"Hold it!" Ben whispered. He was peeking around the door frame again. "He has a boy with him. God-it's his son!"
"His son?" Gretchen echoed. "What the hell?"
Kendi's stomach lurched. Why was Roon bringing his son?
Valeta entered the room, leading Roon and a pale boy who looked about five or six. Kendi, who had tailed Roon and his family countless times, instantly recognized Janni Roon.
"Moogoo, Bobo, this is Mr. Edsard Roon," Val said gaily, though Kendi could hear the strain in her voice. "And this is Master Janni Roon. Janni is the winner of the clown drawing. Can you make him up, please? I have to get back to the ring."
In a flash Kendi understood what had happened. Roon had decided to hand his prize over to his son. He gritted his teeth. Kendi hadn't counted on Roon being anything but a self-serving bastard. Obviously that wasn't entirely the case. A harsh lesson to learn, Ara would have said. Now what?
Roon was pumping Val's hand. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Kalopolis. A true pleasure."
Val nodded to him and, with a parting glance at Ben and Gretchen, vanished out the door.
"Well, Janni," Gretchen said slowly, "why don't you have a seat here and we'll get to work. How do you like the idea of being a clown for day?"
Janni didn't answer. He just looked up at Gretchen with shy, pale eyes.
"I think he's too excited to talk," Roon said with a smile. "Should he remove his shirt?"
Ben started to speak, but his voice cracked. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Yes. Here, Janni, we'll hang it up just like this. How do you like the show so far?"
"It's great!" Janni said at last. "Are you a real clown?"
"I sure am," Ben replied. "I started up when I was about your age."
"What do I have to do out there?"
"It'll be really easy. All you'll have to do is ride the elephant and wave."
Janni squirmed with joy. "I get to ride an elephant?"
"Sure do. Now, what colors would you like for your makeup?"
He set to work spreading a white base over Janni's face. Gretchen, meanwhile, pulled a data pad out of her pocket and called up a text file on the holographic screen. Kendi stared at Janni's thin chest. It was supposed to be Roon who took off his shirt. But Edsard Roon was standing nearby, shirt still on his body, key firmly out of reach. Kendi bit his lower lip until he tasted blood. The entire plan stood in ruins. He had dragged the Emporium halfway across the galaxy for nothing. There had to be a way to get that key here and now. But even if Kendi could think of a plan, there would be no way for him to implement it. He wanted to punch Roon in the face and take the key by force.
Maybe that was the solution. Maybe once Janni had left, Kendi could knock Roon over the head and hold him prisoner on the Poltergeist with Isaac Todd. If Roon couldn't alert the Collection that he had lost his key, the Collection wouldn't know to- "Mr. Roon," Gretchen said, interrupting Kendi's chain of thought, "I'll need you to sign this waiver of liability. Just a formality, but you know how it goes." She held out the data pad to him.
"Of course, of course," Roon said, not taking his eyes off Janni. "Not a problem." He moved to take the pad.
"Oh! Wait a minute." Gretchen took the pad back before Roon could touch it. "God, what was I thinking? We can't do this. Mr. Roon, your son is a minor. He can't go out into the ring by himself, and he certainly can't ride an elephant."
Janni, whose face was almost completely covered in white base by now, twisted in his chair to face her. "I can't? Why not?"
"What do you mean?" Roon said.
"It's a legal thing on SA Station," Gretchen replied vaguely. "We can't have unaccompanied minors ride animals on the arena floor. Too dangerous."
"You'll be with him, won't you?" Roon said. "And Ms. Kalopolis said I'd be able to watch from the sidelines."
"Ms. Kalopolis doesn't have the legal background I do," Gretchen countered. "And I double as legal counsel for the Emporium. I'm afraid the other performers can't act in loco parentis in these circumstances. Station regulations. I looked them up before we docked."
"But I want to be a clown," Janni said, his eyes filling with tears. "I want to ride the elephant."
"Sorry, kid," Gretchen said. "It's just impossible. You can't go out there alone."
"What if I went with him?" Roon said suddenly.
Kendi held his breath.
"What do you mean?" Gretchen asked.
"What if I went along? You could dress me up as a clown, too, and we'll both ride the elephant. It'll solve the whole problem."
Gretchen paused, then shook her head. "Won't work. Union rules, you know. And we only advertised one clown winner per show. I don't want the Emporium to be brought up on charges of false advertising."
"Aw, come on, Bobo," Ben said. "We can't disappoint this kid. Who's going to know if we don't tell anyone? No one'll even recognize Mr. Roon here, so the union won't say anything. Have a heart."
"Please, Ms. Bobo?" Janni quavered. "Please?"
Gretchen paused, as if thinking it over. Kendi clenched his fists.
"Well… all right," she grumbled at last. "But I'm adding a gag order to this waiver. Sign here."
With a grin, Roon scribbled his signature with the stylus and set the pad back in Gretchen's gloved hand. She set it carefully aside and turned to Roon. "Let's get that shirt off, then, Mr. Roon. We'll have to work fast if we want to make the final act."
Still grinning and no doubt gloating that he was about to both have and eat his cake, Roon complied. The key glittered on the chain around his neck. When Gretchen reached for it, however, he snapped a hand over it.
"I can't take this off," he said. "That's non-negotiable."
"Not a problem," Gretchen soothed. Kendi saw her slip another hand into her pocket. "But I do need you to close your eyes so I can do your lids. Don't open them unless you want a makeup pencil in your cornea. Ready?"
Half an hour later, Ben led the new clowns, one tall and one short, out of the dressing room and down to the elephant bay. Both Roons were chatting excitedly. The moment they were out of earshot, Kendi emerged from behind the wall hanging.
"Gretchen, I could kiss you," he said, and swept her into a hug instead. "You were brilliant."
"All right, all right," she said gruffly, though there was a note of pride in her voice. "Put me down before Ben sees you and gets jealous."
Still laughing, Kendi obeyed. "Where's the copycat? I'll take it and the data pad back to the ship."
"Right here. And don't touch the pad without gloves on or you'll ruin Roon's prints. Put it in this bag."
Kendi obeyed, then looked thoughtfully at the doorway. "You know, we made Roon's fondest dream come true, and he's the biggest bastard in the universe."
"Then we'll do our best," Gretchen replied, "to turn it all into a nightmare."
The coughing fit doubled Bedj-ka over so fast, he almost smacked his forehead on the dinner table. Harenn quickly swallowed a spicy mouthful of minced lamb and set her flat bread down. The galley was empty at the moment. Kendi, Ben, and Gretchen hadn't returned from the circus yet, and Lucia was deep in some kind of meditation in her quarters, leaving Harenn and her son the run of the ship.
"Are you all right, my son?" she asked with concern.
Bedj-ka stopped coughing and reached for his water glass. Before he could get it to his mouth, he sneezed. Water sprayed everywhere.
"Bedj-ka!" Harenn said. "Are you ill?"