RAINBOW RUN (24 page)

"Do you think that Incate is an assassin?"

"I don't know. He seems to have very little respect for others, almost as if he feels superior to everyone here. His evident indifference to others may mean that he'd have no reservations about killing someone who stood between him and his objectives."

Arvon asked a few more questions that elicited no new information. He then turned the questioning over to me.

I looked Prevance straight in the eyes. "When was the spike mike stuck in my tunic?"

"I don't know. The first I heard about it was when Incate showed me the tracking device while we were following you to your meeting with Kahalyton and Quenlu."

"Prevance, I've heard that Wanklurm uses spike mikes. Do you think that Incate might be in collusion with Wanklurm?"

"I'd be surprised if he is. I've been with him most of the time we've been here. I don't know when he could have seen Wanklurm."

"Do you know why Incate was so suspicious of me?"

"Incate wanted a rapid solution to the situation. He thought that Boget might be the only rainbow involved. When we found you with Boget's body, he thought he could wrap up the case quickly if Boget was the main conspirator and you were a disgruntled minion who killed him."

I had no more questions. Some of the others asked about Prevance's special status, having a non-possession device implanted instead of being brainwiped and banished to our prison society. Prevance said that he had been brainwiped and sterilized but that someone was needed to interface with the normal humans of the Universalist Council and he was evidently selected on the basis of some tests he took.

When the questioning of Prevance was finished, he was returned to a holding cell. The rest of us took a cokafa break before the questioning of Incate. Two VIS officers ushered Incate into the vericator room.

Incate was full of bluster and righteousness. He said, "You Delphs have no right to do this. I represent the Universalist Council. If you go against their wishes, there will be some changes around here."

Nordel replied, "There are certainly going to be changes around here. We're going to make them to aid us. The wishes of the Universalist Council are a matter of indifference to us. We see the Universalist Council as a group that has penalized us, imprisoned us, deceived us and exploited us. You should be concerned about what changes you, as an individual, will experience. You have come here under false pretenses. We know more of the truth than you suspect we do. If you continue to lie to us, you may lose more than you're willing to risk."

Incate seemed to lose some of his belligerence.

When the hookup was completed, Arvon began the questioning by asking, "What devices did you bring with you from the Outpost?"

Incate gave no response.

"Have you supplied spike mikes to Wanklurm?"

Evidently the question surprised Incate. He answered, "No, he got those from the Council." The monitor indicated he was telling the truth.

"Why was a non-possession device implanted in Prevance?"

"So the Council representatives could deal with him without fear of being possessed," Incate answered.

"Why wasn't a non-possession chip implanted in you?"

Incate was flustered by the question. He hadn't expected it. He fidgeted briefly and said, "What makes you think I don't have one?"

"We did a medical scan on you in the holding cell. You don't have any implants. We also know that your ejaculate, unlike that of the males here, contains sperm. Why is that? What is different about you?"

"Because I'm not one of
you
. I'm not some genetic reject who has to be imprisoned. I'm a normal. I have all those memories that you Delphs don't have. I remember growing up, getting educated, learning how to live. I would never have gotten this terrible assignment and had to mix with all you substandard types if I hadn't been falsely accused of excessive violence on my last case. Those smugglers were asking for it. Every last one of the five of them."

"You killed five smugglers?"

"They deserved it. Stealing human heritage artifacts to sell to collectors."

"Did you use a respirator arrestor?" Arvon asked.

"How did you know about that?"

"We assumed it's your favorite weapon since you had one concealed in your communication room in the House of Rebirth."

"It was for emergencies only." Incate said.

"And you are the one who decides whether or not an emergency situation exists."

"I'm qualified," he said smugly.

"We suspect that you are mainly qualified as an assassin. You were probably sent here to kill the conspirators, make sure their replacements would continue the deceptions of the Universalist Council, and get out before anyone with any power figured out what had been done."

Incate said nothing.

Arvon conferred with Nordel and Yondoka. Then Arvon said to the group, "Incate doesn't seem to be willing to answer questions but if anyone has any, now is the time."

"Why do you have so much hostility toward me?" I asked.

Incate answered, "Because you're one of these subhumans who are getting a free ride from the Universalist Council. Just because the Delphic data is needed, all of you get life easy."

I asked, "It's nothing personal, then?"

“No,” he snarled. "I wish they'd sent me here with permission to kill all of you."

The monitor showed that he was telling the truth.

"You'd really be in trouble if all of us were dead."

"Why?"

"Because then you'd have no one to hate but yourself."

A few more questions were asked, but everyone soon tired of Incate's venom. As the VIS officers took him back to his holding cell, Incate said, "You'll regret this when I report this to the Council."

I couldn't resist the temptation to answer him. I said, "What makes you think you'll ever see the Council again or, that if you do, you will have any memory of what happened here?"

I didn't know what Incate's fate would be but I suspected that his fate would involve wiping his brain of the hate.

Lyonella and I went to the lounge. While we were sitting there, Kahalyton came by and said, "Come to the communications room if you want to hear the latest battle report."

It was a different VIS officer who reported the latest developments. He said, "The battle at Wanklurm's headquarters is over. Most of the building has been destroyed. Wanklurm and his few remaining elite guards have driven off the Crusaders. We aren't certain how many Crusaders are left alive but we know that Errox and his albino second-in-command Zuwelda, along with a handful of others, made a successful retreat and vanished. They've gone into hiding. Wanklurm and his guards are looking for them but haven't found them yet.

“We've got scouts in a variety of locations who'll report sightings of personnel from either the guards or the Crusaders. Medical Complex personnel are working to clear the area around Wanklurm's headquarters of bodies."

There were many questions. I heard all the answers but none of them gave me any clues to where Errox was. He had a rainbow wristlock which gave him access to almost any place he wanted to be. I doubted if he'd go to Dreena's dwell. By this time he probably knew that she had been arrested and was in a holding cell. I didn't think he'd try to regroup from Boget's dwell because for all he knew, it might still be under observation by watchers who hoped other conspirators might show up.

I was lost in thought when Lyonella touched my hand. She asked, "Is now the time we use my psychic link to find Errox?"

"Yes,” I answered. “It’s time to visit the Simulike Palace."

Although the fighting at Wanklurm’s headquarters was over, most people still seemed to be staying in their urbodes where it was safe. No one knew where or when the few remaining guards and Crusaders would resume trying to kill each other. I wanted to find Errox and stop the mayhem if I could. All I had to offer Errox was a chance to live, although he would be brainwiped and reconfigured.

If Wanklurm and the guards found him his life would be ended by a bolt gun. I knew that Errox was a flawed human being, but he had saved my life once and I wanted to save him from death if I could.

The slideways were nearly deserted as Lyonella and I made our way to the Simulike Palace. When we got off, we both looked around carefully with our stun guns ready in case there were Crusaders acting as lookouts. We saw no one. As we got closer and closer to the building, I watched Lyonella to see if her psychic sense indicated that Errox was near. I thought that if she detected his presence she would give a positive nod. Instead she shook her head from side-to-side to show that she hadn’t sensed him.

I got close enough to whisper in her ear, "Let’s take a check inside. The public doorway is closed but my wristlock will open the private portal, the entrance for Palace personnel."

As I opened the portal I kept my stun gun ready, but I saw no one nearby. I entered first and Lyonella followed behind. I moved cautiously because Crusaders might be here even if Errox was not. I didn't have complete confidence in Lyonella's psychic connection to Errox. I knew that it had worked previously when I was in the corridor outside Hushel’s previous dwell, but I couldn't be sure it was still working. Cainenol effects wore off with the passage of time; perhaps the same was true of psychic connections.

Slowly and carefully we checked out the entire building and found no evidence of anyone other than ourselves in the Palace. We both relaxed, our nerves stretched tight from the strain of the search.

Lyonella asked, "Where else would he go?"

"I don’t know."

Lyonella said, "I first saw him when we had dwells in the same urbode. I never saw him anywhere except in an urbode. Where have you seen him?"

I thought about the various times I had seen Errox. I answered, "The last time I saw him was at Boget’s dwell. Just before that I saw him at the dwell of Dreena the smitty. Before that I was here in the Simulike Palace with him until the VIS arrested me. Before Transit Day I saw him in the two dwells he found for me and in Hushel’s dwell when he gave me his wristlock."

"Where did you first meet him?" she asked.

I must have been experiencing some sort of memory block that kept me from reviewing the details of my bad experiences of the Rainbow Room in the Color Wheel. I said, "It was at the Color Wheel. It's shut down now but he must have some way inside. He certainly knew the layout and he managed to get to the center of the Color Wheel, where the winner's circle is. I'm sure he didn't get there by taking chances in an environment where you risk your life."

"Let's try the Color Wheel, then," she suggested.

It was the most logical thing to do. I knew that I was resisting the idea because I didn't want to refresh the worst memories I had of this life. I finally agreed.

I spent the time on the slidestrips steeling myself for the unwanted sight of the Color Wheel. When it came into view, I felt nauseated. We got off the slideway using the Color Wheel access slidestrip. I took several deep breaths before I was ready to approach the building. This was the biggest challenge that I had faced in my life as Rathe, confronting the site where I had almost died.

I looked at the Color Wheel as if it were a dwell for my own private demons. I had to deal with the internal conflict to proceed.

Lyonella noticed that I was having difficulty. She asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?" "I'll be all right. Let's go slowly. Tell me the moment you receive any indication that Errox is inside."

As we approached the Color Wheel we were careful to stay close to the surrounding buildings in case there were people watching. If Errox was there he might have posted a sentinel to warn him of anyone approaching.

When we got close enough to have a clear view of the closed public entrance, Lyonella said excitedly, "He's here!"

We had located Errox. I was as sure of it as I was of the bond between Lyonella and me. I said to Lyonella, "We need to notify the Alliance that Errox is here. I may be able to talk him into surrendering and ending this futile conflict. I can tell him that even if he defeats Wanklurm he'll never be able to rule the planet because the VIS people in the Alliance will stop him. If you're willing to take the news to the overseers' urbode so they can send some backup, I'll stay and watch to see if he leaves."

I don't know if Lyonella would have agreed to that plan or not because as the words left my mouth, we saw a group of about six white caps get off the slidestrip. I motioned to Lyonella to follow me and I lowered myself into the wide gutter that carried water away after the area was cleaned. When we were both horizontal we could peek over the edge of the gutter to watch the scene unfold. I recognized the man leading the white caps as Wanklurm, my first sighting of the man who had tried to have me killed and who would probably try again if the opportunity arose.

He and the white caps were all armed with bolt guns. Wanklurm posted one guard near the slidestrip apron. Then he and the others started moving toward the building. He was looking at something he held in his hand and walking toward the main portal of the Color Wheel. I realized that he was looking at a tracking device. Somehow he must have gotten a spike mike planted on Errox, maybe by turning a disgruntled or disillusioned Crusader into a supporter of the guards.

As Lyonella and I watched from our hiding place, Wanklurm used his rainbow wristlock to open the main entrance to the Color Wheel. Wanklurm gave some instructions to his guards that I couldn't quite hear and they all went in—all except the guard he'd left at the slidestrip exit. That guard represented a problem for Lyonella and me. How could we get a message to the overseers' urbode if we couldn't get past the guard to the slidestrip?

There was no way to get close enough to the guard to use a stun gun without him seeing us first. And if he saw us first, he might fire his bolt gun before we could stun him. Suddenly the lights came on in the Color Wheel. The outside building lights illuminated the gutter that Lyonella and I were hiding in. The guard near the slidestrip advanced toward us, his bolt gun in his hand aimed toward us.