Harsh Lessons (13 page)

'Well, James and the other guy.'

'And what does each stand to lose and gain in this interaction?'

'Um, a really expensive dinner?'

Emma raised her eyes, then looked back down at the seated girl.  For a moment the taut, up-tilted breasts distracted her.  She frowned.  Was Leeth trying to seduce
her
?  'You have to learn to look beneath the surface.  You asked "Who cares if a man takes a different woman out each week?"  Obviously the Maitre'd and James do.  So, why?'

Leeth thought.  'Is it a kind of fight?  Like, James is showing he can attract women; more women than the other guy?  So he's
better
than him?'

Emma nodded.  'You'd be surprised how many of the things men do are just variations of this contest.  The male superiority thing.  Showing he can attract
beautiful
women just makes the win bigger.  Look.'

She stepped away from the mirror, dropping the sponge into the bowl and stripping off her gloves.  Leeth examined her new reflection, clearly approving.

Emma smiled.  'Kind of exotic.  Just wait till we do your eyes.  Even your own uncle won't recognize you.'

'Just because I look different?'

Emma looked at her strangely, before understanding.  'Oh, well done!  You mean, because he's a mage, he could recognize you from your aura?'

'I was actually wondering if there could be an opposite kind of disguise.'

Emma frowned.  'Opposite?'

'Yeah, like, if someone changed on the inside, so they were a different person.  That'd be a
perfect
disguise, wouldn't it?'

Emma went still.  Leeth, eyes distant, didn't notice.  'But if it was a different person, you'd have that other person's aura, wouldn't you?'  Her eyes returned to Emma.  'So a mage like Uncle could see through that kind of disguise, too.'

She looked relieved.

Emma, on the other hand felt cold.  She shook herself.  'Now for your eyes.'

Leeth shut them, and for long minutes neither spoke, while Emma did things involving protein glues.

'Do you like Jack Shadow?’ Leeth suddenly asked, eyes still closed.

‘Too anarchic for my taste.  Didn't some of his later stuff go weird?' 
Disturbing, more like it
.

Leeth shrugged, though keeping her head still.

'Why do you ask?  Do you like him?’ Emma prodded, worried the question might relate to the earlier topic.

‘Ye-e-es.  I think.  I only really followed
Soul Quest
– each new song, the story got scarier! – but there was this one bit that kind of creeped me out.’

‘Doesn’t surprise me.  Which bit?’

Leeth sang, her voice surprisingly light and sweet, a disturbing contrast to the lyrics of the song and its martial rhythm:

‘In the dust dead beetles breed

Demons old wail to be freed

Black lightning splits the sky above

Now the fog enfolds me –

wo-orld’s be-e-lo-oved.

‘That bit, at the end: wo-orld’s be-e-lo-oved.  It… the way he whispers it, all “let me in, we love you…”  All sneaky and lying, trying to trick him….’

With her eyes shut, Leeth didn't see Emma shudder.  Softly, she asked, ‘That reminds you of something?’

‘Yeah.  It reminds me too much of, of some- of some
one
who tried to trick
me
like that.’

This could be it
, Emma thought.  Afraid to ask, but needing to know.  ‘Back at the Institute, yes?’  She kept her tone light.

‘Yeah.’

Emma waited.  ‘Mmm.  Who?  Not your Uncle.  Someone else there.  Someone working there?’

Leeth shook her head.

‘Ah: an inmate.  You were friendly with many of them?’

‘No.'  Leeth shook her head.  'Only one.’ 
Poor Godsson. 
How ever am I going to get him out?
  She opened her eyes, her gaze far away.  ‘No, it wasn’t him.’

‘So, not an inmate, and not someone who worked there.  Who was it?  Or
what
was it?’

Emma saw her last question strike home.  Leeth’s eyes locked with hers.

‘I don’t want to talk about Her.’

‘
Her?
’

‘I won’t. Talk about.
Her
.’

‘But… there was some, ah, powerful mage living there?  Imprisoned?’

Leeth shuddered, hunching forward a little, both hands going to her left breast.  Or perhaps her heart.  Her gaze lost in infinity.

‘No.  Not after me and Godsson killed Her.’

Leeth blinked, then glared at her with such intensity Emma expected her to fling herself from the chair and stalk from the room.  The girl’s clenched fists  pressed into the sides of the chairs armrests, bowing the metal outward.

Emma's eyes widened.  Then realized something more:
she has no idea how to retreat
.  She’d pushed hard enough: perhaps
too
hard.

Then both Leeth’s hands flew to her mouth in horror, her eyes entreating Emma in the mirror.

‘I wasn’t s’posed to talk about any of that.'  Shaking her head.  'Please don’t tell anyone what I said, Emma?  Please?’

Oh, no,
thought Emma, feeling sick.  Forcing a smile, she rested her hands on the girl’s bare shoulders.  ‘I promise, Leeth.  It will be just our secret.  I promise.’

She squeezed Leeth’s shoulders.  Knowing that Eagle would know.
 

Chapter 14 

James was quite looking forward to seeing how much trouble Leeth would cause Derek, as the touchy "Jennifer Dei."  The cover personality had been carefully crafted by the Doctor.  And a clever move, highlighting the similarities between verbal and physical sparring.

But the rest of it worried him.  Deeply.

Nelson
was
a computer genius, James knew, but what they'd done to Leeth tonight bordered on the Frankenstein.  Some kind of joint experiment by Nelson and the Doctor – or rather, two separate experiments with the same goal.

He simply didn't understand how digital knowledge could be dumped into an organic brain, as Nelson had supposedly done tonight.  He, Emma, and Preacher were Augmented with the necessary headware to accept data and skill downloads.  Leeth, though….

And the look on her face when they'd strapped her head into the device, and the finer-than-hair probes had been inserted through her skull?  He'd wanted to knock them all aside and drag her free.

Instead, he'd simply waited alongside Father and Mother while Nelson wove his technological spell.

And then the Doctor had apparently magically applied a "personality overlay" to reinforce it.  Didn't everyone say magic and tech didn't mix?

No wonder Leeth seemed confused and distracted.  Several times already she'd slipped into Japanese without apparently realizing.  And when had she learned that language, anyway?

Yet despite all that, he suspected she still thought of the whole exercise as a game.  Not a safe attitude: not one the Department could tolerate.

Perhaps she'd respond to a threat, framed the right way?  As a challenge.  He mulled the problem over.

Finally he nodded.  'Leeth, I want you to identify the active participants in tonight’s exercise.'

She shook herself.  'You and Derek.  It's a fight between you and him to prove who's the dominant male, by showing who's most attractive to women.'

He blinked, surprised by the answer’s promptness.  'And?  Who else?'

For the first time tonight she really looked at him.  Perhaps noticing his scrutiny.

'Me?' she asked, at last.  He nodded; and waited.  After a while she added, 'me and Derek, too.'  She thought for a while longer, no doubt deciding what each stood to gain or lose.  'I guess he could be trying to get me to slot-  I mean, to
have sex
with him instead of you?  And if I did, he'd owe me.'

James winced.  'I suppose that's true, in a way.  But it's not what I was thinking of.  Has anyone told you Derek has looked into each of your cover IDs?  He's had people run background checks on all of them.'

He spared her a quick glance.

She seemed astonished.  'Why would he bother doing that?'

'Because he cares about the bet.  He wants to make sure I'm not using paid companions.  But that's not what I'm getting at.  The other active participants are Derek and you, and through you, the Department.  So now, what do
they
stand to win or lose?'

She answered slowly.  'If Derek uncovers who I really am, I'd have to kill him.  So-'

Good lord
.  But he simply shook his head.  'That's not going to happen.  Even if Nelson failed to do his usual impeccable job, there is no way you could be traced to the Department.  It's this: we create identities in layers.  Which we add to, piece by piece over the years, making them more solid.  Occasionally you'll blow one and it'll be scrapped, but that's why a good agent always has a whole set.  They're an investment in your future.  Each time one undergoes scrutiny, you're risking it.  On the other hand, each time one
passes
scrutiny, it becomes a bit more real.  A bit more valuable.

'So that's what you stand to lose or gain.  Derek has very little at risk, in comparison.  Very little.  Because these aren't just training exercises, Leeth.  They're tests.  Of you.'

The rest of the walk passed in silence, and she seemed to be thinking.  He hoped he'd managed to snap her out of her odd mental state.  He also hoped Nelson and the Doctor knew what they were doing with their weird experiments on her tonight.  Magic and technology weren't supposed to be able to mix.  Thank god.  But now Leeth seemed…
too
unlike herself.  It worried him.

They walked on.  High above, a band of clouds rolled in to obliterate the moon, and the evening seemed to cool as it darkened.  Jennifer shivered and looked around, as if searching for something.  But when James raised an eyebrow in query, she merely shook her head.  Though her grip on his arm tightened.

James entered the foyer of the Muses restaurant through the lacy forest of green ferns, with his "new" conquest on his arm.  He caught a shimmer of annoyance slide across Derek's features as the Maitre'd prowled elegantly up, sparing a glance for the girl at his side.

The arcs of metallic green and blue in her low-cut evening dress echoed Leeth's own curves.  The facial cosmetic alterations gave a definite Asian cast to her features.  James wondered whether Derek would identify her as Japanese.  Probably: he had a keen eye when it came to people, and Emma had done her usual excellent job.

Elegant black onyx and silver earrings peeked out from the short, feathered bangs exaggerating the roundness of her face.  Red, full lips that made you think of succulent plums.  The only jarring feature was the twist of a sneer ghosting over those lips.

Derek was bowing, Japanese style, welcoming James's guest.  '
Komban wa
, miss' he purred.

Jennifer had been feeling weird, like she was somehow seeing double inside her head, but the man's "Good evening, miss" seemed to snap everything into focus.  With it came intense irritation. 
Just because I'm Japanese by birth, why does everyone automatically assume I'm a foreigner?
  The stupid bowing and show-off phrases to make her feel "comfortable."  She was as American as he was.  There was something fuzzy and prickly about that idea, but she pushed it down.

Contempt flared.  'Yeah, "Komban wa,
miss
" to you too, grandpa.'  The sneer vanished as she turned to her companion.  'Shunt, James, what's this creep gonna do next, offer me a selection of Jiu Jitsu moves to make me feel "at home"?'  She shuddered extravagantly.

James patted Leeth's arm.  'Please, Jennifer, Derek didn't mean anything by it.' 
Perhaps I'll enjoy this evening after all!

If Derek had simply cut his losses, he would have been okay – but he wasn't the sort of man to easily accept a rebuff. Withdrawing until their waiter for the evening had bowed and left, he stepped up to their table again.  'James, it
is
good to see you.  Will you allow me to apologize to your lovely lady friend for my earlier crassness?'

"Jennifer" bristled.  'You don't need James's permission to apologize to me – you need mine.  And if I want a judgment on my "lovely" looks, I'll enter a beauty contest.'

With an effort, Derek kept the smile on his face.  'Again, my apologies, Miss…?'

'Jennifer Dei.'

He waited, but she didn't add anything.  'Please allow me to introduce myself.  I am Derek Tate, the Maitre'd of this fine establishment.  I've known your companion, Mr Connor, for some time now.  He's quite a regular during the season.  I'm very pleased to meet you.'

Leeth blinked, feeling oddly dizzy, glad she was sitting down.  Coming back to herself, she noticed how his hand rubbed the side of his nose as he said that, and remembered something from her uncle's lectures on body language: that gesture often accompanied a lie!  Which would make sense – surely what he really wanted was to punch her?  She surreptitiously looked down, and saw with a small stab of pleasure his other hand was closed in a fist.  Wow – one of her uncle's lessons had actually been useful!  This was actually kinda chill.  As Derek continued, she allowed a small disbelieving smile onto her face, knowing he had to pretend to be polite to her.

'Do you also follow the opera?  How did the two of you meet?'

Perfect
.  '
So
glad you brought that up, Derek,' she smiled, the Jennifer persona flowing back around her without her even noticing….  If she was going to get blamed for the accident, at least she'd get some pleasure out of it.  Her thoughts split, doubling confusingly.  She remembered ordering her auto-drive off by accident, and the sudden crunch of impact; but she also remembered someone
hacking
her car…
her
car?  She had a car…?  But now was no time to show weakness.