Habu. James B. Johnson
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waited a few moments for his emotions to calm. Another glimpse of him with his mask down. He had really cared for Mother. Tique softened her voice. “Why now? She’d been on Snister since Wormwood, Inc. pioneered it. She was going off with you—”
“Yep, you got it. She was leaving. It was their last chance.”
“I’m dumbfounded. I don’t know whether to believe you or not. It doesn’t make sense, not in this universe, not these days.”
“The oldest motives in the book, Tique. Power and wealth. Unlimited power over all human beings. More wealth than trillions of people can even dream about.”
“You keep saying ‘they,’ Reubin. Who are they?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. Offhand, I’d say the hierarchy of the Wormwood Company is both the most likely suspect and the only current suspect.”
“Fels Nodivving?”
“It’s as good a place as any to start.”
“I’m cold,” she said and shivered.
“Nodivving virtually ordered me off planet,” Reubin said.
“I remember.”
“I’ve told you what I’ve figured, because it is possible that since Alex is dead, I’m their only link. They might think that Alex told me her secret, whatever that is.”
“Uh-oh.” She began to see where he was leading.
“And you might be next, but they have you here on planet with no plans to depart. I’d recommend you maintain your normal schedule for a while, then grab an opportunity to visit Webster’s or somewhere and don’t come back.”
Thoughts of her own personal safety had not entered her mind. Considering the stunning blows she’d received in the last few minutes, her own safety didn’t seem important.
Tique rose and went to the bubble wall. She looked out over the mountains and forests. She wondered what type of man this Reubin Flood was. She’d seen several different Reubin Floods—or at least manifestations of different people. She’d yet to see the one which her mother had seen.
Mother had chosen him. That was one thing. Mother had told her about first seeing Reubin, amidst battle. He’d been the classic warrior then. Mother had married the man with little time in between the meeting and the deed. Unusual for anyone these days when life was long and marriage taken seriously. Resentment built in her again. But Mother generally knew what she was doing. Tique wondered if Fels Nodivving’s pursuit of Mother had driven Alex to marrying Reubin Flood, with the Long Life treatment next and all it implied. Anything was possible.
Clouds were lower now, boiling right in front of her.
Reubin stepped up beside her and a swollen, gray behemoth of a cloud rolled over a snowcapped mountain-top. The peak seemed to gut the cloud, tearing it asunder. Tique shivered again.
“Me, too,” Reubin said empathetically. “I’m going to try to make a run for it. If I reach Webster’s, I’ll do some research and return here; then we’ll teach ’em how the cow eats the cabbage.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Just an Olde Earthe expression.”
She cocked an eye at him. “You really think that Fels and his people will try to stop you?”
He shrugged and wiped fog off the inside of the bubble. “It’s all speculation. Remember, if I was right about the autopsy, then....”
Tique grimaced. “Snister has no army or navy, there is no need. It’s all unified under the corporate auspices of Wormwood, Inc. But the Company police force, the ‘Constabulary’ it’s called, is quite efficient. The Constabulary also runs the port of entry.”
“We’ll know right away, then, won’t we?”
“When your ship gets underway,” Tique said, “will you send me a message telling me you made it? Something innocuous.”
“If you wish,” Reubin said.
“Thanks.” Here she was worried about the safety of a man whom she resented. He had given her a different perspective about events, though. Perhaps she was being caught up in the intrigue.
“Be advised, when I return I might be disguised. I haven’t decided which yet. As somebody else, it would be easier to investigate. On the ninth hand, I might have to be myself and use me as bait—”
Lightning flashed far off. “A lightning rod?” she asked.
He nodded. “It might be the only way to smoke them out.”
She traced a pattern in the condensation on the inside of the bubble. “Reubin? When Mother came back from Karg and announced she’d married you and was leaving to go off pioneering, I didn’t see much of her at all. Then she was dead.” Tique felt awkward having to do all the explaining before she asked the question.
“What is it, Tique?” One of the few times he’d used her name.
“Would you tell me about Mother? And you?” They’d always been close and Mother’s affair with Reubin had made Tique feel left out—for a change.
“We met on Karg and married on the starship in which we escaped.”
“More. What was the war about? What was your job? Who are you?”
“No.” His voice changed abruptly. He’d been cooperative, but now—? The word “No” had been pure ice. She’d been close to reaching him, and at the last minute he’d withdrawn again back into himself. Back into his mask. Damn him!
So far he’d shown little grief. What kind of man was he?
She saw him watching her with an animal cunning that made her terribly uncomfortable. Without looking at him again, she walked through the rain to her groundcar.
It was well past midnight when Building Security woke her.
“Ma’am, it’s your guest, ma’am,” said the voice over the speaker on her bedside console.
Tique shook sleep out of her eyes. “What? What about him?”
“He’s on the roof, ma’am.”
She sat up. “What’s wrong with that?”
“He’s retracted the bubble.”
“Oh.” Oh! She linked into the building’s weather radar and her screen was cluttered. “I’ll go up and take care of it.”
“Just thought you ought to know, ma’am, since it’s not really illegal—”
“Thanks.” Tique disconnected and dressed quickly in a waterproof jumpsuit. She punched in outside visuals. A storm played over Cuyas, lightning streaked and wind lashed rain sideways.
She chose the internal stairway and soon came out on the roof.
Rain drenched her immediately.
She wondered when the bubble had last been retracted.
It was something Mother would do. A sheet of lightning lit her immediate world.
Where—? There.
Reubin sat on the edge of the roof, legs dangling over and out of sight. He lifted a bottle to his lips and drank for a moment. Lightning hit the diffuser pole high above them and cracked. Tique jumped involuntarily and smelled burned ozone. Reubin didn’t move.
She walked toward him, strongly aware of the missing security of the bubble. She stopped behind him, apprehensive of the distance between them and the ground far below. Though the building was pyramidal, it was still a dangerous fall during a storm. Right now the fall appeared damn near vertical.
Reubin Flood turned and looked at her. How had he known she was there?