Liss found herself in a secure transport, whisked across Hub Metro to a place she had never seen in real life, but which she knew well from her frantic and pointless appeals for an investigation into the genocide on her world: the headquarters of the Interversal Criminal Tribunal. The building had only just been assigned to the ICT, and like most structures in Hub Metro, it soared to an almost capricious height. But there was something more serious about this place. Whatever architect from a distant universe had been given the opportunity to show off their skills in front of the multiverse had chosen to create something inspired by devotional architecture, and knew well the effect on the human mind of a lofty, endless space stretching to an unimaginably high ceiling. It looked to be made of stone, but no mere stone could bear the weight of such high, curving pillars, or support the obsidian sheets that formed the walls. And this was just the lobby, stretching up into something surpassing the human scale. Beyond it, all the floors that held the offices, workrooms and assorted facilities the ICT needed were arrayed on the back wall of the broad cathedral that sustained the noise of steps and voices into an endless fading sonic glow.
I met Liss at the front desk as she was led in by two guards. She wore a mohib suit under the prison uniform, and was surprised to see me. I was still surprised to be there. “I need you to meet someone,” I said, and led her inside. The guards stayed with us. No one would trust her now, and the guards were a non-negotiable item when we asked for her presence.
Inside the room — a remote meeting room like so many others across Hub — Eremis Ai stood, but did not offer to shake her hand, mindful of the protocols we’d had to sign up to in order to get her there. “Thanks for coming,” he said.
“Okay…” replied Liss, amused. The choice hadn’t really been hers. I joined Eremis at the meeting table, and asked Liss to sit down opposite us.
“I’m sorry about the mohib suit,” I said.
“It’s itchy,” she muttered.
“There’s nothing I can do about it, Liss.”
“Yeah. I got that. You can’t do anything. Except drag me halfway across town. What’s this about? You investigating me now?”
Eremis gave me a look: my questions came first.
“Why did you attack him, Liss?
“It’s like you said. I’m supposed to be investigating. That’s what I did.”
“You planned it?”
“Well, no, not all of it. But he pissed me off.”
“How did he do that?”
She leaned back in the chair and folded her arms. “He just did.”
“You know, if you’d been honest with me, I could have helped you find a way to do this that didn’t end up with you in detention.”
“It’s my job. Not yours.”
“I could have helped. Or the ICT could have helped.”
She gave Eremis a look of contempt. “I’m not the priority, am I? You’re all gung-ho on finding out what killed Iokan’s world, not mine.”
“That’s not the case,” he said.
“Sure it is! How long did you say it would take before you got round to me? Months? Years?”
“Liss,” I said. “That’s not the case.”
“Oh, so they were lying to me?”
“No. Things have changed.”
That got her attention. “Changed? How?”
Eremis said: “We can start investigating your case right away.”
Her eyes went wide. “What…?”
“You didn’t give us a choice,” he said. “We have to move immediately or else the Quillians will claim we don’t take the matter seriously.”
She grinned with delight. “Hah!”
“We wanted more time to establish ourselves before we started an open-ended investigation like this. So I can’t make any promises.”
“Who cares?” She laughed and tried to punch the air but the mohib suit cut in and restrained her. “Ow. Damn thing.”
I sighed. “You won’t be permitted to take any part in the investigation, except as a witness.”
She shrugged. “Good. The professionals can do it.”
“And you’ll have to accept the custody of the ICT.”
“So you can keep an eye on me?”
“You’ll have to stay in therapy longer than I was hoping. We need to work on your aggressive tendencies. That was part of the deal to avoid prosecution.”
She laughed louder than before. “My aggressive tendencies?” The irony of it made her weep with laughter.
“Are you going to co-operate with us?”
“Of course I’m going to co-operate.”
She was still smiling, thinking she’d won, not knowing how long the path ahead would be, or how much more difficult she’d made it for herself.
“There’s another thing,” I said.
“Yeah?”
“I’m leaving the Refugee Service.”
“What? So who’s my therapist going to be?”
“Me. If you’ll have me.”
“Okay, now you’re just deliberately trying to confuse me.”
“I’m leaving the Refugee Service, and joining the ICT.”
She was still sarcastic. “Oh? Really?”
“You didn’t give me a choice,” I said. “They blamed me for what you did. I would have been transferred, or put on permanent leave.”
A first flicker of regret crossed her face.
“Oh. Shit…”
“They’d have got rid of me, and the group would have been taken by the first therapist they could find.”
“But they can’t do that!”
“You gave them a reason. Please think about that, Liss.”
She slumped in her chair, full of guilt. As selfish as she’d been, she was far from malicious. She was simply a terrible judge of tactics and strategy, as she’d always claimed.
“I’m going to be a consulting therapist for the ICT. But the group can come too, if it wants. That’s why we’ve brought you here. We need your permission, and theirs, if we’re going to give them a home. Liss, the Refugee Service doesn’t have room any more. Millions of people are dying. We’ve just started the biggest evacuation anyone’s ever seen. After the Refugee Service, the ICT are the ones most interested in your wellbeing, and they’re willing to give the resources to look after you. All of you. If you agree.”
She didn’t hesitate. “I agree. Of course. The others, they, they need you.”
“Thank you,” I said.
Eremis looked at me. “Shall we bring them in?”
16. Group
I nodded to Eremis, who reached for a pad, and left the room. Liss watched him go.
“He’ll be back in a moment. We need everyone’s agreement,” I said. “So we’re going to talk to the whole group. You can keep the details of your involvement confidential, if you wish.”
She still looked puzzled. “The group? Now?”
“Now,” I said.
“Do they know—?”
“They know you did something foolish. I’ve asked them not to inquire about it for the moment.”
“Oh. Okay.”
I pressed a control on my pad. Kwame faded in, standing with arms folded, looking around and plainly seeing me and Liss appear in the meeting room back at the centre. Alongside him, Olivia was caught in the act of sitting down as she appeared, alarmed by the sudden manifestations. Iokan was already waiting in a seat, wearing his robe. Pew fretted as far from everyone as he could, until Elsbet materialised beside him in a hospital dressing gown, making him jump. She was still at the hospital and just as surprised to see them all.
Liss’s prison uniform drew looks of interest. “Get yourself arrested again, dear?” asked Olivia. Liss gave me an irritated look, knowing full well that my request not to talk about her situation had been pointless. But Kwame had another concern. He glared at Elsbet.