(eng) Kristine Kathryn Rusch - Retrieval Artist 15 by Masterminds

Author:Masterminds [Masterminds]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

THIRTY-TWO

GOMEZ FOLLOWED DERICCI through double doors that opened into an office. The office would have been impressive—if it weren’t for the piles of self-cleaning food cartons on one desk, and the dirty clothes that peaked out behind the other. Tablets covered a few chairs. A blanket, scrunched up against the arm of one couch, looked like it had recently doubled as a pillow.

Signs of stress, everywhere, and none clearer than on the face of the chief herself, Noelle DeRicci.

DeRicci looked nothing like the vids that Gomez had seen of her. The woman before Gomez was thinner, older, with lots of gray in her curls. Those curls were matted, whether from inattention or a recent nap Gomez couldn’t tell. The blanket suggested a nap, but the food cartons suggested inattention.

“Forgive me for being blunt,” DeRicci said, “but I’m pressed for time here. I know you told my assistant that you have information we need. Before I hear about that, I want to know why you were looking for a job in Hétique City.”

Gomez felt a frisson of surprise. She hadn’t expected that piece of information to show up in a vetting.

“I wasn’t,” Gomez said. “I used my status as on-leave and an old posting the cloning factory in Hétique City had made on law enforcement sites to get into the factory itself. I was following a lead.”

“What lead?” DeRicci’s voice was flat. She was obviously tired, but still sharp.

Gomez appreciated that.

“Some PierLuigi Frémont clones originated there decades ago,” Gomez said. “I wanted to see if that factory was the one that made the clones that attacked the Moon.”

DeRicci’s eyebrows went up dramatically, which was clearly an affectation, done for Gomez’s benefit.

“Why would you care?” DeRicci asked.

She hadn’t been kidding when she said she was going to be blunt.

“Because,” Gomez said, “I think I could have prevented all of the attacks on the Moon years ago, if I had only followed up.”

DeRicci leaned her head back as if she hadn’t expected that answer. “Followed up?”

“I sent some injured PierLuigi Frémont clones from a moon in the Frontier to hospitals inside the Alliance, expecting that my division would follow up, interview the survivors about the strange situation they had been in, and stop whatever was going on. Instead, those clones were warehoused in the Alliance prison system. Shortly after I found him, he and the rest were killed.”

DeRicci’s expression didn’t change.

Gomez wondered if her words had been too dramatic. Maybe she should have led into the Alliance involvement. DeRicci probably had no idea that there was an Alliance connection to the attacks.

The silence hung between them what seemed like hours.

Then DeRicci sighed. “How long ago was this?”

“About fifteen years,” Gomez said.

DeRicci cursed. “Who plays this kind of long game? And why? What has the Moon done to these people?”

“I don’t think it was the Moon,” Gomez said. “I think these attacks are aimed at the Alliance itself.”

DeRicci didn’t seem surprised by that either, although she did say, “Well, it’s sure looking personal to me.

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