The Parafaith War (27 page)

“I see you were enjoying the view. It is rather spectacular, not something that someone sees on just any planet.” The Park officer paused before continuing. “Might I ask where you are from?” “Cambria,” Trystin answered. Salya’s face blanked.

“Cambria is a rather large place these days. Almost anyone could claim to have come from there.”

“Cedar Gardens, Cedar Lane, on Sundance Boulevard off Horodyski Lane. I grew up there, and my parents still live there.”

“Cedar Gardens does not sound like a real address, although that would only be my humble perception.”

“I’m sorry. Officer. That is the address.” Trystin slowly took out his wallet and offered both his Service identification and his vehicle license to the Park officer.

“Hmmm … I would be most curious as to where you got these.” The words of the black-haired and dark-skinned officer remained even and polite.

Trystin stared at the man, then nodded politely. “I received my first vehicle license at the constabulary on Hyroki Avenue eight years ago. The service identification was just issued on Chevel Beta last month when I got my pilot’s wings. I’m on home leave.” “Your … friend … is also rather tall.” “My sister? Yes, she is. Siblings do tend to resemble each other.”

The Park officer handed Trystin’s license and Service ID back to him, turning to Salya. “If I might trouble you…”

Salya, still blank-faced, dug her Service ID from the pocket of her shorts and handed it to the officer.

“Desoll-even the same name. Well, I suppose you would have the same name if you were brother and sister.” After studying the ID for a time, and comparing the holo to Salya, he handed it back. “Thank you.” “You’re so welcome. Officer,” Trystin said politely. The Park officer stared at him. Trystin met the gaze, refusing to waver. Finally, the officer looked away and stepped back.

Trystin nodded again, even as he stepped up his system into high-reflex, unarmed-combat mode, his ears intent on any sound as he and Salya walked up the steps and along the walk to the parking area. There, Trystin turned back, but the Park officer stood at the top of the steps, still looking toward them.

“Your sarcasm probably wasn’t such a good idea.” Salya opened the door on her side of the electrocar.

“Probably not, but his whole attitude bothered me. His job is to protect the ecology, not to run around harassing people.”

“You looked about ready to kill him.” “I should have gone into combat mode.” “It wouldn’t have done any good,” Salya pointed out. “He’s the type who’s convinced that anyone who is tall, blond, and blue-eyed must be a rev. Besides, then he would have tried to use the shocker, and you would have hurt him or made him lose face. Where would that have gotten you?”

“In restraints, no doubt, and out of the Service. “Trystin shook his head. “But it bothers me.” He shifted his weight in the small car, and checked the safety harness before pulling out of the lot.

“It bothers me too, but what can yon do with people like that? You can’t kill them, and nothing less will change their minds.”

How was the Park service officer any different from the rev officer he’d questioned years before? Trystin was half-surprised that the thought crossed his mind. They both had fixed perceptions independent of contrary reality. His eyes checked the mirror. “They’re following us, two of them in an official Car,” Trystin observed. “I think we’d better head straight home.”

“This is really absurd. Why are they after us? You can’t counterfeit a Service ID.”

“It’s because we look like revs, but the Service ID should have stopped that. You can’t be an officer and be a rev. The screens are too deep.” “Prejudice isn’t always rational.” “Great.”

Trystin continued to watch the Park officers all the way into Cambria. He drove the electrocar straight into the garage, triggering the door while he was still on Cedar Lane.

After they left the garage, he stepped up to the wrought-iron railing atop the stone wall and executed a stiff parashinto bow-twice- in the direction of the dark green official car, before turning toward the house. “That was childish,” said Salya. “I feel childish. I’ve spent the last three years doing the bidding of the Service. I’ve been attacked, shot, wounded, and damned near lost my leg, and some silly little Park officer is convinced that I’m a rev spy-as if the revs would ever be stupid enough to send a spy who looked like I do.” “There’s a lot of hatred growing.” They walked silently along the path and up toward the house.

Elsin opened the door before they reached it. “We didn’t expect you back so soon.”

“We were sort of chased back. Some throwback pseudosamurai decided we had to be revs. He wasn’t impressed with my vehicle license or my Service ID. So they followed us home.”

Elsin frowned. “That does seem odd.” He stepped back, and the two walked into the foyer.

“It didn’t happen when I was with Shinji the other day, and he’s almost as tall as you are.” Salya pursed her lips.

“I suspect Shinji is somewhat darker than I am,” Trystin said wryly.

“You think it’s coming to that? I hope not.” Salya looked across the gardens toward Cedar Lane, but the green electrocar had disappeared. “So do I,” answered Elsin, but he frowned.

A juvenile heliobird whirred across the darkening garden, his wings a blur as he swooped for the nest

in the corner pine. The faint whirring of insects almost drowned out the underlying static of Trystin’s implant. Although he had damped down the receptivity to nil, somehow he was still aware of the background noise, even away from the Service and its systems and nets.

“Do you really understand what being a pilot means?” asked Salya. “Probably not,” Trystin answered. “Why did you accept the offer?” “I’ve always wanted to be one.”

“I know.” Salya’s voice was low, and she leaned back on the bench. “You made models. You read books. You even bought the pilot simulator for your console and installed ‘ “a secret drive.”

“How did you know that?” Trystin looked at his sister in surprise.

“Who helped you with basic console programming? Besides, I was testing some ideas Father taught me about cracking systems.”

Trystin spread his hands. “Between the two of you no system would be safe.”

“Not from Father, except he’s so ethical he’d never look.”

“As opposed to nosy older sisters?” Salya offered a faint grin before asking, “Is being a pilot what you thought it would be?”

“Better. I feel like I’m doing something. When I was on the line on Mara, we just waited and took what the revs handed us. I was lucky, and I made it through. A lot of perimeter officers didn’t. The official line is that things are improving-some commander told me that. But things still keep getting worse. No one seems to want to act. I asked about that, and the commander who was debriefing me nearly took off my head.” He paused. “It wasn’t that bad, but I felt like it was. She said that a planet was a damned big place, and that we didn’t have the resources.” “We don’t.”

“If we don’t have the resources… we lost almost all the plains stations. Only two of us survived their minitanks.” Salya moistened her lips. “You didn’t tell us about that.” “So I got a commendation. I survived, and most didn’t.” “There’s nothing on the news about those kinds of losses.”

“I’m not surprised. Before that, when the revs wiped out five stations on the western line, I was called down for using a data pulse to find out.” Salya sighed.

Trystin turned on the bench to face her. “That doesn’t surprise you, does it? Not much, anyway.”

“It doesn’t surprise me, Trystin. It doesn’t surprise me much at all after that incident at the Cliffs. But it bothers What sort of people are we becoming?”

“We’ve always been thieves. Now, we’re becoming liars as well?”

“You’ve done some thinking, haven’t you?” Trystin offered a short laugh. “I’ve had my thinking prodded.” “You still want to be a pilot?”

Trystin shrugged. “You still want to be a xenobiologist?”

“Fair enough.” Salya stretched, then added, “You know … anytime you translate could be the last time you see Mother and Father.”

“I know. That’s true every time you travel between here and Helconya, and it would be true even if I stayed a perimeter officer.”

“But the probability goes up with each translation, and pilots make a lot more translations.”

I’ve thought about it. That part wasn’t easy. Father and I talked about it. He even helped me set up a trust.” “He would.” “Yeah.”

“Dad was right. You do have a restless spirit.” “I still like to come home,” Trystin reminded her. “And I miss the gardens.”

“Not enough. Someday, you’ll come home, still young, and we’ll all be gone.” After a moment, she added, “We’ll make sure it’s here for you. We all would want that.” Trystin swallowed.

“I’ll miss you.” Her hand touched his gently. “I’ll miss you.”

They sat side by side in the growing twilight, the insects twittering, the evening corning down like a purple shade, while the heliobirds settled into the pines for the night. The heavy scent of roses dropped into the twilit garden and almost made Trystin forget the faint static of the implant-almost.

Trystin waited in the bay for the Willis, his bags stacked neatly beside him. He was glad to escape the drudgery of junior operations duty officer for

Perdya station-much more than glad. “Who are you waiting for. Lieutenant?” asked the tech

standing by the lock control panel. “The Willis.” “This is the place.” The noncom glanced at Trystin and

his bags. “She’s a cruiser, not a transport.” “I know.”

The tech’s eyes flicked to the wings on Trystin’s uniform. “New pilot officer?” Trystin nodded, then asked, “You know anything about her?” “CO’S Major Sasaki. He’s pretty senior. They say he’s related to the armaments people.” “He could be. Anything’s possible, but Sasaki’s a pretty

common name.”

“You haven’t met the major.” The tech shook his head. A dull thud, followed by a second thud, echoed through

the station frame. Shortly, the green light flickered above

the lock tube. “Little rough,” announced the tech, “like always, but

she’s here.” His fingers danced across the lock console. Trystin could sense the locking-system data flows

through his implant, and with more time, could probably

have tapped them, but there was no point in it. Instead, he

waited for the clunking of the mechanical holdtights. A row of green lights flashed across the console. “All set. Ready, Lieutenant?” Trystin hoisted his bags and followed the tech down the lock tube, heavy frost on its permaplast sides. His breath steamed.

The noncom checked the seals and exterior holdtights again before pulsing the entry clearance. With a hiss, the cruiser’s door slid open.

“Ah, it’s you, Liendrelli.” Standing in the lock was a woman with dark mahogany hair in the uniform of a senior tech, a belted stunner in place.

“Who else would it be? Everyone else goes to the other side of the station when you people dock.”

The ship’s tech glanced beyond Liendrelli to Trystin. “Lieutenant Desoll. Major Doniger will be pleased to see you, ser. I’m Keiko Muralto, ship’s senior tech.” “Pleased to meet you. Tech Muralto.” “Keiko, please, ser.” She finished checking the lock seals) and ensuring that the emergency closure lanes were free. “You can set your gear in the locker here for a while. Welcome aboard.” Then she turned to Liendrelli. “We’re low on organonutrient-we take the alpha class-and just about everything else.” ‘ “You cruiser types …”

“Don’t complain, Liendrelli. The captain wants us out as soon as possible after Major Doniger’s replacement shows, and since he’s here …” “All right, Muralto. We’ll get on it.” Keiko Muralto smiled sweetly at Liendrelli. Trystin decided he wanted the tech on his side. “You’re certain putting my gear here won’t be a problem?”

“Not at all. Just set it in the alcove there.” She stepped back and pressed a stud. “Captain, Lieutenant Desoll is here.” “Send him forward, Keiko.”

Trystin carefully stacked his gear in the space, keeping only the thin case with his orders, data cubes, and records. “Yes, ser.”

The tech gestured toward the passageway heading forward. “I’m sure you can find your way, ser. I need to pound on Liendrelli some more.” “Give me a break, Muralto,” protested the station tech.

Trystin smiled and stepped through the area that functioned as a quarterdeck, half nodding at the familiar scents of plastic, ozone. Sustain, and human beings.

The forward passage was empty, and he found himself stepping through the hatch to the cruiser’s cockpit, where a small officer stood, waiting.

“Lieutenant Desoll, Major.” Taking into account the name and the apparent parashinto background of Major Sasaki, Trystin offered a slight bow to the Captain of the Willis.

“So you’re the new second? You look more like a rev than most revs I’ve seen.” Major Sasaki brushed the black hair that was on the long side of the Service-recommended length back off his forehead and offered a boyish grin that emphasized his sparkling white teeth. “My family helped found Cambria, ser.” “I’m sure. Don’t worry about it. It’s what you do that counts, not how you look.” Major Sasaki glanced around the cockpit. “I wanted you to meet Andrya before she left, but when she heard you were already here, she went back to get her stuff.” “I left my gear with your senior tech.” “Don’t worry. Just put your stuff in the mess until Andrya clears out. She won’t be that long.” Major Sasaki gestured toward the Willis’s aft section.

“Your senior tech mentioned that the second was a major?”

“She was just promoted, and the Service doesn’t like wasting two majors on the same ship these days.”

Trystin noted the faintest edge to the words, but said nothing as he heard steps heading toward the cockpit. “Here she is. Trystin, this is Andrya.” The stocky major with short and frizzy brown hair extended a hand, took Trystin’s with a firm grip and shook it. “I’m Andrya Doniger.” She glanced toward the commanding officer. “Don’t let James here get the better of you. He’s bright; he’s a good tactician; he understands Service politics; and he’s a second-rate pilot with first-rate connections. And yes, he’s from those Sasakis.” She smiled at Major Sasaki.