Part 21 (1/2)

”Yes,” Zed agreed.

Rhani read from the file. ”Family connections unknown; personal history unavailable due to I.D. ex. What is I.D. ex?”

”I.D. exchange,” Zed said. ”Where does it say that? When did he do it?”

He bent forward eagerly, scanning the file.

”What does it mean?” Rhani demanded.

Dana said, ”It means he changed his name.”

”Oh.”

Zed said, ”He was how old -- eighteen? Stars. His family must have _loved_ that. He took his majority money and told them to f.u.c.k off. Where did he go? Ah, Nexus. Then Santiago and Old Terra, and back to Nexus again.” Zed grinned. ”I knew some folks on Nexus who'd made three or four name changes.”

Dana nodded; so had he.

”Can you do that?” Rhani said.

”Sure. You apply for it at Compcenter. They verify you have no intent to defraud, take all your money, give you ten percent of it or the amount of your majority money, whichever is less, and change your name, removing all trace from their records of the person you were and of the change.”

”Why do people do it?” Rhani asked.

Dana and Zed looked at each other. ”To escape the past,” Zed said. ”To obliterate all traces of a person you no longer desire to be....” He stepped away from the com-unit.

”I want to know who Michel A-Rae was,” Rhani said.

Zed picked up the viewer from the rug. He turned it on and off again. ”I don't see how you can, Rhani-ka. The legal record no longer exists.”

Dana said, ”Maybe his name will tell you something.”

Rhani said, ”Of course! All Enchantean names are formal. Now, what does 'A-Rae' signify?” She punched instructions to the com-unit. Zed crossed to her.

The three of them stared at the screen.

”A-Rae. Uncla.s.sified name, believed invented. Pun on Enchantean local dialect. Means 'no one.'” Rhani snorted and blanked the display. ”Well.” She rested her hands on her lap. ”How remarkably useless.” She swiveled the chair.

”I'm hungry. Dana, will you tell Corrios we'd like to eat, please?”'

”Yes, Rhani-ka.”

Dana found himself wondering who Michel A-Rae had been. If A-Rae had not been there in Sardonyx Sector, driving away the dorazine trade, then he, Dana Ikoro, would have slipped unremarked onto Chabad's moon. It was A-Rae's doing that he had been brought to the attention of Zed Yago. b.a.s.t.a.r.d, he thought, sanctimonious, fanatic -- he heard himself fuming, and laughed.

”Glad you've got something to laugh about,” said Binkie sourly. He was sitting in the kitchen, gnawing at some bread and cheese. Dana ignored him. ”They want to eat,” he said to Corrios. The big man nodded, eyes unreadable behind his sunshades.

”Has Rhani asked for me?” Binkie said.

”No,” Dana said. And then, because though he did not like the pallid secretary, they had something in common, he said, ”Zed's back from the ice.”

”I figured,” said Binkie.

Dana went to the dining alcove. Amri sat there, playing with a three- dimensional game. She turned it this way and that, trying to make the counters fall through holes. ”Can you do this?” she asked as he approached, holding the layered cube out to him.

”Nope,” he said. ”Rhani wants to eat, kitten.”

”Oh,” She laid the game aside. ”I'd better make this room ready. Why do you call me that?”

He shrugged. ”A nickname. Don't you like it?”

She smiled at him. ”I like it.” Hair like a blown cloud around her head, she went into the kitchen.

While Zed and Rhani ate, Dana, Corrios, and Amri stayed in the kitchen: Corrios to watch and Amri to serve the meal, Dana because he liked keeping Amri company. After dinner, he went to his room. He had just put Stratta's ”Fugue for Three Flutes” in the auditor when the door of the room opened suddenly and Zed walked in.

Dana froze, sweat p.r.i.c.kling the back of his neck. Memories of the last time Zed had come to his room were unpleasantly fresh in his mind. Zed gestured to the auditor. Dana shut it off. The Net commander grinned at him. ”Relax.” He tossed something underhand onto the bed. It was the viewer, with the booktape still inside it. ”Rhani mentioned at dinner that you were the one who noticed the watcher in the park,” Zed said.

”Yes, Zed-ka.”

”That was good. It occurred to me that the Hype cops may not be satisfied with hanging around in the parks. How good are you at noticing a shadow?”

Dana licked his lips. ”I don't know,” he said.

Zed snorted. ”You were a smuggler, Dana. You know enough to look behind you.”

”Yes,” Dana said. ”But it's easier to spot a shadow in the Hyper district -- ”.

”I know,” said Zed. ”But when Rhani goes out, I want you to watch. A-Rae might be having her followed.”

”Or you,” Dana said.

Zed nodded. ”Or me. Thank you for reminding me. We don't know what he wants, after all. Maybe he thinks I'll lead him to the Yago drug dealer.” He grimaced. ”One thing I'll say for A-Rae, he isn't subtle.” He stepped back.

”Good night.”

”Good night,” Dana said, astonished. Zed's footsteps echoed down the hall. Night, Dana thought, night was the safe time.... Memories of the Net engulfed him, and he s.h.i.+vered.

He closed the door firmly, and turned on the auditor again. ”Fugue for Three Flutes” filled the room. Dimming the lights, he undressed. The sheets were fragrant and cool; as he slid between them, Dana thought of Rhani, Rhani and Zed. She had said specifically that they had not been lovers. She's beautiful now -- she must have been lovely at seventeen, he thought.

He closed his hands to fists, remembering the warm, liquid touch of her tongue on his palm. She wanted him; he knew it, and it terrified him, knowing that if Zed found out about it, it could cost him his sanity, if not his life.

He a.s.sumed she usually took lovers when Zed was on the Net. What must that be like for him? Ridiculous to feel sympathy for Zed Yago -- but he recalled the moment in the bedroom that afternoon, when Rhani asked why people changed their names, and Zed had answered, ”To obliterate all traces of a person you no longer desire to be.”

He turned out the lights. Now the only illumination was the city light seeping through the window. The house was still. Stratta's flutes wove fluid serene patterns. Dana wondered where Tori Lamonica was now. He let breath hiss through his teeth, thinking of the Hype, the vast, vertiginous darkness wreathed in hieroglyphs of ruby dust, and him with his s.h.i.+p vibrating beneath his feet....

He s.h.i.+fted to lie on his side. Now he could not see the window. Rhani Yago. If she wanted him -- well, she could have him. He was her slave. And maybe, if he pleased her enough, maybe she would free him.

Maybe.