“And why do you come to Jevien?”
Gina had read that the only safe strategy in an interrogation situation was to say absolutely nothing from the start, and stick to it. But somehow, now, the pressure of the reality made it impossible. She had to say something to ease her tension. “If it’s any of your business, I’m researching a book on Jevlenese agents who were infiltrated to Earth throughout history.”
“Yes, that is very interesting. But now tell us the real reasons.”
Gina shook her head and tried to look bewildered. “What real
reasons? That’s it . . . I don’t know any other reasons.”
“Oh, come on. You think we are fools just because the Thuriens turn off our computer? You were sent to Baumer as spy. You pretended you agree with the things he believes, so you will get him to talk. And you think that we won’t check the books you write? You detest all the things he believes in.”
Gina swallowed. “You’re crazy. Who the hell would I be spying for?”
“Well, you work with group from UNSA, aren’t you?”
“You mean the scientists?”
“Of course, the scientists.”
“What of it? I’m an American, for God’s sake. They’re from the same planet: fellow beings. I like being around my own kind. Is there something funny about that?”
“Ah yes, all true … But what are they doing on Jevlen?” the woman asked. She raised a hand. “Before you speak, I save you from wasting both our times. This story they tell about coming to look at Ganymean science is just cover. We know that. They come because they are friends of Garuth and the Ganymeans who are put in charge of Jevlen. They come here to do something for them. What is it? And what part in it do they give to you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I came here independently.”
“But you already talk to UNSA in Washington.”
“For help on my book, sure. But there were complications. They turned me down.”
“But was it not them who put you in the Vishnu? You come here for them, in disguise.”
“Bullshit. I figured that if they weren’t going to help, I’d get what I wanted in my own way. I made my own arrangements. I only got involved with the scientists after we left Earth. I’d met one of them before.”
“So, what do they come here for?” the woman asked again. “Why do UNSA send them to Jevien?”
“I’ve told you everything I know.”
“I don’t believe you. Why you lied to Baumer?”
“Look, I’ve had just about enough of this. I don’t have to talk to you. Who the hell do you think you are to go around snatching people off the street? What business is it of yours why I do what I do?”
The man and the woman held a muttered exchange in Jevlenese. ( Although not understanding the words, the man seemed to have read the gist. The woman sighed and massaged her eyebrows. Gina began to feel more confident, telling herself that she wasn’t doing so badly. And then the door opened. Gina looked up, and her mouth dropped open as she recognized the tall, yellow-haired figure with icy blue eyes, clad in a green robe with a maroon-lined hood thrown back on his shoulders. It was the Axis of Light’s “Deliverer,” Eubeleus.
“You’ve spent too many years on Earth among those Russians, Anna,” he said to the woman, addressing her in Jevlenese but using her adopted Terran name. “The habits you acquired there are finding it hard to die. I warned you that you wouldn’t get anywhere this way.” He glanced at Gina. “But fortunately it’s of little consequence. Bring her through.”
The faint, self-congratulatory smile had frozen on Gina’s face. At his tone, and the motion that he made with his head in the direction he had appeared from, a heavy weight seemed to drop in her stomach.
“So, you don’t want to talk like good friends,” the woman said, standing up from the chair. “That doesn’t matter, because now we go to more effective ways.” She read the apprehension on Gina’s face and emitted a laugh. “Oh, you don’t need any worry. Read too many books, maybe. Those things old-fashioned and not very nice. Today, all very painless. You remember nothing.”