Truth (15 page)

XXIX

“I
’m going out with some friends for a bit,” I told Dee.

“No problem,” she said. “Miss Maldovar sent me a message to call her when I could. She wants to talk about the first week back after break.”

What was it about that woman that bothered me? I went out into the foyer to wait for Wei, and called Dorrie. “Can you find out information on people, like family backgrounds and such?”

“Sure,” Dorrie said. “It might take a while, but it can be done. Who is it?”

“Adana Maldovar,” I said. “My sister Dee’s teacher.”

“I’ll see what I can find. By the way, I showed Brie what we worked on. She’s impressed.”

I was glad she hadn’t asked me why I wanted the info, because I wouldn’t have been able to come up with a good answer. But there was something, of that I was sure.

Thank goodness Paulette didn’t show up in her dad’s stretch transit. I was surprised that the trannie she had was so unassuming.

“What exactly are we doing?” Paulette asked. “All you said was that we had a mission.”

“Can we talk in here?” Wei asked.

“Yeah. Sal took care of this one. We use it a lot.”

I held my tongue. Sal had told me he wasn’t interested in her—that should be good enough. Of course, the little voice in my head insisted, that was before you told him off and hung up on him. I didn’t have time to listen to that—what we were planning was important.

“We’re doing a little art show.” Wei uncovered the copies of my drawings that she’d made. “You drive, I’ll be the lookout, and Nina will post her sketches.”

“This should be fun.” Paulette eased the trannie into gear. “Where to first?”

“State Street,” Wei said. “Mag gave me seven locations where she knows the surveillance cameras are down.”

Our first stop was on State Street, near the Chicago Omniplex. Paulette pulled into the alley, and Wei and I hopped out. I secured two posters, one facing north, one south; Wei watched out for passersby. That one was easy.

We nearly got caught on Oak Street when a doorman told Paulette she couldn’t park where she’d stopped. I had to admit, though, she was smoother than smooth. Not only did she talk him into allowing her to stay, but he said if she ever needed free parking downtown while he was on duty, he’d find her a spot in the hotel lot. I was sure I saw her give him a tip card, too.

The other five stops were quick and easy. After the last one, we drove back by the first location to see if they were still there. They were. And they’d drawn a crowd. We didn’t dare go by the one on Oak, for fear the doorman might recognize Paulette’s trannie. A Media van was stopped at the third one—which was across from the Justice Building. The crew was taking pictures.

“I’d say you’ve made an impression,” Wei said.

“Looks like she’ll also make the news at eleven,” Paulette said.

“Except no one will know it’s me,” I said. “And that’s a good thing.”

“Yeah, well,” Paulette said. “It’s late. I have to get home. Last-minute party arrangements.”

Wei glanced back at me. I shook my head. Paulette didn’t need to know that I’d been invited. And Wei didn’t need to know that I had no intention of going.

***

Next morning Dee insisted that I go to Mars 9. “They have tons of stuff on their sale racks, Nina. I know you can find something ultra!”

“You want to come with me?” Maybe some of her excitement would rub off on me.

“No. I promised Miss Maldovar that I’d do some research on the Museum of Science and Industry. We’re taking a field trip there in February.” She picked up her cup of cocoa and trotted back to her room. “Get something cute!” she called out before she shut her door.

“Great.” I trudged back to my room and grabbed the gift certificate. “I’m not going to that stupid party,” I muttered. “I’m getting a new scarf.”

Just then my PAV beeped.

“Nina, it’s Martin. Percy will not leave me alone until I confirm that you are coming to the party, don’t you know? He’s absolutely smitten with you. I should be so jealous. But I’m smitten, too. Are you coming?”

“Martin, I . . . I don’t think it’s a good idea. I don’t think it’s the kind of thing for me. I’m only tier—”

“Nonsense, Nina. You are a
Creative.
And you are my assistant. And as such, you need to learn to associate with these people, like it or not. But listen, if you don’t have anything to wear, I’d love to take care of that. We could go shopping at—”

“No, please. I’ve got a gift credit at Mars 9. I was just going shopping. I’m sure I can find something perfect there.” Martin was right, if I was going to do anything in the art world, I was going to have to do things like this. I was going to Paulette’s whether I wanted to or not. And I was definitely on the “not” side of things.

“Fabulous! I’m off to tell Percy. See you at work tomorrow. Hugs and smooches.”

As I was pulling on my coat, I thought about my scarf, which made me think of Joan, which made me think of food. It was one thing to give to the homeless on Holiday, but people needed to eat every day. I made a detour into the kitchen and threw together a dozen nut butter sandwiches. It wasn’t much, but it wasn’t rotten garbage either.

***

I got off the transit at my old stop, thoroughly checking for any sign of that lady cop before ducking behind the buildings. I’d walked the whole length of the alley and was about to give up when I heard some female voices around a corner.

“I heard it myself. They’re offering fifty thousand for any escaped FeLS. We could get into one of those welfare dorms, you and me,” an eager voice said.

“We are not turning in anyone. Period. Understand?” The responding voice was threatening.

“Okay. I was only tryin’ to help.”

“It’s not help if you turn on your own.”

I couldn’t hear the muttered reply. Their footsteps crunched on the snow, coming closer. I spun around the corner, out onto the street. As soon as they passed between the buildings, they saw me. One of the women was Svette. She motioned me over.

“I brought you more food,” I said. “It’s just leftovers, but—”

“Better’n nothing.” The second woman snatched the food from my hands.

It was impossible for me to tell which of the two had wanted to turn Joan in.

Svette squinted one eye at me. “You’re being nice to us ’cause of Joan? Why? What d’ya want?”

“Joan’s a friend. I help my friends when I can.” I backed away. “Tell her I’ll see her soon.” With that, I hurried off. I was pretty sure the cold had nothing to do with the chill that ran down my spine. With that “reward” for escaped FeLS, Joan was in danger. The Sisterhood had to do something. And soon.

***

Mars 9’s Holiday scenes still played in the windows. Girl mannibots pranced around in skintight pleather pants and faux-shearling jackets over skimpy tops that left nothing to the imagination. I could almost hear Gran admonishing one of these “girls” to “cover up, before you freeze to death . . . or worse.”

My heart skipped a beat when a real, live person opened the door wide, welcoming me in. I hesitated for an overlong moment. Even with the gift credit in my pocket, I felt like a fraud. Two top-T’s came up behind me.

“Are you going in or just gawking, sludge?” They pushed past me.

The man holding the door flashed me an apologetic smile. “Won’t you come in? We have megasales going on right now. It’s the best time to find exactly what you didn’t get for Holiday.”

I muttered a thank-you and scurried past him, not stopping to look at anything until I was deep in the store. Shoes. I was surrounded by every kind of ultrachic shoe a girl could want. On my right were sweaters. Spying the one Miss Maldovar had given me, I couldn’t resist. I checked the price. Damn! How could a teacher afford even one gift from here, let alone the massive piles of clothes she’d gotten for Dee? She must be doing something besides teaching, I thought. Maybe she pushes animal flesh. The thought of Miss Maldovar, doling out packages of meat from the chiller in her home, made my stomach turn.

“May I help you?” I was accosted by a salesclerk who was dressed ten times more fashionably than I could ever hope to be. “Our sale racks are in the basement. That way.” Her nose wrinkled, her comet-red nail pointing the way. Even the people who sell to top-tiers look down on everyone below their customers.

“I’m shopping for a party dress.” I wished I’d worn my new sweater. Even if I didn’t have enough credits to look at anything full priced, I was not going to let this jerk of a salesgirl make me feel like, well, like what those girls had called me—a sludge.

She arched a brow. “Evening gowns are on the second floor. Elport is there and elsteir over there.” Giving me one last derisive look, she stalked off to pounce on a more worthy customer.

Convinced that she was still watching me, I took the elsteir up, and then, without so much at a glance at clothes I’d never be able to afford, I took the elport to the basement. A knot of high school girls were picking over the dress remains, pulling them off the rack and making fun of either the quality or how “ridiculously expired” they were. When I glanced at the sale tag on one that didn’t look too terribly dated, I nearly passed out.

I slunk out of the store, defeated.

XXX

“Y
ou can’t wear that, Nina.” Dee dropped onto my bed. “Isn’t there something just a little more ultra in Mom’s clothes?”

I shut the closet door. “The only thing close to ultra is older than me—too old to be chic and too new to be vintage. I won’t go.”

“You have to go to this party. You told me you promised your boss.” When I’d gotten home from shopping, I told Dee my plans for New Year’s.

“I did. But I’ll have to tell him I don’t have anything to wear. And . . . I’m not taking any credits from him to buy a dress. It wouldn’t be right.”

“What wouldn’t be right?” Wei walked into the room.

I told her about not being able to find a dress I could afford at Mars 9. “So I’ll just not go.” I shrugged. I didn’t really mind missing the party. I did, however, hate to disappoint Martin and Percy.

“Oh, yes, you will. Come on.” She latched onto my arm. “You, too.” She hauled Dee off the bed and dragged both of us up to her room.

Sitting on Wei’s bed, I said, “I can’t fit into your clothes. We’re not built the same.”

She twisted her mouth over to one side as she studied me. “Wait right here.”

A few minutes later she returned, her arms full of dresses.

Dee’s mouth fell open. “Those are beautiful!”

“They’re Mom’s.” She laid the clothes on the bed. “Borrow anything that fits. And get this . . . Mom’s offered to fix your hair. I’m telling you. You’re getting the ultra-ultra Jenkins treatment. She is a galactic genius when it comes to styling. You will look light-years beyond ultrachic.”

“Like Cinderella—the one with the fairy-tale ending,” I said.

After trying on every single dress, I decided on a red silk Asian-inspired gown embroidered with a crane and lotus flowers.

“That’s Mandarin style,” Wei said. “Very traditional. Fits you perfectly, and it matches your tattoo.”

Twisting my wrist back and forth in front of the dress, I studied the reflection in the mirror. “Almost like it was made for me.”

“Wait till Mom’s done with the hair and makeup. You’ll be more ultrachic than Paulette. And that’s not easy to do.”

Mrs. Jenkins tapped at the door. “May I come in?”

“Look at Nina,” Dee said. “She’s beautiful!”

“Yes, she is.” Mrs. Jenkins ran her fingers through my hair. “I think a few twists, like so . . .” She deftly coiled a lock atop my head.

“Here.” Wei handed her mom a couple of two-pronged lacquered sticks.

Mrs. Jenkins secured the twist with the sticks. Then she feathered out a few strands on either side of my face and arranged my bangs. “There.” She stepped aside so I could see my reflection. “What do you think?”

“I love it!” I turned my head to different angles. “But it doesn’t look like me.”

“Yes, it does. It’s you in this dress and these ornaments. There are many different ways to look and to be. The essential Nina is still inside. It’s only when we allow the outer trappings to dictate our inner feelings that we lose sight of ourselves.”

“Nothing from Mars 9 would look that good,” Dee said. “You’re an original.”

I studied myself in the mirror. Original. A smile nudged the corners of my mouth. Even ultrachic wasn’t original.

“I’m going up to my greenhouse to water and prune the herbs,” Mrs. Jenkins said. “Would you like to help me, Dee?”

The door closed behind them, and Wei said, “Your sister is so great. Between Chris’s cooking lessons and my mom’s herbals, she’ll know how to do all those things that I’m afraid I’ve disappointed my mother by not wanting to learn.”

“Dee loves to do things with her hands,” I said. “I have to figure out something she can do to get her Creative designation. She doesn’t like to draw.”

“Cooking,” Wei said. “She’s a natural chef. And with Chris’s tutoring, she’d pass with flying colors!”

“You are brilliant. Now help me out of this dress. I have to tell you what I found out today. The Sisterhood is going to have to move. Fast.”

Wei removed the hair sticks while I shimmied out of the dress and into my regular clothes.

“Joan is in danger. You heard that Alert about the GC looking for girls who got away from the fake FeLS training? Well, I overheard a couple of women in the group of homeless that Joan hangs with. One of them wants to turn Joan in for the reward.”

“Skivs!” Wei scooted the pile of dresses aside, and we sat on her bed. “I guess I shouldn’t ask what you were doing that put you in a position to hear these women.”

“I’ve been taking them food. Joan’s cold and hungry all the time. Svette, who lords all over them, took the scarf I gave her. I don’t like Svette.”

Wei gnawed on her lip. “Okay, let’s call everyone. We need to take matters into our own hands.”

In a few minutes all the girls were projected on Wei’s wall. I caught them up on what I’d heard.

“The first thing is to get Joan away from those women,” Brie said. “Do we have any safe houses in town where she can go for a night or two? My uncle can usually help, but if we involve him, the guys will take over the whole scheme.”

“That won’t do,” I said. “She’s terrified of men. She barely allows women to help. The only man I know she tolerates near her is the doctor who’s been helping her. If a strange guy came up to her, it might push her over the edge. She’s come too far for that to happen.”

“I overheard my dad talking to one of his friends after that Alert,” Dorrie said. “He said maybe it’s best for some of them to be treated. At least they won’t remember the horrors that happened to them.”

“That’s not true,” I said. “Joan’s had some help from that doctor—he gives her meds and basic care on the sly. She’s so much better than when I first saw her. It’s not right to wipe away all of a person’s past, even if some of it is bad. The GC’s doing this only so that no FeLS girl will be able to identify her abusers.”

“I’m not afraid of a fight.” Brie rubbed her chin. “It’s just that, well, we’ve never done anything like this before.”

“I say we figure something out,” Paulette said. “We can do it.”

Paulette supporting me? I kept my expression as bland as possible, to hide my shock.

“It wouldn’t be much of a sisterhood if we didn’t stick together.” Mag nodded. “I’m in.”

“All right,” Brie said. “It’s going to take a day or so to find somewhere to put her until we figure out how to get her out of town.”

“Why out of town?” I asked.

“She won’t be safe here,” Wei said. “Not with that group of homeless knowing about her, and not with so many B.O.S.S. agents around. Out of the country would be even better. I wonder . . . Let me ask my mother about our relatives in Japan.”

“She’ll tell your father. We’ll be stopped,” I said.

“Trust me. She won’t tell Dad.”

“How would we ever get her to Japan?” Mag asked.

“Someone will have to go with her,” I said. “She’s not capable of making it on her own. Even though she’s getting better under this doctor’s care, she’s still really fragile.”

Everyone looked at Wei. “I guess it will have to be me,” she said. “Oh well, I haven’t seen those relatives . . . yeah, ever. I’m sure they won’t mind me popping in for a surprise visit.” She pursed her lips. “You know, it will be good research for Sociology. I’ll set it up as a school project. Dad can’t object to that.”

“I think I know how we can do it, too,” Brie said. “Uncle Alfonse has a veljet he’s been tinkering with for a couple of years. It’s robo-controlled, and if Mag can map out a flight plan, Dorrie can program the controls. Right?”

“Uh-huh,” Dorrie said. “As long as I have the coordinates.”

I was already envisioning Joan on her way to freedom. “Can your uncle fly them there?”

“He’s on the Dark Side for the next month,” Brie said.

“A month! We can’t wait that long. It could be too late.”

“Besides, the veljet holds only two people,” she said.

“It won’t need a pilot,” Dorrie said. “The preprogrammed coordinates and robo-pilot will take care of that. The only thing we’ll need is to get Joan to it, or it to Joan. I’m guessing it will be easier to get her to the hangar. It’s at Sal’s aunt Rita’s place.”

“I knew we could do this.” I was pumped.

“Won’t work.” Wei was shaking her head. “There’s too much security. We’ll be spotted the minute we set foot on Rita’s property.”

“Well, then . . .” Dorrie said. “We need to bring the veljet to her.”

“Right.” Mag stared pointedly at Dorrie. “Where are you gonna park a veljet in Chicago without the authorities being all over it in light speed?”

“Much as I’d love to know the answer to that,” Paulette said, “call me when you have it figured out. I’ve got to go help my mother with this party.” She clicked off.

“I’ve got to go, too,” Brie said. “Don’t worry, Nina. We’ll figure it out. Your friend deserves to be safe.” She clicked off.

“Sorry, Nina. But I know we’ll think of something.” Mag’s image disappeared.

Dorrie just said, “Bye.”

Wei and I stared at the blank wall for several seconds. Then she said, “I’m going to talk to Mom about Japan. And don’t worry. She won’t tell Dad. She doesn’t agree with him about keeping girls out of the fray. Your mother and mine were taking on the government as far back as when they were passing notes written in invisible ink in grade school. She understands.”

Half an hour later, Mag sent a message to the rest of us: “Brie, Dorrie, and I were talking. We came up with an idea.”