“That was a convenient story, wasn’t it?” he asked her. “The only kind of family tie that a Zami Rigelian would be expected to renounce totally—the kind that was forced. But it wasn’t forced, was it?” He shook his head in disgust. “The very same First Families you’ve been telling me for months how much you hated and wanted to bring down—and you’ve been in their pocket the whole time.”
“You don’t understand!” Hemnask cried. “I do hate them. I do want them broken . . . because of the hold they have over me. Because they can force me to do their bidding when it’s the last thing I want.”
“I know how much the Zami value family ties,” he said, “but this . . .”
“You don’t know all the facts.” She was weeping now. “You’re right . . . Voctel didn’t rape my mother. He chose to claim he did because it gave him prestige within his twisted clan—and let him hide the fact that he had fallen in love with a commoner. My conception was accidental, but hardly coerced. Voctel was too young to handle the responsibility for raising me, especially knowing how I would be treated within the clan as a half-common bastard. So he helped my mother flee to Five, where she and I would face no stigma, and convinced her to go along with the lie that she had fled his cruelty, for his own protection as well as mine.
“But once he matured enough, he married—and he had more children. I have half-brothers and half-sisters . . . and some of them have children. This is why we stay in touch. Voctel sought us out so I could know my blood kin. But though he meant well, his actions entrapped me.” She shook her head, loose waves of hair tumbling around her face. “The First Families are corrupt and cruel. They elevate family, but not through love and protection. Rather, they demand loyalty and obedience at all costs. Failure, betrayal . . . these are severely punished. And as a child of the Thamnos, even illegitimately, my actions reflect on my father and my kin. If I fail in what they expect of me . . .” She sank to the bed. “My siblings, my nephews and nieces could suffer.”
Archer hesitated to trust her now, but her fear and distress seemed sincere. “Then . . . why this convoluted plan? Seduce me, then frame me?”
She looked up at him, almost amused. “Give me some credit, Jonathan. I wouldn’t be so sloppy. Whoever sent that Mazarite to frame you, they’ve exposed me and doomed my efforts to failure. I don’t know what might happen to my family now because of their stupidity.”
“But you and Tarzah—”
“There’s the terrible irony of it. I was honestly just having fun. He offered to fit you for a suit and I was genuinely curious. I didn’t even remember his face because I was busy admiring his wares!” She gave a bitter laugh. “Think about it. If the shooting hadn’t happened, no one here would have investigated me, and my secrets might never have been exposed. Far from being my accomplice, Mister Tarzah has ruined my plans entirely.” She sighed. “For which I’d be extremely grateful . . . if not for the cost to my kin.”
“Then if you weren’t involved with the shooting . . .”
Hemnask stood, moving close to him. “Jonathan . . . my instructions were to seduce you to create a scandal. To convince the Rigelians that you had in fact seduced me into supporting membership, and then to retract that support once the scandal broke.” She sighed. “I did as I was ordered . . . and I know this sounds like something from a cheap melodrama, but I found afterward that I couldn’t go through with it. You were too . . . kind.” She reached out as if to stroke his hair, but stopped, lowering her hand a moment later. “Too lonely. I could tell that what we shared . . . it meant something to you. It was something you had needed for a long time. I couldn’t bring myself to ruin it for you.”
She turned to T’Rama. “Instead, I kept my silence about that night, and carried on with the other part of my instructions: to persuade the ambassadors that joining with Rigel could drag the Federation into the very war that the First Families seek to provoke. To make us undesirable to you as members.” Hemnask released a bitter sigh, squeezing her eyes shut. “The damn Thamnos, they take joy in forcing me to protect the very status quo I hate. I would give anything to see the Federation bring its law to Rigel and crush the Families once and for all. But I am a prisoner of my blood, and my blood kin are hostages to my obedience.”
Hemnask wrapped her arms around herself. “And poor Vons . . . I had no idea they would kill him. I didn’t realize how ruthless the Malurians were. I almost confessed when I found out, but the threat to my family held me back. I didn’t know what else to do.”