Cosmopath - [Bengal Station 03] by Eric Brown Page A

uneasiness: she had an almost preternatural ability to second-guess her mother’s feelings in times of stress.
     
    Sukara glanced across at Jeff; he was staring out of the side window. He saw her watching him, smiled and squeezed her hand.
     
    She knew, then, that something was wrong - more than just Li’s illness. It wasn’t like Jeff to suggest taking off like this. She wanted to ask him what was happening; but now, with the girls so excited, was not the right time.
     
    On cue, with an empathy that came from so long together, Jeff caught her eye and mimed a shushing gesture.
     
    Heart thudding, she gazed forwards as the flier decelerated, banked swiftly, and came down with amazing delicacy on the cantilevered landing-pad of the Ashok Hilton, a ziggurat of reflective silver glass overlooking the Bay of Bengal.
     
    Jeff grabbed the cases while Sukara took the girls, and they rode an elevator to the penthouse suite. “The penthouse?” Sukara said, amazed.
     
    “I’ll tell you when we’re settled, Su.”
     
    The suite consisted of two big bedrooms, a bathroom the size of a skyball court, and a lounge as big as their apartment; the lounge had floor-to-ceiling windows on two sides, with spectacular views over the hotel’s stepped gardens and the open sea.
     
    The girls screamed in delight and ran around the suite. Jeff took Sukara’s hand and pulled her out onto the balcony. They stood side by side, watching a distant starship phase in from the void.
     
    “Jeff, will you please tell me what’s going on?”
     
    He licked his lips, gazing out to sea. “Su, there’s no danger, but Lin decided on this merely as a precaution-”
     
    “Jeff!”
     
    He ran a strong hand down her spine. “Three telepaths have been killed in the past week. The cops don’t have a clue. There seems to be no connection between the dead men, other than they’re telepaths. Anyway, Lin’s taking no chances. She’s paying for her staff to lie low for a week or so.”
     
    She looked up at him. “Jeff, is that all? Tell me truthfully. You don’t seem...”
     
    “Su, I’ve just found out Li has a serious illness. Of course I don’t seem myself.”
     
    She looked at him. “There’s more, Jeff. Tell me.”
     
    He hesitated. “Okay. When you called yesterday... an assassin was coming after me-”
     
    She stared. “What? What happened?”
     
    “Security got him before he reached me.”
     
    She shook her head. “And you’ve no idea why this assassin...?” She thought about it. “Were you all working on the same case?”
     
    He smiled. “You’d make a good cop. That’s the first thing we thought of. But no. There’s no seeming connection at all.”
     
    She stroked his hand. “But will you be okay here? Others won’t come after you?”
     
    “Su, chances are I’d be fine back at the apartment. But you know Lin. She covers every angle.”
     
    They held each other for a while, then Sukara said, “I’ll get them to bed, then we can talk, okay?”
     
    He helped with the ritual of washing faces and cleaning teeth, and gave them each a goodnight kiss before Sukara whisked them to bed, told them a made-up story, and promised a trip to the zoo in the morning.
     
    When she returned to the lounge, Jeff had opened a couple of beers from the bar. “I’ll order food from room service. Thai or Indian?”
     
    “I don’t feel that hungry.” She saw his expression. “Okay, then. Indian.”
     
    He dialled two meals, carried them from the service unit, and sat down beside her on the squishy divan. They ate in silence, then read the details of their daughter’s disease.
     
    “Okay, let’s look on the bright side,” he said. “At least the disease can be treated.”
     
    She stroked his thigh, feeling bulky muscle beneath the material. Unshed tears made her eyes ache. “But... but look at the cost, Jeff!”
     
    He whistled. “For the full treatment... two hundred thousand dollars, US. Okay, that’s a lot. But