That move was underway, via their access to specialized housekeeping over in Admin, which was intended, perhaps, for Ari’s own use. They used it. And it had made Justin Warrick a special problem, Justin and Grant constituting a pair that were supposed to be free to come and go as they chose, but who also had to be protected against certain decidedly unsafe contacts…notably, henceforward, Jordan Warrick. Jordan Warrick was number one on the watch‑it list, until sera countermanded that, and by what they heard tonight, they were right. Right now Jordan Warrick was in the same category with a handful of azi who had worked closely with Denys and Giraud Nye, and who ought notto be admitted to the administrative wings.
Jordan Warrick did come and go as he pleased, inside Admin and Education, and was only restricted in Library and completely barred from Wing One–a situation which greatly offended him. Justin thought he’d go straight over to Yanni in the morning, complaining, and that would be a disturbance, perhaps provoking an Intervention from Yanni. So things that had happened tonight might grow more complicated in the morning.
They would have to brief sera, once she waked–about the late supper, the meeting, and their preemptive action, and it seemed at least likely she would approve. Sera had previously discussed moving Justin out of convenient range of Jordan. The office Justin and Grant used, previously Jordan’s, had never been outstandingly secure: the staff lacked adequate clearance for reasons of inadequate security training–that situation, exposing Justin to hazard, had never been to their liking, and now they had found an excuse to solve the problem. Catlin personally hoped they had solved it in some lasting fashion. And personally hoped, too, that they could manage something to be rid of Jordan Warrick, even if sera had brought him here.
Florian arrived back in the wing: Catlin noted the flash of ID on the readout as the outer door opened and shut. She sat and waited, checking the monitors. So was a ReseuneSec squad down in Main Security watching, on nightshirt. Hicks’s eyes were technically on the job, but Hicks himself would be abed, his second‑in‑command Kyle AK probably on duty–and, being azi, Kyle AK would theoretically be accounting for his decisions to Hicks in the morning. Which would give them time, if sera slept late, to inform sera before their actions began to racket through several systems.
Second flash from the console. Florian had deactivated and reactivated the alarm within System as he entered the apartment.
Soft footsteps outside. Florian arrived in the security office doorway, came in, and disposed himself in a chair, booted feet propped luxuriantly in the neighboring seat. He held up a small card between two fingers.
“What is it?” Catlin had seen the handoff–both handoffs.
“A business card. A contact number in Novgorod.” He spun around in the chair, touched a few buttons, put the card in the visual scanner…not the reader, sensible caution, for a card with a reader strip. He looked at the screen, punched more buttons, and retrieved the card. “A professor in Novgorod University. And the card wasn’t printed on any Reseune printer.”
“An educator. Jordan works education tape.”
“We’ll investigate the number on the card–I’m sure Jordan wants us to. Or wants Hicks to. Maybe Jordan’s trying to lead the investigation astray or get someone else in trouble.”
A Novgorod address, from the hand of a man who had no recent contacts outside Planys and Reseune.
Justin, too, had not quite promptly turned it over to sera’s security. But there was that connection to Jordan, a born‑man connection, emotional, and difficult to parse. Catlin afforded him a little latitude for that, but not too much.
“We aren’t likely to understand this,” Catlin said. “It seems unreasonable on Jordan’s part. It seems unlikely for him to have such a thing, unless he received it from someone in Reseune.”
“It seems we’ve moved Justin none too soon. Jordan’s action toward Justin seems to be an aggression.”
“Justin knew he was watched. But so did Jordan. Did Justin forget the card when he met you, do you think, or did it take him a moment to make up his mind?”
“Surrendering it would betray Jordan,” Florian said. “That may have taken a moment for him to decide.”
“But Justin knew he was watched. He knew in advance he would be stopped.”
“He could guess he would be stopped, and the end would be the same, whether he turned it over to me, or whether ReseuneSec asked for it. Perhaps he wasn’t thinking of that yet. He’d just argued with Jordan.”
“Perhaps Jordan wanted him to be stopped, to make him angry with Admin.”
“Possible.”
“Neither of them is stupid,” Catlin said.
“The same geneset. One won’t easily get the better of the other. But Jordan has lost something tonight. Justin won’t be in his reach. He won’t like that. I wonder if this card is worth it.”
“How did Justin seem?”
“You heard the exchange.”
“I didn’t see Justin’s face.”
“He expressed distress at disturbance to his work–which I’m sure he knows is being copied. He showed no particular reluctance to be separated from Jordan. He had warned Grant to avoid being alone with Jordan.”
“I heard that part. He thought there was a physical danger. To Grant, did he mean, or to him?”
“To Grant, likely. But anything that would harm Grant would harm him. They’re partners.”
“No choice but get them out tonight,” she said with a shake of her head. “Well that we did it. Can Section Three handle the transfer top to bottom? Will they bring it over in time, or do we have to go through Hicks’s office?”
“They indicate yes, they will. I put it through as an emergency. I think that’s accurate. They’ll tell Hicks in the morning, likely. Hicks will get the copies they make in Justin’s office. I’m not happy about Hicks’s access, but the alternative is much worse. Meanwhile we need to put through Justin’s address change. Inside sera’s wing he won’t be having his files copied again.”
“Easily done.” She spun her chair about, her fingers flew for a moment, and she sent, registering Justin Warrick’s new office address with Yanni’s office and incidentally with ReseuneSec.
That handled details that might have inconvenienced Justin in the morning–just to keep him calm in the transfer. For Jordan Warrick’s imminent inconvenience, or state of mind in the morning, she had no great concern at all.
One thing did worn her. “Sera’s papers are in that safe.”
“Not now.” Florian said. “Marco took them before Section Three could arrive. They’ll be in the office sera uses.”
They trusted no one completely, she and Florian…and that, on certain levels, meant they didn’ttrust Hicks’s office, or Yanni’s, to run things, or to hold information that might bear on Ari’s security. Their predecessors had failed, by all outside accounts, and died–deservedly so, because they had let their Ari die, and let Denys Nye take over Reseune. They took that event as a personal failure, a fault committed by their genesets, and they were absolutely determined to better the record in their tenure. They were not about to lose theirAri to Jordan Warrick–if it had been Jordan that murdered Ari One, as the public records officially said had happened…though that certainly wasn’t the whole story, and sera agreed they had had every reason to blame Denys Nye’s staff for the crime.