Fiction River: Moonscapes (29 page)

He didn’t seem to notice. “Apparently, the Eaufasse don’t understand extradition. I couldn’t find it in a quick search of their laws.”

“You found a database of their laws?” She’d been unable to find anything like that; it was the first thing she had checked for. It was always the first thing she checked for whenever she was encountering a new culture. The laws told her more than any cultural representative would.

Okani slipped his hands apart. One hand gripped the arm of his chair.

“Um,
I
have a database,” he said. “It’s not official. It’s the things I and my old friends learned about that little clan of Eaufasse we’d encountered.”

“Do you know of anything official?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Believe me, I’ve looked. There’s nothing easily accessible. Which doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. It just means that we can’t find it.”

She brought her hands up and tapped her chin with her thumbs. She was going to have to document Okani’s claims, so that if (when) she did misstep, she could show that she had tried to do things the Eaufasse way.

“All right,” she said. “The Eaufasse don’t have a concept of extradition, so far as we know, which means that they don’t have a concept of asylum or protection from prosecution from the outside.”

“Prosecution or persecution,” he said pointedly. She wondered if that was a reference to his own legal troubles. She decided to ignore that.

“So he couldn’t have been asking for asylum,” she said.

“Not in their language, no,” Okani said. “Your previous translator got that wrong.”

He seemed to speak with a great deal of relish about that. Had she told him Uzven’s name? Or just that it was Peyti? Or had she simply said she hadn’t trusted it?

She couldn’t remember. Not that it mattered. Okani’s reaction might have had nothing to do with Uzven and everything to do with his own ego.

“My earlier translation was correct,” Okani said. “This boy asked for protection from the humans. Even though that is part of the cultural definition of asylum, it would be a stretch to think he was saying that here. From what he says, his life was in danger. Someone was actively trying to kill him, and he wanted to be safe from that.”

“Someone was trying to kill him,” she said. “Someone managed to kill three of his companions.”

Okani’s mouth thinned. He nodded. “This boy is scared. That much is clear.”

“What else is clear?”

“This is his first encounter with the Eaufasse,” Okani said.

“Even though he speaks their language?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said. “He must have learned it through vids or holographic representation or something, because he seems alarmed when they move, as if he doesn’t expect that.”

“Could that simply be a reaction to his circumstances?” she asked. “After all, someone did just try to kill him.”

Okani shrugged. “I can’t speak to someone’s state of mind, particularly someone I’ve never met. He just seemed uncomfortable with them, more than you’d expect from someone who was used to the culture.”

She had other questions along this line, but she decided to hold onto them for a moment. “You said you didn’t envy me, that there were many issues. Then you tell me that he isn’t asking for asylum, which changes my legal position for the better. So I don’t understand. What problems are you foreseeing here?”

Okani sat up straighter, like a man who was about to face trouble of his own making. He clearly thought for a moment, as if he were choosing his words carefully. Then he said,

“The Eaufasse have strict ideas about property. Essentially, they believe that if they have something in hand, it’s theirs. Their idea of ownership is similar to that of a three-year-old child’s.”

She had a hunch she knew where he was going with this, but she wanted him to get there on his own.

“It’s pretty clear to me from what the boy said in that room that he’s a clone of some kind. I don’t think the Eaufasse understood that. I don’t know for certain however.”

She frowned. She didn’t know where Okani was going with this part of the analysis. “And the fact that he might be a clone is important why?”

“Because of his legal status,” Okani said. “If he personally hasn’t been declared human under Earth Alliance law, then he’s property, and if he’s property, the Eaufasse will claim him.”

The Earth Alliance was very clear in its laws about clones. Clones were not considered human under the law. That was why clones could be bought and sold. Clones were only considered human if someone with human legal status adopted them and then went through the long process to get the clone declared human.

“Are the Eaufasse familiar with clones?” Gomez had encountered some cultures that had no understanding of cloning at all.

“I don’t know,” Okani said.

She nodded. “Did he tell them he was a clone?”

“Not in so many words,” Okani said. “They kept asking him for his name. He kept repeating that he had no name. That if someone had to distinguish him from the others, they called him The Third.”

She let out a small breath. Humans would think of that as a possible clone tag. But it could also be cultural. The Disty only allowed themselves to be referred to by number as well, at least by outsiders.

“He didn’t call himself a clone, though, did he?”

“No,” Okani said. “He just kept asking them to keep him safe, and they made no promises. If I were that boy, I’d be terrified.”

“What will they do with him if we don’t take him?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Okani said. “Kill him, keep him, trade him, sell him. It’s all possible and probably a hundred things we haven’t even thought of.”

She pushed herself up, then extended her hand. “Thank you,” she said. “You’ve been invaluable.”

“Am I dismissed?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I might need you again.”

She almost told him that she trusted him more than she trusted Uzven, but that wasn’t really true. She trusted Okani on the translation because he had no personal interest in this case. She had no idea what game Uzven had been playing, and she didn’t want to know. Not now.

“If you want,” he said, “I can go over this again.”

“I’d rather have you go over the footage of my conversations with the Ambassador. Double-check my translator.”

Okani smiled. “I can do that.”

“Good,” she said. “I hope you find nothing untoward.”

But she doubted it. There was so much more going on here. She suspected most of it had nothing to do with her, but she wasn’t certain of that. She wasn’t certain of anything yet.

She could only hope that certainty would arrive soon.

She needed it. If only just a little.

***

Before Gomez went to the surface, she summoned Rainger to the meeting room. He arrived, looking as tired as she felt.

“I need you to do a few things while I’m gone,” she said. “First, I need to know what happened to those twelve clones after they killed the three.”

“I’m pretty sure we have that information,” he said.

“I’ll also need to know if there are any changes near the enclave. If anyone else emerges or if there are ships going in and out.”

“I can tell you now that no one has left since we arrived, and that there have been no ships going anywhere.”

“Good,” she said. She had asked for that information before, but she was glad to have the confirmation.

“Finally,” she said, “Tell Lashante that I need to know who these clones are based on. She needs to speed up that research somehow. I’m pretty sure it’s as important as anything else we’re doing here.”

Rainger nodded. “I heard from the diplomats,” he said. “The closest unit is a month out and they’re Peyti.”

“Do you get a sense that the Peyti have some kind of agenda here?”

“Yeah,” Rainger said. “I double-checked the record. Uzven’s never had a complaint lodged against it before. In fact, most marshals and diplomats talk about how accurate Uzven is. Its behavior here just seemed very odd and uncharacteristic.”

She didn’t like that. Just like she didn’t like the month delay. “Can we ask for a mixed diplomatic unit or a human-only one? After all, this seems to be a human-Eaufasse issue.”

Rainger grinned. “Or we can say that it is.”

She nodded. She’d been thinking of that as well.

“I’ll ask,” he said. “Here’s the other news. The Military Guard is two weeks away. Do you want them before the diplomats?”

She thought about that for a few minutes. Technically, the Military Guard would be under her control. They would be able to help her if something happened at the enclave. And they wouldn’t have to do anything if the enclave were quiet while they waited for the diplomats.

“Yes,” she said. “Let’s get the Guard here. Make sure they know I’m in charge of the mission.”

“It’s policy,” he said.

“Yeah, and translators are supposed to translate word for word, not interpret,” she said.

“Point taken,” he said.

“I’m leaving in a few minutes,” she said. “I want two deputies with me, in case we have to bring the boy back here. I also want an armored suit for him, a prison suit, one without weapons.”

“You think someone will try to harm him?” Rainger asked.

“You don’t?” she asked.

***

Gomez brought a single shuttle to the surface. She knew that was a gamble: it was always best to have two. But she had an odd feeling that the enclave was keeping track of her movements. She couldn’t know that for certain, and she had a hunch she would later learn it was just paranoia, but she wanted to be cautious all the same.

That caution led her to bring Washington on this mission as well. He had already dealt with the Eaufasse. While he might not be comfortable with them, he at least had a bit of experience. The second deputy, Malia Norling, was next in the usual rotation. Norling was tall and powerful, easily twice the size of a typical Eaufasse.

For a moment, Gomez thought of leaving her behind for another deputy, then realized they would all have to duck in and out of Eaufasse buildings, so height didn’t really matter.

Okani presented another problem. His shoulders were so broad that he would have to go sideways through the average Eaufasse doorway.

Once again, the team would have to walk wherever it was going, not just because the Eaufasse didn’t allow foreign transports, but also because none in her group would fit in an Eaufasse ship.

At least this walk was shorter than the one to the clearing. None of those strange plants were around either. There was an actual path to the back of the outpost. It wasn’t until the path started going uphillthat it disappeared into overgrowth and tall trees.

The plants started appearing the closer the party got to the actual outpost building. Gomez kept an eye on them. She didn’t like them; they made her very nervous.

This entire trip made her nervous. Her people were flanked by two Eaufasse. Another ran the Eaufasse-human communication link from a location near their ship. The set-up was similar to the one she had used when she went to the clearing, except that this time, she had her own translator as well.

She didn’t know the names or the gender of the two Eaufasse who led her group to the outpost. These Eaufasse seemed smaller than the others, and thinner, if that were possible. They also wore a greenish-grayish outfit that she had never seen before.

She took it for some kind of uniform.

The walk only took about a half an hour, and seemed pretty straightforward. She didn’t have to ask for any clarifications. This time, one of the Eaufasse led while the other brought up the rear.

It wasn’t until she was nearly to the outpost that she realized the boy might not speak Standard. She had planned to speak to the boy alone. She didn’t want Okani in the room—or anyone else for that matter. If the boy didn’t speak Standard, she could try a few other languages that she was fluent in. After that, she would need the help, even though she didn’t want it.

The outpost was a brown building that appeared to be made of some kind of mud plaster. She followed the Eaufasse, and stepped where it stepped, touched what it touched. Before she left the ship, she had activated a small camera chip in her lapel, and another on her right ear. She wanted a record of everything that was taking place.

She didn’t feel the need to tell the Eaufasse that they were being recorded.

As the first Eaufasse approached the door, the plants rose up along the walls, as they had done for the boy. The tips of the plants seemed to be searching for something on the building’s surface. They gave off the faint odor of vanilla mixed with sweat.

She hadn’t noticed the scent before because of the overwhelming stench of decay near those bodies.

The Eaufasse stepped through the plants. Gomez hesitated as the plants moved. Their tips turned outward, as if they were looking at her, even though she didn’t see eyes. Then the plants leaned back, their edges folding the way that the ambassador had folded its arm over its back during the earlier conversation.