Winning Colors

Chapter Six

Ronnie knew perfectly well he’d been dismissed. His aunt wouldn’t listen to him; Heris Serrano, while she might have had good advice, wouldn’t help him directly. And Raffa wouldn’t answer his calls. He went to George, and poured out his troubles. George’s solution, which would have been adequate a year before, now seemed childish.

“I don’t want to make Raffa jealous,” he said. “I don’t care about singers, or dancers, or . . . or anything else.”

“Then take the bold captain’s advice and go do something brave and wonderful, and impress Raffa. She’ll come around.” That in the confident voice of a young man whose heart had never been shaken.

“It’s easy for you,” muttered Ronnie. George was perilously near to odiousness again. As far as he was concerned, he had been plucked from life’s tree to lie sodden in the gutter, a dead leaf.

“Tell you what,” George said. “I’ll go with you. It is dull, with no more Royals to play games, with no regimental ditties for dancing. Let’s go explain to Bunny and my father how useful we can be, if they’ll just give us the appropriate errand for two handsome, talented, brave young men.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Ronnie said, but his heart lifted a little, a dead leaf still, but one that might blow where the wind sent it. He let George make the call, and the appointment.

“And don’t tell your parents,” George said after he had named the day and hour. “It’s all their fault, remember, and you’re furious with them.”

He wasn’t, really. It wasn’t their fault; they had tried, and Aunt Cecelia had simply gone off like fireworks. But he understood George’s point. It was hard enough to have them lurking around trying to cheer him up about Raffa; if they knew he was about to go do something, they’d hover even more.

Ronnie let George explain that they both felt they could be of use to the new government—that they had unique talents which should be exploited. He halfway expected Lord Thornbuckle and George’s father to laugh at them and send them away. But instead, they exchanged significant looks.

“You’re serious,” Lord Thornbuckle said. “You would be willing to go anywhere and do anything?”

“Well . . .” George looked at Ronnie. “Perhaps not quite anything. I mean, if you had in mind sweeping streets in some benighted mining village, I’d rather not. Be a waste of our abilities, anyway.”

“And you see your abilities as?”

“Discreet, loyal young gentlemen of the world, able to take care of themselves, strong, healthy, the usual. Intelligent enough, ingenious—” That did get a laugh, from George’s father.

“Ingenious, yes. That’s how you nearly got yourself killed, wasn’t it? But we might have something suitable for two young wastrels, at that.”

“It’s fairly complicated,” Lord Thornbuckle said. “And it’s extremely confidential. If you were still on active service, we could not possibly share this with you.” That sounded serious enough. Ronnie tried for an expression of intelligent interest. To his surprise, Lord Thornbuckle started by talking about rejuvenation.

“Most people now use the Ramhoff-Inikin method, which allows serial rejuvenations—”

“Up to how many?” George asked.

“I don’t know,” Lord Thornbuckle said. “Anyway, the pharmaceuticals used in this process are manufactured in the Guerni Republic, or under their license in a few other places. Most are imported from the Guernesi, simply because of their known quality. They developed the process; they know it best. And, of course, it was originally illegal in the Familias, so people had to go there to have it done.”

“Why was it illegal?” George asked.

“It’s a long story that doesn’t concern you,” Lord Thornbuckle said. “It’s not illegal now, but most of our supply still comes that way. Now. You know that Lorenza was involved in the distribution of illicit pharmaceuticals, right?”

“Like what happened to George and the prince,” Ronnie said, nodding.

“Yes. And others—some we know, and some we suspect. Lady Cecelia’s medical reports suggest that some of these drugs are very similar to variants of the rejuvenation drugs. We are concerned that our supply of Ramhoff-Inikin drugs might be adulterated at some point between the manufacturer and the user. The Guernesi ship by commercial carrier, and something Heris Serrano said made us wonder about the security of those shipments. If the Compassionate Hand wanted to cause us real trouble, adulterating those drugs—perhaps contaminating them with mind-altering components—would be a good start.”

“So,” Kevil Mahoney said, before George could interrupt, “it would be very useful to us if you could take a sample of these drugs back to the Guerni Republic and have them analyzed. Are they still what we paid for? If not, what would be the effects of using them in the rejuvenation procedure? What symptoms should we look for in multiple Rejuvenants that suggest a misuse of the drugs?”

“You want us to go—with some drug samples?” George sounded insulted.

“It would be helpful, yes. And the data we’ve collected so far. We’d been wondering whom we could trust to hand-carry these things; it’s not something we want to risk to ordinary shipping.”

“You’ve got perfect cover,” Mahoney pointed out. “Young men, rich and fun-loving, the sort who would ordinarily be running off to distant places for the fun of it. Everyone knows Ronnie and Raffaele Forrester-Saenz broke up; everyone suspects the reasons. What’s more natural than fleeing from the constraints of home? Especially since your aunt had been there, and you might have legitimate questions about her medical treatment.”

“I might?” Ronnie felt humiliated enough to hear older men discussing his lack-of-love life.

“Of course. She came back and sued your parents; you might be questioning whether her rejuvenation—which did not involve suspect drugs, since it was done there—had influenced her mind, or whether the original attack did.”

“Oh.”

“How are we going to keep the samples from being stolen?” asked George. They had adjourned to George’s suite at his father’s house, where they could be reasonably sure they were free of intrusive recorders.

“Why would they be? If no one knows we’re carrying them—”

“But if someone suspects—”

“Look—you heard what they said. I’ve got the perfect excuse for going to the Guerni Republic. My aunt was rejuvenated there, and her doctors asked for clarification of the records—”

“They won’t let you look at her records!”

“How do you know? They have different laws—maybe their laws don’t say anything about medical confidentiality. Besides, I can ask—they don’t have to answer.”

“I suppose that makes sense.” George reached out and took a handful of tawny grapes. “These are good—I wish we were traveling with your Aunt Cecelia. I’ve never forgotten the food her gardeners and cooks put on the table.”

“Which brings up how we will travel. It will be too obvious if we take a private yacht.”

“We’re going commercial?”

“Yes, and not even a major line. Your father suggested a mixed-cargo vessel.”

George wrinkled his nose. “Blast him. He’s afraid we’ll get into trouble on a big passenger liner. He should know better by now.”

Ronnie shrugged. “Well, unless you want to pop for the ticket yourself, we haven’t much choice.” His parents, faced with a lawsuit from his aunt, were busily divesting themselves of assets, trying to lessen the blow. That meant his usual generous credit line had been pared down, if not to the bone at least well beneath its usual cushion.

“No. My father says this is no time for us to show off our wealth, and I’m not in the Royals anymore, so I don’t need that size allowance. I think he’s trying to get me to go do something with my life. You know?”

“I know.” Ronnie stared at the wall, took a deep breath, and intoned, “It’s time you made something of yourself young man, and when I was your age I had already—that speech.”

“He doesn’t say it like that, but he’s hinting. At least he’s not pushing me to take classes at the University.”

“Brun had fun on a mixed-cargo ship,” Ronnie said. “We should be able to survive.”

Survival won out over fun, when they discovered that there were no—absolute zero—eligible girls on the Sekkor Vil. No eligible anythings, in fact; the other passengers were bored middle-aged middle managers on business trips. Once they discovered that Ronnie and George were Chairholders’ sons, and not active in any corporation, they went back to their handcomps and ignored them. Ronnie spent hours with the Guernesi language tapes, because it was better than listening to George complain about the way the cards fell when they tried to play a hand.

Finally they arrived in the Guerni Republic and transferred to a local line for the run to Music. At last there were other passengers, not only Guernesi, and not all over forty. Ronnie had no trouble enacting the rich young man, and although he missed Raffa, he had to admit that evenings spent dancing in the passenger lounge were more restorative than those spent lying in the bunk wishing she were there.

On Music, they delivered their samples, and the datacubes, to the pharmaceutical industry’s combined quality control laboratory. “We’ll have the preliminary results in a day or so,” the director said. “But you’ll want more precise tests, if anything shows up. If these were not manufactured here, for instance, I presume you would like some idea where else they might have been made.”

“Well . . . yes.” Ronnie hadn’t known that was possible.

“You’re not a chemist or pharmacist,” the man said. It wasn’t a question at all.

“No,” he said. He hated to admit he was nothing but an ignorant errand boy, but that was the truth.

“I understood that you had the . . . er . . . confidence of your new prime minister or whatever you call him.” That with a doubtful look, as if he might have fabricated the whole thing.

“Yes . . . that is, he’s a good friend of our family.”

“Mmm. Well . . . we’ll be in touch. If you’ll just give me your local address.” Clearly a dismissal. Ronnie looked at George and shrugged. Whatever the man thought, they were the Familias in this matter, and when he viewed the cube he would probably feel differently about it. In the meantime, they had a world to explore.

Naturally, they spent that evening discovering the many ways in which young people of the city amused themselves.

“Let’s not stay too long anywhere,” George said, as he watched two stunning women stroll out of the bar they were just entering.

“Mmm. No.” Ronnie, with Raffa at the back of his mind, was more interested in music. He had chosen this bar not quite at random, from the music drifting out when the door opened. “Come on, George—we still haven’t eaten yet.”

“That’s not what I meant,” George said, but he settled at the table Ronnie chose, and punched up the table’s menu. “Ah—I’m hungry too, and they have an illustrated menu. Makes up for their incomprehensible language.” George, having declined to “waste any time” with the Guernesi language tapes, was finding it difficult without his usual audience for repartee. Ronnie, who had known he had no aptitude for language learning, now had a serviceable set of travelers’ phrases, although he suspected his accent was atrocious. Ronnie leaned back and looked at the musicians clumped on a tiny stage. He saw two instruments new to him, one with strings and one that he guessed was a woodwind. His gaze drifted toward the bar itself . . . and he grabbed George’s arm.

“George—look over there. Who’s that remind you of?”

“Who—good lord, it is. Gerel. But he’s dead—your aunt said he died on her yacht.”

“Well, that’s not dead. If it’s not Gerel, it must be a clone. Do you suppose the Guernesi did it?” Through Ronnie’s mind ran all the grisly possibilities he’d ever heard of, mostly from wild adventure yarns. Clones developed from the cells of dead men, raised to seek vengeance on murderers and the like.

“It hasn’t been that long—I thought they took years to grow.” George, clearly, was thinking of the same stories.

“We’d better find out,” said Ronnie. “Suppose Aunt Cecelia was wrong? Someone ought to know.” Memory tugged at him with that phrase. Who’d said that, with disastrous results? He watched the prince—or his clone—take a long swallow of something in a tankard. It had to be the prince. That way of holding his head, the way his shoulders moved when he drank—it couldn’t be anyone else.

“Wait for me,” he said. “I’ve got to check this out.” Without hearing whatever George tried to say, he moved closer, his awareness narrowing to the young man at the bar as if he were a hunter stalking prey. When he was close enough, he cleared his throat; the young man looked around, the very picture of slightly bored courtesy.

“Excuse me,” Ronnie said. “I believe we met—you’re Gerel—”

“You’re mistaken,” the young man said, interrupting. “My name is Gerald Andres Smith, but we’ve never met.” His eyes had betrayed him, with a moment of fear now shuttered in caution.

“Ah,” said Ronnie, who had no idea what to say next. This close, the young man looked exactly like the prince, but a prince not as stupefied as he had been in the last few years. Even the little scar on the temple, from the time he’d fallen against a goalpost playing soccer. “I’m . . . sorry to bother you,” Ronnie went on. “But you remind me very much of someone I grew up with. Extraordinary resemblance.”

“I’m sorry,” the young man said, with what appeared to be genuine sorrow. “But I think we need not continue this conversation. Under the circumstances.”

“But—” Ronnie felt a little nudge under his pocket and glanced down. Something glinted there, something his mind recognized, refused, and recognized again.

“I’m sorry,” the young man said again. “But I’m not going back.”

“But I didn’t mean—” Ronnie got that out as fast as he could. The young man’s eyes, Gerel’s eyes, met his.

“Whatever you meant, it’s trouble for me. I don’t want trouble. I want to live here, and be left alone. My treatments are almost finished.”

“Ronnie—what’s wrong?” That was George, finally aware that Ronnie was in trouble. But he was in danger too. Ronnie couldn’t think what to do or say. Then he glanced beyond George, and saw another prince—or clone—or whatever they were.

“We need to go outside,” said the one whose weapon nudged his ribs. “Don’t we?”

Anti-terrorism lectures had instructed Ronnie that going with an abductor made things worse—resist in place, he’d been told. But the lectures hadn’t told him about the sudden hollow feeling under his breastbone, or the way his knees would tremble, when he thought about the weapon pressed to his side. And he was sure this was Gerel, whom he’d known all his life. Gerel might want to have their postponed duel at last, but he was honorable . . . wasn’t he?

“Are you planning to kill us outside?” he asked, just to be sure.

“I very much hope not,” the young man said. “But it’s imperative that we talk without witnesses, and I don’t intend to argue with you.”

Much more decision than Gerel had shown in years, but Ronnie felt vaguely comforted. “All right,” he said. “Don’t hurt George. He went through enough last time.”

The young man’s mouth twitched. “I know. But we can’t talk about it here. Come on.”

George, who had been stopped from an outburst by the same surprise as Ronnie, said plaintively, “But who are you?”

The two identical young men gave each other quick, amused glances. “Gerald Smith,” they said in unison.

Herded between the two Geralds, Ronnie and George found themselves moving along a crowded street, then into a less crowded one, and finally into a tiny tavern opening on a square with a fountain.

“I didn’t know there were places like this here,” George said, looking around. It was empty except for an aproned woman behind the bar, and the four of them. “Until now, the Guernesi have been entirely too practical for my taste—everything modern and convenient.” Ronnie wondered if his unconcerned tone fooled the Geralds—it didn’t fool him.

“This is modern and convenient,” one Gerald said. “The Guernesi simply have a different style of modern and convenient. They like small gathering places that cater to particular clients.”

“Like clones?” George said, as if determined to make a point of it.

“Clones aren’t illegal in the Guerni Republic,” the same Gerald said. “In fact, clone work groups are common, even preferred for some occupations.”

“Like abducting people?” George said. Ronnie wanted to throttle him—hadn’t he learned his lesson on the island? Did he still think he was invincible?

“The odious George,” said the other Gerald, almost affectionately. “You haven’t changed a bit.”

“You are the prince’s clones,” Ronnie said. He hardly believed it, even now. They looked steadily back at him, then sighed in unison. It was eerie.

“Yes,” one of them said. “We are. Illegally created, in the Familias Regnant, to be the prince’s doubles when necessary. No one was supposed to know about us, except the necessary few.” The other one snorted, a knowing snort, and Ronnie looked at him.

“A secret kept by a couple of doctors, implant-tape technicians, the odd crown minister, the king’s immediate family, and who knows what other oddments can hardly be called a secret.”

“Did Gerel know about you?” asked Ronnie.

“Oh, yes. He thought it was some kind of game. He wished we could all be together like brothers—he missed his brothers a lot, I think—but of course that was impossible. The only times we were together, in that sense, was when we underwent the matching programming.”

“Which is?” George asked.

“Conditioning tapes shared among us, so that we all knew what the public persona was supposed to know, and anything of Gerel’s that they felt we needed. Cosmetic alterations to match appearance, following any trauma.” The clones touched the matching scars that had convinced Ronnie they had to be Gerel himself. “And no, that didn’t hurt. They were humane, our controllers, if you look at it that way.”

“I don’t think I do,” said George. “It doesn’t seem fair—”

They both shrugged. “No one chooses a birth,” the one on the left said. “It was a better life than many. Privilege, wealth, an endless party in a way. You know that.”

“Yes.” Ronnie found it hard to remember clearly how he had thought two years ago—it was embarrassing, really—but he knew he, like the prince, had assumed limitless privilege, boundless wealth, and constant entertainment were his birthright.

“I owe you an apology, really,” said the one on the right.

“For threatening me?”

“No . . . for causing trouble between you and the prince. The quarrel was really my fault,” the clone said. He traced designs on the tabletop with the condensation from his beer mug. “Gerel Prime had lost interest in that singer months before, but I hadn’t. Her voice—I don’t know what you did in your time with her, but I was learning opera, you see. She thought it was touching that the prince really cared about music. I prolonged the relationship, so it overlapped with yours. You were jealous, I think—and she certainly found you a better bed partner than I, who cared only for her voice.”

“If you’ll excuse my mentioning it,” George said, “you seem to be . . . er . . . brighter than the prince was toward the end.”

“We’re clones, but we’re not the same person he was. We can’t be. Identical twins—bionatural clones—were like that too. Each an individual person, even if outsiders couldn’t tell them apart. We have similarities built into the genome, but we’re not determined. I happen to love old-fashioned opera; the prince himself had an ear for music, but preferred instrumental.”

“And that’s that Gerald,” the other said. “I too have the inborn ear for music, but my preference is far more popular; since I’ve been here I’ve discovered casanegra, which they tell me is descended from an entirely different Old Terran tradition than opera.”

Ronnie glanced from one to the other. “I can’t deal with this Gerald A. and Gerald B.,” he said. “If you don’t help me out, I swear I’ll give you nicknames, both rude.”

“You forget,” the clone said, “that we’re armed and dangerous.”

“So shoot me,” Ronnie said. “But I’m not going to struggle with it.” The clones looked at each other, and finally nodded.

The one on the left spoke first. “I’m Andres and he’s Borhes. Borhes and opera; Andres and casanegra, if you can keep that straight.”

“I don’t see why, if you’re clones, you’re not identical mentally as well,” George said. “What’s the use if you’re not?”

“Identity is more than genes,” Andres said. “I didn’t understand it all myself, until the medical experts here explained it as they tried to figure out which of us was which. I always knew who I was, even when others got us confused. And Bor knew, and . . . and the others, whatever names they might have chosen, if they’d had the chance. And Gerel I suppose.”

“When he wasn’t so confused he didn’t know day from night,” Borhes put in. “And in case you wondered, apparently we never got the full dose of the drugs used on Gerel. They tell us we’re normal. But even though we’re identical at the genetic level, developmentally there are always minute differences in brain structure resulting from exactly which neurons connect with which in what order.”

“But why didn’t you tell Captain Serrano which was which when she came to take the prince for medical treatment? Or at least explain once you were here? It might have saved—”

“I don’t see why we should care,” Andres said. “They had us made for their own selfish reasons—yes, we enjoyed a life that was mostly pleasurable, but we had no freedom. Why should we risk anything to help them?”

“I suppose I thought you were a gentleman,” said George. Andres laughed unkindly.

“Gentlemen? Clones? I suppose in the historical sense we are, if you think it’s all in the blood, but otherwise absolutely not. Not if you mean some ridiculous code of behavior—”

“Which, after all, our Prime didn’t adhere to, as you know very well.” Borhes grinned at Ronnie. “I don’t know what Gerel would have been if he hadn’t been drugged, but on the whole he was as little bound by notions of duty as anyone I ever knew. You at your worst were a paragon of dedication beside him.”

George flushed, and turned to Ronnie. “I thought your aunt said they were nice young men.”

“She also said she was sure that the one who was killed was Gerel himself. A fool, but a noble fool.” Ronnie took another direction. “Look—you remember Captain Serrano.”

The clones exchanged glances. Andres finally answered. “Of course. An . . . unusual person, we thought.”

Undoubtedly. Ronnie wondered if she’d treated them to any of the special methods she’d used on him. “What did you think of her?”

Again the quick exchange of glances; this time Borhes spoke. “Well . . . unusual, as Andres said. Intelligent, perhaps a bit stuffy the way Fleet officers often are.”

“And my Aunt Cecelia? I know she talked to all of you.”

Borhes looked thoughtful. “She’s your aunt? I didn’t realize that. She’s the one who told the king our Prime was not normal, wasn’t she?”

“Yes.” Ronnie said no more. They seemed willing enough to rattle on; let them rattle.

“I liked her,” Borhes said. It sounded real. “She told us we shouldn’t go back; she told us we could make a better life here.”

“And she was right,” Andres said. “The Guernesi have given us limited citizenship—we can get full rights in five years if we’re employed and have a clean legal record. Clones are not only legal, but valued. We’d be crazy to go back.”

“I wouldn’t ask you to go back,” Ronnie said. Had they thought he might? Had that been the core of their resistance? “My aunt would skin me if I did.” They grinned at him. “But in your position you might have heard things—things we need to know now, that might help us hold the alliances together. That’s what I’d like to ask you about.”

Borhes shook his head. “We’re a lot safer if we don’t know anything—if we did know, did remember, and told you, then the next person who wanted to know mightn’t be so friendly. Surely you can see that.”

He could. He could imagine a whole series of people who would think the clones must certainly know . . . some of them very rough indeed.

“But we wouldn’t have to tell anyone where we got the information,” George said.

The clones merely looked at him. Of course that wasn’t enough. Of course they wouldn’t trust that. Would they trust anything?

The clones’ apartment, when they reached it, was a decent-sized three-rooms-with-bath in an area they said housed many students. Ronnie had tried to convince himself to bolt on the way there—surely the clones wouldn’t really kill them. If nothing else it would interfere with their citizenship application. But the Gerel who had thrown himself on the gas grenade on Sirialis was dead, from another gallant act: these were only clones, who had already made it clear their ethics did not match Gerel’s.

“We’ll think of something,” Andres said that first night. “We would prefer not to kill you; we’re not experienced at this sort of thing and we might botch disposing of your bodies. That way you’d cause us even more trouble. Maybe we can get hold of some drugs to alter your memories or something. In the meantime—” In the meantime meant uncomfortable positions, tethered back to back.

The next morning, Borhes raided their pockets. “Sorry,” he said. “But we don’t have enough money to feed you and us, and I presume you’re hungry.”

“We are expected back at the Institute,” George said.

“Thanks for reminding us,” Andres said, grinning. “I think you need to send a message saying you went somewhere and won’t be back for a few decads, at least. Let’s see . . . what might two wealthy young men do on this planet besides hang around here? Bor, pick up a travel cube, why don’t you?”

With the threat of imminent death, Ronnie found he was quite willing to contact the hotel and explain that they had decided on a tour—no, hold their luggage, they were going horse-packing and would have to buy the survival gear they needed closer to the trailhead. George grimaced when Ronnie got through. “I don’t know why you wouldn’t go for that cruise,” he said. “If anyone asks, Andres, they’ll know it wasn’t us. Ronnie and me riding horses in the mountains?”

“The cruise ship has constant contact with the shore; it would be easy enough to transfer a query. We inquired, and this tour company offers a real wilderness experience. No comsets at all.” Andres smiled. “No one from the Familias is going to try—if they call the hotel, they’ll be told you’re out of the city, touring. It costs too much, and takes too long, to have a realtime conversation.”

Over the next few days, George kept after the clones whenever he was awake, pointing out repeatedly that they had no plan, that they couldn’t hold prisoners in an apartment forever, that someone would eventually find out.

“We could kill you,” Andres said finally, in a temper. “At least we wouldn’t have to listen to you, even in prison.”

“You don’t want to kill us,” George said. “You know that; you’ve said that. What you want is decent anonymity, right?”

“Of course.”

“Then get plastic surgery.” The clones looked at each other, then back at George.

“We like being clones; we’re used to it.”

“Fine. I’m not asking you to change that . . . but get enough change so that you don’t look like Gerel to any casual tourist from the Familias who might happen into a taverna and see you. You can kill us, of course, and you may be right that my father wouldn’t be able to find you or extradite you, but if Familias visitors start dying off, the Guernesi are going to notice.”

“And you already told us they have a very efficient law-enforcement system,” Ronnie added.

The clones looked at each other again. “We’re used to looking like this,” Borhes said.

“You’re also used to being mistaken for Gerel,” George said. “But you don’t like it. Just a little change—enough that the Familias crown prince isn’t the first person that pops into mind when you’re seen. Then you could be a normal clone pair here, and no one would ever know.”

“Except you two,” Andres said.

“And my Aunt Cecelia, and Captain Serrano,” Ronnie said. “They haven’t spread it around—why do you think we would?”

Andres laughed unpleasantly. “Ronnie—I know you too well. Remember the Royals?”

Ronnie felt himself flushing. “I was a silly young ass then.”

“And you are suddenly a wise old graybeard?”

“No. But if I couldn’t be discreet, I’d never have gotten my aunt out of that nursing home.”

“She didn’t tell us that.” Were they interested, or just pretending? It didn’t matter; Ronnie was more than willing to keep talking if it gave him a chance to live longer.

He spun the tale out, emphasizing everyone’s role: George spreading the rumors about a “drop-in” party at the facility that had created the confusion, Brun with her hot air balloon modified with unobtrusive steering apparatus, and the scramble to get his aunt into it. He hadn’t told even George all the details, his mingled terror and disgust as he unhooked Cecelia from her medical monitors and dressed her.

“And what did you do then?” asked Andres when he had gotten as far, in the story, as leaving the parking lot at the facility.

“Went home, got out my parasail, and joined our crowd for a party at the beach.” The police had found him there sometime after midnight, with witnesses to say he’d been there since late afternoon. And the facility staff had checked him out as he left there, alone. “They knew she hadn’t walked off by herself, and they suspected that she’d been—abducted was the word they used—during the Festival, when so many balloons were around. But they couldn’t prove anything against me. I kept expecting the attendant who had set up the tape loop to accuse me, but he disappeared. They claimed they had no tape records of any of the patients for that day—that something had happened to them—and Mother threatened to sue them for negligence. I was afraid if she did they’d search harder and find them. Perhaps the attendant ran off with them when he realized Cecelia was gone and his job was forfeit.”

“And you didn’t confide in anyone?”

“No. It was too dangerous. George knew or suspected that I had something to do with it, but all he’d been told beforehand was to spread those rumors. I knew Brun was going to take Cecelia out in the balloon, but not where—I could guess it was to her family’s private shuttle, but from there—I didn’t know.”

“You would claim this proves your ability to keep secrets?”

“Well . . . yes. Doesn’t it?”

“Not really. You just told us, presumably because you’re scared. What if someone scared you about us?”

Ronnie sagged, and glanced at George hoping he had a bright idea. But George had gone to sleep, to snore in the irregular, creative way that made sleeping in the same room with him so impossible.