Part 47 (2/2)

”Do you go to school?”

”Yes, ser.”

”Do you like your teachers?”

He was trying to Work her, she decided. Absolutely. She put on her nicest face. ”Oh, they're fine.”

”Do you do well on tests?”

”Yes,” she said. ”I do all right.”

”Do you understand what it means to be a PR?”

There was the trap question. She wanted to look at uncle Giraud, but she figured that would tell them too much. So she looked straight up at the Justice. ”That means I'm legally the same person.”

”Do you know what legally legally means?” means?”

”That means if I get certified n.o.body can say I'm not me and take the things that belong to me without going through the court; and I'm a minor. I'm not old enough to know what I'm going to need out of that stuff, or what I want, so it's not fair to sue me in court, either.”

That got him. ”Did somebody tell you to say that?”

”Would you like it if somebody called you a liar about who you are? Or if they were going to come in and take your stuff? They can tell too much about you by going through all that stuff, and that's not right to do to somebody, especially if she's a kid. They can psych psych you if they know all that stuff.” you if they know all that stuff.”

Got him again.

”G.o.d,” Justin said, and lifted his eyes above his hand, watching while Giraud got Ari back to her seat.

”She certainly answered that one,” Grant said.

Mikhail Corain glared at the vid in his office and gnawed his lip till it bled.

”d.a.m.n, d.a.m.n, d.a.m.n,” d.a.m.n,” he said to his aide. ”How do we deal with he said to his aide. ”How do we deal with that? that? They've got that kid primed-” They've got that kid primed-”

”A kid,” Dellarosa said, ”can't take priority over national security.”

”You say it, I say it, the question is what's the Court going to hold? Those d.a.m.n fossils all came in under Emory's spoils system-the head of Justice is Emory's Emory's old friend. Call Lu in Defense.” old friend. Call Lu in Defense.”

”Again?”

”Again, dammit, tell him it's an emergency. He knows d.a.m.n well what I want-you go over there. No, never mind, I I will. Get a car.” will. Get a car.”

”. . . watch the hearing,” watch the hearing,” the note from Giraud Nye had read, simply. And Secretary Lu watched, fist under chin, his pulse elevated, his elbows on an open folio replete with pictures and test scores. the note from Giraud Nye had read, simply. And Secretary Lu watched, fist under chin, his pulse elevated, his elbows on an open folio replete with pictures and test scores.

A bright-eyed little girl with a cast on her arm and a scab on her chin. That part was good for the public opinion polls.

The test scores were not as good as the first Ari's. But they were impressive enough.

Corain had had his calls in from the instant he had known about the girl. And Lu was not about to return them-not until he had seen the press conference scheduled for after the hearing, the outcome of which was, as far as he was concerned, a sure thing.

Of paramount interest were the ratings on the newsservices this evening.

d.a.m.ned good bet that Giraud Nye had leaned on Catherine Lao of Information, d.a.m.ned good bet that Lao was leaning on the newsservices-Lao was an old and personal friend of Ari Emory.

Dammit, the old coalition seemed strangely alive, of a sudden. Old acquaintances rea.s.serted themselves. Emory had not been a friend-entirely. But an old and cynical military man, trying to a.s.sure Union's simple survival, found himself staring at a vid-screen and thinking thoughts which had seemed, a while ago, impossible.

Fool, he told himself.

But he pulled out a piece of paper and initiated a memo for the Defense Bureau lawyers: Military implications of the Emory files outweigh other considerations; draft an upgrading of Emory Archives from Secret to Utmost Secret and prepare to invoke the Military Secrets Act to forestall further legal action.

And to his aide: I need a meeting with Harad. Utmost urgency. need a meeting with Harad. Utmost urgency.

Barring, of course, calamity in the press conference.

iv ”Ari,” the Chief Justice said. ”Would you come up to the bar?”

It was after lunch, and the Justice called her right after he had called uncle Giraud.

So she walked up very quiet and very dignified, at least as much as she could with the cast and the sling, and the Justice gave a paper to the bailiff.

”Ari,” the Justice said, ”the Court is going to certify you. There's no doubt who your genemother was, and that's the only thing that's at issue in this Court today. You have t.i.tle to your genemother's CIT number.

”As to the PR designation, which is a separate question, we're going to issue a temporary certification-that means your card won't have it, because Reseune is an Administrative Territory, and has the right to determine whether you're a sibling or a parental replicate-which in this case falls within Reseune's special grants of authority. This court doesn't feel there's cause to abrogate those rights on an internal matter, where there is no challenge from other relatives.

”You have t.i.tle to all property and records registered and accrued to your citizen number: all contracts and liabilities, requirements of performance and other legal instruments not legally lapsed at the moment of death of your predecessor are deemed to continue, all contracts entered upon by your legal guardian in your name thereafter and until now are deemed effective, all t.i.tles held in trust in the name of Ariane Emory under that number are deemed valid and the individuals within this Writ are deemed legally identical, excepting present status as a minor under guardians.h.i.+p.

”Vote so registered, none dissenting. Determination made and entered effective as of this hour and date.”

The gavel came down. The bailiff brought her the paper, and it was signed and sealed by the whole lot of judges. Writ of Certification, Writ of Certification, it said at the top. With her name: Ariane Emory. it said at the top. With her name: Ariane Emory.

She gave a deep breath and gave it to uncle Giraud when he asked for it.

”It's still stupid,” she whispered to him.

But she was awfully glad to have it, and wished she could keep it herself, so uncle Giraud wouldn't get careless and lose it.

The reporters were not not mean. She was real glad about that, too. She figured out in a hurry that there weren't any Enemies with them, just a lot of people with notebooks, and people with cameras; so she told Catlin and Florian: ”You can relax, they're all right,” and sat on the chair they let her have because she said she was tired and her arm hurt. mean. She was real glad about that, too. She figured out in a hurry that there weren't any Enemies with them, just a lot of people with notebooks, and people with cameras; so she told Catlin and Florian: ”You can relax, they're all right,” and sat on the chair they let her have because she said she was tired and her arm hurt.

She could swing her feet, too. Act natural, Giraud had said. Be friendly. Don't be nasty with them: they'll put you on the news and then everybody across Union will know you're a nice little girl and n.o.body should file lawsuits and bring Bills of Discovery against you.

That made perfect sense.

So she sat there and they wrote down questions and pa.s.sed them to the oldest reporter, questions like: ”How did you break your arm?” all over again.

”Ser Nye, can you tell us what a horse is?” somebody asked next, out loud, and she thought that was funny, of course people knew what a horse was if they listened to tapes. But she was nice about it: ”I can do that,” she said. ”Horse is his name, besides what he is. He's about-” She reached up with her hand, and decided that wasn't high enough. ”Twice that tall. And brown and black, and he kind of dances. Florian knows. Florian used to take care of him. On Earth you used to ride them, but you had a saddle and bridle. I tried it without. That's how I fell off. Bang. Right over the fence.”

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