Lise, DM Arnold [bearly read books .TXT] 📗

while another reviewed their registrations on his handheld. “Follow me.”

“Put your hands on your head,” the other officer ordered and followed them outside the Zone to a pair of trailers that had been joined to form a makeshift headquarters.

“Sergeant... They claim to have information.”

“We know where Mott is,” Lise said.

“Where?”

“Do you have a map?” she asked.

The sergeant unrolled a scroll onto a table. She pointed to a building on the north side of the old park. “There -- in a ground floor room.”

“You're sure?”

“Positive.”

The sergeant operated his mediascreen. “Swarm coordinates B-3,” he ordered and then looked toward Lise and her mother. “We'll see...”

“I also know who he is,” Lise added.

“Who? What do you mean, who?”

“Mott isn't a novonid. He's a white man, disguised as one.”

“Why would a white disguise himself as a novonid?”

“I don't know,” Lise replied.

“Who is he, then?”

Lise looked into the sergeant's eyes. “He's Thom, Lord Bromen.”

The sergeant laughed. “Lord Bromen? A lord would do this?”

“Do you know what Mott looks like?” Lise asked.

“We have a composite sketch.” The sergeant brought an image onto his mediascreen.

“That's Lord Bromen,” Lise said.

“I'll bring up Lord Bromen's image...” The two images were displayed side-by-side.

“You know, Sarge,” the deputy said. “I think the greenie's right.”

The mediascreen signaled an incoming call. “Yes?” the sergeant answered.

“They scattered,” came a voice from the device. “We bagged a few of them.”

“Mott?”

“He got away -- if he was there at all.”

“He was there,” Lise said. “I saw him.”

“Cordon the building,” the sergeant replied into the mediascreen. “That one's next for demolition. Go through it for materiel and then have the demo team set their charges.”

The officer on the other end acknowledged his orders and the call terminated.

“Sergeant,” Lise said. “Mott will be headed here -- to the house on the hill.” She pointed to the map. “There's a path from the far end of the Zone leading here.” She traced the path. “If you wait for him here, you'll catch him.”

The sergeant placed another call and ordered officers to the address.

“That's a lord's residence,” the officer on the other end protested. “We need the Constable-in-Chief's go-ahead.”

“You stake it out,” the sergeant replied, “and let me worry about Lord Fahrr's permission.” The call disconnected. “Or, his forgiveness,” the sergeant muttered under his breath. He turned to the officer who had brought Lise and the others. “Take them downtown. Lord Fahrr will want a word with them.”

“Will Lord Fahrr accept the words of novonids as an excuse for searching a lord's home?” the officer asked.

“If it's true -- if Lord Bromen is Mott... Then we had a hot tip, and these novonids' words won't matter.”

“If it's not true?”

“Then I'll be the one to deal with it. Dismissed.”

The officer gestured them out of the sergeant's office. “We need a car,” he said to another deputy behind a desk.

“There's one outside.”

“Come along...”

He opened the rear door. Lise and Rayla slid in.

“I don't know what I'm doing here,” Rayla said. “I don't know anything about Mott or Lord Bromen.”

“At least you're outside the Zone,” Lise replied. “With any luck you won't need to go back. Have you heard from Father?”

“No... I'm treating no news as good news.”

The car's turbine whined and the driver guided it away from the Zone and toward the cluster of high-rise buildings in central Vyonna. He pulled the car into the underground garage and stopped by an entrance.

Another deputy greeted them. “Are these the ones to see Lord Fahrr?” he asked.

“They're the ones.”

He pulled open the rear door. “This way, folks.” He led them to a lift and escorted them into an office waiting room. “Wait here for Lord Fahrr.”

Lise sat, her hands in her lap. She could hear constables and staff murmuring and she could discern the words Mott and Bromen.

An officer approached them and regarded their serial numbers. He looked at Rayla. “Come with me.”

“Me?”

“Yes -- follow me.” He led her through a door.

Lise sat and waited, thinking of what she had done ... what she had set into motion. Thom! Why? She remembered what her mother had said -- sometimes we must intervene.

The door opened and a deputy led Rayla back into the waiting room. He nodded toward Lise. She walked into the room and faced a grey-haired man with an impeccably trimmed moustache. He wore a constable's uniform, on the right shoulder of which were embroidered three lozenges, done in metallic purple thread.

“Please sit,” he said. “I'm Lord Fahrr. You must be Lise.”

“Yes, Lord,” she replied.

He consulted his mediascreen. “Lise, I'm going to ask you a series of questions. You must answer them truthfully. If we discover any falsehoods, it could be very serious for you. Do you understand?”

She swallowed. “Yes, Lord.”

“Very good. It is a serious accusation you have made against Lord Bromen.”

“I know it is.”

“What event brought you to the conclusion he was leading a double life, impersonating a novonid named Mott?”

“Well, Lord... I was in his house and witnessed what appeared to be a novonid man of similar build and physique enter and go into a locked workroom. Thom... Lord Bromen emerged from the room. When I questioned him about who had entered the room, he said it was only himself. He suggested I imagined it.”

“Did you consider that possibility?”

“The first night this happened I thought I might've imagined it. Then, the second night I purposely waited under a stairwell so I could be sure. It was without a doubt Thom ... Lord Bromen in novonid disguise.”

“You saw this on numerous occasions?”

“Yes, Lord.”

“You were inside the Zone when you approached the constables with your information.”

“Yes -- The first two nights I observed Lord Bromen enter the house in novonid disguise. Tonight I waited to see if Lord Bromen left the house as Mott. He did. I followed him into the Zone and into the building where he was meeting with his lieutenants.”

“What were you doing at Lord Bromen's home in the first place?”

“After the bombing, when the Zone was evacuated we were instructed to go to our owners. Since I am registered to Novonid Rescue, I had no owner to go to; so, I went to Lord Bromen's home.”

“Why?”

“He bought me for Novonid Rescue. I didn't know where else to go.”

“How would you describe your relationship with Lord Bromen prior to the incidents in the Zone?”

“We were friends, Lord.”

“Good friends?”

“Yes, Lord.”

“Were you lovers?”

Lise took a deep breath. “I loved him as a very dear friend, Lord. We were not lovers in the traditional sense.”

“Did you have a sexual relationship with him?”

“Lord, I don't believe I should be compelled to answer that. The sort of physical relationship, if any, that two consenting adults share is their business and no one else's.”

“Let me be the judge of that, Lise. Sexual relationships are frequently cause for all sorts of behavior. Did you have a sexual relationship with him?”

“I will not answer that, Lord.”

“Lise, you need not fear consequences from your answer. I've known Lord Bromen for years. Despite his eccentricities, he is first and foremost a gentleman, and a gentleman protects his ladies' honor. It would hinge on his word and I know what his answer will be. I'll ask you again... Did you have a sexual relationship?”

Lise's heart was pounding and she felt her neck becoming damp. She tried to maintain her composure. “Lord, with all due respect -- I will not answer.”

“Hmmph... Then, I must assume the worst.”

“Assume what you must, Lord. I will not lie and I will not answer that question.”

“Lord Bromen has long been rumored to have a fondness for green flesh.” Lise felt warmth building in her face. “How would you respond if I told you I know of other novonid females who have been ... intimate with Lord Bromen?”

“With all respect, Lord Fahrr -- it's of no consequence to me.” She looked at her feet. “Have you interviewed them? Did they admitted to such?”

Fahrr gazed at her for a long moment. “If it's of no consequence to you, why do you ask?”

She looked him in the eye. “It IS of no consequence, Lord.”

“Fine, Lise, if you say so... How did you find Lord Bromen after the evacuation of the Zone?”

“As I said, we were told to go to our owners and I believed in my case that meant to Lord Bromen's house...”

“No, Lise -- how was his behavior toward you?”

“He was distracted and ... distant.”

“Do you have any other evidence of his alter-ego?”

“Other than seeing him in novonid green paint and costume with my own eyes ... no, Lord.”

“That's enough, Lise. Thank you.” He pressed a key on his desk.

A deputy escorted Lise back to the waiting room. Rayla was gone. “Where's my mother?” she asked.

“Her owner has made arrangements with a temporary shelter in Quadrant Two. She's being taken there. Your registration is in order. We're awaiting instructions on where you should go.”

“Am I to be detained?” Lise asked.

“No. It turns out that one Thom, Lord Bromen was this Mott guy stirring up trouble in the Zone. Well, they caught him on some hot tip as he was trying to sneak back into his house. Because it was a white who was responsible, they're not charging any of the novonids ... except for the ones who blew up the constable's station. They have those on surveillance cams.”

“So, what happens next?”

“We go through the Zone with a fine-tooth comb and find those four or five who bombed the substation. Then, we'll re-open the Zone, lift the state of emergency and we're back to normal. Those are Lord Fahrr's orders.”

“Lord Fahrr's orders?” Lise asked.

Lord Fahrr has a soft spot for greenies. He doesn't think it's in your people's nature to do something like that on your own. If it were up to me, I'd go in there with a flame-thrower and fix the problem once and for all.”

Lise winced. “The other strikers won't be punished?”

“No. They was just following this Mott fellow's lead.

“Will I need to testify at Lord Bromen's trial?”

“No... Novonid testimony isn't admissible. However, what you told the Constable-in- Chief IS admissible.”

“What about all the unregistereds in the Zone?”

“Lord Fahrr says, leave 'em be. They're not hurting anyone -- so long as they stay there.” The deputy's handheld warbled and he consulted it. “Looks like Novonid Rescue didn't make any arrangements for temporary shelters. I don't know where you go next.”

“I do,” she replied. “Can someone take me to Quadrant Three, block fourteen-forty, number 505?”

“I think we can arrange that. This way...” Lise began walking toward the lift.

The squad car sped along the empty streets and pulled into the residential neighborhood where Megan lived. “Officer -- what constitutes a curfew violation?”

“You must be off the streets.”

“So if I sat on a doorstep...”

“You'd be off the street.”

The car stopped in front of Megan's house. Lise sat on the doorstep, buried her face in her hands and wept.

Dawn twilight painted the sky. Lise sat, half asleep and propped against the house. The sound of the door opening jarred her awake.

“Lise! Are you all right?” She stood and faced Megan. “What are you doing here at this time of day? I got a call from across the street that someone was on my doorstep.”

Lise threw her arms around Megan and began sobbing.

“Oh, Lise -- you poor girl. Have you been here all night?”

“Most of it.”

“Why didn't you ring the bell?”

“I didn't want to disturb you.”

“Come inside. The twins aren't awake yet.”

“Have you seen the news?”

“No.” Megan led Lise into the living room and turned on the mediascreen. “They're calling a truce in the Zone. They've captured Mott!”

“Yes. It turned out he was a friend of mine.”

“My goodness... This is unbelievable.”

“I have no place to stay, now.”

“Then, you'll stay here.”

“Really?” a young voice asked. Lise turned and saw Klarissa standing in her bedroom door. “Lise is staying here with us?”

“For a while,” her mother replied.

“Geddes! Lise is here and she's staying with us!”

The twins ran to her and she hugged and kissed them. “They're such beautiful children, Megan. You are so fortunate.”

“You can sleep in my bed,” Klarissa said.

“No, mine,” Geddes replied.

“I'll be fine on the sofa.”

“The sofa unfolds into a bed,” Megan said.

“Perfect.”

Lise sat at the kitchen table as Megan, Klarissa and Geddes ate their dinner. “Lise -- I feel so badly that you're sitting there with nothing but a glass of water.”

“I'm fine. I won't feed for another couple of days. ”

“She gets her food from the sun,” Klarissa said.

“Yes, I know, dear,” Megan said to her daughter.

“It's a privilege and an honor to be invited to sit at your dinner table.”

“I will pick up a couple of cans of the food you eat. Is there anything in particular you like?”

“It's all the same.”

The doorbell rang. “I wonder who that is?” Megan stood and opened