Unicorn Point by Piers Anthony Page A

Agape—the very notion, however farfetched, fills me with an unutterable longing, and I would love him for it no matter what else occurred between us. And that is the whole of it.”
    “That is the whole of it,” the interrogator agreed.   It did make sense. Tania might be arrogant and cynical, but she had desires too, and she wanted the best for herself.   He understood her longing for Phaze; that longing had never left him. So there was genuine desire, under her artificiality.   But what of Nepe?
    “Tell what you know or suspect of Nepe’s disappearance.”
    “I used her only as a lever to force your acquiescence. I know nothing of any plot against her, and do not believe that there is any. Her disappearance is a mystery to me. Indeed, I am chagrined by it, because it completely destroyed my initiative with you.”
    There was the pause. “That is the whole truth,” the interrogator said.
    Mach, amazed, tried once more. “Do you know of any other plot against me or Nepe or Agape, or have you any suspicion of such?”
    “No.”
    “That is not the whole truth.”
    “Damn that machine!” she flared again. “Only in the sense that the child is valuable. She is developing powers that could make her a significant asset to our side. She might even learn to communicate with her opposite in Phaze. Therefore we have instituted a watch on her, to ensure that we know at such time as her powers develop. We have no plot against her, only the intent to keep her with us, by whatever means is required. Her disappearance is as much a concern to us as to you, Mach, and we shall make every effort to recover her unharmed. That is the whole truth.”
    And the interrogator agreed.
    Surely she would have known or suspected, had there been any plot. She had exonerated herself and her side.   “But Nepe is considered retarded,” he said.
    “She is not. She hides her developing abilities from you.   We see this because we have tracked her constantly, when she is not in the protected suite of her grandfather. Recently we have observed less; we suspect this is not because she is slowing, but because she has learned of our observation.”
    “But how could she have escaped your surveillance?”
    “We are very interested in learning that. I can only conjecture that some third party has taken action.” Then she looked directly at him. “We really are on the same side, Mach, in this respect.”
    “That is the truth,” the interrogator said.   So it had come to nothing. Tania was relatively innocent, and he knew no more of Nepe’s disappearance than he had before. “I must go to her mother,” he said.  
    “Remember!” she called as he turned away. “You owe me, Mach!”
    “That is true,” the interrogator said as Mach left.   He went to Agape’s apartment and put his hand against the door panel. It recognized him and admitted him immediately.   She was there. When he was inside, she touched a button, and an opacity closed about them. It was the privacy shield, normally invoked for lovemaking; but she knew he was not Bane, and there was none of that between them.   She was out of focus, and he knew she had been, in her fashion, crying. Her alien flesh did not lend itself readily to this; instead it melted, making her features formless. Evidently she was holding her shape only with an effort, because of this crisis.
    “I questioned Tania with an interrogator,” he said without preamble. “She is innocent of this. She wishes to seduce me and subvert me, in an effort to punish Fleta for humiliating Tan, but she has no complicity in Nepe’s disappearance. It seems that some third party whose identity we do not know is responsible. That means that Nepe is probably unhurt, but captive. The Citizens will do everything they can to recover her, because they believe that she has or will have powers we do not suspect. I came to reassure you of that.”
    “Nepe is safe,” Agape said.
    He paused, assessing this. “You have