Nope. It would violate our tacit agreement. Ill go in, then well see what happens. At least youll have a spy inside the gate, at that point.
It seems wrong to use you so.
Mm, but kids only dare defy those whom they really trust. The fact that Im still mostly a stranger to him gives me an advantage, which I invite you to use.
True enough. Well all right.
The door opened a cautious crack. Miles waited. It opened a little wider. He sighed, turned sideways, and slipped through. Nikki shut it again immediately, and snapped the lock.
The boy was dressed for school, in his braided uniform of sober gray and maroon, but minus his shoes. The shoes presumably had been the sticking point, with their implicit commitment to going out. Nikki backed up and seated himself on the edge of the tub; Miles laid out his toiletries kit on the counter and rolled up his sleeves, trying to think fast before coffee. Or think at all. His eloquence had inspired his soldiers to face death, in the past, or so he dimly recalled. Now lets try something really hard. Playing for time and inspiration, he methodically brushed his teeth, by which time the depilatory had finished working. He washed off the resultant goo, rubbed his face dry with the towel, flung it over his shoulder, and leaned with his back against the door, slowly unrolling his sleeves and fastening his cuffs.
So, Nikki, he said at last. Whats the trouble with going to school this morning?
Moisture smeared around the boys defiant eyes glistened when it caught the light. Im sick. Ive got Vorzohns thing.
Its not catching. You cant give it to anybody. Except for the way you got it. From the blank look on Nikkis face, the idea of being dangerous to anyone else had never crossed his mind. Ah, the self-centeredness of childhood. Miles hesitated, wondering how to approach the real problem. For almost the first time, he wondered how certain aspects of his childhood had looked from his parents point of view. The doubled vision was dizzying. How the devil did I wind up on the enemy side?
You know, Miles essayed, no one will even know you have it unless you tell them. Its not like they can smell it on you, eh?
The mulish look redoubled. Thats what Mama said.
Scratch that trial balloon. There was an inherent problem in suggesting secrecy anyway, as Tiens life demonstrated. Suppressing a passing desire to strangle the boy for inflicting yet more distress on Ekaterin just now, Miles asked, Have you had breakfast yet?
Yeah.
Starving him out or bribing him with food would be too slow, then. Well deal. I wont tell you youre blowing it all out of proportion if you wont tell me I dont understand.
Nikki glanced up from his seat, his attention arrested. Yeah. See me, kid. Miles considered, and immediately discarded, any argument that smacked of threat, that attempted to chivvy Nikki in the right direction by upping the pressure. For instance, the one that started out, How do you ever expect to have the courage to jump through wormholes if you havent the courage to face this? Nikki was up against the wall now, driven into this untenable retreat. Upping the pressure would just squash him. The trick was to lower the wall. I went to a private school a bit like yours. I cant remember a time I wasnt dealing with being a mutie Vor, in my classmates eyes. By the time I was your age, I had a dozen strategies. Some of them were pretty counterproductive, I admit.
Hed gone through medical hell in his childhood with a stiff lip. But a few still-remembered playfellows, upon discovering that his brittle bones made physical harassment too dangerous-to themselves, when they found they couldnt conceal the evidence-had learned to reduce him to humiliated tears with words alone. Sergeant Bothari, delivering Miles daily to this academic purgatory, quickly made a routine of an expert shakedown, relieving him of weapons ranging from kitchen knives to a military stunner stolen from Captain Koudelkas holster. After that, Miles had gone to war in a subtler fashion. It had taken almost two years to teach certain of his classmates to leave him alone. Learning all round. Upon reflection, offering his own age nine-to-twelve solutions might not be the best idea in fact, letting Nikki even find out what some of them had been could be a supremely bad idea. But that was twenty years ago, on Barrayar. Times have changed. What exactly do you think your friends here will do to you?
Nikki shrugged. Dunno.
Well, give me some guesses. You cant plan a strategy without good intelligence.
Nikki shrugged again. After a time he added, Its not what theyll do. It what theyll think.
Miles blew out his breath. Thats a little tenuous for me to work with, yknow. What you fear someone will think, in the future. I usually have to use fast-penta to find out what people really think. And even fast-penta wont tell me what theyre going to think.
Nikki hunched. Miles regretfully gave up the notion of telling him that if he kept making those turtle-backed gestures, his spine would freeze like that, just as Miless had. There was a faint, awful possibility the boy might believe him.
What we need, Miles sighed, is an ImpSec agent. Someone to scout unknown territory, not knowing what the strangers they meet are going to do or think. Listen carefully, watch and remember, report back. And they have to do it over and over, in new places all the time. Its bloody daunting, the first time.
Nikki looked up. How do you know? You said you were a courier.
Damn, the kid was sharp. Im, um, not supposed to talk about it. Youre not cleared. But do you think your school is as dangerous as, say, Jacksons Whole, or Eta Ceta? Just to pick a couple of, ah, random examples.
Nikki stared in silent and, Miles feared, justified scorn of this adult floundering.
Tell you something I did learn, though.
Nikki was drawn, or at least, looked up.
Go with it; he wont give you more. Its not as daunting the second time. I wished later I could have started with the second time. But the only way to get to the second time is to do the first time. Seems paradoxical, that the fastest way to get to easy is through hard. In any case, I cant spare you an ImpSec agent to check out your school for anti-mutant activity.
Nikki snorted warily, alive to the least hint of patronization.
Miless grin twisted in bleak appreciation. Besides, it would be overkill, dont you think?
Probly. Grouchy hunching.
The ideal ImpSec scout would be someone who could blend in, anyway. Someone who knew the territory like that back of his hand, and wouldnt make dangerous mistakes out of ignorance. Someone who could keep his own counsel and not let his assumptions get in the way of his observations. And not get into fights, because it would blow his cover. Very practical people, the successful Imperial agents Ive known. He eyed Nikki meditatively. This was not going well. Try another. The youngest subagent I ever employed was about ten. It wasnt on Barrayar, needless to say, but I dont think youre any less bright or competent than she was.
Ten? said Nikki, temporarily startled out of his surly knot. She?
It was for a spot of simple courier duty. She could pass unnoticed where a uniformed mercen-where a uniformed adult could not. Now, Im willing to be your tactical consultant on this, ah, school-penetration mission, but I cant work without intelligence. And the best agent to collect it, in this case, is already in place. Do you dare?
Nikki shrugged. But his lip-biting stony look had faded into one of speculation. Ten a girl
A hit, a very palpable hit. I put her down on my ImpSec expenditures log as a local informant. She was paid, of course. Same rates as an adult. A small but measurable contribution to speeding that particular mission to a successful conclusion. Miles stared off into the middle distance for a moment, with an air of reminiscence of the sort which usually preceded long, boring adult stories. When he judged the hook was set, he feigned to come back to himself and smiled faintly at Nikki. Well, thats enough of that. Duty drives. I havent had breakfast. If you decide to come out, Ill be here for another ten minutes or so.