Mirror Space - Marianne de Pierres [111]
‘Bethany saved your life by having others watch out for you?’ she said, prodding him gently.
Thales chewed his bottom lip in embarrassment, continuing to avert his gaze. ‘Fariss and Samuelle - yes.’
Mira sighed. Though intelligent and sensitive and refined, Thales had not grown any more in his understanding of human nature. And now he no longer had his beauty to compensate for his naivety. She felt jaded next to him and much, much older, although their ages must be quite similar. Something deep inside her feared for Thales’s survival.
She realised, in that instant, that the quiet attraction she’d felt for him was born of a mothering instinct, and nothing more. She poured a drink into a disposable cup and took a sip, savouring the peculiar tang of the station water. Understanding her feelings came as a relief. Things became clearer. She would protect Thales as best she could, as she would Vito, or the korm, but her future was not invested in his.
Thoughts of Vito brought an instant sharp pang to her chest. She must warn OLOSS of the Post-Species threat, and they must find a way to save the survivors on Araldis. Foolish hope, perhaps, but one she would cling to.
Strangely, her thoughts moved directly on to Josef Rasterovich. She wished him here to ask his opinion. Or Rast Randall. Both of them were worldly, and smart enough to see the many sides to each situation.
She suppressed the sound that rose in her throat. How ironic that she would wish for their company, having just told Thales the contrary.
One thing she knew with certainty, though - both Randall and Rasterovich would find a way to meet with OLOSS officials and make them believe the threat to all OLOSS sentients. So must she. ‘So the woman, Fariss, is another mercenary?’
‘Of a type,’ he admitted. ‘But she’s more . . . likeable ...than Rast Randall.’
Mira twisted her lips. ‘That would not be difficult. Randall could be described as an acquired taste, at best.’
‘She abandoned you and Bethany, Baronessa. She was supposed to be your safeguard.’
‘Truly, she did. She cannot be trusted. But then, few can.’ She added softly, ‘We do not have to dig very deep to find out what principles we can abandon.’
He didn’t reply to that, but once more appeared to be swallowed by his own thoughts; disturbed thoughts, by the tense, unhappy curl of his lips.
‘Can you tell me any more?’ she pressed.
He nodded and continued with a halting explanation of Samuelle and the city of Ampere, and Farr’s abrupt summoning of them here, to Intel. He hesitated as he described the ship journey, struggling to find the words to explain it.
She waited in silence, sensing something important teetered on the brink of being said.
Finally, it came out in a rush - Macken’s bullying and his own desperation to avert rape, what it made him do, and then Fariss’s decision to help him escape and take the blame herself. By the end of it, he was speaking in breath-robbed gulps.
Mira felt mired in her own memories. How she wished she had killed Trin Pellegrini. ‘You say that Samuelle will be present at the OLOSS meeting.’
‘I believe so.’
‘What is her position on the Post-Species?’
He shrugged. ‘I have heard some things that suggest she is not enamoured with Commander Farr, but yet is committed to the Consilience cause. She supports Bethany, I know that much.’
Mira wiped her face and hands on the absorbent film in the dispenser and dropped it into the basin. They both watched it curl up and disintegrate.
She pushed the basin back into its cabinet and opened the cover on the comm-sole. ‘Was Bethany on the ship that brought you here?’
‘It’s possible. I didn’t leave the cabin or speak to anyone other than Fariss. Fariss didn’t mention her name.’
‘You didn’t enquire?’
Thales bowed his head again as if expecting her judgement. ‘I was brought on board as her consort - it would have caused suspicion if I’d shown an interest in such things. We only spoke about trivial matters.’
Mira felt the weight of his humiliation, and yet he didn’t shirk