the pod I’d gotten from Strawn and headed for Trenton. It was nearly dark, but it wasn’t until the pod rose above the sooty cloud cover that I saw that though the sun was setting, it was much brighter above the smog than below. The planet Vanga, dominating the western sky above the smog, was no longer a gray oval smudge. Now it was a crimson oval smudge, like a big bloody thumbprint. I wondered what the Vangans would do if they ruined the moon they were living on just as they’d ruined their home planet. Build a moon for their moon? How many reminders of their mistakes did they need inhabiting the sky?
Or maybe they’d just find a way to erase their collective memory banks. It had worked with a child’s toy, after all. If nobody could prove who was to blame for all the damage that had been done, then nobody could ever be held responsible.
The Paqil sat on the seat next to me, watching me, big brown eyes blinking. I thought about all the things those eyes I had seen. I knew the Paqils couldn’t speak, but the pleading way the bear looked at me, it was as if it were trying to speak to me. Those eyes were like moons themselves—big and luminous, always present, seeing everything even if they weren’t seen in return.
I told myself not to get involved. It had been a lot harder making ends meet since my Calfan days, and Strawn was willing to pay a good chunk of change. If Strawn’s wife wanted to press charges, she surely could have. That she hadn’t so far wasn’t surprising, since most of the abused women I had known—and I had known plenty in my old life—kept going back to their abusers for more. If she didn’t press charges, nothing I said would stick, and Strawn would do his best to ruin me. A man with his connections could probably do a good job of it, too.
But I thought of the girl. I thought of the way she looked at me as she handed me her drawing. I thought of Linna.
I waited until I landed, then called Strawn on the pod’s vid. He answered dressed in a white robe, hair slicked back.
“You get the toy?” he said.
“Yep,” I said. “I’ll be on Trenton in thirty minutes. Can you meet me at the landing station?”
He frowned. “You can’t come to the house?”
“I’ve got someplace to be on another planet, and the stepdock’s right here.”
“All right,” he said reluctantly, and clicked off.
I boarded the transport tube and was whisked around the city on an invisible platform, ending up at the base of the big grassy hill that led to his estate. No one was there. The tube depot was set in a grove of the trees with the rippling, scarf-like leaves. A black iron gate, the first security check, blocked the path that led up the hill. With the bear tucked under my arm, I hid behind a tree not far from the depot.
Twenty minutes later, the gate opened and Strawn, dressed in a tight black turtleneck and black pants, crossed the road and stepped into the tube.
I walked up to the gate, placed my hand on the scanner, and said my name. A few seconds later Meladine spoke.
“He said he was meeting you at the platform,” she said.
“I wanted to talk to you first,” I said.
The open connection on the intercom produced a low hum.
“It will only take a minute,” I said. “It’s about your daughter.”
“What about her?”
“Can I come up? I’d rather talk in person.”
“I don’t know ...”
“It’s important.”
She didn’t answer. I was about to speak again when the gate buzzed open. I walked inside, jogged up the steep grassy hill, hand-checked past the second security gate, then hoofed it up the steps to the mansion. I was breathing heavy in the thin air and sweat made my shirt cling to my back. The front door opened and Meladine appeared, wearing a cream-colored dress that fell to her ankles and a thin white sweater with long sleeves. I realized that neither of the outfits I had seen her wearing revealed much skin.
“Covering bruises?” I said.
“What?”
I took a
Or maybe they’d just find a way to erase their collective memory banks. It had worked with a child’s toy, after all. If nobody could prove who was to blame for all the damage that had been done, then nobody could ever be held responsible.
The Paqil sat on the seat next to me, watching me, big brown eyes blinking. I thought about all the things those eyes I had seen. I knew the Paqils couldn’t speak, but the pleading way the bear looked at me, it was as if it were trying to speak to me. Those eyes were like moons themselves—big and luminous, always present, seeing everything even if they weren’t seen in return.
I told myself not to get involved. It had been a lot harder making ends meet since my Calfan days, and Strawn was willing to pay a good chunk of change. If Strawn’s wife wanted to press charges, she surely could have. That she hadn’t so far wasn’t surprising, since most of the abused women I had known—and I had known plenty in my old life—kept going back to their abusers for more. If she didn’t press charges, nothing I said would stick, and Strawn would do his best to ruin me. A man with his connections could probably do a good job of it, too.
But I thought of the girl. I thought of the way she looked at me as she handed me her drawing. I thought of Linna.
I waited until I landed, then called Strawn on the pod’s vid. He answered dressed in a white robe, hair slicked back.
“You get the toy?” he said.
“Yep,” I said. “I’ll be on Trenton in thirty minutes. Can you meet me at the landing station?”
He frowned. “You can’t come to the house?”
“I’ve got someplace to be on another planet, and the stepdock’s right here.”
“All right,” he said reluctantly, and clicked off.
I boarded the transport tube and was whisked around the city on an invisible platform, ending up at the base of the big grassy hill that led to his estate. No one was there. The tube depot was set in a grove of the trees with the rippling, scarf-like leaves. A black iron gate, the first security check, blocked the path that led up the hill. With the bear tucked under my arm, I hid behind a tree not far from the depot.
Twenty minutes later, the gate opened and Strawn, dressed in a tight black turtleneck and black pants, crossed the road and stepped into the tube.
I walked up to the gate, placed my hand on the scanner, and said my name. A few seconds later Meladine spoke.
“He said he was meeting you at the platform,” she said.
“I wanted to talk to you first,” I said.
The open connection on the intercom produced a low hum.
“It will only take a minute,” I said. “It’s about your daughter.”
“What about her?”
“Can I come up? I’d rather talk in person.”
“I don’t know ...”
“It’s important.”
She didn’t answer. I was about to speak again when the gate buzzed open. I walked inside, jogged up the steep grassy hill, hand-checked past the second security gate, then hoofed it up the steps to the mansion. I was breathing heavy in the thin air and sweat made my shirt cling to my back. The front door opened and Meladine appeared, wearing a cream-colored dress that fell to her ankles and a thin white sweater with long sleeves. I realized that neither of the outfits I had seen her wearing revealed much skin.
“Covering bruises?” I said.
“What?”
I took a
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