Memory Zero (17 page)

Han raised an eyebrow, amusement evident in his brown eyes. “What can I do for you both?”

“We need a meal and somewhere to talk.”

Han nodded. “The Dragon Room is safe. I shall cook you something and bring it in.”

“Safe” meant he had both psychic and electronic dampeners in place, preventing anyone from using either means to listen in. “Thanks, Han.”

The big man nodded and walked back into the darkness. Gabriel guided her through the tables to the small room at the back. He pressed the button to one side of the door, switching on the special effects inside the room, then opened the door and ushered her through.

Her gasp was almost inaudible. He glanced at her, half smiling as he closed the door. “Amazing, isn’t it?”

She nodded, her gaze on the myriad of tiny dragons that danced and played across the roof. “They look so real.”

“They’re the latest in holographic technology. Han is something of a pioneer in the field.” He walked across to a center table.

She followed him. “So what’s he doing running a restaurant?”

He lit a candle and motioned for her to sit. She took the chair directly opposite his. He hoped it wasn’t a sign of things to come. “He still dabbles in the field, as you can see.” And running a restaurant was far safer than active service in the Federation, which was where Han had honed his holographic skills.

She leaned back and asked, “What do you want to talk about?”

He smiled at her directness. “Honesty.”

Her blue eyes glittered like ice-encrusted sapphires in the candlelight. There was anger there, as well as suspicion. Yet he had a sense that she was also controlling herself very tightly, and he wondered why. “I’ve been nothing but honest with you.”

“Have you? Then tell me why you went back to your apartment to retrieve the com-unit you’ve been
hiding in your bag. And tell me what you found at Kazdan’s, besides that laser, that makes you so certain he’ll come to this meeting tomorrow. And tell me why someone is setting you up for a murder rap.”

“What?”

Despite the edge in her voice, she didn’t seem all that surprised. “I have orders to wrap up my investigation, and hand you over for prosecution, by tomorrow afternoon,” he informed her. “That order came from the top.” And given that there wasn’t anyone higher than Hanrahan at the SIU, that meant the order had come from someone in the upper echelons of the government. But who? That was the question he’d have to ask Hanrahan when it was safe to do so.

“The bastards.” She rubbed a hand over her eyes, and then looked up again. “What do you intend to do?”

“That very much depends on you.”

“And just what is it you want me to do, Assistant Director Stern?”

The sarcasm in her voice suggested that someone, at some time, had tried using his authority to get her into bed. The sudden coldness in her eyes suggested the outcome had not been favorable—for either party.

He held her gaze. “I want you to help me with a problem. In return, I’ll help you find what’s behind Kazdan’s attempt on your life.”

“What about your orders to hand me over?”

He shrugged. “I was never much for following orders.”

Her gaze returned to the dragons for a moment. He sat back in the chair and waited.

“You want me to trust you,” she said softly, “and yet you’re not willing to trust
me
.”

He raised an eyebrow as her gaze returned to his. There was something in those bright depths that seemed to run straight through him, diving deep into his soul. It was partly a recognition of fate—a sense that this woman, for good or for bad, would play a vital part in his future. But it was also something else, something he couldn’t even begin to name. And it was
that
something that made him trust her, even when common sense, and everything he knew about her, suggested he adopt extreme wariness. Which was why what he was about to say might well end up being a bargain with the devil.

“What makes you say that?”

“The tests. We both know they’re not just psych and psychic evaluations. You’ve run the whole gamut, right down to biological. Why?”

“I told you—we want to know why you were able to see the kites.”

“But it’s more than that now.”

He nodded. “When Finley ran the original tests, we found a few interesting anomalies. For a start, you registered neutral in the psychic tests, and that can only mean you have a talent strong enough to avoid detection, yet still be able to work in the presence of the psychic deadeners.”

She raised an eyebrow but offered no comment, simply tapped a finger lightly against the tabletop as she waited for him to go on.

“Finley also discovered an unknown chromosome in your cell sample. As of yet, we haven’t been able to track it down.” He didn’t mention her developmental immaturity. It would be something she’d surely be aware of.

She frowned. “How can I have an unknown chromosome?”

“We don’t know. That’s why we’re running extra tests.”

She fell silent for a long minute, and then lowered her gaze to the table. “What’s the favor you want of me?”

He hesitated as the door opened. Han came into the room, carrying a tray full of bread, meats and rice. “Best I could do in a hurry,” he said, putting the tray on the table.

“Thanks, Han.”

The big man nodded. “I shall keep a watch out for you.”

“Thanks.” He waited until Han had left, then reached out and grabbed a thick slab of bread. “A friend of mine is being poisoned.” That the friend was also his twin was a fact she didn’t need to know. “Only a very few people, myself included, have access to him.”

She helped herself to a plate of the thick-sliced lamb and aromatic rice. “How is the poison being administered?”

“Through the water.”

“If it’s being administered by water, it could be anyone.”

Gabriel shook his head. “He doesn’t drink tap water, and the bottled water is fully tested before he goes near it.”

“Your friend must be very important for such measures to be taken.”

“He is.” He was the only brother Gabriel had left.

Sam frowned, tilting her head slightly to one side, her expression thoughtful. “How can I help, then?”

“I think I’m too close. I’ve known these people all my life. I don’t know if I can be clinical enough to choose the killer amongst them.”

“And you want me to be your fresh set of eyes?”

He nodded. “You’re a police officer as well as an outsider. You might see what I don’t.”

“That’s a hell of a gamble on my integrity. How do you know I won’t pick someone randomly and be done with it?”

Good question. And the truth was, there was no good answer to it. Nothing except instinct and something deep inside that said he
had
to trust her. “How do you know I won’t shoot Kazdan on sight and save the state the costs of a trial?”

She blinked in surprise. “Jack’s done nothing illegal.”

Yeah, right
. Maybe she didn’t consider trying to kill her—via a clone—illegal, but he sure as hell did. And that was only the tip of it. “Kazdan’s a commander in an underground organization run by a man known only as Sethanon.” And had been for as long as he and Sam had been partners—a fact that very much suggested he’d been placed on her. The question was, why?

She paled a little. “What sort of organization?”

“An organization that believes humans have no right to be running the world when they are not the superior race.”

“Jack said a war was about to begin.” She hesitated, licking her lips slightly. “A war in which man will play no part, and yet will ultimately be the loser.”

If Sethanon won, that would certainly be the truth. “When did Kazdan say this?”

“The night he—or his clone—tried to kill me.”

So they
were
gearing up for war. Maybe the kites were nothing more than a warning shot. “So he
did
try to recruit you that night.”

She shrugged. “I’m not so sure. It seemed more of a test of some kind.”

Gabriel reached for a plate and heaped on some meat. “Maybe it
was
a test—to see if the clone could convince someone who knew the original intimately.” Not to mention a test of the psychic abilities they’d yet to pin down. And that in itself suggested Kazdan knew more about Sam than she did herself.

“But if that were the case, why not just test the clone with Suzy? And why use a clone who couldn’t speak properly?” She paused, frowning. “Besides, it’s almost impossible to transplant memories
and
personality, isn’t it?”

“There’s a whole lot of maneuvering room between ‘almost’ and ‘impossible,’ ” Gabriel replied. “And there
have
been rumors in the last year or so of successful personality transfers.”

She raised her eyebrows. “By whom?”

“Private-sector labs, and they’re generally not big on confirming or denying rumors until they’re good and ready.”

“Meaning their research might not be as far advanced as what they’re saying.”

“Maybe.” He scooped up more lamb and another chunk of bread. “Were there any noticeable differences between Jack and the clone, other than his speech?”

She hesitated, then shook her head. “Although he
did
feel wrong, for some reason.”

“Wrong how?”

She half shrugged. Obviously she’d had enough of that line of conversation, because she changed tack. “If Jack was right about the war, then who is the other side?” Her gaze was thoughtful as she stared at him. “It’s you. You’re with them, aren’t you?”

He nodded. He hadn’t wanted to go this deep, but now that she’d made the connection, it couldn’t be avoided. He just had to hope his instincts about her were right.

“I’m with an organization known as the Federation. It’s a conglomerate of races that oppose Sethanon’s ideologies.”

She abandoned what remained of her meal and leaned back in the chair. “I’ve been with State for over ten years, and I’ve never heard of either Sethanon or the Federation. Why?”

“The Federation originally formed after the Race Wars. It was basically meant to be a union for ‘other’ races, to ensure we got fair treatment in the wash-up after the war.”

“Then why haven’t I heard of it?”

“Because there is no real need for us to be active these days. By and large, other races have a fair deal. We have no wish to rock the boat.”

“But this Sethanon does?”

“Definitely. He surfaced about sixteen years ago. Since then, he’s tried several strikes against us, and cost the lives of many Federation
and
SIU agents in the last few years.” One of them had been his partner—both on the job
and
in his personal life. Losing his mate was life-altering, because for changers, there
was
only one. He flexed his fingers and tried to ignore
the almost instinctive rush of anger and loss. “Our biggest problem is that we know as little about him today as we did back then.”

“And does the SIU know about this organization? Do they know you’re a plant?”

This bordered too closely on secrets he was not yet ready to reveal, so all he said was, firmly, “I’m an assistant director because I earned the position, not because I was placed into it.”

The look in her eyes said she knew he had evaded her question, so he added, “So far, the aims of the two organizations have never been at odds.”

“And if they are?”

He shrugged. “Then we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

Her gaze narrowed. “You keep saying ‘we.’ I take it, then, that you’re really
not
human?”

He grimaced. He definitely hadn’t meant her to pick up this much. “No. I’m a shapechanger.”

One pale eyebrow rose. “You look and feel human.”

He snorted, irritated by her response. He’d expected more from her, for some reason—though he shouldn’t have. The psych tests showed her prejudices clearly enough. “I am.”

“That’s not what I meant—”

“I
know
what you meant.” Why did humans continue to seek differences when, basically, they’d all come from the same stock?

“No, you don’t. You think I’m being biased when I’m not.”

“Then what
did
you mean?”

“I thought you might have been a shapechanger when we first met, but, as I said, it didn’t really fit.
Shapechangers generally have a spark of wildness in their eyes that suggests their dual nature, the same as the constant shifting from one human form to another gives shapeshifters a translucent quality to their skin.” She regarded him steadily for a moment, then shook her head. “Don’t judge me until you know me, Gabriel.”

It was interesting that she’d noted the differences between shifters and changers. Most of the population wasn’t even aware that they were two distinct groups. It would be intriguing to see what she made of the meeting tonight.

“I apologize.”

She nodded. “These friends of yours—they’re a part of this Federation, too?”

“Yes.”

“Then they’re nonhuman species, as well?”

“Some of them, yes.” He wondered if this one fact would alter the way she dealt with them.

She glanced at the dragons for a minute, then nodded and returned her gaze to his. “If I agree to this, what happens to Jack?”

So they were back to Kazdan. The bastard certainly didn’t deserve the regard with which she seemed to hold him. Even after the attempt on her life, she still cared what happened to him. It annoyed him, though he wasn’t really sure why.

“What happens tomorrow night depends very much on what he does. At the very least, though, he should be charged with the attempt on your life.”

“But you don’t intend to arrest him tomorrow night?”

“No.” But only because he wanted him tracked. If Sethanon planned a war, it was high time they found
out more about him and his organization. Kazdan’s reappearance made him the ideal starting place. “Why are you so certain he’ll turn up tomorrow?”

She grimaced, then reached back into her pocket. “Because I have these.”

He accepted the three silver disks and the envelope. “Do you know what’s on them?” he asked, holding the envelope up to the ceiling. It wasn’t as empty as it looked.