Ammonite

The storeroom smelled of dust and grain and the faint ozone hum of clings. The spy was not wearing a helmet.

Lu Wai saluted. “Sublieutenant Relman, ma’am.”

The spy was half sitting, half lying on some sacks. Young. Short black curls. Round face that normally looked relaxed, but now reflected her physical discomfort.

“Sit her up straight,” Da

“Lieutenant Relman, you are being held on suspicion of behavior likely to endanger fellow officers. You will be taken to an appropriate holding place and questioned. Do you have any questions of your own at this time?”

Tell me it’s all a mistake, Da

Relman said nothing.

She was pumped up with adrenaline, with over‑oxygenated blood hissing through her veins; that silence was too much for Da

“You said I would be taken to an appropriate holding place before being questioned.”

“This is as appropriate as anywhere.” She hit the wall stud that darkened the windows, then folded her arms. “I’ve got all night.”

Relman appeared to think. “I would like my partner, Bella Cardos, informed of my whereabouts.”

“She’s involved in this?”

Relman looked startled. “No. But she’ll worry.”

Da

“I told you she’s nothing to do with this.”

”I don’t believe you,” Da

No reply.

“We have all the time in the world,” Da

“You have a choice, of course. Tell us everything, let us verify it; we’ll take that into consideration. Or you could keep quiet and hope that something happens, some miracle to change the situation in your favor.” Da

“We’ve got nothing to tell you.”

“ ‘We’ ?”

Relman flushed, but said nothing.

Da

Da

Outside, the air was cold and wet and smelled of snow. Da

Let Relman stew a little in her own juices.

Her outer office was dark. The lights came up automatically when she entered, but the room still felt dark around the edges, the way empty spaces always did. In her i

She massaged the bridge of her nose and called Dogias.

“Letitia, I need that conversation as soon as you can get it to me. Don’t send it over the net. Bring me a disk by hand.”

“If you can’t protect the net, what makes you think you can protect your system? I’ll transfer it to audio disk and wipe my comm. Your office in twenty minutes.”

Dogias was infuriating, but right as usual. Twenty minutes. She went through the empty outer office to make herself some tea.

A four‑year‑old memory superimposed itself behind her eyelids: the smile of victory on Helen Relman’s face as she stood straight while Da

She would probably never hold another promotion ceremony.

Her eyes stung. She rubbed at them impatiently. She had better things to do than indulge in old memories.

Back in her office, tea steaming in front of her, she punched in Sara Hiam’s code. “This is Da

She put down her tea, rubbed at her forehead. “Sara, what if this woman won’t talk?”

“Make her,” Hiam said bluntly. “There are several drugs available to your medics that are efficient and painless.”

“I don’t like the idea of drugs.”

“Who does? But do you have the right to not use them to get information that might be vital to the survival of hundreds of people, just because of your squeamishness?”

Da

Sara laughed, a flat, ugly laugh. “Sympathetic? Da

“I may not have to.”

“Maybe not. But don’t spend too long trying it the other way.”

Over the next day, Da

When Da

“Stay here, A

“Ma’am?”

“We’ll just wait out here.” Da

Time passed slowly. The sealed skin patch in Da

When Cardos came back out, she was shaking her head. “Nothing. I could try again.”

“Would it do any good?”