her legs folded under her looking as relaxed and beatific as a statue of Maitreya.
If Katerina was surprised to see that I was still alive, she didn’t show it. Her eyes narrowed in what I somehow knew was a smile beneath the gag.
Andrea looked her up and down. “Take her away,” she ordered, and the proxies moved in. As they unstrapped one arm and secured it with a pair of handcuffs, Andrea drew her gun and aimed it at her mother’s head. This seemed to delight Katerina, who offered no resistance at all. The proxies cuffed her other hand, then carefully undid the restraints on her feet.
As they stood her up, Katerina’s eyes sparkled as if she found the whole scene unbearably amusing. She’d been hunted down and dragged back to the unit she once commanded. Whatever plans she may have had were now dead in the void. And yet, there was that smile. A kind of arrogance that survived any situation she could ever find herself in.
The proxies pushed her forward, and Katerina let them lead her away. It made me think of my own story—once an Arbiter, then hunted down by other Arbiters. If they’d caught me, I would have been interrogated in my own headquarters just as she was about to be.
“You’re looking thoughtful.” Andrew’s voice was quiet, and oddly sincere.
“I fought that woman on the Havisham. She’s a frightening person. Fearless. Practically a demon in combat, but it still seems sad.”
“Trust me, Tycho, she made her own choices every step of the way.”
“What was she like, before...” I gestured towards the elevator. “Everything.”
“Extremely capable. Reckless, but so good at everything that it didn’t matter. High expectations no one could ever seem to meet. Ultimately, she’s just a narcissist. We all respected her skill, but she was a slave to her own ego.”
Andrea turned and looked at us. “I’m not sure that’s true. There were moments on Venus when she could have killed me. There were moments when I’m sure she was trying to. She’s mercurial, but there’s also a kind of logic to her actions. I’m surprised she didn’t produce a hidden gun and come out of that car shooting.”
“She’s good,” said Veraldi. “But no one’s that good.”
Raven shrugged. “I don’t know. Remember that time in Ghent?”
There were a few wry chuckles. I didn’t get the joke.
Andrea straightened up and brushed her hair out of her face with her right hand. “Has Dr. Markov left yet?” Veraldi glanced in her direction as if he was trying to figure something out. “She’s still here,” he said. “She’s scheduled to leave in the morning.”
“Let her know she’ll be needed for a few more days,” she said. I couldn’t read the expression on her face.
Veraldi nodded. “I’ll take care of it, chief.”
He left to talk to Samara, and I realized that Andrea was going to ask her mother to give her a new arm. To replace the arm her other mother had ripped off. It was an understandably awkward situation.
When Andrea turned back to the rest of us, I noticed a clear fluid seeping down from the bare socket where her left arm had been. Neurorelay fluid, the same stuff that now flowed through all four of my limbs. There must have been a wound in her side as well. Blood was starting to seep through her shirt. The fist-sized stain was almost black against the drab blue uniform shirt. She was hardly standing, but her demeanor was one of total self-control.
“No one is to contact the prisoner for any reason. Full quarantine.”
Andrew nodded. “Of course, chief.”
“The way she talks…” Raven shuddered suddenly.
“I know,” said Andrea. “She’ll get inside your head. I want everyone to understand: no communication, not even security audio. Not even visual data.”
“Your word is good enough for me.” Andrew’s jokey and sarcastic attitude was suddenly gone. He seemed completely sincere. “I’ll keep my distance. But…”
“Yes?” She stared at him blankly, and he shifted uncomfortably beneath her gaze.
“Who’s doing the interrogation? Are you sure you’re—”
“I’m conducting the interrogation in the morning.” Her voice was flat. Andrew almost said something, then he seemed to think better of it. He just smiled and nodded. Andrea looked to each of us expectantly. No one said a word. She turned and made her way to the elevators, a trail of blood and neurorelay fluid marking her path.
15
I spent the rest of the day shooting targets and running AR exercises with Raven. She wouldn’t tell me my scores in any of