have moved. Two new guards sat, playing a game with counters on the table. She pretended to read Remote’s information banks for a while, went through her entire repertoire of kata and after, having nothing else to do, went into the cubicle and cleaned up again. Came back out. Sat on the cot. Scrolled through the legal banks. Attempted not to think of Heredes, and his fate. Failed. Or of Bach. Or Paisley. Failed miserably. Did kata.
A sudden influx of uniforms into the outer office distracted her. A new Security officer arrived, with the white-haired woman, in civilian garb, in tow. Six red-uniformed government troops detached themselves from the larger party and came back to her cell as a Security officer opened it. Lily took one step back. Four entered, surrounding her, and propelled her forward.
“My screen is back there,” said Lily. Two more fell in behind her; one placed a hand on her back. “That’s my credit, my ID. How am I supposed to—”
“Come along.” She cast a desperate glance back. The two Security officers watched with interest, but without sympathy. The sta, behind his—or was it her—bars, had risen and now stared after Lily with a sta-ish, and therefore unreadable, expression on her—or was it his—strangely unfinished and contradictory face.
“Where are you taking me? What is this for? Where is my robot?” Outside, a small vehicle waited under the awning, one solid door propped open. “This is illegal.” She tried to sit down. They simply picked her up and shoved her into the back. The door shut.
Darkness shuttered her. She felt along the wall: two meters square, padded, one handhold. The handhold proved necessary when they negotiated locks. She did not bother to hammer on the walls. Eventually the vehicle halted. This time, prepared, she went with humility.
They led her through an empty warehouse into a small, bare room with one chair and left her there alone. white walls were on three sides, on the fourth, a surface black and smooth as obsidian. The lights of the room dimmed, and shapes took form behind the black wall: two women and a man seated on a higher level. Lily stood up immediately.
A chime sounded above. She heard the sputtering crackle of the intercom coming to life.
“Please sit.” The disembodied voice came across as almost inhuman, but distinctly female.
“First of all,” said Lily. “I intend to file a complaint as soon as I reach Unruli. Second, I will file a writ of action against Remote Station Security and their Technical division for the recovery of my personal property. Third, a protest to Central HOL protesting the treatment of a young Ridani who spent a brief time in my company. Do you understand?”
Behind the wall, the male figure leaned over to talk to one of the women. The intercom crackled.
“You are identified here as Lilyaka Hae Ransome, a female of twenty-five who has been reported missing from Unruli system. Let me inform you, first, that this report, along with all trace of your recent activities here on Remote Station, has been erased. Per the request of Intelligence. You no longer exist in government computers.”
The static died away.
There was a long pause.
“What do you want me for?” said Lily in a very quiet voice.
“Second. You claim ownership of a robot of unspecified and, in our records, nonexistent make. Have you any explanation for this?”
Lily said nothing.
A new voice, male, came in. “The Remote Technical division has none.”
One of the female shapes passed a com-screen to the man.
“I found it in the Ransome House garage.” Her voice echoed, falling back on itself, in the close room. “And that’s the truth, whether you choose to believe it or not.”
They conferred.
“Third.”
Lily halted, center again.
“The young Ridani.”
“Paisley!”
“Did she speak to you of Jehane?”
“Jehane?” Lily opened her hands out in exasperation. “This is ridiculous. Jehane is some fairy tale, some story
A sudden influx of uniforms into the outer office distracted her. A new Security officer arrived, with the white-haired woman, in civilian garb, in tow. Six red-uniformed government troops detached themselves from the larger party and came back to her cell as a Security officer opened it. Lily took one step back. Four entered, surrounding her, and propelled her forward.
“My screen is back there,” said Lily. Two more fell in behind her; one placed a hand on her back. “That’s my credit, my ID. How am I supposed to—”
“Come along.” She cast a desperate glance back. The two Security officers watched with interest, but without sympathy. The sta, behind his—or was it her—bars, had risen and now stared after Lily with a sta-ish, and therefore unreadable, expression on her—or was it his—strangely unfinished and contradictory face.
“Where are you taking me? What is this for? Where is my robot?” Outside, a small vehicle waited under the awning, one solid door propped open. “This is illegal.” She tried to sit down. They simply picked her up and shoved her into the back. The door shut.
Darkness shuttered her. She felt along the wall: two meters square, padded, one handhold. The handhold proved necessary when they negotiated locks. She did not bother to hammer on the walls. Eventually the vehicle halted. This time, prepared, she went with humility.
They led her through an empty warehouse into a small, bare room with one chair and left her there alone. white walls were on three sides, on the fourth, a surface black and smooth as obsidian. The lights of the room dimmed, and shapes took form behind the black wall: two women and a man seated on a higher level. Lily stood up immediately.
A chime sounded above. She heard the sputtering crackle of the intercom coming to life.
“Please sit.” The disembodied voice came across as almost inhuman, but distinctly female.
“First of all,” said Lily. “I intend to file a complaint as soon as I reach Unruli. Second, I will file a writ of action against Remote Station Security and their Technical division for the recovery of my personal property. Third, a protest to Central HOL protesting the treatment of a young Ridani who spent a brief time in my company. Do you understand?”
Behind the wall, the male figure leaned over to talk to one of the women. The intercom crackled.
“You are identified here as Lilyaka Hae Ransome, a female of twenty-five who has been reported missing from Unruli system. Let me inform you, first, that this report, along with all trace of your recent activities here on Remote Station, has been erased. Per the request of Intelligence. You no longer exist in government computers.”
The static died away.
There was a long pause.
“What do you want me for?” said Lily in a very quiet voice.
“Second. You claim ownership of a robot of unspecified and, in our records, nonexistent make. Have you any explanation for this?”
Lily said nothing.
A new voice, male, came in. “The Remote Technical division has none.”
One of the female shapes passed a com-screen to the man.
“I found it in the Ransome House garage.” Her voice echoed, falling back on itself, in the close room. “And that’s the truth, whether you choose to believe it or not.”
They conferred.
“Third.”
Lily halted, center again.
“The young Ridani.”
“Paisley!”
“Did she speak to you of Jehane?”
“Jehane?” Lily opened her hands out in exasperation. “This is ridiculous. Jehane is some fairy tale, some story
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