“We’ll talk again later,” Girard told Manju.
“So, I am to be kept here for a while?” Manju asked, with a return to the mischief he’d shown earlier. “Is there a bath, at least?”
“There is,” Girard confirmed. He rose to his feet, Manju standing with him. “I wouldn’t advise trying to escape. There are defences in place.”
With a wry smile, Manju tilted his head to Hallie and left the room under the watchful care of Oreste and Kasmo.
#
Hallie poured herself some more mint tea while Girard fiddled with the electronics. She really wanted coffee, but it was late in the day and she’d learned that the bitter, strong brew served here would keep her awake far into the night. Moments later, the television screen above the table came to life, showing a pale, anonymous office space with a table and a few chairs and plain walls. A red light above the screen let Hallie know that the integrated camera was on and would be beaming an image of her and Girard to the screen under the other camera.
Girard sat back down at the table and helped himself to more tea as well. He looked tired. Hallie took a closer look at him, concern spiking. The wound on his head was swollen, closing gradually.Hochlenhealing was very fast, but also required a great deal of energy. He caught her watching and gave her a small smile, one of the quiet, warm smiles that he seemed to reserve only for her and which made her whole being want to smile back.
Before she could respond, a voice emerged from the speakers built into the screen.
“Ah, good, there you are.” Peredur Roth, director of the Conclave Investigators, appeared. Through the video link hispale blond, grey-streaked hair looked almost pure white and Hallie could see shadows under his eyes and faint lines on his lean face.Hochlenaged slowly and rarely showed their true years on their faces, but Peredur looked older than he ever had before, not least because his normally tanned skin looked paler than she was used to, as if he’d been spending all his time indoors. She couldn’t help wondering just how much rest he’d managed to get in the week or so since she’d seen him last. The director took a seat facing the camera and frowned. “What happened? You look like you’ve been in a fight.”
“Our target pulled a market stall over and it landed mostly on me,” Girard said, sounding more than a little embarrassed. “I haven’t had time to clean up yet.”
“Do you need medical attention?” Peredur asked, voice sharp. It was one of his many good qualities, as far as Hallie was concerned, that he believed in looking after his people. Even when he himself looked worn out.
“No. Nothing’s broken. I’ll heal soon enough, sir,” Girard said.
“Good. Did you get the target?” Peredur asked.
“Manju Nayak. Yes,” Girard said, a smile lifting his mouth. “Well, Hallie did. Chased him across a few rooftops.”
“I imagine not the first time you’ve had to do that, Miss Talbot?”
“No, sir,” Hallie confirmed.
“Get anything out of him?” Peredur asked.
“We’re getting somewhere, yes, sir,” Girard said. He gave the director a brief summary of the conversation they’d had. “He’s a slippery character, sir, but he might have some useful information. I’d like to speak to him again.”
A harsh electronic sound at the other end of the link made Hallie jump. The director reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, frowned at the screen, pressed a button, silencing thenoise, and then made another adjustment which to Hallie looked like turning his phone off.
“Apologies. Another Conclave member wanting an update,” Peredur said. From the way he said it, the call was not the first he’d received that day. Managing all the demands on his time and attention would explain a great deal of the strain Hallie could see on his face. Members of the world’s ruling council, the Conclave, were used to people jumping to do their bidding, and Peredur, along with the rest of his unit, were employees of the Conclave. At the time of the last Conclave meeting in Daydawn, there had been explosions on container ships just off the docks at the port. The director had taken personal charge of the investigation. It had yet to lead to any arrests or clear answers and Hallie was quite sure that the Conclave members were not happy about that. She hoped that the director was not going to get in trouble for ignoring the call, or shutting his phone off. He didn’t look worried as he faced the screen. “Miss Talbot? Anything to add?”
The first time he’d levelled that question at her, Hallie had been startled and uneasy, thinking it meant he didn’t trust what Girard had told him. Over the past couple of weeks as they’d had their regular check-ins with Peredur, she’d come to realise it wasn’t a matter of trusting Girard or not, it was partly reflexive courtesy on the director’s part and partly because, as he’d told her when he offered her the job, she had a different background and skill set and he wanted her perspective. She and Girard almost never disagreed on the significant points, but they did notice different details.
“Manju Nayak is a very good liar, sir,” Hallie said, “perhaps the best I’ve ever come across. But he’s genuinely afraid of Findo Trask. Manju will tell us what he knows, but I am not sure how much closer that’s going to get us. Findo has been careful to keep a lot of his contacts at arm’s length.”
“I agree,” Girard said.
“Right,” the director said, frowning as if in deep thought. Despite the sharp picture on the screen, Hallie found herself wishing she was in the room with him so she could gauge his reactions better. She had the sense that she was missing something. “Take another day there, get what you can, then I need you both back in Daydawn.”
“Problem, sir?” Girard asked, eyes keen as he looked at the screen.
Peredur’s face stilled, the sort of expression that told Hallie he was trying to hide something. She wondered if he was alone in the room, or worried about being overhead. “Plenty of them.” His voice was dry, the wry humour slightly reassuring, at least as far as Hallie was concerned. “Nothing imminent. I’ll see you when you get back here.”
The screen went blank and the camera light switched to green, letting Hallie know that the connection had been cut. All the same, she frowned at the blank space for a long moment before she turned to Girard.
“That was the shortest conversation we’ve had with Peredur. Any idea what’s going on?” she asked.
“I don’t know for sure, but I would guess that there’s been more pressure from the Conclave,” Girard said. “It’s not like him to ignore a call from one of the members.” He shifted in his chair and put a hand on his ribs, grimacing. “The investigation into the explosions and protests hasn’t yielded results yet, and there are those on the Conclave who were already impatient when we left Daydawn.”
That fit with what Hallie had also observed, but it still left her unsatisfied and uneasy.
