Emerald Eyes | Page 9

boy struck the mat rolling and came to his feet running backward. The Peaceforcer was right there, a long kick whistling through the space the boy's body had occupied an instant before.
For a moment the two stood facing each other, motionless, before engaging again, and Lorette continued speaking as though she had never been interrupted. "But the people in the city," she said, lips drawn back from her teeth in a reflex that had nothing to do with a human's smile, "animals. They stare so." She stopped scratching Shana. "How is that?"
"I still itch in all places."
Lorette sighed, switched to French. "What did they inject you with?"
The snarl in Shana's voice would have been audible even to a human. "They did not tell me, except it is supposed to make me strong. If I was a human, even a genie, they would have said."
Lorette chuckled without amusement. "If you were a human citizen they could not even have injected you without permission."
Shana was silent, watching as a somewhat smaller Peaceforcer took over from the very large one. The boy had no time to catch his breath; within seconds the two were fighting, each wielding a meter-long rod of wood with a rounded, metal cap at each end.
"Really?"
Lorette sighed, and returned to English. "It is what Albert says."
"Albert says things just to say them," said Shana sullenly.
"True." Lorette was struck by something amusing, and she leaned forward to whisper in Shana's ear. "Albert told me that he has watched Carl spar and that he is better."
"Scratch my shoulders, please," said Shana. Lorette's claws moved up after the new itch, and Shana sighed with pleasure when they caught it. "Albert is a fool. He is four years older than Carl, and he is jealous because he is not as important. He is one of many de Nostri, and Carl is the only telepath." She thought about the subject for a moment. "Perhaps it is true, that he is better than Carl, with an advantage of six years study. Carl began learning only after they found he was a telepath and realized it might be necessary to use him in the field. But I will tell you this much, Albert may best Carl on the mat. If they ever truly fight, Carl will win." Shana had to catch her breath after speaking; she was slightly winded.
"I have talked to Carl once," said Lorette thoughtfully. "He says when they take him on assignment he is well protected."
Shana nodded. "Yes. He is their only telepath, unless the little dark haired girl is one also, and they will not know that until, what is it," and she took a long, deep breath, to bring the air into her lungs, and said, "comment dit-on en anglais m��narche?"
"Puberty," said Lorette, "but it means for boys and girls both. They do not have a word for m��narche."
"They will not know until Jany reaches puberty, then." Shana coughed, a deep, guttural sound, and said, "It makes him special."
Lorette brightened. "Look, the fourth match is finished. One more and we can go to lunch."
Shana shook her head slowly. Her ears were twitching. "I think perhaps I should go to the infirmary."
"Shana?"
"I...I do not feel well."
Carl did not look away from his match as they left.
The field wavered slightly. Suzanne Montignet's image waited for nearly three seconds after Malko had finished speaking; round-trip signal time from the PKF Elite SpaceBase One, at L-5. "You've got to be kidding."
Malko shook his head no. "They weren't sure at first what was happening. It took nearly a day before the transform virus killed her. I had Carson on the line after it happened. He denied--"
"Of course the virus killed her," Suzanne exploded after the strange delay that Malko found himself unable to become used to. "What did the bloody fools expect? She was a de Nostri, for God's sake! Those are not human muscle cells!"
Malko waited until there was silence before he continued. "Ellie Samuels did the work, and she says she received her orders directly from Councilor Carson. You weren't available for her to check with, which is clearly intentional."
Suzanne was nodding tensely. "Of course it was. Carson's wanted to try seeding one of the de Nostri with the enhanced-strength transform virus for the last year. They're so strong to begin with, the damn fool figures this should make them even stronger. I told him the odds were terrible." She looked broodingly into the holocam, eyes slightly unfocused; she was not looking at the screen that held Malko's image. "It's been fascinating, seeing the work the Peaceforcers have been doing in transform viruses, but it still didn't make sense, how insistent they were that I make the trip to L-5, until now. Carson wanted me up here so that I couldn't interfere down there.