to Mom. Mom squeezed her shoulder and kept her own eyes straight ahead.
Teal didn’t seem to notice anything wrong. She was too busy squealing and exclaiming over everything she saw—the game rigs, the library terminals, the classrooms, the walls of planters and terrariums, as if they hadn’t spent a month living in a forest. She went all google-eyed over the playroom full of little kids making enough noise to wake the dead.
The show delighted Supervisor Basante. He began to speak more and more to Teal, casting pleased glances at Mom as if to say, See, your charming little girl loves it here already.
Chena trailed along, feeling her face harden into a scowl. It was an act. Teal was acting. Couldn’t they see that?
It was hard to say what Supervisor Tam saw. He didn’t open his mouth once during the entire tour. Chena remembered him from Madra’s office, of course, and remembered how he’d watched Mom so carefully. Now he was watching her again, but this time it was an expression torn between fear and anger. Chena couldn’t work out whether it was for something the Trusts had done or for something he was afraid they would do.
She also couldn’t help noticing how many of the women they saw in the brightly lit alcoves and the little artificial parks were pregnant, like Mom would soon be.
The idea made Chena go cold and her feet lagged behind, as if they thought there was some way to turn back. But Mom just patted her shoulder. “Keep up, Supernova. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover.” And she went back to listening to the supervisor and watching Teal bounce up and down like a complete baby.
Once, Teal did catch Chena’s eye. She gave Chena a smug grin and stopped just short of sticking her tongue out. Chena’s fist tightened with the sudden, vicious urge to smack her sister. Didn’t she realize this wasn’t a game? These people were the enemy! They had forced Mom in here, forced them all in here. How could she even pretend to like this… this… hole, this…