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Ellezelin to perform
memory reads.
    That just left them Araminta’s friends in the city, though, with the
exception of Cressida, she didn’t seem to have many. Which was strange, Oscar
thought. She was a very attractive young woman, free and independent. That
would normally imply a big social group. So far Liatris had uncovered very few,
though a building supply wholesaler called Mr. Bovey was a promising lead. They
were due to pay him a discreet visit right after their first appointment.
    Tomansio steered the capsule away from the river and over the city’s
Coredna district. They landed on a pad at the end of a street and stepped out.
The houses here were all made out of drycoral, single-story and small; their
little gardens were either immaculately maintained or home to piles of rubbish
and ancient furniture. It was one of the poorer areas in the city. All three of
them stared at the Ellezelin forces capsule parked at the far end of the
street.
    “En garde,” Tomansio said quietly.
    They were all dressed in a simple tunic of the occupying forces, not
armor. Oscar brought his biononics up to full readiness. Defensive energy
currents and his integral force field could snap on with a millisecond’s
warning. He hoped that would be enough. As the three of them walked down the
street, he ran a field scan on the capsule up ahead. It was inert, empty.
    “Assigned to squad FIK67,” Liatris told them when they relayed the serial
number to him. “Currently on city boundary enforcement duty.”
    “Oh, crap,” Oscar muttered as they drew near the house they wanted. His
field scan had picked up someone with biononics inside. Whoever they were, they
also had their energy currents in readiness mode. “Accelerator?”
    “Darwinist,” Beckia decided.
    “Separatist,” Tomansio said.
    “I’ll take a piece of that action,” Liatris said. “Put me down for the
Conservatives.”
    Tomansio walked up to the aluminum front door and knocked. They waited
tensely as footsteps sounded. The door opened to reveal a shortish,
harassed-looking woman wearing a dark blue house robe.
    “Yes?” she asked.
    Oscar recognized Tandra from the employment file Liatris had extracted
out of Nik’s management net.
    “We’d like to ask you some questions,” Tomansio said.
    Tandra rolled her eyes. “Not another lot. What do you want to ask?”
    “May we come in, please?” Oscar asked.
    “I thought you Living Dream sods didn’t bother asking.”
    “Nonetheless, ma’am, we’d like to come in.”
    “Fine!” Tandra grunted and pushed the door fully open. She stomped off
down the small hall inside. “Come and join the party. One of your lot’s already
here.”
    Oscar exchanged a nervous glance with the others and followed Tandra
inside. He reached the small lounge and stopped dead, emitting a potent burst
of shock into the gaiafield. The woman with active biononics was sitting on the
couch with a happy twin on either side of her. She wore an immaculately cut
major’s uniform and wore it well, the epitome of a career officer. Martyn was
bending down to offer her a cup of coffee.
    “Hello, Oscar.” The Cat smiled. “Long time, no see. So what have you been
up to for the last thousand years?”
    He let out a rueful sigh. Come on, you knew this
would happen at some point . “I was in suspension, where you should be.”
    “Bored with it,” the Cat said. She glanced at Tomansio and Beckia. Oscar
had never seen the Knights Guardian so taken aback; they were even more
startled than he was. “My people,” the Cat said mockingly. “Welcome.”
    “I’m afraid not,” Tomansio said. “We are working for Oscar.”
    “Surely I override that. I created you.”
    “They have conviction in their principles,” Oscar said mildly. “Something
to do with strength …”
    The Cat gave a delighted laugh. “I always did like you.”
    “What is this?” Martyn asked, looking from the Cat to Oscar. “I thought
you people were all the