Instead, he turned back to Pnebran. "I have to leave, sir. How long will your exhibit be open? There are some pieces I want to look at more closely."
Pnebran made a graceful gesture Kendi took for a slight bow. "We close in twelve more days."
Kendi thanked him and rushed away.
Ben glared down at the pile of rubble beneath his feet, then lifted his plexiglass face mask and swiped at his sweaty face with one sleeve. The little sledgehammer pulled with substantial weight at his other arm. It wasn't working anymore. Smashing Padric Sufur flat with a hammer used to give him a certain amount of satisfaction, but lately it hadn't done much for him. Maybe he needed to try something else. But what?
He wished he could create the real thing, a Dream simulacrum that would move and talk. And bleed. But Mom had always said that no one could create people in the Dream.
A feathery touch on Ben's mind warned him that someone was nearby.
Ben quickly banished the sledgehammer, face shield, and remains of Sufur's statue. "Come on in," he said aloud.
A falcon swooped in from the plain gray sky. It changed into a kangaroo in mid-drop and landed lightly in front of Ben. The kangaroo had a pouch. Before the Despair, Kendi's fragment animals had always been female, a trait that seemed to have carried over into Kendi's current state. The one time Ben had tried to rib Kendi about this had resulted in such an explosion of temper that Ben had never again remarked on it. Nowadays Ben always thought of Dream Kendi as "he," regardless of the gender of his animal form.
"Where's the computer system?" the kangaroo asked.
Ben shrugged. "I'm playing around with other stuff. How did things go at the gallery?"
"Pretty good. That's why I'm in here, in fact." Kendi gave Ben a capsule description of his conversation with Pnebran. He kept bobbing up and down in obvious excitement. "I've got it, Ben. I know how to do it."
"Do what?"
"Get them out."
"You mean you didn't before?"
"Not completely," Kendi admitted. "But then it hit me in the middle of the art gallery, every detail. I think it'll work. And it won't take that long."
Ben called up an armchair and plunked down into it, bringing himself down to Kendi's eye level. "So what's the plan?"
Kendi looked away. "I'm not… I don't think I should tell you all of it."
"Why not?"
"In case."
"Kendi, who am I going to tell?" Ben asked, nettled.
"No one-unless Silent Acquisitions gets wind of what's going on and captures one of us. Anyone will talk under drugs or torture. You know that."
"How am I supposed to help if I don't know what the hell is going on?" Ben demanded.
The kangaroo took a hop forward and abruptly changed into a koala bear which looked up at Ben with enormous brown eyes. "Please don't be angry, Ben. I need your support in this. I don't want anything to go wrong."
"You're only doing that because you know koalas are cute," Ben growled.
"Is it working?" Kendi asked, reaching up to place a warm, clawed paw on Ben's leg.
Ben sighed. "All right. What do I need to do?"
"Help me find Valeta's messenger. I need to cash in a favor."
"A favor?" Ben echoed. "From the Emporium?"
"And then I need to talk to Vidya and Prasad. You said Sejal can't-or won't-help us, but I'll bet those two will."
— Relayed out of Dream to solid-world messenger. Awaiting response. Relaying response: Kendi! I haven't heard from you since before the Despair. How're the Children holding out? I hear you guys are expensive these days.~
— Relay: Got that right. Listen, remember that time back on Nipon? The stalker who came after you?~
— Relaying response: Just me or the whole Emporium?~
— Relay: The whole enchilada, Val. Probably won't take more than a week.~
— Relaying response: Kendi, I can't just-"
"Rent a slip shuttle? From SA? Father, that'll cost a small fortune."
"I know, Lucia, but I don't want to take the Poltergeist out."
"And where you do want me to go?"
"There's a… semi-legal shipyard orbiting one of the moons around Artemis. Do you know it?"
"I know it. It's just outside the boundaries of the Five Green Worlds. One of the owners is actually a distant cousin of mine."
"Does he owe you any favors?"
"One or two. Why?"
"Cash them in, Lucia, and I'll owe you a favor. A big one. See if you can get him to give you a discount-a one-hundred percent discount, if you can manage it."
"On what?"
"An old, clunky ship. It doesn't need to have slip, gravity, or even life support. As long as the hull is intact, it'll work. The less it costs, the better-rent for the shuttle will eat up most of the cash we have left."
"All right. What am I supposed to do with this ship?"
"Haul it to a point a few parsecs away from SA and set it to drift relative to the station. Then leave it and come straight back here."
"Yes, Father."
"Aren't you going to ask what it's for?"
"I'm assuming you have your reasons."
"A refreshing change from everyone else. Leave as soon as you can get the shuttle, Lucia. And thanks."
"Irfan blesses you, Father."
"Let's hope she blesses all of us."
"I need everything you can get your hands on about circuses, Ben. History, current shows, clowns, animals, the works. In great and excruciating detail."
"Text? Holovid? Pics?"
"The works. I need to become a three-day expert. I learned a fair amount from that time with Valeta, but I need a refresher if I'm going to pull this off."
"Sure. I'll even throw in a subroutine to weed out repeat info."
"Great. But you'll have to hack it out of SA's library databases. I don't want there to be a record of what I'm reading just in case someone starts sniffing around. It'll also be cheaper, and I'm starting to worry about money."
"Shouldn't be hard. It's not like the library computers guard station secrets or anything, and they won't be that well guarded."
"Thanks, Ben. I owe you."
"What? I don't keep track. You know that."
"Sorry. Sometimes I get into favor-cashing mode and don't get out. But I'll still pay you back. There are lots of… favors I'd love to owe you. Think creatively about what I could do."
"Not if you want me to hack the SA library without getting caught."
Edsard Roon logged off the computer terminal, pulled his key from the receptor, and dropped the chain around his neck as the screen vanished. Enough work for now. These days he too-often found himself arriving home after a fourteen-hour workday only to spend another hour at his home terminal. Time for a break.
He kicked off his shoes, took a deep, cold pull from the frosted glass that hovered at his elbow, and sank into a supremely comfortable easy chair with a sigh. Caffeine, his one weakness. Edsard didn't allow himself alcohol or any other recreational drug. The mind had to stay clear, be precise, firm. Even caffeine had an impact on the thought processes, but, he supposed, everyone needed at least one bad habit. Bad habits, in moderation, relieved stress.
Relieved N-waves.
Edsard snorted. He was a dark-haired man, tall and rangy, with a long, sad face. Work, it seemed, was never far from his mind. He supposed it was his own fault. After overriding Elena Papagos-Faye and ordering a dedicated terminal installed in his den at home, he found himself spending more and more of his minuscule free time at the computer doing Collection business. Papagos-Faye had protested the practice, but Edsard had known there would be times when he would need the access at home. Besides, no one except Elena even knew the terminal existed-or what it was for. There was no danger it would be hacked.