Missing Elements (The Lament Book 3) (8 page)

Luckily, she managed to get a
clue as to which door she needed, since she noticed a familiar man slowly
walking toward the end of the hallway. Dressed in a white robe and everything.
He clearly couldn't see very well, which probably meant the flash flare that
had left several people temporarily blind had hit him harder than that. It was
sad, since his job was probably ruined forever if that was the case. Judges
needed
their eyes to work. Clair had hinted that there were other ways too, but that
they weren't as reliable.

Without being able to see they
couldn't read people as well, and that meant they couldn't tell who was lying
at a perfectly high level. Since that was about half of what they did, it made
a difference.

"Judge Brown!" Her
voice was light, and happy sounding, which got the man to turn and look at her.
Despite her fears about his vision, he clearly made out where she was.

"Hello? I'm afraid that I
don't recognize you at the moment. A bit of temporary eye problems. I can't
actually see your face. It's hard to explain." His voice was warm enough,
but the line sounded rehearsed.

"No need to really, I was
right there next to you when it happened. Or, not
right
next to you,
since that was Judge Clair and the other Judge, but near enough. Pran? The girl
with the rifle?" She wondered if he'd recall her at all, but there was a
smile on his lips.

"Ah! What brings you to our
hall here today? Aren't you a Bard?"

She nodded, then realized that
might be hard to see for the man.

"That's right. I'm setting
up a special shipment for some people and was wondering if there was a need for
a Judge somewhere between Gladstone and O'Brien. I know that Luis is on that
route and there will already be a stop there." At first it didn't make
sense that she'd tell him that much, but then the reason occurred to her. Half
blind or not, the man smiled.

Then told the
world
about
her words. It was a habit the Judges all seemed to share. Helpful, in the
moment. Normally it was a bit less so, especially for people that got by on
lies most of the time.

"
True
. I don't know,
naturally. I was just coming to see the High Councilor for my section, to see
what my disposition is. I've been given leave to take what time I need to heal,
but it's a bit boring, simply sitting in my room all day. On the good side, it
seems that I really am healing up and should be able to resume my work in a few
months. It was feared for a while that I might need to retire."

Given that he probably didn't
know what else to do with himself, except be a Judge, she thought she
understood. They were really good at being what they were, but it was
all
they were. From the time they were tiny children, they learned their skills,
and did almost nothing else. Like Guardians. Bards too, but what she'd learned
was more varied, wasn't it?

Still, when the Art School had
kicked her out, she'd nearly had to go and prostitute herself for money to eat.
Brown here was too old to make much that way, if it came to it, so would end up
being a charity case, most likely. Retirement was normally just a reduced
version of whatever job you'd done when you were younger. If you couldn't do
that, someone else would have to take care of you.

"I... Might have something
for you, if you're willing to play a little fast and loose with the rules?
Nothing that would invalidate any oaths, I don't think, or break the law.
I'll... We need to run it pass your boss. It won't pay much, but you can listen
to me play and meet people, I bet. It could be useful too." There was a
lot more to it, but talking about it in the hallway was
stupid
. So much
so that she shut her lips suddenly, and took the other man's arm, which was
enough for him to lead her to the right place.

The set up here was different. It
was a two room situation, like what Clarice had, but the back room was the
small one, and the front had several Judges sitting at desks, working. All of
them clearly in trance states. The one in the front, a young woman that had a cold
look about her, being a light blond, with a blank expression, almost totally
ignored Pran, staring with total absorption at the other Judge.

"Brown. I'd heard about the
attack. You seem to be doing well enough..." No matter how distant she
seemed, there was empathy in the words. It nearly rang from the lady in white.

Her desk was nearly as large as
the one Clarice had, and there were neat piles and stacks of things on it, all
organized for whatever it was that she did. That, it turned out, was handle appointments
for Judge Sims. The High Judge Councilor.

Who had an appointment with Judge
Brown at the moment, since that's how they did things here, it looked like.
Pran shrugged, then smiled and took his arm.

"Good enough. I need to see
to some things anyway and it might be related. Let's go in?" It was true,
but she kind of expected the woman at the desk to tell her to get lost and not
be so pushy. Except that, being what she was, the desk woman read her for
truth, found it, and simply nodded.

"I'll announce you. You
are?"

"Pran." She forgot to
add the part about being an Apprentice on purpose. It seemed more important
that way. Like she might be in charge of something.

Other than making the tea, that
was.

It didn't take long to get in,
and when they did, she was a bit surprised to see the woman behind the desk.
She was
tiny
, for one thing. A good foot shorter than Pran herself,
making her nearly a midget, if not one in truth. Her features were a bit
squished looking, but her light blue eyes were pretty enough. The rest of her
just seemed off. Like something had gone wrong in the making of her mold, and
the artist had failed to toss her out in a timely fashion.

Still, she was the High Judge,
and that didn't take size or strength. Not even good looks really. No,
Judges
would be honest enough to put forward whoever the best person for the job was.
That the package she came in was different wouldn't influence
them
all
that much. Pran decided not to let it do that to her, either.

The woman spoke first, her voice
a bit high pitched and piping.

"Brown, are you well?"
It was clear that she noticed Pran, but her eyes went to the older man, his
short gray hair a bit messed up on one side.

He let his chin drop, just a tiny
fraction and spoke clearly. The door had been closed, but a person at the door
might just make out what he said.

"Except for the eyes, I'm
well enough. A bit of a sore back, but that's due to sitting too much. My
guess, based on what my Doctor told me, is that I'll be four more months
healing up. I came to see about finding something to do, in order to occupy my
time."

There was no calling out that he
was telling the truth. The tiny lady, Sims, looked over at Pran then, her face
totally controlled.

"And you, Pran?" She
didn't ask for an explanation of anything, but she got one. Lying to the head
Judge was probably just as useless as doing that with any of the rest of them.
They practically read minds, after all.

"I'm Bard Clarice's new
Apprentice. I'm also working on the problem, with the current attacks? From the
techno-cult? I could use a Judge to help verify people's intent and words. I
was thinking that Brown here would do that very well. I know, his eyes are down
a bit, but we don't need perfect. We need unassuming. People can talk in front
of him and think they might get away with a lie. Especially if we make it seem
like the damage is worse than it really is." She paused, then spread her
hands. "I also have about ten other things that I'm doing. The main one is
meeting people and making friends. There's a shipping deal too, a special trip.
Do you have need of anyone to head toward O'Brien from Gladstone? I could use
the tax break on it, since I'm stealing money from the High Energy Councilor as
part of the deal. Technically it isn't
real
robbery, of course. I'm just
grabbing part of the percentage that I told her about, without letting her know
the real deal that I made for it after the fact."

The woman... Blinked.

"I... Well." Then she
turned to look at Brown again. "
All
of that was true. Even the
contradictory parts. It doesn't make sense. Do you have insight, Brown?"

The man stood in place, so Pran
got a large and soft looking padded chair, and moved it for him. It was heavy
enough that she feared for the floor at first, but it clearly had cloth pads
underneath to prevent scratching. Once he sat, he leaned forward, and nodded.

"I might. Apprentice Bard
Pran, was formerly Pran Grange. She's the one that has been involved in all of
the recent happenings of note? The large attack on The Lament, and uncovering
spies there. She was also present when my vision was damaged, and managed to
capture the prisoner before she could kill us all with a kinetic pistol."
Then, he sat back, not saying anything else.

Sims looked back at Pran then and
tilted her head oddly. Most of the other Judges had always seemed too subdued
for things like that. It made the move seem pretty contrived, but not
unwelcome. It made her feel a bit more human than the rest.

"How would you be using
Judge Brown for this project?"

That got Pran to scramble
mentally, since she didn't have much of a plan, honestly. Just an idea. It left
her silent for a minute while her brain came up with things, and finally she
started nodding, since that would leave people a bit more agreeable. Real ones
that weren't totally controlled all the time, at least.

"He's a friend of mine, and
has time off, so is convalescing with us. Plus I can use a model for a
sculpture. You work nude, don't you Brown? Anyway, he can do that and we'll
casually leave the door open when Clarice or I have people in. If anyone makes
too big of a deal out of it, we'll claim to be lovers. I mean, if your wife
won't mind that?" She looked at the man, who smiled.

"Judges aren't allowed to
marry, to prevent conflicts of interest. We can have friends, however, so that
might work. I'm a bit old for you though, don't you believe? No one would
credit it. Especially the other Judges."

That was a point. They'd know if
a lie was told, wouldn't they?

"So we have sex, if it comes
up? If they aren't questioning us for a trial that should be enough.
If
the convalescing thing doesn't do it. Plus, I wasn't kidding about the modeling
thing either. I need to show Clarice that I'm good at sculpting. You can keep
your clothing on however, since that will be warmer. Now, I don't know if it
will really help me find anything, but it probably won't hurt. I don't think
that you Judges
can
really be taken over by the downloads. The people
stealing others' lives? The Guardians either, most likely. Your brains are too
different. That's only a guess, so don't try it out, but it might mean we can
actually trust you in this. No one else though. Really, right now... I need you
to check me out and make certain that I'm not one of those others, or spying
for them. Which I am, but not really. Unless they're winning, then I was always
on their side. Naturally."

That got a long, and slightly
annoyed, sigh from the High Judge, who ran Pran through a rather rigorous test
then. Or rather, asked questions and had Brown try to tell if she were lying or
not. She didn't, which got them both past things pretty well.

Finally the short woman made a
tight face, a thing that she should never have done, since it accentuated the
worse parts of what warped her.

"Very well. Judge Brown, you're
assigned to the High Bard, for the next three months. So that you can rest and
aid there as you might. If you need anything, please come to me, directly.
Apprentice Bard Pran... I do see need for three Judges to be moved around that
might work along that route, with only a bit of extra travel. Do I come to you
directly with what's needed?"

"That works. I'll be in the
High Bard's offices, early each day."

The woman perked up a bit then,
and gave a friendly smile, "Oh? You aren't going to make us all try to
have meetings in the middle of the night? Convenient. I'll have that to you by
nine then, tomorrow." There was no hint that they were supposed to leave
then, but her new friend, Judge Brown, stood, so she did too.

Then he held out his right arm
for her to take, and she led him back to the Bard office, up near the top of
the building. They didn't run the whole way, but the man didn't seem enfeebled,
just like the stairwell was a bit dark. Which it was, since the lamps hadn't
been lit yet, and the windows were starting to darken.

When they got to the right door,
Clarice was tending the stove, and the whole place was a bit warmer than was
comfortable. That meant, if nothing else, that she probably wouldn't insist on
keeping it like an icehouse all winter.

When she looked up, the High Bard
smiled, charmingly.

"There you are, Bard Pran.
With a guest, too?"

Pran shrugged.

"Nope. We get to keep him.
For three months at least. I'll explain, but the short answer is that he's here
to help with our investigation. The long answer is that I'm going to
immortalize him in clay and possibly stone. We have to keep the important
things in mind, after all. The future will need to know what a real Judge
looked like." It was part of her job too. Not the most important one, since
that
was keeping people entertained.

Rather than seem put out by the
idea, Clarice moved in and gave Brown a hug.

"Perfect! Thank you so much.
I've been asking Judge Sims for some aid that way for months, to no avail. She
said that it wouldn't make sense. How did you managed to change her mind?"